"I guess this is it" I say to myself as I knock on Nicholas's door.

Finding his house was war. I had to comb the internet for good forty five minutes with my shaky hands. All I got where bits and pieces and eventually I just had to figure out where he has been and put two and two together and so here I am.

The only thing is, it's  way past nine pm and I don't know if he'd be at home.

Funny how famous people post a lot on social media. Don't they know that social media is like a mini window to their actual lives? Or am I just being paranoid?

"You're just in time for the..."

Nicholas begins to say as he opens the door and comes face to face with me.

Was he expecting anyone?

"Samantha?"

"May I come in?", I ask with a smile and a shrug.

"Of course", he says gesturing me into the house.

"Thank you", I whisper and hand him my coat once I got in.

"Wow! This is such a pleasant surprise. What do I get you? Beer? Soda? Wine? Water?"

"Do you have any juice box?", I ask and he just smiles as he goes to the kitchen, gets a juice box out of the refrigerator and hands it to me.

"Are you expecting anyone?", I ask admiring how hot he looks in just a short and a white tee shirt with his bed hair. Gosh! How long has it been since I've been with a man? I ask myself and immediately shrug away the depressing answer.

"Yes um, Eric. You know Eric right. Yeah he is supposed to meet me here for the game. Which is about to start in the next ten minutes", he says as he sits down eventually.

"Why are you here?" He asks as he eyes my choice of dressing.

I'm putting on a long, black, straight gown. Which is weird even for me but for a good reason.

"Where is Stefan?", I ask looking around for his son.

"Fast asleep in his room, why?" He says and I eventually sit down.

"Look, I know you think I ran away but I didn't. Mum put me in an asylum and..."

"Um Samantha, I know. Eric knows. We came to visit you while you were there. You don't remember?"

"You guys did what?", I ask as my brain spirals in confusion.

What the hell is happening right now?

"Yeah we were the ones, under the instructions of your mother that drove you there and we visited you about five times or thereabout because I had to travel to India for a surgery and few meetings and didn't come back until two weeks ago."

Why would Jack tell me mum told them I ran off?

"Um?", I ask leaving my mouth open and I'm pretty sure my face is like that of that guy in 'we're the Millers' right now.

"Your mum told us that you often times suffer from severe memory lapse and that's why we had to take you to the asylum ourselves?", He says not getting my confusion

"But why don't I remember when you guys came to see me? And why did Jack tell me..." I ask fading off and just staring into space.

This is messed up.

He shrugs before replying,

"I don't know but you welcomed us pretty well"

We hear a knock on the door and Nicholas rushes to get the door.

"You're five minutes late!", Nicholas exclaims like he's on a date.

"I know, I know and I'm sorry. My aunt got stuck at the airport again and I had to go pick her up. Here I picked up your favorite", Eric says handing him a pack of Pringles, without any inkling whatsoever of my presence.

"Thanks"

"Ew! You guys look like a couple right now." I state. They are giving me cringe worthy vibes and it's not like I'm homophobic or anything neither am I against men showing men love but it's still weird. It'll forever be weird.

"Oh hey Samantha. Wasn't expecting you. Did your mum come pick you up?

At the mention of my mum I start crying all over again. I can't believe my mum's gone.

"Hey hey hey! What's wrong Fox? Nicholas says rushing to my side.

"I'll get the ice cream!", Eric yells and disappears into the kitchen. I just sob into Nicholas' shoulders.

"Here" Eric says handing me a cup of ice cream and I start crying all over again.

"What's wrong?" Nicholas asks

"I hate mint ice cream. It tastes like toothpaste", I wail.

Eric rolls his eyes and goes to return it. Well it does taste like toothpaste. He returns with a pistachio flavored ice cream and I dive right into it.

"Thanks Wilder", I murmur.

"So what's wrong?"Nicholas asks again.

"My mother is dead", I tell them and they widen their eyes like Saucers and that's when I begin narrating the last six months of my life up until I got to the house while stuffing my mouth with ice cream.

"Wow! So you mean in those six months you don't remember us coming to visit?", Eric asks and I just shake my head in response.

"Guys I do think the person that killed Asher might be the same person that murdered my mum" I say looking at both of them.

"That has been established before", Eric states point blank.

Eric looks at Wilder and they share a look I can't quite interpret.

"Well you're slightly in luck", Nicholas says getting up and gesturing for me to follow him. I take his hand and he leads me to his library where he brings out some sort of map with red dots and blue tacks.

"Here are the enlisted suspects of Asher's death and now your mother's death" Nicholas says.

"But my mum only died a few hours ago", I state in a matter of fact tone.

"Yes but since you said the person who killed Asher might have also killed your mother so I just thought to consider them" Nicholas explains and I just nod.

"By the way, let's not forget that we're dealing with a very deadly assassin here who has committed three murders and we have to tread carefully ", Eric suggests being surprisingly reasonable.

"Three?", Nicholas asks

"Asher, Austin and now my mother", I reply.

"Oh Okay. So you remember that address book you gave Eric here right?", Nicholas asks and I just nod.

"Okay so while you were away we didn't stop working on this case. We checked the address book and didn't see anything useful, just bunch of addresses and phone numbers", Nicholas says and I just stare at him wondering why he's telling me all these if it led to a dead end.

"Yeah so?", I eventually blurt out.

"Well the addresses and numbers were basically useless except for one we traced to be your Uncle Austin's number and house address", Eric explains.

"Austin is dead and I'm not getting the whole charade of this conversation right now", I say while pinching the bridge of my nose feeling really exhausted.

"Yes he's dead but if his number was found in the address book it definitely confirms that your killer is a family member or a friend and we have five suspects at hand now", Eric continues

"Okay this is brilliant", I say with an eager smile.
I can't believe they went all through these trouble for my sake.

"Yeah so the suspects are your dad, your mum, Austin, Jack and you", Nicholas states in a matter of fact tone and I just stare in disbelief at the names he called.

I watch as he strikes out the names on the map and adjusts the blue tacks to suit the latest adjustments.

"Your dad is dead, Austin is dead and you were with us when Eric announced the death of your uncle and if it's the same person who killed Asher that killed Austin then you're ruled out so that leaves us with Jack and your mum" He continues not even wavering his gaze for a second.

"This is absurd", I say with my hands in my hips.

"No kidding" Eric says.

"My dad was not in the country when Asher died, Jack was with the secretary, Ashley I guess. That should be a very good and strong alibi by the way. My mother was in the house. I was the only one in the room that day and God this sounds so fucked" I say burying my face in my palms as I wail uncontrollably.

"I know, I know and since you said she's dead...", Nicholas begins

"I feel like she's not dead though", Eric interrupts.

"How?", Nicholas and I both chorus. I sniff in the bits of unshed tears.

"Well isn't it strange that a package of butchered up body just shows up right at your doorstep just right after you arrived Chicago from Rockford? I mean it's kind of suspicious if you ask me", Eric states and Nicholas and I just stare at each other trying to contemplate what Eric just said.

"Yeah and mother was the only one I called", I state simply as I take the tissue from Eric and blow into it.

"What of Damien, your brother?' Nicholas asks snapping his fingers.

"What about him?", I ask not getting the point.

"Well if he's back he can be linked to all these murders and we all know his motive, revenge", Nicholas explains a bit further.

I mouth an 'O' and hold my chin.

"Damien has to be the only one responsible for these murders. I mean he's the only one with motive" I say sobbing.

"Easy, don't jump into conclusions easily. Play the what if card. What if he isn't the one?", Eric says

"What IF he is the one?", I counter back.

"But what IF he isn't?" Eric says.

"Enough!", Nicholas hollers at the both of us just when I was about to retort back.

"You guys should quit acting like children and focus at the task at hand", he says gesticulating at the map in front of us for effect.

"So what are we going to do?", I ask as I raise my hands in the air for dramatic effect.

"Well we have to find Jack that's for sure. He might not be the murderer but I have a strong feeling that he knows something that might be of great help", Nicholas suggests and Eric and I just nod in unison.

" The question now is how do we find Jack?", I ask knitting my brows in confusion.

"Well he's in Boston currently for a conference meeting", Eric answers and we both stare at him in disbelief.

"Isn't this the 21st century?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah so?" Eric asks still not getting where I'm coming from.

"What sort of conference do you need to travel for these days with all the internet in the world?", I ask Eric and Nicholas just nods in affirmation.

"I don't know Samantha", Eric says placing both hands on his head and closing his eyes out of nothing but frustration.

"Isn't there someone you can call, who you really trust that oversees these kinds of things to know if for sure Jack did travel to Boston?" Nicholas asks making a very valid point.

Immediately, Eric brings out his cellphone and dials a number. He engages the person at the other end in a slight conversation before asking the main question. He ends the call and looks at us with a smile.

"Jack did go to Boston", Eric announces and Nicholas claps his hands.

"So let's go to Boston", Nicholas says gleefully.

"How do we get there?", Eric asks and I just stare at him like he just said something stupid.

"We swim. What do you mean how do we get there?", I ask not hiding my irritation.

"Oh Sam", he chuckles and I just fold my hands beneath my breath.

"What I meant was you can't be seen flying or you'll be caught remember?", He says and I open my eyes in realization.

"Well we can't go by road because from Chicago to Boston by road is about fifteen to eighteen hours not to mention the stress of driving and the fact that we're racing against time here. On the other hand, going by air is about two hours thirty minutes if I'm not mistaken which doesn't only save us a whole lot of stress but it also saves us time", I say pointing out and they just stare at me.

"We have a maths guru in our midst", Nicholas says with a grin and pats me on my back.

"Please, I've been running for a long time so it's important we weigh our options and as for the disguise don't worry about it. I'll be going as  'Cara Katz' and you guys will be my body guards" I say with a smile and do a little spin so they'd notice my dress properly.

I already had a full proof pla

"You're crazy" Eric snaps

"How are we even supposed to pull off her bodyguards?", Nicholas asks.

They're freaking out like this because Cara Katz is not just anybody, she is the most influential artiste in the world who is also the most followed.

"Are you guys freaking out because she's a celebrity?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"A hot one, yes" Eric says aggressively and he starts pacing around apprehensively.

"Okay calm down, you pacing around like that makes me uneasy too and it's not good for my ADHD", I say in a matter of fact tone.

"What's your plan Samantha?", Nicholas asks as he runs his hand through his hair multiple times.

"Now that you asked, I did a little stalking on Cara and found out that she's going to be at the super barbecue arena by 11pm tonight. She is going to be performing there and we will slip into the arena quietly..."

"Illegally?", Nicholas asks

"No, of course not. I bought tickets" I say whipping out three tickets.

"Then why do we have to slip in quietly?", Eric asks with his shoulder raised.

"I'm Samantha Montero helloooo! I don't want nobody spotting me", I say like I'm trying to explain to a child.

They both nod their head in understanding.

"So we slip into the arena quietly and take seats, without drawing too much attention to ourselves of course. Then once the show is about to end, you two would get up and go in opposite directions. One to the bathroom and the other will go outside. You two will charm those cocktail waitresses or waiters or whatever and secretly slip in a pill..."

"What kind of pill?", Nicholas asks

"You're the doctor, don't you have any pill?" I ask

"Well I do but it has major side effects and..."

"I don't care. As long as it doesn't kill them we're good" I vehemently say.

"Why do we have to do the dirty works?", Eric asks and I groan in exasperation.

"Because you two are celebrities yourselves", I mutter through gritted teeth.

"Anyway as I was saying, you guys will slip in a pill into the drinks they are holding and POLITELY tell them to serve the drinks to the body guards that will be waiting by her booth. You guys stand by and ensure they drink it by all means. Once the drugs start kicking in, you guys dispose off their bodies somewhere, unseen.  And if my estimations are correct, she should be rounding off her performance just about then and that's when you guys will walk in and stand by the stage. You both will walk her into her booth and make sure the first thing you give her is a drink. Please try your possible best to ensure you're not caught or noticed. Once that's done, the drugs should be taking effect already and you strip her off her clothes and jewelries and bring them to her Mercedes where I'll be waiting for you guys." I say finishing up my explanation and they just stare at me in bewilderment.

"Who is supposed to do the stripping?", Nicholas asks

"I'll do it", Eric says with a smirk.

"Please make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Also make sure you cover her up properly too" I say to Nicholas in particular.

"One more thing. Isn't Cara supposed to have her own private jet?", Eric asks

"Yes she is and that's why the driver will be taking us to where it is" I answer curtly.

"But is he supposed to just drive if we're meeting you at the car?"

"Fine then, I'll meet you guys at the booth and we will all go to the car"

“Alright sounds like a plan” Nicholas says loving the idea already.

We both look at Eric waiting for his reply.

"Guys I'm still skeptical about this", Eric says not buying this idea.

"Come on Wilder, just think of it as an exciting adventure" I say with a wide grin.

"Yeah!", Nicholas says with a smile.

"Alright!", Eric says raising his hand for a high five.

We all dance round the table with smiles on my face and happiness in my heart.

I guess fate puts certain kinds of people in our path to help us accomplish certain task.

This is something I've been trying to do for God knows how long and here I am with these two amazing people who are helping me willingly.

No matter how wicked the world is, there are still nice people out there.

A/N:
Author: Phew guys! What a chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Samantha: One thing, who's my love interest?

Author: Oh that, one person must get hurt in the process. Watch out. There's a huge shocker in the next chapter. You guys aren't ready for the plot twist. Gosh I'm so excited.

Please guys I need your help with the voting and sharing. Share to as many people as possible. Thank you ☺️😚