RESTLESS : The Hunt For Peace Episode 195

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“Henry, can you hear me?” Maxwell paused and shouted into his earpiece when he didn’t get a response.

“Yes, Max. You can leave now, with the ladies. I and Dave are going to finish this up,” Henry replied.

“You have to leave that office and the vicinity quickly boss. Elvis Kahn is coming ” Maxwell continued, lowering his voice. He was already attracting attention from one of the guards standing some metres away from him.

“I know man, just get out of here with the ladies,” the reply from the other end came. “I’m disconnecting from every other channel except for Dave’s, so you might not be able to reach me after this.

“Alright boss,” Maxwell turned off his communicator and proceeded towards the stairs to escape the prying eyes of the guard.

He turned the communicator back on as he approached the ground floor but switched channels to connect to Samantha.

“Hey, Sam! It’s time to go, we meet outside right away.”

It took a few seconds for Samantha to reply. “Is that the instruction from Henry?”

“Yes,” Maxwell replied.

“Give me a minute to connect to him…” Samantha was saying but Maxwell interrupted.

“That’s a waste of time, Sam. He disconnected after he communicated the instruction to me.”

“But we can’t leave him here alone,” Samantha replied.

“He’s not alone. He’s with Dave and they will join us later. We don’t have time to talk about this Sam, let’s leave right away,” Maxwell said and proceeded silently and calmly, trying not to attract any attention.

He was halfway to the main exit when he caught sight of Elvis, Hutton, and Chanda. They had just come in through a smaller door at a different side of the hall.

“Shi*t!” he cursed as he walked faster to the exit.

Henry had just finished searching the drawers to see if he could get any weapon to destroy the lock. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anything except a small pocket knife. He took out the knife and looked towards the door of the restroom.

He heaved a sigh of frustration. There was nothing he could do to the door with that knife. He kept staring at the door as he thought of what to do.

An idea finally popped into his mind as he looked towards the opening into the attic. If the pocket knife couldn’t help him get in through the door, it could help him cut an opening into the restroom.

He took a few seconds to look at the attic opening and measure the distance of the restroom with his eyes. He also took note of the angle he was to proceed in after getting into the attic.

Before proceeding towards the attic, he turned on his communicator and opened only the channel to Dave.

“Hey Dave, you ready?” he asked as he finally proceeded towards the hole.

“Yeah, I am,” Dave replied without any delay. “Maxwell just told me I’m left with only you here.”

“Yeah, you’ve got to activate the escape backup plan right now.”

“Escape backup? But you’re still in that office, why escape backup?” Dave asked.

“Yeah, I’m still in. But there’s no time to make explanations. Get to the power source immediately and wait for my instruction.”

___

At a different section of the club

“Okay boss, will move there right away,” Dave replied in soft tones. He was disguised as one of the guards and standing in front of the room where the drinks sold at the club was sold.

After disconnecting from Henry, he turned to the left and signalled to the closest guard. “Please check for me, I’ll be back in a minute. I need to use the restroom.”

“It’s fine, I’ll watch,” the guard replied.

——

Inside the club hall

Hutton, Kahn, and Chanda could be seen at a corner of the club hall where the noise from the music was lowest. While Hutton and Chanda were standing aside, Kahn was standing with the head security guard and another officer.

“So, the police hasn’t given any situation report concerning the case?” Kahn asked the head guard.

“No, they haven’t made any much progress,” the man replied.

“On our part, we just need to strengthen our security to ensure similar occurrences do not happen,” Kahn said in a conclusive tone. He was about to dismiss the gathering when he remembered something. “What about the newly employed men? Have you started the training for them?”

“Yes, some of them are currently on duty. We carry out the training in the afternoons.”

“Great work,” Kahn commended and then paused to think for a second. “I think I should meet with them all tomorrow morning. Can you set up a meeting?”

“Yes, I will,” the security head replied.

“Good, we meet by 10 AM tomorrow then,” Kahn concluded. He turned in direction of Hutton and Chanda but his eyes caught one of the club ladies and he stopped. “Hey! Is the director in her office?”

“Yes sir, she is.”

“Okay, can you go tell her I’ve arrived?” Kahn requested.

“Sure,” the lady curtsied and turned to leave but the security head official stopped her.

“She doesn’t need to go.”

Kahn turned to look at the security head.

“She’s aware you’re around, I called her already,” he explained. “She had a visitor from the FOX earlier who left some minutes ago. But I’ll call her again.”

“A visitor from the FOX?” Kahn stopped to ask. He was about to walk towards Hutton and Chanda but turned back to the man.

“Yeah, a lady. She came to ask questions about the murder of Trip Jones.”

“What the heck does the FOX have to do with the murder of Trip? I thought the police was in charge of the investigations.”

“Yes, but the FOX official mentioned that Trip Jones had been linked to the Wolves Terrorist and that’s why she was here.”

Kahn shone his eyes wide. “The Wolves?”

“Yeah,” the security man replied.

“What’s the name of the FOX agent?”

“Uhm… I’m not so sure, I believe the club director can give you more details about her, sir.”

“Okay,” Kahn finally turned and walked to where Chanda and Hutton were standing.

The security head official took out his phone and dialled Emily’s number.

“I was just told a FOX agent was here earlier to see the director,” Kahn relayed to Hutton and Chanda.

“Which FOX agent?” Hutton asked.

“I haven’t gotten her name yet,” Kahn answered. “I will get it when I speak to Emily.”

“Okay but I think the most important thing right now is getting those documents from your office,” Hutton stated.

“We have nothing to worry about, they’re safe there,” Kahn replied confidently before turning in direction of the stairs. “Shall we?” he took another glance at the men before leading the way.

—-

Emily kept on reminiscing about the short time she spent with Oliver that night. It was her best period of time during the whole day. She wished the annoying FOX agent had not shown up and that the DIA Chairman had not chosen that time to come to the office. It would have given her enough time to be with Oliver.

She managed to arrange her table quickly and then head towards the restroom to ease herself before going to meet the chairman. The first thing she noticed as she got into the restroom was the strong scent of Oliver’s perfume. Even though she had perceived it from his body before leaving to see the FOX official and even after returning, the concentration in the restroom made it obvious that he used it.

As she glanced towards the wash hand sink, she noticed a black hand glove on the ground. That aroused her suspicions further. She bent and picked the hand glove. It looked dusty but slightly wet. There were also signs of cobwebs on it.

For a while, she continued to stare at it and wonder what Oliver had used the hand glove for. It probably had fallen off the backpack she had seen it with. Then she remembered that she had seen signs of dust and cobwebs at the lower part of the backpack when Oliver was leaving her office. It got her more confused and she began to wonder what Oliver was up to.

Her phone began to ring, distracting her from her thoughts. She checked the screen to see the caller’s ID. It was the security head official.

“Hello,” she answered the call.

“Mrs Emily, I just finished speaking with the Chairman. He asked of you and I believe he would like to see you immediately,” the voice from the other end relayed.

“Where is he now?”

“He’s heading towards his office already.”

“Okay, I’ll meet with him in a few seconds.”

Emily ended the call and decided to ease herself quickly. But something unexpected happened.

In Elvis Kahn Office

“Now, Dave,” Henry said into his communicator. He was now in Kahn’s toilet after cutting out a hole from the rooftop.

He didn’t wait for Dave’s response but quickly began to look around the toilet, the headlamp he wore providing brightness to the place.

In less than one minute after he gave Dave the order, he got the response he needed. Not from Dave but the other people in the club. There were shouts of disappointment as the electric power in the club was disconnected.

___

Dave quickly closed the electrical service panel after cutting off the wires that transfer electricity throughout the building. His phone’s flashlight was already on, so it helped him find his way back through the darkness.

The first place the club’s electricians will go to would be the power source outside the building. It would take them about five minutes to check other places before thinking of coming to check where he disconnected it from. And even after they discovered the fault, it could take another fifty minutes for them to fix it.

Dave found his way out of the place and proceeded to a different section of the club. He walked into the lavatory and entered one of the toilets. He quickly took off the security guard jacket he had on. There was a collared short sleeve shirt under it. He searched the pockets of the jacket and took out the items there before folding it.

“Boss, I’m going to the car now,” he said into his communicator after taking out the tucked in part of his shirt. “Have you got anything yet?”

It took about ten seconds before he got his response. “Not yet. Just get into the car and wait for me. I’ll let you know if or when you should leave.”

“Roger that, boss.”

—- 

“What the f*** is happening?” Chanda cursed in the darkness, searching through his pocket to take out his phone.

They were close to their stairs when the lights went off. The music also stopped with the lights which caused the crowd to yell in disappointment.

“Let’s step aside for a moment,” Kahn suggested. He took out his phone before Chanda could and turned on the flashlight. Many other people around had also turned on their phone’s torchlights.

“Why not move over there to sit?” Chanda pointed to an empty table he spotted from where they were.

“No, let’s just stay here,” Kahn rejected the idea. “It would be unwise to move around now, anyone could collide against us. I’m sure it would be fixed in a few seconds.”

They stepped close to the wall and waited for about two minutes without getting a response.

“Why is it taking them so long to restore power? They only have to switch,” Hutton who had been quiet wondered aloud.

“Maybe there was a fault somewhere,” Kahn replied. “But I’m quite sure it won’t take more than five minutes more for them to fix it.”

Five minutes later, there were still no signs of light. Hutton was about to complain when they heard Emily’s voice sounding in the main hall.  She seemed to be using some kind of sound system to amplify her voice.

“Please be patient with us, everyone. We have some little issues with the light and we will get it fixed in a couple of minutes. I urge everyone to avoid moving around. Just remain where you are and before you know it, power will be restored and we can continue to enjoy the night. Once again, I apologize for this situation.”

“We gotta find out what’s happening?” Hutton said impatiently to Kahn.

“I’ll make a call now,” Kahn replied as he dialled Emily on his phone. It rang for a while before she answered.

“What in the world is happening, Emily?”

“Our electricians are trying to fix it already, some wires got disconnected in the service panel. The electricians said someone must have tampered with it.”

“What?” Kahn exclaimed. “And what the f*** are you doing about security?”

“All our men are attentive, sir. I’ve asked them all to remain in their positions and watch well.”

“Ensure that nothing f***ing happens to anyone tonight,” Kahn threatened. “If it does, trust me, a lot of people will lose their jobs.”

He angrily ended the call and turned to Hutton who was waiting for his response.

“What did she say?” Hutton requested impatiently.

“Someone touched the electrical service panel,” Kahn said to Hutton. “I think we might have some visitors again tonight.”

“What the f***!” Hutton growled. He dipped his hand into his suit inner jacket and took out a revolver. “Hope you’ve got yours ready?”

Kahn also took out his gun while Chanda spread his hands wide to signal that he didn’t have one.

“Here’s one for you,” Hutton took out another and offered it to Chanda. He turned to Kahn. “We’ve got to go to the office now.”

“The documents are safe there,” Kahn retorted. “I think we should be more concerned about the security of the club now.”

“Hey! You’ve employed security guards to keep this place safe, leave them to do their jobs,” Hutton argued. “We have much more at stake than the club. All we need to do is get those documents and leave here right away.”

Kahn had no choice but to think about Hutton’s point. After a few seconds of thinking, he turned towards the stairs. “Let’s go.”

They walked hurriedly towards the stairs and proceeded up, Kahn leading them. Each of them had their guns held firmly close to their bodies.

In less than a minute, they got into the corridor which led to the office. The security man in the corridor moved to stop them but stepped back immediately he realized it was the Chairman.

“Welcome sir,” he greeted.

Kahn only greeted back with a nod and proceeded towards the door. He took out his key and opened it, allowing Hutton and Chanda to get in before he followed. He removed the key from the hole and then closed the door.

Quickly he proceeded towards the restroom with the bunch of keys. He opened the door and was shocked by what he saw.

—-

Bexford, Bethanna

Steve was already fast asleep when Maria called back. He managed to turn and pick the phone beside the pillow.

“Hello, Maria,” he called her name in a sleepy tone.

“You’re sleepy already?” Maria asked from the other side.

“Yes, I slept off already,” he replied, trying to sit up.

“Well, I missed your call and thought to call you back if it was urgent.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t urgent. I was going to talk about it tomorrow, but I can tell you now since you called already,” Steve replied.

“I’m listening to you, I hope it’s not work-related.”

“Argh! It’s work. I wanted you to help me…”

“I’m sorry, Steve. I can’t keep helping you. I’m not on your team and I don’t want to get into trouble for not following the rules.”

Steve sighed. “It’s just something little…”

“Stop, Steve,” Maria interrupted. “No matter how little it is, I don’t want to get involved. And I think you should stop calling me. Every time you call, you make me start thinking about you and everything we’ve done together again and again. So, I would like for you to stop calling me.”

“Maria…” she ended the call without listening to him.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He needed Maria to help him pull out past footages that were studied by the men who investigated Carl and Rex’s murder. There was no way he could get the footages the right way. The chairman wouldn’t permit it. The only way he could think of was deceiving Maria by continuing to sleep with her.

____

“What the heck is happening there, Kahn?” Hutton asked after hearing Kahn cursing aloud.

Kahn stepped out of the toilet with his torch. “Someone was here,” he announced in a sad tone.

“What?” Chanda and Hutton exclaimed in unison.

“They took the documents,” Kahn added.

“What the f*** are you talking about?” Hutton barked as he got up and proceeded angrily to the restroom. Kahn gave way for him to get in.

As he pointed his phone’s flashlight in, the first thing he noticed was the dirty floor. Then, he looked up and saw the hole in the ceiling. Then he looked at the toilet and noticed that Kahn had lifted it. There were some wraps of cocaine on the floor and some on the covered WC seat.

“Was that where you kept the documents?”

“Yes, I kept the documents under and covered placed the cocaine wraps on top. Even if someone opened it by mistake, they would see the drugs and close it back immediately.

“F***! How is this possible? Who else knew where you kept it?” Hutton asked as he stepped back slowly.

“No one,” Kahn said. “We are the only two people that knew.”

“Did you write it somewhere or discuss it on phone with me?”

“No, we never discussed it on the phone, so it can be via tapped calls. And I also had no reason to write where I kept it.”

Hutton stormed out of the toilet and began to point his flashlight around the office. He located the cabinet and walked to the place. “Come check here, is this the arrangement?” He called onto Kahn.

Kahn joined him quickly and Chanda too, even though the latter was unsure of what was happening.

“F***! The cabinet was searched too,” Kahn exclaimed. “The f***ing person must have had a lot of time to search the office,” he stopped and looked down as he noticed a piece of paper on the floor. He picked and checked but it was unimportant, so he flung it away. “I think the person who did this must be around somewhere, he might still be in this premises.”

Kahn proceeded towards the door immediately.

“Don’t waste your time, Kahn. This was well planned. It would be impossible to find them.”

___

Outside the Club

Dave was already getting nervous in the car where he sat. It was already twenty minutes after and Henry wasn’t out yet. He began to wonder if something had gone wrong. Henry needed to be out as soon as possible before the club was able to fix the power outage.

Just as he turned on his communicator to connect to Henry, he noticed someone coming towards the car through the side mirror. He heaved a sigh of relief and opened the front door.

“I was getting worried already,” he said as Henry entered, looking dirty. He also noticed that Henry had some documents with him. “I thought the plan was not to leave with any document?” Dave asked with a frown, after starting the car engine.

“Yes, that was the plan. But things changed due to Elvis and Hutton’s arrival. There was no time to snap each page of the files.”

“But they would notice it’s gone soon,” Dave put in. He had already gotten on the road and was accelerating slowly.

“Not only would they notice it’s gone, but they would also discover how we got in and took it,” Henry affirmed. “Since it went rough, I also had to go rough with it.”

Henry kept the documents in the backseat and then took out an earpiece from his pocket. “I attached a listening device in the office before I left,” he said to Dave as he plugged the earpiece into his ear.

—-

Ten minutes later

The light finally came back on. Hutton, Kahn, and Chanda remained silent in the office. Hutton was pacing around slowly while Kahn stood with his hand rested on the cabinet tiredly.

“We need to plan our next step,” Kahn finally said after a long time of silence.

“I think we will have to change our plans now that Carl Winston has those documents,” Chanda suggested.

“It won’t be easy to do so,” Kahn remarked.

“We can’t change plans,” Hutton joined in. “It took us several months to come up with the previous plan. We don’t have so much time anymore.”

“So, what do we do about Carl Winston?” Kahn asked.

“We won’t do anything about him,” Hutton said in a confident tone. He walked back to the table and sat on the other visitor’s seat. “Rex will ki*ll him. Carl would be so busy with Rex that he won’t have time to stop us.”

“Good idea,” Kahn gapped as he walked to the other side of the table. He stared directly at Hutton. “So, what are you waiting for? Make the call for Rex to begin the hunt right away.”

To be continued