Legendary // H.S

3.

'The Devil's on his way'

*

I've never been the type to try and solve mysteries. I would much rather wait for an answer to become apparent or accept that I'll never know. But ever since that man asked me to examine his necklace, one that I know for certain was a stolen piece of jewellery, I've been acting like a detective. Never before have I needed to know the truth as bad as I did with this. This was a secret that I was involved in. If I was aiding and abetting a crime, I needed to know what exactly the crime was.

It's been nearly a week since I saw him. Every day since I have desperately tried to find whatever information I could about it, about him. There were very few stories online about it, other than those that first reported the theft. Any follows ups were few and far between and didn't provide enough information to help me reach a conclusion. I knew that a group of four men had been spotted in the area around the time of the robbery, but there were no prints, no CCTV, nothing to identify them. I had nothing but theories to go on.

Either this man had stolen the necklace himself, or he knew the person that did. He said it himself, he has friends in high places, and by the looks of things he's not the type of person to get his hands dirty. No, he simply hired someone else to do it.

But what if he was directly involved? What if that ring he found the other day wasn't just a stray one laying on the counter. How would he have gotten it out of the display without a key though?

Surely he wouldn't just walk in like that if he really wanted to steal something. I checked everything over once he left and nothing had been taken. I'd checked it every day since I saw him just to make sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me, but everything was still there.

Cathy had noticed my skittishness but never asked questions. She knew that if there was something I wanted to tell her then I would, I couldn't be pushed towards it. Cathy respected my boundaries, always. That's why we were such good friends. We had a small group, the others I only knew through her, but they were my family.

There's Tobias, a solicitor at one of the best chambers in the city. A hopeless romantic, though, and nowhere near as scary in real life as he appears in a court room. Then there's Belly, Tobias' fiancé and the owner of a candle shop. Yes, we are a small group, with nothing special about us on the outside, but in our circle it's enough. We don't need much to be happy. As long as we have each other we'll be alright.

When I broke up with Joe, the three of them made sure that I was never alone for two weeks, constantly supplying me with all the food and alcohol I needed. Not that I felt particularly sad about ending it, more so just shocked at the change of pace. That was the first time I'd ever made a decision for myself and not someone else. The first time in 25 years that I'd put myself first. It was a good feeling.

Part of me wanted to tell them about the man, but how was I supposed to do that when I still know nothing about him? I also liked having this secret.

Cathy was in the back room, sorting some admin out for the boss, while I was up front putting some equipment away after a customer had just left. I heard the doors go, my vision instantly lifting to the entrance. He's back. I didn't expect to see him so soon.

This time he's wearing a pair of black suit trousers and a white button up shirt, the top of it undone to expose some tattoos on his chest. I wouldn't have pegged him for a tattoo man. He instantly walked towards me as I stood frozen in my spot. Though he had said he'd hoped to see me again, I didn't expect it to actually happen. Yet, here he is.

After realising how long I'd been staring, I cleared my throat. 'What a surprise this is,' I joked, hoping he couldn't tell how caught off guard I was by his presence. Once again I was staring at his features, analysing them and their beauty. Why did the freaks always have to be good looking?