Chapter Twenty-Six: Past: Love Doesn't Just Go Away

We heard a door knock as we continued to look over the case. Lucy had been telling me what it felt like to almost be a mom and I told her what it felt like being in love for the first time. I continued going over the evidence, sorting everything out since we had returned with it and it had been scattered, just like our emotions. We heard the doorbell and Lucy grabbed her purse since we had ordered pizza and shakes. I decided to draw a diagram on a whiteboard to show where each piece of evidence led us.

I heard something roll in, smiling, I asked:

"Did the place decide to get a roll in services from now onwards?" 

"I wish but do you have change?"

"For how much?" I asked as I turned to face her but I dropped the marker I had been using when I saw a ghost I should've expected…

'Change for a lifetime' my mind whispered

Behold, Zeus son if not God's own son, one I'd call a fallen angel for all his done… there stood Justin with a 5-o clock beard, more build to his body, and a handful more of hair. His eyes blazing blue with a tinge of green and it seemed he was taking deep breathes from the way his chest moved. Lucy rolled away with his suitcase to put it away but he had a jacket in his hand plus a camera bag, I smiled at that. Familiar with that.

"Still a lens person I see…" I murmured staring at the bag with a small smile.

"Still a pitcher I see…" he murmured, his voice slightly huskier and rougher, gesturing at the board behind me.

"What can I say…dreams intensify, they never die."

"That's why we always say goodbye to some things that aren't necessary," he whispered. 

That was the wrong thing to say to a person who had been sacrificed for them, he shouldn't have come.

I frowned a bit. "Your right… after all I witnessed and bared it all." I shot and turned.

Picking up a different marker, I went on with my work, already done with acknowledging him. You would think he would've grown or something but no! We would complete this work and then separate again.

"I didn't mean it like that." He tried, noticing his mistake and what he had just done.

"It doesn't matter. Just drop it." I said wanting to push him away.

"Tho…" he whispered and I paused.

The way he said my name shot shivers down my body, my mind beginning to replay memories that had refused to come when I begged them. Now, though, they were bitter like a shot. I could remember my screams for him to stay. Remember his touch and kisses. Remember his sweet smile to me. I could remember him walking away from me. His rejection. right then, I felt like collapsing but I wouldn't dare show him my weakness. 

"Don't." I commanded, my voice cracking, "Please. I'd like to finish this work…so I can return home…and so can you." I said as a tear escaped my one eye and I hurriedly wiped it.

"So be it," he said after a moment of silence.

"Thank you," I whispered more to myself than to him.

Once Jus had freshened up and I had gathered my wit, we all sat at the dining table, looking at the board and evidence displayed on the table. Lucy had told Justin everything, so he knew what we tried, avoided, and still needed to implement. Justin was as confused as us, as one question ran through our mind, how was the culprit able to gain access to his business strategies plus pins to his business account for investors without using a global bank nor any digital devices within the workplace?

Whoever it was knew everything from the very moment Owen was about to implement or finalize a deal, meaning it either had to be a person within his board or a person excellent with hacking…

"How many people does he have within his higher board?" Justin asked as he sipped from his wine cup. Apparently, it keeps him awake, which is a lie because the Jus I knew would fall asleep by the 5th cup. Though this may have been true, he was on his fourth cup and he doesn't seem the slightest tipsy or tired, people do really change.

"Five currently," I stated as I looked back at my board.

"Number of investors?"

"Fifteen."

"Number of employees?"

"20-25"

"You sure do know a lot about his business…" he said lowly.

"At least I look into something to understand I don't just jump when something pops up…" I snapped

We looked at each other across the table with a look so fierce I held the table to keep me from showing my actual anger and my pain.

"Anyway…" Lucy said after the moment of silence. "We know that the only person with direct contact with his business stats, information, and the pin is his partner. Chris Hamlet, 32 years of age and from Scotland. They both studied together at Harvard and pursued the same thing but in different sectors. Chris handles the finances and Owen, the propositions, deals, and so on. Chris has recently been affected with Cancer so he hasn't been in contact bout the business in 4 months. Which explains the downfall a bit of the business. They were investing as we know in private businesses but also donating to homeless shelters and orphanages."

"So, a certain amount of money is kept for charity cases?" Jus asked as he stood and approached the board. Pulling up a marker, he began making a bubble for assumptions.

"Yep, its a must to them to donate to avoid an increase of tax and because Chris grew up in an orphanage home," Lucy explained as she pulled up a copy of his record.

"NGO's" I whispered as I searched on my IPad.

"What?" Justin asked

"What is that?" Lucy asked

"NGOs are Non-govern Organisations' if I've pronounced it right. In SA it's a term used for businesses or homes so on, that don't generate profit."

"Whatsoever?" Lucy asked

"Yeah. They rely on donations."

"That's interesting, that would explain why many businesses would use it to decrease their tax," Justin said.

"Exactly."

We all kept quiet for a moment writing, noting, and going over information. This was harder than it seemed but knowing us, we wouldn't fail. Even if our hearts were divided because of sorrow.

It's been four hours now, Lucy had passed out on the couch with documents and her laptop on the floor. Bags of different food deliveries especially from McDonald's, Debonairs, Mugg & Bean lay discarded half-empty on the kitchen counter and floor.

The streets were discarded and empty with movement to advertise life. I stood up from the table slipping off my glasses and began to clean up the litter. Noticing Lucy shiver on the couch, I brought out a blanket for her and went on cleaning.

I could feel his eyes watching me as I moved. He was curious… and as much as I would like to be also… I was trying not to care anymore. So, I did what I had to do, and once I turned back to face the table. He had packed everything properly and locked eye contact with me.

"Goodnight" he stated then turned and entered his room. Closing it shut with a hearable click.

"Be still-beating heart. It isn't ours anymore." I whispered.