Chapter Twelve - Call for a meeting.
Laura's POV
"I hope to see you around some other time Laura." Reginald said as he rose to his feet. He flashed me the dirtiest grin ever and paused to wink at me before slowly walking out of the cafe. He had paused several times to flash me a mischievous smirk and wave at me. I knew I was supposed to feel relieved at the fact that I had officially sealed the deal with Reginald, after all I had paid him the money and he had deleted the video. It felt like everything was okay but for some weird reasons unknown to me, I felt like I had just signed myself up for a long-term relationship between the both of us.
Once Reginald was out of sight, I released a heavy sigh and placed my hand over my chest to calm my rapid heartbeat. I paused to run a hand through my hair in frustration. Why was all of this happening to me? Firstly it had begun with the mysterious bride, then the death of Kendrick's mother and Bruno going into a coma, now Reginald had somehow found his way into my life and I knew for sure that he was not going to leave without wrecking havoc.
I had a feeling that Reginald would be back because well, he was the least person to be trusted. I was afraid that he would come back with a bigger request and the thought of having to pay another huge amount of money just to keep Reginald shut was what weighed me down the most. I was barely making money from the saloon and I would come off as insensitive if I had to ask Kendrick for another amount of money. He was already going through so much and the last thing I wanted to do was add to his pain.
I sighed heavily, speaking of Kendrick. I was suddenly reminded of Detective Brooks' text and the urgency it held. I was going to reply to him but I got so overwhelmed and distracted by Reginald that I had eventually forgotten to give him a reply. I fetched my phone out of my purse and re-read the text. I had a feeling he wanted to discuss something about the mysterious bride since that was why we had exchanged contacts in the first place.
Kendrick had wanted me to become a part of the investigation so he asked Detective Brooks to fill me in on whatever information he got. I hastily typed back to Detective Brooks. "Sorry for the late reply, I had some urgent business deals to settle. What do we have to discuss? Any lead on the mysterious bride?"
After sending the text to him, I waited a few minutes hoping that he would reply to the text but he had not yet so I assumed he was probably busy. I rose to my feet and decided to leave the Cafe and stop by to see Kendrick before actually heading for the saloon. I mean Kendrick and I were not exactly on good terms, I wanted to at least make sure he was doing okay.
Just as I was about to leave the cafe, I got a call from Kendrick which made me furrow my brows in confusion as I gazed at the screen of my phone. One thing I knew for sure was that whenever Kendrick and I were not on good terms, he would never bother to reach out through a phone call. Something about this particular phone seemed suspicious but I had to answer either ways. In a haste, I answered the call and pressed my phone close to my ears. Kendrick had not even left me start a sentence, his deep voice rang over the phone speakers. "Where the hell are you?" Something about his tone seemed different too. His voice was laced with anger, fear and impatience.
I cleared my throat and responded. "Is everything okay?" It suddenly clicked to me that perhaps it had something to do with Bruno being in a come. Was he okay now? Had he woken up and given some sort of testimony?
"I asked a question." Kendrick said. I could not help but blink twice in disbelief. Why was he suddenly acting so cold? Was all of this in relation to the mysterious bride? Did it have something to do with Detective Brooks' texts? I had a lot of questions swirling in my head and the most unfortunate part was that there was no one to give me answers to those questions.
"I am on the way to your house. Why?" I asked, my tone laced with uncertainty. "Hurry up." He said and surprisingly for me, Kendrick hung up even before I could say anything. I scoffed in disbelief as I boarded a taxi to his house. I kept thinking about Kendrick throughout the drive and what was so urgent that he had to snap at me in such a cold manner.
The driver eventually pulled the car into a stop in front of Kendrick's driveway. I hastily got off the cab and handed the driver his money alongside a tip. He thanked me but I was not interested in that. As I rushed towards the front door, I was interrupted by a loud horn coming from behind. I turned around to gaze at a black jeep pulling into Kendrick's driveway.
The car stopped in motion and Detective Brooks got out of the car. I was a bit relieved to see him. I rushed towards him with a worried look on my face. "Detective Brooks, hi. Did Kendrick also call you too?" I asked.
Detective Brooks was sort of acting weird too. He cleared his throat and waved off my question with a question of his own. "I have been trying to reach you all morning Laura, where have you been?" He asked. His sudden question about my whereabouts seemed suspicious. Was I being interrogated or perhaps, was I exaggerating things maybe because he happened to be a detective and most of their questions seemed like an interrogative session?
"I uhm, I was busy with some business at the saloon, why?" I asked with a confused look on my face. Detective Brooks sighed heavily, he tucked his hands into his pockets and cocked his head to the right. "Why are you lying to me Laura? You know I can tell you are lying." He pointed out. I was taken aback in shock by his sudden accusations. I had to ask. "Excuse me? What do you mean by I am lying? I have been at the saloon all morning." I said in a defensive tone.
"Then how come I did not see you when I stopped by at the saloon? It was locked and there was not a single sight of anyone around." He blurted out. Shit! I muttered a cuss under my breath as I realized that Detective Brooks had caught up with my lie and frankly speaking, that was not a good image for me.
"Do you want to tell me where you really are now, Laura?" He questioned with a raised brow. I bit my lower lip in frustration and rubbed my temple. I could not tell him about Reginald, it would only be putting me in trouble. I mean detective Brooks and Kendrick were more than just partners in this mysterious bride investigation, they were buddies too and I had a feeling that Brooks used to tell him basically everything.
"Fine. I was out with a friend. It is nothing serious though but I did not want to tell you because I was afraid that you would tell Kendrick." I said in a low tone, barely above a whisper.
"Why would you be afraid of me telling Kendrick that you went out to see a friend? Is Kendrick against you seeing your friends?" Detective Brooks asked. My goodness! He was so good at his job and I hated it. It was almost like he was trying to pry into my private life.
"I am sorry but I can not go into full details. I just really hope you can help cover for me if Kendrick does ask you about my whereabouts." I said with pleading eyes. Although I felt ashamed to face Detective Brooks, I mean we were not even close at all yet I was already asking him for a favour.
"Oh. My apologies if it looked like I was crossing boundaries with your private life." He hastily apologized. I shook my head in disagreement and waved it off. "No problem at all. I understand your concern."
"I just wanted to ask because Kendrick is about to tell you something really shocking. Something that might cause conflict between you both."
Detective Brooks' words left me in utter curiosity and fear. Really? What was Kendrick going to tell me?
Speaking of the actual devil, the front door flew open wide and Kendrick stood by the door with a scowl on his face.
"Laura, come in. We have a whole lot of things to discuss."