AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s me. Remember that thing I asked you to do before?” he asked.
“Uh-huh,” the man replied. He made no other sound, but Al-Hafeez knew he was there by his deep breathing.
“Take care of it, and then meet me in the usual spot” he replied, and then hung up. He moved from the desk and stormed out into the hallway. His teeth were still gritted when he passed the night security and make it to his black jaguar. He slammed the door shut when he was safely inside.
“Took you long enough,” someone said from the back.
Al-Hafeez jumped and turned instantly. “Father you scared me,” he said, his hand still clutching his heart.
“So, what is this business I hear about you getting mixed up with the underground world again,” the old man asked and pulled himself forward so that he was just inches away from his son.
“You weren’t supposed to know about that,” Al-Hafeez said. “Look, I got myself into this mess, and I will get out of it again.”
“And how do you propose to do that? Milk the family fortune dry and then live in a poor house? How many times have we had this discussion about your ruler ship? If you can’t control your impulses, how will you ever lead anyone else?”
Al-Hafeez slapped his hand to his face. He felt like he was ten years old again, and his father was chastising him for being truant, or for sneaking out of the palace. “Don’t get involved. By the way, who told you?” he fired back and turned to face the man. “Oh, wait, let me guess; it was Al-Kareem.”
“And he had every right to,” his father continued.
“Just let me handle this one,” Al-Hafeez said and turned the key in the ignition. “Now if you don’t mind, I have somewhere to be.”
His father shook his head and opened the door of the car. He stood on the curb as Al-Hafeez gunned the car down the long stretch of road. He was driving, but someone else may as well have been controlling the wheels, for he wasn’t sure where he was going. He drove around for a while, trying to get control of the thoughts raging inside his mind. His shame in asking his father for help was unbearable, and he knew he had only one option.
He tried calling the number he had dialed before, but there was no answer. Finally, he drove to the location he was to meet the man, but there was nothing or no one there. The car slowed to a stop and Al-Hafeez got out. He paced and circled the car for a few minutes before dialing the number again.
“Where are you?” he asked when the voice came over the speaker.
“Do you think it would have been that easy?” an unfamiliar voice asked him.
Al-Hafeez moved the phone from his ears and glanced at the screen to ensure he had made the right call. The name was displayed on the LCD display, and he placed the phone at his ears again. “Who is this?”
“Well, what do you know; if it isn’t the great Sheikh himself. I was expecting your call.”
“What are you doing with this phone? Put Jahleel on the phone,” Al-Hafeez told him.
“Oh you mean the man you sent to kill my brother?”
“Kill your brother?” Al-Hafeez asked and then looked at the phone before placing it at his ears again. “What are you talking about? Is this some sort of joke?”
“Oh, I wish it were,” the gruff voice replied. “Word has it you owed him some money. He came to collect, and not long after he left your office, he wound up at the bottom of the river.”
The voice was bitter and angry, and Al-Hafeez was confused. “What?” Al-Hafeez asked, as his widened his eyes in horror. “What? Wait! This has nothing to do with…he is dead?”
“Don’t act as if you don’t know what I’m talking about,” the man continued. “You sent your little friend here to kill him, all to get out of your gambling debt. I got here too late, and now my brother is dead. Now you are going to wish it was him you had to deal with and not me. Oh, and the police too. I suggest you run on home now oh great Sheikh, and let the police catch you before I do.” And then the phone went dead.
Al-Hafeez stood there rooted to the spot, his heart drumming in his ears. He shouted at the wind and smashed his phone on the ground. Everything was spiraling out of control, and he no longer could see his way out. There was only one thing he could do now. He got back into his car and sped down the highway that led to his estate. The car glided over the smooth cobblestone driveway and came to a stop across from the fountain in the courtyard.
“Father!” he shouted as he raced through the entrance hall and into the drawing room, where he could almost always find the old man of late.
“Al-Hafeez! What is the matter?” his father asked as he turned to him.
“The police are coming,” he burst out. He was breathless from his sprint across the courtyard.
“What do you mean? Have the bookies sent the police? That’s not what they normally do. I told you not to get mixed up with them again!”
“No, that’s not it! They think I killed him. I thought about it, but then I called Jahleel to get some money for me.”
“Another bookie?” his father asked.
