27 June, 2017
Had it not been for the phone call she received after she left Logan Parker at the harbour, perhaps she would have had the courage to face him the following day, but the more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that she wouldn't have mustered it. She had skeletons, and so did everybody else, but they wouldn't compare to hers. She had closets and closets full of skeletons which were bound to destroy any little relationship she thought she had with Logan.
It had been almost two weeks since she left Cape Town, and she knew that she could not hide forever, especially after Samantha's scandal. The board had called for an urgent board meeting concerning her 'lack' of commitment, and it was in her hands to stop them from having a "No confidence" vote on her, although they would not have succeeded because no matter what; her shares, Jorge's shares and Alastair Cooper's share outnumbered the rest of the members'. However, she could not be so sure after her live conference.
"You have to go back to work, you know. You can't hide from your brother forever." Alastair Cooper said to MJ.
They were currently seated at Ocean Basket in London, eating and chatting about the upcoming board meeting.
"I did not come to talk about that. I came to talk about the messages I forwarded you last night." She said, and he nodded in understanding.
Alastair Cooper was a man in his mid-fifties. He had brown hair with a hint of grey strands, small and light blue eyes, and had wrinkles around his eyes. He was wearing a grey suit and a white shirt that was left unbuttoned at the top, and didn't have a tie. He had his wrists placed on the table, causing his shirt and jacket to roll down a bit, revealing his hairy hands and big expensive watch.
His thin pale lips were pressed together as he assessed his daughter.
"I don't understand though, who would steal from you?" He asked. MJ looked up and raised her eyebrows. "Who stole from you?" He repeated.
"Last month, we went to Ireland to put this whole mess to rest, but there was a girl there and after the meeting; Jorge gave her a total of fifty thousand dollars to pay a debt Sandra Cooper owed to Mr McEnroe." Alastair looked up in alarm.
"The orphanage was never in debt with the McEnroes; I can promise you that, my wife has absolutely nothing to do with this." He said in a panicked voice.
MJ assessed him quietly with a blank face and sighed. "I know that." She said. "At first, I thought it was a message for me, but then I realised that something was up with Jorge; I knew he was generous, but not that generous." She rubbed her eyes due to lack of sleep.
"Who was the girl?" Alastair asked.
MJ folded her arms and leaned back against the chair. "Take a wild guess."
He ran a hand over his face and sighed, shaking his head. He let out a chuckle. "I can't believe this. Are you saying that Esperanza is back?" He asked.
"Yes." MJ said. "And you know what that means, right?"
Alastair paled and looked at MJ with fearful eyes. "That her father is back." He took in a shaky breath and stared outside the window. "Which means Jorge knew who she was and what he was doing." He stated, and MJ nodded.
"Then he stole from me while planning my birthday ball." She said while stirring her empty teacup. "I mean, everything makes sense; the money he spent made sense, considering how huge the event was. But he misled me when he said he bought the hotel, while he actually booked the entire hotel for three nights, from the 30th of April to the 2nd of May; and the money he supposedly spent to buy the hotel, was transferred to a foreign bank account, which I can't trace now. The Maslow Hotel still belongs to its rightful owner; Jorge stole over 500 million dollars from me with that one stupid lie." She said gravely, unable to believe that he had actually done this to her.
"What do you think they have against him?" Alastair asked cautiously, and MJ's face darkened.
"Sonya Smith."
"May Jeanette, you have to speak to him before doing anything drastic." MJ glared at him. "Please, at least hear him out." He took her hand in his.
"Alastair, please..." She trailed off and pulled her hands out of his hold. Alastair took in a sharp breath and laid back against his chair.
"May Jeanette-"
"I don't want to talk about this, and I most definitely don't want to talk about Jorge." She said sternly. Alastair wanted to say something, but she beat him to it. "Please." She said quietly, her voice barely a whisper. "What I need right now is your support; I need to know how much I have left. " She said, her face void of any emotions.
"What do you need?" Alastair asked quietly.
"Come with me to the bank."
"Fine." Alastair said and stood up. "But just remember one thing; no matter how fast a dog runs, it can never outrun its tail." He kissed her on the head before he left to get his car.
She finished off her food and paid the bill, Alastair had invited her and dared to leave without paying the bill. She shook her head and headed to the bank, and found him waiting for her by the entrance of the busy bank.
Alastair did not know what MJ was really up to, she did not care how much money they had left; she wanted to look into Esperanza's case and find out if she cashed out the cheque she got from Jorge. She wanted to know where Esperanza cashed out, maybe it would lead her to the girl's father.
She walked into the bank and all eyes landed on her. She had decided to try something different, especially since she was basically on the run. She was wearing pale blue ripped off jeans, beige heels, a white T-shirt and a beige jacket that was left open; but even the casual did not seem to disguise the power she eluded.
She headed to the reception desk with Alastair walking right behind her, and asked to see the manager. The young woman made a call and looked at MJ. "He says he is busy." MJ's eyes darkened, and the receptionist squirmed under her gaze; she did not know what it was about this woman that made her feel so small.
"Do you know who I am?" MJ asked sternly, her voice sliding through the young woman's skin.
"I'm sorry, Mam, you will have to wait." The woman stammered. MJ narrowed her eyes at her, her jaw tightening.
Alastair sighed and stepped forward before this escalated. "Tell him that Miss MJ Billings wants to see him." The moment the words left his mouth, the receptionist's eyes widened as she looked at MJ in shock.
"Y-yes, M-miss Billings." She stuttered and picked up the phone with shaky hands. "S-sir, it's Miss Billings." She stammered, looking at MJ. "Yes, Sir." She said and hung up. "He's on his way, Mam." MJ nodded and waited, constantly looking at her watch.
A few minutes later, a man wearing a black suit came towards them. "Miss Billings." He held out his for MJ, but MJ did not even pay attention to his hand, she just looked at him coldly. The man withdrew his hand in shame, and turned to look at Alastair. "Mr Cooper." He nodded in acknowledgement, which Alastair returned with a small smile.
"I believe a huge amount of money was withdrawn from either my brother's or my account last month, I want to know if someone came here or–" MJ spoke, but the manager cut her off.
"Miss Billings, let's go to my office so that-"
"Do not talk when I'm talking." Her voice sliced throughout the entire bank, earning the manager quite some eyes.
"I am just saying that we should discuss this matter in private-"
"You are fired." MJ said.
"MJ." Alastair tried to calm her, but she was angry for some unknown reason.
"Get your things and get out of my bank right now." MJ said coldly, the receptionist gasped and covered it up quickly when MJ looked at her.
"But, mam-" the man tried to talk his way out but MJ was not having it.
"Call security and have him escorted out with his belongings." MJ said calmly to the receptionist.
The bank was so packed that MJ felt as if the air was being sucked out of her lungs, which was probably why she was impatient and snappy. She gave orders to the receptionist about calling the agency for new managerial experienced candidates.
The former manager went to his office to pack his stuff after failing to get Alastair on his side.
MJ and Alastair were about to leave when the doors to the bank burst open. "EVERYBODY GET DOWN, RIGHT NOW!" Heavily armed men waltzed into the bank, and chaos broke out. "CELLPHONES, PURSES, WALLETS OUT!" People started screaming, and MJ swore that she was going to die.
One of the men strolled towards her and smirked at her.
"MJ Billings." He said. "So glad you are here; this makes my work even easier." His smirk grew wider, and his eyes glinted dangerously behind the mask. "Now move." He pushed her towards the office with the gun.
"Please don't hurt her." Alastair pleaded as the man walked behind MJ with a gun against her head while arnother man walked behind Alastair.
They led them to the manager's office, and just before they reached the door, the alarm went off, and one of the men cursed in Portuguese before he kicked the door open and shot the poor manager on the head.
"Jesus!" Alastair choked while MJ remained impassive, the sound of her heart beating, keeping her sane.
A lot of thoughts were running through her skull, and all she could think was how she had never had a bank robbery in any of her branches before; this was clearly an inside job, and she could not help picturing Jorge's face each time that thought crossed her mind.
"Turn off the alarm." The quieter guy pushed Alastair with a gun against his head.
Alastair moved slowly and turned off the the alarm with shaky hands. Now more than ever, he regretted keeping his bodyguards at a distance, all because MJ said it attracted too much attention to themselves. They were not that far away, and he hoped they would notice that something was wrong. "Now, get down." The man instructed, his accent thick.
Alastair did not hesitate, he dropped down on his knees and put his hands up, while MJ remained standing, glaring at the shorter man in front of her.
"Who are you?" She asked in a cold voice, and the man laughed, turning to his friend.
"Did you hear that? Her voice would turn the boss on." The other man remained impassive, his gun pointed at Alastair while staring at MJ. "Get down." He said to MJ, his voice turning serious. MJ refused, and he knocked her on the head with his gun.
"May Jeanette!" Alastair shouted, and the man pressed the gun against his head before he could move.
There was no sound from MJ except for her heavy breaths as she sat up against the table, blood meandering down her face, almost blinding her. She stared at the man through her hair that was now stuck on her face due to the blood, not bothering to move it aside.
The man squatted in front of her and used the gun to push her hair aside, further staining her face. MJ shifted her head, and the man smirked. "You must be wondering what this is about." He said. "Your brother had a very simple job to do, but he had to complicate things." MJ felt her heart sink at the mention of her brother, and she looked away from the man who quickly and roughly lifted her head up. "All he had to do was to give Esperanza that cheque, of course, not forgetting to stick to his dialogue and act." MJ tensed and fisted her hands on her sides. "But he messed up when the cheque was supposed to be cashed out." He said and stepped away from MJ, turning his attention to Alastair. "You see, Esperanza didn't get the chance to cash in her cheque, and when your wife, Sandra Cooper, tried to cash it in at the bank, there were some issues." His partner stepped away as he squatted next to Alastair, tracing the gun down his face. "Stupid issues like prejudice; the bank officials thought she was too 'poor' to have such money, considering the fact that she was a nun at the children's home, and because the cheque was from a Billings, they presumed that she'd stolen it. Which is why, MJ; we have taken matters into our own hands, to punish the people who did this to Esperanza." He eyed MJ. "That is why we are going to take all your money."
A bomb went off from outside the office, the ground shook and screams echoed through the bank.
"SHUT THE HELL UP AND STAY DOWN." A deep voice yelled from outside, but not even that could shake MJ up.
"Who sent you?" She asked.
The man left Alastair and stood in front of MJ. "That doesn't matter, sweetheart." He said, his blank eyes hollow. "All we want to do is to teach Jorge Billings a lesson he will never forget." He aimed the gun at MJ. "So that he does as he is told the next time." MJ closed her eyes as he reached the trigger, and a gun went off, but nothing happened to her.
She opened her eyes to find the man still standing in front of her, except the gun was pointed at Alastair. She slowly turned her head to the side and her eyes met Alastair's dead, blue eyes, his body slumped on the floor with a bullet on his forehead.
Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears, but she could not find it in herself to cry, she could not move to where he laid, and she could not even find the voice to scream; her throat was dry and she was numb, it was as if she was frozen.
Before she could even turn her eyes from the dead body, the man knocked her out with the gun. "Say hi to Jorge for me." The last thing she saw before her eyes closed, was Alastair's haunting eyes.