BLOODHOUNDS #4: THE DARK KNIGHT

Chapter 14 - FUN

Mason Calland

I threw the photo to the table and sighed. The boys currently gathered in the headquarters, helping me to solve the case. We have all of Everly's records and all the pictures from her past on the table, but everything still ends with an assumption that we can't use them.

The big table was filled until there was no space. Even the 3D projector above the table was a mess. Kayden helped me to draw some red lines to find connections between all of the people with whom she had a relationship in the past-also opening up her dad's case again.

Asher sat on the table, looking at all the pictures slowly. He just walked into the room two minutes ago after having a long meeting. Ares was biting his pen, trying to figure out our potential suspect. Clyde kept rewinding the footage from the New York concert. As for Kayden, he was busy taking some notes.

"Ana mentioned that the guy might be good with chemicals," Asher said as he turned to me.

"He could be. We know that he's working in the same field as us, so we're facing someone who knows a lot of technology knowledge." I said as I passed him some files from Massimo. It's about the Colatial.

"Rian Petrov." I showed his photo on the screen, showing it to Asher and Ares, who came a little late. Ares got up from his seat and stood near Asher.

"He betrayed Colatial around eight months ago by taking all the money from one of their Swiss Bank Accounts. He stole about thirty-five million dollars." I said as I sat on Ares' seat. "He has no connection to Everly, but he was the one who put the letter and kidnapped Maxine's daughter."

"So we're not looking at five people, but at a group of people who wanted Everly dead," Ares said as he took over the 3D projector and started looking at Rian's track records.

"He was one of their tech team members." Kayden pointed out.

"But he's doing the fieldwork." Clyde got up and walked closer to the projector.

"But why? Are they just crazy fans? What do they get from her death?" Ares asked, completely confused.

"Recognition." We all turned to the door where Anastasia just walked in. She was wearing a red satin dress with her dark red lipstick. She brought a black file and walked towards us. She put the file into the 3D projector scanner so it would pop up for all of us to see.

Asher grabbed her arm, wrapping his arm around her possessively.

"After Rian stole the money, he ran off to Russia and got saved by The Barinovs. They offered him a job, a job that would change his life if he succeeded. Everly is half Russian, which I don't think she knew that fact about her." We already knew that, but we let Ana continue.

"You already knew he's the main heir to his father's throne, but he met Cathy Jordan when she visited her friend in Russia. They fell in love, and he ran away to America. They had Everly together and went into hiding."

"So you were saying that they wanted her now?" Ares asked curiously.

"Recognition. If you can kill her, they will give them recognition and a reward. I think her grandparents were up to something. They wanted to kill her because-"

"She's not a part of their plan." I finished her sentence, and everything made sense now. I knew her background that she had Russian blood, but it wasn't clear to me who her dad was.

I looked at the projector to see her dad's profile.

Andrei Novikov, who turned himself into Andreas Jordan, wanted an ordinary life. The mafia world didn't suit him, and he always wanted to pursue art. He was a music teacher. All he wanted was to live a peaceful life, and when his one and only daughter told him that she wanted to be a singer, he knew that he wouldn't be able to live for long.

His wife was clueless, but he knew his time was ticking. He chose to give Everly her dream even though it cost his life.

"How did you get this information?" I asked.

"I have my ways." Ana pushed Asher away, but he caught her again.

"So we're seeing this from another perspective then... we have to kill her dad's side of the family to stop the stalking," Clyde said, and I took over the projector to see the family tree.

"We still need the main man," I said, looking at every one of the faces.

"I want to know where you got this information, Ana," Asher asked as he made her look at him.

"A friend."

"What friend?" Asher asked as he stood up, towering her with his height. She walked towards me and linked her arm to mine.

"Don't provoke him," Clyde warned Ana. I pushed Ana back to Asher, and he grabbed her wrist.

"Where are you going?" He asked her, knowing she wouldn't tell him unless he had a gun to her head.

"Going to a party."

"With whom?"

"With Mason." Ana smiled at me, and I gave her a middle finger. She scoffed, and Asher chuckled before forcing her to turn around. She spanked her.

"Get a room, you fuckers!" Kayden hissed as he threw his pen to them.

"We're out of here." Asher excused himself, dragging Ana with him. I let out a long sigh and kept my eyes on the projector.

"Why do you care so much about this case?" I turned to Clyde. He knew I hate shit like this. I gave two fucks about people, yet now I'm busy finding America's sweetheart's stalker.

"I'm bored."

"You have a pile of work waiting for you, and you're not fucking bored," Kayden commented.

"I'm fucking bored, Kayden." I hissed as I looked at the date Ana had given us earlier. I wondered where she got this from. We dug into his dad's past, but nothing came out. He indeed has the skill to do this.

That's a fascinating turn, and now we're facing the mafia then.

This is fun.