THE next morning, I woke up quite earlier than planned as my head kept racking with ways to crack this Lois case. I had spent all night digging for the information that I needed and I may have hit the jackpot. I went to my balcony to make a phone call with Jesse, who picked up after a few rings.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked.
"Nothing really, how's it going with what I asked you to do?" I inquired, going straight to the point.
Jesse let out a sigh on his head and I picture him leaning on the chair of his work desk, "I just started but I don't know where exactly to look from, she seems to have no records and I can't find any family members related to her or anything,"
"That's a sign," I said.
"How?"
"No records? She's definitely hiding something. I've got a little info to tip you off, "
"I'm listening,"
"A few years ago, Lois Dawson was introduced to the Wellington house hold and on that day Theresa's necklace got missing,"
"And Lois may have taken it?"
I peeked behind me to check my surroundings properly, a gardener shearing a shrub waved at me and I waved back from the balcony before returning back to the phone call.
"Yes, she probably did that. I looked it up last night. The HAVEN duo was designed and crafted by Antoine Deux Lux in 1930. The first piece was buried with Antoine's late wife,her grave is strictly protected to stir off hungry individuals. And, the second piece, was initially worn by his daughter but Antoine's daughter sold this necklace when her husband went bankrupt and it started circulating amongst the rich elites until it got to the neck of Michelle Wellington and finally to her granddaughter, Theresa who was supposed to give out the necklace to a charity auction in Germany, "
"But it was stolen by Lois.. "
"Probably stolen by Lois and I know where the second piece is, "I finally announced.
"Wow and how? "
"The perks of being an assassin, the good news is… it's here in London, "
"Avery, I appreciate how smart you are and all but how is this supposed to help with finding Lois, "
I rolled my eyes, "If we find who has the necklace, we'll find out who sold it to them and probably dig out the first dirt about Lois, "
"Holy Sh*t, why didn't I think of that?"
"Probably because you're dumb. Last year when I came to London to get a job done, I had stopped by a Mexican restaurant here and the owner was wearing that necklace. I know she may have gotten it from the black market because she's into smuggling, "
"What if it isn't what Lois stole? It could be the first piece? "
"Antonie's wife was buried in a fortress with strict protective means taken only her family members could access that grave so its good as dead with the owner, "
"That does make sense,"
I looked over the balcony again and this time around, I saw Penelope walking towards the garden with teary eyes. What ever happened to her?
"I'll call you after I pay a visit to my old friend, bye, " I ended the call before he could say a word.
Now, all that was left is to figure out a way to leave this house without being censored.
My mind drifted to Penelope again, wasn't she supposed to get ready for school? I don't want to get involved but her mood yesterday has been messing with my heartstrings. Maybe Cassie would check up on her and ask if she was okay but this certainly wasn't an Avery Reigns thing.
With a sigh, I grabbed my robe and slippers and washed my face, gargled mouthwash and headed down stairs thereafter, before finding my way to the garden after a league of returning the greetings of domestic workers on my way.
I used the shortcut Rosita had led me through as always, the garden looked beautiful with the fresh scent of daffodils filling my nostrils. Underneath the bamboo shade sat Penelope, crying her eyes out. What ever happened to her?
"Umm… is this seat taken? " I asked and she flinched slightly before vigorously wiping her tears.
"No, I'm so sorry, " She croaked, shifting slightly to the end of the bench and I took my seat next to her.
"Is everything okay? " I questioned after a brief moment of listening to her struggle to steady her breath after crying.
"Yes," She forced a smile, looking at me. "Everything's fine, " she added.
"We both know it's wrong to lie, right? "
Immediately she burst into tears and I involuntarily wrapped her into my arms. Turns out, hugs aren't a bad thing after all; Rosita is influencing me wrongly. I know I'm not in the position to lecture anyone about lying but coaches don't play.
After a few minutes of soaking my shirt with tears, she was finally ready to let me go.
"What happened? " I asked, trying my best to sound calm.
She sniffled and cleaned the tears on her cheeks, "My boyfriend broke up with me, "
ARE YOU F*CKING WITH ME RIGHT NOW?! So that's what this is about? I almost lost my cool and slammed her with a thorough scolding session but I'm glad I didn't as she progressed with the story.
"And it's worse Cassie, it's worse. He cheated with a new girl in his school, they're together now and he threatened to post my nudes if I don't give him 500k pounds, what do I do, Cassie? I don't have that kind of money, my mother would kill me even, please don't tell her,"
Okay, this is way more complicated than I thought.
"Calm down, isn't everyone in your school supposed to be filthy rich or something, why is he asking for money?"
I'll be honest, nothing prepared me for the bomb she dropped next.
"He's on scholarship at St. Hilda's in Oxford,"
"Wait…how old are you again?"
She sniffled, "Seventeen,"
"How old is this boyfriend?"
Hesitantly, she said, "Twenty-four,"
Oh my. Cassie stay calm. Avery, stay calm.
"And you've had sex with this man?" the craziest question I could think of slipped off my mouth.
"We've kissed multiple times and we almost had intercourse once but his roommate barged in. He had no clue I was still in secondary school at first, honestly. I snuck out that day and went to a party with a friend and I met him there, we got to know each other and he liked me even before knowing I was a Wellington so it felt genuine, age is just a number after all, isn't that what they say?"
"They also say that jail is just a room. Isn't it?"
"I messed up big time, he'd ask me to send my nude photos from time to time and he told me to trust him. If this gets out I'll be good as dead, the family's name would be marred in mud. I know it's crazy to cry over a boy but I can't help it,"
Girl, you're crying over a man.
"Hey, calm down. You're human, it's okay to express your emotions even if it's over a cheap piece of dirt that did you wrong. Now get up and get ready,"
I stood up and patted a few bits of dust from my butt.
She looked up to me with bloodshot eyes, "Why? Where are wegoing?"
"To teach that arsehole a lesson,"