EVANGELISTA'S POV
Zuri's brows knotted in great disappointment as she acted like she was going to throw my phone into the wall.
"Israel! Damn, he has been arrested!" she said. "Troy!" she screamed.
"Yes boss", Troy became more alert.
"Take this phone to our technician immediately", Zuri spoke in a hurry. "Delete all call traces. Destroy the line. Make sure no calls can be traced. Do it immediately!"
"Yes boss," Troy nodded and called for someone to come and get the phone.
Zuri turned to stare at me and forced a smile, "so you were telling the truth? You actually know Israel?"
"I do."
"Tell me, how do you know him?"
"Well like I said, he has a sister whose name is Evangelista. She is my good friend. That's how I got to know Israel."
"Do you have Evangelista's number?"
"No", I shook my head. "Eva does not use a phone. I can't call her. She is the one who calls me, and she has been out of the country for many years now. I don't know why, but Israel said he doesn't want anyone to know about her", I lied.
Zuri and Troy exchanged glances.
"Which city does she stay in? She's your friend, you must at least know that."
"She is out of the country", I said.
"Let's check for her on social media", Troy said to Zuri.
"You can try but you won't find a thing. Israel doesn't allow her to be on social media." I tried to dissuade them from searching. Not that they were going to find anything anyway. I did have numerous accounts but I never used my real name in any of them. If they had proceeded to check, they would have found no Evangelista Bassard; or if there was such a name, then it would be just a namesake, for there was no account with my real name on social media.
Troy did check, shook his head after a while and said, "Israel has done a great job of hiding this sister of his."
"It means he values her a lot. We have to find her. We'll use her to make Israel bow to us," Zuri sneered.
"But now it appears like he has been arrested," Troy sighed.
"Get our men to find out why and where he has been arrested." Zuri said as she began to walk out.
"Wait!" I called after Zuri. "What about the promise? You said if I managed to get in touch with Israel, you would make me go?"
"Not so fast", Zuri spoke with finality before marching out of the room.
"Stop!" my voice was very commanding that Zuri was shocked. She turned and looked at me, shock written all over her eyes.
At that time, my survival had become a matter of life and death, and I told myself that no matter how, I was going to free myself.
The two continued staring at me. The fact that I had connection to Israel had scared them, that much I was able to tell, so I decided to use it while that fact was still fresh.
"You don't want to mess with me," I used my most threatening tone; the best that I could master.
"What do you mean?" Zuri's voice was equally firm.
"Don't try me, Zuri. You don't know who I am," I uttered these words, not sure whether or not I was digging a hole for myself.
What if they tied my hands and legs, blindfolding me in the same manner that they did to Lucas? What if they started to view me as a huge threat, and they decided to end my life? But…could they? Ws I not important to them, seeing I was the link to Israel? Either way, I was willing to fight my way to freedom.
"You want me to let you go, and you run to the cops?" Zuri spoke in an icy tone.
"I'd have to die first before I run to any cop," I also made sure my tone was equally icy.
"Meaning?" Zuri's eyes pierced into mine.
"I know about keeping my distance from the forces. Let me go."
"Who are you?"
"I am Leah. But believe me, behind this innocent face, behind the young girl who you ill-treated for all these days, there is a beast. You don't want to unravel that; trust me."
Zuri and Troy were whispering something amongst themselves, and when the latter finally turned to face me, he said, "let's just let her go."
There was silence, and I dared not disturb it. My fear was, if I were to speak anything more, there was a chance of me spoiling what I had started. Since they were already giving in, it was best for me to maintain my stern face.
"Do you believe her?" Troy asked.
"I mean…she did get in touch with Israel. But…I think we need her. Let's keep her." With that, Zuri left the room without turning back.
I shifted my gaze to look at Troy, and he sighed than,
"We still need you Leah." He also marched out, leaving me in the big beautiful room, with tears threatening to flow.
A woman came in to take me. It was the same woman who earlier on had poured cold water all over me. To my surprise however, her countenance had changed. Instead of the frown and looks of disdain, she looked at me with respect…or was it admiration? Who knows?
I was taken to a different room, and she told me that if I needed anything I needed to press a button for attention. The room was big and neat, but I did not care about its beauty, for I wanted to be out of that place.
The woman walked slowly towards the door, and stopped. She seemed to be hesitating, and since I wanted my space so that I could freely cry my heart out, I asked her;
"Is there anything else?"
"Nothing umm, I just wanted to ask, you actually know Israel Bassard?"
"Of course I know him," I answered in a bored tone.
"He…he used to…I used to admire him a lot. A handsome, determined man."
I did not respond. I just continued to look at her, wishing with all my heart for her to just leave the room.
"Where is he now? We all thought he was dead." she asked in a low voice.
"If there is nothing else, you may leave." It felt good to be in charge. OK; not in charge as such, but just to have the upper hand; to feel in control. I loved every minute of it.
The woman nodded and left the room. I heard the sound of keys, and I knew that she was locking it from outside.
As soon as I was sure that I was alone, I fell on the bed and cried my heart out.
"Israel…why did you put me in such a mess?" I cried hysterically, letting all the pain out.
Each moment I felt like calming down, the pain would resurface and I cried all the more.
Israel; did he really have to be that bad? Did he have to do this to me? OK; now that he knew that I was at Zuri's camp, was he going to come and get me? Wait…was he still alive? Did we not hear sounds of gunshots, sounding as if he was being arrested for heaven knows what.
No Israel; you cannot die! Mum and dad died, leaving us children alone. And Vice died as well, and now Israel? No, my brother, you cannot die too….
Israel, Israel my brother…what on earth did you get us into?...do you really have to be this bad?...