Maybe Yours

Chapter 13

James

I berated myself. What the heck was I thinking when I kissed her? I'll be lucky if she ever let me near her again. Goddamn it. I ran a hand through my hair and frowned. Should I apologize?

I couldn't help myself. She looked so beautiful. The best part is that she has no idea how gorgeous she is. And it wasn't just about her looks. She was an amazing person. And I wanted to get to know her more.

I sighed. I had probably ruined any chance I had with her. I was no good at relationships. It was always just one-night stands for me. But Eva had changed that. I wanted more with her.

I glanced at her beside me. She was chewing on her lower lip. She hadn't spoken a word to me since we left the apartment. I was panicking now. What if she told me she never wanted to see me again?

Fuck. I couldn't let that happen. I was surprised at myself. I have never actually wanted to hang out with a girl. It was always just s*x for me. There hardly was any talking involved.

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers. I have to let her know how I feel.

In another ten minutes we reached the theatre. I stepped and turned around to see Eva talking to Zoe. Dave walked around the car to me.

"Are you two dating?", he asked eyeing me suspiciously. I looked at him and shook my head.

"We will be." I replied. "Soon.", I added.

Dave glared at me once and then muttered, "It better be."

I chuckled at him. He really cared about Eva. I relaxed.

I was about to walk over to her when my phone buzzed.

Drake. This couldn't be good. I answered the call.

"Drake?"

"James. You have to see this. Meet me at the park."

"What is it?"

"Not over the phone James. I told you. Get your ass here right now."

Then the line went dead.

I growled. That guy had horrible timing.

I looked up to see Eva watching me with a worried expression.

I pocketed my phone and walked up to her. I took her hands in mine. She stared at me confused.

"I'm so sorry, Eva. But I have to go. Drake called. Something urgent has come up. It can't wait. I'm really sorry.", I explained. Her face fell. " It’s alright.", she said.

I smiled internally. She wanted me to be there with her. The thought made me happy. I pulled her into a hug not caring that Zoe and Dave were watching us. She stiffened against me for just a moment before she relaxed and hugged me back. I smiled against her hair. Then I pulled away. Leaning down I brought her fingers to my lips and kissed it. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "I'll see you soon.", I promised. She nodded her head. I said goodbye to Dave and Zoe.

I hailed a cab and told him the address.

Drake better have a good reason for this.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The ride back to the park took just a few minutes as the traffic had lessened considerably. I got out and paid the driver instructing him to keep the change.

I walked into the park and seen Drake seated on a bench. He was typing away on his laptop. He looked tensed even from a distance.

I went up to him and punched his arm," What the hell is it Drake?"

He scowled at me and told me to sit down.

Then he pointed to the screen of the laptop.

It was a newspaper clipping. About Arroh. I leaned forward and read it.

WORLD FAMOUS BUSINESSMAN ATTEMPTS SUICIDE

Business tycoon Arroh Jacob is said to have attempted to take his life on the night of 24th March this week. His assistant Mr. Hopkins rubbished the reports and claimed that it was a murder attack that was fortunately thwarted. There were traces of cyanide found in the dregs of the wine had by his boss. There was also a prescription found among his personal papers for a large amount of cyanide from a medical store in the suburbs. The owner of the store confirmed that Mr. Arroh had indeed arrived with the said prescription and had asked him to keep the purchase a secret. He also assured him that he would be paid well for his silence. However, the payment.........

The article went on.

"What the hell? That is a load of bullshit. It has got to be a cover for something else.", I shook my head furiously and looked up at Drake.

"It was." ,he said in a flat tone.

He clicked on another article and motioned to me to read it.

600 children sold as slaves in the African Continent

Child abuse is more of an issue today than we citizens tend to realize. Earlier this week the FBI turned in Melody Hawk. This woman has played a major role in child trafficking for the past 10 years. After numerous futile attempts to pin down her location, the FBI managed to track her thanks to an anonymous tip from an unknown source. But this proved to be nothing significant as it turned out she was just a distraction while the major trafficking deals were being performed by someone who worked behind the scenes. Unfortunately, the day she was supposed to testify, she was shot at by a gunman at the entrance of The Whitehall Court. The said man then turned the gun on himself which lead to another dead end. Reports have confirmed that the deal that caused an amount of children as large as 600 to be sold as slaves was carried out the day the attempt was made on Hawk's life. The mastermind behind these deals is yet to be identified. The police are doing their best to........

The master mind was Arroh. Both Drake and I knew that. Thanks to Hopkins. Arroh had threatened my father to join him in the child trafficking ring. He said he could use the resources that my dad could provide. On his refusal, Arroh had had his men beat up my Dad's right-hand man Vincent and had taken him captive. My father had signed the deal with him just to have Vincent released. Arroh had warned them that he would hurt our family if the police were involved in any way. I had no idea at first about any of this. My father was always the one man I looked up to. But after the incident with Vincent he changed. He became an alcoholic and refused to come out of his room. Vincent managed the business during that time. The day I turned 21, my father had a heart attack. Out of worry for him, Vincent confided in me and told me to go away from home for some time, at least till he could get Arroh behind bars.

I took his advice not because I wanted to but because I thought I could help in my own way. I had spoken to Drake about everything and he promised to help me.

For the past one year we had collected as much evidence as we could about Arroh's illegal activities by hacking into his major accounts with the help of Drake's sources. But nothing that we had was enough to get him behind bars. Then Hopkins had come to us with the key to his personal files. We had gone through them and found what we needed. But Arroh had kept his identity well hidden. None of the deals were carried out by him. He always left his dirty work to be done by his henchmen. He hid evidence well and nothing could be traced back to him.

There was only one way we would know what Arroh was up to.

" I think we have to go visit Hopkins.", I said.