Stay Here

Officer Alfred Grant opened up the file for Case #149886; an unsolved murder. The first page contained a police report with the details of the murder and the victim's name, Anqing Qu, a 23-year-old ballerina from Shanghai. She was in LA with her ballet company for a performance and happened to attend a blind date with Lucas Lee on the night of her death. Who knew she'd be found dead the next day.

She was a complete stranger to the city and had no known enemies. In fact, she was known to be quite a humble person.

It was only after further investigation that he met Lucas Lee and began to suspect Nova Thomas who had escaped from the psychiatric hospital and was a known stalker.

So, for an entire year, he had been searching for Nova. He had other cases, but Nova was always on the back of his mind. However, all his leads led to dead ends.

He looked at the phone number that Lucas had just given him, punched it into his phone, turned on the phone tracker on his computer, and waited for someone to answer.

A moment later, a female voice answered, "Hello?"

He needed to keep her on the phone for long enough so the tracker could pinpoint her location. Thus, he decided to work with the information that Lucas had given him. Supposedly, this woman was posing as a nurse from the psychiatric hospital where Nova was previously staying. 

"Is this Lakeside Angels Psychiatric Hospital?" he asked.

The woman quickly cleared her throat and answered in a friendly tone, "Yes, how may I help you?"

"I'm looking for Nova Thomas. Can I speak to her?" Officer Grant asked.

"I'm sorry, she's currently having a nap. Besides, she's not allowed to take phone calls. May I ask who's calling?" the woman asked. She had been warned about a woman possibly calling, but who was this man?

Officer Grant looked at his computer screen and frowned. The tracker had pinpointed a location, but it was inside a residential building that was nowhere near Lakeside Angels Psychiatric Hospital. Lucas was right about this number being suspicious. 

Judging by her voice, she seemed to be about the same age as Nova Thomas...

Without answering the woman, he hung up, grabbed his badge, and headed out the door. The location of this number was only 15 minutes drive away. Who was this woman? Could it be Nova?

...

Meanwhile, in Vegas, some police arrived at Lucas' hotel suite. Officer Grant had contacted the local police and told them to bring Noel Thomas, who had been posing as Noah Thompson, in for questioning. Not only did this man have a fake ID, but his sister was also a suspect in a murder case, and he was a possible accomplice. They had to get a DNA sample to test with the sample they had found on Anqing Qu a year ago. Could this guy really be their man?

"You've got the wrong person," Noah said as he glared at the police. For some reason, this glare sent chills down Maya's spine. She had never seen Noah like this before.

At that moment, Noah's gaze focused on her. "I don't blame you for being misled by Lucas Lee, but don't fall into his trap. Trust me, I wouldn't hurt you. If I wanted to hurt you, I would tell him what we've been doing in private..." he said suggestively.

Maya took a step back awkwardly. She knew Noah was referring to all the investigating they had been doing and the fact that she was pretending to be her sister, but why did he make it sound like they had been doing something else? She took a quick glance at Lucas and saw him furrow his brows.

After the police left, Maya looked at the man and tried to explain, "About what Noah said... It's not what you're thinking..."

Lucas raised an eyebrow...

"What am I thinking?" he asked. Why did this woman act as though she knew him when they were practically still strangers? In fact, she was still lying to him about her identity. 

"Nothing happened between us in private. We're just friends..." Maya explained innocently.

Lucas smirked. He wanted to be annoyed, but when he saw the woman's innocent gaze, he couldn't. 

"Stay here," he suddenly said. "You're not leaving this room until we confirm if Noah is dangerous and whether Officer Grant has found Nova."

Maya looked at the man in surprise. He wasn't making an offer nor a suggestion. He was demanding for her to stay.

But...she was supposed to leave Vegas that night...

She had already booked a plane ticket back to LA.

Before everything that had happened that morning, she was supposed to tell Lucas that he was safe, reveal her true identity, and leave. Who knew Noah had lied to her and he was now a suspected accomplice to a murder, and his sister was the suspected murderer.

"I...don't think that's such a good idea..." she said hesitantly as she looked around. The suite only had two bedrooms and they were currently occupied by two grown men. How could she stay here with two men? Where would she sleep?

All of a sudden, Lucas looked at Ryan and said in a commanding tone, "Pack your bags!"

Ryan pointed to himself, "Me?"

"You can stay in Miss Yeung's hotel room tonight. Miss Yeung can stay here. Go buy her some essentials while you're out," he said as he threw the man his credit card.

Ryan sighed. Why was he always the sacrifice? However, as unwilling as he was, he still went to do as he was told. After all, Lucas was his boss.

Furthermore...as his best friend...he also sensed that Lucas was just using this as an excuse to spend more time with the woman. 

Ryan glanced at Maya with uncertainty. Even though she was lying about her identity, she did seem to genuinely care about Lucas...

[Forget it, we are dealing with a murder case. I'll be a gentleman and let you off tonight.]