To Find Isabel

Chapter 24

I decided to take things into my own hands. Victor was obviously not going to tell me about his past. I don't blame him. When someone tries to dig at a burning memory, you wouldn't want to add to your own flame.

Dante introduced me to Markie, who was one of the officers at the time of the tunnel incident. I spent the day learning as much as I could from him. Gathering all the information I could and piecing it together with what Dante told me.

I had no reason to be doing this. And then I realized why. I saw Victor like my mother. Just as he saw me as Isabel. Something inside told me that Isabel wasn't dead. I was determined to prove that.

After the day of gathering information, I'm invited to dinner by Victor. Dante had told him that I wanted to speak to him again and Victor had offered over dinner rather than in awkward silence.

I sit down and brush off my dress. I'm despising dresses now. It's all I wear now. Nothing of my own.

I clear my throat to get his attention.

"So, tell me about Isabel," I start.

"There isn't much to say," he grunted, "I loved her. Now she's dead."

"Is that really it?"

"I'm not obligated to tell you more."

"You don't have to tell me anything more," I assured him, "Let me tell you what I know."

He twirled his ring and I could see his grip around his glass tighten.

"So, I hear," I paused glancing at Dante, "that Isabel was killed."

Dante didn't say anything. He brought his hand to his chin like he was in deep thought and just watched me.

"I was told, that Lara was behind it."

Victor's gaze didn't shift. He was clenching his teeth. Probably wondering where I got this information from as I slowly spill out the details.

"I was wondering, considering it's been over a month since Isabel, well, disappeared, if you had talked to Lara about it?"

"No," He shook his head, "I haven't."

"What?"

"I haven't spoken to Lara. Your father is already a handful. Besides, Isabel is dead. What's the point," he says, fidgeting with the table cloth.

"What if I told you," I smirked, "That there is a chance of Isabel being alive?"

His eyes dart up.

"What do you mean?" he clenches his jaw.

"I asked Dante to contact anyone you had ties with in the police. Thats how I met Markie. I had meetings with the members of parts of the force who were at the scene. all this happened while you were out for your dealings and meetings. Precisely done, without your knowledge."

"Sneaky."

"Isabel was missing," I continued.

"Tell me something I don't know."

I sigh. Maybe if he let me finish I could bless him with some newfound hope.

"There was no blood, no weapons, nor any leads to a murderer. For example, traced fingerprints or hair. But there one thing. There was Isabel's fingerprints, which matched with the ones from her passport, on the outside of the car door. Knowing you, she probably wouldn't have had the habit of opening the doors herself. So she was probably forcefully removed from the car."

I take a deep breath as he stares at me intently.

"This gives a strong lead that she was kidnapped, not killed. At least not on the spot."

"I'm very sure Isabel is dead. Lara has enough associations and power to take down any mafia man, and Isabel is a far easier target than that."

I hold up my hand signifying that I'm not done yet.

He hangs his head and rubs his temple. I wasn't pouring out nonsense, he just never thought about these things.

"The model of the phone Isabel had only has battery life for up to 2 days, which means it can't be traced after. The last location it was tracked at was the end of the tunnel which she entered through. Surprisingly enough, Isabel's phone was activated almost a week after her disappearance. "

He jerks his head up and looked at me past the small vase of flowers in the middle.

"But I think her sim was removed or deactivated by some device after that. There was no signal on her phone so the location couldn't be tracked."

"A dead end," Victor muttered and rolled his eyes.

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