Deception

Chapter 12

    The night before, Lee called to ask for help from an old friend. It surprised her that Quin called in the afternoon the next day to ask if they could meet up after work. She was really impressed with his sleuthing skills and that was what made him perfect for this job. And besides, they knew each other from Lee’s previous life. She knew she could trust the guy.

    After her shift at the hospital at around six in the evening, she went straight towards the small café at the corner of the street. Lee ordered herself black coffee to somehow ease the tension she was feeling. She realized then that she wouldn’t get any sleep again later. Well, too late to change her order now. A few moments later, the doorbell chimed and entered Quin himself.

    Quin Santiago was wearing his charming smile paired with his boyish looks. His baby face consists of bright brown eyes and brunette hair, much like that of hers. They weren’t blood related but they could pass as siblings with how similar their physical features were. He was a private investigator who worked for Lee before and it had been two years since they last saw each other. However, they still call or exchange gifts during the time that time apart.

    “Oh my gosh, Quin! I can’t believe you’re here,” she exclaimed as she locked him in a tight hug.

    “Oh lord, who are you? Please don’t go on hugging people you don’t know,” he said.

    Lee chuckled and playfully slapped his arms. “What does that say with you hugging me back? Eh, stranger?”

    “I’m sorry miss. But I am looking for my friend. You don’t happen to see her?” he teased her more.

    “Seriously, Quin! I haven’t changed that much!”

    “Your highness? Is that you? For real?” he said in mock surprise. His face morphed into an exaggerated shock.

    “Kidding aside, you look so different but good. Your hair suits you. I miss your long hair and I miss you,” he finally said in all seriousness.

    “Well, I miss you, too, buddy.”

    They took their seats and ordered dinner. They took their time in catching up with their whereabouts before going down to the real issue at hand.

    “You are so lucky you texted me when you did. I was at a neighboring town following up on some clues about my latest case,” he said.

    “I’m really sorry you had to come all the way here.”

    “It’s actually fine since I was on my way home yesterday. And when your highness asked for help, how am I supposed to turn that down? I’d get to see you and offer my services at the same time.”

    “Hitting two birds with one stone, huh?”

    “Yeah. So here it goes. You asked me details on ‘J.V.’ but with the limited time I couldn’t get in depth with it. But, I could tell you that what I got are important ones.”

    “How’d you even do that, we talked only last night.”

    “Besides not having a wink of sleep? I got tons of connections, people who owe me, and massive hacker skills,” he emphasized each with his fingers, as if he was counting.

    “Oh god I feel guilty now.”

    “I’m fine losing sleep, if it’s for you,” he said followed by a wink.

    “Oh stop it, will you?” she chuckled.

    They both laughed as they dived into this familiar banter. People around would have thought of their closeness as flirting but they knew better. When they first met, they became friends immediately. Mostly, it was because of Quin’s happy go lucky personality, which was a rare combination with his line of work. He really had a flirty and playful nature but he was not a player. There was just something distinguishable in Quin that anyone would recognize his being bubbly and his teasing were never meant to lead women on.

    “J.V. got into rehab for alcoholism a little over a year ago. His addiction started when he needed to cope after his break up with… I guess you know who.”

Lee nodded.

    “He got out after months of staying sober and continuous therapy. And by that time, I believe your friend had been diagnosed with Diabetes. Just aligning the timeline so you wouldn’t be confused,” he explained.

    “There was no information on whether the two really got back together before Eliza died, no pictures, social media posts, spotting on any event—none. It’s either they kept it a secret or they didn’t really got back together.”

    “Well, in that case, I think I’ll get the answer from none other than Kris,” she concluded.

    “Yes, the bestfriend. As you asked of me, I got his plate number and matched it to every surveillance camera in the national highway on the date that you said. And boom! I found CCTV footages of his car which was indeed following your car. The tapes are inside this baby right here,” he said as he tapped his bag.

    “I’ll give everything to you later. To carry on, you were actually wrong in assuming that he was following you. He was actually following Kris; because when you dropped her off the grocery that day, he parked his car and walked closely behind Kris. There were several mall footages that could back that theory up.”

    “What would he want from Kris? I mean, following her around was creepy.”

    “That, my friend, is what I cannot answer. Guess another question for Kris then?”

    “Yeah, when she fully wakes up and recovers.”

    “I’ll leave that up to you. Now, on to my next task. I searched for footages of him or his car through my face and material recognition software. I linked it to surveillance cameras in your street and all the adjacent ones. Also, I hacked into your building’s outside cameras.”

    “Wait, how the heck do you do that? Isn’t that illegal?”

    “It is. But I’ll delete any trace of me being there so no need to panic. And I can pull this off because… well, I’m a genius?”

    “Ha-ha,” she replied in a dry tone.

    “I just have the right tools and skills, your highness. Back to my report, he wasn’t seen in anywhere near your building on the day that someone climbed your balcony. Just to make sure that he wasn’t keeping tabs on you, I pulled out that week’s footages.”

    “And he wasn’t?”

    “Yeah. I’m sorry your highness, he’s not interested in you; which goes to show that the guy in the balcony wasn’t him.”

    At least with Quin’s help, Lee confirmed and debunked her theories about Jairus. She now knew that he wasn’t a direct threat to her but she was still curious as to why he couldn’t just call or visit Kris like any normal person would do. Why follow her around?

    “Thank you, Quin. I really appreciate this.”

    “Who said it’s for free? My services come with a high price these days.”

    “How much?”

    “I’m kidding, your highness!”

    “No, seriously. This isn’t free. It’s your profession after all.”

    “I’m serious. Keep the money, Lee,” he sighed.

    “But… But I paid you before.”

    “And the difference is that, you’re a friend now and not a random client. Consider this a favor and you can just pay me the next time you want me to investigate something.”

    Lee nodded in defeat. “I hope I wouldn’t have to hire you again. But if I do, I’ll call you.”

    They were interrupted when somebody called Quin. After he answered the phone he said, “On the second thought, how about I collect the payment today. Let me crash in your apartment. God, I’m so tired.”

    “That bad?” She knew he didn’t really mean it. It was his way of saying that he had to go.

    “Unfortunately,” he sighed. “I’m gonna ride with my friend back to Cresto City. At least he’d be driving and I’d be knocked out sleeping, right?”

    “A dream come true,” Lee choked at her reply, both because Quin was leaving and because of the mention her hometown.

    Quin gave Lee the written report and all the copies of the video footages. Subsequently, they both wished each other a good luck and a ‘see you again’.

    On her way to her apartment, she saw that Gabe was just pulling up at the parking lot. She waited for him at the building entrance, partly because she was still terrified of being alone and partly because she kind of missed him.

    “Hey, Lee!” he greeted her.

    “Hi,” she waved back.

    “I have some good news to you. Kris woke up.”