Chapter 41 Has the surveillance been discovered?

So, it was just past nine in the evening when Patrick, fresh outta the shower, strolled back into his dorm. The phone started ringing, and he was kinda shocked to see George's name pop up. His eyebrows shot up in curiosity.

Oscar, who was chillin' on the bed with a book, noticed Patrick's reaction and asked, "Yo, who's that?"

By now, Oscar and Patrick were tight, almost like brothers.

"It's Captain Stone," Patrick said, grinning.

Hearing it was George, Oscar put his book down and sat up. Captain Stone's return had everyone buzzing with curiosity.

"Ask him how it went," Oscar urged.

Patrick nodded and picked up the call. "Captain Stone?"

"Yeah," George replied. "What took you so long to answer?"

"Just got outta the shower and came back... So, I can't even pick up a little later?"

"No, I didn't mean that," George hesitated, glancing at the low cabinet.

"Just messin' with ya, don't sweat it. By the way, shouldn't you be home by now? How come you got time to call me?" Patrick said, shooting a look at Oscar and smirking.

Oscar tried to stifle his laughter, covering his mouth.

"I just wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead."

"Uh... so, during that time, it got really swollen from being too intense. What kinda medicine should I use for that?"

At first, Patrick was like, "Huh?" But then he got it and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha - no way - hahaha - didn't see that coming - hahaha -"

Oscar, seeing Patrick crack up, got even more curious. He gave Patrick a puzzled look, silently asking, "What's up?"

Patrick shook his head, signaling he'd spill the tea later, and kept teasing on the phone, "So, Captain Stone, it's not even ten yet. Isn't it a bit early for you to do that?"

George, who had finally asked his question, heard Patrick's laughter and went quiet for a sec. "I gotta approve your leave request before you can report it," he said.

"Uh—" Patrick was caught off guard.

"Can you answer my question now?"

"Okay, fine, you win."

After telling George what medicine to get, Patrick plopped down next to Oscar, clearly ready to dish out the gossip as soon as he hung up.

George made a note of it but didn't hang up right away. Instead, he moved away from the bed, talking as he walked out of the room, "By the way, how's everything over there?"

"It's okay..."
He wandered into the living room and plopped down on the sofa. After tossing out some basic, kinda leading questions about the excavation, Patrick felt a bit off but still gave George the lowdown on the past couple of days.

The call ended, and it seemed like even if Ellie was asleep, he was purposely dodging her.

Holding his phone, he headed back to the room, killed the lights, and flopped down on the bed. He stared at the low cabinet for a bit before finally closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around Ellie's soft body. It was hot, but he still wanted to hold her...

Meanwhile, Isaac wrapped up his training at nine. He knew Ellie didn't show up, so she must've gone home with George, who had just gotten back.

Rushing back to his place, Isaac went straight to his room to check the surveillance footage. But he found that while the living room feed was fine, the bedroom was a different story. It wasn't just dim or blurry after the lights went out; it looked like something was physically blocking the view.

Could it be that the surveillance had been discovered?!

He frowned and rewound the footage, quickly figuring out what went wrong.
It all started when George, drunk off his ass, fell while giving Ellie a gift. He hit the low cabinet, blocking the surveillance camera hidden in the wall socket. It all seemed so natural, yet weirdly coincidental, like it was staged. Isaac's usually sharp instincts were screaming at him.

He lit a cigarette, replaying the footage over and over. In the end, he decided to trust his gut over his instincts. Because... he knew George too well.

George wasn't a drinker, and his tolerance was laughable. After missions, when everyone else was knocking back drinks, George would be tipsy after one, drunk after two, and out cold after three.

And as for his personality, Isaac knew it inside out. He knew he wouldn't fool someone in the bathroom unless he was really drunk.

Watching George carry Ellie out, Isaac knew how rough he had been with her inside. George was always disciplined; there was no way he could've transformed Ellie like that.

Isaac stubbed out his cigarette and stretched lazily, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

Initially, to avoid drawing attention, he only set up surveillance in the living room and bedroom, where they spent most of their time. But now, he figured it was time to add one more...