Truth Lies Milady

Chapter 15

After washing my hands, I checked my phone for any response from Mikee. I still got nothing from him.

Instead, I received an anonymous text message. It only said, 'Hello, Milady.'

Okay...

Looking into the mirror, I found myself raising a questioning eyebrow with my phone over the bathroom sink. There was no name nor any email indicated, and I thought it was odd. But this wasn't really the first time I've received a message from someone anonymous.

I thought it could be important, so I responded with a message of my own.

'May I know who this is?'

The dubious greeting was sent not too long ago, perhaps before I asked for the restroom area. As expected, the response was swift, but still cryptic.

Unknown: 'That information is irrelevant. I am here to help you with your task. For some important reasons I can't tell, I must remain incognito.'

After reading the message, I thought that this may be some sort of prank.

Ignore!

I left the restroom and tried retracing my way to the kitchen, when my phone vibrated again.

'Do not ignore me,' it said.

I felt myself frown, staring at the screen.

I quickly typed back a response. 'How did you get my number?'

Unknown: 'I have my ways.'

Unknown: 'I know who you are and why you came to Sylvan. I am here to assist you on Samantha Roberts' case.'

I felt myself falter upon reading the last message. This person claims to know my motives for being here... and wants to assist me?

'Who is this? Are you blackmailing me?'

Unknown Number: 'I assure you. I am not a threat. But my identity must remain a secret. My only goal is to offer you assistance.'

'Why?'

Unknown Number: 'That is irrelevant.'

I scoffed to myself. "Yeah right."

'Non sequitur... I only accept help from people I can trust. As far as I know, you are a mere stranger to me. So I refuse.'

Unknown Number: 'I understand that you have had access to all of Samantha's social media accounts, but there is more information I can offer to speed up your investigation.'

'So, you're a hacker?'

Unknown Number: 'More or less.'

The more I got to read this guy's messages, the more I felt frustrated by his unsound tempo. 'More, or less? Which is it?'

I wanted to get rid of him the soonest possible but I don't think blocking an unknown person would put an end to this. He could just use another number. Plus, changing my number would be a hassle and I doubt a self-proclaimed hacker couldn't get my new number. I need to crush his resolve and refute him.

'If u already knw who I am, then I suppose u also know that I can easily find assistance from a professional CEH anytime I want. So what makes u think u could convince me to accept ur vague reasons? Can u guarantee results?'