She remembered vividly that she slept on Hardy, but now he was over her, covered in blood!
Rachael with widened eyes tried to recall what exactly happened. The knife in her hand fell off when she lifted it. A gasp escaped from her lips. Did she do this? The question lingered but wasn't sure of the answer. Her heartbeat increased rapidly as she tipped him over with all her might.
After gathering enough courage, she accessed him. He was covered in blood with two stab wounds on his chest. His olive skin had turned pale and his lips slightly parted. With shaky hands, Rachael shook him but didn't get a response. A whimper of fear escaped from her mouth as she placed her index finger underneath his nose to confirm if he was dead. He wasn't breathing!
This was hard to believe. Why couldn't she remember anything? She didn't recall killing him, but the murder weapon was in her hands. Her eyes darted around the hotel room. It looked the same. The sun crept through the tiny creek of the curtain, reflecting on Hardy's pale face. Out of remorse, she rushed to shut it.
Why did she feel guilty? Killing somebody was the last thing she was competent of doing. Even with that consolation, it didn't take the guilt away.
While she still tried to calm herself, the thought of him being one of the most influential men in Chicago came to her mind. Her fear doubled. Plus, his brother was a ruthless man who would bring her down with or without the police.
The thought to run occurred to her. She embraced it. If she could successfully get out of the hotel, the next step was to leave the state, change her identity and probably run for the rest of her life
Rachael settled for this notion and abruptly jumped off the bed. Her body had a lot of his blood. She searched her purse for her phone to check the time. It was '8:25 am' She had just about thirty-five minutes before the janitor arrived to clean the room.
She scrambled to the bathroom to wash the blood off. No matter how hard she tried to take it off, all availed to nothing. The blood had already dried off. Out of frustration, she turned on the shower to take a quick one. The moment the cold water grazed her skin, she shuddered. It was almost as if reality hit her too. She shook, sobbing silently. The water took every atom of tears from her eyes but didn't take the pain away.
Rachael wasted not a bit of time. She slipped on her dress immediately she got out of the shower. Was about to leave after she grabbed her car keys from the stand, but stopped when a thought crossed her mind. If her DNA was found on the murder weapon it will make it easier for her to be caught. No, she couldn't risk that.
After wrapping the knife with an old newspaper she found lying inside the closet, she parked the knife in her bag. Her heart skipped a few beats when she glanced at Hardy. His lifeless hand dangled outside the bed. How much she wished he would wake up and tell her this was an April fool's prank even though it wasn't April.
It was a miracle how she was able to get past the receptionist without many questions. Rachael was grateful for the numerous distractions she had which enabled her to slip off.
Even though she was out of there, the image of Hardy and his blood couldn't evacuate her mind. She couldn't even drive properly. Occasionally, she tried to bring her breathing to a normal range, but it wasn't working. How could it be when she was confronted with the reality of her being a murderer?
She grabbed her phone that lay on the other seat to dial Andrew's number. The only person she could trust at this point. He was the only friend she could confide in.
"Andrew" she called out. Her voice stunned her. It was shaky and raspier. Even Gary noticed.
"Are you okay?"
"Are you home?" a whimper escaped from her lips as she said those words. She couldn't even control the tears that flowed down her cheek. All she could do was let herself be buried in profound misery and bleakness.
"Yes, but are...." He tried saying, but the call was ended. Rachael couldn't do this. Her shaky hands weren't even able to grasp a phone. If this was hard for her, how the hell was she going to defend herself if she gets into police custody?
*************
The view of Chicago from Xavier's office window always brought a certain thrill to him. He watched as cars drove by, and passers-by walked with a lot of urgencies.
Periodically, he took a sip from the glass of drink wrapped inside his hand. All this was done to ease his tensed self. It always worked, but this time it didn't.
A knock came through the door. It snapped him from his thought as he muttered a shallow response. Just as he had expected, Ralph came through the door. His dark eyes held a grin, walking with confidence as he took each stride. Xavier hated it.
"Fredrick said you needed to see me" He sat on a seat opposite Xavier's table. At this point, Xavier was stunned at his aplomb.
"I did" Xavier nodded as he left the window side and sauntered over to where Gary was. He sat on the table, settling the glass in his hand, down on it. Xavier was about to say the main reason he called him but stopped because the look of excitement on Ralph's face distracted him. "Does your excitement have anything to do with the importation?"
"Oh" Ralph straightened his face and sat upright. "Partly"
"The good arrived?"
"Yes they have, and they are been moved to the warehouse as we speak"
"And you checked every one of them?"
"I did sir"
Xavier nodded, "make sure you don't get in trouble with the police during the transportation. What happened the last time shouldn't repeat itself. Where is Hardy?" he pinched the bridge of his nose after giving off his mild warning.
"He was earlier in Weston club. I haven't seen him since then".
"His phone isn't going through. Find him and tell him to get more serious with this" after that was said, Xavier got up from his seat and walked over to the window side once more. "That's all"
Ralph sauntered towards the door after getting up. The sound of the door shutting implied he was gone. Xavier went back to his desk and got a gun from his locker. Staring at it, a sigh escaped from his lips. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number, placing it on his ear while he waited for an answer
"The moment she sets her foot down from the car, bring her to me," he said coldly then ended the call.
After multiple head twirls with not a solid object to rest it on, Rachael woke up. Her eyes were squeezed shut instantly and that was a result of the sting she felt in her head. Wait where was she? She sat up from the chair, trying to get up, but she couldn't. Her hands were bound tightly to it. She fought with the handcuffs as the memories of what happened flooded.Rachael had just gotten down from her car to grab her things from her house. The moment she held the doorknob to get in, someone attacked from behind. Her nose was about to be covered with a napkin, but she didn't let that happen. The struggle was intense especially when there were two guys. They found it hard to get a hold of her and that was as a result of the adrenaline her body released at that time, resulting in her surprising strength. One of them successfully hit her with an iron rod and she passed out, not feeling an atom of pain.Now she felt it and it was excruciating. She twisted her knuckles in every possible d
Chicago Police DepartmentUSA 8:00 AMThe quiet environment of the police station was being distorted by detective Silvia and DCI (detector chief inspector) Mark. Silvia already had her pale face red in anger, trying her best to get her message across, but the mark wasn't giving her the attention she needed. "Her DNA was found on the bedsheets Silvia. What more do you want?" Mark said without turning to look at her already frustrated self. "They both had sex and she ran off the next morning with the murder weapon. That's the story" "I know that, but you know her DNA wasn't the only one found on Hardy""Then who's is it?"" We don't know yet, but the CLA (Crime Laboratory Analyst) said it wasn't only her DNA. The other person was just smart. In fact too smart. Only an experienced killer can be as swift as that""And what if they were accomplices?" Mark stood hands akimbo. He finally stopped walking and Silvia was grateful for that because she had been practically chasing him around
Silvia stormed into her office, tossing her bag on the table as she settled down on the chair. One aspect she sure loathed was being impeded from executing something she had the aptitude for.Gary stepped in shortly as if he followed her. His bad left legs prompted him to leap gradually to her table after shutting the door. "I didn't expect you to exhibit such drastic animosity after meeting up with the all-mighty Xavier""He is an asshole" Silvia spat angrily. "He didn't even want to hear what I had to say. Get out" she mimicked "Oh God it was so humiliating" she rested her head on her palm."Well, you can't blame him. He is languishing over his brother""Well he should see that I was only trying to help""you see the Collin family hates that word""Help?""Yes," he snapped his finger, motioning she was on point. He took a seat on the chair opposite hers and continued. "Last two years, Xavier's father, Louie Collin was shot dead. The impact landed his mother, Angela Collin in a coma.
Anger, grief, guilt, and emptiness all welled up inside him as he took an enormous gulp from the tequila bottle in front of him. There he was, perched in his room, curtains down, closing off every bit of light that could come through. He wanted to wallow in the gloom, sink himself in the immersing subtle anguish. Tears gathered in his eyes, but he blinked them back. That was something he never did_ cry_ but this time it was different. The tough walls he built around his heart weren't as strong anymore."Hardy I'm sorry" he whispered, but that wasn't enough. It also didn't abduct the guilt.All the emotions recapitulated into outrage as he snatched the bottle of wine and hurled it angrily at the wall."argggghhhhh" he cried out with the impulse of grabbing a piece of glass and plunging it into the flesh of his wrist."Boss" the door banged from outside. It was Peter. Xavier wanted to tell him to leave, but his mouth seemed too heavy to be parted by words. He just stared at the door numb
"Mum" Rachael called out in tears. Mrs. Rebecca looked up at her staring in awe. "Oh mum I'm here" Rachael left Andrew's side and ran to her mother who sat on a couch, nuzzling her."Thank you so much" she grinned at Andrew who gave her a slight nod.Rachael turned back to her mother. "Did you miss me?" she cupped her chin. Mrs. Rebecca gawked at her with a grin not uttering a word. Rachael didn't anticipate any. She hadn't said anything since the death of her husband.She sauntered back to Andrew and tapped him on the chin lightly. "Thanks""Anything for you princess" he shrugged. Rachael furrowed her eyebrows."Hey don't call me that" she nudged his shoulder slightly, causing him to chuckle."Did the police ask you questions?""Yes, those psychos took your mother for questioning too""They did?" Rachael boiled in anger."Relax. They found out I wasn't lying about her autism and they let her go"She perched on one of the couches "what did they ask you?""Where you were, if you called
"Thank you" she muttered softly."For what?""For the ride and for dropping the charges," she said but didn't get any response from Xavier. Not that she expected any response. She just felt the need to show her gratitude.Racheal sighed, resting her back on the car seat. Her eyes fell on something lying on the central console of the car and they narrowed in confusion. She immediately sat up. It was coal briquettes_ something you don't usually see lying around, especially in a place like Xavier's car."What do you need coal briquettes for?""When burnt, they produce a reasonable amount of carbon monoxide""What do you need carbon monoxide for?" she drew closer to the driver's seat."What do most people in America use it for?""Xavier you are not killing yourself"He chuckled slightly. "I thought you would be happy to hear that""God Xavier" her voice changed as she fought the urge not to cry ugly."Life is worthless at this point Rachael. Everyone I ever cared for is gone. What more do
***The next morning****Racheal glanced at her weary, sleep-deprived eyes from the mirror and a sigh evaded her lips. She applied mascara on its lashes, followed by a lipstick that ran smoothly on her thin lips, smacking it together to get the product evenly distributed. She took one final look at the red pan suit, taking a twirl to have a view of every angle of the clothing.Rachael finally yanked her bag from her bed and walked elegantly to the sitting room. She kissed her mother's cheeks slightly. "I made your favorite" she announced which induced her mother to beam. "Ok I'm off now," Rachael said abruptly. **Fast forward**Rachael took apprehensive strides through the foyer of the office with people hurling glances at her from their glass doors. This was more arduous than she thought. The charges being taken down didn't do anything because their eyes held a lot of Judgement as they bore holes into her clothes.She got to her boss's office, took deep breaths before knocking on th
For the first time, Xavier opened the veil of his curtain, permitting the morning sun to penetrate through the tempered glass. It was something he never considered doing. This was the same room he intended on killing himself, but he didn't and that was all thanks to Rachael. She made him feel more different than he had been yesterday. He was just a walking corpse, waiting for the right time to give death the chance to have a grasp on him. Now he felt more alive with subtle solace, streaming in his veins. One question lingered in his mind and that was how she did it.A knock was heard on the door, diverting him from his thoughts. "Boss" Peter's voice was heard behind the door. He got in when Xavier muttered a quick response."Boss, Cecelia is here to see you" he announced and watched Xavier's eyebrows furrow in annoyance. "Don't let her in""But. ..." Peter tried speaking, but a lady's voice cut him off. Xavier shook his head, sighing in frustration."Why wouldn't he let me in?" her s