MY PERFECT BODYGUARD 2 CHAPTER SIX THE SILENT STORM

As the day's lectures came to an end, Richard found it difficult to concentrate. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his encounter with Gideon. After the lectures, he headed straight to Emmanuel's department to share the details of the unsettling meeting.

"Wait, are you telling me that sleek dark Range Rover speeding out of the school was here for you?" Emma questioned in disbelief.

"Yeah, I'm serious. And honestly, I have a bad feeling about this. Do you think I should warn Linda to stay away from my family, or should I advise my family to keep their distance from her?" Richard sought his friend's advice, visibly concerned.

"Why do you keep avoiding and hiding from things?" Emma questioned. "You've shared your adventures with her, fought through thick and thin together, and now you're distancing yourself just because you think she's out of your league?"

"I'm doing what's best to protect my family," Richard replied. "This guy means serious business. He raced into the school just to warn me to stay away from Linda. He even threatened to harm my family."

"Listen, just focus on keeping your family safe," Emma advised.

Taking Emma's advice to heart, Richard grabbed his phone and dialed his mother's number.

After 11 months of silence, Maria answered in a frustrated tone, "Where have you been? Why haven't you been picking up my calls? Do we look like a joke to you?"

"Mom, slow down. I know you have a lot of questions, but I need you to help me with something. You need to stop talking to Linda, and if you still do, cut ties with her, please," Richard pleaded.

"Wait, what? You haven't called or texted for like 11 months, and now you want me to stop talking to Linda? Someone who has been a more supportive child than you in the past 11 months, someone who has been looking out for our family? You want me to cut ties with her?" Maria exclaimed incredulously.

Feeling the stress from his mother's reaction, Richard maintained his composure, saying, "Mom, I know it's confusing, but I promise I'll explain later. For now, can you please just listen to me?"

"What's wrong with you?" Maria retorted before abruptly ending the call, leaving Richard bewildered. He redialed the number multiple times, but there was no response. Annoyed, he dropped his phone, muttering, "Shit!" in frustration.

"What are you going to do now?" Emma asked.

"I don't know, man. I think I should head back home. I've got a really bad feeling about this," Richard replied.

"I'm going with you," Emma insisted.

"You're going nowhere. After all, I'll be back immediately," Richard said as they both grabbed their bags and headed to the boys' quarters.

"You're not going to tell me what to do," Emma retorted, walking with Richard to the quarters.

As Linda finished her lectures and packed her bag, Franklin approached her. "Hey, it seems like you're done for today," Franklin remarked.

"Yeah, of course," Linda replied.

"Can we go on a date or something?" Franklin asked softly.

"I wish I could, but I really need to visit someone today, and I do that every midweek after school, so I don't think I'll have time for that," Linda explained.

"The guy's family, the one that helped you retrieve the company before?" Franklin guessed.

Linda nodded. "I'm sorry," she said as she left. Her driver arrived, and she entered the car, departing with him. 

Frustrated by being ditched by Linda once again, Franklin entered his car and decided to follow her. While tracking her, he dialed Gideon's number.

"Hey boss, I'm about to find the location of where Richard's family lives," Franklin reported.

"Good. Make sure you follow them and get me the details of the house," Gideon instructed. Franklin saluted over the phone and ended the call.

He continued trailing them until Linda reached her destination. Franklin promptly sent the location to Gideon before driving off.

As Linda stepped out of the car, she went straight to Richard's family's home and knocked on the door. Maria opened the door, greeting her warmly, "Linda, how are you?" They both went inside.

Cynthia approached Linda, giving her a warm embrace. Linda noticed the dining table was set with food already prepared. "Wow, you guys seem to have cooked without me," Linda remarked.

"Don't worry; we wanted to make today special for you because we've got good news," Maria said. They urged Linda to take a seat, and they all started eating.

"So, what's the good news?" Linda asked in curiosity.

"Well, Richard called today," Maria revealed.

As Linda was eating her food, at the mention of Richard, she paused. It felt like the food couldn't digest. She looked at Maria and said, "Wow, that's nice. How is he doing?"

"He sounded healthy," Maria replied.

"Did he ask about me?" Linda inquired once again.

Maria, not wanting to make Linda feel bad, responded, "Yes, he asked about you. He asked if you're eating well and not talking to other guys."

Linda smiled, and tears welled up in her eyes. "He misses you," Maria added.

"That's nice," Linda said again, expressing a mix of emotions.

"Can I have his number?" Linda asked.

"Well, the number he gave me, he said it wasn't his. It was a secure phone. He promised to send you his number once he has one," Maria explained as Linda nodded. After they finished eating, Linda helped with the dishes before heading home.

Later that night, as Maria was making her bed, Cynthia entered her room. "Why did you lie to her, Mom?" Cynthia questioned.

"She's been good to us. Imagine telling her that Richard said which thing after everything she's been doing for us – visiting us, paying your school fees, and helping my business. It will crush her," Maria justified.

"You know she will one day find out," Cynthia insisted.

"She won't," Maria confidently answered.

"What makes you confident that she won't?" Cynthia asked again.

"Because I'm going to fix things before she even finds out. Now that I have Richard's number, I'm going to talk sense into him," Maria declared.

As they were speaking, a rain of bullets started entering the house. It turned out that people were firing guns at them from outside. Maria quickly laid on the ground, but before Cynthia could do the same, a bullet hit her shoulder, causing her to fall, losing a lot of blood. The gunfire continued for minutes.

After some time, it died down, and it became apparent that Maria wasn't shot. She rushed to the lifeless body of her daughter, who was lying in a pool of her own blood. "Cynthia, Cynthia, Cynthia, please wake up!" Maria cried out in anguish.