Restless – Episode 272

Restless – Episode 272

® 18+ SNVL

© Oluwatosin Emmanuel Oyinloye

UNEDITED

“What the f**k happened there and why is Rex still alive?” Kahn yelled as Hutton joined him in the backseat.

“Let’s get out of here first, we ask questions later,” Hutton replied sternly.

“That bi*tch betrayed us, right? Damn it!” He cursed and clapped both hands together aggressively. “I f**king knew she was up to something when she claimed to have captured Rex and Carl easily. She f**king set us up. You should never have believed her.”

“Go ahead,” Hutton said to the driver who had already started the car engine, ignoring Kahn’s remarks.

The driver followed the first car, where Chanda was, after which another followed behind them.

Hutton kept his eyes on Carl and the rest as they drove out. He had just gotten one of his greatest defeats, which he never envisaged. All his plans were ruined and all that was left was to escape and survive. He was never going to be in charge of the country or the FOX like he’d dreamt of and planned for.

After they drove out of the place, he took out his phone and dialed President Jerry’s number. The phone rang for a few seconds and stopped. He tried for the second time and got the same response. Then he tucked the phone back into his inner jacket pocket.

“Where the f**k are we heading to now?” Kahn scoffed.

“The driver knows where to go already,” Hutton replied dryly.

“So, what’s gonna happen now that Florence Brown is on Carl Winston’s team? We go back and start plotting a way to defeat the three of them?”

“It’s over, Kahn.”

“What the f**k is over?” Kahn squinted at his face.

“Everything,” Hutton answered, without turning to look at him. “We’ve been defeated and there’s nothing left for us.”

Kahn couldn’t believe his ears. He drew in a deep breath to contain his anger as he stared at Hutton who looked very calm. Hutton spoke again before he could ask another question.

“What we need to do now is get out of Bethanna alive,” He added and finally turned to look at Kahn’s face. “We lost the FOX and we lost the country.”

“Sh*t! The f**king first time you decided to trust someone after all these years, they messed it up and brought down the whole mission,” Kahn cursed angrily. His body was trembling as he had yet to accept that they were defeated.

Hutton faced forward and squinted deeply for a moment. “There’s something about Florence Brown I must have missed.”

Kahn stared at him. “What’s it? Isn’t it clear that she was a double agent? Carl and Rex f**king sent her as a mole into our midst.”

“No,” Hutton disagreed as he closed his eyes briefly. “That’s not it. There’s something more. She wasn’t a mole. There is something else about her.”

“You think Carl and Rex convinced her to join them at the last minute?”

“Something like that, but she still didn’t look like she joined them.”

“What the heck are you saying? Has the situation affected your brain too?”

Hutton was silent for a moment, and then suddenly raised his head. “I think I judged her wrongly. I thought she was in for the money, but maybe she had a different goal.”

“You don’t think Carl and Rex offer her a larger amount?”

“No, she’s not the type that will flip for money. But I think the two of them offered her something bigger, something that meant more to her, something that could help her achieve her goal.”

“And what could that be?”

Hutton turned his head to Kahn slowly. “I don’t know.”

Kahn sighed. “You’re overthinking this thing, man. We checked and verified Florence Brown. She was just a good and intelligent thief that worked with the Cupe Bandits. What else could she want if not for money?”

“It wasn’t money,” Hutton insisted, shaking his head.

“Well, maybe she was more than a thief then,” Kahn remarked. He remained quiet for a few seconds and something popped into his mind. “Could she have been a secret agent from Anthanna, who has been searching for the best opportunity to nab us? If she was a secret agent, then her real info must have been hidden from us. That’s why we thought she was just a criminal.”

“She did too many dirty jobs for us to be a secret agent, she would have nabbed us earlier if she was. I put her through several tests to reveal if she was,” Hutton replied.

“What the hell could it be that you’re missing then?”

Hutton paused to think for a while, considering Kahn’s secret agent theory. He spoke again after a minute. “You might be almost right…”

“What do you mean by almost right? It’s either I’m right or not.”

“She might have worked as a secret agent in the past,” Hutton replied. “Maybe even a member of the FOX, but she’s no longer with them. She’s got a different goal. I saw it in her eyes. She wasn’t just someone that was converted to the good side, she’s desperate for something else.”

“So, we have to find out what she’s desperate for?”

“No, it doesn’t matter anymore. The deed is done. If we discovered that before she betrayed us, we could have avoided this. Now, we just gotta focus on escaping from the country.”

Kahn turned back to stare for a moment. “How come they let us go? If they really won, they would have captured us and put us behind bars.”

“They really won, Kahn. We’re out here only because I had a backup escape plan.”

“Does that mean you have another backup plan to take over again?”

“No,” Hutton huffed. “There’s no way we’re going to take over the country again, there’s no plan for that. I’m sure they must have gotten proof to show the world that I was the real enemy. The only plan we have now is to save our lives.”

“We’re just going to run out of the country and hide forever?”

Hutton nodded slowly in affirmation.

Kahn gasped in disbelief. “I know you, Hutton. You’re not someone to crawl away in defeat.”

“But we’ve got no choice here, man. We’ve got to crawl away to save our lives,” Hutton scoffed and then leaned his head against the headrest. “Maybe sometime, in the future, we’ll be back for them.”

______

FLASHBACK

Rex and Sheila sat quietly in the bus, with shackles around their wrists at the back making them uncomfortable. Rex looked at Sheila from time to time, hoping to give her a look of reassurance but she didn’t turn to him even for a second.

Her mind was greatly troubled as she could not stop thinking about what was going to happen to them. She also did not like the idea of exchanging Henry for her. For some reason, she had no trust in Florence’s words and believed that agreeing to Rex’s proposition could only be a ploy to capture Henry as well.

For the first few minutes of the journey, the men in front of them kept their eyes on them, watching their every move. The two of them were well-armed with pistols attached to their clothes and a long gun on their side each. Rex was conscious of their attention and had no problem with them staring as he stared back at the one in front of him.

The men soon got tired of staring and began to chat occasionally, with one taking out his phone. They were speaking in Spanish and discussing what they were going to use their payments for, oblivious that Rex understood their language.

After a few more minutes, the one closer to the door got up to look through the peephole. He was there for about thirty seconds before he returned to his seat. A bunch of handcuff keys dropped from his pocket in the process and he quickly picked it up before sitting again.

“Parece que algunos de nuestros hombres se han ido, solo puedo ver un vehículo detrás de nosotros,” he said to his friend.

“No los vamos a matar? No necesitamos muchos hombres para seguirnos,” the second guy replied.

“Por lo que escuché, hay un hombre que debemos capturar primero. Escuché a la mujer decir que vamos a cambiar a la niña por el hombre,” the first guy added.

“Lo que sea que queramos hacer, espero que lo hagamos rápido. No puedo esperar para conseguir el dinero. Hay unas perras muy sexys esperándome,” the second guy replied and his partner laughed at his response.

While the two of them were enjoying their conversation, Rex was trying to get Sheila’s attention. However, she made it difficult for him by not looking at him. He had to carefully move his feet closer to hers and nudge her gently. She finally looked at him and he began to give her signs with his eyes immediately.

First, he looked at his legs and then looked at the man sitting directly in front of her. He then looked towards his groin area and then his legs again. Sheila found it difficult to understand what he was trying to communicate and Rex had to wait for another opportunity when the men weren’t watching.

Her eyes widened in shock as she finally understood what he was saying. She shook her head to signal her disagreement. He frowned at her and nodded to insist.

“What the f**k are you two doing?” One of the men scowled. His Spanish accent was so thick even though he spoke in English.

Sheila looked forward quickly, pretending that nothing was happening.

“I’ll like to see your boss again,” Rex stated, knowing there was no need to pretend as if they weren’t discussing.

Sheila glanced at him, wondering what he was up to.

The man in front of Rex chuckled. “You don’t get to make demands here, man. Just shut the f**k up and stay quiet until the journey is over.”

“So, you’re not gonna let an innocent man get a fair hearing before he’s executed?” Rex asked again, observing the man’s body and everything around him.

“How the heck does it concern me if you’re innocent or not?” The man scoffed.

“You two will rather take money for our souls and sleep with bitc*es instead of doing the right thing?”

The men stared at each other in surprise after realizing that Rex understood Spanish and had been following their conversation.

“That’s exactly what we’re gonna do man,” he scoffed. “We gonna watch you get killed and the money on your fine b**tches here in Bethanna.”

“What if we’re the ones that ki*ll you instead?” Rex asked in a confident tone.

The guy raised his brows and then glanced at his partner.

“Are you…” he couldn’t complete his statement as the sole of Rex’s right foot stamped on his face, making him hit the back of his head against a sharp joint on the wall.

“Now, Sheila,” Rex yelled as he repeated the kick on the man’s face one more time and sat quickly on his lap to take out a pistol from the holster by the man’s side.

Sheila was too shocked to act even though Rex had explained to her earlier. She didn’t move until she saw that the second guy was trying to use his gun. Before he could go further, she got up and kicked him right in the groin as Rex instructed.

The guy squealed in pain but tried to manage it as a trained soldier. He still reached for the gun and attempted to point it toward Rex but Sheila kicked him together with the gun again.

Rex was able to get his guy’s pistol first and then shot a bullet into his lap, making it yell in pain. Luckily, a silencer was attached to the man’s pistol, muffling the sound of the gunshot.

The men at the front of the vehicle already noticed the scuffle going on at the back but weren’t sure what was happening. The driver asked the first question but got no answer.

Rex adjusted himself and fired another bullet into the man’s body, with his hands still restricted behind. The second bullet got into the guy’s belly, killing him instantly.

Noticing Sheila’s struggle with the other guy, Rex joined and kicked the man in the neck making him hit his head on the wall of the vehicle.

There was no way he could turn and sh00t at the man with his hands restrained behind him, without risking shooting at Sheila, so he followed up with another kick. His target was the man’s head to get him injured quickly.

After two more kicks to the man’s head, he kicked away the gun by the side and allowed the man to struggle to sit up again. Then he faced him and hit him hard below the knee with his jaw, before falling back to the seat behind as a result of the moving vehicle. He almost fell into Sheila but she was quick to move away.

Rex quickly gathered himself together and launched another kick at the man, this time hitting his chest. He sat back again and then struck with his feet to the man’s forehead, this time knocking him out.

“What the f**k is going on there?” the could hear one of the persons in the front seats of the vehicle yell.

Rex dropped the gun in his hand on the seat behind him and quickly got up to take the handcuff keys from the man’s pocket. He had to turn his back to the man so that his hand could reach the pocket.

“Come close, Sheila! Get the cuffs close to my hands,” He ordered as the vehicle screeched to a halt. He sat on the long seat with his back turned to her and she quickly turned hers to his.

The men are the front seats were yelling questions but got no answers.

There were three similar keys in the bunch, so it took Rex some struggling before he could uncuff her. They heard the sound of the front door opening at that moment. Sheila quickly picked up the keys and help uncuff Rex in a few seconds.

Rex was holding one of the long guns while Sheila was hiding by the time the men opened the back door. He sprayed them with bullets as soon as the doors opened.

— Happening at the same time —

“We should be getting to the base in forty minutes,” Xavier, the guy always beside Florence said to her.

“Yeah…” she answered almost inaudibly. Her face looked pale and she had her head leaning on the headrest with her eyes staring forward thinly.

Her mind was filled with thoughts of her late brother and how he died. She reconsidered all the things Rex said about him. How he accused him of moving weight and even more dangerous things.

Although it was difficult from the truth, it didn’t seem far from it. In the last text message she received from Lawrence before his death, he talked about being forced to move drugs for the company. Maybe Rex was right. Lawrence could have been moving weight, albeit innocently.

Could that be why he was killed? She thought. Maybe Carl and Rex thought he was part of the drug dealers and opened fire on him, along with the others. But even if that was the case, wasn’t it their duty to arrest people alive and give them the chance of getting to trial, instead of killing them instantly? And if they were going to ki*ll anyone instantly, it should have been those verified to be dangerous. Lawrence could have been an addict in the past, but he wasn’t dangerous to anyone as long as he was sober. The two of them were still responsible for his death.

“Are we expecting no fight from Carl?” Xavier broke into her thoughts.

“Of course, not,” she shook her head. “He’s gonna think of putting up a fight, but I’m sure he’ll put Sheila Jack’s safety first. That restricts him and gives us the edge.”

Xavier was going to ask another question when Florence’s phone began to ring. She paused and took it out. Hutton Ryker was calling again.

“Hey,” she answered.

“How close are you to Bexford?” Hutton asked.

“Very close, it could take us fifteen more minutes. You want us to meet you up somewhere?”

“No, I just need…”

Loud sounds of gunshots suddenly rented the air, making it impossible for Florence to continue with her call. She and Xavier turned back to look immediately. The vehicle directly looked okay, but the one after seemed far away.

All the different vehicles screeched to a halt, including the one Florence as in. She pulled out her guns from her sides immediately and stepped out of the car. Xavier also did the same on the other side.

Florence gasped in shock on seeing that the trouble was from the vehicle in which Rex was being transported in.

What the f**k was he thinking? She thought to herself. Was she hoping she would have second thoughts about running a bullet through his head now that he had given her every reason to?

_

Rex picked up the second long gun which he had placed at the entrance before stepping out of the vehicle. Then he glanced at Sheila to ensure she was hiding well before closing the door.  He knew he was on a suicide mission, but it wouldn’t make a difference if he sat still without making any move. The only thing he wanted to prevent was getting Sheila harmed or killed in the process. He positioned both guns in his hands carefully and leaned back against the wall of the vehicle.

After seven minutes of heavy gun war, Rex was able to survive with only a bullet scratch on his arm. However, four of the enemies were still alive and they had two of Tanko’s men as hostages.

“You have ten seconds to come out, you motherf**ker!” Thiago yelled. “If you don’t come out, both men will be dead.”

Rex peeped from where he was hiding behind the vehicle and saw both men kneeling on the ground, with Florence, Xavier, Thiago, and a fourth man all standing behind them.

“Are you okay, Sheila?” Rex whispered through the open passenger’s side at the front seat of the vehicle. “Sheila, are you hurt?” he asked again after not hearing her voice the first time.

“I’m fine,” she finally answered.

He heaved a sigh of relief. He had tried not to leave the vehicle at any point, to prevent anyone from coming closer and reaching Sheila. The vehicle was bullet resistant, so the bullets had been unable to penetrate.

“It’s ten seconds already man,” Thiago yelled and waited for a response. He fired a bullet into one of the men’s head when he got none.

Rex peeped to confirm it and he saw that only one of the men was still alive. He heaved a sigh of frustration. He knew that these men weren’t going to stop. All he needed now was the opportunity to get into the driver’s side of the vehicle and drive off. Unfortunately, with the way they were positioned, getting to the driver’s side will give them a clear shot at him.

“I’m giving you another ten seconds to step out, or the second guy is dying too. And you’re still going to be dead anyway. Remember, it’s four versus you alone.”

“8…7…6…5…”

“You’re gonna still ki*ll him even after I step out, ain’t you?” Rex yelled at them.

“We can let him leave and take you alone, motherf**ker! Someone’s gotta pay for the troubles you caused here tonight.”

“Then, why don’t you just come and get me instead?”

“You’re the one hiding behind the vehicle. Step out if you’re man enough to face us,” Thiago challenged him. “You have ten seconds to do so…”

“Rex,” Florence Brown joined. “I can’t promise that you’re gonna live but if you step out, I can promise that Sheila Jack will live as long as we get Carl Winston.”

“Why should I trust your words? You work with the Red Wolves, a criminal organization. You can’t be trusted.”

“You killed a f**king innocent man you were meant to protect as a soldier! You’re in no position to talk about trust,” Florence Brown slammed. There was silence for a moment. “That vehicle is resistant to bullet, but it can’t resist a blast, Rex. You have the opportunity to save Sheila now.”

“Your ten seconds are up,” Thiago said immediately after Florence and fired a bullet into the second man’s head.

“Now, we’ll go for Sheila Jack,” Florence stated immediately after.

Rex’s heart skipped a beat. He peeped and saw the two dead bodies on the floor. He gasped and closed his eyes and guilt overwhelmed him. But there was nothing he could have done, the men would have still been killed.

“You have fifteen seconds this time, Rex…”

“We didn’t ki*ll your brother, Florence,” Rex yelled. “He was killed by the men who used it.”

“Ten seconds…”

Rex peeped again and saw the four of them stepping back. Florence was taking something out of a bag.

“Jonah Chanda should be held for killing your brother, not us!” Rex shouted but they didn’t seem to be listening.

“Five seconds…”

“F**k!” He exclaimed under his breath and then yelled, “I surrender.”

He raised both guns in his hands for them to see from the other end.

“I surrender!” He yelled again and began to step out from behind the vehicle. “We could have saved your brother, Florence. But it was too late. He was killed by Jonah’s men.”

Florence and the three men stopped as they saw him stepping out from behind the bus with both guns raised.

“What you say, ma’am? Let’s gun down this motherf**ker right now,” Thiago glanced at Florence as soon as Rex exposed himself.

“I know where to get Jonah Chanda, Florence. He’s the one responsible for your brother’s death, not me. You’re fighting the wrong person and fighting the wrong battle,” Rex continued to shout.

“To hell with you, man!” Florence screamed and then pointed her gun at him. Suddenly, she turned and shot Thiago and the fourth man dead.

Xavier glanced at her in shock but still kept his gun pointed at Henry, trusting that she wasn’t going to sh00t him dead too, after working together for several years.

“What are you doing, Florence?” He asked as she proceeded towards Rex.

“Put your guns down, slowly,” Florence ordered Rex.

Rex heaved a sigh of relief as he went down slowly and dropped the guns, one after the other.

“Take out anything else you have with you,” she added, getting closer to him.

“There’s nothing else on me,” Rex replied, breathing heavily. His heart was beating so fast as he knew he was so close to death. She had gotten so close to him and would not miss if she decided to sh00t at that range. He hoped he had been able to convince her to listen to him. Otherwise, nothing was stopping his death anymore.

“How can I find Jonah Chanda?”

“He works with Hutton Ryker, Florence. Jonah Chanda isn’t even your real enemy, he was only carrying out the Red Wolves’ instruction. The Red Wolves organization is your enemy. Hutton and his organization took your brother from you.”

Florence looked pale for a moment. She lowered her gun weakly. Xavier was beside her, watching out, with his gun still pointed at Rex firmly.

“Hutton didn’t trick Lawrence to work for him,” Florence replied. “Jonah picked him from the rehabilitation center and tricked him with the promise of a better life. He killed my brother.”

“However you interpret it, Florence. We have the chance to take Hutton down together, and Jonah Chanda is going to go down with him.”

“Hutton Ryker is not going to go down easily,” Florence scoffed. “I’ve worked with him for a few months and I know how tough the bast*ard is.”

“I know he’s tough too, but if you help us, we can defeat Hutton Ryker and then you get justice for your brother.”

“What’s your plan to defeat him?” she asked.

“You may know some of his secrets. We need to expose who he is to the world. That way, we destroy his plans…”

“That ain’t gon work man. I’ve been with Hutton for months. If you wanna pull him down that way, you’re gonna pull me down too.”

Rex heaved a sigh. He realized that even though she wanted revenge, she wanted to live clean after that.

“We can find another way, Florence. You just have to let us work together, and we will defeat Hutton and Chanda.”

Florence scoffed and raised her gun at him again. Rex sighed resignedly. “The basta*rd is crazy. He’s one of the most intelligent men I’ve met in my life. He’s gonna notice from the minute we start working together. It doesn’t take him time to spot foul play.”

“Well, maybe you can continue to look like my enemy while we work together,” Rex proposed. She squinted at him. “You’ll send him proof that you killed me and Sheila. You have to do it the same way you’ll have done it if you really did. After that, we’ll go after Carl like you’re still an enemy, to keep the tension. I’m sure he’s gonna be watching all of your moves, so if you don’t keep it tensed, he’s gonna know.”

Florence nodded affirmatively.

“What about him?” Rex glanced at Xavier, who then looked at Florence for a response.

“He’s with me,” she replied.

PRESENT

Bexford, Bethanna

“Sir, you may have missed an important call,” one of the President’s assistants brought his phone to him after he stepped out of a meeting.

“I’ll see you later, Minister,” he dismissed the man he was talking to and took the phone from his assistant. He checked the missed call lists and saw that Hutton had tried to reach him twice, fifteen minutes ago.

A sigh escaped his lips. He knew Hutton was never going to call him on that number, except there was an emergency. He wondered what the emergency was.

He stepped aside to a corner where no one else was to dial Hutton’s number back.

“Hey! How’s it going?” he whispered into the phone, conscious of his environment.

“You need to run.”

“Huh?”

“It’s over, man. Get out of that place and get out of Bethanna as soon as you can. You’ll be declared wanted soon.”

“What? I don’t…”

The call ended before he could say anything else.

He widened his eyes in shock and looked around him. He proceeded towards the exit door and his aides ran after him quickly.

“We have to leave right now,” he said to them.

Unfortunately for him, there was a team of FOX agents led by Agent Maria waiting outside the place for him.

“Good day, President Jerry. The FOX will be taking over your personal security from this moment,” Agent Maria introduced herself.

“What?” the President countered. “What’s this supposed to mean?”

“It means we’re taking charge of your security sir. Your close aides will remain with you, but this team of FOX agents has to be everywhere you are as long as you remain President.”

To be continued