Andre’s POV
“Did you ever meet a man named Kyle Grey in this inn? I don’t have a physical description, but the staff told me he frequents here.”
The old lady shook her head.
“No. I’m sorry. I have lived in the inn for years. My son pays for the room every month. I am certain that I would have heard of a man with that name if he was here frequently.”
I nodded and thanked the old lady, and she disappeared into her room. This was the sixtieth door on this floor, and there was still no positive reply. Each shaking head reminded me that I should have asked Olivia if she had a picture of her father along with her. It would have helped to jog people’s memories.
There was only one last room on this floor, and I was more than ready to meet another dead end.
Soon, I heard the sound of footsteps running around. What was going on up there?
However, the footsteps stopped eventually, and there was silence as if nothing happened in the first place.
I moved to the last room and knocked.
Silence. Wasn’t anyone around?
I grabbed the door handle and hesitated. What if people were inside there and they were getting ‘busy’?
I listened as hard as I could, but there was no noise. Not even a moan or groan. Who on earth has sex and stays silent?
I shook my head vigorously. What was I thinking? I had to stay focused. I couldn’t afford to be sidetracked. I listened even harder, but there was still nothing. Maybe it was empty. I had to check.
I apologised in my heart if there were people inside. I turned the doorknob, and it clicked. I opened the door slowly, and it was empty.
I sighed. There was no one around.
I was certain that Olivia must’ve finished searching the floor she picked and was probably waiting for me in the car. Maybe she or Pierre had better luck.
I closed the door and headed downstairs. In my mind, I made a mental note to ask Olivia for her father’s picture the next time we had to go and search for him.
I also acknowledged that it was possible that we wouldn’t find anything here. As the words rolled out of their mouths, I saw the loophole in the men’s story.
They said that Kyle was a frequent visitor to the inn, which was a blatant lie. If it was true that Kyle was a frequent visitor, the coordinates for this place only appeared once on the list, so it was right to assume that he stayed here only once.
Also, if he was being hunted or trying to escape someone, I doubt staying in the same inn in the same room was a good idea-unless he did that to be found and caught.
It just didn’t make any sense. Jonas had to be lying, but I wasn’t going to yell it out. I was going to nail that bastard and expose him for the fraud that he was.
I got outside and got into the car.
“Kitten, did you find…”
What?! She wasn’t there!
I felt a rush of panic, but I quickly calmed myself down. She could still be searching. I had taken the liberty of going to the other floors to check on her but didn’t run into her. Did she enter a room to search? She was probably still searching the room the men said her father had lodged in.
I got out of the car and saw Pierre heading towards me.
“I couldn’t find anything,” he announced.
I looked over his shoulder and saw Sephora walking behind him, slightly blushing. I raised an eyebrow but turned back to Pierre.
“Did you see Olivia while you were searching?” I asked anxiously.
Pierre was just as confused as I was.
“No, I didn’t. I expected that she would be back by now. She did start the search before us.”
“That’s what I thought as well.”
I looked back at the building with newfound suspicion. Something was definitely not right.
“Pierre, can you head back inside and get her? And if you need to ask anyone, ask the guests and not the staff.”
Pierre gave a nod and rushed back inside. As I waited for him, I stole a glance at Sephora, and she seemed to be squirming uncomfortably.
“Are you alright, Sephora?”
She looked at me in shock, turned around, and gave me a bow.
“Y… yes, Alpha. I’m alright, Alpha.”
I gave a nod and turned away. She was definitely not right. For one, she was nervous and she also had Pierre’s scent all over her.
What were those two up to in there?
It didn’t take long for Pierre to come out, and he had a frown on his face.
“I searched and asked around, but I couldn’t find her. The few guests that I asked all only complained of the sound of running feet on the floor…”
I hissed under my breath. That was the same sound I heard earlier.
“One guest did say he saw her, but it was brief, and she was standing in the corridor with her eyes closed. He said she ran to the stairs but didn’t go down; she was talking to a staff member.”
“Could he describe the staff?”
He shook his head.
“No. He only said that she was holding bedsheets.”
“Damn it!”
“I also talked to some staff on the way out, and they all had the same story, and it was different from the old man’s. They claimed that Olivia had left the inn and had gone outside.”
I could feel anger rising in me.
“Someone has to be lying,” I hissed under my breath.
“Maybe it’s the old man,” quipped Sephora. “His story has loopholes. He saw Olivia but couldn’t see the staff standing next to her. Sounds pretty fishy. He also has no alibi.”
I shook my head.
“It’s strange enough that the staff all agreed that she left. They are hiding something.”
“Maybe they want us to leave. Jonas and his men did trash up the place earlier. They are probably sick of us.”
“Probably,” I said coldly. “It’s either that or there is something else. A lot of people recounting the same story means that they rehearsed it. There is no originality or diversion.”
Pierre and Sephora went white in the face.
“That means…”
“It’s a trap…”