Chapter 15 Gabriel #2
“Oh my god,” Sophia said with a wince.
The man laughed, then came back into the hall and addressed the camera.
“Sorry about this next part, Gabe,” he said blankly before returning to my office.
With a grunt, he flipped my desk. The sound of it crashing to the ground was mixed with static as the video feed shook.
He moved onto my bookshelf and pulled everything down.
He wasn't looking for anything now, just destroying. I couldn’t see what he did next, but the results were in front of me.
The cushions on a chair in the corner were cut open, the carpet ripped up in random areas.
I was still watching, trying to see if he did anything else, when Sophia slumped to the ground, sobbing with her face in her hands.
I paused the video and looked at her. I was about to console her but heard voices in the hall, coming toward my office.
As quickly as possible, I began deleting every video from last night. A knock echoed from the door.
“Sir, are you in there?”
I clicked the delete button relentlessly on the last video, as if that would make it delete faster.
“Dammit” I said under my breath before slamming the laptop closed.
I slipped out of my chair and positioned myself down by Sophia, patting her back as the cops entered.
I looked up at them with forced sorrow and weakness in my eyes.
The officers looked surprised to see Sophia huddled on the floor, her body heaving with sobs. One of them stooped down, offering a hand to help her up. She didn't take it. Instead, she shot me a glare through her tear-streaked face before standing up on her own.
"Sophia," I started, but she cut me off with a wave of her hands.
She pushed past me and walked out of the office.
I watched her retreat, her sobs growing louder as she made her way down the dark hallway.
I wanted to follow her, to fix this, but the cops were expecting me to turn around and talk to them.
One of them was taking pictures of the cut-up chair and the papers on the floor while the other approached me.
“So did you make a copy of the footage? Did you see anyone recognizable?”
“No, there was no footage from last night. It looks like the cameras haven’t been recording for days,” I lied, forcing my voice to stumble with feigned anxiety.
The cop taking pictures took an interest in the conversation and walked over.
They looked at each other like they suspected the intruder was somehow responsible for the missing footage.
“That’s not a good sign, but if it was deleted, our forensic people should be able to recover it.
Could we take your server for a few days? ” the second cop asked.
I waved a dismissive hand and began my next lie.
“I think it would be pointless. I know why there's no footage.” I sat down, looking distant while shaking my head. “Our IT Guy left a couple of weeks ago. We’ve been looking for a new one, but haven’t had any luck.
The cameras weren’t recording because he wasn’t here to maintain the system. ”
“Talk about bad timing,” one cop said to the other before responding to something unintelligible over his radio.
“Well, you probably know this, but without anything to go on, we won’t be able to look into this any further.
Give us a list of what you find is missing and we’ll keep our eyes out, but don’t expect much. ”
“You’re just giving up?” I asked, feeding them the line they expected.
The other officer looked a little sympathetic but mostly just tired. “Look, we understand how you feel, how everyone here feels, but the fact is, there is very little to go on. We will keep this case open, but I just want to set up a realistic expectation for you.”
“I understand.” I reached out to shake their hands before they turned to leave. “Thank you for your service.” Fucking pig
“Thank you for your support,” one of them said without turning. I watched from the window as the last cop car drove away. I sat back at my desk and saw the whiskey bottle on its side, half-spilled. I reached for it, then stopped at the sound of a harsh voice in the doorway.
“Gabe,” she said accusingly.
I stood and faced Sophia, forgetting the bottle.
She walked past me toward the window and stared into the distance.
I reached out my arms and hugged her from behind, relieved when I felt her hands on top of mine over her stomach.
Then her grip tightened and ripped my hands off of her.
I took a step back in surprise. Before I could say anything, she whipped around, staring daggers into me.
Her face was wet from tears, but her sadness had passed.
Only anger remained, twisting on her face as it fought for dominance over fear.
"That man. He knew you, and I think you know him. No, I know you know him. He called you fucking Gabe.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off before I could. “Don't even try to lie about this." Her eyes burned with anger as I walked toward her, arms outstretched.
“It’s alright,” I said casually.
“No.” She slapped my arm, but I held her anyway. She unleashed a torrent of slaps, which painlessly hit my arms, chest, shoulders. I gripped her tighter.
“Enough, stop.” I said calmly. Her soft little hands continued padding against my hard muscles, then her hand bounced off my shoulder and grazed my face.
“I said enough!” I shouted without meaning to.
She retreated into herself, trembling. Her legs gave out as she covered her face with her hands, but I held her and lowered her to the ground, then put my forehead against hers. ”We have nothing to worry about. Just trust me, I’ll take care of this.”
"But we do,” she cried out, reeling back away from me “I knew this would happen.
I knew it." Her accusation hung in the air like a thick fog, hot and suffocating.
The morning sun streamed into my ruined office, the chaotic aftermath glinting a harsh reality.
She wasn't wrong, she did predict this after all, if was being honest.
“Sophia, listen, I know this seems bad—"
“Seems bad?” she said before burying her face in her hands again.
“Just listen. You have to trust me to take care of this. In a few weeks, this will just be a bad memory with no weight to it.”
Her lip quivered, and another tear streamed down her face. She wiped it away and stared at me like I was an idiot. “What the fuck does that even mean?”
I sighed as her face twisted into expressions I never wanted to see: resentment, sadness, weakness, hatred. She wiped another tear, then stared at me as if I betrayed her somehow.
“Look, I don’t know who did this. Obviously, you do. So are you going to tell me what’s going on or not? Was this because of the fucking money we stole?”
My eyes darted toward the open door, down the long empty hallway. “Be quiet” I said through clenched teeth as I ran a hand through my hair. “First of all, we didn’t steal any money. But no, it’s not because of that. The man in the video footage, that was my brother, Damien.”
She stood and backed away from me. Shaking her head in confused anger. “I can’t handle this right now. I’m going to Emma’s house.”
“Sophia.” I took a step toward her and grabbed her wrist. She ripped it away.
“Don’t. Don’t follow me.”
I watched her walk down the long dark hallway again, but this time, she didn’t cry.