Restless – Episode 263

Restless – Episode 263

®18+ SNVL

© Oluwatosin Emmanuel Oyinloye

UNEDITED

12:30 AM

Henry was laying in the reclined chair quietly, with his head resting comfortably on the headrest and his eyes shut. He felt someone take the seat beside him but did not bother to open his eyes. A few seconds after, he heard the reclining sound of the chair.

“Couldn’t sleep?” a voice finally sounded. It was Rex.

Henry still kept his eyes, wondering if Rex was sure he wasn’t asleep or if he only guessed.

“You didn’t move when I sat beside you, so I know you can hear me, Carl,” Rex added.

Henry thought about Rex’s words and took in a deep breath. If it were someone else, his pretence would have worked but not for his friend. Rex knew he wasn’t a deep sleeper, so there was no way someone would have sat beside him and reclined the chair without him moving. But he had stayed still in a bid to pretend he was asleep but it didn’t work for Rex.

“Why aren’t you sleeping too?” Henry asked, still keeping his eyes shut.

“I slept a little. I just got up to check around,” Rex replied.

“Have you been here to check me before?” Henry asked.

“No, I avoided stopping here. I was hoping you’ll get some sleep and you might want to talk if I stopped,” Rex explained.

“So, what changed?”

“It’s been more than ninety minutes and you’ve not slept yet. I think you might need some help.”

Henry opened his eyes to see Rex holding up a bottle of pills.

“Naah, I don’t think I need that now,” Henry sighed and laid back his head.

“It’s going to help you sleep…”

“I know what it is,” Henry cut in. “But it’s too late now, I can’t sleep anymore.”

“We’re not rushing to do anything by morning, are we?” Rex questioned.

“We’re not, but we’re going to be stepping out of this plane in less than 2 hours. I won’t want to cut my sleep off.”

“You won’t have to.”

Henry looked at Rex and chuckled. “No, Rex. You won’t take me out of this aircraft like a sick man.”

Rex finally gave up and returned the pills to his pocket. “I should have given you earlier.”

There was silence there for a while. Both of them shut their eyes and enjoyed the silence while taking slow deep breaths.

“When are you going to tell me what you need to tell me?” Henry broke the silence.

“Which one do you want to know first?”

Henry took in a deep breath and tightened his closed eyes. He hadn’t thought about what he would like to hear first. He wasn’t even sure he was ready for the truth yet. A part of him just wanted to move on like nothing happened with his wife and child or take it like she died long ago and he never went to rescue her in Nigeria.

“Maybe you should start with what happened in the United Kingdom,” he finally spoke a few seconds after. “How did Doctor Alan and Simon Perry die? And how did you get away?”

His mind immediately flashed back to that call he received on July 25 from a certain Lieutenant Mary, reporting the death of Simon Perry and Doctor Alan. He remembered clearly that the woman mentioned that the fourth man – Rex – who had escaped was the prime suspect of the murders.

Rex shut his eyes and took in a deep breath as he tried to recall everything that happened in the United Kingdom. The nurse stabbing him with the syringe multiple times flashed in his mind again and gnarled remembering the pain he felt that day.

“Simon Perry messed us up,” he stated first and cleared his throat to continue. “He tried to follow all of your instructions but couldn’t keep one. He compromised us by communicating with someone in Bethanna.”

“What the f***!” Henry’s eyes popped open and he stared at Rex in unbelief. “Simon was a f**king excellent FOX agent. Not communicating with someone for safety reasons is the simplest of the instructions he had.”

“Yeah, it looks like the simplest of the instructions, but it’s not that simple when the person he had to communicate with was a woman he loved.”

“Oh, shi*t!” Henry cursed under his breath.

“I noticed this after the surgery, even before,” Rex continued. “He was usually with his phone, chatting and sometimes laughing. Whenever my eyes met with his, he tried to hide it from me but I sensed something fishy. I couldn’t confirm though until later when I gained access to his device one day. But when I began to sense he was communicating with someone, I knew he was going to put us in danger. I made up my mind I was going to them know how much I was progressing with the treatment. So when I began to talk, they didn’t know until several weeks after. Even when strength returned to my legs, I made sure they did not suspect that too. I made them see progress in my health, but they didn’t know I had made progress beyond their expectation.”

“I guess the Red Wolves found out your location through his communication,” Henry put in.

“You guessed right,” Rex confirmed. “They got our location and began to make moves immediately.”

“Sh*t! That dude was a real motherf^^ker!” Henry was pissed.

“Yeah, but he was a motherf**ker in love,” Rex remarked.

“For real?” Henry stared at Rex, wondering why his tone was justifying Simon’s reaction. “He did not only put all of us in danger. He also put the woman he loved in danger. Hope nothing happened to her.

“Naah,” Rex shook his head. “Nothing much happened to her that therapy cannot get rid of. She’s alive and well.”

“She’s lucky her dumb boyfriend didn’t get her killed.”

“You know, Simon tried to be as careful as he could in his communication. But he wasn’t wise enough not to fall into Hutton Ryker’s tricks.”

“He was dumb, man. The wise thing he could have done was to cut off communication completely while he was on that mission,” Henry argued.

“His relationship was more complicated than that, Carl. He was not just trying to keep in touch with his woman. He was desperate to keep her from leaving him. That’s why he had to keep in touch.”

Henry sighed and shook his head. Then he laid back in the chair again. “It really could be a curse for someone like us to fall in love. We either watch love ruin us or watch everything we love being destroyed because of us. For me, I think it was a curse.”

“Immediately Hutton got our location, he made moves to eliminate all of us,” Rex continued with his story. “I could have been dead too but I was alert. I suspected immediately the nurse was changed.”

“They changed your nurse?”

“Yes, a new nurse suddenly arrived one morning, claiming the hospital had to transfer the former nurse to an emergency service area. I knew at once that it wasn’t just a transfer, but I still had to be sure. It was then I gained access to Simon’s device and noticed all that he had been doing. Unfortunately for us, he did not realise when his woman wasn’t chatting on her own anymore. The Red Wolves had gotten to the woman, she was sending him seemingly harmless links, asking him to write love notes to her on some online pages. He must have installed a location bug through one of those links. I made calculations and checked the timings. The changing of the nurse just matched it. So I was sure she was sent in.”

“So, what happened?” Henry questioned after Rex went silent for a while.

“I wasn’t too sure of what to do. I couldn’t walk well enough yet because I lacked practice and exercise due to my pretence. They all still thought I needed the wheelchair at that time. The Red Wolves struck immediately, even before I could finish thinking of what to do. I believe Hutton must have thought I could suspect something was wrong and he ordered them to strike quickly. On that day, I was scheduled for physical exercises. But from the nurse’s conversation on phone, I could tell that they were taking us out for something else. They were probably going to ki*ll me first and try to get information from Doctor Alan and Simon Perry. So I requested to use the toilet before we leave the apartment. Simon Perry got into the toilet with me to assist me and I told him about my suspicions. He didn’t believe but I asked him to check his phone for the location bug. He left me in the toilet to check his phone. I think he confirmed I was right.”

Rex paused and chuckled. “That nurse was a motherf**ker. Simon must have tried to confront her after confirming my suspicions…”

FLASHBACK

— July 25 –

Location: London

“We’re running out of time, Mr Simon,” the Nurse walked up to Simon Perry who looked immersed in his phone.

He raised his face and stared at her thinly. “Do we really have to go today?”

The nurse squinted at him. “What do you mean? He should miss the exercises if he wants a better chance of walking on his legs soon.”

“Well… I need to make some calls. Maybe you should give me some time…”

“Huh?” the nurse gasped. “We’re late already. You know he’s not the only patient scheduled for the exercise today.”

“I know, ma’am. Just give me a minute, I need to speak with someone,” Simon Perry insisted and walked away. He entered a different room, leaving the door slightly ajar. He walked towards the window at the end of the room.

He quickly searched out the hospital contact on his phone and attempted to dial it but stopped. He had spoken with them before and they confirmed the change of nurse. He decided to call Henry instead but noticed the nurse at the entrance again.

“We have to leave now,” the nurse walked in. “The vehicle outside needs to drop us off and go for other assignments.”

Simon Perry locked his phone and proceeded toward her slowly. “How come I’ve never seen you in the hospital before the other nurse was transferred?”

She narrowed her gaze on his face, realizing he had become suspicious.  “You never saw me, but I did see you guys many times. I…”

“Or maybe you were never there…” Simon Perry cut in.

They stared intently into each other’s eyes now. She knew there was nothing she could say to make him believe her at that moment. The look in his eyes was fiery. He was going to attack her and she was ready.

“Who the f**k are you?” Simon Perry yelled and grabbed her by the neck, pushing her to the wall.

The woman responded instantly with a kick to Simon’s groin and followed with a punch to his chin, evoking a yell from the man.

Simon staggered back a bit. The pain spread from his groin throughout his whole body. He was unprepared for that. The next thing he saw was her taking out a pocket knife from inside her trouser.

“So, this sh*t is serious,” he made a devilish grin.

“Maybe more serious than you think it is,” she retorted before surging forward with the knife.

He dodged her first two attempted stabs easily and followed with a stomach in her belly, causing her to stagger backwards. She surged towards him again and directed the knife to his face but he dodged and grabbed her by the wrist. She attempted to throw a punch with her left hand and he grabbed her there too.

Before he could think of what next to do, she spat in his face, making him unbalanced for a moment. He managed to hold on to her hands but she followed with a headbutt instead, making him fall back as he released her left hand. She followed with a knee kick to his belly and he let go of her right hand.

She charged forward with a knife again but he was quick to recover, grabbing her by the waist and slamming her to the ground. Both fell heavily on the floor and the knife dropped from her hand. He got over her and punched her face thrice before stopping.

“Who the f**k sent you here?” He looked into her face fiercely.

She let out a cocky smile instead, unintimidated by her threats. “You’re a fool man…”

At that moment, Doctor Alan walked into the room after being attracted by the noise.

“What is happening here?”

Simon tried not to get distracted and did not even look at the man. The nurse turned her face towards him.

“He found out about us, Doctor Alan. He knows now,” the nurse said with a cocky smile.

Simon Perry squinted and then turned his face slowly to the doctor. That moment was his undoing. Before he turned his face back to the nurse, she had taken out another knife from her front pocket.

He didn’t see it coming and there was nothing he could do to stop the knife from digging into his throat. His eyes widened in shock as blood gushed down from his neck, draining out energy from him instantly. He tried to attack her with the last of his strength but it was not even enough for him to lift his hand. He fell weakly on top of the nurse and she pushed his body away immediately.

The doctor was terrified by the sight and quickly let out a scream, rushing back towards the room where Rex was. The woman wiped off the blood on her face and picked up her second knife before following the doctor.

“Morris!” the doctor called as he got into the room. He looked around and didn’t see any trace of Rex. He wasn’t there when Rex requested to be taken to the toilet. His mind never suggested that Rex could be in the toilet because of where he saw Simon Perry at. Simon was always close to the toilet whenever Rex was in there.

The doctor quickly turned to rush out of the room but got into the hands of the nurse. He picked up a flower vase at the corner and tried to attack the woman with it but she was able to shove it aside easily.

__

Rex was in the bathroom waiting for Simon Perry to return when he heard the doctor calling him. From the tone, he could tell that something was wrong. He quickly got back into the wheelchair and wheeled himself out of the toilet. Unfortunately, the doctor had stepped out already.

The next thing he heard was the sound of the flower vase crashing to the floor. Then, he released there was indeed trouble. He wheeled himself towards the bed, looking for something he could use as a weapon but there was none.

The door flung open seconds after and the nurse walked in. Her blue uniform was filled with blood.

“Sorry, man. Your time is up earlier than expected,” she charged toward him with a knife in her hand.

There was no weapon around for Rex to defend himself, so he quickly grabbed a pillow. She was already so close to him when he surged towards her himself and made her stab the pillow instead.

He pushed her to the wall and followed with heavy punches to her belly, sending excruciating pain through her ribs. The nurse was extremely shocked to discover Rex could walk already. Not only could he walk, but could also punch her as hard as he did. But her discovery was too late.

 

PRESENT

“So, a woman killed Doctor Alan and Simon?” Henry interrupted the story.

“She wasn’t just a woman,” Rex replied. “She seemed like a highly trained professional. I found it difficult to take her down too. I was lucky to get away with a few needle stabs.”

“What happened after you killed her?”

“I got out of the room and saw Doctor Alan’s lifeless body with a knife in his heart.”

Henry gasped and shut his eyes. He couldn’t imagine the scene.

FLASHBACK

Rex dragged himself out of the room after winning the fight with the nurse. Blood was dripping from his chest and arm. She had stabbed him four times, but he was lucky it wasn’t with a knife but a syringe.

His eyes fell on the dead doctor and he dropped to his knees weakly. He exhaled deeply as he stared at the knife in the man’s heart. Before getting up, he closed the opened eyes of the dead body.

“Simon,” he called in a weak tone as he trudged forward. He called the name the second time before realization hit him.

There was no way the nurse would have attacked Doctor Alan if Simon Perry was still alive. He looked around and noticed the open door of one of the rooms. He proceeded towards there and confirmed Simon Perry’s death.

“Damn!” he cursed in his heart as he stepped out of the room. He wasn’t sure of where to go next or how to move.

After thinking for a moment, he turned back and dragged himself to the room where the dead nurse was. He searched her body and the only thing he found on her was a phone.

He unlocked the phone and checked the call register. There was only one number on the records. She had made several calls to the number within the last three days.

He dialled the number and put the phone close to his ear.

“Hello…”

It was the voice Rex expected. It was Hutton Ryker.

“F**k you, Ryker,” Rex cursed angrily in a gruff shaky voice.

“Who is this?”

“Rex, Rex Morris.”

“Rex Morris, I’ve been expecting to hear from you for a long time… Oh! Scratch that. I wasn’t really expecting that you’ll call me. I was expecting to hear the news of your death. But as it seems, you’re not dead yet.”

“I promise you this, Hutton, I’m not gonna die until you’re dead first.”

Hutton laughed from the other end. “I’m gonna call the cops now. You should bother about getting out of there alive first,” he said and hung up immediately.

Rex took in a deep breath and sat on the chair for a while. He wondered how he was going to get out safely. He had been exercising secretly alone but that didn’t help to get his legs strong enough. He had to come up with a good plan to escape the police.

___

Bexford, Bethanna

“How the f**k is Rex still alive?” Kahn asked immediately Hutton dropped the phone.

Everyone at the table had an idea of his phone conversation.

“Apparently, he’s not dead yet,” Hutton replied and looked towards Daysman. “Get me on call with Florence Brown.”

Daysman took out a phone immediately and dialled Florence’s number. He handed it over to Hutton immediately it began to ring.

“Hello,” Florence answered from the other end.

“It’s Hutton Ryker. Your friend didn’t complete the job.”

Florence was quiet for a while. “Maybe you missed some important part of the details. Did her target escape?”

“No, the target called me with her number. That means he killed her.”

“I thought you said the target was confined to a wheelchair. Vera is never going to be brought down so easily.”

“I’m not blaming you or her for failing, Florence. The target deceived all of us. Apparently, he had gotten stronger after his surgery.”

Florence sighed. “So, what’s next?”

“He’s gonna be trying to make his way back to Bexford. I’m going to try to stop him with my men there but he may succeed. But I think I know what his moves are going to be when he arrives at Bexford.”

“So you want us to take him out when he comes?”

“No, I think we could use him to our advantage. I need to meet with you.”

To be continued.

NB: We should have had a proper flashback of what happened in the United Kingdom. I decided not to write that for many reasons, which include the need not to prolong the story.