Charles stared at the words. He was to find the culprit, and the missing women? Why would the system ask him to do that? Already the case seemed hopeless, and at that rate, he felt they might just cart them all to jail. He couldn't afford that. It wouldn't be favorable for him. Charles wondered if it would be better to pass on the mission, and just stick to what he could handle, but on the other hand, he needed the intelligence quota. He figured it would come in handy someday. But his only problem was having no idea on how to solve the case. Had it been he had the intelligence quota before the whole thing happened, then there was a chance that he could have figured out who the culprit was.Then, he phoned Vera. "Do you think you can come in?" He asked."Oh, sure. Wait a sec." she replied, and ended the call.Charles waited for her to come in, before clearing his throat. "Vera. There's something I have to tell you." He began."Is it about the case? Do you have some kind of lead?" Sh
Elise began to cry, as she recalled the fear of the previous night, and Vera and Charles shared a knowing look, before she went to comfort Elise."Thank you so much, Elise. This was really helpful." Charles said, appreciating her, and she nodded."I just... When Samantha took apples from the fridge, I realized I also craved them, so I went to take an apple, only to be reminded of the scent immediately I bit into it." Elise explained, sniffing, and Vera hugged her once more. "Thank you so much, but can you not tell anyone about this? We don't want the culprit knowing we're close to figuring him out." Vera said, and Elise nodded. The both of them went out, and Charles smirked, thinking back on Layla and Kent again.When he had first met Kent—without exaggerations— he had smelled strongly of apples that he had wondered if he owned an apple farm.It turned out that Kent, who Vera had been suspecting could actually be the culprit. Vera came back minutes later and sat next to Charles."I
Goosebumps lined Vera's skin, and her heart began to hit hard against the wall of her chest, like it wanted to break out.Never had she in her wildest dreams imagine that Kent would have a gun, and would fearlessly point it to her neck after telling her he liked her.Her eyes became restless, and it felt like she was going to have a panic attack.Her body went stiff but that didn't stop her bones from trembling. She tried to tell herself he wouldn't shoot, but unfortunately her brain was screaming: Shoot! Bang!! Dead!!!She shivered, and closed her eyes tight, as the sweet scent of apples filled her nostrils.The hand was soft, not too big. She'd call it a medium sized hand, but its grip was strong. She could taste blood where he'd slapped her lips against her teeth, and he moved backwards. She followed, not wanting to anger him, and he whispered in her ear."Evidence?" It was a strangled whisper, and she couldn't find his real voice in the whisper. A muffled whimper escaped her, an
"Good morning, everyone." Charles greeted, standing at the breakfast table. "What about the cops?""Who's the culprit?""Where's Vera?""What's the evidence you have? It's daytime, the culprit can't strike." Everyone seemed to have questions for Charles, and didn't stop until he hit the table hard."Vera's missing." He said, and they all gasped."Ve…Vera's missing?" Layla cried out, and ran her hands through her red hair, which Charles stared at."Yes, she is.""Then what are you doing about it!? Where's the evidence? Who's the culprit?" She asked, looking like she was about to go crazy. "Why did you drag her into this mess? You only made her a target for the culprit!" She shouted, and half the people present stared at Charles like he ought to be hanged."The cops are on their way." He said."Layla loves Vera. It must be so hard." Samantha said, looking at Layla, with pitiful eyes."What are you going to do about it? I doubt you even know the real culprit." Layla snapped, looking ir
Charles smiled to himself. He had gotten a weapon. A weapon he could use when facing tricky, and witty people. He was going to use it sparingly, and make sure it did not go to waste. He wasn't about to go through all that trouble, and use the gift he got stupidly.Then he noticed Vera looking out the window, with her face pulled in a frown. She looked like a lot was going on in her head. "Vera," he called, but she didn't reply. She was still lost in thoughts."Vera," he called a second time, and her shoulders jumped. She turned to him slowly."I'm sorry. I was…""I think you should tell me what happened. I don't want you keeping it in, and being scared of people trying to get close to you. This has the capability to traumatize you." He said, and her lashes fell, as she picked at her nails. "What's there to talk about? You saw it all on your laptop." She said, still picking at her nails. "We couldn't hear well. After being rough handled, we were lucky to see things clearly, but even
"I'm… I'm sorry. For not coming immediately. I knew she had a gun, and didn't know where you were. I didn't want a case like her finding out and killing you." Charles said, and Vera manged a little smile."It was just a moment's fear. You don't need to apologize. I'm not dead." She said. "You know, I was happy there were two others, who were more scared than I was. I was able to control my fear, and tell them you would come for us. What mattered is that you did. "Honestly, I've never been more grateful to hear someone sing. Kent surprisingly had a nice voice. He was also talking to himself." She said, trying to stop her eyes from watering, but they did, so she looked down."I've never been more grateful to him." Charles said."It was like hope. I immediately worked out where we were, with information from the girls, and I'd never been more happy to talk to you. All through the night and morning, I didn't want to say a thing because I didn't want you to think our plan had flopped. I d
"Damn you. Who are you, and what do you have to do with Vera?" Charles asked, and signaled to the driver to search for Vera. The man got the signal, and immediately exited the car. "I thought you'd burst out of the car, and search for her. Guess you aren't dating after all." She said coyly, and the voice had a striking resemblance to Layla's, but it couldn't be. Layla had been taken by the cops.She was probably in a psychiatric ward sleeping after being heavily sedated."Who are you, and what did you do to Vera? What do you have against her?" He asked, and the voice laughed."I must be really insignificant. With all the brainy heists I carried out, you still do not gasp at the sound of my voice." She drawled."Layla?" Charles asked, and the doubt was rich in his voice. He kept on expecting to hear traces of anger in the voice at him still unable to recognize them, but instead, he heard a pleased chuckle."Now you know.""What? Layla? You? You were taken by the police!" Charles shout
Vera was shocked and looked like she had just seen a ghost.How could she be as heartless as that? How could she just kill someone she liked, and feel no remorse about it? She knew she was mentally troubled, but still it felt like she had taken it a step too far. At that point, she began to feel scared, knowing Layla wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of her. Even if she wasn’t a murderer, and Kent was the first man she had ever killed, it wouldn’t be a problem to kill a second time. Killing a person at first, seemed daunting, but once it was done, doing it the next time was always easier than the first. She could imagine Kent laying somewhere dead, his mysterious brown eyes staring up at the stars, unblinking, not closing, just staring. What could have been his last thoughts? Had he regretted following Layla, or had not regretted anything at all?The thought of it was so unnerving that she didn’t want to give it another thought. Layla was a scary and her mental problems were not at fault.