Second Time's the Charm

Part 4

Dila circled the block a few times to make sure she wasn't being followed. Once she was confident none of Ferman's men were watching her, she parked her car a block away and walked to Serdar's office. From the outside it looked like a shoe repair store, inherently unnoticeable, but inside resided one of the best private investigators working in the city and the only person she trusted to help her find Naz and Sermin. As far as everyone knew, her stepmother and sister had moved to London a year ago and were happily living there. Only Dila knew that that wasn't the case – Ferman had them hidden somewhere and was using them as leverage against Dila.

She spotted the older man in the back office and headed towards him, Thanks to Serdar and his son, she already had information on many of Ferman's financials, but what she desperately needed they still hadn't found - Naz and Sermin's location. She handed Serdar the box of pastries he loved so much and took a seat across from him.

"Thank you, my child," he mumbled with appreciation.

"Please tell me you found something."

He pursed his lips, exhaling a heavy sigh. "Patience. We're working on it."

"I'm running out of patience." She thought back to two nights ago, when she had to tell her husband Kuzgun refused to sell her childhood home back to her, and how he punished her for it. She was in pain, physically, emotionally, and she didn't know how much longer she could take it. "Why is this so hard to find? There has to be some kind of clue in his records about where he's keeping them."

"The problem is there's multiple options and it's taking time to narrow it down. He's already moved them twice. We have to make sure we can get their location before it happens again."

She wanted to believe Serdar so badly, otherwise she didn't know how much longer she could go on. To think she'd actually hoped her marriage to Ferman would be something bearable, even if he'd trapped her into it. The gullible part of her had assumed they could lead a normal life, that he would be a decent human being, but she knew the truth now. What kept her awake at night, however, wasn't just what he did to her – it was about what he was doing to Naz and Sermin. He enjoyed torture, and watching others in pain, and if he was having his men do the same thing to – no, she didn't want to think about it. She glanced down at her watch. "I have to go."

"Watch yourself around Ferman. We're being extremely careful but you should always be on guard around him."

"I always am."

She picked up her bag and headed outside. With Serdar's help she was putting evidence together to take down Ferman but her first priority was making sure her family was safe. Until then, she was at his mercy. As if things weren't difficult enough, there was a dinner planned later tonight where Seda would officially meet Kartal's family. The last thing Dila wanted was to plaster on a smile and pretend everything was okay but Seda needed her and she wasn't about to disappoint her only friend. Unfortunately, that meant dealing with Aunt Meryem and Kumru. Kuzgun's mother held her personally responsible for him being in jail while Kumru still treated her with complete contempt. At least she wouldn't have to see Kuzgun tonight – she highly doubted he'd be showing up at Seda's to discuss wedding preparations.