An Oath In Blood (Book #3)

Chapter 06: The Musketeers

WARREN HALE

"There is no Corvina Hawke anywhere." Eman frowned as she stared at her laptop screen. Her phone was propped upright, allowing me a clear view of Tariq's home office.

"What?" I leaned forward in my seat, frowning.

"It is like the woman doesn't exist." She muttered almost as if talking to herself.

"That can't be right, Hashim. She is a real person. I saw her," I said, running a hand through my hair. And I was almost positive she was the woman who had tried to kill me two months ago. She had the same eyes. And I could never forget those grey eyes which narrowed on me with such hatred and violence, it threw me off-guard for the first time in my life. I couldn't mistake someone else's eyes for them. I was sure of it.

"I have been searching for her for the past couple of hours, Warren. There is no trace of her. Not even a social media account." Eman chewed on her bottom lip. Glancing at me, she frowned. "If the woman is a killer, I highly doubt that she would have an active online presence." She added.

Well, if she put it like that, it made sense. "No online articles? No news surrounding her?" I questioned.

"Nope. Nada." Eman shook her head. "There isn't a person I can't find on the Internet, Hale and if I can't find her then there is a very slim chance of her existing at all."

"What are you saying?" I narrowed my eyes on her as she turned to face the camera fully. She was wearing a peach hijab today, paired with a cream pants set. She toyed with the end of her hijab as if she didn't want to speak to me anymore. She looked almost apologetic as she responded.

"Are you sure you aren't paranoid? With everything that is going on with your family, do you think you are...imagining things?" She tried to soften the blow, I knew she did but her words hit me all the same, making me cringe with embarrassment.

"I am not making her up, if that's what you mean," I replied, feeling a tinge of embarrassment flaring in my chest at the accusation.

"I mean, of course not." Eman winced as she straightened. "I was just wondering if this isn't a cry of help." She waved her hands around. I clenched my jaw, pushing away from my laptop screen. I couldn't be pissed at her. Or at least I was trying not to be pissed at her.

"This isn't a cry for help. I just want to know who this woman is and why she is after me." I responded in a controlled voice. It took a lot to make me snap and it seemed I had finally found the limit. "If you can't help me with it, I will hire a PI. In hindsight, I should have just gone for a PI instead of coming to you." I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

"Warren." Eman's voice was stern when she spoke again. "I understand that you're frustrated but you can't blame me for considering other possibilities given that you haven't provided me with much. You told me that this woman was out to kill you and you want me to stalk her. But you never told me why you didn't go to the cops and ask for police protection. Why do you want to find her yourself? It is hard working with you when I know there are other options available and that you don't trust me, not fully anyway."

I leaned back in the chair in my hotel room, the buttons of my shirt undone and the hem hanging over my pants. I felt as disheveled as I looked. And Warren Hale was nothing if not proper and elegant. You could ask anyone. But this day had drained me and it wasn't even fully over yet.

"I think I know her." I murmured finally.

"What?" Eman frowned, tilting her ear toward the screen as if to hear me better.

"I said I think that I know her." I repeated, a tad louder this time. She blinked at the screen for a moment, processing my words.

"But you said that you didn't know her..." She shook her head, a frown touching her lips. "You aren't making any sense." She added.