The Heart System-Chapter 475

I knocked once and pushed the door open without waiting. Maeve was sitting behind her desk in that comfortable office chair of hers, a mug of coffee in her hand. She looked up when I entered and gave me a polite smile, lifting the cup to take a sip. She placed it down on the desk and drew in a breath like she was about to greet me.

Before she could say anything, I activated Hypnotize. The faint glow appeared in her eyes and her body went still. No greeting, no questions. Just silence. Good. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

I closed the door behind me and walked toward her desk at a steady pace. When I stopped in front of her, I crossed my arms and looked straight into her eyes. Now... who the hell was this "K," and what exactly was his problem?

"Maeve," I said calmly. "Do you know who K is?"

"Yes," she replied, her voice completely flat, stripped of any personality.

"What’s his real name?"

"Jack Kuinn."

I frowned slightly. "Quinn? That doesn’t have a K in it."

"K-U-I-N-N," she said, spelling it out slowly.

"Oh." I nodded once. "Alright."

So that’s how he wrote it.

"Where can I find him?"

"He was here a couple of days ago," she said. "Outside the building."

"Hmm." I rubbed my chin. "Does he work here?"

"No."

"Do you have a photo of him?" I asked. "Anything that could help me recognize him?"

"No."

I exhaled through my nose. "Do you know why he set up the hidden camera?"

"No."

I dragged a hand down my face in frustration. "You’re not being very helpful here."

At least I had a name now: Jack Kuinn.

That was something.

I could technically ask Tuck’s cop friend to run a check on the name, but after the way things ended between us, asking for favors wasn’t exactly an option anymore. No chance in hell. That meant I had to find this guy myself.

Fantastic. Playing detective again.

First crawling through dusty vents, now hunting some random creep with a weirdly spelled name. My life was really taking interesting turns lately.

I released the Hypnotize spell. The glow in Maeve’s eyes faded instantly.

She blinked and shifted slightly in her chair, looking momentarily disoriented, like she had just forgotten what she was about to say. She shook her head once and leaned back, regaining her usual composure.

"Hello, Mr. Marlowe," she said, adjusting her posture. "Last time I saw you, you were in full panic mode."

"Huh?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Cracking the USB you gave me," she said, gesturing toward her laptop. "You ran off before I could even finish opening it."

"Oh."

Right.

From her perspective, I never saw what was inside that USB. I had used Time Stop, checked Chase’s files myself, copied what I needed, and deleted the rest before she even noticed anything had happened. Time Stop had saved my ass more than once already.

Without it, I never would’ve learned the name Jack Kuinn.

"So," Maeve said, folding her hands on the desk, "what brings you here today, Mr. Marlowe?"

"Just checking in," I replied casually. "Seeing if you changed your mind about helping me with the hidden camera situation."

She didn’t hesitate.

"No," she said firmly. "I haven’t."

I nodded once. "Alright. Fair enough. Take care, Maeve."

"You too, Mr. Marlowe."

"Hmm."

I turned and walked out, closing the door behind me with a quiet click.

Now the real question was where the hell to start looking for Jack Kuinn. If he had been inside this building before without actually working here, that meant he knew how to move around unnoticed. The guy was clearly sneaky.

I headed toward the elevators and pressed the button. After a few seconds the doors slid open and a couple of people stepped out. I stepped inside and pressed the button for the ground floor.

As the elevator descended, I muttered quietly under my breath.

"Jack Kuinn... Jack Kuinn..."

Maybe someone else in the building had seen him.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. I stepped out and walked over to the security desk. The guard was sitting in his chair, staring absentmindedly at the floor like he was deep in thought.

"Hey," I said.

He looked up quickly and straightened a little. "Oh. Mr. Marlowe. How may I help?"

"Do you know anyone named Jack Kuinn?" I asked. "And keep this between us. I’d rather not have this spreading around."

The guard frowned, thinking. "I... don’t believe I know anyone by that name, sir."

"Alright." I nodded slowly. "Have you seen anyone suspicious lately? Someone who didn’t seem like they belonged here?"

He scratched his chin for a second. "Well... there was one guy I mentioned to you before."

I tilted my head. "Yeah?"

"He kept insisting he was someone’s father. I forgot the name of the girl though."

My mind clicked instantly. The lunatic who claimed he was Amelia’s father.

Wait.

Could that actually be the K person I was looking for?

At first it sounded ridiculous, but the more I thought about it, the less impossible it seemed. The guy had already shown up once acting weird. If he was lying about who he was, maybe he was lying about his name too.

Still... I couldn’t ignore a possible lead.

I needed to find that guy and ask him some questions about the hidden camera. Too bad Hypnotize only worked on women. If it worked on everyone, my job would be a lot easier right now.

Didn’t that guy also introduce himself as Jack? At the time I assumed it was fake because he couldn’t even tell me his supposed daughter’s surname. But now... I didn’t know if he was just some creepy stalker or something much worse.

Either way, I needed more information.

"Got it," I said with a nod. "Thanks for the help."

"Anytime, Mr. Marlowe."

I turned and walked back toward the elevator, pressing the button again.

My god, this whole situation was getting more complicated by the minute. And honestly, I hated every second of it.

⟁ ⟁ ⟁