Unedited
11:10 AM
Henry was watching a documentary alone in the control room when he noticed the door open behind him. He glanced back and saw Samantha approaching him slowly. Samantha stopped when their eyes met.
“There was an explosion in Venux about thirty minutes ago,” she announced.
Henry turned swiftly on hearing her words and peered at her for a moment. He tapped the space bar on the keyboard to pause the video he was watching. Then he turned to stare at her again. “When did you say it happened?”
“A few minutes ago,” she pushed out a breath from her mouth and then proceeded towards him. “I got a pop-up notification from one of the blogs I follow.”
Henry turned back to the system and closed the video. He then opened a browser and typed in “explosion at Venux” into the search engine quickly.
Over 5,000 results were fetched by Google in a few seconds. He clicked the first result and the page loaded in less than 15 seconds. The content on the page was not so much and it took him less than a minute to read through. However, there were pictures showing the scene of the explosion.
Henry returned to the search results page and scrolled down to view more links. He clicked on another result displayed from a popular news website. The page loaded and he scrolled to see if the site had more information.
“It just happened, the media can’t have enough information to share yet,” Samantha put in, sensing what he was looking for.
“We should follow on TV then, a live stream should be on at the Pobsonline TV,” Henry suggested.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I’ll go set it up immediately,” she added and walked out of the control room.
Henry closed the browser and other software running before he shut down the system. He picked his phone on the table and then proceeded to join Samantha in the living room.
In less than two minutes, they connected to the Pobsonline TV station and the live stream was on as expected.
The bomb had gone off in a conference center but had affected some other buildings close to it. Several experts were on the scene doing their jobs. These include the firefighters, security medical operatives, the FOX rapid response and anti-bomb squads, and others.
A TV representative was at the front of the camera, reporting while the rescue activities were going on behind. Badly burnt bodies were been rushed out of the destroyed building, most of which were confirmed dead already. According to the reporter, there had been fifty-five confirmed deaths already.
Dave walked into the living room, carrying an anxious look on his face. He had just read the news and was about to tell the others but saw that they were already following on the TV. He took his seat beside Samantha and dropped the device as he faced the TV with a serious look.
They all watched in silence for over five minutes before Dave spoke. “I guess we now know the reason Hutton and Kahn went to Venux. It’s a pity we weren’t able to stop them.”
Samantha flashed a look at him while Henry kept his focus on the TV. After some more seconds, Henry took out his phone and dialed Maxwell’s number.
“Hey man, what’s happening over there?” He said into the phone immediately his call was answered.
“Hi, we’ve been talking today. But she’s not been sure when we’d be able to go out together again,” Maxwell replied from the other end.
“And what are you planning to do about it?”
“Well, I should visit the club again tonight,” Maxwell answered.
“You didn’t meet with her last night, did you?”
“No, she was busy. It was the first night of opening the club after Trip’s death.”
“I know that, but we need to act faster,” Henry continued. “It’s possible she’s also busy tonight. But I know they don’t run parties at the club during the daytime. So, you should take advantage of this time to visit her.”
“Well, I thought of that but I wouldn’t like it to look awkward if I meet her busy there,” Maxwell complained.
“It’s simple. Just take her a gift and tell her you just stopped by to give her the gift. And if she’s not busy, it’ll be a great time to discuss with her. But even if she is, seeing you would keep you on her mind.”
“Okay, boss. I’ll think of a gift to get her.”
“Jennifer can help you with an idea for the gift,” Henry suggested.
“I’ll ask her then.”
“And… Did you hear about the explosion at Venux?”
“What the heck? What explosion?”
“Tune in to the news,” Henry sighed. “That explains what Kahn and his entourage went to do in Venux.”
“Oh! I never thought they would carry out something quickly.”
“The Wolves are acting fast now that they know we’re coming for them,” Henry explained. “But we’ve got to go faster. And that’s why we need every information you can get about Elvis Kahn from Emily.”
“Is your plan to break in if I get his office?”
“Yeah, that’s going to make it easy for us. I’m sure he’ll have some documents hidden there. They could be useful.”
“I’ll do that today,” Maxwell replied, in a promising tone.
“Great, I expect to get your feedback soon,” Henry concluded the call and ended it.
He dropped his phone and turned his attention to the TV again. At that same moment, the camera angle showed some agents stepping out of a FOX vehicle that had just arrived at the scene. Evelyn and Steve were among the Agents.
___
At the explosion scene
“Damn!” Evelyn cursed as she stepped out of the car. “This place is a total mess.”
“Every explosion of the Wolves always leaves the area in a total mess,” Steve remarked as they proceeded together towards the FOX’s rapid response unit vehicle parked at the other side.
“Good afternoon, Agent,” Steve greeted the FOX official standing in front of the vehicle.
“Agent Steve,” the man recognized him and moved closer. “It’s a really bad situation here.”
“And what’s the status presently?” Steve asked.
“Over seventy bodies have been confirmed dead,” the Agent reported in a sad tone. “Earlier on, there were two survivors pulled out but they gave up the ghost while being administered first aid in the ambulance.”
“So, there have been no survivors?” Steve asked.
The man shook his head sadly. “All we have are burnt bodies.”
Evelyn let out a sigh of frustration and Steve also looked frustrated.
“How many people were at the conference?”
“About a thousand people were in the hall,” the man answered. “That’s excluding the staff of the event center.”
Evelyn gaped and shook her head.
“Certainly, we can’t have all of them dead. Else, it will be the deadliest ever explosion recorded in the history of Bethanna.”
“And maybe the deadliest in the history of Africa,” the man chipped in.
“That shouldn’t happen under our watch,” Evelyn voiced out in a frustrated tone. Her eyes caught a FOX official walking towards them. The FOX official was a member of the anti-bomb squad and was walking with one of the tools used in measuring the impact.
“Might have happened already,” Steve whispered as he also looked towards the man.
“Good afternoon, Agent,” Evelyn greeted as the man got to them.
“Good afternoon,” the FOX official replied in a tired voice as he dragged the tool past them to the boot of the vehicle.
“What reports do you guys have so far?” Steve asked the man.
The man dropped the tool in the vehicle and then turned towards Steve.
“Are you the Agent in charge? I don’t think it has been handed to the FOX yet,” he replied.
“Yes, it hasn’t been assigned yet. But I’m the Agent investigating the Red Wolves organization. And we suspect that this is one of their attacks. Your unofficial report may give us what we require to move faster.”
The man took in a deep breath and shook his head. He looked towards the scene again before he turned to Steve. “The vibration was felt in about 100 square kilometers around.”
“That means it was a kind of medium impact explosive device?” Steve questioned.
“Yes, sort of. We’re yet to test fragments. We couldn’t even find a piece. It’s looking like the explosion has been planned for a long time. They couldn’t have set up the device today.”
Steve and Evelyn glanced at each other, with different thoughts in their minds. For Evelyn, her mind went straight to Daysman and she thought he must know about the explosion if it had indeed been in plans for a while.
On the other hand, Steve believed that Evelyn and Daysman must have known about the explosion since they were both part of the Wolves. The innocent look on Evelyn’s face, however, seemed to confuse him a bit. But he simply concluded she was a good pretender. All he needed was time and he would prove to the FOX that Evelyn Alexander was the mole in the FOX.
“For how many days do you think they could have planned it?” Steve asked.
“I don’t know,” the man answered. “This conference center is heavily secured and the event held today was a major one. They already had security measures working for about a week before today. Such an explosive device couldn’t have passed into it without the security officials detecting it.,” the man stopped and shrugged. “Well, that’s your responsibility to prove. I’m just making assumptions. I may be wrong.”
“That’s fine, thank you,” Steve said and turned sharply to Evelyn. “Do we wait a little longer for details or go back to the office?”
“I think we can go back now, we have enough to question Daysman at the moment. We’ll get the remaining details at the office.”
—
DIA Club,
Benuit, Bethanna
01:00 PM
Maxwell walked into the venue, remembering the way he felt on the first day he entered the place. The place and its setting were the same. Nothing had changed. Except of course for the fact that he was now banging the club director.
He had a polythene bag held in his hand as he moved further. Then he stopped at the center on noticing that a lady was coming down the stairs, just like the first day.
“Good afternoon, how may we help you?” the girl asked politely as she approached him.
“Good afternoon,” he smiled. “I’m here to see Emily.”
The lady’s eyebrows gathered as she sized him up and glanced at the polythene bag he held.
“Do you have an appointment with her?” She asked.
“Not really,” Maxwell shook his head. “But I’m sure she’ll have no problems meeting with me,” he added confidently. “Just tell her Oliver is here. And if she’s busy at the moment, I can wait.”
The lady smiled and nodded in response. “You can have your seat,” she pointed at some visitors’ seats placed at the left-hand corner.
“Thanks, I’ll just wait here while you let her know I’m around.”
The girl smiled and then turned to walk up the stairs quickly.
Maxwell took the time to look around the club hall. For the first time, he appreciated the large size of the place. And he agreed with the points Emily had given him while trying to convince him to patronize the club.
“Oliver,” a sweet voice finally distracted his thoughts. He looked up and saw Emily smiling down at him. He smiled back.
She proceeded towards the stairs.
He feasted his eyes on her as she stepped down slowly. She was dressed in a blue shirt tucked into a black skirt which stopped a few centimeters before her knee.
For the first time, he appreciated her beauty for real. She had a banging figure-eight body and sexy legs. The way she walked elegantly summed it all up for him. And he thought to himself that she was the perfect woman any man could want.
“How are you doing, Oliver?”
Maxwell was lost in awe of her beauty that he almost didn’t realize that she was already in front of him.
“I’m fine, how about you?” he replied.
“I’m good,” her gaze fell on the polythene bag in his hand. “So, you’re going somewhere and just decided to step in?”
“No, I was coming here,” he corrected her.
“Oh!” She exclaimed.
“And I got you something,” he quickly added, bringing the nylon forward.
“Thank you,” she appreciated with a smile.
“It’s nothing,” he smiled back.
“Ermm, are you rushing off? Or would you like to come into my office?”
“Sure,” he shrugged. “As long as I’m not disturbing your work.”
“I’m actually free for now,” she replied and then led him up.
They got to the office and she ushered him to one of the visitor’s seats and walked to turn on the AC.
It was his first time getting into her office. The first time he visited, they had met in one of the lounges.
His eyes wandered around the place quickly and he began to take note of everything there. The office room was meant for two people but the other table was empty.
After a few seconds, Emily walked back to her table with a bottle of wine and two cups.
She sat on the other visitor’s seat and turned it to face Maxwell.
“I got your lunch in the pack,” Maxwell stated as he watched her pour the wine into the glass cups.
“That’s kind of you, Oliver,” she replied with a smile. She moved his cup closer to him after filling it and also picked hers up.
Maxwell also picked his cup and they both smiled at each other before taking sips from the cups.
“Let’s see what you’ve got here,” Emily reached for the polythene bag after dropping her cup. ]
There were two items in it. The first was a pack of a meal while the other one underneath was a box wrapped in a gift covering.
“And what could be in here?” Her eyes gleamed as she stared at it.
“Why not open and see?” he smiled.
She already began to open it but Maxwell offered to help her with it. After a minute, the covering was taken off and the small box was already opened.
Emily’s eyes glistened in awe as she stared at the beautiful necklace. She was too surprised to speak and she continued to stare without talking.
“You like it?” Maxwell’s eyes sparkled, happy with her reaction.
“Yes, I love it,” she replied happily and drew closer to kiss his lips. “It’s so beautiful,” she added again, after breaking the kiss.
“Can we try it on?” Maxwell asked. He picked out the necklace and got up before she could give him an answer.
She also got up but instead of positioning herself to try out the necklace, she pulled him closer and covered his lips with hers again.
The kiss got intense and Maxwell soon found himself, sitting partially on the table. Her fingers began to dig into his chest and soon when down to his trouser.
He let out a groan as she held his manhood softly.
“We’re in your office, Emily,” he reminded her in a breathless voice.
She quickly broke the kiss and turned towards the door. She got there and locked it from behind. Her hands worked on her short buttons as she walked back towards him.
“What about your office partner?” Maxwell questioned, hoping not to get into an embarrassing situation.
“She’s on leave,” Emily answered him and then placed her shirt on the table, leaving only her bra on.
She covered his lips with hers and he responded swiftly, his hands reached for the buckle behind her bra while she worked on pulling his shirt.
To be continued