Brown hesitantly lifted the lid of the cardboard box, his heart pounding wildly against his ribcage. He had almost let out a sigh of relief, after the package didn’t explode in his face, when he discovered a sight that froze him in his tracks. A miniature brown coffin lay inside the box with a note secured to it by a red ribbon. Brown lifted the coffin and placed it on the desk.“What the hell?” One of the officers gasped in shock.Brown gulped down nervously and pried the note loose from the coffin. He lifted it up to the light instead, with his hands as though it weighed a ton, and squinted to read the words drawn in neat cursive.“The soul that sins shall die.” His breath caught in his throat and a wave of anxiety engulfed within his soul. With trembling hands, he dropped the note, his eyes scanning the room frantically, every shadow now a potential threat, every creak of the floorboards became a haunting echo of his fear.***Mark slowly emerged from the haze of unconsciousness,
Castillo shrugged his shoulders and resumed speaking. “We picked him up at the party, as agreed, and..”“You shot my father”. Mark finished off the rest of his sentence for him.“What?” Castillo asked with a confused frown.“After you shot my father, you took Mr. Shapiro. That’s what happened, isn’t it?” Mark shot him a vengeful glare.“What’re you talking about, man? Look, you’ve got it all wrong”. Castillo argued in his defense. Mark looked up to inspector Conrad inquisitively.“That’s what he’s been saying all day”. Conrad shook his head.Mark nodded gently, processing the information he had just received. He slammed his hands down on the desk and shot up to his feet, leaning over to look Castillo directly in the eyes.“Liar!” He accused him.“Why the hell would I lie now?” Castillo queried. “I had my instructions straight, and that’s all I followed. Kidnap Cornelius Shapiro and demand a ransom. Why would I kill Gabriel Darius when I could easily have abducted him and mined a fortu
Time flew by in a flash, and evening descended upon them. The place was starting to fill up with customers looking to get a quick dinner before heading home from work. The quiet and tranquility that they had enjoyed when the crowd was less had been rudely snatched away from them.“I think we should get going,” Charlie suggested and rose up to his feet.They stepped out of the restaurant and on to the street, only to be welcomed by a gust of cold winds. A family of dark clouds had covered up the sky, blocking out the orange light of the setting sun.“Would you look at that,” Charlie shook his head with a smile and turned to find her shivering slightly.“Here you go,” he took off his jacket and hung it over her shoulders. “Thank you,” Jennet hugged the jacket tightly, looking away to hide her blush at the gesture.They walked on in silence, comfortable with enjoying each other’s company. Jennet got so comfortable in fact, that she failed to notice how far they had walked, when she noti
Bennet sat in his office, nursing a glass of rum while smoking his Cuban cigar. Sending Gabriel Darius to the hospital the way they had, felt like a win for him, albeit very little. But at least, it would give the man something else to think of other than taking him down for courting his son’s wife.The wench had come to me, and not the other way around. Bennet shook his head and emptied his glass in one gulp. He filled it up to keep himself company while he assessed the records sitting on his desk, when the door creaked open and Mr. Right marched into the office, bodyguard in tow.“I tried to keep him out, sir,” his secretary apologized, and he acknowledged with a wave of the hand.“I see we disturbed you, huh?” Mr. Right apologizes sarcastically, taking a seat across from Bennet.He reached out to pick up the glass of rum on the desk, and took a sip from it, closing his eyes as he savored the taste of the drink, if only to spite Bennet.“What do you want?” Bennet swallowed back his
Elena watched Larson as he shifted his glasses till they sat perfectly above the ridge of his nose. He flipped through the documents on his desk quietly. “I had my secretary print out the documents you sent to me via email,” he turned to address Elena and she replied. Mark’s brow quivered in curiosity, but vanished before Larson could notice. Elena wondered what his reaction would be when he eventually learned of the adjustments she had made to the divorce papers.“I believe that at this point, it’s only out of mutual consent that both parties are seeking to separate from each other?” he looked from Mark to Elena through bespectacled eyes.“Yes,” Elena nodded, and felt her heart beat differently at the idea. Why did she suddenly feel uncomfortable with getting divorced from her husband? Even the concept of their marriage seemed so far away, like a very distant memory, but why did she feel uneasy at the thought of it finally coming to an end?She stole a quick sideways glance at him a
Mark drove away from Larson’s office, a smug and satisfied look on his face. He had beaten Elena at her own game and baited her in with his new offer. The greedy wicked soul didn’t waste any time in jumping at the opportunity, and he was as sure as the sun was to shine, that she only asked to think over it because of good old courtesy.You just wait until I make you choke on that greed of yours. Mark drummed his fingers excitedly on the steering wheel, as he brought his car to a stop in the parking area of Quantum Edge Technologies. The inheritance move had been a last minute lifeline handed over to him by David, after he had spoken to him briefly about his plan over the phone.“I hope to God with all my life, that you know what you’re doing, Mark,” David’s words rang through his head, and a smile kissed his lips. Yes, David. My plan is in full swing now. He smiled on his way to his office, humming a sweet tune and nodding cheerily to anyone who greeted him.David was sitting quietly
Mark picked Karen up from her workplace, completely enamored by how easily beautiful she was in her suit. She didn’t have to try so hard like any other lady he knew. Being beautiful was just something she could do with her eyes closed.He called the manager and made a reservation for them at The Spice, an Asian themed restaurant that had just recently opened and serviced only high paying clientele.“Went all out of your way to impress me, huh?” Karen teased Mark as he helped her into a seat before turning around to take his opposite position.“What do they say? You’ve gotta put in some work, right?” He joked with a wink.Their evening went seamlessly well, flowing from topic to topic without ever seeming like too much.“So, how’s work coming?” Mark asked Karen.“Well, I’m still trying to pull the company out of the mess it’s currently in. That’s not been half easy, believe me. But we’re making progress,” she ended with a smile.“You know, if you take up my offer of a loan, you should
Think quick. Bennet wracked his head for any new idea to re-strategize with. Settling for the playboy card, he flashed his most sexy grin at the secretary sitting across from him, letting his voice drop down a few decibels.“Look, honey, I know how hard you work here, because I’ve been down the ladders myself. I know you don’t get appreciated enough for the work you do here,” he paused to see if he was making progress. Her eyes were fixed on the desk as she idly moved her mouse about on the pad. Bennet smiled to himself and continued.“I know you don’t get so much from your job. An angel like you should be pampered and appreciated more often.” He dipped his hand inside his pocket and slipped out a wad of fresh notes, placing them down on the desk before her.She looked up in surprise and looked around her to see if they had an audience.“How soon can I see your boss, darling?” He asked her with a wink.She looked around one more time before hastily picking up the notes and counting th