Chapter 4 Edward Flynn

Kate awoke to the humming noise of the ceiling fan and the intense pain at the back of her head. She doesn't recall the fan being on when she came into the office. She knew Sarah must have turned on the fan. As she stood on her feet, she wobbled, finding support on the table, she realized her wristwatch was gone.

"Thief" she whispered. She looked at the alarm clock on the table, it was 4:23 am. Leaving the office, she noticed a sticky note on the door that read: HOPE YOU SLEPT LIKE A BABY.

"Bitch!" She said angrily. she squeezed the note and kept it inside her coat pocket. She walked down the hallway towards the stairs, a woman had passed by a few seconds ago.

"Excuse me ma, there's blood on your neck," said the woman.

Kate stopped and reached for her neck, she felt the warm liquid on her fingers. She was injured. She hurried down the stairs, conscious of her environment. She goes to the parking lot and gets into her car. She searched through her bag and found a scarf. She pressed hard against her neck with the scarf.

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A while later she arrived home. She looked at the time on her phone, it was 6:00 am. Kate sneaked inside the house to make sure nobody saw her. As she climbed the stairs that led to her room, she could hear the sound of soft moans coming from her room. She hesitated whether to knock or not on the slightly jarred door. She peeped inside and saw Cassandra sitted on a man's lap facing him, their legs wrapped around each other.

"Don't stop" she whispered. He pushed inside her and sucked at her nipples pulling them strongly as she slowly grinds him. Locked into each other's deep gaze, she clawed her nails into his back, "ha" he sighed, she felt the hot air on her face. She clutched at his hair, his warm lips left hers, and kissed her neck. She let out a low moan and opened her eyes to see kate peeping.

"Kate!" She screamed. The man quickly got up, just as Kate entered the room and reached for a pillow to hide his genitals, and ran out. Kate looked away in embarrassment while Cassandra hurried to wear her clothes.

"I'm never using that pillow again, Ah" she groaned in pain.

"Oh my God, come you're bleeding," said Cassandra, who beckoned to Kate to sit on the bed, Kate still mortified refused to sit on the bed. She sat down on a chair beside the window.

Cassandra brings over a sewing kit, a bottle of alcohol, and some medications.

"What are you doing," said Kate. Cassandra rubs her hands with sanitizer and drank some alcohol.

"Relax, I have watched tutorials on youtube" she smiled "it's just like sewing two fabrics together".

"Very assuring," Kate said in a sarcastic tone.

"How did this happen?" She asked.

"He called, mum's lawyer, I went to meet him in the office and then met a witch," said Kate.

"A witch?" She said.

"Sarah, she did this to me," said Kate in an angry manner.

"You are lucky the cut isn't too deep but you bleed a lot".

"I guess taking blood capsules is effective," said Kate.

"What was she doing there," she said.

"How the hell would I know" Kate paused "I didn't see Mr. Felix in his office".

"Do you think Sarah must have done something to him?" she asked, now curious.

"I don't know, but when he called the other day he sounded scared and it seemed he had something important to tell me," said Kate.

Cassandra had finished stitching up kate when the telephone rang.

"Hello, Richardson residence," she said eagerly.

"Is this Kate Richardson?" Said the caller.

"No, Kate is not around" she looked at Kate taking a pill.

"Please deliver this message to her, Mr. Felix is dead, he was brought to the hospital with multiple stab wounds by an anonymous person. Before he died, he gave us this number and the name kate; he said to tell her to "BE CAREFUL WITH THE TIGER". The caller hangs up.

Cassandra froze for a moment. Her reaction caused kate to be disturbed, she reached for her hands and inquired about the call. She explained everything to Kate. Her thoughts went to the fact that Sarah was in the office with Kate, could she have killed Felix? Suddenly, Kate stood up, her teeth clamped, her heart racing. fingerprint!. She had been in the office, traces of her blood must be there and a woman had seen her bleeding. She was a suspect. The last time she panicked like this was the night her mom died. What if the police questioned her?, No one wants to do business with a murder suspect.

The telephone rings again, Kate is startled; could it be the police. Kate rushed out of the room.

"Kate!"

"I'm going to see aunt Patricia" Kate shouted as she headed down the stairs. Patricia's house was just a mile away from Richardson's maybe mansion. A house with similar features to the Richardson home, the house was the first to be built after her great grandfather had bought half of the area. There was a statue of a knight on a horse in motion holding a lance on the driveway that led to the house. Kate had knocked on the door but no response. She was about to press the doorbell when the door was opened by a female bodyguard. She was surprised, usually, a maid would open the door.

The bodyguard made a polite bow as she entered the house. Kate heard the door lock behind her, she noticed the house had more bodyguards than usual. She followed the bodyguard through the kitchen and into the garden, she sees Patrica in a state of meditation listening to Mozart and sipping her coffee. The bodyguard slowly bent down and whispered into Patricia's ears, she immediately opened her eyes.

"If it isn't my favorite Richardson" she goes to hug Kate and kiss her forehead. She smiled. She ushered Kate to sit in front of her. Kate at the corner of her eyes glimpsed through the kitchen door; a battered man being dragged away.

"So what can I do for you," said Patricia.

"Oh" her mind had wandered off for a second "I have a situation". She explained her unfortunate position to Patricia.

"Please please help me out," she said.

Patricia had bowed her head for a moment. Then spoke slowly in a disappointed tone "You don't want to get involved in the garbage business. She sighed. But whenever you need to save yourself you come to me" Patricia smiled grimly " it doesn't work like that".

"Will you help me or not?" she said cockily.

"I will" she nodded "I will send Andy to clean up the whole thing but you owe me". Andy was Patricia's most loyal, trusted, and trained soldier; if she needed a clean job done by someone who wouldn't feel reluctant to do anything, she would call Andy.

"What do you want?" She asked, unsure of what Patricia would say.

"Have breakfast with me" said Patricia.

They moved to the dining room through a hallway, there's a lot of framed pictures hanging on the wall. Kate stopped as she noticed a picture of her mom sitting on a chair holding a 3years old Cassandra on her lap, with Sarah and her standing on each side of the chair. She remembered the day they took the picture like it was yesterday, she had fought with Sarah earlier that morning because Sarah got in trouble at school and was suspended for the third time that year but she couldn't tell her mom because that will mean Sarah wouldnt to be included in the picture. Kate sighed. She felt nostalgic.

The golden chandelier lit up the room and the beautiful Bali lotus flower carvings on the wall with its many candles. Patricia had ordered the chef to make Kate's favorite dish, after Patricia said grace, a visually attractive man in his early fifties, dressed like a cowboy holding a greyhound by the chain walked into the room with Cassandra by his side. They both sat opposite kate.

The room immediately became quiet, the atmosphere filled with tension. Kate watched the man-eating happily with a scornful look. She stood up abruptly. Cassandra and Patricia exchanged looks.

"Kate," said the man.

Kate sighed deeply "Edward". She said curtly.

"Please sit down kate," said Patricia without looking up.

"No!" She screamed "I am not going to sit here with this hypocrite and act like everything is fine".

"Show some respect for your father" Patricia hits the table, Cassandra gasped.

"He's not my father" she looked at him "my father died a long time ago".

"I am your father" he shrugged.

"You are a cold, inconsiderate man, who hated his marriage and his children because they were products of a forced marriage".

"My blood floods through your veins, you can't get rid of me" he smiled.

"Your blood may flow through my vein but Don't forget that I am a Richardson, not a Flynn" she chuckled

"I would never bear the name of a dog that runs to its master upon hearing a whistle".

On impulse, Edward gets up and tugged at kate's collar.

"Don't test my patience" he said. Kate smiled without warmth as she pushed away his hands.

"I have to go, thanks for breakfast" she looked at Patricia. "Aren't you coming Cassandra"?

"I did not hate your mother," he said.

She paused and replied without looking at him.

"But you led her to her death," she said as she walked away. Cassandra hurriedly got up and ran after Kate. Then they were gone.

NOTE

*Garbage business is a euphemism for organized crime.

*Soldier- the bottom-level member of an organized crime Family. The "dirty work" is done by a soldier.