Dark Cupid

Chapter 10

My mind drifts back to how it all started.

21st may, 2014

"You did a great job Evolet." Noah said, as he sat next to me on the sofa, sipping coffee.
"Thank you, Noah." I smiled.
"Evolet... There's something I wish to talk to you about." He said, in a voice which was hesitating.
"Yeah?" I said, with an eyebrow raised.

"John wants you to take a case in L.A. He wants you to move there."
"What? But I'm in my Freshman's year... How can I just move? Can't someone else take the case?"
"No one is as young as you, and for this case you need to join a school. Wild Cat's."

"What's this about, Noah?"
"Don't panic. I'm willing to move too. You'll not be alone. I don't have any family here anyway."
"I don't either. But we don't have a unit there, New York has the headquarters, I don't know why John wants us to move there."

"A girl got killed last month."
"Who?"
"Maurene Heffley."
"And?"
"Supposedly she was murdered. Her throat was slit and she was left in the woods to bleed to death."
I feel nausea. I said,
"And?"
"And the police enquired a lot, but didn't find the murderer. So they transferred Maurene's case to our department. John and the rest of them tried a lot, but they're giving up on the case."
"So why do they want me to go there?" I asked, confused.
"Because when the police handed over Maurene's case, they handed over this note too." He said as he handed me a piece of paper.

It said,
Maurene got what she deserved. Anyone who tries to come close to Stanley again, has the same fate. I'll kill them all. Stanley is mine. And he will be. I will not stop. And you cannot find me.

Shivers ran down my spine the second I read the note. I looked at Noah. He said,
"They found this near her dead body. The killer isn't gonna stop."
"Who is Stanley?"
"He's Stanley Web. Freshman's year at Wild Cats. Maurene was a freshman too. Supposedly they were neighbours and started dating before they joined the high school. And then she got killed. And if the killer means to do what they wrote in the threatening message, we have to do something about it." He said.
"We sure do, but what can we do?" I asked.
"You join Wild Cats. And you try to befriend Stanley and keep a close watch on him."

"So you're asking me to be the bait?"
"Come on Evolet, you're beautiful. No one can get Stanley easier than you can. And the killer will try to attack again. And we'll find out who they are. I know it's risking your life, but you'll be fine. You've been at dozens of cases like this."
"I don't know Noah. I'm not experienced enough. I joined when I was 14, I'm just 16 now, I'm still a kid."
"Rudolf trusted you. He wanted you to get into this. You do have something."
"I know dad wanted me to do this, but I don't know. Am I capable enough?"
"You are. Look I'm just 18 too. My father got me into this too. Now he's not here anymore, nor is Rudolf. I'm gonna make my dad's dream come true. I want you to make your father's."

"It's not like I don't care for the department. But I don't know. What if I fail?"
"You've never failed."
"Yet."

"Say yes." Noah said.
I hesitated a bit. Then I nodded.

***

I moved to L.A. I joined Wild Cats, and I joined the track team because Stanley was on it. Noah moved a week later. Mr. and Mrs. Martin were appointed from the department too. I don't know what their real names are. They didn't know which case I was working on, they were just asked to be my parents, we needed to make the case look genuine. The department made me fake ID cards, and I was Felicia Martin.

Days passed by and the Martin's slowly actually became a family, they became mom and dad to me. I'm an orphan. I've never seen my mom, dad told me she passed away after giving birth to me. Since then he brought me up. Rudolf Walker, my dad, worked for the NDCI. National Department of Crime Investigation. It's just the department that handles the cases that the police couldn't. And those are quite a lot. Not many people know about this department, just the police, and us, and a few officers in the government. Basically just the trusted people. We are pretty much a secret department.

Dad got cancer when I was thirteen, and by the time I turned fourteen, he was on his death bed. That's when he decided to tell me. He just held my hand tight and said, "Evolet, you're a great girl. You're capable of getting into NDCI. My work. The work I did."
"But you said you were an accountant." I said, sobbing.
He laughed weakly and and whispered, "I worked for a secret agency. The kind you hear stories about."
I gaped. He handed me a card and said, "Call him. He's John, a very good friend of mine and department head in New York. Tell him you're my daughter. He'll tell you what to do. This job is full of dangers, but I know you'll be able to do it. It's in your blood."
"Dad, you're not going anywhere, right?"
"I'm not."
He lied.

I took some time to myself, stayed in my family house, didn't speak to many people. There weren't many people I knew. Days passed by. I finally called him, like dad wanted me to.
"I'm Evolet. Rudolf's daughter."
"Rudolf's daughter? Oh my God, I thought you wouldn't call."
"Dad wanted me to."
"Alright, come to the address I give you."
I noted the address down and went to the place. It was a small apartment. A woman opened the door.
She hugged me and said, "You don't know me, do you?"
I shook my head."I'm your godmother, Emma. I'm your dad's best friend. Your dad made me your godmother when he christened you. I'm sorry that we couldn't meet much. I don't leave the apartment much, I work from home."

She took me in, made me take a seat and said, "You're so small. I don't know why Rudolf pushed you into this." She smiled.
"I'll do anything dad wanted me to do."
She smiled at me. She turned around and called out loud, "John? Evolet is here."
And in a minute, a man came to the room too. He had braveness all over his face, and a charming smile. He sat down and said, "You really are small."
Emma turned to me and said,
"This is John. Rudolf told you about him, right? He's my husband. He handles the headquarters. He does the important work, I'm just incharge of taking care of the paperwork, like which case is closed, who is working on which case etc. John will take care of you, because you're gonna do his kind of work."
"You're gonna be trained to defend yourself and attack, we'll go slow and we will increase the pace depending on how rapid a learner you are." John said.
I nodded obediently.

In a span of 6 months, I was handling my first case, with a senior. That's when I met Noah. He was sixteen. And for my first case, we were just assisting another senior, Lucius. I was a bait. This case was about making the culprit confess. I went to the culprit's apartment. Alone. He was called Maurice, he'd murdered his wife. Apparently he was some psychopath, but getting him to confess wasn't easy. So he got a bail Everytime the police took him in custody. His wife used to teach at a school nearby which taught orphans. I said, "Tina asked me to come over. I had some doubts."
"Sure, sit down." He said, hesitating. He sat down and said, "So you study at the school for the orphans, right?"
"Yes."
"So you don't have any relatives?"
"I don't. I've never even seen my parents."
He grinned.
"So if you go missing, no one would notice?"
I didn't answer. He reached for a knife, I took one out of my shoes and jabbed it into his hand. I ran into the other room. I locked the door and he screamed, "Stupid girl, I killed my wife, you think you'll survive?" That was it. I pushed stop button on the recorder and pushed the red button. Noah and Lucius broke into the house. Maurice was taken in custody.

John appreciated my work on my first case and I kept working on cases, for a while as an assistant to Lucius, then we got separated, just me and Noah. I'd never failed a single case and John trusted me a lot. I worked for a while to train the new people who joined in defense and attacking and I was loving my job. Then I got Maurene's case.

***

"Jessica Davis got killed." I told Noah.
"But she isn't even related to Stanley. This isn't what we expected. The killer was supposed to come for you. You're dating Stanley."
"I don't know, Noah." I said. I was holding back sobs. Jessica had really come close.
"We need to work harder on this case than we thought we would need to." He said.

Second to last chapter probably... Or maybe third to last... But I'm closing the story soon... Hope you're enjoying this... I love you guys! Thanks for your support!

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Love, Kaninika xoxo