Todd stood in his usual spot and called his mentor. He was done with the day's work. After the exchange of their code, he delved into the situation at hand.
"I took some photos of that injured man in the hospital. He came to see the head nurse, whom he had held."
There was silence.
"Are you there?" Todd asked.
"Yeah … just trying to read meaning into the whole thing." The mentor said.
"I'm baffled too."
"Yes … why would he grab the nurse's hand and later come to her house? It just doesn't make sense."
There was further silence.
"Send me the pictures." The man quietly said.
"On it." Todd ended the call. He sent the pictures of the strange man to his mentor. After sometime, when he decided to call back the man, the said mentor beat him to it. Todd reconnected.
"Yes? what do you think of them?"
"You did very well. They are clear pictures."
"Thank you." Todd stayed calm. He was glad to have impressed his mentor yet again and waited for his pay to be mentioned.
"Having done this, you get your reward."
Todd beamed, couldn't control his emotions. He was too happy.
"But there is one more thing for you to do." Todd's face fell. "It is very important for us all. I promise it's the last thing you would do and you will be rewarded handsomely."
Todd sighed slowly, he was already in the game. Dropping out now, would mean he lost it all. There was clearly no going back. So he would definitely complete the assignment.
"Are you there?" The man asked when Todd's silence intensified.
"Yes, I'm with you. What's my last assignment?"
Todd listened attentively as the man instructed him on what to do. After some moments, he said:
"Its all good, I will do it."
"Okay and send your PayPal address." Todd was thrilled!
*********
Lily stopped her car in the Mall's parking lot. Their grocery supply was very low, so she had to go shopping for the items. Her mum always went for this but, Lily didn't just want to be in the house, idle. She really needed some fresh air to clear her head. She hadn't told her mum about what Philip said. Eucharia was disturbed enough and she didn't want to increase her mother's worry. If Philip was there to look out for her, then there were no issues.
After locking her car, she walked briskly into the shopping centre, where sellers had their various produce. Her mum had a particular seller, Mrs Cole whom she patronised. Lily went to her stand and Mrs Cole was pleased to see her.
"Hi Lily, how are you?"
"Very well ma'am and you?"
"Great dear. How's your mum?"
"She's at work." That was what Lily could come up with. Her mum was actually at home. The grocery seller didn't need to know that. She asked after Mrs Cole's children, they were in middle school.
"They are at home, school's on break now."
"Oh … okay."
After exchanging pleasantries, Lily purchased the groceries and the woman helped her convey them to her car.
"My regards to your mum."
"She will hear, thanks ma'am."
And off, Mrs Cole went, back to her stand. Jane could be here, I should call her, Lily thought. She brought out her phone and dialed Jane's number. Her friend picked up immediately.
"Awwwnn girl, what's up?"
"The sky's up. Lol." And they laughed at the joke. Lily was so happy to hear Jane's voice, she walked around within the parking lot, talking to her friend. Carefully watching out, to avoid colliding with anyone. They talked about Philip.
"I can't believe you're saying he's a good guy now." Jane sounded amused.
"Yes … he isn't a kidnapper like you first thought of him."
"Me? It was the both of us. So why am I now taking the blame?" Jane sounded like a child "We both called him that."
Lily was enjoying this. It was always thrilling to make Jane feel this way.
"Fine, both of us then." Jane chuckled at the surrender. She always loved to win their banters. Lily didn't tell her about Philip's warnings.
As they argued, a woman walking beside Lily gave a shout, as she missed a step and nearly slipped. In a flash, Lily grabbed her to stop the fall that would have been disastrous, as she wore heels.
"Are you okay ma'am?" Lily asked checking for sprains. There was none and she breathed in, relieved. She checked her phone to see that the call had already been disconnected. She didn't want to imagine the situation if the woman had sprained her ankles or broken her legs. The said woman was too silent, therefore Lily looked at her to see what was wrong. Did the near fall affect the tongue too?
Lily looked at the her and was surprised at the way the woman stared. The woman didn't even blink! Just stared at Lily. Could be she's in shock.
"Ma'am?" Lily shook the woman from whatever dream she was on to. The said woman blinked slowly, looking so fulfilled as she gazed at Lily. What could have gone wrong? Lily was scared now. Well… since the woman was okay, she entered her car and drove away. Lily didn't want to add anything strange to the loads of them happening in her life already.
In the car, her phone flashed light and she looked to see 6 missed calls from Jane. Oh her friend would be really worried that she abruptly ended the call and didn't pick up. But when did my phone go on silent? Lily thought. However, she called Jane.
"Baby girl, what's wrong?" Jane's voice was high pitched, she was clearly worried.
"Sorry, I collided with someone." She didn't know how else to explain the incident. Collision was the better word.
"Oh jeez, hope no one was injured."
With Jane's tone, Lily suspected that her friend thought it was a car accident. So she corrected the impression.
"I collided with someone as I was walking and talking to you on phone."
"Oh love… sorry about that, you didn't sprain any part right?"
"I'm very okay dear."
"Thank GOD." Her friend sounded relieved.
"Yeah … what are you doing now?"
"Just here knitting and you?"
"Went for groceries shopping, but driving home now."
"Okay Lily, how's your mum?"
"She is all good and yours?"
"She is at work."
"Okay … Jane I will call you back when I get home."
"Sure love."
They disconnected. This conversation they had, eased Lily's mind from the strange woman she had nearly collided with. People are really strange, she thought, driving home.
***********
As the car pulled away from the parking lot, the woman whom Lily had stopped from slipping, recovered from shock. No … no this couldn't be true. She was back. She was definitely back! After what she promised to do, when she came back to the world again, was everyone safe? What would be the fate of people on Earth? The woman was back for vengeance!
Oh … people were in danger now, the woman her grandmother, Mary had told her about, was now here. Something had to be done, in order to stop what was coming. But how? My powers would only be effective when the young lady acknowledges me, she thought. She was so troubled and stood still for a little while, watching the car as it drove away.
But then … she thought about the one thing she had to do. The only thing was … she hailed down a taxi, got in and told the driver:
"Follow that range Rover, but be as discreet as possible."
The driver nodded and did just that.