Page 28 of Deadline for Love

“Did something happen?”

“Yes, a fire last night at the chemical factory,” I replied.

Nia added, “But the robbery case at the jewelry shop would also be a good first stop too.”

I agreed, “The jewelry shop isn’t far from here.”

“Ma Bella! There you are!” A high-pitched voice rushed alongside us, and I was pulled into small, dainty arms. I was kissed left and right on my cheek.

I didn’t need to look and knew that Maria was hugging me so tightly. I returned the hug, and she sat down, spreading a newspaper on the table.

“Did you read the article? That’s unbelievable!” she fumed.

“Calm down, Maria,” I said and tapped her shoulders, but I stopped because the headline made me widen my eyes in horror. “Lying journalists—didNova Chronicle’semployees incinerate letters?”

I grabbed the newspaper and quickly skimmed through it. Even my name was mentioned. “The police specifically mentioned that these letters were unrelated to the case. Has Miss Carter launched an attempt to shock society?” I gritted my teeth and read the words out loud. “These assholes!”

Nia snatched the newspaper, and her eyes stared, scrolling left and right, while reading the unbelievable headline. “The worst kind of lying media publishes an article aboutusmaking up stories?” She scoffed with anger.

Maria gently patted my back to calm me down, and her touch affected me even though I was still shocked.

“I’ve never likedSentinel Publishing. But this article makes me furious.”

“We have to beat them!” Nia clenched her hands into fists and threw the newspaper on the table. So, Nathan picked it up and glanced at the article, flicking through the following few pages.

“They haven’t written anything about the victims,” he realized.

“They only want to make money, preferably with lies and exaggerated articles. They’re not interested in the truth!” Nia hissed.

“I didn’t realize there was such a competitive environment in the world of journalism.” His statement sounded amused, making Nia even angrier, but Maria intervened, “Of course. In the world of gossip, it’s all about competition. That’s why I’m glad you’re here. Bella, I have a lot to tell you. Come with me, my child,’’ she said, pulling me to follow her as Fernando arrived with our order.

“Maria…’’ he said.

“Don’tMariame. I'll feed her, but there are things I need to tell her.’’ I could sense the tension but pulled out my notebook, nonetheless. We sat down on an empty seat, and while she told me about events in her neighborhood, I ate the delicious pasta and took notes in between—Her insight was invaluable, and the meal was excellent—as always.

Apart from the typical neighborhood stories, she mentioned how the police stopped by to watch video footage of the woman who had left her bag behind.

Maria didn’t yet know that the woman had been murdered, so I kept quiet about it at first.

After that, she gave me information about the jeweler’s shop since it was only two blocks away. She had passed by there often, plus the shop owners were regular customers.

She suspected two men who often stood in front of the shop and didn’t know they were only looking at the jewelry.

Her assumptions had always been correct. Hence why I took her words very seriously. Maria passed this information on to the police, so I planned to include it in my article.

“A lot of things have happened at once recently. Last week, everything had been quiet.” She sulked and worriedly placed her hand on her cheek.

“Unfortunately… but I hope everything will go back to normal. Steel Valley has always had its ups and downs, but everything will be fine again,” I promised her.

But Maria didn’t really seem at ease with my words.

“I hope so, but as long as there’s a murderer on the loose, we can only hope he’ll be caught quickly.”

After the conversation with Maria, we rejoined my friends. I nodded to Nia and Nathan when I was sure they had finished their meal, and then we left the pub.

First, we headed to the jewelers. Nia took pictures of the smashed windows, and I interviewed the owner, who was utterly bewildered by the incident and devastated.

He tearfully told me how he discovered everything, the alarm system hadn’t worked, and all his best jewelry had been stolen.

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