Tuesday, 17th April.
8 pm
Nelly drew the date on the calendar. This was her last night in Munich, Germany before she would travel back. Her flight was scheduled for 12 noon at Munich international airport. She tucked Emma in and did the final packing. She didn’t want to forget anything. She placed the travel documents on the bags, took a deep breath and retired to bed. Tomorrow was the day.
Neuer was present earlier that evening. He could have dropped them at the airport but he had a surgery the following morning.
Meanwhile, Amon was getting ready for his mission as well as Aria Dean. Their final task was to make sure that none of Nathan’s offsprings remained on the face of earth. When Amon found out the date and time Nelly was travelling, he informed his men and they planned an execution. He hardened his heart to avoid feeling anything for Nelly. This was his mission and the main reason he got close to her in the first place. This was no time to chicken out. Aria Dean wept for her friend but there was nothing she could do. In fact, she was part and parcel of the plan.
The plan was a simple one. They were to wait for Nelly at the airport and silently gun her and her daughter down with silenced pistols. That way, they will escape with no trace. They were pros and knew how to manoeuvre.
It was three minutes to the hour of eleven. Travellers were expected to be at the departure hall one hour before the flight. Amon looked at his men and they nodded. They all looked like normal travellers too. Aria was present as well. They pushed their bags along the hall and laughed casually, but their main focus was at the entrance. They waited eagerly for Nelly to show up but she didn’t.
Ding! Dong! The clock struck twelve. The plane taxied along the runway and began to ascend into the sky. Soon, it took off and was out of sight.
Amon and his group looked at each other in confusion. What happened? Did they really miss their target? What explanation will they give to Easton Landers? Aria knew she was done for. The moment she failed any task, Easton would threaten her all the more with her father.
“Could it be that her flight was cancelled?”
“No way! I asked her yesterday and she said she would be travelling today as scheduled. And we all know that no flight was cancelled at the airport this morning,” Amon answered.
“Can you call her?” One man asked.
“She should be on a plane right now ..”
“What if she isn’t? Try and see.”
Amon pulled out his phone and dialed Nelly’s number but it was switched.
“It’s either she has travelled or she has removed the number as she won’t be using it over there in the US. Ahh! Shit man. Did you get the time for her flight right?”
“Sure. I did. I mean, I called her in everyone’s presence, right? I made sure all of us heard the time to avoid uncertainty,” Amon explained. They all nodded their heads. It was true, they all heard it from the horse’s mouth. They were present in the room when Amon called Nelly one last time to be sure of the time. They had been at the airport since nine o’clock in the morning. There was no way Nelly’s entry would have escaped their notice.
“It’s mission aborted. Let’s go back. There’s nothing we can do. We might be suspected if we stay for too long. Let’s leave.”
Earlier that morning, she had woken up to the ringing of her phone. It was Amanda who called. She was at the door, having spent the night at her boyfriend’s house. Nelly sighed and rubbed her eyes. She went to the door and unlocked it.
“Why can’t you just let me rest a bit before I travel for good?” she joked.
“I returned early because you are leaving this morning. You should welcome me nicely,” Amanda responded and went inside the house.
“Oh my! She’s packed all her stuffs. I’ll soon be alone in this house.”
“You can move over to your man’s house. I’m sure you’ve always wanted that.”
“Hell no. I want to be independent just like you thought me. Thanks Nelly for being my friend. I love you.”
“Awww. Love you too.”
The both girls embraced each other. Amanda picked the travel documents and plane ticket that was on the bag.
“You should be getting ready. Your flight is by eight.”
“Jokes on you. It’s by twelve noon. I need to sleep more. Let me go back to bed dear.”
“Nelly? Are you kidding? Alright, stop it. I’m holding the tickets. It’s 8 am.”
Nelly looked at Amanda’s face and smiled.
“Enough of that joke…”
“I’m not. See for yourself,” Amanda said and walked up to Nelly with the tickets.
“This isn’t a time for jokes, Amanda.”
Nelly had to swallow her words when she saw the tickets. The time clearly written on them was 8am.
“What? But…. I…” Nelly grabbed her phone and called her secretary. She was very busy with acting and all at that time, so, she handed the responsibility to her secretary with specific and stern instructions.
“Hello! Good morning madam,” the secretary greeted.
“Alin, what’s the time for the flight you booked?”
“8am ma.”
“What do you mean by 8am? I asked you to book a flight for twelve noon. Why did you book Eight?”
“I apologize ma. Earlier that day, they said all the plane seats for twelve noon had been booked. I knew the importance of your travel so I took the next option for 8am ma.”
“Damn you! Why didn’t you tell me? Is this how you work? Why didn’t you ask me before doing so or even tell me after doing that? Have you gone mad?”
“I apologize ma. I’m sincerely sorry ma. I…”
“Nelly, end the call and get ready. You can’t help it.” Amanda suggested.
“But why?”