Hide and Seek

17 hours...

"Detective, I have another question." Zahara spoke into her phone.

'Yes Zahara,' Noah responded with a mouthful.

"If... if someone refused to tell someone else something, would that make him want to kill him?"

'What?'

"Like, if there was a secret that I knew about your wife. And you knew that I knew it. And you asked me. And I refused to tell you. Would that make you want to kill me?"

'Infidelity?' He huffed.

"Yes."

'Are you the only one who knows?'

"Yes."

'If I killed you I'd lose my only informant.'

"Oh right. Thank you Noah." She hung up. "So, it might not be Eli." She pursed her lips and Teagan shrugged.
Zahara tapped on the notebook on the table, flipping its pages open and closed.

"What's that?" Teagan asked.

"Ezra's journal. He wrote some of the things he experienced in it. So I thought we could use it to compare what they are saying with what he wrote."

"Oh that's cool."

"Unfortunately, Ezra was very cryptic. So he doesn't really write what actually happened in most of his entries."

"It's fine. We will read it when we're done with everyone. I'm sure we'll find something a little useful." Teagan shrugged. "Let's take a look at the next person."

"Kaiya Levi," Zahara muttered.

Kaiya walked into the room with her head high as was normal to her. She had a seriousness to her that made her the most feared member of the Levi family.

"Hello Kaiya," Zahara greeted her.

"Hi Zahara," she gave a small smile that seemed to soften her features a bit.

"Kaiya, what was your relationship with Ezra like?"

"We never had a relationship. We rarely spoke."

"But you acknowledged him as your sibling right?"

"I acknowledged him as my father's seventh child."

"What a family," Teagan snorted.

"Ezra once told me that you were in an accident. Could you tell me what happened?" Zahara asked.

Kaiya's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, that story is what made you and Ezra start talking often am I right?"

"Yes, but what does it have to do with his incident?"

"Just tell us the story and we will know if it has anything to do with it."

"Fine then..." She sighed.

KAIYA LEVI

'It was the day the article was published. The one about Ezra causing all those problems and all that. I was called from my office to dad's office, and everyone was headed there. I knew what it was about because a colleague of mine had sent it to me, but I could not believe that Ezra would do something like that, so I had to hear it for myself. And just as I had suspected, he was lying. I could tell because of the way he stared at dad in the eyes. The deliberate eye contact made me suspicious because Ezra did not normally look at people when he spoke to them. His eyes always wandered as he spoke, so seeing him look at dad made me wonder. After that, dad sent Dilean and I to Mr Leehyung to speak to him about the whole situation.

"Do you think he will agree to meet us?" Dilean asked me as he sat on the chairs outside Mr Leehyung's office.

"He has to," I mumbled. "If he has nothing to hide."

"You think he made this up?" Dilean scrunched his eyebrows. "Ezra confessed though."

"But would Ezra ever do anything as stupid as that?"

"You never really know. And he explained why he did it."

"Since when does Ezra care enough about the company to 'weigh out options' Dilean? Use your brain."

"Miss Levi." The secretary walked out of Mr Leehyung's office. "The manager will see you now."

I nodded and stepped into the office, Dilean strolling behind me with his hands in his pockets.

"Miss Levi," Mr Leehyung grinned. "What can I do for you on this fine day?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes, and returned his greeting with a polite smile.

"Good morning Mr Leehyung," Dilean greeted him from behind me.
Mr Leehyung nodded in his direction. "It is Mr Levi, it is. Now how can I help you?"

"Well, I'm sure you're aware of why we are here Mr Leehyung," I started. "Things are getting out of control because of these accusations against our brother and we would like for you to stop them." I told him.

"Wow, straight to the point," he chuckled, playing with the stack of files on his desk. "You speak as if these accusations are groundless. I have proof. Your brother sent me a text message. I have every right to be upset."

"Do you mind showing it to me? This proof."

"Not at all." He took his phone from his blazer pocket. It took him a few seconds to find the text message, and he handed the phone to me. My eyes scanned over every word and punctuation mark, taking in each detail of the text message.

"Are you satisfied?" He snatched his phone back. "Now, since we have cleared this up, I have a proposal."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Have your father sell me the mine. And I'll make all of this go away."

I raised my eyebrows and scoffed. I was not really surprised with the way he thought, he is someone we have worked with over the years. I was a little surprised that he had the nerve to say that out loud.

"What?" He questioned "You don't want to?"

"Yes, I do not want to," I told him. "What kind of a ridiculous proposal is that?"

"Excuse me?" He coughed.

"You think I don't know that you're not the one who reported this in the first place? Someone else had this article published and you just saw it as an opportunity to pounce at us, am I right?"
He pulled at his collar and tie, and I knew then and there that I was right.

"If any reporter calls you, your answer to them will be 'no comment', or else I will be the one to publish an article about you and Lenore from the finance team."
Mr Leehyung visibly swallowed and nodded his head.
Dilean and I left the office in a triumphant silence if I should say.

"Wow, Kai," Dilean said when we were in the car. "How did you know all that stuff?"

"I wasn't sure at first, but the text message confirmed everything."

"Really? How so?"

"Ezra has a way he texts and that text message was not from him. My guess is that someone framed him, and he knows who it is. But even though he knows who did it, he's still taking the blame."

"Why though?"

"I don't know. But I will find out."

I went back to the mansion that evening after work, but Ezra was not there. The maid told us that he had taken a suitcase with him.
He had left a sticky note with his new address on it, and so I went there.'