Three Knocks | ongoing

11|

Sophia sighed when Camille informed her of her friend's sudden demise. Since she had already worked in the morning, Sophia allowed her to leave at three-thirty. Someone else could take on her job for the moment.

Camille hired an Uber to make it to their rendezvous site on time. On arriving almost there, they got stuck in a traffic jam. She decided to continue the rest on foot. She swung her bag across her shoulder and ran. Pedestrians glared at her. One could say she is running after committing a theft the way her hand clutches the bag.

A hot breeze washed over her face. By the time she arrived, her breath came out in loud gasps. Jake yelled her name and waved at her. He waited in the garden on the opposite side of the road.

Camille slumped on the ground under the shade of a large tree. He at once dropped to his knees.

"What happened?"

"Nothing- I did not ... to – late."

She leaned her head backwards, closed her eyes and attempted to bring her breath back to normal. Jake sat on the ground, watching her. His lips curled at the corners. It took her five minutes before she pulled the photo album out of her bag.

"This fell out of my wardrobe at three in the morning. It opened on my graduation day picture."

She stopped at the specific page and handed him the album.

His mouth fell open at Camille's photo. She underwent a drastic transformation in one year. Then, he observed the girl, whose arm rested around Camille's shoulder, smiling to the camera. He stared, not daring to bring her name to his lips first.

"The boy in the picture, that's Shawn. He died in the car blast yesterday, and he happened to be my neighbour's nephew. I had no clue until another neighbour informed me."

Jake became speechless.

"He also informed me about the Chef's Vision show. Jake, I'm terrified for my other two friends."

She gulped and pointed at the one standing on her left.

"She is Liza Layton, my roommate, and she is Miranda-"

"Carson, Miranda Carson."

"You know her?"

Her heart shuddered at the fact that Jake could have been one of Miranda's trophies.

"She is behind my break-up. She told my ex-girlfriend that I cheated on her with an older woman."

"What" Her lips parted, scrutinising Jake's tensed jaw. "Ex-girlfriend, how"

"Miranda Carson works at a private detective firm in Glasgow."

Her forehead wrinkled. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I would have never guessed one of the rising stars, a future actress who we all predicted she'd be, would end up as a private detective."

It appears that not only her life has gone downhill.

"I don't know her full story, except she came to Glasgow after graduation, would be my guess. She somehow ended up being in the circle of friends of my ex Stephanie, gossip queen since detective work is more or less stalking and recording information."

Camille could not bite back her tongue.

"Okay, it's not my place to interfere in your personal life, but first, Hailey and now Miranda have a connection with both of us before we even met. How did she cause your break-up?"