Counterfactual

29 | lovesick

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

LOVESICK

( — in love, or missing the person one loves, so much that one is unable to act normally. )

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          ROWAN DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE HELL HE'S LOOKING AT.

          He skims through the article, trying his hardest to ignore awfully obvious grammar mistakes that would have never gotten past a serious editor, and looks for anything potentially relevant to Taylor's stay in Maine. Truth be told, he thinks it's a bit of a stretch and they're just assuming things based on a name and a convenient article.

          He twirls a cigarette between his fingers as he reads, scrolling down the touchpad with the fingers of his free hand, and knows they're probably grasping at straws here. The same thing happened with KJ, when they all thought they'd reach a great reveal and all they got was a bruised cheekbone, a gash on an arm, and more questions than answers.

          They're way in over their heads. If the police can't figure out what happened to Taylor, why do they think a bunch of college kids and a ghostwriter—who's definitely not being paid for this—can do it?

          Embezzlement. Throwing fundraisers and never using the money on what he told everyone he would. Suspicions of having shady side businesses. Nothing about what Mark Bonheur has done seems to have any connection to Taylor whatsoever, and Rowan is seconds away from closing the browser when Chase leans forward.

          "Do they talk about what kind of shady side business he's been working on?" he questions.

          "No, but they also say he hasn't lost his job, so no one has been able to prove anything," Rowan retorts, sipping his cappuccino. "These are all assumptions. He said, he said. It doesn't necessarily mean anything."

          "What if that side business was getting these people safe places to hide? What if the dude was the one who got Taylor that apartment in Maine and then sold her out to whoever killed her?"

          "Or maybe he wasn't a double agent and was genuinely trying to help. She was dating his son, after all, and, regardless of whatever problems she and Dimitri might have had, they were happy together. Right?" Chase shakes his head from side to side, so as to say 'yes, probably'. "There might have been someone else involved, someone who gave her hiding place away."

          "I think you want to believe in their innocence a little bit too much."

          "Because putting the blame on Dimitri is literally the most obvious thing to do, and nothing is ever that simple."

          "Except this is real life, we're talking about real people, and, in real life, the most obvious choice is the most obvious choice for a reason. It's obvious because it's likely, and you have data to confirm it. Stop with the wishful thinking for once in your life, forget you're a writer"—Rowan huffs—"and focus on what is right in front of your eyes. You can't tell me this is not worth looking into."

          "Whatever." Rowan throws his hands up in the air in defeat. "If you think you've got this in the bag, then, by all means, keep doing it without me, but you don't get to ask for my opinion and then completely dismiss it."

          "Now you're just being petty." Chase calmly cups his cappuccino mug between his hands to warm up. "Feel free to take a break if you don't think you're up to the task."