He smiled and looked at me as if to say he wanted more from the deal.

“Here is a copy of all the evidence against Senator Alby, he has nothing on you should you choose to use this,” I said.

“Okay, this sounds nice,” he replied.

“Remember the Senate is now yours when you want us to come in to remind the other nine senate leaders who conspired with Senator Alby. Feel free to reach me,” I said.

“Thank you, this is what I call a deal. Let’s talk later Cassie. Have a great day,” he said.

Amidst the tension, my phone buzzed, and I answered, hoping for a glimmer of clarity. Shantel's voice crackled through the line, a desperate plea for understanding. I took an excuse from Senator Thomas to talk to Shantel.

"Cassie," she said, her words rushed, "we're in the back of a truck. They took us somewhere, but I don't know where. It's dark, and we can't see anything."

“Okay, get me the GPS location, and please try as much as possible to keep this phone on at all times,” I said.

Turning towards the Senator, I said “Senator I want to thank you for your understanding but I must rush now,” as I signaled to Larry to let us go.

The revelation sent a surge of anxiety through me. I had reassured Shantel, promising that we would find them and bring them to safety.

As Larry and I mobilized to trace the location of the truck, the gravity of the situation settled over us. I wanted to know who are these amateurs that they could not even locate Shantel's phone. Larry suggested what if they wanted us to locate them and it was us that they were after.

The location was pinpointed as a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Larry and I approached with caution, the shadows of anticipation hanging thick in the air.

Larry was driving pretty fast. I had to remind him that we were in the city and I did not want the police to come after us for speed driving. He calmed down and reduced the speed, but not without telling me first that I had to know how to get police influence in my empire.

It knocked hard on my head but we both laughed it off as we approached a scanty warehouse outside of town.

“Are you ready, Cassie?” Larry asked me. I think he only does this to pump me up for action, because why ask an assassin if she is always ready?

“I am always ready, and you know that,” I said, smiling.

Immediately we approached the warehouse, there were multiple gunshots from two machine guns stationed at mount the entrance. We took a shield at the door for safety position and from a tiny hole in the door I could see the men hiding in our east and west positions.

“Cassie, should I go around?” Larry asked.

“Nope, from their position they are only stationed to shoot at anything from the front. Can you draw them out for me?” I asked Larry.

“Okay, boss!” Larry said as he made a fake movement across the door.

Immediately, they shot at him again and I shot both of them. One of them fell down from the top of the crane where he was shooting from.

Larry looked at me and I said, “It is time to turn around and, please, this time, don’t take so long too,”

‘Aye Aye Captain,” he said as he moved towards the back. I do not even understand why all of a sudden he became funny.

I went forward to where the GPS pointed out. I had been calling out Shantel before now and she did not respond. So it told me that there was a watcher in the room where she was.

Larry had joined me, he said everywhere was clear and that he did not see anybody from the back. I told him we might have a watcher in there.

We signaled to ourselves. Larry was going to bang the door open and I was going to go in and get those clowns that held Shantel and her father in there.

I took out my knives and Larry looked at me, shaking his head, indicating that knives were not the best solution for the purpose of my attack.

I smiled as I ignored him. Who is Larry to tell me what tool is best for my job? I looked at him and shook my head too.

Larry banged the door open and there were two men holding each of them at gunpoint. The first knife was on the forehead of the man that held Shantel, while the other knife was on the chest of the other one that held Mr. Ross.

I went straight to the one who was stabbed in the chest. He looked at me and pleaded that I should help him. He was dying slowly and it was either I helped him live or I quickened his death.

“You know you could live if you just told me who sent you. From what I see, you don’t look great,” I said.

It was painful for him to talk, but he tried anyway, “The - - The - - The Con - - Con - - trac - - tractor,” he said.

It did not make sense this was not his type of hit and why would he come after Shantel and Mr. Ross? I turned quickly to our freed friends. “Please someone tell me that the hard drive is secured and we don’t have to worry about Marvin,”

Yes we‘ve got it, why do you ask?” Shantel said.

“I don’t know but I have a feeling that someone is trying to bury us by making it look like the contractor,” I said.

“Please help me,” cried the man.

“What you will get is a bullet to your head if you do not tell me who ordered this hit?” I shouted.

“It was a Simpson th–at, it wa- -s a Simpson,” he said, and those were his last words. I did not need to do anything.

This thing just got shitty and we now have to figure out which of the Simpsons. Everyone thought the same thing. It was Uncle Jonah, but I knew it was not and that something did not look straight.

As we escorted Shantel and Mr. Ross to safety, their gratitude was written all over their faces. Shantel's eyes held a mixture of fear and resilience, it was just the resultant effect of what she had faced. Mr. Ross, a father reunited with his daughter, exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

We got into different cars, taking one of the minivans the highjackers had used to kidnap Shantel and her father.

As we parted ways with Shantel and Mr. Ross, my phone buzzed once more. Shantel's voice, now steadier, resonated through the line. "Cassie, thank you for saving us. We owe you our lives."

I smiled, the echoes of gratitude and relief intertwining in my response. "Shantel, focus on staying safe. We'll navigate all this together, and we'll ensure that the little setback doesn't consume our efforts and purpose."

The call ended, leaving me with a sense of purpose and determination. The shadows that had threatened to engulf us were still present, and I had come into these people's lives trying to mess things up, but in the victory of rescuing Shantel and Mr. Ross, a glimmer of hope emerged.

I asked Larry to take me to Marvin’s place. I wanted to make sure it was not his own father or the stupid, cruel Uncle Jonah that was orchestrating this. Something does not feel right in all this.

A thought came to me ‘What if it was Marvin who was orchestrating all this to free himself from all that was going to happen to him in the future? What if he is trying to affect some changes in the will of his father?