One Night With Mr Braxton

” Are you sure you want to meet her? You know how formidable she is! Send her a message Instead.”

A young man in the midst of three men said. His fear, evident and visible to his colleagues around him.

” Shut up! This is a golden opportunity. That lady holds the power of the Steele family. We are at an advantage and trust me when I say she wouldn’t try anything funny.” Another said, aiming to convince his partners.

” Exactly. She is the true miss of the Steeles and even if it might not look like it, she is of great value. If she wasn’t, I believe she’d be dead and gone. ” A red haired member of the gang added while lighting a cigarette.

” The more reason we need to do this. A measly twelve thousand wouldn’t go round, we need nothing less than 25 each and she can provide it. We just need to make her.” Another said, staring at a scarred eyed man. The entire project depended on him. Every other person was on board but if he wasn’t, it vetoed the mission in general.

The gang leader remained silent with calculating eyes. No doubt pondering over their idea. He was apprehensive about going through with the plans because he knew the Steele’s family.

The first lady of the Steele’s family was one who was vastly known in the underworld. She wasn’t a lady to be trifled with and when she reached out to him for a job, he was immediately interested and saw it as an opportunity to broaden his horizons.

When he was asked to kidnap a measly unknown lady, his attention was piqued on the identity of the said lady. He was paid almost immediately and was preparing the right time and place to deliver on the job.

Things took another turn when one of his cohorts found out the true and hidden identity of the supposed lady. After breaking through various kinds of firewalls, they were able to gather staggering and shocking facts about the lady in question.

She wasn’t just an ordinary person. She was the true and only daughter of the Steele’s. Not only that, she held the full power and right to everything under the Steele brand.

How exactly she became a nobody was still confusing until they dug up new bits of information. Apparently, there were so many skeletons in the closet of the Steele family which were just waiting to be found.

One of them being that she was being used and milked out of all she’s worth by the people she considered family. The same people who paid to have her locked up for reasons best known to them.

The situation on ground now was how to exploit and monetize the information gathered by his team. The Steele’s were millionaire’s and sustained themselves through the little lady they’d captured. If they went through such lengths to keep their secrets and make use of the lady so wickedly, why couldn’t they?

What stopped them from doing the very thing to the family and gaining even more money?

The gears in the head of the gang leader were turning. He was a man of himself and no matter the situation, he prided himself as one who protected the interest of the crew before anyone else’s. The answer was clear.

They had a gold mine and they were going to exploit it till the very end. An eerie smirk found its way to the mouth of the leader which convinced his people that they’d finally gotten through to him.

” To a new dispensation! ” One of the gang mates said, standing on his feet and stretching forward his right fist.

” To a new dispensation! ” The others chorused, joining him as they concluded their conversation on the topic.

*****

Mrs Steele was in her black SUV when her phone chirped. Believing it was Talia, she picked it without a glance but was surprised to hear an automated voice.

” Hello Annabelle.”

Shocked to a still, she immediately checked the caller’s identity and was stunned to see it was hidden. Whoever it was calling her knew who she was. She’d not been addressed by her first name in the longest time so getting a call from a supposed private number and being addressed so clearly left an unsettling feeling in her wake.

” Who are you?” She asked with the coldest voice she could muster and simultaneously tried tracing the location of the caller.

” Don’t even think about finding me. This call is untraceable. But for your fun, I’ll let you think I’m in the… Sambisa forest?” The voice said, arrogance and sarcasm dripping from the tone. Even with the automated voice.

Sure enough, he told no lies. Every direction pointed at the Sambisa forest in Africa. She was being toyed with!

” Who are you and what do you want?”

Mrs Steele managed to hold her cool, grounding her teeth in anger as she awaited some response.

” Don’t be too quick to know me, matter of fact, you don’t need to know me, all you need to know is that I know you and could destroy everything you’ve builded with a snap of my fingers, Annabelle.”

” I am a busy woman. Cut straight to the point.”

” Yes yes.. that you are. From my findings, I believe you know I’m no ordinary person. That is why you are yet to let me go.”

The voice waited for good measure, as though trying to prove his point and test if she was going to disconnect him before continuing.

” I’d take that to mean we are on the same page and for that I’ll reward you with the reason I called you. You have one week to transfer the sum of One million dollars into an account I’d send you or you can forget about your step daughter, Emma Steele.”

Upon hearing that, Mrs Steele was moved to laughter. Was this a joke?

” You must have mistaken me for someone else. Like you said, a step daughter. Why do you think I will waste such an amount of money over a thing like that?”

” Is that laughter I hear? Yes, an outrageous request, isn’t it?” The voice lost every form of complacency as it continued. ” You and I know exactly how important a key she is to the empire you think you run. To further illustrate my point, pick up your computer and take a look at your most recent mail.”

While obeying the direction of the voice, Mrs Steele couldn’t help but wonder just how whoever it was knew she had a system with her. Her calculating mind pinned it to the fact that this person wasn’t ordinary. There were only a few people privy to the fact that she knew something about coding.

It was one of her strengths back in the days and due to her quest for greatness, she’d kept it by the side and only took lessons when she felt like it. For that reason, she had laptops which were permanently etched in locations she frequented. Her car was inclusive.

Upon opening her mail, her body shook. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

” What do you want from me and who are you?!”

Her tone was more serious this time around. She was done playing.

” I see you’ve gotten my little chirp. Do well to ready my money in the coming week. I’m getting tired of her.”

The phone call ended before she could say a word. With shaky hands, she yelled at the driver.

” Turn around. Back to the mansion. Now! ”

” Yes ma’am.”

The car ride was filled with impatiently tapping feet. In a matter of minutes, the car arrived and she rushed into the mansion, bumping into Talia on her way in.

” Mother! What’s the hurry? Are you okay?” She asked upon noticing the alarmed look on her mother’s face.

” I don’t have time, follow me.” She ordered in motion, headed for her home study. She needed to confirm she still had the documents. There was no way she lost them.

” Wait! No! I have an appointment.”

” Cancel it.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

It was the first time Talia saw her mum in such a terrible countenance. Her mother was never curt to her no matter the situation and seeing her address her so curtly only spiked her attention and worry. Did something go wrong?

Talia followed her mother into her study, standing patiently and watching her mother pace around. Mrs Steele was confused. She had checked herself and there wasn’t any sort of leakage from her end. How was this even possible?

” Okay, you better get talking or I might as well lose my mind. What’s going on? You are scaring me.”

” Emma was kidnapped. ” She explained, leaving out any context.

” Okay? I don’t see how that’s a problem. Even if it was, I bet you can handle it. Is that why you’re being weird?” Talia asked, still not getting the point.

” They requested a ransom of one million dollars. To be ready in one week. ”

” You’ve got to be kidding me! She isn’t even worth it! Why are we bothered again?”