"And here I thought that you would have problems interacting with others. Turns out you were just being a dick for no reason." The two left school grounds and started their walk to the closest u=bus stop. "Wait! Andrew!" A voice echoing behind them brought the two to a halt.
Claire heaved as she finally caught up to the two, jogging as she faintly cursed at her lack of stamina. "We didn't quite go through with exchanging our contacts so here." With the two busy, Kevin looked around as he felt the awkwardness in the air. "That should be it, we could use your brilliance in future matches. But try not to be too cocky, it won't be a good look if you lose."
Claire's words followed with a nervous chuckle which Andrew didn't bother participating in. "Claire! Your uncle is here." Eliot shouted from behind, his face turning ugly as he recognized Andrew. "Well we'll talk later." Kevin watched Claire go back, unaware that Andrew had already left.
"Wait up, you didn't tell me that you had a lady in your sights as well as an enemy. But I'm sure with your prowess, you should be able to handle a guy like Eliot." Kevin heaved as he finally caught up to Andrew.
*VOOM*
The car Claire was in sped past them but rather the usual smile Kevin had expected from Claire, he was met with a glare from the driver. The moment lasting a second before the car kept on speeding away. "And a father you have to impress if that is the glare he's giving."
'Really? My fault for trying to lift the mood.' Kevin mused as the silence persisted. The ride back went on as Kevin had thought, filled with silence till they reached home where they were met with a weeping Clara
"Mom, what happened?" Kevin rushed to console Clara while Andrew quietly excused himself.
. . .
"I have to ask you about Andrew, the new student. How 's he like?"Claire hadn't expected the first thing to come out of her uncle to be a question about one of her class mates. "He's pretty reclusive, it was a miracle I managed to spark a conversation with him. He's pretty good at chess though, even managed to beat Jason multiple times."
Connor narrowed his eyes as he parked the car on the drive way, the place of his residence a great improvement in comparison with Clara's place. The two walked in, Claire getting herself cosy as she switched her clothes while Connor crashed in the sofa, turning on the television.
"So far two hundred people have been identified as missing and the number sees to keep on climbing. The question on peoples minds being will it be them next and what is the police force doing about this." The news cutting to a speech given by the captain of the precinct earlier that day.
He seemed to offer promises of getting to the bottom of it and the missing people would be found and returned back to their families with no injuries. Connor however knew that it was far more complicated than that. Each attack left less to work with, the tally sky rocketing and any form of chance of solving this case dwindling.
'Could all of this be linked to Andrew?' A massive stretch but facing a wall, Connor's thoughts were getting wilder and wilder. 'After all, this all began when he seemed to come out of nowhere.' As much as he didn't want to tie a victim of kidnapping to recent events, his options were low.
"Are you going back to the station?" Claire asked as she placed dinner on the table, Connor now covering his face with his hands lost in thought. "Probably." He grunted as he reached for the meal. Claire sat next to him before switching the channel into something more uplifting. "Hey Claire, I know that this might be odd but I have a favor to ask from you."
Claire furrowed her brows, unsure of the favor her uncle would ask from her. "Sure, ask away." She stated placing her plate on the table now empty. "Could you keep a close eye on Andrew, try to see if he has any emotions under the mask of apathy he wears but if things get too hairy for you, don't exert yourself too much." The idea of using his niece as proxy to gauge something he was unsure of sent chills all over his body.
Claire's confusion turned into a chuckle. "Is my uncle telling me to stalk one of my class mates. I expected it to be outrageous but this far exceeded my expectations. But if you don't mind me asking why?" Connor found her response reasonable, after all showing interest in a person like Andrew would be viewed as odd to the outside world.
"I suspect the people that kidnapped him back then are back they could be using him in some way. After all these mysterious kidnapping events started when he came back. Not to mention…" His lips remained parted before closing, clearly he wanted to mention more but hesitated.
"Hah! I don't mind helping you uncle but just don't lose yourself with this case. It's okay if you can't crack it, you're human after all." Connor flashed a smile before putting on his hat on the rack. "Thanks Claire, don't stay up for long as you have school."
Giving a nod, Connor took his leave, shortly after receiving a message from Claire about Andrew's contact on his way to the precinct. 'Andrew Grayson, let's see who you've been chatting with.' Connor thought as he made his way and pulled up Andrew's number and started his log checks.
He had expected to take the entire night to sift through Andrew's contacts but with Andrew's rare communication with others, he spent an hour before something caught his eye. A contact under the alias of Charles
Messages of huge sums of cash flowing one way, from Charles to Andrew. 'This is approximately 50 million dollars. Maybe Andrew acts as the scout for these people to kidnap. After all a person like him would be one of the last people to pin being in cahoots with the recent kidnappers.'
Connor felt as if he was onto something. 'All I have to do is ask him about this staggering amount of cash and he'll break. But as tempting as this is, there are no messages between the two, just money. This alone won't suffice, I need hard evidence to prove my theory.' Connor felt all he had to keep a closer watch on the line between the two and this case would come cracking open.
'Looks like my guts were right about him. And with his phone, I could keep track of him wherever he went. And with so much money, I doubt that he would just leave it lying around.' An ear to ear grin forming on his face as he took his leave.
. . .
'Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at her like that. But how did she know where I was?' Lara sighed, her palm masking her face before she got off her stop. She had been thinking about the conversation she had with her mother at her apartment.
What was meant to be something civilized quickly turned feral from her and her boyfriend only made matters worse. Entering the main gate, the sounds of kids could be heard while the humming of cars faded behind her. The so called dream apartment she had fantasized about with her boyfriend was something far uglier when she personally saw it.
An apartment deeper into the city, one of many huddled together. The noise was unbearable, be it from kids crying in the dead of night or cars passing below, the price felt more like extortion and the space laughable. 'Maybe this was a bad idea.' She groaned as she forced herself up the stairs done with her shift.
She quickly found a job but the pay wasn't that good, the only thing that she used was the money she had gotten from Andrew to prevent herself from going insane. 'I hope my phone's already charged up.'
Opening the door, the first thing she was met with the picture of her boyfriend, Jasper in a stained black t shirt and military style shorts. His frame a bit out of shape but well built when it came to his arms making him a powerhouse.
"So when were you going to tell me about the money?" His voice eliciting a groan from Lara. "Soon, I didn't tell you yet because I knew you would blow it on drugs. Only when we were in a sticky situation was when I-" She was cut off with a slap that reverberated through the small room.
"Do you have another man? I checked the worth of this phone as well as the rest of your clothes, there's no way that your family could afford something like this." Lara barely managed to catch herself on the wall, the pain on her cheek blooming as tears began to well.
"No, I can just explain if you calm down." Jasper however didn't seem in the state to be reasoned with as he tightened his jaw. "To think here I was, slaving away and here you are whoring around. Honestly why did you even come back when you have better options?"
The question made Lara pause as she recalled the moment spent with Andrew making Jasper suspect that she did have another partner. "So it is true then but you know what, you are right about me. You can have your phone back."
A chilling sensation ran through Lara's figure. She knew that Jasper wouldn't end an argument this easily. Making her way to the shared bedroom, her voice exploded through the small complex. "Where are my clothes and what are these?" She came storming back, in her hand clothes she had no recollection of buying.
"Well I sold your fancy clothes and bought you new ones. Ones more fitting of where you belong or do you want to leave me and go for your prince charming." Jasper's words halted any words from coming out of Lara eliciting a grin on him. "As I thought, now get busy with the dishes, they've been there since morning."
"Hah." Something resembling a defeated laugh and a stupefied expression left her lips as her grip tightened on the shirt in her hands. "Of course." Her tone threateningly low.
. . .
The day that followed Andrew had another class which failed to have Claire in.
[{Master Of Business Administration}]
This time the class teacher didn't pay focus on Andrew and let the class go on as usual. The students of this class far more quieter than the literacy class. Done with his classes, Andrew made his way to the chess auditorium only to run into Eliot.
"Oh, it's you." Eliot mused half amused as he went on with his match. "Are you going to prophesy this one as well, you might as well tell me who is going to win, right?" Andrew didn't engage and watched it unfold with the victor being Eliot. "Why are you here? Claire doesn't have class today."
Andrew looked to the side, his gaze distant. "I'm here to enroll for the up coming tournament." His tone casual however Eliot quickly guffawed at his words. This time Eliot was wearing glasses, his demeanor a lot less constrained than yesterday.
"Don't think that beating Jason and Claire is an automatic ticket to have you compete, chess isn't a game where you act on impulse or rely on luck, it's a game where you plan and-" Jason appeared out of nowhere and patted Eliot on the back, his pats a bit too much for Eliot.
"Andrew wants to participate, you'd have to talk with the coach for that but I'm sure with your skills that you can easily win him over." Brushing Jason's arm off his shoulder, Eliot backed up and looked at the two students. One in his view arrogant and the other a complete creep. "I guess we really do allow any one to join tournaments these days."
And just like that Eliot took his leave, Jason now placing his arm over Andrew. "The reason as to why he's like that is probably because of yesterday when he saw you get close with Claire. As if it wasn't enough, Eliot has a crush on Claire and you my friend happened to be in his path."