The Story of Blood and Roses

I chanced a glance at the guard, who seemed alert, but a bit impatient with us as he waited for us to enter the premises and rid him of his duty. But Anthony, dutifully just sat there as if to punish the guard to a few more minutes of sleep deprivation for falling asleep on his job.

I turned back and looked freely at Anthony.

I probably hadn\'t noticed how he looked when I had left the house. He had evident dark circles under his eyes and scruff that looked like it needed tending to. That was from the side, though. He was a handsome man and could carry off a considerable amount of facial hair with pride, but this scruff was not properly taken care of and made him look more tired. His lips were chapped, and his hair looked matted. He definitely needed a nice, long shower sleep and shampoo.

I pried my eyes away from him, sensing that he would open his eyes soon enough and I was proven right. From the corner of my eyes, I saw him open his eyes slowly and then peek at me to see what I was doing. He sighed before he turned the key to bring the engine to life. The car lurched forward and inside the premises in the next three moments and then proceeded to take a circle of the whole place before finding its place inside the garage.

I reached for the door, but Anthony stopped me by placing a hand on my arm. I jolted in my seat and snapped my head towards him.

"Just stay put for a while, will you? I\'m not ready to go inside just yet." I nodded in understanding as he undid the seatbelt and killed the engine.

"So, what has been happening inside?" I whisper into the silence. He hums, acknowledging my question, but takes some time before he answers.

"Sean came up to me saying that you asked him to take my permission about him looking into Cienna." I nodded, letting him know that I, indeed, had advised the boy to do it. "He told me that you knew that he had pulled up a page where Cienna\'s bank account history was clearly on the page." Again, I nodded. "He also tattled about how you had scolded him to do his work and not poke his nose where it was not needed." He gave me a slow smile and then frowned. "Thank you for that. The boy needs to mind his own business. I appreciate his skills and urgency to find out about Cienna, but I think that the reason for his motivation is not proper." He let out a frustrated breath. "So, you know that Cienna has been transferring a fair stipend to Joe, her ex-pimp. I thought they\'d lost connection years ago, but I guess I was wrong. What worries me is why she is paying the money to that vile man."

"Do you think that he is blackmailing her?" I asked him, trying to press him into giving more information.

"Yes, but I can\'t figure out what he might know. I had been hoping that it was something that only pertained to Cienna, but as it turns out there is more to the story." I silently listened on as he told me everything.

"Ethan had broken into Cienna\'s apartment and had found that there was nothing in the house to show that the apartment was Cienna\'s. So he snooped around—more like ransacked the place, and found out various stashes of drugs, images of photographs pinned on the wall. Most of Cienna, and they were all very controversial. The apartment had smelled dirty according to Ethan and there were condoms strewn all over the main room. Ethan found large amounts of cash hidden in various spots in the room, too. There were a series of butchering knives and other knives along with guns and bullets lying around. The apartment had been locked from the outside, but Ethan felt something odd and went into the bedroom and found a naked girl who was clearly beaten up tied to the bed." I think my eyes widened in shock. Anthony just nodded as if trying to make me believe that what he was saying was true.

"Why would Cienna kidnap some girl?" I think my voice had raised a few octaves higher.

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