The Fire Within

Chapter 16 - Doubts and Wounds

Never once did Kevin imagine himself in a situation such as this. When he'd left his office, he had only one thing on his mind – to go home and take a long relaxing shower. But here he was, following his uncle's assistant to god knows where, having no clue why he was doing so. No matter what his uncle said, he was still suspicious of her. Whether it was the evidence pointing that way or the fear he saw in her eyes, a part of him was certain she was involved in some way.

He made sure he was two cars behind Sarah in order to be hidden from her view. He almost lost her twice and had to speed up in order to catch up with her. He could've sworn she went past the speed limit a few times, taking him off guard. It never occurred to him that she could be an aggressive driver.

Or maybe she's not. Maybe she's in a hurry.

There was something else that caught his eye. For a person who'd worked as an assistant for just a month, she seemed to have a pretty expensive car. It was almost as good as his. Sure, his uncle was a generous person and paid her more than she'd make in any other company as an assistant, but that still wasn't enough to buy a fancy car. How did she end up with so much money? Did she buy it herself?

No, she couldn't be working alone. She was probably with someone else, maybe even working for them. Someone outside, who wants to get their hands on the company's secrets. Someone who has every intention of destroying the company. Who could that be?

The only person he could think of was Fred Adams. Was he secretly working with her? Maybe he was.

The ride seemed to go on forever and Kevin was having a hard time trying to keep up with Sarah. After what seemed like an eternity, he noticed that they were heading out of the city.

Was she going to meet Fred? Or someone else working under him?

Or worse, what if she was working with multiple parties? Were they offering her money for her services? They probably were, if she was driving around in that fancy car.

A small part of his brain pointed out how ridiculous the whole thing sounded. Maybe she was just driving out to meet friends. He might be overthinking about this whole theory and end up wasting his time stalking her. Nevertheless, he chose to ignore that thought and instead brought his mind back on the road.

Moments later, Sarah slowed down her car and pulled up inside the parking lot of a building. Kevin followed her until he was just outside the building, managing to stay out of her sight. He looked up towards the massive building, and at that moment, everything that he thought he knew and expected to happen seemed to fly out of the window.

The name board on the building read 'Berkley West Care Center.' If he wasn't wrong, he was looking at a long term facility care center, or in other words, a hospital for chronically sick people.

Kevin couldn't believe his eyes. What Sarah was doing there was something he couldn't imagine. He was so convinced that she was meeting someone she wasn't supposed to, that the sight before him was like a slap to the face. Just when he thought he'd figured it all out, everything seemed to go upside down. He now felt stupid for following her all the way here. It had seemed like a good idea a few minutes ago, but he was now unsure what to do.

He decided to wait for some time before he went inside. After a few restless minutes, he parked his car in the parking lot and made his way towards the entrance. As soon as he went past the doors of the hospital, the familiar stench of chemicals hit his nose. He spotted a reception area a few meters ahead and went straight towards it.

A plump lady with red hair and spectacles that were too small for her round face sat on a chair frowning at the computer screen before her. Kevin approached her, suddenly aware that he was unsure what to ask. He cleared his throat to gain the woman's attention.