Chapter 3 WHERE IS ALEX

Vanessa crounched up herself at the far end of the bed when Mariana came into the room holding a tray with two cups of steaming hot coffee placed properly on it. "You are awake" she said "I couldn't sleep, I couldn't get what happened yesterday out of my mind" Vanessa replied. "That is completely normal, I was also restless through out the night but you have to try and sleep, you don't look good at all" "I don't care about looking good, I'm concerned about how we would get out of this situation" Vanessa stated.

"I think is high time you let me in, tell me what happened?" Mariana asked "Mariana, I have already told you what I can tell you, you shouldn't bother about the rest of it" "How can you say that? How can I possibly not be bothered about the rest of it?" "It will get you into more trouble than you already are" Vanessa answered. "I'm already in trouble Vanessa, don't you get it? Holding back things from me won't get me out of this mess" Mariana said handing over a cup of coffee from the tray to Vanessa "You should have this first" she added "Mariana, I know it won't get you out of the mess I already created, but it will help lessen the burden" Vanessa said and took a sip from her cup. "Do you know what I want you to do for me now?" Vanessa asked and Mariana just shrugged. "I want you to get dress, put on a good mood and go to work like nothing has happened" she continued. "No Vanessa, I can't go to work, what if they start questioning me about your whereabout, and you know I am not too good at pretending" Mariana queried. "No, they won't question, rather they would take you off their suspect list and by the way I would not be completely absent from work today, I would be there but I will come very late" Vanessa said. "Won't that make you a suspecting? Not following your normal schedule" "I would tell Karen I went to the end of town to see my mum, he is going to believe me because I have told him several times about my plans on going to see my mum" Vanessa replied. "So you are going to see your mum now?" Mariana asked frowning "Yes, so Incase they go behind my back to confirm it, they would know I wasn't lying" "But your mum can't see you like this, she would be more worried than anything" "I can handle my mum, you just focus on playing your part, and remember if they ever ask you about my whereabout you tell them you haven't seen me since the close of work yesterday, got it?" Vanessa asked "Yes, yes I do. Let me go prepare for work" Mariana said and left the room still holding her cup of coffee.

POV D'ARREZZO, THE MAFIA BOSS OFFICE.

"Karen, what is this silly report that I am getting this morning?" D'Arrezzo asked. "Boss, my guys are still out there trying to get details on what is going on" Karen replied. "Where were you last night?" D'Arrezzo asked slowly standing up from his chair, he walked up to him. "I was here at the office" Karen replied. "Doing what?" D'Arrezzo questioned again. "Nothing Boss" taarrrhhh! The boss slapped Karen across his cheek, drawing blood from his lips. "You stayed back at the office doing nothing, and you allowed Alex go out by himself. What is your duty?" "To protect Alex" "How did you think you will protect him when you stayed back at the office?" "I was just following his order boss, he said he wanted to go out alone with Vanessa" Karen replied. "Vanessa, who is Vanessa?" D'Arrezzo asked surprised. "She is one of the body guard in my team boss" Karen answered. "What does she have to do with my son? Why would Alex take only her along with him and leave you the head of the team back at the office? What business do both of them have?" D'Arrezzo questioned repeatedly, slightly raising his voice. "I know nothing about that boss, it also came as a surprise to me." "Have they ever gone out alone before?" D'Arrezo went on with his questions. "None that I know of boss" Karen replied. "This shows you are not doing you work effectively" D'Arrezzo said walking back to his seat "I need answers on the whereabout of my son before 12 midnight, or you won't live to see day break" D'Arrezzo warned and Karen nodded his head slightly. "I'm I fully understood?" He asked "Yes boss" Karen said. "Come back to my office when you have any news for me" "Yes boss" Karen stamped is right feet and threw his hands in the air as a sign of greeting before he left the office.

Karen bumped into Clark on his way back from D'Arrezzo's office. "Sir, where have you been? We have been looking for you" Clark said. "I was with the boss, anything?" He asked "Nothing much, Mariana..." "Follow me, let us talk in my office" he said cutting Clark short and they both walked to his office together. "Marina just came to work few hours ago" Clark said when they got into Karen's office. "How Is that related to this case?" Karen asked annoyed. "We can ask her for the where about of Vanessa" "But she did not go out with them?" "Who knows, maybe Vanessa may have called her along the line and told her about the situation of things" Clark went on. Stroking his beards gently, "You have a point" he said "Should I bring her in?" Clark asked "Yes, do that now" he went on to sit on his reading table while Clark left the office. Few minutes later, he came back to the office with Mariana behind him. "She is here sir" Clark announced when they entered. "You may leave us Clark" he stated and Clark left them. "How are you doing Mariana?" "I'm fine sir" "You were late for work today, why?" Karen asked further "I woke up really late today" Mariana replied. "You woke up late? That is your excuse?" "I'm so sorry sir, I would make sure it doesn't happen again" Mariana pleaded. "And you did not bother taking excuse" "That was because I did not plan on being late" Mariana answered. "I would forgive you just this once, but you should let such a thing happen again unless you will have to face the boss yourself" Karen warned her strictly pointing his index finger at her. "I promise sir" "Have you seen Vanessa this morning?" He asked. "No sir, why?" "Have you heard from her?" "No, I last saw her at the canteen during lunch yesterday" "Did she tell you anything about going anywhere or anything about Alex?" Karen asked "We didn't have so much time to talk about