WHISPERS IN THE DARK

Chapter Three

“Pssst, Callie, we need to leave before they wake up,” Naomi whispered urgently, her voice cutting through the dimly lit room.

I blinked awake, struggling to process her words. “Before who wakes up?” I whispered back, glancing at my phone.

06:00 AM.

Naomi’s eyes widened as if I’d just grown a third head. “We stayed at Maliki's last night!” she said, her frustration evident.

Confused, I thought, ‘I don’t stay anywhere unless it’s a trusted, private space.’

“WE HAVE TO GO NOW!” Naomi hissed, pointing behind me. I slowly turned to see Malik, still asleep, cuddled against my back with his arm draped over me.

“Oh, shit,” I muttered as I carefully extricated myself from the bed.

We slipped out of Maliki's room, closing the door quietly behind us. In the hallway, Steph was waiting. “About time! Let’s get out before they wake up,” she whispered with a laugh. We made our way to the front door and slipped into the waiting car.

The drive home was uneventful, and soon enough, we were back at our house. We groaned as we climbed the front steps and entered the kitchen.

“How did we end up crashing there last night?” I grumbled, accepting a bottle of water from Steph.

“We were pretty wasted,” Naomi replied with a chuckle.

I headed for my room to shower and change. Naomi groaned about wanting to go back to bed, but I reminded her we had an important meeting with our father.

After my shower and changing into fresh clothes, I grabbed the files from my desk and went downstairs to the meeting room. We were expecting the new leader of Northern Ireland's mafia, so a more formal setting was necessary.

Naomi had already set up the big screen and was looking quite disheveled. “Oh my god, my head... it’s killing me,” she moaned. I laughed as I joined my father, Luca, Steph, and Cole at the large wooden table.

“Callie, finally. Let’s get started. Naomi, show us what you have. I want this issue resolved as quickly as possible. It’s getting out of hand,” my father said, taking his seat at the head of the table.

We’d been dealing with attacks on our warehouses, with stolen goods and tampered cameras leaving us in the dark about the culprits. Recently, we set up a decoy warehouse and, as expected, a group of armed men showed up. I neutralized them before they could infiltrate the warehouse but was unable to extract useful information.

“So, what have we got?” Naomi asked, her frustration evident as she tossed her work tablet onto the floor and screamed. “We’ve got nothing! Just dead ends and middlemen! This guy is a ghost,” she roared, stabbing a question-marked picture on the board.

My father cleared his throat, but Naomi interjected. “I hope you put a bullet through their heads! It’s time you stop thinking with your dick!”

She slumped into a chair, picking up her tablet with a sigh.

After a moment of silence, Luca suggested, “Maybe he’s a ghost?”

Steph jumped up, “Luca might be onto something. What if he is a ghost? There are bodies from our enemies over the past three years that haven’t been accounted for. That guard Callie found did say—”

“Callan,” I whispered, cutting her off. The room fell silent. I took a deep breath and continued, “It makes sense. We never found his body. We don’t know if he’s really dead, just that there was an explosion. It’s the only name we have.”

My father rubbed his temples, just as the intercom beeped. “Sir, your guests have arrived. Shall I show them in?”

“Yes, show them right in,” my father replied.

As we awaited our guests, Naomi, Steph, and I delved into Callan’s past addresses, family, and any missing information.

I had hoped for months that he had died in that explosion three years ago.

*FLASHBACK*

I sprinted away after pushing the detonation button, the trigger for Callan’s fail-safe. I had spilled water on his suit at a party, an accident that would cost me dearly.

When Callan excused us from the table, I knew what was coming. He dragged me up the stairs, and once in our room, he began to beat me mercilessly. I tried to apologize, but he didn’t stop until I was silent and broken.

He left, promising to return. I managed to crawl to the bathroom, where I saw his office door slightly ajar. It was my chance. I pushed the button under his desk and jumped out of the window, running until I heard the explosion. It was over.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Lost in thought, I heard the door open.

“David, thanks for having us. Our apologies for the unexpected visit, but it’s crucial for both our businesses,” a serious voice said.

“Maliki? My apologies, Maliki and Ryan, this is my eldest daughter, Callie, and her younger sister, Naomi. But I’m sure you’ve done your research,” my father said, introducing us before taking his seat.

Steph leaned in and whispered, “Bet you’re wishing you didn’t sneak out this morning.” She pulled out a chair, and we all took our seats.

“So, Maliki, let’s get to it. How can we help each other?” my father asked. Maliki tossed a folder onto the table.

“Last week, my associate found counterfeit money in the day’s takings,” Maliki said. “The reference numbers on the fake cash belong to your organization.”

The room fell silent.

“Naomi, get our logs now!” my father barked.

“Already on it,” Naomi replied.

“FUCK! How did we miss this?” Naomi yelled as she passed her tablet to me.

I reviewed the logs and pointed out, “Luca packaged this shipment, signed over to Simon, who delivered it to you, Mal. The problem is, Simon went off the radar for an hour.”

Naomi quickly found Simon’s location—an abandoned parking lot 60 miles north. We prepared for a quick exit, armed and ready. Steph joked about the situation feeling like a repeat of last night, and I laughed with her as we set off.

An hour and a half later, we arrived near the parking lot. Armed and alert, we split into teams. Naomi and Ryan went to the back entrance, Luca, Steph, and Cole took the side, and Malik and I approached the front.

As we reached our positions, Maliki grinned. “Fancy seeing you here, my love. Twice in two days—aren’t I lucky?”

I laughed, confirming our readiness. Naomi’s drone detected one faint heat signature on the second floor of the parking lot.

The stench of decay hit us as we entered. “What’s that smell?” Cole shrieked.

“Death,” Maliki and I answered in unison.

Naomi exclaimed, “No way!” and Luca groaned, commenting on the brutality. I rounded the corner to see Simon’s body—bound, mutilated, and the symbols on the wall painted in blood.

“Call clean-up,” Maliki said. As we left, I sighed, “Another dead end. Let’s get back and brief my father.”

Back home, we debriefed my father, showing the gruesome photos of Simon. He sighed deeply, “Right, let’s sit down and review everything.”

After a lengthy debrief, my father arranged rooms for our guests. Luca and Cole escorted Maliki and Ryan to their rooms, and we said our goodnights.

Tossing and turning in bed, I heard a knock on my door. Maliki stood there, tired but smiling, in red and black pajama trousers.

“It’s 3 AM, Mal. What do you want?” I asked, trying to keep my irritation in check.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d explore and found you,” he said, laughing.

“You didn’t find me, Mal. You came looking,” I replied, smiling.