Chapter 403: Danger

Chapter 403: Danger"Oh, shit!" Lucy exclaimed softly, and Tom who had just hung up his call with Eric turned to her curiously.        

"Is there a problem?" Tom asked, and Lucy bit her lower lip.     

"I just remembered Lucas," she said, reminding Tom that Lucas was around and she was supposed to see him.     

"Oh! It escaped my mind too. I'm sorry," Tom said, not knowing what else to say. They had just assured Harry and Aaron that they were coming over, so he didn't know what to say.    

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have forgotten," Lucy said with a slight frown, wondering how she could have so easily forgotten about Lucas' text.     

"Can we make a quick stop by the hotel first to see Lucas? I have to find out how long he's going to be around, and give him the key to my apartment so he doesn't have to stay at the hotel if he's going to be around for a while," Lucy said, thinking that she also needed to relay Miley's message to Lucas, and find out what his relationship with her was about.     

Tom gave her a nod, "Sure. I'll just give Harry a call and let him know," Tom said before dialing Harry's line.     

Once Harry received the call, Tom relayed the information to him, asking him not to be in haste to get ready as they would take some time to get there.     

Once he hung up the call, Lucy gave him the direction to the hotel, before she dialed Lucas' line, "Good morning, Kiddo," she greeted cheerfully when Lucas received her call.    

"Good morning, big sis," Lucas greeted with a yawn, and Lucy smiled since she could tell his response was meant to be sarcastic but it was ruined by the yawn.    

"I'm sorry I wasn't close to my phone when you called last night. How are you doing? You arrived safely, yeah?"    

"No, I didn't. I'm actually speaking with you from the ICU wearing an oxygen mask," Lucas said, and Lucy laughed softly.    

"I'm on my way to the hotel to see you, and Tom is with me. You are fit for company, right?" Lucy asked, and Lucas looked down at himself. He had collapsed on the bed the moment he walked into the hotel room and had slept off wearing his clothes.     

He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this exhausted, or the last time he had slept so soundly. Thanks to the nature of his job, he could never sleep for more than four hours without receiving one phone call or the other, and in the last couple of days since he left the hospital, he had crashed on Miley's couch and that had not been exactly comfortable.    

Miley. He shook his head immediately to discard thoughts of her. He didn't want to think about her. Not now. Not later.     

"I will be fit before you guys get here, and I will wait for you at the cafe beside the hotel," Lucas said, and hung up before Lucy could say another word.    

"Well, that settles that," Lucy said with a small smile, glad that Lucas was beginning to sound more like himself.    

"By the way, who was that with you on the phone earlier?" Lucy asked curiously.    

"That was Eric Howells. The man on whose TV show we are going to expose Anita's family," Tom said, and Lucy nodded.     

"He says one of his guests won't be available, so he wanted to find out if it was okay to push the Miller's interview forward," Tom explained.     

"How forward?" Lucy asked curiously.    

"In two weeks. That's the week after the anniversary celebration," Tom said, and Lucy smiled at him.    

"It seems like lady luck is on our side," Lucy said, happy with this new information.    

"I think so too. I hope Barry is able to find more dirt on them, and we can prove that Rebekah Miller murdered her husband before then," Tom said, and Lucy nodded.     

"I hope so too."    

Thirty-five minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of the cafe beside the hotel where Lucas was lodged, and headed straight inside.        

Lucas, who was already seated at one end of the cafe sipping from a cup of coffee and eating sandwich, stood up immediately he sighted them, and held out his arms to Lucy who walked into his embrace with a wide smile on her face.    

"I'm so happy to see you, Kiddo. Although it's been just some days since I last saw you, it seems like a really long time already," Lucy said after she pulled away from his embrace and looked into his face.     

"I know, right? Good morning, Tom. It's good to see you again," Lucas greeted as he turned to Tom, and held out his hand to him for a handshake.     

"Same here. How have you been?" Tom asked as he shook his hand before all three of them sat down.    

"Good. You can see for yourself. Not bad, right?" Lucas asked with a small smile as both Lucy and Tom looked him over.     

Almost immediately, a waiter approached them. Tom ordered a cup of latte, while Lucy ordered a cup of hot chocolate and the waiter left.    

"You look like you lost some weight," Lucy observed.     

"Give him a break. You'd lose some too if you were in his shoes," Tom said lightly, and Lucas grinned, while Lucy scowled at him.    

"Let her know. And just so you know, Tom, you've earned yourself some more brownie points. Lucy looks happy and well taken care of," Lucas observed, and Lucy eyed them both with displeasure, especially Tom who was grinning.    

"Well taken care of? Who said he has anything to do with how I look? I take care of myself," Lucy hissed at Lucas.    

"Yeah, she does," Tom agreed, and she glared at him.    

"Now you're taking my side?" She hissed at him, making Lucas chuckle.    

"I'm happy to see that you're fine," Lucas said as he watched her. He had feared that she was pretending to be okay over the phone, but seeing her this way, he knew without doubt that she was fine, and he knew Tom was responsible for it so he shot Tom a silent glance of gratitude, and as though he understood, Tom gave him a nod.    

"How long will you be staying?" Lucy asked just as the waiter returned with hers and Tom's drinks.    

"I haven't decided on that yet. I'm still trying to decide on the places to go. By the way, here's Rachel's phone. Have you decided on what to do with it?" Lucas asked as he took it out of his pocket and placed it in front of Lucy.     

"Thanks. I'm still working on it. I will let you know when I'm done. By the way, why did you decide to come back to Ludus? I'm sure it wasn't just to give this to me. Don't tell me you were missing me that much?" Lucy asked with a grin, and seeing that the siblings needed privacy, Tom stood up.    

"Please excuse me for a moment. I just remembered that I need to make some calls to readjust my schedule," Tom said as he picked up his styrofoam cup of latte, and both siblings gave him a nod and watched as he walked away.     

"He's a good guy," Lucas said, and Lucy gave him a nod.     

"Yeah, he is a great guy. Now why don't you tell me why you came here?" Lucy asked once again.     

"When did it become a crime to stop by my twin sister before traveling on a long vacation?" Lucas asked, and Lucy shrugged.    

"Of course it's not a crime. But lately I've become so curious about a lot of things about you that right now I've become very suspicious of you," Lucy said, and Lucas raised a brow.    

"What are you talking about?"     

"Tell me about your relationship with Amy's best friend, and why she called asking me for your number. Were you cheating on Rachel with her?" Lucy asked, and this time Lucas' heart skipped a beat.    

"Miley called you? When?" Lucas asked curiously.    

"Also can you tell me why out of all the questions I just asked you, the fact that she called me seemed most important to you?" Lucy said, watching him with interest..         

After her phone call with Amy and Miley last night she had remembered that Lucas had mentioned knowing Amy's best friend casually. She hadn't taken it seriously because Lucas had sounded like it wasn't a big deal, but after hearing the interest in Miley's voice last night, she was not only curious but also now very interested in the nature of their relationship.     

Lucas sighed, "Really, it's not a big deal. I met her two days ago. She's pretty cool, but I'm not interested in being friends with her," Lucas said with a shrug, and Lucy raised a brow.    

"Why not?"    

************    

Jade, who had spent most of the night awake and staring at her phone as she awaited what was probably the most important call of her life at that stage of her life, nearly jumped out of the bed when her phone started ringing few minutes after she drifted off to sleep.    

She grabbed the phone immediately, hoping it was a call from either of the national security agencies who she had entrusted to capture both Jero and the Lords of the legion cartel.    

"Hello!" She greeted immediately she grabbed the phone.     

"Good morning, Esquire," Harry greeted, making her heart skip a beat when she heard his voice.    

Although she wanted to speak with him, but this wasn't the time, "Hey, hi! Good morning, Harry!" she greeted as she rubbed her eyes.    

"Did I wake you up?" Harry asked with a concerned expression as he adjusted his tie while looking back at his reflection in the mirror.    

While waiting for Tom and Lucy to arrive he had decided to give Jade a call to while away the time, seeing as she had failed to give him a call the previous evening as he had expected.     

"Sort of."    

"Are you alright? I was calling to find out how it went last night. I mean with Jero and the Cartel," Harry said, since that was also one of the reasons he had called, apart from wanting to see her reaction to what Aurora had told her.     

"Yeah, I'm okay. About that, I decided to take your advice, and stay back at the hotel. I didn't go with them. I'm still waiting to hear from them," Jade said with a yawn, and Harry raised a brow.    

"Oh, I see!" Harry said with a thoughtful frown.     

She had been at the hotel all evening yet had failed to call him after she heard from Aurora? What did that mean? Was she not affected by what she had heard? Harry mused as he tried to imagine her, waving it off dismissively and turning on the television to watch a television show, or most likely taking out documents related to her case to pore over them.    

He shook his head. That couldn't be it. She had said she wanted to live rent-free in his head, and even Aurora had said she had seemed more surprised than excited about the news. That means she cared.     

If she cared, did that mean she had been too affected by the news that she had decided not to call him? He wondered as he tried to imagine Jade crying over the news of his date with Aurora and getting drunk to stupor. He shook his head once again. That image did not suit Jade.    

"What about you? Are you at work already? Oh, by the way, how is your dad's health?" Jade asked when she remembered Aaron.    

"He is feeling better today. Lucy is coming over to spend the day with him so that I can go to work today," Harry said, and Jade nodded.     

"That's cool," she said, and paused, waiting for him to say something else.    

Although she was feeling very tempted to ask him about his conversation with Aurora and why he had asked her to accompany him to the dinner party despite her confession to him two days ago, but she stifled the urge to ask him any related questions.     

She was going to let him do what he wanted for now, while she focused on closing this case and relocating to Ludus. If he was still single by the time she was done, she would do as she had promised Candace, and confess her feelings to him, but if he wasn't, then it would just have to be her loss.     

Harry on the other hand was also waiting for her to say something or ask him about it. When she didn't and the line remained awkwardly silent for some seconds, he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he cleared his throat.    

"Esquire, about our phone conversation the other day. About what you said... What did you mean when you said you wanted to live rent-free..." Before he could finish his question, Jade quickly interrupted him when her phone beeped with an awaiting call notification.        

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I have to go now. They're calling about last night. It's important I receive the call now," she said, her heart beating wildly.    

"Sure. Let's talk later then," Harry said, and she hung up immediately.     

"Hey! Good morning! How did it go?" Jade asked breathlessly immediately she received the call.    

"Not so good. For some reason they came prepared. We lost some men, and your witness is badly injured too. He was just moved into the ICU. He was asking for someone called Candace before he passed out," the person on the other end of the phone informed her.     

"What about the Lords of the cartel? Were you able to get them? All of them?" Jade asked, holding her breath as she placed a hand on the left part of her chest which felt like her heart was about to shoot out from it.    

The response to her question was very important to her as it would determine what the future held for her. She knew without a doubt that if for any reason any of the lords escaped, then not just Candace's life, but her life too would be in danger too. She knew they were going to come for her.