“Oh Fergus, you know me so well and it scares me” I chuckled.
“News flash, I am your best friend and your business associate. So yeah, I know you like the mark on my dick”
“Oh, shut up!”
I took a deep breath, trying to ground myself. “There was a woman at the scene. Her name is Amelia. She…” I paused, my thoughts drifting. “She looked just like Alma. I swear, Fergus, it was like seeing a ghost. Same eyes, same face. It was... unreal.”
Fergus’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped closer. “What! You sure? Could’ve been the stress of everything…”
“No,” I interrupted sharply. “I know what I saw. She lookedexactlylike Alma. Julian also saw her right?”
“Yes sir, I did” Julian said.
Fergus seemed to consider it for a moment before speaking carefully. “Alright, let’s say it’s not a trick of your mind. What does this mean?”
“I don’t know,” I said, frustration evident in my voice. “But there’s something about her. I just can’t place it.”
Fergus let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sure she’s just someone who looks like Alma,” Fergus said, his tone steady but firm. “But we’ll figure this out. First things first, we get to the bottom of the fire.”
“Julian,” I said, my voice low and firm, “I need you to get me everything you can find on Amelia Thompson. Where she’s from, where she lives, where she works... everything.”
Julian nodded quickly; his pen ready in hand. “Understood, sir. I’ll start right away.”
“Good,” I said, my gaze piercing.
As Julian made his way out to handle the task, Fergus leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed. His eyes narrowed; the skepticism clear in them. “You’re diving headfirst into this, huh?”
“I know what you’re thinking, Fergus,” I muttered, not even looking up. “You think I’m overreacting, that I’m letting my head get clouded.”
“I’m not saying that I just don’t want you getting your hopes high and hurting yourself.” Fergus said, his voice softer now.
“Now that we are alone… I noticed that you have blood stains, but no injury and you look like a mess. Are you sure that no one saw your injury heal?”
“Oh shit! I didn’t think of that. I was in my office and then I woke up in an ambulance…”
“Which means that someone carried you to the ambulance. The question now is “who?” and did he see anything?”
“I really hope not because the last thing I want is my identity being revealed.”
“Don’t worry, I will look into it. Just take a shower”
“Fine” I said as I walked to my bedroom.
The hot shower was like a reset button for my mind. I shut my eyes, letting the water cleanse away the blood, grime, and residue of the chaos during the night. The sound of the shower drowned out everything else, and for just a moment, I allowed myself to breathe.
As I stepped out of the shower, I grabbed the towel from the heated rack and dried off quickly, already thinking about the next move. There was no time to waste. I needed answers, and I needed them fast.
I threw on a pair of dark jeans, a simple black shirt, and a tailored jacket and went back downstairs.
“You look almost human again, Aidan,” Fergus teased, tossing his phone onto the table and standing up.
“We are going to the office now.”
“I’ll meet you at the office, Aidan. You know I don’t drive that fancy SUV like you” he said with a casual shrug.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course, you’ll be driving that obnoxious yellow Lamborghini of yours.”
“It’s not obnoxious. It’s just... hard to ignore. Like me.”