THE HEAT IS ON"Should I be scared?" Caleb snorted derisively. He folded his hand into a tight knot that it began to tremble. His blood was boiling at the audacity of the man. Lozano laughed again scornfully. "You are no match for me - just like your father." Caleb felt a muscle in his heart snap, his pulse was racing discordantly, and the phone in his ear felt hot suddenly. He had to muster the last of his willpower not to smash it to the ground. "You might be hiding behind your phone to mock me tonight but," he bit his lower lip, "I swear by every fibre in me, I will make you pay for what you did. You and your boss!" At the mention of the word 'your boss', he heard the man at the other end grunting. Perhaps he wasn't aware that Mr Benson had confessed and that his family knows about the connection between him and Don El-Zaki. And how he merely acted as the middleman for the Don. In the Mafia world, between the Don whodictated policy and theoperating level of men who actually
TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME Caleb ignored him and waited for the video. He was getting impatient because he was worried about Liliana. She would be wondering what has kept him for so long. Finally, the man punched a few digits on the keyboard of the desktop in front of him and said, "Here, take a look," turning it to face Caleb. Caleb pushed himself forward, his body almost leaning against the desk. The footage showed the outside of the pharmacy shop. He could see the man who gave them the ride as he went back into his car. He started to turn the key in the ignition but his phone suddenly buzzed from the front passenger seat. He sighed and punched the receiver button. "Yes, boss." He said in a measured tone. "Could you please increase the volume?" Caleb said, looking up at the manager. "I want to hear what the caller is saying." But the manager was staring back at Caleb with disguised curiosity. His mind was fixed on the card he was holding. From the moment he saw it, he knew he
HE DIDN'T SEE IT COMING When he first saw the numbers, he wanted to brush the necessity of it aside saying he was in no danger. After all, this is Mumbai and no one knew he was here. But his gut told him to just copy it in case he had trouble locating back his hotel. Now it seems he has found a purpose for it. As soon as the line started to connect, he changed his mind and decided to send a text instead. Who knew whether this driver was in league with the other one? "This is Caleb Dezani from Orange Platinum Hotel. I stepped out to the National Gallery of Modern Art and I have an assailant trailing me. Plate no: DL 3CCN 5081, a red Benz. My vehicle is a black Cadillac with plate no: MH 3CCN 8888." He clicked 'send' and prayed silently for a swift response. Beside him, Lilliana was leaning against his left shoulder snoring lightly. She had fallen into a tired sleep. He reached out and held her hand, it felt warm against his own cold palm. He gave it a gentle squeeze. All this tim
IT'S TOO DANGEROUS Caleb was escorted back to his hotel in one of the police's cars, apparently the police assigned to the hotel whom he texted, while the driver of the Cadillac was taken to the station by the patrol team for questioning. Liliana who was still dazed from her near-death experience clinched like a leech to Caleb's arm. Luckily, none of them sustained any injury except a minor cut on Caleb's neck where a shard of glass pierced him. "We will get our hotel medical staff to clean that up and dress it." The policeman at the hotel said, then proceeded to ask Caleb whether Liliana was his girlfriend. Caleb gave her a cool look and shook his head, "No," he replied. "B-but she's my employee." He emphasized that last part to explain away their relationship. It was too dark for Caleb to see Liliana's face under the coconut palm that lined the car park in the hotel premises where they stood, but he could feel the muscle of her hand go tense beneath his. "In that case, we wil
MIXED FEELINGS "I should go and get ready to leave," Liliana said and stood up. She had slept in her work dress although she removed her coat. Caleb looked at the nape of her neck as she wrapped up her hair to enter the bathroom and suddenly remembered the shawl and diamond earrings he had bought for her at the Rio de Janeiro airport. "There's something I forgot to give you," he said and went to fetch it from inside his travel bag. Liliana shrugged, not the least bit curious.Caleb frowned a little at her indifference. "Aren't you wondering what it is?""That's all I ever do when I'm with you. Wonder! So for once, I'll let myself go."Caleb scoffed. "Women!" Liliana ignored him and opened the bathroom door and slipped inside. The moment she shut the door, she leaned against it and exhaled. Caleb was eliciting different emotions in her. One moment he's acting aloof and distant, and in another, he's giving her weird thoughts. If she didn't know better she'd think he saw him giving
THE HUNT CONTINUES Guillermo sat still after the call with Nathan ended, his hands trembling as his mind became a warehouse of scattered thoughts."Where in the world am I going to get twelve million dollars from?" he flung his hands in exasperation."The Don knows I don't have the money," he lamented, "and he's aware of my predicament - hiding in an underground that is a little bigger than a dungeon. Otherwise, if I were out there, I might have gotten a loan from the bank." Guillermo had gone into serious financial crises after his last contract with the government expired and he was unable to renew it. The company he used to partner with was struck off the list and the contract was given to a new company. One that he always suspected belonged to El-Zaki. How did he know? Simple. When he went to meet the man in charge of issuing contracts, he told him he had received direct orders from above to not renew the contract. But he forced the truth out of the man's mouth and he eventuall
ANOTHER GUNNED DOWN "What in God's name was that snell?" he growled and continued to follow the smell until the penlight became a full moon. It seemed magical! He saw something like a processor machine; very big and wide, and thought, "Oh wow, it's a chemical laboratory!" He felt disappointed though and wanted to turn back until his eye caught another penlight blinking intermittently at the far right of the room. He touched the handle of the door but it was locked. Sigh! What was inside that particular room to make them shut it under lock and key? He tried to push it open but the door remained immovable. Then he decided to use his gun. Luckily the gun had a silencer. So he shut the keyhole and turned the knob and the door gave way. He didn't put on the light to avoid attracting anyone's attention. Using his phone light instead, he pointed to where the penlight was coming from and saw that it was actually a monitor box. What was inside the box? Guillermo went to work disabling th
THE RUDE SHOCK Caleb always left his television on overnight. It was a habit he had cultivated recently since the day he woke up to the news of Mr Benson's arrest in Brazil. He promised himself he would never miss out on any important news. This morning wasn't any different. As he opened his eyes, he lazily turned to the news trending on his screen. Every media house station, online platform, and newspaper headline was buzzing with the sensational news of a certain chemical factory that had been alleged to produce hazardous substances busted last night by the police. He cleared his eyes and promptly sat up. Last night, as soon as he reached home, he had gone straight to bed. His grandfather realized how tired he was when he kept yawning intermittently throughout the drive to the house and released him. "You must have had a long flight, my boy. Take a suitable rest and we can finish our discussion in the morning," he said the moment their entourage pulled into the driveway. Cale
THE ENDCaleb went to DeZ Cosmetics the next day with some men from the ministry to reopen the place. He still remembered a few of the staff there and began to call them one by one.Mr Apollo, the company's supervisor, was the first person he called. "Hello Mr Apollo, this is Caleb. Caleb Dezani. I'm calling from DeZ Cosmetics and I am in the office right now. Do you mind reporting to work?"The man grunted in disbelief. "But the company was closed down two days ago. And you no longer work there. Last I asked, I was told you took over as the CEO of another company." Caleb laughed. "Well, that last part is true. However, the company was under dispute and has now been resolved. I have reclaimed it as the rightful CEO and want you to return to work. Please while coming, do well to call others to report to work too. I shall be waiting at the reception hall."But Mr Apollo didn't call anyone until he got to the company and found out for himself that the place was indeed reopened. It was a
THE TRUTH IS OUT It felt like a nightmare as the black police Hilux which carried Madam Rebecca drove into the ministry. Her heart was thumping in her chest. She didn't know what to expect. She was ushered into the office by the officers who brought her with specific instructions from the inspector. Meanwhile, Caleb hadn't joined them. When the inspector asked whether he was going to the ministry from the station, he replied that he wanted his grandfather to be present during the meeting. "I need to go and pick him up at home." The two men shook hands, "Well, whatever happens, do not hesitate to ring me." "Thank you so much, Inspector. I hope we shall be able to meet and have that drink soon." The man laughed. "I will count the hours till I hear from you. Good luck!" he added. Caleb drove back home and lord Diego joined him to the ministry. Abhi couldn't follow because he had already left for work. But his stepmother, Leah, insisted on being a part of it. Caleb obliged her.
The FINAL NAIL The next man to interrogate him was the meanest of them. His face was cold and unfeeling."Why did you abandon your textile business?""I didn't abandon it.""Excuse me?""I did not abandon the business. I was defrauded and the business collapsed." "That means you went bankrupt after that?" He didn't answer. "Please can you speak up so the next person can take over?" "Not really. I had people who pulled resources together to loan me the capital I needed to rebuild my business." "And yet you didn't. Or did you?" Again he swallowed hard. "Okay, let me rephrase the question. As a businessman who was into textile, after you were defrauded and people loaned you money, did you rebuild your textile business?" "No." "So what did you do? "I went into partnership with someone in another line of business." "And what business was that?" "Cosmetics. I went into cosmetics." "Good. That will be all from me."By the time the rest of the members had interrogated him, El-Za
MAKING CONCESSIONEl-Zaki woke up for the third time since he was shot and realised he was in a different atmosphere.This new place smelled of drugs and drip water. "Where am I?" he asked no one in particular. A male nurse who was attached to him was sitting by a desk writing. He looked up and said, "You are in an infirmary. You were shot but now recovering." El-Zaki tried to look around and the effort made his head hurt. "Who shot me and which infirmary is this?" The nurse was instructed not to answer any questions past introducing himself and offering medical care. "I'm sorry sir but you shouldn't be concerned about that. You are responding well to treatment and your wound is drying up faster than expected. Please tell me if you feel any pain or want anything." The man stubbornly tried to sit up and felt a sharp pain on his side." Oh gosh! My rib!" he grunted. "Lie still," the nurse advised. He looked at his watch and said, "It's almost time for your midnight draught. It will
SLIPPING AWAYIt was Mr Ramirez calling back Caleb to tell him the men at the checkpoint said the truck was merely carrying items for charity.But Caleb knew better than to buy that lie. He remembered his own travel adventure with Pedro. How he had to hide at the bottom of Grandpa Carlos' truck loaded with cow refuse and feed for hours until they got to Woodward Valley from Greenville."But did they offload the entire truck to search?" he probed."I doubt that they did." "Okay. You should get to your hotel and remain inside. I just got info that the police team from yesterday may be visiting Cholula this afternoon." "Is that right?" "So I heard. Or better still, do not go to any hotel. Find somewhere else to lodge until you hear from me again." "But where else is safer than a hotel?" he asked feeling desperate. "I know a place. It's an old farmhouse occupied by an old couple. Fabian's grandparents." "Oh ho! Don't tell me this was your grand plan all along to make your friend see
DISCOVEREDIt was lunchtime and Caleb realised he was starving. All he had eaten the previous day was toasted bread and salad prepared by Hannah and Bella. Then in the afternoon, he didn't have time to eat as he spent it trying to help them settle down at the new place he got for them. Later that evening, he was called to be at Primo Palace and all he took was a bottle of the most expensive wine which he shared with Mr Ramirez. And later on in the night, he drank French wine as they talked.He felt his stomach growling in protest. Even Abhi heard it from his office and teased him. "When Madam Leah was begging you to have breakfast at home you said food was the least of your worries. Now the worms can't bear it anymore that they want to cause a volcanic eruption in your stomach." Caleb didn't know when he let out a burst of laughter. "You're crazy, man!" "I swear I've been so busy that I can't wait for all of this to be over so I can take a month-long vacation." "Sure. You will ne
SHOWING UPCaleb called the inspector of police, and he promptly answered. "To what do I owe this personal call?" he said cheerfully. "To a long-lasting friendship of mutual interests," he replied. Then he added, "I was hoping we could hang out maybe later in the day. What do you think?" "Oh, that would be wonderful. Let's make it eight o'clock this evening." "That's fine by me," Caleb consented. "What venue?" the Inspector asked. "FanFood Eatery." "I shall be there," the inspector promised and the call quickly ended. A notification dropped in Caleb's phone. He checked it was a text message. He hastily read through because he was behind the wheel. A delivery truck just turned up in the El-Zaki mansion. It has spent about 25 minutes inside the premises." The message read. Caleb immediately sensed something sinister. He pulled over and replied to the informant. "Have it followed and let me know its destination." The info made him feel a bit troubled. But he shrugged it off an
DOOMSDAY Everyone's attention was turned in the direction of the intruders. "Gentlemen, how may we help you?" the lady questioned. "It's more about how we may help you," Caleb responded. Barrister Crusoe kept his face down avoiding Hart's gaze. The director spoke next. "Yes, let's hear you out." "Good day, lady and gentlemen. My name is Caleb Dezani of Dezani Cosmetics," he introduced himself. The director narrowed his furrow, and the three men seated to the right of the lady gasped. The other three including the lady shone their eyes in disbelief. "You mean you're the CEO of Dezani Cosmetics!" "That's correct," Caleb said suppressing a grin at their dramatic expressions. The director went on. "How may we help you? I mean you already said it's you who wants to help us, so please, to what do we owe this August visit?" "Well, I was reliably informed that you were asking to see the original documents of DeZ Cosmetics." "Dez Cosmetics isn't the same as Dezani Cosmetics, am I
DETAINEDHart drove with bated breath heading to the ministry. He kept trying to reach his father to find out whether he was able to trace barrister Crusoe but his line remained unreachable.It was almost ten o'clock and his line wasn't still connecting. None of the bodyguards that went out with him had returned home last night. It was as if there was a conspiracy amongst them to abandon the mansion the moment their boss went incommunicado. Everyone was just acting strangely - including his mother. She had suddenly packed her bags after his father left the house telling him she was going on an emergency business trip but that she would call to inform him when to join her. "Where is this business conference, seminar, or whatever taking place?" "We'd be touring round different countries starting from Portugal. Then we'd move to Brazil and so on.""All within South America?" Hart had enquired. But she didn't give a definite answer. Surprisingly, not too long after she left for the ai