Chapter 387 - Dreams (1/2)

That night, he slept fitfully, as usual. But this time, the nightmare warped brutally. The pool of blood and two bodies lying in the fast-clotting blood were still present, but this time, the woman was Amy. He awoke with a paralyzed scream, drenched in his own sweat.

Once he had regained control of his erratic breathing, he reached blindly for his phone. It was always set on the little oak bedside stool every night before he dropped off to sleep. He felt around for it for a few moments to no effect.

Frowning, he sat up, already angry at the minor inconvenience. ”Where are you, stupid?” he muttered as if the phone could hear him speak. He slid his legs off the bed in an effort to scour the entire room, and that was when he felt something hard under his left t.h.i.g.h.

He reached for it. It was the silly phone. He cussed softly as his mind brought back memories of how the phone must have gotten there. After his friends had finally taken their leave, he had spent some inordinate amount of time wondering whether or not to call Amy.

But what could he possibly tell her? He could not admit that he was bothered about how their pseudo date night had turned out or that he was thinking about her more than was normal. More than he had ever thought about anyone else.

He could not. Would not. So instead, he had settled for finding her on Instagram and carefully looking through her the tons of posts on her account. He took extra effort to make sure he did not accidentally click on the like button any of the pictures, as that would blow his cover beyond repair.

He had fallen asleep looking at a particularly beautiful picture of Amy, her red hair falling across her eyes and the top of her b.r.e.a.s.ts clearly visible from her low-cut blouse. She looked lovely and happy.

He sighed as he realized why she must have featured in his nightmare. She was slowly starting to carve out a corner for herself in his heart. But he was not ready for any of that.

He could not bear such hurt ever again. He had to protect her and himself by any means possible. Which meant he had to stop slacking and earnestly pursue the leads he had come across a few months before.

He dialed a number on his phone.

”Hello,” Lei Zhao said gruffly into the phone, having picked up on the first ring.

”We need to talk,” was all Edward said back. Lei Zhao nodded with understanding on the other end, as the line went dead.

Three hours later, both men shook hands in Edward's study.

”I need to show you something,” Edward told Lei Zhao. His mood was dour and serious.

Lei Zhao said nothing, only waiting for what his friend had to show him. Edward liked to discuss the more serious things with him, not only because he was older than the other two, but because he was always more m.a.t.u.r.e, never asking too many questions and always ready to listen.