C7 CHAPTER 6

Starting the day as a spy and ending it as a frightened girl who had just witnessed a cold-blooded murder, now seated in a stranger's car, wasn't exactly how I had planned my day to go. I tried to reverse time in my head.

I would turn down Kelly's job offer. But I wasn't so sure of that. Getting a part payment for the job wasn't something I would trade any other thing for. Maybe I should have ghosted out on her as soon as I got the money.

I shook my head inwardly at the thought.

She would drag my name and reputation all over my website.

Maybe I should have just stopped the whole thing after seeing Ryan with Steph. It was already obvious they were seeing each other and the best I could have done was take photos of them for evidence, concluded my investigation, called Kelly to deliver the news and collected my complete payment for the job.

That would have saved me from having to see the wrong thing at the wrong time and in fear of being traced and found. And silenced for life.

'How did you get this?" Stranger guy asked as he replayed the video, I had showed him for the third time as if trying to catch on something he hadn't seen in the previous replays.

I shifted a little uncomfortably on my seat and looked away before he raised his eyes to meet mine. I was sure my vulnerability at this moment would be enough to give the slightest information about me away.

'A cam recorder." I said, looking away at the crime scene that was gradually getting dispersed. I felt the value of human life diminish right before my eyes. How insignificant a person could be and quickly forgotten after death just within a short passing of time. I tried to think of Steph's husband as I looked on. Had he already learned the news? I bet he should by now. How would he take the news? Would he be devastated and broken or had he already learned of her infidelity all these while and was happy to get rid of her?

Did he even love her just as much as she did and would he have done the same and stuck to her just as she had stuck with him even in his disability?

'How did you have access to a cam recorder and why was it in the hotel room in the first place?" His voice bore strong suspicions and I didn't blame him for that. He was right. How did I get access to the video in the first place and why was there a camera in a luxury secured hotel?

When he figured, I wasn't going to answer him, he dropped the phone on the air bag of the car and sighed deeply.

'Look, I don't know who you and how you got access to this but one thing I do know is that this whole thing is weird and crazy and…" He paused. 'I really don't want to be involved in any of this, to be honest."

At this point, I faced him and locked gaze with him.

'If the cops or anyone at all gets a hold of this, you will be in big trouble. I don't want to be a part of it."

'You think I had a hand in Steph's death?" I could feel a cold shiver go through me at the thought that all of this was actually bigger than I imagined.

His brows furrowed slightly.

'Steph? Who is Steph?"

I lowered my gaze to my laps and clenched my fists together as I try to get a hold on myself. My insides trembled with fear and my heels felt shaky from beneath my legs.

I felt his sharp gaze penetrating through my skin, searching for answers for a hundred and one questions that would be running through his mind right now.

'You already know her name. How much do you know and who really are you?"

I set my jaw as he spoke. There was absolutely no way I was going to tell this stranger any information about myself. Like he had said earlier, the case was larger than any of us and far more dangerous than I imagined and there was no way I was going to leave a scratch of my personal information behind.

And thinking of it, I had barely known pretty boy only an hour ago. How sure can I trust him when he was only a stranger whose identity could be anything. But surprising enough, I didn't feel the least threatened by his presence. In fact, I felt a bit of a relief knowing that out there, somewhere, there is someone who knows the true version of the story and I wouldn't have to carry the entire baggage alone.

'He said he was going to come for me." I said after one or two minutes of deafening silence from the both of us.

'Who? Ryan?"

I nodded and looked back at him. Swallowing and fighting for a confidence that never comes, I locked gaze with him again.

'I work as a private investigator, a job I run on my website from home. Mr. Ryan's wife reached out to me and hired me to watch over her husband and report back to her. She believed he was cheating." I hold on to our gaze, the pretty boy watching and listening to me speak keenly. 'I followed Mr. Ryan to this hotel where he was meeting up with some person…"

'Who turns out to be this Steph woman?" He raised a brow as he spoke, his statement something between a question and a statement.

I nodded. 'Yes. Turns out they were long time lovers who were still seeing each other even after marriage. I planted a camera on Mr. Ryan's suit, which allowed me access to what was happening behind the close doors of the hotel room they lodged." I tightened my jaw. 'And made me a witness to a cruel murder."

He just looked on and didn't say anything. His body looked a little more relaxed now and his face were loosened of all tension. He opened his mouth to say something but was unable to let out a word.

After a few seconds, he finally finds his voice.

'He threatened to find you." He said, picking his words carefully and precisely. 'But he doesn't know you are the one…yet."

'Does that make his threat empty.?" I felt a little light through my body. Hope.

'Actually…" He shakes his head and his next words shatter heart shatter to a million pieces. 'No."

I shut my eyes and exhaled deeply.

'You are not safe. You just witnessed a wealthy bastard kill someone. He would do anything to protect his name even if it means wiping yours from the surface of the earth. Forever."

I could feel my eyes weld up in tears and I quickly picked my phone and tucked it into my handbag. No matter what, I was never going to break down in front of a stranger or anyone else.

'I have to go." I say, opening the door and stepping out before he could say anything to stop me.

'Are you sure…" He looked worried and for once, I felt there was someone who truly cared about how I felt. But then again, I can't be sure. He was just a stranger.

'Yes." I cut in immediately. 'I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

He shoved something into my hands from the window and I glanced at the matte rectangle shape in my hand. It was his business card.

'Call me if anything comes up." He says and offers a reassuring smile that I force myself to reciprocate with a closed mouth smile.

'Okay."

Nothing would ever come up because I am going to run as fast and far as I could. I am going to run so far, farthest than the Bahamas where he would never be able to find me.