SHADOWS OF INFLUENCE

CHAPTER 4

In New York, Maria had just returned home, it had been three days since she last stepped her feet in this house. She couldn't stand that man. When she had first met him she assumed he was someone with affluence but boy! She was wrong. He was just a man who acted rich, as far as she was concerned he led a double standard life. He was fake, she had thought he came from a wealthy background with the way he carried himself so she stuck to him thinking he was trying to see who she really was.

The house was unusually quiet as she entered, she climbed the stairs and headed to the bedroom, she turned on the lights but the room was empty, she had received the signed divorce papers on the same day it was delivered to her now ex-husband. She was surprised he signed them so quickly, her pride was hurt but it didn't matter he had signed the papers and she was free.

It was obvious Kelvin hadn't moved out already, she was going to throw out his things, she didn't care where he stayed.

She immediately called Chris.

"Hey love" she said when the person on the other line answered.

"Is he still there?" He asked

"I don't know, he's not here now but his cheap things are still here though" she snickered

"Babe you promised we will be rid of him by now" Chris was beginning to sound angry.

"I know, you know what I'm just gonna throw out his things and ask tell security that he shouldn't be allowed here"

"Okay honey"

"So….am I seeing you tonight?"

"Yeah, your place or mine"

"My place" she smiled into the phone"which by the way is our place now" she added.

"Okay babe I'll see you soon".

Alex had a busy week setting up the office for himself and trying to get things in order, there was no time to spend slacking around, at least not for now.

He had heard very little from Hakeem, Something occured to him as he thought about the circumstances of his father's death, the stakes were quite high here. He dialed Hakeem's number as he sat behind his desk in his office.

"Hakeem" he called once the guy on the other side answered.

"Hello sir"

"Do you have any new information for me"

"Yes sir but I'm afraid not enough sir"

"Let's hear it, this is a secure line"

"I did manage to bug your uncle's office but I haven't gotten anything substantial to hold unto, but I did notice something that seems strange sir"

"Go ahead" Alex ordered

"There's a particular man that visits him frequently but I'm afraid it has nothing to do with the church, although they barely speak much in his office which I have access to, their conversation is quite odd, almost as if they're trying to hid something"

Hakeem pondered

Alex sighed deeply

"What does this man look like?"

Hakeem described him, Alex immediately recognized him as the guy he had met the last time he was at his uncle's office.

"Alright Hakeem, thank you for the update but this isn't enough, we need something stronge to hold on to, in the meantime I want you to add Paulo, he was a friend to my father and also the high commissioner to your list"

"Noted sir"

After the call with Hakeem Alex made a few calls to some of his contact, no one could be trusted at this point, if he didn't find out who killed his father, he might end up dead too. He understood that his father trusted Paulo till his dying day but he needed to be sure, Paulo and his uncle Fernandez were one of the people that frequently visited his father in prison before his release and eventual demise. 

He was also informed that they sometimes brought food to his father on such visits, if Sebastian was truly poisoned, the easiest way to get to him was through the food as his security was tight even in prison.

His staff too visited his father, just a select few, to get instructions on how the business should be ran. If any of his staff had been in on it, there's no how they would have done it alone without an external influencer.

The high commissioner was on the list for obvious reasons. The man was bitter and vengeful because of the loss of his child.

He needed to tail each and everyone of these guys, his staff inclusive, he wanted to know where they went, who they talked to, how often and what business they had with those persons. Paulo called at that moment. 

"Hey son" his voice was cool as usual

"Hello Paulo" Alex replied, his voice guarded

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine"

"Well just wanted to call and check in on you, how's your findings going?"

"It's been quite futile"

"Did you speak with your uncle yet?"

"Yes and I also have my men on him but nothing yet"

"You know I could take over the investigation son, I was unto something before you returned"

"It's fine Paulo, you've done enough for me, I am grateful"

"Alright if you need anything, I'm just a call away"

"Thanks Paulo" Alex hung up, he felt a tinge of guilt, Paulo had been a very supportive friend to his father and had always treated him like his son. Well he was sure the man was innocent but he'd still go ahead with his plan. Paulo had never married he preferred to, in his words "enjoy life" He didn't have a child too Alex wondered if Paulo's inability to have children were a personal choice.

Alex had learnt from the letter that his dad wrote him prior to his death that his father was already making arrangements to stop their illegal businesses and go legal. Although they had a couple of legitimate businesses, the man had wanted to do everything to keep Alex out of the kind of life he lived, it was true that their illegal businesses fetched more money and was a fast lane to wealth, it was also a fast way to death. Legitimate businesses could earn you just as much if you pay attention to it.

The next evening, Alexander had only just got home and was about to eat dinner when Hakeem called to inform Alex about something he had found. Alex immediately got into the car, his location was his uncle's place. He walked straight to his office openned the door without knocking, his uncle was in a meeting with Richard as expected. Fernandez was shocked to see his nephew seething with so much anger. 

"Is anything the problem Alexander"

Richard watched the duo from where he sat, his hand on his hip ready to take action if the need arised.

Alex looked at the both of them with disdain.

"Yes we have a problem Fernandez" he growled

Fernandez was taken aback by Alex's tone of voice, what had come over him.

"First of all who the hell is this guy"He asked looking at Richard.

"He's a business partner, Alex if you have something you want to talk about I'd prefer we do it when my guest leaves"

"Nobody leaves unless I say so" Alex continued "So what sort of business does a reverend father have with a drug dealer, I'm sure you're not trying to lead him to repentance are you"

"What I do or who I do business with is none of your business son"

"I see, well it is my business now, you have touched what is mine"

"What are you trying to say"

Alex was pacing around now.

"So all these years you condemned my father for the kind of business he ran but you're a fucking drug dealer!!!"

"Language Alex!" Fernandez cautioned

Alex brought out a gun and pointed it to Fernandez, Richard tried to get his gun but Alex men were not taking any chances, they retrieved his gun and held him down.

"Damn you!! Fernandez, I would fucking say what I want to say, how I want to say it, you're a shame and a disgrace, you don't deserve to leave, how could you kill your own brother"

"Alex I understand that you're hurt, yes I admit that I run a drug cartel but I didn't kill your father"

Alex put the gun close to his head

"How can I trust the words coming out of the mouth of a reverend drug dealer huh?

"I didn't kill your father Alex please believe me"

"It's too late for that now isn't it?"

"I'm sorry son"

"So if you didn't kill my father who did"

"It was….."

In that moment a bullet hit Fernandez on the neck, blood splattered everywhere, Alex and his men duck down in time to avoid more bullets everything happened in a split second, Alex men covered him and got him to safety.

Alex decided he wasn't going to go return to the villa that night, he stayed at his guest house. The event of what happened earlier played out in his head as he took a hot shower, he wasn't even going to kill Fernandez, he just wanted closure. He wondered who was behind the killing of his uncle, clearly they had a bigger problem here, someone else had killed his father and was making it look like Fernandez did it. He needed to find the missing pieces fast. To think that he nearly lost his life tonight was so overwhelming.

The week went by without much events, Paulo had called occasionally to keep tabs on the issue on ground, he was quite sorry to hear that about Fernandez's death but wasn't surprised the man was dealing drugs. By the end of the week Hakeem called again with more information, he had gotten a lead.

"Hakeem it's nice to finally hear from you, it's been almost a week"

"I'm sorry sir, things have been tight around here, we're trying to stay low"

"Okay what do you have this time boy?"

"Sir ….I think I know who killed your father"

Alex stood up immediately

"Who was it?" He asked, his grip tightened around his phone

"It….." there was a banging sound at the other end and the phone went dead.

"Hakeem? Are you there" no response just an unsettling silence.

Alex immediately rushed out of his house, he was just about to get in his car when Paulo arrived, Alex was exasperated, he knew Paulo was concerned for him but he was becoming too inquisitive for his liking.

He had no choice but to tell him the situation at hand, Paulo looked shocked to his bones.

"Alex you have to let me handle this"

"No Paulo, it is my father we are talking about, I owe him that much"

"Alex I don't want to lose you, this is too dangerous"

"Paulo I have to go now if I want to save this boy"

"I am coming with you then, I will follow you in my car"

"Thank you"

When they arrived at Hakeem's place which by the way, was on the other side of town, there wasn't any sign of break in, Alexander's men surrounded the area before opening the door which was slightly ajar, Alex and Paulo followed, they found Hakeem lying dead in the pool of his own blood it was a gory sight to behold, the scene was graphic, the killer had used his blood as ink to write on the wall, the message read "STOP LOOKING FOR ME LOSER!!! 

Alexander lost it, he was livid, this person was really going the extra mile, he would catch them whoever they were. He left the seen shaken to his core, things had escalated quickly way more than he had predicted. It was in times like this that Alex missed his dad, the man would have known what to do.

The next day Alex decided to pay a visit to Paulo personally, he was a friend of his father after all, he would know what to do, he decided to seek his help. When he got to his house the man was in his study smoking a cigar.

"It's nice to see you decided to honor me with your presence"

"Paulo you know the situation on ground, I have been busy"

"Yeah I know…so what brings you to my humble abode" Paulo asked as he puffed up smoke from his mouth and nostrils.

"I need your help" 

"Here I was thinking you'd never ask"

"This whole situation has left me in a state of total confusion, I don't know what to do it seems like everytime I am on to something it disappears into thing air. All the clues I had or even have are not leading me anywhere, it's a dead end"

"I understand your plight son, I know a guy that can get us answers, he's quite discreet and very meticulous"

Paulo was still talking when Alexander's eyes caught the glint of something shiny, a look of recognition crossed his face, the ring on Paulo's hand looked too familiar to be ignored, it was his father's ring, a family heirloom that belonged to the kutnetszo family, it had been passed down from generation to generation, his father had inherited it from his grandfather and his grandfather had inherited it from his great grandpa, Alexander was next in line, his father had mentioned it in his letter that he'd kept it in chest, Alexander has been so overwhelmed by the whole situation that he forgot about the ring. He knew for sure it was his father's because there was only one of it's kind in the world.

Paulo noticed that Alexander's attention was divided, his gaze rested on his hand, oh no! the ring. He had totally forgotten about it, he had never worn it out, he'd usually wear it around his house. 

"Why do you have that on?" Alex asked slowly.

"What do you mean by why do I, it's mine" Paulo laughed uneasily

"That ring belongs to my family"

"Stop being a child and grow up son, almost everyone wears a ring" Paulo continued "this is a family heirloom, it's been in the family for years"

It was that moment realization dawned on Alexander, what a fool he had been, it was Paulo all along, he was always there in the shadows, he was always a step ahead, before he made a move Paulo already caught wind of it.

 "You killed my father" Alex said

"What are you talking about young man" He replied reaching under his desk for his gun, thankfully it had a silencer.

"It was you all along? How could you do this to a man that trusted you completely, you were one of the closest people to him"

"What do you know about trust, your father betrayed me he took your mother away from me! He knew I liked her, I told him but he still went ahead to ask her out before I got the chance to!"

"You killed your best friend over some childhood crush?" Alex was seething with rage he clenched and unclenched his fist.

Paulo brought out his gun and pointed it at him.

Alex was taken about he was unarmed but specter was just outside the door, if he raised his voice loud enough he might hear him.

"What do you know about trust or loyalty, you're a spoilt brat yourself, Sebastian was selfish, everything seemed to be working in his favor, his business boomed even though we run the same business"

"You were jealous of it success" Alex interrupted loudly

"If you say so, the man is dead and you will be too, I deserve everything, I've always knew this day will come" He raised his hand and admired the ring.

Alex whowas looking for a way to distract him seized that opportunity to grab his arm trying to knock the gun out of his hand, Paulo lost balance only for a moment. He kept pulling the trigger but Alex held on to his hand so that the shots were aimless.

Outside the door, Specter thought he heard voices raised in an argument but didn't think much of it, what could possibly make those two fight, they adored each other. After sometime he noticed scuttling as he was trying to make sense of what was happening, he had the faint sounds of bullets hitting the wall, he had been in this game long enough to recognize the sound of a gun even with a silencer. Moving swiftly yet cautiously he opened the door, he was surprised to see his boss writhing in pain, his sleeves were bloody and Paulo was holding a gun to his head, immediately he opened the door, Paulo pointed the gun at him, Specter cut him down with a shower of lead. Paulo fell to the ground gasping for air, he shot him again this time in the head. Specter called for help as he assisted his boss out of the building.