Sentry of the Arcane

Chapter 16: Fitz

Sophie opens her mouth to say something, but closes it instead, blushing more. Since it's still early morning, the room is dimly lit, which barely allows me notice her blush. I lean in closer to study the tint, which only makes her blush more. Smirking, I step closer to her. "Should I ask why you're here?" I ask, smirking more mischievously.

She manages to keep my steady gaze for only a moment before she looks up, failing to stop her blush. I laugh under my breath when she says, "Y- you probably shouldn't." Suddenly, her eyes widen more than they already are. "Wait- did you purposely leave the door unlocked?"

I laugh again, not surprised that she'd know it was me and not Benen. "Maybe..." I reply in a suspicious way. "Is there a problem with that?"

Sophie reddens as she shakes her head. "N-"

Suddenly, a female voice says, "Yes- the problem is that we're not alone anymore, dear Fitzie..!"

"We don't have to be alone to kiss, my darling Sophie..." a male voice adds. And when the "sound effects" are added, I'm pretty sure my blush is almost as bad as Sophie's.

Instead of retracting immediately, I whisper, "Do you think they know about...that..?" My blush deepens at the thought of the endless torment we'll be receiving.

Sophie squeaks, her cheeks burning brightly as she covers her mouth, her next squeak becoming muffled. After a few seconds, she says, "If they do, how are we going to explain that?" She gestures to the evident proximity between us, which causes the two of us to blush again. "E- especially now."

When I step back, blushing, Audrey and Donovan groan in unison, stopping the "sound effects" as they do so. "Seriously- remind me to never leave you two alone!" Audrey complains, gagging obnoxiously.

Donovan, unfortunately, catches on to what we were talking about. Raising his eyebrows in a sly way, he asks, "You two need to tell us something? Most preferably about 'that'?" At this point, Laurel and Benen have joined us, smiling at Sophie and me.

While Sophie and I look away from each other, we both say "No!" rather quickly. I then shake my head. "We're getting off topic. Speaking of which..." I let my voice trail off as I raise an eyebrow at Donovan and Benen. "We should probably just say it here, since we're all together." Ignoring the smirk from Donovan, I say, "I was doing some research early this morning-"

"Earlier than this?" Laurel asks, earning a glare from Audrey and Donovan.

I nod my head. "Yeah, and I decided to look into Michelle Barrera and David Graham's relationship." I pause, glancing at the faces of the females. "Or should I say, Michelle and David Graham's relationship."

Laurel squeals excitedly, clapping her hands together. "Aww!" she shrieks, a large smile plastered across her face.

Audrey just gags more.

Sophie, on the other hand, straightens up and says, "So they're married?" Her eyes widen when I nod at her. Exhaling sharply, she asks, "How did you find out?"

I shrug. "I just typed it into the search bar. Apparently, there's photos of them exchanging rings and everything." I remember a significant detail, then quickly turn to Sophie. "Remember how I was in the laboratory this morning?" When she nods, I say, "I needed to talk with Steven since I needed to take another look at Michelle's picture." I wait until everyone's calmed down. "I looked at her hand, and her ring wasn't there." Leaning closer to Sophie, I whisper in her ear, "And I think that the murderer deleted it from the files on purpose. But we'll need to see David's hand as well."

Sophie exhales sharply when I whisper to her. Nodding, she whispers back, "We'll try to do that later today with Steven and Caroline." And louder, she adds, "But for now, the three of us will need to do our own research to catch up with you." Sophie then gestures to Audrey, Laurel, and herself. While Laurel waves and Audrey just scoffs at us, Sophie is unable to meet my eyes without blushing as the three of them exit the conference room. Once they do, I make sure to lock it this time.

When I return to our cushion of blankets, I tell the male Altruistic and Sovereign, "We need to find some suspects, so why don't we start with some witnesses?"

"Witnesses of what?" Benen asks, tilting his head to the side. "The murder?"

I shake my head gently. "I meant witnesses of their wedding. The photos I showed you indicates that there were many people present on that day." And with that said, I grab my computer and search up those wedding photos again. Clicking on 'Images', I go through each photo until I see a middle-aged man who strikes an evident resemblance to David. He stands behind the bride and groom, hugging his brother with his good arm while he smiles a toothy grin.

I'm about to show the others when I replay Benen's question. Then something clicks. "Benen- state your question again," I instruct, facing him with a grim expression.

He swallows dreadfully and reiterates his statement. "Witnesses of what? The murder?" He slouches down in relief when I turn away from him, thinking.

The murder... Witnesses.

One was killed inside, and the other wasn't...

But before I can say anything to the others, I hear a knock on the conference room doors. I practically sprint to the door, almost certain that it's the person I need to see right now. Fortunately, when I open the door enough so only I can see who it is, I find myself staring right at Sophie.

I notice her fighting down the faint blush she has when she stares at me. She shakes her head, then says, "I was doing some research and I think I found something out about David." Her voice comes out in a rush as we continue our "staring contest".

I smirk grimly as I step closer to her, trying to to notice her chocolate brown eyes too much. "Let me guess- you think that David was a witness that became a victim?"

Sophie nods, slightly bewildered. "Yes, actually. Why?"

I sigh, shaking my head. "Because I think so too."