Hello!
It's been some time since I saw you, guys! I've been traveling as I told you before, but now, I'm able to write this chapter.
Unfortunately, I have to travel tomorrow again. Now it's till January 16th. I'm so sorry.
Hope you like this one. It's a little short and dull. But I swear that the next one is going to happen 'the talk' between A/A. YAY! Finally.
Oh, thank you for your reviews/story alerts/favourite story. It's great!
Tell me if you like it!
Love,
Isadora
Chapter 7 – Perception
Arthur searched every part of Jeremy's life. Every tiny blank hole that was in it. He wanted – he needed – o find out who was Willian Keeling and what the mark did to him. No matter his ways, he had to find that out.
The Point Man looked over the massive pile of paper that he gattered. The answer was somewhere there. He telephoned to several people, who, at least once, had had some kind of contact to Jeremy Carey-Lewis, they knew nothing. But, they also let some rumor spread through their talking. And sometimes, rumours are more than just lies.
He read one sheet where there was a name on it. Rupert Jay. He dialed the number.
"Hello?" a rusky voice said. The guy was probably sleeping.
"Mr. Jay? I'm calling about Mr. Keeling..."
The man cleared his throat. "Yes? Who is it?"
"It's..." he looked at his coffee mug. He was tired, filed with caffeine and worried about Ariadne. His mind wasn't working correctly and he didn't remember a fake name. "It's Mr. Charles." he said at last.
"What about Mr. Keeling, sir?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me where he is..." Arthur was being careful. He didn't want to say anything wrong and get Rupert hanging him up.
"Well, I'm afraid that he is in coma. But, why are you calling?"
"It's because Mr. Carey-Lewis asked about him a while ago."
The telephone went dead. "Shit!" Arthur thought.
This was heavy stuff and he was clueless. He only knew that this Willian was now in coma. Now, he started to read the pile of papers, searching for a hospital where this coma-guy could be.
After three hours of restless reading he found a hole. A discreet place in the woods. It was a little house, where the mark and more than five men had passed two nights there. The place was now deserted.
He looked through an invoice which had a number of suspicious things. A rope, several plastic bags and a metal bucket.
His phone rang. Who was that?
"Hello?"
"Mr. Charles?"
That man was calling him? He had hang him up!
"Yes, Mr. Jay. Something wrong?" his voice was innocent, as if he didn't suspected anything.
"No. I mean, Mr. Carey-Lewis didn't know that Willian was in coma?"
"He did. He was just wondering what you knew about the case." he lied smoothly.
"Just the ordinary." Rupert's voice was trembling.
"Are you sure about that? He asked very specifically that I should call you and listen to your part of the story. You probably know how neat he likes everything."
The man on the other side of the line swallowed hard. "I know that Willian Keeling was tortured and Carey-Lewis himself drowned him. He was a smart kid, I've been told, but he was owing 15,000 dollars to Jeremy. He swore that he was going to pay, but... Mr. Carey-Lewis was pissed. They've told me that Willian Keeling was some drug dealer or something like that, and that Mr. Carey-Lewis was his way of not getting caught by cops."
"That's all that you know?"
"Well, this patient is in coma for one year. His wife is somewhere in the world. But, before she left him, she told me that before he turned here, he was off to some house in the woods. But nobody ever mentioned that to me. I guess that there is wh..."
"We're not paying your guess."Arthur cut him off. "Remember that."
"All right."he waited for the Point Man to say something. "Is that all?"
"No. What are you going to tell if somebody asks about Willian?" he needed to know the entire lie.
"That he is in coma by drugs. And that he doesn't know any Jeremy Carey-Lewis, of course. And if they start acting suspiciously, I shall call Mr. Carey-Lewis."
"No. Call me instead. Jeremy wanted me to change."he bit his tongue. He was sorry for Rupert, he was clearly a good man, but now deceived.
"Sounds good to me, sir."
"Have a good day, Rupert. And good luck."
The Point Man closed the sleek phone and took off the chip. He broke it in four pieces and threw it in the a new one in his phone and turn it on. His job was done. Now he could finally see their Architect.
No. He had to give this information to Cobb first. With a sigh he dialed Cobb's number. This was going to be a long night.
Dom knocked Olivia's door. He was late, but Arthur had to do more researches about Willian Keeling and then he could say everything to him. He had the Extraction, at least. Even after those complications. His hands trembled when he thought about poor Ariadne lying on that pool of blood.
"Hello." it was a man voice who said that. Cobb looked up, to find a dark-haired man staring at him with his piercing green eyes.
"Er, good evening." who was that guy? "Is Olivia here?"
"Yes. Yes, she is." he bit his lips, fighting a smile. "I think that we've never been introduced before. I'm Derek Carey-Lewis."
"Pleased to meet you. Dominic Cobb." Dom put a fake smirk on his face. Something was odd about Olivia's son, but he didn't know what.
Derek, on the other hand, thought that this meeting was extremely fun. He, the guy who stabbed that girl preventing the Extraction - it was what he thought -, standing right in front of the man who knew nothing about that.
"I'll tell my mum that you are here. Come inside if you wish." and then he left the Extractor. Not looking back, but trying very hard not to laugh.
Olivia appeared only moments later, with a bright smirk on her face. She was radiant, only a few meters of the secret that would let her have the whole company for herself.
"Let's go to my office, Mr. Cobb." she lead the way. "I hope it's good news."
He could her the smile on her voice. But Dom wasn't happy. Not now. A person in his team was injured and nobody knew why or who did that.
"I've got the Extraction." he said, closing the door. "Here." he took the file from his jacket and put it on the table.
"Thank you." she said looking over the words, she couldn't believe that it was now in her hands. She didn't care what her husband had done. Now, Carey-Lewises Robotic company was hers. Finally.
After a minute or so, she let out her breath.
"The payment will be in your accounts today." Cobb's expression was blank. Olivia hadn't mention or even asked about what had happened to them. She didn't care about them, even if somebody was bleeding in front of her yesterday.
"I think that's all." she continued.
The Extractor nodded and left her, passing through the furniture without even looking at it twice. His mind was racing.
"Bye, Mr. Cobb." Derek said. He had a sarcastic tone in his voice.
When Cobb looked back, after he passed the gate, he saw the green sparkle from Olivia's son. His skin prickled. Something was very odd.
Ariadne was still awake, he could see her fiddling with the polar-white blanket. He knocked the door softly.
"Hello." Arthur said. His voice calm and composed.
"Why did you take so long?"
"May I come in?" his mouth turned up in a smile. He liked the way that she was worried about him. It was... something new.
Ariadne waved something and nodded, her brows frowned with preoccupation. It was almost midnight and it was only now that Arthur appeared. She knew that he was searching more about the secret, but she didn't even know what the Extraction was about.
"The Extraction've been delivered." The Point Man finally said, sound more formal than he wanted. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." her fingers trembled a little. She was lying.
"Ariadne. Please, don't joke."
"I'm... trying to be fine." her eyes were full of tears. She didn't want to cry, but it was hurting. The painkiller wasn't working and the nurses wouldn't give her more. Her lips trembled and a salty tear slipped.
Arthur wiped it and put a hand behind her head, leaning her closer to his chest. He felt sorry for her. He wanted to protect her. This thought kept coming over and over in his head. Why he felt this way towards her?
He stroke her hair slightly, feeling the way her head pressed against his chest, and letting her cry. Deep inside his chest he felt a heat flow through his body. He liked it.
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