346 Leverage
"Wait." She held onto his arm. When he paused, she grabbed a handful of his shirt as leverage. "Who is he? Did he tell you?"
"He didn't need to. He is a West." He placed a hand over her fist but it was no consolation.
He had come to the same conclusion as them and it was not a good thing. This was tragic. It would mean the Wests knew what really went down with Gabriel.
"What does he want?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer. She just didn't want to accept it.
"He wants back whatever shares of The West we have." He let go of her hand and pried hers off his shirt, soothing her with a kiss. "I have to go."
He was hiding something, she could feel it. She grabbed onto his wrist before he could get out of her reach, earning an impatient sigh.
"Zaria,"
"Are you telling the truth, that they asked for the shares?" She pushed.
"Not explicitly but that's the only thing we owe them." He once again avoided her gaze.
Another lie, she thought.
"Take me with you." She demanded.
"Not a chance."
Her hand tightened around his. "If it's only about the shares, why can't I come? We will simply go over to the location they want, sign some documents and take Rosaly with us, right? Nothing can go wrong." She looked up into his eyes. "But you won't let me come because you know something could go wrong. You know you are putting yourself in danger."
"Zaria," he ran his free hand down his face. "The longer we stand here and argue, the more danger Rosaly will be in."
He was right, and she knew she would not be able to change his mind no matter what she said.
"Then take Zeus with you." She tried. "At least that way you will have someone by your side."
He ignored her compromise and ordered Zeus to take care of her, then he secured a glock to his waist and took off."
She was still dazed when Zeus walked up behind her. "Did you see that? He just left. It's as if he doesn't care about his safety."
"Maybe he doesn't." He nudged her by the shoulder. "Come on, I need you to see something."
"What is it?" She asked as soon as they were back to the living room where he was working on his clue.
"I found her identity." He motioned to the woman in the video. "She works for the West family."
"Okay." She frowned. That must be what Desmond had figured out before he decided to take off on his own to follow his lead.
"One more thing, the bathroom stall that Rosaly went into is not just any bathroom stall. The back wall is a secret exit point. You won't notice it unless you know what you are looking for but it's a pair of magnetic doors painted white to resemble the rest of the walls. It can only be unlocked by a passcode."
If Rosaly wasn't the victim, she would be impressed by the level of scheming that must have taken. No wonder Natalie didn't notice anything.
"But…was this premeditated?" She asked. How would anyone know Rosaly was there and also know she would be in that stall?"
"Not most of it." He pointed at a series of simultaneous footages. "Do you need me to maximize one?"
"We don't have time." She tried to follow as many of them as she could.
"They had been planning this for days and already had trackers in place. Rosaly showing up in that restaurant was like a prey accidentally exploring his predator's nest—it gave them an easier plan. Criminals have some ways of escaping and altering public bathrooms is one of them. The Kryptonite just happens to be one of those locations and the Wests know it. Don't ask me how. Even I didn't know about it before today and I'm a Dark Knight."
"Anyway they bid their time and counted on the fact that children tend to make frequent trips to the bathroom." He continued.
She caught sight of the footage and gasped. "That woman placed 'under maintenance' signs on all the stalls except one. That's moments after Natalie and Rosaly headed for the bathroom."
"How Natalie didn't question the fact that four stalls were under maintenance at the same time, I will never understand. But maybe it was not what she was focused on." He rubbed his neck. "Should we follow Desmond or go after the rest of the Wests?"
"You get some rest. I'll go after the Wests." She placed a hand on his shoulder. He had been up all night investigating so he didn't argue with her.
"Hey, I'll keep my phone on. If you need me, just give me a call."
She hugged him briefly. "Don't worry. I know a certain West who will be happy to help. Wait. Do you have a picture of the woman from the footage?"
____
By the time she arrived at Evan's house, Zeus had already sent the picture so she knocked with more confidence that he would help.
"Zaria?" He was shocked to see her, then he peeked behind her. "Where's Des?"
"He followed a clue he got. May I come in?" She held her breath hoping she wouldn't find anything uncomfortable to look at this time.
"Of course. Don't worry, I've been keeping my house appropriate. You know, in case the girls want to visit? We have been playing a lot lately." His face dimmed when he remembered Rosaly was still missing. "Why are you here? Did you find a clue too?"
"Something you might help me with." She unlocked her screen and showed him the picture. "Do you know this woman?"
"She is the woman from that footage." He remembered. "But when I saw her on the footage, she gave me this feeling that I've met her before and not just in passing. Is she the culprit?"
"She must be." She tried her best not to let it make her give up. Maybe he could remember something.
"I should have known." He slumped into his seat. "As long as my family suspected Desmond could be behind what happened to my grandfather, there was no chance in hell they were going to let it slide."
"Just our luck. I need you to come with me to follow Desmond. I have a feeling he knew it would be dangerous."
He wasn't surprised. "Of course it will be dangerous. Why else would he leave you while knowing how worried you will be? But he would rather have you worried than let any harm befall you. That, and the fact that the Wests are sneaky as hell."
"To fight a West, I need a West." She reminded him what she had just asked, but his response was unexpected.
"Why should I help you?"
She blinked. "Uh, because your friend is in danger? Make that two friends. Rosaly is your friend too, you said it yourself. And because it's your family?"
He scoffed. "I know that. I would do it for free. But can't you humor a man?"
She rolled her eyes. Evan was impossible. But right before she gave up, she remembered what had caught his interest lately. "I'll put in a good word for you when I meet Clarion."
"You got yourself a deal. Now, let's go save my friends." He pulled a cabinet open and casually took a gun out, which he tossed at her, then he tucked another into his waist.
"Just so you know, wherever our car stops, that's as far as you go. I may want to help you but Desmond will kill me if I let you go anywhere dangerous."
"Of course." She agreed, though she had no intention to stay in the car if Desmond needed her.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel