The Disguised Assassin

“You,” John muttered with anger in his eyes. “You caused all of this and you come back here?” Damien looked at his son in confusion. What was he talking about?

“I don’t understand, John,” Damien said as he walked up to his son. “What do you mean by ‘I caused all of this’?”

“You know what I mean, dad,” John muttered angrily. “You burnt down my house.” Damien looked at his son like he had lost his mind.

“I burnt down your house?” Damien asked, confused. Fiona and Pharell looked at John and back at Damien while Justin scratched his head as he looked at the faces of the now much onlookers in embarrassment.

“Wait, wait, wait, now” Pharell said, trying to clear up the tension in the air. “John, are you accusing your father of starting your house fire?”

“That’s what he has been telling me since we got here and I really do not know why,” Justin pitched in. John gave him a dirty look and Justin shrugged. John ignored him and turned to his father.

“This,” John said as he lifted the house key his father had given him. “You gave me this key today.”

“Yes, and for good reasons too,” Damien replied.

“You gave me this key cause you wanted me to move out of my house and into the one you bought for me.”All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Correct,” Damien said.

“When you gave me this key, I refused to take it but you placed it in my palm and just left. Seconds later, Justin receives a call that my house is on fire,” John said. Damiens eyes widened as he realized what John was insinuating.

“Are you trying to say that I started that fire cause I wanted you to move into the mansion that I bought?” Damien asked. “You can’t be serious right now.”

“But I am,” John yelled and Justin shook his head. “How else can you explain my house being on fire seconds after you came to meet me. And not only that but you gave me this key cause you knew that I wouldn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Do you know the level of accusation this is, Mr. Damien?” Pharell asked as he turned to Damien.

“I understand, sir. But I didn’t not start the fire. Why would I start a fire on my son’s home?” Damien said.

“I don’t think your father has any hand in this, John,” Fiona said. All eyes were now on her as they all listened to what she had to say. “Your father has no reason for starting this fire.”

“And how do you know that?” John asked as he folded his arms.

“I… I actually don’t but I’m very sure of it,”Fiona said. “When I came to the window to investigate the noise, I remember seeing a blue ford parked beside the house. When I came back to the window when the fire started, the car was no longer there. So, I’m very sure it belonged to the arsonist that started the fire,” Fiona explained.

“If we get the car’s number, we get the arsonist,” Pharell said nodding his head.

“Exactly,” Fiona said. Damien looked at his son with pain in his eyes before turning back down the road.

“Tell me when you’ve found the culprit,” he said as he walked away. “I would like to have a word with him as to why he burnt my son’s house down.”

John stared at his fathers retreating figure. He knew him accusing his father like that was wrong. It would destroy his chances of becoming a mayor and it also wasn’t a good thing to show to outsiders. He sighed as he turned back to Pharell who was now discussing with Fiona. He felt his best friend staring at him hardly but he ignored him.

“What’s going on now?” he asked as he walked up to Pharell and Fiona.

“Well, Fiona here was just telling me that she’s got security cameras surrounding her house. I’ll call the police and explain everything to them. They’ll look through this morning recording and check out the car’s plate number.”

“Okay,” John muttered. Pharell nodded as he and Fiona walked away. He then turned to Justin who was now giving him the dirty look. “Hey, man–”

“Don’t ‘hey man’ me, John,” Justin retorted. “You just disgraced your own father in front of other people. Passersby saw the accusations you made. Don’t you know it’d affect his political career now? It’d also affect his run for mayor.”

John kept quiet. All his friend said were true. Justin had tried calming him down but he was just too hot headed. What was he thinking that made him act that way?

“I’m so sorry. I–” John paused. He looked behind Justin and saw someone dressed in all black watching them closely. He and the person made eye contact and the person immediately turned and began walking towards a alley. John suspected something foul and immediately followed the guy.

Justin called him back repeatedly but John didn’t listen. He kept on following the man until they reached the alley. Suddenly, the person began running. John knew immediately that something was up and he ran after him.

The person was fast but John was faster. He caught up to him in a manner of seconds and jumped on them. He immediately pulled the hoodie he was wearing and saw that it was a man. The man’s eyes was filled with fear and his lips trembled.

“Why were you running?!” John shouted attracting passerbys.

“Why did you do it?” he shouted on top of his voice. “Answer me, goddammit!” The man didn’t respond but just kept on trembling.

John was about asking him again when he heard a loud gunshot. Blood splashed on his face and the man stopped shaking. John stared at the now dead man who now had a bullet-shaped hole in his head. He looked up above him and saw someone on the roof with a sniper. The man smiled and turned, disappearing from his sight.