Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for the long wait but my life was really busy and I had a bit of a writer's block. I wasn't happy with the ending I had written first. But I'm getting there... This isn't the last chapter of the story. There'll still be a few but it's a work towards the ending pretty soon!

Please let me know what you thought! xxx

Chapter 37

Her eyes took in the entire scene before her like a hawk. She was trained to take in her environment, to scan for danger. She had been one of the best in the army. She smirked. Her smirk quickly left her face when she saw the subject of her current job leaving the front of the casino in a hurry. She wasn't very good at reading people but she could see that he was up to something. She looked down at her PDA which she had linked to the camera's of the casino. He and doctor Foster were in some sort of fight again. She concluded that from the way he had stormed out of the hotel room only minutes ago. What was weird was that the rest of the team didn't seem aware of him leaving, WITH the dark suitcase.

This had to be a trick. He wouldn't go out on the streets alone with that much money. She put out her cigarette as she looked at the car that she was leaning against. It wouldn't be hard to steal this one.

One moment later she slit in the drivers seat with ease and bended to do something with the wiring. All the while her eyes were kept on Lightman who took his own car. Again she looked at the entrance of the casino, but there was no one there. She knew Lightman was a man who did a lot of solo actions. Maybe this was one of them.

He drove by her and she waited before she began to follow.

But could he really be this stupid? By making himself such an easy mark?

No, something was wrong. There had to be.

She drove off when she saw the Foster woman running out of the casino. Her eyes went to the back mirror to see the woman in her neat black dress staring after her and shaking her head disappointed.

'What crap did you get yourself into Lightman?' She said out loud as she smiled. What a soap opera this man had going in his life!

The smile left her face as determination marred her features again.

Gillian shook her head as she looked at the road in front of her and didn't see Cal's car leaving. Of course that would have been something just to hope for, that she could see him leave so she could catch up with him. But somewhere deep inside of herself, she knew he was long gone already. And if he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't. The fear that had already settled in the pit of her stomach minutes ago was now replaced by a tornado of sickening nausea that ran from her organs towards her throat. She breathed in deeply in an effort to calm herself and her raging nerves. She put her hand against her stomach. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. Her eyes watered as she shook her head in anger.

Gillian walked towards the parking lot. Maybe he hadn't taken his car? Maybe he had gone by foot. But that idle thought quickly left when she found his former parking space empty. She stared at the empty concrete space in front of her. Her mind was racing about what to do.

She heard footsteps behind her but didn't take the time to look up.

'I can't get a hold of McPhea the loan shark Cal borrowed the money from.' Ben said as he closed his phone. He let his hand roam frustrated over his face.

Gillian finally looked up at the tall man.

And what she saw there, she didn't like. There was something else he hadn't tol her yet. And he didn't seem happy about sharing it.

'There's something else.' Gillian said as she read Ben.

Ben's eyes looked up at her and his hand froze in his face.

'What is it?' Gillian prodded. It couldn't get even worse then it already was could it?

Ben sighed annoyed as he looked away. 'We found the nine million that Cal has gambled together. It had been sent to a special account in Switzerland first, and then it has been transferred to an account on the Cayman Islands. Our experts have been busy for weeks to get it back. When you want to get to the money you need a special code. John had arranged it that if a wrong code was given out the money would be transferred to the second bank: in the Cayman Islands. Now we've got it back.'

'And what has that got to do with Cal now?' Gillian asked confused as her brows knitted together. She didn't care one bit that they the money back. It all didn't matter. Not if Cal was in danger. Not if that lunatic who was doing this all was still out there.

'Cal only won about one and a half million these past days. He owes the loan shark four million. We can pay that now but he doesn't know that.' Cal had left before he could give the news to him too. 'And that made me wonder: Why would he leave with the suitcase without enough money? He must have had something planned all along, without letting us know.' Ben told her.

'No…' Gillian shook her head as her eyes studied his dark ones. She pursed her lips together and she suddenly felt the need for chocolate, very much chocolate. Chocolate to comfort her, to support her. 'It's possible that he didn't plan anything.'

'What do you mean?' Ben asked as his brows knitted together in astonishment but also in irritation.

Gillian looked away as she sighed. She knew Cal. She knew him very well. Maybe, she was one of the persons that knew him best.

'When you came to my hotel room half an hour ago, we were having…' How could she call it? 'An argument… and it was pretty heavy this time.' She shook her head angry. 'I think he did this in an impulsive reaction.' And that was exactly why she was so very afraid. Her hand went to her nose bridge to pinch it in frustration. If she thought she had reached the utter low point that was possible with feeling frustrated, hurt, angry and sad about half an hour ago when he had left, she had been wrong. It seemed like nothing compared to how she was feeling now. Compared to not knowing and feeling powerless. And having to fear for his life. Again. And the worst of all was that she didn't instantly know how to get him out of this mess. How to be there for him, and how to protect him. And it seemed that Ben was just as clueless on that subject as she was. And that wasn't a good sign. Not a good sign at all.

Ben shook his head. Of all the stupid things Lightman had ever done, this had to top all of them.

He studied Gillian quickly and saw that she looked as if she was on the verge of breaking down. Worry seemed to spill out of her every pore and she didn't know how to handle it. Neither did he.

'He's there with no protection what so ever! How could he do this!' Gillian snapped in a panicked tone as she pointed towards Cal's empty parking spot. 'We don't know where he is, how will we ever find him?' Her blue watery eyes looked at him. 'If he's not somewhere in a gutter already.' She bit her lip as she looked away and tried to steady herself.

'I don't know what to do. I can't do anything.' She said as she put up her hands towards Ben and shook her head again. 'I can go and drive around the city aimlessly but there is no chance that I'll find him is there? I could go and question the witness but I can't bear to be even further away from him while he might be in so much danger.' How could he do this?

'There are four cars out there looking for him and the police is informed. There's nothing more you can do if you'd search for him.' Ben said. He had ordered half of his team to go and find Cal the moment he had disappeared. He knew that wouldn't reassure Gillian. Nothing would right now.

When Ben looked at Gillian again he was witness of a true transformation. She had turned into the professional psychologist he had gotten to know this last year. Her face didn't show any feelings anymore but determination. Once again he noticed how strong this woman was.

'Then I want to talk to the witness, you said she had valuable information.' Gillian said.

Ben nodded.

Somewhere on the road..

Cal looked in the back mirror of his car. Nothing, he wasn't being followed. His eyes went to the black suitcase. He smirked. The mailman would come after him soon enough. He was an easy target now. All alone. What better opportunity would there be? It was probably just a matter of time.

Cal sighed as he thought of Gillian's reaction. She would probably be very angry. Not to mention Reynolds' reaction. Well, it just had to do. He thought as he rounded a corner and sped the car up.

Police Station

Loker narrowed his eyes as he studied the witness that was sitting in front of him and Gillian. He wondered how Foster managed to stay so calm, he himself had to keep himself calm with a lot of effort. He wanted to grab the witness and have all the information that could somehow lead them to Lightman instantly. But he knew that wasn't an option right now, sadly enough. He looked at Gillian and wondered again where she got the talent from to radiate calm en easiness at this moment.

'I have no idea what could have happened to her.' Cecile Gravely said. 'It's so horrible.' Tears left her eyes as she shook her head.

Gillian nodded as she studied the woman in front of her. She was in her mid thirties and had dark brown hair. Her eyes were an odd colour, they almost looked grey. Cecile Gravely had been doing Angela's garden. When a cop had noticed her and asked her a few question she didn't seem aware of John's dead but she did seem aware of many other things that could be very valuable to them.

Cecile had a tight frown in her brows right now as she looked from Loker back to Gillian.

'First John and now Angela.' Cecile mumbled sadly as she put the handkerchief against her nose.

'John?' Loker asked.

'Angela?' Gillian asked simultaneously.

The police had asked Cecile a few questions but they hadn't been going on that long before Ben was informed. Ben told them to wait until the Lightman Group was there to question the witness themselves.

Cecile nodded as she looked up from her handkerchief.

'Yes, we all knew each other. O, yes Peggy. That was her name before she changed it. I have to admit that I liked her new name better: Angela. It sounds so much nicer and sweeter doesn't it?'

Loker gave Gillian a look. Gillian nodded at Cecile Gravely.

'What do you mean with: before she changed it?' Gillian asked as she bended further towards Cecile. She felt the white table they were sitting behind push hard against her abdomen.

Gillian knew that Angela Pointer had changed her name but she wanted to hear it all from this woman. She wanted to understand, she wanted to know Angela's motivations. She couldn't wait to get all the information Cecile had out of her. She wanted to pull it out of her instantly but she knew that wasn't possible. So she had to keep as calm as possible.

Cecile sighed heavily as she fumbled with the handkerchief and finally put it away in her pocket. She reached for a tissue.

'Angela had been through so much.' Cecile shook her head sadly. 'Her husband had committed suicide only one year ago.' Cecile looked up at Loker and Gillian.

'She wanted to start a whole new life.' Cecile told them as she stared at the farthest wall deep in thought. 'She felt so guilty, their relationship was bad for a while there. But he found out that she had betrayed him with another man. It was such a horrible time for her. And then he committed suicide. It was awful. She couldn't stop thinking about it. And who could blame her? How do you get over a thing like that?' Cecile shrugged as she looked at Gillian questioningly. She then shook her head. 'I think you don't…. You can't.' She put the tissue against her eyes again. 'She really loved her husband. And it was wrong of her to cheat… But that didn't mean that she didn't love him.' Cecile stared at her feet.

Loker looked at Gillian and nodded. Gillian remembered that they had found out that Angela Pointer's husband had come to the Lightman Group to find out if she was cheating. And the answer had been yes. Was this what it was all about? How it had all begun? Angela had wanted to take revenge on Cal for telling her husband about her other lover? Had she blamed Cal for her husbands suicide? It were all possibilities. A lot of thoughts flew through Gillian's head.

'What happened then?' Gillian prodded gently.

'She was depressed for a very long time. Nothing helped. She didn't want to get out of bed. She blamed herself, stopped eating, stopped caring. Until months later, suddenly she began to change. All this time I helped her. I helped her with her house, with her garden and made sure she ate enough. One day she came out while I was working in her garden and she told me that

She had sold her house and was going to move to another neighbourhood. She had found a new job and had changed her name.' Cecile coughed slightly and then sighed deeply. 'Ow…. I can still remember her face so well that exact moment. She was so glad. It sounded like a fresh start for her, and I believed that it really was.' Cecile bit her lip as she looked at Gillian. 'I thought it really was.' Her eyes began to water again.

Gillian softly put her hand on Cecile's hand. 'I'm sorry.' She whispered soothingly.

Cecile nodded as she gave Gillian a grateful look.

'And where did you know John from?' Loker asked.

'We all worked together for the Kaleidos firm. Nothing special, at least, I only did administrative work, so did Angela. John was accountant there and Jane was accountant too. On Friday's we used to go and have drinks together and we somehow got befriended. It was nice while it lasted. With the four of us. I enjoyed it very much. Angela, John, Jane and me.'

She took a deep trembling intake of breath as she shook her head in confusion. 'I just don't see how this could have happened. First John get's shot and now… Now Angela, just like that.'

'And where is this woman called Jane?' Loker asked. His fast question deserved him an annoyed and pointed look from Gillian. He knew that she had wanted to show empathy first. But he just wanted to have answers from this woman.

Cecile shrugged. 'I don't know. She just seemed to have disappeared from the earth… I haven't been able to reach her. I wanted to tell her about what had happened to John, but she never reacted to my voicemails.'

Loker's eyes twinkled with hope as he looked at Gillian. Could it be? Could this be the woman that had put them through all of this? Or was it just an idle hope?

'What is her full name?' Gillian asked as she took her notebook and a pen.

'I already told the police that it's Jane Morrow. I don't think she has anything to do with this.' Cecile said as she shook her head.

'Why do you think that?' Loker asked as his eyes swooped over her face.

Cecile gave him a hard look. 'Because she was a friend of mine. A friend of Angela and John. That's why.'

'John was also a friend of you.' Loker said.

'Yeah so?' Cecile said with a hint of anger in her voice.

'He tried to poison Gillian and-'

'-Loker!' Gillian snapped as she put her hand in front of him to stop him. Confronting her like this might make her shut down and then they would have nothing at all.

Loker gave Gillian an annoyed look as his mouth snapped shut angrily.

'Would you get something to drink please?' Gillian asked.

Loker's nostrils flared as he reluctantly stood up and left.

'I'm sorry. We all have a lot to take these last weeks. Could you please go on. Anything you know could help us.' Gillian said in a sweet comforting tone.

Cecile nodded and smiled slightly at her. 'Yes of course.' She studied Gillian's face shortly. 'Is it true? Did John really try to poison you?'

'Yes.' Gillian nodded.

Cecile looked away. 'I'm so sorry that he did that to you. The police told me but I- ' She looked up at Gillian again and shook her head. 'I just couldn't believe it. Or maybe I refused to believe it. It's just too much to understand. I never thought he could do a thing like that.' Cecile began to cry again.

Room next to interrogation room

'I think we got something.' Reynolds said as Loker walked in. He was staring through the mirror at Gillian and Cecile.

'Jane Morrow. Wanted felon, has been in the army where she was a good fighter and soldier.

But after the many traumatic experiences she had had while being in the war she had changed. She had been fired because of misconduct. After that they suspect her of killing numerous people. But they could never get her.'

'It could be her.' Loker said as he looked at Gillian and Cecile.

'I already sent a search out for her. But it'll be difficult to find her. She hasn't been in one place since ten years now. She moves around a lot.'

Yeah sure, things never could be just easy. They just had to be difficult!

'Let's hope Gravely here comes up with some more information about her.' Loker said as he took a sip of his coffee.

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