Alexander opened the door to let Kristine in. He seemed to be in a hurry and once she was in, he urged her to follow him quickly.“You should have informed me earlier.” She complained.“Well, that’s not my fault. It was unexpected.” He said.“And why this place?” She asked. “Where are we?”“My place.” He smiled. “I happened to get a visit from the four less problematic top people, so Martelli though we should deal with the issue now. According to him, the play gets a better outcome when there are less clowns.”‘Big statement' Kristine thought, “why does he refer to them as clowns anyway? Are they that bad?” She asked.“You will see.” He replied.“Of course.” She said calmly. But deep down, she was worried“Sorry I couldn’t find a better time to fix it.” Alexander said to Kristine as he walked her to his office where the others were seated.The only person she could recognize among the five was Mr. Martelli. There were three other men and there was a lady she estimated to be a little o
The sun cast its beautiful golden rays across the room, through the open window, lighting up the room and kissing Kristine’s face so that she became uncomfortable. She slid the cover sheet over her face to block out the sunlight.“Rise and shine.” Alexander said.Kristine lowered the sheet a little, enough for her to peek at him. He stood by the window, still holding unto the curtain. He was the one who had opened the windows.“It’s Saturday. And in my own calendar, I don’t work on Saturdays.“That’s true.” He said, then let the curtains free. “Is there anything I should get for you?” He asked.Kristine sat up and discovered she was naked under the sheets when she attempted to move. Immediately she was both shy and embarrassed. Alexander acted as if he didn’t notice.“Nothing really.” She said, holding tight unto the sheet which she had wrapped around herself.“I’ll just get tea then” Alexander then made for the door.“that would be fine.” She smiled faintly, still feeling embarrassed
Camille was outside having a smoke when Kristine returned. It was very unusual as she only did it when she was seriously pissed. When Camille saw Kristine and noticed the frown on her face, she remembered quite well she didn’t approve of her smoking and tossed it away after a little hesitation on her side and an upsetting look on Kristine’s.Kristine went past her, straight into the house with Camille following after. She was shocked at what she saw. It was as if a bunch of toddlers used the place for a play ground. Everything was in complete disarray, vases were shattered, the sofa was upturned, the TV was broken even the lights. She went into the room and saw they wardrobe was emptied and every stuff that used to be in it was out on the floor. Boxes were open.“You checked for your documents?” she asked Camille, who although stood there, was completely not there.“Yeah. They’re intact. “ she replied. “they did not take a thing.”“Oh thank the heavens!” Kristine exclaimed. “So why are
Octavio cared less about the commotion outside, especially when he realized it was a female’s voice. He knew it was bound to happen. Rather than go out to calm the situation, he took a bottle of wine and went to his little garden, where the noise was less effective. After a while a guard walked up to him.“Sir, a lady is here to see you. She says its urgent.” The guard said..Octavio seemed not to pay attention.“Sir?”“Is she calm now?” Octavio asked, still not paying attention. He had a magazine which he seemed to be so into at the moment.“Yes sir. She is.” The guard replied.“Okay, you can let her in.” Octavio said.The guard exited and after few minutes, returned with Kristine who looked like a mother hen about to protect her chicks from a hawk.“First of all,” Octavio said, not taking his concentration from his magazine “I won’t tolerate any uncivil attitude from you.”Kristine could clearly see he was serious, dead serious. She also needed to tell him bluntly that his action at
Two weeks passed and Kristine was yet to get anything new. Although her relationship with Alexander waxed stronger, she felt completely locked out. She realized the closer she was to Alexander, the lesser she knew.Lately, since the return of Victor they have kept most moves a secret. They just did normal jobs, planned less and stayed low. She was definitely running out of time and being pressured by Camille also posed a problem since they were staying at her place and so the reminder came daily from her friend.This Saturday morning was different. They already had breakfast and put some stuff together as well as tidied the house chores so they were kind of free. The duo sat in the living room, just staring at each other. Kristine was expecting the normal reminder.“You’re not going to see him today?” Camille asked.“No.” Kristine replied “go straight to the point.” She added.“What do you think I’m about to say?” Camille asked.“What else? I guess it has to be your normal reminder.”
Alexander showed up at the reception more often than he had been seen by some staff who worked at ARRT.“Have you seen Kristine today?” Alexander asked the receptionist. It was the eight time he was asking her and from the look on her face, she was already weary of him.“No sir.” She responded.“Called her home?” He asked.“Yes sir. No response either.” She replied.“Okay.” Alexander said, “do well to inform me when she shows up.”“Okay sir.” She replied.It was noon and Kristine had still not shown up at the office, neither was she taking calls so Alexander decided to go find out what was wrong.After knocking for close to five minutes, Alexander decided to try the door and to his surprise, it was open. He let himself in and was shocked at the scene. The place was unattended to, the living room could be said to have been in ruins and the place was stuffy.“Kristine?” Alexander called out. But there was no response.He made for the kitchen and almost passed out. It was a mess. He hurr
“That was some flight there.” Francisco acknowledged.“Welcome back.” Victor greeted as both men shook hands.“It doesn’t feel like I left at all.” Francisco responded.A number of guys began loading Francisco’s luggage into an SUV while Francisco joined Victor to his own vehicle.“Aren't you going to blindfold me?” Francisco asked Victor who had gotten into the seat beside him before the vehicle took off.“I wouldn’t mind.” Victor replied. “The only thing stopping me is I see you as one of us, so there’s no need.”“Trust.” Francisco grinned. “You know, its good to see people who live by their principles.”Victor smiled briefly.Francisco looked out the window and there was disappointed written on his face. Although there were a good number of new buildings as well as skyscrapers, he felt the place was unchanged as compared to how it was the last time he was around. Of course Victor noticed the expression on his face.“It looks different from the last time you were here.” Victor said.
Victor offered to take Francisco home while Martelli had a meeting to attend somewhere around the city. Alexander opted to stay back a little to finish up some paper work he was attending to before Victor arrived with Francisco. Martelli thought it was strange as Alexander was one who hated any form of self isolation. He followed Victor and Francisco out but returned a few moments later to Alexander’s office.At a glance, Martelli knew something was wrong with Alexander. He had been acting strange for some days and it never crossed Martelli’s mind to question him in order to find out what was wrong and if possible, fix it.Immediately Alexander saw Martelli’s face he knew what he came for. It was something he had done a lot previously and so Alexander could tell when he was about to be a detective. He was divided on what to do. Should he tell Martelli what was wrong? And if he did, how would he react or what action would he take? Also, if he does not open up and Martelli finds out lat
Alexander, Francisco and Victor were seated in a Alexander’s study. The three men looked so fresh one would not know they had just gone through a stressful period these past days.“What would you do now?” Alexander asked Francisco.“Well, something I should have done long ago. Probably put people to oversee some things so I can live the life I always wanted.”“What life if I may ask?” Alexander seemed curious.“Explore.” Francisco replied “I always wanted to travel round the world, go wine tasting, try new food, stuff like that. I actually have a bucket list”“No troubles?” Victor asked.“Not at all. No troubles.” Francisco responded, smiling.“Anyway, I would do the same if I was in your shoes” Victor said as he lifted his bottle of beer to his lip.“Maybe you can be” Francisco teased“How?” Victor seemed interested.“A change of name would do.” Francisco suggested.Victor turned to Alexander with raised brows like he was seeking validation.“Feel free. You are of no use to me…” Alexa
Kristine woke up feeling weak and having blurred vision. She laid back and shut her eyes for some time in an attempt to correct her vision. It turned out she had to stay that way much longer as it was a side effect from the medication she was given, unknown to her. As it wore off, she regained her sight and noticed she was in her room. She turned to her side and saw Camille bundled up in a chair just by her bed.She sat up at the side of her bed and stared at her friend who was fast asleep. Camille was probably exhausted from the stress of the recent event, so Kristine thought.Kristine could not recall how she ended up at home. The last thing she remembered was getting into the vehicle with Alexander and Victor. “Camille?”Camille did not respond. She was still fast asleep.Kristine exhaled. “Camille?” this time she was louder.Camille jerked and came awake. “You are up.” She said, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands.“Yeah.” Kristine smiled as Camille rushed to hug her.“How
Octavio ignored all the road signs as he drove furiously back to home, he did not even care about the cops who trailed him for over speeding although they turned back after they recognized his vehicle. He had just escaped with his life from a dangerous place and he needed his wrist tended to as soon as possible. It felt like his vein was severed as the bleeding was yet to stop even though he had strapped it with a piece of clothing.Octavio got to the gate and honked before it was opened. He did not even spend a second to curse at the men stationed there like he usually did whenever they made him wait as even for a second.He stopped in front of the house and hurriedly came off, strode straight to his bedroom without minding anyone or saying a word.Octavio quickly opened his safe and began taking out large wads of cash, his gun and a few passports. He stuffed everything in a little bag and made for his office where he took out his first aid kit and started tending to his wrist.When
“I love the nerves.” Octavio said at the top of his voice “You know, coming here like this.”Alexander approached him, hands in the air in a surrender pose and in one of his hands, he held a briefcase which supposedly contained the documents Octavio requested.Alexander stopped a few meters from Octavio. He knew the place was surrounded as he had seen a few men in strategic positions as he came in.“I presume my stuff are in that briefcase?”Alexander couldn’t place exactly, Octavio’s mood. If it was excitement or anxiety, he could not tell. “Its all in here.” He brought down his hands and tapped on the briefcase. “now where is she?”“Don’t be in a hurry yet. How am I to believe that briefcase holds exactly what I requested?” Octavio asked.“Mistrust.” Alexander noted.Octavio smiled “can’t help it” he opened his hands like he wanted to give a hug “I experienced it right here on this spot.”“And he was right not to trust you if my memory serves me right.” Alexander replied.“Yeah that’
“It feels weird you know, this request of his” Camille said as she bit into an apple she took out of the bowl on Alexander’s study table.“I feel same way about it like you do, but it’s a window we have to take. Especially with what is at stake.” Victor said.“You don’t get it.” Camille said “Why would he risk leaving the safety of his house, to come get something he obviously can’t keep?”Victor frowned at Camille’s question. It was one worth consideration because Octavio was a self conscious person who will never venture into anything that would put his life at risk. Moreover, it was the same warehouse location he set Octavio on his heels so he had serious doubts Octavio would show up except he had the place rigged. “Now I think about it, this is a bad idea.” Victor said.“A bad idea?” Francisco asked “which?”“This whole exchange thing with Octavio.” Victor answered.“We are moving on with it.” Francisco turned towards Alexander “yes?” he had this expectant look on his face.Alexand
“Someone get me Jeff immediately!” Octavio yelled at his men, who were obviously clueless as to where Jeff was. They knew his place in the city and have been there a number of times already, but he was not yet home. His neighbors last saw him three days ago, the same day Octavio saw him last.It was quite difficult for them to make any conclusion because none of them was aware of the cabin's existence. It used to be his refuge when things were a little bit clumsy, but now it was his grave.While he was still at it, the gate opened and a police vehicle drove in. It was Captain Harry’s vehicle. Octavio already had a number of encounters with him and so he could recognize him or his vehicle once within distance. The vehicle came to a stop and Captain Harry stepped out, along with two men who were casually dressed with police jackets.“To what do I owe this unpleasant visit?” Octavio meant to sound rude. Although he was right by addressing the visit as unpleasant because he had never up t
There was a knock on the door. Jeff wasn’t expecting anyone at that time of the night, but considering the fact his place was well secured, he answered the door.“Who is there?” Jeff's coarse voice flowed through the communicator at the door.“Package from Octavio.”Jeff thought for a moment. Octavio never sent packages, instead he texted and whoever had the package met him to pick it up. Since it was way past bedtime, Octavio would never take calls. It was his way.“Octavio never sends packages.” Jeff said. The person stood in a way the security cam could not pick his face, making it difficult for Jeff to make out who it was. “Look at the camera just above you. I need to see your face.”Francisco wore a wig and thicker eyebrows. He was no stranger to disguise as he had used it severally in these situations. He stared straight into the security camera and also held the little box in the view of the camera too.Jeff hesitated for a while. It was still difficult to believe, but if it wa
Police Captain Robert was at the gate waiting when Alexander arrived with the group. They already had an idea of how bad it was from the roadblock and now there was a heavy police presence at the gate.Robert took the group past the gate and beyond the yellow tape. He was the one who texted Alexander while they were at the bar. He had already tried reaching out to Martelli before Alexander but couldn’t because the network at his place was jammed.“Where’s he?” Alexander askedRobert pointed at an ambulance and the group immediately hurried towards it.Martelli was being stitched up.“He refused to be taken to the hospital.” Robert said.“Yeah I know.” Said Alexander “he got trust issues.”Martelli frowned at Alexander.“Does it hurt?” Alexander asked.“No… it stings.” Martelli replied. “They would need more to put me to sleep.”The group laughed.“What happened here?” Victor asked.“I had to take a nap after my driver decided to forget his duties, with the hope of waking up much later
Martelli had a meeting scheduled for much later in the evening. Rather than bore himself out with the news, he opted for a stroll. When his driver had not arrived after a long wait and his mobile was unreachable, Martelli decided to take a nap. He set his alarm for 9:30pm and ordered his house staff not to disturb him except it was something extremely important.About twenty minutes after Martelli had laid his head on his pillow for his short refreshing nap, he suddenly woke up. It was as if someone tapped him, but judging by the time interval between when he felt the tap and when he woke up, the person couldn’t have left the bedroom. He reached for his gun under his pillow and turned off the safety.Martelli first went to the door and examined the knob, it was not tampered with. He proceeded to check around the room, but everything was just normal. ‘Maybe it was a dream' he thought as he went towards the window to take a peek outside.The evening weather was perfect but the eerie sile