Danielle Hayes

My breathing caught in my throat soon after those very words left his mouth.

No no no!!!

I pushed him away trying to catch my breath. I marched off towards the window. Clutching it's frame, I drew deep breaths.

No no no!!

I couldn't risk it. I couldn't let him know the truth.

I couldn't tell him about August. August Kingsley.

"I know you were with my brother August, when the attack happened."

I braced myself.

"I am sorry Mr. Prescott, but I don't know what you are talking about." My voice quivered but I managed to get out.

"Look at me Danielle." He ordered but I didn't budge. "I want you to look at me while you speak."

Blinking my tears away, I turned around. He was standing at an arm length, with a questioning look.

"I don't know Mr. Prescott." I lied through my teeth, fidgeting with the sleeves of my t shirt, which is something I do when I get nervous.

Unable to meet his stare once more, I kept them fixed on the floor.

"You were with him in his car, weren't you? You were with him, when the accident happened."

A car? An accident?

"Answer me!! Were you or were you not with him?"

"His death wasn't an accident. It was murder. He was shot and I..." Words slipped long before I came back to my senses. My hands rose up to my mouth in an utter bewilderment.

Oh god! What had I done?

His perfect eyebrow shot up at my words. He smirked knowingly.

"So, you knew. Why were you lying then?" He asked, standing beside me. I glanced up at him while he kept staring out of the window.

I remained silent.

"It was something, I am afraid to face. I wanted to get away from it but seems as if I had been there the whole time." My voice barely above a whisper.

I looked at my reflection through the glass. A pair of ocean blue eyes, stared back at me, lifeless. I couldn't recognise myself anymore.

"I wanted to help you. But, it seems as if you are the one who can't be trusted."

As bitter as they sounded, I knew where they were coming from. But I have had my reasons then too.

"Help me?"

"Yeah! My uncle told me quite a few words about you and that, you needed help because you were new to the city, Washington DC. He also told me that you were asked to meet me at my office but unfortunately, didn't. May I know why?"

"If I remember well Mr. Prescott, I reached your office soon enough but, was thrown out as I was late." I stressed the last part of the sentence intentionally.

"That's because you were late and by an hour and a half." He said in a as a matter of fact tone, air quoting the word late.

"Ugh!! Fine. I am sorry." I folded my arms. "What do you want now? You wanted to punish me for not meeting you then?"

"I want you-" but I soon cut him off.

"But-"

"Number one, I don't like being interrupted. Number two, I want you to work with me."

"Work with you?" I frowned. "What do you do?"

"I am the private eye."

•°•°•°•°•°•°• 💙

'Reliable Findings'

Did he really name his office as Reliable Findings?

It was exactly half past eight in the morning and he chose to brief me about everything.

He was looking dashing in his navy suit, just like he did the day before. His eyes were darting, analysing the file while His lips were moving but I wasn't even listening to his rant.

Did I really agree to work with him?

'Some things can't be ignored, Danielle. You can only conquer it, if you choose to face it. Just know, you need not do it alone. If I need to find out the truth behind my brother's death, you are my only key. Work with me, as my assistant. I promise, I'll not let you go through it alone. I'll help you, if you will. The choice is yours."

I guess I did.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Um... Nothing." I shrugged as he looked questioningly. "Nothing Mr. Prescott. You were saying?"

"So, you are saying, you didn't even listen to my words for the past half an hour?"

"What? No!! I wasn't listening since you started telling me about your new case."

"Exactly! Which was half an hour ago." He taunted as he stood up, pushing his chair back.

He handed me the case file before getting back to his seat.

"Go through it. Group all the clues and We will check them soon enough." I nodded. "Words Danielle."

"Yes Boss!"

"Get back to work." He dismissed.

Closing the door on my way out, I breathed out a sigh.

I wonder how other team mates were able to work for him.

I entered my office, situated just across his room. Putting the file on my desk, I slumped onto my leather chair.

"Imma have to star-" but was cut off by a loud beep on the desktop.

"Get me Logan. Now!" I heard a man scream through a video call, whom I recognised as Mr. Bennet. His eyes held fear and hair was a complete mess.

What was happening?

"One moment, Mr. Bennet."

I called Mr. Prescott, telling him that it was urgent. A moment or two later, he appeared through the door way.

Forking his hair, he approached my seat. I moved aside inorder to let him acknowledge the caller.

"Hey Oliver!"

"Logan! I need to tell you something. It's emergency and I cannot talk it over the phone. Meet me at the poolside and... Bring your assistant too. I like her." And the line went dead.

Tapping his fingers on the desk, he looked at me.

"Let's go."

Soon, we reached the Bennet towers, one of the tallest towers in Washington. We rushed in, towards the poolside but we were already too late.

"Our Client's dead." I sighed in disbelief.

The police were already fishing him out of the pool.

"Hello Logan!" A dark tall guy, shorter than Mr. Prescott, approached us.

He was dark haired and a dark eyed man in his early thirties. He was in his navy blue uniform with a badge hanging down the neck.

"Hello Phil!" They shook their hands. "Danielle, meet Detective Ashford."

"And you are?"

"Hello Detective Ashford!! I am Danielle, Mr. Prescott's assistant. Call me Dani." We shook our hands.

"Please call me Phil." He said, smiling warmly. "I assume he called you."

"I am sorry Phil, but I'm not in a Liberty to tell that." I shrugged.

He shot a quick glance at Logan who just shrugged.

"A dead client's confidentiality? Please! I know he called you because he called me too. He said, it was urgent." He said, leading us to the pool side.

They kept talking, meanwhile I examined the place. A large white towel was on the chair and a bottle was on the ground. It had the name Bennet on it.

His water bottle.

"Mam, you are in our way." A police office grumbled. Hearing him, I moved away.

Soon, I was joined by the duo as we walked towards the exit.

"You guys need to make a statement in the situation room. I have taken the conference room on the last floor, the 100th."

We both nodded.

"His death isn't an accident."

•°•°•°•°• 💙

A while later, we entered the conference hall on the very last floor which was crowded with people, laptops and papers. Officers, whom I assumed to be the juniors brought in food, for others.

He turned to us.

"I am sorry, I couldn't offer you the coffee. We are still setting it up."

"That's fine. It's a lot to set up in short time." I said, looking around.

"Yeah! That's fine." Mr. Prescott agreed. Phil just nodded.

"So, for the record: why did Oliver Bennett call you today?"

"We don't know. He declined to say it over the phone." I said.

"This wasn't connected to anything ongoing?"

"I haven't talked to him in a year." Mr. Prescott recalled after a moment.

"What was his state of mind? Like... How was he?"

"He seemed impatient and quite anxious."

"So, no sort of mail attachments?"

"No, that's it." Mr. Prescott added.

"By the way Phil, you said he called you too. What did he say?"

"He said something about concluding a case with Logan."

"It's a mystery." He trailed off.

"It is. I am treating it as a homicide, until I hear otherwise." Phil concluded atlast.

Technicians came in with the evidences. I caught a glimpse of them as they placed them on the table. It had the large white towel and a magazine.

"Where's the water bottle?" I asked, turning to Phil who was looking at me, perplexed.

"Excuse me?"

"There's a watter bottle by the pool side, which had Bennet corp logo."

Nodding to himself, he quietly turned to one of his officers to say something.

"The results must be back in a few."

Meanwhile Phil offered us a cup of coffee. I looked around going through all the photos that were kept up against the board.

"Is the preliminary autopsy done?" Asked Mr. Prescott before sipping his coffee.

Phil handed him the reports.

"It says, he died of massive coronary. He looked good but his organs were a wreck."

"Isn't he a triathlete? He moved around to win." I butted in. Putting my cup down, I took the reports from Mr. Prescott's hand.

His fingers slightly brushed mine as I took the file, sending tingles across the area. For a moment, my eyes met his.

Oh god Dani! Get a grip.

Checking through the file, I came across the word Shim. It was something I had studied way too long, for years.

"Shim? Isn't that the drug?"

"The CEOs smart drug." Mr. Prescott said, looking at me.

"He had been using it since so long. Larger doses. We found a slight traces of it in his hair and nails. But taking pure shim is suicidal. I don't think he has taken it cent percent pure."

"So, his bottle is spiked. It's a murder."

*******

Hey there guys!! Hope y'all liked this chapter.

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Mikaelson