Realise - Real Lies

No way out

Check it out here as well: https://jaderoxx30892.wixsite.com/reallies/post/chapter-10-no-way-out

Jade's POV

I stared at Layla with my mouth wide open. "I am just postulating. That's probably what the cops think right?" She asked. "That assumption is preposterous," I said quickly. "Hey I don't judge. And I wont hand you over to the police as long as I get what I want," she said haughtily. "And what is it that you want?" I asked. "Hermês. I think you know him and I want to meet him," she said. I narrowed my eyes at her, "Why?" "None of your business," she snapped. "I really don't know him that well," I said trying to be cautious. "I don't believe you. Look you need to find Dominic to help you find Richy and I can help you with that. All I need is for you to make my meeting with Hermês happen. Deal?" "I can try," I said.
She shrugged, "But until that I can't help you for free. I need collateral." I stiffened, "Ok what do you want?" "You know they say diamonds are the girl's best friend but I do except emeralds," she said pointing to my neck. The emerald pendant that was gifted to me by dad. It meant a lot to me. I paused. "Means a lot to you I gather? Well it is just until you hold the end of your bargain and plus is it worth more than your boyfriend?" She asked. I removed it from my neck and handed it to her, "No." She took it and admired it, "Looks expensive." "Are you going to help or not?" I asked getting irritated. She rolled her eyes, "Touchy much? Fine. I came across something interesting on the dark web. See someone familiar?" She was pointing to her computer screen. I squinted at the weirdly designed webpage. It looked like a list with close up headshots of people. I scrolled through the page and froze as I saw a familiar face. Richy's face. "What is this list?" I asked.
"A transport list. It lists out who needs to be sent where," she said. "By whom?" I asked. "Lady this is the dark web. No details are given. It is known for minimalist information. All we know is that there was contract to take Richy to Mistissini." "That's where I woke up," I said quickly. Layla looked at me, "At Mistissini? That can't be a coincidence. I think it does make sense. You and Richy were driving together, so they probably took you both and left you in Mistissini and took Richy away." "But where? The Quebec police searched the entire town and found him nowhere," I said getting desperate. Layla thought for a moment, "Does Richy know anyone in Mistissini? Seems odd to choose a secluded and tiny town like Mistissini. Not to mention, they left you there so if they did keep Richy in Mistissini then they would obviously know that the cops would be looking for him." "I don't think he knows anyone. So why Mistissini then?" I asked. Layla started clicking on the computer and brought up the Mistissini map, "Oh I'll be damned." "What?" I asked. She pointed on the screen, "Mistissini has a water aero drone. Its like an airport." The realization set on me quickly, "So basically Richy's kidnappers took him probably anywhere in the world?"
Layla nodded, "Seems like it. It is pretty brilliant. Sleepy town so anyone and anything can be smuggled through the tiny airport." "But the only thing that the webpage said was to transport him to Mistissini," I said. "Well that is obvious. No one is going to put up everything on the contract. But how does Dominic fit into this?" She asked. I considered telling her an edited version, "Dominic met with Richy before we got abducted, so I think it might have something to do with Dominic. Richy being kidnapped and Dominic going off the radar doesn't sit well with me." "I would agree but Dominic is very paranoid. Anything might have spooked him and caused him to fall off the face of the earth," she said quietly. I looked at her and dared to ask her the question, "You and Dominic know each other for long?"
"I suppose. As I said, I do data recovery for him. And I don't normally kiss and tell but he is amazing in bed. Cracks my top 5 for sure," she said nonchalantly. I cleared my throat uncomfortably, "Thats.. Thats quite informative. He must be really fond of you then." She laughed hysterically, "Oh God no. That was ancient news. For the past few months he has been such a prude. He just gets the things he need and rushes out. No fuss." I relaxed a bit when I suddenly had an idea, "Wait you do data recovery correct? Do you think you can recover data from this phone?" I handed her the phone I had in my pocket. She looked at it intently, "Let me see." She sat at the desk and focused the ceiling spot light on the phone. Gingerly, she used forceps to peel back layers of melted metal and plastic, "Hmm good thing, it isn't completely destroyed. But I cannot say for sure I will be able to recover anything from this." I sighed, "Anything at all would be helpful I guess." "Is this Richy's phone or your phone?" "Neither. I found it in Richy's car. His car was burnt," I said. "Yikes. That's a quick way of getting rid of evidence," she said without taking her eyes off the phone. She finally pulled a chip and plugged it into her laptop. "Take a seat Jade. This will take a while," she said looking at me. I looked around and sat down on the chair. I saw the broken remains of my brand new phone on the floor and sighed, "You didn't have to destroy my phone you know." "I didn't but I did not want to take a chance. Can I ask you something though?" She asked. "Sure." "If you were sedated  and had no idea how you got to Mistissini, why do the police think you hurt Richy? What reason could they have?" I did not want to share anything with this stranger. I couldn't even begin to trust her. But then again, there wasn't anyone I could trust to help me anyways. "Someone tried implying that I was not faithful to Richy." "And? Is it true? That you aren't faithful to him?" "Its complicated," I said trying to end the topic. She got the hint. I looked at my watch. It was close to midnight. I was starting to feel drowsy from exhaustion but I willed myself to stay awake. Finally, Layla whistled, "Awesome. Jade check this out."
I walked towards her desk and looked at the screen. "Okay brief overview. Phone is new and a few calls were made, all to private numbers. And calls were received from private numbers as well. There isn't anything else on the phone except a video which was the last thing that was downloaded on the day of your road trip. After that nada. Do you want to see the video?" She asked. "Yes." She played the video. It had no audio but I could see the video was of the interior of a plane and I saw Jake seated when a few men in suits approached him. "Is that Dominic?" Layla asked. I nodded as a man said something and then someone placed handcuffs on his wrists. My heart dropped, "Who are these people?" "Hang on. Let me zoom in on the badge this guy is showing," she said clicking furiously. "Uh oh. That's Interpol," she said. I stared completely speechless. "Damn of all the people I never thought Dominic would get arrested by Interpol," she continued. Panic started rising in me. Jake was arrested? This is was worse than anything. We were so wrapped up with Jake's mentor and the people keeping an eye on us that we had completely ignored the law enforcement. "Jade? Jade!" Layla yelled pushing my shoulder. "Huh?" "This is bad isn't it?" She asked. "Yes very bad." I had to help Jake. But how?