Chapter 241: Stolen Cars and Tangled Clues

Back inside Eric’s building, after giving their full statements to Norman, Emma and Keisha escorted Tania and Greg upstairs to wait for the police escort that would take them home safely. Down at Melissa’s cafe, only Eric, Katie, Ruby, Mike, Jade, and Norman remained. Melissa had retreated behind the counter, choosing to stay out of the fray.

Norman sat scanning his notes and lost in thought, while the others listened intently, stunned by the unfolding situation.

"The story being peddled is a clear hit piece meant to assassinate her character. Tania and Greg have already laid out the unvarnished truth, backing it up with solid evidence—photos, receipts showing Tania paid for the hotel room upfront since it made zero sense for Greg’s parents to foot the bill, and even screenshots of text history proving the parents came to town strictly to watch Greg’s basketball game... I’ll send all of this straight to Ms. Katie and Mr. Mike," Norman stated.

"Alright... go ahead and forward everything to me, Mr. Norman," Mike responded.

Norman fired off the encrypted evidence files via email to Katie and Mike, who immediately unlocked their smartphones to review the documents. After a moment of skimming, Mike glanced up at Katie.

"So, Ms. Katie, do you think we need to issue a formal clarification right now to keep this thing from blowing up further?" Mike asked.

"Yes... as soon as we wrap up here, we’ll draft a statement featuring the evidence without dumping everything out at once. The priority is clearing Tania’s name and the company’s reputation first. I’ll also pull official corporate records to debunk the false claims made in that article," Katie answered.

"Agreed. Poor kid was an absolute wreck—she’s going to stay over at Greg’s dorm for now. Let her decompress there, because even though my apartment complex has great security, it’s still being watched," Ruby added.

"Hold on... shouldn’t we wait for Mr. Kyle’s findings first? Call it a hunch, but I feel like that voicemail I got and this fake hit piece are somehow connected... even if I don’t have hard proof yet," Eric voiced his doubts.

"How long are we supposed to wait? A week? That means leaving Tania exposed to internet trolls for seven whole days. Sure, she’s still relatively safe hiding behind the codename Sapphire, but if she keeps getting stalked and her real name gets leaked, it’ll turn into a total disaster. Remember—this stuff moves at lightning speed," Jade argued.

"Hmm... true. So what’s our best play here?" Eric conceded.

"We issue an interim clarification first. The main goal is to dial down public suspicion so she can breathe. We don’t need to empty our entire arsenal yet; once Mr. Kyle delivers actual intel, we’ll make our real move," Katie recommended.

"I’m with Katie on this. No need to drop all the cards on the table right now. Let’s just put out a targeted statement to correct the specific lies in this article," Mike agreed, tapping his phone screen which still displayed the defamatory headline.

"Alright, I’ll leave the clarification strategy entirely in your hands," Eric deferred.

A heavy silence settled over the table. Norman went back to studying his notes, trying to connect the dots from the statements given by the four Nobelia girls and Greg. The cafe grew dead quiet except for Melissa softly wiping down a counter in the background, keeping her ears wide open.

Suddenly, a sharp "riing" cut through the air. Ruby fished her smartphone out of her bag; the screen flashed an incoming call from Rico Auto Repair. Ruby picked up on the third ring, but her brow furrowed instantly when she heard heavy panting and a chaotic background noise. Switching her phone to speaker mode, she laid it flat on the table.

"Hello, Mr. Rico? What’s going on?" Ruby asked.

"Ms. Ruby, I am so, so sorry... your car was just stolen straight out of our garage," Rico blurted out.

Hearing Rico’s panicked voice echo across the table, Eric, Norman, Katie, Mike, Jade, and even Melissa whipped their heads toward Ruby’s phone. Ruby sat frozen, her jaw dropping in sheer shock. Reacting instantly, Norman snatched the phone off the table, shifting straight into interrogation mode.

"Mr. Rico, this is Detective Norman. Are you saying your vehicle was actually stolen? When did this happen? Have you already contacted the authorities?" Norman grilled him.

"Oh... detective! Yes, I called emergency services right before dialing Ms. Ruby. Someone must have pried the garage door open while I was walking home. A neighbor called me, and I rushed back, I’m looking over the security footage right now to pin down the exact timestamp. Our shop has cameras covering every angle," Rico stammered.

"Got it. Ms. Ruby and I are heading over right now," Norman instructed.

"Thank you, sir, I’ll be waiting," Rico replied, sounding slightly relieved.

The line clicked dead. Norman handed the smartphone back to Ruby, who was still staring blankly with her mouth half-open.

"Ms. Ruby, we need to get over there. We can take my car, you know the address, right?" Norman asked.

"Y-yes... right this way, Mr. Norman," Ruby stammered. She then looked frantically toward Eric and Jade, "Can you guys come with me? If I go alone, I’ll lose my mind... and I don’t mean being scared of Mr. Norman," Ruby pleaded.

Eric could see the visible tremor in Ruby’s hands and the shock etched across her face. He exchanged a quick glance with Jade, who nodded back before turning their attention back to Ruby.

"Alright, Jade and I will tag along. That’s fine with you, Mr. Norman, right?" Eric asked, looking at the detective.

"Ideally we shouldn’t travel in a crowd, but since you’re practically family, I suppose it’s fine," Norman conceded.

"Let’s move out," Eric said to Jade, turning to Mike. "Borrowing Jade for a bit, bro."

"Sure... no problem. I’ll use the time to keep drafting the clarification narrative with all the evidence anyway," Mike replied.

"Let’s go, Eric, Ruby... lead the way, Mr. Norman," Jade urged.

"Right, everyone let’s roll," Norman commanded.

Eric and Jade stood up, following closely behind Ruby and Norman as they hurried toward the exit. Once the door swung shut behind them, the cafe fell into a quiet lull. Katie and Mike remained seated in deep thought until Melissa stepped out from behind the counter and pulled up a chair next to Katie.

"By the way, have we heard any updates on the building renovation progress?" Melissa asked.

"Hmm... not yet. I should check in with Chloe since she’s managing the whole renovation project... or rather, her firm is handling it," Katie answered.

"Got it. That means the grand opening gala and the charity fundraiser are still on hold, huh?" Melissa noted.

"We can pull off the gala anytime, even before the building work is fully finished it’s not a dealbreaker. But right now, we’ve got bigger fires to put out," Katie replied.

"Man... the timing on all of this is way too suspicious," Mike muttered, shaking his head. "First the hit piece drops... then Eric gets that creepy voicemail... and now Ruby’s car gets boosted. It’s like all three of these moves are coming from the exact same playbook."

"Exactly. Which is why we need to finalize and drop that public clarification before things spiral completely out of control," Katie concluded.

***

Moments later, since Rico’s auto shop happened to be located close to Ruby’s apartment and not far from Eric’s building, they arrived at the scene. The shop looked like a two-story building with a pair of ground-floor garages secured by metal rolling doors. In front of one garage, where the metal door looked like it had been forcefully pried open, a man in a white t-shirt and jeans was giving a statement to two police officers whose cruiser was parked right in front of the adjacent bay.

Norman parked his car, and the group stepped out together. Norman walked straight over to the officers, who turned to greet him.

"Officer Bob... Officer Willow," Norman acknowledged.

"Lieutenant Norman," Bob, a male officer in his thirties, replied.

A young female officer standing beside Bob with a name tag reading Willow gave Norman a nod. Norman then turned his attention to the man in the white t-shirt, around twenty-five years old, who was standing in front of the damaged garage holding a smartphone.

"Mr. Rico? I’m Norman, the one who called you earlier," Norman introduced himself.

"Oh, right... I’m Rico... and hey, Ms. Ruby," Rico replied, spotting Ruby standing just behind Norman.

Ruby stepped up beside Norman, her face a mix of anxiety, anger, and lingering fear.

"Mr. Rico, was my car actually stolen?" Ruby asked, her voice trembling.

"Just watch this video yourself... is that alright with you, officers?" Rico asked, turning to the cops.

"Go ahead, show it to them," Bob approved.

Rico pulled up the security footage on his smartphone. Eric and Jade stepped in close to watch the screen. According to the timestamp in the corner, the recording was from about an hour ago. The footage showed the interior of the garage, where a red Honda Civic hatchback sat parked inside. Suddenly, the metal rolling door was shoved from the outside, then forcefully pried open from the bottom and shoved all the way up.

Three figures wearing gray hoodies marched inside. One of them immediately slipped over to the driver’s side while the other two kept watch outside. Once the car door popped open, two of them slid into the seats while the third kept guard near the entrance.

Moments later, the engine roared to life, and the car reversed out into the street. The guard pulled the rolling door back down halfway before the headlights swept across the frame as the vehicle sped off into the night.

Watching the playback, Eric could tell right away that these guys were far from professional thieves. But when he glanced over at Ruby, he was stunned to see her face drained of all color, her lips visibly trembling.