Dirty Little Secrets

CHAPTER 31.

KINGSLEY'S POV

I drove aimlessly through the dark, eerie streets, driven by a single, burning goal: to find the building - and the person - everyone else was too terrified to face.

When I finally arrived at the address I’d been given earlier, I killed the engine. I stepped out slowly, tracking the shadow of the house ahead. The moment I crossed the threshold, the stench hit me - a suffocating mix of stale mold and rot. The place was completely dilapidated, choked with thick cobwebs and looking every bit like a long-abandoned tomb. I clamped a hand over my nose, trying to filter out the foul air.

Snapping on my phone's flashlight, I began to scan the darkness for clues.

The first room I entered was a graveyard of old paperwork, stacks of documents rotting on the floor. One particular folder caught my eye: a merger file. Half of it had been shredded and chewed through by rats, but Mr. Roberts’ name was still boldly visible on the cover.

"What the hell?" I thought

I flipped through the ruined pages. The legal jargon didn't make much sense to me in the dark, but I stuffed it into my jacket anyway.

I moved on to the second room. This one was lined with old, degraded photographs, their edges curled and faded. Among them, a familiar face jumped out at me - a younger version of Summer, flanked by an older man and woman. Her parents, I assumed. I kept ransacking the space, desperate for anything solid, until I found it: another photograph, but this one carried enough weight to be the missing piece of the puzzle.

Just as I stepped back out into the hallway, my phone shattered the silence, vibrating violently in my hand.

"Holy s**t!" I cursed, nearly dropping it. The screen lit up with Summer’s name.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Kingsley?" her voice exploded through the speaker the second I answered.

Felix. That sly bastard had ratted me out. I sighed. "I'm trying to help, Summer. Especially since you’ve decided to push everyone else away."

"Do you think you’re some sort of hero?!" she screamed.

"Screaming isn't good for your health," I said, trying to sound calmer than I felt. "I’ll see you at the campus tomorrow. Bye."

"Kingsley! Kingsley, don't you dare hang up on me! I am not done yet"

I cut the call, letting the silence swallow the room again. Time to get back to business.

I pushed into the third room. It was entirely barren, save for a lone computer resting on a desk right in the center of the space. I walked over and hit the power button. To my surprise, the monitor flickered to life, automatically launching a video file.

My chest tightened. It was surveillance footage of Summer from last night at the club. The camera tracked everything: her walking in, changing her clothes, serving a client, dancing on the floor... right up to the moment she stole a valuable item from him and bolted.

I froze. For a second, I literally forgot how to breathe. This was miles beyond whatever game I thought we were playing. This was a matter of survival.

Snapping out of the shock, I quickly pulled out my phone and started recording the screen to secure the evidence. Suddenly, the display flashed. Felix's call came in. I swiped him away and kept recording. A second later, it rang again. This time, it was George.

I flipped the phone to my ear. "What’s the problem?"

"Your mother..." George gasped, his voice tight with panic.

"What about her?" I demanded, a cold dread dropping straight into my stomach.

George choked on his words, failing to catch his breath.

"George! Pull your damn self together and tell me what happened!" I yelled into the receiver.

"Your mother fainted!" he blurted out.

"She what?!" I screamed out my lungs, trying hard to believe what he just said.

Panic took over me completely. I spun on my heel and bolted out of the room, entirely forgetting about the computer, the evidence, and the whole reason I had come to this godforsaken house.

"George, you and Felix get her to the hospital right now. I am on my way!"

I threw myself into the driver's seat, roared the engine to life, and slammed on the gas. How could everything fall apart in the single hour that I been away? I tore through the dark streets toward the hospital, my mind spinning, praying to God that my mother was going to be okay.