Officer Helene and Kevin jumped out of the car.Just as they were about to catch up with them, the group of men suddenly stopped.“Stay back or the hostage will be dead.” the leader shouted.He seemed very angry.One of them said, “If it weren’t for these two bastards, we’d be counting the money already.”“We can count it after we kill them.” the other man said optimistically.“Cut the crap! Drop your weapons, let the child go and put your hands on the back your heads! This is your last warning.” Officer Helene shouted.“Stay where you are!” the leader howled back.“Take another step and the boy is finished!” the man pointed the gun at the kid while he used him as a shield.The little boy was really frightened and he couldn’t stop crying.“Let the child go, you worthless son of a bitch!” officer Helene growled.Kevin patted Officer Helene on the shoulder and took a step forward, “So, you tall guys are using a child as a shield… I’m really impressed. Very manly.” Kevin said sarcastical
Few minutes later, she saw EMTs running toward her and Kevin.“I really don’t need all these fuss. I have a lot of work to do.” Kevin said with a hint of irritation in his voice.When Helene heard him say this, she wanted to slap him. “Your health comes first!” she snapped at him.“If you don’t treat this wound now, you would get an infection. That would cost you even more time and money. Now, let them just check you out!”“I still don’t want to go to the hospital.” Kevin complained.The paramedic introduced herself to Kevin, “I’m Erica Hales. Just remain calm and we’ll get you back on your feet in no time.”She and her assistants examined Kevin’s wounds and lifted him on the stretcher to load him in the ambulance.When they checked his vitals, they were pretty surprised to see that he wasn’t in shock.“You’re pretty lucky!” Erica said to Kevin.“It looks like the bullet passed right through.”She rolled Kevin unto his side to be able to disinfect the wounds.“I really don’t want to g
Ivy walked out of her room drying her hair with a small towel in her hand.“Who are you calling?” she asked cautiously.“Ivy Anderson. Do you remember her from the antique store?” Kevin smiled and said.“I wanted her to help me find books on rare gems.”“I didn’t expect you to be awake, making calls. Where did you put that bracelet anyway?” she said in surprise.Kevin brought the necklace out from his pocket.The bracelet was lying beautifully in his hand.“It’s magnificent!” officer Helene exclaimed.“Do you want to take a look?” Kevin said as he stretched his hand to her.Officer Helene started to reach forward and then yawned, “You know? I think I should head back to my room now. I really need to rest. Goodnight!”Then she headed back to her bedroom and closed the door.Kevin could hear her click the lock of the door behind.He was starting to doze off again when he heard Ivy’s voice, “Kevin! Are you still there?”He picked the phone up sleepily, “Hello, I’m here. What did you find
Kevin asked them to keep an eye on things at Williams Media while he drove to Anderson Antiques to see Ivy.Over these past few days, the Anderson family antique and jewel business was the only place in Veridonia that hadn’t been directly affected by the Williams family’s manipulation of the stock market.When Kevin arrived at the store, one of the store’s assistant met him and escorted him to the third floor.“Kevin! You are finally here! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?” Ivy said as she put down the book in her hand.“I’m sorry, Ivy. I didn’t you were waiting this whole time.” Kevin said apologetically.Ivy could see that Kevin was remorse and her lips curved into a pleasant smile.“Is this what you were looking for?” she asked him.Kevin picked up one of the books and flipped through it.“Yes! Thanks.” he replied absently as he looked at the photos and drawings.“A lot of these stones are simply decorative.” Ivy explained.“But there are some people who swear that certain st
“Is there anything you need our help with?” Eliana volunteered.“Not yet, thanks. We’ll be very happy to join forces with you later but we’ve all suffered a lot lately. You, Enoch and Antoine should take some time to help your companies recover.” Kevin said thoughtfully.Eliana and the others nodded in agreement again when they heard him say this.A few Veridonia companies hadn’t survived the financial battle that had just ripped through the economy.Three days later, the whole city of Veridonia was buzzling with the latest news.The Stainless Hotel broke ground with much fanfare.The ceremony was attended by Collins Coke, the owner of the White Field hotel, Eliana Wright, the president of the West Veridonia International group, Antoine Bridge, the owner of the Sparkling bar, Enoch Spain, a leader in a private security industry and Johnson Anne, the chief of staff of Williams Media.Everyone in Veridonia knew that these people had helped the city to survive the recent economic crisis.
“Don’t tell me you want people to go back calling you a freeloader.” But just as Lily said this, she cut herself.“I’m sorry, Kev. I shouldn’t have said that.”“That’s ok. Anyway, you are wife. You can say and do whatever you want to me.” Kevin said seductively.Lily blushed a little.“Then let’s go right now!” she said excitedly as she smiled and took Kevin’s hand.So they headed out to go shopping together.The problem was, Kevin just wasn’t used to wearing fancy clothes.He preferred casual wears.Not only was it cheaper, but it was also a lot more comfortable.Finally, after making Lily roll her eyes in frustration at least a dozen times, Kevin had no choice but to give in.He ended up buying two shorts, two shirts, three pants and three jackets.When he got to the register, the associates smugly looked Kevin up and down before saying, “The total is eighteen hundred and thirty-two dollars. Cash or credit?”Kevin took a deep breath and reluctantly said, “Credit.”“Wait a minute.” L
As they settled in, Lily suggested that she and Kevin should go hunting in the woods but Shantel Blare asked the families to play high stakes game.Every family would chip in ten million dollars.Whoever caught the most fish in the game would win the pot.Lily finally agreed to let the Jones family participate too.Soon, the teams were decided.There were Kevin and Lily from the Jones family, Ivy and her brother Blake, representing the Andersons, Shane Blare and Officer Helene from the Blare family and there were six other families too.“I’m not launching to hunting or fishing so, I’ll be the judge.” Neo Blare said as he looked at his watch.“It’s 9:00am and you all have three hours to catch as many fishes as you can. Be back here by noon. Good luck to all of you!”Seeing that everyone had already started to move, Lily immediately pulled on Kevin’s sleeve and nudge him, “Let’s head up that way, into the woods!”“Don’t panic.” Kevin said very calmly.“We just spent ten million dollars!
Just as they reached the clearing, Kevin dropped to the ground and the Cougar ran past him, smashing into a tree.Kevin immediately jumped up and left back into the forest.When Ivy finally limped into the camp, Blake saw her and ran over to help her.“Ivy, where is Kevin?” Lily asked anxiously when she realized that Kevin wasn’t with her.“He… Kevin… in order to save me, he lured the Cougar in the other direction.” Ivy said sadly.They all heard a whamming sound that echoed from one end of the woods to the other.“That sounds like the Cougar got him.” they all thought.Some of the Jones’s were finally happy to get rid of him.At least, Ivy had made it back.They had no sympathy for Kevin at all.“No… no… Kevin can’t die!” Lily sobbed as she kept shaking her head unable to hold back her tears.“Kevin…” Officer Helene was starting to tear to up too.Was Kevin still alive?“Which one of you is willing to follow me back into the woods to find Kevin?” Lily shouted desperately but nobody r