Chapter 22
Chapter twenty two
The pairs of eyes were fixed on Miss Maria and it gave her goosebumps. Lian, Marlin and Shane all sat on armchairs that were inches apart from each other and faced Miss Maria who sat on the opposite side, with her hands clasped together on her laps.
Lian sighed before starting the interrogation. “Miss Maria, you’re about to be questioned and I won’t take it with levity if you reply with anything apart from the truth.” He warned beforehand, showing no emotions.
Miss Maria nodded gently in agreement to what he said. “Ask me anything alpha.”
“I’ll go first.” Marlin announced and straightened up in the chair he sat on. His gaze was intensely fixed on her, demanding an eye contact with her.
“Where were you on the previous school’s sanitation?” He inquired, looking very serious.
Miss Maria let out a breath before giving him an answer. “I was at school for a short period of time and then I had to leave for home because I wasn’t feeling too well.”
Marlin studied her for quite a short moment before moving on. “Around what time did you leave?” He creased his brows as he waited for her answer. An hour before the sanitation began.”
The room was silent for a while, before Shane took over. “That should be 8am.” He stated as if he guessed it. Miss Maria nodded in agreement to his calculation. “So you mean you didn’t come back to the school that day after you left?”
“I didn’t.” She shook her head slightly.
Silence took over the room once again and then Lian sighed after studying her keenly. “Do you know any Asher Grant?” He questioned in a straightforward tone as he looked directly into her eyes. She seemed to travel through her memory for some seconds, then she wore on an uncertain expression. “I don’t know him in particular but i do remember assigning a portion to him and some other boys.”
“The one who was to supervise was Miss Lisa, right?” Miss Maria was enquired again and she confirmed it. “I left right after I informed her of my sudden leave.”
Lian glanced at Marlin, who glanced back and then moved his eyes to Shane, who also stared back.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
They seemed to be passing an information across to each other. Lian narrowed his gaze back to Miss Maria with a faint smile playing on his lips.
When she left, the three drew closer to each other. “Something’s definitely off.” Marlin stated with a pair of perplexed eyes.
“Right. First, let’s confirm her alibi, check with the teachers that were around that day, check with her neighbors too. Then, we’ll call for Miss Lisa.”
***
Mia was on with her new daily routine of staying home with eyes glued to the television all day. She munched on her favorites cookies in a partial happy mood, not until she heard the doorbell ring.
Opening the door, Alexander came into the view and her heart skipped a bit. Apart from the fact that she looked messy at the moment, something else troubled her. She was reminded of Lian’s words the previous night.
Alexander dramatically waved in front of her eyes, probably to jolt her out of her trance.
“I’m that handsome?” He inquired teasingly with a mocking laugh. Mia led him in after letting out an insincere smile.
“Whoa, this is great. Watching alone? Mind if I join you?” Mia stared pitifully at the dude. She was lost in her own thoughts.
“Yeah…” She drawled after coming back to the world. “You do mind?” He furrowed his brows in surprise and frowned.
“You wouldn’t know. I’m probably trying to save your life here…” She mumbled lazily. “We can’t stay here, let’s go out. I’ll go change.” She ascended the stairs after leaving him in a confused state. He was quite lost on her expressions.
***
“Hey guys, what did you catch on?” Lian asked over the voice call.
“Everything’s damn neat. She did arrive home some minutes after eight, her neighbors, the securities at the estate and even the street CCTV confirmed it.” Marlin replied as he and Shane stepped out local authority’s office.
“Now, she’s off the list. I checked with the suicide girl and I found absolutely nothing from her memory.” Lian also reported and Marlin ran his fingers through his hair frustratedly. “Who’s this asshole that keeps toying with us?!” He almost yelled.
“Well, I don’t know who it is… but I’ll make sure that person breathes their last today.” Lian vowed with a tone filled with determination. Then he smirked evilly, and raised his chin up a little. “Giovanni should also get a taste of me… For messing with my pack.”
…
They were back at the hangout together again. Each was deep in thoughts… Probably thinking of a strategy to get the person that had been messing with the pack.
Shane Suddenly jolted the other two out of their thoughts, seemed like he got something.
“Lian, you do have a sharp memory. Can you go into a quick therapy, go back through the memory of Asher you saw, and speak out every detail of what you see?” He requested, looking so serious.
“Hey… what will that resolve to?” Marlin shrugged off, with the mentality that Shane was out of his mind.
Lian raised a hand up as a gesture to Marlin. He thought intensely for some seconds and his emotions twitched. “Right, there should be something… let’s do it.”
Relaxing his back into a brown leathered twirling chair, with eyes closed, Lian described every single thing he remembered from Asher’s memory, including what the characters wore, their actions and movements. Somehow, he found the perfect adjectives for descriptions. Shane and Marlin were attentive that they could even hear anything Lian said under his breath.
When he saw nothing more, he opened his eyes to meet two other pair of eyes staring at him earnestly.
“That’s all.” He nnounced. “What did you find?”
“Guys, I might sound crazy right now but trust me, all the years I’ve known Miss Maria, I’ve never seen her wear flat shoes. It’s always those life threatening pointed heels.” Shane pointed out with a look of certainty.
The other two stared blankly, then Marlin tilted his head along with his thoughts. “Now that I think of it, I’ve never seen her wear flats too. However, i heard Miss Lisa used to wear them all the time ’cause she has bad legs.”
Lian smiled broadly. “We called for her but I think we’ll have to go to her.”
***
They stood at Miss Lisa’s door, waiting for her to open the door. It took quite a moment, but Lian was okay with it… as far as she was home.
“Hi, miss.” Lian greeted with a wink after she opened the door. As expected, her reaction after seeing them wasn’t a warm one, and once again, Lian didn’t care.
She stood at the door, still staring at them and swallowed hard before talking. “May I ask what you’re doing here, alpha Lian?”
Lian put on a smile that could melt hearts. “You didn’t show up, so we decided to pay a visit.” He suddenly wriggled himself inside the house while Shane and Marlin were insincerely ushered in.
“Wow, you have a nice place.” Lian commented as he looked around closely and he thrust his hands in his pockets. Then he noticed a silver suitcase at a corner of the living room and the smile he had turned into a grin.
“Travelling?” He inquired as he turned to her and she nodded. She looked quite calm more than she was earlier.
“Guys, we should get an apartment in this complex also.. it’s amazing here, what do you think?” He directed his teasing question to his friends and they smiled, being amused by his sudden act.
“Uhmm.. please have your seats.” Miss Lisa offered and they all settled, looking more serious.
“I found you… Lisa.” Lian said with a smirk on his lips.
“Excuse me?” Miss Lisa arched a brow, acting surprised.
Lian crossed his legs and stared directly into her eyes. “You amber eyed wench, you disguised into my pack as human, manipulated two students, almost got one killed and also put on the image of another.” He detailed out carefully and his expression changed to a furious one.
Unexpectedly, Miss Lisa let out a short hysterical laugh.
“You really did found me, alpha Lian.”