Seated opposite the bar stand in the living area of her hotel presidential suite, still cladded in her male disguise suit, Tina drank directly from a bottle of whisky, her hands trembling and her countenance in disarray as she watched a video on her iPad.
It was a video of Blaze punching the hell out of the legendary and famous blockbusters superstar, Henry Gordon - who also happened to be one of the VIP guests at the GMVC awards night, which was in the next two days.
"F*ck me!" Tina dropped the bottle of her whisky, her eyes widened like a saucer. She quickly paused the video and picked up a small untraceable phone she recently acquired some days back.
Punching in a secured number, she dialed the number, holding her breath as she waited for it to connect.
The call connected in no time and the slightly rude voice of a lady on the other end rapped in her ear.
"I thought we said no calls except it's urgent."
"This is urgent!" Tina hissed like a snake, grabbing her bottle of whiskey and taking another gulp before barking into the phone.
"What the hell happened in that hospital? Weren't you paid to give me good news?"
"Good news!" The other lady sneered. "What is your definition of good news? Didn't you see the video I sent you? Didn't everything happen the way you wanted it? Your target is currently hospitalized. Her husband took the bait and is raging like a bull. The strangely popular lover had the crap beaten out of him and worst of all, the innocent senator might end up in a wheelchair. Isn't that good enough for you?"
"No!" Tina screamed, a vein bulging by the side of her neck. "Henry was not supposed to get involved."
"No names." The other lady growled.
"Fine!" Tina hissed. "The actor wasn't supposed to be in the picture. He is a f*cking celebrity and a movie icon for goodness sake. He is not some washed-up loser. He is supposed to be giving awards in two days. How the hell is he supposed to do that with his face looking like that? Do you have the slightest idea what you've done?."
"Excuse me! Did you..."
"I paid you to do a simple job." Tina gritted her teeth, cutting the lady off. "How can you f*ck this all up for me. You were supposed to capture the bastard in the picture that was messing with that b*tch. He was supposed to take the fall and not the actor."
"Are you don't talking?" The lady from the other end asked in a repressed voice.
"Don't get smart with me, you f*cking psycho. I paid you a good amount of money to give me a clean job."
There was a pause on the other end as if the lady was contemplating what to say.
"Yes. You paid me well to do a good job and that is exactly what I did. You instructed me to follow and keep the senator on my radar. You asked me to capture every single thing I saw. I risked my ass going into the hospital posing like a nurse just to get your video. And now our business is concluded."
"What!" Tina's jaw dropped.
"Whoever was in that picture has got absolutely nothing to do with me. But from what I heard during the heated argument between the husband and the lover, it seems the maimed actor is the same man in that picture?"
"Impossible!" Tina picked up her second phone with a trembling hand and unlocked it with her security pattern. She scrolled over to her gallery and tapped on the picture she forwarded earlier to Blaze and Amelia's father.
"I'm looking at the current picture and there is no resemblance between this man and that actor.
"Aren't you an actor yourself? I'm sure you are conversant with the word, disguise."
"No..." Tina shook her head, standing up, tears streaming down her reddened face. She heard a suppressed groan from the other end followed by the revving sound of a car engine.
"Listen, ma'am, I've done what you asked me to do and I have given you proof of my job. However, the actor who got involved in the whole mess is none of my goddamn business. That is entirely your own problem. I just did a profile on the husband of your target and he's not a man you want to mess with. After the shit that went down in that hospital, I can assure you that there will be blood to pay. I'm currently on my way out of town and I will advise you to do the same. We never met, we never spoke and I do not know who you are. You can keep the balance and don't ever contact me again."
The call instantly disconnected, causing Tina's face to turn beet red with fury and her eyes to shoot invisible flares.
"Ahhh!" She screamed at the top of her voice and smashed the small phone angrily on the polished marble floor while panting heavily.
Amelia was supposed to be the only one to take the biggest fall and not her father or Blaze's currently hospitalized mother, who according to Tina's source at the general hospital was in a critical state.
A sudden knock on the door jolted Tina out of her depressing thoughts. She quickly wiped her face and kicked off her shoes before tiptoeing to the door. She listened as a feminine cute voice said,
Moving away from the door and mimicking a strong male voice, she said.
"Check back later, I'm busy."
Tina held her breath as she listened to the hotel staff's retreating steps. She thought briefly and decided this was the right time to activate her contingency plan before things turned sour.
Hurrying back to the bar stand, she picked up her phone and dial a number.
"Hello, who is this?" A male voice said.
"Hi, Freddy. Don't tell me you do not recognize my voice."
"My goodness, I wasn't expecting your call."
"Do you want me to hang up?" She slurred sexily.
"Oh no. Talk to me, I'm all ears."
A sly grin slowly formed at the corner of Tina's lips as she slowly took off her wig while taking a seat on one of the double couches.
"I've been thinking about what you said and I'm ready to play ball."
Tina scoffed, "Come down to Ivy Bloom Hotel right now and meet me at the emerald presidential suite. Don't keep me waiting." She ended the call before the man could say anything.