Unedited episode
“Hello…”
“Bleep you, Ryker,” a gruff, shaky voice sounded from the other end.
Hutton squinted and glanced at the other men’s face, wondering who was on the line.
“Who is this?” he asked.
“Rex…” the caller stuttered. “Rex Morris.”
Hutton let out a broad smile and then rested his back comfortably.
“Rex Morris, I’ve been expecting to hear from you for a long time.”
______
July 25
Gemen, Anthanna
14:10
Samantha made her way hurriedly into the control room to answer the call. It was the second time the phone had been ringing and she had heard it from her room. She assumed no one else was close by and decided to get the call.
“Hello,” she said after positioning the receiver close to her mouth and ear.
“Hi, it’s Evelyn. Can I speak with Henry?”
“He’s not here at the moment but I can get him for you,” Samantha replied.
“No, please,” Evelyn replied. “Let him know the FOX has gotten sure evidence that there’ll be an attack from the Wolves today. And we’re making plans to stop it already. He told me to alert him if any of such comes up.”
“Okay, I’ll tell him about that.”
Samantha dropped the receiver and turned to meet Henry already at the doorway.
“Agent Evelyn just called, she wanted to let you know that the FOX is about to stop a planned attack by the Wolves.”
“What else did she tell you?” Henry asked.
“That’s all she said, she was in a hurry.”
“Okay,” Henry stepped further into the room and stopped in front of the main system. “Get the other guys here as soon as you can.”
“Right away, boss,” Samantha nodded gently and walked out of the place.
Henry pulled the seat and tapped the space bar on the keyboard as he sat. He began to glance through some of the files on the system, while he waited for the others to join him.
Three minutes later, they were all in the room. Samantha and Jennifer standing by the right side with Dave and Charley on the left.
“Ladies, Gentlemen. It’s time to move,” Henry said softly, switching glances between both sides. “Is there anyone not prepared to move yet?”
Henry looked at their faces to get a response but he got none. Not that he expected it as they had all been expecting a sudden movement for days.
“Good,” Henry let out a light smile. “Remember we’re going into Bethanna as a team but we will all get into the command center individually…”
Henry was not yet done talking when the phone in his pocket began to ring. He took it out and glanced at the screen.
He raised his face with his eyebrows gathered together. “Guys, I have to answer this call. Please, give me a second.”
“Hello, Simon.”
“Hello, I’m Lieutenant Mary. James has been murdered with two other people; a nurse and one old man.”
A frown appeared on Henry’s face and his jaw dropped but he managed to keep himself calm because of the members of the team staring at him. James was Simon Perry’s name which he got while changing his identity to travel out of Bethanna.
“It happened about two hours ago and the murderer got away before we could get here,” the Lieutenant continued. “Simon Perry has five numbers stored on his phone and yours was one of them. The most dialed number was that of a doctor who was also murdered a few minutes about this happened. So, I’ll ask, who are you to Simon Perry?”
“Just a friend to him,” Henry replied. “Please, let me know in detail. How did it happen?”
“I can’t reveal the details to you here,” the Lieutenant replied. “I need to talk to someone close to James and knows why he is here. Do you know who I can talk to?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone,” Henry replied slowly and reluctantly.
“Then, I guess I’ll be in touch with you if I need to ask more questions from you.”
“Hold on,” Henry said quickly before the call was ended. “They were four, what about the fourth person?”
“We suspect the fourth man living here murdered them,” the Lieutenant replied. “Some eyewitness described they saw someone like him at the scene of the Doctor’s murder. He also visited the hospital to wipe off some official records. Do you have any information about this fourth man?”
Henry found it difficult to process the information he had just gotten and didn’t realize he was being asked a question.
“Do you have information about the fourth man?” The lieutenant asked with a louder voice.
“No, I don’t,” Henry blinked.
“I’ll be in touch with you if I need more information from you…”
“Hey! You said they were five saved numbers, have you tried the other four? They could have more information,” Henry cut in again before the call could be ended.
“We tried all the numbers we found on his phone, there were two contacts from Bethanna and you from Anthanna. He also had the number of the nurse with them at the house and the doctor at the hospital. Is there something you know about those contacts from Bethanna?”
“He always said he had friends in Bethanna and I believe you could get more information if you can reach them,” Henry replied.
“Can you reach any of those friends?”
“No, I don’t know them. He only told me about them.”
“Okay, you can always send a text to this phone if you have something to tell him.”
“I will, thank you for letting me know,” Henry let out a sigh as the call ended.
He however still held the phone close to his ear as he stared at the faces of his teammates who were still looking at him. He knew they would be wondering what he was talking about on the phone.
“Okay, just keep me updated and let me know before there’s an urgent need for money,” He pretended like he was still talking to the caller on phone.
“Thank you, Simon. Do take care,” he added before he took the phone off his ear.
He returned the phone slowly to his pocket and heaved a sigh. Then he raised his face to look at his men.
“Is there a problem?” Jennifer asked.
Henry could not deny that there was a problem as he could from the look on their faces that they already knew something was wrong.
“Yes, unfortunately, there’s a problem.” He sighed.
“What’s going on?” Samantha asked with worry written all over her face. “Is Rex okay?”
“I hope so,” Henry gasped, shaking his head gently. “He was getting better and already began to take some steps on his foot…” he began and paused again.
“And what happened?” Jennifer queried.
“He fell and hit his head while trying to walk in the room alone, he was rushed to the hospital,” Henry lied. “It looks like there have been further complications.”
“Shi*t!” the men cursed.
Henry let out another breath. He stared at his men and they sympathized silently. He couldn’t tell them what he had just heard as the news could discourage them. At that point, he already felt some weakness and was trying to strengthen himself from within. What he was finding it difficult to believe was that Rex could have murdered the three persons taking care of him and also murdered the doctor that treated him in the hospital. He wondered why Rex would do such. And if Rex hadn’t done it, where was he and why didn’t the police find him? Why was he also seen at the doctor’s place after the murder?
There were so many questions Henry needed to answer but it wasn’t time for him to do so. He needed to lead his team back to Bethanna and begin the plan against the Wolves immediately.
“Guys,” he said sharply and looked at his wristwatch. “Go pack your bags quickly; a vehicle is coming to pick us in fifteen minutes.”
_____
FOX Corporation, EPA Hill
Bexford, Bethanna.
“Why did you take so long in the bathroom?” Steve raised his brows at Samantha as she proceeded towards him. She was buttoning up her sleeves as she walked hurriedly.
“I’m sorry sir,” She apologized. “I’ve been feeling stomach upset since I woke this morning.”
“Oh! Sorry about that,” Steve sympathized. He followed with his eyes as she walked to her table and took out the pistols. She began to fix in the bullets. “And are you sure you can come with us?” He asked in concern.
“Why?” She squinted at him.
“I think you should stay back since you’re not feeling so well,” Steve suggested.
“No, Agent. I can’t miss out on this,” Evelyn insisted, hiding the pistols in her trouser.
“Are you sure you’re not going to be in pain?”
“Pains?” She stopped and stared at his face. “I know how to handle this, sir. I’ll be fine,” she said before walking away.
He stared at her as she opened the door and stepped out. He shrugged. It had been unlike her to spend several minutes in the restroom when they were rushing for an operation. But maybe the stomach upset wasn’t as serious as he took it. Or she could just be passing through the normal women’s cycle, he thought as he proceeded to join the others.
_____
United Kingdom
19:06
“Are there fingerprints there too?” Lieutenant Mary asked she moved closer to Doctor Alan’s dead body.
More than twenty UK police officers were in the building, all dressed in appropriate wears and searching for evidence to help them solve the murder case. The murder however seemed to have been done professionally by the killer. They were finding it difficult to find any proof whatsoever.
“We can’t let this go as another unsolved murder case,” Mary spoke aloud to her colleagues. “We need to know who that man is and why he killed them. We must find him and make him face the law.”
“Lieutenant,” Another officer stepping out of the room called her attention.
She turned to look at him. Two other officers were flanging him. They were all wearing overalls with hand gloves and headgears.
“We checked the room, he cleaned everything carefully to wipe off his fingerprints. Even the wheelchair was cleaned,” the man reported to the Lieutenant.
“There must be something we can find around,” the Lieutenant was not going to give up. She began to proceed further into the house. “We must find something to nail that murderer.”
She suddenly stopped and turned to one of the men. “Call the office now and let’s know what they’ve discovered about the victims and the murderer.”
__
“Hey! You’re taking so much time in there,” a stout man banged on the door of the male restroom of the local restaurant. “I’ve been outside for more than ten minutes.”
Inside the restroom was Rex, cleaning up himself. He had changed his clothes and wiped off all traces of blood from his fingertips. He also found something to tie up the wound around his arm. Killing the nurse had been more difficult for him as she stabbed him in the arm with syringes during the fight. He had eventually overpowered her and killed her in his weakness.
He strapped on the backpack and turned to view himself in the mirror one more time. He took in a deep breath after confirming he was looking nice enough. After that, he unlocked the door and finally stepped out of the restroom. He met a black American staring furiously at him and he could tell it was the man that had been banging at the door. He smiled and bowed slightly before he walked away without saying anything to the man.
It took him more than ten minutes to walk to the spot where he could board a cab. His walk to the place had been painful with every step he took. He was yet to fully recover and the fights he had to ki*ll the three that day had made his bones weaker than they were before. But he had made sure he left the place with his medications. He believed he was going to get strong soon enough and be able to find his way back to Bethanna.
A cab finally stopped and he entered into the backseat.
A white lady was the driver of the cab and she turned to greet him. “Good evening, where are you going?”
For a moment, he couldn’t answer her question as her voice reminded him of the last victim he killed, the nurse. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. He didn’t plan of killing anyone so soon but it just had to happen that way. But he had to proceed and complete his task now.
_____
15:55
Bexford, Bethanna
“Is everyone in their position?” Steve, the leader of the operation unit spoke into his communicator.
He let out a breath after getting satisfactory responses from different agents. He was sitting in his car which was parked at a far distance from the target firm. Other FOX agents were closer to the place and were waiting for his instructions to make their planned moves. From time to time when he noticed movements at the gate of the firm, he would pick up his telescope to have a better view. But there was nothing like what they expected.
They also had an undercover agent in the firm who was giving them information. Steve was actually waiting for the go-ahead from the undercover before he asked his men to go in. But it was taking more time than they expected.
His phone beeped and he checked the new message. Finally, it was the go-ahead signal he was waiting for. He cleared his throat and turned on his communicator quickly.
“Agent Lydia, do you have your eyes on us?” He first questioned the Agent who was in a story building somewhere, viewing the surroundings.
“Yes,” the Agent replied.
“It’s time to move, Agent Evelyn,” he said into his communicator. “Guys, the operation has finally begun.”
He picked up his telescope quickly and looked towards the gate again. He could see Agent Evelyn already walking into the place. His mind drifted away from the mission for a moment and all he could do was admire her elegance. He had always loved her perfect figure-eight shape which he could see from a distant.
“Going in,” a voice in his earpiece brought him back to life.
“Proceed,” he replied quickly and looked again through his telescope. Another Agent was walking in like Evelyn.
___
The building was the headquarters of a building materials production firm. The FOX from their investigation had discovered that the Wolves would be packaging explosive devices from that location and transporting to another. Some Agents had ambushed the truck that was supposed to transport the explosive devices and arrested the men. The truck was now going to be driven in by the FOX men.
Six other men had also entered the place twenty minutes after Evelyn entered. They had studied the map of the place for two days and knew where to go. The place was also very big – as large as a community, so it was difficult for workers or security guards to identify workers from strangers. Besides, all the FOX men had come with fake ID cards proving they were workers in the place.
The truck finally arrived the gate and the security men in charge waved to stop them to perform the normal security checks. Agent Dan was driving the truck while Steve and another Agent were sitting at the passengers’ side. They all wore factory overalls and yellow face caps.
The truck passed the security check and was allowed into the place. It took another ten minutes for the truck to get to the place where the materials to be transported were.
Steve watched as the other factory workers began to load the trucks. The items were majorly cement bags and they were supposed to transport a hundred bags. The Agents watched every move of the men and noticed immediately they saw bags which contained other things.
“Hey! Those bags don’t look full like they’re supposed to be,” Steve said moving closer to the men loading the truck.
“Hey! Leave them to work, it’s not your business if the truck is full or not,” one of the men sitting and monitoring the loading complained.
Steve ignored the man and walked to the laborer carrying the bag he noticed the defect.
“Can you return this bag and replace it with another?” Steve stopped the man from placing it into the truck.
“No, we don’t do that here,” the man monitoring got up from his seat and approached them. “Your bags were carefully selected when the order was made from your company.”
“I need him to change the bag,” Steve insisted, staring at the man’s face.
“I think I would have to call your boss since you want to give us problems here,” the man said, taking out a phone from his pocket. He gave an eye signal for the laborer to continue.
“No!” Steve refused and pulled the bag from the laborer’s head, making it drop to the floor.
The man who brought out the phone stared at Steve furiously, wondering what the cause for his action was.
Steve stared at him for a second and then looked at the bag. It hadn’t opened up when it fell but it was clearer that something else was in the bag. Steve took out scissors from his pocket and bent to make a hole in the bag with it. He tore the bag open and it revealed a black box in it.
“What the hell are you doing?” the man brought out a gun and pointed at Steve. Agent Dan also took out a gun and pointed at the man.
Suddenly, about three of the other men working at the factory pulled out guns and joined their boss to point at Steve and Dan.
Steve chuckled as he looked around to count the men. He made a sign and in less than five seconds, about ten other FOX Agents from different corners surrounded the store, all pointing their guns. All other men working in that area were in the middle of the FOX men.
Steve bent to take out the box and handed it to the antibomb FOX officer beside him. The officer observed the box for a while and opened it up. He confirmed it was an explosive device.
“The whole facility is surrounded with more than a hundred FOX Agents, Gentlemen. There’s no way you would get out of here,” Steve said with a smile. “I advise you to drop your guns quietly and follow our instructions.”
___
“It’s time now, Agent E,” Evelyn heard the order in her earpiece where she was sitting. She quickly looked at other FOX Agents where they were positioned in the reception. There were six others and they all made eye contact as each one got the order at the same time.
In less than five minutes after they made eye contact, the man they were expecting stepped out into the reception with two men flanking him. It was Daysman. He had come to monitor the transport of the explosive devices in the firm. The FOX had known that he would be watching from a distance to the store where the explosives were being moved into the truck, so it would be difficult to get him at that spot.
But they also knew he would try to escape immediately he heard the FOX had busted their operation. They studied the place and knew the most possible route for him to escape. And that was where Agent Evelyn and the six others waited for him.
“Why are you in such a hurry, Mr. Daysman?” Evelyn was the first to step in front of the man.
Daysman and the two men stopped, wondering who was the lady standing in front of them. Then she took out her gun and pointed at his face.
The scene attracted the attention of the busy reception and almost everybody else turned to look at them.
Daysman recognized Evelyn at once. Hutton had shown them her picture as the Agent who worked for Carl Winston. But why was she here? He asked himself. Hutton had a plan to trap her. Or had that plan failed?
Whatever it was, Daysman thought it was however stupid for Evelyn to try to stop him alone. He gave a signal to his men and they were about to bring out their guns when they found six other people pointing guns at them.
Daysman’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed like the end. Was Hutton’s plan about to fail again? The men loading the truck had been caught and he also was faced with Evelyn, the same Agent who was supposed to be trapped by Hutton.
To be continued
