Burning Passion

CHAPTER 123: SEARCHING for NIKKI (Two)

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Keeping Theo's silence, Matt glanced at him and questioned.

"You were there when we talked with Nikki?"

"Um…" he is bathing with cold sweat. How could he explain this? That he was jealous back then the reason he left?

"I'm sorry if I listen a little, but I think it isn't right I go inside when you discuss a sensitive case with Nikki." he reasoned, but then something he caught at the monitor.

"What is it?" Matt asked when he noticed that Theo remained staring at the screen. "What did you find out?" Matt leans over and peeks at the monitor. "Nikki went to the room earlier?"

"But she came out of the room not long after." Theo was bothered by it.

"What is going on? We will move there now!" Daichi said and rushed to the door.

"Don't leave me here, brother Daichi!" Mark attempts to hold up the guy, but he leaves already. "Ah, whatever." He continues to watch Kevin Hale who is now staying in his suite.

Back to the hotel Visual Room, Matt and Theo continue replaying the footage.

"Nikki bumped into a hotel waiter and handed him a…"

"The evidence!" Theo and Matt said at once.

"Oh, I remember. Nikki volunteered that she will bring the envelope you forget, Matt." Kier recalled this morning.

"But why did she hand it to someone else rather than give it herself?" Matt contemplates it over.

Theo tries to recall. "Did she read the documents?" he asked Matt.

"It's sealed. So no, she cannot open it."

"Then what's the reason she didn't give it to us personally?"

Theo and Matt look at each other and ponder.

"Theo, could it be that Nikki heard something in our conversation?"

"Which part she overheard?" Theo having a bad perception. "Maybe she heard something, but she did not finish listening to our conversation?"

"To see her expression. She was in a hurry, Theo. Let's check out where she goes next."

"What is going on? What did you two talk that Nikki acted strangely after?" Kier began asking them.

Matt and Theo cannot answer. They have not known the truth yet. What will happen if they find out?

He does not want to think about that matter. Importantly they have ideas or leads where Nikki is. They even had no conclusion if she left, or they kidnapped her?

"Okay. Nikki went to the locker room after she left the 14th-floor." Matt continues reporting what happens in the CCTV footage. He then added, "she's crying?"

"She found out about what happened to her father. It must be the reason she cries, right?" Theo could feel he was like dumb asking this question. But He does wonder why Nikki changed her mind to give the envelope by herself. Hope she heard nothing yet.

However, Kier hasn't over yet but keeps throwing questions "Why did she not give the envelope by herself?" As a lawyer, he has this perception.

"Nikki stayed in the locker room for 35 minutes before she went back to the front desk," Matt reported ignoring his brother.

"The mystery hasn't been solved yet," Kier reminded Matt and Theo. "Matthew?"

"What? I am reporting Nikki's activity this morning." Matt avoided answering his brother. He glanced at Theo, talking to him in the eyes. Matt better knows his older brother very well. He is not only a lawyer. He is also a persistent person.

"This is not the right time. We have to find Nikki first," he told his older brother to stop inquiring.

Theo was contemplating. Nikki goes to the room where he confessed to Matt. Does she overhear something she should not, and misunderstood this? Is this related to why she is ignoring him today? She seems angry at him when he tries to approach her during lunchtime. She did not speak with him but only said she's busy.

How if Nikki figured out he was that mysterious man and what she heard is not the unpleasant part? He confessed to Matt and explained. A few things might Nikki misunderstand if she did not listen to everything.

"Matt, can we replay some parts?" Theo requested. He glanced at his watch and recalled this morning.

"Okay? Which part do you want to play?"

"The one you arrived in the room. I will time it. You came around 9:50 AM. Nikki came 15 minutes after."

"Are you thinking she hears you mentioning those parts, and she misunderstands?"

"I'm thinking, yes. How if she heard me saying those parts?" He's praying and hoping that Nikki heard nothing yet.

"Yet, she didn't know it was you, right?"

"I think so. Unless Doctor Ben told her? But I'm sure he would not, nor Doctor Yonah."

Theo and Matt exchange thoughts while playing back the footage outside the room he booked for a meeting with his Switzerland team.

"Why do Ben and Doctor Yonah include this issue?" Kier questioned once again. "What is going on here?"

"You two are hiding a secret," Rudolf spoke up from listening.

"Matthew?" Kier shouting in the other line.

"Hey, don't yell, brother-in-law!" Mark complains after his ears rang from the loud yell.

"Just do your job!" Kier yells at Mark before he returns, interrogating his brother. "Matt and Theo. What are you two hiding from us?"

"It does not matter by now. We have to find Nikki, ASAP." Shun suggested after his long silence.

"Wait, Shun. Do you know about this?" Kier blurts out at the boss.

"Huh? Me? What do I know? Is there something I should know?" He acted innocent from the issue.

"Stop playing dumb, boss! You are obvious!"

"Hey! You have been bossing around your boss!" Matt joked at the bad temper of his older brother.

"Scold him, brother Shun!" Mark's encouragement which he only chided.

"Shut up, Mark!"

"See? He is yelling on the phone! It hurts for the ear!" Mark grumbled.

"Do your job instead!" Kier retorted.

"I am doing my job," Mark murmured to himself.

"Shun, what is this about?"

"Don't tell me you learn already, Chairman Crow?" asked Theo.

"Ahem! Well, you need a yacht and helicopter, so I should know why you need that. Ahem!" Shun acted coughing.

"What is this all about? Why don't you guys share anything with us!" Mark keeps complaining ever since.

"I don't like to, but I agree," Kier stated. "Tell us in an instance!"

"Oh, who told you? Could it be Master Jeremy?" Matt guesses.

"Uh-uh." Rubin coughed from the other line. He and Jeremy were also silently monitoring everyone who works to solve Nikki's disappearance.

"It is not my standing to share about it," said Shun later on. "It was a personal matter," he added.

"Theo, what is this?" asked Daichi, peering at the guy. He shifted his gaze at Matt. "Matt?"

"Theo who may share about that. He is about to confess to Nikki and all of us. But then, this happens!"

"Matt is right. I'm not keeping it a secret forever. But I need time. I want to help out first, to make these bastards pay what they did to us. Now they are harming Nikki again and even responsible for the death of Nikki's father."

"I will take responsibility for this issue," Jeremy speaks out on the other line. "Whatever Theo committed, it was because of me. It is all my plan, but I have a purpose. Please vent your anger at me after you hear out."

"No. I'll be responsible for it. But I want to talk with Nikki first, now she disappears."

"Okay. Whatever or whoever. We still want to know what's going on here. I will insist. What did you do with our Nikki?" Daichi glares at Theo with intense interest.

The guy feels pressured. It was terrible timing. How could he confess properly, when he has mixed emotions at the moment? He was too worried about Nikki. He badly wanted to find her sooner.

"Don't tell us, brother Theo..." Mark joins the conversation. "Are you the rumored lover Miss Nikki slept with?"

"What!!!?"