Chapter 7

Penny’s heart almost stopped beating. Warning alarms set off in her head.

Noel had promised to call. Having unceremoniously signed new wedding papers, missing his calls wasn’t going to earn her any brownie points.

She snatched her bag from Albert. “And you just decided to tell me?!” she shrieked aghast that he hadn’t said anything about it before now.

Albert was stiff and though his face gave nothing away his eyes were cold. “Why is he calling you?”

“None of your business.”

“He gave you up on the altar years ago and called you names you don’t deserve, why should he be calling you? I thought you were done with him?”

“Since when did you become my father, Albert? I do not answer to you so remember your place. You work for my father and I am his daughter.”

“And if you must come back to the family you can drag the past here with you.”

“You dragged me here, Albert. You brought me here so deal with whatever I bring!”

Albert looked like he wanted to say something. Penny suspected he had a lot to say but once again he snapped his mouth shut. When he spoke again his voice was hard and bland. “The boss is waiting.”

Without another word, he walked into the house leaving her confused by his strange behavior.

He was always like that. When he first joined the family he was like a feral cat, wild and suspicious of everyone around him. The only person he answered to was her father. He and Penny never got one well during missions because they both had different methods. While she was charming, methodical and careful when cleaning up her tracks, Albert was like an bull in a china shop. His job was to use force and any violent method necessary to get whatever he wanted. The only thing he was go at without leaving a trace was making people disappear. And he was an expert in that.

So much so that his presence always caused a chill to run down Penny’s spine.

But over the year she got used to him knowing that he pledged his loyalty to her father alone. After all, Hubert had saved him from being prostituted in the streets because of his unusual good looks. It was one of the many reasons why he never dated. The rest of Hubert’s men had women flocking around them. But Albert, he was a lone figure. He barely spoke to anyone, barely asked for anything except what he was given. He never gave any opinions on anything. The only thing he did, and very effectively, was take orders from her father, complete his missions and return back to being a recluse.

Which was why his outburst about surprised her. She never knew Albert felt so strongly about Noel. He had been the one to drag her down the stairs that morning to be married off. No doubt he had acted on her father’s command. But why was he so angry now?

Penny sighed disgustedly. Not even a day and every thing already wasn’t going well. It was a sign that it was bad luck to come back to the family after all these years. Yet she wanted to know what was so important that it took her father over 10 years to contact her again.

But what was she to do with Noel?

13 missed calls from Noel and some messages: ‘Where are you?’ ‘Answer your damn phone!’. ‘Penny where the hell are you?!’ The last message took a different tone: ‘Are you alright? Call me when you see this.’

She would have deluded herself that he cared but he didn’t. If he did he would never have believed her for a scheming bitch. He wouldn’t have married and dated various women all these years while she struggled to get over him.

All he wanted now was to show her how much power be held over her. Blackmailing her while she was at the peak of her career was the lowest of low. Penny decided that once she was done listening to what her father had to say she would go back to Port and hire that lawyer for another divorce. Noel could go to hell for more reasons to blackmail her into marriage for all she cared, she was ready to fight him tooth and nail.

She followed Albert who was already gaining way ahead of her through the door into the cool interior. Every room they passed with an open door looked the same, bare or almost bare. Almost no furniture. It looked like the house was as old as it was abandoned. There was almost no sounds yet she could feel as though she was being watched. It wasn’t a new feeling. She grew up with that feeling as the daughter of Hubert Nowak.

They walked into a wide living area painted white and bare, the walls were bare. Penny’s frown deepened. That was uncharacteristic of her father. He loved to paint and recreate old arts as much as he loved stealing them and he was ever proud of his recreations of those famous paintings.

Albert went past this living area to another wide living area with the windows open and the sunlight streaming in through the flimsy curtains. Penny took a step into the room, glancing around and noting how desolate everything looked. An Açai palm tree outside one of the windows waved its leaves in the stiff breeze casting shadows of the thin leaves on the walls. The lights were turned off but a fan rolled overhead to disperse the heat. Even though the windows were open sweat formed on Penny’s head. Even Albert’s shirt was beginning to stick to his body.

Then her eyes fell on one of the windows , there was a cane rocker under this window. It was here that the shadow of the tree was the largest there beneath that window was a sight that made Penny gasp and stop short.

Below one of the windows, sitting in a cane rocker covered in a thick blanket even though the air was heavy and hot was a tired looking woman napping. The only other Nowak woman.

Penny didn’t know what to do. She simply stared in disbelief at her mother.

Maja Nowak had always been a beautiful and healthy woman living off the spoils of her father’s underground work now but for the blonde hair and familiar features on the woman’s face, there was no trace of that beauty on her face and Penny would not have recognized her if she passed her in the streets.

She was ashamed of that thought. I wouldn’t have recognized my own mother, she thought bitterly.

Her hair was stringy, her eyes hollow and her skin held an unhealthy pallor. She slept in the rocker with her head tilted slightly to the left, facing the window, her chest rose and fell unsteadily. She had never been a loud woman. She had never been gentle either. She simply lived the life of the wife of a thief. Till that very moment standing there watching the shadow that used to be her mother, Penny still didn’t know what role her mother played in the business.

Until Albert’s hand touched her shoulder, she hadn’t realized she had been staring in horror. Her hands flew to cover her mouth. My horror was barely settled when a door opened and Hubert Nowak walked in. Her horror intensified.

Granted, he wasn’t looking as terrible as her mother but the boss, her dad, wasn’t always known to look frail and tired and the man walking toward her now was frail and his gait was unsteady.

“Dad?” she wasn’t sure he heard her even though he continued to walk closer.

Penelope didn’t know what to do. Running into the arms of the man who wanted to marry her off and didn’t even bother looking for her for years after her disappearance didn’t seem like the best idea.

He didn’t acknowledge her presence one way or the other as he ambled towards the window where he dragged another chair to sit in front of her mother.

“You found her,” he said in a small voice. “Thank you, Albert. I’m sorry I had to leave your job for this assignment.”

“Anything for you, Hubert.” Albert replied.

Hubert grunted a reply.

Even though there was so much she wanted to know, so many questions she wanted to ask, she couldn’t let that piece of information slide. “Job?” She looked at Albert.

“Albert doesn’t work for me anymore,” Hubert replied, his tone was hard and accusing. “You would know this if you hadn’t abandoned your family.”

Even though she was aghast at their appearance, Penny flared. “My family abandoned me first when my father sold me into marriage.”

“You are ungrateful! I was going to marry you to a wealthy man who would have given you a good life if you had not whored yourself out before your wedding!”

“You could at least welcome her back, Hubert.”

The weak plea came from Maja whose eyes were still closed. She rolled her head to the side and looked through heavy lids at Penny and smiled. “You have grown so beautiful, darling. You maintained the blonde I see, it suits you.”

She couldn’t help herself. Penny walked slowly towards her chair and touched her arm. She was frail. Maja wasn’t always frail, she used to be just as tough as her husband. Even though she was smiling, Penny could see the pain and accusation in her eyes. She, Penelope Nowak abandoned her family in their time of need.

“How are you, mother?”

Hubert looked like he was going to say something hurtful to his daughter but he looked up for the first time and caught her eyes and his body suddenly shook as tears ran down his eyes. “Miserable,” he cried. “Everything is…”

He looked so pitiful crying there. Penny felt sorry for him even though she was still angry. Glancing back over her shoulder she shot Albert a directed look that had him leaving the room but she knew he was within hearing distance and he would be listening to every word spoken in the room. Still it went a long way protecting her father’s pride.