Chapter Nine

Cecilia and John sat face to face, eyeing each other as if they were participating in a staring contest. It seemed that John had underestimated Cecilia’s ability to delay the interrogation process as she kept on countering his questions with her own questions. After fifteen minutes of stalling, John changed the strategy. He stood up, threatening to go to her boss and imagining the embarrassment of being dragged out of the hospital in handcuffs, Cecilia budged and told the truth.

“Alright. I faked the pregnancy report of Katrina Boyaze for a sum of 10 million. 5 million, down payment and 5 million after the job is done.” Cecilia revealed the truth.

“Do you have proof of this?” John asked sternly. His eyes were glistening with rage; yes, it was personal but he had to stay calm and collected in order to save his friend from the cunning seductress who paraded herself as a law and justice upholder. How hypocritical. John thought to himself.

“Yes. A copy of the pregnancy report; forged signature of the lab technician and account transactions. I was going to use it to blackmail her later but it seems I won’t have that chance.” Cecilia replied hastily.

“That is sick. You know that right?” John told her as he eyed her with utmost disappointment. How could a woman be this cunning? Birds of the same feathers indeed flock together.

“Like I said, I did this for the money. I am not a bad person.” Cecilia said; reading into his expression.

“Your mouth says something else and your deeds another. Women are so sophisticated.” John said, cackling with amusement. “Please hand over the evidence.”

“Please don’t have me arrested.” Cecilia said as she fumbled into her drawer for some evidence. She handed the papers to John as soon as she found them and sat back, waiting for him to speak.

“Have you gotten your balance yet?” John asked meticulously.

“I am yet to receive it. My superior is suspicious of me so I am planning to get out of town tonight.” Cecilia responded in a shaky voice.

“But now you can’t leave town, Dr. Smithson. If you do, you will be a wanted criminal. I suggest to follow my lead and all will be fine. What do you say?” John said with a crooked smile.

“Do I have a choice?” Cecilia replied, shrugging her shoulders.

“Good. I am placing you under witness protection immediately. You might also get leniency for cooperating with me.” John said.

“Can I still get my balance from Katrina? I mean, I did my part of the deal. Besides, I will need the money later; for bail or something” Cecilia asked adamantly.

“You always seem to need money, huh?” John shrugged. “Anyway, we don’t have time. Kindly pick up your purse and come with me.”

“So soon?” Cecilia was astounded.

“I don’t have time to waste. Besides, you know what Katrina is capable of doing by now.” John replied hurriedly.

“You have a point.” Cecilia said, grabbing her bag. “I am ready.”

“Good for you.” John said; walking to the door. He aggressively grabbed the door knob and opened the door for Cecilia who nodded thankfully and walked out.  John followed out soon after that and the two of them casually walked down the hallway to avoid any suspicions. Meanwhile, Katrina watched them from afar, a sign that hell was about to break loose. She had forgotten her phone in Cecilia’s office, prompting her to return and now she was glad that she had left her phone behind otherwise how would she have known that John and Cecilia were ganging up on her.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, John. I will end up getting married to Daniel.” Katrina told herself as she strode across the hallway to Cecilia’s office. She picked up her phone and walked out, hurriedly rushing to the back exit door. Her plan B was already underway.

***

Amanda shrugged as soon as Cecilia walked into the room, proudly wearing a lab coat.

“I think you should take that off.” She said skittishly.

“Why is that?” John asked as he walked in after Cecilia.

“She is a disgrace to her profession.” Amanda replied hastily.

“Hey! You don’t even know me.” Cecilia snapped; glowering at Amanda angrily.

“You are right but I knew the whole deal when I looked at you. You must be the dishonest doctor who got paid to write some fake report.” Amanda chewed the rug on Cecilia, shutting her up completely.

“Since you two will be helping with this case, it will be good for you to know each other. you can be friends if you like.” John said.

“I am Amanda from club elite.” Amanda said uninterestedly.

“Cecilia Smithson. But isn’t Amanda your code name?” Cecilia asked out of curiosity. “Ladies from club elite use the same code name.”

“I'm not surprised that you have such information. You smell like trouble.” Amanda said harshly.

“Okay, ladies. No fighting.” John said.

“I'm so angry right now. Daniel is a good guy and he doesn’t deserve such bad treatment. What has he ever done to you?” Amanda continued talking, making Cecilia angry.

“W-What did he give you for you to render him a good guy? a one night stand? Is that it? I have heard how badly he has been treating Katrina.” Cecilia blurted out.

“You don’t know anything, lady doctor. That Katrina woman is a witch and you ought to be one for hanging out with her.” Amanda replied as she closed the distance between her and Cecilia. She looked like she was about to get physical but John intervened.

“Ladies, please. We are all here for one thing and that is to expose Katrina. That is some common ground and I hope we can all cooperate based on that. Is that okay?” John remarked.

“Yes, it is.” Cecilia answered hastily but Amanda was still fuming with anger.

“Amanda?” john hollered her name expectantly.

“As long as she doesn’t cross me, we are good.” Amanda replied after some time.

“I'm sure Cecilia has heard. I'll leave you two now. I hope you will be good friends because this will be your home for the next couple of days.”

“I don’t mind as long as you're paying me.” Amanda said, chuckling.

“I second that.” Cecilia chipped in as her eyes lit up.

“I see you two will have no trouble getting along.” John said, cackling as he walked out of the room.

***

The dogs barked noisily, awakening John from his sleep. He reached out to his bedside lamp and switched it on; partially killing the darkness in his room as grotesque shadows of objects suddenly appeared in the dim light. John ambushed to his bedroom window, scrutinizing the outside world with eyes bulged, searching for a clear view of things. His dogs never barked unless there was an intruder and this had not happened in the longest of time.

Sensing danger, he moved away from the window, heading towards the drawer where he kept his firearm but luck was not with him as someone fired a bullet which broke through the glass and hit him on the back of his shoulder. John yelped; diving to the floor out of instinct while more bullets rushed through the broken glass, hitting lamp and pillows mercilessly. Soon, there was total darkness and silence but the ambush was not over. John watched as a masked man crept into his bedroom through the broken window; approaching him to see if he was dead. He could tell that the killer was a man because of his structure and walk and luckily for John, the room was now dark; giving him an upper hand because his opponent was carrying a torch. 

The attacker scrutinized John’s body from afar but his source of light was not too bright to help him identify a dead body from afar, prompting him to creep on John who suddenly sprang up with a punch to the man’s jaw, knocking the wind out of him. He was about to stand up when he heard footsteps on the balcony.

“Joe! Joe, is it done?” John suddenly heard someone speak, making him realize that he was probably dealing with more than two killers. He crawled to his drawer and took out his pistol before shooting at the balcony randomly, and shooting his last bullet, he heard a painful cry and a hard thump which indicated that the bullet had hit one of them. John sighed with relief as he waited patiently, just in case there was someone else waiting to ambush him but the silence grew stronger and stronger until the siren of a police cars distorted the quiet atmosphere. It seemed like one of his neighbors had alerted the police after hearing several gunshots. Whimpering, John picked up his phone and contacted Lance before going down to open the door for the police officers and his cute neighbor Sharyn. From the look of things, John was sure that she was the one who had called 911.

“Sir, are you alright?” One of the police men asked; noticing John’s blood stained shirt.

“We received a call that thieves are trying to break in.” Another one said.

“They weren’t thieves.” John said, whimpering as the pain in his shoulder grew stronger with every loss of blood. “It was an attempted assassinati-”

John suddenly fainted, falling into the arms of Sharyn who lost balance, almost falling if she was not helped by the police officers.

“He is losing a lot of blood. He needs help.” She said anxiously.

“Call for an ambulance.” one of the police men told his colleagues.

“Moving him to the hospital might be dangerous. I can treat him. I am a certified doctor.” Sharyn said.

“Then please do start you treatment right away.”

“Yes, officer.” Sharyn replied.

***

Lance arrived at john’s house an hour later and luckily, Sharyn had removed the bullet and bandaged his wound after cleaning it.

“I have given him some pain relievers.” She told Lance who nodded thankfully.

“Thank you Dr. Vandermaas. You're truly a life saver.” Lace added.

“I was just doing my duty.” Sharyn replied with a bright smile. “Don’t hesitate to knock on my door if you need anything.”

“Absolutely.” Lance replied, shaking her hand before she left. Lance turned to the police officers and directed them to stay alert for the night was still young.

“Call headquaters and begin patrol.” Lance added meticulously.

“What about the dead bodies, Sir?”

“Take them to them to the Police mortuary. I will personally come to investigations tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Sir!” the Police officers chanted before leaving the room and without warning, John opened his weary eyes; feeling relieved to see his friend.

“Daniel…” He chirped.

“John, you are awake!” Lance said, sitting down beside John.

“I think it was Katrina.” John said as the pain surged through his body, making him stutter a little. “I overheard her talking to the doctor about her fake pregnancy report. The doctor is in my custody. I was planning to tell you about it tomorrow.”

“Hush now.” Lance said, comforting his struggling friend. “Don’t talk anymore. I will dea with Katrina myself. Just rest and get better soon.”

“Please don’t go, man.” John pleaded as tears ran down his cheeks.

“I'm not going anywhere, John. Now close your eyes and rest.” Lance’s tone was assuring.

“I thought I was going to die.” John admitted, smiling subtly. His eyes, though sleepy glistened with fear, a sign that he was truly afraid of dying. Looking at his petrified, Lance felt sorry because John had landed into this trouble for his sake.

“You and I still have a long way to go, partner.” Lance said, giving John’s hand a gentle squeeze as he thought of how he would deal with Katrina’s betrayal.