REASONS

“Cathy. Mike. Breakfast is ready.”, Beth said.

“Coming, mom.”, Cathy shouted from her room. Mike was in the shower. So, Cathy knocked on the door and said, “Hurry Up! You’re taking so long.”

“Just a minute.”, Mike replied while wearing his pants on.

While both were busy, getting fresh. Cathy was serving breakfast to Joseph, her husband.

“Here’s your breakfast.”, Beth said to Joseph.

“Hmm.” Joseph pulled a chair and sat on it. “So, where are the kids?”

“They’re getting fresh.”, Beth replied.

Joseph Arthur was a young businessman. He was one of the shareholders at Ryan Cloud’s Start-Up with James Foster and George Wilson. The Start-Up took his flight in the mid-90s and became one of the biggest firms in the US. The business was expanded in all major sectors of livelihood starting from a Personal Care to Transportation by the end of 2000. Joseph was used to be a good friend of Ryan. But one day, 6 months ago, a tragedy happened and everything changed. Ryan was declared dead in a car accident. However, the body found missing. Later, the shareholders decided to divide the shares to prevent themselves from the loss. Cloud’s Firm was destroyed when George Wilson and James Foster took over his property. However, George was usually out on business tours and meetings. In his absence, James used to take care of their business. Overall the company’s profile was degrading and going to the loss. They adopt several strategies to prevent their losses. However, Joseph was the one who decided to take his share and invest it in a better way. He started growing his business in hotel management. Now, he owned two renowned 5-Star hotels at the Upstate also. He started living in suburbs with his lovely wife, Beth and two kids, Cathy, 15, and Michael, 9 years old.

“Good Morning, Dad”, Cathy and Mike said while approaching to the dining table.

“Good Morning, Kids”, Joseph continued. “Ready for the school?”

“Yes, Dad”, Cathy replied.

“Good. Now eat your breakfast. You’re getting late.”, Beth added. “I’ve packed your lunchboxes. Don’t forget to take them with you.”

“Okay Momma”, Mike replied, while busy putting veggies aside in his plate.

“Mom look. What’s Mike doing? He’s putting all the veggies aside.”, Cathy complained to Beth.

“Mike.”, Joseph looked at Mike with anger in his eyes.

“Sorry, Dad”, Mike replied.

A few moments later.

“Okay. I’m done.”, Joseph continued. “Are you guys ready? I’ll drop you to your school.”

“Yes, dad”, Cathy and Mike said.

“Go and pack your bags. I’ll be waiting for you in the car.”, Joseph said while leaving home.

“Okay, dad.” Both the kids rushed to their room.

“Honey. I know, you’ve started a new business and you’re really busy managing it. But don’t forget to take lunch on time”, Beth tying the knot of a tie for him.

“Okay, Dear. I’ll. Love You”, Joseph kissed her and left.

“Love you too”, Beth replied with a smile.

“Bye, mom. Bye.”, Cathy and Mike said while leaving for school.

“Bye. Take Care.”, Beth replied.

Later, Joseph dropped the kids at school and left for work. It’d been almost 6 months Joseph was shifted to suburbs and dropping and picking up the kids had become a total routine. But Joseph was hiding something and he knew it better. Before going to the office, he went to the bank weekly to withdraw a big amount of money. However, her wife was unaware of it. Nobody knew, what did he do with that much money. Everything was going fine and usual. But not every day is the same. Especially, not this one. Later that day, he made a stop at The Bank to do his job. He parked his car in the parking area near the footpath and went inside. It took him around 20-25 minutes to complete the transaction. He came outside holding a bag full of money. While he was entering the car, he had a call.

“Hello!”, said the caller.

“How many times I told you, not to call me. Your bag is ready”, Joseph replied.

“Good Job Mr. Arthur. I love your style. Now, without any time bring it to me”, the caller said in return.

“What? No. I’m not coming. You can come to the office to pick it up”, Joseph exclaimed.

“Oh, my poor Joseph. You’re a kid. Okay, never mind. I’ll send my man to pick the bag, just be ready”, call replied.

“Okay, Don”, Joseph replied with relief.

“Hmm. Good Bye”, Don ended the call.

Don Jefferson was a Chief of Police at NYPD. He was the most corrupted person in the police department. After that call, Joseph left for the office. He was a bit nervous. In order, to reach office in time he made a turn took a shortcut. He kept accelerating the car. A moment later, he was approaching a traffic signal which, however, turned red. He tried slowing down his car but it was like the brakes got jammed or something.

“WHAT! NO… NO. NO. NO. NO. NO… NOOOO.”, he screamed.

He lost control of the steering wheel also. He was consistently applying brakes, but nothing was working. He got frightened. He broke the signal and rammed the car into side railing, taking him off the road and banging the car hardly in a tree. The accident was fatal. The smoke was coming from the car’s engine. The window glasses were almost shattered. Joseph was bleeding his head. He anyhow managed to open the door of the car and got out of it and fell on the ground. He was bleeding. A moment later a car stopped nearby him. A person came out of the car and approached him. His shadow fell on Joseph. Joseph lifted his head a little to see his face. His blurry eyes weren’t able to recognize the face. But the image got cleared and his expressions were filled with fear. His voice was flattering with the fear in his eyes. His eyes got widen and started sweating. He exclaimed, “YOU!”