Denise looked at his father and answered with excitement, “My wife is fine. Thank you for your concern, Father.”
“And the baby?”
Denise looked bewildered at his father and merely smiled and he understood how he felt.
Without waiting for his response, he advised him, “It is all right. Please take care of them,”
“I will. Thank you, Father.”
“You are welcome.”
They discussed the official matters that brought him beginning from the production section, and thereafter, he stood up.
“It is all right, Father. By the way, how is Mom? Her phone was switched off when I called earlier.”
“Yes, her phone is switched off. She needed to rest.”
“Does that mean that she did not go to work?”
“Yes. She is resting at home.”
“It is all right. See you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye.”
At The Lonely Road.
Arthur’s desire to marry Nichole as quickly as possible prompted him to change his route that morning. After he bade Nichole farewell, he gave his security guards and janitor the following instructions.
“My wife is in the bedroom because she needed to rest. Kindly ensure that you do not disturb her. Did you get me?”
“Yes. We got it, Boss.”
Then, he instructed the chef on what to do as well, before he left the estate. The route to the registry was different from his office route. So, he took the right turn from the estate instead of the left. Luckily, he got to the registry in the nick of time. The actual date was on the twenty-eight day of the registration, and it was the next day.
From the revelation, he discovered that he was fortunate to have visited the registry that day. Otherwise, he would have missed out that week and the marriage registration deferred. After he concluded with the registrar, he drove to his office through a different route which did not have any link to the lonely road.
While the supposed security personnel deployed by the government were busy looking out for Arthur, the commuters’ appreciation got the attention of the government and the security authority, which were all agog.
Before the expiration of the fifteen minutes, the three supposedly security personnel were awestruck by the number of Security Personnel who surrounded them. There were a good number of reporters, too, who were panning their photo and video cameras joyously. Then, the leaders of the Government Team, Security Team, and Media Team walked up to them cheerfully. They intended to find out the Security Unit that was so thoughtful to deploy them but things went south when they saw the insignia on their shirts.
At the Bailey International Conglomerates
Arthur, could not contain his joy at the discovery that before that same time the next day, he would be legally married to the woman who would make him happy the rest of his life. Then, he attended to one or two things before he left for home to break the good news to his bride.
At the Bailey Native Home
Now, Arthur regretted driving through the lonely road.
‘If I had known that there would be gridlock by this time on this road, I would have taken the registry road,’ he mumbled.
Meanwhile, he was queuing up like the other motorists who were waiting for the traffic to ease off. After about thirty minutes, the road became free, and he drove off. He got to the estate and parked in front of his apartment. To his perturbation, Nichole’s car was not there. He was petrified and took a critical look at the spot where his wife’s car was parked again, as though he had not seen the first time.
‘I thought we agreed that she would not go to work today?’ he asked himself.
Then, in disquietude, he got out of his car and looked at his security guard who just walked up to him for a clue, but he was calm and had no information for him.
Then, he greeted him, “Welcome back, Boss.”
“Thank you,” he appreciated him and focused on him.
When he did not bother to volunteer an explanation, despite his eagerness to know about the car, he asked him, “Where is my wife’s car?”
“She took it, Boss.”
Now, he could not make any meaning out of the information the security man gave to him until he got into the house.
At The Government Hospital Road.
Stephen had successfully beaten the security guards on the road to his house while driving with Nichole.
When he got to his apartment, he drove to the back of his house to avoid his neighbors who may see him carrying a woman. After he had successfully laid her on his bed in his bedroom, he banged the door. He got back to the front of his house to attend to his partner who just parked.
Unexpectedly, they heard a loud, long noise from a police siren on the street, and they were scared. Now, they gave each other a familiar look, which they were able to discern.
He ran towards his backyard. Instantly, his partner got out of his car in trepidation and ran after him. Nevertheless, the estate was encircled by a high fence which made jumping over it without a ladder impossible. On an irresistible impulse, they got on Nichole’s car bonnet and subsequently to the rooftop which served as a ladder to get them to the top of the vertiginous fence, and they scaled at once. They landed in the next compound, which had only the domestic staff at home by that time of the day.
“There are suspected criminals in my apartment. I wish to escape from danger first,” he explained to the naive domestic staff.
“Oh, my God!”
“I hope we are safe,” the other domestic staff member asked them.
So, they were able to escape without much resistance and fled to his resort, leaving the woman whom he claimed he loved behind.
Now, the time was 9:20 AM, and Barr. Guidance had come to serve him with the petition that Louis filed against him. From the look of things, he suspected that Stephen could be more dangerous than the members of his family suspected.
‘A gambler is capable of doing anything,’ he thought, and to be on the safe side, he came with some Police Men.
Now, Stephen’s janitor, who was in one of the rooms doing his chores was not privy to all that transpired in the apartment. He was stunned when he heard the Police siren and saw their van parked at Stephen’s apartment.
Meanwhile, he was hoping that Stephen was in the bedroom, so, he walked up to the visitors and greeted them, “Welcome to Mr. Stephen Bailey’s apartment. How may I be of help?”
“Good morning to you. We would like to see Mr. Stephen Bailey,” Barr. Guidance requested.
“It is all right. Please give me a moment,” the janitor pleaded and walked back to the apartment.
He knocked on the bedroom door and waited for a response. When he got none, he knocked the second time. When no response came again, he concluded that the door was locked and walked away. Then, he checked the guest’s room to see if he was with his partner, but there was no one there.
“Boss,” he called out but there was no response.