He remembered it. Walking for an hour with a crying baby in his arms with one image in his mind, his mother covered in blood pleading for him to deliver the baby to an address.
He hid behind the bushes to see that no one was around and slowly approached the massive structure of the building resembling a castle in his 12-year-old mind. Of course, he remembers it now, there’s only one place that looked like that in Mofocity, a place he never revisited even after he was friends with Jordan Cromwell.
Jordan never wanted him to come to his home because he didn’t want to be in that place himself. It made so much sense to him now, the dead baby in Colby’s arms was Jordan’s real sister, and fate had brought them all together that day.
He had to find her. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but he had to find her. That’s where he was going, to The Cromwell’s Estate and see the place again, to finally match the images that have been haunting him for days.
As he was walking toward the intersection, a car came up to him from behind. “Need a ride?” Colby’s voice greeted him in the dark. “Shit!” he thought. “Where are you going? Maybe I can give you a lift,” Colby offered. “No, thanks, I’m fine.” Colby opened the passenger door from inside, “Oh no, I insist,” he said.
Adrian stood by the side of the road for a moment, then unwillingly got into the car. “I think I know where you’re going,” Colby fishing for a conversation in the car. Adrian didn’t respond, he didn’t even turn to look at him.
“I remember that day too, isn’t that where you’re going?” Colby needed an answer.
“Does Jordan know about this?”
Colby shook his head, “Just me and you, and your mother, God bless her soul.”
“Why the Cromwell? Why did she ask me to take her there?”
Colby raised his shoulders, and threw his hands in the air, “Your mom was working at the factory, she must’ve thought there was no one better to take care of her baby than the employer … or maybe she thought at least Matt and Sabina will help with finding the baby a proper home … who knows?” Adrian knew it was a lie.
“So … what’s yer plan when you get there?” Colby was intrigued. The car was already driving at a low speed. “How do you plan to convince her of the truth? Are you gonna tell her?”
Adrian hadn’t put much thought into it, he kept silent. “You’re right, I can’t tell her … she’ll freak out …” Adrian started to doubt his intentions. But the car was still moving. “I don’t think I should go there now.”
“Hey, wow… wow… relax kid, just think about what you’re goin’ to say, we’ll figure it out on our way there, okay?” Colby drove a little bit faster.
His stomach turned, why the hell would Colby Jones tried to help him with anything. He tried to look calm on the outside but knew in his gut that this was a mistake. Colby was silent and stepped on the gas a little deeper. Adrian peeked at the door and saw it was locked, he calculated when he would open the lock and get out of the car, but it was moving even faster.
“I don’t know what the story is at your end, and I don’t want to know, but I would appreciate it if you would let me out of the car … ’cause I’ve changed my mind,” Adrian thought he could persuade him.
Colby kept his eyes on the road, he chuckled sarcastically, “My end of the story? Why would you think there’s any other story than your own?”
Adrian was watching the street ahead and thinking that he might be able to take a jump on the next turn Colby makes. “You’re right, let’s just leave it at that,” but it was too late.
Colby grabbed Adrian by his shirt and pulled him closer, “You’re going to the Cromwell’s right now! Whether you like it or not! Don’t even think to try to escape because I’m giving you a chance to do something good for the people … you understand?” he said in a low voice.
He realized that it was not about him trying to find his sister. Colby had another plan to take him to the Cromwell’s. He was still weighing on his chance to get away but the car already stopped and when he looked ahead, the great big palace he went to 16 years ago was right in front of him.
Colby took out his gun and hit him at the back of his head, so hard that he slumped on the dashboard and lost his consciousness. Colby cuffed Adrian’s hands and dragged him out of the car, “Sorry, Kid, this is for the good of the people.”
*********
“I need time to gather new evidence before I can officially arrest him, so I need you to hold on to him for a few days,” Colby told Matthew who was standing by the mantelpiece wearing his silk robe. “Untouched,” he added and glanced at Matthew’s men who were standing around with their guns. “You were right, I need someone in my custody to ease everyone’s mind … I can’t do my job if I have to deal with people getting paranoid and angry,” he explained. Matthew was looking into the fireplace, his mind wandered.
“Alright,” he said after a long pause. “Jacob’s party is in two days, can you ‘gather’ your evidence before that?”
“I’ll try.”
“I tell you what, we’ll keep him here for you, no worries, he won’t be harmed, after all … he’s a suspect for a terrible crime … in which case, he could be the criminal that we’re all looking for.” Something in his words struck Colby, he was planning to use Adrian’s arrest to decoy the real perpetrator, but Matt seemed to have other plans.
“He will be released once proven innocent,” Colby said.
Matt lit up his cigar and puffed it until it’s smoking, “We’ll see about that,” he smiled wickedly.
“I need to know where you’re going to keep him.”
“You don’t trust me, CJ?”
“That’s not what I meant, I will be back to check on him … I want these men to keep their words, Matt … untouched … he’s my prisoner, I need him in one piece.”
Matt and his men burst out into laughter. “Don’t worry buddy, we’ll take good care of your prisoner, he’ll be here when you come back to collect him, right boys?” the men with guns nodded with smirks on their faces. Colby started to doubt his own decision but he didn’t really have any other choice, he just had to trust his intuition and go ahead with his plans.
Adrian was still slumped face down on the floor. Colby asked the men to take him to his confinement, they prevented Colby from following them through the door at the back of the dining room which they entered using a key card and a passcode.