“This arrived for you today, boss,” said Orlando, handing Jake a small envelope.
“From who?”
“It doesn’t say. Probably that lady friend of yours who sent a photo the other time.”
“I see,” he said and opened the envelope.
There was a small white card inside with a few words written on it. The message was cryptic but Jake was certain that the sender wasn’t Stephanie.
“Thank you, Orlando. I’ll take it up from here.”
“Sure thing, boss,” he said and left Jake’s office.
He reached for his office phone to make a call. He dialled a familiar phone number and patiently waited for his call to be answered.
“Hello, friend. To what do I owe this honour?”
“Your niece has just sent me a message and I’m wondering how she managed to do that. Who is helping her?”
“First of all, she’s not my niece.
Jake’s boots made crunching sounds as he walked on the gravel stones and stepped on dry grass and branches. It was a cold night that he’d rather spend under the covers in his wife’s embrace.“Where are they?” He asked sharply.“Behind the tool shed, boss,” said Darius, one of Orlando’s boys.He followed the bodyguard to the location where the four arsonists were being kept. They were on their knees and bloodied. Their kegs of gasoline were piled together in one corner.“So, you are the idiots that tried to burn down my factory tonight?” He asked them coldly.“We didn’t know this place belongs to you,” said one of them. His left eye was swollen shut and the right one was barely open. He was bleeding from every orifice on his head.“Who sent you here? Wait, let me guess, Rex?”“Yes, sir. It’s him!” Said another one with a bloody m
“Is this the best you can do? A lawsuit?”“You should respond to it as soon as possible so that we can get that out of the way. There’s more where that came from.”“You don’t want to travel down this road with me, Jake. I got a shit ton of evidence against you for all the shady things you’ve done all these years I worked for you.”“Bring it on, Rex. I’m ready for you.”“We’ll see about that.”“Oh, by the way, did you ever hear back from those petty criminals you sent to set my factory on fire? I sent one of them back to you with a message.”Rex was silent on the other side of the phone line but Jake could still hear him breathing heavily.“What? Cat got your tongue?”“I’ll keep coming after you until I bring you to your knees. You owe me your life and eternal loyalty.”“I owe you nothi
“This is your little brother, Vicky. His name is James Aoki Turner.” “He’s ugly!” “What! Apologize to him right now.” “Why?” “Because that was a very disrespectful thing to say.” Victoria shrugged nonchalantly. “He didn’t hear me. He’s asleep.” “Apologize anyway,” Jake insisted. “Sorry,” she grumbled. “Can I go now?” Jake glared at her. Victoria used to be such a sweet child. When did she become like this? “Please, take her home,” he said to her nanny. “Will you come home for dinner today?” Victoria asked him. “No. I’m spending the night here with James and Meg.” “Again? You’ve been here for three days already. I’m tired of eating alone!” “One more night of eating alone won’t kill you. Go home. Goodnight.” She stomped her feet angrily and marched away. Nanny gave him an apologetic look before hurrying after the angry child. Jake shook his head, wondering where he’d
“How long will this investigation take?”“I can’t say, Mr Turner but this plant must remain shut down until our investigation is complete.”Jake rolled his eyes and tried to calm his temper. This was a nightmare. The agro plant was the biggest production centre for all the consumer goods his company sells.This shutdown felt as if an arm of his business was being cut off. Workers would be unemployed for God knows how long, while his distributors would be left stranded.“Boss, the folks from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are here to see you,” Orlando informed him.Jake gritted his teeth. He wasn’t going to catch a break any time soon, is he?“Please, excuse me,” he said to the police detective that he’d been talking with.He followed Orlando to the front office where the team of three men and two women were waiting for him with stern expressions on th
“How did it go?” Meg asked Jake as soon as he arrived home.“Not too bad. It could have been worse,” he replied coolly. He didn’t want to get into the details with her because he didn’t want her to panic.“Did the supervisor figure out how the machinery came loose?”“Not yet, but he will. The police and the OSHA are on it too. Where’s my son?”“In his bedroom, sleeping.”“And Victoria?”“Who knows?”He sighed and went in search of his children. James was indeed asleep in his crib while Victoria was busy in her playroom, tidying up her toys.“Oh, that’s nice. You’re cleaning up your playroom.”“Hi, Daddy! When did you get back?” She asked and hugged him.“Just a few minutes ago. Are you done for the day?”“Not really. I want to give these toys to Celine.&
Adding Margot’s empire to his already overflowing conglomerate was more satisfying than Jake wanted to admit. It was as if he was flipping the middle finger at Margot and her son at the same time.He received another anonymous message from the supposed Francesca Lopez but this time, the postman was not so lucky with his sneaky moves. The new CCTV camera’s caught him as he was slipping the envelope into the mailbox and the security men showed up in time to catch him in the act.The frightened man was dragged into the compound and Jake was alerted immediately. When he showed up, he didn’t expect to see an elderly man cowering amid his security team.“Who are you?” Jake asked him sharply.“Dennis. My name is Dennis,” the man stuttered. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I only came here to deliver a letter.”“Are you a registered postman?”“No, sir. I live near the train
Jake watched with horror as the armed men marched toward his vehicle with guns aimed at it. If they unleash more bullets on the car, it was only a matter of time before the protective shield caved in under pressure.Meg and Victoria were crouched behind the front seats and they were crying with James now. Jake hated feeling so helpless but there was nothing he could do but sit there and pray for a miracle.“Do something!” Meg screamed at him desperately. “They’re going to kill us.”“I don’t have a weapon with me in here. Let’s just hope that someone shows up to save us.”Just then, something caught the attention of the armed men and they began to fire their bullets into the distance. The one closest to the driver's side got hit in the head and fell down.Bullets were flying back and forth and the assailants began to drop to the ground like dead flies. Jake couldn’t see who was taking them
“Orlando and six of his buddies didn’t survive the attack,” Shadow informed Jake. “The police are already in your place trying to figure out what happened.”“Any idea who might have tried to wipe out my family?”“No. I’ve sent word to Emilio in Sicily to see if he can find out who’s behind it.”“Thanks. I’ll get in touch with my other contacts too.”“Sorry about Orlando.”“Yeah… thanks. He died protecting me. I’ll reach out to his family personally to let them know.”“Cool. I’m out,” said Shadow and he left the penthouse suite.“Did you find out anything meaningful?” Meg asked him after Shadow left.“No. Only got some bad news. Orlando and half a dozen security men died at the villa. We still don’t know who ordered the hit on us.”“Oh, that’s