CHAPTER 124: TIED THE SCORE

My heart literally dropped on the floor the minute I saw Lewis appear out of nowhere. I cursed inside my head that he disregarded what I said about not meddling with tonight’s meetup, but I also couldn’t deny the feeling that it deeply even frightened me now seeing his current condition.

Helplessly laying on the floor at gunpoint was something anyone would fear the most, and seeing my fiance in this situation extremely took the life out of me and gave me a very very immobilizing chill. As much as I wanted to be angry at him for disobeying me, for still pushing through what I knew he would be doing, I can’t find it in my heart to do so. 

“Now, hotshot, show me what you got!” 

“NO PLEASE! DON’T! I BEG YOU PLEASE!” 

“FINISH THAT FUCKING SON OF A BITCH, LEO!” The man whom Lewis kicked uttered as he made his way up the stairs. 

“Please don’t! You got the money, it’s all yours! Don’t hurt him!” I pleaded with blinding tears. 

The moment the other man reached the top, he swiftly rushed towards Lewis and kicked him on his stomach, making the latter crumpled in a fetus-like position. 

“ASSHOLE! You thought you could be a hero, huh? Well fuck you!” Another hard blow hit Lewis’ abdomen that made him spit blood. 

“PLEASE! STOP IT! YOU’LL KILL HIM!” I ran hastily towards Lewis, but the man holding a gun grabbed my waist and threw me back at the corner. 

The impact of my body smashing at the stoned wall crippled me as I weakly landed on the cold concrete. I felt nauseous and dizzy. My head was spinning hard as my eyes were fixed on Lewis, who was still laying on the floor in severe pain. 

‘Please, God, help us! Save us from these wicked men.’

“Let’s go, Leo! Let’s get out of here! They’re waiting for us and the money!” 

“What about them?” 

“Let’s leave them! They won’t be able to follow us anyway! Let’s go! The boss is waiting!” 

I tried to voice up my objection, thinking of Michelle and the deal, but not a single word escaped my mouth due to the severe pain I was feeling. I could simply watch as the man who was called Leo, tucked his gun at his back and they hurriedly started to gather all the money bags. 

“Take… Me… To… My… Daughter…” I whispered strugglingly. “We had… A… Deal…”

“There’s no deal, bitch! We’re just here for the money! We played you for a fool! As for your daughter, she will be in safe hands. Don’t you worry about that.” 

“NO! WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER? WE HAD AN AGREEMENT THAT YOU WILL TAKE ME TO HER!” I screamed from the top of my lungs, fighting against extreme pain with all that was left of me.

“YOU FUCKING… SONS OF BITCHES! WHERE’S… THE KID?” Lewis exclaimed hoarsely as he tried to stand up. 

“Huh! Amateurs! You really think you will get your kid back, barbie doll? She will be with the person where she truly belongs. Her fa…” 

“TRAVIS!” The one called Leo immediately interrupted his companion’s words. “You talked too much! Let’s go!” With haste, they scrammed and headed down the stairs straight to the basement. 

“NO! WHERE’S MICHELLE?” 

“I’ll follow them, Penelope. You stay here.” 

“No, Lewis! They’ll kill you!” 

“I had to! That’s the only way to know where Michelle is!” Before I could further protest, Lewis was out of sight and headed down as well.   

***

As I struggled to keep up with those two, I tried my very best to clear my slightly shaken mind due to the blows I received. Just as I thought, these criminals will not comply with their part of the deal that they stated to Penelope. They are only here for the ransom money and really intended to screw Penelope. They didn’t have any intentions of giving back Michelle, as what they said earlier, they didn’t have her with them. So that only means, Penelope was being tricked and was indeed just played for a fool. 

I was right all along. If only Penelope listened to me and smartly thought first before proceeding, none of us would be hurt and these criminals wouldn’t have the money. So what now? How would we be able to get Michelle back, now that these criminals got what they are here for? 

The minute I reached the basement, my heart suddenly leaped with utmost joy as I gazed ahead of me. The two men I was following were surrounded by General Lombard’s men, all guns aiming at them from different angles, outnumbering them as they stood rooted on the ground with their hands above their heads. 

“Don’t even think of moving! We will not hesitate to shoot the both of you if you try to!” One police officer stated. 

When one of the brave soldiers saw me, he immediately rushed towards me. “Are you alright, Mr. White? Where’s Miss Hunt?” 

“I’m alright. Go check on her, she’s at the stairs. Her body’s been badly beaten. She’s been slammed at the wall by one of these psychos, check on her please.” 

“Alright, Sir.” 

I walked towards the others, somehow feeling relieved even though we haven’t retrieved Michelle yet. At least these criminals didn’t have their ransom money as well, which evened and tied the score. 

***

“Boss,” My eyes immediately looked at the driver then at Ivar, who was looking straight ahead. 

“FUCK! GODDAMMIT! LET’S GO! LET’S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!” He ragingly commanded, which made me wonder. 

“Wait! What about our money? We still haven’t got our money, Ivar!” 

“They got busted!, Pamela, look ahead.” Ivar instantly uttered and pointed at the windshield. 

I looked ahead and saw two men, who were being dragged by several civilians, which I presumed were cops. I cursed inside my head before looking at Michael, whose eyes were also fixed in front.

“What will we do now? I thought this would be just a piece of cake for your men.” 

“We need to re-plan everything, but first, we must get out of here. These cops might be in search of the others. Go! I’ll call the rest to retreat.” The driver immediately started the engine and minutes after, the car was speeding away from the arena. 

All the excitement and overjoyed feeling I felt earlier burst into thin air. The exhilaration turned sour and it was frustratingly annoying. I thought everything will be smooth-sailing and I will be a billionaire before this night ends. But everything went down the hill and this extremely pisses me off. 

My head swiftly turned to Michael the moment he sighed heavily and slumped back. He started to massage his temple with his eyes closed. He too must be dismayed at the outcome, well who wouldn’t? When we were all expecting that huge sum of money that is now blown by the wind.