Three years ago
"Yes, Ruby, I have found her. I have found her."
Gavin was watching the young girl smiling and chatting animatedly with her friends. She looked especially happy when she saw two of them. Another girl of similar age, a little taller than her, and a boy. He had somehow made acquaintance with the group of friends she was with, but in doing so he had raised their suspicion. Ultimately, they all concluded that Gavin was in love with her.
"Are you sure, it's her? Cecil Circe Abrams. Her age should be—"
Gavin stopped Ruby in the middle of the sentence and said, "I know it is her. I have checked everything. There is just one problem."
Ruby asked in a worried tone, "I don't know how to approach her, or what to say. Any idea?"
"First of all you should be discreet. If she finds out that you've been following her, then she's going to call the police. Are you sure she hasn't seen you?"
Present day
Gavin was expecting Kay's call, but not this soon. He frowned at the number on his screen before taking the call. In an instant thousands of thoughts appeared in his mind, and much to his chagrin they were not pretty thoughts.
"Your suspicion was right. She met with Joe Graham right after she left the cafe," Kay said.
"Do I need to know who that is?" Gavin didn't feel like talking after she left. Just fifteen minutes and he was already thinking about her and what her responses were going to be. It was exhausting to play mind chess with himself, he thought.
"Joe Graham is a retired lawyer who often helps young people who have no means to protect themselves. His area of expertise is corporate law. He was a big name once. It's been around ten years since he has retired but still now he is an intimidating figure." Kay paused for a second, as if to decide whether he should say it, and added, "You may want to read and revise the contract once again, just for your own safety."
"That will not be necessary. My contract is made perfectly," Gavind said. It was made especially and uniquely for one person, and that was Celia. Or how she calls herself nowadays, Cecelia Rose. The irony was not unnoticed by Gavin. Cecelia Rose was one of Cece's mother, Gloria Day's famous female leads. She was the only character who didn't turn out to be femme fatale. Was that why she chose this name, because it suited her character?
Gavin started typing a text. "I would really appreciate it if you stay with us for a long time." He erased it at once. "I have some clauses I want to go over. Will you be available tomorrow for a quick meeting?" He erased that one too. He bit his lip and pondered the situation once again.
She recognised him. There was no way she didn't. Her eyes, her shocked look, pale face, frequent shivers and trembling hands, everything pointed to the same fact—she recognised him. Why didn't she say anything then? Why didn't she scream, yell, cry and curse at him like she did the last time? Why didn't she pick up a weapon and try to hit him? That was the correct reaction, wasn't it?
Finally he started typing his last message. If he wanted to see a reaction, he had to take the necessary step. He had to poke her, provoke her, and make her return to the livid state he wanted her to be in. Until she opened up to her emotions, he wouldn't be able to use her.
This should work, he thought before pressing the 'send' button.
He waited for the response. Was she going to ignore him? Probably. She had already ignore his presence in a way, by being so indifferent towards him. She might just ignore the message and make an excuse later.
Proving him wrong, a question mark hit his inbox.
"Really?" he muttered. Was she trying to play dumb, or forgetful? Or did she actually become a victim of early Alzheimer's?
The next message was far more direct. This should earn a response? He asked himself.
This again remained on read, but ignored.
Cece was angry, but more than that she was anxious. In her mind, there was a replay of that night going on.
Three years ago
She heard the gunshot when she was drying her hair. She had just come out of the shower, still wrapped in a towel. She decided to put on the night cream first, then dry her hair and then go to bed. It was a plain ritual she followed, no matter where she was. It sounded like a firecracker, but louder, painfully so. More intense. It sent a shock through her body, creating a vibration in the glass of water kept on the bedside table. Had she been closer to the source, she would have had potential hearing damage. In a shock she turned around, causing her hair drier unplug from the socket. There was another sound, very similar, and it was followed by a scream from a male voice.
She took three minutes to find and don a bathrobe and run out of the room. The first thought that haunted her was her parents. The sound came from the direction her parents' room. Once she reached the vicinity of the room, an intense smell of gunpowder made her cover her nose. With wild drumbeats taking over her chest she entered her room.
The first sight that welcomed her was Gavin sitting on the floor. The room was semi-dark, a bedside lamp was lit, the windows were open to let the cool night breeze in. Beside Gavin laid a black, sleek-looking gun. She took hurried steps towards him, wanting to ask him what it was. Where were her parents? Why couldn't she see them?
"Gavin?" she called out. She was going to say more, if she could. In a flash, a pair of strong hands covered her mouth and grabbed her from behind. Astonished by the sudden force, she stilled. The hands, cold and sticky, lingered over her mouth for an uncomfortably long time. Finally she heard a whisper.
"Don't shout, or else you're going to end up like them." By then, Cece had guessed a lot of what might have transpired in the room. "Do you understand what I am saying?"
Cece started struggling. She at first unsuccessfully tried to elbow the man behind her, then kick backwards, and another kick. She struggled with all her might hoping she'd be able to weasel out of his strong grip.
He grabbed her tighter and pulled closer. His fingers dug into her skin. "Don't be stubborn, Cece. You will invite your own demise." Cece stopped moving for a bit, giving him a chance to speak. He pulled her body along with his own at the pace of electricity and widened the distance between themselves and the two bodies lying on the floor, the two bodies that Cece hadn't noticed until now. A scream tore out from her throat but ended up being a suppressed muffle under his palm.
"What you see there is not a random accident or robbery. It was a planned, cold-blooded murder. If you don't behave, you're going to end up being a bloodied corpse along with them."
Cece stopped moving completely then. It was something she chose to do; it was her body shutting down after the impact the scene before her left on her mind. Her mother was lying in a pool of blood, just a couple of metres away his father lay, his eyes were still open. Cece knew if she could go nearer and touch them she would feel the warmth in their body, but it was the blood that stopped her. The thick liquid that looked almost blacking in the moonlight seeping through the windows.
She dropped to her knees.
Present day
Cece walked home faster. She was calculating in her mind. If she packed her things now and got to the nearest bus stop in the next half an hour, she could find a bus taking her to Star City before midnight. From there she could take the train and go to the next town. It was a small town, not very famous, not many people visit there without any reason. Most of her work was done online under various pen names, so she could continue those work. The money she had received from the advance was still untouched. Something told her not to use that money just yet, and she ended up using whatever she had left from the previous month's salary.
She hated how she was clinging on to the money which indirectly came from Gavin, but there was nothing she could do. Besides, wasn't the money a reward for her work paid by Sandra? That was what she would think of. It was Sandra's money.
But it was not.
She started packing, but before that collected the cash from her secret stash, and put them inside an envelope. She wrote an address in a hurry and added a phone number. Now the money would return safely to Sandra, and Cece would not live under the shame of using his money.
When her packing was done, she pulled her hair into a half ponytail and wore a black hooded jacket. She pulled the hood over her head. She was ready to go. Just one thing she needed to make sure, that—
Ding dong…
Her chain of thoughts was broken by the annoying sound of the calling bell.
There was someone at the door waiting for her.