Cassandra was lying down on a hospital bed squinting her eyes. She was half awake and she wasn't sure where she was yet. She let out a soft groan, touching her head which was still hurting her.
She blinked continuously until her vision became clearer and she saw a handsome young man with the most perfect alluring face staring closely at her.
"Mr. McAlester?" Cassandra said softly and Carl had a sigh of relief that she has finally woken up.
"Miss Hills, are you alright?" he asked in a sincere tone.
"My head still hurts a little" she responded in a low voice. Her eyes roved around the place and she noticed that she was in a hospital ward. A hospital ward that only wealthy people could afford because of how luxurious it was.
"I'm sorry about that. The doctor said you passed out due to intense stress and I know I am to blame for it. I was so hard on you." Carl felt sorry.
"it's not your fault sir, I was the one who pushed you," she said.
"it doesn't matter, please tell me what I should do to make you feel better. I want to make up for my actions" Carl said, expecting her to mention money.
He was willing to give her any amount added to the money he gave her at first. He felt sorry for being too hard on her. He guessed that Cassandra's kiss was just an accident and he was certain that it would never happen again because of how she pleased nonstop.
Cassandra's eyes beamed and she gave a faint smile. She has never been treated nicely like this. She felt so loved and she was still finding it hard to believe that it was this same Carl who was rude to her at first. Carl's anger frightened her and she never wants to see that dark side of him ever again. She vowed in her heart never to upset Carl or cross her lines again.
Cassandra has always tried her best to please Carl at work but he usually finds fault in anything she does, probably because of his mood swings.
She still wears contact lenses so she could see better but the one that matches the original color of her eyes. She had the feeling that Carl has issues with silver eyes.
"Mr. McAlester, the only thing I want is to continue working at your office… I don't want to get fired please." Cassandra said, staring intently at Carl's dark green eyes whilst touching his hand.
Ever since the first day she set her eyes on Carl, she felt attracted to him and she couldn't afford to stop seeing him. That was why her heart broke and she collapsed when Carl told her to leave his company.
Carl ruffled his hair as an excuse to remove his hand from hers. He wasn't comfortable with the way she was acting toward him. Her, smiling all the time whenever he was around her was getting annoying but what could he do? He was feeling a little disturbed by the idea that Cassandra might be interested in him.
"Alright, you're rehired" Carl gave a tight smile while Cassandra returned the smile with a sweet one. She was really happy.
…
Inside the same hospital where Carlos was admitted, Carl decided to check up on Carlos in his ward. Carlos has stayed in a coma for five months and counting.
Once in a while, Carl comes to check up on his best friend to see how he was fairing. There was no improvement whatsoever. Carlos was just lying down on the hospital bed with closed eyes and on life support. He looks like he's having a long nap.
Carl truly missed his best friend. They grew up together like brothers but they got separated as they turned adults. Carl had to school abroad whereas Carlos was too busy chasing money with illegal means. The two best friends finally reunited but it wasn't long before Carlos got into a fatal accident and now he's in a coma fighting for his life.
Carl left Carlos's ward and he was passing through the corridor when he received a text message from Noah.
'hey boss, I won't be coming to work today'
Carl read the text in his head in Noah's voice and he scoffed after reading the text.
It wasn't the first time Noah had texted Carl he wasn't going to be at work. Other times, Noah at least came up with a valid excuse but this time, he went straight to the point without any reason.
Carl immediately recalled when he saw Noah and Anne together and he guessed that Anne was the reason why Noah wasn't coming to work. Carl felt pissed seeing them together that intimate especially when she got into his car and they drove off to only God knows where.
He thought he had forgotten about Anne but seeing her together with Noah made him realize that his heart was still enslaved to her. He just has to learn how to control his emotions. He wants to try his best to act casually calm around her like he has moved on.
***Back at Anne's house***
Anne felt a lot better after confiding in Noah. Even though they weren't close, she felt really comfortable with him as if they'd known each other for a long time.
"Do you want anything I could offer you? Maybe a drink?" Anne said to Noah who was sitting down on the couch with Dexter.
"you don't have to worry, I'm good" Noah responded sweetly.
"No, I insist," Anne said.
She gave Noah apple juice in a glass cup and left him and Dexter and went straight to her room.
"Boss, I wasn't expecting to see you in my house," Dexter said to Noah as Noah sips his juice.
"Anne told me you got attacked again and I came to check up on you," Noah said.
Seeing the rib belt wrapped around Dexter's chest made Noah confirm that whatever happened to Dexter was really serious.
"you skipped work just to check up on me? That's very kind of you Sir" Dexter said with a smile.
"no, not to check up on you, pff …I wanted to ask you a few questions about how you got attacked," Noah said and Dexter nearly rolled his eyes.
"Your sister told me you got attacked by that same guy… Dexter, you should've reported to me" Noah said.
"Boss, it's no use. That guy is invincible" Dexter shook his head sadly.
"Dexter, no one is invincible. Everyone makes mistakes including that so-called man that attacked you." He said.
"hum… I managed to stab him with a pocket knife" Dexter said.
"you did what?" Noah was amazed. "so you have his blood right?"
"That's the worst part of everything. I lost the pocket knife I used in stabbing him... Detective Noah, I was more than lucky to have escaped from him. That man is a crazy maniac" Dexter delivered a frustrated sigh.
"Don't worry son. We'll get that lunatic in jail. I promise you that," Noah assured, gently patting his back.
"Detective Noah!" Dexter gasped like a light bulb just appeared on his head.
"What is it kid," Noah asked.
"I just remembered I took a picture of him… the attacker" He grinned.
Noah chuckled feeling excited "Good job kid. Can I see the picture?"
"Sure," Dexter said and collected his phone from the couch. He scrolled through pictures on his phone and brought out the one he took with the strange man.
"here it is," Dexter said showing Noah the picture on his phone.
"Wow, kid… when I asked you to take a selfie with the attacker I was literally kidding," Noah said zooming in on the picture Dexter took.
In the picture, Dexter was smiling cutely while Treasure's stalker was behind him but vaguely seen. Unfortunately, Treasure's stalker was looking down so all they could see was the part of his nose and his thin lips. Treasure's stalker was always wearing a fez cap to cover his eyes and to maintain a low profile.
"G. T" Noah mumbled staring closely at the picture.
"what is it, boss?" Dexter asked curiously because Noah kept on focusing on the picture.
"Have you heard of G. T clothings?" He asked Dexter giving him back his phone.
"umm… Nah, I haven't heard of it." Dexter replied, shaking his head.
"I thought so… it used to be a popular clothing brand during the 90s," Noah said.
"…so what does it have to do with the picture?" Dexter asked.
"Surprisingly, the attacker is wearing a modernized version of it… and there's only one shop here in New York who sells this exact hoodie the attacker is wearing"
"Wow," Dexter smiled. He looked at the picture again and had a close look at the strange man's hoodie. He saw the bold letters written in the middle of the hoodie as 'G.T'. Dexter has seen it before but he didn't pay attention to it. He had no idea that the label on the strange man's hoodie will serve as a clue.
"we're getting close to knowing who this maniac is." He said
"Yeah, kid… you might've lost the pocket knife that had the attacker's blood on it but you did an excellent job in taking his picture" Noah gave a proud smile.
"but we also need to set up a trap so we can succeed in putting that maniac in jail for good. Until that psychopath is on the loose, your life is in danger" Noah said and Dexter nodded his head.
"Right. So what's the plan boss?"
"first of all, that girl of yours who caused you to have a fractured rib has to be part of our plan to get hold of that psychopath, since he only attacks you when you get close to her," Noah said.
"What? No! …I can't put her life in danger. We can't do that" Dexter shook his head aggressively.
"Dexter listen to me. We need to know the relationship she has with that psychopath. I'm sure we can use her to lure that freak to..."
"…Boss, I can't" Dexter interrupted.
"I can't force her to tell me what's she not comfortable with... I tried asking her if she knew the guy but she refused to say anything to me. I don't want to bring that up again until she feels comfortable to tell me herself." He said.
"so you wanna keep getting hurt over and over again by that psychopath because of your stupidity? Don't you realize it affects your sister a lot?" Noah said to Dexter.
"uhm… I know but…" Dexter sighed.
"you have to do this," Noah said.
Dexter rested his back on the couch and after much thought, he chose to agree with Noah
"so what's the plan?" Dexter said.
"it's simple. When you and that girl are together alone, some of the cops and I will be undercover to watch the both of you and see for ourselves, who's the maniac that attacks you. Once that maniac shows up, boom! We attack back" Noah explained and Dexter slowly nodded his head trying to be positive.