31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

RICHARD

I wake up with a pounding headache. My mouth feels like it’s stuffed with cotton and my muscles are stiff from being out for God knows how long. I blink, trying to clear the haze from my vision and realize I’m still in the same rundown motel room. The memory of Izel straddling me, her lips on mine, and the sting of the needle flashes back. I should be angry, furious even, but as they say, love is blind. And with her, it’s like I’m willingly closing my eyes to the truth. Because my love for her isn’t just a flaw; it’s a fucking crime I’ll never plead guilty to.

I sit up, rubbing the back of my neck, and look around the room. It’s empty. Izel’s gone. The table across from me catches my eye, my phone buzzing incessantly. I reach for it and see thirty-eight missed calls from Wilson and ten each from Noah and Emily. Shit.

I call Wilson back, knowing I need to get my ass in gear. He picks up on the first ring.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

“Got held up,” I lie, attempting to sound more coherent than I feel. “What’s going on?”

“Get to the warehouse now. Your team has found a body. I shouldn’t be their first point of contact for these petty issues, Reynolds.”

“I’m on my way.”

I shove my phone into my pocket and look around for my stuff. Everything’s where Izel said it would be. My wallet, badge, and gun are on the table, right where she left them. I grab them quickly, strapping the holster back on and tucking my badge into my jacket.

I call for a cab. While waiting, I catch a glimpse of myself in the cracked mirror on the wall. There’s a fresh bandage on my head. Great. I’m not sure how I’m going to explain that, so I start removing the bandage, wincing as I feel the sting of the wound underneath. The bleeding has thankfully stopped, but it still hurts like hell. I grit my teeth and get rid of the bandage, inspecting the damage. It’s not pretty, but it’s manageable.

I finally reach the warehouse and find the place swarming with agents. The crime scene tape is up. I push my way through, flashing my badge.

“Where the hell were you?” Emily asks.

“Had a zoom meeting with the director,” I lie, brushing it off. “It’s nothing. What’ve we got here?”

Noah gives me a skeptical look but lets it go. “You need to see this for yourself.”

They lead me to the backside of the warehouse, where the body lies. It’s the guy Izel stabbed. The scene is brutal—twenty-seven stab wounds.

“Whoever did this was fucking angry,” Noah mutters.

No shit. Izel’s rage flashes in my mind. She’s always had a fire in her, but this? This is an inferno.

Emily steps up, looking grim. “We also found Izel’s car next to the body.”

My heart skips a beat. “Did you find anything in there?”

She nods, handing me a clear evidence bag with Izel’s phone inside. “Found her phone.”

I take the bag from her and pull out the phone, unlocking it quickly. The screen lights up with notifications and messages. I navigate to her chat history, scrolling through until a name catches my eye: Martin.

He’s Izel’s cousin, the same guy who’s been hovering on the edges of this case. But I can’t let on that I know him, not yet.

The conversation is easy, almost casual. It pisses me off more than it should. I can’t stand the thought of her being so relaxed with some guy while my head is spinning with everything that’s happened.

“Find out everything you can about this Martin guy.”

Noah nods and gets to work immediately, leaving me alone with the phone. I scroll through the chat and see a picture of Luna tied up and unconscious, with a text that reads, “Job done.” This is from the same night I took Izel out to dinner. The same last night where I had everything planned out—a future with her, a life I thought we could build together.

Noah looks up from his laptop. “Got something. Martin Montclair isn’t just some random guy. He’s Izel’s cousin.”

“Her cousin?” I feign confusion.

“Yeah,” Noah continues, “He owns a tech company. They specialize in cybersecurity and some cutting-edge tech shit. And get this, he’s been off the grid for a while. No recent social media activity, no public appearances. It’s like he’s vanished.”

I rub my temples, absorbing this new information. “So, Martin’s got the tech background, the means to stay hidden, and a connection to Izel. That’s one hell of a coincidence.”

“It’s more than a coincidence, man. They’re tied together, and if Izel is the Ghostface Striker, there’s a high possibility this Martin guy could be protecting her.”

It’s an amateur conclusion, sure, but it’s something. And in this clusterfuck of a situation, anything is better than nothing.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” I exhale. “But it’s definitely worth looking into. What else do you have on him?”

Noah pulls up more information. “He’s got a clean record, at least on the surface. No criminal activity, but that doesn’t mean shit with someone who knows how to cover their tracks.”

Of course, he does. This guy’s a professional—he didn’t give me jack shit about the SteelSinner when I pressed him last time.

I glance back at Izel’s phone. “If Martin’s involved, he’s smart enough to stay hidden. But Izel’s involvement complicates things. She’s been in the thick of this from the start.”

“Think she’s in on it willingly?” Noah asks with skepticism.

“Hard to say,” I admit. “There’s a lot of history there.”

“People do crazy things for family,” Noah points out. “Especially if they’re desperate.”

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “Yeah, and she’s definitely desperate. She’s been on the run, trying to stay one step ahead of us.”

Noah nods, already typing away. “I’ll dig deeper, see what else I can find. But if he’s been off the grid, it’s going to be tough.”

“I don’t care how tough it is,” I say. “We need to find him.”

My phone buzzes. It’s Colton.

“Yeah?” I answer.

“Luna’s awake,” he says. “She’s asking to see you.”

Relief floods through me. “How is she?”

“She’s okay, a little freaked out, but she’s going to be fine.”

“I’ll be there soon,” I say, ending the call.

I grab my keys and head out, leaving Noah to keep digging. The drive to the hospital is a blur. I make my way through the hallways, the smell of antiseptic stinging my nostrils. Colton meets me outside Luna’s room.

“She’s in there,” he says, nodding toward the door.

“Thanks,” I mutter, pushing the door open.

Luna looks small in the hospital bed. She tries to smile when she sees me. I walk over and sit down in the chair Colton vacated.

“Hey,” I say softly.

“Hey.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a truck,” she jokes weakly. “But I’m okay. Thanks to you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” I say. “We’ve still got a lot to figure out. Including getting Izel and Martin into custody.”

Luna’s eyes widen, her frail body tensing up in the hospital bed. “What? No, Richard, you’ve got it all wrong. Izel didn’t do this to me. She wouldn’t.”

The fuck? The conviction in her voice stabs at me harder than the confusion churning in my gut. Why the hell would Luna defend Izel after everything?

“She didn’t have a part in hurting me,” Luna insists. “It’s all been a setup. The Ghostface Striker attacked me in the warehouse where Martin and Izel had... well kidnapped me. But they meant no harm.”

I clear my throat, keeping my frustration in check. “Luna, Izel is the Ghostface Striker.”

Her eyes widen even more. “Says who?”

I pull out my phone, my patience wearing thin. “You, in the video.”

Luna’s face is a mix of confusion and disbelief as I pull up the video, Emily managed to recover on the USB drive and play it for her. She frowns, watching intently, then sighs heavily.

“You obviously weren’t there to know I wasn’t implying that Izel is the Ghostface Striker,” she says, shaking her head. But then she suddenly looks up at me with fear in her eyes. “Tell me you didn’t arrest her.”

“No, I didn’t arrest her.”

Why am I not focusing on the fact part where Luna said Izel isn’t the Ghostface Striker? If Luna’s right, then I’ve been chasing the wrong lead.

“Wait, wait, you’re saying Izel and Martin are innocent?”

“In a way, yes. They didn’t want any harm to come to me,” Luna’s almost pleading now, as if she needs me to believe her.

“But I have evidence of them kidnapping you,” I counter.

“That’s because I know too much about her,” Luna explains. “She was afraid I was going to tell you.”

“And you weren’t?”

She looks guilty, avoiding my eyes. “Only because I wanted to give her a chance to find her mother.”

Now I’m thinking Luna’s lost it. “Her mother is dead, Luna.”

She shakes her head. “No, she’s not, Richard.”