Hidden Tracks | ✓

09 | chasing shadows

Questioning the employees at the Beaumont HQ didn't help at all. Nobody knew anything about any dealers, or men who matched the descriptions given by Caldwell when he'd first witnessed the drug dealing at his restaurant.

And to top it all off, all the employees were under the impression that Amélie was taking a break from work for her mental health. Of course.

Caldwell's restaurant didn't prove to be of much help either. We visited the room where the drug smuggling had supposedly taken place. It was a small space designed as a storage facility. We didn't find any traces of drugs or anything of importance (though I clicked pictures of the room to look at later).

Miranda's informant, Marion, had also been unable to provide any fresh leads.

Disappointed, we returned to our hotel, tired and in need of a shower. I quickly washed off the day's exhaustion and walked over to the balcony with a cup of tea.

I needed to think clearly. I'd always prided myself on my instinct and my no-nonsense way of thinking, so why couldn't I find anything to grasp in this mission?

I reflected on everything that happened today, and Isabella's words flashed in my mind. Mehmet Dogan. Was he connected to this case in any way?

We were supposed to find the drug dealers who had threatened Caldwell and Beaumont. In all probability they had something to do with the disappearance of the MP and the designer. But till now, we hadn't found a single piece of evidence which could link us to those dealers.

The only potentially useful information we had right now was the news of Mehmet Dogan, and the shipments from Istanbul. But there was no guarantee that it could be linked with the disappearance of Amélie.

But in my experience, I'd learnt one thing. The most unassuming of clues could lead to the most shocking of truths.

Maybe we'd have to venture into Istanbul sometime to figure this out. Maybe-

"Hey."

I looked to my right to see Soler standing at his balcony. Our balconies were side by side, separated by just a pillar.

I nodded at him and continued sipping my tea.

"Can I ask you something?"

Soler soundly strangely...civil. I motioned for him to continue.

"Are you getting a gut feeling that something's very fishy about this whole mission? Like not just the details we know at face value, but also something deeper than that. Are you getting that feeling too, or is it just me?"

For once in my life, I agreed with him.

"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling too. There's more to this case than meets the eye, things run deeper than what we already know. That's what my gut is telling me, and usually it's right."

Soler rolled his eyes and cracked a small smile. "Usually I'd comment on that last part about you being right, but you've got a point."

I had to smile at that. Seemed like we were (shockingly) managing to have a decent conversation without levelling death threats at each other.

It was still light outside, although the sky was slowly turning a few shades darker. I could see Soler's profile, his angular face and slightly crooked nose, jaw so sharp you could cut something with it.

The last glimmers of light falling on his face made him seem much nicer than he was in real life. I inwardly scoffed and looked away, scolding myself for staring. He would've given me shit had he caught me.

"What did you think of Isabella as a person?" Soler asked again, staring ahead.

I thought about it for a moment. "Well, she was willing to cooperate. Although one thing did puzzle me a bit. She seemed smart, she asked me questions which could've exposed any potential loopholes in my plan. But when I fed her my lies, she ate them up real fast. I mean, on one hand she was asking me sharp questions; on the other hand she was very gullible and believed my lies even when they sounded a bit suspicious."

He nodded. "Well, that does sound weird."

"I mean, if I were in her position, I would've been very skeptical of a random woman who claimed to be Amélie's therapist and asked me questions."

"But then again, you're thinking from an agent's perspective. You're smart so you would've caught onto the lies if they were told to you. But she hasn't been trained like you have."

I lifted my eyebrow at him. "Did you just call me smart?"

He scoffed. "Is that all you heard?"

I tore my eyes away from him and smiled.

This getting along thing was definitely weird. It didn't suit our dynamic.

Not at all.

a/n: wow, kaia and marco getting along? what universe are we living in?!