Kenneth finally contacted Doyle and took advantage of his reservation at the Daunthill suite. The night of luxury helped him settle his mind. He dressed in his flashy corporate wear and scanned his reflection in the mirror before slipping his shades on. A person had to look good for meeting with the grand chief right?
The detective pulled out his phone and dialled the hospital. He was placed in a queue for a few minutes before the receptionist answered "Hospital, how may I help you"
Regardless of the polite coating, Kenneth could easily notice the tone of fatigue in her voice.
"I'd like to speak with Doctor... please"
"Sure, please hold for a few while I connect you to her."
The doctor's voice came in a few seconds later even worse than the receptionists. "Doctor... speaking how may I help you?"
"Hi doc, it's Kenneth Nymond" he replied, "wanted to check in and find out how she was doing."
"She's fully cautious now but super confused and uncomfortable a familiar face might help."
"Sure thing, thanks doc."
Kenneth sighed as he disconnected the phone. He turned the tv screen which he'd muted before making the call. He read the headline and quickly grabbed the remote to turn the volume up.
"After her formidable speech, Felicia Dilli is once again trending with the news of her new position as the acting grand chief of Daunthill."
"Woman's making big moves huh"
The tv showed clips of Felicia in a board meeting with the royal council. For someone who'd been giving such a difficult role at a time like this, she seemed to be doing quite well. If only the masses knew the story behind the scenes
The newscaster continued "She's making history as the first woman to ever assume this position. It seems the times, really are changing. Although Felicia isn't ready to arouse us with another big speech she did leave a message saying she would do all in her power to ensure that Daunthill is restored to its glory. All she asks is that we co-operate and pray for her brother's speedy recovery."
"Meanwhile, gun violence seems to be the new issue..."
Kenneth turned off the tv grabbed his keys and walked out of the room. He s
***
The detective walked quietly into the sickroom. Nina stared up at the ceiling, he'd never seen her wear such a vacuous expression on her face. He held the bouquet of flowers close to his chest as he strode to her bedside. She turned her eyes and looked at him.
"Kenny, is it really you?" she asked
"In the flesh" Kenneth leaned and pecked her on the cheek.
Nina smiled "Coming in here with a bouquet is quite a corny move for a man like you."
"Stop it" Kenneth chortled "My stupid line of work got you into this. I thought I'd try to make things a bit normal."
"Normal doesn't exist for us Kenny" Nina sat up lazily "I just got flown across the world in a shipping container to meet my boyfriend in Daunthill."
"Must've been quite a rough trip."
"Surprisingly, it was a lot more comfortable than you would think."
Kenneth smiled and stretched the flowers out for her to sniff. "Eww" Nina turned her head away and covered her nose. "What kind of flowers are those?"
"I don't know I'm not good with these things."
Kenneth tossed the bouquet in the bin at the corner of the room. He grabbed the visitor's chair, pulled it closer to the bedside, and relaxed for a proper conversation.
"So, back to doing my job" He stared at the fluid flowing into Nina's Canula. "Do you remember anything from this surprisingly comfortable trip?"
"Not a detail" Nina responded.
"That night when you called me, what happened?"
"Well, I had just gotten a call from my boss at the NGO telling me to drop the Nkibo or I'd get dropped." she narrated "So I took a couple of shots to think the situation through, and then I called you."
"I'm so sorry.."
"Don't be," she stopped him "I remember sounding super messy, I shouldn't have done that to myself. Anyway, I went to bed in my work clothes and then I was surprised by a group of masked men in the room. I had no idea how they got in there and I tried to put up a fight but there's only so much fight left in a drunk lady."
"Shit," Kenneth cursed
"It's not your fault Kenny" Nina consoled him "So what's going on here, doc unplugged my television because she felt the news would stress me out."
"I'm in support of that"
Kenneth stretched his hand and tucked it under Nina's hair. He ran his hair down from the side of her temple to her cheek. He looked at her beautiful eyes and couldn't imagine what would've happened if he hadn't grabbed her from that container. His moment was short-lived. Nina's next question put salt on healing sores.
"What about the rest of the team, how's Jacob doing."
Kenneth took his hand off his face and reclined on the chair. He exhaled and lowered his head. Nina watched the detective and decided to respond to his body language. "Is everything alright?"
"A lot has happened in the past few days." Kenneth pinched his forehead "You need to rest."
Kenneth stood up and put the chair back in position "I have a big commitment today; I promise to come back with a better bouquet when I'm done."
Nina smiled as Kenneth kissed her before turning to walk out of the room. He stopped at the door and turned back to her. "I'm glad I found you, babe"
"Feelings Mutual"
Kenneth walked into the hallway to see Dimitri dressed in a suit with two men in black walking him out of the building. A couple of reporters stood outside with their cameras ready for the boy. Kenneth shook his head as he watched the speedlights flashing the second the boy emerged from the building. Kenneth changed his direction to find another exit from the building when he spotted Brian staring at him across the hallway. Kenneth walked up to the child and patted him on his shoulder. "At some point, I'm going to have to punish you for stalking."
"Don't do anything stupid detective." Diane's voice came from the exit to is right.
"Don't you ever get the tired lady? You're not important to me anymore" Kenneth grabbed the door handle "Go home and school your kid on how to give people their privacy and leave Dimitri alone. The kid's already been through enough."
***
Iva stared into her aunty's eyes. She could see a completely different person now, a woman who had gone through the pain to get what she wanted and would do it all again in a heartbeat. Felicia stared back at her poor niece, she wished she could take away all the painful emotions that she'd stirred up in the girl. But sacrifices like this had to be made to get things done. As much as she would love to see a smile on her niece's face right now, fixing Daunthill was of higher priority.
"You put I and Dimitri in danger," Iva said
"For the third time Iva that was not the idea, I had a backup plan for everything."
"You knew his family was going to get murdered and yet you sat back and let it happen."
"I knew people were going to get murdered, but I didn't know the time and the place." Felicia responded, "You think I would've let them break into my place and strangle me if I knew."
"I can't believe a word that you say anymore"
"And I understand that Iva" Felicia nodded "But I am truly sorry for letting you witness all of this"
"That not the only thing that you should be sorry for."
"Agreed, but this apology is directed at you" Felicia tried to reason with the angry teenage girl but, she'd crossed the line of being reasoned with ages ago. The girl stood up and walked around the room her eyes were red and watery, but the tears refused to roll down. She breathed like a bull about to charge at a matador.
"I shouldn't have let you join me in the car that night."
"If I hadn't been there that mad man would've killed Dimitri."
Felica was shaking her head when a voice came through the intercom system on her table. "Chief Dilli, two of the guests you were expecting are here"
"Let them in please"
Iva gawked at her aunty "What? We're not done he...."
Iva turned to see the last woman she'd been expecting walk into the room. She felt a rush in her head. She wasn't sure how to feel about the face at this moment. Would picking fights with a second person really be healthy for her right now? Iva wasn't sure how this was supposed to work but she knew one thing for sure. She needed a mother figure in her life right now.
She shed tears as she walked into her mother's open arms "Mom"
Her mother's hug was warm, it made her feel like a toddler. The couple walked out of the room to have their moment.
"Well, that went better than expected," the second guest said.
"Hallelujah," Felicia said in a sardonic tone
"We've done some good work here Felicia, no matter how dark it may seem."
Felicia sighed "Thank you, Edmond, for believing in me."
Iva's grandfather sunk his ass into the leather couch at one side of the room. "This is a big office Felicia, but I'm sure persona can fill adequately."
"I'm flattered"
"Don't be just yet, NORD would be coming back for that offer you made them that cut ties with Vazie and we're about to have a challenging visitor," Edmond said, "Kenneth Nymond is on his way up."
"A man like Nymond can be reasoned with" she responded, "he would understand sacrifice for the greater good."
"And NORD?"
"We'll handle them when they arrive."
Felica drummed her fingernails on the table. She stared at the intercom for a minute before asking tapping a button on it. The device made a beeping sound and she spoke into the mic. "Send for Sawyer and Lidia, tell them it's time and let Kenneth Nymond come in after searching him."
Felicia and Edmond sat quietly a while for a few minutes and watched each other before Kenneth walked into the room. "Looking stunning today detective," Felicia said to him.
Kenneth looked around the room. A large air-conditioned space that smelled like lavender. Brown seemed to be the custom colour in the room. The old man he'd met earlier, during his investigation, sat on a brown couch at one side of the room. The fridge at the corner was brown. He stopped his perusing of the room and walked to the fridge. He opened it and grabbed a bottle of water before taking a seat in front of Felicia.
"My chief" Kenneth bowed as he popped the cap of the bottle and took quick gulps of water. He sealed the half-empty bottle and placed it on the table.
"Ahhhh" Kenneth sighed with relief "sorry about that I was super thirsty. By the way, I love what you did with the security, I had to pass through multiple levels to get here. Good thing I didn't bring a gun today."
"That's nice to hear detective."
"So, the first thing I'd like to ask is if it was all worth it?"
"Elaborate please"
"Letting all those people die and Vazie do his thing just so you could get some cool, nice smelling, office."
"The office wasn't the point, detective"
"Then I'll need you to tell me what this point was"
"Daunthill was falling apart, I had the intellect to fix its problems and yet the silly council along with my grandfather were sticking to this unseen code that no woman can become the grand chief. So I sacrificed my sanity and moral values to get here so I could fulfill my mission."
"Quite the talk," Kenneth said "But it looks to me like Daunthill was a lot better off without your little initiative"
Felicia crossed her hands on the table "That's the problem, Kenneth, my initiative just started, the mindless killings and chaos that was all Vazie. My plan commenced the moment you captured him."
"You had evidence that he'd killed his father and yet you didn't turn him in"
Felicia sighed and shook her head simultaneously "You're doing your best to villainize me here detective, but that means that a part of you can sense the good motive behind my decisions."
"You're right about that but it doesn't answer my question"
"The Anderson's are problematic, to say the least, they have this undying thirst to acquire power and control things around them. That's what drives them to success most of the time but it's also their biggest flaw. It blinds them for proper reasoning."
Kenneth yawned "So, you didn't turn him in because?"
"It was dangerous," she said "Could've endangered me and my family, so attached myself to this plan, Philip Anderson was a guy with bug brains and Takiboshi and Nord didn't like that. They tossed him out using his son who was mentally unstable and easy to manipulate. When you're working with big names like that you have to play it carefully."
Kenneth turned to Edmond who'd been watching the conversation since the start. The old man didn't seem surprised in any way. He seemed to find the revelation rather boring. "So what's your part in this?"
"Oh right," Edmond straightened himself "I made a promise to Felicia's father, when he added me to the council, that I'd make sure the right person was on this seat to continue his great work in Daunthill. I'm just here doing my part."
"Quite a way to summarize your role in all of this though." Kenneth folded his arms "My long-time friend died because you lured my team here for your stupid mission."
"We didn't lure your team here my dear" Felicia clarified "Your team came here on a mission that you were in no way ready for. We made sure to reduce the damage that your activities here would've caused."
"The lady no good" Kenneth asked "How'd all that start ?"
"Diane was trying to be a true patriot, I helped her do that effectively."
Felicia leaned back on her chair as she watched Kenneth process a lot of information that she'd delivered. The detective didn't seem satisfied. She could've judged his emotions better if he weren't wearing those damn shades. After all the ages she'd spent mapping out the perfect plan she was still unsure of how Kenneth Nymond would respond to his next mission. The man and his team of operatives were a powerful tool, but they were to be handled with caution. Their failure to co-operate could send the whole operation in the wrong direction. The door of the room swung open once again and a man and woman walked into the office.
Kenneth turned to have a look at the new guests. He'd recognized the woman without any trouble, but the man didn't match anything within his memory. "What do we have here?
"Damage prevention," said Felicia "You should recognise Lidia, from the hotel. She was supposed to keep an eye for any unwelcome visitors, but it turns out you and your team handled that situation perfectly. Sawyer on the other hand was working closely with Vazie and reporting back to us. He also welcomed your team when they arrived in Daunthill. These two are fine agents of the SOPS. The only body that Vazie didn't have any influence over."
Felicia got off her seat and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She took a few sips and returned the bottle. The lady walked to her desk and bent to grab the royal cane before placing it on the table. "I filled Vazie in on the royal cane idea, and how it would be a good way to break Brolin's image. But It was really for you to track the case easier and then Dimitri escaped that night making it work even better."
"You feel like toying with our lives is some sort of achievement?"
"No, but I feel heavy with the burden of making Daunthill into what it should be unless all the chaos would've been in vain."
Kenneth clenched his teeth "Jacob had family back in South Africa. He was the one providing for them, imagine what happens when I deliver this news to them."
Felica bit her lip. Maybe Kenneth was being a bit more challenging than she'd bargained "I'm truly sorry about that and I would provide Mr. Durelli's family with everything they need financially. Jacob knew the dangers attached to this plan when he agreed to be a part of it but he agreed because he saw a group of people who, like him, were trying to get it right."
"Enough" Kenneth frowned "I didn't really come here for all of this, where is Takiboshi's daughter."
"Been waiting for you to get back on course detective" she responded "Sadly I can't give that information, but I have something more valuable. Sawyer, Lidia, you may leave now."
The two bowed slightly before leaving the room. The girls' location was the only thing that Felicia had held back from him since he got into the room. He could insist on getting that information, but he clearly didn't have the upper hand here.
"When Takiboshi found out about what Vazie did to his little girl, he was ready to lay waste to the reckless Anderson, but I interceded and offered him a better option while I dealt with Vazie myself."
Felicia paused and stared at the detective.
"Go on" Kenneth urged her.
"Just wanted to make sure you were following" Felicia continued "I found Vazie's daughter and Takiboshi wants to kill her himself, so I'm giving him the location. Do you understand what that means for you detective?"
Kenneth nodded slowly, regardless of his negative views on her actions, this snake of a woman was about to do the world a huge favour.