London, England.
09:50
“He looks stronger and refreshed,” Doctor Alan commented in a happy tone as Simon Perry wheeled out Rex.
Rex had been bathed and dressed. Apart from recovering internally, he had also begun to look healthier from the outside.
“Yeah, the medications have been working. And I’m sure the surgery would help him get back up as soon as possible,” the nurse inputted.
The sitting room was a large one, with neatly painted walls and beautiful works of art hanging around the walls as decoration. The sofas were made of black leather materials. A small glass flower vase was on the center table in the middle.
Simon wheeled Rex and left him beside Doctor Alan who was sitting at the edge of the three-seater sofa.
Doctor Alan smiled broadly at Rex. “Carl would be so happy to hear that you’re doing well,” he said in a joyful tone.
Rex’s heart skipped a beat and he drew in a breath gently. He had to make sure these people never get to know he was already recovering. It wasn’t his first time he was recovering quickly from a bad condition. But this particular one had been the most terrible condition.
He was sure that he would be able to speak well in a few months time. He could feel his tongue getting active again even though he had tried several times to pronounce words that morning and failed.
“I’ll be going out in a short moment,” Simon Perry said to the doctor after getting into his room and coming out again.
“Remember, you have to always be careful.” Doctor Alan warned.
“Yes, Doc. I won’t be out for long and you can always call me when you need me.”
_____
Unverified Location,
Husan, South Husan
13:00
“It’s here,” Henry said to the cab man after, taking a look at the address on his phone again.
“Here?” The man glanced back at him. He seemed not to believe Henry had arrived at the right location from the look on his face. The area seemed too rugged and dirty, people barely boarded cabs to that part of town.
“Yes, it’s here,” Henry confirmed.
“Alright then.”
“Would you wait for me? I’d pay you double to take me back,” Henry offered.
The man glanced at Henry with his brows gathered and one eye partially closed. He had already taken twice the amount he was supposed to charge for the trip from Henry and Henry was offering him more.
“How long will you be gone for?” He asked Henry.
“Less than an hour,” Henry answered.
He let out a breath and looked around as if to check if waiting was safe.
“Okay, I’ll find somewhere close to wait for you.” The driver replied. “You call me when you’re ready to return.”
“Thank you,” Henry picked his backpack and stepped out of the car.
He closed the door and looked around the area for a moment from the spot where he stood. Then he stepped away from the car, closer to the dirty drainage passage at the side of the road. The area was full of old buildings. The particular house he was visiting was just opposite where he stood.
It had a rusty gate, which looked like it had never been painted. The painting on the walls were also dirty and made it look unpleasant.
He proceeded to the gate after strapping on his backpack. The door to the smaller entrance of the gate was not locked, so he pushed it in gently and stepped into the compound. The gate still creaked loudly.
He closed back the gate and stopped to look around the compound. It was a large one with a small bungalow located close to the back fence. The grasses in the compound looked like they had just been trimmed. A young lady stepped out of the house and approached him as he proceeded further.
“Good afternoon, how may I help you please?” She asked politely, but with a serious look on her face.
“I’ll like to see your father,” he replied.
“Who are you and where are you from?”
He did not answer her as he saw the father appear at the front door of the house and look towards them.
5 Minutes later
Henry and the man sat opposite each other in the small living room. The man was advanced in age, he looked close to his eighties or in his early eighties.
“Yes, I served as the head warder for the prison during that period. But I can’t remember all the prisoners there as at then,” the man replied to Henry’s question.
“I’m here to ask about a prisoner who was popular as at then, you would remember him. His name is Hughes Kanwa,” Henry replied.
The man frowned on hearing the name. He straightened himself on the chair and stared thinly at Henry’s face. He was silent for a couple of seconds.
“I need to ask you some questions about him,” Henry continued.
“I’m not certain I know who you’re talking about,” He interrupted.
Henry stared at his face for a second. “Of course you know him, it was obvious you remembered him when I mentioned his name.”
“I don’t remember such name, and even if I do, you do not have any right to get answers from me.” the man countered.
Henry chuckled and then dipped his hand into the inner pocket of his jacket. He paused and turned his eyes around to see if anyone else was watching them. Then, he pulled out the pistol and placed it on his knee.
The man was horrified when he saw the gun. He shook fearfully and also looked around to see if any of his family members were close.
“I’m in desperate need of answers. If you don’t give them to me, I won’t touch you but I’ll go for the three other people in this house and leave you to mourn them. After that, I’ll go for your first son who works in a school at the capital and your daughter who recently gave birth to a baby.”
The man’s body shook more and he felt his bladder suddenly full. He stared at Henry’s face with so much fear, wondering who he was and how he knew about his family.
“So, would you tell me what I want to know about Hughes Kanwa?” Henry asked.
The man remained quiet, even as his body vibrated. His granddaughter who had approached Henry earlier then walked into the living room and Henry smiled suggestively towards her.
He finally nodded and voiced an almost silent Yes.
Henry carefully returned the pistol into this pocket.
“Tell me, do you remember why Hughes Kanwa was imprisoned?”
“Yes, he was sentenced for insubordination and compromising with enemies of the state.”
“Tell me the significant things that happened with him while he was in prison,” Henry requested.
“We were told to keep him in one of the most secured cells and watch him against attempting to escape,” the man replied.
“Did he try to escape?”
“No, he never did. He never caused any problem as they speculated in the instructions given to us after he was sent to our prison.”
“And was there anyone suspicious person that visited him ?”
“No, he rarely had visitors.”
“How are you so sure about that? Were you monitoring him personally?”
“No, I wasn’t. But the officers in charge told me. No one ever visited him during his first two years.”
Henry frowned. “His first two years? I thought he was supposed to serve for only two years.”
“Yes, he was sentenced for two years. But he spent five more.”
Henry widened his eyes in surprise.”Five more?”
“Yes,” the man nodded. “Few days to the date of his release, I got a call from the FOX chairman at that current time. I was told not to let him go yet.”
“So, what happened? Were there fresh allegations against him?”
“No, they tried to raise fresh allegations but he defended himself in the FOX court and was supposed to win…” The man’s voice trailed off as he slowly raised his head to stare at Henry.
“And what happened?”
“The Judge gave the most shocking judgment ever. He sentenced him for an additional five years,” the man answered and watched as Henry’s face widened more in surprise. “We were shocked but there was nothing we could do about it.
“Hughes felt he was being treated unfair and he tried to appeal but it was rejected. We were asked to isolate him in our secure cell. Prior to that time, the longest time anyone had spent in that cell was 2 days but we were instructed to keep Hughes there for two months. He was very ill when he was brought out after two months, he had become so thin and feeble. He was a shadow of himself. In that same month, he got his first visitor.”
Henry squinted his eyes at him. “Who was his first visitor?”
“I don’t know his name but he was an officer from Bethanna,” the man replied.
“Oh!” The only officer that came to Henry’s mind was Elvis Kahn. “And did he have any other visits after that.”
“I think the same man visited him two more times and then stopped visiting.”
“Okay, what else happened with Hughes?”
“After spending two months in the pit cell, he became so calm and never troubled us again. He was so calm that he was totally forgotten. I think that was their aim,” the man paused and looked at Henry’s face. “Their aim was to humble him and make him weak.”
“And did you ever get any instructions concerning him again?”
“No, except for calls from Bethanna asking to hear if he was giving us troubles and the call stopped after some time.”
“Who was always calling you?”
“The FOX chairman from Bethanna.”
Henry squinted and thought for a while. “The FOX chairman who is now the Chairman of the Anna Nations?”
“Yes,” the man confirmed.
Henry was silent for another couple of seconds before he asked another question. “Do you know what happened with him after his release?”
“A friend was here to get him.”
“Do you know who this friend is?”
“Yes, they met in prison.” the man answered. “His name is Del Vincent, he’s a notorious drug trafficker in South Husan.”
“I’ve heard of him,” Henry said thoughtfully. “Is there any other thing I need to know about Hughes Kanwa’s case?”
“I don’t know, except you ask questions.”
Henry thought for a while and then let out a deep breath.
“Wait!” The man said suddenly remembering something. Henry looked at him. “His mother once came to the prison to look for him.”
“His mum? Elizabeth Kanwa?”
“Yes.”
“Was it just once she came?”
“Yes, she wasn’t allowed to see him that day.” The man said.
Henry raised his brows.
“The FOX instructed us not to let her, we had to lie to her that her son had been moved to another prison which we were not sure of.”
Henry took in a breath and stared blankly at the ground for some seconds.
“Thank you for answering,” he said and then dipped his hand into his inner pocket to take out the pistol again. “I wasn’t going to ki*ll anyone, there’s no bullet in this.”
He opened the gun to show the man it was empty.
“Thanks, once again,” he got up from the seat and proceeded out without waiting to hear a response from the man.
Thirty Minutes Later
He was sitting once again at the backseat of the cab. His eyes were wandering from left to right and right to left, without really seeing anything. He kept wondering what Hutton did to the men who decided to punish him unjustly. But what bothered him the most was why Hutton had decided to lead a terrorist group instead of just going against his enemies. There was still much left for him to uncover.
He took out his device and unlocked it. He opened a browser and typed in “Del Vincent” into the search engine box. It loaded after a few seconds and displayed some results. After some minutes of reading through the man’s profile on many websites, he minimized and opened his chat application to locate Cole’s ID.
“Hey Cole, I need you to extract all information about Del Vincent, a drug trafficker in South Husan. I need information on all his assets and associates. Get this done immediately you get to Bethanna.”
He dropped the phone beside him and then picked his backpack. He took out the laptop and turned it on.
“Hey!” He called on to the driver who had been peeping at him from the rearview mirror. “Can I use your phone?”
“My phone? Yeah,” the driver responded and took out his phone from his pocket. He handed it to Henry.
Henry turned on the tracking app again after the laptop was turned on. He repeated the process he had done at the hotel, but this time with the driver’s number. After he was done setting up the app. He dialed the number he was tracing on the driver’s phone.
The tracking app began to work immediately the phone began to ring. The call was answered and the exact location of the phone user was registered on the app.
____
The FOX Corporation,
Bexford, Bethanna
14:05
It was one hour and thirty minutes after the FOX’s executives had returned to their investigation room. There had been a break before that. They all stood at their positions silently, only moving around when necessary and comparing their facts and figures from time to time.
“Gentlemen, guess what I found here,” Agent Sylvanus called their attention. Only Agent Michael who was close to him glanced at him. The other Agents just looked at the screen to see what was projected.
“Here are pictures of someone like Mr. Daysman going in and out of the store,” Sylvanus continued as he projected the pictures on the screen. He displayed about six different pictures before he returned to the first picture.
“The pictures don’t look like him until you look closely,” he zoomed the picture. “He tried to disguise himself with the hood and clothing,” he said and moved to the other picture. “His face is also not visible here.”
He continued explaining with the other pictures and then returned to the first picture again. Another software was opened and it showed the first picture of the suspected Daysman on the left and another picture of Daysman on the right.
“The physical features of this men are the same,” Sylvanus clicked the scan button and the software began to examine the features of the men in both pictures. It continued for two minutes before Sylvanus spoke again. “It can’t be a coincidence that the features are exactly the same, Daysman consciously avoided showing his face to the street cameras.”
“This seems a hundred percent true,” Agent Mensah said. “From my findings here, this particular building used as the store is owned by Daysman’s cousin.”
Agent Sylvanus’s report was cleared from the screen and the one from Mensah displayed. It showed the picture of Dayman’s cousin and his brief profile by the side.
“The property history reveals that the building was once owned by Daysman himself before it was transferred to the cousin,” Mensah added quickly.
“Can we have your pictures back, Agent Sylvanus?” Paul Edwards requested.
“Sure,” Sylvanus answered and returned the pictures to the screen. “Who are these men with Daysman and what do they have in their bags?”
“I save shots of them from the footages but they’re yet to be identified,” Sylvanus replied. “The content in their bag is also unknown but it’s suspected to be explosive materials.”
“This is their time of entry, what about their exit?” Paul asked.
Sylvanus took a few seconds to project another set of images on the screen. The new images were dark and almost nothing could be seen in it.
“They always left at midnights, there are no clear shots of their exits,” Sylvanus explained.
The men stayed quiet for a while before Paul spoke again. “The clues I have here suggests that almost all the affected explosion areas are supplied drinks from this store.” This explains how the explosive devices were placed on the train without the security suspecting. It was disguised as drink packs.”
There was some quietness for a few minutes as they all paused to meditate on all that had been said.
“I think we have enough facts now to make an arrest,” Agent Mensah suggested. “We can get Daysman’s from his cousin.”
“No, that’s too dangerous. It could make us lose Daysman again, and forever,” Paul Edwards objected.
“I agree with you Chairman,” Sylvanus joined in. “Daysman has been on the run for a while, giving him any hint we’re close to arresting him would make it difficult for us.”
“Then, we have to wait for the right time to get Daysman himself,” Agent Ted put in.
“Yes, we’d keep surveillance on the store henceforth,” Paul said. “We’ll send four men to the area while four others would watch from the office. It won’t be long before Daysman shows up again.”
____
19:34 PM
Krafts Street,
Husan, South Husan
Dave stood by the side of the road nodding his head to the hip-hop music playing from the building behind him. He had stories about that street but this was his first time of being there. The street was one of the most exciting places in Africa. It was made of several clubs and recreation centers with only a few residential buildings. And it was mostly visited and inhabited by rich folks.
He enjoyed every bit of the view and the atmosphere as he waited for Henry. The street was well lit with colorful lights and the beautiful buildings made it a sight to behold.
Beautiful girls in their sexy skimpy dresses walked past and waved at Dave from time to time, inviting him to patronize for a nightstand. He felt it unfortunate that he wasn’t going to have fun on his first visit to the place.
Soon enough, a strange Lexus Jeep with tainted glasses parked right in front of him. He stepped back slowly wondering who it was. The glass at his side slowly wound down and he squinted in to see who was at the driver’s side.
“Get it!” Henry said in a gruff voice.
Dave stepped forward and got into the car immediately.
“Have you studied the area as I told you to do?” Henry asked him.
“Yes, I have. I’ve got all the routes mapped out and saved on my device,” Dave answered him.
Henry cleared his throat and began to explain the details of the task to Dave. “I’ve been tracing Hutton Ryker like I told you guys, I got his personal telephone number and I picked out his most called number. It also happened to be the first number he ever called with his line after purchasing it. I traced the location of the phone owner and it was the Krafts Casino. Maybe it was a coincidence or not, Krafts Casino is owned by Del Vincent. The same man that took in Hutton Ryker after he left prison. That first call was also made on the second day Hutton Ryker left the prison.”
“So, this means the number you’re tracing could be owned by Hutton Ryker’s friend?” Dave asked.
“Yes, but that’s not all,” Henry said and stared forward. “Hutton made several calls to Del’s during the time he moved his mother from Gogiata. From Gogiata, Hutton had also come to South Husan, he couldn’t have left his mother behind.” He paused and looked at Dave’s face. “It only means Hutton brought his mother here.”
“So, do we plan on taking his mother?” Dave asked.
“Yes, I need her to get to him,” Henry replied.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“Del Vincent has a secret house in the same building with the Casino. That secret house is the only place he could have kept Hutton Ryker’s mother, it’s a place where no one would be able to discover her.”
“So, we attack this casino tonight?”
“I’ll go in alone, and you’ll help me get out of this place with her.”
Dave looked a bit confused. “How would this work?”
“I’d attach a tracking chip to my body and give you a signal when it’s time for me to leave. You’d use the location of the tracking chip to determine the exact spot to pick me. There’s a route surrounding the casino itself.”
“Great!” It sounded easy to Dave with Henry’s explanation.
21:15
Krafts Casino
It wasn’t Henry’s first time entering the casino. He had visited twice before. Once to meet with someone and the second time to find one of the regular gamblers who had committed a crime. Prior to this time, he had no information about the owner of the casino.
The casino was busy as usual. The e-sports gambling area was the first area he got into and then the wheel games area. He stopped there for a minute and remembered that the stairs which led to the gambling area for very high rollers were somewhere around there.
He looked around only for a few seconds and then located it at the far end of the left wall. He took out his phone and advanced towards the place slowly.
As expected, he was welcomed by the bouncers who enforced restriction of access to the section.
“Guys, I’m here to play to a high-limit game,” he said to them as they obstructed him from moving up the stairs.
“You don’t look like you got the money man, where’s your VIP access ticket?” One of the two bodyguards replied her.
“How do I get mine?”
“It’s a thousand bucks men,” the bouncer replied.
“Where can I get it?” Henry asked.
One of the men pointed him to a table by the side where an almost naked woman was standing.
Henry proceeded to the stand and purchased a ticket. He got back to the staircase entrance and his body was searched before he was allowed to go up. It was the second time he was being searched. It was a protocol there to ensure the safety of gamblers and their monies.
“Your ticket man?” he met with another bouncer at the entrance on the top floor. He displayed his ticket and was allowed to go in.
The VIP area was different as he expected. It was well arranged and all the dealers were scantily dressed to amuse the men.
His eyes wandered about the place and he found the door which led to another inner room. Without going to any of the game points, he proceeded straight towards the door. Three men approached him as he got closer to the door.
“Hey man, you can’t go in there.” One of them said to him.
“Why not? I’ve got my VIP ticket,” Henry countered.
“Not even the VIP ticket grants you access into that room, only high rollers selected by Del himself can go in there.”
“I’m a high roller,” Henry raised his brows.
“It’s your first time here nigga,” one of them retorted.
“But I need to play a game with Del,” Henry insisted.
It was slowly getting heated and they were attracting the attention of other security men around. Henry knew it was time to apply force. His eyes scanned through the whole area quickly to identify the security men with weapons and those without.
“You gotta step back now…” one of the men was saying when Henry pulled him close with his left hand and punched his face with the right fist. He pulled out the knife from his belt and pushed him to another man.
The war of fists began and the place was thrown into confusion. The security men could not use their guns because of the other customers around. Henry was able to take five security men down in three minutes after a series of blows, jabs and stabs with the knife. The men were left sprawling on the floor in pains while Henry proceeded into the room.
There were only eight men in the room. Del was sitting at the poker table with five other men while two security men were standing at the corners. The room was soundproofed, so they barely heard what had happened outside.
They were all surprised to see an intruder burst into the room and they all paused at him. Henry paused for a moment at the entrance and then proceeded towards Del after identifying him.
“Get out everybody, I want to talk with Del,” he said displaying his knife.
The other men who were playing the game with Del quickly got up and quickly proceeded outside while the two security men charged towards Henry.
Without using the knife, Henry caught the punch of the first man and sent him a jaw-breaking blow. He followed up with an uppercut and then twisted his neck. He dodged the second man’s punch and caught him by the arm. He twisted the arm with sharp force and dragged his neck and slammed his face to the wall. He took the gun from the man’s pocket and proceeded towards Del.
“Where is Elizabeth Kanwa?”
Del Vincent stared at him with so much confidence in his eyes. “Who the f*** are…”
Henry did not allow him to complete his statement before landing two heavy blows on his face.
Three new men rushed into the room at that moment but stopped when they saw Henry holding Del’s by the neck with a gun to his head.
“Tell them to step out or I’ll ki*ll you slowly,” Henry instructed Del.
Del cleared his throat stubbornly and refused to speak. Henry then made the blade of the knife touch his neck. He still remained mute until the blade began to cut into his skin slowly.
“Get out!” He finally screamed after blood began to drip from his neck.
_____
22:45
Benuit, Bethanna.
Hutton stepped out of the bathroom into his room after taking a shower. He walked straight to his phone which he had heard beeped while he was bathing. He unlocked it to check the new message. It was from Florence Brown.
I got him, he sent replied my message today
A smile escaped Hutton’s lips as he read the message. Things were already falling in place and soon Carl Winston will be out of their way. He began to type a reply to Florence.
Try all you can to extract what we need soon enough. We don’t have much time.
He sent after proofreading the message. He was about to drop the phone when it began to ring. The caller was Del Vincent. He guessed Del had been trying to reach him on the other line.
“Howdy Del!” He said as he answered the call.
“It’s gone bad,” Del’s sounded almost inaudible.
“Huh?” Hutton raised his brows, wondering if Del had gotten drunk again that night.
“It’s bad man,” Del managed to repeat in a louder voice this time.
“What’s bad? Did you run out of luck today?” Hutton asked, thinking that Del had lost in a gambling game.
“He almost slot my throat, he broke my left hand and almost killed my men,” Del managed to say. He was coughing hard as he talked.
A frown appeared on Hutton’s face as he realized Del was talking about something more serious.
“Who the f*** are you talking about?”
“He claimed he was Carl Winston and he went away with Mama,” Del finally let out. “He says you know how to reach him.”
Hutton froze on the spot where he was. He felt blood suddenly surging through his veins and his heart began to beat faster. It was the first time he was really feeling afraid after a long time.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect Mama, he took down all my men and…”
Hutton slowly took the phone off his ear without waiting to hear Del’s apology. He had always thought his mother was safe where he had safely hidden her with Del. But Carl had just done his job again.
Carl Winston had gotten him at the right place this time. He had gone to take the only person that mattered to Hutton in the world. It was time for Hutton to feel restless
TBC
