On the thirteenth floor of a large, glass building was a woman dressed impeccably in a maroon pants-suit. She had dialled a number that she had not dialled in over a decade and patiently waited for the recipient to pick up.
While waiting for the call to connect, she gazed out of the floor to ceiling glass wall situated behind her office desk. Her office was extremely spacious and had one leather couch, a leather arm-chair, two pot plants, a large wooden desk and two shelves.
“Dr. Drew, hello,” a man’s cheery voice on the other end of the line called.
“Hello Dr. Drew. How’s being Chief of General Surgery treating you these days?” the woman asked slowly, her voice smooth and unhurried.
The man paused for a second, gulped, looked down at the unknown number that had called him, put the phone back to his ear, and said, “Ms. Blanche! How lovely to hear from you. Being Chief is absolutely great. Thank you once again for giving me this opportunity.”
Samantha smirked at the doctor who was sucking up to her, “I assume you know the reason for my call?”
Dr. Drew audibly gulped before scratching in a draw in his desk, “Yes and I have what you have asked for.”
“Good, I’m going to give you a number right now for you to fax what you have in front of you to,” Samantha said, her gaze cast out the window where the sun was high in the sky. The sky was clear with not a trace of clouds.
“Okay,” Dr. Drew said before he hurried towards his fax machine. He put the number in that Samantha gave him and she turned to her left where she then saw the documents she wanted appear.
“Thank you for your assistance, Dr. Drew. Please do burn those documents that you just sent me. You wouldn’t want a target on your back,” Samantha said mockingly.
Dr. Drew gulped. Whatever curiosity he harboured had vanished instantaneously. “I will burn these immediately. It will be done discreetly, you have my word.”
“Thank you. Have a good day, Dr. Drew.” Samantha put the phone down before the doctor could say anything else.
She walked over to her fax machine and pulled the documents out. Glancing at the profiles of the nurses and doctors she had asked Dr. Drew to look into, she noticed that all of them had started working at the hospital round about the same time.
Samantha walked to her desk where she then proceeded to sit down and look at all their years of education and training.
“What a waste. So much potential and they threw it away. All for what?” Samantha murmured to herself.
Her phone buzzed, and glancing at the number, she immediately picked up. The person on the other side of the phone call said, “He did as you have asked. The documents are burnt and I’ve ensured that there are no copies and that no one else knows.”
Samantha nodded, her gaze trained on the documents in front of her, “That’s good. Keep me posted on what’s going on at the hospital.”
The call disconnected and Samantha then called her secretary from the office phone.
“Yes, Ms. Blanche?” what sounded like a young man asked.
“Please call The Specialists and tell them to send Iman over immediately,” Samantha ordered, her face growing grimmer.
“Will do, Ms. Blanche.”
The call disconnected and Samantha sat in silence. She gazed out of the glass wall once again and felt her eyes harden.
A knock brought her out of her reverie and she called out, “It’s open.”
She heard the door open and listened as the clicking sound of the person’s heels came to a stop right in front of her desk.
“You called?” the lady asked her monotonously.
Samantha turned around in her seat and was met with a stunning lady dressed in a navy-blue pants suit. Her blazer was unbuttoned and her silk, cream blouse was on full display. The lady’s head was covered by a navy blue head-scarf that was neatly wrapped around her head and neck. She had dark-blue eyes which her navy-blue suit and scarf accentuated, a slender nose and pouty lips. Her skin was quite fair and her expression was unamused.
She had her hands tucked in her pants pockets which made her look unbothered. She raised a brow at Samantha when she failed to reply.
“Iman, you look stunning, as always,” Samantha said with a bright smile.
The lady, Iman, rolled her eyes and levelled Samantha with a look, “Spare me the flattery. What do you need?”
Shaking her head in amusement, Samantha said, “Always so abrupt.”
Taking the documents on her table, Samantha handed it to Iman.
Looking down at the documents, Iman asked, “Who are they?”
Samantha’s voice hardened when she said, “They’re the latest recruits of that drug syndicate we’ve been monitoring closely. Their latest strategy has been getting their people to become qualified nurses or doctors who can then easily distribute the drugs to unsuspecting patients. The patients will then keep coming back for more as they would then be addicted to the crap.”
Iman’s eyes narrowed at the documents in her hands. She looked up at Samantha and said, “I’ll make sure that no trace of them is left.”
Samantha’s brows raised and she said, “Milk them dry of any information you can get from them first.”
Iman scoffed and rolled her eyes again, “I know how to do my job. If that’s all, I’ll be off then.”
Samantha waved her hand dismissively and said, “Yes, that is all.”
Once the door to her office had shut, Samantha returned her gaze to the view behind her. Her phone buzzed on the table again and she glanced at the number with raised brows.
“Hello?” Samantha said, her voice lined with curiosity.
“Ms. Blanche, sorry to bother you but you told me to inform you when your cousin ever made it to Drase?” a man said, out of breath.
Samantha leaned back in her chair and said, “Yes, I did.”
The man breathed in sharply when he said, “Well she’s here and there were two teenagers and a man who entered the very same house she was in.”
Samantha absorbed the information she had just received and said, “Thank you for letting me know.”
The call ended and Samantha called her secretary on the office phone again.
“Yes, Ms. Blanche?”
“I’ll be taking my work with me to Drase for the next couple of weeks. If anyone but the people in our department try to get a hold of me, let them know I am unavailable.”
“Will do, Ms. Blanche. What shall I do about the task team you have assembled?”
Samantha cast her gaze to the left where a picture of her, her uncle, her aunt and her cousin were all standing and smiling at the camera.
“They’re coming with me. I’ll be taking the private plane, so let them meet me there.”
“Will do.”
The call ended and Samantha glanced at the innocent looking face of the eight-year old in the picture, “It’s time I finally paid you a visit, Jess.”
©Crimson B