Chapter 25: Chapter 25

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"You found her?"

"Still in New York. The guy just gave me her new address," Jenson promptly replied to his late-night caller.

The hacker he'd been paying for regular updates finally found Magnus' sister in New York.  After months of searching and dead-end leads, the guy finally gave him the information Magnus needed.

"You checked it out?" Magnus sighed on the other end, his tone dull and listless.

"I'll be in New York this weekend. I'll tail her from the school, or from the hospital where she's training."

"Keep me posted," Magnus mumbled after a moment of silence.  "Ilya's asking about her again."

"How's your old man?"

"Worse."

"Oh. Sorry to hear."  Jenson got up from his swivel chair and glanced around his dim office.  He was alone again.  Two hours before midnight.  Total privacy.   Perfect for doing overtime.

Like him, Magnus was a workaholic.  But now the man seemed more preoccupied with family matters  than work concerns lately.  Quite unusual for someone as business-minded as Magnus.  "It was cyanide, and a cocktail of other chemicals. The new tox report seems more accurate."

"Shit." Jenson pulled a face.  So someone actually tried to murder Ilya by poisoning him.

Magnus wasn't close to his father, but now it seemed he actually wanted to find out who tried to kill Ilya.  "Call me once she's with you."

"Yeah. I will. Anyway, you talked to the parents again. Right?"

"Yes. Why?"

Jenson stood still against the cold wall and waited.  He just had to confirm again that Magnus definitely convinced Ramona's parents to not file any charges.

Magnus probably paid them off in return, but, Magnus surely wasn't going to disclose the details over the phone.  Security reasons, as per usual.  He most likely convinced Ramona's parents that she died of natural causes.  No foul play.

"Nothing. Just curious."

"Don't be. They're fine," Magnus replied with a quick sigh.

"Yeah. Alright. Are you and Evie going back to LA soon?"

"Maybe," Magnus muttered on the other end.  "I know you're all swamped with work. But still, keep an eye on DJ."

Why?  Was he worried Darren might do something brash again?  Or perhaps he's just in a volatile mood.  But why?  "Yeah. Sure." Jenson frowned, growing more curious.

"He found out she was pregnant. But the parents don't know."

What? Ramona? Pregnant?  "But...how?" He scoffed after his throat and chest constricted.  "You sure?"

"Ten weeks at least."

Jenson gripped his phone and dismissed the urge to swear out loud at the unexpected news.  Definitely not what he wanted to hear today.  But did Magnus actually tell Darren himself that Ramona was pregnant when she died?  "How'd he find out?"

"Evie blurted it out, when they were arguing over the phone." Magnus sighed out loud. "He called twice while drunk and high again."

"Last night?"

"Yeah. Keep him on a leash."

"Alright," Jenson muttered in reply.  So that's why Darren had been ignoring his calls.  Dude's on another bender.  Terrific.

"It's his." Without bothering to elaborate, Magnus hung up on him.

Jenson massaged his forehead and scowled again, perturbed by the guilt that sprung up inside him.  Odd that he was feeling guilty;  he hadn't even met the girl before he found her lifeless and half-naked in that hotel room.

He should have asked Magnus if he got records of Ramona's DNA as well as the baby's DNA, and whether Magnus got them tested to confirm paternity.  But considering Darren's reaction when he heard about the news, safe to say he lied to all of them about not having met Ramona before that after-party.

Shit.  Stupid.  Just stupid.  Jenson gripped the cold doorknob and sighed.  He should've put the puzzle pieces together sooner.

On a positive note, at least Magnus already talked the parents out of pressing charges.  Most likely bribed them a lot just to keep their mouths shut. Or a combination of bribery and some very convincing threats.

Whichever the case, Magnus wouldn't mention the details.  Especially over the phone.  And Jenson knew better than to pry.

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1 new message

Charmaine VDH

"They need me to stay for the qtr review. See you next week. Xx"

Today 18:04

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Next week?

That's it? Not even a tentative date?

What the shit. She couldn't even send him a lousy text that's longer than two sentences. His calls went straight to her voicemail, too. As if telling him she was too busy to be bothered.

"Fuck." Jenson slammed his phone onto his desk and got up from his swivel chair to fix himself a drink. The alcoholic kind. "Lying, two-faced bitch." His anger just made him grit his teeth.

For almost a year. One whole year. Nothing had changed, and he was done pretending he was fine with her practically treating him like a clueless, overused doormat. At this point, he no longer needed much evidence to prove his suspicions.

She had to be cheating on him. Her recent behavior spoke volumes. He just didn't know who the other guy was. Not yet.

He would confront her next week, if she wasn't lying about coming back home soon. Pretty big "if", judging from her lies and shitty excuses lately.

Did she really think he wouldn't suspect anything?

To get his hands on more proof, he could easily pay the hacker to take a peek at Charmaine's emails, her phone, and even her social media accounts. Jenson stared at the ceiling and massaged his forehead with both hands. He badly wanted to call the guy, especially after coming across some flirty comments on her posts, comments from a younger guy named "brandontcx".

But, sure. He would play fair. For now. Benefit of the doubt. Maybe they were just online flirt buddies.

"Dinner's ready!"

Jenson held in a sigh after gulping some whiskey neat, ignoring how the drink scorched his throat and chest. He couldn't care less. His assistant's cheery voice just snapped him out of his negative thoughts almost instantly.

She was in the other room, sounding busy in the kitchen, probably done cooking him another healthy meal.

He could smell the leafy greens and chopped meat from where he stood. He also noticed that Jessiah only used canola or olive oil whenever she cooked for him or herself.

She cooked and ate like a nutritionist. No wonder she looked like a real-deal swimsuit model in her recent photos online. Mostly bikini shots. Her social media account was her most accessible modeling portfolio, he supposed.

The latest photos she posted looked professional and actually well-handled. Most of them showed her wearing bikinis on the beach and some rather creative one-piece swimwear made by an Italian clothing brand he hadn't heard of until last night.

To his standards, the pictures looked sexy but more tasteful than the epidemic of thirst traps in this mostly immoral industry they worked and lived in. He wasn't really stalking her online last night, but, the revealing photos still made him semi-hard.

Not surprising. It was the full moon wreaking havoc on his hormones again, or he just missed sex with Charmaine. Either way, he wasn't feeling guilty for having fleeting lascivious thoughts about his new assistant.

It wasn't as if he would act on it. He wasn't a cheater. He still had morals and principles. Unlike some people.

"Boss! Time to eat. Dead starvin' over here," Jessiah called out when he kept quiet beside his dim-lit work desk.

It didn't look as messy as this morning after he and Jessi worked all afternoon, crossing several things off his to-do list. Thanks to her working overtime with him again, he finished almost all of his pending tasks today.

"Joss. You there?"

"Coming," Jenson muttered before grabbing his phone.

No replies from Darren, still. Where on God's green Earth was that guy? What's he up to now? Darren still wouldn't take his calls for some asinine reason, acting like he just didn't give a shit.

Was Darren upset with him? For what? Jenson scowled and thought hard. He even drove by the guy's house around lunchtime. To his frustration, he didn't see any sign of Darren, but his vehicle was in the driveway.

Hopefully Darren wasn't in a hidden ditch somewhere, lifeless from overdosing, or dead from alcohol poisoning. Considering Darren's impulsive tendencies, the idiot could be bleeding to death in some alley after a drug-related crime.

"Stop frowning like that." Jessi snickered and approached his desk, her white undershirt now fairly creased. "Your wrinkles might start paying rent." She put away his almost empty glass of whiskey. Jessi dragged him out of his quiet office with her soft and warm hand clasping his forearm.

When they reached the small kitchen slash dining room, the smell of garlic rice and stir-fry vegetables tempted him to get rid of his surly mood. But his concern for Darren just wouldn't run out.

"What now? New deadlines?"

He shook his head.

"Another email from Prentiss?" Jessi made him sit in the chair with a quick push, then served him his plate of steamy rice with freshly cooked stir-fry.

"No." Jenson sat back and stared at the food till his vision blurred. "Darren's still not picking up."

"Oh. Tried his home phone again?" She sat to his right and poured him a glass of water.

"No answer," he mumbled. If another hour passed without either of them hearing from Darren, he should do more than wait for the guy to start being sensible. He could easily imagine Darren's state of mind after what Magnus said, about Ramona being three months pregnant before she overdosed.

Darren must be stewing in months-old guilt and self-loathing right now.

"Want me to ring his mobile again?" Jessi wrinkled her brows, her face now free of makeup. She no longer wore her peach blazer that made her look too corporate, especially compared with his usual shirt-plus-dark jeans getup.

She smelled of food now. Fresh, warm, delicious food...keeping him from concentrating on his full and colorful dinner plate. "Later."

"You sure?"

"If he doesn't text or call me back in half an hour, I'll drive by his place."

"Why? You think he's...upset or somethin'?"

"Fuck if I know." Jenson sighed and took a bite of his meal. The rice almost burned his tongue, but he just couldn't give a rat's ass. Working all month long with one rest day a week left him too stressed to be dealing with other people's issues.

Story of his life.

Sure, he was used to it, but, these days... Life and his jobs seemed to really enjoy putting his mental strength to the test. Plus Charmaine treating him like shit again while she's busy showing off in another country, and probably fucking some 20-year-old half-Chinese guy after work hours.

As if caught off-guard by his swearing, Jessi stared at him with her pale mouth quietly chewing some rice and stir-fry. "You good?"

"No." He looked away and ate more food, repressing the sharp, stinging urge to punch something till his frustration and aggression waned. "I need a proper drink."

"No. You just had two. Anythin' else you want me to prep before I leave?"

"No. Go home."

"You take your vitamins last night?"

"I'm fine." Jenson gulped another spoonful. If he prolonged the conversation, he might just vent and spill family secrets someone like her shouldn't know. He didn't need to explain they weren't exactly vitamin supplements but specially formulated wolfsbane medication.

She might laugh and think he was delusional. She would think he'd gone clinically insane if he mentioned his family's real background. Or anything about wolfsbane and werewolves, for that matter.

Like Darren and other half-bloods, they took the pills so as not to suffer from painful, swollen joints and quite a long list of other genetic issues. The meds also doubled as mild sedatives that kept him from losing his shit over things that didn't go his way, including the day-to-day nuisances he dealt with on and off the job.

Jessiah also didn't need to know that Darren was on another possibly life-threatening bender at the moment. She already knew enough secrets about them. Not the life and career-breaker kind of secrets, but, still...

As they ate the rest of their dinner in total silence, Jenson tried to think of what he could say to Darren to convince the latter to disclose his whereabouts.

Another dead hooker in a hotel room full of booze and illegal drugs would be his last straw. Seriously. Just the end of his tether.

The third season was still in the works, and they weren't even half-done with the promos yet. They certainly didn't need another problem right now. Especially not the maximum-security-prisoner-in-the-making kind of trouble.

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"I'm gonna be in New York tomorrow." Jenson reclined in his chair while his assistant finished her food beside him. "All weekend, probably."

"New York? For what? Promos?"

"Yeah. Kind of," he muttered before he drank water. In two days, he had to track down Mykaela Nielsen (Magnus' half-sister and Ilya's only daughter) for a list of reasons Magnus still wouldn't share.

The man just wouldn't say. Like always. Perhaps Ilya, still on his deathbed, needed to talk to his long-lost daughter about her inheritance or something. Probably why Magnus seemed eager to find her, too. To make sure he wouldn't be screwed over in Ilya's last will and end up the biggest heritor among his father's pureblood heirs.

Plus one secret dhampirica heiress. What an odd bunch of problematic vamps, to say the least.

"Booked a flight yet?" Jessi asked with a squint that narrowed her long-lashed brown eyes. They appeared deep-set under dim lights, but quite oriental in some angles whenever she didn't wear makeup.

"Not yet."

"Credit or debit?"

"I'll just buy tickets at the airport." Jenson looked away and tried not to scowl. He just couldn't be bothered to go online to buy himself a plane ticket to a city he didn't even like.

"So you'll be back Sunday night?"

"Maybe."

"Okay," Jessi murmured with a few nods. "I'll guard the fort if you won't be back till Monday late."

"Proxy for me if I don't get back before the management meeting."

"Sure. No prob." She gave him a quick smile before getting up from her seat. "Just send me updates via email. I mean, Hadley might check the thread. Still doesn't like us that much, y'know."

"Couldn't care less about that bitter asswipe, but, okay."

She snorted and muffled her laugh with a crumpled tissue. "Take your pills. It's almost eight." She refilled his glass of water before handing him clean table napkins.

When he ignored the gesture, she stepped closer to wipe the grease off his lips. It jolted him out of his bad thoughts, leaving him speechless, even halting his breathing for a moment.

She, on the other hand, acted like it was nothing and began tidying up their dinner table.

It was just a small, square-ish slab of hardwood where he used to make his coffee. Now it was officially their dining table at work.

Although it wasn't part of her job description, Jessi kept their little kitchen slash dining area organized and spotless all the time, like the rest of his office. "Go home. Sleep. In your real bed." She soaped the dishes now.

"Was just gonna say the same thing."

"DJ's gonna turn up. Stop worrying too much."

"Would if I could." Jenson sighed. Before she could finish washing up, he walked back into his office to sit behind his desk again. He had to get a hold of Darren now.

New York and the long-lost sister waited for his attention. "Shit." Jenson looked up from his phone. The second a familiar musky scent reached his nostrils, he confirmed he was no longer alone in the room.

Standing by the doorway, chest heaving and shoulders tense, a grim-looking, teary-eyed Darren glared at him with clenched fists.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

"I'm done." Darren threw something. It landed on the desk with a loud clang, right beside a neat stack of papers. "I fucking quit."

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