Painful Smiles

There had to be another way of survival for both his reputation and Bleu Cristal and also the survival of Clara.

He had even told his son that the rogue only wanted money and hasn’t bring the file into the picture so the file had to stay outside the picture.

“What do you think? Killing the rogue or concealing evidence?” Mr. Louis sprang from his seat immediately on getting a new idea.

Luke seemed confused.

“We can burn off this file. Double the compensation of the workers involved and cut ties with the major contacts. Let’s stop doing this mafia dirty work. The rogue would have nothing to hold unto” he explained further.

Luke nodded. Was there anything he could do? The boss makes the decisions. And that decision seemed safer than sending his men to fight a well trained mafia.

“Deploy your men” Mr. Louis ordered while setting the file on fire. Luke was confused again.

“We can’t let the police catch him or he’ll say something that I don’t need. Also, he could hurt the girl if we don’t meet his requirements so find a way to save her while stalling him” he added more commands.

Luke saluted and left Mr. Louis’s room. His men were standing few meters away from the hallway where Mr. Louis’ room was.

“I think this is a kill mission. The only thing expected to come alive is the kidnapped girl, Clara and you. You may not value you but value the girl, understood?” he bellowed in a very deep voice.

His men shouted, “Yes sir” and saluted. He patted the youngest on his shoulders and began moving with them.

If this was going to be their last job as mafia ninjas, then they should do him an honor by dealing with it well.

******

Clara turned around for the hundredth time to be sure the man wasn’t following her. The tunnel was dark and she could only hear faint shuffling of her own feet.

They shuffled no matter how much she wanted them quiet. They were too tired of walking especially as her kidnapper had taken away her shoes as his way of preventing her from running.

She saw a faint light at the far end of the tunnel. She beamed and began walking faster. Suddenly it seemed like she wasn’t the only one walking fast inside the tunnel. He was after her.

She wanted to run but since she wasn’t sure what she’ll meet at the end of the tunnel, she quietly hid herself.

Due to the darkness of the tunnel, Clara was able to hide behind an old huge trash can.

Her kidnapper passed by her, still holding the side of his stomach which she had kicked to enable her escape.

“I will say it again. I don’t want to kill you. I just need you to get my revenge. Come out now” the man said calmly.

Clara stayed as still as ever as he came close to the trash bin she was hiding at. Her heart thumped loudly.

She wasn’t sure what the man meant by using her to his revenge because as long as she knew. She didn’t know the man or any one related.

She didn’t also know if there’s anyone she had hugely offended who could have been looking for revenge on her.

She remembered the picture she had seen in his hands. It was her picture as a preteen. One her father had taken of her playing with dolls.

The picture was never photocopied and the original piece had been given to the French Prince from five years ago who Claudia had donated blood too.

“Was this something to do with that incident?” she asked herself. It was her picture that was given and she felt glad since the French Prince would be seeing her but those were just childish fantasies.

Could an enemy of the Prince be using that same picture to harm her? Maybe angry at her for her connection to the Prince?

“Come out. When that French man sends me what I need, I’d release you. I promise” her kidnapper shouted tiredly.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

From his voice, Clara could tell he was far away.

He had also confirmed her suspicions by saying it was a French man he was watching out for.

She sneaked from her spot and made to move to a much hidden position, possibly to wait till the police arrived. But the trash can’s lid suddenly fell to the ground, making a loud clattering sound.

Clara turned to see the man looking straight in her eyes. He was still far away.

She took to her heels running towards the end of the tunnel. It was her only salvation now.

The man began a hot chase after her yelling “Stop or I’ll kill you”. Hadn’t he said he meant her no harm? Her head began spinning.

Clara’s body was shaking and her legs seemed like they’d give up but her brain kept on being alert and not letting tiredness and wooziness take over her body.

The man was closing in on her. The end of the tunnel was still a long way. A stone dived straight to her head and she groaned in pain.

She turned to see the man for a split second and saw he was picking stones to charge at her.

She tried picking up pace as he picked but when he resumed running he covered up immediately.

She was now feeling extreme pain from underneath her legs and heels. Her flesh were peeling and pleading to her to stop running.

“You’ll die” the man’s scary voice was now close.

Just then, a sound of a helicopter came into her ears. It sounded like it was descending right outside, at the Ned of the tunnel.

The intrusion slowed the man down and with a new hope, Clara began screaming as she ran.

The helicopter landed and the bright light was shone inside the tunnel. Clara missed her step as the light cut into her eyes and the man dragged her to himself.

“Please, help me—” the man held her mouth shut.

Some men began running down from the helicopter into the tunnel. Clara was almost passing out as the man was hurriedly dragging her away.

“Let the girl go or you’ll never get your end of the deal” one of the men from the helicopter said from a radio. He was dressed I’m black and didn’t look like a police officer.

The man stopped and turned to the men. But then a bullet came flying to his neck and got buried inside.

Clara fell to her back from the force of him dropping her, the last thing that was on her mind was why no blood came from the bullet wound.

She forced her brain to accept that it could have been a drug and not a bullet and her brain quietly shut down.

Author’s note:

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