Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 12-2

I watched the inspector scramble with the two computers in front of him. He plugged the satellite phone into one of the two devices and then said,

"All right, Zoe! You'll only have five minutes to talk to your father. It's very important that you respect this timing. You must in no case reveal your position to him or—"

"Inspector," I cut him off politely. "I won't give him any details of this mission. I will be, for five minutes, a completely normal young woman in a normal life."

Karl put his hands on his hips, clearing his throat, a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry you have to lie to your father. Your friends are in their room. We'll leave you alone for a few hours. Rest! You deserve it."

"What about the others?"

"David has yet to give us all the information about the evening at the Sun Lakes. The night may be long for us."

Barthey turned to the exit without adding anything, leaving me alone in a completely empty conference room. Indeed, Faïz had left the place before I came back. I suspected that he had so much to do. I put the tips of my fingers on my lips, remembering that long carnal kiss Despite the difficult ordeal we were going through, I was happy with the turn that the end of this night had taken. I picked up the handset and dialed my father's number.

"It's me, dad. How are you?"

"Zoe? I'm glad you're calling," said my father with a sigh of relief. "You took a long time! So, this school trip?"

When I heard his voice and my first language, the emotion took me by the throat. I realized how much I missed him.

"It's..." I fought against my tears, which betrayed my exhaustion. "I miss you so much, dad."

The hot water on my skin made me forget the turmoil of the past few weeks. I stood there, frozen, letting these waves fall on my body, forgetting, for a moment, that it was covered with many bruises. At the end of this long shower, I put on my bathrobe and returned without making any noise to the dormitory, lit by the shy daylight that was beginning to appear. My two friends slept soundly. I went over to their bed, wiping my wet hair with my towel. Instinctively, I sat on the edge of Lexy's bed and peered at her with a half-smile on the corner of my lips. She seemed so peaceful. My hand came to rest on her hair. She should call her family, too, I thought. Unlike Asarys, Lexy talked about them a little more. She promised to introduce me to her parents when we returned to France during our vacation. It was a promise she'd made when we met, shortly after my return. A promise that seemed to me to have been made ages ago. I pulled up her blanket and left to sit on Asarys' bed. I hoped deep inside to find her one day as I had known her. I missed her mischievous look and carefree temperament, but I couldn't blame her for having changed in the few last months. I lay down next to her and huddled in the blankets. My heavy eyelids closed and the void grabbed me.