Chapter 152

Aldo

I had absolutely no clue what to expect when Carlo told me that.

My nerves were already on edge enough from everything else that was going on. The last thing I needed was to try and guess just what the fuck he uncovered when he was searching through Carter’s place.

“Carlo, for Christ’s sake, just tell—”

“I’m sending the photos through.”

Photos?

With that, I lowered my phone down to brace myself for the onslaught of images that came flooding through. I was not prepared for the overwhelming feeling of sheer mortification and total dread that speared through me as I scrolled through the ongoing stream of photos Carlo sent.

“What the fuck?” I hissed under my breath.

Every single photo Carlo sent me was of Layla. Every. Single. One.

There were pictures of her smiling, laughing, and causally gazing at something. There were even pictures of her crying, looking terrified and frazzled.

There were so many photos that Carlo started sending them in larger clusters. What truly made me revoltingly unsettled was that there were photos from when I hadn’t met Layla yet. She looked every bit of fifteen years younger in these pictures.

This wasn’t normal for someone who merely gathered evidence on a police case. On average, an investigator would collect one or two recent pictures of the suspects in question. Not over a hundred!

“Carlo?”

“I knew something wasn’t right about him,” he muttered. “Motherfucker is a complete stalker.”

How long had Agent Carter known about Layla? Did the two of them actually know each other?

No, surely Layla would have said something if that were the case.

“Carlo, I want you to gather up every photo you find of Layla,” I said. “And then I want you to come back here.”

“Got it.”

I ended the call and swiftly pulled up Ethan’s number. I needed him to tell me where Carter was. I waited patiently for him to answer the call. With each ring, my stomach dropped lower and lower.

Finally, on the last ring, Ethan’s voice came through the speaker.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “You don’t normally call me during the day.”

“You’re at the station now, right?” I questioned sharply.

“Yes? What’s this abo—”

“Can you see Agent Carter? Can you see him, right now?”

“Hang on,” he said.

I could tell he was moving around the office by the sound of his shoes hitting the floor.

“I don’t see him,” Ethan said. “Aldo, would you tell me what the hell is going on? Why the hell do you sound so panicked?”

Where the hell was he?? I made a mental note to message Carlo afterward and have him reach out to the team in order to track down the bastard’s car. If he wasn’t at the station then he had to be in his car.

I spoke through gritted teeth. “Carlo found something in Carter’s apartment.”

“What was it?”

“Perhaps, you ought to come over here and see for yourself,” I suggested.

I ended the call before Ethan could get another word in. All the blood felt like it was rushing to my head, I barely heard Eli's voice when he spoke out.

“Dad, is something wrong?” he asked. “Is it mom? Is she in trouble?”

I cursed myself for not being more considerate of my surroundings. Poor Eli likely overheard everything that had just unfolded. His face was filled with worry.

“Everything is going to be alright. I’m sorry for making you worry,” I told him. “Mom isn’t in any danger.”

God. Why the hell did it feel like I was lying to him?

I knew Layla had gotten to Maine safe and sound since she called me the moment she settled in. But it wasn’t like the two of us had been exchanging ongoing messages since then.

I truthfully had no idea if she was okay or even what she was doing. I knew this trip was meant for her to have a chance away from all the insanity here, so I didn’t want to purposely bombard her with calls and messages.

I reached my hand out again to brush Eli’s hair back from his face. “How about tonight, we order some pizza and watch a few movies?”

This seemed to lighten the mood. He gave a small smile and nodded his head. I watched Eli hop off the bar stool and reach for his sketch pad.

While I averted that crisis, I had to now prepare myself for the next one. As I headed back to my office, I heard a car pull up outside. A few moments later, Ethan came through the door.

“Alright, are you gonna tell me just what the fuck is going on?” he questioned firmly. “You said Carlo got into Carter’s apartment?”

Shockingly enough there didn't seem to be a tone of reprimand in his voice. I silently nodded and clenched my jaw.

“Well, what did he find? Come on, Aldo. You can’t leave me hanging here. Ever since you called, I've been asking around the station and no one has seen Carter since yesterday.”

Another wave of anxiety struck me in the chest.

“Carlo came across dozens of photos of Layla in his place. Not all of them are recent,” I told him. Ethan went completely still. “It seems as though this creep has been keeping an eye on Layla for years.”

His features twisted with disgust. “Are you serious?”

“He should be back any minute now. I told him to take anything and everything in relation to Layla out of his apartment. I can’t stand the thought of someone like him constantly leering at pictures of her. It makes me sick.”

Ethan nodded his head in agreement. Moments later, we were joined by a startled-looking Carlo. The man appeared a few shades paler than when he first left this afternoon.

He hadn’t even questioned the notion that Ethan was there—which meant that man had been really disturbed.

“Here,” he said, tossing the massive folder onto the desk. The contents were barely contained as they spilled out the sides.

We all reached for a handful of pictures. A good portion looked familiar from the photos Carlo had sent me prior to this. I glanced over at Ethan who looked as though he was seconds away from hitting the floor.

“Ethan, sit down before you collapse.”

He lowered himself down into one of the chairs and shook his head. “I don’t understand...Carter—”

“Is clearly not as clean and innocent as we were led to believe,” I grumbled.

“Yeah, but the question is, what are we going to do about it?” Carlo inquired. “Aldo, Carter’s vehicle is nowhere to be found.”

My whole body went rigid. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that we couldn’t locate Carter anywhere within the general vicinity of where he normally would be. It’s like he vanished into thin air,” he explained.

Just when I thought the feeling in my gut couldn’t get any worse, I was hit with another punch of worry. Something wasn’t right...Where the hell could he have gone? And why?

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Ethan said weakly. “The only way he’d be able to gather information about the Marcellos would be if he stayed in the city. Why leave?”

“Unless this isn’t about the case at all,” I said darkly.