Fighting Destiny

by Annalisa Simon

  “I’m not the one who made the agreement with you, it was my brother Graeme, but today I’m going to be the one to break it. You aren’t going to get away with this, not with kidnapping this innocent girl.”

  Neveen laughed scornfully at Nathan’s reply. “Of course you agreed Nathan. It may have been forced out of you but you know that you cared more about your own name and saving face with your fiancée than the outcome of this intensive.”

  “I made a mistake trusting that you would keep your word.”

  “You really should’ve minded your business and followed orders because now you will end up seeing things not meant for your eyes,” Neveen said with a voice that reminded Nathan of the hiss one would hear in a nest of vipers.

  Darius listened to what was being said and remembered what Mitchell said about the Samaroo family. His hunch was right. The academy was in deep financial trouble with these criminals. In fact, it was Nathan’s brother Graeme who seemed to be at the centre of it all with his gambling addiction while Nathan was the family’s pawn in all of this.

  “Look she’s a young innocent girl. What use could you possibly have for her? Let her go and there won’t be any more trouble here,” Nathan said slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on the men with the guns aimed at him.

  “The only persons in trouble here are the two of you,” Neveen replied menacingly.

  “Well you are going to have to bring out a lot more chairs to tie up myself and all of the police officers who are on their way here right now. I am sure this house is going to be easy to find after the detailed description I gave them. You aren’t going to get away with this, not today!” Nathan bluffed hoping that the police were indeed on their way.

  “Samaroo, right now I have enough information about you and your money laundering activities to put you behind bars. You already have kidnapping added to that and I’m sure you don’t want to add murder to the list,” Darius added.

  “And you Mr. Brogan, I believe it is?” said Neveen with a cold sneer.

  “That’s my name!” replied Darius with a voice cold as ice.

  “What business is this of yours?”

  “You chose the wrong property to carry out your illegal activities. I take it as a personal insult that you think you can harm one of my guests in this manner.”

  Gerald backed away down the steps slowly and sprinted back out to the road to see if the police made it and to signal them to the house while Nathan and Gerald bought time. They were nowhere in sight.

  “You fools, you said that you weren’t followed here!” Neveen snarled angrily at his bodyguards.

  “I told you I thought a car was following us Drew,” said one of the men.

  “Shut up fool, you just called my name!” replied Drew angrily now distracted by his partner.

  “Both of you shut up! We have a bigger problem to deal with here!” Neveen shouted.

  Darius and Nathan looked at each other and for the first time they thought in sync. They needed to get closer to Julia and this argument was a good opportunity to do that while the gun men were distracted. They both stepped forward cautiously, making no sudden movements that would make these men see the need to press the trigger as yet. Julia looked terrified and Darius’ heart went out to her. At least she wasn’t alone anymore. Was this really going to be the way he died? Not today if he could help it!

  “Kill both of them and kill the girl too. Mr. Carthswright and Mr. Brogan just signed her death warrant. If he’s right we need to get out of here now, do it!” Mr. Samaroo added quickly.

  The burly man to the right of Darius began the process of attaching a silencer to his weapon and out of the corner of his eye he could see streams of tears flowing from Julia’s eyes and her muffled cries could be heard behind the duct tape which covered her mouth. Where were Gerald and the police? He had run out of time and out of ideas.

  “Drop your weapons, this is the Derrien Island Police,” they heard Gerald shout loudly from outside. It was enough to distract the men and they took their eyes off Nathan and Darius for a moment to look toward the door. Darius would only have one chance to knock the one with the silencer off his feet. So he lowered his head and charged him, ramming his shoulder into the man’s solar plexus and using the tazer he wore on his belt in a double attack he hoped was enough to disarm him.

  Nathan also sprang into action tackling the second man using the piece of wood he’d grabbed on the way in. A shot rang out and a sizzle of electricity was audible, a scream of pain followed by a thud. The man Darius charged was still holding his gun loosely but was doubled over coughing on the floor. Damn, he was solid as a wall Darius thought now feeling searing pain spreading across his right shoulder.

  Julia took the opportunity to kick Mrs. Samaroo at the back of her knees, who up till then was watching the proceedings silently. She lost her balance and slammed into her husband’s back shifting him off balance and they both fell to the floor in a heap. Gerald ran into view and he used his tazer on the second man Nathan was wrestling with, and he also fell to the floor writhing in pain.

  “Are the police on the way?” Nathan asked Gerald breathing heavily. Before Gerald could respond he heard rapid footfalls coming up the stairs and the surprised exclamation from the Samaroo’s.

  “This is the Derrien Island Police, no one move!”

  Darius glanced behind him to see both of them raising their arms in surrender as everyone was now at the gunpoint of the police. But the pain the pain in his shoulder was incredible. He must have dislocated it when he charged that man. Julia was now crying with racking sobs.

  “Which one of you is Darius Brogan?” one of the officers asked cautiously.

  “I am, and you guys got here just in time,” Darius breathed with relief as he struggled to stand to his feet. He felt as though the room was leaning.

  “Okay sir, you have a seat, and let us handle this,” one of the officer said moving to steady him. “You need to get your shoulder looked at, you are bleeding pretty badly.” He spoke into his scanner and told the dispatcher to send an ambulance quickly and he described the injury.

  He was bleeding? Things happened so fast and it seemed as though everything had happened within seconds. He looked toward his shoulder and he discovered the source of the pain he was feeling. Obviously the shot he’d heard was aimed at him. He exhaled raggedly and sank heavily down into a nearby chair as Gerald came toward him taking off his shirt.

  “Let me take a look at that, sir,” he said helping Darius out of his shirt and he pressed the wound closed to try to reduce the bleeding.

  The officer had untied Julia and removed the tape from around her mouth and as soon as she was free she got up and ran toward where Darius was sitting and threw her arms around him, sobbing intensely.

  “It’s okay Julia, it’s over and you are safe now!” he soothed touching her hair gently with his other arm. The thought of how easily these people could’ve gotten away with this crime chilled him to the bone. Julia could have been dead right now! While holding Julia he pointed out the culprits who were handcuffed and arrested.

  “Sir, the ambulance is going to take too long to get here, let me help you to the car. You need to get your arm looked at you’re losing a lot of blood. Gerald’s face was tight with concern.

  Darius was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded now but that wasn’t important now. Having seen Julia’s performance last night, he knew he was looking at a strong contender for the intensive scholarship and she needed to finish what she’d started this week. She was safe and that was all that mattered!

  “Gerald, I want you to escort Julia back to the hotel when the police are finished with their questioning. Don’t let anything happen to her,” Darius instructed his bodyguard.

  “I will and I will send for David to stay with you at the hospital while I go back to the hotel with the girl.”

  Nathan felt sick at the thought of what could’ve happened within the last few minutes. His agreement with Samaroo could’ve r
esulted in not just his death but also Julia’s and Darius’. He knelt on the floor feeling bruised from his fight with the second man. He’d been lucky but Darius hadn’t. All the blame he wanted to throw at Darius had now dissolved into a feeling of deep regret. He had a lot to make up for. He overheard what Gerald was saying and walked over to Darius. One of the officers requested to speak with Julia spoke and he knew his turn would also come.

  “I’ll stay with him!” he said to Gerald.

  Darius’ eyes widened slightly in surprise at Nathan’s offer and winced as a sharp pain moved through his shoulder.

  “I’ll let Candasee know you are hurt as well,” he continued grimly.

  No, don’t say anything to her! I don’t want her to worry unnecessarily. I don’t think this injury is that bad, in fact I’m sure that after a few stitches I’ll be fine. Call Ramon Gerald, he’ll know what to do.” Darius slurred.

  The room was beginning to spin and tilt. Those were the last words Darius spoke before he blacked out.

  “Has anyone seen Julia this morning?” Candasee asked now concerned that she hadn’t seen the girl show up to the session as yet. The class would be finished in ten minutes and attendance was a part of the scoring system. Any missed sessions meant a lowered chance for winning. She was usually the first to arrive and the last to leave.

  “No I haven’t seen her either,” Dominic said. “We planned to have an early morning swim but when I went to her room, no one answered.”

  “Eve, do you know where Juila is?” Candasee asked turning her attention to the smug girl.

  “I think she said something about having a family emergency last night. Maybe she went to see about that,” she replied sweetly. Too sweetly, thought Candasee.

  “It’s almost ten o’ clock now; it isn’t like her not to say anything”. In fact, she had quite a few conversations with Julia over the past few days and discovered that she liked her a lot. Not only was she talented, but humble and mature with a beautiful spirit.

  “Well, no one listened to me when I said she didn’t deserve to be here. She is one of the most irresponsible people I have ever had the misfortune of being stuck with,” replied Eve with her lip curled in disdain.

  The occupants of the room pinned Eve with disapproving glares but no one said anything. It wasn’t worth it to reply to this girl. She had promised Nathan to be patient and understanding but it was getting really difficult. At least the intensive was soon over. Neither she nor the others would have to tolerate her for much longer.

  “Okay, you guys, have an early dismissal today. You’ve earned it! You all know that we have the final showcase and final judging tonight and I think that you guys are ready. I am proud of the work you put in over these few days.”

  “Thank you Candasee, I think I speak for all of us when we say that we enjoyed your sessions most of all and that this experience is something we will never ever forget!” said Dominic, and the rest of the class applauded enthusiastically. Of course all agreed except Eve who’d found something interesting to inspect on her fingernail.

  Candasee swiped at the tears which ran down her cheek at hearing those words of appreciation. What could be better than knowing you were changing lives, she thought and a fleeting memory of the dance school she’d planned to establish on her own came to mind. If she’d stayed on the island people like Julia would’ve had the opportunity to train and hone their skills in a nurturing environment by now. Maybe she should begin thinking about doing that again when she returned home to Barbados, she mused, hugging each student and wishing them the best. When she got to Eve, the hateful girl simply looked at her with scorn, laughed and walked away.

  “Okay, I think you guys know that you have the photo shoot this evening here at sunset so don’t be late. Go on now before you make me really burst out into tears,” Candasee joked wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

  After everyone left, Candasee’s thoughts turned once again to Julia. This was the final class she would conduct for this intensive and she was looking forward to hearing the final touches Julia placed on her showcase song. She continued to work hard at dance despite her ankle injury and together they’d explored ways to keep as much weight off her leg as possible. However, she wisely decided to do her final judging in song to give her the best chance of winning the scholarship.

  Maybe Nathan or one of the other instructors had heard from her, she thought as she went in search of the others. She saw a few of the other delegates and two instructors, but no one had seen Julia at all. Speaking of which, she hadn’t seen Nathan since their talk on the beach last night either. But even as she stood there, the odd twisting in her gut told her that something was terribly wrong.

  “I’m going to call her at her home”, said Candasee to herself aloud. “I think I have her contact information back in my class portfolio in the room. I don’t think I can eat until I know that everything is okay with her.”

  She returned to her room and called the number on file and there was no answer. She hung up and sat on the bed heavily with a deep feeling of dread building inside of her.

  Suddenly the phone beside the bed rang, breaking the heavy silence that filled the room.

  “Hello?” Candasee answered quickly.

  “Candasee, this is Eloise Graham in reception, I am going to connect your call, please stay on the line.”

  “Sure”. Who was calling her? Was it Julia?

  The phone clicked and this time a familiar male voice spoke seven words she’d never ever expected to hear,

  “Candasee, it’s Nathan, Darius has been shot!”

  “He’s been what?”

  “Can you come down to the hospital? He’s unconscious still, but he’s been calling your name. I think that you should be here when he wakes up”.

  “Oh my God! I’ll be right there!” Candasee said dropping the phone receiver and grabbing her bag on the way to the door. She didn’t bother to wait to hear anything else.

  As she pushed the button to the elevator Candasee remembered that she had nothing to drive and that Darius usually had two of his cars in the parking lot. Waiting for a taxi would take too long. She punched the eleventh floor so she could go up and get his spare key from inside his desk drawer.

  When she arrived there the floor was deserted so she walked right inside. Immediately she remembered the first night she came upstairs and how she railed at him like a mad woman. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell him that she’d forgiven him for the past as yet. She rushed over to his desk and as she reached into the drawer she noticed that on his desk were three framed pictures; one of her on their honeymoon, their wedding photo and a picture of him with his mother. He still had these pictures on his desk? She’d thought Ramon was exaggerating that night.

  She didn’t understand him sometimes. He’d been silent all this time but yet he still had these photos on his desk where he could see them every day?

  She pulled open the drawer and lying in the corner was a bunch of keys that she recognized. She grabbed them quickly and sprinted back to the elevators.

  Could she drive like this? Her hands were already shaking and her eyes were wild with worry. In the parking lot, she went to his designated parking and she noted that his Mercedes was gone but his personal SUV was still there. She unlocked the doors and got in. Her hands were shaking terribly.

  “Candasee you can do this!” she told herself after taking a few steadying breaths and willing herself not to cry. She would hold it together. She started the engine and soon she was on her way. When she arrived at the hospital Nathan was waiting for her outside. He hugged her quickly before they made their way inside.

  “What happened Nathan?” Candasee cried.

  “He and I saw Julia being kidnapped this morning and we followed them to rescue her. He got shot in the process.”

  “Oh my God, please let him be okay! What about Julia?”

  “Julia she refuses to leave here until she knows that he’s fine.”

&nbs
p; “Julia is here? Oh thank God!” Candasee blurted and as they rounded the corner she saw her clearly hunched over on a chair sitting close to the door to the surgical wing.

  “Julia are you okay?” Candasee called out and Julia looked up immediately and ran to hug her. Her eyes were red and swollen and she was crying uncontrollably as she tried to speak. It was hard to understand her but to Candasee it sounded as though she was saying, “He saved me, he saved me, they both did”.

  Candasee felt as though the floor fell out from under her as she struggled to process the news. Someone tried to hurt Julia?

  “What happened? Who would do something like this Nathan?” Candasee exclaimed in alarm.

  “Apparently she was kidnapped from her hotel room early this morning and she was taken to an abandoned house. Who knows what they were going to do to her there? Eve and her parents were behind all of it and they were arrested at the scene,” said Nathan behind her. “I suspect Eve has been arrested at the hotel by now too.”

  “What? But why? Julia is the most mature and loving of all of my students. I don’t understand why Eve targeted her this whole week like this!”

  “It wasn’t her fault Candasee.” Nathan exhaled loudly under the weight of what he was about to admit. “It was mine!”

  “What do you mean it was your fault?”

  “I don’t know if this is the best place to explain all of this to you but I want to say I’m really sorry.”

  “Nathan you are confusing me. None of this makes any sense. It sounds like something out of a movie. I can’t believe this.”

  “I know and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me when you do hear the full story,” Nathan replied sadly.

  “Where’s Darius? How is he?” wailed Candasee in anguish exhaling heavily. She was having difficulty processing all of this.

  Candasee held the sobbing girl more tightly and the surgery doors swung open and the doctor came out. “Are you family members of Mr. Brogan?”

  “No, well yes, in a way I’m his ex-wife!” Candasee stuttered. How is he?”