TWO WEEKS LATER

ALEKS

As part of the new securities we had taken, Malarkee had advised Atlas that it would be best if we moved out of the huge island and to a smaller and more manageable property in terms of both the cleaning and the security since we needed to minimize Atlas’ contact with everyone until he was safe. Since firing all the worker who worked on the island would have raised alarm among the citizens and it was almost impossible to do a thorough sweep of the entire island daily, we decided that it was indeed best if we all moved into a single place together, and that place ended up being a detached three-story mansion that belonged to Atlas and was situated right at the edge of town. It was still a mansion by most people’s standards, but compared to the island; it was mediocre at best. Security was much more manageable there and I can’t deny that living with Leukas and seeing him on a daily basis was an added bonus. For the kids, obviously. Because Leukas was just my friend; my engaged friend at that and I was only attached to him in a friendly way.

The house boasted eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, four receiving rooms, a dining room, a large industrial-sized kitchen, a large conservatory and a triple garage. The outdoor area had a neat, well-maintained yard with a healthy lawn, some shrubs and neat bushes. There was also a barbecue grill, a vegetable garden, some outdoor furniture, a fire-pit, a basketball court and a large pool right at the very center. Everyone had settled into the new home with ease and I was quite surprised when Leukas neither questioned nor made a fuss about the move. But Leukas really wasn’t one to make a fuss and I was beginning to think that Leukas, for whatever reason, wanted to distance himself from any politics that happened in Abattohn and he shared Jason’s thoughts that he be left out of them. A part of me wanted to wonder why but I quickly snuffed that part out. My friendship with Leukas was turbulent and tense enough as was, the last thing we needed was my nosiness in the mix. I had no right to Leukas’ thoughts and his past that had caused a wedge with the family he obviously loved. That was Fletcher’s job now.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

A niggling voice in my head constantly pointed out that when we had reviewed the tapes of the night of the poisoning, Fletcher had disappeared only minutes before Atlas and I had been trapped. It pointed out that the very day she’d mysteriously appeared from wherever she had been, disaster had struck. And since she had been back, she had never done much to hide her disdain of me when we were alone but she smiled at me when everyone else was watching. She was like a snake; the kind of snake that saw as some kind of threat to her plans to marry the man she looked at with intense need, longing, devotion and love. A man who clearly did not love him in return. She was exactly the kind of woman who would lure me in with a false text and set a feral wolf onto me so that I would be shred to pieces. His parents, who were also part of the Abattohn council and on Jason’s list of suspects would benefit from Atlas’ disgrace.

But I had no proof. And everyone, even Atlas albeit reluctantly, swore by her character. Apparently she was a good woman who wouldn’t harm a fly. She was sweet, kind and a diplomat in the Azzurian council; a pacifist. There was apparently no way she could be involved. The truth was I had no real evidence except circumstantial one and my gut which was also riddled with jealousy at her status as the future Mrs Hyades. My gut which clenched in envy when she appeared on television with Leukas at her side. My gut which recognized that even if he didn’t love her yet, he was willing to tie himself to her for the foreseeable end. It was clear to me that I lacked objectivity when it came to her but I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were constantly letting the enemy into our home.