Chapter Four

Petra stared at Sasha with wide eyes anticipating whatever idea she had. Her idea got her into this mess, it would probably get her out of it.

“Some drum rolls please.”

“Sasha please, now's not the time,” Petra replied. She understood that Petra was simply trying to get her to lighten up, but the only thing on her mind was how to get out of the mess she had gotten herself into.

Sasha's face straightened into an emotionless one. “Okay, I'll be serious now. You know I have embarrassing pictures and videos I can use to blackmail you, right?”

“Umm, yes I know,” Petra nodded, unsure of where the conversation was headed. After all, her pictures had no connection with Evans.

“You don't get it, do you? You need to get a brain,” Sasha sighed, taking her seat back on the couch.

“Evans definitely has someone who can blackmail him, just like I can blackmail you. All you have to do is find that person.”

It was evident from the look on Petra's face that she didn't quite agree with the plan.

“Evans is a top tier, dangerous man. I don't think there's anyone he fears. It's been five years, and he doesn't break a sweat at the sight of anybody, no matter how important or ruthless they might be.”

She grabbed Sasha's hands and began to cry. “I think I'm stuck, please think.”

“That's the only way I think you can escape his grip. If he doesn't fear someone, at least he'll respect someone. Trust me, everybody has that someone, you just need to look closely.”

Petra wondered how she was going to find this “someone,” if there was any. A man of Evans's caliber and status certainly had all his knots tied, loose ends were never an option.

Sasha seemed to understand the look on her face, so she added “By being observant, duh. Take note of the people who come to see him, let's start from there.”

“It's risky though, what if they rat me out. That's literal death.”

“That's why you'll be careful. I'll do the best I can and see if I can find anybody to help you.”

“Thank you so much, girl, Thank-” the gratitude was cut off by the loud ringing of her phone.

Staring at the caller ID, she groaned. It was “the summoner,” his call always meant her attention was needed at the office.

This time, her stomach churned not only at the fact that she might be needed to stitch up someone again, but also the possibility that she might be the one getting the stitches.

Was Evans calling her to kill her? Did he change his mind? Different questions flooded her head as she waved goodbye to Sasha and got into her car, headed to the office.

****

The sounds from her car as she locked it sent a chill down her spine. She had probably attracted the attention of the people Evans sent to kill her, so she thought.

Her death could be disguised as a parking lot murder, with some random deranged guy taking the blame for it.

Petra laughed at her sheer stupidity. She had definitely been watching too many crime movies.

Her heart kept skipping beats as she approached the entrance. What was she needed for?

Passing through the crowd of guards, she felt uneasy. Their eyes cast a different glare, or perhaps she was overthinking things.

“You disappeared for a second,” Petra's heart jumped at this statement coming from right behind her.

She turned sharply to face the summoner, who had a massive smile on his face. How dare he scare her that way?

“What's the emergency?,” She asked, wasting no time.

“There's none. The boss said everybody should be at work, and didn't want you getting questioned.”

Petra felt as though a ton of rocks had been lifted off her head. Her breathing slowed and for the first time that day, a tiny smile crept up the corner of her lip.

“By being observant,” Sasha's words replayed in her head.

The summoner never did as much as smile at anyone, yet he was in front of her, grinning from ear to ear. Why did he even care that she would be questioned?

A thought came to her head. The summoner knew all about Evans's business, he was basically the right-hand man. He would most likely know the someone Sasha was referring to. It was definitely worth a shot.

“Can we talk privately?” She asked.

“Come with me to my office,” he beckoned, taking the lead to the top floor.

She followed closely, silently hoping this was her key out of here. She envisioned her life void of Evans and his businesses, sitting in the front yard of a house, staring at beautiful dandelions as they flew away.

“Maybe I should reduce romance movies too,” she thought. They simply raised her standards high and unachievable.

“You're in,” the door alerted after carefully scanning the summoner's fingerprint. It was her first time here, and she was shocked. Her door simply had a lock on it.

Petra took a seat at the instruction of the summoner and began to share her ordeal. She withheld some information, though, no one knew what he was capable of.

“This is no big deal, I'll help you.” Petra's heart flung into full action, the beats accurate and so loud she could hear them inside her head. Who knew it would be this easy?

“Come to the motel on Crescent avenue this evening by 4pm. You'll get the room number at the reception.”

Petra agreed quickly and made her way out of the office to call Sasha. Something about it didn't feel right.

“Well, you have to go. This might be a chance,” Sasha said over the phone.

Petra paused for a moment, rethinking her decision. Was she safe at all? Crescent avenue was a really remote place, she didn't like the idea of going there.

Sensing her objections, Sasha asked, " Should I come along? It'll be fine.”

“Yes you can. You have to stay in the car, though, I'm the only one he's expecting.”

Petra agreed to pick her up in thirty minutes before hanging up the call.

It was 3pm already, she was free for the day, so she decided to head to Sasha's place immediately.

The drive to Sasha's house was exhausting for some reason. Probably because her mind was full of a thousand thoughts as she drove through the city.

She hated the fact that she was in this mess, it was even worse that she had no definite means to get out.

“It had better work out,” this was her silent prayer.

As she approached the house, she spotted a tiny figure waiting out the front door and immediately knew it was Sasha.

“Let's go,” Sasha screamed as she got into the car. It was very expected of her to be dramatic, she always wished to live in a crime movie type of world one day.

Petra zoomed off at high speed, hoping to take away the anxiety by pretending to enjoy the entire situation.

In less than twenty minutes, they arrived at the motel; a very shady one, to be precise.

The sight of a drunk man staggering his way out the front door passed across a bad feeling to Petra. She ignored it and made her way to the front desk to get the room number.

“He's up in room 20, just knock,” Petra had barely said a word to the receptionist. How did she know what she was here for?

She turned around, gripping the hem of her dress, was she being followed?

Finding room 20 was no ordeal, it seemed to be the only quiet one in the motel. Placing a slight knock on the door, she waited for a response, which came almost immediately.

“Come in.” The gruff reply told her she was at the right place. The summoner's voice could never be mistaken.

There was an eerie feeling as she stepped in and closed the door behind her, unavoidably. The creaking fan was her only comfort that she wasn't alone in this.

“Come closer.”

Petra turned to see him sprawled across the couch with a cigarette in hand.

Reluctantly, she moved towards him and stood in his front like a maid awaiting her master's orders.

He coughed slightly and dusted the stash of the cigarette in the ashtray before proceeding to talk.

“Petra, I've had eyes on you for quite a while now. To say I like you is an understatement, I love you and I would like for us to be together.”

The dim light in the center of the room couldn't hide the disgust clearly written all over her face. Wasn't this about him helping her leave Evans?

“I'll only help you on one condition,” he continued.

Her first instinct was to walk out the door immediately, but Sasha would label her impatient.

“Let me hear it,” she replied.

“Be my mistress.”