THE STARKS ALLEY

44

CHARLIE'S POV

"I wonder," I said, flicking the lower part of my trench coat as I sat in front of the prisoner, "Why would you hold on to your silence in exchange for your freedom?" I had been trying to wrap this case up on my own to appease Kristie and to make sure she was safe once and for all. With her kidnapper out there, who knew what they would do next? I wasn't going to wait around to find out.

"Who are you?" Monic asked, completely clueless.

"Your ticket out of here," I said, pretty confident about that.

"Listen, I am not confessing, especially not to a stranger," Monic said.

"But I'm no stranger..." Izzy said, coming from the back.

"Izzy!" Monic said, almost breathlessly. They had never spoken after their sudden break up as Izzy said to me previously and Monic needed closure. We used that against her.

"Hi," Izzy said, taking my seat as I stood beside him. Monic was astonished to see him but more pleased.

"I thought you wouldn't come, Izzy. I mean why should you?" Monic said in a softer tone than the one she used earlier.

"Because I know that all this is my fault," Izzy said, slowly taking Monic's arms into his. She hesitated a little, but she could not pull away from him even if she wanted to.

"Why Izzy?" She asked after a short while. She seemed concerned, the first real emotion I had ever gotten from her ever since the visit.

"You need to understand that I loved you, Monic."

"And Kristie?" Izzy was ready for this question and he knew he would have to answer it sooner or later.

"She was part of a past I couldn't forget. We dated in high school back in Poland and she moved here."

"So that's why you dragged me to Australia. Not because we landed an amazing deal at The Starks Alley to pursue our dreams but for you to reunite with your long lost ex," Monic was almost crying at this point. Her eyes were filled with tears and her voice was frail.

"I will not deny the truth in that but Monic, the two and a half years we spent together were amazing and I never took anything for granted. You did nothing wrong; I take the blame for you being in this prison."

"It was the price for loving you."

"I'm gonna need you to leave in the next 5 minutes sir," a guard passing by told Izzy.

"Who asked you to kidnap Kristie?" I asked Monic. I had seen enough of Maria and Alejandro for almost twenty minutes and it was sickening. Bleh!

Monic hesitated at first. She was scared, and she was unsure of naming names.

"We have less than 5 minutes Monic," I reminded her.

"I'm not even supposed to be talking to you guys but... it's Kent. He's the one calling all the shots."

So Kent has been the mastermind all along...

"Kent and I talked during the party at Hotel Sankara after he noticed how upset I was. I told him about how you broke up with me for Kristie and revenge was the only thing in my mind. That's how he got to me. I was weak and vulnerable."

"If it's any consolation, I'm not with Kristie," Izzy pointed out. Damn right he wasn't.

"But why would Kent help you?" I asked quickly before they changed the subject. I couldn't see what Kent gained from the whole thing.

Just then, a guard came for Monic. Every other prisoner was back in their cell except her.

"Izzy!" She said immediately they hand cuffed her, "Promise me that you won't be in a relationship with Kristie. I'm crazy enough to take my own life because of that and you know it!" She yelled as she was taken by two guards. For a second, I thought she needed to be in a mental hospital. She needed help, and not in an insulting way.

I didn't want to confront Kent without telling Kristie about him so I tried to call her but she would not pick up. Izzy called Kelsie and some guy named Ty but none of them answered. He then called Kelly, Kelsie's cousin. This is why I needed Izzy's help even though I was aware of his intentions the minute I came back from Japan. I did not appreciate it but we had to put our differences aside for the greater good. I guess you can call me a hero.

Luckily, Kelly answered and Kelsie had told him of a visit they had to make with Kristie. The address was a home street and not in a busy city which means that it was supposed to be a casual visit. That grew my suspicion as to why none of them were not answering their phones. I took the phone from Izzy to speak to Kelly.

"Meet us at The Starks Alley then we can head over to that location," I suggested and he agreed.

"I promised to stay away from Kristie just a few minutes ago," Izzy said.

"As long as you're not getting your feelings involved then it's allowed."

I sound possessive already.

We met up with Kent and went to the location as discussed earlier. It was a quiet neighborhood and the wind blew gently as if to welcome us with a warning. A warning we all wish we adhered to because it got uglier than we thought it would.