TRAPPED: THE UNFORESEEN

"Alex" Vanessa called out "Alex" she called again when she got no response "Omg! What have I done?" She screamed dropping the iron rod she was holding. "I...I...didn't mean for this to happen" She stuttered as she knelt beside the still body. She ran her fingers from his face down to his neck as she tried to feel his pulse. "He is dead" She whispered to herself "He is dead" she said again, this time louder than the first. "What am I going to do?" She stood up pacing the room trying to think.

"I need to act fast before the rest of the group notices anything." Vanessa shit one last look at the dead body before storming out of the place.

Hours later, Vanessa came back with her best friend Mariana, they were holding diggers. "Vanessa, what did you do?" Mariana gasped on seeing Alex who was now covered in a pool of his blood. "How did this happen?" Mariana asked again and Vanessa said nothing. "Vanessa talk to me, what is going on here?" She continued "Mariana, this is not a time to start talking, we need to get to work before the boss notices his son absent and send the group out to search for him" Vanessa finally spoke walking towards the dead body. Mariana was transfixed to the same spot, staring on at the dead body in bewilderment. "Mariana please come and help me, let us get this body moving" Vanessa pleaded grabbing Alex's hands. Mariana grabbed his leg and they both dragged him out of the empty warehouse and yanked him into the trunk of Vanessa's car. Mariana and Vanessa both entered into the car and Vanessa drove out of the place. Speeding on the highway, "So where are we taking the body to?" Mariana asked "I know an abandoned farmland at the outskirt of town, I use to camp there a lot with my dad when I was younger" Vanessa replied. Taking her eyes of the road, she searched the look on Mariana's face to see if she was in support of the plan. "I think you should start talking on how you got into this mess" Mariana said. "No I think we should focus on disposing this body without leaving a trace because the consequences attached to this is going to be unbearable" Vanessa replied. "So you you there are going to be consequences to do this and you still went on with your action" Mariana scolded Vanessa who said nothing "Why Vanessa? Why?" She asked tearfully "Look Mariana, I wasn't thinking?"

"What do you mean by you weren't thinking?"

"I was trapped"

"Was your brain also trapped?" Mariana asked getting angry as she let a soft sob slip out of her mouth.

"Mariana, you are not going to understand, and I can't start explaining anything to you now. We should just leave things the way it is now, I dint want you getting involved more than you already are" Vanessa answered with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"It is too late to say that now, I am already involves in the mess you made" Mariana said sobbing louder.

"Please Mariana can you just calm down so we can think of a way out of this?"

"There isn't any way out of this, can't you see?"

"There is always a way out of every situation , all we need to do is find it or create one" Vanessa said calmly.

"The best way out of this is going to show the dead body tonthe boss and explain what transpired between both of you"

"No Mariana, how can you say a thing like that?"

"Do you have any other idea aside dumping the body in an abandon farmland where your dad takes you for camping when you were you get ?" Mariana asked sarcastically.

"For now, that is the best idea I can think of"

"Can you listen to yourself Vanessa? You are just piling up your mess"

"I am going to find a way through all of this"

"You may be dead before then"

"Do you think the boss is going to allow you walk out of his presence freely after showing him his son coprse?"

"No, but he may lessen the punishment" Mariana replied.

"You and I knows that isnt true"

"What do you think is the truth?"

"An eye for and eye" Vanessa said.

"You can't just concluded on that" Mariana said pressing further

"We can't take chances here Mariana, we can't"

"Why don't we call Karen and fill him in?"

"No, we can't get any other person involved in this, this is between the both of us now and it should end as that"

"Vanessa, do you understand you are endangering our lives, my life, if we go on with this?"

"That is an outcome of my action we can't change, well not for now"

"This is a terrible plan" Mariana sighed.

"We are here already" Vanessa said as she swayed the vehicle out of the main road into a bushy part.

"Mariana dig faster" Vanessa said wiping the beads of presipiration off her face. "I am trying, I am not a labourer" Mariana replied "Isn't it weird that I have not gotten any call from Karen?" Vanessa asked "Do you also have a business with him tonight?" Mariana replied her question with another question "Nah" "then why should he call you?" "He is suppose to be guarding Alex today, but Alex asked him to stay back at the office while he drove down to the warehouse with me" Vanessa replied.

"Now that is weird, he ought to have blown your phone up with calls wanting to know about Alex's whereabout" Mariana said "Exactly, or do you think something is also happening back at the office?" Vanessa asked "I don't think so, he is probably confident that you will keep Alex safe" Mariana replied "And now, i have done the complete opposite of that" Vanessa paused for a bit then resumed again. Mariana shoved the digger dip into the soil, folding her hands across her chest "Vanessa, I have given you enough time to shake out the event that just happened, right now I want you to talk to me, I'm tired of you leaving me in the dark" she said. "Oh Mariana, I'm not leaving you in the dark, please i want you to understand this isn't the right time to start talking, we have a lot of work to handle" Vanessa answered "I am not taking that excuse for an answer, you better start talking or I will walk out of here and head straight to the boss" Mariana threatened. "Please Mariana, don't make this case more complicated than it already is" Vanessa pleaded calmly. "Then you better start talking"

"Alex wanted me to do a dirty job" Vanessa stop for a while to catch her breath "And?" Mariana asked leaning forward. "And what happened in the warehouse was me trying to fight for my life" Vanessa replied. "What dirty job, aren't all our job dirty?" "I can't say more than that for now Mariana" "What do you mean by fighting for your life?" She asked ignoring Vanessa's. "Can we just get back to work?" Please?" "I am not following any of your orders till I get a detailed explanation on how we got here" Mariana fired. "What don't you understand? We don't have enough time for chit chat is that hard for you to grasp?" Vanessa fired back. Mariana was quiet. Vanessa picked up her digger and continued covering the shallow grave they had dug with the body in it while Mariana mopped at her.

"I know you are going through a tough time, but I want to help, Vanessa you need me, you need my help and I can't help if I don't fully understand what is going on here" Mariana said soothingly as they walk back to the car after completing their work. "I know, I am going to fill you in on what happened but this isn't the right time, I don't feel like talking about any of it now" Vanessa replied. "You shouldn't give your emotions the chance to way you down, like you said we don't have much time and we need to cover our tracks, we need to come up with a solid plan to do that so your mind has to be in the right frame" Mariana continued. "Get into the car, I will drop you off at your place before heading to mine" Vanessa said ignoring Mariana's last statement. "No no no, I'm not going to let you stay at your place alone" "I am fine Mariana, don't worry too much about me" "I am, is either you come stay at my place or we both go to your place together" Mariana replied "Okay fine, you can come with me to my place" Vanessa said.

POV KAREN

Karen was sitted across the office desk reading a fashion magazine as he tapped his feet nervously on the floor. "Sir, we just got feedback from the team you sent to Alex house" Clark, one of Karen team member said as he walked into the office. "What did they say?" Karen asked dropping the magazine on the stool beside him. "There was no one in the house" Clark replied "Are they sure? Did they check thoroughly?" "Yes sir, they also said the porche car Alex drove out today was not in the parking lot" "Meaning he hasn't gone home since he left the office" Karen said "Don't you think we should inform the boss?" Clark asked "Not until we have confirm the situation" Karen replied "What about the team I sent out to the warehouse?" He asked "No news from them yet" Clark answered "You can go back to your post and wait for their feed back. In the mean time make sure no one outside this building know what is happening" Karen stated "Yes sir" Clark said bowing his head slightly before working out.

Few minutes later, Clark came back to Karen's office to tell him what he got from the team that was sent to the warehouse "What do you mean by there was blood on the floor?" Karen yelled jumping on his feet. "They also said there was no one in the warehouse, but Alex car was parked outside and Vanessa car wasn't" Clark continued "Could it be that they went to another place after the warehouse?" Karen murmured to himself "The blood? What happened, Vanessa would have called me if there was any problem" he continued "Gather the rest of the team, I will join you shortly" Karen ordered "Yes sir" Clark said walking out. "This is bullshit" Karen shouted slapping his hand on the office desk. "How did I let my guards down without realizing it?" He added. "Vanessa" he called out as if she was there with him. He ran across the office to where the landline was and dailed a number "Pick, pick, pick" he said nervously as the call was going through but no response. He angrily slammed the phone to the wall before walking out of the office. When he got to the ground floor of the office building, Clark had already gathered the team and was addressing them, he told them about the situation before them, where they were going to and what they are going to do. Karen added a little talk when Clark finish addressing them and they all stormed out of the office building.

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