REUNIONCaleb rushed to the door to catch a glimpse of who the mysterious visitor was, but she had disappeared like she was never even there. He looked to his left and right, only a nurse carrying a tray of medication was coming from the direction of the female ward which was on the other wing.He sighed and turned to go back inside, and that's when he heard a familiar voice saying, "Please take me to the open field by the cafeteria, I need some fresh air."Caleb paused right there. He could recognise that voice anywhere.Without going back inside to let the D. I P know he was stepping outside, he followed the direction of the voice.Bella El-Zaki was seeing daylight for the first time in ten days. She was advised to remain bedridden in the ward until she complained to her doctor that she was getting depressed from not being able to talk on the phone or allowed to go outside. "The ward attendant on duty will assist you to go outside when the sun comes up," the female doctor gently s
THE UNSEEN MOVEMiguel El-Zaki had been trying to make contacts with his men; at least the few ones who were still loyal to him."I am in deep trouble," he said when he arrived at the hotel where he asked them to meet and wait for him. "My wife alongside my son took an important document out of my safe while I was hospitalized and..." his voice broke off."The mistake was in not telling us you went under the knife," one of the three men at the meeting began."Yes that's true," the second man concurred. "Even Mr Amos Adelio defected as a result of you keeping everybody in the dark." It was the third man that contributed. They were all greatly displeased. "You could have told one of us at least. And someone would have kept an eye on your properties." "My lawyer, barrister Alfred Crusoe, was handling that well enough before I left," El-Zaki said in his defence. "Well, now see how well he did the job!" It was a sarcastic remark from the second man. But even El-Zaki could not bring h
OUT OF REACH After reading the letter from Hannah - which was masterminded by Caleb, El-Zaki stood up and entered into his private chambers, and shut the door.He was visibly shaken. And trying to wrap his head around the content of the letter made him have a migraine."Bella is my biological daughter?!" It was more of a statement than it was a question. He began to pace about with a glass of whiskey in his hand. As he moved, he gulped down the content and put the empty glass on the table. Then clasping his hands together, he started thinking of what to do next. "How do I tackle this so-called Hannah?" On one hand, his guts told him to call her bluff and ignore her. But on the other hand, his mind was telling him there was an element of truth in what she said. And he could not pretend that that night never happened. How could he when the baby's photos bore too close a resemblance to his own baby pictures? The full hair, pointed nose, and deep-searching eyes. How could he have mis
CHAINS OF REACTION Bella made her way to the car park where Caleb was waiting to take her from the hospital to her mother's place."I'm never going back to that mansion," she declared with determination in her voice. "Hmm. You have a new family now, and they will love you," added Caleb as he started the ignition. None of them spoke another word until they got to a T-junction: one was leading towards the El-Zaki mansion while the other led downtown and to the suburbs. "Do you know which way to follow?" Bella asked him. "I think it's this way," he pointed to the road on his right, "according to what Google map is saying." Bella who was sitting in front of the car looked out the window at Caleb's side and stifled a smile."What?" He looked out too to see what was fascinating to her but couldn't spot anything of interest."This!" she made a gesture with her hand, mimicking his.Caleb looked about him wondering what she was implying."You have that funny look on your face but I don
NO WAY OF ESCAPE El-Zaki dialled Hannah's line several times that day but she didn't respond. He brought out the letter again from his chest pocket to confirm the phone number behind it.He saw that it was correct. "Then why the fuck is she not responding to my calls?""If she has my daug..." he stopped himself in midsentence. "I shouldn't address her as my blood yet. Not when I'm yet to confirm she's actually mine." But the image of Bella's baby photos won't leave his head. And his mind also went back to that Christmas night when he returned home drunk and met Hannah alone in his loving room downstairs. It was like he had never seen a beautiful woman before. The way her bum swayed beneath her bogus uniform sewn to disguise her beauty gave him the bulge. And then his anger on realising his wife left home on some trip with his two-year-old son further made his blood feel hot. His whole plans for that Christmas changed and he decided to improvise with what was available. Thinking ab
ONE DAY ONE TROUBLEMadam Rebecca's reaction made El-Zaki to suspect she was up to something. He snarled at her."Why aren't you answering him?" Apparently, he could hear Hart saying hello, hello several times trying to get his mother's attention. He shouted from the background. "She can't speak because her plans have been foiled." Madam Rebecca forgot about the call and faced him. "Maybe if you weren't such a lousy husband, none of this would have happened," she accused him. "And, oh, my son won't go to their office because he's innocent. You will handle them all by yourself!" she snapped. Hart knew he had to finish up whatever he was doing and get back home immediately. Whenever his parents began their quarrel, it was usually messy. He ended the call by himself and went back to talk with barrister Crusoe. Surprisingly, the man was no longer there. "What now?" he murmured looking around for him. There was no sign of the barrister. He searched the surroundings and even asked the
HOW IT PLAYED OUT Caleb never knew it was that easy to get to anyone he needed information about. After the strange number that called him and Hannah kept trying to reach them separately, he reached out to Mr Ramirez. Coincidentally, he was about to leave Madrid for Mexico City on a business-related trip which he intended to stop over at the Dezani estate afterwards for the courtesy visit. "Give me a few minutes let me check it with my tech guys," he said. Caleb said okay and waited. By this time, he, Hannah, and Bella were on their way to a small town where they'd be lodging in a hotel for the time being. Mr Ramirez called back to say the call signal was coming from Spring Road. It was the axis where the El-Zaki mansion was located. Caleb thanked the man and said he'd be waiting to receive him in Mexico. From there, Caleb knew what to do. He sent out about twelve men and instructed them to wait at specific points: along El-Zaki mansion, DeZ company, and at every checkpoint with
BAD IDEA"No please, you can't let him meet me here," pleaded the barrister.Everyone's attention was immediately turned on him."And why is that?" queried Caleb in a tone that registered his displeasure."It's a bad idea.""Bad for whom?" added Mr Ramirez. "By law, I am his lawyer and by that, I'm under oath to keep whatever he confides in me a secret. If he meets me and finds out I've given any information to you, he can sue me legally," he explained.His explanation made sense but it didn't solve a thing for him, reasoned Caleb. "Right. So what if the so-called lawyer is found culpable in a crime of forgery?" There was a moment of silence before Mr Ramirez spoke. "We can keep you safe only if you promise to cooperate during his arrest and interrogation. In which case you'd be found guilty of complicity. However, if you plead guilty, the charges for your sentence would be reduced based on your testimony that as his lawyer you were bound by oath to keep his secrets." They were st