The Devil’s Witness

CHAPTER IV: She knows

Lucas’ POV

By noon, I had three cups of coffee, seventeen open tabs, and absolutely no intention of listening to Dorian Voss.

Mara Voss sat at the center of my screen. I had searched her name so many times that I could practically recite the results.

She was 34 years old and the Director of strategic operations for one of Victor Moretti’s legitimate companies.

She was the board member of two charities, and an occasional guest at political fundraisers.

She had no criminal record, no scandals nor any suspicious associations.

She had nothing, it was almost impressive.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at her photograph.

Mara had perfected the kind of public image that made people trust her, elegant, intelligent, charitable but I had learned something during six years as an investigative journalist.

The cleaner the record, the more carefully you needed to look.

My phone rang and I glanced at the screen, it was Dorian.

I let it ring, It stopped then it rang again. This time, I answered.

“What?”

“Good afternoon to you too.” He said coldlu

“I’ve been busy.”

“I know.” My fingers stopped moving across the keyboard.

“How?”

“You’re investigating my sister.”

I looked at the photograph on my desk and smiled.

“So you planted a camera in my apartment?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then how do you know?”

“I know things.”

“That answer is getting old.”

“So is your habit of asking questions you already know the answer to.”

I leaned back, so he did plant a camera here.

“Your sister is connected to Daniel.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means she was with him before he died.”

“Where did you get that information?”

“Your file plus my expertise.”

There was silence then Dorian sighed.

“You were told not to investigate her.”

“I wasn’t aware you were my editor.”

“Lucas.”

“Dorian.”

“You don’t know what you’re stepping into.”

“I know exactly what I’m stepping into.”

“No. You don’t.”

His voice had changed, It wasn’t threatening anymore, It sounded almost frustrated.

“You think Mara is the person you’re looking for because you found a photograph and a set of initials.”

“Do you have a better explanation?”

“Yes.”

“Then give it to me.”

There was another pause.

“I can’t.”

I smiled bitterly.

“Of course you can’t.”

“Stay away from her.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

“That isn’t good enough.”

“It has to be.”

The line went dead and I just stared at the phone.

Dorian Voss was beginning to irritate me in ways I couldn’t explain. He gave orders like they were facts and expected obedience without offering explanations.

And apparently, he believed that telling me not to investigate someone would make me stop.

It had done the exact opposite so I opened a new document.

And at the top, I typed: “MARA VOSS CONNECTION TO DANIEL RUSSO”

Then I started digging but two hours later, I had nothing.

That was what bothered me.

Mara didn’t have suspicious financial transfers or unexplained meetings.

She didn’t have offshore accounts connected to Daniel and she didn’t even have a particularly interesting social life.

Everything about her was clean, too clean.

I opened the photograph again.

Daniel stood beside her outside a restaurant.

They weren’t touching nor even smiling.

But they looked comfortable enough to know each other.

I zoomed in and the restaurant sign was partially visible behind them.

“Le Jardin.”

I searched the restaurant’s records, there was nothing.

Then I noticed the date.

Three days before Daniel’s death.

I grabbed my notebook.

If Mara had met Daniel three days before his murder, I needed to know why.

So I reached for my phone and called Noah, he answered on the fourth ring.

“If this is about you disappearing from work again, I’m hanging up.”

“Do you know Le Jardin?” I asked abruptlyz

“Unfortunately.”

“Can you find out if Mara Voss has been there recently?”

There was silence on both ends.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because unlike you, I enjoy being alive.”

“Noah.”

“Lucas.”

“Please.” He sighed.

“You owe me.”

“I know.”

“Dinner.”

“Fine.”

“And you’re paying.”

“Fine.”

“Send me the details.”

I ended the call then my phone buzzed almost immediately.

A text from an unknown number.

“You’re looking in the wrong place.”

I stared at it.

Another message arrived.

“Daniel wasn’t meeting Mara.”

My pulse quickened and I typed back immediately.

“Then who was he meeting?”

Three dots appeared then disappeared.

“Seriously?”

I threw my phone onto the desk.

Someone was playing games with me and I hated games.

…

That evening, I went to Le Jardin.

The restaurant was exactly the kind of place someone like Mara Voss would choose.

Expensive without being flashy, quiet, private.

The kind of place where nobody asked questions.

I sat at the bar and showed the bartender Daniel’s photograph.

“Have you seen him?”

The man’s eyes moved from the photograph to me.

“No.” The answer was too quick.

I placed some cash on the counter.

“Look again.”

He glanced around before taking the money. “I’ve seen him.”

“When?”

“A few nights before he died.”

“With Mara Voss?”

His expression changed. “You know her?”

“I’m asking the questions.”

He looked uncomfortable. “They were together.”

“What did they talk about?”

“I don’t know.”

“Try again.” I looked deeply into his eyes.

The bartender lowered his voice. “They weren’t alone.”

I leaned forward.

“Who else was there?”

He looked toward the dining room.

“A man.”

“Name?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did he look like?”

The bartender hesitated. “Older, gray hair, expensive suit.”

My stomach tightened.

“Victor Moretti?”

The bartender’s face went pale and that was enough to answer.

I sat back, Victor Moretti…

The man at the top of the Black Vipers, the man Dorian answered to, the man I’d spent six months trying to connect to the organization.

And three days before Daniel was murdered, he had been sitting at a table with Daniel and Mara.

“What happened after they left?”

The bartender shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“They left separately.”

“Who left first?”

“Mara.”

“And Victor?” I asked inquisitively.

“He stayed with Daniel.”

I wrote it down while my mind raced.

If Victor had met Daniel privately before his death, then Daniel might have known something important and I bet it was something Victor didn’t want him to reveal.

I stood up “Thank you.”

The bartender grabbed my wrist.

I looked down at his hand.

“You didn’t get this information from me.”

“I didn’t.”

“And if anyone asks?”

“I was never here.”

He released me then I walked outside.

The evening air hit my face and for the first time all day, I felt like I had something real.

Not a theory, not a suspicion but a lead.

Victor Moretti had met Daniel before his death and Mara had been there.

I pulled out my phone, there was a new message from Dorian.

“Where are you?”

I stared at it then I typed, “Why?”

His response came almost immediately, “Because Mara just left my office.”

My eyebrows pulled together then another message appeared.

“And she asked me whether you’ve found anything yet.”

I looked back at the restaurant.

Suddenly, the investigation didn’t feel like an investigation anymore, It felt like a game.

And everyone seemed to know the rules except me so I typed one final message.

“Tell your sister I’m getting close.”

I stared at the screen for a moment before pressing send, It was reckless and I knew that.

But if Mara was hiding something, I wanted her to know I was looking.

Maybe she’d make a mistake or maybe she’d run or better still she’d come after me.

I slipped my phone into my pocket then a black car passed slowly in front of me.

I watched it disappear around the corner and for some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

I’d started feeling paranoid and somewhere across the city, Mara Voss was probably smiling.