CHAPTER 5- THE GIRLS

Kiya finished up her interview and was offered the job at the coffee shop as expected. She felt a bit of excitement; it's exciting getting to be someone else even just for a bit. The owner seems like a very kind man, and she is at least grateful for that.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw Asher walk in, accompanied by a guy. She has only seen pictures of him, but those pictures didn't actually do justice to how good-looking she thinks he is in person. He has such chiselled features with piercing eyes and a captivating smile. He was tall with a broad chest and under his perfect well tailored suit, you could see the outline of his biceps and well tones abdomen sticking out. Now even she could see what all the fuss is about him.

Since she wasn't required to start work till the following day, she decided to linger around and just observe him, so she sat in a corner seat and tried to be as unnoticeable as possible. She watched him as he sipped his drink and talked to his companion.

After observing him for a while, she snuck out quietly from the shop. She wasn't in any real hurry to meet him after all. She made her way back to her quaint little apartment and finished unpacking. After that, she headed to the underground office for a virtual meeting with the supervisor.

"It's clear he is an expert at covering his tracks this time, especially with that enormous reward he's willing to offer," the supervisor said.

When Kiya heard the amount, her jaw dropped. "I had no idea he was that wealthy," she admitted to the supervisor. He certainly is, the supervisor said. Now let's talk about the missing girls. I'm going to give you a brief history of each of them.

The disappearances started with Nicole, who was the very first girl he publicly acknowledged as his girlfriend. Before Nicole, Asher was known for his playboy ways and never really committed to any relationship. He and Nicole dated for approximately 5 months. One morning, she disappeared. Despite all the efforts, no one could reach her. The police were involved, and they searched her apartment and found a note, allegedly written in Nicole's handwriting.

The note was simply her expressing her exhaustion with the fame and wealth that came with her dating Asher and basically saying she couldn't handle it and had gone to have a fresh start elsewhere. A few of her clothes were missing, so it appeared the story checked out, so the police stopped investigating, and the case was closed.

Since Nicole was an orphan who grew up in foster homes, she didn't have any immediate family members, so no one reported her missing, just her friends who weren't even so close to her. Asher had a solid alibi, as expected, as he had attended a charity fundraising event all through the day she was last seen.

Asher stayed single for over a year after that, went back to his playboy ways until he met the second missing girl, Judith.

She was a ballet teacher at a local dance school, and how they met still remains unclear. Asher publicly declared her as his girlfriend, and they dated for seven months before she also disappeared. At the time she was noticed to be missing, Asher wasn't even in the country; he was attending a conference abroad, and that provided him with a solid alibi.

Judith's parents were the ones to report her missing. A digital trace revealed that she had withdrawn 2 million dollars from Asher's personal account just a day prior to her disappearance.

Kiya interrupted, intrigued. "How was that possible?"

"Apparently, Asher had given Judith his card, giving her the free license to use it to purchase anything she desired while he was away," the supervisor responded. The case dragged on for a while, as it appeared to be a case of theft where it appeared that Judith had stolen Asher's money and fled.

If that's the case, why wasn't she searched out and charged with theft then? Kiya asked.

Well, since Asher had willingly given her his card to use, it couldn't really be taken up as theft, so that whole case was closed, the supervisor said.

Up next is Amanda, our third missing woman. Her relationship with Asher barely lasted 3 months. She was known to be a philanthropist, and she was the first woman who was from his social class that he dated. She was so deeply involved in various charity work. It was when she went on a charity mission to an African country that her disappearance happened.

When investigated, it was seen that she arrived safely at the airport of that African country, but she didn't make it to the charity camp. There was no way to trace her, and she just disappeared, leaving no clues behind. Asher was here in the country all through. Hence, he had a solid alibi, as expected.

Our fourth girl is Belinda. Her own case is quite different from the others because it happened after they were said to have broken up "amicably.". A month after the breakup, her house mysteriously caught on fire and burnt to the ground. It was presumed she died in the fire, as the fire left absolutely no evidence of whether anyone was in there or not. Since she never resurfaced, it was just assumed she had died in the fire.

Per usual, Asher had a strong alibi, as he was in China for a business meeting when it all happened.

Now, Aria is missing.

Kiya took a deep breath as the supervisor concluded the briefing. If Asher was truly responsible, he had a stellar way of covering his tracks.

As if he could sense her unease, he said, Kiya, I know this is quite unsettling, but remember you're not alone, and we're monitoring you all the way; your safety is our priority.

She felt a bit of relief as he said that. Thank you, sir, I appreciate that, she said.