The Marvelous Elijah's Return novel 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. 

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 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.” 

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.” 

“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”