Chapter 98: Sir, You Are Late

**Two days ago** "Hey Ben, is everything okay?" Xavier asked Ben through the phone while placing the audio recorder under the table. "No, boss, you need to get out there right now; we have company," Ben said to him. "What!!" Xavier exclaimed in surprise. "Yes, boss, be very careful. I'm already on my way in case something goes wrong," Ben said to him. "No, Ben, stay where you are; I will join you in some minutes," Xavier said to Ben, but he had already hung up before Xavier could finish talking. "Damnit," Xavier muttered to himself before returning his phone to his pocket and covering his face with his mask. With that, he slowly walked out of the office, closed the door, and started tiptoeing to the elevator. Once he reached the elevator, he selected the second floor, which led to the secret exit from which he got into the company.  After some minutes, the elevator stopped, and once it opened, Xavier saw some men waiting in front of the elevator. Once he saw them, he tried closing the elevator back, but it was already too late because three men managed to get inside before the elevator closed while the others followed the stairs in order to meet him on the other side. Fortunately for Xavier, he was able to disable the three men that were in the elevator with him, but once the elevator opened, he saw Ben standing in front of the elevator while bleeding from the stomach. He had managed to stop the other men from getting to Xavier on the other side, but unfortunately he received a bullet in the stomach. Once Xavier saw him, he widened his eyes in surprise. "Not again," he muttered to himself before rushing to Ben, who collapsed in his hands. This was the second time he had taken a bullet for him, even though he had warned him never to risk his life for him again. "Pulling him into the elevator, he selected the second floor, and once they arrived at the second floor, he backed him, followed the secret exit, and left the company. "Hey bro, please stay with me," Xavier said to Ben before helping him to sit on the passenger seat, and with that, he turned around and entered the car, zoomed off, and started heading to the hospital. "Sir, call Joe and tell him to get rid of the drops of blood before tomorrow," Ben said to Xavier, who was concentrated on the steering wheel while speeding to the hospital. "Don't worry about that; I will call him right away, and please stop talking; the more you talk, the more blood you lose," Xavier said to him before taking his phone and placing a call across to Joe, who picked up after some minutes of ringing. "Hey Joe, Ben was shot during the process; make sure to get rid of the drops of blood and the dead bodies in the company before tomorrow," Xavier said to him. "Okay, boss," Joe said to him, and with that, Xavier hung up the call in order to concentrate on the steering wheel. **Presently** Walking out of the building where he was kept, Xavier noticed that everywhere was already dark; probably it was ten p.m. if he guess wasn't wrong. "Damnit," Xavier muttered to himself, remembering that he had informed the doctor who had called him that he would be in the hospital in some minutes, but almost three hours had gone by and he hadn't arrived at the hospital yet, and right now he didn't know where he was talk less of how long it's going to take him to reach the roadside where he would find a taxi. As he was still looking, he saw a taxi parked some meters away. Without hesitating, he ran towards the taxi, only to realize that it was the same taxi in which he had passed out; even his briefcase was still in the car, but it was locked. Using his elbow, he broke the window of the door of the passenger seat, and with that, he opened the car, got in, and since the car key wasn't inside, he had to use another alternative to ignite the car. After some minutes of struggling, he was able to ignite the car, which he drove till he got near the roadside.  Once he got some meters away from the roadside, he switched off the car, took his briefcase, and brought out a handkerchief and a bottle of water from it. With that, he started cleaning his face, which had some stains of blood while looking through the central mirror. After cleaning his face, he returned the handkerchief to his briefcase and drank the remaining water before getting out of the car and walking away, leaving the car. Getting to the roadside, he flagged down a taxi, but this time around, before getting inside, he inspected the driver with his eyes in order for what happened to him some hours ago not to repeat itself again. When he realized that the driver didn't look suspicious, he got into the car before telling the driver where he was heading. As the taxi driver was heading to the hospital, he kept his two eyes wide open, ready to act in case the driver tried to do anything stupid. After some minutes of driving, the driver arrived at the hospital, and with that, Xavier got down and paid the taxi driver before rushing into the hospital and heading to the doctor's office. Once he got to the office, he barged in without even knocking. "Where is he?" Xavier asked the doctor while ignoring his angry glare; after all, that was all he could do, but he would say anything to him. "Ward six on the second floor," the doctor said to him. "Thank you," Xavier said to him before walking out of the office and rushing to the elevator that led him to the second floor. Once he came out of the elevator, he rushed to the sixth ward, and without knocking again, he barged in only to see Ben sitting down on the bed while looking out through the window. "Good evening, sir; you are late," Ben said to him without even turning to look at him. To be continued...