Olivia’s POV
We slowed down, and Andre told me that Jonas had given a signal. This was one of the coordinate points that Jonas had given us.
My legs felt like jelly, and my nerves were a mess. Something about this place was unsettling. It was highly unlikely that we would find my father’s killers at our first stop, but still, we were here.
We got out, and Andre held me tight. Our guards stood behind us protectively, and I felt beads of sweat on my forehead.
Why was I this tense?
Before we could take a step, Jonas’ two men rushed inside. In a few minutes, there was a ruckus, and people were yelling and running about inside.
“Where is the owner?! Where is he?!”
I was compelled to dash inside, but Andre held me back. I knew that Jonas was the prince here, but he didn’t have to be so brash.
“Don’t move, Olivia. I know that you want to help, but we are strangers. The last thing we need is to draw more attention to ourselves.”
Andre’s voice was calm and emotionless. I, on the other hand, was at my wit’s end. People were screaming inside there. Were we just going to stand by and do nothing?
Finally, the men came out and were clutching two men roughly by their shirt collars.
Jonas stepped out, and the guards threw the men at his feet.
Jonas towered above them and glared fiercely.
“Tell us what you saw! Now!”
They trembled in fear and bowed closer to the ground.
“Talk!”
“Please forgive us! We know him! We know Kyle Gray!”
I was dumbfounded and gasped. My hand covered my mouth as I looked at the men in shock.
“Tell us everything!”
Jonas raised his hands, and they cowered even more, raising their hands above their head.
“We knew him, but that was about a year or so ago. He used to frequent this place. He came on the same day for a few months. We lodged in the same room, and he would always take out pictures and look through them. He wasn’t one to talk too much.”
They stopped, and Jonas growled.
“Is that all?! Speak!”
“Please don’t hurt us. We… we still have more to say. It continued until one day, some suspicious men came in. They were scary-looking and didn’t even ask any questions. They pushed past us and stormed upstairs. We were silent, and we watched them. They soon came down, dragging Kyle and a few of his belongings. That was the last time that we saw him. We swear.”
They fell on their faces and were grovelling at Jonas’ feet. I looked at them and felt tears stream down my face. They watched my father being dragged away and didn’t…
“They are lying.”
Andre’s voice penetrated my mind. He was speaking to me through the mind link.
“We can’t afford to be gullible, Olivia. They are under pressure and will say anything to save their skins. We have to tread cautiously. But we can start investigating since we are already here.”
I dried my eyes and looked at Jonas, who was still glaring at the men. Didn’t he know that they were lying to his face?
“Olivia, what should we do to them?”
He looked at me. His muscles were tense and I could tell that he would pounce on them as soon as I gave the word. There was a lump in my throat; all eyes were on me.
“We should let them go. It happened long ago. There is no need to hold them for it. They didn’t have a hand in his death, and it would be cruel to punish them for something they did. But we should go inside and have a look around.”
Jonas looked at me in shock and so did everyone else. Even I was stunned by how easily the words slid out of my mouth.
“Thank you, Miss. Thank you.”
The men bowed in front of me, and I soon began to feel uncomfortable. My stomach began to churn, and I asked them to stop.
Jonas’ guards pushed them aside, and we went into the inn. As soon as we got in, I gasped in shock. The whole place was a mess. Did Jonas and his men really have to do this much destruction just to get them to talk?
The furniture was in shambles and wooden pieces lay everywhere. The few people in the room cowered and hid as soon as they saw us.
“You said you were coming to help us interact with the pack members. Is this what you meant?” questioned Andre furiously to Jonas.
“Sometimes you need a little brute force to make people talk. I’m pretty sure that you understand that, Andre.”
Andre kept silent and turned away.
“We should split up to cover more ground.”
Andre was cold and distant. I felt the shift in his mood and thought it was best not to bother him. I offered to check upstairs.
“Miss, your father stayed on the third floor, in the third room to the left,” one of the men quipped.
“Alright. The third room is to the left. Got it.”
I hurried upstairs expectantly. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my nose was sniffing anxiously. It had been a while, but there had to be a trace of Papa’s scent somewhere.
I closed my eyes and navigated the hallways, trying my best to focus on the scents. I knew his smell all too well. There had been a trace of his some…
“Wooooahhhh!”
I bumped into something and fell backwards.
I hit the hard wooden floor and was hissing in pain.
“What the…”
“Foolish girl, you should look where you’re going.”
As soon as I heard the comment, I raised my head and found myself staring into the grey eyes of a lady. She looked weak and tired, with sunken-in eyes. She looked exhausted.
She continued staring at me. Her spite turned to shock as I stood up, and she dropped the folded bed sheets that she was carrying.
“Oh my!”
She covered her mouth with her hands and looked at me in shock, her eyes becoming moist and red.
“Is there…”
“You… you… you look just like her. It’s not… you’re a spitting image of her. How is this possible?”
I looked at her, and it was my turn to be stunned.
Her? Who was she talking about?