Chapter 34

Back in the vehicle, Polo drove Evelyn home. His focus split between the traffic and the urgent clock ticking in his head. Evelyn was a still presence beside him, staring out the window at the blurred streaks of neon and concrete.

“So… what did you conclude?” Polo asked, his voice low.

“You will have your final answer on Monday,” Evelyn replied.

“Hmm.” Polo nodded, but the sound was tight. Monday was nearly a full week away. How was he going to placate Dr. Williams for that duration? he thought, his jaw clenching.

He knew, with terrifying certainty, that he had to maintain the narrative of how the events unfolds. If Williams seized command, they were all finished. Williams possessed a private, utterly fierce intelligence service that even Romaric, her closest bodyguard, knew nothing about. They responded to her call at any moment, materializing like ghosts, fighting threats, managing blackmail, and ensuring unfortunate souls were permanently marginalized or imprisoned. Williams had cultivated these connections through years of rubbing shoulders with the country’s untouchable elite at highly prestigious, undisclosed meetings. She saved lives with her hands, but she also coldly destroyed the lives of those who misused theirs, like the journalist who dared wound her pride, Oswald. Now, Emilio was not only the source of the rot, but he had involved Romaric, placing the bodyguard in mortal danger. Woe betides Romaric if Williams discovered her most loyal ally was working against her.

“Is this okay here?” Evelyn asked, pulling Polo abruptly back to the present.

“Yes.” Polo parked and watched her step out before driving away.

After dropping Evelyn off on the curb, Polo drove straight home, the anxiety a cold knot in his stomach. His first act was to leave an urgent, coded message for Romaric, demanding an update on the surveillance pressure threatening their fragile scheme.

On the other side of the city, the predominant darkness of the evening had fully settled. Kannika was parked in front of a shadowed, anonymous office building. She stared miserably at her phone, at one message that had shattered her composure: “Sorry, they rejected your request again.”

She walked slowly back to her vehicle, the gravel crunching under her feet, then slumped into the driver’s seat. She saw Evelyn’s latest message, an update on her deadline, but left it unread. She started the car, pulled away, and began to drive aimlessly, the tears finally flowing freely.

As soon as she parked in her usual spot, she wiped her face, trying to compose herself, when suddenly, a silhouette detached itself from the gloom and strode purposefully toward her car door. Kannika, alerted by her professional vigilance, reacted instantly, exiting through the passenger door. The silhouette reached the driver’s side window and knocked, their figure distorted by the glass.

“Hands in the air,” Kannika commanded, her voice dangerously steady as she leveled a dark, compact gun at the individual.

“Kannika!” the stranger exclaimed, hands flying up in terror.

It was Jack. Kannika immediately holstered the weapon in her jacket and stepped into the thin beam of a street lamp.

Jack, though still shaken by the sight of the firearm, quickly regained his focus on his desperate mission. “Please, Kannika, Evelyn broke up with me. I’d like to know why.”

“You should ask her that yourself.”

“Kannika, please. It’s impossible to talk to Evelyn. Everything was fine, and suddenly, for no reason, she ended our relationship right after she’d said yes.”

Kannika’s face hardened. “Jack, I can’t help you with matters of the heart. You are an adult, and Evelyn is the same. If she left you, she has her reasons, and if she loves you, she will come back.”

“Kannika…”

“Enough, Jack!” she snapped, her scream tight with her own frustration. “Why are you deliberately hurting yourself? It’s been three years since you chased her. Even a blind person could have noticed Evelyn is not interested in you. If she loved you, it wouldn’t have taken this long, and you wouldn’t have had to make so many efforts. If you persist, you won’t even have the familiarity you have left.”

Jack was deeply wounded, his broken heart suddenly exposed by her brutal honesty. “Sorry to have bothered you,” he muttered, turning away.

Kannika felt a momentary sting of regret and called him back. “Listen, Jack.” He turned, his silhouette stark against the weak light. “You’re a good person, but sometimes the truth is hard to hear. Good evening.”

She turned and went straight into her apartment building.

Inside, the apartment was a sparse, cold echo of her true identity. She poured a glass of whiskey, the amber liquid catching the light, and placed a framed photograph of a young girl onto the table. Beside the glass, she laid her gun. Kannika was not merely obligated to keep her professional life secret; her entire real life was a lie, a heavy, self-imposed burden that had barred her from genuine friendship. Evelyn, with whom she had travelled so far, was only temporary. Once the case closed, Kannika would vanish to a new city, leaving no trace.

Meanwhile, when Williams finally arrived at the private residence, the structure was bathed in the soft, warm glow of carefully positioned exterior lighting. Romaric executed a quick, fluid check of the area, then knocked. Adeline opened the door immediately.

“Adeline!” Williams exclaimed, surprised by what appeared beneath her eyes.

“Dr. Williams!” Adeline returned, her smile genuine and inviting.

Tonight was not going to be like the others. Adeline had prepared something special, something Williams didn’t suspect, something that would change the rhythm of this visit.

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