Chapter 12

~~~

"My anaconda don't, my anaconda don't, my anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hon." Eva sang, shaking her butt in the air with my purple hairbrush as her mike.

Ira didn't need any inducement to join her. She grabbed an empty bottle near her and jumped on the bed next to Eva shaking her butt in sync with her twin. "Boy toy named Troy used to live in Detroit. Big dope dealer money, he was getting some coins. Was in blah blah blah blah, but he lives in a palace. Bought me Alexander blah, he was keeping me stylish. Now that's real, real, real. Woohoooo. Join in!"

It wasn't long before four crazy girls were inventing new dance steps while singing Nicki Minaj and Meghan Trainor and Justin Bieber.

I finally fell on the ground, beside Simone who still had her hand over her mike- a banana. "We can totally rock So You Think You Can Dance."

Simone nodded at the twins. "I don't know about us but they definitely can."

We stared in awe as Eva and Ira did the tango and then hip hop with exact synchronization as Heartbeat Song by Kelly Clarkson played on the laptop. Looking at the way they moved and turned it was difficult to believe they hadn't gone to any dance classes and had learned everything from YouTube.

I turned to Simone, whispering as I asked. "Did you apologize to Ira?"

"Yeah, I also said I might have a tiny crush on Drew. She just smiled and said he's all yours." Simone paused, biting her lip. "I think she likes him."

I raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"She's always been like that. Sacrificing. You remember that time when you told me you had a crush on that shockingly hot geek with nerd glasses, Ira liked him too but she backed off. And then one time when I had a huge fight with Nina, Ira's a really good friend. Ira stopped talking to her when she came to know how bad she had behaved with me. She sacrificed her friendship. And I think she likes Drew but won't admit it just so I can have him."

I bit my lip thinking of the possibility. "Maybe. Should we ask her?" We turned to the twins who were now dancing on PillowTalk by Zayn Malik.

"Hey, Ira." Simone called out, making her turn and at that exact moment Eva stretched and Ira promptly stumbled upon her twin's leg which in turn led to both of them crashing down on us.

"Shit!" I screamed, pushing Eva's leg away from my mouth. "Eva your feet stink."

"Try my underarms." She hissed.

I pushed her off me, getting up and standing in the corner as I watched them fight and shove and stumble upon each other. I gladly opened my phone as I received a text.

Blackmailer- 'McD in 15. Got news on the case.'

After the gala held by Hastings we- Colton, me, Josh, and Nathan, had decided to help my mom without her permission which we knew she would never give. Her exact reaction would be glaring at us until we finally looked down and walked away in our rooms for at least an hour. Josh had even snuck into her office and taken pics of every page in the Rodrigo Barrett file. We had promised to not tell anyone about this unless absolutely necessary and only meet when there was a major lead.

And apparently, there was one now.

I clapped my hands with happiness. "Party over. I gotta go, so shoo everyone. Shoo shoo."

My best friends looked at me with an unbelievable expression which was soon replaced by a scowl.

"Seriously?" Eva huffed. "What can be more important than us? The people who give you enduring delight."

I rolled my eyes. "My boyfriend."

"Chicks before d!cks, Racheal, chicks before d!cks." Ira tutted, shaking her forefinger.

Simone just stared with an inquiring look that screamed 'Isn't he your FAKE boyfriend? What the hell am I missing here?'

I smiled sheepishly. "It's important."

All three groaned together before cussing at me and throwing pillows.

"What the eff?" I yelled, dodging a pillow and gritting my teeth when another one hit me.

"Toddles bitch." They yelled back and with one last pillow on my head, all three ran downstairs and out of the house. I sighed and flopped down on my bed. Why do I have such friends?

.

I scanned the tables on entering MacDonald's and soon found Colton and Nathan huddled in a corner table for four with two full trays in front of them.

"Didn't buy for me?" I complained as I neared them.

Colton pointed at the second box of fries and burger and a cup of Oreo Mcflurry. I grinned happily resisting the urge to peck his cheeks. I sat next to my fake boyfriend and started eating the delicious fries. This is what heaven must taste like! "So what have you found?"

Colton grabbed a fry from my packet and I slapped his arm away. "Mine." I voiced possessively.

Colton rolled his eyes, shrugging me off and taking more than a few fries. "I paid for them."

I scowled at him. "Yeah, but they are for me, and you have your own fries, eat them."

"Food tastes better when it is not from your own plate."

Nathan looked alarmed and promptly shifted his tray away from Colton. I rolled my eyes and took a few fries from Colton's tray. "Now we are even."

"You two act like a married couple." Nathan commented, looking at us closely. I choked on the fry, my face turned a deep shade of crimson. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Colton's eyes widen and his cheeks turn pink as he coughed anxiously.

I bit my lip not stressing on his cheeks. "What did you find?" I asked Colton changing the subject.

Colton sighed and passed a file towards me, not even sparing a glance, his gaze accentuated on the Pepsi straw.

I wiped my hands on a tissue and opened the blue file. Nathan had some kind of OCD so he had forced us to make a file and keep all the papers and notes and information nicely strapped in it.

I opened the file and was greeted by Nathan's neat cursive handwriting.

(A/N: Things can get confusing for you if you don't understand this. I know because even I got confused at the start)

Rodrigo Barrett case.

- Dead: Nick Mills, Partner.

- Accused: Rodrigo Barrett.

- Date: 29th August 2015, 3.30 AM.

- Lawyer: Diana Smith.

- Appointed by: Anita Barrett.

- Suspects: 6

- Weapon: Pistol, shot to the forehead.

The next page held details about the murder.

Nick Mills left Rodrigo's house at 2 am and Rodrigo was back home by 3 am. It is a 30-minute drive from Rodrigo's to Nick's place. Forensic says Nick was killed between 3.00 to 4.00 am. Shot by a .32 caliber pistol and no weapon was found at the crime scene. The shot was fired straight to his forehead from just a few feet distance which means he knew the murderer and died on the spot.

His maid found his dead body at 7 am when she went inside to wake him up for a meeting. There was nothing stolen and no locks broken. A vase nearby was broken and the bed a bit crumbled which means the murderer and Nick might have had a small physical fight.

There were few more lines about the arrangements of the room and I skipped them turning to the next page.

Suspects:

1. Rodrigo Barrett: Partner in the textile industry and wanted revenge for being cheated in business. Owns a .32 pistol. Alibi- Anita, his wife but she just heard the door open and close.

2. Jake Douglas: Ex-friend and competitor in business. Alibi- Victoria Ponte. They seemed to have spent the night together but there is no one to confirm their statements.

3. Abel McKenzie: High post and next owner/partner after Nick or Rodrigo's death. Right now he's in charge of the whole company. Alibi- his butler. Abel was away on business and returned back early morning. Owns a .32 pistol.

4. Layla Gordon: Ex-girlfriend. Nick cheated on her and embarrassed her in front of a huge crowd, she had told her best friend that she'd take revenge. Alibi: None, supposedly sleeping.

5. Liana Mills: Step-sister. Inheritor of Nick Mills $10 million+ property. Alibi: Best friend, Gracia, they spent the night at Liana's place.

6. Raul Aita: Neighbor and wasn't good friends with Nick since they had spat over some money issue. Died on 26th September 2015, was electrocuted while fixing his light in the bathroom at 11 pm. Was found in the morning at 5 am by his maid.

I stared in shock at the last ex-suspect. "Raul died too?"

Colton paused from biting his huge burger. "It says there doesn't it?"

I scowled at him. "26th that was yesterday. How did you even find about it so soon?"

Nathan shrugged. "Raul was a good friend of my father so I used son-tactics on finding out more information."

"Do you think he accidentally electrocuted himself?" I inquired, thinking about how frazzled my mom seemed this morning.

Nathan shook his head. "I don't think so. Apparently, there was a huge break on the case that could put the real murderer in jail so Raul had to die."

I whistled softly. "Any idea what the huge break is?"

"Nope." Colton shook his head. "But something deadly enough to murder someone else."

I tapped on the table. "Raul was Nick's neighbor right?" I continued at their nods. "Maybe he saw something happening the night Nick died or maybe he saw the murderer."

Colton rolled his bottom lip inside. "Maybe. Where's Josh?"

"He's gone to our Aunt's place to help her move." I replied. "So should we take a look at Raul's place?"

Nathan and Colton looked at each other while I waited impatiently for their decision. If they said no, I would simply go by myself.

Colton finally sighed. "Yeah we better come with you or you'll go alone and get in some dumb shit that would make me worry."

I grinned brightly with a bunch of fries in my mouth. "Great."

"How do we get inside?" Nathan queried.

"Um did he have anything that belonged to you?"

Nathan shook his head but Colton thought for a second before nodding. "Yeah, he wanted to invest in the IT industry so he had taken a few books from my dad."

I clapped my hands gleefully. "Great let's go pick up those books then."

"Wait let me ask dad which ones they are."

"No!" I hissed. "He'll know something's up."

Colton rolled his eyes. "He already does."

I frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"I never talk to Victoria, ever. She loves setting me up on a date with her niece Charlotte. So when my dad saw me talking to her with you next to me he guessed what was happening."

My lips twisted at Charlotte's mention. "Ah yes, Charlotte. I saw her pictures, pretty huh?"

Colton raised his eyebrow in amusement. "Are you jealous?"

"You wish." I snorted, concentrating on the tomato in my burger.

Nathan seemed to be stifling a laugh and Colton looked immensely entertained. "Where did you even see her? Were you stalking me, Smith? Going through all my exes pictures and comparing yourself to them?"

I resisted the urge to pull out his tongue and stick it up to his nose. The last thing I would do is admit that I actually wanted to see if Victoria's niece was as beautiful as her aunt and unfortunately I wasn't pleased as I searched her on Facebook and saw her profile pic. It was a pic of her in a blue and white bikini on a beach as she posed with both hands spread on sides and a huge smile on her gorgeous face that flashed her dimples. Her body was slender and I wouldn't be surprised if she went to the gym four hours a day to get that flat stomach and toned thighs and a great butt. The 356 likes and 127 comments only lowered my self-esteem.

She had facking dimples!

"No, I wasn't Hastings. She just happened to pop up in the friend suggestions and curiosity got the better of me." I lied and apparently I am a bad liar because both of them didn't believe me and ended up guffawing.

I glowered at them. "I wasn't jealous okay."

"Rightttt." Colton choked out in between his cackle.

"Fine." I sizzled. "I am going to Raul's place. Alone. You two have fun laughing like maniacs." I stood up and grabbed my Mcflurry and the file, walking out.

I hadn't gone two steps when I heard them coming. "Come on Smith. You look good when jealous."

I turned to Colton with glacial eyes. "Are you saying I don't look good otherwise?"

Nathan snickered from behind at Colton's wide startled face. "What? No! You look good but better when angry and jealous."

"And best when?"

Colton smirked winking at me. "With no clothes."

"Looks like you'll never see me at my best then." I retorted, walking ahead.

"You are so beautiful, you made me forget my pick-up line." Colton flirted, jogging after me.

"You are so ugly, you made me look in the other direction." I responded haughtily.

"You shouldn't wear make-up, it's messing with perfection."

"You should try it, you seem in great need of it."

"Don't lie, you know you want to taste these lips." He pointed to his pink lips.

"Don't dream, I'd rather taste Nutella in ketchup."

Colton wrinkled his nose at the thought. "That's disgusting."

"Exactly."

"So you two go ahead." Nathan spoke suddenly and we turned just remembering he was there too.

I smiled guiltily. "Sorry."

Nathan smirked. "No worries. You two have fun and find out the information instead of flirting and snapping. I'll talk to my dad and get more personal info on these suspects."

"Cool doesn't call us." Colton spoke, doing the manly handshake.

Nathan raised his brows. "Don't have sex in a dead man's house."

Colton slapped Nathan's arm. "We will be investigating, I don't want you to call in case we are in hiding."

"Ah." Nathan nodded in understanding. "Will do, ciao. Don't do anything I won't do."

"Which means we can do anything." I responded, Nathan just chuckled, and with a final wave and wink he turned and walked off in the opposite direction.

I turned to Colton who was already staring at me. I quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

"There isn't a word in the dictionary for how good you look."

I bit my lip unable to hide the rising blush in my cheeks at his sincere eyes. "There is for you - liar."

He chuckled and I smiled.

"Of all the beautiful curves on your body, your smile is my favorite."

I rolled my eyes, going red in the face. Somewhere deep down I wished that he wasn't just flirting and meant it and somewhere deeper down I knew my wish would never be granted. But I had enough for now. "Shut up Hastings."

Colton winked at me. "As you wish Smith."

~~~