Page 87 of Believing in a Billionaire
“Not Kyle. Not like this. Not with that…stiffness. Something’s off. And it’s not about him needing space.”
“Juju,” her sister said, her voice measured, “I think you’re really tired. Maybe some sleep will help you feel better.”
“I’m not tired. And I’m not crazy. Watch it again. Tell me you don’t notice this…as a cop.” Julia shoved the phone back at her.
Alicia sucked in a breath, offering an unimpressed glance at the footage as it played through. “It looks like he got into the car and left.”
Julia snatched the phone back from her sister with a frown. “You don’t know him like I do.”
“Obviously not, he’s never–”
“Don’t say it,” Julia snapped, her face set in a warning.
“Julia, he may look stiff or…forlorn because of the argument. Looks like he got into the car with a friend and took off.”
“Without his phone.”
“Maybe he dropped it,” Alicia said with a shrug.
Julia let her head fall back against her pillow as Alicia lectured her on sleeping. She was about to agree when her phone chimed. Her heart jumped, and she checked the display. A message waited from Alex.Hey kid, you up?
She rushed to answer.I am. What’s up?
Her phone rang a second later, and she answered the call immediately. “Alex? You found something?”
Alicia offered her a confused glance.
“Alex Stone,” she mouthed as he answered her question.
“I did. It’s…not conclusive, but…when you mentioned your concern with Hoodie, I tried to find some footage of his face.”
“Did you?”
“No. Which makes me…suspicious. Someone that good at hiding their face from a camera probably has something to hide. I’m sending a video of Grant 2.0 now. Let me know what you think once you watch it.”
“Okay. And thank you for this. I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, kid. I am thoroughly intrigued.”
Something about the way he said his last statement worried her. The video popped on her screen, and she pressed play. Alicia leaned over her arm, holding her breath.
The video showed another angle of the parking lot. Kyle appeared along with a shadow of another figure. Kyle seemed perturbed. He shook his head, his features twisting as he said something.
A second later, his posture stiffened, a shocked, frightened expression on his features as he stared at something, slowly raising his hands. His phone, clutched in one, dropped toward the ground before he nodded, lowering his hands and turning his back to the camera.
He strode off camera with the figure following him, hands shoved into their pockets. A chill ran down her spine as she watched the last few frames. Though the face remained hidden within the shadow’s hood, there was an unmistakable menace in the way it moved–too deliberate, too certain. And Kyle, usually so confident, looked unmistakably rattled.
Julia’s heart sped as it ended. “Okay, that looks…scary. It looks like someone confronted him and made him go to the car. He was flustered enough to drop his phone. This is clear evidence that something happened to him.”
“I’ll admit I had a similar thought,” Alex answered.
“Hi, Alex, this is Alicia, I don’t know if you remember me but–”
“Detective Dynamo, I do remember you. Are you also sleuthing the case?”
“I’m helping Julia sort through this, yeah. This isn’t conclusive evidence, but it doesn’t sit right with me. Any other angles?”
“None that I can find,” Alex said.
