UNEDITED
Back at Bexford
Maria was in the bathroom when she heard someone knock on the hotel room door aggressively. She stopped the shower to listen and the knock came again, in the same manner. Her heart skipped a beat and she quickly looked around her but there was nothing like a weapon in the bathroom.
The knock came the third time. She washed her face quickly and pulled the towel to cover her body as she hurried out of the bathroom. She hurried towards the drawer to pull out the gun when she heard the door opening.
“Maria, why weren’t you answering?”
She stopped and turned, covering her body with the towel properly as she heaved a sigh of relief. “Why the f**k were you knocking like that? You scared the sh*t out of me.”
Dave gasped, noticing that she must have rushed out of the bathroom. “How long is it going to take you to bathe? It’s more than thirty minutes now since you said you were going to the bathroom.”
“Yeah, but I had to do something else first. Why exactly are you here in a rush?”
“We need to head out now,” Dave replied. “Samantha called. She doesn’t have Sheila and Henry has been captured by the Red Wolves.”
Maria heaved a sigh of frustration. She wiped her face with the edge of the towel and sat on the edge of the bed. “Where exactly are we going now?”
“Sam says Henry’s phone is still with him, so we can track him and do what we can to stop the Red Wolves.”
Maria was silent as she didn’t know how to respond.
“You’ll have to track the phone while we’re on our way there, so I need you to get dressed quickly,” Dave said and turned to leave.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you, Dave?” Maria got up from the bed and took a few steps closer. “A few hours ago, you swore that you would never let Henry lead you again because he’s brought only death to the group. But now, you’re asking to dress up for a rescue mission for the same person.”
Dave’s shoulders dropped and he closed his eyes briefly. Maria was saying the truth. Since the explosion, he had not stopped talking about how he hated Henry and regretted being in the group where most of the members had died without the mission being fulfilled. However, none of his complaints came to his mind when Samantha called to tell him that Henry had been taken.
Maria stopped right in front of him and stared intently into his eyes. “Do you really want to do this? Remember, it’s just you, Samantha, and I. How are we going to fight against the Red Wolves with the FOX now backing them? I don’t see a way out of this, except there’s something else you’re not telling.”
Dave heaved a sigh of frustration. She was saying the truth. There was no way he, Samantha, and Maria could defeat the FOX and Red Wolves’ army all alone.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” Maria asked again after Dave’s silence.
“No,” he shook his head. “I’m not hiding anything.”
“If there’s no secret army or secret strategy anywhere, I think we should look forward and forget everything that has happened. I have my parents to look out for and I don’t want to put them into more trouble than they’re already in.”
“You’re right,” Dave sighed. “It’s too late to do anything now. We’ve got no manpower and no resources.”
“You should start thinking of how to return to your family,” Maria advised. “I also need to get my family out of Bethanna to somewhere far away without being caught by the police. My greatest challenge now is finding someone who can help me get out.”
“You don’t have anyone?”
“Everyone I know that can help me disappear is connected to the FOX. They’re gonna deliver me to the FOX once they know I’m wanted.”
“I know someone that can help you. As long as you have the money, he’s gonna wipe out your records, create new identities for you and your family and help you get somewhere far away,” Dave offered.
“Can you please reach him right away?”
Dave nodded and took his phone out of his pocket immediately. He typed a number into the dial pad and clicked the green icon. A few seconds later, his call was answered.
“Hey Zeph, I need to move out some people…” he paused and covered his mouthpiece to speak to Maria. “How soon do you want to go?”
“Right away, if possible,” Maria replied.
“I need to get them out of Bethanna immediately,” he resumed the call. “Can you arrange for that with your guy?”
“No,” Zeph answered flatly.
“What? Why?” Dave looked confused.
“We almost got into trouble with the last guy you referred to us.”
“Who? What are you talking about?”
“Your friend, Maxwell. He wanted us to transport his b**tch, her mother, and her daughter. But they were f**king followed by God knows who…”
“I have no idea about that, Zeph. When did it happen?”
“Today, it happened today.”
“What?” Dave was confused but tried to compose himself. “Okay, I’m sorry about that, but this is not from Maxwell, it’s coming straight from me…”
“I answered the call out of respect for you man. Ain’t doing business with you for now, until I’m sure you’re not going to put me in trouble,” Zeph replied before ending the call.
“Sh*t!” Dave cursed after the call ended.
“What went wrong?” Maria asked.
“He’s saying something about Maxwell trying to get some people out of the country. He says those people were being followed and it almost got his people into trouble.”
“Who could he have tried to get out of the country?” Maria asked.
“Well, I don’t know. Zeph says a woman, her mother, and her daughter…Oh, sh*t!” Dave gasped as he realized who it could be. “That must be Emily, her mother, and daughter. Maxwell tried to get them out?” Dave asked himself, with confusion written all over his face.
Maria squinted at his face. “Who’s Emily?”
“Someone that got muddled up in all our mess,” Dave answered nonchalantly. “I think I may have to reach out to someone else for you.”
“Please, do,” Maria gasped and turned to walk back to the drawer.
Dave gasped loudly and held his breath for a few seconds as he saw Maria’s back. She noticed and turned.
“Is there a problem?” She squinted at his face.
He shook his head to signal a No, but the look on his face revealed otherwise.
She arched her brows and stared at him even more intently.
His eyes fell on her body and he swallowed a breath as he moved closer.
“You didn’t get this treated, did you?” He asked, looking at the shoulder marks his whips from the previous day left on her back.
She sighed. “There’s nothing to treat there. I took some painkillers, they’ll disappear with time.”
Dave turned to her back to have a better look.
“Do you want to see everything?” she asked but Dave did not respond.
“I’ m sorry, I should not have been…” he couldn’t complete his apology as she dropped the towel to show more of the marks, also revealing her bare backside. “I’m sorry, I doubted you…” Dave fumbled, trying hard to look beyond the marks.
“Is there anything you can do to make it up?” She asked in a seductive tone as she turned to him.
Her face was tilted up as she stared intently into his eyes.
His heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t deny that she was causing some tension between them. Her firm brea*sts were almost touching his chest. Before he could get a hold of himself, she stepped closer and covered his lips with hers.
At first, he was dumbstruck, but he began to respond slowly and didn’t know when he grabbed her by the butt and lifted her to the bed.
She groaned slightly, partly from the adrenaline rush and the mild pain she felt from the healing marks behind her. Her hands reached for his buttons as he fondled both breasts with his hands.
His shirt was off soon and she reached for his trousers to take off the belt. He paused to do it himself. He’d just flung the trouser to the side when his phone began to ring.
For a second, he was distracted by the ringing phone but Maria did not let him go. She pulled him back and they continued to kiss passionately. He had one of his hands on her brea8st and the other moving down slowly.
The phone began to ring for the second time, distracting Dave again. This time, he got up before she could restrict him and took out the phone from his pocket.
“I’m sorry, I have to answer this. It could be an emergency,” he apologized before answering the call from Samantha.
“Is Maria ready?” Samantha asked from the other end.
Dave stared intently at Maria, wondering what response to give to Samantha.
“You two need to meet me right away,” Samantha added before he could think of a reply.
“What do you really want to do, Sam?” Dave questioned. “You want the three of us to go against the Red Wolves’ army?”
“Henry said we might have enough material to defeat them without manpower if we search enough…”
“We already searched, Sam. There’s nothing to defeat them with,” Dave argued. “The tracker led to the morgue, which is a dead end. The woman we think is the mole might be dead.”
“She’s dead,” Samantha replied. “Her death was confirmed in the news a minute ago, I heard it.”
“Huh? They identified her quickly?”
“No, they didn’t identify her. But they announced two women and a child dead, Agent Evelyn of the FOX survived. Sarah and Jennifer were the only two other women in that building.”
“Ah, sh*t! What the f**k is going on?”
“Something is missing, Dave. We gotta figure it out together, plus there are some other things you need to know.”
Dave sat at the edge of the bed and stared blankly at the wall for a moment.
“Are you with me, Dave?” Samantha called out, after a moment of silence.
“Yes, Sam. I think I know who exposed us now,” Dave replied. “It wasn’t Mrs. Sarah.”
“What are you talking about?”
Dave reached for his trousers and began to wear them quickly.
“We’ll meet you soon, Sam,” he said before ending the call. He turned to Maria who was staring at him with a disappointed look. “We have to go now.”
_____
Hutton took another quick look at his wristwatch before looking towards the entrance of the house. He heaved a sigh of relief as the entrance door finally opened. One of their men stepped out first before Kahn was wheeled out, with two others following behind. He kept his eyes on them as they walked from the entrance to where the car was parked. He opened the door before they got to him.
“I told you I was going to come back for you, what took you so long to get ready?” Hutton questioned as the men helped Kahn to join him in the backseat.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get dressed until I heard you were on your way here,” Kahn answered. “It all seems too good to believe.”
“What’s too good to believe?” Hutton questioned. “That Carl Winston has been captured?”
“Yes,” Kahn replied. “This is the same thing we’ve been trying for so long, but it just happened so easily.”
“Well, it has always been easy to capture Carl Winston. We just never had it the right time,” Hutton remarked. “Remember, we once captured him and all his men, but he escaped because we tried to set him up to be arrested by the Fox. We could have ki*ll*ed them all right there that day.”
“I remember,” Kahn let out a breath. “But our goal has always been to present him as the leader of the Red Wolves group to the world. It’s just amazing how Florence Brown got them so easily.”
Hutton chuckled. “There’s something that Carl and Rex have, which makes them susceptible to defeat, we don’t have that. At least, not anymore.”
“What’s that?” Kahn asked.
The driver of the car kicked on the engine at that moment and followed the first escort car which was proceeding out of the gate. Hutton waited until they had driven out before he continued.
“Carl and Rex have too many people to care about. They have too much of emotions running through them. They’re not like the Red Wolves,” he paused and turned to Kahn. “We’re loyal to ourselves in the Red Wolves, but our loyalty is first to the mission. We don’t get distracted from the mission, regardless of who’s in trouble. That’s why even if I die today, the mission will continue, right?”
Kahn took a bit of time before replying. “Yeah,” he nodded slowly. “The mission continues, regardless of the soldier that falls.”
“That’s why we’re different,” Hutton replied. “The mission is more important to us. For Carl, he’s ready to give up the mission to save his soldiers or even save random innocent people.”
“That used to be you some time ago,” Kahn stated and stared at Hutton’s face. “You were committed to saving lives, even if it meant giving yours.”
Hutton stayed silent for a while and shut his eyes as memories of the past flooded his mind. He remembered his days of beginning at the FOX and how he was sold the mindset of laying down his life to secure others. He also remembered how he graduated and grew in ranks, becoming the most fearful and efficient FOX agent. His mindset remained the same until he was betrayed by the same organization he devoted his life to.
“I was that way,” he finally replied to Kahn. “Until I discovered that no one is worth laying your life down for. The world is for those who can fight to survive. Loyalty to humanity is the ideology they sold to us to make us weak, while they plotted ruling over the weak. Since then, I chose to exercise my strength. Only the strong ones who survive are qualified to rule over the weak.”
There was a long silence as Kahn tried to assimilate all that his friend said.
“How do you think life is going to be for us after all these? I mean, after the takeover is complete with Carl Winston and Rex Morris out,” Kahn broke the silence.
“Everything will return to normal,” Hutton glanced at him. “We remain in our rightful positions, in control of the FOX and all other security agencies and the country.”
“After Carl and Rex, are there more people that we need to silence?” Kahn questioned.
“I’m thinking of just one more,” Hutton answered. “Thiago has been taken out, but Florence seems to know too much right now.”
“You think she may ever want to betray us?”
“I don’t know what to think. I’ve placed her in a position of trust, which makes us vulnerable to her,” he said, with squinted eyes.
Kahn bent forward slightly to read the expression on his face. “I know you, you’re suspecting she’s gonna betray us. I’ve been considering that too…”
“No, I don’t think she’s gonna betray us. She doesn’t look like a snitch to me,” Hutton cut in. “She’s got no reason to betray us. We’re paying her a lot to do her work. I just feel she might be too strong to keep under control.”
Kahn’s eyebrows gathered together as he pondered on Hutton’s words. He glanced occasionally at Hutton’s face, hoping to hear more explanations.
“I fear she’s gonna want more and request for more than she deserves one day,” Hutton continued. “She’s not one to keep quiet and keep following orders.”
“So, what do you think we should do to her?”
“Maybe we find something for her to do outside of the country, something that’ll get her far away from us,” Hutton turned his face to Kahn.
“And what could that be?” Kahn raised his brows. “We barely have anything else to accomplish after taking over.”
“I’ll think of something.”
“What if it doesn’t work? What’s the other option?”
Hutton turned his face to Kahn again and gathered his eyebrows together. “You know what the other option is.”
“That’s not going to be easy,” Kahn shook his head. “You ordered her to do away with Thiago after capturing Rex and Carl. If I were her, I would be thinking you’re planning to do away with me too.”
“No, I gave her too much freedom for her to think so. I allowed her to pursue Rex and Carl of her own volition and also gave her the freedom of choosing how and where to bring them to me. “
“Well, we should not just assume that she sees it the same way you do,” Kahn replied. “We have to prepare for all possibilities.”
“Why don’t we just deal with it one after the other? After taking out Carl Winston, we’ll deal with Florence Brown.”
______
“Boss,” Xavier called after a long time of silence. He was driving while Florence was sitting by his side in front.
“Yeah,” she answered in low tones.
“Don’t you have doubts about going to Hutton Ryker?” Xavier asked.
“Huh? Why do you ask?”
“He wanted to do away with Thiago after we got Carl and Rex. Don’t you think he’s gon be planning something similar for you?”
“I’ve considered it and I feel he’s trying his best to gain my trust,” Florence replied. “I don’t know why he’s doing that, but it’s obvious. He’s stopped giving orders and has been following what I say instead.”
“Don’t you think that’s a trap?”
“Naah, at least not yet,” she shook her head. “I asked him to meet us in Venus and he agreed. He’s the one that should be suspicious of a trap.”
Xavier was quiet for a while. He glanced at her face again. “You look so confident about this, is there something else I don’t know?”
“I explained all to you already, Xavier. What we need to do now is stick to the plan and get Carl Winston to Hutton Ryker.”
——
**Hours Later**
Location: Venus
Florence and her men arrived at the venue long before Hutton and Kahn showed up. The meeting place was a large open hall. It looked like an underground parking space but was larger.
There were five vehicles there – two cars and three buses, one in which Henry was being held. There were six men around, in addition to Xavier and Florence. Two of them were sitting in one of the Mercedez buses, looking into something on the laptop together.
They took their eyes off the screens as the visitors drove into the space. There were three jeeps, all with tinted glasses. Florence and Xavier closed their laptops and stepped out of the vehicle on seeing the cars.
The three jeeps parked at the other end and it took an extra minute before Hutton stepped out. Chanda stepped out after him from a different vehicle, after which all their men in the vehicles followed.
Hutton and Chanda began to walk towards Florence, with two men following behind them. Florence and Xavier also began to walk toward them. They got to the centre and both stopped in front of each other. Xavier bowed slightly to greet the men. Florence bowed after him.
“Seems like you want to talk first before the handover?” Hutton chuckled.
“Not really, I just have a question for you,” Florence replied. “What’s next after this?”
Hutton raised a brow. “What do you mean? What’s next is that I pay you off and we go separate ways until we need each other again.”
“You don’t think I know too much of your secrets like Thiago?”
“I know you know a lot of my secrets, but I also know you don’t gain anything by making them public,” Hutton answered confidently. “You’ve been a great agent, Florence. I’ll like to stay friends with you. We could need each other in the future. Right now, I just need to pay you the money you want after you deliver Carl Winston.”
“I will deliver him in a minute, but…” she paused and looked at Chanda’s face. “Your friend looks familiar.”
“He’s Chanda, Jonah Chanda,” Hutton introduced him. “He works with me and knows so much about you already. Just like you know so much about me.”
Florence nodded and smiled wryly. She glanced back and made a signal to her men. A minute later, they brought out Henry from one of the buses. He was led to the centre by two of the men, with his hands tied behind.
Florence and Xavier moved apart slightly for the men to put Henry right in front of Hutton. The two men stared into each other’s eyes intently for a moment before Hutton made a signal to one of the men. The man hit Henry in the back with the butt of his long gun, making him groan as he dropped to his knees.
Hutton took two steps backwards to create some space. “You should have quitted when I gave you the opportunity,” he remarked with a cocky smile.
Henry stayed quiet.
“You’re gonna join Rex and Sheila in heaven in a few minutes, but there’s some bad news I have to tell you before that happens,” Hutton paused for a moment. “Sarah and Kellar are dead.”
Henry’s heartbeat increased and he felt anger surge through his body. His anger was visible as they could see his lips trembling.
“You motherf**ker! Why did you have to ki*ll a child?”
“I didn’t plan to do it, but I had no option. Everyone connected to you had to go,” Hutton replied. “By the way, I gave Sarah the choice to help k*ll you and save herself and your son, but she’ll never agree to do it.”
Henry arched his brows and stared intently at Hutton’s face.
“I know you think Sarah betrayed you,” Hutton chuckled. “I wished she did. It would have made things easier for all of us, and you won’t have had to be a pain in the neck for so long.”
“Stop messing with me, motherf**ker!” Henry yelled. “Sarah killed Rex’s family and she led your men to that Italian restaurant.”
Hutton laughed again. “Those are just false imaginations I created in Rex’s head, the same way I made you believe that your wife and son died in that burning building a long time ago.”
Henry gasped as he recalled the scene. Flashes of the explosion which happened the day before also ran through his mind.
“My initial plans were to make Rex ki*ll Sarah and turn you two against each other. One of you was going to ki*ll the other, and the surviving one would have been vulnerable for us. It’ll have been an easy job. Surprisingly, something always goes wrong to stop it from happening.”
“Maybe we need to finish this off faster, boss,” Florence interrupted their discussion. She took out Henry’s phone which she had seized from him. “Samantha and some of his men may be tracking us here. We kept his phone on to lead them to us. You may want to finish off Carl now, so we have time to deal with whatever they’re bringing.”
“That’s true,” Hutton agreed and reached for the gun behind him.
“Why did you do all these, Agent Hughes?” Henry asked in a teary voice. “You used to be an inspiration for us all. We wanted to lay down our lives protecting the people and saving our nation. How did you turn to the complete opposite? You didn’t just wipe out my family, but you killed thousands of people for no just cause.”
“Being just and loyal is weakness, Carl. I learnt that the hard way. Unfortunately, you never learnt it, and that’s why you’re here today,” Hutton replied. “You were an inspiration for me too. Watching you grow as a young kid was inspiring, but all of that was just the delusion they sold to us.”
“So, you decided to lead the Red Wolves, ki*ll thousands of people, ki*ll the president, and take over? Is that how strong people lead?”
“The strong ones survive, Carl. It doesn’t matter how you do it. When one cares so much for the weak ones, they always end up like you – at the mercy of those who are strong.”
“You think everything is going to end with you killing me?”
“No, I think it all begins after I ki*ll you,” Hutton replied as he raised his gun.
“Wait!” Henry gasped. “Before you ki*ll me, I want to know who betrayed my team. How did you find the location?”
Hutton chuckled after lowering his gun. “You see, the problem with you is that you always trust in the abilities of weak people, Carl. Things would have worked for you if you never trust anybody. No one betrayed you. Someone was just stupid enough to expose you…”
He raised his gun again and cocked it.
TBC.
