The Futile Effort

III

Since Julia and Clare moved in with me, my life has changed dramatically. My return from work looked completely different, not to mention the fact that I now took more time off to be able to spend time with them. We often went out of town to rest. Sometimes we visited Julia's mother, Mrs. Trenton. Mary has always been nice to me. Now even more seeing me with her granddaughter. Clare quickly became the most important woman in my life.
“You spoil her too much.” Mary noticed when I was giving Clare a piggy ride back on my lap. The little one laughed while clasping her little hands around my neck, afraid of falling off.
“We're just having fun. It has nothing to do with dissolution." I added innocently, barely catching my breath in the little one's embrace.
"Then check her room, there are so many toys that soon you will have to move the bed to another room."
“We have plenty of space, don't we, Clare?”
"NO!" the girl screamed. I laughed.
“She learned the word very quickly.” Julia noticed, giving us a smile.
“I heard you are going to the cinema today. So I can stay here overnight to watch my granddaughter?" Mary said nonchalantly, studying the exchange of glances between me and Julia.
It was true that we sometimes went out together. Julia was great company. It didn't escape my notice that she sometimes watched me with a strange expression, studying me like an interesting book. It was a nice change from my previous relationships…including my marriage.
“Mary, you are always welcome here. We don't need to leave so you and Clare can be alone. You can even live here."
“Oh no, Julia and I have lived together too long.” She gave her daughter a sad smile. “Enough broken relationships already, I will not be an obstacle to the next one.”
I blushed as I looked away.
“Mom! You were never an obstacle, it's my and Ole's decision to break up. And I'm not talking about relationships. Jess and I are friends."
Julia also explained with a blush on her face.
"For everyone's sake, you better be," Mary said solemnly. “First we have to find Eva and get rid of this guy who makes me shudder.”
"Mom." Julia approached Mary, grabbing her hand. “Don't bother yourself, please. You are to spare yourself for the sake of your heart."
“Julia!” Mary said warningly. This made me concerned.
"What about your heart?" I asked right away, placing Clare on my lap and sitting down on the sofa next to Mary.
"Never mind. She wants to find her baby. THAT'S important now."
"You have to be strong to do that." I told her. "If you won't talk, I'll send my doctor to you, and I don't take no for an answer."

Julia and I went out in the evening. I wanted to ask her about my mother's health, but she kept silent. But I knew the doctor would tell me everything. Just going to the cinema was also something different from my style. Previous girls wanted extravagance, wealth. Julia, however, preferred dating incognito. Did I call it dating? Maybe they were. I looked at the woman sitting next to me, who was eating popcorn while watching movie trailers with attention. Yes… you could fall in love with her. It would be easy.
However, somewhere in my head and heart, I still have feelings for Eva. The longer I waited to hear from my detective, the more anxious I became.
Julie grabbed my hand. I hadn't noticed that he had been following me for a while.
“You look worried. Everything's all right?"
"Eva." I said briefly. An expression of sadness and disappointment crossed her face.
“It will always be number one?” she asked quietly. The lights in the room slowly dimmed. The show was starting.
“I will always take care of her in some way.” I replied, squeezing Julia's hand. She leaned closer to me. I knew what he wanted.
So I decided to try.
The kiss was short and sweet.
And the movie is terribly boring.
We held hands on the way home.
***
The kisses repeated each day. Clare was laughing at us. We held back over Mary, who didn't seem to be comforted. Contrary to what she said about relationships, she decided to move in with us. Julia was bothered by it. It was very strange to live with three ladies under one roof. I noticed that the atmosphere between Julia and her mother was sometimes strangely tense. I started spent more time in my office or with Clare. Julia was always sweet to me, I started to like more our alone time together when I wasn't working and Mary wasn't in the picture.
“Mrs. Hunter, someone for you.” My secretary said. I usually worked from home, but lately I've been checking head quarter finances, so I've been working from the office. Good thing this part of the building was reserved for shareholders only during occasional board meetings, so Bruno didn't know I was there.
"Who?" I was surprised.
"Mr. Braun."
"Let him in." I said quickly and pushed all the papers aside.
After a while, a short, inconspicuous, slim man entered the office. He was so unremarkable that he could easily blend in with the crowd. That's why he was a great detective.
"Mrs. Hunter." He greeted dryly. He didn't wait for my reaction and immediately sat down in the chair in front of his desk and handed me a sealed envelope. I didn't open it though.
"Speak."
“Like I said, it took me a few months, but I know something now. Someone was very good at covering their tracks."
I nodded, leaning against the back of the chair.
"AND?"
“A month ago, a body was fished out of the sewer.” Braun said emotionlessly. My heart froze for a moment. “It was the body of a man. Very difficult to identify, but with DNA we were able to determine that it belonged to Ben Knight."
I closed my eyes for a moment.
"How did he die?"
“He was drugged and drowned in the canal. The rats did the rest. Police have not yet identified the body."
“What about Eva?” I asked right away.
“Mrs. Trenton has disappeared. She must have brought a lot of cash because she bought a seat on a plane to Rome, Turkey, China and a few other places. I checked them all. In theory, she didn't get into any."
"So where the hell is she? And who killed Knight?" I said impatiently.
“Ms. Eva's escape indicates that she had some connection to Knight's death. They were seen together in a small motel off the highway. After that, the trail ends."
“You didn't find her? You've been looking for almost half a year!" I was furious. I wanted to know if Eva was alive or if she was in any danger.
“I was dealing with the second case you assigned to Grenda.”
I forgot to add that Grenda and Mr. Braun were married.
“My finances. What have you learned?” I asked quickly.
“Bruno transferred very large sums to an account that belonged to Ben Knight.”
"What?!" I screamed jumping up from my chair.
“It was a transfer account. Part of the profits went to Haiko's drugs. I'm afraid the audit may be asking about it. The transfers were pretty well disguised, but regular, and there's nothing to back it up except a transfer confirmation."
"Whore." I cursed. “How could he send transfers if I approve them? Only I have the right to approve sums over a million dollars to foreign accounts." I noticed.
“You and someone who has access to wire transfer receipts with the last name Hunter.”
"Even my father wouldn't do that, and I've stripped him of all rights except guest of honor at shareholder meetings and retirement." I snorted in disbelief.
“There's another Mrs. Hunter. Mrs Eva Hunter. Which, unfortunately, you didn't remove from legal position as signatory after your divorce. I'm afraid Miss Eva took advantage of this fact. Your name is on the transfer orders, but her access key."
"Fuck." I swore again. I stared out the window. There was silence in the room. “You have to fucking find her, no matter how or where, dead or alive, you have to fucking find her!” I said sharply. Braun knew that was the end of the conversation. He got up and left without a word.

When I got home, I found Julia in the kitchen. She drank wine and ate ice cream.
"Tough day?" She asked seeing my rumpled and wet clothes. I didn't want to go back by car, so I went to the subway. It was raining terribly.
"Today I don't want to talk." I said softly and approached her.
That night my bed wasn't empty.