18

Within three days, the Carter family was history. It had been like a nightmare to William and his father. Billy didn’t get any help from the Armstrongs and he was eventually arrested in DC and trying to run from the law became one of the things he was being accused of.
People in California couldn’t believe it. For the past several years since anyone could remember, you couldn’t walk a block without seeing a Carter property. Be it a bank, a hotel, a gym, a hotel, a residential estate, you name it.
Carter had ruled California for as long as people could remember. And now, they were gone just like that.
What was even more amazing were the accusations they were facing: land grabbing, stealing, coercion, gun trafficking, tax evasion and many more.
William was left without anything and the only place where he could live was with his wife’s family.
Funny thing he became a live in son in law – worse than he hated Richard for.
At least Richard worked hard to make sure that he had a place he could call his own. But how long was his new found refuge going to last?
A few days after the Carter family went down, the Parker family was having lunch in the mansion when they heard screams.
The old matriarch had not yet healed from losing her company. In her heart, she was planning of how to get rid of Richard and she had done it. She had sent people to go and kill Richard.
She didn’t care about how she saw Richard hit that man in the meeting room where they had met in the hotel.
No, she believed that he was a good for nothing spoilt brat and that was just luck. What would he do when trained men attacked him with guns? Nothing. She just wanted him dead for the humiliation.
When they heard the screams, they all left what they were doing and went outside quickly with Susan supporting her elderly mother who was finding it hard to move of late. She was getting weaker and weaker.
When they got to the verandah that led to the main door of the house, lying there were the four men that had been sent to kill Richard all bloody and the hell had been beaten out of them. It looked like a simple flicker would kill them.
Kneeling next to them were all the workers of the Parker family starting with the two guards who were supposed to be manning the gate, the gardener and even the cook.
“All done boss, May, another CIA agent who worked for Richard said.
Richard looked at the Parkers with a dark face.
“I had decided to give you some reprieve before I came for you but it seems like you guys really, really wanted me to take you down. Your wish is my command,” he said with a cold voice that showed that he was done with them.
“What do you mean?” William asked and Richard shot him a cold look.
“Don’t speak without being spoken to,” May told him.
She was a woman of around thirty or there about who seemed to have seen the better and the worse of life. She was slim and not very tall. Around five six.
“What will you do about it?” William asked in irritation.
“Boss, may I?” May asked and Richard shrugged meaning that she was at liberty to do whatever she wanted.
May produced a pistol from somewhere in her body and before Richard could form a word, a bullet went through his knee.
“Fuuuuuck! You… you shot me!” He cried as he fell on his butt shocked
“Dah! We can all see that,” At said nonchalantly like she had not just shot someone.
“What do you want? Aren’t you content with taking my company? Now you are here to do what?” old Mrs Parker asked with venom in her weak voice.
“You have twenty minutes to take what you want and leave my house. Starting from now,” Richard said and looked at his watch.
“What do you mean?” Cassy asked and Richard looked at May and he and Cash walked away.
“Nineteen minutes,” May said as she looked at the three women who couldn’t talk because of shock.
“Oh my God. Is Richard serious?” Cassy asked no one in particular.
“Eighteen minutes,” May continued counting.
“It can’t be. This is a house that has been in our family for years. What does he mean that it’s his?” Susan asked.
“What it means is that this house has always been names after a male Parker. In this generation, all males are dead until your precious Casandra here got married to Richard. According to law, to house legally became his and you all signed for the ownership to be his,” May explained.
“What? Cassy’s husband is William. That means the house should be his then. Aren’t Richard and Cassy divorced?” Susan argued.
“Yes, but she signed the ownership document that day before signing the divorce papers,” may said and they couldn’t understand her.
“Mrs Carter, you were so happy to have divorced at last that you signed his divorce papers without checking didn’t you? You all were so happy and contemptuous to look at what you were appending your signature to, weren’t you?
Well, there you have it. You guys are sure you don’t want anything from the house? You have fourteen minutes left,” May said and what irked them the most was that she was talking as if she was talking of how fair the weather was that day.
“This is happening, isn’t it? Oh goodness,” Cassy said and Susan rushed to action.
“You three, rush to our rooms and take as many clothes as you can. Cassy come with me and take anything valuable you want to take,” Susan said as she let go of her elderly mother.
The two guards and the cook, who weren’t badly beaten jumped into action.
That was how, the once powerful Parker family found themselves in the streets wondering what to do next.
Richard had allowed them to take a van and that was where they would be staying until they could find an alternative.
William was in the hospital and none of them had a job.
Their house, they heard, had been given to several homeless people. They were living there as caretakers and all the rooms had been distributed.
Some of the homeless were learned people who got themselves jobs in the Parker company after getting rid of anyone who supported the Parkers.
None of their former friends could help them. Even Selena who was Cassy’s bosom friend was at a fix.
Her husband’s job seemed to have problems daily until he was fired. So, like Cassy, Selena was also not in a position to help them.
Richard returned home and left May to deal wit everything. He wasn’t worried because he knew that he only employed the best and she was better than best at what she did.
At home, Melvin had missed her father but she had got closer to the Philips girl. Mel couldn’t speak for two seconds without mentioning auntie Macy said or auntie Macy did this or that.
It was getting too much for Richard and he was getting jealous of his daughter. He hated women and he hated the fact that his daughter was getting closer to one.
Richard imagined all the pain his daughter went through because of her mother and he didn’t want Melvin to get close to another woman who would then leave her.
He knew it would break her and and that was why he had to stop whatever the relationship was between Macy and Melvin.
“Why did you let Melvin get so close to that woman? I thought you promised to take care of her?” Richard accused his brother.
“Brother, aii! Why are you so unfair? Weren’t you here when my lovely niece requested me to be taking her to see her auntie Macy and you agreed? How is it then my fault?
You speak as if you didn’t knoh that your daughter took your stubbornness. Even you can’t tell her no and you expected me to do the impossible?
Anyway, Macy is a good girl. I don’t think she would hurt Mel. You should see then together. They look like mother and daughter,” Asher said and he felt a searing heat on his side.
When he looked it was the look Richard was throwing his way. He tried to think what he had said wrong and it dawned on him.
“Hey, brother, I meant it as a figure of speech not literally,” Asher said and Richard shook his head.
“Did you do an investigation on her?” Richard asked.
“Yes, and I got Clare to follow her. Hey, bro, you won’t believe what she had been through,” Asher said as he shook his head sadly.
“what would you like to see first, the video clips or the file?” Ash asked and Richard seemed to think for a while and he chose the file.
He took the file and sat to read it.