55.One step ahead

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~song of the day~

  Let you down - NF

Gray's POV

After dropping Zyair off at another hospital, I head over to Kayden's headquarters. My determination was fierce. I needed to put an end to everything once and for all. Kayden called earlier and said he had new information about Enzo. I hoped that it was precisely what I needed he had- an edge over Luca. My eyes flicker to the USB I got from Jay before he died- I had something for him too.

I dial Dove's number again, tapping my icy fingers on the steering wheel. Agitated when she doesn't pick, I switch to Ashley's cell but end up with the same results.

Turning my gaze out, the sun is setting- its bright orange glow hovering above the horizon in the distance. Tightening my grip on the steering wheel, I floor the pedal- even though I didn't think it could get any lower-, propelling me further into my seat.

Ignoring all traffic signs, I jolt the car forward. I couldn't care less if the police were on my trail. As expected, I get to Kayden's headquarters at a record time.

I'm walking into Kayden's office when Aaron calls. I swipe and answer. "Yes?"

"God, Thank God you're okay," Aaron sighs dramatically. "I saw the news about the fire, and Dove's number wasn't going through-"

I take in a sharp breath at the mention of her name. I was prepared to kill both Luca and Fawn if they so much as hurt a hair on her head. I wasn't going to let it slide this time.

"Is Dove okay?" Aaron's voice is lower.

It killed me that I didn't know the definite answer to that question, but I sure hope for their sake that she was.

"Luca has her."

"How? She was with you a few hours ago?" Aaron asks.

"I can't explain this over the phone. Meet me at Kayden's office," I end the call at the same moment my eyes meet Kayden's. He gestures towards his office with his head, and I follow suit.

"Take a candy. Have a drink, " Kayden says, settling on his chair, his hands grazing over the candy jar on his table.

"I have a favor to ask you," I ignore his previous comment, placing my hands on his desk. "They took her again."

"They?" Kayden folds his arms, leaning on his desk. "Luca and Enzo?"

I nod. "Can you look up the name Fawn Welts?"

"Fawn Welts?" Kayden raises his brows, typing on his computer. "That name sounds oddly familiar. Who is she?" 

"She's a friend to my girlfriend, but I think she might be involved with Luca," I explain, shaking my legs impatiently on the ground.

"Yes! Luca! That's where I know her from," Kayden explains, jolting from his seat. He turns his laptop to me. "She's his sister."

On his screen was a picture of a young girl I had never seen before. She had short red hair, visibly tan skin, green eyes, and looked like someone who'd come out from a Peter Pan movie.

"But isn't she a little too young to be inc-,"

"That's not fawn," I shake my head at the screen, raising my face towards Kayden.

Kayden frowns and stares at the screen before looking back at me. "Are you sure?"

Why wouldn't I be? I bring out my phone and scroll through Dove's Instagram page in an attempt to find a picture of or with Fawn. But there was no trace of her anywhere. Luckily, I find her in a group picture we took at Zyair's birthday party. Even there, her face was quite blurry, and she looked off-guard.

"A hundred." I show the picture to him, pointing her out.

"Well.... The hair..." Kayden's voice falters in an attempt to find a similarity between the two. I give him a blank stare.

Realization suddenly dawns on me. If Fawn Welts was Luca's sister. Then who was the Fawn we all knew?

Kayden shakes his head in confusion. "Do you have a clearer picture of this lady?"

I search again through all our friend's pages, trying to find a clearer picture of Fawn, but all to no avail.  It was almost like she was a ghost. She had no social media presence and always managed to look blotchy in group pictures, making her facial features unrecognizable.  She didn't even have an Instagram account, which made me think her lack of social media presence was deliberate.

"No, but I can describe her to you," I offered.

"Yes, cause I look like a sketch artist, " Kayden fakes smiles, gesturing towards his body.

"You could have just said no," I frown, not appreciating his humor.

Kayden sighs and tugs at his earlobes. "Look, I've got my plate full with Enzo and your dad. I just got a call from my boss to let your dad go. He says we don't have evidence, but I know that's just bullshit talk," he slams his hand on the table.

His words didn't surprise me at all. What surprised me was the fact that my dad didn't escape the same day he got caught. It was highly unlike him. But when I heard that he wanted to talk to me, I understood why he stayed.

I knew he had nothing to spill on the Cagers. He wouldn't dare. He just used that as an excuse to get Kayden to help him converse with me. But I refused to allow him my presence. Maybe when he's finally in jail, I might.

I pull out the USB and drop it on the table. "I'll help you if you help me."

Kayden's eye flashes from the USB to me, a look of conflict in, dilating in his pupils. I smirk at him. His desperation to put my father behind bars was seeping out of him like bad cologne.

"How legit is your information?" he asks.

"I won't make my offer twice."

I was also desperate, even more than him. But I abstained from showing any emotions. That was the only way I could get the upper hand in the decisions that would follow.

Kayden nods his head. He walks to the other side of the room and presses the button on an intercom. "Urgent. Send in Clinton now."

"Okay, sir. Mr. Madrid said I should ask you if Mr. Stone has been released?"

Kayden grits his teeth and takes in a sharp breath. "I'll release him when I'm done with the paperwork."

He turns to me swiftly. "Can I get the USB now?"

I shake my head and hold the drive in my fist. "Not until I find my girl."

A man walks briskly into the room, holding a big digital notepad. He was short and plump, with beards that barely connect at the Jaw.

"Gray, this is our digital criminal sketch artist. He's an extremely talented genius and makes the best digital portrait, " Kayden introduces Clinton before turning his attention to Clinton. "Clint, this is Gray."

Clinton gives me a smile that doesn't reach his ears. "Nice to meet you."

"You can set up here," Kayden points to a space next to his desk. "Gray, describe Fawn or whatever."

I narrow my eyes, trying to find a distinct feature about Fawn that I could describe. Kayden walks over to Clinton. "You think you can sketch on a record's time. We're low on time."

Clinton nods, and they both look at me. "Uh... The shape of her head... It's uh... Circle.. but not really circular," I tilt my head as my mind goes foggy, trying to figure out the shape of Fawn's head.

I look at Clinton for help, but he just replies with a blank stare. "I thought you said he was a genius." I direct my statement at Kayden, throwing my hands up in despair.

The door opens, and Aaron walks in at that moment. I jolt from my seat, happy to see him. My mind was completely and utterly blank at remembering Fawn's features. And it dawns on me that I can't really describe anyone else's features but Dove's because my eyes pass everyone else and register their faces as a whole.

But with Dove, it lingers, imprinting every single feature in my brain- including features that she might not know. The other day I realized she had a tiny birthmark in the small red corner of her eye. It was barely noticeable unless you look closely enough.

"Aaron can describe Fawn better. They were good friends," I rush to pull Aaron, placing him on the hot seat I was in seconds ago. The chair was hot, literally.

"Fawn? I barely knew her," Aaron is confused as he sits on the chair.

"Come on now. Don't deny your best friend," I tap Aaron's shoulder. "He's a bit shy," I say to Kayden.

"Why do we need Fawn-"

"For the love of God! Can you describe her or not?" Kayden almost yells, his voice harsh.

From the look on Aaron's face, I could tell he had no idea what to do, but he soon began to describe Fawn while Clinton draws fiercely on his pad.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kayden was right. Clinton was good. And so was Aaron. They captured Fawn's essence perfectly- the fake innocent persona and all.

After Clinton leaves, Kayden gets to work on his computer while I explain the situation to Aaron.

"Found her?" Kayden says, but it sounded more like a question. He makes a confused face as he stared down at his laptop. "But her record is clean."

"What?" I stride to his side to see what he saw. Her name was Sabrina Rain. A 19-year-old Australian girl with a clean record. The only thing one could arrest her for was the number of awards she had won. Something felt oddly familiar- her profile picture. I had seen the picture of her profile somewhere else.

My eyes wander around the room as my brain tries to remember why that particular picture felt familiar. Then it lands on the USB.

"Shit," I mutter. Grabbing the USB, I place it into Kayden's laptop. I search for the file that had all the dirt on the Cagers members.

Kayden's eyes widen at the files on the laptop. "Holy shit, this is like a national bomb," he mutters under his breath.

I remember scrolling through the images last night, but they were so many I never really looked at them.

I type in the name Sabrina Rain.

Her picture pops out. The same profile picture and her records were nothing close to clean. I scroll through, searching for her number. The Cagers all had a chip. A chip with a serial number that could be located at any place in the world. A small smile creeps up my face as I sight hers.

"Can you track this number for me?" I write the number down and hand it to Kayden.

He nods and collects the number from me. "Does Enzo have one of these?" he asked as he types on his laptop.

"Everyone does."

~~~~~~~~~~

It takes a few hours to get to Sabrina's Cabin from Kayden's headquarters. Kayden couldn't tag along as he has a lot of work, but he gracefully sent me a team as a means of showing his appreciation for the files I gave him.

We pull up to the Cabin, which was located in an almost deserted area. I wasn't scared as much as I was angry. My blood kept rushing to my brain, and I couldn't find myself thinking straight. The only thought I had in mind was to kill Sabrina but Luca first. Or I might just shoot them both at the same time.

Aaron follows me into the cabin this time, refusing to head my words. I let him tag along because I was also tired of talking.

Once we are in the Cabin, we could only hear sounds coming from one of the rooms. People were talking, but I couldn't make out their words.

Slowly, we make our way towards the voices with the team leader and me in the lead. Something was amiss. I could tell by the utter silence in the cabin parlor and the monotonous voice coming from the room that something was wrong. There were no footsteps, zero breathing sounds, no shuffling. The person couldn't possibly be standing still while talking.

"Once the door opens, kill them! Shoot them all," Luca's voice came from the room as I placed my hands on the doorknob.

I hesitate, waiting for a response from whoever he was talking to, but I get nothing. Instead, Luca repeats his words.

With my guns in my hands, I push the door open with my leg. A person sits on the bed, pointing a gun at us.

My hands are on the trigger of my gun,  about to shoot, when I stop at the sight of the blood trail.

"Wait-"

But my words are too late. Someone fires a gun at the person on the bed, and I watch in horror as the person collapses onto the bed in return.

"I said wait!" I throw a punch at the idiot who fired the gun. I was about to throw another punch when Aaron holds me back, hugging me from behind.

I nudge Aaron away from me and rush into the room. My heart thumps loudly in my chest, begging for relief of some sort. I couldn't bear to lose another person, especially not Dove.

With shaky hands, I remove the mask from the face. My throat tightens, and my breath intake shortens, and I slump to the ground at the sight of Ashley.

Fuck, no.

A message comes in on a random phone next to Ashley on the bed. Hope you liked my gift.

••••••••••••••
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