Ryan looked in the direction of the voice.
"Doctor Beck?""You guessed correctly." The man whose hair already turned grey walked over to Ryan and reached out his hand for a handshake. Even though he looked old, his gait was strong. Strong enough to proclaim he's an important person even without having to introduce himself.Ryan reached out his hand and shook the man."Are you working here, Sir?" Ryan asked."You could say that. I mean, there has been no time I came here to sleep."Ryan could not help laughing at the man's sense of humour."It may please you to know that I own this hospital," Beck said."Wow. This is…" Ryan looked around the reception, "...great.""Great but not great enough to make my workers good characters. What could be more annoying than that?"The receptionist, on her feet now, wiped a bead of sweat from her head. She l"Sorry for my rude manners. I guess it's the Baby," the woman said after some moment of laughing. She finally stopped laughing when she noticed the look on Ryan's face."It's just that when Brice was talking about you, I thought you would be this big man with some brown teeth and scary looking red eyes." She laughed again at her dramatization.Ryan didn't find it funny but he laughed too. Was it the pregnancy that was making her like this? He couldn't help but wonder if Stephanie would have behaved like this too if she had been pregnant for him. The thought alone made Ryan laugh harder, this time, for real.Brice's wife stretched her hand and took a book from the table beside her bed. "I've never seen my husband so scared, pissed off and irritated at the same time. But it happens any time he talks about you." She flipped through the book. "When he said you'd be coming, I was preparing myself for some scary looki
Brice's wife sighed. "You're really not going to sell it to my husband's boss?" "Shit. How many times do I have to tell you?""Please. Please. Pleaseeeeeee"The person at the other end of the line groaned. "Now, I understand why Brice is locking you in the hospital."Brice's wife laughed. "You're not serious.""See you tomorrow, boo. By then, I hope Brice will have regained enough energy to deal with you so you can be discharged." "Alright. See you tomorrow." After she hung up, she sighed and looked at Ryan. "You heard her, right?"Ryan smiled and nodded, ignoring the series of questions going on in his mind."You could visit her store, I promise you'll find lots of captivating artwork there." Ryan was going to say it wasn't necessary, but she was already digging into her pulse for something. She soon stretched him a card."You
"Look in front of you and you will see a greater surprise," the voice at the other said. Obviously, with the weird way the voice was sounding, whosoever was talking was using a voice changer.Again, slowly, Ryan looked in front of him. He saw three SUVs driving in front of him.It all seemed familiar. More than familiar. The SUVs. The voice changer. The same thing had happened before Piper was kidnapped. If there was anything Ryan was sure about at this moment, it was the fact that the person who is calling him right now is someone close to him. Close enough for Ryan to recognize whosoever the person was just with the voice. That would be the only reason why the person is using a voice changer."That surprise in your back seat will go off in the next ten minutes and seventeen seconds," the weird voice said."What do you want?" "Your life. I want to end it." There was a weird sound at the other end
The door to the three SUVs opened and about ten men in black outfits came out. Each of them had a gun and they were pointing it at him. For a moment, Ryan smiled. Even scenes like this are not common in movies. The protagonist doesn't normally have as many men like this pointing guns at him. All the same, Ryan slipped his gun in his pocket and raised his two hands as the men drew nearer."We have secured him, Sir," one of them said.Now that they were close, Ryan could see that each of them had a covert earpiece around their ears."We are closing on him, Sir," the person said again.We're they soldiers or something? They really looked like they were coming to arrest a hitman. One of them came around and opened the door to his GMC. "Come down," the guy said.Ryan got down, still raising his two hands. He wasn't ready to make any swift move and end up in hell."Come with u
"Okay. Take your time." With that, Ryan hung up, pressed on the accelerator and sped home. He has to get rid of the blood and bruises on his body before Brenda returns home.As soon as got home, he went straight to the bathroom and took a thorough bath. It was not until started to bandage the gunshot wound that he realized how much it hurts. After a series of groaning and wincing in pain, Ryan finally succeeded in dressing up the wound. He took his phone and dialed a number. The person answered at the first ring."Some SUVs attacked me some minutes ago. Find out who they are. There should be surveillance cameras in the area. The cars have no license plates." Ryan told the person at the other end the address of the place where the event took place."Alright, Sir.""And my car is outside Brenda's house. I left the key there, get it washed and bring it back before tomorrow morning.""Alright, Sir."
Just like Ryan gave up trying to eat, he gave up trying to sleep after tossing on the bed several times. He sat up and checked the small table by his bed for his cigarettes. He found none. He fiddled with his pockets and finally found a packet in one of his trousers. Just holding the packet sent a thrill down Ryan's body. Would he ever get tired of smoking? He lit one of the cigarettes and took a long drag. By the time he let out the smoke through his mouth, he was already rewarded with a sense of relaxation. His phone rang. It was the person he called earlier."Sir, I checked the surveillance cameras around…"Ryan wanted to ask him what he found but he didn't. He waited for the person at the other end to spill out what he found."The three SUVs didn't drive past a kilometer before a bomb went off and killed everyone in the cars. By the time I got to the place, the bodies of everyone in the cars w
"These are the most stubborn tenants I've ever had," the man said. He continued walking toward the apartment complex, he didn't seem to have noticed Ryan.He stopped, noticing Ryan's car. A look of amazement was on the man's face."Did one of them buy a car?" The man asked."It could be the new tenant," one of the man's bodyguards said.The man turned to look at his bodyguards. "Did you just say a new tenant?""Yes, Sir. The vacant apartment was sold yesterday."The man nodded, when he turned back, Ryan was in front of him."Who are you?" The man asked, looking at Ryan from head to toe."My name is Ryan. I'm the guy who bought the vacant apartment." The man nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I don't know if you're aware of the tenants tax that you are required to pay as my tenant.""I don't think I understand what you're talkin
Ryan shook his head. "Bad.""Anyway, welcome to this great neighborhood. If there is anything you need, you can ask me. As long as it has to do with… um, requesting information about people.""Okay, Sir." Ryan bowed slightly as the man left.After the man had left and Ryan had closed the door, he pulled the blinds aside and looked out through the window. He could see the busy streets, posters and bills everywhere he looked. He took a deep breath and started arranging his things.His phone rang. He checked the caller ID. Landon."Buddy.""You stood me up yesterday," Landon said at the other end."Me? Stood…" he had totally forgotten that he was going to meet Landon before his experience with those SUV guys. "I'm really sorry.""No problem other than the fact that I'm on my way to Meet my boss after telling him to fuck off yesterday.""No need to go meet him. C