Jordan sat on the floor with Gio beside him, their attention was fixed to the laptop they were gazing at. The way Jordan’s fingers ran over the keys made Gio open his mouth in awe, such a unique superpower.
For Lu, it was nothing new, nothing special, or nothing important. As long as it has not given what he classified as a direct message on how to get Alita, Jordan and the Laptop are definitely useless.
His concern is for Amara that laid on the floor beside Gio, using his thighs as her pillow. A small smile seems to be stamped on her peaceful face as she lay fast asleep.
For three days now, She had refused to leave his side unless Gio puts her to sleep before he does. At the time, Lu had walked into them, praying on their knees for God to protect Alita and bring her back safe.
Amara even went ahead saying she would not eat or sleep until Alita comes back. If not for Gio, the poor girl might likely starve herself till Alita comes back.
“Can daddy take you to bed?” Lu asked her.
Although he was really close to her and he was expecting her to bluntly say no like before but no reply came. He looked at Gio who was staring at him then grinned from ear to ear. Slowly, like he would carry crates of eggs, Luciano raised Amara from the ground and Walked to drop her to the bed.
His gaze locked on her face that kept smiling broadly until she turned as soon as he dropped her on his bed.
“Alita” she smiled “You are back?” She said.
It was just a dream.
Lu shook his head to get the false imagine of Alita in his arm and Amara running to them. The environment looks like somewhere in his compound, one of his gardens. He sees Gio making a snowman.
Wait!
It’s Christmas, maybe on Christmas eve.
They were just like one big family with their skates as they prepare to jump into the ice from the clip they stood. The smile they all have on their faces shows they no longer have problems at all, not even the slightest.
From the corner of Lu’s eyes, he could see Jordan waving at him. His mother was beside him yelling the same thing with the son.
“We have another message,” Jordan said a little louder.
A deep frown formed on Lu’s face. He glare at Jordan from the bed he had been sitting in. At first, he was angry then later ashamed, he was daydreaming!
“We have a new message,” Jordan said again.
Angrily, Lu stood up, it hurt him that Jordan had to distract his peaceful daydreaming because of a mere message. He walked up to them where Gio and Jordan sat on the floor and scorn.
The last thing he wants to hear is another of those annoying messages. The first message says absolutely different things from the interpretations. His brows flinched as he wondered how the sender had thought they would understand such a complicated message.
His discontented gaze locked with Jordan for a while before he scoffed. He shook his head and looked at Gio who had a plain look, the boy’s face show no emotions. In one word, clueless.
“It better be something I can hold into,” he said as looked back at Jordan “If not, just don’t say it out for your good”
After punching on random keys, Jordan tapped on the last one and smiled sweetly. He looked at Lu’s mean face and all the happiness vanished from his face. He had even forgotten that his boss had been standing in front of him all this while.
“It’s a video game message” he shuddered “I am sure Gio might be able to play it” he looked at the boy’s face that had no look of impression “Or he can’t” he added.
Gio moved the laptop to Jordan’s leg, he bent the screen and pointed at the left bottom of the screen.
“It’s like a normal chat in the intro of this game,” Gio said “Time to chat is limited to thirty seconds, you do the typing while I record with my phone just in case we miss any text” he suggested.
His hazel-green eyes looked up to Lu who stood in front of them and he fake a smile. The mean look on the man’s face looked like he wasn’t making sense.
“After all this, you are losing your job,” Lu said to Jordan as he walked to their back and sat on the floor with them “You better get your lazy fingers fast or I chop them off” he sneered.
Jordan swallowed, he looked at Gio then back at his boss who nodded.
“Ready?” He asked.
“Ready!!” Gio and Lu said in unison.
Immediately Jordan tapped the enter button, the other side of the screen showed typing…. Then shortly, the message entered.
‘We are in Calabria, you can trace the game but don’t come now!’
Jordan wiggles his fingers nervously before typing.
‘Alita, hope you are fine? And why can’t we come to recuse you now?’
Not even up to two seconds after he sent his message, the gamer’s reply entered.
‘The place is heavily guided, for now, he is expecting you all. And this is not Alita, I am her friend, she is in cuffs’
Jordan froze for a few seconds, he stared at Gio who had the same awe look on his white face. It looked like all his blood had been drained out of his body.
Before he could get himself to type, another message entered.
‘Rocco had locked the deal with Zeno, in four weeks, Alita would be sold to him. You have to act fast, but not too fast. Watch out for my update but it won’t be every day as I am been watch. it can be anytime’
Before Jordan could finish reading it, the game went out. The system just went blank them turned on by itself. After beeping for a few seconds, the normal game started.
“Fuck!!!” Lu yelled as he tried to grab the laptop but Gio snatched it and runs away.
His surprised gaze locked with Gio’s stern gaze for a while before the boy snapped the device closed and walked to him.
“If you smash it, we get no other way to reach the gamer again” Gio yelled “Is that what you want?!” He screamed.
Jordan blinked, he scratched his eyes and stared at Gio then Lu. It almost felt like he is in a trance or dreaming but no! It’s all real. His heart pounds for the boy, he mourns for the punishment the boy would receive but his eyes fail him.
His jaw dropped as he watch Lu pull the boy into his arms and hug him tightly.
“This can’t be real!” He whispered, his mouth wide open for a while before he swallowed then blink “What in a black Jesus!!!” He said under his breath.
The way Lu kissed Gio’s head for the third time again made him shriek. Jordan flinched and moved back as Lu stared at him, he raised his hands over his head and grinned.
“I didn’t say anything” he blurted out.
Luciano rolled his eyes and scoffed, his left hand rested on Gio’s shoulders as he glared at Jordan.
“Four weeks?!” He asked.
Jordan blinked, he looked at Gio and back to Lu before answering “I have no idea what you are talking about” he said.
“Zeno” Lu said through clenched teeth, “The last text says he will buy Alita in the next four weeks and -”
“I wasn’t able to read that” Jordan interrupted, he looked at Lu’s mean eyes and gulped down saliva “Sorry SIR” He trembled.
“Better” Lu snapped, a sly smirk appeared on his face as he nods “Is Arianna, Zeno’s daughter still in Italy?” He asked.
“She updated her social media accounts yesterday and with the look of things, I think -” Jordan paused, he stared at Lu’s face before clearing his throat awkwardly “She is still in Italy” his voice sounds low, he cleared his throat again and stood up “She is having a friend zone party this weekend” he paused.
He stared at Luciano in confusion, if there was anything funny it would have been better but nothing funny happened. Jordan even knew that what he just said is not funny and does not require Lu to keep smiling like he is.
Oh! It’s a smirk, a sly smirk that means one thing.
“What do we have in mind sir,” he asked.
“You fetch me her number while I have a party to crash this weekend” Lu smirked “I forgot, next tomorrow is weekend”
Humming like he wasn’t ready to tear Gio apart some minutes ago, Lu walked to his closest. He must have released Gio for the boy happens to be staring at him in surprise.
“Sir?” Jordan asked unsure “Can I say something?” He cringed.
“Speak!” Lu snapped, still without looking back.
“I haven’t seen Mr. Davidson for some days now, is he still alive?” Jordan hugged himself, His heart began to pound as he whispered his last prayers.
“He is alive” Lu suddenly answered “I will text you his address and number so you will keep an eye on him and make sure he is fine”