I felt sad hearing the news. “When are you leaving?” My emotions sank upon hearing this. I had grown close to Mariana and Dario, and now I was learning that Dario would suddenly leave. “And for how long?”
“I’ll still come back as your guard, Ma’am. I just don’t know how long this assignment will take.”
So, there’s a chance it might take a while?
“Oh, that’s quite unfortunate, Dario.”
I leaned back in my office chair, looking at Dario with a sad expression. Dario offered a restrained smile. “Take care, Ma’am Millie. Until we meet again.”
So that’s what happened. I have new guards now – Ivan and Bailey, but I don’t like them. I can’t help but express my disgust towards my new guards. Besides the fact that I know Gio trusts Dario more, the replacement for Dario is just too intimidating. At least, even though Dario was intimidating, I had grown accustomed to him.
“When do you think Dario will be back, Mariana?” I asked Mariana one day.
“I don’t know either, Ma’am. I want him to come back too.”
We both sighed. If Gio were to hear this, he might just end up being jealous rather than sending Dario back. We were both busy with our respective jobs, but we were still happy and made time for each other.
Today, I’m attending a conference. Gio isn’t with me because he’s in another country. I think he’s on his way to Russia now. Only my guards are accompanying me.
Some well-known personalities are here, but the majority are new business personalities. I was invited, so I decided to attend. It’s good in a way; I might gather information from other business personalities that I can use for my own company.
It was strongly recommended that I bring only one guard, leaving the others outside the venue. I was hesitant at first, but after being assured that there was security inside, I agreed. I only brought Mariana with me because, as I mentioned earlier, I’m not comfortable with Ivan and Bailey.
Mariana and I were seated, and a few people quickly engaged me in conversation. I was listening attentively to the speaker, trying to absorb everything he was saying.
In the middle of the speaker’s talk, my cellphone suddenly rang. I answered it but kept my attention on the speaker. I couldn’t see who was calling.
“Hello?”
Someone spoke on the other end, but due to the noise from the venue’s speaker, I couldn’t hear it right away. I checked to see who was calling and noticed that the number wasn’t in my contacts. I stood up and walked away, with Mariana following me.
I moved a little further from the speaker to reduce the background noise before asking who was on the other end.
“Hello? Who is this?” I asked firmly after he mentioned a location to me. I quickly realized it was the address of the hotel where we were and the conference room we were in. I couldn’t recognize his voice. It was new to me, and it sent chills down my spine.
“What do you want?” I demanded after he told me where I was. There was an urge to end the call, but there was also someone advising me not to.
“Amelie Pearce-Locatelli, if you don’t want to get caught in a huge explosion, you need to leave the place in a minute.” He quickly hung up before I had a chance to react.
In just a few minutes after the anonymous caller ended the call, Mariana suddenly ran up to me.
“Ma’am Millie!”
Nothing registered with me because of the speed of events. The door swung open, and my guards rushed to protect me, but it was too late. A powerful explosion rocked the entire conference room.
I thought I would lose consciousness, but I didn’t. I am still conscious. I could feel Mariana on top of me, as if she shielded herself from the blast to ensure my safety. My head aches, and it’s as if I’m partially deaf from the blast earlier. The surroundings are dark, but I can hear some noise in the distance.
“Mariana?” I gently shook her body, but there was no response. No matter how many times I called her name, she wouldn’t respond!
I moved Mariana off of me and quickly checked for her pulse. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized she still had a pulse.
“H-Help. My body hurts. Has rescue arrived?”
I blinked, and there was some light in the area, so I could see my surroundings. I gasped when I spotted Ivan and Bailey near the door, seemingly affected by the explosion.
Many bodies were scattered around. I didn’t know if some were still alive. I could hear some voices in the distance asking for help.
I stood up and approached the door. Why hasn’t rescue arrived yet?
“There’s a bomb at the door! Don’t open the door! Can anyone hear us inside? Don’t open the door! There’s a bomb attached here!”
I withdrew my hand when I heard that from the other side of the door. Perhaps the reason help hasn’t arrived is that there’s a bomb at the door, and it will activate if someone opens it.
“Has anyone called the bomb squad?!” someone shouted from outside.
I quickly approached Bailey and Ivan to ensure they were okay. I was about to check Bailey’s pulse when I noticed that, unlike Elsie, who was injured from the blast, Bailey had been shot in the chest. My eyes widened, and I immediately checked Ivan. He had a gunshot wound to his head.
I rushed to Mariana and checked her when I returned to her to see if she had been shot, but there was no injury. Besides the blast injuries, she seemed fine. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Done checking, Mrs. Locatelli?”
I shivered in my position when I heard that voice. It was the voice of the caller from earlier, just before the explosion occurred.
I didn’t move and tried to gauge how far he was from me. I took a deep breath before sliding my foot and striking the attacker who was behind me. I caught him. He lost his balance, and I swiftly pinned him down. I took his gun and aimed it at his head.
I want to ask why he did this, but even if I don’t, I know I’m their target. They didn’t have to involve civilians in this! So many people have been injured, and there have been casualties.
I can still hear noise outside, and it seems they still can’t open the door because of the bomb attached to it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said calmly, and I knew he had something else in mind. “The gun is unloaded. Even if you pull the trigger, there’s no bullet.”
Despite the darkness, I managed to see his chilling grin. There was a clicking sound from behind. I looked at it, and I was immediately struck in the head by another man, causing me to lose consciousness.