” Are you sure about this?”, Pedro asked Luke, who by the way was now tied to a chair and was soaking wet. ” Absolutely! I was only acting on Tristan’s orders”, he said. ” So you’re telling me that not only did you kidnap my wife, she never even had an actual brain tumor?”, I asked.
” Yes. She never had any brain tumor. Her amnesia was artificially induced using potent drugs”, Luke said, ” and I only did it because Tristan promised me a promotion if I did, only to abandon me to rot in the Maldives”, he said.
” For a promotion you say?”, I asked to which he nodded vehemently. ” Pedro, you and your boys beat the crap out of him for an hour. Let me get back to the office for a while”, I said to Pedro as I took my blazer and walked out.
” Please! no! I’ll tell you everything!”, Luke pleaded as Pedro’s gang pounced on him. I had no remorse or pity for the likes of him.
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*** Purple Mafia Den***
” What the fuck is this?”, I asked as I threw the box on the table right in front of Alberto. Alberto looked at me and let a streak of smoke out of his mouth, then he gestured to one of his boys to open the box. Immediately the box was opened to reveal a severed head. The boy showed Alberto the content of the box. Alberto picked the head out of the box.
” Geez Snake, he really did a number on you”, Alberto said to the head before returning it back to the box. ” So what are we gonna do about this?”, I asked with my hands on my waist. ” About what? the head? we bury it of course”, he said as he took in another huge puff.
” No not the head”, I said, ” my brother. I sent you to kill him and all I got is a head in a box that wasn’t his”, I said breathing anxiously, ” If we don’t get him, he’s gonna get us”, I said.
” Have a seat Tristan, you worry too much”, Alberto said. ” Someone get him a cigar”, he ordered. I sat down deeply worried.
” My brother’s ex-military. If we don’t gun that freak down, he’s gonna come after all of us especially since he already knows that the men he killed are Purple Mafia”, I said before one of the guys gave me a cigar and lit it for me.
” Relax Tris, it’s like a game of chess. I only used snake and the boys to feel him out. We’ll get him when the time’s right”, he said as he released a puff. ” Alright, if you say so”, I said.
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” Where are we going?”, I asked. ” How many times do I gotta tell you? Somewhere safe!”, Jared responded in an annoyed tone as he kept driving. ” It better not be a bar”, I said. ” Hey what’s wrong with a bar? that’s safe”, he said. ” Yeah right”, I said rolling my eyeballs. Before long, we reached Royal Resorts, a five-star hotel and he told me to get down. ” Here? I don’t like hotels”, I complained. ” Well, you’re gonna have to make some adjustments. A hotel is much safer than any of our houses”, he said as he got down and gave the keys to the one of the valets. ” Wait up, bozo!”, I yelled as I got down from the car. He was already walking into the hotel with a bellhop carrying our bags behind him. ” I thought I told you to wait up!”, I yelled at him as I chased after him.
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*** At Justin’s House***
(*Phone rings*) ” Dammit, my phone’s ringing”, he said as he searched the room for it. ” Oh there you are!”, he exclaimed as he hurriedly picked it up. It was Coco, judging from the warm look on his face.
” Hello Mi Coco, how are you?”, he asked. ” I’m fine Papi. When are you coming back?”, she asked with the phone on loudspeaker, which he did most likely to taunt me. ” I’ll be back in a few days okay? I had some things to attend to. Don’t worry, when I get back, I’m gonna get you more cool toys, okay?”, he said. ” Okay Papi. I love you”, she said which brought the big man to tears, ” Gracias Mi Coco, I love you too okay? Greet your mom for me”, he said. ” Sure thing Dad. Bye”, she said to him before hanging up. ” Ah Coco”, he said as he wiped his tears. Meanwhile, I feigned unconsciousness. I had been beaten to a pulp and the last thing I wanted was for them to resume, so I had to literally play dead. Pedro was about to walk out of the room when one of his men called his attention.
” Hey boss, what about him? should we still beat him up?”, he asked Pedro. ” Nah, I think we’ve done quite enough. He won’t be waking up anytime soon if you ask me”, he said before walking out of the room. The other guys dropped their bats and clubs and left the room also.
” Finally!”, I thought as I opened my eyes, “this is my chance to escape before Justin gets back”, I muttered. In my pocket was a penknife I usually just carried around for fun and here was a situation where I finally needed it. I reached out into my pocket and got it out and a few minutes later, I had cut my hands loose. ” I need to get to Tristan. I’m sure he’ll take me back”, I thought as I looked out the window. I passed through the window and got downstairs, then I picked the lock of a car that was parked just beside me. ” I’m in!”, I exclaimed silently as the door unlocked. I got in and drove straight to the gate. The security didn’t stop me to check, probably because the car I was using was among those Justin used to send his men on errands.
” Pheeew!”, I sighed as I finally got out off the Justin residence, ” Now to get to Tristan’s office”, I muttered as I drove off.
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*** Kelly Medicals***
I painted my nails as I listened to the conversation between Tristan and his Assistant. ” Geez, these guys really are scum”, I thought. They were talking about his brother, and how they planned to get rid of him. ” Delete him?”, I echoed quietly as I heard the orders he was giving his Assistant. I had no idea why he would want to kill his own brother, but that just meant that I needed to find him as quickly as possible. ” Royal Resorts”, I jotted down from the locations they were talking about.
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” Damn it!”, I exclaimed silently as I saw the cops on the road. They were stopping cars to confirm their documents. ” Perhaps I should just ram through”, I thought with both my hands grasping the stirring wheel tightly. Then I heard a knock on my window. ” It’s a cop!”, I exclaimed in my mind as I freaked out. I took in deep breaths to calm myself, then I wound down the window to see a white grumpy-looking officer, with a country accent.
” Hello officer”, I greeted. ” Good afternoon sir. May I see your papers?”, he asked with a straight-to-the-point look on his face.
” Geez officer, calm down”, I said with a chuckle, ” you work hard all day, so why not take a rest?”, I asked as I squeezed some money in my hand and stretched it to him. He looked at it with disdain and then back at me. ” Sir, I don’t know what it is you think you’re doing but I’ll have to see your papers”, he said. I was about to explain when I suddenly heard a gunshot and blood splattered on my face getting in my eye. ” What in the world!”, I exclaimed as I tried to wipe the blood off. As I opened my eyes, I saw people running about in random directions. I couldn’t hear their screams due to the shot being at close proximity. I was about to get out of the car when I heard another gunshot. I couldn’t feel any part of my body. In a moment, I was on the car seat, watching as the picture of people moving about got more and more blurry. I was hit but I didn’t know where. I couldn’t feel anything at all. I just lay there with everything getting darker and darker. ” Am I dying?”, I thought as my world faded into a dark oblivion.
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*** At Justin’s House***
” These guys are hilarious!”, I said as I and the boys were lost in a feat of laughter. We were watching a TV show and were lost in it. ” Like why in the world would you go skydiving when you’re afraid of heights?”, one of the boys asked as we were trying to recover from the intense laughter. We ate and drank as I flipped through the channels. ” Dring! dring!!”, the phone rang. I picked it up and it was Justin. ” Hey, you guys keep it down”, I said to the boys as I turned down the TV volume. ” Hey Justin, how is it going?”, I asked.
” How’s Luke? Has he spilled anything new?”, he asked. ” Nah, not really. He’s just there locked up in the room. We stopped beating him like twenty minutes ago”, I said.
” Check up on him immediately”, he said, ” I’ve got reports that he was killed outside just a few minutes ago”, he explained.
” Nah that can’t be true”, I said as I stood up to check the room, ” he hasn’t gotten out of that room. He’s probably still unconscious”, I said as I walked towards the door.
” You see? there he is sitting….”
” What is it Pedro?”, Justin asked. ” He’s not here”, I said. Then I yelled for the boys to come. They ran to meet me. ” What is it boss?”, they asked.
” Where’s Luke?”, I asked as I pointed at the chair were we had tied him up. They all looked at each other in confusion. ” That means the report was correct”, Justin said.
” I’m really sorry sir”, I said, ” I swear I didn’t know when he left”, I explained.
” It’s alright Pedro, just try to find out how he left. I’ll check with the police”, he said before he hung up.
” Alright boys! You heard the man. Let’s find out how he got out of this room”, I ordered. ” Yes sir!”, they echoed as we got to work.