Mystery Loves Company

Chapter 56 - File #6.11: The Strange Affair

Avery

That was the second vanilla late I had in one hour. I burped lightly and my stomach was full already, but the person I've been waiting for had not appeared yet.

"Do you need another glass?" asked Kyle while cleaning the counter.

I contemplated, but I shook my head. My thumb scrolled through the text messages between myself and Rhett—the last one from him was sent two hours ago with 'I'll be there asap'. That was obviously a lie so I deliberately came late, and still had to wait for another hour.

"What's taking him so long?" I put down my phone, almost slammed the table.

"He did say he was going somewhere before coming here, right?"

"Yeah. Victoria Foundation, and..." My dad. It would be impossible to see him, I guess, but Rhett Carver would find other ways to smoothen his investigation.

Kyle put a plate of chicken pie on my table and sat in front of me.

"I didn't order this," I said.

"It's on the house. You need something savory to go with sweet beverage," he smiled. I just stared at the pie for a minute, got him feeling offended. "I know we got off on the wrong foot, but that doesn't mean I'm putting a poison there."

"No, it's just... The last time Rhett was gone without any notice, he was taken by some people who ran an illegal poker club and attempted a murder," I sighed. "You do remember, right? You were driving without a license and ran a red light seconds later."

"I wouldn't do that if two people on the passenger's seats weren't yelling at me," he laughed. "He'll be here soon. Instead of worrying about him, why don't we switch the topic a little bit. How are you holding up?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Me? Why me?"

"I'm sorry, but... Rhett kinda told me what happened. The police arrested your father as a suspect for Michael Norris' murder," he said sympathetically. He noticed the change on my face, and immediately clarified, "Don't be mad at him, I was the one who asked. I've never interested in these things, but since my father was also dragged in at some point, I think I know how you feel."

I was fuming a bit, but I guess it was fine because Rhett didn't go all the way back to eight years ago.

"I'm okay. It's not like I've been spending a time with him to care about that," I blurted, but I quickly apologized. "What I meant was... Despite all the missing years we could've had, I know that he wasn't capable of doing that. He's not that kind of person."

The beep from my phone kind of startled me—and at the same time, another customers came in so Kyle swiftly got back to his station.

RHETT CARVER: Sorry, but I don't think I can make it today. Something came up.

"Two vanilla lattes and a chicken pie later," I grumbled. I replied his message: Did something happen at Victoria Foundation?

RHETT CARVER: Let's talk about this another time, ok.

"Any words from Rhett?" Kyle asked after serving the customer, a man in a grey coat, which made me realize that the air was getting colder as winter was approaching.

"Yeah, he's not coming." I put my phone down, a bit agitated. I didn't need to know what his excuse was—he just didn't want me to see the flash drive. After finding out that Noel and I were connected by an old case, he seemed to be more aware of who to trust.

In conclusion, he probably didn't trust me that much after knowing about my secret.

"Do you have croissants?" asked the man with an unfriendly tone, as if he didn't like it when the person who supposed to serve him having a casual conversation with his other customer.