BRIDE OF DECEPTION

CH 4: ANOMALY

Annie's POV

Tobin stood in front of me with a gun aimed at my head and shouted, “The file for Project X is gone! You planned it with your sister, didn’t you? Confess, or I’ll shoot you!”

I shook my head and said, “I don’t know anything, Tobin! I swear Claire didn’t tell me anything! I didn’t know she was gone until you said it!”

He didn’t move and kept his finger on the trigger and asked, “You expect me to believe that? Your sister’s gone, the file’s gone, and you’re acting like you don’t know?”

I said, “I’m not acting! I don’t know what Claire did or who she’s with! I thought she was at my parents’ place like you told me!”

Tobin lowered the gun but kept it out and said, “You’re coming with me. If you’re lying, you’re dead.” He turned to his guards who were two big guys in black by the door and ordered, “Take her! Follow me!”

They grabbed my arms with a grip that hurt and pulled me out of the guest room. My legs felt weak but I kept walking as we followed Tobin down the hall. My mind was a mess because Claire had messed me up and I didn’t know how.

We reached a small room with monitors and a control panel which was the CCTV room. A skinny guy with glasses was there looking through footage. He looked up when Tobin walked in and said, “Boss, I’m still checking the videos. Nothing clear yet.”

Tobin shouted, “Keep looking!” He pulled out his phone and called someone saying, “Uncle Ray, it’s me.”

My stomach dropped because Uncle Ray was Tobin’s main guy and Tobin trusted him completely. Ray was his mom’s older brother in his late fifties with short gray hair and always calm. Tobin once told me Ray raised him after his parents died and showed him how to run the business and survive. Tobin saw him as family and if Ray was in this, things would get bad.

Ray’s voice came through calmly and asked, “Tobin, what’s the issue?”

“You see anything weird? The Project X file’s missing, Claire’s gone, Annie says she doesn’t know anything, but I don’t believe her.” Tobin asked.

Ray paused for a second and said, “Nothing yet. I’ll check my contacts. You in the CCTV room?”

Tobin answered, “Yeah. Get here. Now.”

Ray said, “Ten minutes,” and the call ended.

Tobin turned to me and stepped close so I could feel his breath and said, “If I find out you’re connected to those missing documents, Annie, I’ll kill you! No excuses! Got it?”

I nodded quickly, “I understand, Tobin! I’m telling you I don’t know anything! I didn’t know Claire was here until you showed me the video!” I said.

He stared at me like he wanted to know if I was lying, “You better be telling the truth.” he said.

I was scared because I knew I had nothing to do with what Claire did but Tobin didn’t care about that right now. He wanted someone to blame and I was right there. My hands were still cuffed from earlier and the guards were behind me so I wasn’t going anywhere.

Tobin turned to the skinny guy and ordered, “Show me the room footage again!”

The guy nodded and pulled up a video showing the room where the Project X file was kept with a locked safe in the corner. The time was from last night but the footage was blank. “It’s been deleted, boss. Someone looped it.” the guy said.

I realized someone who knew Tobin did this because only they would know how to mess with his system. Tobin stared at the skinny guy and asked, “Where were you when this happened?”

The guy raised his hands. “I wasn’t here, boss! It was Sammy on shift!” he exclaimed.

Tobin ordered, “Get my car ready!” He turned to me and said, “You’re coming too. You’re still a suspect.”

The guards pushed me into a black SUV and we drove to Sammy’s place. My heart was pounding because I didn’t know what was happening. We got there but Sammy wasn’t home and his apartment was empty.

Tobin stood in the doorway and said, “Something’s off.” He turned to the skinny guy who had a laptop and asked, “You remember the tracking code for the document?”

The guy nodded and said, “It’s been two years since it was accessed, but I can retrieve it.” He pressed a few buttons on his laptop.

Tobin pulled out his phone and called Ray again saying, “Uncle Ray, we can trace the document. I’ll send you the location when we get it.”

Ray said, “Good. Keep me posted.”

Hours later the skinny guy looked up and said, “Got the tracking ID and the location, boss. The document is at the penthouse.”

Tobin glared at me, then at the guy. “The penthouse? How?”

We drove back and my stomach hurt because I didn’t know what we’d find. The guards pushed me inside and Tobin led us to my room. He ripped off the bedspread and there was the Project X file under it. I stared at it and my hands shook because I had no idea how it got there.

Tobin picked it up and turned to me with the gun pointed at my head and shouted, “Who do you work for, Annie?”

I shook my head and muttered, “I don’t know! I swear I don’t know anything about it!”

He stepped closer and yelled, “Who do you work for? Tell me now!”

“I don’t know anything about the document, Tobin! I’m telling you the truth!” My voice was shaking and I felt like I couldn’t breathe because his anger was terrifying and I thought he’d shoot me right there.

The door opened and Ray walked in with his gray hair and neat suit. Tobin turned to him and said, “Uncle Ray, it was under her bed! She’s lying!”

Ray nodded and said, “She’s guilty, kid. End it.”

I realized something, “Tobin, wait! If the document can be tracked, check where it’s been! There’s got to be a trail!” I swallowed my breath and continued. “If it is still here, then you can kill me.” I added.

Ray stepped forward and tried to grab the gun from Tobin saying, “Shoot her, kid! She’s buying time!”

Tobin pushed him back and said, “No! We’re checking the trail first!” He turned to the skinny guy and ordered, “Trace it now!”

The guy pressed buttons on his laptop and said, “The document left the penthouse at 3 a.m. when you were meeting one of Rossi's men and Annie was captured then.” He paused and looked at Ray and said, “Then it went to your uncle’s place and came back here.”

Tobin turned to Ray and raised his gun immediately, “Uncle Ray, what’s he talking about? Why was the file at your place?”

Ray pointed at me. “She planned it with her sister.”

“The file stayed hours at your place, Uncle.” Tobin said gently.

“Like I said, they planned it.” Ray insisted.

“Annie doesn't know this room neither did Claire. How did the footage got erased?”

Ray felt cornered, he knew he was and I'm glad Tobin reasoned this time without just going for the kill like he used to.

Ray raised his hands and said, “Tobin, listen. I took it to protect you. That file was going to get you killed. I told Claire to move it to my place to keep it safe and brought it back when I heard you could track it.”

Tobin shouted, “Why? I trusted you!” His voice broke and his hands shook and I could see he was hurt because Ray was his only family and kept the peace between Tobin’s crew and their rivals. I felt bad for him because I knew what betrayal felt like.

Ray kept talking and said, “You’re like my son, Tobin. I did it for you.”

Tobin’s face twisted and he couldn’t shoot. I saw the guards watching and realized if Tobin didn’t act they’d think he was weak and start crossing him too.

I stepped closer and said, “Tobin, give me the gun. Everything’s okay now. You don’t need to do this.”

He looked at me with wet eyes — Tears I knew quite well he couldn't control. I took the gun from his hand. I stared at him and said, “I told you yesterday we’re a lot alike and we’ve been betrayed by family. And you told me to survive you have to kill even if it hurts.”

I turned to Ray, I glared at him for a while. Slowly raised the gun at eye level and shot without a second thought.

The sound was loud and Ray fell with blood on his shirt. My hands shook and I thought Tobin would kill me because I’d been on his list forever and now I’d shot his uncle.

Tobin looked at Ray’s body and sniffed and took the gun from me. He nodded his head. “Thank you. I couldn’t do it.”

I asked, “You’re not mad?”

He shook his head and said, “He betrayed me. You did what I wanted to.”

I said, “There was a video that didn't get erased.”

“The one Claire was in your room?”

I nodded my head and clarified. “The video showed Claire with the purse.”

Tobin nodded and wiped his face and said, “Yeah, she was in your room smiling like she got something big. What’s in that green purse, Annie?”

I took a deep breath and said, “I don’t know exactly. Years ago someone gave it to me and said it was from my grandmother and told me to keep it secret. I never opened it and just hid it and my parents never talked about a grandmother and I don’t know if she’s real.”

“What was in that purse?” Tobin asked.

“Just a pen and a flash drive.” I responded.

“You mean this pen?” One of Tobin's guard said with a blue pen in his hand.

“Yes,” I responded.

Tobin stretched his hand to receive the pen. He spent a long time staring at this. “Who gave it to you again?” He asked, turning his head to meet me.

“An anonymous person. He said it was from my grandmother.”

“We need to find this anonymous person and also Claire. That flashdrive can ruin every wealthy person in this city. In the wrong hands? It is chaos.” He responded and left my presence.