Chapter 17Alexis curled her long slender legs as she leaned back against the bed"s headboard. She was holding her cellphone tightly rereading Katherine"s text message repeatedly in excitement.
[MyBeautifulKatherine: I"ll be video calling you at 8 pm sharp.]
It"s been two years since she has seen her best friend"s face. After they left, Katherine and Reo remained in contact via unaddressed letters, foregoing any electronic communications to deter Haru"s search for the family. Alexis tapped her screen impatiently and watched the numbers on the screen change. "One more minute, one more minute, one more minute," she chanted in her head.
"HA," Alexis screamed in excitement.
Before the first ring could be completed, Alexis hurriedly pressed the green b.u.t.ton to connect the video call with Katherine. She held her phone closer to better take in the beautiful image of Katherine.
"It"s you! It"s really you!" she cried like a wife seeing her soldier of a husband for the first time after two years of deployment.
Katherine remained calm but a smile emerged from her lips, making her dainty and beautiful face even more captivating. Katherine folded one small hand over the other and said to Alexis, "Isn"t your cellphone connected to your smart tv? Why don"t you transfer the call so I don"t end up talking to your left eyeball the whole time."
"Oh yes, your right! It"ll be so much better to see you in our HD 80-inch flat screen tv," Alexis said in agreement.
With a press of a b.u.t.ton, a flat screen tv descended from the ceiling and Alexis drop her cellphone at the bedside table. Alexis wiggled her way down to the edge of the large king size bed to get closer to the tv and she watched dreamily at the image of Katherine displayed in HD.
"I finally get to you see your beautiful face again after two years. Where"s Reo? How"s grandpa Lee doing? What are you and Reo doing now? Your letters were always so short and sporadic. Where have you all been living for the past two years? Why did Saya come back? Oh but I"m so happy she did! I missed her so much. What about you, Reo, and grandpa Lee? Are you three also planning on returning? OH, I MISSED YOU SO MUCH KATHERINE! PLEASE COME BACK!"
Katherine listened to her friend"s woes and questions, not interrupting her in the slightest and when Alexis was done with her rambling she answered her questions in a clear and concise manner.
"Reo"s cooking. Grandpa Lee is doing good. Reo and I continued our private eye business in Ortelius. Saya"s back because she"d wanted to fulfill her dream of attending NSU. It"s up to Saya whether we go back or not. If she plans to settle her roots in Anatolia, of course, we want to be where she is. For now, while she"s in college it"s good for her to have some independence….."
".....I supported her decision to return and will support her no matter what. But it doesn"t mean I agree or like it," Katherine added.
As a mother, Alexis understood Katherine"s feelings. If given the chance all mothers would place an invisible bubble of protection around their children to keep them safe from the world. Unfortunately, that was impossible. The world was a dangerous and cruel place. The best they could do as parents was to adequately prepare their children for the harsh realities of the world.
"Sota and I met with Saya today. She"s grown to be more like you Katherine and I don"t mean just physically. Her mind too. Seeing her brings me back to our younger days. She"s going to be unstoppable," Alexis said with a smile and a smidge of pride.
Katherine nodded her head in agreement and said, "She skipped cla.s.ses didn"t she?"
"How did you...never mind. It"s you. You know everything."
"Sakura came by the house this morning to see her. Haru also stop by after Saya"s visit with you and Sota," Katherine said solemnly.
"WHAT? Should I and Sota say something to Saya when we see her?"
"Don"t say anything. Let her do as she wishes. Just please be there for her if she needs you. Reo and I cannot thank you and Sota enough for your help."
"Yes, thank you both," said Reo as he walked to his wife"s side. He gave a deep bow of grat.i.tude. Reo grabbed his wife"s hands and said, "Darling the food is ready. You can catch up with Alexis later, you haven"t eaten anything all day."
Reo abruptly ended the call leaving a flabbergasted Alexis staring at the black screen. "Ugh, that guy still hasn"t changed after all these years. He"s still so possessive and jealous. I met Katherine first! She was mine first! I grew up with her and that"s something you"ll never have. Take that Reo!," Alexis said muttering to herself.
"Who are you talking to?", asked Sota as he walked out of the bathroom.
"No one in particular. I just finished a video call with Katherine and Reo," replied Katherine.
"Why didn"t you tell me?!," Sota whined.
"Who told you to take so long in the bathroom?!"
"Honeeeeeey, I was p.o.o.ping!"
…..
Saya yawned loudly breaking the silence in the still room. It was late and she should be in bed but her mind was going haywire thinking about the a.s.sault cases the police department have put in the back burner. The injustice those three victims were facing was eating at her and she quickly wanted to solve the case.
Saya stretched her tired limbs, arching her back slowly and she slightly pushed away from the table as another yawn escaped her lips. She was thankful that she decided to bring some of her personal items into the office because she was probably going to be up all night and wouldn"t have the strength or desire to go back to the main house.
Saya was currently in her parent"s old private investigation office. It had an open concept living and kitchen area where visitors and clients could wait. The meeting room where Saya"s parents met with clients was directly across the living area and it held a wide double door entrance. The house also had a small lab room to process evidence and a workroom her parents used when solving a case.
Saya was in the workroom gathering information on the a.s.sault cases and victims. She hacked into the police and hospital"s database. It didn"t take long for her to read through the police and medical reports. Saya pressed print and in a matter of seconds, the wireless printer began printing. She gathered the papers, cutting and pinning them to her large white evidence board.
She took a step back to inspect her work. Three pictures were placed at the top of the board each with the corresponding victims" names, Akeno Suzuki, Fumi Watanabe, and Chie Miller. The headshots of the victims showed smiling and lovely faces a great contrast to the forensic pictures Saya placed below. The pictures doc.u.mented the abuse and tortured the three women endured to the point that their faces were unrecognizable to the smiling women on top of the board. Saya winced at the pictures remembering the medical reports she read.
Below the forensic pictures were information about the victims written with a black marker. Where and when they were found, who found them. Saya also wrote some thoughts she had on the cases. Saya"s thoughts were written in red and were found scattered throughout the large board, each ending with a question mark. Similarities? Differences? Psychotic break? Triggered? Places they could have met? How did the perp lure them? Why them? Who"s next?
Pleased with her work Saya sat down to plan her next move when her phone suddenly rang. She picked it up not bothering to check the caller ID, thinking that it must be her parents or her gramps calling her at this late hour.
"h.e.l.lo," she answered tiredly.
"Go to sleep," a deep voice said from the other side of the line.
"Haru how"d you get my number? How"d you know I was still up?...Nevermind. Forget it. I don"t care. What do you want?" Saya asked.
"Go to sleep," Haru repeated.
"No. Why should I? I"m not even tir-yaaawwn-tired."
"Go to sleep now and I"ll set up a meeting between you and the lead detective on that case you"re not supposed to be working on."
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The maid"s hurried steps echoed loudly through the empty hallway. She searched desperately for the butler and heaved a sigh of relief when she found him in the kitchen.
"Sir the young master is taking clothes out of the closet and throwing them away again," she said breathing heavily.
The old man didn"t bother to reply and quickly went to check on the young master.
"Young master what are you doing?" the butler said as calmly as he could, his eyes looking at the scattered clothes on the floor.
"I want all of these clothes thrown away," the young master said, throwing a grey suit onto the floor.
"Cousin has been dead for years now. I don"t need reminders of his death. Get rid of these clothes now."
The old butler wiped cold sweat off his brow, cough lightly to steady his voice and replied, "Of course young master."
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