Lucas's heart raced as he saw Samuel standing at his door, but he steeled himself, knowing that panicking would only make things worse. He managed a calm demeanor, greeting the police officers politely and inquiring about the purpose of their visit. Samuel, with an air of authority, turned to Lea for confirmation. When she nodded, identifying Lucas as the man she had mentioned, Samuel stepped forward to ask, “Did you see this woman and the man she was with yesterday? And why were you following them?”

  Feigning confusion, Lucas furrowed his brow and replied, “Following them? I think there’s a misunderstanding. I was just out for my evening walk, like I usually am. I didn’t follow anyone.” He paused, his tone calm yet firm. “If I did see anyone, it must’ve been a coincidence.”

  Samuel pressed further, asking if Lucas could recall seeing Lea and Marcus specifically. Lucas, maintaining his composure, admitted, “Well, now that you mention it, I might’ve seen a couple walking ahead of me, but I wasn’t paying much attention.” His calculated response left Lea stunned. Instead of denying her claim, Lucas cleverly shifted the narrative to align with her story—on his terms.

  Lea’s frustration began to show as she scrambled to regain control of the situation. Her nervousness was evident as she exclaimed, “He’s lying! He was following us, I’m sure of it! Just look at the way he’s acting—so different, so suspicious!”

  Sensing her unease, she added, almost pleadingly, “Please, check his house or the garage. I’m telling you, there’s something wrong here.”

  However, Samuel shook his head slightly, explaining that they couldn’t conduct a search without evidence or a warrant. For now, the conversation remained at an impasse. After a few more questions and finding no immediate cause for suspicion, Samuel and the other officers decided to leave, taking Lea with them.

  As the other officers made their way back to the car, Samuel lingered for a moment. He fixed Lucas with a piercing stare, stepping closer before saying in a low, measured tone, “You may have outsmarted me before, Lucas, but don’t think for a second that this is over. If I find even the slightest hint of wrongdoing, it’s going to cost you.”

  Lucas stood frozen, the warning slicing through his attempt at composure. For a moment, their eyes locked in a silent battle of wills before Samuel finally turned and walked away.

  As Samuel approached the police car, something caught his attention. His gaze drifted to Lucas’s garage. The smooth surface of the newly poured concrete floor stood out in stark contrast to the weathered surroundings. The sharp lines and the lack of wear were hard to miss. It was unmistakably fresh work. Samuel paused, narrowing his eyes as he studied it for a moment. Though he said nothing, the suspicion in his expression was evident.

  Turning back briefly, he gave Lucas one last scrutinizing look, a silent message of doubt, before continuing to the car. Lucas, noticing Samuel’s hesitation and lingering stare, felt his pulse quicken. Even as the police car disappeared into the distance, Lucas couldn’t shake the weight of Samuel’s suspicion.

  Standing alone in the quiet night, he exhaled deeply, trying to find calm. Yet Samuel’s warning and his attention to the garage loomed heavily in Lucas’s mind. He had avoided trouble for now, but the cracks in his cover-up were beginning to show.

  As the police car headed back toward the hotel, Lea sat quietly in the backseat with Samuel, her posture tense, eyes darting between the officers. Samuel glanced at her. Trying to project calmness, he reassured her, “We’ll do our best to find Marcus. Get some rest tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll piece everything together.”

  Lea nodded but said nothing, her fingers fidgeting nervously in her lap. Samuel’s mind churned with suspicion. Lea’s constant deflection and her peculiar fixation on Lucas raised questions he couldn’t ignore. Deciding to probe further, he casually asked, “By the way, did you notice anything unusual about Lucas’s house or the area around it?”

  Lea hesitated, her face momentarily betraying her thoughts before she spoke. “Well… now that you mention it, the garage floor seemed... different. Like it had been worked on recently.”

  Samuel gave a slight, knowing smile but said nothing. He merely nodded and shifted his focus back to the road. Lea couldn’t tell if her words had helped or hurt her position, but Samuel’s reaction unsettled her.

  When they arrived at the hotel, Samuel stepped out first, holding the door open for Lea. “We’ll be in touch soon. In the meantime, stay safe and let us know if anything comes to mind.” Lea muttered her thanks and hurried inside, glancing back briefly at Samuel, who stood watching her retreat with an unreadable expression.

  Returning to the car, Samuel turned to his fellow officer. “Check her background. Something’s not adding up with her story. She’s gone from claiming she barely noticed Lucas to practically giving us clues about his garage. I don’t trust her.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The officer nodded, scribbling notes. “And Lucas?”

  Samuel’s jaw tightened as he recalled the newly finished garage floor. “We’ll dig deeper there too. First thing in the morning, get someone to talk to the workers who handled that project. Let’s find out what Lucas is hiding.”

  As they drove off, Samuel’s mind raced. Lea and Lucas—two puzzle pieces that didn’t fit. Her strange behavior, paired with Lucas’s careful deflection, suggested they were both hiding something. He was sure now: this wasn’t just a simple missing person’s case.

  Lucas and Lea were both acutely aware of the trouble they were in. For Lucas, the tension was palpable. Seeing Samuel again had reminded him of their unresolved history, and it was clear that the detective’s suspicions were firmly fixed on him. As for Lea, the weight of her mistake in the car—the slip that revealed too much about the garage—gnawed at her. Samuel’s pointed reactions and careful questioning had left her uneasy. Both spent a sleepless night, each grappling with their spiraling thoughts and the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

  The sun was just beginning to rise, painting the horizon with streaks of gold and orange. Birds chirped softly in the cool morning air, and a gentle breeze carried the promise of a new day. The first rays of light crept through the eastern sky, casting a tranquil glow over the city. It was a beautiful morning, but for Lucas and Lea, the serenity was lost.

  Lucas lay in his bed, half-asleep, his mind a storm of anxiety. The events of the previous day looped endlessly in his head—Samuel’s presence, the workers, the garage. Every thought felt like a new layer of pressure weighing him down. He stared at the ceiling, torn between exhaustion and dread.

  Meanwhile, Lea had left the confines of her hotel room. She sat in a small park nearby, her hands clasped tightly in her lap as she tried to steady herself. The peaceful surroundings—the rustling leaves, the soft hues of dawn—did little to calm the turmoil inside her. She replayed her interaction with Samuel, regretting every word she had said. She knew she had slipped up and likely made herself a target of suspicion. Her breaths came in slow, measured intervals as she struggled to piece together her next move.

  While Lucas and Lea wrestled with their thoughts, Samuel and his team were already on the move. By 7 a.m., the officers had tracked down the workers who had recently completed the garage construction. Wasting no time, they began their questioning. The workers described Lucas’s urgency—how he had pushed them to bring in extra hands to complete the job within hours. One of them noted that Lucas’s behavior had seemed odd, almost frantic.

  When asked if anything unusual had stood out, another worker mentioned a patch of loosened mud on the garage floor, as though someone had recently dug there. The officers carefully noted every detail. Samuel listened intently, piecing the information together. It confirmed his growing suspicions about Lucas, but another loose thread nagged at him.

  Before making any direct moves against Lucas, Samuel decided to revisit Lea. Her earlier comments about the garage had been telling, but they also raised questions about her involvement. He instructed one of his officers to dig into Lea’s background, wanting to know more about her connection to Marcus and Lucas. The morning’s investigation was just beginning, and Samuel was determined to uncover the truth.

  Lea was sitting in a park nearby hotel, suddenly, she noticed Samuel and his officers walking toward her. Her heart skipped a beat as they approached. Samuel’s sharp gaze locked onto hers, and she instinctively knew there was no escape.

  Without preamble, Samuel started, his voice steady yet pressing, “Lea, we need to know everything. No more half-truths, no more omissions. You’ve been holding back, and it’s time you came clean.”

  Lea shifted uncomfortably, her nervous energy betraying her attempt to appear composed. “I’ve told you everything I know,” she murmured, her voice trembling.

  Samuel’s piercing eyes didn’t waver. “If you barely know Lucas, how did you know so much about his garage? And why did you single him out so quickly in this case?” He leaned in slightly. “You claim to have just met him, yet you spoke with such certainty about his property. How does that add up?”

  Lea stammered, her mind racing for an explanation. “I—I must have noticed it while walking past... you know, when Marcus and I went on a walk that evening.” She avoided Samuel’s gaze, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her coat. “Maybe something about it just... stuck in my mind.”

  As Samuel continued questioning Lea in the park, her nerves became increasingly apparent. Her usual composure was replaced by furtive glances and trembling hands. Samuel's tone grew more pointed, his suspicions sharpening with every vague or evasive response Leah offered. Just as Lea began to concoct another carefully calculated answer, one of the officers interrupted, informing Samuel that Marcus's brother, Luke, had arrived.

  The announcement visibly startled Lea. Her eyes widened, and a flicker of panic crossed her face before she quickly tried to mask it. But Samuel noticed. He noticed everything. He gestured for Luke to be brought over.

  Lea froze when she saw Luke. It was as though the ground beneath her had disappeared. She straightened herself and attempted to regain composure, but her shoulders betrayed a nervous tension. Luke, a man in his late 30s with a demeanor both weary and resolute, approached with an air of purpose. His gaze landed on Leah, and his jaw tightened.

  “Lea,” Luke said curtly, his voice edged with restrained anger. His eyes, filled with suspicion, bore into her as though searching for the truth she was so desperately trying to conceal.

  Samuel wasted no time. “Luke, we appreciate you coming in. We need to ask you some questions about Marcus and Leah’s relationship. Anything you can share might help us piece this together.”

  Luke nodded. “I’ll tell you whatever I know. Marcus...he wasn’t happy lately. He told me things were tense at home. He mentioned...well, he suspected Lea was seeing someone else.”

  Lea’s face turned pale, her carefully crafted mask beginning to crack. “That’s not true,” she stammered, though her voice lacked conviction.

  Luke’s expression hardened. “Don’t lie, Lea. Marcus told me enough to know something wasn’t right. He didn’t deserve this. If you cared about him at all, you’ll tell the truth.”

  Samuel seized the moment. “Lea, if you have nothing to hide, then you won’t mind answering a few more questions. Who is this lover Marcus’s brother is referring to?”

  Lea hesitated. She could feel the walls closing in, but she knew denying it outright would only make things worse. Taking a deep breath, she replied, “His name is Mike. But he has nothing to do with Marcus’s disappearance. I don’t even see him that often.”

  “Where is he now?” Samuel pressed, his tone sharper now. “And don’t try to protect him. If he’s involved, we need to know.”

  Lea hesitated again, her mind racing. She needed to protect Mike without making herself look more suspicious. “He’s...he’s in another state. I don’t know exactly where. We don’t stay in touch regularly.”

  “Do you have a photograph of him?” Samuel asked.

  “No,” Lea lied smoothly. “We’ve kept things discreet. There’s nothing to show.”

  Samuel wasn’t convinced, but he decided to focus on the more immediate lead: the garage. “Fine. For now, we’ll leave it at that. But we’ll need more details soon. Officer,” he said, turning to his colleague, “let’s prep to head to Lucas’s place. Bring Lea and Luke along.”

  As Lea sat in the back of the police vehicle, her hands folded neatly in her lap. The tension that had gripped her earlier seemed to dissipate as the car rolled closer to Lucas’s home. While Samuel and the officers exchanged notes in hushed tones up front, Leah allowed herself a moment of quiet satisfaction.

  She had been careful in her responses about Mike, giving just enough detail to seem cooperative without exposing any real connection between him and the hotel. But the garage—that was Lucas’s problem. She was confident that whatever secrets lay buried there, they would point the investigation directly toward him.

  To be continue...