AFLOAT Season 4 E.11

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

          — Charles-Guillaume Étienne

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Ituron Community

Eric placed Maurice's phone on the desk. The screen lit up briefly in the dim room, casting an eerie glow across the polished wood.

"Maurice is dead," he said, his voice rough and breathless.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop spinning. His words hung in the air, heavy and forbidden like a taboo. 

Maurice? Eric's most trusted deputy and right-hand man, at least until his spectacular fall from grace, was dead? How was that possible?

Alex's expression hardened as he tried to remember the last time he'd seen the man, but the memory seemed buried somewhere in the distant past. He leaned back in his chair and silently stared at the phone as disappointment washed over him.

He was sorry to hear about Maurice's death, but that wasn't the news he'd been expecting from Eric. The expression on Eric's face when he'd walked into the room had suggested something far more important. Yet this was it?

Suppressing his irritation, Alex slowly lifted his gaze to meet Eric's.

Before he could speak, Tony's voice cut through the silence.

"And why are you telling us this now? What's the link between Maurice and Dapper? Was he involved in her kidnapping?"

Eric hesitated briefly before continuing.

"Maurice died under mysterious circumstances, and I have every reason to believe he is—was—at the center of Dapper's disappearance."

His eyes darted between the two men, both of whom stared at him intently. Neither spoke. They waited, so Eric continued, his voice low.

"He had a heart attack and dropped dead about three hours ago. His wife found him. She's the one who told me about the call that triggered his death."

Eric paused.

"She also mentioned something else she overheard. Something about a girl running toward the river. A bird that wasn't delivered. And a name..." His gaze hardened. "Stanley."

Eric tapped the screen of the dead man's phone, bringing up the call log. Stanley's number glowed at the top of the list, the last incoming call Maurice had received before his final breath.

"This is the number," Eric continued, his eyes fixed on Alex. "This Stanley or whoever is on the other end called Maurice right before he died. His heart likely gave out because he realized we were on their trail."

He paused again and Tony leaned closer, narrowing his eyes at the phone before looking up at Alex.

"We need to trace this line. I'll get Pere to start working on it now."

"He's already working on it," Eric muttered, pulling out his own phone. "His last message said he's encountering a little setback. Maurice's phone is a dumbphone. An outdated model like that doesn't leave much of a digital footprint—no GPS, no useful data trails. It makes tracing his activities difficult."

He glanced at the number again.

"But we have Stanley's number. Tracking him should be easier. As we speak, Pere and his guys are working through the encryption with an insider at the network carrier."

Alex pushed himself out of his chair. The legs scraped loudly against the concrete floor, the sound echoing through the quiet office. He walked toward the window and stared into the darkness outside.

He hated waiting. He hated uncertainty even more.

CONTINUE