His own eyes watered, but he quickly wiped them.
"Lia… I miss you," he breathed.
The girl was selling flowers.
But Czar knew she was new. He had never seen her before, and his 150+ IQ with a photographic memory would never forget a single face that ever passed through these lanes. He could trace any route instantly, detect the shortest and longest paths, and nothing escaped his perception.
He walked toward her quietly.
She wore a floral-pattern skirt with black boots. There were faint scars on her bare arms. Her top was a simple floral tank. Her hair was neatly tied into a ponytail with a ribbon. Her pale complexion looked soft under the sunlight. Her almond-shaped eyes were captivating; her right eyebrow was pierced, and around her neck hung a necklace with the letter E.
Her hair was jet black. Her ears were pierced but she wore no earrings. Her lips held a perfect shade of red.
Czar quietly approached and cleared his throat just as the girl was adjusting flowers on the front table. It was a simple roadside stand—fresh flowers of every kind displayed neatly.
Elaya straightened her posture and looked at Czar.
She bowed slightly.
She picked up a paper, wrote something on it with a polite smile, and handed it to him:
"What kind of flowers do you want?"
Czar stared at the note, then at her—blankly, as if trying to read her soul.
"You can't speak?" he asked, raising one eyebrow, shifting his gaze from the paper to her face with disbelief.
Elaya nodded once, her eyes dropping to the ground.
Czar examined her quietly—her posture, her hands, the way she positioned herself. After a moment, he sighed.
"May your work be blessed with more customers," he said softly.
He even gave her a faint smile, but then remained standing there for another solid minute—pretending to observe the flowers while in reality studying her every movement. His expression slowly shifted into something serious.
"You know…" he said as he picked up a single rose and smelled it, "your eyes might be the reason for your death here."
Elaya felt tension crawl up her spine. She knew exactly what he meant.
But she played along. Keeping her face innocent, she scribbled on her paper again and handed it to him:
"What do you mean, sir?"
"Nothing," Czar muttered, sighing. He placed the rose in front of her. "Price?"
She showed him a hand gesture indicating one.
He shrugged, glared slightly as confirmation, and she packed the rose neatly before giving it to him.
As he walked away to the other side of the road, Czar mumbled under his breath,
"She doesn't seem like she's here just to sell flowers…"
Elaya exhaled deeply.
"He looked suspicious…" she thought to herself.
Quickly—and carefully—she took a picture of him without attracting his attention and sent it to Ava
"Our first suspect." she texted.
Then she closed her eyes, trying to recall every detail of the man so she could sketch him before the image faded. She pulled out her sketchbook and began drawing:
Black doe-like eyes
Long black coat
Right eyebrow piercing
Right-side lip piercing
Brown shirt
Wide-leg jeans
Black watch
Louboutin boots
Jet-black hair
She noted everything and sketched him roughly.
"What was he doing near the crime scene…?" she wondered, poking her tongue inside her cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut.
"Elaya… you can't make anyone a suspect just like that. What are you doing…?"
Her breaths grew heavy as she tried calming her racing thoughts.
"Give me strength, Ya Rabbi," she whispered to herself.
Elaya looked here and there and then at the crime scene. Her eyes fell; people had already left the position, but she saw a woman in her mid-50s sitting there, crying, weeping silently. Elaya sighed and closed her eyes, and a line ran in her mind, a message… "Don't ever run in this mission."
Elaya started taking long breaths and put her hand on her chest when Ava's message popped up.
"Love, let's meet at 3 pm at Shah House. Government has given us to execute our mission."
Elaya texted: Ok, I will be there.
It was around 2:45 when she closed this stand, and the woman was still there… sitting but silent. Elaya sighed. She wore her long cream-colour coat and went to this woman. The woman looked at Elaya and smiled in pain.
"He took my daughter," she said in a low tone.
Elaya stood there silent… because she can't talk, otherwise her secret of being not mute can get caught.
The woman again was seeing the blood stamps which were under those yellow lines, when the same man—Czar—came at the spot and looked at Elaya and then at the woman. "Brave lady, stand up. Someone will surely find him." Czar sat on his one knee, looking sharp in the woman's eyes. "No one has ever found him… it's been years," she said with suppressed tears while Elaya held the shoulders of this woman and made her stand up, passing a smile.
"This lady is mute," Czar stood up and mentioned while looking at Elaya.
"Leave this place, young lady… your eyes."
The lady said while looking at Elaya, and then the lady left, and Czar looked at Elaya once again.
"Walk with me, I need to tell you something," he said, his tone straightforward, and started walking slowly. Elaya looked at the time. It was almost 3:15.
She held the arm of Czar. Czar looked behind. "Are you late? You wanna go somewhere?"
Elaya was shocked—like, can he read her? Elaya nodded.
"Shall I drop you there?" Czar questioned while looking at Elaya, who thought for a solid second and motioned her head as no.