RESTLESS : The Hunt For Peace Episode 139

El Deols, Anthanna.

June 18, 2016.

10:15AM

Cole had gotten better before the team left the Doctor’s residence. He still had the wounds on his body but he was no longer confined to the sickbed. He was on the three-seater sofa in the living room where Samantha, Jenny, and Dave also were. His head was resting on the armchair and he had an android phone in his hands.

Dave and Samantha were sitting on the rug in front of the television playing a video game with the consoles in their hands while Jennifer was sitting on a one-sitter sofa adjacent to Cole. They’d all remained in the living room after taking breakfast together at the dining room earlier.

Henry walked into the living room about ninety minutes after breakfast. He walked straight to the center and stopped, Hannah, followed him shortly and sat on one of the sofas.

Samantha and Dave paused their game and moved to where he could see them. Cole and Jennifer also sat up to give him attention.

“Hey guys, we’d be leaving for Bexford tomorrow morning. The flight is for 7 am, let’s all be prepared.” He said briefly and paused to see their reactions.

“Isn’t there anything we must do here before we leave for Bexford?” Dave questioned.

Henry squinted at his face. “Is there something I’ve missed out?” He queried Dave.

“Yes, I think you’re not telling us something.” Dave accused. “You haven’t given us instructions or made any explanations for days, even before we returned to El Deols. So, how do we just leave here without achieving any aim? The last time we heard anything was on our way back after visiting Sheila Jack, and you never told us anything, we only heard you telling someone on the phone that you were stepping down.”

“What have you been expecting me to tell you?” Henry asked in a calm voice. He knew Dave was right about him no longer carrying them along, but he was just not sure of what to tell them yet.

“We need to know why we’ve been idle for days, why haven’t we been on a search for Hutton Ryker? We need to stop him before he comes again for us.”

Henry took in a breath and then placed his hands on his waist.

“It’s the FOX’s job to stop Hutton Ryker, not ours.” He gave a reply which shocked all his listeners.

He could read the surprise on their faces and could tell they had more questions rising for him in their hearts. He pulled a footstool and sat on it.

“Guys, I’m sorry I haven’t told you yet, but I had to step down for the FOX to continue.” He explained. He saw their eyes and could tell they were still amazed at his decision.

“Why would we step down now after all the processes we’ve been through?” Samantha questioned.

“It’s a long story,” Henry replied in a stressed tone. “Hutton Ryker is not someone I’ll like us to go after.”

“What the heck are you talking about?” Dave slammed.

“Hutton Ryker is quite dangerous than we think,” Henry replied and paused to look at their faces. “We all would have died if Paul Edwards had not shown up at the right time that day.”

“So, we scared of him now?” Samantha asked.

“No, not at all.” Henry answered.

“Then, why are we backing off?” Dave asked. “You seem to be hiding some important details from your team.”

“No,” Henry squinted at him and replied with a sharp tone. “I don’t just have instructions to give you right now, because I’ve got an inner battle to fight first.”

It was getting heated and more confusing now. It seemed to them like Henry was talking in parables.

“We need to know what’s wrong,” Dave insisted. “I’ve been asking you questions since the day you met with Paul Edwards.”

“It’s a personal battle I’ve been trying to fight,” Henry said in a calm voice. They all stared at him attentively. “I spoke to Paul Edwards about Hutton Ryker and he knew who Ryker was. He happens to be a man I know personally.”

The guys glanced at each other slowly after Henry paused.

“If you know him personally, I think that should make it easier for us to bring him down.” Samantha put in.

“You think it should?” Henry chuckled and slowly raised his face up. “Well, he used to be a Rank eight Agent, one of the best to ever come out of the FOX. I was in rank three when I was put in his team for a couple of missions. I can boldly tell you that I never saw an Agent of the FOX as deadly as he is. He never wastes bullets and never misses his shots. He is also physically strong, I saw him bring down men who were three times bigger than he was. Hutton Ryker is not a man to joke with.”

There was complete silence after Henry finished talking. They could create mental pictures of Hutton in their mind as he talked and they realized he had to be truly dangerous if Carl Winston who was known as one of the deadliest Agents could be talking about him with such reverence.

“However, I’m not appalled by his strength. What troubles me is why he switched from being a committed savior that he was to being the terrorist. I heard he was dismissed for insubordination and disobedience, but I need to hear his own side of the story. I don’t think he would just switch to being a terrorist only because he was dismissed.”

There was complete silence for another minute before Cole spoke.

“Boss, you sound like it’s more personal.”

Henry glanced at him. “Yes, it is. That man was one of those that inspired us when we were much younger. His commitment, zeal, and strength had a lot of effect on us. And not just that, I’m alive today because he risked his life to save me. So, I won’t want to fight against him until I hear from him.”

“How do you intend to get to him now?” Dave asked.

“I’ve been tracking him for days after I discovered his real identity and I won’t want to involve you guys until I’m sure I get to him,” Henry answered.

“Why? You should let us help you as a team,” Samantha suggested.

“I know we should work together, but I decided not to involve you because it’s not a part of the team’s goal.”

“So, we aren’t taking any step until you get to him?”

“I think we can leave the FOX to continue for now,” Henry was saying when his phone began to ring. He took it out and stared at the screen. “Doctor Alan is calling,” he said before answering the call.

He spoke on the phone for about two minutes before the call ended. He got up with a smile on his face.

“Some good news guys, Morris is responding to treatment well and they’ve begun to see positive effects of the surgery on him.” He announced to them.

“Oh! Great,” he got a remark and facial expressions as responses from some of them.

“I need to make a transfer to Doctor Alan now. I’ll be willing to listen later if anyone has a question or suggestion, please excuse me for now.” He said to them and walked quickly away.

____

Bexford, Bethanna.

11:23

“We have our eyes on Stanley now, Agent Dan and Evelyn are following him closely in South Husan,” Steve reported to Paul Edwards.

They were in Paul’s office. Paul had gotten up during their discussion to have a look outside through the window behind his chair, he remained standing as he talked with Paul who was sitting opposite him.

“I hope you remember that we need more than Stanley, we let him escape for a reason. Returning him without the reason fulfilled makes it all a waste of time.”

“Yes sir, we have that in mind. That’s what has been delaying them from taking action.”

The man turned from the window and rested both hands on top of the seat. “What have you done with the reports from Zambia?”

“There was only one private flight that landed the capital that day with three people in it. We traced them to Ndola but we don’t know where exactly in Ndola they’re in. The cabman who drove them from the airport was found dead the next day they arrived. We couldn’t get any detail from him.”

“Interesting, I had no opportunity of getting close to those Wolves men that day. But studying the strategies used, there was something similar to the FOX. I have stronger reasons to believe we have moles within us.”

“Yes sir, we’ve had those suspicions for a while but we’ve not been able to fish out the mole.”

“I think we have to revisit Elkim Nuel’s case,” Paul said as he returned to the seat. He was yet to settle when the office line on his table began to ring. He leaned forward and picked the receiver.

“We just received reports of two train explosions, one in Bexford and the other at Benuit. Our anti-bomb squad has responded already and this is just to notify you.”

Paul Edward’s eyes widened as he listened to her. “Thank you,” he said in a stiff voice and dropped the receiver.

He stared at Steve’s face as he picked his device and got up from his seat. “Two simultaneous explosions just occurred, I’ll talk to you later.”

He marched out of the office immediately and was followed by Steve.

___

Emery Jack’s Apartment

El Deols, Anthanna

Sheila had prevailed over her father to let her stay in El Deols but under tight security and restrictions. Emery Jack had no choice than to succumb to her will after she made him realize staying alone in Canada where he wanted her to go would be less secure. She could be easily attacked without help there just like Emery was also attacked in the US. Emery Jack had since returned to the US to finish the uncompleted business, he went prepared this time.

Sheila had no option than to work from home. She started by analyzing how much money and property was lost due to the tragedy and she was now making an analysis of how to get back on. Almost all the equipment at the firm were destroyed and it would cost close to billions to restore them. She did have that much money but her father had promised to help her in getting back. Being restricted to working from home was the only challenge she had. She, however, knew it was dangerous to step out unnecessarily and she wasn’t planning to.

It was a Saturday and the only thing she did on Saturdays was to spend time working out and rest. She was about to take a nap when Adrian called to tell her he was on his way there. She got out of bed quickly, happy that she would get some company again.

Apart from Adrian and Victoria, no other person had been allowed in to see her. Adrian had visited three times in the week already, stopping by from work all three times. He didn’t work on that Saturday and it was expected he had enough time to be with her.

On the other hand, Victoria visited daily. She came always directly from her store and had spent the night twice with Sheila. Her arrival was always late in the evening, so she never got to meet Adrian there.

Adrian arrived thirty minutes after the call. Sheila was already in the living room waiting for him. She was laying on the three-sitter sofa and watching a music program on the television when she heard the sound of his car driving in.

She sat up and smiled as he walked towards her. “Hello Sheila,” he said all smiles.

“Hi,” she replied.

He landed a peck on her left cheek and took his seat at the other end of the three-sitter. “How are you doing today?”

“Perfectly fine as you can see,” she replied. “How about you?”

“I’m fine too,” he replied with a nod. He focused his eyes at the television screen for a moment while she steals glances at him.

He looked quite handsome in his blue collared shirt and with a necklace hanging around his neck. His hair was neatly trimmed and carved and so were his beards.

“You just had your hair cut,” Sheila observed loudly.

“Yeah, this morning after the workout session.” He smiled at her, surprised that she noticed.

“The new hairstyle looks great on you,” she complimented.

“Oh! Thanks,” he blushed.

“You’re welcome,” she remarked and then turned to the television.

“So, erm… What have you been up to today?” He asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Nothing really, just some exercises this morning and I was about taking a nap when I got your call.” She answered.

“Oh! Nice, have you heard from Dad lately?”

“Yeah, he calls me every day but he hasn’t called me today,” she replied him and readjusted herself on the seat. “Do you care for fruit juice and chips?”

“Uhmnn…”

“Don’t worry, let me get it for you,” Sheila said and got up but he held her by the wrist to stop her.

“I’m okay, I just want us to talk.”

“Talk?” She squinted at him. “I hope it isn’t about something serious.”

She returned to her seat and faced him.

“No,” he smiled. “It’s not serious, it’s just about us.”

“Two of us,” she smiled lightly.

He nodded. “Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about us and my feelings keep growing for you daily. I want to know if I do stand a chance to win your heart.”

She closed her eyes for a moment and remembered Henry’s advice for her to accept him. She opened her eyes and stared at Adrian’s face. He was staring back at her, looking so pitiful.

“I don’t like to see you this way Adrian but I’m sorry to say I haven’t decided yet,” she replied in a sad voice. “I don’t want to start what I’m not sure about.”

“You can learn to love me, Sheila, I promise I’ll do everything to make you happy.” Adrian pleaded.

“But what about you?” She asked. “I don’t want you to lose yourself for loving me, you deserve to love someone who will love you the same way.”

Adrian heaved a sigh.

“I’m sorry Adrian,’ she whispered.

“It’s okay,” he raised his face and put on a smile. “I’ll keep trying, I know I’ll get to convince you soon.”

“Really?” She smiled back and placed on her hands on the seat to stand up. “Can I check us something to munch on now?”

“Yes please,” he nodded.

She got up and walked to the kitchen, his eyes followed behind her until she was out of sight.

•••

13:08

Henry had remained in the computer room for hours after leaving them in the living room. He had downloaded some much information about Hughes Kanwa and his family and was ready to start tracing them when he got back to Bethanna. He was about rounding up with his work there when Dave joined him in the room.

“Boos, you have to see this,” Dave said as he walked to him with a device.

Henry raised a brow and kept his eyes on Dave until he got to him. He took the device and looked at the screen. He squinted as he saw the headlines.

SIMULTANEOUS EXPLOSIONS ROCKS BETHANNA

He glanced at Dave’s face before he continued to read the details of the news. He looked up again after a minute of reading and then handed back the device to Dave.

“I’m working on tracing Hutton Ryker’s family, the FOX would investigate the explosion.”

“Boss, I have a request to make from you.” Dave said after taking back the device.

“What’s that?”

“Can we get a day off?”

Henry raised his brow for a second, trying to understand what Dave meant by a day off after they had been less busy for more than a week.

“We’d like to make a visit home if you won’t mind,” Dave clarified.

“Oh!” Henry bit his lower lip slightly.

“Yeah, if you permit. We’d join you in Bexford tomorrow,” Dave continued.

“How many of you?” Henry asked.

“The four of us; I, Cole, Samantha, and Jenny.” Dave replied.

Henry seemed a bit uncertain about it. He got up slowly and drew in a breath.

“Well, you can take two days off but I need to talk to you guys about being careful,” he said and proceeded out of the room.

____

14:08

EPA Hill, Bexford Bethanna.

“Can someone tell me what’s the hell is happening?” Paul Edwards asked as he joined the open office. There were several officers taking arms from another room and rushing past that room hurriedly. The others sitting were in front of computers, all in a rushing mood.

“Our men were ambushed on their way to the train station, eight of them are dead.” Agent Sylvanus got up from where he sat and answered him. “The reinforcement is on the way there.”

Paul Edwards squinted in confusion as he walked up to Sylvanus and they both stood to watch the screen showing the dead men.

“Has anyone identified those who ambushed them?” Paul asked.

“They arrived in a bus all on masks, we’re already tracing where they came from.” a younger Agent replied.

Paul turned to Agent Sylvanus. “Who led this reinforcement team?”

“Agent Mark,” Sylvanus answered.

“Good,” Paul nodded feeling relieved on hearing that a member of the executives led them. “All other security forces need to tighten their work to avoid situations like this.”

Paul took out his phone and was about to make a call when one of the men at the other end of the room called his attention.

“Sir,” the young agent who had just received a call got up from his seat and approached the Chairman. Paul and Sylvanus had their eyes on him. “There are new reports of explosions in three other places outside Bexford, they happened ten minutes ago. All at the same time.”

Agent Sylvanus and Paul exchanged shocked looks.

“The security operatives and our men have responded already,” the young agent continued.

To be continued.