CHAPTER 32: CHAPTER 32 THE HITMAN

*ALORA*

“Alora, we’ve already gone over this before, you can’t fire him.”Oscar said to me on the phone.

“This time, I have a valid reason, he keeps getting on my nerve!”

“Can you stop fighting your bodyguard? He needs to focus on fighting the person who’s trying to kill you.”

“He...he called me a brat!” I thundered.

“Fine, I’m going to talk to him about being respectful to you. But you also have to be respectful towards him. He’s human at the end of the day.”

“I did nothing wrong! Why are you on his side?”

“I’m not. I just want you two to be able to work together...”

I hung up on him and sank on the couch.

He had known me longer than Caden and he thinks I’m the problem?

So much for being loyal.

As I laid on my bed that night, I thought back to the conversation in his car.

When we talked about acting, I loved talking about what I do.

I smiled recalling when he said I more than deserved to be an A-list actress.

Realizing that I was thinking about Caden, I quickly stopped smiling.

I shook my head.

What was wrong with me?

That was Caden, the number one guy whom I shouldn’t get involved with.

I had to be professional with him.

I do not need a man to mess up my life!

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

*CADEN*

“The tattoo on his neck is an axe tattoo, we ran through the databases of the state, further observation on the black box showed that he has distinct eye features, he’s browned eyed in one of his eye and the other is slightly red, plus half closed, like he got an injury there or something, both investigations had led us to a man with that features, Jerome Wells.” Mason said to me on the phone.

I felt relieved that they were getting strong leads on the man who had kidnapped Alora.

“So what next?”

“I’m gonna go with Brody tomorrow, I had managed to trace where he lives, we have see if we can catch him unaware.”

“You don’t sound confident about that?”

“He has a criminal record, he’s been to jail before for murder. I don’t know how he got out though but that man is a professional hitman.”

I swallowed. “Let me come with you tomorrow.”I offered.

“You sure about that?”

“Yeah.”

***********

The following day, Mason, Brody and I arrived at a remote area downtown.

We stood in front of an apartment which looked dilapidated.

Alertly, we headed into the building. Mason didn’t know the precise room number the man lived so we knocked on a door.

A woman opened up, she looked at us, suspiciously.

“Sorry, we’re friends of Jerome Wells, can you tell us his room number?”Mason asked.

The woman scoffed.”Jerome? That weird looking man? People are always looking for him.” She pointed at a door.

As we turned around, she let out.

“I’m not sure he’s home though, he hasn’t been home in like weeks.”

I glanced at her, she seemed like a lower level person, struggling to survive.

Mason, Brody and I headed for the door.

We didn’t bother to knock, Brody burst into the apartment.

A bad stench hit us.

We searched around the apartment, it really seemed like someone hadn’t been in it for weeks, there was bottles littered everywhere.

Plus, half eaten food that had got rotten.

“I think he hasn’t been back since he attacked Alora, he probably went to live someone else so he wouldn’t get found, easily.”

I moved closer to a wall, it was covered with a black cotton.

Curiously, I lifted it up.

Mason and Brody moved closer to me, they were some pictures, pictures of a lot of people, men, women pasted on the wall, I felt chills seeing a picture of Alora.

“This must all be his victims.” Brody announced.

Mason brought out his cellphone and called the cops.

They arrived almost immediately, they had a search warrant, they ransacked the whole place and found a lot of ammunitions.

It was discovered that the other pictures were people who had been reported missing, some were found dead and the bodies of the others haven’t been found.

Promptly, a wanted notice was put out for him. A generous reward was also added.

As Mason and I walked out of the police station, he said to me.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of criminals in my line of work. Jerome declared wanted isn’t going to make him give up. If anything, I feel it’s going to make him mad and try and finish the work that got him caught.”

“So you think he’s still going to come after Alora?” I asked.

He nodded.”So I was thinking, if you could...if you could let my men handle this.”

“You feel I can’t handle Jerome?”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, Man. Fine, the money you paid me was great and all but Caden, I’ve watched you struggle for the past eight years, first three in jail, and then coming out, you worked so hard, too fucking hard to get to where you are now, I just think you shouldn’t have signed up for this. You should focus on your company and enjoying your life now. If anything should happen to you, I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive myself.”

I laughed and said, sarcastically.”Your concern is touching. But you should know that when I set my mind onto something, I don’t give up halfway. You already know how many times I’ve escaped death, so don’t worry, I won’t die.”

Mason sighed.”I still don’t know why you’re doing this for someone who constantly wants to fire you.”

I laughed.”Was I reported to you again?”

“Yeah, you were. Oscar said you were being disrespectful to her.”

“She was just being a brat.”

“Caden, she’s the employer, I thought I made that clear before.”

“Yeah, right.”

Mason patted my shoulder.”Be careful.” With that, he walked off.

***********

When I got into my car, I had an uneasy feeling.

A hitman was after Alora?

Thinking of someone killing her made my blood boil, it also sent me into a panicked state.

I have to protect her at all times. But knowing how skilled hitmen were, one could never be too careful.

I realized that I needed to know of her location at all times.

A tracker was already on her phone. It was what Oscar had used in finding her the last time.

But what if she wasn’t with her cellphone?

I ransacked my brain thinking of what to do. I needed to make sure that I could never lose track of her.

What could I use in tracking her that no one would notice?

It could be on her 24/7 but no one would even think a tracking device was on it.

My cellphone rang out, halting my thoughts.

I brought it out.

It was Vance.

“Hello, Mr Ford.”

“Talk to me.”

“It’s about Mr Steele, CEO from Steele Group.”

“Didn’t I already made it clear that I wasn’t doing business with them?”

“I’ve told him repeatedly but recently, he keeps lurking around the company’s premises, insisting on meeting with the president, he says that once you listen to his proposal yourself, you’d be wowed.”

Too bad for him I didn’t want to listen to it.

“Have security chase him out and ban him from ever entering the premises.”With that, I hung up.

I couldn’t hide my identity as Ford Group’s CEO forever.

I had no plans on hiding it forever either.

I just haven’t found the perfect way to announce the news yet.

It’d break the internet for sure.

After all, a lot of people wanted to meet Ford Group’s CEO.

I smirked as I started the car, as I drove past a jewelry store, an idea struck me and I quickly pulled over.

**********

I knocked on the door of Alora’s bedroom the following day. I knew she would be down in a minute because she was having brunch with a friend.

But I wanted to give her something, discreetly.

“Come in.”

I bent the doorknob and walked in.

I found her standing in front of a mirror, my breath caught as I took her in.