UNEDITED
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.
“Why are you so confident that you don’t have a weak person on your team, exposing you too?” Henry asked calmly.
Hutton squinted at his face first and then raised his brows. “I’m always careful in making my choices and never trusting anymore.”
“That’s where you get it wrong, Hutton. We’re humans and we’re designed to trust people because we can’t do everything on our own. We need to delegate responsibilities to others and when we do, we must trust them to do what we’ve asked.”
Hutton seemed baffled for a moment, especially at the confidence with which Henry was speaking. “What sh*t are you talking about?” he asked as he lowered his gun slowly.
“You’re one of the most intelligent men I’ve seen in this world, Hutton. You played with our minds successfully – I and Rex,” Henry stopped and laughed briefly. “I love the way you create illusions in our minds and make us fulfil your purposes, but you depended too much on your perfect strategies and failed to build trust and a good relationship with those you work with.”
Hutton could not understand what Henry was talking about, but it was getting him pissed off.
“Do you really want to finish this off now or you wanna talk?” Florence Brown interrupted again, staring sternly at Hutton.
Hutton stared back at her. “It’s his last moments, maybe we should give him time to talk more,” he said and turned back to Henry. “Tell me, Carl. Is there something you know about me that I haven’t found out yet? Why not tell me everything now?”
“No, I don’t need to tell you anything now. I’ll make you see and realize them as you did to me.”
“What are you talking about?” Hutton furrowed his gaze at him.
Henry cleared his throat and looked towards the left-hand side where there was a door. The door opened at that moment and in stepped Rex, with a gun in his hand pointed straight at Hutton.
Chanda and the two men behind him and Hutton quickly pulled out their guns and pointed toward Rex as he walked closer. Florence and Xavier pulled out their guns and pointed at the men too. Chanda and one of the men refocused their guns toward Florence’s direction while the third guy monitored Rex.
Hutton’s heart skipped a beat on seeing Rex. His jaw slightly dropped in shock and his lips trembled as his eyes narrowed on Florence’s face.
The men at both ends of the hall had noticed that the tensions were heightening and also pulled their guns out. Kahn who was sitting in the car also saw what was happening and his heart was gripped with fear. He located a pistol in the car and filled it with a round of bullets.
Hutton gasped in utter bewilderment. He finally got an idea of what Henry had been trying to say.
“How the f**k did you even get me to trust you?” Hutton laughed at himself, still staring at Florence’s face. “Why did I believe that you could bring me Carl and Rex? I understand now why Carl thinks I’m so stupid. You were the weak person I trusted in.”
“Florence is not the weak person you believed in, Hutton. She actually delivered what she promised you,” Rex replied, now getting closer to them and shifting toward where Florence and the others were standing.
Meanwhile, Henry was loosening the ropes behind him.
Hutton only glanced at Rex but returned his focus to Florence again. He had a kind of amused expression on his face. “Whose idea was the picture you sent me?” he squinted. “That was crazy!” He added and laughed briefly. “You were never up to the task like I thought.”
“She was up to the task,” Rex answered again. “She got us as she promised you. We only turned her against you after she captured us.”
Hutton still couldn’t believe what was happening. His heart was beating so fast as he struggled to breathe in air. He never imagined he could be in this situation.
He narrowed his gaze on Florence’s face again. “What did they tell you that made you turn against me? They told you I was the bad guy?” He paused and chuckled. “They told you that you could save the country by turning against me?”
Rex got to the side his team was standing in and stopped beside Henry. The guy on Hutton’s end followed him with his pointed gun to the spot.
“It’s game over, Hutton. We’re allowing you to surrender yourself and we’ll spare your life,” Henry said after dusting his knees and palms.
“How can you say game over when you don’t know what cards I have left?” Hutton made a devilish smile.
Florence, Henry, and Rex exchanged glances.
“What cards have you got left?” Henry questioned. “I know you always got something under your sleeves. You always have a backup plan.”
Hutton stayed silent for a moment and then looked around slowly. He chuckled. “What exactly are you guys hoping to do here? A shootout? Or do you have a camera somewhere recording this?”
“Give up, Hutton. It’s game over. We have enough proofs to show the world that you’re the mastermind behind the Red Wolves. There’s no way you’re going to take over the country like you aim to do. Give up now, and we’ll spare your lives.”
“And you think I’m gonna survive in jail if I allow you to put me there?”
“You won’t have to serve your jail term here in Bethanna. We’ll take you to a different penitentiary, where no one else would know what you did.”
“I’m not one to be locked up my whole life. I’ll rather us take the risks of shooting ourselves here,” Hutton replied.
“I know you’re going to be a hard nut to crack, but you need to consider that this is your last opportunity to do something good for the nation you once loved…”
“Who says I no longer love the nation?” Hutton questioned “If you do love the nation, you’ll leave us to rule the way it should be. You know I didn’t steal the position from the FOX, it rightfully belongs to me.”
“No, you disqualified yourself when you began to ki*ll the people you were supposed to protect. Now, you’re just one of the enemies of the state we need to get rid of.”
“Enough of the bullshi*t man! What exactly do you want? A shootout? Because if you only wanna talk, then I’ll just leave right away.” Hutton uncocked his gun and began to take slow steps backward.
Rex and Henry stepped forward with their guns pointed at him.
“The FOX will be here soon, no one is leaving here until they get here.”
Hutton stopped and then proceeded forward again. He stopped right in front of Florence. “You chose the wrong place, woman. Venus is the most populated state in Bethanna, with so many spots where multitudes of people gather. Why did you choose here?”
“Because it’s not going to be easy for you to escape from the crowdy areas,” Florence finally spoke.
“And you never thought that it’s a good place to ki*ll thousands of people with a single explosion, huh?” Hutton took a step back and then looked at the expression on their faces. He laughed.
He dipped his hand into his chest pocket and took out his phone. He unlocked it and opened a messaging app before moving closer to Henry.
“You may want to have a look at this, Carl,” he said as he handed the phone to Henry.
Henry hesitated and Rex took the phone instead.
“Instructions closed,” was the last message sent in the chat.
“Scroll up and read all of today’s conversation,” Hutton said to them. Henry also joined to look at the messages.
Rex scrolled to the first message in the chat with a contact named Jade, which was also the first message that day. At the top of the first message, there was a notification showing that the conversation gets deleted after every 24 hours.
The conversation began with a “hello” after which a video was sent. Rex opened the video and saw a woman gagged and tied to the water closet in a toilet. She had an explosive device set up around her body.
“Shi*t!” Henry cursed under his breath and stared at Hutton’s face. “What the f**k are you trying to do?”
“Why not finish reading the messages?” Hutton smiled confidently.
Henry looked into the phone again.
Hutton: Good setup. Did you place her in the right location?”
Jade: Yes, we followed your description
Hutton: How many hours do we have on the timer?
Jade: Just three more hours
Hutton: We’ll stick to our plan. The explosion will go off at the set time. You only stop it if you get the signal that I left Venus by that time.
Jade: I remember the details. Are the instructions closed now?
Hutton: You have the chance to ask questions now.
Jade: I don’t have any question
Hutton: Remember, you won’t get your payment if you don’t execute it as planned.
Jade: I’m gonna follow the plan. Make sure my money is ready too.
Hutton: Your money will be ready after execution
Hutton: Instructions closed
“Where the f**k do you have this bomb installed?” Henry charged towards Hutton and grabbed him by the shirt, making the other parties at both ends focus their guns on them.
Hutton looked unruffled and simply pushed Carl away. He raised his wrist to check the time. “I think you should be more worried about the time left before the explosive goes off. That conversation was made 135 minutes ago. I have less than thirty-five minutes to get to a specific location out of Venus or over a thousand people will be dead.”
“Sh*t!” Henry cursed and stepped back.
Rex stepped forward. “You think we’re just gonna let you go because of this? I ain’t gon be deceived by this trick man. If you’re gonna get out of here without shackles, it will be in a body bag.”
Hutton smiled. “You want to see a test run to believe?”
Rex and Henry exchanged glances.
“I’ve given instructions to my men and you could help me deliver a code for a test run to them right now,” Hutton added.
“What are you talking about?” Henry asked.
Hutton glanced at Henry but faced Rex who was still with the phone. “Dial that number of video call and mention the code ‘one-two’.”
Rex glanced at Carl as if to ask for consent to make the call. Henry nodded affirmatively. Rex tapped the phone on and click on the video call icon in the conversation, covering the front camera with his finger.
The call was answered almost immediately and what showed was the woman tied up to the water closet.
“Give the code,” Hutton scoffed.
“One, two,” Rex finally mentioned. The call disconnected two seconds after. “What the f**k is this?” Rex fired at Hutton.
Hutton had yet to answer when a sound rocked the air. The distance from which the sound came seemed far but the vibration was felt slightly. Everyone else in the hall seemed confused, except for Hutton who had a cocky smile on.
“That was just a test,” Hutton stated. “That explosion was on the Venus mountain and nobody was hurt,” he paused to check his wristwatch again. “In forty minutes, if I and my friends do not get out of Venus, the next explosion will take the lives of nothing less than a thousand people.”
The phone in Rex’s hand beeped and he quickly looked at it. There was an incoming video call. He answered the call after covering the camera with his finger. A sigh escaped his lips as the video call showed scenes of the explosion on the mountain.
“You ain’t going anywhere, you motherf**ker!” Florence stepped up to him.
Hutton stared at her and shook his head without saying anything. Florence glanced at Rex and Carl, hoping they’ll say something in support. She was disappointed to see the defeated looks on their faces. She stepped back slowly with her shoulders lowered.
“Why the f**k should we believe that you’re not going to go ahead with the explosion if we let you go?” Rex asked.
“You think I came here expecting a betrayal?” Hutton furrowed his brows at Rex. “That was just a backup plan. I don’t plan on murdering a thousand people today.”
“You can go,” Henry stated from behind.
“Hell, no. These motherf**kers ain’t going nowhere!” Florence flared up.
“They’ve got about thirty minutes to get out of Venus, ma’am. We gotta let them go now,” Henry slammed at her but she wasn’t backing down.
“We’re letting them go, Florence,” Rex joined in and stood in front of Florence’s gun.
Hutton stared at Florence for a moment, wondering why she was so desperate to have them killed. He eventually turned and signaled for his men to follow him. He stopped after taking a few steps and turned back.
“I forgot to state the conditions – you must not follow after us or make any call for us to be followed. I’ve got men watching around from different routes that lead into Venus. If we find out security agents are coming our way. I’ll remain in Venus, let the explosion happen and fight until I’m dead.”
He waited for no response and proceeded toward the vehicles.
“F**k, no!” Florence cursed under her breath as she watched them go. Rex remained in front of her to stop her from making any move.
They all watched as Hutton and his men got into their cars. A minute later, they drove out of the hall.
“We really gonna go watch them go?” Florence screamed as she saw the cars driving by. Rex made sure he restrained her.
Xavier finally lowered his gun after the cars passed.
“You promised that we were going to get the motherf**ker, Jonah Chanda. But you just let him leave here alive,” Florence continued yelling.
“Relax, woman!” Henry shouted at her. “We knew he was going to have a backup plan, we weren’t gonna let him ki*ll a thousand people just because you wanted revenge on Jonah Chanda. We fulfilled a greater purpose today, which was stripping Hutton off the powers he had with the FOX. He can no longer use the FOX as he wishes.”
“Really?” Florence squared up to Henry. “You should have f**king told me that was your aim. Maybe I would have put a bullet in your head and made you pay for my brother’s death.”
“Calm down, Florence. You’re not the only one who wants revenge. Hutton killed Carl’s son and wife just yesterday,” Rex yelled at her.
His words seemed to calm Florence as she stepped retreated immediately.
“Sorry,” she whispered as she turned away.
“He left his phone,” Rex said to Henry, holding up Hutton’s phone.
“Can we use the videos in the chat to locate where the explosive device could be?” Henry asked.
“I’ll send the videos to Sheila right away, maybe she can do something,” Rex replied.
Henry nodded slowly. “We gotta leave now,” he said and began to walk towards the vehicles.
Rex waited and took out his phone to contact Sheila.
“So, we’re gonna start all over again to search for Hutton?” Florence stopped to ask Rex.
“No,” he glanced at her. “Hutton had a backup plan that worked, but I also have one. I promised him I was gonna ki*ll him and I’ll do that.”
To be continued
PS: Hello guys. Sorry for this short update. I made a storyline error while writing this episode and had to delete almost half of it. I’ll be skipping lots of flashbacks and making summaries, so the story is on course to finish in a few days, most likely before this month runs out
