Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
Also, Luceland was the place where Alexander was going with Naomi. Was that merely a coincidence or something more to explore?
I copied Amelia’s message and sent it to Ava. A minute later, she called me.
!
“Luceland was where Chloe and Russell lived!” she said in lieu of a greeting.
My mouth dropped open. “What??”
“Yes! Remember in that police report, Russell went missing in Luceland?”
I sat up in bed and clutched at my racing heart. “I thought that name sounded familiar! Can you come here so we can discuss-“
:
Ava cut me off. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Then, she hung up.
I grinned as I threw my blanket off of me and jumped out of bed. I loved how my best friend and I always seemed to be on the same wavelength.
Quickly, I put on a plum dress, black high heels, and put my hair in a low slicked back bun. The coffee had just finished brewing when Ava knocked on my door.
I ushered her inside, poured a cup of coffee for my friend, and offered her a chocolate chip muffin I had picked up from the store the other day.
As she took a sip of her coffee, she gave me a questioning look. “Why aren’t you having any coffee?”
I rubbed my still sensitive stomach. “I’m a little queasy,” I admitted. “But that’s not what’s important. Have you learned anything else?”
Ava’s eyes flashed with excitement, and she put her coffee mug down and leaned toward me. “Last night, Amelia managed to get Chloe drunk and seemed to learn a lot of information from her.”
My hands gripped my water bottle. “Woah! That was smart.”
Ava nodded in agreement and pulled up the voice recording on her phone. As I waited for it to play, anticipation coursed through me. Would this finally be the evidence we needed to put Chloe behind bars? Also, I was impressed that Amelia hadn’t used her money or resources to find out more about Russell’s murder. She had been cunning, and for that, I had to respect her.
Chloe’s slurred voice boomed through the speaker on Ava’s phone. It was obvious that she was drunk from the loud and erratic way she was speaking.
“Russell was always a wimp…B-but I wasn’t cruel when I buried him. I felt bad for w-what happened and his…final resting place was beautiful.” Chloe sniffed, and I wondered if there were tears in her bright eyes. “He would have liked it, I think. I found a small hill and t- there were vibrant, beautiful flowers of every color and a small pond. H-he has a view of a log cabin, too.”
Ava and I shared a surprised look. If I didn’t know any better, I would say there was remorse in Chloe’s voice.
The recording ended there, and we were silent for a few minutes as we processed what we’ve just heard. I knew that we couldn’t turn this recording over to the police as evidence, especially because Chloe sounded drunk, but Amelia had found out where Russell’s body was and that was the task I had given her yesterday.
Ava pulled out a piece of paper from the research we had done the other night. “Russell was born in Luceland, and Chloe’s family transferred there her senior year because she had been expelled from her old school for assaulting a classmate in New York.”
I gasped. “It’s all coming together!”
Ava nodded, but the excited smile slipped off of her face like someone had wiped it off. “But the location of Russell’s body is too vague. I’m sure that there are many ponds surrounded by flowers that are next to a cabin in the country.”
“That description could fit thousands of areas,” I said, my voice glum. “It would be impossible to look through them all.”
We lapsed into a thoughtful silence. Ava finished her coffee, and I made myself a hot tea to help settle my stomach.
“I don’t think that Russell’s body is by a mountain,” I said. “Chloe had said ‘small hill’ in the recording. No one would refer to a mountain as a small hill.”
Ava poured herself another cup of coffee and nodded. “I agree.”
“I feel like we are at a dead end. Why don’t I try and get in contact with one of Russell’s old friends?” I suggested.
“Yes! That’s a great idea. I remember in the police report that there was a girl who was really good friends with Russell. She dropped out of school right after he disappeared. She will definitely help us.”
“Since she lives in Luceland too, I bet she could help us find the place where Chloe buried Russell,” I added.
“Well, we know what our next step should be…planning a trip to Luceland,” she said.
I hesitated. What if I ran into Alexander and Naomi there? Would he think I was following him? But my hesitancy was gone in the next second. Finding Russell’s body and making sure that Chloe could never hurt someone again was much more important than what Alexander thought of me.
“Let’s do it,” I said with determination in my voice.
*Olivia*
Ava finished her second cup of coffee, then put her hands behind her back and started to pace my kitchen. “What if Russell’s old friend doesn’t know where his body is buried?” she asked.
My shoulder’s sagged. “You’re right. If that were the case, we would be going to Luceland for no reason. It would be a complete waste of time.”
Ava tapped one finger against her mouth, seemingly lost in thought. Then, her eyes brightened with excitement.
My heart lifted with hope. “I know that look,” I said. “You have an idea.”
A proud smile crossed her face. “I do.” She paused for dramatic effect.
I rushed to her and grabbed her hands. “Well, don’t leave me hanging here. Tell me.”
“We trick Chloe into telling us where his body is buried,” she said proudly. “Or even showing us.”
I paused as I thought it over. “That’s so crazy it just might work.”
***
“I’ll see you soon,” I told Ava as we parted ways outside my apartment building.
We hugged and then went in opposite directions. Ava was headed to Celeste to finalize our plans, and I still had to go to work today. On the walk over, I tilted my face up to the morning sun, and I felt lighter than I’ve had for a long time. I knew that my improved mood had something to do with having an actual plan to follow. I was a detailed oriented person, and I always felt better when there was a plan.
But as I got closer to work, my anxiety spiked. After the weird mood and conversation with Alexander last night, I wasn’t looking forward to spending the whole work day with him. But I was lucky. Alexander didn’t come into the office all morning. I spent the day catching up on replying to emails and filing. For lunch, I had a piece of dry toast and an apple, afraid that anything more would upset my stomach.
Alexander didn’t come into the office until one in the afternoon. He seemed distracted and nodded at me when he walked past my desk. Then, he spent the rest of the day in his office with Gai. He didn’t give me any instructions, so I figured that I pretty much had a free day. Besides, I had stayed late last night, so I had earned an easy work day.
At five, Alexander told me that I could go home. I jumped up and gathered my things. It was the first time in a long time that I was leaving work at a reasonable hour. I walked home, and on the way, I passed by the same twenty-four hour pharmacy that I had almost gone to last night. Richard had said that the medicine he had given was from Mike, so I wanted to replace it.
Fifteen minutes later, I walked out of the drugstore with plastic bags full of stomach medicine. I bought even more than Richard had given me since I wanted to thank Mike for thinking ahead and having all that medicine on standby.
Back at my apartment, I whipped up a quick dinner of chicken noodle soup and freshly baked buttered bread. After I ate and cleaned the kitchen, I went upstairs and knocked on Mike’s door.
He opened it and when he saw me, his face broke into a kind smile. “Hi, Olivia. What’s up?”
I handed him the shopping bags full of stomach pills. “I wanted to give you these.”
Mike opened the bag, and a look of confusion came over his face when spist 172 he saw the contents. “Um, why are you giving me a bunch of medicine?”
“Richard had given me some of your stomach pills last night because I felt sick,” I explained. “I felt horrible. I couldn’t sleep. But your medicine saved me. I bought more to replace the medicine I had used.”
Mike was still staring at me with confusion, but then realization came over his features, and he nodded. “Oh, that’s right. I remember Richard coming here last night. You’ll have to excuse my poor memory. That’s what happens when you get old, you start forgetting things.” He chuckled good-naturedly and winked.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?