WE NEED A DOCTOR Pedro had lost consciousness. His wound was starting to form gangrene. Camila went to assist in bringing him out. It was a bit difficult but they succeeded in the end. "Is there something you can do for him?" Caleb asked looking anxiously around the deserted farmhouse. It was smaller than Camila's house at Farmville but had the advantage of a river that they could access in case the chase became more intense. "I could try something but at this rate, he might not make it without seeing a medical professional," Camila answered honestly. Caleb gave her word a thought and wondered if calling Doctor Fernandez and asking for her help might be a good idea. He hadn't contacted her since he was kidnapped and taken across the Caribbean Sea. The thought gave him an instant sense of dread. Adriana would be very mad at him. But she will understand when he explains everything to her, he thought out loud. "Just do whatever you can for him. I'm going to make a few calls and see
ACCOSTED BY THE POLICE "What's the matter, Camila?" asked Caleb stunned. But Camila only began to weep. "Come on, talk to me. What's wrong? What did your husband say?" he kept probing her. When she still refused to speak, Caleb bent and picked up the phone and placed it against his ear. He heard it too. Gunshots and shouting. Camila looked up just then and saw the look of horror on Caleb's face and wailed. "They've shot my husband, isn't it?" she sputtered. When she got no response she continued bitterly, "What am I going to do now? I can't spend the remaining days of my life a lonely, sad widow." Camila's continuous cries and lamentations made Caleb feel hopeless and distraught. He felt responsible for her misfortune. "I'm so sorry, Mrs Enrique," he said without looking at her. That was the first time he formally addressed the old woman after they became acquainted. And it seemed befitting at the time. "I have watched many people I love either get killed or murdered in cold bl
THE TRUTH IS OUT "We can't continue to stay here!" Caleb announced as he burst into the living room. Camila who was saying something to her husband looked at him askance. "What is the matter?" He swallowed hard, not knowing how to put it. After he abruptly ended the call to Doctor Fernandez, he turned around to relay what he just heard to Carlos but noticed he was no longer outside trimming the flowers, his sense of fright went overboard. "I can't exactly explain except that I suspect the police might be unto us any moment," he answered, reaching for his jacket which he left on the couch for Pedro to rest his head. "But did you call the doctor?" Carlos asked looking at him in confusion, wondering why he was suddenly acting strange. "Yes, I did." "And?" "And some-someone else answered her phone," he stuttered. "Who?" interjected Pedro. The noise of Caleb barging into the room had woken him from his siesta. "What did the person say?" he adjusted to give him space. "Nothing au
AN UNEXPECTED TURNAROUND "What are you looking at that is making you white in the face?" Carlos asked observing him. "Nothing, Mr Enrique." Then Caleb turned to Pedro, "I need to speak with you outside.""There will be no whispers around here. If there's something wrong or amiss, we all should be aware of it." Carlos spoke defiantly."I'm sorry, Mr Enrique, but this is a bit personal.""More personal than letting you into our private lives?" Camila replied curtly."Fine," Caleb said in defeat, "the doctor has found someone who claims to know this place. She said he is bringing her over.""Who?!" the old couple asked simultaneously."Someone who used to work with Fabian," he dropped the bombshell on them."My Fabian?" Camila asked getting up. "My boy? You know someone who knows where he is?" she said with optimism in her voice. "Not exactly, Mrs Enrique. I'm not promising anything yet. The person might in fact have lost touch with him by now, but I do know they used to work togethe
BECOMING AN INITIATE The man turned to give a disapproving look at the house, then bent down to speak with someone inside the car.When he straightened up again, he put his hand into his waistcoat as if to pull out a gun. He was dressed like El-Zaki when he visited Farmville. The only difference was his facial symmetry. He was a bearded man with muscular chin. He wore dark sunglasses to cover his eyes. As he moved, his tall and slender frame gave him a larger-than-life demeanour. Carlos crept up behind Caleb and peeked at the visitor. He didn't look familiar to him. "Follow me into the house through the backdoor. Let's get the guns and be ready." Caleb did as he said, his heart jumping in his chest. They barely made it to the living room when they heard a loud banging on the front door. Pedro who had fallen asleep on the couch opened his eyes, then held his head in his hand."Please tell them to stop. My head feels like the inside of a drum." The knock came again more persisten
A POUND OF FLESH Caleb had reacted in a moment of blind fright. His fidgeting index finger pressed on the trigger - just as swiftly as Carlos had taught him to do: "If someone aimed a gun at you, shoot first without waiting to be killed." It was precise and accurate; directly on the forehead. Brutus was dead even before his body crumbled to the wooden floor. There was a moment of complete silence in the living room. Carlos who had taken position behind the sofa where Pedro had slept on, slowly uncurled to his feet with his mouth hanging open in disbelief. He kept staring at the hideous slender figure of Brutus as it sprawled across the doorway. The dark sunglasses he wore now hung suspended on one side of his ear. His gun had swept under the centre table when it fell off his hand. Then he darted his eyes to gaze at Caleb. "You have outdone yourself for a first-timer." Caleb swallowed nervously. He looked at the revolver in his hand and began strolling to stand by the window look
REUNITED He overpowered Caleb pummeling him with blows in the face, nose, and neck. Caleb gasped and coughed. Then Austin finally got hold of the gun and pointed it at Caleb with a sinister look in his eyes. "When you get to hell, say hi to the devil for me." Several gunshots exploded and Adriana shrieked in endless agonizing cries. *** Carlos had tiptoed into the bedroom when Caleb stole out of the house to check on Pedro and Camila. He needed Pedro to handle the dead man's gun in case the need arises while he goes out to back up Caleb. But Pedro was already coming out. They bumped into each other in the corridor. "Why are you out here? I thought I told you to remain in the room," he admonished him. "I am not an invalid, Mr Enrique. And I won't cower inside a cupboard when I can use a gun with my hands," he said and made to grab his gun from him. The old man handed him the other gun. "Take this one instead, it's a more sophisticated machine." Pedro took the gun and made a qu
ON THE RUN "Seems we are in bigger trouble than we even know," Caleb murmured as Doctor Fernandez helped lower him to the sofa. "We have to flee from this place." "Flee?" echoed Camila. "Flee and go where? You seem to be forgetting something...""What?" "That my husband and I are quite old and can't keep up with running from one place to another like fugitives." Pedro spoke next, "What we should rather be concerned about at this moment is how to get rid of the two dead bodies." Adriana was listening to their exchanges without saying anything. The gory sight of Austin's bloodied body crumpling on Caleb's own beside the Jeep kept haunting her subconscious. Pedro turned to her. "You're a doctor, what's your advice on disposing of these corpses?" he asked eyeing her. "You said I'm a doctor, right? Thank God! My advice would have been necessary if I were a mortician." Adriana returned with a sarcastic dint in her voice. It was obvious she didn't like the guy and most certainly didn'
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