Restless – Episode 67

Restless – Episode 67

® 18+ SNVL
© Oyinloye Oluwatosin Emmanuel

Bexford International Airport,
Bexford, Bethanna.

11:49AM

Both dressed in black suits, they walked side by side slowly and confidently towards the garage area of the airport. Three men, also dressed the same way followed behind them carrying their luggages.

Hutton’s face looked tough and determined with the dark sunshades covering his eyes. His neatly shaven head shone like a mirror under the sun and his well kept shiny black coloured beards and moustache glowed from the sun’s reflection. All these together gave him a handsome appearance. Coupled with that, he had good heights with a well built chest, something more moderate and attractive compared to that of a usual weight lifter.

Kahn on the other hand was of average height. He kept a neat low cut hair on his head and clean shaved beards. His body was also well built and hefty but his chest was a little less broader than Hutton’s.

Two vehicles were waiting for them in the garage. Kahn and Hutton got into the backseat of the Jeep together. One of the men that was following behind them joined the driver at the front seat while the two others joined the other men at the car.

“Have you called to confirm if records of Antonio and Vincent have been wiped out already?” Hutton asked as soon as they settled in the car.

“I called few minutes ago, they’re almost done.” Kahn answered. “I’ll get a word from the man as soon as they’re done.”

“We need to clear all traces of them immediately and also revoke every access they have to our systems and networks.”

___

13:02PM

Osmos Estate,
Ostio, Bethanna.

“I’m there already and I can’t find you around?” Henry said into the mouthpiece of the phone, looking around from the window of the driver’s seat where he sat.

Samantha was sitting at the passenger’s side calmly, wondering what Henry had brought her to do there. He had said they were there to get more funds for their mission and she was confused by the kind of movements they had been making and he was yet to make any explanation.

It was an estate which consisted of very beautiful buildings which one could easily tell that were expensive. As a newly developing estate, most of the houses there were not inhabited by anyone, so the population was low.

“I can’t find see you also, are you sure you are at the yellow building?” The voice asked Henry from the other end.

“Yeah, I just parked there in a blue Honda.” Henry replied.

“Okay, I can see you now. I’ll meet you in two minutes.”

Henry raised his face to look at the storey building at the other side of the road. His eyes scanned the windows and openings quickly and he concluded that the person he was talking to must have been watching him from one of the openings there.

Two minutes later, a man stepped out through the gate of the building in focus and looked in their direction. The road was as usual not busy, so he crossed immediately to the median and then the other side.

Henry opened the door to step out and talk to the man but he closed it back after a second thought. He glanced at Samantha, “Please, move to the backseat so I can speak with him in the car. I want you to be a part of our conversation.”

“Okay boss,” Samantha replied and quickly stepped out of the car. She greeted the man and pointed him in as she moved the backseat.

“Good afternoon Mr Dominic,” Henry greeted without taking a look at the man who entered.

“Good afternoon Mr Henry,” the young man answered.

Dominic was a dark complexioned young man of petite stature, he looked more like a person in his early thirties.

“I’m sorry about your Dad’s death, I was only trying to reach him when I heard about it.” Henry commiserated.

“Thanks,” Dominic shrugged. “He died a good man, at least we’re happy about that.”

“Yeah, that’s true, he was a good man.” Henry said with a very brief smile, finally casting a glance on Dominic.

There was a few seconds silence. Henry’s gaze fell on the documents in Dominic’s hands and he squinted.

“Are you here with the documents?”

“These are photocopies, I thought you may need them since you said you lost some of the copies with you.” Dominic answered, handing him one of the two files.

“Oh! That’s so considerate of you,” Henry smiled, a little longer this time. He documents and scanned through them quickly. “So,” he looked again at Dominic as he arranged the documents. “I’ll like for you to get the payment done, but like I said, it would have to be into a separate account, not the one I registered with.”

Dominic raised his brows. “I was trying to explain something to you while we spoke on phone, I talked about some changes my father made before his death.”

“Yeah,” Henry frowned. “I didn’t really understand you.”

“Currently, we have only the past five months proceeds from the estate with us and I can send them to you right now. It’s a total of about three hundred million”

“Five months? How come?” Henry frowned harder.

“Here,” Dominic opened the second file in his hand and took out a paper. “My Dad died six months ago and before he died, the agreement of paying every seven months was signed with him.” He stopped trying to explain as he saw Henry already engrossed with the document.

“What agreement are you talking about and who did he sign it with?” Henry looked away from the document and looked at Dominic’s face. He looked distraught. He had left the estate in care of Dominic’s father in December 2014 and the man had been running it since then. The agreement made was for payments to be made annually but since Henry had experienced the calamity of his family’s death and survived, he had not made any contact with the man, only to have tried to do so weeks earlier and discover that the man had died already. He expected to still have the proceeds from the last year intact as he wasn’t available to sign the payment. The man was only allowed to take his commission in his absence.

“Please read that page carefully, my father signed there.” Dominic said as he took out another document and stretched it forth to Henry. “On this page, you have your own signature.”

Henry decided to finish with the page in his hand before collecting the other page. Revealed in the first page was the man’s statement of agreement that he accepted to change the previous agreement which was paying annually to paying every seven months.

Henry finally took the second page and scanned through it quickly, it contained his own statement of agreement. He held his breath and his eyes widened in shock as he saw the signature at the end of the page.

____

14:35PM

Osmos Estate,
Benuit, Bethanna.

“Mum, some men are here to see us,” a boy in his teenage years said to the woman sitting in the couch as he entered into the living room.

“Who are they?” She raised her brows at the boy who came to settle in the seat adjacent hers.

“They are security agents, they introduced themselves as FOX officials.” the boy answered her question.

“So, why have they not been allowed in?” The woman squinted as she looked towards the entrance. Two men who she assumed were their guests had just come in.

The embattled Mrs Vincent who had gotten the news of her husbands kidnap the previous night had been expecting visits from more security agencies. She had received the police that morning and they had called later to tell her to expect more visits from other security agencies.

“Good afternoon madam,” the men greeted as they proceeded into the living room, raising their FOX identity cards up for her to see.

“Good afternoon,” she replied and adjusted her sitting position.

“We’re FOX agents from the national headquarters, my name is Steve and my partner here is Daniel.” The man in front introduced.

“You’re welcome, please have your seats.”

The two settled into the seats directly opposite the woman comfortably.

“First of all, we would like to assure you that we are fully out and working on this case and we are going to certainly return your husband to you safe and sound.”

“Oh!” The woman exclaimed with a gasp. “I’ll be the happiest woman on earth if you’re able to do that.”

“We would get it done, we’re not relenting.” The officer reassured and readjusted himself on the seat. “We’ve been investigating already and we’ve come to ask some questions and also get some information around the house, we do hope you would be willing to help us.”

“For sure, as far as it’s going to return my husband safely.”

“Yeah, he would return safe and that’s why we are taking very urgent and stringent measures this time.” He took two seconds pause to take out his phone before he continued. “This kidnap has been found to have some strange semblance to some recent kidnaps which includes that of Richard Brad, Mr Henderson and some others. This time however, we are going to get the two victims out unscathed.”

“Ask me your questions, I would tell you all I know.”

“First and foremost, we’d like you to tell us everyone and anyone you suspect could have a hand in this,” the officer replied.

“I don’t suspect anyone really, my husband hasn’t had a disagreement or fight with anyone I know of recently.” she answered.

The officer glanced at his partner’s face and looked back at her. “Have you noticed any suspicious element in his movements recently?”

The woman squinted for a while, then she looked at the officer’s face and shook her head. “No, I haven’t noticed anything.”

“What do you know about your husband’s job?”

“My husband left the military some years ago and has been working as a security consultant for different firms and training security staffs, and he’s been also working at the factory on Vincil as a consultant.”

“There are rumors that there’s been illegal production of explosives in the factory your husband works as a consultant, have you ever suspected such or seen anything that suggested so?”

“No,” she shook her head again. “Like you said, it’s just a rumour, unconfirmed by investigation yet.”

“You’re right…” The officer proceeded to asking her some more questions and carefully listened to her answers. He made a request after twenty minutes of interrogation.

“You said your husband spends more time in his personal room when he’s at home?” The officer asked to confirm.

“Yes.”

“Ermm… Can we check this room and probably go through some of his personal things there?”

The woman frowned.

The officer smiled to reduce the tension. “I know that sounds strange right, but you know this is urgent and I also told you we’re taking urgent and stringent steps. If we’re allowed to go through his personal things and see the things he does when he’s alone, it could help us in our investigation.”

“But, he doesn’t like anyone going into the place especially when he’s not around.” She complained.

“If we’re not allowed to check, he may never return to use that room again.” The officer said, staring at her face intently. He could see she was scared. He took out a paper from his brea$t pocket and unfolded it as he proceeded towards her. “By the way, we have license from the office to do this, we’re not just making the request without any backing.” He said before handing the permission paper to her.

She checked through it briefly and nodded as she looked at him. “I’ll take you there.”

A total of eighty five minutes was spent in the room by the men. They did not only search the room but also went through the man’s laptop and one of the devices found in the room. About three-quarter of the duration has been spent using the laptop alone.

The woman walked them to the entrance balcony when they were about to leave.

“I’ll be expecting positive results as soon as possible,” Mrs Vincent said as she watched the men walk down the steps.

“Yes, madam. We have enough information already and we would be working with what we have immediately.” He replied.

She closed her eyes and drew in a breath.

“So, how are you guys returning?” She asked when she couldn’t find their car parked anywhere in the compound.

“Our vehicle is outside,” she was replied.

“Okay, do have a safe trip back to the capital,” she smiled as she received their handshakes.

“Thank you ma.”

She walked to the rails and rested her elbows on it as she watched them walk out through the gate.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath again. She hoped that all the details gotten by the men would help them bring her husband back home safely.

She opened her eyes and was about to walk back into the house when she noticed the security man at the gate talking with someone and also flashing glances in her direction. She thought at first that the FOX agents had forgotten something.

She waited for a while and watched, she saw the security man step out through the gate and come back in some seconds after. He closed the gate and began to walk towards her.

“Excuse me ma’am,” the security man said as he got closer. “Aren’t those men who came in now FOX Agents?”

“Yes, they are.” The woman replied squinting at him. “Didn’t you let them in?”

“Yes, I did,” the man looked confused. “But there’s another man and a woman outside, claiming they’re from the FOX.”

“The FOX?”

“Yes, Agent Steve and Agent Evelyn.”

To be continued.

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