Chapter Forty - Six

“ Are you alright?”  Albert asked from the other end of the line. Valerie became silent as tears gathered in her eyes. She wanted to talk to someone about the unknown man that called her but she was scared it might cause more problems. So, she decided to keep it to herself.

“ Hello? “ Albert said, this time in a worried tone. He couldn’t understand the meaning behind Valerie’s silence. He listened again to hear her voice.

“ I.. a..m fine.” Valerie replied in a shaky voice.

Albert didn’t believe her. He knew that something was wrong. She said she was fine but the tone of her voice betrayed her. He asked if he would come and see her in her room but Valerie declined the offer, saying that she didn’t want to disturb him and assured him that she’ll be fine after taking a rest.

“ Good night then. “ Albert said before a good night that came in whispers from Valerie.

“ What is actually wrong with her? “  Albert thought. He decided to let the matter slide after thinking through it.

So, he began to dig in. He was truly exhausted after the day’s work and ate all the contents of the plate.

He snuffled immediately he ate the last dish on the big flask. “ Wow! I haven’t eaten like this in a million years. “ And then a small giggling before he left the dining room for the maids to clear the table.

…

...

“ Have you washed the plates the security guard at the gate post today brought to us? “ Eva questioned one of the maids in the kitchen.

“ Yes Ma’am. “ The maid replied and bowed.

“ You all can return to your rooms now. “ She said to the maids in the kitchen.

“ Thank you, Ma’am. “ They bowed and slowly dispersed back to their rooms. Eva did the last private supervision before she left the kitchen. As she locked the door, she saw the silhouette of a man from the corner of her eyes. She stood still and pretended that she saw nothing till the silhouette of the man slowly disappeared from her eyes.

“ Who was that? “ She wondered silently. “ Could it be that there is a … “ She was drifted out of thoughts when she noticed a familiar scent around her , she knew it was John around her, as she recently began to dictate John’s scent from their closeness. 

“ Why are you behaving like a cat in the day time? “ Eva asked him. He came out of the darkness and joined her.

“ Seems you’ve been snooping on me lately. “ Eva said to him with squinted eyes. Then, she noticed another movement at a distance. It was the silhouette of a man again. She paused and looked at a particular direction. John noticed her, strange behaviour.

“ What is … “ Eva covered John's mouth with her hand before he could complete his statement. 

“Shhhhhhh” Eva said in a low tone and pointed to a particular direction. John swept his gaze to the same direction and saw the silhouette. The both of them decreased their heights as they watch the silhouette walk to different directions before it finally disappeared.

Fear gripped them as they exchanged glances. They were lost for words as they watched each other in silence. 

“ A spy… “ John said in whispers. Eva nodded in agreement. They stayed still for a while to confirm that the silhouette doesn’t return. So, they went back, into the kitchen after a while. They took a deep sigh of relief when they returned back to the kitchen. 

“ Are we to tell Young Master Albert? “ Eva asked John. She also felt so scared of what she noticed and wouldn’t hesitate to report what she saw.

“ No, don’t. “ John said and whispered some words to her ears. She nodded in agreement. 

“ So, do you have it? “ Eva asked John. They didn’t know how to meet Sofia, Lady Lily and Mira, so Eva told John to get a Zolpeiden Chemical. That was the only thing she could think of at that point in time.

“ Let’s leave now. “ Eva said to John and they headed out of the kitchen. Eva locked the door before they began walking off to meet Sofia and the others being conscious of the unknown man in the residence.

John smiled when he felt Eva tighten her hand on his palm. He knew she was scared and he was happy that she relied on him for security.

The duo came to a halt when someone flashed a torchlight to their  direction. They stooped down and slowly crawled to a corner to take a hidden shelter.

A security guard scanned the environment, he wanted to confirm the owners of  the silhouette he saw earlier. He retracted his footsteps and left when he saw nothing. 

Eva and John exchanged eye contacts and they crawled out of their hiding place. They tiptoed hurriedly, looking backwards at intervals till they’ve reached some distance away from the room where Sofia, Lady Lily and Mira were locked up. They scanned their environment and saw two guards on the door post.

Eva signaled John to bring out the bottle which contained the chemical and he did so, immediately. John wore a pair of lab gloves, he closed his nose with a nose mask and gave one to Eva before spraying the chemical around. They left immediately after that. Few moments later the came to confirm their targets and it worked perfectly well. John got the key to the room from the breast pocket of one of the guards, and he opened the room.

Mira was sleeping when they came in but Sofia and Lady Lily were awake.

“ How did you get in? “ Lady Lily asked in amazement.

“ We did it our own way. “ Eva answered her. She didn’t want to implicate anyone, so, she preferred to keep it only between John and her ( Eva).

The duo greeted Sofia before they served them the food they’ve brought. 

“ Mira. “ Lady Lily called, she was tapping, Mira to wake her up. Mira got irritated by the consistent tap that she yelled at Lady Lily with sleepy eyes.

“ Mira wake up. “ Aunty Mary tapped her again. “ Come and eat. “ Mira immediately opened her eyes when she heard she was going to eat. She rubbed her blurry eyes and saw the  people in the room. 

She got up and greeted everyone and joined for dinner. The trio, ( Sofia, Lady Lily and Mira ) ate to their fill. 

“ Thank you so much. “ Each greeted as soon as she stopped eating. John told them not to worry as they’ll finally be released the next day. He left with Eva immediately after that and they went back to the kitchen to return the plates. John offered to help. He washed the plates while having a mild discussion with Eva.

“ Who will meet Master Smith to remind him of the three he punished?” She was referring to Sofia, Lady Lily and Mira. 

“ Sir Andy should. Or … “ John looked at Eva. She eyed him curiously with palms open. “ What? “

“ We’ll  go if they don’t remember. I’ve not slept in days now. Look at the time, it’s getting late. “ Eva rolled her eyes at his reply. When they had finished, they left to their rooms.

…

…

“ You’re still awake. “ Eva said to Sarah as soon as she entered the room. Sarah was busy with some documents sprawl all over the place. She had one on her hand as she flipped through the pages of the documents.

“ Yeah. Busy with office work. Where have you been? “  Sarah squinted her eyes at Eva as if trying to make out where she was. She looked at her as she remained silent.

“ Don’t tell me, you went there again. “ Sarah said with eyes popped out.

“ Oh, yes. I did. “ Eva said to confirm her guess. Sarah exhaled loudly as she shook her head. She stood up and joined Eva on the bed. She placed her hand on Eva’s shoulders. “ Dear friend. I understand your reasons for doing this but I’ll still advice you to stay clear from anything related to Valerie. It’s for your safety. “  Sarah said with concern.

“ Sarah, whatever I am doing, I’m doing it with opened eyes. So, I don’t care what happens. “ Eva was do firm in her answer.

Sarah left her to her devices and continued what she was doing. She slept after a while.

…

…

“ What am I to do? “ Valerie pondered in her mind. She hadn’t been herself since she received the   from the unknown man. On a second thought, she decided to meet the man. But, she was worried about the Smiths hidden guards. If she could evade been followed by the security guards, what about the hidden ones? How sure is she that they won’t follow her? Whatever the case might be, she decided to meet the man. She devised a plan to make her able to actualize her plans.

*************

Valerie was awoken by a call the next morning. Her face beamed when she saw the name of the caller. It was her elder brother calling. 

“ Hmmmmmm. Who am I talking to?” Valerie asked. She wanted to tease her elder brother. 

“ Your little baby of course. “ He replied her.

“ Little baby? “  Valerie mused. She knew that her brother was a joker but she felt he would change with time. He was developing in it though. 

Valerie spoke happily with her elder brother till he told her that he was coming to stay with her in the house of the Smiths. Valerie wasn’t happy with what she heard because she knew that her brother was a no nonsense man and wouldn’t allow her to act in certain ways if he stays with her. She tried to convince him that she was ok and could live alone with the Smiths but he refused.

“ Aren’t you happy that I am coming over? “ Danny questioned her after noticing the slight change in her behavior when he announced his coming.

“ … N..no. Not that. ” She stuttered. She feigned to be excited and told him that she couldn’t wait to see him after a long while of living with the Smiths.

Valerie threw her phone in anger immediately she ended the call with her brother. She was so annoyed that she began. To destroy her room.

“ What’s going on inside? “ A maid asked another when they heard the noise from Valerie’s room. They came closer to the door and stooped to the door hole to listen to what was happening in the room.