Fortune Favors The Bold

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

Elijah Artemis Fortune was nowhere to be found. Alaya had searched every basic facility, but the man seemed to have vanished inside the earth. She might have underestimated the capacity of a rich man to put on a disappearing act.

“Any news?” she asked Jimmy her partner as soon as she reached office. After such an important turn of events, everyone had been forced to present themselves to the office premises to land a hand.

“Nothing,” the man answered briskly. “The last Elijah Fortune was spotted was at the mansion, but then it feels like he’d disappeared into thin air. He must have rented a private jet off the radar.”

Alaya was somehow skeptical with the information. “Have you checked with the tower of control? Have they signaled any flight from the Fortune’s jets?”

Detective Jimmy looked at her with a blank expression, and blinked rapidly to cover his gaffe. “I haven’t checked. I’m on it,” he said quickly when Alaya’s eyes popped out in outrage. That would be the most logical thing to do for her.

She sighed and dropped her jacket on her chair before speculating over the way Adonis had lost control when she had mentioned him being Elijah’s son. It hadn’t been so far-fetched since the man was having an on-and-off affair with his mother. But Adonis had seemed genuinely insulted by the idea.

The man intrigued her – he seemed so much more than what he portrayed. Like the fact that he knew everything but would never let everything show. Sometimes it almost seemed like he had two faces, one which he showed to everyone, and another which he kept completely under wraps.

“Pet!” someone called out breaking her reverie, and she raised quizzical eyebrows to her partner who was still hovering over the mouthpiece of the office phone. “Nothing here,” he confirmed her suspicions, and she stood up abruptly.

“They must have taken another route. If not by air then by water. I will find out if they have a yacht or cruise ship or anything,” she informed frantically. Her mistake had been assuming that they had fled by aerial transport. Of course Adonis would know that it was the first thing she would check and use the ruse to buy him some time.

After almost one hour of inquisition, she found out that the Fortunes didn’t possess one but three yachts, and one huge cruise ship. The cruise ship was used for business purposes and was out of the States at the present so Alaya could eliminate it for the moment.

Three luxurious yachts? Who the hell was so rich to possess that many assets?

Once again, the difference between their lifestyle struck her. Hell, her modest upbringing had never allowed her to visit a yacht, forget about owning one. How the hell had she dreamt about forming a future with him once? That seemed so long ago now that Alaya was glad that the case had disillusioned her.

Although it was only one day ago that she’d harbored such dreams, there was no way she couldn’t see the truth now. She had merely been a means to an end to Adonis, whether it had been intentional or not. He’d wanted to keep her close in case the exact situation of having to protect his family crept up.

Alaya wasn’t so cheap to divulge the affair now. She didn’t need to. Elijah Fortune would dig his own grave when he was in custody.

“Pet, what you got?” Jimmy hauled his butt on his office desk like he had every right to. Alaya hated when he felt he could invade her personal space, but as usual she sighed and remained silent.

“Three luxurious yachts and a cruise ship. We can strike out the ship for it’s not in the States for the moment. But I have no information where the yachts are at present. Only a Fortune can give us the information. Have you found anything on Kenneth benedict Fortune’s financial status yet?”

“Bosco’s on it at the moment. Let’s try to search for the yachts on Internet. There has to be some information.”

Alaya gave her approval and spent the next half an hour searching for luxurious yachts associated with the Fortune name. She was surprised to discover that despite being practically celebrity, they knew well how to keep their affairs under wrap. She found one which was posted in London, which meant that it couldn’t have reached here that fast.

Was her gut instincts wrong? What if Elijah Fortune hadn’t gone anywhere and was hiding in the mansion itself? Alarmed by that thought, she quickly mobilized a team to search for Elijah in the mansion. She just hoped that Adonis would not create any opposition to the inquiry.

After one more hour of browsing the net, Jimmy finally got the CBP Office on the line which said that both yachts were in the States and on the move. Motivated, Alaya send one team after the travelling vessel while she informed her peers that she was going to check on the ongoing search at the mansion.

Thankfully, she didn’t need a warrant for issuing an arrest, Elijah Fortune was now counted as a fleeing felon until otherwise.

When she reached, she could see Adonis sipping his tea in the garden without battling a eye, and she wondered whether it was his impassible mask on, or she was wasting her time here.

“Hello again detective,” he greeted chirpily, and with a sinking heart she realized that it was the latter. Elijah Fortune was long gone.

“Mr. Fortune,” she responded back coolly with a nod before gearing up towards her team. “What we got?”

“Nothing. The servants said the last time they saw Elijah was hours ago, and one confirmed that the last person he spoke to was Mr. Adonis Fortune. After that, nobody knows where he went. He wasn’t seen leaving the house. We’re checking the biometric devices but the last time he had it on him was when he was in the patio.”

She had already guessed that Elijah would leave the tracking device behind while fleeing – he wasn’t stupid to commit such a novice mistake. Hands on her hip, she watched the patio with measuring eyes, hoping in vain to catch a clue.

He wasn’t in the house. The only lead she had was the two yachts, and they were both registered under Adonis’s name. But she wasn’t about to question him right now. If he knew that she was on to them, he would change the location of his uncle, and the latter would disappear once again.

“You’re wasting your time here,” came a voice behind her making her jump in her mental recollection of the events.

She turned around to face a grim pair of green eyes which stared back at her without warmth or welcome. So unlike the one she had faced the previous evening. She was faced to the other Adonis which the world espoused, not the one she’d grown used to.

It wasn’t that she blamed him, she was sure that growing up in that toxic environment, he must have developed a thick skin. But she absolutely despised that side of his. He was so stoic and dispassionate that he almost looked like a robot.

She raised her chin in defiance to his statement. “It’s up to me to decide,” she retorted arrogantly, although she knew he was right. She didn’t want to give him more credit than he deserved. Right now, she didn’t want to deal with the man, so she pushed her way past him to reach for the door.

A hand on her arm stopped her. “Alaya, can we talk?” he said assertively, and she was tempted to wrench her arm free from his grasp. He wanted to talk now? When they were playing on opposite teams.

“I have a lead,” he said hurriedly, and Alaya couldn’t believe the gall of the man. He wanted her to pursue the alleged trail which he thought was the right one. What did he think of her? That she was some i***t who didn’t have any brains to function?

“I’m not interested,” she replied haughtily, snatching back her hand from his custody. Once again her attempt to leave the place was unsuccessful as he blocked her exit with his foot, and she had to outrightly walk over the man to get past. Something which she wasn’t keen on doing.

“Alaya, will you please listen to me?” he cried out in frustration. “You must be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever encountered in my entire life!”

Then without giving her time to react, he brought his lips to her, and she automatically struggled out of his grasp. He held on to her firmly, but she was an equal match despite her small form. “Adonis, I don’t think it’s the time for any of this. I am leading the investigation my own way, and if you want to help me, you only have to give me the whereabouts of your uncle.”

He hissed angrily. “I already told you he’s innocent. You are on the wrong track.”

She shoved him hard against his chest. “I don’t want to dance to your tunes,” she replied in an annoyed voice. “You tell me you hate it when people around you manipulate you, yet you’re doing the same thing to me! I am not a leaf which will go in the direction you pave out for me. You do not get to tell me whether I am on the right or wrong path. And you do not get to give me any further leads.”

“Alaya…,” he said but she was too far gone to listen to him.

“No, you listen to me for once. I am not going to be your puppet. You already showed your true face when you hurried to save your uncle’s ass. Your priority is your family and mine is the case. Now that we’ve established that, I would implore you to get out of my way.”

She was about to continue when her phone buzzed in her pocket. With an impatient sigh, she connected the device without even checking the caller. “Detective Petrov speaking,” she snapped, before releasing herself from his circle and walking off.

“Pet? It’s Jimmy. I got something.”

Her heart raced with excess energy, and she stopped to quickly glance behind her to note that Adonis was already gone. “Tell me.”

“It seems that your instincts were on point. Fortune junior wasn’t so open with you about his financial status. He is drowned in debts, and his fiancé Sara plays a great role in pressurizing him to spend excess money on the smallest things. Her engagement ring cost more than three million dollars.” A loud wolf whistle sounded in the phone.

Alaya’s reaction was the same. She’d already gotten the notion that the woman was a gold-digger only interested in Kenneth’s money. There was more to the picture than the one he had painted during the investigation, that was why Alaya had deemed it necessary to dig deeper in the man.

“How much does he owe?” she asked and blew a warm breath when the amount was divulged. No wonder the man was beyond himself when the new heir had been announced. He must have figured a way to usurp the money from Mason Fortune, but with Adonis in the picture, his plans were ruined.

A thought struck Alaya like lightning. What if Kenneth had used Elijah’s threat to conduct the crime with the perfect alibi?

“Call him to the station. I’m on my way!”