CHAPTER 12 — THE SECRET MEETING
1008 Words
Night settled over the city like a dark curtain, quiet, heavy, full of secrets. But inside a certain luxurious penthouse overlooking the skyline, silence did not bring peace. It brought dread.
Because six men who once walked with arrogance now gathered like frightened animals waiting for the hunter they could not see.
Michael shut the blinds. Andrew poured whiskey with trembling hands. Samuel paced like a caged wolf. Raymond sat in a corner clutching a pillow, eyes swollen from fear. Craig and Victor stood near the door, whispering aggressively.
The room smelled of alcohol, sweat, and panic. Michael finally spoke. “We are in trouble.”
No one argued. Andrew gulped his drink. “First Tom… now this strange pressure everywhere. I can’t sleep.”
Samuel scoffed. “You can’t sleep because you’re weak.”
Raymond snapped, “Weak? You nearly killed a patient just to send a message! Are you mad?”
Samuel grabbed him by the collar instantly.
“That doctor is hiding something. I don’t trust him.”
wndrew’s voice shook. “It’s like he knows something…”
Michael turned sharply. “Knows what? Hmm? That James Wood didn’t die naturally? That we were there? That we helped Maria poison him?”
Raymond covered his ears, shaking. “Stop saying it out loud!”
Samuel shoved him away. “Grow up. We all did it. We all agreed.”
Raymond screamed, “We DIDN’T agree! You forced her! We blackmailed her!”
Silence. A deadly silence. Craig muttered, “We didn’t force her. We… we gave her a choice.”
Victor spat. “A choice? Record her cheating and threaten to show James? That’s not a choice. That’s a trap.”
Andrew whispered, “We shouldn’t have done it…”
Michael slammed his glass on the table. “STOP. Stop regretting. It’s too late for that.”
His hand shook violently. “We thought killing him would help us. We thought taking the money would change things.”
Raymond hugged himself. “But we didn’t get any money.”
Craig nodded slowly. “Maria tricked us. After he died… she took everything and disappeared.”
Samuel’s jaw tightened. “We let a woman outsmart six men.”
Michael frowned. “Maria didn’t just vanish. She went abroad. Changed her number. Changed her life.”
Andrew whispered, “Do you think she’s behind this?”
Samuel shook his head. “Maria is a coward. If she were behind it, she’d be trembling—not sending threats.”
Victor exhaled slowly. “Then who is it?”
Silence again. This time heavier. The kind of silence that made the air thick. Raymond whispered the words they all feared: “James Wood.”
Michael slapped him across the face so hard the sound echoed. “HE’S DEAD!”
Raymond trembled violently. “Then WHY is everything happening exactly how he would’ve wanted revenge?”
Samuel stopped pacing. Andrew swallowed hard. Victor looked toward the window as if expecting a ghost to appear. Michael rubbed his forehead. His voice dropped low. “Let’s be logical. Someone else knows what we did.”
Craig whispered, “That doctor… Nelson…”
Samuel nodded slowly. “Yes. Him. The way he looks at us… it’s like he’s reading our sins.”
Victor froze. “Do you know what I found out yesterday?”
Everyone turned to him. Victor took a shaky breath. “Dr. Nelson Wood… was born the SAME NIGHT James Wood died.”
The room went still. Andrew blinked fast. “What does that mean?”
Samuel scoffed. “Coincidence.”
Victor shook his head, voice thin. “No. I mean he was born in the SAME HOSPITAL. Same exact hour.”
Michael stood up slowly. “Where did you hear this?”
Victor looked around nervously. “One of the old nurses at Mercy General. She remembered because James Wood’s death made the whole place chaotic. And the baby born around that time…”
He swallowed. “…never cried.”
Samuel frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Victor whispered, voice trembling: “The nurse said that baby opened his eyes… and looked at her. With the eyes of a grown man.”
Every man in the room felt their skin crawl. Raymond covered his mouth, tears falling.
Samuel tried to laugh but failed. “So… you’re saying a dead man came back as a baby? That’s insane.”
Victor whispered, “Is it?”
Michael stepped back. “Victor… stop.”
But Victor continued. “Everything happening now… every strange coincidence… every fear… every attack…”
His voice dropped to a whisper. “It all started after Tom said ‘James Wood is watching me’ before he died.” Raymond shivered uncontrollably.
Andrew muttered, “Maybe we’re next.”
Samuel grabbed a bottle and smashed it on the floor. “ENOUGH!”
His chest heaved. “We are MEN, not children scared of fairy tales.”
He pointed at them one by one. “We’ll meet this doctor. Face him. Intimidate him. Make him talk.”
Michael hesitated. “He’s not easily intimidated,”
Samuel snarled. “Then we make him intimidated.”
The room went silent. Raymond whispered: “What if he really is… James?”
Samuel walked up to him slowly… and slapped him. “Say that again and I’ll kill you myself.”
Raymond cried silently. Michael took a deep breath. “Fine. We confront him. Tomorrow night. All of us.”
Victor muttered, voice barely audible: “If he is James Wood… he’ll be expecting us.”
Andrew whispered: “Then why are we going?”
Michael gave the only answer that made sense. Because it wasn’t an answer at all: “Because fear kills faster than any man.”
Meanwhile… Across the city… Dr. Nelson Wood sat in his dim office, staring at the envelope that said
WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. He smiled. Slowly. “Good,”
he whispered. “Come find me.”
And the war deepened.
- Writer
