51.
October 4th, 2020
“The main fuse has been powered off,” Ross said. His voice cut through the otherwise thick silence around the seven of us.
“How do you know that?” Shane asked.
Ross pointed at the touchpad next to the studio gate. “The lights on this aren’t on.” He turned and handed a pair of keys to Dylan. “Go open the meter box and pull up the orange fuse.”
Both Conner and Dylan ran towards the back of the studio.
“Does Martin have a set of these keys?” Kenneth asked Ross.
“He does,” Kenzie answered. “I’ve seen him with them before.”
“She’s right,” Ross said. “Martin is one of the supervisors, so he does have a copy of each set of keys.”
We’d all gathered outside the studio just a couple minutes ago, and even though anger and worry were on the forefront of my mind, there was also dread chilling my veins. The expression on everyone’s faces matched the feeling in my gut: fear and shock. Fear because when we’d called out Zaira’s name multiple times, she hadn’t responded to us. Shock because it was so hard to come to terms with what Aubrey had done.
The roar of an engine turned our attention towards the studio’s entry gates. A slick grey Lamborghini Aventador breezed in and stopped right next to my car. The door opened, and Ronen, dressed in a black dress shirt and pants, stepped outside before striding over to us with purpose. His vibrant green eyes scanned the area, and then landed on me as he stopped in front of me.
“Tell me everything,” he said, and then folded his arms over his chest.
So, I did. And once I was done, only then did he introduce himself and shake hands with everyone.
I’d met Ronen through Shane. The former was my manager’s best friend’s son, which is why he’d come to be a solid advisor and help to me, especially after he’d started his own firm three years ago. Ronen wasn’t one for small-talk or heart-to-heart, and it was his ruthless dedication towards his profession that had made him this successful at the age of thirty-four.
He worked differently, that guy. He liked to investigate things on-ground – all by himself – before signing on clients or agreeing to give his suggestion on something serious. He was a deadly combination of Arthur Kirkland and Sherlock Holmes, and even the men and women in uniform thought twice before trying to hold him back when he was in work-mode.
Ronen looked around once more, and then pointed at something above Shane’s head. “I need a copy of the CCTV footage in my office by 10a.m.,” he said, addressing his words to Ross, who nodded without hesitation.
He looked at me again. “Can I see the message Zaira sent you?”
“Yeah, of course.” I gave him my phone.
Dylan and Conner rounded the corner and handed the keys to Ross.
“The fuse has been turned on,” Dylan said.
Ronen whipped his head up. “The electricity wasn’t up?” he asked Dylan.
“Nope. Aubrey had shut everything down,” Conner answered.
Ronen looked at Ross. “Then the cameras must’ve been turned off, too.”
Ross shook his head. “Not really. The ones here are battery-operated, so they’re still on.”
Ronen nodded. “Perfect.” He stared at my phone for a while, and then looked at me. “Email me a screenshot of this, will you?” He handed my phone back to me.
“I will.” I pocketed my phone. “Can we please open the door now? Zaira’s in there,” I said, and cleared my throat when my voice cracked a little.
With another nod, Ross walked over to the touchpad and quickly pressed in the code. The massive shutter began rolling up, and once there was enough space for me to pass through, I ran in without a second thought.
It felt like one minute I was breathing too fast, and the next, my chest contracted and refused to let me exhale.
Boom, pause,boom, pause.
Boom-boom, pause.
