CHAPTER 16: WRONG FOOTAGE

GINA POV

“Video footage from the night that Andreas Castellano was murdered.” Gavin replies. “How did you get this?” Marcus asks him. “Pavlo had asked me to hack into your dad’s security camera feed. I managed to find the footage from those two particular dates that you saw on the fake social media video and I got the real footage.” Gavin says.

“That’s great! Maybe now we can prove that I didn’t kill my dad.” Marcus says enthusiastically. “There’s just one problem though.” Gavin says. “What’s that?” I ask him. “The footage isn’t clear enough. We can’t see who murdered Andreas Castellano. But I’ll continue to look through the footage from the day before the attack happened.” Gavin replies. “Okay I’ll take a look at these in the meantime. Maybe I can figure out what happened there.” I say. “I’ll let you know if I find anything else.” Gavin says. We say goodbye to him and then he leaves. Marcus and I go back inside his house.

“Where are you staying?” Marcus asks me. “I’m staying at the Freemont Hotel but I think tonight I’ll stay here with you just in case those assholes come back here.” I reply. Marcus’s face lights up with a smile and it looks like his eyes are sparkling. He obviously loves this idea that I decided to stay here for the night.

“You don’t know how glad that makes me.” Marcus says as he pulls me into his arms. “But it’s alright if you want to take the spare bedroom upstairs. It has its own bathroom and everything. I won’t mind. If you don’t have any pajamas then I can lend some to sleep in.” Marcus says. ““That would be great. I do have extra clothes in the car but I don’t have something to sleep in.” I say. “I’ll lend you some.” Marcus says.

“Marcus what happened to your dad’s estate?” I ask him. “Dad left it to me in his will. I don’t really go there anymore but I do have a caretaker that looks after the place.” Marcus says. “Who? Is it Mr, Benson?” I ask. Mr. Benson was Marcus’s family’s butler. He used to greet me with a smile every time I went there. “Yes. He knows the place better then everyone.” Marcus replies.

Marcus and I talk for a while. He tells me that his mom did get some money from their divorce but she spent it all real fast. “The last time that I talked to my dad over the phone, he told me that my mom had called him and asked him for money again. My dad didn’t give her anything though. He said that the amount he gave her is what she was legally entitled too.” Marcus says.
“And what did your mom do? Do you know?” I ask. “No. Like I said I haven’t seen or talked to my mom since they got divorced.” Marcus says. “I wonder why. I mean she’s your mom. She should have been there for you. Even now she should be here for you.” I say.

“You know how Veronica. She was only with my dad for his money. She never cared about me.” Marcus says.

“Yeah she didn’t like me a lot either.” I say. “Do you want to know why?” Marcus says. “Why?” I ask. “Because you’re nothing like her. Did you know that she tried to hook me up with April?” Marcus says. “No I didn’t. When did she try to do that?” I ask. “She told me the day that you got that fake photo of me and April. She was the one that gave April that idea. She wanted to break us up.” Marcus says.

“I should have known. Did you know that she came onto my dad?” I say. “What? When?” Marcus asks me. “He told me when I was thirteen. She tried to sleep with him so he threatened her. He said that he knew what she was doing behind your dad’s back and he said that she should leave him alone or else he would tell your dad everything. So she baked off.” I say.

“Maybe he did tell my dad. My dad had Veronica investigated. I think your parents gathered all of the information.” Marcus says.

That got me thinking. Veronica didn’t get any more money out of Andreas Castellano and that could be a motive to have him killed. That bitch is now the first suspect on my list. I have to find her and see what she has been up to the last few years.

“Why don’t you put this in the dvd player while I go and fetch my car?” I ask him as I hand him one of the discs that Gavin gave us. “Sure.” Marcus says as he takes the disc from me. “I’ll be back in five minutes.” I say as I take my keys out of my pocket before I run out of the front door. I parked my car two houses away from where Marcus’s house is.

As I approach my car I see a figure standing right next to my car. I can’t see who it is because it’s dark so I take out my phone to use the flashlight. The figure disappears as soon as I switch the flashlight on. “Okay then.” I say as I switch the flashlight off and put the phone back into my pocket. I get into my car and I drive back to Marcus’s house. I then unload my travel suitcase from the trunk and I also take all of my files that I have in the backseat with me. As I walk into Marcus’s house, I see him in the living room waiting for me but he isn’t alone. There is a figure sitting right next to him. I notice that it’s the same blurry figure from the other night. The figure tries to touch Marcus’s arm but it can’t and instead it goes right through him.

Marcus looks up at me. “Hey babe. Let me help you with those.” Marcus says as he gets up from the couch. “You can take this to the room.” I say as I give him my travel suitcase. He takes the case from me before walking down the hall. I wait until he goes up the stairs before I turn to the figure that is still sitting in the living room.

“Was it you that was standing by my car earlier?” I ask him. The figure knocks a photo of Marcus and his dad of from the table that is next to the couch. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” I say as I put the photo back. “Are you connected to Marcus?” I ask the figure. But before he can do something to answer me, Marcus comes walking back down the stairs. “Hey babe do you want something to eat?” He asks me as he walks back into the living room.

I turn around and look to where the figure was standing but it’s not there anymore. “Babe are you hungry?” Marcus asks me. “Uh yeah.” I reply. “What would you like?” Marcus asks. “Anything is fine with me sexy.” I reply. Marcus smiles at me. “Okay then. I’ll be right back.” He says before he turns around and leaves.

I make myself comfortable on the couch just as my phone rings. “Hello.” I say as I answer the phone. “Gina it’s Dax. I just wanted to let you know that we just arrived at the hotel.” Dax replies. “Okay. How’s Tatiana?” I ask him. “She’s still passed out but I’ll let you know when she wakes up.” Dax replies. “Thanks Dax. I’ll come by tomorrow.” I say.

“What’s happened to Tatiana?” Marcus asks me. I look up at him. He’s standing by the door with a tray in his hands. “Abusive ex-husband drama.” I reply. “Oh okay. I didn’t know she got married.” Marcus says as he puts the tray down on the table. “She did. To an asshole.” I reply. “Oh.” Marcus says as he pours us some drinks.

“Let’s watch the footage.” I say as Marcus hands me my drink. He takes the remote and presses the play button. Next thing I know the figure appears again and he’s standing right in front of Marcus. He tries touching Marcus’s arm again but this time Marcus gets the cold chills. “Wow. Why is it suddenly so cold in here?” Marcus asks as he rubs his arms together. “Does this happen a lot?” I ask him.

“Sometimes. Mostly I feel like there is someone watching me especially when I’m alone.” Marcus says. So this figure has been visiting him too. Some ghosts tend to make you feel cold when they are around you. People call it cold spots.

“How long has that been happening?” I ask him. “I started feeling it a few months after my dad passed away. Sometimes I think that it’s him watching over me and sometimes I think that I’m just imagining things because you know I don’t believe in ghosts.” Marcus says.

“How do you really know that ghosts don’t exist?” I ask him. “Because I’ve never seen one.” Marcus says. This is exactly why I haven’t told him that I can see ghosts. He might just think that I’m crazy. “Do you believe in ghosts?” Marcus asks me taking me out of my thoughts. “No. Ghosts are a myth aren’t they?” I lie through my teeth. “It’s okay if you do. Everybody has their own beliefs.” Marcus says. I look up at the shadowy figure and it starts moving back towards the small table that has the photo of Marcus and his dad.

Again it knocks that photo over. Marcus whips his head around. “Again. What is it with this picture falling over all the time.” Marcus says as he gets up and walks over to put the photo right. He walks back to come and sit next to me.

The shadowy figure is still standing by the small table. I get the feeling that this ghost is connected to Marcus. I look at the photo that has a smiling Marcus and Mr. Castellano at the tennis court. I remember taking that photo. It was right after we practiced tennis. It was something that we did for fun with both our dads on some weekends. Marcus and Mr. Castellano always teamed up against me and my dad.

“Babe are you ready to watch this?” Marcus asks. “Yeah you can play it from the start again.” I say. I look back to where the figure was standing and I see that it’s gone again. Marcus and I watch the footage while we eat.

“Gavin was right, we can’t see anything on this footage.” Marcus says as he sits forward with his head in his hands. Both of the discs are taken from another angle. “Not true. Look at the angle where this footage was taken from. This footage was from a different camera.” I say as I take out my phone.

I open the fake video that has been going around on social media and I show it too Marcus. “This footage on this video was taken from a different camera. Your dad had more than one camera that was facing the swimming pool.” I say. Marcus looks at my phone and then back at the tv screen. “You’re right.” Marcus says.

“I’m calling Gavin.” I say as I dial Gavin’s nr. Gavin picks up on the third ring. “Hi boss.” Gavin answers. “Gavin the footage that you gave me is not from the same camera that recorded the footage from the fake social media video. There has to be another camera facing the swimming pool.” I say. “Alright I’ll look into it.” Gavin says. “Please do.” I say before I hang up the phone.

I look back at Marcus. I see that he is balling his fists up in anger. “Babe what’s wrong?” I ask him as I take his hands. “I swear I’m going to kill those fuckers that killed my dad.” Marcus says. “No you’re not. We’re going to catch them and bring them to justice.” I say. “But those assholes don’t even deserve to go to jail.” Marcus says.

“I know but killing them won’t solve the problem. You’ll be liable for their death then. What we’re going to do tomorrow as soon as I come back from the precinct, we’re going to go through each and every one of those files and we’re going to figure everything out.”I say as I point to those files that I brought in earlier.

“Okay.” Marcus says as he wraps his arms around me. “It’s late. I think that we should get ready for bed.” Marcus says. The time is now 22:30. “Let me show you to your room.” Marcus says as he takes my hand and then leads me down the hall towards the stairs. He takes me up the stairs towards a room. “This is your room over here.” Marcus says as he points towards the second door. “This one’s mine. If you need anything then just call me okay.” Marcus says as he points to the first door.

“Okay. Goodnight.” I say. He pulls me closer to him. “Don’t I get a goodnight kiss?” He asks me making me smile at him. I lean over towards his and he does the same. He kisses me on the lips. Marcus slightly bites my lips making me open my mouth. That’s when he takes the opportunity to invade my mouth with his tongue. The kiss is sweet and after a few minutes Marcus pulls away.
“We have to stop before we take this even further. I might not be able to stop myself if you know what I mean.” Marcus says. “I agree so let’s just take things slow okay.” I say. :I just have one question though?” Marcus asks me.

“Okay?” I say. “Are you still a virgin?” Marcus asks me. The question is making me blush. “Yes I’m still a virgin.” I reply. Marcus smiles brightly at me.

“I knew that you’re going to stay pure until marriage. I remember we talked about that when we were younger.” Marcus says.

“I promised my dad that I would stay a virgin until I was married and you know that I never break a promise.”