BXBX NOVEL Chapter 147 - NEXT STEP
Chapter 147 - NEXT STEP
I stepped outside the building feeling lighter than ever. After talking with Ace, my mood improved and my emotions felt much calmer. Even if he had to stay in the detention room at least he was safe. It\'s much better compared to a cold, dark prison cell where his safety was no guarantee.
Once outside, a soft sigh escaped my lips.
I stood still and looked up to the picturesque blue sky while telling myself that whatever problems we have now, it shall pass away. Ace and I will conquer this ordeal and?after this we will come out stronger.
The wind whistled and I took a subtle breath of fresh air.
I threw the glass door of the building with a sideway glance, waiting for Catherine Grace to emerge from inside. The last time I saw her, she was talking with Ted Andersen. I just excused myself since I felt out of place listening to their discussion and it doesn\'t involve Ace at all.
The sound of clanking metals and screeching of tires captured my attention. When I looked in front of me a bicycle had stopped.
A boy around the age of ten climbed down from his bicycle. He was wearing a loose t-shirt and shorts. His shabby slippers scratched against the cemented pavement as he hastily made his way towards my direction.
"Phoenix Greyson?" The boy asked in a reluctant manner after he stopped right in front of me.
I blinked several times, recalling if I had seen the child before but I couldn\'t recover a single memory of him. No, I haven\'t seen him before. I\'m sure of that.
Is this another trick Vince planned?
I straightened my back and prepared for an attack. I stepped a foot forward ready to fight if needed. We are in front of a police station, if he dared attack me here he would never be able to escape.
However the attack I\'m expecting didn\'t arrive. Instead he just looked at me with wide innocent eyes as he waited for my response.
I slightly let my guard down. Sighing a huge sigh of relief, I scrunched eyebrows in confusion and asked, "Yes, I am Phoenix. How can I help you?" I asked in a polite tone.
The boy\'s face brightened and he grinned broadly exposing the gap in his front teeth. He looked relieved.
Wordlessly, he handed me a scrap of paper and he started to leave.
Hastily, I fumbled with the scrap of paper and read the scribblings on the note.
IF YOU WANT TO HELP PROVE YOUR HUSBAND\'S INNOCENCE, COME TO THE GREYSON MANSION TONIGHT.
That\'s all the notes contain. There\'s no name written from the person it came from.
"Wait!" I ran to the boy who just climbed into his bicycle. I touched his shoulders to hold him still.
"Yes, Ma\'am?" He looked at me with eyes wide with surprise.
"W-who gave you this note?" I asked, holding the paper for him to see.
"I don\'t actually know him." He?responded, shrugging his shoulders. "A stranger offered me one-hundred dollars to give it to you. He said there\'s a woman standing in front of a police station named Phoenix Greyson in exchange and I need to give this note to you. He said it\'s important."
"Could you describe him?"
He scratched his head first before his eyes narrowed in concentration.
"Just tell me the things you could recall then." I looked at him with eyes begging. He must have seen the desperation in my eyes and he began.
"He was a man in his early forties, average height, and he has a beard."
I let go an exasperated sigh. The description was not helping me. He just described an average old man.
"Do you remember how he looked? Does he have a mole on his face? Did you notice the color of his eye? The shade of his hair?"
The boy shook his head repeatedly. My shoulders sank at his lack of recollection.
"The stranger was wearing a business suit. There was nothing noticeable about him except that he\'s wearing a hat and it covered half of his face." He replied, sounding regretful, that he couldn\'t help me with the details he provided.
I gingerly let him go, my fingers fell to my side and I clenched it in frustration.
"Thank you for your help." I replied and watched him ride his bicycle and pedaled forward. I continued to look at him until his form faded to the distance.
Who gave him this note and what is the hidden agenda behind this?
I was wrapped in my burgeoning thoughts when I felt a gentle tap of my shoulders. "Do you have any idea who gave you that note?" Catherine Grace spoke from behind me.
I bit back a piercing scream. Holding my racing chest, my head snapped towards her direction. "You scared me!" I said breathlessly. I didn\'t hear Catherine Grace approach my way nor did I sense her presence when she reached my side.
"Oh, I\'m sorry." She mumbled apologetically, her eyes wide. She was sincere. "I thought you knew I was standing beside you." She added and her gaze shifted back to the scrap of paper in my hand.
Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she read the words hastily scribbled on the note.
"I don\'t know who the hell ordered to give it to me." I said, suddenly eyeing the paper too. "I don\'t even know if he was telling the truth and he would be able to prove that Ace was innocent." I continue absentmindedly wondering whether to believe the note or not. But I don\'t want to have false hopes, this might be another trick to fool me. I need to be careful.
"I\'m thinking about it too…This might be fake." Catherine commented, her eyes never once leaving the papers as she appeared to be deep in her thoughts, "However…. What if whoever wrote the note was telling the truth?" She added and it got me thinking about the huge possibility that her assumption was correct.
Our gaze met, there was a different sparkle in her eyes as she looked at me. The words written on the paper promised her adventure and thrill. She may not say it but Catherine Grace loved the challenge which the scrap of paper brought.
"Do you think I should go?" I asked, eager to hear her personal opinion.
"I don\'t think it would be safe if you go to?Greyson Mansion alone. I\'m afraid that what happened to Ace would happen to you too." It was Catherine\'s logical reply and I couldn\'t agree more.
I was actually thinking the same way. I know it\'s not safe. However what if this is the chance that we are looking for? We could not let it slip out of our hold without even trying.
"I don\'t have a plan." I let go a deep sigh and brushed my hair with my fingers in exasperation.
"As it happens, I have an idea but I don\'t know if you will allow it." She responded. Her hopeful eyes focused on mine.
"Let\'s hear it." I said after a long pause. Her plan is our only hope. If it doesn\'t work then I doubt if there\'s anything I could think of that could work.
Catherine Grace narrowed her eyes and surveyed our surroundings. "I can\'t discuss it here, let\'s go back to the car." She whispered, pulling my wrist. When we reached the parking area, we climbed inside the car to continue our discussion.
"I don\'t know if you would agree to this, I know it\'s dangerous but it\'s our only hope," She began the moment the door closed behind her, "We could sneak inside the Greyson Mansion tonight and look for any?evidence we could find."
Catherine was half expecting to see the horrified look on my face. That\'s why her lips parted open when my facial expression didn\'t change one bit.
The truth is, after I learned that Ace was arrested, I became so desperate to help him that I even thought of trespassing inside the Greyson property to find evidence that would prove he didn\'t kill Angela. Now that she mentioned it, I consider sneaking inside the mansion a much smarter move compared to coming inside in broad daylight.
"What if we got caught?"
A wide smile stretched on her lips when I asked the words she didn\'t expect to hear. The sparkle in her exquisite sea green eyes flared brighter, "No we will not." She spoke the words firmly and confidently and I began to believe her.
"It\'s all set then, we will leave tonight."
Her lips stretched into a triumphant smile that spoke of a dangerous adventure I will never forget.
Catherine Grace inserted the key to the ignition and turned the engine. She maneuvered the car out of the parking area until it was safely moving on the four lane highway.
I turned towards the window and sighed.
I know that It was not the right choice but it was the only option we have.