Paid To Love

Episode 34

Paid To Love EPISODE 34

Victoria’s POV

I stared at the screen, my mouth open. The person with his back to the camera... he helped my brother into his car and then got into the drivers seat. His face wasn’t caught properly by the camera. He was tall and he had a dark coat on and some jeans. He wasted a bit of time before he started the engine and the he drove off seconds later.

Zoey's hand grabbed mine and I turned to her, seeing her eyes starting to water.

"This could mean Gerard might have not died after all right?" Zoe asked.

“Well it could mean a lot of things, I’m not sure about that though but it is quite possible.” Moe replied her.

My eyes went back to the screen trying to see if I could recognise this mystery man. Was it someone I knew?

"But wait the police went through this footage. How did no one notice this?" I asked curiously.

"How did no one see the guy that was actually driving his car?" The question was almost rhetorical in nature because I knew what was going on. I knew they were hiding something and it was all a big cover up. My anger rose fast. My chest heaved and I balled my hands into tight fists, my fingernails digging into my skin.

Wilson shook his head. "I have no clue. The forensic officers have looked over this footage a million times. Maybe we were searching for something that wasn't so obvious, everyone overlooked it?"

I felt sick. I'd seen this tapes over twenty times. They never showed me that angle and now I knew why. How could I have not noticed this before?

"Victoria, this is amazing. Now we have something to cling on to when we go after them for this cover up. All thanks to Detective Sidwell." Zoey said.

She was right. This was more than we ever had before. Letting out a shaky breath, I slumped back into my seat. This was something new. Maybe my might be alive or maybe this was a cover up to hide the truth about his death. I couldn’t process it all immediately but I got what I needed. "Yeah but why hasn’t he called to inform me about this new development."

"I think he wants to keep this quiet, after all there might be a cover up and we don’t know who might be involved." Moe said. "He told me not to mention it to anyone but you. I feel something fishy might be happening here."

The door to the Moe’s office opened and he received a signal from an employee indicating he was needed.

“Well I guess something must be wrong over there and I need to get back to work, after all it is Karaoke night and it's about to get really busy over here.” He got up from his chair and headed out the door.

Zoey and I followed suit, saying our goodbyes. As we were headed back to my car, my phone started ringing. Henry's name flashed on the screen. "Hello?"

"Are you home?"

"I'm not at your place yet, no. Why?"

"Please head back now. Gerald will be there shortly and one of us needs to be there."

"And you can't?"

"I'm busier than you."

I pursed my lips. "Oh, are you?"

"Please just meet him here. I have to go."

"Wait a second! Did you say Gerald? Henry? Henry!" I pulled my phone away from my face, seeing he'd disconnected the call. I ground my teeth together. He'd barely spoken to me all week, and this is what I'd gotten?

Zoey grinned a bit. "It's like true love."

"I don't think you should want to beat the crap out of the person you love."

"Huh. That's very true."

"Guess who he wants me to go meet.?” I asked Zoey.

“Who?”

“Gerard.” I gave her a surprised look with the answer.

“Wait...What?”

“Yeah I know, I wondered the same thing.”

“What if this whole thing was just some plan from Gerard that would end up with him meeting me today.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Yes It could be?” I asked.

“Wow...I guess we have to find out right now.”

“Yeah, I guess I have to head back to the house and meet this guy , or whatever. Let's head back to the shop."

The ride back to theCoffee place was quiet. Both of us were probably consumed by our thoughts. I know I was. My brother could be alive or at least he might have some master plan relating to his disappearance or something. Although maybe he might be dead but there’s some very big cover up happening here.

After dropping Zoey off, I went straight back to Henry's. There was an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. I parked next to it and cautiously walked to the front door, afraid of who would be waiting. Could it actually be my brother? If it was then what were his plans

I made my way in, a young man in a black suit that looked a little too big for him was standing on the front steps. He had a tool case in one hand and a medium sized cardboard box in the other. His head was down and his back faced me. I wondered if it could actually be him. I took a few looks but I couldn’t really see him much. I stepped closer but I didn't think he heard me approaching so I cleared my throat.

He jumped, letting out a frightened sound. Turning around, he lifted the tool case up defensively. It wasn’t him. He was someone i had never met before.

He had Curly black hair framed his face and he squinted at me, his eyes crunching up behind think, black glasses.

"You must be Victoria," he said, relaxing his posture. "Sorry, you surprised me."

I smiled. "Sorry. I'm Victoria. You must be Gerarddd."

"Yes. Nice to meet you. I'm Mr. Davies’ personal assistant."

I immediately felt pity for this poor man. "I'm so sorry."

My response caught him off guard and he froze up. Then he laughed bashfully. "It's not really a bad job. Sometimes."

I grinned at him. "It's hard to be near him sometimes, I can't even imagine working for him. Why are you here?"

He held up the toolbox in his hand. "He wants me to install new locks while his mother is away."

"New locks?"

"I believe it is so his father cannot come in without his permission again. It was never a problem before, but I think Mr. Davies is thinking about you. Meeting with Mr. Davies isn't something most people want to do."

I could definitely agree with that. "So he's making you change the locks? He can't do it?"

"Well, since he personally requested me to do it, I don't mind."

Henry was going through all this trouble just so his dad couldn't meet me randomly again? Or rather, Henry was making Gerald go through the trouble, but the point remained.

“Wait you said your name was Gerard...Like G-E-R-A-R-D.?”

“No like Gerald. More like G-E-R-A-L-D.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Do you want some help?" I asked, feeling a little like it was my fault he had to do this.

His eyes widened. "No! I'll be fine by myself. I think Henry—sorry i meant Mr. Davies just wanted you to be around so I can tell you the passcode."

He was putting in an electrical lock? Was he some kind of handy man? "I'll help you. I don't know much, but just tell me what to do. I'll be bored anyway."

"If you insist, I'll take your help. I'm just watching a YouTube video on how to do it anyway. Maybe a second pair of hands would be useful."

"A YouTube video?" Suddenly I was feeling more nervous about this. But it was too late to take back my word.

Since it was dark out, the only light we had to work with was the floodlights in the back and the main light in the front. Fortunately, there was only two doors in Henry's house and the video on YouTube was surprisingly helpful, even with all the electric jargon.

"How long have you been working for Henry?" I asked Gerald.

"For Henry alone, only a couple years. But I've been with the company for about seven years. I used to be Mr. Davies’ secretary."

I whistled lowly. "That sucks."

He hesitated, as if not wanting to speak bad about him. "It's gotten better," he admitted.

"Do you like it?"

"I prefer Henry over his father."

"Why did you switch?"

"Henry asked me to work for him after he was forced into the position of the next CEO."

I frowned a little. "He was forced?"

"Yes. He had no choice after the..." He abruptly shut his mouth, his eyes widening.

My ears perked up. "He..? What did he do.?"

"Just don’t mention I said anything about anything ."

"You haven’t told me anything but won't," I promised.

"Victoria."

"Yeah?"

"I hope you can help him."

"Who?"

"Henry." Gerald’s face turning sombre. "I think he can't get over what happened. He doesn't show it, but I know he's struggling. I know he didn't want his life to become like this. Please help him move on. If he's letting you stay in this house, it means he's finally letting someone in again. I think you can help him out of whatever is holding him back. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I tilted my head to the side a little. "Kind of?"

"He's stuck because of what happened to a couple of years ago. I'm sure that bedroom is the same as it was while he was still here. Please help Henry let go."

Let go of what? The serious look on Gerald's face made my heart heavy. Just what was Henry's life actually like? And how could I help him?