CHAPTER 35 Pretending
Xavier
After kissing Joy, I hugged her so tightly.
I didn’t want to let her go. It has been six long months since I had Joy in my arms. Unlike Sebastian
and Cristos, once I arrived in New Salem, I stayed, keeping a close watch on the people of this town. I
had my suspicions, but I didn’t have the evidence to prove my theories… not just yet.
Joy was supposed to arrive when construction on her shop was almost finished, but after they arrested
a man said to be the primary suspect of the murders of both Kimberly Smith and Joan Summers, Joy
decided toe early.
I, of course, was against it, but now I see how distracted Liam and his group have be now that
Joy was here.
I saw how Cris stood in the middle of the pub, all tongue-tied, drooling right in front of her. I noticed the
longing looks Liam gave her while she sat at the bar. I saw how Noah. whispered something into Liam’s
ear when they passed each other at the restroom. And just
while ago, I saw the grin on Jack’s face when he walked back to his truck.
to admit, there was something different about Noah, although I still didn’t agree with b astian’s theory
that Noah could be a hitman. If he was a hitman, why didn’t he finish off Joy when he drove her home
after her assault? Did he feel sorry for her because they were bestfriends?
I could see the dilemma. But Noah the assassin? don’t think so.
“What is it, Cristos? What did you see from the CCTVS?” Sebastian asked as we followed them into
Joy’s sound proof den. I sat down on the couch and made Joy sit right beside me. I buried my nose in
her hair, blissfully inhaling the floral scent of her shampoo.
“I miss the smell of your hair,” I murmured, kissing the top of her head. She giggled and snuggled
closer, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“Focus, you two,” Cristos scoffed at us. I took a throw pillow and threw it at him.
“I’ve missed Joy,” I murmured, staring at her and caressing her cheek. “I’ve been in this town. for six
solid months helping everyone with their shopping. Please… let me be happy just this once.” Sebastian
rolled his eyes at me, then fixated his gaze on the screen of the huge Smart
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CHAPTER 35 Pretending
TV.
“Is that Noah?” Sebastian asked, surprised. Cristos nodded his head.
“I didn’t expect this from Noah,” Cristos said. “He pretended to be drunk and asleep in my car while I
drove. Virtue, if we had slipped and reverted back to our names, he would have found out. We have to
make it a rule to use our fake names everywhere and anywhere in this
town. It doesn’t matter if we’re alone in the car.
“Chip is right. We have to embrace our fake identities full time,” Sebastian said. “Chip, I need. you to
call Lou and tell him to fly in as soon as possible, so he can install the security system of Virtue’s home.
I want him hereter in the day.” He pointed to the ongoing
now footage on one of the smaller windows at the bottom of the screen. Noah was looking through the
windows of Joy’s house, trying to find cr acks within the curtains. “It looks like. he’s been employed by
Liam to keep a close watch on you, Virtue, a very close watch.”
“What did you hear from Liam and Jack’s conversation, Dom? Do you know why Liam was parked
outside?” I asked.
“Jack told Liam toy low until elections and no, Liam didn’t say why he followed Virtue,” Sebastian
answered while he reviewed the footage. “Noah came out from the back of his house and stopped at
the big elm tree at the side of Virtue’s yard. He was listening to her versation with Jack. Now, he’s trying
to peek through the windows. This isn’t the Noah we known for the past six months. There’s something
different about him.”
“I was just thinking the same thing. Can we now include him on the list?” I asked them, hoping they
would agree. Well, I gotta try. N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.
“To kill? It’s up to Virtue,” Cristos answered. “But I’m going to start doing some digging. I can’t believe
he outsmarted me… I mean, us.”
“I think you should hire another contractor for your store, Virtue,” I suggested. “He could do all kinds of
sabotage or h ook up CCTV cameras as small as a screw in hard to reach areas.or even ce a bug.”
“I can’t, Bo. I already hired him,” Joy argued. “Don’t worry. Lou is suppose to give me this camera
detector and bug scanner device.”
“If he doesn’t, you can borrow one of ours,” Sebastian said. “Chip, I need you to hack into his home Wi-
Fi system, get all his passwords and check if he orders anything online, especially CCTV cameras and
audio listening devices,” Sebastian ordered Cristos.
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CHAPTER 35 Pretending
“Gotcha, I’ll check his schedule while I’m on it,” Cristos replied, nodding his head.
“Do you have anything on Nicole, Abigail or even Lisa?” I asked him.
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“I’ve hacked into their Wi-Fiwork and have all their data, but I haven’t found anything unusual in
their group chat except for the usual Let’s get a drink. Not even Cris. I suspect they use burner phones
without Wi-Fi capability. I went over to Sheriff Combs’ house and didn’t detect a Wi-Fi system,” Cristos
said, sighing. “He’s a dinosaur. As for the Cohen Mansion, it has security roaming twenty-four seven.
That ce is built to keep everyone out. Leo and Benny are currently on the inside getting information,
but we need to move faster.” Leonard and Bernard Primo are two of Cristos closest cousins. When we
told them of our ns, they wanted in right away, but Cristos told them to wait until we can find them
the perfect undercover job and now they have been working at the mansion for three months.
“Chip, you need to hack into town hall,” Joy suggested. “Or ce a bug or camera inside. Liam’s office,
maybe even Cris’ office and the Sheriff’s. Those three offices are easily essible to the public.”
“Why didn’t I
I think of that? I’ll hack into town hall asap. But bugging Liam’s office… it isn’t as easy as it sounds,
Virtue,” Cristos said. “Not everyone is allowed inside Liam’s office. Have you gone into Liam’s office,
Dom?” Sebastian shook his head. “How about you, Bo?” I shook my head too. “I haven’t either. See?”
nput a bug in Cris Murdock’s office,” I said. “He’s been hounding me about sponsorship r his reelection.
I’ll ask him to meet with me at his office.”
“One down,” Sebastian said. “Any takers for the Sheriff’s office?”
“I-I’ll do it,” Joy answered. The three of us looked at her reluctantly. “I-I think Jack has a crush on me.
He asked me to have coffee with him if we ever bump into each other in town. I’ll try and visit his
workce after we’ve had coffee.”
“You are going to go on a date with that f ucker?” I asked, feeling jealous and angry.
“Bo, isn’t that why I’m here?” Joy took my hand and ced it on her cheek. “Remember, it’s for a
od cause.”
“Bo, we’ve already discussed this,” Sebastian argued. “Virtue’s here to manipte all four…. well, five,
if we count Noah. I’ll ce a bug in the newly renovated office at town hall. Nicole told me someone
close to Liam will be using that office. Chip, have Benny and Leo ce a tracking device on Liam’s
car.”
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CHAPTER 35 Pretending
“Got it.”
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“Onest thing,” Sebastian took out a ck box which looked like an airpod charging case from his
his pocket. “Virtue, I need you to ce a bug inside Noah’s house. It’s already preformatted so all you
have to do is stick it in a concealed space like under a table.” He
give you a GPS tracking device if I can’t ce one on Noah’s truck myself.” Joy nodded her head
enthusiastically while cing the small ck case in her pocket.
handed the box to Joy.
“Noah just ran back to the elm tree,” I said, pointing at the screen of the Smart TV. “Chip you need to
leave while we run out the back door. Virtue, go outside and say goodbye to Chip,” I instructed. I saw
the disappointment in her eyes. I lifted her chin so I could gaze into her beautiful blue eyes.
“Hey, we’ll see youter in the morning. You can spend time at Dom’s store or hang around at the
grocery. Remember, we’ll be sleeping at our offices from now on. Chip, though, is still clearing out Old
Man Eugene’s office,” I told her, kissing her on her forehead.
“Well, since I’m having construction done, I can fix the back and make it into an office sh bedroom
and have a sofa bed ced inside, Chip. So all three of you are next to each other,” Joy offered.
I
that’s a n,” Cristos said, smiling. “Okay, we all need to leave. Virtue, make sure you your gun beside
you when you sleep. Bo, switch off the lights at the back before you ys leave.”
gave Joy onest hug and quickly went to the back door of her house without looking at her. I felt I
wouldn’t be able to leave if I looked at her one more time.
“Hey, the GPS tracker I put on Dan’s car shows me he and Nicole went somewhere else,” Sebastian
said while I turned off the lights in the back. “You wanna check it out?”
“Sure.”
Chapter Comments
Luna-Mom
another great chapter, full of suspense.
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