DOWN BUT NOT OUT "Wake up, Caleb!" "Can you hear me, Caleb?" "Please open your eyes." Caleb heard voices in his subconscious. He tried to open his eyes but the pain in his head and nose was too severe.He groaned and mumbled incoherently. "Lil... Lil .. Oh, Lil..." and then sleep overtook him again. "He should be allowed to sleep while the nurses monitor his breathing until the sedative wears off." Doctor Fernandez turned to the distraught cab driver who stood at the foot of the hospital bed with his arms folded."But doctor, what is going to happen now?""I will contact his family via his phone. You did well in bringing him to the hospital.""These men came out from nowhere driving in a black Toyota Camry. They overtook our taxi in a commando style," he reiterated, his hands firmly gripping the bed rails. He was obviously still in shock. "Did you see their faces?" Doctor Fernandez asked. She had wrapped a bandage around Caleb's head to cushion the effect of the concussion. H
THE ARREST The nurse quietly nodded."How? Who brought me? The last thing I remember is getting inside my apartment and..."The word got stuck in Lilliana's throat. She was starting to remember what transpired that night.After Caleb had left her at the hotel bar, she beckoned to the bartender to bring her something stronger. Or more specifically, to give her a combination of cognac and vodka. Anything that would knock her off immediately after she got back home.The young man had refused at first, saying such a concoction was not healthy for the body. Lilliana had insisted angrily. "It's my money, damn it!" She drank about 7 to 8 glasses, and on the 9th, she started to feel tipsy. That's when she ordered a taxi to take her home. The high alcohol content in the drink must have worked because the moment she entered the house, she sprawled on the couch in her living room and dozed off. She woke up the next day with a nagging headache and stomach upset. That's when she called Sofia
TWO AGAINST ONECaleb stirred and blinked his eyes. In his sleep, he was hearing the hushed sounds of different voices."Why didn't you inform us the moment he woke up the first time?"His grandfather was saying. "I can't believe my son was beaten up like a common criminal," Leah added."I will personally kill those bastards with my bare hands if I set eyes on them." Lord Dezani continued to fume. "I'm so sorry, boss, but with your permission, I can take care of them for you." That was Jack speaking. They were all standing around his bed in the hospital. The time was 8:40 am. They had all rushed down to the hospital at the first crack of dawn but were delayed at the gate for security checks. The police van carrying two criminals was just driving out when they arrived. "We have been instructed to be extra vigilant," the security guard apologized when he finally realized who Lord Dezani was. "I understand. You are doing your duty." Abhi who spent the night at the Dezani Estate on
THE CONFESSION "My boss?" echoed Lilliana. There was a brief silence then she muttered, "Are you talking about Caleb?" Even as she mentioned his name her heart skipped. She didn't pay attention to the doctor's response. She doubted that Caleb could have found her. I mean why would he go looking for her in her apartment? How did he even know her address? Lilliana sighed realising it was a stupid question to ask. This was a man whom she works with in the same company. He probably gleaned it from her official profile. "You sound surprised," Doctor Fernandez noted. She desperately wanted to believe what Caleb told her about not having a thing with Liliana is true, yet her feminine guts told her Lilliana wanted the same thing she does. "Not really. He's one of those simple-minded chaps in the company. He would have done the same for anybody." Lilliana bit her lip for trying too hard to sound aloof. What was she trying to prove? And to whom? The doctor quietly sighed. She had reaso
CAUGHT IN A SNARE "You fell for me?" Caleb repeated, not sure he heard Lilliana right. She avoided looking at him. "How can you fall for a simpleton?" Lilliana was starting to wish she hadn't confessed her feelings to him. "Or a mere assistant when your position in the company is high up the hierarchy." He wanted to find out how much she knows about his history. Or whether the doctor had disclosed anything to her. But the way she kept her face down told him she knew nothing. "Anyway, about your part in the padded budget, I will take up the matter with the boss and see what he thinks." She looked up suddenly. "He will never believe my word over his. Mr Benson holds a certain kind of power here and will easily convince the boss otherwise." She was pleading with Caleb using her eyes. "Is that why you tried to lure me to your side including planning on seducing me?" It was his turn to pierce her with a questioning look. Lilliana prayed the ground would open and swallow her. She
GOING BACK IN TIME Caleb followed behind as the policemen dragged Mr Benson outside. He noticed Liliana's confused stare from the corner of his eyes so he avoided looking directly at her face. From where he stood beside the door in those few minutes before the policemen arrived with his friend, he overheard everything. Abhi who only saw the man holding the stabilizer above Liliana's head, could not help but cringe. "What just happened?" he jerked his head. Caleb gave him a blank stare. "Listen, man, I know that look. It was the same on the morning you walked in on Mia and Mr Hart. Don't even think of brushing me off with 'nothing' because I know it's something." Caleb turned his face back and Lilliana was trailing them but at a far distance. The girl was obviously still in shock. She was nearly killed moments ago, it must be a miracle that she still has her complete body parts intact. "I will tell you everything after we've extracted Mr Benson's testimony at the police statio
TWICE BITTEN "You do!" The DPO's eyes widened with hope as he pulled out a plain sheet from a folder on his desk. Lord Dezani seemed to have grown older. His face turned pale and white and the lines on his forehead crinkled as he painfully recalled the brutal attack that happened similarly. "I suspect them to be the same group that raided my home seventeen years ago; killing my only son, Lorenzo, his wife, Margaret, and my little granddaughter." The officer jotted down what the old man just told him. "Standing over there was the only survivor; my grandson." Caleb had shifted away to stand by the window. The early morning weather was cloudy and cold. It looked like rain might fall. The DPO remembered that case like it was yesterday. He was a young recruit at the time and was enthusiastically following up on the murder, hoping they would prosecute those behind the wicked act. But suddenly the case came to a dead end. It was reported that the inspector of police in charge of in
HUNTED That was fast. Caleb didn't see it coming. "That's not what I meant." "Then what?" "Mr Benson was whisked out of the police net earlier this morning. He is on the loose. You might not be safe. That's why I came to warn you." "Oh my God!" she shrieked and started to panic. Liliana had never been that terrified all her life. Not even while she was dating Pedro did she have a reason to fear for her life. "Hey, calm yourself. He has gone into hiding. The police have made an official report on our behalf and by morning, every news outlet will be carrying his photographs with the caption: Wanted by the law. An escaped felon." That seemed to work. Liliana sat back down but her legs and hands were still shaking. Caleb had expected this kind of reaction which is why he decided to go to her house to break the news. She was still recuperating from her illness. "How did he manage to escape?" "That's what we're yet to find out." She started shedding tears. "I'm so sorry, it's al