CHAPTER 4

I look up from my position on the floor and my eyes meet the most striking green eyes i have ever seen, shining like marble and highly expressive, the kind of eyes that relay what the person is feeling without the person making any facial expression, the current emotion these eyes are relaying is mirth.

The slight breeze on the back of my thighs knocks me back to reality, i realize that the suit has ridden up.

I feel mortified, i know that if i could see myself in a mirror my face would be as red as a beet. I hurriedly pick up the last of the papers from the floor, put them on my desk and get to my feet.

In five seconds i have composed myself or atleast i try to, "Mr Chadwick good morning, it is such an honor to have you here, please have a seat" he unbuttons his jacket and gracefully sits in the chair across my desk "the honor is all mine Miss Andrews" before i realize it i add "please, call me Talia, besides i did not think you would show up" the last statement just slips out "Talia, i pride myself for being a man of my word, if i say i am coming then i am, besides why wouldn't i be here?" I hear the question but i am too busy internally fawning over the way my name sounds when he says it, like a tropical paradise for stinkingly rich people.

Plus the english accent does not seem to be helping and don't even get me started on the face it's like Jason mamoa, chris evans and chris hemsworth were merged into a single man and that suit, it's like it's taunting me by looking so good on the man telling me it's housing a very very veeery smoking hot body, 'stop it Talia! you need to focus'

I realize i've been staring for a few seconds already 'wait what did he even ask? Yes! why he wouldn't come, damn it why did i have to say that?'

"well.....i....i mean we are just a small company there are better P.I. companies.....well essentially....what i'm saying is a person of your status can do better than us. "As i said Talia i am a man of my word, when i make a commitment i stick to it, besides the job i have for you is a very sensitive one that requires a very high level of discretion so going to these better P.I. companies will draw unwanted attention to me and my family"

"yes, the case, what does it entail?"

I ask, i start to see worry in those expressive eyes of his and i don't like it so i quickly add

"i assure you that whatever it may be we will try our very best to see that everything comes to a positive and happy conclusion for you"

the worry does not completely leave his eyes but he is more relaxed now

"well it has to do with my mother, there have been assasination attempts on her twice, in the past month and i fear that a third attempt might prove sucessful" what?! Who would be stupid enough to try killing the owner of the biggest technology company in america, i mean didn't the failed attempt the first time teach them anything?

" well Mr Chadwick, i am so sorry to hear this and i assure you we will do everything in our power to get to the bottom of this, but i will need to ask you certain questions if you don't mind"  he nods slowly "of course please go ahead" "you said there were two attempts, can you tell me the exact dates  and exactly how everything happened?"

"Of course. The first attempt was on the 12th of october, it was mother's birthday and i wanted to suprise her. She was always going on and on about how she wishes she could get behind the wheel of a 1967 chevrolet corvette, even with all her money she couldn't seem to find one. So everytime i travelled to any country i would make time to go searching in top vintage cars dealer shops. After seven years of searching i eventually found it in Saxony, Germany. It was a fixer upper but i was eventually able to get it in tip top shape. On the 6th of october the car arrived from germany through a freight aircraft" at first i was listening intently but now the sight of him is just too distracting and i'm internally fawning again. His eyelashes are so long they're like those chinese hand fans, why can't my lashes be that long.....hmmmmm.....life is so unfair.

I look at his lips about to mentally digest how kissable they look when i remember that he is still talking and i really need to concentrate and give off an air of proffesionalism, so i sit straighter and continue listening hoping i haven't zoned out for too long.

"... i parked the car in the garage and covered it up in preparation for the suprise. I went into the house and told her i had a birthday suprise for her, she doesn't usually like suprises but with a lot of sweet talk i managed to get her to the garage, with a frown she asked if i had gotten her a car, and i said yes. She was a little dissappointed but she hid it well and tried to smile, we got into the garage and she saw the covered car, she was reluctant but she still pulled the covering off the car and i swear that was the first time i ever heard my mother squeal like a true to God honest squeal, well the point is that she absolutely loved her birthday gift and immediately insisted on taking it for a drive.

That's when it happened, she drove it round the estate but when she wanted to stop she couldn't, the breaks would not work, she just had to crash the car into a nearby tree, the only thing that saved her was that she was driving slowly, says she wanted to savour the feel of the car first.

At the time i didn't think too much of it afterall i had driven the car before she did and everything was just fine but as the days past my concern grew, i mean i drove the car and it was absolutely fine but after 6 days a problem develops with the breaks, it was just too fishy.

My suspicions were confirmed 10 days later which was when the second attempt happened, this was more obvious since a bullet flew past only missing her by a hairs breadth and that was because she dropped her phone and bent to pick it up"

I listened attentively till it was clear that he was done, i didn't want to interrupt him so as not to miss any detail but from what i've heard i gather he is not an accomplished storyteller since he missed alot of details, well i guess it's in my job description to get those details out of him.

"Okay Mr Chadwick i have some more questions if you don't mind"

"Of course talia" with the way he's saying my name so frequently one would think we were friends or something.

"Well can you tell me where the second attempt happened?"

"Yes that was at celine's hair salon, i had taken her to get her hair done"

Good to know that women at her age still take time to make themselves look good.

"Is going to the salon something your mother does frequently?, what i mean is does she have specific days she goes to the salon like every week or every month or does she just go anyday she feels like it?"

"She goes to the salon every tuesday but on that day she just decided she wasn't going to the salon she usually goes to, that is delonix"

"So, who knew she would be at that particular salon?, apart from you that is"

"Well i cannot readily think of anybody, although i did speak to my father that day, he wanted me to meet him for lunch but i told him i was taking mother to the salon, i might have mentioned the name of the salon but i can't really remember"

"Okay then, you said you were the one taking your mother to the salon but i believe she has a driver, so what happened?"

"Yes she does have a driver, donald lawson, he called in sick the day before so i was happy enough to drive her"

For a second there i thought he might say donald trump, haaahaha wouldn't that be funny, i know everyone hates the guy but i kinda like him, i mean whats so wrong with wanting a wall?

"Okay Mr Chadwick lets go back to the first attempt, who has access to the garage?"

"Well that would be mother, myself and the driver, and sometimes father comes by as well, even after the divorce he still didn't take all his cars, so he still comes by once in a while to check on them"

Mmmhmmm more like check up on her

"So the final but most important question, why a P.I. company and not the police, i mean this seems like a case they would be better suited to handle"

"Yes well.....this is where it gets tricky...i have my suspicions of who it might be, but they are just suspicions, nothing more"

"Oookay, well who do you think is responsible?"

He's looking uneasy now and seems reluctant to tell me who he suspects but i know that in a few seconds he's gonna sing like a canary. I've met people like that, they want to tell you everything but exhibit a certain level of reluctance because they feel guilty for thinking it and don't want to seem too eager to give that person away so if i were to guess i'd say he suspects someone very close to him and if i were to take yet another wild guess i would say it was a relative.

"Well...i think it might be my father" he states matter of factly

Called it! I am such a genius

"Well why do you think that?"

"He was always jealous of my mother's success plus he was the only one i told about taking mother to the salon"

I don't think that's reason enough to jump to conclusions buuuutttt... i ain't telling him that sooo....

"Well Mr chadwick from all i've gathered there is another theory that we are not exploring here"

"Which is?" He asked seeming confused

"That you were the target all along"

"And how in the world did you come about that conclusion Miss Andrews?"

Well well well back to miss andrews are we now? Okay then

"Well Mr chadwick, from everything you have told me i know you were with your mother during the first attempt and during the second attempt, so who's to say you were not the target all along?

"Well.....when you put it like that.....it does sound like a possibility"

He looks deflated now, like the idea of someone wanting him dead has just sunk in.

"Please Mr chadwick don't seem so worried"

Well that was a stupid thing to say, by the look he's giving me he thinks so too, someone is trying to kill him or his mother of course he will worry before he can say anything i try to clarify my statement

"What i mean is that we will do everything in our power to get to the bottom of this but we will need to involve the police in this at some point, and i know you don't want that but the security of my staff and myself is very important to me"

"Of course, i would not want you or any member of your staff put in harms way because of this case, but i would appreciate it if you would involve the police only when it is absolutely necessary, if this gets out the publicity could affect my mother terribly"

"I totally understand Mr Chadwick, i have a close friend in the police department i can consult, but i assure you there will be total anonimity"

"Well Talia, i look foward to hearing from you soon"

Oooooh so were back to talia now, well this is quite confusing.

"Yes, i look foward to giving you good news soon, i will keep you updated on the progress of the investigation"

"Wonderful, i will be on my way then, i hope it's okay if i leave my personal contact information with your secretary"

"Of course, please do"

He gets up from the chair with so much grace that even i don't have, i extend my hand for a handshake but he just turns and walks out the door. Rude!!

I sit back down in my chair and let out a huge sigh. Well that was a piece of cake (note the sarcasm) i wouldn't mind having some cake right about now but i have a job to do. I feel so exhausted, i look at my wall clock and realize that it's just 9:45 am.

This case is a worrying one, it's unlike any case my company has ever handled but i've never been one to shy away from a challenge.

I pull out a pen and a new sheet of paper and write down the facts of the case and make a list of people i will need to look into.

I'm now looking at the list i've compiled i'll need to look into, the owner of delonix, donald lawson the driver, joshua chadwick, and at the end of the list is a name that looks odd being there but is nontheless there..........

James Chadwick.