Lost and Found

l8

"You took your suitcase, I took the blame
Now I'm tryin' make sense of what little remains, oh"

Listen to Breakeven by The Script

Previous chapter

Slowly but surely, I removed them from the drawer. My eyes landed on each word printed in perfect font size and line alignment. As I read through the first page again and again, nausea rolled around in waves in the pit of my stomach.

These documents were proof of money laundering that the Deyes enterprise was involved in.

Just as I tried processing the overwhelming information, a familiar voice spoke, "What are you doing?"

My heart gripped in fear and my lips turned to a parched ashen-grey. Who was it?

With the documents still clasped in my fingers, I turned around slowly in the direction from where the voice came from. Dread and trepidation of being exposed filled me to the brim.

Now facing the spiral staircase, I sucked in a deep breath and squared my shoulders, opening my eyes. My heart hammered intensely in recognition. Jayce Harries. The expression on his face was agonizingly blankly inscrutable. What was going on in his mind? In this current situation, I would pick his usual unpleasant scowl over this impassive face which I could not decipher at all. Would he give me away? What are the chances of him letting this slide? A million thoughts raced through my mind.

It wasn't a time for me to get lost in my thoughts. I rose my eyes to look at him right in his, ready for confrontation, only to notice that he was already doing so. His amber coloured eyes seemed to be penetrating through my soul, reading and unveiling my deepest secrets. Feeling uncomfortably vulnerable and naked under his piercing gaze, I looked away. Could he have already guessed my motives?

The sound of the door being opened took me by surprise. Still momentarily stood rooted to the ground, my feet wouldn't move, until Jayce appeared before me and grabbed me by the arm, dragging me hurriedly into one of the rooms behind the spiral staircase.

He shut the door as inconspicuously as possible and at one and the same time we turned around to face each other, causing our lips to connect.

My eyes widened in shock as I jolted away instinctively. Despite what just happened, he had the same glazed look on. But, was it hurt that glinted his eyes? I was on the verge of over-analysing things when Jayce suddenly grasped my arm tightly. What was he doing? My breathing became more rapid and my heart was beating erratically. Just how was he affecting me like that? He paused and hesitated for a moment, and pulled me nearer to him. What was he trying to do? Did he not want to maintain a distance away from me right after that discountenancing moment? He was acting awfully unperturbed, while I was all panicky about that brief kiss!

He put his finger to his lips, signalling for me to remain quiet. He then put his ear to the door and gestured for me to do the same. I shot him a questioning look but still did.

Soon, the muffled voices turned clarion. Covson's was the first I overheard, "You have to tell him to stop whatever he is doing. Otherwise, I'll be the one to end it. There wouldn't be a pretty ending and we don't want that, do we?" A fake sneer sounded.

"Go ahead and do what it is that you want. Nobody will believe you, especially after knowing what you've done, darling," Mrs Deyes' tone was calm whereas Covson's was agitated and incandescent. 'Darling' was nowhere near how affectionate it should sound like. It was as if in fact spat out venomously.

"You are seriously bringing that up now?"

"I am doing what you're doing. Start threatening your father and I, and I'll do the same."