Chapter 267: Brief
Jessica's car stopped in front of Mina's apartment complex, and Mina nervously looked out of the window. She had already given Jessica her boss's phone, and the woman promised to send it back with James in the morning.
"Have you eaten?" Mina asked Jessica, who she knew had been waiting on her all day.
"I have," Jessica replied. Mina continued to make small talk, trying to stall for time but Jessica hurried the truth out of her.
"Do you want me to walk you inside?" The woman asked and Mina nodded vigorously. Jessica parked her car, and the two women made their way into the building. Once inside the apartment, Jessica hit Mina with the question she had been wanting to ask all day.
"Mina, you slept with something big against the door. Why?" Jessica asked, she heard the furniture being moved when she came to pick up her charge up for work. She had wanted to ask right away, but the woman was visibly shaken, and it made Jessica think twice.
"I was afraid someone would break in," Mina lied, and Jessica nodded in understanding. She was also terrified when she set out on her own, but fortunately for her, she was recruited by the Lee's.
"I can stay with you for a few days if you need help adjusting," the woman offered, and Mina jumped at the opportunity. She was so enthusiastic that Jessica thought Mina may have had a crush on her.
"Are you sure you don't like women?" Jessica asked, unaware that the conversation they were having was being listened in on. She knew about the camera's but not about the audio.
"I don't think I do," Mina admitted. Not quite understanding how they had ended up at the topic.
"Think?" Jessica questioned, but as soon as she asked her phone buzzed.
"Crap," Jessica said. "I have to go, but we will continue this conversation later." Mina's face fell as Jessica left her apartment. She sullenly closed the door and pushed the sofa up against it just as she had done the night before.
Mina ran into her bedroom, grabbed a quick shower and changed before making herself comfortable on the plush cushions of the couch. Mina hated living in fear, but it was that same fear that was stopping her from taking her own life.
----
Jessica pulled onto the Lee mansion property and entered through the staff entrance. Her boss had texted her demanding a full brief on Mina's day. Her guess was that President Lee had been recently told about the cellphone Mina was given by her boss, or the report that detailed Jessica's assumption that Mina was planning to flee.
After following proper protocol, Jessica made her way onto the second floor of the property and stopped outside of her boss's study. She tapped her knuckles on the half open door and the man called for her to enter.
Once inside, Jessica was hit with the aroma of hard liquor. Either her boss was in the middle of drinking or he was about to begin.
"You called for me sir?" Jessica asked. She knew he did, but her rank demanded that she address her boss as such.
"I did. I want a full briefing on Mina's whereabouts," President Lee replied, and Jessica wasted no time.
Jessica listed out everything she was aware of from the chair against the door, to the cellphone. From her believing that Mina was planning to run, to dinner with CEO Cylus Rue and his friends
"You did well to take the phone," President Lee replied. "But do you know if she has already activated the one she recently purchased?" Jessica shook her head before she responded.
"She has not sir. When I asked about it, she said that she didn't plan to activate it at all." President Lee turned to face his subordinate, who looked just as confused as he did.
"Did she say why?"
"No sir, she did not, but Mina is an extremely smart woman. The phone she purchased can be used without a provider, and it cannot be tracked because it does not-"
"Have location services," President Lee said, finishing off Jessica's sentence with a nod. He knew Mina would attempt an escape, but he did not know if he was ready to let her.
----
Tavin was awoken by the pulsating of his own head. His vision swirled in front of him and he could barely tune out the slow and steady beeping of a heart monitor. He had been dreaming, but it was not about Luna. She was in his dream, but she was not the main component as he was accustomed.
Instead, Tavin dreamt of all the women he had turned down over the years. He even dreamed about how unfair he was to Liz; accidentally calling her Luna anytime they were intimate and then pretending that she had misheard. He was an awful boyfriend, and it was all for a woman who could not even be bothered to visit him in the hospital.
When Tavin had awoken the first time around, Dr. Charles Crow, his distant relative, was by his side. He was the second cousin of Madam Celeste Rue, and Tavin's mothers' third cousin.
When Tavin and his brother had first left home, trying to escape their jealous and toxic parents, Charles was the one who helped the boys settle into a place of their own. He did not baby them, but he did not allow them to go hungry either. It was because of the man that Tavin was able to attend university, and why his brother was successful in his own right.
It was 'uncle' Charles who had reminded Tavin about the woman who saved him. Apparently, she had been telling the truth when she said she was invited by a friend, and that friend was CEO Cylus Rue. His uncle also told him that the woman was humiliated during the event, and left shortly after, but not before she found someone to make sure he was okay.
Tavin asked his uncle about Luna but the man said that he had not seen her for most of the night, and that she never came to the hospital to visit. Knowing who Luna was to him, Charles tried to salvage the situation by telling Tavin that no one knew he was in the hospital, but Tavin knew Luna had her ways, not just as a doctor, but as a Lee.