Outsmarting The Mafia

That night

Sounds of rain droplets offered Henna a relaxed feeling as she'd laid on her bed, wrapped under her blanket. The dark sky and thunderstorm sent no single chill into her. She was fine with it. Just as she has been fine with it for years. She guessed that would continue till the end of time.

As she'd gazed out of her open window, the intuition struck her something would go wrong. She had no clue why she'd felt that way or how, but she'd known her heart had prepared her for some disaster.

If only she'd listened to her gut and warned her dad that night.

Perhaps it would have saved her a lot of planning and tension.

That night was just like another night. It would have been like any other freaking night if the banging on the door hadn't started the whole chaos in her life. At first she thought it was the strong wind banging against her dad's loose fence.

Then she heard a louder one. Okay! It must have been a hard knock.

Who the hell did her dad invite that night?

Being dependent on her father, she'd seen no reason to check out what was going on. She'd laid comfortably on her soft bed, waiting for her dad to handle whatever guest he had invited, which was odd to be honest. What time was it? 11?

To her shock, there came her dad's constant apologizing and several items were knocked over as if there was some kind of struggle. She got confused and critical of what was going on. Was her dad in trouble? Who knocked at the door?

Knowing she had to act more than just sit and think, she'd jumped out of her bed and rushed out. Out in the sitting room, where six hefty men dressed in all black coats and black hats which seemed to cover their vision for some reason. Each and everyone of them had a gun in their grip, as if ready to shoot at any slight trigger.

She'd sighted her dad on his knee, his hands against his back and his face facing to the ground.

"I am sorry. I wasn't able to get the information you needed. I need more time to process it all. Please"

She heard his shaky rumble. His hands trembled just like the spaghetti she had the previous night.

" Dad, what is going on?" She asked, hoping for an explanation of what was going on.

"You never told me you had a daughter" A deep voice sounded from the tallest of them all who'd stood in the middle of the rest. His face raised up slightly, revealing a crafty smile on his lips and his bright brown eyes. "Why didn't you use her for collateral? Why use yourself?"

"Collateral?! What the fck is going on here?!" Henna lashed out in impatience. She'd tried reaching out for her father only to have a gun pointed toward her forehead by one of the men in a coat.

"You do not fear guns, do you? It seems your dad didn't inform you about those who run the city."

"A minister runs the city… "

The man sounded an evil laugh.

"Your dad obviously fed you well but kept you stuck in the dark. He did a terrible job, didn't he? "

Henna gazed at her dad's direction, hoping he would clarify what was going on. She knew her dad acted strangely and wouldn't joke around about issues regarding the city, but she never gave that much thought. It hadn't been an issue with her… until then. Was her dad's secret that dangerous? Who were these armed people?

"Henna, I am sorry". Her dad apologized.

She felt betrayed. Of course it was great he didn't have to look her in the eyes because she was extremely disappointed at that point. She couldn't even share eye contact with him, after all the secrets he'd been hiding from her. What were the secrets though? She couldn't say.

"You do not know your dad's job, do you?" The man with the brown eyes kept up with the conversation. His voice was so deep, she'd thought he'd used a voice-enhancing system or something. The rain continued to pour down upon the roof, making the atmosphere more gloomy. Their door was barged open and the pouch had mud stains all over it.

"Please, whatever wrong he has done to all of him, forgive him and let him go" She pleaded, hoping they would let him go.

"My name is Hoggin Heinsten, owner of the top drug dealership in this city. We not only sell drugs, we control the hooligan empires and political affairs of this city. The minister whom you adore so much, is no more than a puppet in our hands. You can call me the Drug Master"

Henna arched her brows.

"You're trying to say that my dad sells drugs… "

"Your dad doesn't work for my Mafia. Whatever business he does with the Golden Mafia isn't my business. What matters is the fact he fulfills his promise by exposing his leader. He agreed we would take him as a hostage if he didn't fulfill the promise. If only we knew he had a pretty daughter… "

The information was too much for Henna to take in. She would definitely be telling a lie if she'd confessed she understood what they were saying. She couldn't. It was super hard dealing with the hard truth regarding her father.

"Okay… could you give us more time? We will help you with whatever you want."

"The Mafia don't wait! I will have your dad dead by the end of this month. If you want him back, you will need to get the information he was unable to get."

" What information? About his boss? I can find a way to get that. Please, do not kill my father for his mistake… "

"My name is Hoggin, leader of the AGRE MAFIA. I await information from you in a month…" He'd forwarded his right hand to her father, who was then propelled up the floor by two of his men.

"Henna, do not give them the information! Henna, you must not get involved in my business. Henna you… " Her dad's face was sealed with a cloth bag, before he got forced out into the rain.

"Let go of him! What's wrong with you all?" Henna yelled after them.

To her surprise, she'd spotted three helicopters in the air. One lowered down to pick up her father, who tried struggling his way off their grip, while the others took the remaining 6, splitting them into three each.

Gina watched as the helicopter flew off, causing her to run her hands down her silky black hair. What was she to do?! How can she handle this? She'd rushed back in and paced around hoping for a suggestion or idea of how to help her dad.

"Yes. They… they… they said something about someone. What's that? They said something about getting something from somewhere. I do not understand what it was. What information am I supposed to get? Who are these people dad works with? "

She'd hurried into his room and began gazing round for a file for something to help. She saw nothing except a huge locked safe, which her dad rested against a wall. He'd scribbled the word to keep off on it, making her more curious in discovering what he'd been up to all the years.

Taking a deep breath, she'd guessed the safe lock as her birthday date, and opened it in no time. Her right hand carefully opened the door. Deep in the safe were old letters and a large brown envelope, which contained a heavy black coat with a golden logo imprinted on it.

Looking among the letters, she'd taken no time in discovering they were letters from his head leader, who seemed to have appointed him for the least relevant missions. It was more to him like he wasn't treated as respectable as the others were. Does that explain his need to be rebellious against them? Why hasn't he gone through with the plan if he hated his job so much? Diving deeper through the letters, she spotted a letter sent from AGRE Mafia to him, confirming their agreed deal.

She'd read through it thoroughly, trying to avoid missing any relevant information which could be helpful to her. Grabbing hold of a piece of paper, she'd written down relevant points she'd derived from the letter.

Sensitive information

Millions bounty

Collateral

Golden Dung

She had no clue what they all meant but she'd taken it upon herself to investigate. Underneath the letter was a short piece of paper containing the address of a restaurant she knew nothing about.

The name Simon Gray had been written underneath it, with that present date imprinted.

"Dad ought to meet this person today?" She thought, realizing that was a lead she needed. She'd grabbed hold of the paper instantly, alongside with her scribbled down words she'd suspected were important.

"I will get you back, Daddy. I will give them what they want and get you back safely," she said to herself. Her heart pounded against her chest, proving her intuition had no joy towards the path she was about to explore, but she wasn't ready to back out yet.