Page 18 of The Sicilian's Obsession
Arturo
Katima was pretty shaken after confronting Rebecca. When I escorted Rebecca off the premises, I told her in a no nonsense voice that if she was spotted on the property, she would be arrested. I'm not sure if that helped or not. I came back in to find Katima curled into herself, having a panic attack. I felt so helpless. How could I help her when her mind was the battlefield? I followed her into the lab and went into the office. She tried to work but was bouncing back and forth so bad, she couldn't concentrate on her work. It was no surprise when she flounced into the office and flopped in an open chair. She pulled a pair of ear buds from her pocket and started blasting music. Nothing I had ever heard before, but I knew I couldn't bother her. So, I left her be. An incoming call from Jake pulled me away from peeking a look at her under the guise of working.
"Boss man," Jake said, "we got a hit on some background with one Mr. Charles Sweets." I leaned forward, turning the volume down on my phone. Even if I thought Katima couldn't hear me through the racket she was listening to, I didn't want to take any chances.
Gruffly, I said, "What did you find?"
"Before his company was up and running, he was in some shady business. It all was buried once he started Sweets Incorporated, but he had debts. Major debts. Then after Katima's mother died, he suddenly was afloat, with a new business to boot. The weirder thing is that his first year of business wasn't in the red like normal businesses are. In fact, he was in the black, deep in the black. He moved Katima and himself to that small town and opened the business just two months after his wife died. The money hasn't been traced so far, but it for sure didn't come from the mother's life insurance policy." Jake was onto something.
"If we could figure out where the money came from, we can figure out more of her past. We may even be able to link it to the mysterious messages she keeps getting." I was thinking out loud. Something I'd learned to do when working out a problem.
"She's been getting more and more of those messages too. We can't seem to trace it at all. I think we may need to put some more guys on this." I knew without a shadow of a doubt if Jake thought we should put more men on, I should listen to him. His gut was almost as good as mine.
"Add more IT guys. Until I have a higher threat level, I don't want more men out here to help. We can raise her to a lower level stalker for now. I think it's going to escalate, but I'm not sure when." I looked to Katima once more, but she was busy zoning out. Whatever she was listening to was working, that was for sure.
"The question I have is why now? If this is linked to her childhood, why didn't the perpetrator come forward a while ago?" Jake raised an interesting point.
"I'm not sure, but I can tell you her dad has been hard to reach ever since I got out here. Which, judging by Katima's reactions, is an odd occurrence."
Jake sighed. "You think he's doing something shady?"
I laughed morbidly. "There's no doubt in my mind. No one is good. We know this." The silence between us was palpable. We had been through too much shit to trust anyone. Never again. We got off the phone and Katima stopped fiddling with hers.
"What's wrong?" she asked. It still shocked me that she rarely stuttered with me anymore. I don't think she even noticed. I wouldn't point it out, for sure. I wouldn't want to make her self-conscious.
"Katima, I really need to ask you about your childhood, but I'm worried about your reaction." She already looked like she was going to bolt.
"My childhood?" Her legs were pointed toward the door and I knew I had to tread carefully.
"I need to know if there was a time when you feared your surroundings? I was thinking that maybe you met the person who is sending these messages to you."
Her beautiful eyes grew wide with shock. "I'm still getting messages?" Her mouth was open. "But I haven't seen any of them."
I groaned, "I made sure to forward them to myself and the IT department. I didn't want you to worry more than what was necessary."
"Oh, well, my childhood was pretty normal." Katima was looking over my shoulder and I just knew she was lying to me. I gave her my hardest stare and just like I expected, she broke.
"Not normal, normal, but I didn't know any different. After my mom died, it got better, and then we came here." She shrugged like it was no big deal, but I knew she was holding back.
"What do you mean by that?" I knew I was pushing her, but I had to. Only she and her father knew the answers I needed, and I was worried time was running out.
"Well, I can't remember when my mom died, but I remember one of the housekeepers saying I was there. Dad fired her and told me that I was in my room when she died, but I remember the housekeeper saying that to me." She paused, so I prodded her on.
"What about before your mom died? What wasn't normal?" I tried not to whip out my phone so I could relay this information to Jake. I could do that later. Right now, I had Katima calm and talking. I needed to keep her that way.
"Uhm, it's hard to say really. Like, I was happy, but my parents weren't. My uncle—" She broke off, staring into the distance.
I prodded, "Your uncle?"
"Huh? No, no, I don't have any uncles or aunts. My dad and mom were disowned by their families for marrying each other against their wishes. So, I've never met any extended family." I looked deep into her brown eyes, but she genuinely believed what she was saying. So, what was that about an uncle? Clearly, it was a slip from her subconscious. I needed to follow this lead.
"Well, maybe this person was a friend or neighbor. You guys couldn't have been that secluded, right?" I was giving up. Katima had repressed anything that would be of use to me.
"I'm sorry I can't help more, but my childhood memories are pretty sparse. I barely remember what my mother looked like."
She hung her head, and I knew that was it. I couldn't keep interrogating her. She was too sweet. I flashed back to the kiss from the night before, and I would be lying if I said I didn't want a repeat. Now was not the time, but I did go to her and lean into her neck, smelling her most peculiar scent—antiseptic and chocolate. I tried not to think about rubbing myself all over her. My cock was throbbing just from a tiny whiff. I walked back to the computer and started shooting information to Jake. I needed to cool myself down, and talking to Jake was a way to do it. Since I'd just gotten off the phone, I figured texting was safe. Katima didn't need to hear how she was more than likely in danger or that her father, a person so concerned over her safety and well-being, wasn't being cooperative.
Katima suggested, "Maybe we should call it a day. I'm really not in the right headspace to work."
