Chapter 21
“My boyfriend’s name is Thaddeus.”
The words sounded surreal. The man standing before me was a carbon copy of Wesley–the same chiseled jawline, the same piercing eyes, the same self–assured posture. Yet, he wasn’t Wesley.
“Who do you think you’re fooling?” I snapped, fixing him with a glare sharp enough to cut steel.
He held my gaze, his expression calm, his voice measured and startlingly even. “I’m not trying to fool anyone. My name is Thaddeus. I don’t know who this Wesley is, but clearly, you’ve got the wrong guy.”
“Impossible,” I spat, every nerve in my body
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thrumming with tension. My fists quivered at my sides.
He sighed deeply, slipping a hand into his back pocket. A moment later, he pulled out a wallet, extracted an ID, and handed it to me.
I snatched the card, scanning it with trembling hands.
The name read: THADDEUS CROWE.
I stared at it, my heart pounding like a warning drum. The picture was him–the man before me. The address on the card was foreign, far from here. Tourist information confirmed it. He was apparently traveling with the wide–eyed woman who hovered near him, shifting nervously from foot to foot.
“This has to be a joke,” I muttered under my breath, shaking my head as adrenaline
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45 Points
coursed through me. “You’re hiding something.”
“Look,” Thaddeus said, his tone soft but resolute. “I honestly don’t know Wesley. I’m sorry for upsetting you, but I promise- you’ve got the wrong person. Marissa and I are just here on vacation. That’s all.”
The woman beside him, Marissa, nodded quickly. “We’ve never been here before” she added in a rush, looking between us. Her voice carried an edge of nervousness. “Maybe you’re confusing us with someone else… I don’t know why you’re so upset, but ! think it’s all just a misunderstanding.”
I wanted to scream, to rip the truth out of him, but the pieces in my mind refused to fit together. How could this man look exactly like Wesley and still claim not to know him?
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+ 5 Points
And then, with a quiet voice, Thaddeus said something that made the world tilt on its axis.
“I
grew up in an orphanage,” he admitted, his rigid stance softening just slightly. “I don’t know much about my family. Maybe there’s… something? But if there is, I don’t have the answers you’re after.”
My breath caught. Something clicked. Twins.
“Wesley never mentioned a twin,” I murmured to myself, the words barely audible, but the thought now relentlessly loud in my head.
I staggered back a step, grasping for composure. “Stay here,” I said quickly, fumbling for my phone. “I need to call Wesley. This has to be a mistake. He’ll explain everything.”
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Chapter 21
+ 5 Points
Shakily, I dialed Wesley’s number, every breath holding the weight of desperation. The phone rang once. Twice. And then- voicemail.
“No,” I said aloud, dialing again, my thumb jabbing at the buttons harder this time. Once more, it went to voicemail.
I lowered my phone, my frustration boiling over. My eyes flicked back to Thaddeus and Marissa.
“You need to wait,” I said, my voice tight with restrained urgency. “When Wesley sees you, he’ll clear this up. Somehow this all makes sense, I just… I need him here.”
Thaddeus exchanged a glance with Marissa before letting out a resigned sigh. “Fine,” he said. “But make it quick. We’ve got plans.”
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+5 Points
I hurried past them, heart hammering in chaos, dialing Wesley’s number again and again as I left the building.
“Pick up,” I whispered furiously under my breath. “Please, pick up.”
When I reached my car, his phone was still going straight to voicemail. The unease festering in my chest deepened by the second. Was he avoiding me? Or was something wrong?
I drove home, gripping the steering wheel tightly, my mind racing with possibilities so dark I could hardly breathe.
The moment I pulled into the driveway, the household staff rushed to greet me, their faces pale and strained with something unreadable.
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“Where’s Wesley?” I demanded before they could speak, stepping out of the car like a storm about to break.
There was a long pause, and then one of the staff members hesitated. “He left a few hours ago,” she said, her voice just above. a whisper. “He went out with some men to follow a lead… on Delilah’s hideout.”
Her words slammed into me like a freight
train.
“What?” I barely managed to choke out. My voice trembled–not with anger, but with pure, raw fear.
“We thought he told you,” another staff member interjected timidly. “He left in a rush. None of us have heard from him since.”
I clutched my chest, willing my heart to
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slow down, but the panic only spread faster. “Where exactly did he go? What kind of lead?”
They exchanged uneasy looks, their silence enough to confirm how little anyone knew. Finally, one said hesitantly, “We’re not sure. He didn’t leave many details…”
My legs buckled, seeing my worst fears reflected in their worried faces. Wesley was chasing after Delilah–the woman who had been orchestrating attacks and sending threats.
And now… now he was missing.
I tried calling him again. No answer. The ringing seemed to mock me until it inevitably switched to voicemail.
“Damn it,” I hissed, clutching the phone like it
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could somehow force him to respond.
Minutes turned to hours. The staff bustled around, their attempts at reassurance thinly veiled behind their increasingly anxious expressions. I didn’t sit down. I couldn’t.
I wore a track into the living room floor, pacing aimlessly, unable to still my frantic thoughts.
Finally, one of the staff members entered the room, his face pale as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Ma’am,” he began hesitantly, “we’ve just received word. Wesley… he’s missing.”
A thunderous silence filled the room.
“What do you mean, missing?” I demanded, my voice suddenly sharp, brittle.
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+ 5 Points
He swallowed hard. “The men he went with… they haven’t reported back. No one’s been able to reach them.”
The air was instantly sucked from my lungs. My knees nearly gave out as the weight of his words settled over me.
Panic consumed me, blackening every corner of my mind. Losing Wesley–losing him like this–was an unthinkable reality.
I clenched the phone in my trembling hand and hissed through gritted teeth, “Find him. I don’t care what it takes–just find him.”
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