YOU DON'T PLAY FAIR "You have to make appearances at the conference if you must establish contact with the high and mighty in the Mafia world," emphasized Mr Ramirez to Caleb. They were together at the training center after the close of work that evening. "I cannot do it alone," he argued for the umpteenth time. "At least go with me this first time and maybe subsequently, I can go alone," Caleb pleaded. "You are braver than you give yourself credit for. And you will make a good leader someday - that much I can tell. All you have to do is believe in yourself." Caleb did not know the part of making a good leader. What he however knew was his determination to see to the end of his number one enemy - Don El-Zaki. The thought of revenge had overtaken him lately, like a cancerous cell, spreading rapidly into every fabric of his being. "I will be like a fish out of water," he gabbled and then stood up to stand behind his chair. "What you're asking me to do is walk into a hall filled wi

THE PENALTY Mr Ramirez turned to El-Zaki, his eyes shooting daggers at him. "What have you done to my family?" he roared. El-Zaki chuckled in a tone that mimicked Antonio's own. "Now it seems the tables have turned." Mr Ramirez narrowed his gaze quizzically. El-Zaki jerked his head prompting him to sit down but the puzzled man remained standing. "I haven't done anything - yet," he said slowly, then paused to let the warning in the last part of his word sink in. "You can trust that I have no intention of hurting them. Although that much will depend on you; if you're willing to oblige to my request."Antonio became crestfallen. He could easily work out of the room and order his men standing outside to manhandle the Don until he gives off the location his family is being held. But that might further endanger their lives. Especially his precious Katherine. She was his only daughter. The bright spot in the dark water of his chaotic world. He sat down again and tried to compose himse

AN EYE FOR AN EYECaleb ended the call with Mr Ramirez and turned to Fab, "I have a job for you tonight. Do you think you can do it?" "Any kind of job, rich kid. I'm here at your service," he said. "Call me Cab going forward, especially when we're together." Fabian nodded and waited expectantly for him to tell him the type of job he needed him to do. "I want you to kidnap someone." Fab jerked his head up sharply. "Here in Rome, I mean." He raised his eyebrows, "Tonight?" "Right away if possible. We don't have much time," he said and went to open his luggage to remove the small Mauser he had purchased the first week he arrived in Madrid. "And I'm going with you to do it." "No! No, you can't be mixed up in something like that. Mr Ramirez asked me to accompany you for a reason." Caleb was staring at Fabian with curiosity. He hadn't met someone so eager to serve him. Perhaps Mr Ramirez was right when he said he saw a good leader in him. And Mr Felipe Santino repeated the same ea

THE NEW DAWNIt was not often that a don was deposed. Maybe for newbies, it was a well-deserved punishment to effect discipline within the Mafia organisation, but for a man like Miguel El-Zaki, he considered it a personal vendetta."Seventeen years I have been accorded this honour. And I've lived up to the tenets of the title. I never missed the annual conference for once; not even in the year my only brother, your uncle, died - which coincided with the date of the general annual meeting." He was talking with Hart after his release. The outrageous conditions he was forced to consent to just to have his son back weren't terms he could have imagined himself bowing to if it wasn't for Hart's foolishness and reckless behaviour. He had never stopped berating him every moment he got the chance since that day. El-Zaki had aged by a decade in the last couple of days that followed the incident. But nothing prepared him for the announcement that was to follow later that evening.Hart sat idly

A TOUGH CALL Caleb studied her for a moment and then asked, "Who?" "The coordinator of the WHO programme. He's my research supervisor in the specialized Advanced Pathology course I'm currently running." "Okay, so does he want you to return to work already?" "Something like that. Although..." she trailed off. "Although what?" Caleb inquired hastily. "He says he wants me back in Mexico City." "And why is that?" Caleb was unconsciously raising his voice. "Because he wants me to examine a patient with a special case." "Who is this patient, if I may ask? Because unless he's the President, I don't see why he can't be brought to the hospital where you work in Madrid for you to examine him." "Well, he's a prominent personality in his own right," she said observing Caleb's disapproving frown. "So are you!" Caleb returned, his voice sounding possessive. It startled Adriana. "You should wait until you hear his name," she added. Caleb narrowed his gaze. "What is his name?" "His name