The Race

"Soo....what happened to your date with Mr Morales? Are we in the game now or what?", asked Nicole. This was in Patricia's room after Zach went out to look for Alisha. Patricia sighed and replied, " I don't think getting into the game is going to be that easy anymore...(sigh).. I...I...saw Lightningbolt.." "What?....Lightningbolt?...You mean the horse that your father rode in the derby races?" Asked Nicole. Patricia just hummed and nodded her head in agreement. "Wow! But I thought that it was condemned and killed for causing a tragic accident of a racer. So how is it that it is still alive?" Asked Nicole. "That's what I thought too. But I saw it. And that bastard Jethro sold it for half a million dollars! He was auctioning it yesterday at his auction house. I thought that I could get it as a guarantee but no...the damn bastard refused me....uurg! (Sighed) that's what caused me to travel to my parents' grave that late. I just could not hold it anymore Nicky.....I just couldn't...I needed to vent out my bottled up emotions. I just wanted to breathe and feel at least a bit free from the chocking emotions and also...set my mind straight and think of a plan to get Lightningbolt back from the person that bought him. But....I didn't think that I would run into trouble with some thieves. If it wasn't for that...kind officer..I don't think I would have been alive right now." Replied Patricia.

"Oh my god Patty! I truly got scared when I heard that you were attacked. I thought it was Jethro that had caught up to our plan and decided to harm you. But since it wasn't him....I am relieved. I am truly grateful for that knight that saved you. If it truly wasn't for him...I am sure that you could have been a goner my friend", said Nicole and she gently patted Patricia on her shoulder. "Yes...if it wasn't for him..I truly would have been a goner", said Patricia and the image of Isaac staring down at her whilst holding her in his arms after saving her from the thief flashed into her mind. She recalled staring dreamily into his eyes and admiring his handsome face and she started feeling jittery in her stomach and unknowingly she started smiling. Nicole looked at her friend intently and she saw her friend smiling to herself. She wondered why until she remembered that they were talking about the knight in shining armor that rescued her and she realized that her friend must have been captivated by him. So she decided to tease her and said, "So is he going to wisk you up on his horse and ride with you into the sunset. So that the two of you can live happily ever after?" "Mmmm...I wish that he could...that...would..be...wonderful", said Patricia dreamily. "Pfffft...hahaha!! Really!! You fell for him that hard!!" Exclaimed Nicole and she started laughing. Patricia then woke up from her daze and realized what she just said. Her friend actually teased her into saying that she wanted Isaac to be her lover.

What seriously? She lifted her pillow and started hitting Nicole with it but Nicole only continued to laugh harder and she said, "Hahaha!! You should see your face....it's completely red like a tomato....Hahaha!!" "Stop it you hyena!! Stop it!! It's not what you think!! I only said that because you teased me to say it!! It doesn't mean anything!!" Said Patricia whilst hitting Nicole with the pillow. "Oh really....haa! I don't think you didn't mean it!! You truly meant it! You really have fallen for your knight in shining armor. Now I am really curious to see what he looks like since he has made my friend go swooning over him right now." Said Nicole as she calmed down from laughing. Patricia stopped hitting Nicole with the pillow and buried her face into the pillow and humphed. She then said whilst muffled within her pillow, "It's not like that...besides he is..." she lifted her head from the pillow to continue talking but stopped midway as she saw Nicole holding the golden box which she had hid under the pillow thinking that it was Jethro who had come back to visit her.

"What is this Patricia? Where...did you get this golden box?" Asked Nicole as she examined the box in her hand. Patricia sighed and placed the pillow back on the bed and she said, "I found it at the graveyard. It was hidden in a secret compartment inside the tombstone." "But...what is it? What's inside of it?" Asked Nicole. "I don't know. I still haven't figured out how to open it yet. I was about to but...that's when the thieves showed up." Replied Patricia. Nicole examined the box further and she inspected the key hole. "Well looks like it needs to be unlocked with some..sort..of..a special key." Said Nicole. "Special key?" Asked Patricia and she started pondering on the fact.

"Yes...a special key..and it seems to be shaped as a...." said Nicole but she was interrupted by Patricia who suddenly exclaimed, "A horse!!" Nicole looked at Patricia and said, "Yes! A horse! Do you know anything about it?" Patricia did not reply but she quickly took the golden box from Nicole and and she reached inside her hospital gown and revealed the golden neck chain that had a key shaped like a horse dangling from her neck. She then remembered that day when her father gave her the neck chain, " This neck chain...will always remind you that...even when I am not here. You...hold the key to everything and I promise you that this key...will guide you to everything that you may ever need...you got that!"

Patricia gently removed the neck chain from her neck and she inserted the key inside the key hole of the golden box. And with just one little twist the box clicked open. Nicole just looked at Patricia amazed and the two of them looked at each other for a brief moment until Patricia finally lifted the lid of the box to reveal, a folded piece of paper and some other folded documents and beneath them there was a golden colored hard drive and a picture of the whole family together taken in front of their ranch. Patricia gently lifted the picture from the box and started tracing her fingers on it, whilst reminiscing the day when the picture was taken, it was the day before her father went to race against Ricardo Montenegra, the last photograph that was taken before things fell apart. "Oh my god Patricia!" Patricia was taken out of her reverie with Nicole's sudden exclamation. "What is it? What's wrong?" Asked Patricia. "Take a look at this!" Said Nicole and she handed over one of the documents that Patricia took out of the box. Patricia looked at the document and asked, "What is it? What is this?" As she skimmed through the document. "Oh my god Patty!! Can't you read! It's a title deed!! A title deed for a ranch in San Flora and it's in your name!! Your name Patty!! Your father left you a ranch in your name!! And look here..." exclaimed Nicole whilst showing Patricia some of the other documents. "It says here..that he also left you and your siblings some money, aaah 800 million dollars!! Wow Patty!! That's a lot of money. Wow you are rich! Very rich!"

Patricia just stared at the documents dumbfounded and unknowingly tears started trickling down her cheeks. She just couldn't believe what she was seeing, her father left a ranch in her name and he also left some properties for Alisha and Zachariah with the condition that they would claim them when they reach the age of 23. And also that he had left 800 million dollars for them to share equally amongst themselves. Patricia and her siblings had just went from nothing to become very rich. But why did their parents hide these things from them and why were they not read among their father's will? What was the reason to hide the documents in a box and of all places to hide things why did they hide it at the graveyard? It was when Patricia was thinking this that she took hold of the last folded document in the box. And it appeared to be a letter, written by her own father. It read'...

'My dear Patricia.

If you are reading this letter it means that I am no longer with you my dear sweet princess pup and I am gone from this world...forgive me for having to leave you without saying goodbye. I wish there was a way for me to have avoided my fate and spent some more time with you and your siblings but....I am sorry I had to say goodbye and possibly in a more tragic way that I could ever think of...' Patricia stopped reading and took a deep breath of shock and she slowly uttered, "He...knew...he....knew...he...knew that...that...he was going to die...he..knew that...he was going to be killed..." then she continued reading as fresh tears started flowing down her face once again,

'I am sorry that I had to reveal things to you this way but it was the only way that I could think of which meant that you were not going to get hurt. I stumbled upon something...something that I shouldn't have. It started the day that your uncle Anthony came to visit us at the ranch. He had come with a proposal for me to work together with Ricardo Montenegra on some sort of land developmental business. He said that Ricardo's family was very rich and they were the descendents of the supreme royal emperor of Crimson, His majesty emperor Felix Christiano Belizé. He said he was their great great great grandfather and he left most of his riches to Ricardo's family. So since Ricardo's parents died all the wealth was transferred to him. And that he was planning to use it to help vulnerable countries and people, to develop and become independent and also alleviate poverty. So he wanted me to help by supporting him in a land developmental project that would help the vulnerable by building clinics, hospitals, orphanages and care centers. The idea sounded very convincing that I agreed to it right away but .....I...I ..didn't know exactly what I was putting myself into. I later on discovered that Ricardo Montenegra is a devil...a monster!! I discovered that he was using those 'fake projects' in order to hide his biggest shams like human trafficking, drug production and distribution, money laundering, illegal betting, prostitution and...something even more.....more...than I could ever imagine. But before I could discover what it was ...he suddenly challenged me to a race...I knew that he had discovered me....I knew that I was done for....so in order to protect you I gathered some of the evidence I had collected and stored it in the golden hard drive and hid half of my will in this golden box. I hid some other hard drives with the other evidence in remote places. However the only way to access them is to become a derby racer. Yes Patricia! I want you to carry on the Milton family legacy, I know that..what I am asking from you is too much but in order to bring justice to our family you will have to do it. I believe in you my sweet princess pup and I want you to know that I will always support you and be with you in spirit. I know you are brave, smart, strong, courageous and most importantly loving and I know you will do whatever it takes to bring justice and honor to our family. I have placed the clues to find the other hard drives in the hard drive that you found in the golden box and I confident that you will figure them out. Good luck and remember IT STARTED WITH A RACE AND IT WILL END WITH A RACE.

With so much love,

From Dad. '

Patricia then slowly folded the letter again and heaved a deep sigh and she placed the letter back into the box and took hold of the golden hard drive and started swirling it with her fingers whilst in deep thought. "I can't believe this was planned all along. I mean...your father knew that he was going to die and he knew who his killer was. And he also gathered evidence to expose Montenegra. But what I don't understand is why is he wanting you to be a derby racer in order to gain access to the rest of the evidence. And what does he mean carry on the Milton family legacy? Wasn't your father the first derby racer in the family? And what does he mean by getting justice for the family? This is all so confusing!" Said Nicole whilst looking at Patricia thinking intently.

Patricia remained silent for a while until she said, "I don't know Nicole. But....I have a strong feeling that there is more to this story than what it seems. Dad didn't reveal everything to me in this letter and I am sure he wants me to find out on my own. By being a derby racer and following every clue that he has left me to look for the rest of those hard drives." "But what are we going to do once we get you to become a derby racer. How are we going to manage to gather all the evidence against Montenegra. What if we get caught before we get our hands on it. Does this mean our plans have changed?" Asked Nicole. Patricia stood up from the bed and packed all of the documents and the hard drive back into the golden box and she locked it. Then she said, "No...our plans have not changed. But....they have just got even better...". Nicole looked at Patricia with a confused look on her face and then she asked, "But how are they now even better?"

Patricia just smirked and raised the golden neck chain in her hand and she replied, "Because I have the key to everything" and a golden glint flashed in her eyes as she broke into a wide sinister smile.

.....

A distance away from the hospital, a black car with black tinted windows was parked at the side of the street with two people seated inside whilst watching the hospital. "I guess you were right Captain. There is something more to this case than what we thought....and Ms Milton is a very valuable asset. But how did you manage to plant the listening device in the room without being noticed" asked one of the pair in car. The other one just smiled and said, "By a pinch of luck" and he smiled even more.