Why he felt troubled

30 minutes earlier, before Carlos's accident***

The drug lord was in his house calling Linda on the phone but she wasn't picking up which was odd.

He had asked her to deliver some drugs to him via text message but she hasn't responded yet or even seen the text.

The drug wondered where she could be and why she wasn't replying to his text or picking up his calls. He became a little worried and anxious not just because his daughter was ghosting him but because he was feeling uneasy about it.

It wasn't the first time Linda has ghosted her father especially when she was with Carlos but this time, it bothered the drug lord.

The drug lord decided to track Linda's location through his phone and it was directed to Carlos's house.

"So that's why she's not picking up my calls," The drug lord said to himself.

"I've warned her to be wary of Carlos but she's too stubborn," he said.

The drug lord decided to go to Carlos's house to check on his daughter and also visit Carlos. Perhaps they could talk about their next bank heist.

When he got to Carlos's house, the door was locked.

"Hello??" The drug lord said knocking on the door.

"Carlos, you in?... Linda??" he said but no answer.

He wanted to call Carlos on the phone but his focus was on his daughter. He just wanted to know if she was okay so he called her number instead and he heard her phone ringing from inside the house.

"Linda!! Carlos!!" The drug lord started banging and hitting the door aggressively but there was no response.

Since he wanted to see his daughter so badly, he decided to break the lock on the door and got in.

The house was quiet like there was no one at home which was a little strange because he was certain that he heard Linda's phone ringing.

"Carlos, Linda" The drug lord called again but no answer.

"This is awkward," he muttered.

He called Linda's number again and her phone rang. He traced the sound of her ringing tone and it led him to Carlos's bathroom.

Although the bathroom door was shut and even as that, Linda's ringing tone became louder. For a moment, the drug lord was starting to think that Carlos and Linda were busy doing the usual but at least he would've heard their voices.

And what is Linda's phone doing in the bathroom if she wasn't inside?

The drug lord opened the bathroom door and thankfully it wasn't locked.

To his greatest surprise, he saw Linda's lifeless body in the bathtub. Her skin appeared to be paler than usual and her lips were chapped. She looked so dry as if there wasn't a single blood in her body.

"Linda!!!" The drug lord called her name and rushed to her.

Her phone that has been ringing all this time was in her pants pocket.

"Hey, it's me your father, wake up," he said, shaking her body but Linda wasn't responding.

Fear gripped him. He didn't want to believe that his only child was dead. He placed his ears on her chest to confirm if she was still breathing but there was no life in her. She was dead.

"Linda No!! Don't do this to me… please come back to me" The drug lord cried out, wailing as he was holding Linda.

He was deeply hurt. Nothing has hurt him like this before, the pain he was feeling inside to hold his dead child in his arms was unbearable.

Even though he didn't have time for Linda when she was alive, he still loved her deeply in his heart because she was the only family he has. He was just a busy man who is obsessed with drugs and the criminal lifestyle. He didn't want his daughter to become like him that was why he always neglected her and showed more attention to Carlos.

No wonder he felt troubled when Linda didn't pick up any of his calls. He knew something was wrong.

But what is her dead body doing in Carlos's bathroom?

The only explanation was that Carlos must've killed her but why?

The drug lord now recalled when Linda had told him that if anything happens to her, he should look out for Carlos.

His facial expression darkened immediately with his hands clenched into a fist.

The drug lord has always known that Carlos didn't like Linda that much but not to the extent of killing her.

He didn't care to know why Carlos killed his daughter or what his daughter did to Carlos to make him take her life as if she was nothing. All that the drug lord cared about right now was to avenge his daughter's death.

"Carlos would pay for this, I swear on your death," he said.

He has advised his daughter to stay away from Carlos but if only she had listened.

The drug lord heard Carlos's car horn from outside and he quickly took her body and placed her on his left shoulder. He rushed to the back of the house through the back door and hid Linda's body there.

After observing that Carlos has gone inside the house, the drug lord took a screwdriver and a plier he saw in Carlos's backyard and went straight to Carlos's car to unscrew some of the bolts in his car tire.

He made sure he did some damage to the car that will cause a severe accident, Carlos wouldn't escape from.

As soon as he was done, he heard Carlos yelling "what the fuck!!" from inside the house.

Carlos had just found out that Linda was missing.

The drug lord immediately rushed to the back of the house to hide and Carlos came out of his house. It was a close call, Carlos would've caught the drug lord if he wasn't fast enough to leave just in time.

Meanwhile, the drug lord watched Carlos from his hiding spot as Carlos entered his car and drove off. He came out from his hiding spot and took Linda's body with him to probably give her a proper burial.

Presently, after Carlos's accident***

A woodcutter in the woods who witnessed the fatal accident rushed to the scene to check the car in case of any survivors.

He looked through the front door glass of the car and saw Carlos, stiff and lifeless with blood gushing out from his head. The woodcutter tried to open the car door but it was locked so he hit the car door with an ax for it to open.

He managed to pull out Carlos of the car which was now brutally damaged because of how terrible the accident was.

The woodcutter immediately called an ambulance because Carlos was short of breath and could give up any time soon.

…....

Carl and Sasha were in the hospital where Carlos was and Carl could be seen conversing with the woodcutter that called the ambulance while Sasha was busy browsing a phone.

Carl thanked the woodcutter with a good amount of cash for his kind act and the woodcutter left with happiness all over his face. He was happy that his good deed paid off.

Carl got inside the ward Carlos was in and he saw Carlos on life support with bandages wrapped around his head, his chest, and his right arm. Carlos was wearing a cervical collar on his neck and a hospital oxygen mask on his face. He looked so pathetic and miserable like a wounded dog.

Carl let out a sigh, massaging his temple with his eyes shut. He felt so sad and depressed, seeing his best friend in that critical condition.

"Doctor, is he going to get better?" Carl asked the doctor, hoping to get a positive answer.

"I can't say... But he's going to stay in a coma for some time." The doctor replied.

"oh no," Carl whispered to himself with a sad look on his face.

'why does Carlos have to go through this?' he thought.

"Doctor, please tell me he's going to be okay," Carl said

"Who is he to you, Sir?" The doctor asked Carl.

"he's my best friend," Carl replied

"I'm afraid to tell you that your best friend sustained some internal injuries which caused him to suffer asphyxia. Despite the fact that he's unconscious, he's lucky to still be alive in this state." The Doctor said.

Carl paused for a while. Some negative thoughts were already flooding his head like what if he had lost Carlos?

He couldn't imagine it. Carlos has been his best friend for more than twenty years and they've shared so many good memories together. If anything happens to Carlos, Carl would definitely be traumatized.

"He's eventually going to recover in due time right?" Carl said to the doctor and the doctor gave Carl a faint smile.

********