Chapter 786 Cousin?
786 Cousin?
After everyone retired to their bedrooms, with Candace sharing the bedroom with Matt, and Andy sharing a bedroom with Jade, who had insisted that Andy stay with her instead of with Lucy since they were going to be sisters-in-law soon and needed to get to know each other better.
Alone in her bedroom, Lucy decided to surf the net while waiting for Tom to get home and call her.
She searched for fun games they could play at the joint bachelor bachelorette party they had all agreed on during dinner.
She raised a brow when her phone started ringing with a call from Alicia, and she couldn't help wondering why Alicia was calling her by that time of the night.
She received the call immediately, "Hello, Alicia!" She greeted pleasantly.
"Hey, Lucy! I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, but I thought I should let you know that there are some people in your house," Alicia said, while Jasmine rolled her eyes in exasperation, wondering why Alicia always loved to do such embarrassing things.
"People? Amy is the only one in my apartment. I let her stay there for the night…."
"I suppose that's the lady I saw earlier. But she isn't the only one there. I saw two men go in a while ago."
Lucy's heart skipped at that, "Two men?" She asked with a frown.
Was it possible that Malone had followed her there and was causing trouble for her? Although Lucy had placed an anonymous call to the police, she didn't know if they had gone over to Amy's to handle the situation.
"Yes. And they are yet to come out. I wasn't sure what was going on so I thought I should give you a call to let you know," Alicia explained.
"Alright. Thanks for the information. I will give Amy a call to find out if everything is alright," Lucy said before hanging up.
Immediately, Lucy dialed Amy's line, and Amy who had been in the kitchen conversing with Lucas, walked away to receive her call.
"Amy? Is everything alright over there?" Lucy asked with concern even though she was quite relieved that Amy had received her call.
She had planned to have Mia and Jeff go over to her place to check on Amy if she didn't get any response.
"Yes. Sure. I was just about to go to bed," Amy said, and Lucy raised a brow.
"Did you receive any visitors?" She asked, and Amy opened her mouth to say no, but thought better of it since she could tell that Lucy had a reason for asking and she didn't want to be caught lying to Lucy who was only trying to help her.
Did someone notify Lucy of the presence of Lucas and his best friend? How could she explain the presence of strange men in Lucy's house without giving away Lucas' surprise plan?
Seeing how she was silent, Lucy could tell it was true but that Amy didn't want to talk about. Was she being silent because Malone was probably threatening her to not say anything, or was it because she just didn't want to tell her who the visitors were? Lucy mused.
"Is someone there with you? Probably threatening to hurt you if you say anything? Should I send for help?" Lucy asked, worried by Amy's silence.
Amy giggled involuntarily at Lucy's overactive imagination, "No. Not at all. I'm fine. That's not the reason I'm not saying anything. Yes, I have some guests but no one is threatening me," Amy managed to say.
"I'm not sure I believe you. I'm going to send Jeff and Mia over…."
"Trust me, Lucy. None of that is necessary," Amy assured her.
"Listen, as long you are sure it's not Malone and you are safe, you don't have to tell me who your guests are if you don't want to. I only wanted to be sure you are fine. And in case it's Malone, you should let him know that my neighbors saw him and his pal going in and can easily identify them if the need arises. So, they had better not try anything silly," Lucy threatened and Amy smiled.
"Thanks, Lucy. I assure you there is nothing for you to worry about. I'm perfectly safe and going to bed now," Amy said and Lucy raised a brow.
"Does that mean they are spending the night there? Or are they leaving now?" Lucy asked feeling even more suspicious now.
"Yes, they will be spending the night, but they will be in the living room. I think I will sleep better with them in the house with me," Amy said and Lucy sighed even though she still wasn't exactly convinced yet,
"Alright then. Try to get some rest. By the way, I called the police as I said I would. Have you heard from them yet?" Lucy asked hopefully.
"No. But I plan to go to the police station to make a report before going to the office in the morning," Amy said and Lucy nodded.
"Alright then. Let's talk in the morning. Have a good night's rest," Lucy said, deciding to ask Sonia to send Mia or Jeff over to find out if Amy was truly fine and safe as she claims.
"You won't tell Lucas about any of this, right? I mean about Malone," Amy asked before Lucy could hang up, since she knew that Lucas would most likely ask Lucy about it when they meet, Lucy might be tempted to tell him.
"For as long as you want me to keep it to myself, your secret is safe with me," Lucy promised before ending the call.
Amy could tell that Lucy still wasn't convinced about her safety, so she decided to go inform the visiting duo that Lucy was aware of their presence in the house.
As she stepped out of the bedroom, she heard Tyler and Lucas discussing in the kitchen and she paused so she could listen in on their conversation to see if they were talking about her before making her presence known to them.
She smiled when she heard Tyler talking about how he couldn't wait to see the surprise on Lucy's face when she sees him at the wedding.
"I'm afraid your surprise may be at jeopardy," Amy said as she joined them, and Lucas raised a brow.
"You didn't tell Lucy that we are here, did you?" He asked with a frown since he had clearly asked her not to mention it.
"Seeing the scowl on your face, I wish I did," Amy said with a scowl of her own before directing her attention away from Lucas to Tyler.
"I suspect one of the neighbors saw you come in, and called to report your presence to Lucy. I couldn't give her any explanation so I believe she is worried I'm in danger and might send someone to check on me soon," Amy said and before Lucas could ask her why Lucy might think she was in danger, the doorbell rang and she shrugged.
"Told you. One of you will have to get the door. You preferably," Amy said referring to Tyler.
"Apart from the fact that no one might know who you are, you seem much more pleasant," Amy said, and Tyler chuckled while Lucas scoffed.
"Weren't you seeking my forgiveness a moment ago? Is it always in your character to apologize one minute and seek to annoy me the next?" Lucas asked, since she had done the same thing the last time at her apartment.
"I wasn't trying to annoy you. I was merely stating a fact. Now will either of you come with me to the door or will you rather Lucy calls the police?" She asked pleasantly, and Tyler grinned at Lucas before gesturing to Amy to lead the way.
"Facts indeed," Lucas muttered as he returned his attention to preparing dinner.
Amy opened the door with a pleasant smile on her face to see Jeff and Mia standing outside together, "Sorry to bother you, we thought you might be in need of company and decided to come over," Mia said with a pleasant smile as she raised a bottle of wine which she had brought with her as a weapon in case Amy was in danger.
As much as Amy would have loved to send them away so she could retire for the night, she knew that they would become even more suspicious if she did that.
"Oh! I didn't realize you had company," Mia said as she sent Tyler a pleasant smile, and he smiled back at her.
"Oh, yes! My cousin. He just came into the country tonight and since I was crashing here, I asked him and his best friend to come over," Amy said, not bothering to say Tyler's name.
Cousin? Mia mused as she gave him a once-over. He didn't seem like a dangerous person, but then again, she knew how deceptive looks could be. Her abusive husband also looked very gentlemanly but was a beast behind closed doors.
"Hi! I'm Mia, and this is my boyfriend, Jeff," Mia said, and Jeff frowned as he looked at her, wondering where that had come from.
She was doing too much. What did she think this was? An action movie? Jeff mused.
Seeing how Jeff wasn't saying anything, Mia pinched him as she passed her arm around him to hold his waist, "You don't mind us coming in, do you?" Mia asked hopefully since she was yet to see the other guy Sonia had mentioned was in the house. He might be the dangerous one for all she knew.
"Not at all. Please come in," Amy said as she held out the door to them.
She knew Lucy had most likely sent them, and to put Lucy's mind at ease, she was going to let them in and leave it up to Lucas to figure out a way to keep his presence a secret from Lucy.
While they were talking, Tyler struggled not to stare too hard at Mia even though he was quite amazed by how familiar she looked.
As Mia and Jeff walked in, they looked around the apartment and noticed that nothing seemed out of order and then they perceived the aroma coming from the kitchen and heard Lucas moving about.
This definitely didn't seem like anyone was in danger, unless they planned to have dinner before harming Amy. Maybe something like the biblical last supper, Mia thought.
"I'm sorry we intruded this way. We didn't realize you were fixing dinner," Jeff said not missing the fact that Amy seemed very relaxed and in control.
"I was actually on my way to bed. The guys were fixing dinner for themselves since they just arrived," Amy explained calmly while Tyler sat on the couch and picked up his backpack.
Following his movement, Mia's gaze fell on the duffle bags beside the couch and she decided that it was either Amy was telling the truth about her cousin and his friend just getting into the county and coming to spend the night with her, or the guys had brought the bags to take away pieces of her body after butchering her up.
She decided it was the former when Tyler took out his towel and some clothes from his bag, "I'm sorry, I'm sort of uncomfortable. I need to pop into the shower," Tyler said and walked away.
Of course, if Amy was in trouble there was no way the guys would let her be alone with them this way, Jeff and Mia reasoned.
"I guess you're fine?" Mia whispered and Amy smiled.
"You can let Lucy know that there is nothing to worry about," Amy assured them and they nodded.
"I guess we can leave you then. You can have this. I brought it with me in case I needed to smash their head," Mia said, making a gesture with the bottle of wine as though she wanted to hit someone.
"Thanks," Amy said with a smile of gratitude as she took the bottle from Mia and led the to the door.
The moment the door closed behind them, Amy sighed, glad that she hadn't ruined Tyler's surprise.
"Did something happen to you? Why is Lucy so concerned about you? And why are you really here instead of your apartment?" Lucas asked curiously from the doorway of the kitchen.
"What you meant to say was 'thank you for covering for us' right? You're welcome," Amy said with a sweet smile as she headed for the bedroom.
Lucas didn't bother to stop her as she left. He could tell she was acting that way only to avoid his questions. What was it to him if she didn't want to share her personal problems with him? She was free to do whatever she liked, Lucas thought as he returned to the kitchen.
Amy on the other hand sighed as she walked into the bedroom and shut the door. She knew she was being unnecessarily rude to him, but she couldn't help it.
If she so much as acted in a polite or friendly manner towards him, she would have to answer his questions and she didn't want to. Her pride wouldn't let her tell him that she was in a mess because she had failed to heed his advise.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶