Chapter 61: Chapter 61

Chapter 60

Discovering The Truth 3

15 Hours earlier

Limesville

Ring ring ring.

"Jeez, who is it early in the morning?" Sleepy Alex groaned and blindly stretched his hand under his pillow to reach for his ringing phone.

"Hello." He picked up the call on the third ring.

"It better be something serious Tony, or else I'll make you behead yourself." He threatened.

"Sorry to wake you up, it's really important," Anthony said, "it's about Miss Claire."

"What about her?" Alex sat up in bed, paying full attention to whatever it was that Tony had to say.

"The men you asked me to assign to discreetly watch over her told me some disturbing things that occurred last night." Tony said skeptically. He waited for his boss to say something, from there he'll know how to phrase the news he had to deliver.

"What disturbing news? Did she get hurt?" Alex asked with worry.

"Actually, Sir… she, uhm…" He was still thinking on how to break the news to his boss. "Can I come over sir?" He asked instead.

When Claire told Alex last night that she had loud neighbors ruining her quiet time, he'd immediately called Tony to call the hotel and have them address the situation immediately. Alex had told him to book her the penthouse house if it were available or book the whole floor just so she can have her moment with no disturbance.

He was too tired and decided to address the situation the next morning. He planned to have her transferred to the presidential suite the next day. Luckily when he got in contact with the hotel early the next morning, the penthouse was unoccupied, so he booked it for her and asked them to send a staff member to usher her to her new suite.

They reported back to him that she was not answering the door, he asked them to use a spare key, they did and she was not in the room.

Honestly he did panic, but he did not update Alex immediately, he would normally always go to Alex when he already had enough information about a situation, plus the guards he assigned to watch over her said she did not step out of the hotel.

He ordered them to check the cameras, and he had the bodyguards present there. When the guards told him what they witnessed, he could not believe it. He immediately requested a copy of the footage, but since he had to follow protocol, it took him almost 24 hours to lay his hands on it.

He woke up to the details this morning and had been contemplating whether or not he should tell

Alex or not.

"Tell me what the hell happened to her!" Alex snapped, when Tony stayed silent. By this time he was already pulling up his trousers. He did not bother about a bath or anything right now.

Tony panicked for a moment, he was not sure how to break the news. Even when the shadow bodyguards told him what happened, he could not believe it, so he asked them for evidence. He knew that bringing forth those heavy allegations needed solid proof to back it up. Even though he now had enough substantial proof, he still did not know how to present it to his boss.

He had been busy the whole day, struggling to pull the necessary strings so that he could get the footage on time. They told him that it'll take up to a week, but he pressed hard and got it in a day.

"Are you gonna spill it now, or do you want me to make you do it?" Alex scolded when Tony stayed silent again.

"Sir… nothing happened to her, actually hmm…" Tony said in a shaky voice.

"Actually what?"

"I succeeded in booking the presidential suite." Tony lied dumbly.

Alex paused, he was about to get his shirt. He could not make any sense out of what Tony just said. "What has that got to do with you waking me up early in the morning?" Alex furrowed his brows, raising his voice over the phone.

"Uhmmm…" Tony was trying hard to rack his brain to figure out a good lie, he knew just how lame what he said sounded. "The hotel could not reach her this morning, I was wondering whether you have spoken with her?"

He held his breath, mentally bracing for impact.

"So that is the emergency huh?" Alex asked suspiciously.

"Yes Sir, sorry sir." Tony said quickly.

"What about the bodyguards I asked you to assign to her?" Alex asked.

'Oh Shit!' he mentally exclaimed.

"I did not think of that," he said nervously, " I'll check with them immediately, I'm sorry to bother you sir." Tony quickly apologized. 'that is why lying is not good.' He remembered what his grandma always told him before she passed away.

"Did any part of your brain think about checking with them before raising an alarm?" Alex asked in annoyance.

"Clearly, I wasn't thinking straight Sir. Bye sir." Tony added.

"Is there something you are not telling me Anthony?" Alex asked suspiciously.

"NO Sir, I wouldn't dare." Tony acknowledged quickly.

"Sure, you wouldn't, because when I find out, I'll knot one of your balls until it completely disappears into your stomach, are we clear?"

Tony would have been probably used to all Alex's ultimatums by now, but somehow every threat today still sent shivers through his body. He was visibly sweating on his end.

"Cry-s-tal cle-ar …. Sir." Poor Tony. He intentionally ended the call.

Alex sat down on the couch in his sparse bedroom. His conversation with Tony kept on playing over and over in his head. He was very certain that Tony was nervous when he called, but everything he said just did not make sense. Anthony would never disturb him with such trivial matters.

He knew that Tony made up this whole crap penthouse story and not contacting her, there was more, something went down, but what?

He decided to give her a call.

She picked on the first ring.

"Hey!" Her soft voice echoed over the speaker.

"Hey babe, good morning!" Alex replied passively.

"Good morning, you are up early today." Claire said.

"Yeah, I miss you; it's difficult for me to have a good night's sleep without you around." He said romantically.

"Awww, that's cute, I miss you too." She replied.

"What are you doing now?"

"I'm dressing up to go out. I want to do some sightseeing today and maybe go shopping. I've got a rendezvous with Mr Gelintine, I'm hoping that it'll be fruitful." She rushed through her plans for the day.

He just listened quietly, trying to decipher anything out of the ordinary, but he did not. Just what was Tony not telling him.

"Are you in the hotel right now?" He asked instead.

"Yeah, where else would l be." He heard a little nervous laughter escape her mouth.

"Thought maybe you were already on your way. Are you ok? Is everything alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you alright?" She asked back.

"Yes, ok, let me not steal your day. If you need anything, anytime; give me a call, ok?" He said with genuine consent.

He made another call immediately after he dropped Claire's call.

"Ready the jet. We'll take off in three hours." He ordered over the phone.

"Where to, Sir?"

"You'll know when I get there."