TWENTY-NINE

SOUTHRAIN CITY NEWS ONLINE

…doctors Roderick and Shimmer de Milo arrived at the scene where a dead body was discovered. The body, which was shot and beaten beyond recognition, has now been taken to de Milo hospital in Yellowleaf. A group of doctors from Southrain are working together with the resident doctors to identify the body.

The de Milo family has asked for some peace and space as they try to deal with the issue at hand. Any business issues requesting doctor Roderick's attention may be directed to the acting CEO of the de Milo Group of Hospitals.

On the same crime scene, the police found a car belonging to the CEO of Double L Waste Management Company, Mr Lucas la Martina. la Martina has been missing since the day his wife was found dead in their home in Harvey Street, Southrain. The car was dented with multiple gunshots, but there was nothing inside it that could help locate Lucas la Martina. This only complicates the matter even more, but police are working tirelessly to bring the responsible people to book.

The police is calling on anyone who has any valuable information linked to this case to urgently call detective Harris on 235885, or officer Fraser on 235886. Anonymous calls can also be made at 5565785.

And in other news…

EVANGELISTA'S POV

I must have fallen asleep in Lucas' room, for when I woke up, I heard a low voice talking. Since I wanted to hear what was going on, I pretended to be still asleep, and I heard Lucas talking to himself. Slowly I opened my eyes and sure enough, there was no-one else in the room. He was talking to himself: "…I'm sorry I let all of you down. But I cannot wait for Zuri's punishment. I don't want to die a painful death. It is best that I do this myself…"

My mind was still trying to understand what Lucas was saying, when I heard him hissing in pain, forcing me to open my eyes. What! He cut himself! He slit his own wrist.

"Lucas. Mr la Martina?" I moved slowly towards him. He was lying on the floor, and his eyes moved to me. Blood continued to ooze freely from the slit wrist, and the man lay there without even the slightest look of pain or regret in his eyes.

"Lucas! Did you…cut your wrist? Did you try to commit suicide?" I asked, but I was honestly not expecting him to respond. From where did he get the knife?

"Help! Somebody please help me!" my voice shrieked in panic.

I shook the door violently but it did not open. I continued to hit on the door with my fists, until my hands began to hurt. I pushed it with all my might, pushing it, and finally the door opened. I was shocked, for I thought it was locked. I ran up the stairs, although I was not sure where I was going.

I ended up standing in a room which was full of bodyguards and some other of the gangsters. They all looked at me but said nothing. I continued to cry out loud but no one paid attention to me. It was as if I did not exist at all.

Zuri stood up and stretched herself. "We have a mole", she said. "I need to know who the mole is. Bring Lucas in, and we must find the mole today!" Zuri ordered.

As two men were walking towards me, going towards the stairs, I blocked their way and looked at them with tears in my eyes as I said, "you're late. Lucas is dead".

"What!!" the men said in unison.

"He is dead", I repeated.

Pushing me aside, they started to run down the stairs. I had followed them two or three steps down, when the idea of escape crossed my mind. Since there was so much commotion at that time, I knew it was my time to run off. I could not let my chance escape.

I slacked behind while most of the men ran down and when they were all gone, I did not descend down to the basement. Instead, I entered into the room on the ground floor and looked around. There was a guard about a stone's throw distance away. He started walking towards the gate. I slowly crept outside and started walking in the opposite direction. The yard was very big, and there was an area with many different fruit trees. I walked towards the trees and as soon as I believed I was out of sight, I started to run. I ran until I got to a stone wall, and I was about to jump over when a man's voice said, "hello, miss."

I froze in my tracks, lifted up my hands and said, "please don't kill me."

"Why would I?" the man said.

I slowly turned and saw a security guard standing with a gun in his hand.

"I beg you, please let me go."

"I would never betray my master", he said in a cold, emotionless tone.

"Can I at least call my brother, please? Please I beg you!?"

The man remained silent.

"Where are we? Which suburb is this? Where are we, please tell me". I begged.

"You are where you're supposed to be," he said with his eyes fixed on me.

With that, he pulled up a phone, dialed a number and said, "eastern side, come get your person"

"Please I beg you, don't let them take me, please I beg you."

"They're coming!" the man said.

Two body guards came and without saying a word, they held me and literally dragged me back to the house. I was taken upstairs and made to kneel in front of Zuri.

"So you think you can run away from Zuri?" she sneered.

"Please forgive me.", I cried.

"Well, I have just discovered that you're not Anisha. Who are you?" Zuri asked me.

Ok. So finally someone did get to know that I was not Anisha. I needed a new name at that time, and the first name that came to my mind was the name that I told them…. "my name if Leah."

"You brought the wrong girl?" Zuri asked his men with a frown.

The two men who had captured me came forward and both of them stood facing the floor. One of them said, "boss, we had every reason to believe that she was the right person. She was driving Lucas' car, and look at her! She looks like the girl we have been seeing on TV. Even Lucas himself confirmed that this is Anisha."

"You should have done thorough investigation" there was anger in Zuri's voice.

"And you, how did you end up with Lucas la Martina' car?" she asked me.

"I … I met a guy who was …who was driving it. He offered me a lift since we were going in the same direction….."

"She's lying!! She had said the man was her boyfriend!!", one of the men shouted out.

"Of course I lied!!" I defended myself. "I had just met that guy, and he was driving a good car. The moment he gave me a lift, he told me I was beautiful and he wanted me to be his girlfriend. I didn't even know him!"

There was silence in the room, then Troy broke it by, "I believe her."

"She's lying! Boss, she is lying!! She seemed very close to that boy who was driving. She even…"

"Shut up!!" Zuri chided. "You two have wasted too much time. You have too many errors. It's time to clean up the group."

The two men were led outside by another bodyguard. Both of them cried and pleaded for mercy, but it all seemed to fall on deaf ears. From the next room, where they were taken to, I heard two consecutive gun shots echoing though the air. I felt sick. I thought I was going to collapse, but I did not. I wanted to cry, but I had no tears. Yet it seemed like I was the only person troubled by the events, for everyone else remained standing in their position, unmoved the event taking place.

"This girl is not Anisha. What do we do with her, boss?" one of the men asked.

"She is young and beautiful. I'm sure a lot of men would enjoy having some fun with her. Let her be transported in our next cargo.", Zuri ordered.

I froze in my spot, failing to believe that my life had taken such a drastic turn. They were planning for me to become a sex worker? I was going to be a victim of human trafficking? Oh, how I cursed my brother at that moment. If only he had not sent a woman to our house. I was about to be taken in as a forced prostitute!! While all this ran through my mind, I heard Troy saying,

"Boss, I thought we were not transporting any sex workers in the mean time. The police are on high alert."

"Keep her for a while. When all this mess ends, she will be transported!" Zuri spoke without any care.

"Yes boss" Troy bowed to Zuri, as the latter walked away.