Levi's Secret

CHAPTER 29

Levi was having trouble falling asleep. He lay on the bed the covers making him feel too hot, but too cold when he kicked them away. He hated to check his phone and see Vicky' s name on his call record.

I feel like shit.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Levi got up from his bed and peered nervously at his window pane. It couldn't be a racoon or an owl could it? He walked closer to the window and pulled away the curtains. He looked through the closed glass and saw nothing but the dark moonless night.

Was he hearing things? Levi shook his head, maybe he was finally going senile.

TAP!

A pebble hit his window loudly making him stagger back in shock.  Seriously? Who would go through all this trouble to contact him?

Could it be who he thought it was?

Hurrying forward he rushed to open the window and looked down. Sure enough, a good three feet below his window pane, there stood Vicky precariously balanced on someone's shoulders. She wasn't tall enough to reach his room, but was managing to chuck pebbles from her pocket onto the glass.

"Vicky?" he said astonishment glazing his features.

"Hi Levi, um it is me, I just I wanted to um..." started Vicky suddenly nervous and no longer holding the water pipe for support. This made her pretty much dead weight on Jack's shoulders who protested.

"Vicky, honey, you aren't as little anymore and," came Jack's strained voice. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Oh sorry Uncle Jack. Quick, Levi, pull me up." said Vicky raising her hand. Levi looked stumped for a moment before nodding and reaching down to grab her hand. Jack pushed her legs upwards as Levi pulled her in.

They fell in a heap onto the floor, Vicky's arms locked around Levi's and his own protectively around her back.

"This is crazy." he said finally, not letting go of her. "What the hell are you doing here? And why the bloody window?"

"We didn't want to wake your mom." said Vicky retracting her arms and avoiding eye contact. She knew all too well that one look at the cerulean blue would mess her up completely.

"Levi, my dad is missing since last night." she said getting to the point. "He had a meeting with Mr. Walters of Walt Games yesterday and we can't find him since then. Mr. Walters is unreachable, he's on a plane to Spain as we speak, and no one is able to tell us where Dad is."

Levi took in her words but didn't react. "Why did you come to me then? The police could help you better you know."

"I know." she said pushing his arm away and moving to sit cross legged, with her back to the wall.

"Look, Levi, I strongly suspect that you are the one messing with Walt Games." she said. Levi opened his mouth to protest, but Vicky held up her hand.

"Hear me out, please. I don't have evidence that can concretely prove that you are the culprit, but then again I do not have access to forensic analysis procedures undertaken by the police. Dad, however, works closely with the cops all year around and he must have thought if he could find any hardware linking the attackers to the crime, he would be able to zero in on their identities." she said finally looking at Levi.

"I think you discarded some hardware Levi. Will you tell me where you put it?" she said. Her voice was tired and she felt so hollow.

"How did you know it was me?" asked Levi cautiously. "It could have been anyone. Like you said you have no evidence."

"Levi, it's all a hunch based on circumstantial evidence. You keep disappearing whenever there's trouble with the Walt Game's data servers. You already know my dad's name, and for any hacker worth his salt, you must know who he is. You break up with me the night dad goes missing. " she said looking away. Her heart hurt and for a while she was glad it was just the two of them.

"I hacked into the cctv footage by your house, and saw that you sneaked out through this very window, about the time my dad's meeting was going on. I checked the time on the film to see when you came back home and it coincided with the time you chose to break up with me." she continued without so much as glancing at him. 

"We---we never had a relationship, did we? You were always trying to get information about my Dad. Where he is, where he woks and stuff like that. " said Vicky sadly. Levi didn't say a word, training his eyes to look at the floor.

Levi sighed heavily. "I don't deny or affirm anything Vicky." he said finally looking out the window. "You need my help locating your Dad right? You got it."

"What?" asked Vicky in surprise. She hadn't expected him to willingly help her. She was banking on uncle Jack coming to ambush Levi and forcing him to help.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Levi said with a derisive laugh. "Your Dad probably got too close to the truth and he had to be eliminated. He's probably lying unconscious somewhere already. If you just wait a couple of days the police will find him eventually, hopefully alive."

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up." chanted Vicky. She looked up to face his dispassionate face, her own eyes flashing with anger and determination. She rushed up and grabbed Levi's collar, pulling him up to stand. Levi obliged, clearly expecting a blow to the face that never came.

"Help me find my father." she said a steely resolve in her voice. "I don't care that you played me like one of your sick games. I don't care that you just used me. It doesn't matter to me the  reasons you have for doing what you did, but if you give up on my father one more time, I promise I will end you."

"Vicky..." he said his voice straining against the tight grip she had on his collar. "I meant no harm to you or your family. My enmity is with Gavin Walters alone. That's a pretty long story and I'm guessing you don't want to hear it."

Vicky loosened her grip slightly but kept her left leg ready for kicking if he tried anything stupid---like escaping.

"Dumpster by the 23rd street. A midnight truck comes to pick it up. I chucked my laptop over there." he said. "So it's likely your Dad went to check that place. Some weird virus invaded my computer yesterday, I'm guessing it probably sent the GPS details to whoever decided to sabotage my device."

Vicky let him go. "You better be telling the truth." she said.

"I am." he said looking torn. "Look Vicky, I know you are hurt, but let me explain---"

"Save it." she said letting him go and walking up to the window. She swung a leg through the opening. "Once my Dad is home safe I'll think about it. For now, it just hurts to be around you."

She swung the other leg over and looked down. Jack was standing below, arms wide and waiting to catch her.

"Good luck Vicky." said Levi quietly, his eyes finding hers for what felt like the last time. Vicky gave him a small nod, her mouth drawn in a thin line.

Goosebumps laced her bared skin as she came face to face with an undeniable fact : her first boyfriend was a criminal.

She jumped.

A/N: *Tissues*

New chapter will be up soon. :)

I am very satisfied with this chapter, which is rare for me. Let me know your thoughts?

I wanted to let you guys know that there's about four chapters left. I'll finish hopefully before Christmas.

Lots of love,

Andy :)