Linda stood at the end of the bed, breathing heavy with her face staring down at the floor. She felt she had come to the end of her line. There was no walking away from this. As she looked around the room she could see how each turn of event decreased her chances of ever seeing the light of day again. The smears of blood on the wall, the lamps broken on the floor, and the tables split in half, all showing signs something had occurred that was unexplainable. The knocks at the door were loud and the multiple people outside it gave her no way to escape.
"There is always a way out," she whispered. As she sat there, Linda knew there was valuable time being wasted and she needed to get out of the room without anyone ever seeing her face. She stood up and walked toward the bathroom. As she walked pass the lifeless body on the floor, she held her head up high and pretended the body did not exist. Linda closed in on the bathroom, where she found a fire escape outside the bathroom window.
"Perfect."
Linda opened the window and in doing so, she heard the sirens getting closer. She lifted her left leg up to position it in the window to pull herself up with both hands holding the top of the window pane. Her right leg went through the window first followed by her left leg where she was in a sitting position on the window pane. She slid on through and landed on the fire escape. The sirens were getting closer. Linda noticed she was in a dead end alley, which meant she had to walk pass pedestrians on the street near the crime scene. What if someone pointed at her coming out the alley?
"Damn. I got to get out of here," Linda said as she sighed. She took her hair and wrapped it into a ball as fast as she could. She took off her shirt and left her wife beater showing because her shirt was all ripped and torn. She took off her pants and left on her her leggings she had worn earlier yesterday to exercise. Linda tightened up her gym shoes, dumped the clothes in a nearby trash and took off running. She did not look back and no one screamed after her. As she ran, she realized she was headed towards her grandfather's restaurant. She decided to stop there and let him know what had happened. Maybe he could help her.
As she ran down the alley to the back of his restaurant, she noticed something strange. A black car parked in the alley. As she slowed and walked closer, the door opened and someone spoke.
"Get in!"
He already knew. She got in the back of the car and the driver sped off and locked the doors. She looked over at her grandfather's face. He looked back at her and shook his head. Linda began to speak but her grandfather cut her off.
"Why Linda? Why did you not tell me what was going on? Why?" he said.
Linda shook her head, closed her eyes and said, " I thought I could handle this on my own. I did not think it would go this far." She wondered if he knew of the body.
"I sent Rico and his team over there to get the body. They will take him to the morgue, identify him as a John Doe, and write up the autopsy stating it was natural causes. Don't worry, I got you," said her grandfather.
Linda sighed a sigh of relief. She was clear of yet another murder and still she had no idea who was trying to kill her. What the hell had she gotten herself into? And wait... How the hell did her grandfather know. She looked at him and asked, "Do you have surveillance on me?"
"Yes. I have been watching you since your were a little girl Linda. Your family is not the most loved family and we tend to upset many many people at times. However, we do make sure to protect our own. I find..."
Linda cut him off and while frowning, said, "Protect me from what? Who is trying to kill me? Do you know because I have been trying to wrap my hands around it for days. This is the third man I have killed grandfather!"
Her grandfather leaned his head back on the seat, sighed, and said , "I know. I know. I know."
Linda sat up in the bed in a cold sweat and realized she had been dreaming. Something was weighing on her conscience. She got up out of bed and walked into the bathroom. As she looked in the mirror, she began to think. Her thoughts were not a dream. they were real. She turned on the faucet with her right hand and put both her hands under the water to catch some. She wiped her face.
"When will this all end?" She asked herself.
The phone rang.
"That must be grandfather." Said Linda. She walked over to the phone and answered.
"Hello?"
"Come down," her grandfather said.
"On my way."
Linda scrambled to put on her shoes, all the while wondering where he was. She looked around the room and noticed she was in one of her grandfather's hotels. She figured he would be in the front parked and walked to the front of the hotel. His black car was waiting. Linda got in.
"I need to take you to the airport. There will be a private plane waiting for you. Walk up to the last counter on the left and say, 'Let's ride.' The man will give you a badge. He will give you directions to the plane as well. Get on the plane and I will meet you there."
"Meet me where?" Linda asked.
"Just listen and do what I say."
"Okay."
The car stopped at the airport. Linda looked over at her grandfather and said, "Thanks again."
As she got out the car, she felt a sigh of relief. Linda was sure this would all be over soon and she could go back to her life. There was gun shots! She heard gunshots! People started screeming and falling to the ground to take cover. Linda ran, dropped to the floor and crawled around to see where the shots were coming from. She looked in the direction of her grandfather. The car was shot up and rolling towards a poll. She screamed.
Linda looked around the area, but could not see who was shooting. She knew someone had just stopped her from getting on that plane. But who?
"I have got to get out of here," said Linda in a panic. When she looked behind her, she saw six set of feet all in black shiny shoes. She looked up and realized three men were standing behind her.
"Get up!" one of the men said angrily. Linda got up quickly.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"You are coming with us!" the middle man said as he grabbed her arm and yanked her in his direction. Linda said no more and cooperated with them for she was determined to learn what was going on. They blindfolded her once they all got in the car and soon Linda felt dizzy. She fainted.
2:
"That was a close call!" said a mans voice in Linda's ear.
Linda opened her eyes blinking twice slowly. she looked over to her right to see a blurred image very close to her face. she blinked again and cleared her throat.
"Where am I?" she said.
"Safe," the voice said. The sound of the voice reminded Linda of someone she knew. she attempted to ask, "Who are you?"
"I am here honey, get some rest," He said. It was her father. Linda relaxed and allowed herself to close her eyes and sleep.
Meanwhile, a group of men were crowded in a office two doors down from Linda's room. Her father kissed her on her forehead as he rubbed his right hand over her hair. He walked out the room towards the room filled with men. As he got closer, he heard someone yelling.
"We can't just let this happen!" he yelled. Another man shouted, "What the hell you mean? I invested a lot in this..." Linda's father walked in the room, stopped in the doorway, and interrupted the conversation causing an ecliptic silence.
"Silence!" He yelled. "Nobody gonna do anything but what I say do! This ain't no game Gentlemen. This is my family! Our family! We will protect our entire family! And that is by any means necessary."
He walked over toward the center of the room making his way to the front of his desk where turned around and sat down. There were men circling all around him watching in silence and listening to his every word. He sat staring at the men from left to right of him and began speaking.
"We will not do anything. And we can't do anything because what you just saw Gentlemen did not really happen."
One man to his left said, "What the hell do you mean?! We just watched our father die!"
The man stood up from the desk and walked over to the man in his face. He looked him in the eyes and said, "You just watched your father die. I just watched a decoy die." He went in his left pocket with his left hand and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He took his right hand and pulled out one from the pack, put it in his mouth, and placed the pack back in his pocket. The room was silent. He placed his right hand in his pocket and pulled out a lighter and lit his cigarette. He inhaled heavy and blew out the smoke in the mans face. He took a step back and walked back to the desk. The room watched his every move and waited for a his next sentence in need.
He sat on the edge of the desk and said, "My father will let us know the next move soon. What we are gonna do is relax, have some drinks, and eat good." He looked over to the butler and said, "Have a feast prepared."
"Yes sir," said the butler as he exited the room.
"Why the hell are we letting them get away with this?" said a man from the right of him. "I mean, we did lose some good men out there today Boss. Real talk... we lost fathers."
"You right. I like how you put that. Imma give you front row seats." He stood up and faced the man left of the man whom he blew smoke in the face.
"By the way I'm meeting with a lady and a few gentlemen later. I need you and that one right there (pointing with his right hand to the man standing right of the man, he blew smoke in the face) to come with me. It's gonna be fun. Hahahaa," he chuckled as he stared at the man to the left of the man whom he blew smoke in the face.
Linda's father, turned left and walked toward the door, exiting the room to go to the dining room to prepare to eat, however, as he got three feet from the door entry, he eyed the man standing across from the entry way for two seconds looking left and right to the men beside his best friend as he swerved left down the hall at a steady pace. He loudly spoke while entering the door frame, "Everyone go home but those who are going with me... stay. Let's have a feast!"
As he moved down the hall, the three men entered the room, as the other men exited and followed Linda's father. The door shut, leaving a distinguished crew of men in the room. The men walked silently down the hall, passing the kitchen. Everyone seated at the table, slightly looking around at each other as to all who had exited the room to show their loyalty and understanding that the message given was not pertaining to them.
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