GIVE THEM THE MONEY "What have you done to him, please?" "Nothing yet. But if you don't cooperate with me, well, I can't tell you what the outcome might be." "Please tell me where he is." "Wrong request. You should rather ask what price it will take to see him again." "Oh my God!" Adriana yelped. "Is he being kidnapped?" "50 billion dollars!" José said and ended the call. Then switched off the phone. Fabian gave him a high-five. "That was brilliantly done," he beamed. José grinned. "I am a boss in my own right," he boasted. "Indeed you are," Fab agreed. *** Inside Lord Dezani's chambers, Abhi closed the door and kept the tray containing the tea and cookies on the mini-dining table. Lord Dezani was sitting with his back leaning against the soft sofa in the sitting room. "I believe I don't need to explain the reason I couldn't talk freely back there." Abhi nodded, "I understand, sir." "And I also like to think I can trust you." "With my life," he swore. That was the firs
I CAN HELP YOU IF..."You can't do that, sir. It's outrageous," Abhi tried to reason with Lord Dezani after the officers left. "What is outrageous is having my grandson held prisoner in heaven knows where," came his stubborn reply. "But we can at least get the police involved," he insisted. "Besides, we don't even know who these people are." "Which is why I asked you to do what I told you inside my bedroom." Abhi exhaled, he knew at this point he couldn't talk the old man into changing his mind. 50 billion dollars might not be too much money for the wealthy Dezani, but agreeing easily would send the wrong signal to these hoodlums. It would embolden them to do more or worse. He was returning to the guestroom to spend the night and his mind was racing like a tsunami. The following morning, he left for work and when it was an hour to lunchtime, he told Sofia he needed to run an errand for the boss. She didn't argue probably thinking he was referring to Caleb. No one in the company
THE ESCAPE PLAN INTERRUPTED "I know you don't know me, but my name is Fabian. I am one of those who captured you from the hospital that night. But like yourself, I'm a victim of circumstance. So I'm going to help you if you promise to also help me." Caleb didn't fully understand but he nodded. "Tell me what the deal is about." "Promise me you will help me before I proceed." He was calculating his chances. He didn't know who to trust these days, let alone a criminal whose intention was shrouded in mystery. "What kind of help do you need?" "I want to be free. I had dreams and aspirations before I ended up in this mess," he said and flung his arms sideways. Caleb looked around the dirty room they were staying in to talk, it wasn't any different from the one he was kept in. Only that this one had a bed with an old dirty bed sheet covering it, two bundles of rags tied in a spherical form each that served as pillows, and a ceiling fan. The door and window blinds were the same colour.
BETRAYED TRUST"I will need my phone to make the transfer," Caleb said.José turned to Fabian, "You give it to him and also give your account details."He brought out the phone from the pocket of his flannel jacket. As he was about to turn it on José shouted, "Wait!""What is it?" Fab paused feeling a bit nervous. He was praying José wouldn't change his mind. "How can I trust that you'd come back with the money the moment you withdraw it?" he was puffing aggressively on the cigarette and blowing out the smoke in their direction. Maybe his instinct had warned him Fabian had a sinister motive. Thus, he decided he wanted to get his hands on the money himself. He would then abandon this life of playing second fiddle to Pedro and carve his own niche. Even in jail, the man was still having a stronghold on him. "Come on, José," Fab tucked his hands inside his flannel pocket, "I am the one taking a huge risk here by accepting to use my account. My name, photograph, and other personal detai
HUNTED BY THE POLICE "Wake up!" someone tapped him on the shoulder. Caleb stirred and opened his eyes to the smell of toasted bread. He didn't know he had overslept until he looked at Fabian's worried look. "What time is it?" he asked suppressing a yawn. "It's 7: 39 am." He looked about the empty room, the other two were nowhere in sight. "Where are the others?" "They went out together after breakfast." "To the bank you mean?" He shrugged. "Maybe." "Maybe? They didn't tell you?" "Nope. I guess José is still mad at me." "And the other guy?" "Oh, that's Austin. He's the youngest and always afraid of being picked on by José. He commanded him to accompany him somewhere.""So he just followed without asking questions?" Fabian nodded. "Now get up and eat. You will need your strength if we are to plan our escape together." "Of course," Caleb said and straightened up. Then a thought crossed his mind. "How about my phone? Do you still have it with you?" "Sadly no. José went out w
RESCUE CAME BUT AT A PRICE "I'll come with you," he said doggedly. Fabian nodded. "Jump!" he shouted. They jumped into the icy water and Caleb started to choke. Fabian swam as fast as he could dodging bullets here and there. The police were shooting at them. He dived under the water making sure to keep to the shore in case. When he came back up to the surface, he didn't see Caleb again. His heart sank."You can do this," Caleb thought to himself as he felt the current in the water drawing him under.He choked, coughed, and tried to hold his breath as a bullet missed his ear by a whisker. He wasn't a professional swimmer though he learnt a few swimming skills from his foster mother, Leah.One time they had to the little river near the facility where his mother used to work part-time as an auxiliary nurse. It was during the summer and he wanted to learn how to dive underwater. Leah volunteered to teach him when she was off duty that day only if he would accompany her to work.He agre
LOCKED UP Caleb had no choice but to obey the order. He began to swim toward the shore, fighting the urge to look back at the spot where Fabian was gunned down. "Raise your two hands above your head," the voice again boomed into the walkie-talkie. He obeyed without delay as he climbed out of the water onto the nearby brush. He didn't see anyone but he knew they were there. As he continued to pick his way through the marsh, they came out of their hiding: one, two three...up to eleven of them. He was counting and panicking. Heavily armed policemen such that he had never seen before; except in the movies. Like the one he recently watched on Netflix titled, Money Heist. Caleb was terrified. "But how did they know not to shoot him?" he pondered as he tried to shake some of the water that plastered his hair to his face. "Walk to the waiting van over at the olive tree on your left," the voice said. He did as he was told. He peeped back and saw the eleven officers following closely beh
THE INFORMANT "That name sounds familiar," the one who stood beside the van when Caleb climbed in was saying. "Really? How would you know when you've never had to work outside this port?" "Because I come from Mexico City, and that name might interest my rich uncle, Don El-Zaki." His colleague shrugged and asked Andrés why? But he refused to say anything further. Andrés Di-Maria was El-Zaki's nephew born by his only sister, Alicia. She unfortunately died giving birth to the boy and he was left in the care of his uncle till he was 18 years of age and went to join the police force - against his uncle's pleas. His father, Reuben Di-Maria, was in support of the dream and El-Zaki had no choice but to let the boy go. He always thought he would teach him the family business and when he came of age, he would partner with his son, Hart, to expand it when he was no more. The reason being his only son, although intelligent, never really had the grit for doing dirty deals. He could successfu