Chapter 31

unknown pov
The news of Alex's disappearance got to Eva that evening. She was shocked to hear that Alex's body hasn't been found yet and she now had the difficult task of telling Petra that her husband which she had talked to that morning was now missing.
"Hey you, brought anything for me?. Petra asked as her sister took a seat in the hospital room.
"Something terrible had happened sis.....it's Alex.....he was reported missing earlier today, his car was found in a lake but his body wasn't found" Eva was feeling sorry for her sister because she had been living without her boyfriend for some months and she knew how hard it was to live without your lover close to you, she observed Petra's reaction as she broke the news the way the police had told her.
"You say his car was found but his body wasn't?, well, that means he's not dead yet then" Petra was already crying but she was trying to be strong because of her sister, right now she was in the lowest depths of despair but she held on to a small glimmer of hope that Alex was still alive. Eva admired her sister's courage and wished there was some way she could help.
"So what are you going to do now?" Eva asked Petra.
"I'm going to wait for my husband to return as he promised me. Petra smiled in her tears, making Eva cry too. They held each other and comforted themselves the best way they could.
"Should I take you out of here?, this news must have drained you. "Eva said sympathetically.
"No, I'm going to wait for Alex here, I don't care how long it takes. I know he's going to come back no matter what" Eva saw she couldn't force her sister to go with her so she decided to spend the remaining part of the day with her.
Liam was shaken by the news, his best friend is dead?, it all seemed like a dream to him he didn't believe it at first but when he saw that the policeman wasn't smiling he realized the gravity of the matter, he knew crying wasn't going to solve anything but he couldn't help it as he broke down in front of his girlfriend Arianna. Alex had been his buddy from day one and now he was gone.....literally.
"Stop crying babe, please i can't bear to see you like this" She tried to quieten him down.
"I can't ....he's my broooo.......he's-" Liam's voice broke halfway through the sentence, Arianna did the best she could to comfort him but to no avail. He refused to eat his dinner, refused to speak to Arianna which made her puzzled, She finally decided to call Eva for help.
"Hello Eva it's me Ari".
"Hey what's up?".
"Well it's Liam, ever since he heard the news about Alex he refused to eat or speak to me.... I've tried everything right now I don't know what to do" Ari said exasperated at everything in general.
"It's almost the same for Petra over here, she refuses to have any kind of conversation with me".
"I have a feeling he's not dead but that is all wild hope if you ask me" Ari had almost given up on every possibility that Alex is alive but something tells her that Skyler is involved with his disappearance.
"Do you think Skyler had anything to do with it?" Eva brought the burning question out of her mind, the possibility is not all that far fetched because the police said his car brakes were cut and that's why the car crashed. Now the question is who cut the brakes?.
"I have every notion that she has something to do with this, I wouldn't put it past her".
"But how can we prove it or even find her?".
"The police said they are increasing the heat until they find her but we both know how that one will end but we don't have any other option till then" Arianna knew the police would be too slow and only the people who knew Skyler well would be able to trace her whereabouts and unfortunately one of them was out of the list.
"We can't just play sitting ducks till she's found!! We have to do something".
"But what? There's nothing that we can do that the police aren't doing already".
"Just take care of Liam I'll try to think of something, I have to go now Ari I really appreciate the talk".
"Likewise" hangs up, it was a sour situation they had found themselves with no hope or way out of it. Ari returned to the sitting room where Liam was sobbing silently and resumed her "trying to make him feel better" tactics.
Skyler was restless not because of the fact that she had killed her ex lover but because of the fact that his body hasn't been found yet. She thought of ways Alex could have survived such a terrible crash and came up with nothing, the whole situation completely dumbfounded her.
'How did you escape Alex?' She thought to herself as she watched the headline news, then it occurred to her in a light bulb moment.
'He drove into the water so he could have a chance of surviving the crash..... Smart' She had to commend Alex for his sharp wits and quick thinking, it's not every time Alex's brain worked that fast and this time it was actually necessary for his survival. Skyler tried to think of a new way to take out both Petra and Alex but her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Good evening miss, anything I can do for you?" David said in his formal courteous manner.
"Come on Dave there's something we need to discuss" David entered with a look of uncertainty on his face and fear in his eyes, Skyler couldn't blame him for his reaction because she would have been acting the same way if she saw herself in this type of mood.
"Any problems?" David broke the silence.
"We have just one..... major problem..... The guy we chased isn't dead yet, his body wasn't found" Shock came over David's face as he heard that the cause of his sudden riches was still alive.
"But we saw his car crash! How did he survive that?" David couldn't believe it, he started to think maybe Skyler was pulling a fast one on him.
"I don't know how he survived it but his body wasn't found and the police are still searching for it".
"They will find him eventually give them time because I don't understand how can anyone survive such a crash" David was sure Alex had died from the ghastly crash not just because of the intensity of the crash but because of the the rate the car sank afterwards so Alex couldn't have swam out on time before reaching the bottom that's if he wasn't knocked unconscious by the force of the crash.
"His body would have been found around the scene of the crash at least and I saw his airbags opened so that means he had bumped his head on impact so he might have been unconscious before his car sank" Skyler wasn't understanding this at all, is Alex suddenly a magician that he can disappear from such an accident? Quite puzzling.
"What do you suggest we do now?" Dave asked in confusion.
"We do some searching ourselves" it was a wild plan because the police must have already scrounged the radius of the accident scene and they might still be lingering there.
"That's crazy! The police will arrest us in a snap..... if the police can't find it then what good is the two of us?" Dave's question was a good question she had already asked herself before suggesting the search.
"We won't go today of course, it's too risky but tomorrow will be a better day to commence the search".
"How long do you plan on searching?".
"Not long at all, just a quick scan of the area for clues or anything that can prove he's still alive".
"Okay then I suggest we go when it's getting dark, can't risk being seen by the police or any of the hotel workers".
"Now that's a good Dave, you deserve a reward" Skyler said sensually as she bent down slowly before him, unzipped his pants and brought out his meaty pole. Dave took in a deep breath and braced himself for his 'reward'.
**Alex**
Having the bright idea of faking my death was the easy part but carrying it out was harder than I thought, first thing was summoning the courage to veer off the road (that took a lot of willpower) then I had to go through the task of unbuckling my seat belt while the car was sinking fast, thank God for those swimming classes in high school because it took a lot of stamina to reach the shore that was a bit far from the crash, the swimming was so tedious I lost a shoe in the process with my wallet and a few other things that was inside my car.
I set out into the streets looking for a way back but not home back to Petra or Eva, I had to see Liam he's the only person I can confide in about my plans. I was a long way from home and none of the pedestrians were friendly enough to give me some change so I could board a taxi even after I told them my ordeal so I had to move on foot but I was careful to avoid being spotted until I ran into detective Thomas as I was turning down an alleyway.
"Alex!! I thought you were dead" The detective was startled by my ghostly presence and he had a good reason to be.
"I had to fake my death, that was the only way I could avoid killing any pedestrian and avoiding Skyler who had cut my brakes before she started chasing me across the city at high speed".
"Hmmmm it makes sense now, but how did she get into your company's parking lot?".
"Through some external help I guess because the security guard knows Skyler and he has a strict order to throw her out if she dares to set a foot on that property" Joey the security guard was a good guy who hated Skyler's guts and despises her openly even so she can't come close to the company grounds without raising an alarm.
"You put too much faith in people, that's your tragic flaw unfortunately I'm not like that so your 'loyal guard' would be brought in for questioning tomorrow".
"Do whatever you like but don't touch him, he's a good guy".
"I give you my word Mr Montero, so what are you going to do now?".
"I'm going to do some incognito reconnaissance on Skyler's possible whereabouts and you detect there's something I need you to do for me not as a cop but as a friend." I had to persuade him to help me out on this.
"Spill the beans." Thomas said, listening intently all of a sudden.
"I need you alone to carry out a confidential investigation".
"On what?".
"On Skyler's recent bank transactions, the bank refused to release that information because Skyler had told not to, you are the only person I can trust to carry out this task."
"What do you need me to do?." Thomas was obviously interested now.
"I need you to hack into their system and trace her last payment or her most recent transaction, we could pin her down from there and I'm 100% sure my recon mission will yield results as well."
"You want just the two of us to handle this case huh?." He asked with a brow raised.
"Yes I do, I don't want any more people to get dragged into this..... I don't know who she might go for next; more people might die if they get involved."
"I see your point Montero and I am willing to help you out. I will do what you ask and give you results next tomorrow and I will keep your status a secret but one thing is how can I contact you?. " Thomas said after a long while of being silent, I was numb with relief when he said he would keep my status a secret.
"Give me your number, I will contact you with a payphone or my buddy Liam's, he's the only one who is going to know I'm alive. " Thomas handed me his contact card with a look of doubt.
"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean the police got this covered-".
"I hate the feeling of watching from the sidelines knowing that I'm the cause of this bloodshed but not being able to do anything about it!! I want to be the one to clean up my mess" I can't stand it anymore. I had to do something about this killer ex situation or else it's going to ruin my life or worse.
"I see, the feeling of protecting your wife is very strong in your heart...... I will help you with your task but remember what I told you?".
"I should let you be the one to pull the trigger".
"Good I see you have a retentive memory, I should be on my way now Mr Montero" He said about to leave but I needed one more favor.
"Can you spare me the 20 bucks I need to get a cab? I've been walking all evening. My thighs ache so bad, there was nothing I longed for more than a hot shower and a long rest. Thomas smiled an understanding smile and handed me a hundred dollar note, he walked away before I could complete my "Thank you". Such a mysterious man.
I walked a few kilometers more before I finally highlighted a cab, I got fresh clothes from a thrift store and got rid of my slime smelling suit. I know my wife and Liam would've already heard about my accident so I know they are in for quite a shock when I reveal myself to them, as the taxi drove through the bright streets of the beautiful city my mind was tormented with the thoughts of my Petra, my heart was heavy with worry and I asked myself different questions that can't make much sense to me.
'What if Skyler had gotten to her before she came for you?' A voice said.
'Eva would not let anything happen to Petra' I retorted at the voice in my head.
'You know the truth Alex don't try to hide it, we both know if something had happened you wouldn't be there in time to stop it' The voice snickered back.
'That's not true!'.
'Oh it is very true, just look at Emily's case for example if that had been Petra-'.
"I WOULD HAVE SAVED HER!!" I shouted aloud in the back seat of the cab, scaring the cab driver with such a sudden outburst, I apologized for my manners and resumed drifting in my thoughts. Yes I would have saved her then and I am going to protect her now my darling Petra.