Chapter 26
Lionel
~~~
The myriad locations on my computer’s screen had me convinced that Matthew was a smart guy. He’d tapped Shannon’s phone so tracking her through it would be a futile job. Someone influential was helping him, I could feel it in my gut.
“This one’s going to be an intricate case.” Hugo voiced out upon peeking at my computer.
“I know, but is there a possibility we could locate her?”
“There’s a very slim chance. It could take days, weeks, or even months,” Pedro declared, ratifying my fears.
I put my intertwined hands at the top of my head and leaned back in my seat. We didn’t have much time, anything could happen in hours, let alone months. There had to be something I could do, a misstep of his I could use to my advantage.
“I need you two to pay a visit to his painting company and find out what you can,” I said to the brothers who swung into action immediately. “Remember to be as discreet as possible,” I called out to them as they walked down the hallway.
“You know that’s how we roll.” Hugo’s deep voice echoed to where I sat.
Opening the Google search bar at the top of my screen, I typed ‘how to locate a phone with multiple locations’ and was about to go through the results when Calvin’s sharp accusing tone stopped me. “I told you not to fall for this girl and you didn’t listen.”
I swiped my hand across my face, my gaze settling on him. “And I told you I’ve not fallen for her.”
“That’s a lie and you know it. Take a good look at yourself. You’re so stressed, antsy, and out of touch. You even forgot about us for a second,” Luke backed Calvin’s claims.
“You guys don’t want me to help the girl?”
“I didn’t say that, I just want you to be more cautious, you can’t go through this cycle again,” Calvin said, I nodded. “I like her so I don’t mind helping her out.”
The tires in my head screeched. “You like her?”
He poked a finger at me. “No, you like her, that’s why you’re so possessive.”
My phone beeped and I beamed at the opening to evade the awkward discussion. “Excuse me, gentlemen, I’m going to pick Claire up,” I said, getting on my feet and pocketing my car keys.
Luke’s mouth parted but Andrew walked in, cutting short his attempt to pester me. “I have a lead on David’s whereabouts, who wants to come with me to Sancity?”
“The guy is in Sancity?” Luke asked.
“Yeah, his cousin says he spent two nights at his house before fleeing to the cottage he built last Christmas.” Andrew scrolled through his phone to show us pictures of David and his family at the said cottage.
I cupped my chin. “That’s so far away, I believe his life may be in danger. We should go prepared.”
* * *
The doorbell rang, halting my research on Shannon’s impasse. I checked my watch, Claire’s friends were coming for a sleepover at 6.pm and it was half-past two in the afternoon. My brows drew together, I wasn’t expecting anyone. I quickly typed the passcode for my CCTV camera on my laptop, Leslie’s face popping on the screen.
A groan escaped my lips as I made my way to the door and wrenched it open, making a mental note to alert my gateman never to let her in unless I give consent. “Claire is taking a nap and you know you shouldn’t be here, I pick her up and drop her off, have you forgotten?”
“How rude, you won’t even ask me to come in?” She leaned on the doorframe and placed her hand on my chest. I stepped back, her blandishment lost effect on me ages ago. “Is there a problem?”
“Not at all.” She sashayed into the room and waved Claire’s backpack in the air. “She forgot some of her stuff.”
I shook my head and shut the door. Knowing Leslie, that was just but an excuse. She had drivers at her beck and call but decided to drive 45 minutes to bring a backpack. I took the bag, dropped it on the coffee table, and asked, “What do you want?”
“You think I don’t know what you’re doing?” With her arms akimbo, she sized me up, her devious laughter filling the tense air. “I know everything and if you don’t marry me, I will report you to the feds and you know too well what that means, I’ll kick you off the visitation rights.”
I grabbed her hand and whispered through gritted teeth, “Don’t you dare!”
“Or else what? What will you do?” She stared into my indignant gaze with amusement.
I let go of her hand, marched to the door, and shoved it open. “Get the fuck out.”
“Okay, I’ll leave, but I would think hard about this if I were you. Claire will hate you if you decide otherwise,” she said as she ambled past me but I put my foot forward to stop her. “What did you mean by you know everything I’m doing?”
“Don’t worry about that big boy, your secrets are safe with me.” She patted my back and slipped out before I could say anything else.
I grabbed the vase seating on the drawer by the door and threw it across the room, it hit the wall and smashed into pieces. Relief washed over me but it was not enough. The glass jar on the table called to me and I surged to it, picked it up, and flipped it against the wall, making a smashing sound as it shattered
My chest was heaving up and down as I trudged to the minibar at the corner of the room, scooped three glasses in each hand, and repeated the same action but the glasses didn’t leave my grasp at the whisper behind me, “Daddy, is everything okay?”
I instantly snapped back into daddy mode, slowly dropped the glasses on the counter, donned a smile, and spun around. “Hey, Princess. Everything is perfectly fine, do you want to go out for ice cream?”
“Who broke that?” Her tiny fingers pointed at the mess I made.
“Don’t worry about that, it was a small accident.”
She walked up to me, took my hands in hers, and assessed them for bruises before fastening her hands around me. “I love you so much.”
Glassy-eyed, I picked her up and enveloped her in a tight embrace. “I love you so much more, Princess. More than you can ever imagine.”
