“Where are you taking me to?” Her persistent voice bored through his ears again.
Williams grinded his teeth but remained silent. He punched an icon on the electronic dashboard of the Tesla and it accelerated. He was going at 200 mph now.
She clutched at the sides of the seat as the increased speed sent her back into it. “Please slow down. You’re going too fast.”
He heard her fumbling about before clicking her seat belt in place. But he couldn’t look at her. Wouldn’t dare to. She was just too much to take in at the moment. He had to concentrate on the near empty road and the ache in his chest.
Williams’ head pounded like a tolling church bell and his knuckles still throbbed from the fight. He simply needed a few seconds of silence…
“I asked you a question! You can’t just pick me up and drive off without telling me what your intended destination is!”
“Did I force you to get into the car?” He asked calmly, not even sparing her a glance. Something burned in his chest and he gasped, stars sparking in his vision.
“What choice did I have? It was either going with you or staying back there for the police to find. And oh, let’s not forget about the two unconscious grown men in the alley!”
In Williams’ opinion, those men were lucky to be alive. They would feel the pains of their broken bones for a few years and the scars on their faces would disappear after a while. But they would live. That was more than they deserved.
A fist seemed to squeeze his lungs, sucking out all the air, and he had to hold back a moan. Blood rushed into his ears making every little sound seem like the blow of a trumpet.
“Why are you screaming?” His limbs were going weak. He could hardly see anything.
“I’m not screaming.” She took in a deep breath. “Ok, I’m sorry. I’m not usually like this. Everything is just jumbled up at the moment. From my near death experience at the restaurant to you appearing out of nowhere to go all kung fu on my despicable Landlord and his creepy buddy. Now we are flying through the street as if we each have nine other lives stored somewhere.” She trembled. “It’s all too much…too much excitement for one life them. I’m really grateful you came to my rescue back there but…watch out!”
Her scream broke him out of the dark haze he had slipped into. He swerved the car just in time to miss a streetlight and it skidded across the road to bump up the opposite pavement.
He managed to turn the wheel again, and they were back on the road, still going extremely fast.
Beside him, Celine was going hysterical. “Oh my God! Oh my God! We are going to crash!”
Williams lolled forward again and his head fell against the steering. He couldn’t breath properly. There was something blocking off his chest….
“What’s wrong with you? Stop the car!”
He heard her but couldn’t see her anymore. Everything was blurry. The pain was too much. His heart was tearing apart….
The last thing Williams saw before he lost consciousness was the blinding headlights of an incoming truck.
††††††††
The truck was speeding right towards them! It was going to crush them!
Celine shook the strange man’s shoulder with all her might.
“We are going to crash!”
He didn’t even budge. He was either dead or asleep. Celine hoped dearly that it was the latter, because anything other than that would be far too twisted for her to handle.
He must’ve had quite a good number of drinks back at the carmollette. Now he was out cold in the middle of the road…right on the path of a much bigger vehicle.
Celine swore under her breath and threw her entire weight against the steering, sending the car racing and bumping into the other lane, this one thankfully free of traffic.
She had never ridden inside a Tesla or driven one before, but on reaching over his head towards the dashboard she easily located the brake icon.
Somehow she managed to turn the wheel, steering the car to the side of the road before pulling to a stop.
A terrible sense of nausea sent her running out and gagging into a waste bin.
She stood straight after that, taking in deep breaths of fresh air. Her skin tingled as the wind wiped off the cold sweat of fear that had pooled over her.
Celine had never been so scared in her life. From the encounter with Vaughn to the car ride with the crazy man who had rescued her…
“Oh no!” She gasped.
She rushed back to the car, turning around to the driver’s side. She pulled up the door.
“Hey…ah…wake up.” She poked his side. His body was firm under the suite.
His face was turned away from her so she couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
Rolling up his sleeves at the wrist, she placed a thumb there to check for a pulse.
Her breath caught in her throat, dread overwhelming her.
She felt nothing. The man who had rescued her had no pulse.
He was dead.
††††††††
Hammond found himself glancing at his wrist watch again. It was a custom made Rolex given to him by Williams for his last birthday.
8:43 p.m. About ten hours since he had injected a special drug into Williams’ system. He had dropped the tablets into the pineapple juice he offered Williams back at the hospital.
Hammond had been giving it to him in small doses over the past month, but today’s would seal the deal. The drug would cause him to loose blood flow to his vital organs, and he would go unconscious from it.
Ten minutes under such state of pure anguish and Williams would go into shock. Then enter a vegetative state for a couple of weeks before finally loosing life.
That was the reason why he had invited Williams out to get drinks tonight. He wanted to be around to make sure the plan worked…that no one interfered. But Williams had declined the offer.
Hammond shuddered. That was surely a painful way to go. But those who wanted Williams dead had been specific. This was the way they wanted him to die…completely at their mercy…
“Hammond!”
That broke him out of his thoughts.
“You’ve been staring at your food for over two minutes.” His wife frowned in concern. “Is something wrong with the meal?”
“No, Lilian. It’s perfect.”
She had prepared his favorite for dinner, as she always did on Wednesday evenings. The dish was a simple one; chicken casseroles with white rice and beef stew. The vegetable salad was like icing on the cake. Normally he would be well into his second helping by now, managing to chat with her and wolf down the food at the same time.
But not today. It was as if all his nerves were alive, on high alert. Even the little he had eaten was making him sick.
“Are you ok?” She asked, putting down her spoon. “You’ve been quiet and edgy since you got back. Did something happen at the hospital?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just tired from the stress of the day.”
Lilian sighed. “You’re so tired that you didn’t even notice the absence of your children?” She said in a quiet voice. She wasn’t playing the guilt card. Lilian was hurt.
Hammond, for what seemed like the hundredth time today, jolted. It was only now that he realized that his twin sons were not at the dinner table.
He searched his mind for an explanation but came up empty. Everything was blurry up there.
“All the kids in their grade are having a camp night at Aquarium Palace.” She looked up at him. “I told you about it last week. The school even sent you an email.”
“It skipped my mind. Things have been hectic at the hospital this week, what with it being the flu season.” This wasn’t the first lie he was telling his wife today. It was just one, a tiny one among a long list of them. He had been deceiving her right from day one.
“Don’t you think it’s time you took that vacation you’ve been talking about? You look worn out, and despite how much I try it only appears to be getting worse.”
Hammond didn’t think so, but didn’t say it.
“This summer we’ll go somewhere for an entire month. All of us. I promise.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “I know I’ve not been the best of companions lately, and I can be curt and distant sometimes. Everything would be ok once things settle down at the hospital.”
Lilian stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Will you eat your food now?”
Hammond smiled. “Sure. How about we turn on some cool music and have some glasses of wine afterwards…”
His phone vibrated in his pocket, eating up the remaining words from his lips.
Still smiling to hide his discomfort, he pulled it out and glanced at the screen. His head throbbed.
“I’m sorry, Lily. I have to get this.”
He was already on his feet and hurrying out through the kitchen door, into the verandah that faced the back garden.
“Hammond.” The voice said once he picked up. The voice was now a familiar source of torment to Hammond. The same voice had ordered him to destroy Williams. The same voice had threatened to reveal all of Hammond’s dirty secrets if he didn’t comply.
“Guess where I am right now.”
Hammond didn’t know what to make of that. “I don’t understand.”
“I asked you a simple question.”
He sighed. This was the kind of foolish nonsense he had to deal with.
“I don’t know…at your house?”
The voice laughed deeply. There was nothing funny about it. It was rather disturbing.
“Wrong. For a medical doctor, I thought you would be more intelligent.” The stranger sighed. “We never had something like this when we were kids. Can you imagine it? Spending an entire night with all such glories and attractions of the sea? The wild sharks and swordfishes. The strange octopuses and clown fishes. The seahorses and squids. It’s every child’s dream.”
Hammond stopped breathing. “Are you…are you at the Aquatic palace?”
“Guilty as charged.” The voice became deathly cold and a whisper. “I see your children.”
Hammond felt like sitting down, but the closest bench was still too far. He squatted beside the hedge.
“Please, don’t hurt my kids. They have nothing to do with anything.”
“Of course I’m not going to hurt them. I’m not a psychopath, Hammond.”
“What do you want? Whatever it is…I’ll do.”
A brief silence and an airy exhale later, the voice whispered. “I thought it wise to update you. We just had a change of plans.”
“What?”
“I think it’s high time we met in person. Come to the clubhouse opposite the aquarium within twenty minutes. A second more than that and you won’t find me.” A pause. “You won’t find one of your sons either”
The call disconnected.
Hammond was numb with shock for an entire minute before he dashed into the house, grabbed his car keys, and despite his wife calling at him in concern, sped out of the compound.
This is where the story gets exciting for all of us including my unsuspecting main leads. Hope it's interesting to all of you too. Please, leave comments and reviews. Those would go a long way to motivate me.
Chapter 5)(The Snow Times; News Flash of the Morning.Head news anchor of the paramount news network in the country, Dalia Barrows, adjusted her round glasses and stared straight at the viewers as she began to read again.“And now, the breaking news of today. CEO of Diamond Empire and also one of the wealthiest men in the world, Williams Herringbone, has at this time been declared missing. His custom made Tesla car was found in the early hours of the morning, parked haphazardly on Avenue bridge in the heart of Frostone. There are no signs of struggle or crash. It was found by college athlete, Fred Lindon during his usual morning jog around the blocks, and he immediately called the city police to take care of the situation. Friends and family members have been contacted, his office called up, but no one has seen or heard from him since 8 p.m. last night.”A brief pause here.“ Williams Herringbone is an extremely private person, and very little is known about his life outside the worl
He was handsome.The stranger, none other than Williams Herringbone. The young business magnate known for his enormous wealth and extreme good looks. She had not had the chance to look at him properly before, what with all the excitement of last night.But now, with him just lying there breathing peacefully, Celine could take him in well. And she couldn’t take off her eyes, or stop the tingling sensation in her chest. He looked of a different breed from the men that revolved around her nowadays.She had seen him on social media news rooms and on bulletin boards. But never so up close and personal. Never within touching distance. And Celine had touched him a lot already. Her palms itched to run down his velvety forearm again. He was simply the most beautifully handsome man she’d ever come across.Though his jet black hair was a little ruffled at the moment, his equally dark lashes framed a chiselled face. A smooth, hairless, TV worthy face with high cheekbones and full lips that begged
“It could be worse.”Williams resisted the urge to sigh in frustration and looked up at her. Actually, well across the sitting room at her.Celine may look like Natasha, she may sound a little like Natasha, but she was different from Natasha in every other way. Like two sides of the same coin.Williams was relieved about this. Celine, despite her face, didn’t bring up memories of Natasha anymore. Not as she had on the street car. Not like when he had woken up this morning. For one moment there he thought he had died and gone to…wherever the other side was called. He thought he was going to be with Natasha again even though it was in the world of the dead. But no. It turned out to be just her talkative, annoying lookalike.They’d been in here for two hours since he woke up to the shock of his life. And Celine had not sat down since then. Or shut up. She had been talking nonstop for hours. To herself, to him, to the house.She saw him looking and went on as if that was encouragement en
The ache in Celine’s stomach felt like a drill was at work in there. She was aware of the reason behind that. Pure dread. Fear.The metal spoons slipped from her sweaty palms and clattered on the table. She sat up straight, and hoped beyond anything that the panic she was feeling was absent from her face.“what are you talking about?”The question sounded wrong even to her own ears. Williams’ face, that strikingly handsome face, was as calm as ever. As if he had just told her about the weather, and not about the beginning of the end of her life.He speared a piece of chicken with his fork and with as much casualness, drew it into his mouth. He even thought it best to take another sip from his mug before fixing those golden eyes on her as he spoke.“Celine Winston didn’t exist until a year ago.” His face hardened. “Who are you?”A mighty blow struck her chest. It was over. He knew everything. Every terrible thing from her life before.He was the wealthiest man in the world. He had all
Celine Winston, not for the first time in the last twenty four hours, was going completely hysterical..“Ok, I was there. I was actually the main victim in all that happened last night. We just need to go to the police and tell them. I remember everything.” Her movement was feverish as she paced about the room. “Vaughn and his bloody buster of a friend ambushed me in the alley. He pulled out a gun and threatened me with it. You showed up out of the shadows to defend me, which I’m grateful for. You went into Jackie Chan mode. Moving with a speed that betrayed every law of physics I still remember from high school, you collected the gun from Vaughn and superkicked him into next year. His friend came at you screaming murder but you knocked him out with strategic strikes all over his body. They were fine, but unconscious. I made sure of that before you drove us away in your Tesla that costs as much as some third world countries. Then you decided to pass out on the wheel and I had to bring
Williams Herringbone had never been so confused in his entire life. No, never had he been both irked and excited by anyone to this extent. This strange woman was doing exactly that. Celine, the Natasha lookalike of all people. He had kissed her. He had moved towards her as if being controlled by an invisible force and given in to that primal urge to know what her full red lips felt like…what her sharp tongue tasted like. He wanted to kiss her again. Dear God, he wanted to kiss every inch of her pale skin. Suck on her delicate neck and run his fingers down the center of her chest. Sitting beside her on the bed in such a secluded room had sent the wrong message to his groin, making him go hard. That was why he had fled the room the moment he made the call. But why? Why did she make him feel this way? He knew nothing about who she truly was. He didn’t even know she existed until yesterday morning. What could be making him loose control in front of her? She simply looked like his first
Celine felt helpless. Not for the first time in her life, she hated the turn her fate was taking but had no way to change or control it. It was five years ago happening all over again. Five years ago, she had had to flee and hide herself for a crime she never committed because everyone kept pointing the accusing finger at her without a thought about her own wellbeing.They…those she called friends and family had wanted nothing to do with her and abandoned her when she needed then most. Granted, she had made some mistakes and terrible choices. But she was also human. Humans deserved some compassion no matter the situation because they were fickle creatures. No one had ever thought twice before hurting her with their words and actions. From her mother, to her brother and down to her best friends.Now here she was, in a strange man’s tinted glassed range rover, driving away from Frostone City, the place she had called home for the past five years. She was tucked into the back seat, hidde
Celine had lived a wealthy and privileged life before things went bad after the accident. She had worn the best clothes, gone to the most expensive schools and visited exquisite resorts for holidays. Yes, she came from a wealthy background. But compared to the Herringbones, she might as well had been nothing.That was the cause of her anxiety. What would they think of her? Williams had not had time to inform them about her arrival at the house, so she didn’t know what kind of reception she was going to receive. The Herringbones were in for a surprise, that was for sure.Sticking close to Williams, she had to keep her lips tight together to prevent herself from gawking at the things she saw. From the golden statues flanking the sides of the vast hallway to the priceless paintings on the wall. Old money, she had to remind herself. Williams grandfather had been one of the pioneers of the country and had founded the Diamond Empire that his grandson inherited. Nothing was beyond the reach