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Have you ever jumped into a pond thinking that it must not be that deep, but when you dunk your head inside to see how deep it goes, you cannot even see where the light disappears?

Fear settled in my nerves when I’d received the report from the Private Investigator. Who said that he was dropping off the report with me because the information it contained would put the reader in danger. I’d urged him not to give the report to Riya. I read his report along with his note that he was going into hiding for a few months.

I could feel the bile rise in my stomach as I read his report and by the time I’d finished it, I had emptied my lunch in the toilet bowl. The first thing I did was text Riya.

You need to come to my place ASAP.

I immediately call Justine. Her call goes straight to voicemail. I try again, it rings this time, but she doesn’t pick up. I try one more time and she answers. “What do you want, Marcus?” She sounds annoyed. But I don’t give two fucks about that right now. I have to make sure that she is safe.

“Where are you right now?” I ask her. My concern for her is genuine. Despite what she had done to Riya. I would never let a woman suffer like that. It would be inhumane to not check up on her.

“I’m meeting up with Jake for coffee. Why?”

Terror sets in my gut when I hear his name. That man is more dangerous than we anticipated him to be. “Don’t meet him for coffee. Go home and lock your door tightly from within. Don’t open it for anyone. Especially not Jake. And don’t go to tonight’s party with him. No matter what. Please Justine. I’m saying this for your own safe–”

She retaliates, despite my genuine concern for her. “If this is another one of your games Marcus. Save it! I will not stand by and just watch you and Riya frame Jake to be someone he is not! You’re making him sound like he’s some serial killer. And it was your whore of a girlfriend who–”

“One more word against her Justine and I will rethink my entire decision of wanting to save your pathetic life.” I cut the call. I cannot explain this to her on call. But I tried to warn her. I tried my best to warn her about her drug-dealer rapist boyfriend. I have to go to that party tonight. But before that I have to make sure that Riya knows how deep of shit we are in.

Who this is all tied to. My hands still tremble as I hold that report in my hands.

◆◆◆

Fifteen minutes later, Riya is inside my house. In her pink pajama set. Hair tied up in a bun and pink sandals. Looking beautiful as ever. But worry on her face.

Fear.

Before I can say anything she rushes upstairs and into my room. Thankfully no one is home today. George and Sid were hitting the gym and Dan…I am not sure what his plan is. But he isn’t home. Which I am thankful for.

I follow Riya to my room. Her footsteps steadfast and her breath unusual. She flops on the bed with her head in her hands and I close my door behind me. Perhaps, walls have ears too.

“Hello to you too.” I try to make small talk before I drop THE BOMB.

“I got a message from the PI that–” her eyes drift to the papers on the bed. “What are these?” I quickly saunter over and pick those papers out of her hands.

“Who is this?” she stares at the image of a man from the report. “Is this…” her confused face tells me the disappointment she feels in me.

“Yes. This is the report from the PI and that is why I called you here.” She shifts to face me. Something is bothering her. But I don’t know what.

I sit beside her. Arranging the papers back in the order I had received them in. She watches me closely. Silence fills the room as she waits for me to tell her why I’d sent that message.

“Jake is a drug dealer.” I tell her and she cannot stop staring at me. And that stare isn’t because of my handsome face. I know a worried stare when I see one.

“What do you mean?” The horror on her face is clear. Her face goes pale. I know that Jake used to live with her. She is probably running through all the memories where she could find any connection to this. To accept this as a fact.

I give her the paper that shows his bank account and his “client list”. But that wasn’t what had sent chills down my spine. It was who he’d gotten the drugs from. How he’d gotten them and what the cost was. After I explained everything to her. She shot up to her feet and was at the door.

She turned to find her sandals that she’d thrown off when I’d told her that Jake had bought $50,000 worth of drugs.

“We have to go to her right now. James…take me to Justine. I need to make sure that she’s okay.” Riya is clearly panicking. I try to get a hold of her, but I scare her even more. So, I take two steps back, ensuring that the pain isn’t reflected on my face.

I tell her to take a few deep breaths when I see her hyperventilating. I approach her slowly with caution, announcing my every step. She takes deep breaths and keeps looking into my eyes.

“I–I need to check on her…I–” she keeps taking deep breaths along with me. I will never forgive Jake for what he did to Riya.

“Riya I did call her to tell her but she–”

She snaps at me, going back into panic mode. “I don’t fucking care what she thinks of me or whatever she has done to me. All I know right now is that as a woman…fuck that. As a human! I need to make sure that the bastard is locked up and away from her.” She is angry. Very. Yet there are tears in her eyes.

I am going to kill Jake. Or at the very least I am going to be the cause of his death.

I know what she meant though. As soon as I’d read it and finished throwing up, I’d first texted Riya and called Justine to ensure the same.

“Riya…”

Her expression looks defeated. “She is…was my best friend once, James. I can’t just let her…I need to make sure she’s okay. Can you please take me to her?” Her tears stream down her cheeks. She was right now in a fight or flight mode.

The adrenaline rush.

I want to hold her in my arms and tell her that I am going to make sure that nothing happens to anyone. I just want to hold her in my arms and take all her pain and suffering away. Perhaps, I just want to hold her.

Perhaps I am a mad man, who just wants to always be by her side.

The Investigator’s note keeps flashing in my mind. If he had to go in hiding just because of the fear of being entangled in all of this. We are already a part of this. And we need to take care of it. With a calm mind.

I hold Riya’s shoulders and shake her hard. “Raven.” I jolt her back to reality and out of that panic. “Look in my eyes.” She does. And two fat tears fall on my forearms. They weigh awfully much for the size of mere two tears. “Take deep breaths. In.” she takes a deep breath in. “And now out.” and after a few breaths she is calmed down.

“We need to call the cops on Jake.” she says. I had thought about that possibility as well. But knowing who this is all tied to. There is a good chance that we would be silenced one way or other before the case is even registered.

“You need to listen to me very carefully. I have a plan.” During the fifteen minutes it took Raven to get to my house, I’d sorted through every option that we had. But, if we want to escape this unscathed, we need contacts. Contacts of people we should fear and run the opposite way.

I explain to her my entire plan. She listens carefully. Nodding when she agrees with me. At the end she pulls out her phone and taps a few times and shows me the message she had received.

“That’s why you were freaking out when you came over?” I ask her. She simply nods. This is perfect. This was exactly what we’d needed for our plan to be a success.

“He sent it to me a couple minutes before I got your message and the timing seemed so off. But one thing I am not sure of is who does this number belong to?” I scan my eyes over the message one more time.

The message from P.I. read-

(953)467-5678- Q

Use it as your last resort.

I scan through the report and only one name reminds me of Q. It seemed like Riya figured it out too. “Querida!” We say together.

This is a tight rope that we are walking, and I don’t want to put her in danger. But thankfully she has arranged the necessary security measurements. Yet, I find it very unsettling because I know it is not enough. I am just glad that she moved out of that house.

I need to go to that party tonight. No matter what. The date for the handover is tomorrow. What if Justine refuses to listen to me and goes to the party anyway? The handover is tomorrow!

I get up and start changing my clothes. The party is at Beck’s. The place will be jam packed because Winston’s hockey team has won three times in a row. And it being a superstition at Winstons that any team that wins three matches in a row has always made it to frozen four. Everyone is going to be hella hammered tonight, which would give Jake the perfect opportunity to execute his plan.

I reach for a white t-shirt and my baggy jeans. I spray on some cologne and I observe Riya observing me. She doesn’t say anything. She just looks at my every movement.

“You are coming with me to my place so that I can get ready for the party too!”

“No way!” I bite back. “You are not going anywhere near that man, now that we know how dangerous he can be. No way in hell, Riya!” I am not risking anything. Especially not her.

“What if Justine is there? She will only listen to me. I have to go! You can deal with Jake however you want, but not Justine. I will not let anyone malign her name because of the man–the piece of shit she’s dating!” She retaliates. It is true. The only person who might be able to handle Justine, is Riya. I don’t think she will listen to anyone else. But Jake is a dangerous man! What if…No! I will keep her in front of my eyes all the time.

I will not let go of her. Not this time. “Alright.” I give in.

We get ready and head over to her house. It seems cozier than her place before. More sunlight and more cuteness. She walks into the closet that I only get a peek of and it is a walk in closet. There is some unarranged furniture inside and everywhere in the house.

I know she will never ask for help even if she needs it. I walk over to the couch where an unmade TV stand rests. The TV is still in the box. The instruction pamphlet is right next to it. I take a look at it and get to work. All that is left is to fit the glass which is very heavy and requires two people. One who can balance it and the other one to screw it in place.

“I’m ready.” She steps out of the closet and sees me trying to balance the glass in one hand while trying to screw it with my other hand. She rushes to my help and holds the glass from the other side. “That is very expensive!” she squeaks.

She holds the glass from one side while I tighten the screws. She flashes me a bleak smile and I offer to help her with the other incomplete furniture projects. “Oh! Thank you, but I can–”

“I know you can. But I would love to be Bob the builder for one day. I have too much free time anyway.” I scoff.

“Thank you.”

We walk towards her car and she asks me to drive. I see her hold her hands together. Is she nervous? Stupid question! I want to hold her hands and tell her that this is going to be over once and for all. But I wonder if I have the right to say that anymore.

“So, how’s the interview assignment going?” I ask her.

“Oh right! I’d completely forgotten about that. It’s going…well. I am just making stuff up at this point.” Should I be worried? “Not that you should be worried about it. It won’t be published anyway. Don’t worry, I’m just writing well enough to pass.” she forces herself to laugh.

“I see.”

“How’s your Biology class going?” she asks me. I take a quick peek at her.

“Oh you know how smart I am!” I boast. And she laughs. This time she laughs for real!

Score!

“That you are.” she chuckles. “Umm…” She hesitates a bit. “How is your brother?” she asks me. I had asked everyone not to tell her about Caleb’s accident the day she’d left. She already has too much to deal with and this would just add more to her worry. Plus, I am making progress with both him and my father. Believe it or not the person who gave me the PI details was my father. And we are trying to bridge the gap between us.

At least for Caleb’s sake. We are even going for dinner next weekend. Caleb doesn’t like the cold and thankfully the weather is supposed to be warm next week. Perfect for a day out. I have even planned a surprise picnic for us. I wonder if Riya would like to go. Maybe I will ask her if everything goes well tonight.

But Caleb and I are getting there. He’s not talking with me so far, but he’s laughing with me. We mostly talk about mom. I never knew how much that kid was starving to be noticed. How much he craved to know more about mom. It was my fault. I wasn’t a good big brother.

But I want to change that. I don’t want to continue being the bad big brother. Me and dad reminisce about the old days in front of Caleb and tell him how much mom loved him. How much she cared about him. I even dared to share the taco Thursday truth with my father and he burst out in a laughter.

I hadn’t seen him laugh in five years. For the first time in five years, I saw life in his dead eyes. For the first time, I didn’t regret going back home. For the first time in five years, it was difficult for me to actually leave home.

Riya clears her throat and I realise that I hadn’t answered her.

“We’re…” I wonder how to complete that sentence. “A family again.” That feels right.

“I’m glad! Caleb is very sweet.” She smiles at the road. He hasn’t shut up about Riya since we got him home. And because of him father has been keen on meeting Riya. In a good way of course. But I screwed up.

“He misses you.” I tell her. She turns to look at me and smiles.

“I miss him too.”

“And…” I take in a deep breath as I pull up at Beck’s house. I put the car in park.

“And?”

“And I miss you too, Raven.”