Chapter 15

Part 2 - updated 10/03/21

Part 1

The atmosphere here is much better, as everyone says. The breeze now is not as cool as night-time but it's still more refreshing and cleaner than the city. The surrounding is quiet, the beach is beautiful, and the home cooked meal done by a professional definitely tastes better than takeout, especially the fruits, taste like freshly picked. They're right. There's no reason not to take it except for one. As comfortable and beautiful as this place is, it's boring here.

"What's this?"

"That's a noni." He's staring. Why?

"I thought you said you've never been here before."

"I haven't. I haven't been to the moon either but I know it exists." Oops, looks like they can't take a joke. "That's grown in Australia too. It's traditionally used for colds, flu, diabetes, anxiety, and high blood pressure, and depression and anxiety." Okay. Make that 2 reasons. These people are weird. They're staring again. Whatever they were thinking, they're now looking at the one who just came in with a tray. "He's not eating?" It's 1 PM. He should be hungry.

"He's busy."

"Doing what?" It's a simple question. Why are they all staring again? "He shouldn't be working." Either no one cares or they all know that but can't do anything about it. "Let me." What? Now all of them are staring but no one disapproves so…"oh" One look under the silver covered plate answered the question. No wonder. Who wants to eat this for lunch? This would be good for him but it doesn't mean he can't eat anything else. "Are there any strawberries, bananas, app…forget it, I'll get it." They look like they don't have a clue so someone else must be in charge of buying groceries. Those aren't exotic fruits so there must be some in the frig. There's no need to ask the chef to make it. He's not here anyways. Besides, it's just a bowl of fruit. All it takes is a few minutes to wash it and cut it and…oh. This would take a lot longer to cut. I'll just cut a piece. This should cheer him up. Some salt would be good too...and one more thing. There's none in the kitchen, none in the dining room either. Of course there wouldn't be. Why would there be? There are palm trees outside but no plants inside? As elegant as this place is, this is what it lacks. "Hey, can you tell whoever is charge of buying groceries, get some roses, pink and yellow ones." The question is not directed to anyone specific since they're all here, eating lunch. Why do they all look so confused? God. What's wrong with them? They're so so serious.

As nice as this house is, this is too big. Walking is good but having to take a couple of minutes just to get from the dining room to his bedroom is ridiculous.

(knock knock) Not only them, the boss behind the locked door is clearly serious about work and not taking his condition seriously.

"Time for lunch!"

Speaking loudly is necessary since there are sounds of coughing inside. Oh. It's not locked? There he is, lying on the bed, coughing non-stop. A glass of cold water should help.

"Here, drink this…AH!" Note to self. Do not give patient a glass of water no matter how vigorously he's coughing. Now the bed is wet. The floor is wet. He's wet…and red. "okay, here you go…slowly, that's it."

"What you doing?"

"Don't you remember? You hired me." Just asking to make sure. Obviously, he didn't find it funny.

"Where's your hazmat suit? You need to… (cough cough)"

"Don't talk, okaay...Now inhale…slowly…exhale…don't think of anything else, just…"

"you need to (cough cough)"

"I know what I need to do, now stop talking and breathe." Surprisingly, he's listening this time. "I got your favorite. Tadahh, macaroni, chicken soup, overboiled carrots and mash potato." Not funny? Oh well. Rich folks are so hard to please. "When you get better, you can eat whatever you want. Okay?" No answer is expected. None is given. "Well, I'm sure you'll like this…tadahh." She lifts the cover off the porcelain bowl. "This is good for…AH!" Note to self, expect the unexpected. "What's wrong?" It's only a bowl of fruits. Who doesn't like fruits? "What?" Oh. "You didn't tell me you're allergic to strawberries." Who's allergic to strawberries? "banana? pineapple?...ohh...That's unfortunate. Well, you should've told me. You didn't have to do that. You know how hard it is to cut a pineapple? Now I have to clean it up."

"sorry"

Oh. That's unexpected. "You don't need to speak. Do this." She placed her own fist and rubbed it in a circular motion over her own heart. "Okay?" Since he did, then…"I forgive you. Now eat." What? Never been fed before? The way he jerked back from the spoon is so funny. It's good to see he still has the energy to feed himself but it didn't take long for him to disobey the instructions given. He is as stubborn as they say. "Must you?" His life, his call. He should know the consequences. "Don't talk too long." That needs to be said even if he doesn't listen.

Scud waited until he heard the first word. "Who's that?" It wasn't loud but a woman's voice can be heard.

"nuse"

Did he say nurse? Oh man, that can't be good. No wonder he hasn't called. Covid is bad enough, laryngitis too. Jesus. Guess Hawaii isn't any better than New York. "What's going on?" The message 'Call me ASAP' seemed urgent but if it is, there's no reason why he couldn't call. His message would've been missed if Zander didn't wake up at 12 AM.

"Liq nitro"

Did he say liquid nitrogen? Oh man, his voice sounds really bad. Yup, that's what he meant. No wonder he didn't call. It's because there's nothing he can do to stop them from trying to open the steel urchin-like safe. "That's a lot of nitro."

"How you think I found out?"

Oh. That could only mean he wasn't informed. Transporting nitro in that large quantity would've been difficult to hide.

"Bastard left me out. If it wasn't for you, they never would've been able to get that out."

It would've taken them longer, that's for sure. Using a crane alone didn't work. Thanks to Lucy's account of what happened to her while underwater. Got the idea from her. All that was needed is a strong, windy current from a rainstorm to loosen it. It was dangerous but it worked.

"They're going to cut off the spikes first."

"Oh" How did he find that out? That's not important. What's important is to find out "Do they have any idea what's in it?" If there's nothing unusual inside the spikes, then why create it that way?

"Don't know but I know he has a deadline."

Deadline? Anyone who knows about it would want to know what's in it but a deadline? What's the hurry? Maybe they're afraid others will find out? That is a possibility even if that island is now limited to authorized personnel only. All it takes is a leaker. "When's the deadline?"

"Hold on, got a call. (cough cough cough)"

Yikes. He sounds really, really bad. Is he in the hospital? That didn't seem possible before but now does. He was talking to the nurse earlier so…oh, he hung up? hm? It didn't take long for him to call back though. He has a good reason too. He sounds upset. Can't blame him because anyone who's being accused would be especially what he's being accused of doing is absolutely absurd. How in the world did she come up with that?

"Tell me the truth!" Amy said loudly.

"Listen to me. She can be a little crazy sometimes but she did not and would NOT do that." Scud said calmly and quietly in the kitchen since everyone is sleeping. Janet and Nadia, no doubt, would want to talk to her if they heard. There's no need for them to know, not now anyways. Does Lucy know about this? "Have you talked to her?" No response could only mean she didn't. There can only be one reason. She still doesn't want to come back.

"Promise me, don't tell her."

"You know I can't do that. If anything happens to you"

"Nothing is going to happen to me! If they want me dead, they wouldn't have missed. They just want to scare me so I would stop looking!"

That's a good point but "You don't know that. If you continue, they'll know and they might not"

"If they want to kill me, they're not going to stop even if I go back! They're going to follow me back to you. Understand!"

That's a very good point but as good as it is... "You tell her yourself or I will." She should know nothing is going to work. She should know…

"Please, you know why I have to do this."

Begging? She should know it's not going to work. Besides, Anthony won't and Anthony has a good point too. There's a deadly virus floating around.

"Life is short. It's not worth it. Let it go for now. (cough cough)"

Anthony might just be the only one who can persuade her.

"Go to Reyjavik. It's safer there."

Umm..what? Doesn't he know Lucy isn't in Reyjavik? Doesn't he know she can't go to where Lucy is now? It seems that he has forgotten the situation Lucy is in. "They won't let you in. Come back, let me know when and I'll pick you up." It's going to be difficult getting her to stay once she finds out where Lucy is but can't worry about that now. "Zander misses you." If nothing will work, then maybe this will.

"I hope you get better, Anthony."

Did she just…yup she hung up. The long sigh from Anthony can be heard. There's no reason to let him know about Lucy's whereabouts anymore. What he needs now is rest, not worrying about others.

New York

ZJ is right. Anthony wouldn't do this. She must think I'm crazy too to think that Lucy would. Blake obviously does even if she doesn't know anything about Lucy. There she is, standing and waiting with arms crossed. Did she hear? "Did you know Anthony is sick?" Amy asked.

"Did you know Anthony is sick?"

Guess she doesn't since she's asking ZJ on the phone.

"How sick?" Blake asked after getting the question from ZJ.

Her concern is apparent. This would be a good time to tell them both. "I know both of you want to help but this is getting very dangerous. There's a chance you can get hurt…or killed so if you don't want to do this anymore, I'd understand." An answer is expected so why is no one speaking? "ZJ, you heard what I said?" She might not have even if the speaker is on.

"I told you before, why are you still asking me?"

Because it's necessary. It's good to hear that she is getting better. "Blake?" Can't tell what she's thinking since she's still standing there with a blank expression and arms crossed.

"Do you think your husband is trying to kill you?"

"What!"

"You're the one who said it could be him. What if he's not trying to scare you? What if he did hire someone. What if he did missed. Maybe he's trying to kill you for your money. Are you loaded? Do you.." Blake trailed off after getting interrupted.

Seriously? Blake should understand now how ridiculous her assumption is since ZJ is laughing loudly. "No, okay? Now…" Shoot. The phone is ringing. Who else could be calling at this time besides…Scud! I can't believe this. He didn't even give me a chance. It might not be Scud. It could be Anthony.

"Aren't you going to pick it up?" Blake asked.

Should I? She's going to be so pissed.

"Who is it?"

She's going to yell at me.

"Is it your hubby? Let me talk to him."

"What?"

"Let me ask him some questions, I'll know if he did it."

It's now necessary to take a few steps back since Blake is looking like she's going to take… Oh, it stopped. It may have stopped but that doesn't mean she's not going to call back. She must be really mad now. She must be cursing again. She must be thinking of a way to get here. She must be thinking…

"Seriously, you want me to talk to him?"

"NO, it's not him. Okay?" It's time to steer Blake's mind to finding the real culprit. "Now, as I was saying, we don't know who the shooter is but we know where he was. They must have surveillance cameras everywhere. So all we have to do is…" It's ringing again. Not just ringing, there's a message too. Taking the call is now necessary before she gets even more worried. "Hello" Yup, she's freaking out again. "I'm fine."

"What happened?" Lucy asked since Scud only said she almost got shot in the message but didn't give the details. It seems that Amy is also hiding it since she's not explaining how it happened and instead wanted to prove her speculation.

"Max was murdered. And this guy I told you about, he's also dead so he must have known something and now…"

"Tell me what happened!" Why is she not answering? "Did you see who did it?" No answer could only mean no. If she did, she would've told Scud already. "Babe, you need to come back now. I'll have someone look into it. Okay?" Now it's obvious why Scud sent the message at 12 AM. He knew she wasn't going to let me know. "You need to come back now! You hear me!" I can't believe this. She's ignoring me. "What do I have to do for you to come back?" Yelling isn't going to work. It never does with Amy. "Tell me, what do I have to do?"

It's heartbreaking to hear the pain in her voice. At least now, she knows how I felt when she did the same then.

"If you don't come back, then I'll go there. You want to die. Then we die together!"

Same threat again? Oh Lucy. "You once said to trust you, remember…and I did, now, I'm asking you to trust me. I'm going to take extra precaution. I'm going to put on a disguise. I'm not going anywhere alone. Nothing is going to happen to me because now I know…what?" Saying what is necessary since Lucy said something at the same time, something that sounds familiar because Nadia had mentioned this numerous times before. This pandemic is making people do unexpected crazy things. It seems that Lucy is one of them. "c'mon, stop it. You know I…hello…hello…hello"

Two hellos ain't enough, she had to say it three times? Obviously she got hung up on. "What happened?" Blake asked, wondering what's on the phone that got her mesmerized and now...swearing? It must be bad since she's no longer standing but sitting down on the couch, typing on the phone. "you all right?" It doesn't look like she is since she doesn't look as calm as before.

"What's going on?" ZJ asked since no one is speaking besides Blake.

"He hung up on her. Now she's texting him." Blake responded while keeping her eyes on the one who's texting vigorously and emotionally like a teen playing a losing game on the cell phone. "She just threw the phone on the couch…and she's really, really pissed."

"What's wrong?" ZJ asked even though she couldn't see but heard enough from Blake to know how angry the former agent is.

"Does he want a divorce?"

Just how the hell does she know that?

"ZJ, I'm right, he's divorcing her. Oh man, it is him. He's trying to kill you and now he knows the shooter missed, he wants a divorce."

She must have seen a lot of these cases otherwise why would she think that? "It's not him. He's just saying that to force me to go back." Can't believe her. Use the D word. Ughh!

"Then maybe he found someone else and now he wants a divorce."

Has she been hanging around with unfaithful men? It seems that way. She doesn't even know anything about Lucy, yet she already thinks badly of him…her.

"Kristin, think about this, is this worth it?"

What! It seems that ZJ has been talking to Anthony because why else would she say the same thing he did? "ZJ, maybe this has nothing to do with Max." She should know that's possible, unlikely but possible. "Maybe they're after me…and not just me." Get it? Blake might not but ZJ should. On a second thought, Blake should even if she doesn't know Lucy. Everyone has enemies.

"Who wants to kill you?"

Good question. Blake might not know but ZJ does. Many want to kill Lucy. Maybe they want to kill me too to get to her? All right, enough guessing, enough wasting time. "That's what I want to know. First, we'll look at the surveillance videos…from this building, that one, every single one around here. Whoever he is had to be in that building." Amy said, pointing to the one across the street. Questions are expected especially from Blake who probably hates my idea since she always does. Yes, it's not going to be easy but what other ways are there? "Got any ideas?"

"Has he been previously married? Maybe his ex wants to kill you."

Meanwhile

"So you're really going to divorce her?"

It seems that Niki isn't convinced. That's not surprising. It would be if she is. What's surprising is why let me know when she could've easily ignored Scud's message. Why act like she cares?

"Don't look me at like that. It wasn't me."

"Then who?" Lucy asked.

"How should I know?"

"You know where I live. You've been watching me…for how long? You've been threatening to kill my wife and now you're telling me it wasn't you. Does that sound absurd to you?" Lucy directed the question to Holly while knowing she won't respond. She probably agrees though.

"It's absurd you would think that no one else wants you dead. You said it yourself, you have lots of enemies, remember."

Good point but just because she said she didn't doesn't mean she didn't. Just because she let me know about the message doesn't mean she didn't. Who knows what she's thinking.

"So, who else's wife did you take advantage of?"

What!

"Or you don't remember because there were so many."

Now it's obvious she never did believe me.

"or do you think they're after your key?"

what?

"What? You don't think that's possible? Think about it. The border is closed. She's there. You're not. They didn't kill her. Why? Maybe it's not her they want. It's you. Maybe they want you to do exactly what you said earlier. They want you to show up."

Talking to her now seems like a waste of time. Time to go to sleep.

"Give me their names, I'll take care of them for you."

It's obvious her mind is tired too because she's speaking illogically. "You…help me?"

"Of course, one less problem for you is one less problem for me."

What drug did she take? Has she been drinking? How could she not know I was mocking her? She can't even help herself. "If you want to help, I suggest you do as I say."

"It would be easier if you just give me his name."

What the hell is wrong with her? She should know the answer so why is she still saying that? "Get everything ready. It's the only way." Lucy closed the bedroom and slipped into bed. Stupid. Tell you so you can have him killed afterwards. (Sigh) Sorry man, it's the only way. (sigh) This bed sucks. Just go to sleep. Don't think about it. (sigh) Stupid bitch. If anything happens to her, I'm going to fucking kill you. Lucy yawned loudly.

As uncomfortable as the bed is, the mind is too tired to care about it. Hours of sleep may have helped the mind but God, this room is so dry, it was impossible to sleep thru the night without getting drinks of water and more impossible to sleep past 9 with the noise outside and constant knocking.

(knock knock knock knock)

"What!"

"Get dressed, we need to go."

"go? go where?"

"stop asking! hurry up! put your disguise on."

"Fine!" Shit. It's becoming a habit. "uhh…my back." It wasn't hurting before but now is. "Goddamn cheap mattress." Either that or it's been over-used. "I want another room!" Did she hear? Nope. No one's outside except Ace, her incompetent assistant, stuffing his face. "Where are they?"

"out"

Why do I even bother. Find out later then. Getting dressed didn't take long. Putting on the facial disguise did. I should've eaten first. Going to get this dirty. Stomach wasn't growling before but now is. Okay, tie looks good. Beard looks good. Suit fits perfectly. Time to…what the…"ARGH!"

This time, it's too late to get back into the bedroom. It's impossible to avoid being tazed just like the last time. They were too close. This time, it's not Niki's fault. It's her goddamn stupid assistant. If he's not dead yet, I'm going to kill him. Like the last time, this time is unexpected but what is he doing here? No, wait. With every cell in her body vibrating, it's difficult to get those words out loudly.

"Where's the video?"

"ARGH!" Oh God. That fucking hurts! My back is going to break.

"Where's my phone?"

What? Stupid bitch kept his phone. No wonder he found us. Now it's necessary to blame Ace since Niki isn't here. It's the only way to direct their attention to him. Why aren't they moving? Why are they still looking at me? Is he dead?

"Do it."

What? What they're thinking of doing prior to coming is now obvious. Whatever I said wouldn't have made a difference. He's determined to...

"Ein, he took advantage of your sister."

What? "you have the wrong…mmm…mm" It's too late to say anything. With the duct tape over her mouth, hands cuffed behind, it's impossible to do anything other than mumble louder and hope Niki is outside.

"He raped Ezz!"

What?

"Do it!"

Wait. Ein. Wait! I'm a woman! No words could come out other than "MMMM!"

Part 2

Oh God, oh God. It's only a dream. "ughh, fucking hurts" It may be only a dream but the back hurts. The heart is still pounding. Waking up with sweat and heartache doesn't happen often. It did because this damn room doesn't have any fresh air coming in despite the opened window. It did because of what that stupid bitch said last night. It did because this mattress sucks. That's weird though. I took advantage of her? I raped her? "All right, snap out of it. It's just a…"

(knock knock knock knock)

"I'm up!"

"Get dressed. Hurry up!"

"What's the hurry!" Oh. This is what happens when the mind just woke up. The brain cells don't function well too on an empty stomach. What time is the flight? That would help. Only 8:00AM? No wonder I'm still so tired. Where the heck is my breakfast? Where the heck is everyone? No one is in the living room or kitchen but there's Holly, sitting outside in the back porch on the stairs…smoking? Since when?

(cough cough…cough cough)

Oh, maybe she just started. Maybe she used to? It's obvious she has a lot on her mind. Does smoking really help though? Did she have a nightmare too?

"You know, I tried that too, a long time ago." No one else is here so why is she still acting like she's mute? "Everyone around me did it. They told me I should. I asked why. You know what they said. They said if you want to look tough, you gotta to do it. If you want to be part of them, you gotta. If you want their respect, you have to…stupid, right? How is coughing like a sick dog going to make me look tough? They couldn't even do 10 jumping jacks without coughing." Not funny? That's understandable. Under the circumstances, it's hard to laugh about anything. "You know, she will forgive you." She should know what type of person Nadia is by now, a very forgiving one. "You can call her, you know." She has a phone. If she's afraid that Niki will find out, there are lots of excuses she can use to justify it. "Holly, c'mon" Lucy said, taking hold of her hand to stop her from avoiding the conversation again since she's been doing that.

"Why do I need her forgiveness?"

Is that a trick question or did she contracted the alternate reality disease like those who still stink the virus is a hoax?

"If anyone needs forgiveness, it's you. None of us would be here if it wasn't for you. My brother would still be alive if it wasn't for you. So if you want me to forgive you, I can't. If you want to help us, I suggest you hurry up and get them what they want."

What…the hell…is she talking about? It's too late to ask since she just went back inside the house and Niki is standing at the door. There will be other opportunities. On a second thought, there's no need to wait. Niki should know.

"She has a brother?" It's not a trick question so why does she look confused?

"Food's here. Hurry up. We have to get ready."

That's not a no. That means she does or did, so what happened? My fault? Why is everyone blaming me? Finding out will have to wait. Breakfast is here. I'm hungry. Niki obviously is since she's taking in one bite after another as if she hadn't eaten last night. Never had hash browns before? It's small, circular, cute and good but is it that interesting?

"sleep well last night?" Only she would be able to. Regardless if she did…"What did you do with the video?" It may only be a dream but it's difficult to ignore it as just that. "The video, what did you do with it?"

"Why?"

That could only mean "You still have it?" There's no reason to hold onto it unless she's a perv. "What do you plan to do with it?" She's shrugging so does that mean she's not going to do anything with it? "Then why keep it?"

"It may come in handy some day."

What? Now it makes a little more sense. Nightmares happen because the mind is stressed. It might not be real but what happened can still happen because of what she still has. "Do you still have his phone?"

"Of course not."

Oh. Of course not. She's not smart but she's not that stupid either. Maybe it is just a dream then, a very weird one. Dreams always are and this one happened because of her, because of what she did to that bastard's sex organ. Getting a nightmare of mine getting blown off was a result of it. It's odd though because the one who pulled the trigger is Ein. That bastard was encouraging him. It doesn't make sense.

"What's wrong? Are you afraid he's going to come after you?"

She should know that's possible even if we're not in Reyjavik. That bastard is crazy. "I suggest you delete it before someone else gets hold of it." She should know that is a possibility especially when we're going to be flying with fake passports. Watching porn isn't illegal but anyone who saw that would know it's more than just porn.

"If he is coming after us, it's not because of the video. It's because of what you did."

She's right but "How many times do I have to tell you? It's not me. How could I? huh? How could I?" Stupid. Did she forget why he hates me? It's not just for flirting with his wife.

"He seemed convinced. His wife seemed..."

What? "You met his wife?...When?" How? That's impossible. Holly seems surprised as well so that could only mean she didn't.

"She's a beauty. Want to see?"

Of course. Stupid question. How could she have found out more than Scud can with just a picture? His phone, maybe. Not just one, she has a few pictures of his wife. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. She looks okay. Maybe she looks better in person. Those are very big...

"Recognize her?"

Seriously? "No. Did she say how it happened?"

"How about them?"

Picture in the phone is too small to tell. It's not a close up. It's a group of people. "No, where did you get this?"

"You sure? Look closely."

This time, it's a little clearer. The picture is zoomed in. Just give me the phone. "I just want to look." She should've expected me to take it from her. How is this possible? That is Ein's sister standing closely next to that bastard. They dated? She must be blind then, young and naïve. "Where did you get this?" Can't be from his wife's social media account. She wouldn't have posted this one. Maybe from his? He doesn't look like that type that would have a social media account. His wife looks like that type. There are many pictures of her and her alone. Looks like she loves to pose. What the hell. No wonder she didn't want me to take the phone. "Why did you take this?"

"I was just trying to see what she's going to do."

That doesn't sound like a lie but why keep it? "Were you thinking of using this to threaten me?" It's so obvious; no other reasons would justify this. Surprisingly, she didn't deny it. This is so strange. It's odd to see how it happened. It's odd to see me…in the video. It does look like we're lovers. The security guards fell for it. No doubt, Amy would be pissed if she saw this. "What…" Asking what else she found will have to wait since the phone is ringing.

"Give me it."

She has to be nuts to think I would without deleting the video first. "Here" She has to be nuts to think that I would actually give it to her. "Yes" It's only Ace. Here she comes. "What!" Now it's necessary to give her back the phone and relay the message before she hits me. "He can't get it!" Don't believe me. Go ahead. Ask him why. Incompetent. Idiots. How hard is it to get fake passports? What? Nothing to say? Well, that's not good. "Then how do you expect me to get you what you want!" Speaking loudly is necessary to let her know it's her fault. The border to Australia is closed. Melbourne just started the stage 4 lockdown but not to everyone. Citizens are allowed so all she has to do is get fake passports so why the hell isn't she able to?

"Give me his name, I'll have someone"

"You want to kill him. What if he doesn't know where it is?" She should know that's a possibility. "If you kill him, his family, his friends would want to know who did it and why. You want to make this bigger issue? What do you think is going to happen if everyone finds out what you're looking for?"

"I'm not going to kill him."

"Can you guaranteed that? Are you going there to ask him yourself? You think he's going to tell you?" What the hell is she thinking? Just have someone beat it out of him might work but only if he knows about it.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Jesus Christ!" That's necessary so she knows I'm even more frustrated than she is. Why is she still hesitating to give me the phone? "Do you want the key or not?"