Chapter Forty Nine
1009 Words
Elara's POV
I remained frozen by the side of the car, my breathing was hitched.
Gabriel Cross.
He was still on the phone, his voice was low but the words were clear enough to piece together.
"Make sure it looks like a random break-in. We do not need anyone connecting this back to us." His deadly tone sent chills down my spine.
He was behind it, he was really capable of hurting Jordan and his family.
I leaned in closer, holding my breath to avoid making any noise that would draw his attention to me but surprisingly, the car window began to roll down.
Shit, too late!
His gaze met mine, calculating and cold. It felt like i had been punched hard in the guts.
"Elara?" He called out my name, his brows arched at me in less of surprise and more of curiosity.
"Spying on someone's conversation does not sound very polite."
"Oh, i-i uhm....I didn't know you were in the car, I was just randomly trying to see who it was, you know, just for clarity. " I stuttered, alongside a nervous chuckle.
A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, his gaze remained fixated on me. "Yeah, right. Sure you were." His voice was calm and laced with obvious sarcasm.
A moment of awkward silence fell between us, my thoughts were still on Gabriel Cross and how he could have almost killed Jordan and his family.
"The officers are probably waiting for you inside. You would not want to keep them waiting." Gabriel cleared his throat, jolting me out of my thoughts and back to reality.
I nodded slowly. Although, the urge to ask him if he was the one behind the attack lingered in my thoughts, but it would be useless. Gabriel Cross would never even confess, unless if I had proof to back up my claim.
I forcefully moved away from him and walked into the station.
The air inside felt thicker, Maya and Ethan were seated in front of an officer's desk, filling out paperwork.
Maya spared me a glance, at first she looked tired but when she saw me, relief flashed over her face. Ethan in the other hand did not spare me a single glance.
My eyes roamed the room and finally landed on my mother.
She was sitting alone on the waiting bench, still dressed in the same clothes from this morning. Her arms were crossed and the expression plastered on her face was unreadable.
"Mum!"
She sensed me in the room, her eyes settled on me and she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Mum stood from the bench and rushed straight to me, pulling me into a tight hug before I could even utter a word.
For a second, I drowned myself in the familiarity of her embrace. Warm, soothing, protective and comforting until I remembered everything.
The secrets, the lies, the way she had almost destroyed Jordan with the lawsuit and lastly, there was a chance she might have a hand in the attack at Jordan's house since her and Gabriel were always together.
We eventually pulled apart and mum brushed my cheeks. "I was so worried."
"I am sorry mum. I did not mean to worry you."
She waved it off and nodded to another officer's desk. "Go on, write your statement so we can leave this place on time."
"Mum, are we going to be in trouble? For trespassing?" I glanced at her, my tone laced with genuine fear.
Mum let out a small scoff. "No baby, just do what the officers say. Write your statement and everything else will be okay, i promise."
Relief washed over me.
As I sat down behind the desk of the officer mum had directed me to. I carefully recalled what I and my friends had agreed to write.
Word for word, my statement was that we had left school because Jordan had not shown up all day. We were worried, so we decided to search everywhere nearby, including the woods. That was when we heard gunshots and out of fear, rushed to the nearest shelter which happened to be my grandfather's place, that was where we stumbled upon Jordan and his family.
While writing, one thing I tried to make sure was that my statement would not in anyway put Jordan and his family in trouble.
Once I was done, the officer took my statement and then exchanged a few words with my mum, her voice low and firm.
My eyes darted to Ethan and Maya, they were still working on their statements. Then something stuck out, Jordan and his family had not arrive at the station yet. Where were they?
Mum returned to me, she grabbed my wrist gently but firmly, leading me out of the station.
We walked straight to the parking lot. Gabriel was now standing outside the car, arms crossed, eyes fixated on me as if he had been waiting.
He opened the door and slipped into the driver's seat while mum and I got into the passenger's seat.
As the doors shut close, Gabriel started the car and suddenly drove off without giving a heads up.
"Mum, what about my friends? I wanted to wait till they finished writing their statements too." I argued.
"By your friends, you mean Jordan too." Mum retorted.
My goodness, it was like she could read me like a book.
"I--" Before the words even slipped out of my mouth, mum cut in, her voice sharp.
"Elara, what were Jordan and his family doing in your grandfather's house?"
She did not sound like she was asking out of curiosity, it was more like she just needed my answer for confirmation on whatever she suspected.
Just as I was about forming a response. Gabriel spoke, his eyes fixated on the road and his hands firm on the steering wheel.
"And while you are at it." He started coldly.
"Maybe explain what you were researching on your laptop in class today....and whether it has any relations with Jordan."
- Writer
