12

Melody is covered with small chills of fear as she watches the car parked in front of them and she has never been more scared in her life.

Duke gently squeezes her hand so that she is going to feel less scared and he tries to open the door, but she grabs his hand.

" Duke, what are you doing?" She asks him. " You can't go out there. "

" Come on, don't be scared. I just want to see who is in the car, we have to go into the house, I just want to make sure it's safe. " He tells her, but she doesn't want to let go of him.

" It might be a murderer or something, I don't want you to be hurt. " She tells him her fear.

" I'm not going to be hurt. "

" We should call the police. "

He can't help but laugh at her suggestion, he can't even think that she thinks the police will be able to protect them.

She has no idea that her husband is the general, the war God.

He pulls her closer and kisses her lips, maybe it's going to make her feel better now.

"I am going to be fine, I promise. " He whispers to her.

He steps out of the car and with his hands in his pocket, he walks towards the parked car.

It's a black BMW without a license plate and so new that it still smells of the freshness that is associated with new things.

He is approaching the car slowly like a tiger and when he gets to it, he beats his fisted right hand over the bonnet of the car. It's so hard that the car sways a little on its four tires.

"Who are you? Get out. " He orders.

He keeps his eyes on the glass even though it's dark. The slight change of the shade of black in the vehicle tells him that someone is moving in it.

"Hey, slowly." He cautions.

The personnel steps out of the car with their hands in the air in surrender.

Duke peers into the face in the darkness and then he realizes that it's Bloom, his assistant.

"Oh my God, Bloom?" He sighs. " What in God's name are you doing here? I told you to stay away. "

" It's just me, boss. " He lowers his hands. " I know you asked me to stay away, but there is something I wanted to show you. "

" I thought you were someone else. " He shakes his head.

He walks towards Bloom and pushes his hands down till they are lowered completely.

Bloom looks a bit scared and he clears his throat and adjusts his sleeves, maybe he saw his life flashing before his eyes.

The door of Duke's car opens and Melody steps out.

"Shit. She is coming, my wife is coming. " Duke keeps a straight face. " You are my boss, understand?"

"Sir?" Bloom is confused.

Duke keeps a smile on his face as Melody walks toward them. He puts his hand on Bloom's shoulder, which adds to Bloom's anxiety.

Melody looks from Duke to Bloom, she is confused that Duke seems to know their Intruder.

"You know him?" She points.

" Yes, sweetheart. " He nods. " This is my boss, Mike."

Bloom turns to him sharply and Duke widens his eyes and grins at him, squeezing his shoulder a little.

"Hi, Mrs. Melody. " Bloom offers her his hand. " My name is Mike and I'm Mister Duke's boss. "

The way his throat ripples when he refers to his boss by his name. Beads of sweat have begun to form on his face and he desperately wants this to end.

"Oh, is that so?" She takes her hand with a happy smile on her face. " I am so glad to be finally meeting you. "

"The feeling is mutual. " He answers.

" Have you gotten any job for my husband?" She asks. " He told me the other day that you are looking for something for him. "

Bloom now turns to Duke for help, but Duke has his lips sealed. He laughs nervously and returns his gaze to Melody.

" Well, we are trying very hard and I am sure that we are going to get something soon for him. " He says.

"Hopefully. " She says.

She turns to Duke and pulls his cheek and he pretends to be in pain.

" Being out of a job for a while now has made him kind of grumpy. " She laughs.

" That's not true. " Duke refuses, he takes her hand and kisses the top of it.

Bloom turns away, he is overreacting as if he has just seen something he shouldn't. He is behaving as if they are having sex in front of him.

"Okay, baby. " Duke says. " Maybe you should go to bed. " He says.

He takes out the keys from his pocket and unlocks the door. He pushes her gently into the house.

" Do you want some water, Mister Mike?" She calls.

"No, thank you. "

" Are you sure? How about some soda? "

" No, ma'am. " He says.

Duke successfully pushes her in and then he shuts the door with a loud sigh.

" Let's head to my car. " Duke points. " It's much better to go speak there. "

Bloom agrees, but he first of all grabs his iPad from the backseat and both of them go to Duke's car.

He unlocks the door and they both enter and then he shuts the door.

" She doesn't know about me or who I am. " Duke says with a serious face. " I want to keep it like that for a long time even though I know it can't be kept forever. "

" I understand, sir. " Bloom nods. " I will do my best. "

"Good. So, what do you have for me?"

Bloom opens the iPad and scrolls through something and hands it to Duke.

Duke takes it and reads through it. He takes a full five minutes to do this, but afterward, he still doesn't understand it.

There are a few pictures accompanied by the writing, but they just make him even more confused. They are nothing but random pictures to him.

" What are these?" He frowns and gives him the iPad. " I don't understand. "

"Sir, this is the research you asked me to do, the one concerning your family. "

Duke's face stiffens and he takes back the iPad from him and begins to scroll through it again.

"So what are these supposed to mean?"

" This is everything I got during the research, every little detail I could get my hands on. " Bloom explains. " It was a very complicated operation and top secret, but I was able to untwine them and finally it led to this. "

Bloom leans and scrolls through to the next page. It's a large picture of about forty men.

They are dressed in black robes and the headpiece of the robe is covering their eyes, concealing their identities.

" Who the fuck are these?"

" The great five. " He answers. " They are way above five and there are hundreds of members, but they gave five leaders. "

He zooms the picture on five of the men in the middle of the front row.

They are different from the rest of the members because their robes are designed with red at the hem.

" These are the leaders, the great five themselves. Some say they are a fellowship or brotherhood, others say that they are a cult." Bloom states. " But it doesn't change the fact that they are very dangerous men and most tragedy has been linked to them, even the death of your family members. "

Duke flexes his jaw and his eyes close. He is always like this when he remembers his parents' death. It was a very painful experience and he will never forget it.

Bloom is looking at him with pity, he knows that this is what Duke has been looking for the whole of the past five years.

" But you don't have to do this yourself, boss. " He informs. " I could arrange some of your men and we will take them one by one. "

" Do you know their names and addresses?" Duke growls.

"Sir. "

" Do you know their fucking names, Bloom!"

" Sir, I tried my best and I was able to uncover four of the leaders. " He stammers. " The rest of the members have their identities hidden. "

Duke runs his hand over his jaw and nods. His hands tighten on his lap.

" You just have to say the words sir, and I am going to tell your men to take them out, one after the other. " Bloom suggests.

"No." He refuses. " It was my family they killed and I am going to be their nemesis. "