Restless – Episode 119

Restless – Episode 119

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© Oyinloye Oluwatosin Emmanuel

The FOX Corporation Headquarters,

Bexford, Bethanna.

“Victor Finn, Julius Brad, Cyril Daniel are the three others with strong connections to the three men,” Steve said aloud.

They were in the team’s investigation room. Evelyn and Daniel were standing around him at the table.

They continued with their investigation that morning after the short weekend break. They were able to pull out the new names with the aid of the book retrieved by Steve and Evelyn from the visited school library.

“Let’s find out where these three men are immediately,” Steve ordered and they split into separate ways quickly.

They all picked their laptops from the different corners and returned to the table to sit.

“I’ll be working on Victor Finn,” Steve picked one of the men.

“I, Julius Brad,” Daniel followed.

Evelyn did not bother to talk as the name she was left with was obvious.

They all worked silently for almost thirty minutes. Daniel broke the silence.

“Julius Brad is currently on The Treak journey,” he announced.

“What’s that?” Steve turned to him.

“The Treak, the new Bethanna made ship. Julius Brad is one of the invited guests for the launch,” Daniel explained.

“Has the launch began already?” Steve asked.

“Yes, it has. More than thirty minutes ago,” Daniel answered.

“We’ll have to be there and take him immediately they return to Bexford, allowing him move around after returning might be dangerous for him and ourselves.” Steve said.

“You need to meet the chairman first sir,” Evelyn chipped in. “Remember, the President announced that the FOX men can only make arrests through the police for the moment.”

“Yea, I know. The chairman would only make a call to do that,” Steve answered and got up from his seat. “Agent Daniel will prepare three other men from our team to the Bexford Sea, I’ll go get the boss to contact the police immediately.”

“What about the man you’re working on?” Evelyn asked as Steve was about to turn.

“I haven’t gotten a clear description or picture of him yet,” Steve replied. “I’ll be back to continue,” he said and then walked away.

Agent Dan also walked out of the investigation room but proceeded in a different direction.

___

Bexford Sea

The guests and dignitaries were obviously enjoying the journey in the new beautiful Bethanna made ship. It was thirty minutes after they took off and the lead engineer had taken them on a short tour of the beautiful sections of the ship.

It was time for the special breakfast prepared for the dignitaries. The attendants led them to the large dining hall prepared for the event and they all settled down, twelve in total around the table. The Bethanna native meal had already been served and the aroma was so enticing.

The journalists were allowed to take pictures and continue their video recording from a distance while one of the dignitaries blessed the meal before they started eating.

Cole was right there with the other journalists holding a camera in his hands. He began to look around for Henry as he remembered at that moment that the execution was meant to begin after the meal time.

In a different section of the ship. A part which had facilities for storing of the ship crew properties and also sleeping, only a security guard was assigned to the place as no dignitaries were expected there, and the crew was made up of only few people who were very busy.

He was a police officer of average height and rigid body. He had a gun in his right pocket and a knife in his left. He was sitting on a plastic chair right at the center of the long corridor. He had an android phone in his hand with which he used to entertain himself with comedy videos.

He had just had a round of laughter from an amusing video and was about to play another video when he began to hear some sounds. He paused to listen carefully and realized it was sounding like a radio from somewhere very close.

He squinted his eyes and turned his neck left and right for a moment. He was the only one assigned to stay in that section and none of the crew members had been there since the journey started. The crew members had kept no item or property there since it was only a short journey. So he wondered who could be listening to the radio. He was sure it was from one of the rooms there.

“Who’s there?” He got up from his seat slowly and turned in direction of the sound. He heard no one answer him. He dipped his hand into the pocket on his right side and held the gun.

He walked slowly in the left direction and stopped at the door where the sound of the radio was coming from.

“Who’s there?” he asked, expecting a reply. The volume of the radio was not so loud and he was sure that his voice would be heard by anyone inside.

He turned the knob and stepped into the room. He looked left and right. It was a store for swimming equipment including life jackets and pool floats.

He couldn’t see anybody inside, but located where the sound was coming from. He proceeded towards the place, wondering if someone had forgotten it earlier.

He had just gotten to the shelf and located the angle where the music device was. He picked it up and switched off the power button. He noticed the device was not a radio but a bluetooth speaker. He got more suspicious and pulled out his gun as he turned again to look around.

It happened so fast, from behind him. Someone was hiding under a black bag.

Before the officer could make any move, Henry held him by the neck and slammed the back of his head hard to the shelf. He grabbed his right hand wrist where the gun was held and turned with the man 180 degrees, he then slammed his face again on the shelf and let the officer drop to the ground.

He took the gun and placed it on the floor as he also placed his right knee on the floor. He picked a rope and began to tie.

“Sorry for hurting you my friend, I just need you to be silent for a couple of minutes.”

He tied him in two minutes and then put a piece of cloth in his mouth before taping it.

He was already dressed in a police officer’s uniform. He picked the man’s cap and the ID card tag around his neck. He put on the tag and the cap and then walked out of the room.

__

Cartak, Anthanna

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sheila replied Florence Brown without delay.

Florence chuckled.

“Well, I don’t expect you to tell us you know him and we would not force you to.” Florence continued in a confident tone. She stopped in front of Sheila and bent to look into her eyes. “We would not hurt you as far as you cooperate with us…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, neither do I have anything to do with you.” Sheila interrupted.

Florence stood upright. She made a left side grin and took two short steps backwards.

“Was it another Sheila Carl Winston saved from the abusive boyfriend? Or was it another Sheila Jack who had Carl Winston as her bodyguard? And was it not you that saved Carl Winston from dying at Nura?”

Sheila widened her eyes in shock. She realized that she was dealing with people who already had enough information and were obviously Carl’s enemies.

How in the world had they found out that she was with Carl? Even though Carl had always tried to distance himself from her.

“Well, we don’t need you to tell us where Carl is. We’re sure he’ll be on his way here in no time. All you need to do is just keep calm and relax,” Florence smiled. “That way, you wouldn’t have problems with us.”

She stared at Sheila’s face for a while and silently made funny faces at her.

“My hands hurt,” Sheila said as Florence turned to leave.

Florence turned back again. She looked up and stared around the corners of the room.

“You’ll be untied, just make sure you behave yourself.” Florence said and then turned to proceed out of the room.

The other men with her stayed behind to untie Sheila.

Florence took out her ringing phone as she walked down the corridor. She checked the caller and saw it was Kahn whose call she had been expecting.

“We’ve got in here in Cartak,” she said as she answered the call.

“Okay, we’re about to take a flight to El Deols right away.” Kahn replied from the other end. “Make sure the security remains strong.”

“Yes sir, that’s certain.” Florence replied. She waited a few seconds before she asked, “Are you coming with the strategist?”

“Yeah, he’s with me.” Kahn replied. “We also have many of our men coming there with us.”

“I’m right here, waiting.”

___

Bexford International Airport, Bethanna

“Good,” Kahn said briefly before ending the call.

“She asked of me?” Hutton who was sitting beside him asked.

“Yes, she did.” Kahn replied.

Hutton stared at Kahn’s face for a while before he looked away.

“What do you think?” Kahn asked, knowing he had something in his mind.

“Nothing for now,” Hutton replied. “Let’s get Carl Winston down first.”

“The flight is in fifteen minutes,” Kahn said, looking around as other passengers walked into the waiting room. “I hope there’s nothing we have left undone in Bethanna.”

“I don’t think so,” Hutton replied without looking at his face. “If there is any, it would have to wait until we return.”

___

Star City, United States

Sitting alone at the dining room in the beautiful bungalow was seventy-two year old Gilbert. He was left alone that morning as his wife had gone to her store and the kids leaving with them had gone to school.

Gently, he carried the jug and poured some of the content into his mug. He had taken breakfast that morning, but since he was home alone, he felt bored and thought he needed to take some tea.

He took a sip of the cold tea and dropped the mug on the table. He heard a knocking sound coming from the door.

He stared at the door for a moment, wondering who could be at the door at that time of the day. He glanced at the television and concluded that the sound must have come from there. He picked up the mug to take another sip but stopped as he heard another knock.

He dropped the cup on the table, and got up gently from his seat. He picked his fancy walking stick beside his chair and proceeded to the door.

“Who’s it?” He asked as he peeped through the peep hole. He couldn’t see the person’s face. He could only see that it was a man and he was on black suit.

“Gilbert, it’s Emery…Jack,” the person behind the door said in a weak voice as he turned his face forward.

“Emery!” Gilbert exclaimed as he opened the door. “Emery!” He called as he confirmed. “What… the bleep!”

He let the door open for Emery to walk in. He shut the door quickly and turned to face Emery who was already walking to the living room.

Emery sank into the sofa weakly. He had gotten no opportunity to rest the previous night and was so tired. He could feel some pains in his body and he knew it was from his struggle the previous day.

He could have gotten away without feeling any pains when he was younger, but in his more advanced age, he could no longer feel the same strength in his body.

“What the hell happened to you?” Gilbert asked as he dragged himself quickly and sat on the sofa close to Emery. “I heard you were in town and I was expecting your call, I never thought you would just appear here, looking so horrible.”

“I couldn’t reach you last night, my phone went off.” Emery said, taking out the dead phone. “This morning, I’ve checked three of your other apartments and they kept saying you do not stay in them anymore.”

“Yeah, those apartments are on lease for now.”

Gilbert took the phone from him and got up to plug it with a charger. He returned to his seat and stared at Emery’s face again, looking so concerned.

“So, what happened to you?” He asked.

“I’m here for a business meeting, but it turned the men in charge have some other plans for me.” Emery replied with a confused look. “Some men impersonating the SBI came to arrest I and my aides from the hotel room.”

“Impersonators?” Gilbert asked.

“Yes, they were not real SBI officers…”

“Shhh…” Gilbert cut him shut. “You look very tired and hungry, can I get you something to eat first?”

“Yes, please.”

Gilbert got up quickly and proceeded to the kitchen.

Gilbert, though older than Emery with more than a decade years had been friends with Emery for more than thirty years. Gilbert, a black American had in his younger years invested in some African countries which included Anthanna. Emery was one of the men who worked with Gilbert to make his investment thrive in the African countries. Since then, they had been friends with each other.

Things had gone rough for Gilbert due to mismanagement of some of his investments by his first son. He had to sell some of his investments and Emery happened to buy everything he put into Africa.

Gilbert never became poor even with the setback, he still had abundant supply for himself and his family.

Gilbert and Emery remained friends even after the selling of the investments, even though they had not seen each other for more than a decade. They kept communicating through the internet and with phone calls. Gilbert always knew whenever Emery was in the United States, but somehow, they still never had the opportunity to meet.

“I served you some baked bread and jam,” Gilbert announced on returning to the living room. “Please, come to the dinning section.

“Thank you,” Emery said and got up. He turned and followed Gilbert in the direction of the dining room.

“Don’t you think you should take off your jacket?”

“Yes, I should.” Emery said and stopped to take off his suit jacket. Gilbert took the jacket from him before he proceeded to sit.

__

The breakfast was almost over and Cole was yet to see any sign of Henry. He however had the confidence that Henry would show up at the right time or would be in his position, ready for his own part of the task.

The dignitaries began to get up one after the other from the table. Some others sat to discuss briefly after the meal. Some of the journalists followed the dignitaries to have personal interviews with them.

Cole placed his gaze on Julius Brad and noticed immediately the man prepared to get up. He moved closer as the man finally got up with another man, both discussing as they stepped out of the dining area.

He waited patiently for them and politely moved closer with a smile.

“Good day sir,” he greeted, bowing his head slightly.

“Good day,” Julius Brad and the other man replied him.

“I’ll like to have a twenty minutes interview with you sir,” Cole requested.

“Do we still have up to twenty minutes on board?” Julius Brad asked, checking his time.

“Uhmn… No sir, but ten minutes of your time would do.”

“Can’t you start right away?”

“I’ll like to have you alone sir, and we should be seated for it.”

“Okay, I’ll be with you in a moment.” Julius said to him and turned to his friend to conclude their discussion.

Cole already prepared two seats for them at the lounge where other people were.

“I’m here,” Julius announced as he got to the table two minutes after.

“Thank you sir for honouring my request,” Cole said. He waited for the man to sit before he followed.

“So, let’s start.”

“Sir, my line of questions would be brief but slightly sensitive.” Cole began.

Julius raised a brow, wondering what he meant by slightly sensitive.

“It’s about the loss of your brother, Richard Brad, I’ve got some hidden information about it and I’ll like to make some confirmations from you.”

“What hidden information do you have?” Julius squinted at him.

“Some FOX officials are suspicious that Richard Brad was a member of the Invisible terrorist group.” The journalist said.

Julius frowned harder this time, his heart began to beat fast.

“And what are the questions you have for me?”

“Hey,” Someone called with a loud voice from the entrance of the place.

Both Cole and Julius looked up, with every other person around there. It was a policeman and he was referring to Cole.

“Please, I need to go. I think the chairman in charge of the launch wants to see me,” Cole said to Julius, the officer at the entrance was beckoning for him to come.

“But we’re not done yet,” Julius protested.

“I’ll be back,” Cole said as he got up. He took out a piece of paper from his back and dropped it on the table. “You can read this first, we’ll continue later.”

He hurried off towards the officer calling him.

Julius picked the folded paper and opened it. He saw only a word at the center of the paper – “person”. He noticed there were other words scattered at the different edges.

He looked at them one after the other and tried to connect them. “You are the next person,” he whispered to himself and widened his eyes.

He looked towards the entrance and could no longer see signs of the journalist or officer.

He turned to the back of the paper and saw a well written paragraph in very tiny letters.

“Don’t go home after today’s event, go straight to the FOX office. I’ll be back to help you with more information.”

Julius heart began to beat faster, he got up immediately and proceeded to the entrance, he stepped out into a large section and looked around, wondering which angle the journalist could have taken.

He suddenly caught a view of the journalist entering into the corridor at the left angle.

“Mr Julius,” one of the other invited guest called him as he proceeded.

“Hey! I’ll be back in a moment please,” he said and hurried on to the place.

He noticed the passage led to another section with a restroom at one part and some rooms at the other side. He stepped into the place and saw the journalist’s bag on the floor beside a door at the right side.

He moved closer to the room and stopped to read the label at the top of the door. It read; “Out of bounds to non-crew members.”

He was still wondering whether to wait or proceed inside like the journalist when a strong hand gripped his neck from behind and another hand covered his mouth and his nostrils.

Henry opened the door with his left hand and dragged Julius in. He closed the door and pushed him to the floor.

Julius crashed heavily to the ground but tried to sit up as fast as he could. He saw the tall hefty man, dressed in police uniform walking slowly towards him. He looked around quickly and saw that the room was empty, and even the journalist he traced there wasn’t in.

He managed to get up on his feet but Henry grabbed him by the shoulder with his left hand and sent a heavy punch into his belly. He crashed heavily to the ground again.

Henry moved closer to him and grabbed him by the neck. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose as he dragged him close to the wall.

He then made him sit on the floor with his back resting against the wall.

Julius forced in a very deep breath after the handkerchief had been taken off from his nose. He coughed furiously for a couple of minutes before he was able to look up. He could however still feel some peppery sensation in his nostrils which he inhaled from the handkerchief.

Henry had taken off the cap on his head and had taken out a gun. He squatted and pointed the gun to the man’s neck, he cocked it.

“I give you six hours from now to go to the FOX and report the Red Wolves to them, if you don’t, you die with your family.” He uncocked the gun again and turned back. He hurried out of the room immediately.

Julius was in shock as he watched him step out. The man he had just seen was Carl Winston and he had come with an instruction.

___

Star City, United States.

“So, what could these men want?” Gilbert asked on returning to the dining area.

“I don’t know, I can’t tell.” Emery shook his head. “But all I need for now is to ensure my daughter is doing well.”

Emery had finished eating some minutes earlier and had explained to Gilbert how he got to the United States and was attacked.

“You should take a shower now, I’ll get your phone for you to make the call as soon as you return.” Gilbert said as he settled on one of the seats.

“Okay, where do I take?” Emery asked, standing up from his seat.

“Just go through the hallway, the door facing this place at the opposite end leads to the bathroom.” Gilbert explained. “I’ve also made arrangements for you to change your clothes there.”

“Okay, thanks.” Emery proceeded into the hallway.

Gilbert watched him carefully as he disappeared in the hallway. He waited until he heard the closing sound of the door.

He took out his phone quickly and dialed a number.

“I’ve got Emery Jack with me at my residence, you should come for him right away,” he said quickly into the phone.

To be continued.

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