The Eleventh Hour

Chapter 44 - part 1

Two hours later, I was grumbling in the front passenger seat of Nathaniel’s car.

And to think, I actually thought I was beginning to get somewhere when it came down to him actually telling me things.

He made me sit in a guarded waiting room while he went and ‘sorted things out’ as he put it, but I managed to kill most of the time on the police station’s phone, speaking to my mum.

The only thing he did tell me was there was a breakthrough – that Lucas Gonzales was now in police custody in Albacete, about a two hour drive away from Alicante.

He seemed in relatively high spirits, so I didn’t understand why he couldn’t just tell me what else was going on. But from past experiences, I knew he wouldn’t budge. I kept trying to tell myself that the most important thing was that my family were safe, and Nathaniel had a big part to play in that.

We arrived to an empty villa, or mansion I should say. This place was absolutely sensational.

The exterior was bright white with a huge slanted uphill driveway, leading up to a set of stairs to the front door, which you had to pass an outside seating area to get to. Nathaniel led me inside without a word, and I literally felt like I’d just stepped into a palace.

The floor was ivory silver coloured tiles that gave of an iridescent shimmer in the late afternoon sunlight. There was a modern open-plan design, with the sparkling kitchen to the right and the lounge area to the left.

The back wall was of course, made out of glass, and it led to an exquisite outside swimming pool.

A giant plasma screen TV sat on the back wall in front of two huge cream leather sofas. The walls were pristine white and decorated with a number of grand paintings. This place was twice the size of my mum and dad’s.

There was a mini corridor to the side past the kitchen. I glanced away and back at Nathaniel to see him already looking at me, his full lips pulled up into a grin, his eyes twinkling.

“Quite a place you have here,” I said, impressed.

His grin widened. “Would you like a drink?” he walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge without waiting for an answer.

“Sure,” I said anyway.

He came back with two small glasses of white wine. “Take a seat,” he motioned to the large cream white sofa.

I sat down and he sat on the opposite couch, after handing me a glass. “Thanks,” I muttered, taking a welcome drink. “Where is everyone?”

“Jackson is moving his and Jenks’ belongings downstairs, and –“

“Downstairs?”

He smiled. “There’s another suite downstairs, that’s where they usually stay.”

“I thought Melody would be here – where’s she staying?”

“Melody will also be downstairs, there are four bedrooms in total. And I think she’s still with your brother.” He grinned and raised his eyebrows once.

I frowned. “Joey? Why?”

He rolled his eyes. “Never mind.” He took a deep breath and looked at me. I took another large gulp of wine.

“So what now?” I asked.

“We relax,” he said, sinking back on the couch.

I cleared my throat. He was making things awkward, and he was doing it on purpose.

“But we do need to talk.” He added, his face looking serious.

I groaned. “You keep saying that. But what about?”