The Hidden Brink
- roshmi sarmah
- Nov 22, 2017
- 18 min read
Updated: Aug 25, 2021
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
I didn’t remember what had really happened. He appeared in front of me wearing a long black coat, a hat on his head with a .35 caliber revolver pointing at me. I heard a gunshot and tumbled down on the ground.
When I opened my eyes; the sunbeam seemed blurry and I heard some swarmed whispers around my half-dead body. It was troublesome for me to comprehend those whispers; I guess they feared to lift me and take to a hospital. I was completely blank for eight days and numerous wires were joined to my chest. Yet meanwhile, I felt some sort of sensation of pins and needles prickled all over my skin and infrequently I am suffocated by the mask they put on my face, though it helped me to breathe properly. It took four months to regain my consciousness and those four months I rested in an oblivious state inside a sophistically equipped room.
The day had arrived when I pull opened the door of the room and stepped into the world waited for me outside. I saw my man waiting to welcome me right at the corridor with a briefcase in his hand. He grinned at me when he saw me but I didn’t. As I slowly reached the reception counter I asked the young lady at the counter to return my belongings which were kept with them and I told her to swipe my card for the payment they spent to fix me. Hearing that, with a smile she said that my bills were just paid online by my manager Mr. Hendry Mouton. I nodded and she got busy rearranging my assets, placing accordingly inside a tote bag. Handing the tote bag to me, she pointed her finger at my man and said: “Sir, he came to take you home”. Without exchanging more words with her I turned back and began strolling towards my car, and my bodyguard who was waiting accompanied me. I saw my black Mercedes parked at the passageway of the hospital with a guy sitting in the driver’s seat but I couldn’t recognize who the hell he was. I reached near my car and my bodyguard opened the back door and requested to have my seat. After I got into the back seat, he closed my door and adjusted himself in the front seat beside the driver and instructed to drive to my royal villa. After four months I was checking my social media’s accounts on my phone, where I found a lot number of people whom I had never encountered in my life were wishing for my recuperation. And after a few minutes, I kept my phone inside my coat’s pocket and firmly asked the driver to introduce himself. He introduced himself as my manager’s son, who came back to the city after he completed his LAW study. I nodded and got engaged in looking outside through the side glass till we reached my villa.
The gate-keeper quickly opened the gate with a salute when he saw my car, and the engine idled in front of my three-story apartment building. I saw “Roko” running at a lightning speed from inside the house towards me and Hendry behind him.
Roko is my lone love since last year after my better half’s demise. I found him in a marketplace dilly-dallying for food helplessly. I was busy shopping then and found someone was licking my shoe; I looked down and saw somewhat a little, messy, helpless Bernard. That was a sorrowful scene for me. I went down and took him up by my arms and brought him to my villa. I showered him with my hands, sprayed some perfume on his body, vacuumed him and gave accommodation in a tiny kennel. I had a son, who stayed apart after my wife left me. He neither wanted to mix up with me nor any of my acquaintances.
Roko enthusiastically welcomed, hopping up at me when he came near. I embraced him by his neck and scratched his furry belly. Then Hendry came and welcomed me with a bookey. I accepted the bookey and went up to my office room and requested my butler to serve me my lunch and a glass of scotch. I kept my bookey and sat on my recliner sofa holding Roko. A couple of minutes later my butler came and kept my lunch and the scotch’s glass onto my table. I was informed that a crowd was gathering by the gate and therefore I switched on my desktop and selected the CCTV camera hanging to my gate, and zoom into the crowd before I had my lunch. There was a multitude of people standing in front of my gate where a few were holding bookeys, briefcases, cameras etc by their hand. I comprehended they came to see and welcomed me. Among the gathering, a few were my employees, associates, friends and a few were my hired gun. The gate was closed and the gate-keeper sat tight for my orders. A few while later when Hendry knew there were visitors held up outside the gate, he came to me and asked: “Sir some people are waiting outside the gate to see you, shall we invite them inside”. I nodded at him and he conveyed my orders to the gate-keeper, followed by my orders the gate-keeper opened the gate and they came inside. Hendry approached them to wait for me in the garden, till I came. After a few minutes, I completed my lunch and walked to the garden and asked them to have their seats. A few warmly welcomed me with bookies and a few clicked some candid photographs of mine. After my acquaintances and the camera person left my premises I interact with my employees who had been buckling down for my companies. The interaction session held for an hour. I owned 4 companies among them my diamond’s company was closest to my heart. I knew the business in diamond was the best business in the nation then, and it was somewhat the best money-making machine I had ever achieved. It was a 3’o clock in the evening when Hendry came to me and demonstrated me an A4 size paper printed with the detailed transaction of my diamond company. He added that the shares of the company were growing higher compared to the last four years. It gave me an immense happiness. I promptly called up the in charge of the company and congratulate him for the exertion he gave to my company and promised to present him something special. I hang up the phone and asked Hendry to get ready as we were visiting my dock.
It was a 6’o clock in the evening when we sat on my private jet and flew. Roko accompanied us on our voyage.
I recalled an incident while we were moving above the clouds that took place a few days before I was at the hospital with a man who was well-known for his business. He was Zion Smith, a man with great personality and a real business tycoon. He threw a party on the occasion of his daughter’s birthday at one of my boats and for that reason, as Hendry and I were in that town he too invited us. We accepted his invitation and met him. But later I came to know that he invited to make me an offer of a huge sum of money against my boat. Without any further extension, I politely refused his offer. Hearing to my refusal he gave me an inscrutable smile and said in an abashed tone “Well, I like this boat of yours, so thought of buying it, since you seemed lack interested, I better find some other way to invest my money. Anyway, thanks for coming, hope to see you again”. He was probably unexpected of my refusal. We smiled and we returned to our respective rooms. After that we neither had any phone talks nor did we meet. He probably got someone else to invest his money on and I was busy constructing my dream hotel amidst the waterway. I could clearly remember Mr. Smith’s appearances, a tall, toned with a hat on his head but I couldn’t resemble him with the man who took my advantage and tried to head-hunt me. Yet I was in doubt.
Upon reached the dock, a pontoon along with five bodyguards was waiting to take us to the dock. We sat on the pontoon and went to the place where my construction of my hotel was going on. I was at the construction site after four months, and when I saw the 75% completed hotel from afar, I chuckled in rapture. After completed inspecting, we returned to my villa the same day and as I was extremely drained that day I resigned to the bed as soon as I reached my villa.
The next morning, at 7 o’ clock after completed reading the newspaper I went to my office room and got engaged in operating my laptop that was idle for four months. I discovered some kind of problems with my records; some important documents were missing from my ‘confidential’ folder. But I didn’t consider that deeply, I thought I might have moved that files to some other location before I admitted to the hospital, and so didn’t search by their names. I checked my inbox and found no emails regarding my transactions of my diamond company’s account yet arrived from the bank since I was at the hospital. It doubled my doubt and was confirmed that something was turning out badly to me yet I was still unaware and couldn’t find out the issue. I took out my cell and called up the bank manager and asked him to send me the detailed statement of my diamond company’s account for this week immediately. And within a minute he sent an email from bank’s official ID, but I didn’t receive. Since I didn’t hang up his call, I asked him to send me the similar email from his personal email-ID. He agreed and I hang up his call with a “Thank you”. As soon as I received his email I quickly opened it and checked the attached document thoroughly. And that document staggered me. That document clearly showed that someone had unauthorisedly accessed my bank account and transferred a huge sum of money to an unknown account. I was trembling with shock and nervousness as I couldn’t find out a solution for this. Somehow I calm myself down and immediately rung Hendry and told him to report my office right after 5 minutes. I was busy rechecking the document when he came inside knocking at my door. His innocent face enraged me more. Without exchanging any words I rushed towards him and I caught him by his neck, pushed him up against the wall and fixed my .35 caliber revolver to his forehead and cautioned him: “I did a great mistake by believing at you, nobody dared to belittle me but you completely brought me to the street. You son of a bitch, I regret believing in you. Where the hell my money is? Where did they vanish? I need the answers and you will give me. Be aware that you tell me the truth or else it won’t be possible for you to hear the sound of my second bullet”. Hearing my words he got frightened and showed me the same A4 sized paper to prove that he isn’t blameworthy. But I lost my faith in him. I rubbed my face in uneasiness and started: “Throw this paper in the trash bin, I show you the real paper, I need no further clarification about this paper, and I just need to know where my money is?” With his lementatious tone, he said: “Sir, please try to understand, I really don’t know where your money went; I vow to God. I never meddled in your diamond business; it’s your company’s in-charge who looked after. And when you were in the hospital, he faxed me this paper. Please believe me, sir I know nothing about your money”. I heaved, put down my gun and asked him to leave my room, and I immediately called on my in-charge Mr. Camero Wilson. I knew Hendry had no authority to look over my diamond company and therefore I left him without any harm but he had been my prime suspect till the real incident came to light.
After a few hours, Camero stepped out from his newly bought Maserati holding a large size cigar amidst his finger. He was a short and solid man having a splendid attitude. He was a bachelor and spent most of his income on sex, drugs and buying luxurious cars. Aside from being my company’s in-charge, he had his own business which he never briefed.
I was sitting in my large-sized swivel chair looking up at the chandelier when I heard a knock at my door, without bodily moved I permitted him to get into the room. I sat firmly when I found him on the other side of my table. We exchanged a firm handshake and asked him to have his seat. Before our conversation had begun I called on my servant and asked him to serve us with some glass of scotch. After that, I walked to his chair and he immediately stood up from his seat in respect. I kept my one hand on his shoulder while with the other I lit my Russian imported cigar and tenderly told him: “Mr. Wilson, I am so glad that you are here. I called on you to present you a surprise gift I owed. Since we have met after a long time and your present is not yet ready shall we talk something else”. He nodded with a grin and I asked: “So how’s our diamond business going? Is there any sort of inconvenience faced by you or any other employees amid the time I was at the hospital?”. Though I knew that nothing was going fine still I made those inquiries just to record his reaction and to see, up to what degree he could lie me. And before he started giving his false information my servant stood near us holding a plate with 2 glasses of imported scotch. I gave his glass and hold mine and thankfully asked my servant to leave. Camero then continued his part: “Sir everything was running so smooth that no one had confronted neither any professional nor personal problems. I took care of everything”. His falsehood didn’t enable me to quieted more, I smashed the glass against the floor, pulled him by the collar, dragged him to my four seater sofa, sat over him, snatched his ear, hauled out my .35 caliber revolver and fixed the barrel at his eye. I never tormented anyone like the way I did with him that day. And there is no denial of the fact that anyone would do the same if he or she had faced my situation. His painful sound was so loud to the point that Hendry along with my a few bodyguards came running into my room, however, I pointed my gun at them and asked them to leave promptly locking my door from outside. And they disappeared at a glance.
“So, Camero are you going to say everything about my money or shall I knock you down right in this moment? The decision is up to you. Speak the truth, and I shall leave you but if you dare to give me again your bullshit misinformation; I swear to my dead wife, my bullets will hollow you head”, I said. He knew I was extremely angry and I would do what I said and therefore he felt to my feet and approached me for forgival and he guaranteed to speak the truth. I brought down my gun and allowed him to sit adjacent to me, but I didn’t pardon him. He understood the purpose why I called on him and realized that I came to know about his deed. Therefore he didn’t dare to conceal his lie anymore.
He expressed: “It began before five years back. You were at the opening ceremony of your diamond company and I was standing among the crowd to hear your speech then. You had always been my idol since I came to know about you but never got an opportunity to meet you, though I tried numbers of time. I read everything every way possible about you as I dreamt to be a business tycoon like you. Once I was busy watering the plants at my owner’s house when my owner came near me with his cell phone stuck to his ear. I overheard his words saying to someone about you, that you had looted his mother’s money and let her die so that you could be the proprietor of all her business, all that you claim was actually your wife’s property. But I didn’t mind his word as I have nothing to do with your family issues, I just want to be like you and that’s what I was longing for. When I realized that you are his father, I urged him to introduced me to you quickly after he hung up his call, but I never knew that he remains separated from you and had nothing to do with you. I simply asked him that favor and he looked at me from head to toe and with a sarcastic smile he ordered me to met him the next day”.
I was hearing his words calmly, as I need to discover the root.
“The next day, when I entered my owner’s premises, I saw a few man with a solid physical make-up, wearing black dresses, hanging Bluetooth by their ears and was carrying an M-16 rifle. They stopped me at the gate and after a quick frisking, they allowed me to go inside. I asked them euphorically whether it’s truly you who paid a visit to your son’s house. But they didn’t utter a single word and I lacked behind guts to ask them again. They found me clean and permitted me to get inside the house. I slowly walked into the house. I saw a stranger sitting in an antique recliner, and my owner, his wife and a man whom I never saw was standing and talking to him; however my eyes scanned for you, and when I found your absence my elation vanished. They turned to me when they sensed my presence and your son drew close to welcomed me. With his adoring tone, he asked me to take my seat. My seat was faced with the stranger who was sitting in the recliner. I was astounded to receive such a warm welcome that day. That man introduced himself as Mr. Zion Smith who is also my owner’s father-in-law. He offered me a glass of old imported wine that tasted extremely fruity. I finished it at a glance and forwarded my glass to refill. After we completed introducing ourselves Mr. Smith came up with his offer for which I was welcomed. He forwarded a signed paper of his wheat flour mill towards me and requested to acknowledged the paper. I didn’t get what was happening so I approached him the purpose of transferring his ownership of the mill. He stated, that was just a present for me and he would get me a life more comfortable than you are if I follow his order. Though I was happy to gain a huge asset without indulging in any hard works yet somewhere I was stuck with the question why just me and what orders I had to follow. I messed up with contemplation yet I was prepared to do anything to achieve a way of life-like yours. Ignoring my musings I picked up those paper and accepted his offer without knowing his plan.”, he said.
I made it out that Camero did a deal with my son and Mr. Smith to degrade me both professionally and personally.
He again started after a pause: “When I asked Mr. Smith about my part, he showed to me a newspaper boldly written that you were looking for an in-charge to look after your company. In the same breath, they included that I needn’t worry about anything as their man who was present in the room, your so-called manager Mr. Hendry Mouton would arrange everything, and he guaranteed me to get the job”.
I was totally stunned for a while as it was an unbelievable reality he let me know. All of a sudden I could imagine the changed in Hendry’s conduct after I returned from the hospital for which I started to doubt him but then my doubt changed into reality. I was certain he double-crossed me.
Hendry was more than a manager to me, he was almost equal to my family. I discussed every single thing with him starting from my personal affairs to my business strategies. When he was biting the dust to get a job, loitering for shelters before 10 years and none came forward neither with an offer letter nor sheltered him; I gave him the place of my manager and accommodated him in one of my bunglow. I never dreamt of being betrayed by him. I remained strong, didn’t react to his words since I need him to understand that I didn’t like Hendry but beneath the line, it hurt me like never before. I asked him to continue.
“Sir, my task was to keep an eye on your diamond company and to send a detailed report of your sales. And Mr. Mouton ’s task was to convince you to consider me as your in-charge and so you did. Being the in-charge I had to look over the transactions too as well as I had the account details of the company with me but it was only authorized to access by you. And therefore we couldn’t do anything with your money. We waited for the right time to come, and it came when you were busy parting with Mr. Smith in your dock. I was informed by Mr. Mouton that I could easily get accessed to your office room and hack into your laptop. I asked him how might I get into your room, he said I needn’t worry as he had called up the head security saying that you asked me to get your laptop fixed. And yes that exactly happened, your guards went with me to your room but they waited outside. I turned your laptop on and opened your banking software installed on your laptop and transferred your money to my account. It was possible because I checked out the ‘OTP via SMS’ option instead I checked in the alternative option to confirmed the order via email. And immediately after pressing the ‘proceed’ button I received an email from your bank in your email to ‘confirm’ the order. I confirmed and then deleted the email and blocked the email-ID of the bank so that you couldn’t receive any emails regarding any transactions. As you never logged out your email account on your laptop, the task became simpler to be executed, and that was known by Mr. Mouton. And our main advantage was that you didn’t have any banking app installed on your cell phone to monitored your account. After a few days, I transferred the money to Mr. Mouton ’s account because we knew you would never doubt your manager at any cost if you spot anything wrong. I could transfer him the money the same day but he refused to accept the money on that day”. He added: “We succeeded, and as you receive emails regarding your transactions monthly, we hadn’t worried about the consequence aftermath as we have 24 days more left in our hand to think of a solution. After you returned, one day Mr. Mouton called up Mr. Smith and me to share the money with four of us included your son. But Mr. Smith, Mr. Mouton and I made a plan to execute my owner in order to grasp his share. And the plan was to invite him to Mr. Smith’s farmhouse and shot him. The plan went accordingly, he came on our invitation and after some talks, Mr. Smith shot him by his neck. That day luck was not in my owner’s support so we lost him but Mr. Mouton was fortunate enough to be absent there”, he said.
I looked up and turned my head to him in shock, and he was looking down. I constantly slapped him about 7 times across his face leaving a mark. I knew I lost my son yet couldn’t believe my own ears of Hendry’s and Camero’s involvement in the plan. I remained silent and my son’s innocent face was roving before my eyes; crying for help. Camero then broke the silence with his foreboding tone: “We waited for a while and was planning to digged your son’s body. However, in the midst our arrangement, I got a call from Mr. Mouton, so I had to come out of the house. I hid, behind a tree when I saw your car stopped abruptly with a screaming sound of the tires stopped in front of the farm house’s gate. I was there and saw you encountered Mr. Smith”.
I laughed and asked him: “You people played the card, considering me as your joker. Huh! So, you hit me on the back? You are that little bitch who snatched my own gun and tried to shot me. Eh! you tried hard to knock me down, I pity for your failure”. At my top of my voice: “Where the hell is my money, I need it right now”.
He knew I was about to shot him, but he didn’t want to die alone. “Your money is with Mr. Mouton, he refused to share it with me, he said if I faxed him the A4-sized paper he would share my amount. And according to his plan, I faxed him the A4-sized paper which he showed you.”, he half-completed his words. Without waiting more, I exhausted my six bullets pointing straight towards his chest and he fell back against the sofa. Then Hendry came running into my room joined by some cops and I got arrested. My so-called beloved Hendry was the mastermind behind my degradation. And now I am sitting before you, with my hands tied with these cuffs; answering your questions. I am glad someone came inside this iron bars after 10 years to write on me.
Interviewer: “Sir I got some good news and a bad news for you. The good news is that after you got arrested, Mr. Hendry started his arms smuggling business. But somebody informed the police about his unlawful exercises and he was gotten red-handedly. When he was presented before the court, he attempted to escape thus the cop needed to shot him.”
Me: “Hah! that’s karma. And what’s the bad one?”
Interviewer: “I am sorry to say that Roko lost his life in Mr. Hendry’s hand. One day after you got arrested, Roko tried to chase him for no reason so he killed him. And he confessed the murder to me while I interviewed him.”
Me: “I lost everything. I lost my family and now I lost Roko. Say me, what’s more, had Hendry told you.”
Interviewer: “Sir he said exactly whatever you said, however, he added some point to it. He said he wants to snatch your entire property and therefore he urged Mr. Wilson to send the A4 paper to you so that Mr. Wilson fall into the trap. It was no other than Mr. Hendry Mouton’s plan. Sir, he held the ladder for you and when he discovered you are at the best, he removed it beneath your feet. You forgot to say how could you realize that your son was in the farmhouse?”
Me: “I got a text message from an unknown number. It was composed that my son was at risk and was kidnapped at the below address. I immediately called that number but it was out of service at that point. I never knew the kidnapper was Mr. Smith.”
Interviewer: “And that text message was sent to you by your manager.”
©animesh_sarmah
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