RESTLESS : The Hunt For Peace Episode 102

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Hannah Kelvin, married with two kids. Currently working as a security guard in the University Of Bexford.” Cole replied Henry’s request. He was sitting in a plastic chair and had a laptop on the plastic table in front of him. He had a wired earpiece plugged into both ears and the mouthpiece hanging few centimetres below his jaw, connected to the phone on the table.

It was in a small living room with neat but old fashioned furnitures and decorations. The big box TV sat on a wooden shelf with a DVD player below and some compact disks packs on it. A tall standing fan stood two metres away from the TV, the blades rolling perfectly and the neck moving from the left end to the right and back.

“Thank you, where is her present location?” he heard Henry ask again.

“Female staffs quarters in University of Bexford, located at the back of the King’s Library.” He replied.

“Monitor her and let me know when if she changes location.”

“Okay boss.”

The call ended and he plugged the earpiece out of his ears.

“I’m getting so bored here,” he heard a voice saying from behind.

He looked back to see Wilson’s sister.

“When is Wilson coming here?” she asked, walking closer to Cole.

Cole quickly minimized the running software and switched to a map application.

“Very soon,” he replied her.

She stopped right behind him and stared into his laptop for a moment.

“Can’t we watch movies on your laptop?” She asked.

He smiled and glanced at her. “I’m quite busy, I’ll play one for us to watch later.”

“Alright,” she turned back and walked to the sitting area.

He watched her go and admired her tiny curves as she swung her waists. He smiled to himself and looked away. He turned back to the laptop and opened the software he was previously running.

A thought came to his mind and he turned to her again. He couldn’t see her fully from where she was sitting. The backrest of the sofa totally shielded her body from him and he could only see signs of her hair.

“Hey Sophia, why don’t you fix up lunch for us to eat?”

She rose up and turned to look at him. “That kitchen looks empty to me.”

“We brought some supplies along with us, if you check properly. You’d be able to make something,” he answered her.

She shrugged, “Okay”.

He turned back to his laptop after watching her walk out of the room. He scanned through the details on the screen before him to see if anything had changed yet but it hadn’t. He took some of his time to set an alarm to notifying him when the location of the network line changed or when a new call was being received on it.

He minimized the application again and hid it from showing on the taskbar. He then got up from the seat and proceeded to the corridor which led to the rooms. He stopped at the door to the room where Dr Alan and Rex was and knocked softly. He waited for some few seconds and knocked again when he got no response. He still got no response and had to open the door without one.

He stepped in to see Dr Alan just rising from bed and stretching.

“Good afternoon Doc,” he cleared his throat and closed the door gently. He noticed Morris was sitting in the wheelchair beside the bed. “Good afternoon,” he bowed slightly in courtesy to Morris and his stare lingered on his face for a while like he was expecting a reply.

“Good afternoon Cole,” the doctor replied after sitting up nut still stretching and yawning. He looked more like the sick person who was being watched by Morris.

“Ermm, we’re about to prepare lunch. I’m not sure what he’s to eat,” Cole said to the doctor, making reference to Morris.

“Like I told you before, he would only take liquids and fluids for now to allow easy digestion for him.” Doctor Alan replied.

“I just wanted to be specific about which one he would take this afternoon,” Cole responded. His eyes moved to the Morris’ face and he thought for a second that the expression on the man’s face meant something.

“Maybe he have low sugar custard this afternoon,” the doctor answered.

“Alright, I’ll go get it.” Cole glanced again at Morris’ face as if to seek for approval before he turned back and walked out.

____

FOX Corporation Building,

Executives Conference Hall

Fourteen men were sitting round the table, six on the right hand side and seven on the left. The chairman was sitting at the center of the shorter side of the table. The large screen hanging far away at the other end of the wall opposite the chairman’s seat was on but nothing was being showed apart from the screensaver. An empty seat was at the center, at the side where six agents were sitting.

“It’s a big slap on our face if the other two explosions go out without us being able to stop it,” Agent Samuel opined.

“A real big slap,” Mark joined in.

“We need to find the anonymous informant, I think it is crucial and urgent.”

“From the look of things, I would say we’re dealing with two different people here.” Agent Sylvanus put in. The other agents fastened their eyes on him, expecting him to explain his point better. “The lady in that video might not just be the same one that sent the email and made the call last night.”

“How can two different anonymous be giving us consistent information?” Mark asked aloud, his eyes moving around from the face of the last agent on the row at the opposite end to the chairman.

“I had that thought too,” the chairman said, drawing all attention to himself. “I heard the first voice, it sounds so different from that of the lady in the video.”

“Has that been confirmed?” An agent asked.

“No way, the call was to my personal phone, it wasn’t recorded.”

There was silence for few seconds before Agent Mark spoke.

“Chairman sir, for how long have you been receiving personal calls and messages from informants?”

A deafening silence followed. All other agents kept a firm stare at the face of the chairman. It seemed Agent Mark had asked a question which was on everyone’s mind.

Paul Edwards let out a brief light smile. He knew it was more than a question and more of an accusation.

“It’s my first time,” he replied in a firm voice and leaned back, folding his arms across his chest. He felt some guilt deep down in his heart, he knew he had lied.

“I think the main question should be, how did the informant come across your personal number?”

“I don’t know,” he replied confidently. He was sure they could never get to know he had previous similar contact as he had made sure he wiped the history of his previous conversations. “It’s something I’m yet to decipher but then I realized that if secrets personal plans of late Agents Rex and Carl can be known, my number would surely be an easier one to get.”

He seemed to reduce the tension a bit with his response. They all agreed with him that getting his personal number could have been pretty easy for the same persons who were able to kill Agents Carl and Rex.

“But you weren’t contacted by the Wolves, someone else contacted you,” another agent spoke his mind, bringing in some more tension.

Paul Edwards leaned forward. “It’s exactly why I’m having double thoughts about the anonymous calls. The lady who made the video said she was a former agent of the Wolves, if she is the same anonymous email sender, then we know how she could have gotten my number.”

“She also said the late Carl Winston isn’t dead and is behind the explosions and deaths of people,” Mark interjected.

“But we know that can’t be possible, Agents Carl and Rex are dead,” Agent Sylvanus argued.

“How I wish we can prove that?” Paul thought aloud.

There was another deafening silence and it lasted for close to a minute.

“What if she was saying the truth?” Agent Sylvanus asked aloud in a thoughtful tone.

“She can’t be saying the truth,” Agent Mensah reply was sharp.

“But some of the things she said in her video happened to be true,” Mark noted aloud. “For example, she said the bomb was at the shopping mall and would be planted by the fence, she was right.”

“But we did not find anyone like Carl Winston there,” Agent Mensah retorted.

“If it is true, we don’t expect to catch someone as skilled as Agent Carl so easily. He would surely escape the eyes of the camera,” Agent Sylvanus put in.

“Carl would also never be careless to have such video recorded,” Paul stated.

“Let’s assume she was,” an Agent said. “Let’s consider this, did she say things in the video that matched with the information from the anonymous email sender?”

There was a silence for ten seconds.

“Yes, she did.” Paul finally answered. “The anonymous email stated that the explosions would take place by twelve noon, three and six o’clock at different locations. The first bomb went off at exactly twelve noon.”

“I think I get it,” Agent Sylvanus leaned forward, looking left, right and forward to get everyone’s attention. “What if the video was intended to pull our men to the scene?”

There was silence.

He continued. “The explosion took the lives eleven senior FOX agents and ten more injured, that’s a bad record. It’s never been so. More than twenty FOX agents in a location without being able to stop the explosion.”

“It is evident it has been planned a long time ago, the wirings and connections to make it difficult to defuse had been done long ago. The bomb may be the only thing planted today,” Mark said.

“The explosive device could have been planted before today,” Paul said.

“That’s possible.”

“Like Agent Sylvanus said, the video could have been made to pull our FOX agents to their deaths.” Paul said.

“And that would still mean the real informant who contacted you wasn’t from the FOX,” another agent put in, turning round again to put the suspicions on Paul.

Paul shook his head. “I know nothing of how my number was reached, can we focus on stopping the explosions by three and six pm and get back to this later?”

The men agreed with him silently.

“Haven’t there been any case of an explosion being stopped?” agent Sylvanus asked.

“There have been two cases,” Mark answered.

“Yeah, I remember.” Agent Sylvanus squinted and looked around again. “What happened to that team and the Agent that led them?”

“The same team is still on this case, they got no pre knowledge of today’s threats.” Paul replied.

“But you almost sanctioned the Agent that led them and warned her not to take such step again. It means she wouldn’t be bold to stop any other,” Agent Samuel voiced out with a vibration following his words.

Paul Edwards squinted at Agent Samuel in awe. He was terribly shocked that Agent Samuel could accuse him so strongly. He remembered on that day, that Agent Samuel and Elkim had been with him when he scolded Agent Evelyn and warned her and Agent Samuel did not disagree with his judgement then.

All eyes were on Paul now and he could feel the heat of the fire in their eyes.

He did not bother to answer immediately, so as not to make himself look more like a traitor.

“What happened to that Agent?”Agent Robert, one who was usually quiet until asked to speak asked impatiently.

“She is still in the team, I only warned her to follow orders from her team leader.” Paul voiced out.

At that moment, the secretary to Paul Edwards stepped in and walked quietly to her boss. No one spoke after she walked in. Her appearance during the meeting meant she had an urgent message to deliver to the chairman.

She stopped beside Paul and bent to whisper some words to his ear. She got up few seconds after and proceeded out of the conference room.

Paul waited until she got out. He kept swallowing in spit like he had something stuck in his throat.

He finally cleared his throat to speak. “You’d have to excuse me gentlemen, there’s a new email from the anonymous sender. I’ll have to go check and give instructions,” he got up from his seat and took a bow. “Please come with me, Agent Mensah.”

The remaining Agents watched them leave silently and most of them used the silence to keep processing the thoughts in their hearts.

“Can we work with this team that stopped two explosions right now instead of dragging Mr Paul?” Agent Mark asked. He was the youngest among the executives.

“It is important for us to question Paul, he could have the information we require and he also holds the most strategic position amongst us. He gives the go ahead for the FOX operations. If we leave him at the helm of affairs, it could be a total disaster.” Agent Samuel insisted.

“But this is not the time for that,” Mark argued. “People’s lives are at stake, we have less than two hours to stop the next explosion and few more hours to stop the one by six.”

“You’re right Mark,” Agent Sylvanus agreed with him. “It’s not time to investigate Paul, I volunteer to work closely with the team while the rest of you will form the backup for us.”

“I’ll work closely with you sir,” Mark stated.

“Good,” Agent Sylvanus nodded and looked around to see if any other Agent had something to say.

No one said anything else. It seemed they had come up with a conclusion even in the chairman’s absence.

__

“Can you reply the mail?” Paul asked again, he was standing behind an Agent working on the computer.

“No sir,” the agent replied.

Paul turned to Agent Mensah. “Please give directives right now for men to go to the railway station and find the bomb. I have to get back to the meeting to give an update.”

He walked out of the open office to meet with Steve and Evelyn who had just returned.

“Where’s Daysman?” he stopped and asked.

“We couldn’t find him, he left the house very early this morning without letting anyone know where he was going to.” Steve replied.

“I’ll be back,” Paul Edwards said and continued on his way back to the executives meeting.

He got back after ten minutes in total to see the most of the men no longer on their seats, he was lucky to still meet them all in the room.

“I’m sorry gentlemen, I’ve left agent Mensah in charge while we round off the meeting.” He apologized as he walked back to his seat.

Agent Sylvanus who was one of the agents who had gotten up returned to his seat. “It’s okay, we came up with something while you were away.”

“What’s that?” Paul asked.

Agent Sylvanus waited for all other agents to return to their seats before he continued. “First, let’s hear what new mail has been gotten?”

“It’s still anonymous and the sender claimed that the next explosion will be on a train and that the bomb is among some goods at the station. It’s going to be picked into the train from the station from anytime around two thirty.”

“Oh! That’s means we have to get it immediately,” Mark interjected.

“Yes, agent Mensah should have given instructions already.” Paul replied.

“We should be alerted if no progress is made in the next thirty minutes,” Agent Sylvanus said.

“Sure,” Paul nodded.

“While you were away, I and agent Mark had decided to work hand in hand with the investigating team to come up with something before three o’clock. The new email keeps us online, we would get in physically to get the bombs defused safely.”

“That’s a good one,” Paul said, nodding his head. He had no choice than to agree with them. He was already being suspected for being a traitor and opposing them will complicate matters more.

_____

1PM

University Of Bexford Gate

“Your badge sir,” the guard at the gate questioned Henry.

Henry took out the badge and displayed to the man.

The man after scrutinizing for a while to see if it was original gave way for Henry to drive in.

Henry returned the badge and wound up the window glass. He then drove into the university and proceeded in the straight direction. He looked towards the left as he drove and noticed FOX vehicles at the hostel where he and his team had just stopped the explosion. He drove past and focused on the way until he located the King’s library.

He parked the vehicle at the parking space in front of the library. He took off the FOX shirt to leave a white round neck inner. He left the shirt in the car to avoid being identified as a FOX agent and stepped out on his white inner and black pants.

He soon located the staff quarters, a three storey building fashioned in a different way from the hostel.

“Good day sir,” he greeted the security man he saw at the security house beside the gate. “I’m agent Michael and I’m here to see Mrs Hannah Kelvin,” he introduced himself, displaying his badge.

“She walked in not too long ago,” the man replied as he picked up the landline to make a call.

“Please don’t let her know I’m here,” Henry pleaded.

The man stared at Henry’s face, wondering why he was stopped if Henry really wanted to see the woman.

“I want to go to her,”Henry made his intentions clear.

The man frowned his face. It was against their policy to allow others in.

“You can follow me in, if you have doubts.”

The man stared at him for a while.

“You can go in, please don’t stay more than twenty minutes.”

“How do I locate her room?”

“It’s a two room apartment, the fifth door by the left on the ground floor,” the man answered.

“Thanks.”

Henry proceeded past the gate and went straight to the fifth room by the left. He didn’t bother to knock, he touched the knob of the door and found it opened.

He dipped his hand into his pocket to hold his gun before he turned the knob and pushed the door in.

“Who’s there?” He heard a lady’s voice as he stepped in and closed the door.

That must be Hannah Kelvin – the woman who organized the room for the Wolves to put Samantha, he thought.

The lady soon surfaced from the other room and met with a surprise. She froze in shock and he also stared at her in surprise.

“You?” Carl asked in surprise.

“Carl Winston!” Her voice echoed softly as she shuddered.

To be continued……