The Marvelous Elijah’s Return

Chapter 97

A dead man has no tale to tell

Not for a second, not even for a moment did Elijah close his eyes, and the first light of dawn met him standing a slim distance away from the glass wall, watching the darks slowly fade.

The news about Meeks didn‘t leave his mind, and like a haunting nightmare, it dawned on him every second that sleep had forsaken him.

Patting the sheets, Peach‘s eyelids slowly opened, looking up at her husband with her drowsy eyes, still half asleep, before she let out a soft yawn, rubbing her nose on one finger in an attempt to get rid of the sleepiness. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

When she fully awakened, a sense of worry and confusion settled around her like fog, as she slowly sat up straight, staring at Elijah.

After that phone call last night that she had deemed “annoying” because Elijah lost all interest after receiving it, she knew something was off, and now, seeing him just standing there made her even more anxious.

“Good morning,” Peach said while putting on her robe and slipping a pair of slippers over her feet.

Then she walked over to Elijah, hugging him from the back as her chin rested on his bare back while she looked up at the back of his hair, whispering, “A morning kiss for your thoughts?”

It took Elijah a second to snap out of his daze, and then he rested his palms against the back of her hands, pulling them off him gently before turning around to face her.

“That‘s an offer I can never turn down.” Elijah said with a warm smile

Slowly, Peach grinned back at him, but instead of saying a word, she leaned in and kissed him deeply, letting the feeling wash over her, filling her with so many emotions.

When they parted, Elijah wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his face into the crook of her neck, and sighed deeply, squeezing her.

“Now, it‘s your turn…” Peach whispered, running her fingers slowly in his hair. “What‘s wrong?”

“Meeks is missing. His car was found on the ocean shore last night, but he was not in it.” Elijah explained softly.

Speechless, a look of horropassed through Peach‘s features as she stared at Elijah for what seemed like forever until her lips parted slightly, and then she mumbled, “Grandfather‘s lawyer… Mr. Meek?”

When Elijah nodded, she immediately swallowed, her lashes fluttering for a couple seconds. Then she let out a long breath, and asked, “You mean he‘s dead?”

“I am not sure. But just for today, I am taking you over to your mom, and Matt will be there with you guys, and you are not allowed to leave his sight, okay?” Elijah said calmly, but his tone was firm, yet somehow also loving.

With no doubt in him, he wanted to protect her, keep her safe, and he could only do that by keeping her hidden from this mess and everything else for the time being until he figured out what was going on.

“Can we just…” Peach started, but his eyes shot her down, making her swallow her words again. For a moment, Elijah could see the conflict in her eyes, but eventually, she gave up and let out another sigh, nodding slowly.

“Okay.” Peach mumbled as a sense of worry slowly spread across her chest, and she studied his eyes for a second. “What about you? How are you going to spend the day?”

Raising her chin, Elijah looked at her with a gentle expression, before replying, “Let‘s stick to the rules for today, okay?”

‘That means you are going to do something crazy, isn‘t it?‘ Peach thought to herself, feeling worried even more as she nodded.

At nine o’clock, Dice brought the car to a stop in front of Hotel Del Rio de, parking it in the lot outside. The sun had already set as Elijah escorted Peach out of the car and inside the hotel.

The moment her eyes rested on Miss Grace and her mother‘s grin widened, Peach picked up her pace, making Elijah move a bit fast.

“Mama,” A cry immediately escaped Peach‘s lips the moment Elijah let go of her hand, and she jumped into her mother‘s arms.

“Honey,” Miss Grace pulled her daughter closer, planting kisses on her forehead before giving her another hug. “How are you doing?”

As the mother and daughter chatted, Elijah looked over at Ryan and Rookie, and the two followed him a couple of distances away from Matt, Miss Grace, and James.

“Did you get any sleep last night at all, boss?” Ryan asked with a look of concern, knowing damn well from his eyes that he hadn‘t slept a wink.

Elijah shrugged and glanced over at James, who was smiling happily at Peach, before answering, “I had coffee. But about Meeks, Rookie, were you able to dig out anything that the media has not released yet?”

“Well, no. It‘s all the same… that he lost control of the steering due to the heavy rain yesterday night and his car ran off the highway bridge and into the ocean.” Rookie answered, looking concerned

himself as he rubbed the back of his head.

“I saw the news earlier this morning of the photos of his car. It looked reck as if the hood slammed into something before falling into the water, and those that found it saw that the driver‘s door was open.” Ryan said, feeling confused by the scattered puzzle pieces that were not fitting together.

“He couldn‘t have gotten it opened in the water…”

“So he was trying to get out before the car fell over?”

“But did he get out before or after the car hit the ocean surface?”

As a fancy dress lady walked by then, the three conversations immediately stopped, making her snort at their silence, and walked off.

“I will have Jerome put out some men to sniff around for anything out of the ordinary about the lawyer‘s accident.” Elijah told them after a couple of seconds of silence. “In the meantime, I need you two with me at Investistic Co... With what happened to Meeks, right now I don‘t want Peach in public places for the time being. So we will have to run things for now.”

After Ryan and Rookie share a glance, they both nod at Elijah, and then Ryan let out, “We got your back, boss.”

A look of hesitation settled on Miss Grace‘s face as she watched Peach‘s eyes and then said, “You heard about what happened to Meeks, right?” “Elijah told me a couple of hours ago.” Peach mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper and she bit her lower lip as if deep in thought.

Looking over at James and then Matt, Miss Grace grabbed Peach‘s wrist and pulled her a couple of steps away from them before saying, “I heard that you got the company.”

“Oh, you… did…” Peach stuttered, blinking quickly while she turned away, not really wanting to meet her mother‘s gaze as she bit her lower lip harder.

“Everything burnt in that fire, Peach… So how did the Will miraculously resurface?‘ Miss Grace inquired curiously and cautiously.

Taking a deep breath, Peach looked up at her mother, feeling her heart beating faster in her chest, and then said with a forced smile to mask her nervousness, “Elijah spoke with Mr. Meeks the day before yesterday.”

“And yesterday, he got into an accident and his lifeless body is floating somewhere in the ocean.” Miss Grace continued, cutting her daughter off, and then she added, “Peach… Honey, you”

“It was not Elijah‘s doing or his fault.” Peach tried to argue, her grip tightening on the strap of her purse.

“And I never said it was. I know Elijah won‘t hurt Meeks, but the Hayeses have the mind to. Do you think that the fact you got a new Will out of thin air didn‘t raise their brows?”

“–”

“Honey, all I wanted to say is be careful and keep by your husband‘s side. I worry for you my child, but you can not escape the last name you bear, so all you can do is listen to what your husband says, try to trust his judgment, and don‘t let anyone take advantage of you like they took advantage of your father and grandfather.”

Looking back, Peach smiled softly at Elijah approaching them with Ryan and Rookie, and then, she faced her mother and said, “Yes, mama.”

The soothing sound of an Oprah playing echoed in the bedroom as madam Jewel applied an expensive perfume on

her skin and then made her way to the full–length mirror, turning left and right to admire her look.

Suddenly, her heart jumped in her chest the moment her door bashed open, and Melina walked in, letting out as she shut the door, “Grandfather‘s lawyer is dead!”

“Did they find his body?!” Madam Jewel asked, spinning around to face Melina who stood frozen against the wooden door frame.

“No, but I just saw it on the news and was in shock… Will this affect any of the shares that you gave us in the companies if a new lawyer–”

“There will be no more new lawyers for this family… at least not personal ones. The last one was a handful. I am just glad that a dead man has no tale to tell.”

“Since that‘s the case… I am just glad his death will not affect my company.”

Sighing out her relief, Melina took a moment to admire her grandmother and then finally asked, “Where are you going, looking like luxuries?”

“To take care of another loose end that has made himself way too much of a handful.” Madam Jewel said with this look that looks like the definition of raw evil as she gave Melina a quick smile and then

grabbed her bag off the stool.