The days were not getting any easier as Nadia cleaned around the house. After getting back from the hotel a couple of days ago, she and Shante were a little distant for a bit. 

She wasn't sure why she was so hellbent on accusing Erica, but that didn't matter right now. She needed to get her head back in the game and move forward with this investigation. Now that she had an idea of what Maya looked like, the next step would be to find her so she could get the crucial answer to this eternal question.

Who killed Jordan? And why?

She knew that if she met with Maya, at least she would have some breakthroughs with her investigation, and possibly she might help Nadia find the killer. 

Sifting through the paper, she noticed some numbers scribbled on a note. Looking at it, she instantly realised that these were the coordinates for the location of that anonymous text, which tipped her off on the murder weapon.

She remembered that Nate mentioned that it was somewhere between two streets in a rough area in South London. She contemplated whether she should go alone, but with Kane still on the loose, it wasn't wise for her to be alone in an area like that.

She picked up her phone, calling the one person that she knew would care enough even if they weren't on great terms.

" Nads, hey," Shante said softly. She had been nervous to talk since the weekend break.

"Hey, I know that we're a little bit weird right now, but I think I know what I need to do next in this investigation," She told her, holding onto the note.

"What?"

" You remember the coordinates that Nate was able to get?"

" You wanna go there, don't you?" Shante quizzed her curiously.

" Yes, I need to know who that text is from. My first thought is that maybe it's Maya."

" That is possible. Perhaps she's trying to help, but she's worried that we'll think she's involved," Shante suggested.

" Possibly, I guess the only way is to find out," Nadia implied.

"I'm on my way," Shante responded as they cut the call.

Shante came around in no time, and they got into Nadia's car, putting the coordinates into the navigation. The scenery changed from large houses with nice high streets to crowded main roads with large estates nearby.

Nadia turned down the road, seeing mostly terraced houses with crowded parking before Shante stopped her at an intersection.

" I think we're here." Shante double-checked with the navigation that mentioned they had arrived at their destination. Nadia parked the car in an empty spot. They got out and took in their surroundings.

It was a quiet residential area with not too many people passing by. She locked the car as they looked at nearby street signs. Where the streets converged seemed to be the accurate location of where that text came from.

"So the text was from here?" Shante queried, looking around curiously.

" It has to be. This is where the coordinates lead to," Nadia responded. The only thing they had to figure out was where the person most likely lived.

" So which street is it?" Shante pointed at the signs. 

The street signs showed Crenley Avenue and Woodley Street in bold letters.

" I have no idea, but I guess we will find out soon enough," 

Their heads turned as a front door opened, revealing Erica leaving the house that sat on the corner of both streets.

"Erica?" Nadia questioned, bewildered that Erica was here.

"Nadia? What are you doing here?" Erica was startled by her presence. She didn't miss the noticeable scowl on Shante's face.

" I was about to ask you the same thing."

"Er...I live here with my mum, actually. Why are you guys here?" She stood closer to them.

"Well, we're looking for a girl called Maya. Do you know if she happens to live around here?" Nadia eyed her hopefully.

" Maya? Hmm, I don't think that anyone with that name lives around here. Did she do something?" Erica managed to keep her composure. She knew that Shante was not buying it.

"This is going to sound really weird, but she dated Jordan for a while before he got killed. They seemed quite serious, and about two weeks before his death, she told him she was pregnant, to which he asked to abort it. Crazy, right? I just want to ask her some questions to see if she knows anything. She's probably too scared to say anything. Maybe she will think that I believe she is involved, but honestly, I don't think so, " Nadia explained, looking around the area.

Erica feigned shock as she took in every word. She didn't need Nadia to catch her losing composure.

"Umm...wow. That's a lot. You're probably right. She's most likely scared since Jordan was stabbed. I know that I would be if I were her, " Erica expressed, noticing that Shante wasn't impressed by her words.

" I gue-"

" How did you know he was stabbed? Nadia never mentioned that" Shante interrogated, moving closer to an anxious Erica.

"Erm...it was just a guess since that happens in South London a lot. I didn't mean anything by it. " Erica held her hands up defensively.

Nadia shot Shante a knowing glare before turning to Erica with a smile.

" She's just on edge. We both are. Thanks for your help, I'll see you in a couple of days," Nadia waved her goodbye, and Shante continued to stare her down.

..........................

Erica smiled tightly before going on her way.

As Nadia's and Shante's figures became nothing but a speck, she instantly hid behind a wall. She hyperventilated, thinking about the conversation that was had.

She gulped as she thought about how Shante was starting to clock her nervousness, and this wasn't a good thing.

She was Nadia's best friend, and she would often frequent the nail salon, sometimes for Nadia to open the shop. In a nutshell, she was always around, and that put Erica in a bad position.

What will she do now?

If Shante started to share her suspicions, would Nadia believe her?

If so, would Nadia interrogate her, too?

Would she lose her job?

Most importantly, would Nadia put two and two together and realise that Erica was Maya?

She was way too flustered to go back home, out of fear that she would bump into them again, and that was something she couldn't do.

Initially, she was going to do some shopping, but now, with how flustered she felt, she needed something stronger to help her forget what had just happened.

She decided to do something that she had been avoiding for the longest. She got on the bus, watching the scenery change from rough roads to nice winding roads with lush greenery. She hoped that one day she would have the privilege of living in a place like this.

Maybe when this is all over, she could get a new job and work towards that. If the investigation did end soon, it wasn't wise to continue work for Nadia.

She was a good boss, but the guilt would eat Erica up from inside, and due to her usual nervousness, she couldn't risk Nadia getting suspicious of her too.

She pressed the bell, and the bus stopped at the next stop. She got off and crossed the road to enter the cemetery.

She didn't know why she thought this was a good idea, but she was here now. She just had to face this.

She looked over her shoulders and around to see if someone would notice or see her. Luckily, there wasn't anyone else here other than an older white lady she could just about see.

The guilt felt like a gush of water as she approached the tombstones.

This was the first time she had seen his face in over a year, his handsome smile was instantly recognisable.

She wished he was still here.

" I miss you so much, Jordan. It's been nearly two years since you left and nothing has been the same. I wish I could kiss, touch, hug, and make love to you. Ugh, anything to feel you against my skin once again. I hate that this is how we had to end, I wish you were here so we could still be together but I guess life doesn't work that way. I hope you can forgive me for what I've done." She confessed, touching his tombstone.

This was much harder than she thought it would be, tears streamed down her face as the grief and remorse built up inside her. She only wished that things could've been different.

........................

After a fruitless search, Nadia flopped against the sofa, deeply unsatisfied with the way things had gone. At this point, this Maya lead was becoming a dead end and there was no other thing that Nadia could use to further this investigation.

She had to admit that maybe Shante was right and she was way in over her head but it just didn't feel right to give up so easily. While two years had almost passed, she couldn't ignore that the most that came out of any of these investigations was:

Jordan had been stabbed.

A Murder weapon was found.

Maya Bailey, a girlfriend of his and mother of his possibly dead child.

Kane was involved somehow but not enough to be charged.

With these things, one would think that the case was going strong but it seemed like every time she got closer to the truth, some crazy obstacle blocked her in her path.

" I know that today didn't lead us to anything but maybe the police might find something we haven't clocked yet" Shante reassured her, handing her a mango coconut smoothie.

" Thanks, I guess. It just feels like I'm getting nowhere, I want Jordan to get the justice he deserves. There is no reason why his killer should be out there while he's six feet under." Nadia expressed, sipping her smoothie.

" Yeah, you're right. I hope this will all be over soon"

..........................

Kane checked his surroundings before he unlocked the door to his family home. The time he spent with his grandma was nice but it was time to come home. The past couple of months had given him the necessary rejuvenation that he needed, he felt like he had been able to manage his feelings towards Nadia better.

He still felt strongly about her as his love for her never wavered but upon reflection, he was disgusted with the way he behaved towards her before. Kidnapping her was easily one of the dumbest things he had done and he couldn't even justify that it was because he had to protect his family.

He knew that it would be hard to win her trust back but he was determined to get back in her good graces and start from scratch. He hoped by this time, she had at least forgiven him for what he had done but there was only one way to know and that was by seeing her in person.

The risk was way too high for him to even do that and he already discarded the spare back door key Jordan gave him so silently going over there was out of the question.

He had a quick shower and decided that he might as well talk to the one person who cared about how he was feeling.

After accepting the charges from a prison collection call, he instantly lit up when he heard his brother's voice.

" Yo, Kay, how was your break?" Kevari asked.

"Yeah, it was good. Grandma misses you and said don't do any more foolishness" Kane sat down in the living room.

"  Oh yeah? Tell her I'm being a good boy so she doesn't have to worry. You back for good?"

" Yeah, this whole thing is been kind of long but hopefully things will die soon"

" Your girl came to visit me with her sexy friend, she's leng though. I see why you're moving mad over her, I just hope she's worth the risk" Kevari stated, thinking about how good she looked.

" Yo, you better not be thinking about her. That's all me, I just need to make some amends so she can forgive me" Kane said sadly.

" You're crazy for doing that, I wouldn't be surprised if she wants nothing to do with you anymore but hey, if you use some of that Bailey charm, you might get back in her good books"

" Let's hope so. I gotta stay low for the time being in case she had charges filed against me. Enough about me, what have you been up to?" Kane questioned.

" So they let me use the pen pal ting and I've been chatting to some leng babe for some time now, she's coming visit in two days. As you know, mans is excited and that, to see a woman's face that ain't a fucking correctional officer. It's nice to have someone else to talk to other than you." Kevari reminisced about the girl.

"It's like that, yeah? Say nothing. I gotta go so you can dream about your girl, at least I can go see mine" Kane teased him.

"Fuck you, man! Laters, we'll talk soon" Kevari cut the call.

It was nice to hear from his brother after some time, he needed to have that conversation just to keep him going.

His mind wandered back to her, thinking about what she could be doing right now. One little visit wouldn't hurt, all he wanted to do was at least see her and then he would be satisfied for the time being.

He got in his car and made his way to her house, parking close by. He noticed that the lights were still on so he assumed that she was at home but possibly alone.

He stealthily made his way to the drive, standing in the bush close to the living room window. Her blinds weren't closed so he was able to see past the thin curtains, she lit the fireplace and was sitting next to her friend.

They were laughing and joking about something, he loved her smile as he moved slightly closer. A branch broke under his foot as he panicked, he looked up and it seemed like Shante was staring right at him.

He stayed still in hopes that she hadn't noticed him and wouldn't investigate further. Much to his relief, she shrugged it off and went back to talking to Nadia, who seemed oblivious to the whole thing.

The TV made a noise and he took that as his cue, bolting off back to his car. He took a deep sigh of relief when he sat down, that was too risky. He was sure that Shante was around because of what he did and he didn't blame Nadia for wanting to be safe.

As he drove off, he hoped that soon he would be able to get the chance to see her in person again and make up for all that he had done.

............................................................................................................................................................

3 More chapters to go!

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Love, Tam xx