Lies, Lies, Lies

by David A Max

  Richard, Emilio and Jimmy put on heavy jackets they found in the basement; they carried the rifles and took two knives, Richard and Jimmy also had their knives.

  Opening the door gently, the three of them looked around and saw no sign of the bears, it was snowing heavily, so they could barely see far away. They struggled in the snow, as they walked towards the wreckage and they kept looking around them to see if any of the polar bears were around. After about twenty minutes they managed to get to the wreckage, heavy snow was falling and the thick snow on the ground made movement difficult. It was actually difficult to see the helicopter if not for the propeller blade that was sticking out of the snow. Richard and Emilio dug and removed the snow, while Jimmy kept watch, making sure there was no polar bear coming to attack them. After about ten minutes of digging they got inside the wrecked helicopter.

  Richard and Emilio climbed into the wreckage; Richard looked round to see if he could find the radio and the backpack that contained the battery that the snipers were using to communicate with the rest of the team during the rescue. He looked round and saw the backpack but could not find the radio, so he climbed into the cockpit and found the radio all mangled up, “I found what we are looking for but it’s really damaged,” Richard said to Emilio, “let’s climb out and head back to the cabin before it gets late.” They both climbed out of the helicopter, Richard then handed the backpack to Jimmy, “Please carry it on your back and I will hold the radio, the snow’s getting heavier so we need to head back now,” he said.

  Richard, Emilio and Jimmy made their way back to the cabin, it was snowing heavily and visibility was poor, they also struggled to take each step. As they got close to the cabin, Emilio looked back, “I think I see something running towards us!” Emilio screamed. Jimmy and Richard turned back and saw one of the polar bears running towards them, the three of them tried to run, but it was difficult because of the thick snow, they struggled to move faster as the polar bear got closer. Jimmy was behind, so he quickly turned back and shot at the polar bear; he missed because the visibility was poor. Richard and Emilio joined in shooting at the polar bear, one bullet scratched the shoulder of the bear as it got closer.

  Jimmy had run out of bullets, he tried to run and fell down in the snow. The polar bear grabbed his feet and bit him hard, Richard shot his last bullet and missed. Emilio had run out of bullets. Jimmy screamed as the polar bear bit his foot, Jimmy quickly removed the knife in his jacket and stabbed one of the polar bear’s eyes, the bear left his foot and ran off.

  Richard and Emilio quickly pulled Jimmy up and helped him to the house; Emilio banged the door. Carlito ran and opened the door, “What happened to Jimmy?” Carlito asked.

  “He was attacked by one of the polar bears,” Emilio answered.

  Elsa got the first aid kit, she gently removed Jimmy’s shoes to see the wound, then cleaned the wound up, treated it and started wrapping his feet in bandage. “You cannot do much for the next couple of days,” Elsa said, as she finished bandaging his feet.

  Carlito locked the door and all the windows, making sure everything was properly secured. “These polar bears are hunting us as food,” Richard said, shaking his head.

  Three days later, Jimmy’s feet felt better; he was in the lounge he decided to look out the window to see if they were still being stalked by the polar bears. ‘It can’t be true,’ he thought to himself, ‘how is this possible?’ Jimmy wondered. He saw three people walking towards their cabin, two men and a woman. As the three of them got closer to the cabin, Jimmy called on the rest of the people in the house to look out the window; they all peeped out through the windows, and were shocked, ‘how did they get here?’ they all wondered.

  Suddenly one of the polar bears appeared and attacked the man behind, it grabbed him by the throat and shook him like a rag doll. The man tried to fight back by punching the polar bear, but it was too strong for him; the polar bear simply dragged the man away, and disappeared with his body. The second man and woman ran towards the cabin, Emilio and Carlito quickly opened the door to let them in.

  The man and woman ran into the cabin, breathing heavily. Déborah looked at them and thought to herself, ‘How did they get here? Who are they? Who sent them?’ So many questions raced through her mind.

  After the man and the woman had relaxed for some time, they introduced themselves as Olivia and Mark.

  Chapter 10

  Greg and Gina sat in the sitting area in Kevin’s mansion, “It’s been three weeks now and they are not back,” Gina exclaimed. “Kevin said he sent a rescue team and we have still not heard anything,” Gina wept.

  “Please don’t cry,” Greg consoled her, “I’m really worried too,” Greg shook his head.

  “I hope they are not dead, because the missions usually take a few minutes; something bad has definitely happened,” Gina continued, “something really bad.”

  Greg held Gina, “I am sure we will hear from them soon,” Greg tried to put Gina’s mind at rest, as he stroked Gina’s hair and rubbed her back.

  “I am going to rest for some time in my room,” Gina got up.

  “Let me come with you so I can help you sleep,” Greg offered.

  “It’s okay, I just want to be on my own,” Gina replied. Greg was disheartened, as Gina walked to her room.

  That evening during dinner, Greg sat next to Gina, “I hope you’re feeling better?” Greg asked Gina.

  “Yes I am,” she replied. Greg held Gina’s hand to console her, but she removed her hand.

  “Greg, I’m okay, and why are you always trying to touch me and make body contact?” Gina asked.

  “I’m in love with you Gina, I can’t help myself.”

  “But you told Elsa you wanted to be her boyfriend?” Gina asked.

  “That was then, not now,” he replied, “it has always been you I liked before I even considered Elsa.”

  “Greg it’s not a good time for this, I’m not happy at the moment,” Gina said as she walked out of the dining room.

  Another week passed and there was still no news about Elsa, Andreiá, Carlito, Emilio and Déborah. Gina was becoming depressed, she was really missing Carlito, she hoped that they were not dead.

  Greg knocked on Gina’s door, “Come in, the door is open,” Gina said.

  “Why are you crying?” Greg asked Gina. He rushed over and held her, she wept but could not tell Greg she really missed Carlito. Greg held her and consoled her. He had a bottle of wine with him when he walked in, so he poured a glass of wine for her, Gina took it and drank it, and after about three glasses, she became tipsy and kissed him. Greg didn’t mind she was tipsy, he kissed her back and he slept over in her room that night.

  When Gina woke up she had a headache, she looked to her side and saw Greg naked. She immediately lifted up her duvet, she was naked too, she sighed and woke Greg up, “Please go to your room.” Greg got up put his clothes on, and tried to kiss her before he left but Gina moved away.

  That evening Greg knocked on Gina’s door, “Come in Greg,” Gina knew it was him. “Hope you’re feeling better?” Greg asked.

  “Yes I feel better,” Gina answered.

  “I’ve been taking care of some of Kevin’s offshore accounts all day,” Greg said, “he is really rich.”

  “Jake used to say the same thing, he said Kevin had amassed a lot of wealth and he has money in different accounts,” Gina nodded. “I don’t think he knows how much he has or what accounts they are in. I have been managing some of his accounts for a couple of months now and it’s impressive, whatever he is doing is working for him.”

  “Do you want me to get you anything from the kitchen?” Greg asked Gina.

  “You want to get me drunk again?” Gina laughed. Greg leaned over and kissed her, and to Greg’s surprise she didn’t resist or push him away; they both kissed for some time and then they got under the duvet. Greg slept over in Gina’s room that night.

  The next morning Greg woke up quite early and said he had to do som
e running around, he gave Gina a peck and left.

  ‘Where is Greg?’ Gina thought to herself, it was getting late and he had not come to knock on her door, like he does several times every day, ‘it’s unusual,’ she thought.

  The next day when Gina woke up, there was still no Greg. She got up and went to his room, she knocked and there was no answer; she opened the door and entered his room, but he wasn’t there. “Greg, Greg?” Gina called, thinking maybe he was in the bathroom, but there was still no answer.

  She left his room and called one of the maids, “Have you seen Greg?” The maid said, “No madam, I last saw him yesterday.” Gina was now worried, she went back to her room and called Kevin, “Hello Kevin, Greg is nowhere to be found, we last saw him yesterday, did you send him on an urgent trip?”

  “No I didn’t,” Kevin replied, “I will get some of my boys to look into it, I’m sure he is okay,” Kevin replied.

  Two days later Kevin called Gina. “Have you found him?” Gina asked. “I got information that he walked out of the mansion, two days ago and hailed a taxi and he got into the taxi alone,” Kevin said, “I have also sent the information to the police.” ‘How can he just disappear?’ Gina wondered. “We are still searching for him. I will let you know if there are new updates,” Kevin said and hung up. ‘Everybody is gone except me, I hope I’m safe,’ Gina thought to herself.

  About a week later Kevin sent for Gina and she met him in the sitting area. “Please sit down,” Kevin said as he paced around the room. “Greg stole my money,” Kevin said.

  “What?” Gina shouted.

  “From the moment he started handling some of my finances, I just found out that Greg had transferred funds from some of my off-shore accounts to an account that cannot be traced. He stole a total of twelve million dollars from me.”

  Gina gasped and covered her mouth, “How did he manage to steal that much without you knowing?” she asked in shock.

  “I have hundreds of millions in several off-shore accounts and he managed to remove a bit from each of the accounts, that was why there was no alert each time,” Kevin said as he kept pacing in the room, “I will find him and get my money back,” he vowed.

  Gina walked back to her room, and shook her head as she walked back, ‘Greg is a dangerous man, how can he steal so much money, he never even mentioned anything to me, he is a real crook, one cannot trust anybody,’ Gina thought to herself. That night Gina couldn’t sleep, ‘Andreiá, Carlito, Emilio and even Déborah have all disappeared, now Greg has stolen money and disappeared, this is getting crazy, I’m the last woman standing,’ she thought to herself.

  Greg’s flight landed in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He came out of the plane and inhaled the air, ‘This is home for me now,’ he thought to himself, and smiled. Greg had flown to four different countries, flying different airlines, he had also stayed in the countries for a day or two before finally taking his last flight to South Africa, and he did all that so it would be difficult to trace him.

  He walked inside the airport, the immigration officer took his passport checked it, and looked at his face and gave him back his passport and said, “Welcome Mr Tony Buck, thank you.”

  Greg had paid for a new passport with a different identity, he was now Tony Buck. Tony came out from the airport with a small bag, he looked round and said, “This is beautiful, I love Africa,” and he smiled to himself. Tony walked towards the car park and a lady ran towards him and they hugged each other, “Hello Faith,” Tony kept hugging her, “we finally meet,” Tony said.

  “Yes, you look exactly like your picture,” Faith replied. Tony had met Faith, a beautiful black South African woman in her twenties, online, and they had been talking for months. “You are more beautiful in person,” Tony said. She took his bag to the car, “Nice car,” Tony said. “This is the new Aston Martin DB11, it is lovely.” They both got into the car and Faith drove Tony round Port Elizabeth before taking him to the hilltop four-bed house overlooking the ocean. The house was beautiful and quite big, with its own swimming pool and jacuzzi.

  “Lovely house,” Tony said, “it looks exactly like the picture.” Tony had been sending money to Faith, she rented the house and bought the Aston Martin with the money Tony sent. “I think I’m going to like it here,” Tony said, as he grabbed Faith by the waist. There was a knock on the door, “Are you expecting guests?” Tony asked. “Yes,” Faith replied, “I invited friends over to welcome you, we are going to have a welcome party for you.”

  “That sounds interesting,” Tony replied.

  Faith opened the door and there were more than thirty people waiting outside, Tony was shocked and overwhelmed as they all came up to him and welcomed him. A DJ set up and there was music playing, some of the other guests brought wine and some brought snacks, the atmosphere was joyful and people were dancing and having fun.

  Faith held Tony and danced with him, “I expected a welcome but not a party,” he told Faith.

  “You deserve it, this is my way of welcoming you to South Africa,” Faith replied.

  The guests had so much fun and did not leave until the early hours of the morning, most of them were drunk by the time they left.

  Tony and Faith went to bed exhausted. When the sun came up, Tony woke up with a slight headache, Faith was still asleep. He looked round, still lying in bed, ‘Now this is the life I have always wanted to live,’ he thought to himself, ‘I must make sure I cover my tracks so Kevin never finds me,’ Tony kept thinking, ‘I have changed my identity and am no more Greg, the last trace they will have of Greg is that he landed in the Bahamas, but after that I changed my identity to Tony, so they can only trace Greg to the Bahamas. I just need to be careful so I’m not traced,’ he thought to himself.

  Tony slept for another hour before he finally got up. Faith was up and was by the balcony, Tony joined her there, “What are we doing today?” Tony asked.

  “I want to take you to one of the game reserves, you will see wild exotic animals, you will like it,” Faith replied. “That is nice,” Tony said and smiled.

  That afternoon Faith took Tony to the safari game park. She had booked a lodge inside the safari as they were going to stay for the night; they parked their own car and went with one of the jeeps in the game reserve. They drove through the park and saw a lot of animal sightings, lions hunting wildebeest, a cheetah chasing a gazelle, an elephant walked close to their jeep, “I feel it’s going to attack us,” Tony said and moved back, “I don’t feel safe.”

  Faith and the jeep driver laughed. “It won’t attack us, elephants are curious and friendly unless provoked,” the driver said. They drove through the game reserve for hours and there was not a boring moment, it was beginning to get dark and the other cars began to drive back to the safety of the lodge. “It’s time we head back,” Tony said, “I’ve had a lot of fun.” The driver turned the jeep around and drove them back to their lodge.

  Their lodge was beautiful, it had stunning African decorations and it also had a swimming pool at the back. There were a number of lodges next to each other. “It’s really beautiful,” Tony said to Faith, “I’m really enjoying South Africa, this is home for me now,” Tony smiled and kissed Faith on the lips, lifted her up and spun her round. They ordered a sumptuous dinner and went to bed.

  The next morning they got up and went for a swim in the swimming pool; they were both having fun in the pool when Tony suddenly looked back and froze, three elephants were walking straight towards them, Faith turned back and also saw the elephants, “Don’t startle them,” Faith said to Tony. The elephants walked straight to their pool and started drinking the pool water, totally ignoring Tony and Faith; they drank the pool water for about five minutes, then sprayed some of the water on their backs, turned back and left. Tony breathed a sigh of relief, Faith splashed some water on Tony, “I think the elephants like you,” she said and smiled.

  Tony and Faith got back to their hilltop house in the afternoon, they decided to just relax in front of the ho
use and watch the ocean, and as they relaxed the sun set on the horizon, Tony had his arms wrapped around Faith and they both held each other as the sun went down. ‘This is how I’m going to live the rest of my life, I’m thirty-six years old with millions of dollars hidden away, I have a beautiful woman, I’m just beginning to live my life,’ Tony thought to himself. He kissed Faith on the forehead and stroked her hair, they both went into the house, and for two days Tony and Faith stayed indoors, just watching movies, playing games, eating, and drinking wine.

  After staying indoors for two days they decided to go bungee jumping, it was an experience Tony had wanted to have for a long time. They got to the bridge they were going to bungee jump from that afternoon, with the guide and a number people who were also going to bungee jump with them. The bridge was one of the highest bungee jump bridges in the world, Faith got nervous and held on to Tony, Tony tried not to be nervous. When it was Tony’s turn to jump his adrenaline level was over the roof, he got suited and hooked up, and jumped; the fall was mind-boggling, his heart raced as gravity pulled him down really fast, when he got down and was unhooked, he sighed, “That was an experience,” Tony said, as his heart beat fast. As he sat down to regain his composure, he heard screams, it was Faith screaming as she jumped and she kept screaming until she came to a stop. Tony was there to hold her immediately she was unhooked, “That was the scariest thing I have ever done,” Faith said as some tears rolled down from her eyes, I’m never doing that again.”

  “Let me treat you to a spa treatment,” Tony said, “it will help calm both of us down. “Good idea,” Faith agreed.

  Faith drove Tony to the best spa in Port Elizabeth, it was renowned for the good service they provided. They ordered two full spa treatments, which included facials, steam room, massage, shower, and so much more. After about two hours they finished their spa treatment, Tony and Faith felt good, “That was good, I needed that,” Faith said as she kissed Tony.