Chapter Twenty-Two
I let out a long sigh as my eyes continued to stay trained on the small brown brick house twenty five feet away from me. Rolling my eyes, I take a swig of my beer. I focused on the cold liquid that traveled down my throat instead of the boredom that's seeping into me.
It's only been five fucking days and I'm already tired of stalking Dean. He's the most boring old man I've ever laid my eyes on. All he does is sleep, eat, use the bathroom and plant flowers in his garden.
That's it.
I literally want to yank my hair out in frustration. I feel like I'm wasting my time, sitting here in this black tinted window truck across the street from where he lives. My window is rolled up to conceal my identity.
I'm trying to keep my calm and try not to judge too quickly. You never know what the most innocent looking people hide. I'm almost convinced that there is no way this man is behind anything. Almost.
But I don't know that for sure so that why I'm keeping my eyes on him. If he's behind this I'll be surprised as hell. I leaned against my hand as I watched the old man water his plants gleefully.
It's not until a few minutes later. I noticed something out of the ordinary. A silver Honda pulls into his driveway. He's never had a visitor. Hell, he's never even talked to anyone except a stray cat the other day.
I watched as an auburn haired woman exited from the driver's seat of the car. She's wearing skin tight blue jeans with a black lace shirt that displays her flat stomach. She looks like the typical females you see around California.
She strolled over to Dean, whose is standing near the edge of his yard and gave him a bear hug.
"Hey Dad! How are you?" She asked with a small smile playing on her red stained lips. I rose my eyebrows.
This must be Luna McKnight. His daughter and his only child. She was 17 years old when I killed my father. Must be 23 years old now. According to the files, I was provided she had supposedly moved to New York last year. And was residing there as of now.
But the question is why and how is she in California?
"I'm fine sweetie. I'm happy you called! Wow You look just like your mother did when she was your age!" He exclaimed as he leaned back from her hug to get a good look at her face.
She grinned happily, showing all her pearly white teeth. "You're looking more and more like your age. That's not good,"
He gasped dramatically as he placed a hand over his plaid covered chest. "You're still as rude as always. I think I look like I'm in my thirties."
I snorted this old man look like he's going to die at any moment. He don't look anywhere near his thirties maybe his nineties. And that's me being nice.
I tuned out their conversation as they began to talk about the difference kind of flowers he added to his garden. I took another gulp of my now lukewarm beer. I grimaced slightly, but still chugged it all down anyways. I pulled out my phone and checked for any updates from my team.
Nothing. Not even a single text from them. I frowned this is going to take longer than I expected. I didn't have long to dwell on this because a light tapping could be heard from my left side. I turned my head once I saw who it was and unlocked my door for her.
She yanked open my door and held out a large paper bag out to me. "Here you go, this was the only food I could grab within 20 minutes during rush hour,"
I silently took the food from her and opened the brown paper bag. The overwhelming smell of grease and meat assaulted my nostrils. I pulled out a medium sized styrofoam box. I popped it open and was greeted with a steaming greasy burger and fries on the side.
"Are you going to get in or are you going to stand there and watch me eat?" I questioned with a scowl as I glanced at her out the corner of my eyes. Alyssa flushed slightly, but didn't respond to me. She quietly closed my car door with a soft click and slid into the back seat.
I grabbed my burger and took a bite. I can't even remember the last time I ate anything. I haven't had the chance to do anything because I have to watch Dean. I can't do that if I'm leaving and going places. For all I know he could take off in his car and then I won't know where he was.
Speaking of Dean, my eyes traveled over to where he still stood with his daughter. They continued to talk enthusiastically about his growing garden.
They make me sick.
Their conversation goes on for half an hour. When you actually sit here and eat. Thirty minutes is longer than you think especially when you're listening to something as stupid as gardening. Honestly, watching paint dry could keep my attention better than they could.
I perked up and mentally sighed in relief when I see Luna backing away from her father, waving goodbye. "See you next time around Dad! I love you!"
The only interesting and good looking thing that kept me slightly entertained is about to leave. Now I'm forced once again to stare at this weird old man. Lucky me. Why can't he do us us all a favor and die already?
She quickly get into her car and start it up. In no time she's racing out of her father's drive way. Damn somebody's in a rush. Something about this makes me frown slightly but shrugged it off and continued my meal.
A few minutes later I heard soft vibrations in the seat next to me and I scooped up my phone swiftly. "Hello?"
"Caine? We found a note on the doorstep of your remote location. It says Have you given up yet Caine? You're no match against me, love Xoxo. Whoever left it had to do it yesterday because the paper is still soaked from the thunderstorm from last night."
"Alright thanks for letting me know Shawn. Reach out to every member out on my mission and tell them return to our temporary location. I, no longer need their assistance," I spoke calmly.
Loud movements thump in the background before a muffled, "Yes sir." Is heard and the line goes dead.
The papers I had requested was brand new. It showed everyone I thought was involved recent activity and Luna's recent activity was today in New York. If that's the case then how is she here right now?
She's an accountant working for Jameson's in Manhattan. She should be there right now, not here with her father. It's a 4 hour flight from New York to California. There's no way she made it here within 2 hours. I received the papers at 11am and it's only 1pm.
Even the people I had crossed off the list except the dead ones. I had recent activity papers faxed to me daily. Just too keep an eye on them to make sure they're not trying to sneak into California early without me knowing. I had to make sure I keep an eye out on everyone. Nothing will get pass me this time.
I was staking out at Dean's house. I had Shawn send me pictures of the papers, just to make sure they were accurate and so far they was...up until today. That's really strange..it's obvious she's not at work in Manhattan like my report said.
I closed my eyes briefly. I can feel the scorching anger bubbling within me. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to keep my composure.
Everyone on the list is obviously not a suspect anymore. We've been watching them, and none of them was trailed to my remote location yesterday. Especially to leave any type of note. Nor did they have anyone to do it for them because we tapped into their mobile devices. The only person that may be involved is long gone.
......And I have no way to find her.