BLOOD AND MONEY

BLOOD AND MONEY EPISODE TWENTY FIVE

I pushed Della out of the way and rushed down to see if I could help Rhoda. What the hell was she even doing there in the first place,

Me: Rhoda....hey, look at me.

I said holding her in my arms and putting her in a comfortable position... I looked back to ask Della for help to get her in the car but she was not there. Damn it, where had she gone?

Rhoda: babe!..hey...

Me: no, baby you can't die on me. I will get you to the hospital.

I said getting up and lifting her from the floor into my arms.

I started to walk away but Della commanded me to stop. I stopped and when I turned to look at her she had a gun in her hand...

Me: what is this?

i asked not sure of what to do with Rhoda fighting for her life on my arms

Della: you are not going anywhere and i swear if you try to make another step i will kill both of you..

Me: Della, now is not the time for jokes, she could actually die and you know that.

Della: do I look like I care, I said put her down before I kill her.

She looked serious. Where did she even get a gun from and did she even know how to use it?

She got even closer still pointing the gun at us. I begged her to let us go but she would not listen to any of it.

Della: you thought you would leave me for her?.. This thing you are carrying?

Me: Della please, if she doesn't get medical attention she will die, whatever this is about we can work it out some other time..please!

Della wouldn't listen. I didn't know what to do since Rhoda was not in good shape and she was beginning to get heavy. I decided to ignore Della and tried to walk out but she shot on the floor and i stopped abruptly and turned to her..

Me: what the hell do you want Della?..

Della: put her down!..

she shoutef but It didn't take long before a car drove carelessly and made an instant stop by Della's parking, someone got out in a hoodie and rushed towards us firing shots at Della and she dropped. It was Robert. He walked up to Della and shot her twice in the chest something that shocked me too but I didn't have time to ask questions...

Robert: come on let's go...

He said rushing ahead of me and opening the door to my car. Rhoda was indeed a strong woman. The thing about being stabbed by a knife is that I couldn't just pull it out. I had to make sure she was stable to avoid the knife going even deeper or cutting her further. I lay her on the back seat of the car then got to the driver's seat and drove off.

Stay with me baby I said as I kept stealing glances at her from the rear mirror. Robert was following us from behind. I had a lot of questions to ask him but I couldn't at the moment..my mind was focused on getting Rhoda to the hospital. I wasn't even thinking about Della or what had really happened. I didn't want to think....

At the police station the guy who had been arrested with Gerald's phone was taken into the interrogation room and Isabel was right there with them. She was Still being held for stealing but now the person of interest was being interrogated..

Officer: state your name for the record.

Quincy: my name is Quincy.

Officer: what do you do for a living?

Quincy: I'm a businessman.

Officer: how did you know this woman?

Quincy: I don't know her, we met at the club, had a good time, paid her but she stole from me.

Officer: stole from you. Do you know why you are here?

Quincy: no sir.

Officer: you got arrested for handling stolen property and the person whose phone you stole was murdered.

Quincy: murdered!

Officer: don't act smart. You killed Gerald?

Quincy: who is Gerald, I don't know any Gerald and I swear to God someone sold me this phone.

The shock in his face after he heard the owner of the phone was murdered made the cops thinl he was either acting smart or he honestly had no idea...

Officer: who sold you the phone?

Quincy: some woman. Her name is Agrippina, we go way back.

Officer: where is this Agrippina?

Quincy: at her home back in a village. She told me she was a dealer in second hand phones and she knew I love good phones. I didn't know it was stolen.

Officer: if we want to meet with this Agrippina can you make that happen?

Quincy: if it means my freedom then yes, i will take you to where she is...

The officer got up and knocked on the door and it opened. He gave instructions for both to be locked up until he came back and the junior officer did as he had been asked...

I drove as fast as I could trying so hard not to hit a bump. The traffic was bad so I drove on the wrong side of the road knowing the consequences but I just didn't care. I called mark on my way and asked him to meet us up at the hospital and he said he would be there. I looked behind but Roberts car was no longer following me and I couldn't even tell where he had diverted to.

I called him but my call wasn't going through. I mean his line was on but phone wasn't going through like I had been blocked or something. Robert was really making my blood sugar rise. His behavior was now beginning to piss me off. First he warned me to stay away from from him then he killed Della to save my life then disappeared just like that. How did he even know Della was holding us hostage?...

A phone call interrupted my thoughts. It was from the officer who was working on my father's case. I receiver the call and put in on speaker..

Me: yes officer..

Officer: I've got leads on your fathers case. We arrested the guy who had your fathers phone.

Me: okay,

Officer: he claims he didn't steal. It was sold to him by a woman from some village.

Me: dies she have a name?

Officer: Agrippina.

Me:Wait, Agrippina sold him the phone?

Officer: does the name ring a bell?

Me: yes, I know an Agrippina from my village, she sold him the phone?

Officer: yes but don't do anything yet. We are following up on that and we will keep you posted. The guy will take us to Agrippina then we will know how to handle the case from there.

Me: okay, thank you sir.

I ended the call but that came in as a shock. Agrippina selling my father's phone means she knew what happened to my father because how or why else would she have the phone and why would she sell it off instead of returning it to me if she was really clean?

I drove into st. Austin's hospital. I didn't know where else to go but I knew Rhoda would be in good hands there. Dr. Richard would know what to do because I personally didn't have any privileges yet or better still, they wouldn't allow me to treat Rhoda myself.

I got out and rushed to the back to get Rhoda, she was very tired and she had lost a lot of blood. I was actually afraid that she wouldn't even make it that far. She was still alive and fighting.

I carried her and headed towards the entrance where I was met halfway by the nurses who came with a stretcher.

Me: careful with her please.

I said as they took her inside.

I rushed to the reception and asked if Dr. Richard was in and I was told he was seeing a patient.

Me: please tell him to come right now, tell him its Owen asking.

A nurse who had previously seen me there offered to help and she went to get Richard herself. I was nervous and mad at the same time. The thing is, I didn't even know what was going on in my mind because I couldn't explain what had happened in the last like thirty minutes.

Had someone found Della's body. Did a neighbour see what had happened?

Richard came rushing out of his office and met me along the corridors. I briefed him on whatever had happened and he asked me to go with him and I did.

Me: you have to save her life. she cannot die..

The look on my face made him realize how much she was important to me. he took a look at the situation then looked up to me..

Richard: she has lost a lot of blood. Its a good thing you didn't pull it the knife. She would have bled to death.

He looked around then ordered the nurses to prepare for the operation room. He was going to operate on her and since Rhoda didn't have parents and her only brother was far away, i had to take responsibility of signing up for her surgery. Someone had to...

Richard prepared for the operation and I asked to see her just once before she went into theatre and Richard couldn't say no to that.

I held on to her hand and kissed her forehead.

Me: you have to come back to me baby, I will be waiting...

She closed her eyes and tears fell. I felt bad for her and I could not help but think that it was my fault that she was in that condition. The one thing I was afraid of had happened but how did it even get to that, what was she coming to do at Della's place and how did Robert know where we were, was she and Robert in communication because I knew she was afraid of him and thought he was being all fishy and stuff. What was really going on.

No one could answer my question. Oh Rhoda could but she was half dead and Robert who was the other person who could, had gone missing without a trace..

I watched Rhoda being taken to the OR and I took a seat by the waiting area. It was going to be a long wait but I hoped it was going to be successful..

It wasn't long before mark checked in. It wasn't hard to spot his tall frame in a crowd so I signalled him and he came to where I was seated and i got up, we exchanged greetings then we both day down side by side..

Mark: I'm sorry man..

He said after he had also seen that my shirt was soaked in blood.

i nodded and wiped my face with my hands and leaned back..

Mark: what happened?

Me: she got stubbed by Della man, she showed up at Della's door and Della drove a knife in her stomach.

Mark: Della, as in your ex girlfriend?...

I nodded and he looked rather confused. I knew he wanted to ask what I was doing at Della's place but Mark never did the expected he always caught me by surprised. He was a man so I think he understood these things better. see being a man sometimes traps you into making stupid decisions especially where femaled are involved..

Mark: where is Della now, did she run?

Me: run,.. no Della is dead.

i said in a not so loud tone as i was aldo trying to convince myself that she really was. His eyes widened at me and I didn't even want to think about it myself.

Mark: what are you saying?

Me: Rhoda showed up at Della's place like she knew I would be there or something. Then Della kind of acted suspicious like she was afraid of whoever was knocking when Rhoda didn't identify herself after she knocked. Della opened the door and drove the knife into her without thinking twice but what made me know she had bo regrets in what she did was when she held a gun at us asking me not to take Rhoda to the hospital. That's not all, Robert showed up from nowhere and shot Della giving us a free pass then he disappeared on us.

Mark was Keen. His mind picked things like a computer and I knew he was trying to figure out what I couldn't on my own.

Mark: what was happening between you and Della before all these things took place?

Me: Della invited me to her place then got all romantic and stuff. I don't know what she was getting at.

Mark: you said you broke up?

Me: we did break up weeks ago but its just crazy that she called and asked if i could go to her place..i didn't see it as a big deal.. I thought she just wanted to talk until she pulled a gun on us..

He was silent for a moment.

Mark: were there drinks and food in this romantic thing between you and her?

Me: yes, why?

Mark: we need to get there and fast before the police get there ahead of you.

Me: what?

Mark: think Owen. Della is dead and you were the one with her meaning you left traces of your DNA everywhere in that house. Your finger prints, your lips on the glass, tiny mistakes that could get you in trouble with the police and do you know how they will put it,... Crime of passion.

How did I not even think of that, but how could I when my mind was all over the place?

mike was right and besides that he said ot was not the time to get arrested. he needed me to be incharge of alot of things abd thats why he was going to help me clear that mess so he decided to take me to Della's place so that we could fix the mess and I had my fingers crossed that the police had not heard about Della's death. I didn't want to be held responsible for what I didn't do but then again if the police realised I was there but didn't do the killing, they would force me into telling them who else was there.... How did I even get involved with Della, why didn't I just go to spend time with Rhoda like she wanted me to?...

Mark drove like crazy... I thought I was a reckless driver but Mark was worse... He didn't care about the traffic rules and the good thing was that it was at night and no one really cared as long as no accidents were met.

Mark and I never talked much as I thought talking to him was districting him from concentrating on the road. The number of vehicles he missed. You know when women are driving, they want to be extra careful and they are also mean drivers. Mark asked for space once and if no one gave way, he overlapped. One would think we are chasing after a life and death situation and maybe it was.

Mark and I pulled over at the parking to Della's apartment and when we got to her house, the weird thing is she that her body was not there, neither was the glass I was using though hers was there and her door remained opened.

Mark: do you think the police have been here already?

Me: no. Take a look...

I said pointing to the table.

Me: there were two glasses with wine on the table. My glass is missing... The police wouldn't have taken one glass and left the other then again, they wouldn't have just picked mine.

Mark: you think someone else was here?

Me: where is the body?

This was not making sense... We had only been at the hospital for less than half an hour and someone already beat us to whatever we had gone to do and to make it worse, we could hear the police siren from where we were.. had we been set up and if yes, who did?.. it gad to be someone that knew our moves or was.ot Robert messing around with u..

Mark: the police are here.

Me: come on, let's get out of here.

Mark and I quickly tried to find our way out but the moment we got to the door, the police were rushing up the stairs. We had to go back inside. We had been set up, and we had been trapped inside the house of a dead woman who was now missing. Who had taken Della's body? I had no idea....