Ten o'clock
Mill Neck
A taxi pulled up in front of the duplex where Maria and Helen were staying. The taxi had some bloodstains on it and on the back of the the taxi, there was a small dent.
Helen got out from the back seat and gave the driver a thousand dollars
"That's for the bloodstains and the dent that was caused to your car" Helen said "I hope this is enough"
"It's more than enough, ma'am" the driver said as she stood to the side and he drove off
Helen looked at her right hand which was still bleeding and had some dry blood on it. It was shaking and she was in a lot of pain but she noticed a large shard of glass. She used her other hand to yank it out which caused her to winch. She took deep breaths as she threw the shard of glass away and opened the gates of the duplex.
She shut the gates and walked until she was in front of the duplex. She opened the door and walked inside. It wasn't surprising for her to meet Maria sitting in the living room watching TV.
Helen instantly hid her injured hand behind her and tried to tiptoe away when Maria paused the TV and looked at her.
"You're home early" Maria said. She knew Helen usually closed up from work at eleven and the journey from NYC to Mill Neck took fifty-eight minutes plus preparation, it took an hour so Helen wasn't supposed to return until midnight.
There was also the additional factor, that Helen was barefooted and there was blood on her white shirt. Maria's eyes widened as she stared at the blood.
"What happened to you?" Maria asked as she walked towards Helen
"I should be asking you the same question" Helen chuckled as she pointed at Maria's left hand which was wrapped in gauze
"Forget about me. I've already treated my wound" Maria said as she minced passed Helen and into the hallway
Helen sighed as she entered the living room and sat on the sofa taking deep breaths to forget her pain. Soon, Maria came back with a large first aid box and set it down on the center table. She opened it and took out a magnifying glass, flashlight, absorbent cotton, tongs, rubbing alcohol, a bottle of antiseptics, a pair of scissors and bandages.
"I'm sorry you had to see this" Helen said as she stretched out her injured right hand "Can I ask what happened to you?"
"Eight mercenaries tried to kidnap me" Maria said "I fought back, dislocated my left hand, and ran away"
"The mercenaries?" Helen asked but Maria bit her lower lip "I see"
Maria wore medical gloves and held the flashlight in her mouth while holding the magnifying glass in one hand, and the tongs in the other. The flashlight was on as she stared at Helen's hand and spotted some glass.
"What happened to you?" Maria asked and Helen looked away as Maria removed the remnants of glass
"A rich bastard was trying to take advantage of me at the bar" Helen said "I smashed his head in with a bottle, the manager came and told be to apologize, blah blah blah, anyways, I quit and still didn't apologize. I didn't have time for their shit so I returned home early"
"You're still as rash as ever" Maria said as she removed the last remnant of glass and instead picked up the rubbing alcohol and absorbent cotton "This is gonna hurt a bit" she said as she put some alcohol on the cotton and used it to clean Helen's wound
"F*ck" Helen shouted as she picked a cushion and bit down on it
"Sorry" Maria said as she gently but quickly cleaned the wound and gave Helen a chance to breath. Helen stopped biting the cushion and glared at Maria
"What the hell?" Helen asked
"If you don't like the treatment, there's a hospital not far from here. You can go there and explain everything, get the police involved and oh, help that man find us" Maria said with a raised brow and a smile
"You know, sometimes you're the scariest person I've ever met" Helen said with a smile
"Well, after everything we've both been through, it's an expected outcome" Maria said as she applied the antiseptics "We never want the past to become our present again" she said as she cut out some bandage with the pair of scissors and wrapped it carefully around Helen's wound
"So, any advice Doc?" Helen asked as she clenched and unclenched her hand
"How about, not offending more rich people while you're here" Mark said while walking into the living room "Report to me when such things happen again" he added before taking a seat
"How long have you been here? How did you get in?" Maria asked
"I once owned this house, Maria" Mark replied as he lifted up the house key and jingled it "I have the spare key" he put the key inside his pocket "I've been here since the very beginning... but it's not as if I don't already know what happened at my house and the Red Shoe"
Hearing this, Maria lowered her head and Helen turned her head to the side
"There are security cameras outside of my house, Maria. One of the butlers showed me everything. The bodies have already been gotten rid of" Mark said "As for Red Shoe, I was there personally and saw AND heard, everything. Jerry Atkins isn't even on the pyramid of the rich again. He owed those of us at the top a large sum of money, he was an international criminal, so when those of us at the top got rid of him, not even the police cared to investigate his men" he said
"So, you've come to fired me" Maria said
"Nope" Mark said "I've come to tell you two that, the next time you get into trouble with aristocrats, you call me before taking action. I'm the second richest person in America currently. I can control the actions of others to a fault but, it all depends on who caused trouble, first"
"Why are you helping us?" Helen asked
"I had two younger sisters who were just like you two" Mark said straightforwardly "They grabbed too much attention and when people found out they were members of my family, they killed them. My two sisters died from gunshot wounds to the head and their inheritance was passed to me" he brought out two black bank cards and dropped them on the table before standing up "Point is, their inheritance is yours now. I have no business with it" he said before walking towards the entrance
It was then that Maria and Helen reacted and followed him
"Did you investigate us?" Maria asked and Mark paused
He thought about it for a while before lying "Whoever you are or whatever you did in the past, is none of my business. I don't have any reason to investigate you" he then looked at them "As far as you're not harming my family, live as you please and I won't investigate" he left soon after passing the message
Maria slammed the door shut and looked at Helen who only looked back at her
"You're suspicious too. Aren't ya?" Helen asked and Maria walked passed her after locking the door "This clearly isn't the first time he's had to do a bit of 'clean up'" she pointed out while following Maria around "He could get rid of us in a-"
"He won't" Maria said
"How sure are you?" Helen asked "All men are the same" she sat down in the living with folded arms and a leg crossed over the other
"Helen, at least let me believe that there are some men who are just as good as my father" Maria said "You're being too pessimistic"
"Maria, you can't expect me to be optimistic and look at the bright side of things like you usually do" Helen argued "In my life, I've only know hate, pain and suffering. All from men. You're the only one who gives them a little ray of hope....unless they point a gun at you, try to kidnap you, and... you get what I'm saying"
"Mark hasn't harmed us. Not even once" Maria sighed "And I don't think...no, I don't believe he will ever hurt us. I feel like he already has several folders of how her lives have been. Like he already knows everything about us" she looked at Helen "The way he treats us, isn't how you treat a stranger. He treats us like he's just getting to meet his distant relatives, and is slowly trying to ease his way into our lives"
"That, I can agree with you on" Helen said "Maybe we really are his relates or half sisters from other women" she joked and Maria tossed a pillow at her
"Don't joke about that stuff. You'll make me paranoid" Maria said and Helen chuckled
"By the way, I'm coming with you to work tomorrow" Helen said "Good night" she instantly sat up and ran out of the living room
Maria sighed "I forgot I had work tomorrow" she stood up and left the living room
....
This chapter is quite short compared to the others I have written 😥
I have too many books that I want to write so my head keeps mixing up my ideas 😵. Along with the fact I'm in the middle of writing exams, everything isn't as easy as I thought it would be.
So, if I don't happen to update anytime soon, please don't be mad 🙏. It's college entrance exams I'm in the middle of writing. If I don't pass, my parents would kill me.