Chapter 17: I’ve Been Missing for Over 48 Hours

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: I’ve Been Missing for Over 48 Hours

"Forget it. You’re not worthy anyway." Julian Fletcher shook off my arm and turned to leave.

I ignored him. It was just another one of Julian Fletcher’s daily tantrums.

I walked into the bedroom and started packing for my trip abroad.

’Just two months. It’ll be over soon.’

’Soon, I’ll be free.’

...

Back then, I was still naive enough to think that in two months, once I was safely abroad, everything would be over.

But I never imagined I would still die at Julian Fletcher’s hands.

I guess this was just my fate.

Julian Fletcher had saved my life, and he was the one to end it.

With this life over, we were finally even.

A roar of thunder pulled me back to the present.

I raised a hand and slapped myself. There was no pain. Only then did it sink in that I was already dead.

I no longer had to live in pain and torment.

Police cars arrived and took away Asher, who had been knocked unconscious.

Brian Morgan was taken away in an ambulance as well.

"Mr. Fletcher, any news about your sister?" Zeke Shaw asked as he got out of the police car.

Julian Fletcher frowned. "She can’t hide for long."

Zeke Shaw said nothing, bending down to pick up a photograph from the ground.

It was the photo Julian Fletcher had shown Asher—my passport photo, taken for my study abroad application.

Zeke Shaw stared at the photo of me, paused, and then frowned as if lost in thought.

’We’ve met before. Zeke Shaw must be remembering now.’

"Two months ago, was your sister assaulted outside Nocturne?" Zeke Shaw was a detective; he had a good memory.

Julian Fletcher paused, as if trying to recall. "Yes... that did happen."

Zeke Shaw looked up at Julian Fletcher. "The Fletcher family is prominent in Meridia. Your sister shouldn’t have to resort to selling her body, right?"

Julian Fletcher was displeased. "Officer Lowell, Cecilia is not the kind of person you think she is."

I let out a sarcastic laugh. ’He isn’t defending my honor, he’s defending the Fletcher family’s.’

"My apologies, I misunderstood." Zeke Shaw gestured with the photograph. "This picture is much clearer and more direct than those glamour shots you gave me. I’m taking it with me. I’ll let you know if I get any news about your sister."

After Julian Fletcher drove away, Zeke Shaw spoke in a low voice. "Look into that assault case at Nocturne Club from two months ago. See if it’s connected to this one."

"Zeke, you think Cecilia Caldwell was being targeted for a while?"

"Every one of the killer’s victims was a woman who frequented Nocturne and lived a chaotic, extravagant lifestyle," Zeke Shaw confirmed with a nod.

I followed alongside Zeke Shaw, saying nothing.

No matter what I said, he couldn’t hear me.

All I could do was pray that he would uncover the truth quickly and bring that murderer to justice.

"Zeke!" Outside the abandoned orphanage, one of Zeke Shaw’s colleagues got out of a car and jogged over. "You asked me to look into the relationship between Cecilia Caldwell and Julian Fletcher. I found something. They aren’t biological siblings. Cecilia was adopted by the Fletcher family. She has no blood relation to Julian Fletcher, and they were engaged."

Zeke Shaw frowned, clearly not expecting my relationship with Julian Fletcher to be so complicated.

"Julian Fletcher’s public girlfriend is a woman named Erin Whittaker, and he was insistent on breaking his engagement to Cecilia to marry her."

’I have to admit, the police are incredibly efficient. They found all that out so fast.’

I stood to the side, feeling no particular stir in my heart.

"One of Julian Fletcher’s buddies said that before Cecilia Caldwell disappeared, Erin Whittaker was targeted by the killer on her way home from Nocturne. But Erin was afraid the killer would retaliate, so she didn’t call the police. Instead... she chose to have Cecilia take her place, walking through that alley near Nocturne." Even the officer’s face turned ugly with anger as he relayed the information.

Any outsider would find the story absurd, yet Julian Fletcher had forced me into it... even promising he would protect me.

I let out another sarcastic laugh. Now, listening to others analyze the events leading to my death from an outsider’s perspective, I could only find it comical.

Zeke Shaw’s expression darkened. He glanced at the time. "Cecilia Caldwell has been missing for well over 48 hours. Form a task force immediately. Apply for a warrant. Bring in Julian Fletcher and his whole gang of idiot friends. Don’t miss a single one!"

My head snapped up. I stared at Zeke Shaw in shock. ’He’s going to arrest Julian Fletcher? He suspects Julian is the one who killed me?’

"It wasn’t Julian Fletcher, it was Asher," I explained frantically to the police. I wasn’t trying to clear Julian’s name; I was terrified that the real killer was still out there, free to strike again.