The Color of Your Eyes

Chapter 44: Murphy's Law

„Jake?"

„Hm? "Jake answered Lilly while he was going through the files Hannah has just sent him, occasionally glancing at the live feed of Lia's shed. She was laying on the bed, apparently sleeping.

"I found an E-Mail on Mike's Cloud; I have already sent it to your chat. It seems to be quite a long one."

"Give me a second, I will check it right away," Jake closed the files Hannah sent him, nothing of interest, then he went to his chat account and opened the screenshots of an E-Mail. At first, his eyes were scanning casually on the screen until, in just a couple of seconds, his eyes went wide, and his face became pale.

Lilly who looked up from her phone to reach out for a handful of chips glanced at Jake and she realizes something wasn't right.

"Eh Jake? Everything okay?" she asked nervously.

"Oh no... this is bad. This is really, really bad," Jake said in a low voice, but clearly enough for his sisters to hear.

"What is bad? Did something happen to Lia?" Hannah immediately stood up from the couch.

"We have to call the others, we have to meet right now," Jake stood up and went to grab his hoodie and face mask.

"What's the matter, Jake? What do you mean it's bad?" Lilly stood up as well, looking confused and a little terrified.

"I will explain once we gathered the others. Sent a group text right now, tell everyone to meet up at the Aurora," Jake put on his dark hoodie.

"Okay," Hannah didn't waste time and sent a message in the group chat right away. Just when the girls went to grab their jackets, they hear the bell door ring.

Lilly looked at Hannah perplexed. "Dad?" she whispered.

Hannah lifted her finger to her lips and tiptoed to the door, peeking through the peephole. She gritted her teeth.

"Oh crap, you have to hide Jake."

***

Phil was tapping his foot on the ground while trying for the fourth time to reach Jake. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself down.

"God, now that he has my money, he doesn't even have the decency to pick up his God damn phone," he mumbled while still waiting for his call to get through.

The hacker didn't pick up and Phil cursed through his teeth.

"Great, if he doesn't pick up, then I will just go to him personally," Phil gritted through his teeth with a painful smile. "What a drag. I do this and that, lend him tens of thousands of dollars, and he leaves me hanging now."

Phil sighed and tried to call Thomas, who was still at the Aurora, being in charge of watching over Poke.

Someone was tapping Phil on the shoulder, but Phil, being too occupied, tried to shush the person away with a wave of his hand without looking who it was, indicating that he was busy.

Thomas picked up at the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hello, Thomas, at least one that doesn't pretend I don't exist, hey, how is our beloved guest doing?"

Phil heard the sounds of glasses clinking, and he raised his eyebrow. He hoped Thomas wasn't going through his special stash of rare booze he kept hidden away somewhere.

"He is doing fine, still tied in the basement where he is supposed to be. I was there half an hour ago."

"Wait what?"

The person tapped his shoulder again. Phil waved for a second time only this time with more irritation.

"You tell me you have last seen him half an hour ago? You were supposed to be with him all the time!"