Restless – Episode 246

Restless – Episode 246

® 18+ SNVL

© Oluwatosin Emmanuel Oyinloye

Unedited

 

For almost five minutes after Dave spoke, there was complete silence in the living room until Mark spoke.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he cleared his throat. “Instead of sitting here without doing anything, why don’t we go to bed and sleep on it? Maybe we could wake up with fresh ideas tomorrow. Then we can also hope that Hutton Ryker miraculously shows up at the office tomorrow and we take him down once and for all.”

“I agree with you, Chairman,” Henry joined in. “I think we should all go to bed. Although I’m not so hopeful that Hutton will show up tomorrow.”

“Miracles still happen, Carl,” Mark flashed his eyebrows. “Let’s just hope he will be undiscerning enough to be at the FOX corporation tomorrow.”

“Can I say something, please?” Jennifer suddenly raised a hand after meditating on the question in her mind for a while. She didn’t get a verbal assent but continued when all eyes were turned to her. “If Hutton Ryker has realized that the President is alive like we think he has, why is no one thinking that he can launch another explosion just to ki*ll more people?”

Her eyes were on Henry as she asked, but Henry turned to Mark, believing he was the best person to explain the answer.

“The FOX in South Husan has discovered where he launched from, he can’t repeat it,” Mark explained briefly.

“What if he launches from somewhere else?” Jennifer pressed further. “Maybe a different location in South Husan or another country.”

“After those two explosions, the FOX activated all our men in the closest countries – South Husan, North Husan, and Anthanna. It will be difficult for them to launch from any of those countries right now,” Mark answered.

“Just those three nations?” Jennifer asked, surprised at Mark’s explanation. Most of the other listeners seemed to feel the same way about Mark’s answer.

“Jenny, nuclear missiles are deadly weapons of war,” Henry decided to help Mark. “It’s almost impossible to move those sort of weapons into other nations without the security operatives detecting it. The easiest countries to move such weapons into are Anthanna, North Husan, and South Husan because of proximity to Bethanna.”

“What if they aren’t moving the weapons into those nations?” Samantha joined in support of Jennifer. “They could have built them in countries like Nigeria or maybe even somewhere as far as Pakistan. They could launch these missiles from anywhere.”

“You’re right, Sam. But Bethanna has six military bases for ballistic missile interception. The country will intercept shots from such regions,” Henry replied.

“We didn’t try to intercept the missile launched from South Husan,” Mark joined in to explain better. “We would have failed if we tried because of the closeness of where it was launched from. The missile launcher propelled it at a 15,000 mph speed. It took them only 15 seconds to hit the targets. We have only one intercepting base close to South Husan. Unfortunately, the missile passed the base in only three seconds, making it impossible to be intercepted. For the same reason, they could only launch smaller missiles. If an enemy shoots a missile from a far country and it lands without an interception, it could wipe out the whole city. From closer regions, they can only sh00t smaller ones. However, they could sh00t many smaller ones to different areas which would cause the same damage to the city as the long-distance attack. That’s why rival nations never let their enemies make friends with neighboring countries enough to set up attack centers close to them.”

The living room was quiet for a while as most of them tried to make calculations in their minds.

“I think it’s time to rest now, people,” Henry said after the short silence. He turned to Mark. “Are you sure the President is safe where you have him, especially now that Hutton Ryker knows he’s alive?”

“He’s absolutely safe,” Mark replied confidently. “The only reason he wouldn’t be safe was if Hutton Ryker knows we visited here today.”

“There’s no way he’s gonna know that,” Henry replied confidently.

Mark slowly furrowed his eyebrows at Henry to question if he was sure.

“I trust everyone here, Mark,” Henry affirmed. “We also made sure Maria did not have any electronic device on her when bringing her here. As long as you were careful on your way here, Hutton doesn’t know about your visit.”

“Good,” Mark remarked and cleared his throat.

______

Lagos, Nigeria

11:53 PM

Rex got up from the bed an hour after the last time he heard voices. He looked around for a moment to see the new room they had moved him into that night. He pulled out the IV needle from his vein and walked straight to the window to check how the surroundings looked.

The place was not well lit. All he could see were ornamental shrubs around the compound.

He gasped as he looked at the Johnny gown on him. He would have to change into something better before getting into the road.

After a few seconds of thinking, he went to the other window to check outside again, trying to look for the route that led outside the compound. He eventually spotted the gate but couldn’t tell what kind of lock was there. There was no sign of a security guard around.

He turned and walked to the door but it was locked as he expected. He walked back to the table beside him to check for any tool which he could use on the door. Unfortunately, he found none.

He sighed and took his time to look around. There was nothing he could use to silently break down the door.  For some minutes, he thought of waiting until morning when someone came into the room to check him. But he realized that it could limit his chances of escaping as he wasn’t sure of what kind of security they had around and how long it could take him to gain access to a gun. His best chances were to escape that night.

An idea came to his mind as he glanced up. He quickly walked back to the door and stared up at the ceiling. He could burst into the ceiling to get out of the room. While he was still considering it, he got an even better idea. Instead of just stepping out of the room, he could just get out of the house by bursting through the ceiling on the other side of the room. Then he would not have to pass through the door to get out of the house.

However, the second idea seemed to be riskier. He could be shot or spotted instantly if he didn’t spot any watchman who was close to the wall.

He walked back to the window again and opened the blinds to look outside. There was still no one in sight. He quickly walked to the gurney and rolled it to the wall.

A few minutes later, he was able to tear the ceiling with a small scissor and was out at the other end. He paused to wipe clean the cobwebs on his body before proceeding to hide behind one of the shrubs where he could have a better view of the whole compound.

He eventually spotted a man lying on the balcony of what seemed to be the security room beside the gate. He proceeded carefully to the security room and climbed up the balcony as slowly as he could to ensure he did not make any noise to wake the sleeping man.

Approaching carefully, he noticed there was more than one shoe in front of the door at the security building. That gave him an idea that there could be more than one person in the room. He also examined the sleeping man’s body and saw that there was a gun in the holster by his left-hand side. The man’s hand was so close to the holster and Rex could tell that he was alert enough to pull it out at the slightest noise. He also noted that there was an alarm indicator hung to the man’s hand which could wake the whole building once the button on it was pushed.

Luckily, he still had the scissors in his hand. Within a split second, he pinned one of the man’s arms down with his knee and the other with his hand. His right hand was holding the scissors close to the man’s neck.

He looked at the man’s face to see a scary scowl on it. “I’ll slit off your throat if you make any moved, you hear me?” he threatened.

The man gave no response.

Rex started by taking off the device in his hand first and then took out the gun from the holster. He got up and cocked the gun.

“Stand up,” he ordered the man who got up slowly and raised his hand. “Where are the keys?”

The man gestured towards the entrance of the house and Rex spotted some keys hung by the wall. Following Rex’s orders, the man picked up the key from the gate and walked with him to open the gate.

Before stepping out of the gate, Rex knocked the man unconscious by striking the back of his head with the butt of the gun. He proceeded towards the road and looked left and right.

The road was empty and there was no one in sight. Rex took a glance at the gate again before he continued down the road.

___

Bexford, Bethanna

Hutton entered the room and walked straight to the drawer where the ringing phone was. He took it out and answered.

“Yes?”

“Rex has just left,” Florence Brown reported from Nigeria.

“Good,” Hutton remarked briefly.

“He couldn’t have gotten far, are you sure we should let him go?”

“Yes, let him go,” Hutton replied confidently.

“What if he reaches Carl Winston other than how you expect?”

“We took down the private chat network they used already, Foden gave us the keys. Rex will have to search for another way to look for Carl which works for us,” Hutton replied.

“Okay, I’ll keep my fingers crossed and wait for your next instruction.”

“What about the car you sending to Rex?”

“It’s on the way.”

____

Lagos, Nigeria

Rex remained vigilant as he walked down the road steadily. After about five minutes, he began to hear the sound of a vehicle driving closer.

He turned back and saw the headlights of the car from afar. He quickly hid behind the flower by the fence of a nearby house, not being sure if the vehicle was that of his captors chasing after him or a casual road user.

Less than forty seconds after, the vehicle drove past him. He got a good view of the car and there was only one man in it.

He got out of his hiding place and continued down the road. Just a minute after, he spotted the same vehicle in front. It was parked in front of a gate. The driver had stepped out and was holding a phone. He seemed to be calling for those inside to open the gate.

Rex knew this was his opportunity to change his clothes and snatch a car.

____

The FOX Corporation,

Bexford, Bethanna

09:15 AM

Mark was in a room with about six other agents sitting behind computers. They were studying the files recorded by the cameras on the previous day when Steve entered

“Good morning, sir,” he stopped to salute Mark.

“Good morning, Agent Steve,” Mark replied his salutation.

“I’m not so sure of what’s happening today, sir,” Steve began with his complaints. “I got into his the Red Wolves investigation and I was told that you asked us to everything. Besides, where’s the new overseer?”

Mark placed a hand on his shoulder gently. “Let’s go talk about this in my office, Steve.”

They got to Mark’s office after a five minutes walk.

“Sit,” Mark offered before taking his seat.

Steve ensured the man was seated first before he sat.

“The man that was here yesterday to take over was Hutton Ryker,” Mark began.

Steve squinted at Mark’s face in confusion. “But he said his name was…”

“Hughes Kanwa?” Mark interrupted him.

“Yeah.”

“He’s the same person, Hutton Ryker.”

Steve widened his eyes in surprise. “The same person Evelyn and her team claimed was planning to take over?”

“Yes, the same one.”

“So, she was right all along,” Steve whispered thoughtfully. “And we got her arrested for no reason…”

“Her arrest wasn’t for no reason,” Mark corrected him. “It was for a reason and it served the reason.”

Steve stared at his face, confused.

“Listen, Steve. You know one of the rules of top cases like this is secrecy, and do you know what we say about secrecy when it comes to teamwork?”

Steve furrowed his brows wondering what the man was talking about. “The lesser the number of teammates aware, the better?”

“Yeah, and that was why we kept the secret between only the three of us,” Mark replied.

“I don’t understand.”

“According to the intelligence we got, Hutton Ryker was going to take over after the death of the President which is why we made it look like he was dead.”

“Wait,” Steve found it slightly difficult to process Mark’s words. “What are you talking about?”

“The President is alive, Steve. He wasn’t in that safehouse.”

“What?”

“That’s right, Steve. This is not the time to ask how, you’ll get to know that later,” Mark continued. “We had to make him dead to the public so that Hutton Ryker and the Red Wolves team could proceed with their plans. Unfortunately, something messed it up yesterday.”

“What’s that?”

“He found out that the President is alive. That’s why he isn’t here today,” Mark explained.

“F**k! How the heck did he find out?”

“Well, they had to save Maria’s life, and doing that gave us out. I’m sure Agent Michael is dead already,” Mark continued with his explanation. “I’m telling you all these now because I’m gonna carry you along henceforth.”

“Damn it, why the heck did we allow the Red Wolves leader to come in here yesterday and just leave?” Steve was furious.

“He was being set up, Steve. It was important to set him up to bring down the whole Red Wolves structure. Otherwise, we could have arrested him while someone outside that’s loyal to him continues to wreak havoc.”

Steve heaved a sigh of frustration.

Mark took a quick look at his wristwatch. “In the next thirty minutes, we’ll be having a video meeting with Carl Winston right here in my office. You need to be here with me.”

Steve nodded in understanding.

“Now, I have to go back to the men checking the footage from yesterday. I want to see every of his moves here yesterday,” Mark said as he got up and proceeded to the door.

Steve also got up and followed him. “Sir,” he called as Mark put his hand on the knob. “What about Evelyn?”

“She’s fine,” Mark replied. “She’s with Carl.”

“And the charges against her are dropped?” Steve’s brows gathered together.

“There were no charges against her,” Mark replied.

They returned to the room where Mark was before they left for the office. The agents were already looking for Mark.

“Sir, there are no files from 3:25 PM,” one of them said to Mark.

The Chairman squinted at the agent’s face, trying to figure out what his report meant.

“That means the cameras were turned off?” he squinted at the agent.

“Most likely sir.”

“Get me the team lead for the surveillance department right away.”

_

*** 28 Minutes Later

Mark returned to his office with Steve and quickly turned on his laptop. He turned the screen to the visitor’s side and got up from his chair to sit on the second chair beside Steve.

He waited a few minutes for the computer to finish booting and then opened the video call application. A few seconds later, Maria joined them in the office.

_____

“Is he connected now?” Henry asked Maxwell again.

“No,” Maxwell shook his head.

The whole team was sitting in the living room just like the day before. This time, Henry was sitting on a sofa instead.

“I think you need to call him again,” Henry turned to Dave who quickly took out the phone to dial Mark’s number.

“Ermm… I think he’s coming on now,” Maxwell announced before Dave’s call could connect. He typed in some commands on his device and then the video from Mark’s office appeared on the TV screen.

“Chairman Mark, why did you take so long?” Henry began right away.

“I’m sorry, I was busy sorting out something here,” Mark apologized. “Can we proceed now?”

“Hey, Steve,” Henry waved slightly Steve who was staring blankly like one who was in shock quickly waved back. “What’s the update there? Did he show up?”

“No, he didn’t. Just like you predicted, he wasn’t here. He must have realized that the President is alive. The Vice President is currently unreachable. Hutton Ryker took Chanda with him.”

“What? How the f*** did he leave with arrested on a terrorism crime scene?” Evelyn seemed rattled and couldn’t help but speak out.

Henry’s stare lingered on her face for a while before he faced the camera again. “She’s asking if he released him with due procedure,” he interpreted to Mark. Henry was the only one with the Mic, so those at the other end could not hear what any other person said clearly.

“I believe he started suspecting since yesterday and he knew that he would possibly not return here today,” Mark explained. “I must agree that I made the error of misjudging this situation. I didn’t know he was going to act so quickly.”

“No, you didn’t misjudge it. You calculated that he was going to return there today,” Henry replied. “Now, we have to look forward. Right now…”

“There’s something else, Carl,” Mark interrupted him.

“What’s that?”

“I’ve been trying to check all his activities from the surveillance cameras. But we can’t find footage from 3:25 PM yesterday.”

“Oh, sh*t!” Henry cursed under his breath. He adjusted himself to the edge of the seat. “He’s doing exactly what I thought. You’re right about him being suspicious from yesterday and he’s certainly going to fight back.”

“What do you think he’s gonna do now?” Mark questioned.

“He will try to continue with the takeover plans,” Henry replied.

There was silence for a while.

“But that has fu***ng failed,” Dave cursed.

“Yeah, his real plans failed. But he’s still going to keep on trying.”

“Carl, as long as the President is alive. He knows there’s no way he’s going to get back here,” Mark put in.

Henry was quiet for a while. “We’ve driven Hutton to the wall now, guys. He’s frustrated right now and he’s gonna be desperate to make his plans work still. Don’t you guys think the President can lose his powers while still being alive?”

“By impeachment?” Samantha questioned.

“Exactly, Sam. Impeachment is the most likely situation.”

“So, what are they going to do to impeach him now? What do they have against him?” Jennifer asked.

Henry turned to her. “There’s a lot of things they can create against him even if he hasn’t done anything wrong.”

There was another long silence.

“Damn it!” Mark suddenly got it. “I think I know why he turned off the cameras yesterday. He’s gonna attack the FOX building.”

Paul Edwards got up from his seat to sit beside Henry. “He’s not just going to attack the FOX, Mark. After he takes down the FOX, he’s gonna attack every other important organization that’s connected to the country’s economy. That’s the way he can take the President out alive and also regain authority in the FOX.”

_____

Bexford, Bethanna

“Why are you doing all these, Hutton?” Kahn asked as he wheeled himself behind Hutton into the living room. Chanda was following behind them. They had just finished a meeting with some of their men.

Hutton got to the center of the living room and turned to his friend. “Carl Winston and his men are currently somewhere, calculating what next our moves are. They know we’re never going to give up on getting that power and they’ll know where we’re attacking.”

“Yes, so why are you still doing all these? Not all the attacks will turn right for us.”

“Yes, the purpose is not for the attacks to work. The attacks on those organizations are just to distract them from the real attack.”

 

To be continued