"Damn", Daniel cursed as he pushed Bella behind a street pole just as a bullet whizzed past her ears, he didn't even come out with his gun and so could not return fire. With what Bella had told him, he was certain that his father was behind this.
He gazed around for what to do. If they don't leave here, the shooter will be able to get to them very soon. He sighted a flower roll and whispered in her ears
"I'll count to three, then you'll make a run for that flower roll and I'll distract whoever is shooting at us"
"No Daniel, I...."
"One...two...three..." He counted, not minding her outburst, and pushed her towards the flowers. Bella made a mad dash for it, she had never been so scared her whole life. She had been hurt, betrayed, and lost faith but had never been so scared, she finally hid behind the flowers as Daniel had instructed her and gasped for air. Damn, what's wrong with her? Why does her heart hurt so much? Her breath came out in a painful gasp, it was as if the air was being constricted in her lungs and she even felt nauseous. She was having a panic attack.
*
*
Daniel's nostrils flared in anger, he would get that bastard today and whoever he was would not escape his wrath, he had already known that the bullet was coming from the opposite direction, and now that he knew Bella was safe, he would do his thing without interference. Standing in the shadows, he noted that the shooting had paused for a moment, the shooter must have run out of bullets and trying to reload, he saw a shadow move by his right, and jumping over a small fence, he moved with the shadows towards where he had seen the movement, he was sleek and moved quietly, the shooter had crossed the other lane and was walking towards him, his eyes were fixed on the flower maze. He must have thought that both he and Bella were hiding in the same position.
"Come on...come on" Daniel counted in his head, waiting for the person to reach where he was hiding in the shadows so he could pounce. he could hear the footsteps coming closer, "1...2...3..." he counted in his head, just a few feet more, he would get the bastard but he suddenly paused and stared around as if trying to determine where he and Bella could be hiding.
Slowly, Daniel moved forward and as he took his stance to pounce, he stepped on an empty tin lying carelessly around. The shooter turned and fired at the same time that Daniel pounced and they both fell on the floor and rolled, each of them trying to get the upper hand. Daniel felt a slight sting on his arm and he knew he had been grazed by the bullet and he was even more furious. He gave the man a few punches and at last was able to gain the upper hand, he tightened his hold on the man's neck, "Who sent you?" He asked furiously as he dealt him a few punches
"I'm not telling you shit" the man wheezed out through the choke-hold of Daniel
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that" he increased the pressure of his hold and slowly the man's body went limp as he slumped into unconsciousness. Daniel quickly let go of his neck so as not to kill him, he didn't want him dead, at least, not just yet, not until he got all the information he needed from him, this man might be the link for him to be able to sink his father.
Bringing out his phone, he called Marcus, "I need you here ASAP, I'll text you the address"
Daniel searched the pocket of the man but found nothing, "Damn it, not even an ID" he cursed.
He heard footsteps and glanced up to see Marcus, "Take him to the moon house, I'll be there soon".
Going over to where he had left Bella, he found her gasping for air and he rushed towards her and bent her over, "breathe Bella, breathe" he said as he tapped her back, "calm down"
Bella did as instructed and started feeling a little bit better, "thank you"
"Come on, let's go home".
*******************************************
"Stay here, I'll be back," Daniel told her as soon as they got home but Bella grabbed his hand before he could leave
"No, no, don't leave me alone, I'm still so scared"
"You should have thought of the danger when you went out despite my warnings, I have an important matter to attend to. Shut the doors and you'll be safe" his voice was so cold and Bella felt like she had been slapped on her face, she recoiled in hurt and didn't say anything more as he left her all alone.
Bella sat huddled on a sofa, tears running down her cheeks, this world holds nothing but pain and cruelty for her, first, it was a boyfriend who thought of her as worthless and posted all her nudes to the public and now, it was a husband who can't even spare her a hug of comfort in her time of distress, she hugged herself tighter and rolled herself into a ball, she closed her eyes and started counting her numbers, this was a trick she learned in her aunty's house each time Ben locked her in a room, it also makes time fly by without her noticing.
Daniel reached the moon house and went straight to his captive, "I see that you're now awake"
The man stared at him coldly, "bastard son of your father"
Daniel punched his jaw twice and drew blood but the man only snickered, "You think you have the nerve to harm me? You are nothing but an illegitimate son of a flirt, that's all your mother is, a flirt"
Daniel's eyes saw red in anger, grabbing the revolver that Marcus was holding, he shot the knees of the man and he screamed in agony
Daniel fisted his hair and whispered in his ears, "You want to know if I have the guts to kill? Well, I could do much worse"
"Boss, he's just trying to provoke you, you need to get the information you need from him before killing him"
"I'm not going to tell him anything anyways, I'd rather be dead" All of a sudden, he jerked once and slump
"What's going on?" Daniel asked watching the man's lifeless body
Marcus quickly ran over and after checking, he stared at his boss, "he's dead boss, he bit his tongue"
Daniel screamed in anger and shot the lifeless body with the remaining bullets in his gun, "You just wasted your life because I will still find out and no one can stop me, I'll sacrifice my everything to find out my mother's killer.
Storming out of the moon room, he took a deep breath to steady his scattered emotions. He turned to Marcus, "I want you to send a special package from Nikolai Klaus to Nicholas Calvin, I believe he will like his present because it will be the head of his trusted partner. I believe he will like it when he sees the body.