Chapter 11
/Madison's POV/
"How'd you tell someone they sleepwalk without telling them they sleepwalk?"
The air tensed at my question, and Kim's eyebrow shot up instantly. With her drink frozen midair and a bemused smile tugging at her lips, she demanded, "Are you drunk?"
"I'm serious." I said with a deadpan expression, gently returning what was left of my iced fruit punch back to the wooden table separating me and Kim.
"How the hell would I know? I didn't even think that was still a thing."
Kim emptied her shot glass, eyes squeezed shut as she slammed it on the table. "You didn't have to come find me in person. We could've sorted this over the phone," she pointed out, tucking stray strands of her chin-length bob behind her ear, clearly unimpressed with my choice of timing. Wearing an expression that clearly states she'd rather be anywhere else than deal with my bullshit at the moment.
"I know. But something tells me I'll have to move from here to find that fucker," I sighed.
"You don't look good." Kim pointed out.
"Yeah, no shit. My sister just died." I reminded.
Kim exhaled softly. "That must suck" wished she'd said it with more emotion, but Kim's grown used to bad news. "But are you really gonna investigate this yourself? I don't think—"
"Kim, do you have the file or not?" I cut her off before she could start questioning my life choices.
I'd snuck out of the house the moment Zane left. He should really consider replacing his security team, but that would probably make things harder for me.
"Julian Paige. He's a small-time photographer and sells close-up photographs of celebrities," Kim started the briefing just as I opened the file to get to know who the fucker who'd sneaked into my room was.
It's not like I don't trust the police to carry out their jobs but they're like snails on the job, restricted by laws, guidelines and warrants. Kim gets the job done by any means necessary, even if it's illegal.
There is a reason why people pay back alley detectives for background checks instead of approaching legal authorities. They get jobs done faster and no one has to know about it.
"Tell me there's more." My eyes flipped up from the file to her face, my curiosity spiking.
Kim reached for the toothpick mini meatball appetisers that came with our drinks as we sat in the darkest corner of her private bar, which might look just like an ordinary bar on the surface but really a front for her other business.
"Yeah, that's what he appears to do on the surface." I could sense a 'but' coming by her hesitation but my eyes stayed glued on her as she silently chewed on her food. "But he was recently approached by Elias Clemonte's personal assistant—"
"Who's that? And how recently are we talking about?" I cut in sharply, unable to hold back my growing curiosity and Kim wasn't making it easy either.
"C'mon," She said exasperatedly. "You have the damn file in front of you; just read it Dang it." She complained.
"Why go through the trouble when you could just summarise what I need to know?" I shrugged.
"Your lack of patience is still intolerable." She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, Elias is Zane's cousin and he's been stalking your sister for a year now after all the assistant reports back to his boss." She met my eyes, interjected before I got to ask why. "Don't ask me why? I don't know. All I know is that he's been reporting Allison's whereabouts and everything she's been up to and since he's always being paid in cash, the police are probably gonna have a hard time linking the whole stalking to him." Kim concluded and I sighed softly.
"Thanks." I muttered, watching her reach for another toothpick in our plate while I stood all ready to leave. "I'll take it from here." I declared while I fastened back my face mask to my face and tightened the baseball cap I had on over my head.
"Maddy," I stopped in my tracks, turning back to see her blank face. "Don't die."
"Like you give a damn" I snickered in response, although touched by the sentiment because although she doesn't admit it, she cares.
"Yeah, I don't." She grinned then her resting bitch face returned just as fast as the grin disappeared. "Next time you show up here, I'm charging you. I have a business to run." She added flatly.
I rolled my eyes and turned away, making up my mind on where to head next. I have about three hours until Zane returns home which is the average time he would often go home. The earliest he's ever returned home was three in the afternoon and the latest is twelve in the morning. By the time this is done, I should probably still have a couple of hours left until he shows up.
I staked out for 20 minutes in front of Julian's apartment with all the information included in Kim's file. I would often see him peek out the window of his old apartment building to check the streets.
Even if he's been bailed from prison, it doesn't mean he was off their radar so I understood his caution before he left his house to head down to the pub at the end of his street since well, the idiot is a fucking addict, waiting until he needed a fix was the best call and soon he threw the tails off him.
I appeared right in front of him right as he took the alley at the back of his apartment leading to a shortcut that could get him right to the pub faster without having anyone on his tails. "Hello," I said just as I blocked his part and he almost jumped right out of his skin.
"Oh fuck!" He let out breathlessly, clutching his chest . "You scared the living daylight out of me." He added moving his hands towards his knees while I maintained a I-don't-really-give-a-fuck smile while he got himself together.
"What'd you want?" He demanded, eying me warily while I shrugged my shoulders and pretended to be thinking.
"I just want to talk" To be fair, I do want to talk, just not in the way he expected.
*********
I returned home with a bruised fist. I learnt quite quickly how Zane's intruder was able to sneak into the house after following the trail he left behind. Although security around the area has been strengthened, it remained a vulnerable part of the mansion due to the surrounding flowers and trees aligned around the fountain visible from the balcony.
Using the exterior window sill of windows right beneath the balcony made climbing back into the house easier.
I feel like I should have dropped by my motel room and grabbed my stuff since I'd dropped it there with no intention of actually staying over at Allison's house after she introduced me to Zane.
The plan was to wish them well, drop by Kim's and return home, then wait for Allison to send me her wedding invitation.
"I feel shitty," I muttered, returning to my room to wash off whatever leftover of the smelly bastard I'd beaten almost to a pulp.
Right as I pummelled my fist into his fucking face, Every punch landed with my sister's bloodstained body flashing before my eyes; the pain of being alone again knowing I'm what's left of our family, made me lose control.
I probably should have held back. I almost killed him and the worst part, I didn't feel bad about it until now. I guess I've gotten quite rusty.
Zane called this room his guest room, but the bathroom's filled with all of Allison's beauty products. Maybe she didn't use the place often but I could see the traces of her in here.
The thought reminded me of Zane's longing for her last night, calling her name so desperately I almost felt sorry for him.
I know men express grief in different ways than women but his way of expressing his was dangerous. It's better than drowning himself in alcohol or drugs like most do to cope with loss but his sleepwalking was just as destructive.
Even when I tried to wake him, he just stood and walked off—eyes open, mind elsewhere. His calm, directionless steps left me speechless.
If I hadn't been sure about his sleepwalking before, I was now. The blank confusion when he found himself in the sitting room this morning said it all.
It was hard to believe he had no recollection of that.
I needed to tell him. I made up my mind but fell right asleep right after my shower but woke up in a state of panic when I felt movement close in on me. Frantic, I shot upright, heart pounding, to find a familiar figure looming over me, it was just Zane.
My pulse didn't settle, especially when I realised my towel had come undone in the chaos, leaving us both frozen in stunned silence.
A heartbeat neither of us moved, his eyes widened—not with lust but with something that looked a lot like guilt.
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