Before Another War

Chapter Thirty

She stumbled into the kitchen, nearly tripping over her own feet. Alex was desperate to find out what the cat knew. Maybe then she could get one step closer to the truth. As she burst in, she could see Matt crouched on the white, tiled floor, trying to feed Cornelius some tinned tuna. Raf was leaning against one of the stained counters, watching with amusement. They both looked up quickly when she came in.

'He really doesn't like tuna.'

'Alex? What is it?' He asked, seeing that she was out of breath.

'Nothing.' She tried not to look them in the eyes. 'I just need Cornelius.'

Matt stood up, folding his arms. 'Not until you tell us what's going on. What did Kirk say to you?'

She sighed in frustration. 'Just give me the cat.'

'Alex, please talk to us. We don't care about the—the...' Raf struggled to find the right words. 'The murder. You were a kid, but you need to tell us what's going on.' He stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. 'We're a team, aren't we?'

She broke away from his touch and paced in a small circle. Alex debated if she should tell them the full story. After all, she couldn't do this by herself. But could she trust them?

'It's...' she hesitated a moment, and both of them watched her with interest. 'It's Kirk. He had Nadia's bracelet in his office.'

'That doesn't mean anything,' Matt said.

'But it does! I gave it to her the day she disappeared. There's no reason she would have left it there unless there had been a struggle.'

'A struggle. Alex, come on... it could've just slipped off her wrist.'

'Hang on,' Raf interrupted. 'Maybe she's right. He might know something, he was the last person to see her after all.'

Raf didn't know what to make of the situation. At that precise moment, both he and Matt were far more interested in Alex's past than finding Nadia. But he knew she needed to trust him first.Alex glanced desperately at Matt, praying that he would agree with her. He looked conflicted for a few seconds, trying to piece everything together.

'Okay. Say he was involved, what can we do about it?'

'We talk to him,' Alex said.

'That's it?' Raf questioned.

'I mean, what else can we do? We're not the police.'

Matt picked up Cornelius, ignoring his violent squirming.

'Let's talk to him tomorrow. And after, promise me you're going to get help,' he said.

Alex didn't know what sort of help he meant but she agreed anyway. 

'Fine.' She took Cornelius from him and he stopped squirming instantly, making Alex think she really was right. Her phone rang. 'I've got to get this.'

Gently placing Cornelius on the floor, she headed outside.

'What do you think about him?' Raf asked once she was out of earshot.

'It's just a cat, nothing special.' He shrugged.

Then, as if he had heard, Cornelius ran through Matt's legs and stood by the door, scratching to get out. Raf stood with a look of amazement on his face.

'Do you think...'

'No!' Matt laughed. 'Stop being stupid.'

Raf laughed with him. But their merriment died as their minds turned to the newspaper.