CHAPTER 5
-----------------
One's own choice.
Rain clouds had started to form again over the mundane looking town of Shanjia. Weekend turned into Monday without much change in the weather. Dull pewter gray clouds formed overhead as the weather reporter on TV announced the expectations of another heavy downpour around midday.
Fai turned off the TV glumly and picked up the morning paper from the bedside table. He scanned through the headlines frowning slightly, occasionally stopping and reading some of the stories that caught his fancy. "POLICE BLUNDER IN SOUTH CITY", "TRIADS OUT OF HAND AND AT LARGE" was among the few. His eyes skimmed past a certain movie star caught by airport security over some illegal drug possessions and was about to turn the page when Rain entered, carrying with her, his breakfast tray.
"Morning honey." She said brightly, setting the table on his knees and pecking him on his cheek. Fai gave her a smile.
"Smells good!" He said, looking down at his tray and taking in the delicious wafts of freshly made pancakes, sunny-side-up poaches and orange juice. He was half way through taking a swig from his juice when the bell rang and Rain went out to see who it was. A couple of minutes later, she returned followed by Liza and Kite.
"How’re you feeling?" Liza asked him anxiously, putting a large bouquet of flowers on the bedside table.
"Never better." Fai said cheerfully. He watched Kite giving Rain a peck in her cheek and dropping of a large paper bag full of fruits.
"Any news of David yet?" He asked Kite. "Since Rain’s taken the week off of work, I’ve been worried."
Kite took a while to answer. He was staring out of the window absent mindedly. He started when he heard Fai’s voice calling his name and stared at him, answering,
"He’s still in coma."
There was a brief pause where everyone cast about for another topic. Then Rain seeing the look on Fai’s face said,
"Liza, teach me that recipe of plum cake you made the other day!" and ushered her out of the room.
"What’s the situation outside?" Fai asked once he was sure the two girls were out of earshot.
Kite sat down at a corner of the bed and said gravely,
"No sign of ‘em."
"Offcourse, I wasn’t very hopeful to begin with." Said Fai. "So we’re all out of leads?"
"no." Said Kite. "There’s one last thread I gotta check."
"I’ll come with you." Said Fai.
"NO, you’re not!" Kite said flatly. "Don’t be thick Fai, rest and recover first."
"Look who’s talking." Fai said grumpily.
Kite looked taken a back. It was unusual for Fai to be saying such things. He stared.
"What?" Fai said defensively, "I’m bored already!"
Kite sniggered. Trying to control himself he said,
"It’s not THAT big of a lead. Its more of some backlog stuff I needed to check into incase I might find some missing link."
"Doesn’t matter." Fai said dismissively. "I still want to go. I want to do something rather than sit here and sulk over what happened to David."
They fell silent. Kite was weighing his words. It was several minutes before he said,
"Kay’s alive."
To his surprises, Fai didn’t look astound at these words. On the contrary, his face looked anxious.
"I knew it was her from the moment I saw her in the hall." Fai said quietly. "Her coming to the scene arises so many questions!"
"FORGET THAT!" Kite said loudly, "I’ll kill her the next time I see her!"
Fai frowned at him.
"Don’t be thick!" He repeated what Kite had told him a bit earlier.
They fell silent again. From the kitchen next room, they heard the giggles of Rain and Liza. Their thoughts trailed back to the terrace where Ray had shot David…..
"Butterflies, Seventh Street on Friday at quarter past ten." Kite told Fai. "Don’t be late."
Rain came inside again and they dropped their conversation. Rain and Fai started to tease Kite about hurrying up and hitching with Liza.
"Honestly, how long are you going to stretch it out?!" Rain said impatiently, "It’s like a never ending soap opera, you two’s love life."
"Why don’t you switch channels then?" Kite said lightly, missing the reproachful looks from Liza.
The rest of the visit went by in casual talks.
******
As Zena drove out of the parking lot of a pristine hotel, her mind was doing some very quick calculations. Sitting in the morning traffic, she dialed Kevin’s number and left him a whole fifteen minutes’ worth of instructions. By the time she had hung up, the traffic had moved on and she was receiving angry horns from the cars behind her. Paying no attention to them, she started the car in her own time and started to drive away.
*****************
It was day break. The church perched on top of the hill stood out in the pink lights from the horizon like a little toy house. The paved path leading out of the front gates twisted and turned out of sight behind the gigantic fir trees around it. Even as the birds sat chirping, the bell rang announcing morning to the surroundings. A few people could be seen trudging up the path towards the church to say morning prayers. The tiny graveyard beyond the praying hall lay silent basking in the peace of the morning, though not for long. Two kids ran up the stone steps flagging up to the church and ran down it again screaming at each other,
"GIVE IT BACK!!"
"Come and take it cry baby!"
One of the children was a boy, hardly of seven. The smaller one crying hysterically was a girl of around three. The boy was holding a doll out of the little girl’s reach and she kept frantically snatching at it, screaming in anguish to get her doll back. The early birds in the church murmured amongst themselves and chuckling.
"THAT’S ENOUGH NOW YOU TWO!" came a thundering command of someone from the front door of a small house just beside the church, which was an orphanage run by the padre there. A girl in her mid teens was hurrying down the steps, clutching a broomstick and wearing an expression of utmost fury in her face.
As the two kids saw her coming towards them, they turned to run, but she caught them anyway. At once, both of them exploded into explanations, each attempting to drown the other’s voice by screaming louder.
"SHE BROKE MY SAND HOUSE!"
"HE TOOK MARTHA!!!HE TOOK MARTHA"
"MARTHA’S SUCH A SILLY NAME!!YOU’RE A GIRLY GIRL!!!EUGH!!!"
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!HE TOOK MARTHA! GIVE MARTHA BACK!!!!"
"SHUT UP!!!" said the girl, whacking both of them in the head.
Both stopped shouting but that immediately got replaced by howls of tears. The girl stood there, exasperated and annoyed.
"There now don’t cry."
The girl turned around to see the home’s sister striding forward and calming the children. A very pretty girl with a smile that warmed the hearts of every living soul who saw it. The blue eyes reflecting the morning sky, and the sweet fragrance that lingered around her which the children often compared with spring’s breeze.
"Megan!" Cried the girl in relief. "Thank god you’re back! They were driving me crazy!"
Megan looked up at the girl and smiled.
"Sorry I left you all alone Kay, you must’ve had a hard time taking care of all of them."
"Julie’s shut herself in her room." She said on the verge of tears herself. "She said she’d had enough last afternoon after they put frogs in her bath water."
Megan’s face fell sad. She looked at the two kids with disappointment and they at once started to apologize,
"Please don’t be sad Megan!" cried the boy.
"We promise we wont do anything bad ever again Megan, please forgive us!" cried the girl.
Kay snorted in disbelieve and Megan gave her a disapproving look. From behind Megan, the boy stuck out his tongue at Kay. Kay lost her temper and ran after him ignoring Megan’s frantic voice asking her to leave him alone.
"You’re DEAD today Kite, you hear me!!! DEAD!!!!"
"Those two are at it again?" called an old man who visited the church every day to lay roses in his dead wife’s grave.
Megan gave a start and then greeted him. When he was gone, she gave picked up the doll from the floor and gave it back to the girl.
"There now Karen," she said, wiping her tears. "There’s no need to cry."
Karen gave a watery smile.
Somewhere far away in the corner of reality, a door lock clicked. That warm spring’s morning, the smell of wild lilies faded in a mater of seconds. Zena sat up straight in the chair of the drawing room. She had dozed of without realizing it. Someone was in the house. That someone was calling loudly,
"Dad?"
The footsteps grew louder and louder as it’s owner made his way into the living room.
He was at the doorway when Zena switched on the light beside her and stared up at the horror struck face of Sam.
Sam stood there, rooted to the spot. His eyes darted around the room for any signs of his father, but Zena’s expression took away any hopes of finding him there.
"Where’s my dad." Sam asked quietly.
Zena took her time, reading his face and then said slowly,
"He’s not here."
"Where is he?" Sam demanded, his voice growing steadily stiff and loud.
Zena raised an eyebrow, watching his face work colours of emotions of calculations and of frustrations and Fury. In the deepest heart of it all, was fear.
"He’s not here." Zena replied again.
"WHERE IS HE?" The shout came out of him as his fear threatened to overcame all of him.
"Somewhere safe." Was her reply.
He stared at her for a moment, utterly nonplused.
"What did you say?" He asked, sure he heard her wrong. If she was here for the reason he though she was there, then that would definitely mean that she’d taken his father anywhere BUT somewhere safe. Then there was the question of if she was telling the truth, then that would mean there was a catch.
"Like I said, somewhere safe." Zena said coolly. "Sit down Sam, we need to discuss your options."
And here it was, proof of his suspicions. Sam took the nearby chair, his hands in his pocket, grasping tight the hilt of the gun. He did not take his eyes off from her. He said again,
"Where is my dad?"
"How long did you think your little excursions would go unnoticed by the family?" She asked ignoring his question, as calmly as if she was asking him to predict the outcome of the following NBA game between Lakers and the Phoenix.
Sam blanched. So he WAS right! His betrayal was caught. He remained quiet, weighing his options. His eyes looked around the room again. Dare he make a break for it? Could he kill Zena and flee from here? But even if it were possible, there was still the matter of his Father being at her mercy. Quiet apart from anything else, to buy himself some time, he asked,
"Since when?"
"Sorry?"
"Since when have they been on to me?" He repeated.
"Since that day you took to traveling by train."
He looked up in time to see her watching him. He did not like the way she phrased "Traveling by train". It was as if she knew too, who he was meeting. He did not reply.
"Did you think the family’ll take a stray dog and leave it unchecked."
this wasn’t a question, it was statement. He did not like hearing it.
"You’ve been stupid to go so open about all of this." Zena told him, the slightest bit of annoyance betrayed her otherwise impassive features.
How stupid did she think he was? Off course he knew he was followed, he was being watched. But did she think he did not realize the risks? Did she think he didn’t know what he was walking into?
"I knew." He said finally.
Zena raised her eyebrows and Sam hated seeing the sneer in her face.
"I was under the impression you were spying on the Family to clear your criminal records. To be a better example for your little brother, oh yes, I know about your brother Joahn." She said, looking at his thunderstruck face, a smile curling up her lips. "I’ve known your intentions since you joined the Family Sam."
So she knew? She knew he was there, passing information to the Law about the family? She knew of him and his family all along? Of his intentions? How could it be possible? He did not detect lie in her words or the voice that spoke it. Yet, something didn’t fit in all of this.
"Is that why you’re here?" He said finally. "To hand me over to them?"
Zena did not reply. She merely continued to stare at him. Her eyes didn’t have any warmth in them. It was like a room where someone had turned off the lights ages ago. Cold and expressionless. When Sam continued to stare at her, she said.
"That is what the Family wants me to do."
"What’ll happen to my family?" Fear betrayed his voice.
"Shouldn’t you have thought of it before taking the gamble?"
"They had nothing to do with it!" There was a pleading note in his tone. "None of them had anything to do with it! Kill me, I don’t care! Don’t hurt them……Please!"
"You seem to be forgetting I came here to discuss your options." She said calmly. "Really, if it were the simple matter of snuffing out a bad dog, it’d only be too easy to pull the trigger."
Sam stared at her.
"You’re daring games have hampered my plans." She said, and it was the first time for him to hear it. There was no shout, neither did she looking menacing. Yet the silent but overwhelming wrath in her voice sent chills down his spines.
She reached for a jacket and for one wild moment, Sam though she was taking out her gun. But even as he reached for his own, she was withdrawing what looked like tickets.
She put it on the table and pushed it towards him.
"Your flight leaves in five hour’s time." She continued, ignoring his sudden twitch as he had made to go for his own gun. "There’s a ranch fifteen miles south of Tenasee. Your father finds it comfortable."
Sam remained silent. He didn’t understand what was going on.
"Why’re you helping me?" He asked finally, staring up at her. She considered him for a moment before saying,
"I’d rather have no further setbacks on my work."
"Wouldn’t it be easier just to have me dead in that case?" He asked her, frowning.
Zena raised her brows,
"Would you rather have it that way?"
"Off course not!" He said Hastily.
Before any of them could say or do more, Zena cellphone rang.
Whoever it was who was on the phone, had very little to say because Zena hung up in half a minute, but as she pocketed her cell phone inside, Sam noticed, what little colour remained in her face drained away instantly. Although her face looked impassive, she was doing some furious thinking.
"It appears we have a slight change of circumstances." She said, getting up.
"What do you mean?" Sam said quickly, looking at her.
"I’ll explain on the way," she said shortly, "quick, get your coat, we have to move."
Sam did not like the tone in her voice.
Once inside the Cadillac and on the road, Zena spoke.
"We’re going to your brother’s school."
Sam didn’t need her to finish the line to understand why they were making that trip. He voiced his conclusion,
"The syndicate wants my whole family and are reaching for my brother."
It wasn’t a question. Zena nodded, driving off the intercity and taking the road overlooking the city bank. Sam fell silent, his mind miles off the road. Whatever he had been doing till now seemed like the cause of all of this. Did he take the syndicate lightly? No, he certainly knew the extent of their reaches, that’s why it took him over a year to prepare for his right entry into the family. Had he placed too much faith in the police? Yes, that was it. He knew the police would secure safety for his family. He believed that Fai would make sure no harm came to him. Fai promised him a clean slate had he helped the police with information on the syndicate. How stupid of him. He had believed Fai blindly without stopping to think about it. That part of the game seemed invincibly on his side. Now that he thought about it, how much influence has Fai got over the police? He wasn’t even a cop anymore. He had taken retirement and become a private detective. Fai mentioned once he had connections high up and that he could find a solution to his problem only if he could provide a little bit of assistance which would be dangerous none the less. Sam had always known the stakes involved. But to have actually thought so negligently about it seemed almost childishly foolish. His thoughts were jerked to an end by the familiar ringtone from Zena’s phone. Zena answered without stopping through her Bluetooth headset. The fractions her pupils widened making Sam’s heart skip beats. He knew more bad news were to follow this unhappy call.
With a sudden swerve of the steer wheel, the Cadillac changed directions once more. Inside, Sam swore loudly.
"ZENA!" He said incredulously, "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US BOTH?!"
Zena ignored his comment and kept her eyes on the road.
"Kevin has intercepted our query Sam, he's in pursuit." She told him. "We need to bring some heat there."
"But," Sam begun, "All we have are a couple of mini guns! We don't even have enough ammos Zena!"
"STOP YAPPING SAM, JESUS CHRIST!!" Zena yelled at him. Sam got so surprised that he shut up, staring at her. It was the first time he'd seen her loose her composer.
There was a moment's pause in which, the car's rumble was only audible. Then Zena took a deep breath and said,
"Lift up the back seat."
"huh?" Sam said, flabbergasted.
"Lift up the back seat." Zena repeated.
Looking curious Sam picked up the seat and the moment, he lifted it up, he let out a gasp of surprise.
"You….you…" He stammered "You carry shot guns in your back seat do ya?"
"This isn't the heat." Zena said calmly, still driving at 90. "Close your mouth and look for a cavity by the right hand edge. Pull the rig and lift off the cover."
Sam did as he was told and immediately let out a whistle of awe. Zena smiled to herself.
Beneath the shot gun rack was revealed to be a small arsenal of guns and ammos fit for a covert operation.
"Hand grenades, smoke and flash bombs mini guns…." Sam counted off and started grinning against his better judgment.
"This chick's somethin' else." He thought, shaking his head.
**********************
By the edge of the city was an old and abandoned workshop of an electronics company who'd long since decided to shut down this part of it's manufacturing unit. And inevitably, now it had turned into an unsuspecting hideout for prospective lawbreakers and dark dealers alike. Kevin was staring at the emergency exit intently, trying to calculate how best to approach the area and infiltrate it without attracting unwanted attention. Shielded by a rusting loader truck, he was able to keep a track of what was going on since he had took to tailing the bunch who had kidnapped a young boy of around eleven from outside his school. His cell phone gave a buzz in his pocket and he turned a fraction to check out who was there behind his back. He saw Zena and Sam coming towards him, crouching to shield themselves from view.
"You sure took your sweet time getting here." Kevin greeted them.
"We were…" Sam snarled, but Zena hushed him.
"shhh." She warned them, someone's coming out. She pointed her finger towards the door in the distant.
"There are about eighteen of them inside." Kevin told them grimly.
Zena bit her lips.
"This might get ugly." She said. "We need to come up with a SAM WHAT THE DEVIL ARE YOU DOING?!"
For Sam had not stopped to listen to their conversation and had brushed past Kevin, towards the exit door. Kevin grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back where he struggled like a fish caught in a net.
"geroff me get your hands off!" He struggled and shouted.
Kevin threatened to strike him senseless with the butt of his gun and only then he calmed down enough and wrenched himself free.
"Look, I dun got time to stick around listening to you people take your merry time in coming up with a plan that might help us get through these guys!" He said through gritted teeth. "My little brother is in there!!!"
Zena and Kevin looked at each other.
"Looks like we got no choice girl." Kevin told Zena.
"Lets load up." Zena agreed.
A few minutes later, the three reassembled in front of the loader truck, their pockets and belt loaded with firepower.
"Well, we separate here." Kevin said to them. "Try not to kill your allies people, we don't have headgears so we wont be able to keep tab of each other and might, therefore, run into each other without notice."
At this point, both of them stared sternly at Zena.
"What." She said, offended. "I try my best to keep my hands clean."
The two men rolled their eyes and Zena pointed her guns at their foreheads.
"I'll shoot you both and be done with this crap right here shall I?" She said fiercely.
"Now now, Girl, you'll get plenty to kill inside…" Kevin said, amused.
With a final nod, the three separated and each took three different routes in.
-----------------
One's own choice.
Rain clouds had started to form again over the mundane looking town of Shanjia. Weekend turned into Monday without much change in the weather. Dull pewter gray clouds formed overhead as the weather reporter on TV announced the expectations of another heavy downpour around midday.
Fai turned off the TV glumly and picked up the morning paper from the bedside table. He scanned through the headlines frowning slightly, occasionally stopping and reading some of the stories that caught his fancy. "POLICE BLUNDER IN SOUTH CITY", "TRIADS OUT OF HAND AND AT LARGE" was among the few. His eyes skimmed past a certain movie star caught by airport security over some illegal drug possessions and was about to turn the page when Rain entered, carrying with her, his breakfast tray.
"Morning honey." She said brightly, setting the table on his knees and pecking him on his cheek. Fai gave her a smile.
"Smells good!" He said, looking down at his tray and taking in the delicious wafts of freshly made pancakes, sunny-side-up poaches and orange juice. He was half way through taking a swig from his juice when the bell rang and Rain went out to see who it was. A couple of minutes later, she returned followed by Liza and Kite.
"How’re you feeling?" Liza asked him anxiously, putting a large bouquet of flowers on the bedside table.
"Never better." Fai said cheerfully. He watched Kite giving Rain a peck in her cheek and dropping of a large paper bag full of fruits.
"Any news of David yet?" He asked Kite. "Since Rain’s taken the week off of work, I’ve been worried."
Kite took a while to answer. He was staring out of the window absent mindedly. He started when he heard Fai’s voice calling his name and stared at him, answering,
"He’s still in coma."
There was a brief pause where everyone cast about for another topic. Then Rain seeing the look on Fai’s face said,
"Liza, teach me that recipe of plum cake you made the other day!" and ushered her out of the room.
"What’s the situation outside?" Fai asked once he was sure the two girls were out of earshot.
Kite sat down at a corner of the bed and said gravely,
"No sign of ‘em."
"Offcourse, I wasn’t very hopeful to begin with." Said Fai. "So we’re all out of leads?"
"no." Said Kite. "There’s one last thread I gotta check."
"I’ll come with you." Said Fai.
"NO, you’re not!" Kite said flatly. "Don’t be thick Fai, rest and recover first."
"Look who’s talking." Fai said grumpily.
Kite looked taken a back. It was unusual for Fai to be saying such things. He stared.
"What?" Fai said defensively, "I’m bored already!"
Kite sniggered. Trying to control himself he said,
"It’s not THAT big of a lead. Its more of some backlog stuff I needed to check into incase I might find some missing link."
"Doesn’t matter." Fai said dismissively. "I still want to go. I want to do something rather than sit here and sulk over what happened to David."
They fell silent. Kite was weighing his words. It was several minutes before he said,
"Kay’s alive."
To his surprises, Fai didn’t look astound at these words. On the contrary, his face looked anxious.
"I knew it was her from the moment I saw her in the hall." Fai said quietly. "Her coming to the scene arises so many questions!"
"FORGET THAT!" Kite said loudly, "I’ll kill her the next time I see her!"
Fai frowned at him.
"Don’t be thick!" He repeated what Kite had told him a bit earlier.
They fell silent again. From the kitchen next room, they heard the giggles of Rain and Liza. Their thoughts trailed back to the terrace where Ray had shot David…..
"Butterflies, Seventh Street on Friday at quarter past ten." Kite told Fai. "Don’t be late."
Rain came inside again and they dropped their conversation. Rain and Fai started to tease Kite about hurrying up and hitching with Liza.
"Honestly, how long are you going to stretch it out?!" Rain said impatiently, "It’s like a never ending soap opera, you two’s love life."
"Why don’t you switch channels then?" Kite said lightly, missing the reproachful looks from Liza.
The rest of the visit went by in casual talks.
******
As Zena drove out of the parking lot of a pristine hotel, her mind was doing some very quick calculations. Sitting in the morning traffic, she dialed Kevin’s number and left him a whole fifteen minutes’ worth of instructions. By the time she had hung up, the traffic had moved on and she was receiving angry horns from the cars behind her. Paying no attention to them, she started the car in her own time and started to drive away.
*****************
It was day break. The church perched on top of the hill stood out in the pink lights from the horizon like a little toy house. The paved path leading out of the front gates twisted and turned out of sight behind the gigantic fir trees around it. Even as the birds sat chirping, the bell rang announcing morning to the surroundings. A few people could be seen trudging up the path towards the church to say morning prayers. The tiny graveyard beyond the praying hall lay silent basking in the peace of the morning, though not for long. Two kids ran up the stone steps flagging up to the church and ran down it again screaming at each other,
"GIVE IT BACK!!"
"Come and take it cry baby!"
One of the children was a boy, hardly of seven. The smaller one crying hysterically was a girl of around three. The boy was holding a doll out of the little girl’s reach and she kept frantically snatching at it, screaming in anguish to get her doll back. The early birds in the church murmured amongst themselves and chuckling.
"THAT’S ENOUGH NOW YOU TWO!" came a thundering command of someone from the front door of a small house just beside the church, which was an orphanage run by the padre there. A girl in her mid teens was hurrying down the steps, clutching a broomstick and wearing an expression of utmost fury in her face.
As the two kids saw her coming towards them, they turned to run, but she caught them anyway. At once, both of them exploded into explanations, each attempting to drown the other’s voice by screaming louder.
"SHE BROKE MY SAND HOUSE!"
"HE TOOK MARTHA!!!HE TOOK MARTHA"
"MARTHA’S SUCH A SILLY NAME!!YOU’RE A GIRLY GIRL!!!EUGH!!!"
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!HE TOOK MARTHA! GIVE MARTHA BACK!!!!"
"SHUT UP!!!" said the girl, whacking both of them in the head.
Both stopped shouting but that immediately got replaced by howls of tears. The girl stood there, exasperated and annoyed.
"There now don’t cry."
The girl turned around to see the home’s sister striding forward and calming the children. A very pretty girl with a smile that warmed the hearts of every living soul who saw it. The blue eyes reflecting the morning sky, and the sweet fragrance that lingered around her which the children often compared with spring’s breeze.
"Megan!" Cried the girl in relief. "Thank god you’re back! They were driving me crazy!"
Megan looked up at the girl and smiled.
"Sorry I left you all alone Kay, you must’ve had a hard time taking care of all of them."
"Julie’s shut herself in her room." She said on the verge of tears herself. "She said she’d had enough last afternoon after they put frogs in her bath water."
Megan’s face fell sad. She looked at the two kids with disappointment and they at once started to apologize,
"Please don’t be sad Megan!" cried the boy.
"We promise we wont do anything bad ever again Megan, please forgive us!" cried the girl.
Kay snorted in disbelieve and Megan gave her a disapproving look. From behind Megan, the boy stuck out his tongue at Kay. Kay lost her temper and ran after him ignoring Megan’s frantic voice asking her to leave him alone.
"You’re DEAD today Kite, you hear me!!! DEAD!!!!"
"Those two are at it again?" called an old man who visited the church every day to lay roses in his dead wife’s grave.
Megan gave a start and then greeted him. When he was gone, she gave picked up the doll from the floor and gave it back to the girl.
"There now Karen," she said, wiping her tears. "There’s no need to cry."
Karen gave a watery smile.
Somewhere far away in the corner of reality, a door lock clicked. That warm spring’s morning, the smell of wild lilies faded in a mater of seconds. Zena sat up straight in the chair of the drawing room. She had dozed of without realizing it. Someone was in the house. That someone was calling loudly,
"Dad?"
The footsteps grew louder and louder as it’s owner made his way into the living room.
He was at the doorway when Zena switched on the light beside her and stared up at the horror struck face of Sam.
Sam stood there, rooted to the spot. His eyes darted around the room for any signs of his father, but Zena’s expression took away any hopes of finding him there.
"Where’s my dad." Sam asked quietly.
Zena took her time, reading his face and then said slowly,
"He’s not here."
"Where is he?" Sam demanded, his voice growing steadily stiff and loud.
Zena raised an eyebrow, watching his face work colours of emotions of calculations and of frustrations and Fury. In the deepest heart of it all, was fear.
"He’s not here." Zena replied again.
"WHERE IS HE?" The shout came out of him as his fear threatened to overcame all of him.
"Somewhere safe." Was her reply.
He stared at her for a moment, utterly nonplused.
"What did you say?" He asked, sure he heard her wrong. If she was here for the reason he though she was there, then that would definitely mean that she’d taken his father anywhere BUT somewhere safe. Then there was the question of if she was telling the truth, then that would mean there was a catch.
"Like I said, somewhere safe." Zena said coolly. "Sit down Sam, we need to discuss your options."
And here it was, proof of his suspicions. Sam took the nearby chair, his hands in his pocket, grasping tight the hilt of the gun. He did not take his eyes off from her. He said again,
"Where is my dad?"
"How long did you think your little excursions would go unnoticed by the family?" She asked ignoring his question, as calmly as if she was asking him to predict the outcome of the following NBA game between Lakers and the Phoenix.
Sam blanched. So he WAS right! His betrayal was caught. He remained quiet, weighing his options. His eyes looked around the room again. Dare he make a break for it? Could he kill Zena and flee from here? But even if it were possible, there was still the matter of his Father being at her mercy. Quiet apart from anything else, to buy himself some time, he asked,
"Since when?"
"Sorry?"
"Since when have they been on to me?" He repeated.
"Since that day you took to traveling by train."
He looked up in time to see her watching him. He did not like the way she phrased "Traveling by train". It was as if she knew too, who he was meeting. He did not reply.
"Did you think the family’ll take a stray dog and leave it unchecked."
this wasn’t a question, it was statement. He did not like hearing it.
"You’ve been stupid to go so open about all of this." Zena told him, the slightest bit of annoyance betrayed her otherwise impassive features.
How stupid did she think he was? Off course he knew he was followed, he was being watched. But did she think he did not realize the risks? Did she think he didn’t know what he was walking into?
"I knew." He said finally.
Zena raised her eyebrows and Sam hated seeing the sneer in her face.
"I was under the impression you were spying on the Family to clear your criminal records. To be a better example for your little brother, oh yes, I know about your brother Joahn." She said, looking at his thunderstruck face, a smile curling up her lips. "I’ve known your intentions since you joined the Family Sam."
So she knew? She knew he was there, passing information to the Law about the family? She knew of him and his family all along? Of his intentions? How could it be possible? He did not detect lie in her words or the voice that spoke it. Yet, something didn’t fit in all of this.
"Is that why you’re here?" He said finally. "To hand me over to them?"
Zena did not reply. She merely continued to stare at him. Her eyes didn’t have any warmth in them. It was like a room where someone had turned off the lights ages ago. Cold and expressionless. When Sam continued to stare at her, she said.
"That is what the Family wants me to do."
"What’ll happen to my family?" Fear betrayed his voice.
"Shouldn’t you have thought of it before taking the gamble?"
"They had nothing to do with it!" There was a pleading note in his tone. "None of them had anything to do with it! Kill me, I don’t care! Don’t hurt them……Please!"
"You seem to be forgetting I came here to discuss your options." She said calmly. "Really, if it were the simple matter of snuffing out a bad dog, it’d only be too easy to pull the trigger."
Sam stared at her.
"You’re daring games have hampered my plans." She said, and it was the first time for him to hear it. There was no shout, neither did she looking menacing. Yet the silent but overwhelming wrath in her voice sent chills down his spines.
She reached for a jacket and for one wild moment, Sam though she was taking out her gun. But even as he reached for his own, she was withdrawing what looked like tickets.
She put it on the table and pushed it towards him.
"Your flight leaves in five hour’s time." She continued, ignoring his sudden twitch as he had made to go for his own gun. "There’s a ranch fifteen miles south of Tenasee. Your father finds it comfortable."
Sam remained silent. He didn’t understand what was going on.
"Why’re you helping me?" He asked finally, staring up at her. She considered him for a moment before saying,
"I’d rather have no further setbacks on my work."
"Wouldn’t it be easier just to have me dead in that case?" He asked her, frowning.
Zena raised her brows,
"Would you rather have it that way?"
"Off course not!" He said Hastily.
Before any of them could say or do more, Zena cellphone rang.
Whoever it was who was on the phone, had very little to say because Zena hung up in half a minute, but as she pocketed her cell phone inside, Sam noticed, what little colour remained in her face drained away instantly. Although her face looked impassive, she was doing some furious thinking.
"It appears we have a slight change of circumstances." She said, getting up.
"What do you mean?" Sam said quickly, looking at her.
"I’ll explain on the way," she said shortly, "quick, get your coat, we have to move."
Sam did not like the tone in her voice.
Once inside the Cadillac and on the road, Zena spoke.
"We’re going to your brother’s school."
Sam didn’t need her to finish the line to understand why they were making that trip. He voiced his conclusion,
"The syndicate wants my whole family and are reaching for my brother."
It wasn’t a question. Zena nodded, driving off the intercity and taking the road overlooking the city bank. Sam fell silent, his mind miles off the road. Whatever he had been doing till now seemed like the cause of all of this. Did he take the syndicate lightly? No, he certainly knew the extent of their reaches, that’s why it took him over a year to prepare for his right entry into the family. Had he placed too much faith in the police? Yes, that was it. He knew the police would secure safety for his family. He believed that Fai would make sure no harm came to him. Fai promised him a clean slate had he helped the police with information on the syndicate. How stupid of him. He had believed Fai blindly without stopping to think about it. That part of the game seemed invincibly on his side. Now that he thought about it, how much influence has Fai got over the police? He wasn’t even a cop anymore. He had taken retirement and become a private detective. Fai mentioned once he had connections high up and that he could find a solution to his problem only if he could provide a little bit of assistance which would be dangerous none the less. Sam had always known the stakes involved. But to have actually thought so negligently about it seemed almost childishly foolish. His thoughts were jerked to an end by the familiar ringtone from Zena’s phone. Zena answered without stopping through her Bluetooth headset. The fractions her pupils widened making Sam’s heart skip beats. He knew more bad news were to follow this unhappy call.
With a sudden swerve of the steer wheel, the Cadillac changed directions once more. Inside, Sam swore loudly.
"ZENA!" He said incredulously, "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US BOTH?!"
Zena ignored his comment and kept her eyes on the road.
"Kevin has intercepted our query Sam, he's in pursuit." She told him. "We need to bring some heat there."
"But," Sam begun, "All we have are a couple of mini guns! We don't even have enough ammos Zena!"
"STOP YAPPING SAM, JESUS CHRIST!!" Zena yelled at him. Sam got so surprised that he shut up, staring at her. It was the first time he'd seen her loose her composer.
There was a moment's pause in which, the car's rumble was only audible. Then Zena took a deep breath and said,
"Lift up the back seat."
"huh?" Sam said, flabbergasted.
"Lift up the back seat." Zena repeated.
Looking curious Sam picked up the seat and the moment, he lifted it up, he let out a gasp of surprise.
"You….you…" He stammered "You carry shot guns in your back seat do ya?"
"This isn't the heat." Zena said calmly, still driving at 90. "Close your mouth and look for a cavity by the right hand edge. Pull the rig and lift off the cover."
Sam did as he was told and immediately let out a whistle of awe. Zena smiled to herself.
Beneath the shot gun rack was revealed to be a small arsenal of guns and ammos fit for a covert operation.
"Hand grenades, smoke and flash bombs mini guns…." Sam counted off and started grinning against his better judgment.
"This chick's somethin' else." He thought, shaking his head.
**********************
By the edge of the city was an old and abandoned workshop of an electronics company who'd long since decided to shut down this part of it's manufacturing unit. And inevitably, now it had turned into an unsuspecting hideout for prospective lawbreakers and dark dealers alike. Kevin was staring at the emergency exit intently, trying to calculate how best to approach the area and infiltrate it without attracting unwanted attention. Shielded by a rusting loader truck, he was able to keep a track of what was going on since he had took to tailing the bunch who had kidnapped a young boy of around eleven from outside his school. His cell phone gave a buzz in his pocket and he turned a fraction to check out who was there behind his back. He saw Zena and Sam coming towards him, crouching to shield themselves from view.
"You sure took your sweet time getting here." Kevin greeted them.
"We were…" Sam snarled, but Zena hushed him.
"shhh." She warned them, someone's coming out. She pointed her finger towards the door in the distant.
"There are about eighteen of them inside." Kevin told them grimly.
Zena bit her lips.
"This might get ugly." She said. "We need to come up with a SAM WHAT THE DEVIL ARE YOU DOING?!"
For Sam had not stopped to listen to their conversation and had brushed past Kevin, towards the exit door. Kevin grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back where he struggled like a fish caught in a net.
"geroff me get your hands off!" He struggled and shouted.
Kevin threatened to strike him senseless with the butt of his gun and only then he calmed down enough and wrenched himself free.
"Look, I dun got time to stick around listening to you people take your merry time in coming up with a plan that might help us get through these guys!" He said through gritted teeth. "My little brother is in there!!!"
Zena and Kevin looked at each other.
"Looks like we got no choice girl." Kevin told Zena.
"Lets load up." Zena agreed.
A few minutes later, the three reassembled in front of the loader truck, their pockets and belt loaded with firepower.
"Well, we separate here." Kevin said to them. "Try not to kill your allies people, we don't have headgears so we wont be able to keep tab of each other and might, therefore, run into each other without notice."
At this point, both of them stared sternly at Zena.
"What." She said, offended. "I try my best to keep my hands clean."
The two men rolled their eyes and Zena pointed her guns at their foreheads.
"I'll shoot you both and be done with this crap right here shall I?" She said fiercely.
"Now now, Girl, you'll get plenty to kill inside…" Kevin said, amused.
With a final nod, the three separated and each took three different routes in.
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