Seventy Six- It's simple Maths

“What exactly is going on? Why are you doing this?” Chloe directed questions at Gabriel whose smile didn’t fail.

“It is surprising, isn’t it?” he asked delightfully. “I must have been really good at the whole pretense thing because by the look on your face, it never occurred to you that I am responsible for this sudden downfall.”

Amir’s chest rose and fell with impact as the deepest sigh escaped him and Chloe finally found it easy to close her mouth.

“To be fair…” he continued. “… I never pictured you to be a spy. I didn’t believe it until Markings told me all about it.”

“A spy?” Amir asked and Gabriel chuckled. As Amir’s eyes met Chloe’s, the familiar feeling of guilt took a ride all over her system and she failed to return his questioning gaze.

“Yes. She works for BAN.”

“Isn’t that the Agency with the really weird name? The very one that digs up dirt on criminals in hiding and influential people with dirty business?”

“The very one Amir. So, I am not the only bad person here. Precious Cupcake here had a secret of her own all along.”

Chloe finally lifted her head and when her eyes met Amir’s, she watched him shake his head with disapproval all over his face. As the side of his face clenched hard, he asked, “So it was all a lie? You didn’t consider us to be at least your friends?”

“I-”

“That’s enough,” Gabriel shut Chloe up and the gun was back to being pointed in Amir’s direction. “I am not here to listen to both of you sort out your friendship issues, I am here to get rid of Amir and maybe you too Chloe. If you fail to cooperate.”

Chloe’s hands formed a fist. “ What has come over you?” she asked sternly yet with a little concern tucked in a corner of her voice.

“Nothing.” He shrugged. “Like I said, I just hid my real intentions well.”

“So?” Chloe was surprised she still had the ability to be slightly bold. “What is this intention of yours? To kill Nathaniel and Amir? Perhaps you already started that plan by killing Sebastian.”

As she crossed her arms over her chest, Amir looked her way and he probed her with the same look Gabriel had on his face at that moment.

The signature look where their eyebrows did a lot of questioning.

“Now I see why you were chosen for the mission, you are crazily bold. That’s why I still like you. And to answer your question…” Gabriel dramatically directed his sight away from Chloe and steadily pointed his gaze on Amir whose lips kept twitching.

“… my original plan was just to get rid of both Nathaniel and Amir, perhaps get them to retire or something. Killing them was never in the equation until Markings came along. My plan changed when he briefed me about the mission and the woman carrying it out. All I had to do was frame Nathaniel, make him believe Amir is the real culprit and maybe, just maybe, kill Amir at the end.”

“Unbelievable,” Amir blurted. “How could you think of such a thing? For God’s sake, we are friends, no, brothers. ”

“Please…” Gabriel wore a frown full of disgust. “Spare me all that talk.” Then he shrugged. “Sure, we are brothers but you guys never failed to make me feel so inferior and that irked me a lot. Do you have any idea how I felt whenever you shut me up and made me look like a fool?”

“All of that was a joke,” Amir exclaimed, disbelief still all over his face. “It was a fucking joke.”

“Fine.” Gabriel’s hands did a surrendering motion. “Fine, it was all a joke but you guys leaving me out of most of the office work wasn’t.”

“You always showed interest in your stupid library than office work, so we let you have your space some times.”

“That’s it.” Amir frowned at Gabriel’s sentence and Chloe just stood still and watched the scenario in front of her unfold. “Calling my library stupid is one of the reasons you are about to be killed. The both of you really treated me like shit and now, you are going to pay in the most painful way.”

“Gabriel…” Chloe watched Amir as he shook his head in a very dejected manner. “We never treated you like shit. If things we did made you feel left out, I am so sorry. Nathaniel and I would always wish the best for you.”

Chloe could see a bit of softening in Gabriel’s eyes and it occurred to her that the man just found it hard to control his emotions. Perhaps his feelings were all jumbled up, entangled in the most toxic way and now, the best way he can deal with it is going rogue.

“Then its too bad…” Gabriel’s voice started out mellow. It was enough to stir emotions. “… Nathaniel is already in jail and all evidences already point to you two. In fact, I have already planned what I’ll do with our company. I already thought of a new name, I have arranged things in such a way that you guys will have no choice but to say goodbye to the NAG industry.”

“You bastard,” Amir cursed. “How could you think of such a thing?”

“Because … I have always wanted this to happen. Over the years, I have fantasied over taking over all that we own and the eruption of my bottled up emotions helped propel that fantasy. It turned it to reality.”

Amir scoffed. “Do you really think you can get away with this?”

“Sure,” Gabriel joyously responded. “And you’ll be on your way to hell when I get away with all of this. Isn’t that amazing?”

“I still can’t believe this. Chloe is a spy, you are planning on killing me, it is all so fucking unreal.”

“A bullet in your left leg could help it feel more real,” Gabriel offered and Chloe reached her limit.

“Okay, that’s enough. Gabriel, you need to stop this.”

“Oh, the spy is talking. It certainly will be a good idea to listen to you,” Gabriel trolled her.

“Wait…” Amir finally spoke after minutes of silence. “How on earth did you work with Markings? Have you always known him?”

“No,” Gabriel surprisingly responded. “I just figured out along the way that he would be a great asset in my quest. You know what, let me quickly brief you about how my plan went, you won’t be getting out of here anyway.”

“You are really a bastard.”

“You too,” the excited man threw a reply at the devastated fellow beside Chloe who knew better than trying to interfere in the whole situation. That didn’t mean she was going to stay still, she was just going to wait for the right moment.

“I think it was six months ago when I felt tired of you guys so much, taking over the company sounded so great. The next thing I knew, I was meeting with some mafia dudes who always get their hands dirty. I discovered that we had an underground channel just right beneath our mansion and I decided to make use of it.

At first, drugs and ammunition was the only thing kept in the cave but with time, I realized it wasn’t gaining that much attention. And I needed something that would cause a lot of drama, thus trafficking of women. Sure, it was inhumane but it paid well because few weeks later, I learnt that some Agencies already had their eyes on the NAG brothers.

Even though I had no idea that one Agency had already made a move and sent a spy, I knew my plan was working, all I had to do was fabricate evidence that would make me innocent and you two, terribly guilty.

In my initial plan, all that would have happened is you two being called for investigation purposes and by the time you’d be back, I would have made some minor changes in our company’s documents and that was all I would have needed. But Chloe happened.”

The way the both of them swung their eyes in her direction made her shudder.

“Her freaking beauty caught me off guard, her attitude made me yearn for her and like she were some contract we were all sharing, you and Nathaniel showed interest in her also. And of course, I had no chance. Not when Nathaniel was all Chloe could see.” His words dripped with bitterness.

“I also hated the fact that Nathaniel was the one she chose but that didn’t make me hate him,” Amir said.

“Well, I hated the both of you more. I couldn’t help it. That’s why, after Markings raided our house, I saw something useful in him and I employed him. And that paid off a lot. He helped organize fabricated evidences, he dutifully burst the pipes of this house, he also shot me with precision when I needed him to.”

“That was planned?” Amir asked.

“Yes. I could have died, but the risk was worth it. Being shot meant I wouldn’t be suspected, it’s simple Maths.” Chloe drew a sharp breath as she watched the unbearable look of jesting on Gabriel’s face.

“So…”

“So, with everything in place, all I have to do is get rid of you.” Gabriel smiled widely. “I think I’ll like to keep Chloe to my side. I still like her regardless and I want to make sure she is well aware of that fact.”

His gleaming eyes danced in Chloe’s direction, their orbs asking her a simple question; if she wanted to come with him or not.

Her response was simple as well. “No Gabriel. I can’t do that.”

“Suit yourself then,” he went back to wearing a really cold look and his gun finally stayed in position, right in front of Amir who seemed to have given up. “I’ll just get rid of the both of you and make it look like you killed each other. Won’t that be lovely?”

His index finger landed on the trigger, intensifying the tension approaching the space.

“I’ll really miss you Amir and you too Chloe.”

He finally applied pressure on the trigger and Chloe reacted. Without much thought, she jumped in front of Amir, made her back face the approaching bullet, closed her eyes and waited for the feeling that comes with lead penetrating through the human skin.

The loud sound came first, then a loud thud on the ground followed.