Seventy- five - A thirsty fellow

Chloe wished she heard him wrong.

"Are- are you certain?" she asked with some quiver in her voice.

"It is a good theory I have." He went back to staring at the floor while Chloe tried to wrap her head around everything.

"What theory?" she cautiously asked.

The man let out an impatient exhale which Chloe chose to ignore. "Why do you think it is Amir?"

"Like I said, I have my theory. Chloe?" Their eyes met again. " Get me out of here."

"I-"

"You owe me that much."

She definitely could not ignore that statement. She knew what he meant. Her chest heaved as she reached and clutched the bars to help her move her head closer. "Nathaniel, I-"

"This is not the place for that conversation Chloe," he cut short her attempt to apologize. " Just get me out."

She needed to ensure he heard her out first. She had this feeling she wouldn't get to see him again if she successfully gets him out of jail.

" But-"

He foiled her attempt again. "Get me out Chloe."

Nodding with surrender, she took a step back and asked, " What makes you think Amir is the culprit? I need to know what I am working with."

" Well..." Nathaniel stretched his legs and assumed a more relaxed position. "I began to suspect him after the pipe explosion. I noticed he received a lot of calls he had to receive secretly and I have this strange feeling that he is responsible for Sebastian's death. Or perhaps he just has a hand in it. "

Nathaniel shrugged.

" Whichever it is, Amir definitely lured Sebastian to the mansion in a bid to get him killed. And there is this one thing I can't shake off."

Chloe who was trying to piece every information together darted her eyes towards him.

"What is that?" she asked when silence seemed to overtake the space.

"Markings. I think he is working with him."

"Okay, what?" Chloe could not help a chuckle filled with disbelief. "Why would Amir do all that?"

Nathaniel shrugged again and Chloe delved into her thinking state some more.

"If what you are saying is true, that means Amir is a really good actor because all this while, he has made sure to express his distaste for Agent Markings."

" Agent Markings." There was a scoff in Nathaniel's voice and Chloe became fully aware of her uttered words.

"I-" The man got off his seat which and began to walk towards her.

"You are really not who we thought you were right?" He stopped as he finally hit the iron gate.  "An agent. A spy." His words were laced with bitterness and Chloe felt her chest squeeze even harder.

" Were you ever truthful about anything?"

His eyes looked quite oceanic at that moment but they also accused her strongly. They also conveyed some other words the man wasn't speaking. Words that were filled with hurt.

And that just placed Chloe in a field of more pains.

"I-" Words failed her again and a small smack of her lips drove her into silence.

Nodding slowly, Nathaniel began to take steps backwards. "This is not the place to talk about this. Make sure to get me out soon. Even if it is through illegal means. I need to ensure nothing gets ruined."

Chloe nodded understandably and began to retreat but that happened after she took one more aching look at Nathaniel's broad back.

Just as she stepped out, she was greeted by her friend, Caleb who looked very worried.

"Are you okay?" the man asked her as she closed the door behind her and began to take slow steps down the corridor.

"I don't even know."

"Are you really going to release him?"

"You were listening?" she calmly asked.

"Agent Connor asked me to check on you and hurry you up, so I heard a bit. What exactly is going on Chloe? Why was Markings name mentioned?"

" You heard a lot," she said, her voice accusing him as she turned her head to face him.

" I heard almost everything," he confessed . "I have a question though. "

Her brows lifted slightly and the man took that to be a sign to go ahead. " Something happened between the both of you right?"

Chloe chose to ignore his question. " Can you do me a favour?"

"What is it?"

"I need to pay a visit to the mansion. I feel like I will find a huge clue over there."

" You believe he is innocent?" Caleb asked almost unbelievably.

" I have to find out what is happening. There is something I need to find out. So..." She locked eyes with Caleb again.

" Can you drive me there?"

He shrugged, a sign that he was giving in.

"It would be risky to let you go alone anyway. Who knows what danger is lurking around there?"

Chloe's steps began to intensify after she gave the man an appreciative nod. Within her, she hoped and prayed she would find something that would prove the brothers innocent.

No matter what Nathaniel said, she refused to believe Amir is the real culprit.

~

Surprisingly, the mansion was not being guarded at all. Chloe would have to loved to doubt the situation but she had issues to deal with.

Urgent issues.

"Uh... Caleb, I'll be right back," she said to the man who was killing the engine of the car.

" Are you sure you want to go in alone?" Chloe nodded and soon she was approaching the entrance and that action brought some nostalgia to her system.

A lot had changed no doubt. The first time she set eyes on the exquisite door that shielded the mansion from prying eyes, she was intent on taping the men's conversations as well as scoping the house for any suspicious view.

As she pushed the door open, she was met by a disastrous sight. A thing or two that used to adorn the corridor were either tilted ridiculously or sprawled over the floor like a helpless being.

Chloe instantly concluded they were searching for the tape. So she knew she would see a lot more disastrous sight ahead.

Moving on, she decided to go straight to the library since that was where the unexpected discovery was made.

As she climbed up the stairs, she wondered how the culprit, who ever it was, pulled off keeping a den underneath the house.

But it did explain the screams she was unable to trace.

As Chloe moved, she wondered if she'd be able to get hold of Amir. She needed to ask him a few questions, study his reactions for some clues.

Soon, she was pushing open the door that led to the library and as though the universe was on par with her thoughts, Amir was standing just in view.

An attempt to open the door even wider was foiled by Amir's voice who said, "Chloe, don't come in."

His voice was so calm yet his hand which was against his side kept tapping away like he was in a hurry or something.

That got Chloe curious, she didn't mind disobeying his request.

"Chloe..." The man groaned as the door creaked.

"Sorry, I had to-" The sight she met shut her up.

"Gabriel?"

The man smiled, the gun in his hand which was pointed at Amir's head doing a little dance as he shook his wrist.

"What is going on here?"

"Hello Cupcake."

Chloe had a bad feeling about his smile.

Facing Amir, she asked, "What is going on here?"

Amir shook his head sadly and Chloe understood instantly.

Gabriel was the culprit. He was the one supposed to be in jail.

Her widened eyes swung towards Gabriel whose lips were still wearing a look that was both unexpected and disgusting. His eyes wore a look that made him look like a blood thirsty fellow.

Just that Chloe wasn't certain what he was thirsty about.

As she made to talk, Gabriel cut her short and said quite boldly,

"How about you make yourself relaxed Cupcake? There's a lot of things to be said. And a lot is yet to happen."