A Night With My Boss

**Alex**

I arrived at my destination a little bit late and I was sure the participants would be sleeping already but I still rang the bell anyways but I got no response, I rang again a couple more times till I heard footsteps from inside the house. I hid a few metres away behind a small bush to see who is coming, if it’s Ari then I will remain hidden and ring the bell again till Liam comes out.

As fate would have it it was Liam who came to get the door instead so I rushed out of my bush and dived him into a bear hug before he could process what was happening.

“Alex you’re alive!!” Words cannot explain the happiness that was all over Liam’s face but I told him to keep quiet.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Shooshh!! I know you are happy to see me but can we go inside and talk now?” I said letting myself in, after a long while of walking like a vagabond I needed one thing more than anything in this world, Food.

“I’m so hungry!!” I groaned alongside my stomach but my stomach made the louder grumble.

“I’ll wake Ari to whip you something just now” He said about going upstairs for her but I stopped him.

“No need for that, just microwave anything from the fridge that I can eat, it’s best no one knows I’m alive… at least for now”.

“Okay I will start doing that now, come to the kitchen we have a lot to talk about” We certainly do, it was over a plate of Arianna’s delicious apple pie and a glass of warm milk that I told Liam everything that had happened that day from the hospital visit in the morning, the sight of Skyler as I was driving out from work and the hot pursuit that led to the accident.

“It was a fucking sabotage! But who would allow Skyler into the staff’s garage like that?” Liam finally said at the end of my tale, he had been listening without uttering a single word.

“That’s what I want to find out but I think she had someone else do the job for her… Like a mechanic or something” It is in Skyler’s nature to plan such a sabotage but she is not going to do the dirty work herself.

“I think your receptionist or security guard would know something about that, if an external personnel enters the building the security guard or the receptionist is their lighthouse for guidance or directions”.

“Or at least they can provide information if they had seen anything suspicious, you’re right and since Skyler didn’t do it herself then surely the handy man might need some help locating the parking lot. Where’s your phone? I need to call someone” Detective Thomas needed this kind of information.

“Who do you wanna call?”.

“The detective he’s the only one I can trust and I promised to contact him if I see anything suspicious”.

“Okay here you go” Liam handed me his phone, I brought out the card and dialled the detective’s number.

“Hello Detective Thomas speaking” He answered quite quickly.

“Hello Thomas it’s Alex Montero speaking”.

“Okay I see this is your friend’s number?”.

“Yes it is, I’ve got a lead on the Skyler case”.

“Spill”.

“Skyler couldn’t have cut my brakes herself because for starters she can’t get close to my company building without raising an alarm even though she had an inside person that person wouldn’t have the knowledge of to cut a car’s brake line neither would she” I felt out of breath because my heart was beating so fast anticipating his next reaction.

“Hmmmm go on” His nerves of steel attitude is pissing me off but I went on anyway.

“I want you to question my receptionist first before anybody else because if anyone new or unfamiliar comes into the building she surely would have come in contact with or at least noticed” Liam was all ears running waiting for the detective to reply but he kept quiet still.

“Okay I will do that tomorrow and I will fill you in whenever you can call” Thomas finally said.

“Gee thanks detective, I’ll give you the details if I see anything”.

“Thanks for your cooperation” He hung up, Liam was bursting with excitement.

“So what do you plan on doing on this recon mission?”.

“Well I plan to discover where Skyler is hiding and end this terror myself or I’ll let Thomas do it”.

“Where do you want to even start? Even the police couldn’t pinpoint her location. How much luck do you think you’ll have?” As soon as he asked that question I started to doubt my ability to find Skyler but I couldn’t let the detective have all the fun.

“I’ll start at the scene of the crime, the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime” Not my best lead but it’s a start.

“isn’t that too cliché? She might be expecting that you know”.

“You could be right but I know Skyler, she would want to confirm if I made it out or not right now I’m sure she’s burning with anxiety about it.” Liam processed this before replying it seemed to me he was making a plan.

“What are you thinking about buddy?” I asked.

“It’s just that what if she had already gone there before you set out tomorrow”.

“The police won’t leave there until dusk tomorrow, I would tell the detective to make them stay there for that long just to spook her from coming close until it’s free which is by night time” The cops won’t leave the crime scene unprotected until I get there giving me enough time to find a good spot to hide.

“Okay bro, so is there anything I can do to help? Liam asked with his eyes shining like a toddler who had seen candy.

“Yeah you will be the person driving me to the crime scene and also my getaway driver who will tail Skyler after she had found the little clue I left her”.

“What clue is that?”.

“Oh it’s one of my shoe that I left on the beach, I already lost one pair as I was swimming and I decided it would look less crazy if I walked around barefooted instead of one-shoe-a-feet” Liam laughed at the thought of me walking around like that and after some seconds I too started laughing at my predicament.

“It’s good to have you back Alex, I thought I had lost you…. I’m sure Petra would be devastated at the news by the way when do you plan to reveal yourself to her?”.

“I can’t do that just yet not until I’ve taken down Skyler, only then Petra can truly be safe” Liam gave a yawn I could see he was tired.

“Well I’m off to bed you can sleep in the guest room but I’ll have to lock you in so Arianna won’t be suspicious” Liam’s eyes were already closing and he had started to nod off into sleep if I hadn’t woken him up.

“Thanks for the help buddy, let me head to the guest room now so you can go back to sleep” I helped him up and we went to the guest room, as the lock clicked into place I suddenly felt all the tiredness I had battled with today and my body felt limp on the bed. Even as my mind slipped into the dream world I still thought about Petra and my espionage mission tomorrow.