SEEKING ANSWERS "What's on your mind?" Bella asked Caleb when he stayed quiet for a while. "Does my story make you sad too?" Caleb shook his head. "No. Not really," he corrected himself. "I just wish your mother would be more open about the past. It might help to sort out the future." They were sitting in a secluded area in the V. I. P section. The manager had given them preferential treatment because he recognised Caleb from the last time. The both of them seemed lost in thought. "I think I may know your mother," Caleb said suddenly, breaking the deafening silence. Bella jerked up her head. "Really?" She pushed herself forward. "Where did you know her from?" "At the hospital." "Huh?" "I met her too at the hospital." "You had a conversation with her already?" "Kind of." Then Caleb went on to explain how they were together in the bleeding room the day he donated blood for her stepfather. "What struck my attention was the striking resemblance of your eye colour. That sparkli

THE IN-HOUSE FIGHT Bella took her phone and called Caleb and relayed everything she overheard Hart and Madam Rebecca discussing. "The document you've been searching for is with a lawyer," she told him. "A lawyer? Are you sure of this?" Caleb questioned. "Yes. I overheard them from my room but didn't get the name of the lawyer in question." "Alright. Keep your ears to the ground and let me know when you hear more." "I will," Bella said with a catch in her tone. Caleb noticed and asked her what else she wanted to say. "You're okay?" That's when Bella recounted what Madam Rebecca promised to do. "I don't know what they're planning but I don't feel safe here," she admitted. Caleb felt he needed to help her yet didn't know how. "What about your stepfather? Has he said anything yet?" "No. And that's what I fear most - his silence." "No worries, just let me know if anything happens. I will help you," he assured her. Then he heard the girl heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Don

SMEARED IN BLOODThe scene was like a war zone in Iraq. The four men had surrounded the other two. One of the two released fire and nearly caught one of the four.It was a costly mistake. Because the man in black emptied his AK-47 into his skull till his body became folded into a mangled heap."Please don't kill me!" the other one shouted. "My hands are up in the air.""Drop the portfolio on the ground and raise them above your head!" he heard someone say.He obeyed. "Now come out slowly."The man came into view. He was a stoutly built man. "Turn around!" the same voice commanded. Someone searched him for a weapon and found a small gun safely strapped to his waist. He retrieved it and gave the man a hard kick on the groin. "Who sent you?" He started to plead that it was his dead friend that asked him to accompany him somewhere. "I don't know who gave the order. It was my friend that asked me to escort him to get something." "Him?" the man in black asked, pointing to the heap of b

THE BLACKMAIL El-Zaki welcomed Alfred in his private chambers upstairs. It was the second time in recent memory he had asked the lawyer to sit with him up there. He was downing the second glass of whiskey from a bottle of Tequila Ley he took from his wine cellar. "Join me, barrister, let's drink away the doom that is about to implode and consume the El-Zaki household. Including its friends and business associates," he said in a drawl. It was obvious he had been drinking all morning since after Pablo brought him the empty portfolio. "My son has finally opened the door for my enemies to get at me. If they come for me, I want to go down a happy man," he went on as he belched. Alfred knew he had to do something. "You haven't yet told me what the issue is. Maybe I might still be able to help you," he said as he removed the bottle of whiskey from the table. El-Zaki stared at him as if he was talking nonsense. "Help me how? Haven't you seen the news? Now look over there," he pointed to

AT YOUR SERVICECaleb waited until it was dark before slipping out of the house. He needed to do this alone and discreetly. He had tried several times to reach Bella but her line was still switched off. "Maybe she wants to be left alone," he thought to himself. He could have sent Abhi to find out but decided against it. The less people knew about his involvement with the girl, the better for him, he reasoned. As he got to the hospital, he prayed to meet the kind lady who attended to him that day in the bleeding room. Adriana had travelled back to Madrid for her professional exams otherwise he would have asked her to get the woman's data from her daughter's hospital chart. The lab attendant was just coming out of the bleeding room carrying a pint of blood. She recognised him by herself. "Hey, you're back to donate for another patient?" she teased him. Caleb smiled. "Oh, no. But I could if you treat me nicely," he jokingly said. The young lady smiled back. "Will running a free BP