Chapter 20
After almost a week of planning the big day had finally come, and within that week Zack and Sara from teenage lovers to been-in-love-for- a while lovers, Zack had opened up his secrets to her and she felt a pang of guilt because she couldn’t share her secret with him. That day she had been seriously worried about Zack, since she and Michelle would remain absent from office for almost half of the day, Zack would surely notice that. But by God's grace he had sent a message that he himself wouldn’t attend office that day. They planned to hand over the responsibilities for the day to Richard, so that they could help Ryan in the preparations. Convincing Richard was like child's play since he was head over heels attracted to Sara and would perfectly serve their purpose. So when they said they wanted to surprise Zack with a party he joined hands with them and promised to take care of the official matters, unknown to him Martin had already been given the responsibility to espy him.
Now, while she was taking a last look at the wonderfully decorated Elite club with all sorts of Balloons, ribbons and Orchids. It would look like an odd combination for someone who didn’t know Zack properly but the guy was addicted to Orchids. He had a special orchid plantation hub in which he grew exotic and rare Orchids. They had an event planner do all the arrangements and she gave them this idea to maintain a blue and white theme. They wanted the party to be so mesmerizing that people would talk about it more than any other award function or party and since money was not a problem so they spent as much as they dared. "It looks wonderful ," someone patted her shoulders making her turn back abruptly "Armel , you got me dazed," she said ,"I couldn’t help it," he said smirking deviously "But you belle look totally exhausted." Before she could protest he said "I'll look after the matters here, go and get dressed like a princess." She couldn't argue even if she wanted, so she simply nodded and drove back to her apartment.
"Hey just be careful with this one," Michelle called out as Ryan was about to pour champagne in a glass kept on top of the other glass, "Don't want them falling all over, do we?" Ryan said with eyes on the glass, where he could get a reflection of her. Both of them prepared a pyramidal design using hundred wine glasses and the glass on the top was meant for Zack." I could never imagine you have such a wonderful talent," Ryan told her while keeping the bottle of Champagne back to its place."Thanks, it’s the only one I have," she said while looking at his tousled hair. I wonder how many times he brushed his hands through these thick brown strands! "I could never imagine that a multimillionaire CEO such as you can work so efficiently in someone's birthday party," she whispered watching the bubbles slowly disappear from the surface of the glasses. "Well, Zack is a friend and my sister's would be fiancée, so I suppose it's perfectly okay," he replied looking at her eyes. She was so hallucinated by his eyes that his words passed over her head. Why am I getting so attracted towards these green eyes? Her phone rang and a quick look at the screen told her it was from Martin, she excused herself and received the call "Hello, smarty, what's the progress"? He didn’t waste time in greeting her "Our suspect just received a parcel through FedEx and the spy cam installed in his cubicle shows that the shipment consists of Drugs and Sedatives". "And where have you parked the van"? The words rasped out of her, "One block from Raven Smuts, don’t worry Mark has been watching him over from the restaurant opposite to the complex". She sighed "I'm not going to pay for him, share your paycheck". Before he could protest she ended the call.
Oh god how long do I have to wait? Armel would be here any moment. What is he waiting for? Damn just pick up the bag man. Zack had delivered the amount in a brief case near a junkyard in China town and was waiting for the blackmailer to pick it up. He had promised Armel that he would spend the day with his friend. Though there was not even a flicker of sunlight anywhere, yet he could easily spot the trash bin located in the alley and his car was parked near a grocery store. He punched the steering wheel. A middle-aged man probably fifty to fifty- five years old walked towards the trash bin where he had kept the money. Today he really was in the mood of a fight. He wanted to see what this man was up to. The person picked up the bag from the bin and walked away. As soon as the man started walking away, Zack got out of his SUV and started following the person. First he walked to the bin where he had placed a spy cam in video mode to capture blackmailer's face and then walked down the path following the former. The guy walked towards the Rail station and waited for his train, he turned back a few times to see whether someone was following him, but Zack was too careful to let him get revealed. After a few minutes a train arrived at the station and the guy boarded it, the locomotive directed towards Manhattan. Just as the person boarded the train Zack started a walk back to the parking lot, where his SUV was parked. Now it would be easier for me to trace this guy, since I have his face recorded and I know where he was headed to. While waiting for Armel, he dialed the number of a he knew could help him with this case and fixed a meeting with them. Within a minute Armel's Mercedes SLR stood in front of his car. Armel signaled him to follow his car.
Meanwhile Sara had driven to Zack's apartment, she already had a duplicate keycard and the doorman knew her well to let her in. Thanks to him for trusting me so much. Let me check the library first there must be something important. She went to the library and started looking for books based on Civil War. But before she could find anything her cell phone started ringing. The display screen showed it was Mitchell calling her, she received the call "When do you plan to return?"Mitchell asked in a serious tone, "Today I suppose," she answered playfully. "It isn't funny Sara, come soon we all are waiting for you", her friend stated worriedly from the other side. "Is he there yet?" she asked. "No, but will be here any moment." Mitchell answers and ended the call. Just as she was about to give up searching a page slipped from one of the old shreds of a book that she now held. She kept the book carefully back to its place and picked up the page. The page seemed to be a torn out piece of a page of a legal document confederate seal. Let me keep this with me, I'll clear it out later. I should see the painting once more, she went to the kitchen and replaced the painting with the other one that she had brought with her. As she hung the painting she recalled, how hastily she had gone to a friend to paint a canvas similar to the one that she captured in her phone. Both were look alikes. The night Michelle had a sleep over in her apartment she had told her they had suspected that this painting had a hidden meaning in it and it should be somehow configured so they and the only way to do that was to replace the real one with a fake. Michelle also informed her that the convict was somehow related to Richard and the sudden disappearance of the models have taken place only a month after Richard was appointed. So they should not believe the individual's attire.
The Mysterious Women Series:Blackmail Page 21
