RESTLESS
Restless-Episode 24(OdioIs Caught)
Story By
Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel
Time: 08:05AM
Location: Bexford Sea, Bethanna.
Location: Bexford Sea, Bethanna.
With the walking aid firmly held in his hands, Henry advanced towards his destination on the sandy land of the area. He was dressed the same way he dressed the day before, in his pull over and the same pair of jean trousers and shoes. He however had the pull over covering his head this time and a dark sunshades added to cover his eyes.
He also attached a beard to his chin to make his looks a bit different from how he really looked.
He attracted the attention of few men working around the area. It looked strange to see a man dressed in a pull over when it wasn’t rainy or cold. The dark sunshades on his face was understandable because of the brightness of the sunlight. After staring at him briefly and noticing the way he walked with difficulty, most of them dismissed their thoughts of him being strange and felt more of pity for him as a sick person.
Henry continued without giving any attention to those around. He soon got to see his destination afar off. It was a large busy building owned by the sea corporation which carried out several activities to support the sea operations.
Henry spotted a mini van coming in his direction from the place of his destination. He began to wave to stop the vehicle before it could get to him.
The driver noticed him and stopped right beside him.
“What can I do for you?” the driver asked, poking his head out of the car through the window. He seemed to be in a hurry.
“I’m sorry to bother you sir,” Henry spoke as he moved closer to the driver’s side. “I wanted to find out if your van still has some space. I have some goods I’ll like to retrieve from the sea office and the driver I contacted earlier is not showing up . I was thinking you could help me transport the goods to town.”
“Are your goods much? I already have some few things in my van,” the driver replied. He seemed not to be in a hurry anymore since he was now talking business.
“My goods aren’t much, it would not take up to quarter of the space in your van,” Henry replied.
“That’s fair enough,” the driver replied. He took a quick glance at his wristwatch. “Where exactly in town are you planning to transport them to?”
“Newland Estate Gate,” Henry replied
The driver raised his brows for a moment, calculating how long it will take him to drive to the place.
“What kind of goods are you moving? I hope they aren’t illegal.”
“No, just electronics. A small refrigerator in particular.”
“Okay, you can come in. I’ll take you to your location for fifty Bethanna Dollars.”
“That’s okay,” Henry replied satisfactorily before turning to the other side to join the driver at the front seat.
The mini van made Henry’s entrance into the place a lot easier by helping him escape the questions that would have been asked by the security officials.
The large building was busy as usual. It consisted of offices and store rooms for good brought in over the sea yet to be claimed by the receivers.
There was no gate or brick fence surrounding the building but it had pegs and some ropes setting the boundaries and making it separate from other facilities on the sea.
“How long do I wait here for you?” the driver asked Henry as he parked the van at a corner.
“Thirty to forty five minutes,” Henry replied and opened the door to step outside.
“What? Forty five minutes?” the driver shone his eyes in surprise. “I thought you said what you wanted to transport is small.”
“Yes, but I also need to do some thing else inside. You don’t need to bother about the extra time, pay you an additional twenty dollars. Just wait for me no matter what,” Henry said, leaving the door ajar.
The driver hesitated for a moment before he nodded to signify his approval.
Henry proceeded into the building. He had never been in it before. The first place he stepped into was a very large hall with it’s whole area close to a plot. Several groups of goods were arranged at different spaces, based on the types, locations they were sent from and some other factors. There was a reception at the right hand side close to the entrance where about three men were sitting, the main receptionist was sitting at the centre of the table while the other two were just seated around the table without getting so close. Their eyes landed on Henry immediately he walked in.
They unconsciously scrutinized him in their minds as they saw him approaching. They wondered what he was there for and concluded in their minds that the poor man had a parcel to collect.
“Good afternoon sir, what can I do for you?” the man at the center of the table asked.
“I’ll like to see someone, your manager, Mister Odio.” Henry replied.
The receptionist rested his back against the chair and stared at Henry as if he didn’t know what he was talking about.
He used his fingers to massage his lips gently for a moment. “What do you really want?”
“I just told you, I want to see Mister Odio.”
“Sorry, if you can’t tell me what you need to see him for, I’ll have no choice than to ask you to leave.” the man said in a dismissing tone and looked away like Henry did not matter.
“Please, I need to see Odio.” Henry insisted.
The man took out his phone and began to use it, completely ignoring Henry.
Henry moved closer to the table and banged his fist on the table. “I need to see Odio now,” he said in a desperate tone.
The three men stared at him angrily. The receptionist quickly sat up and leaned forward.
“What the hell is wrong with you? If you don’t get out of here now, I would have to order for you to be thrown out.”
“Get me Odio before I change my mind,” Henry fired back. His fist clenched and resting on the table as he stared into the eyes of the man in front of him.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” One of the men sitting close by was the first to get up to challenge Henry.
He made a move to grab Henry by the shoulder but Henry held him by the wrist easily and broke it sharply as he bent it past the limit, shocking the other two men watching them. He pulled the man closer and landed a blow to his chest before he released his hand. He sent him crashing to the ground with a kick.
Henry turned quickly to dodge the blow of the second man. He sent a uppercut into the man’s belly and quickly grabbed him at the neck from behind and slammed his face into the table in front.
He jumped on the table and landed the soles of his feet on the chest of the receptionist sitting behind the table, he was already trying to take something out of his drawer. The receptionist crashed to the ground with his chair while Henry landed with his bum on the table, suspending his feet above the ground. He stepped down gently and turned to check the drawer pulled out by the man. He took out the revolver in it.
He grabbed the fist of another man trying to hit him from behind, he punched him hard in the belly and then caught a grip of his neck and twisted it. The neck made a crack sound and Henry left the man to fall with a broken neck. He turned again and held up the man whose face he had slammed to the wall. He pulled him up and twisted his hand to the back, until it made a breaking sound.
“Would you take me now to Odio?” He said as he turned and pointed gun at the receptionist who was still on the ground.
“Yes yes,” the receptionist nodded in fright. He had seen how Henry dealt with the three others and did want to leave with a part of his own body broken or dislocated.
Henry pulled him up and held him by the belt behind. “Move now,” he said as he placed the mouth of the gun at the back of the man’s end.
Other men working around the place were already gathered as they had been attracted by the noise. About six men were blocking the way as Henry approached with the receptionist but they moved aside quickly after the receptionist signaled them.
At the left side of the hall’s end was a passage to another part of the building. Henry was led through the passage past three other rooms. The receptionist stopped at the fourth door
“This is his office,” he said to Henry.
Henry looked left and right quickly, he saw three of the men they had left in the hall now at the entrance of the passage, staring at him keenly.
Swiftly, he turned the knob of the door and barged into the office to catch Odio busy with a lady in hot romance. She was sitting on his laps, facing him. Her top was off but her bra was still on, even though it had been unbuckled from behind.
They were startled by the opening of the door and stopped their activity for a moment. Odio stared at the door in anger, he wondered which of those working under him had the temerity to barge into office without permission. It had never happened with anyone, not even his wife could do so. He was surprised when he saw his receptionist being pushed in.
Seeing what was at the door, the lady quietly moved from Odio’s laps and bent down to pick the shirt she had taken off.
Henry needed no one to confirm to him that he had seen the person he needed to see. Even if he had missed the directions given to him by Mark and was with the wrong person, the person sitting in the chair behind the table was a perfect catch. Henry had recognized his face at once, from the Turin Province. He was one of the gunmen at the restaurant.
With a swift movement, Henry closed the door behind and slammed the receptionist’s head into the wall, making the receptionist drop to the floor unconscious.
“Damn it!” Odio was thrown into panic on seeing what Henry had just done to his receptionist. He opened his drawer quickly to take out this gun.
“Stop! Stop that, or I send this bullet straight into your head,” Henry threatened.
Odio stopped and slowly put this hands up in the air. He stared at Henry’s face, wondering who he was. The dark sunshades and pull over made Henry unrecognizable to him.
The girl beside Odio got up and stared at the huge man threatening her concubine with the gun. She thought of trying to leave but she remembered that Odio had asked her to stay on two other previous similar occasions. She took a quick glance at his face in order to question him but he had a kind of reassuring look as always, one that made her feel he was in control of the situation as usual.
“Who are you and what do you want Dude?” Odio asked, trying to keep himself calm. He was baffled as to how the intruder had gained access to his office without him receiving any prior warning from the other men outside but as his custom was, he feigned a bold demeanor, he wasn’t someone that loved to show his weakness or fears especially when one of his women was with him.
Henry moved closer slowly. He stopped at distance of one metre to the table. He took the pull over off his head first and stood motionless for a moment, the gun in his hand still pointed at Odio.
Odio squinted at the man’s face, he still couldn’t tell who it was even though the face now looked familiar with the hood taken off.
After about a minute of staring without speaking, Henry slowly took off his dark sunshades.
For a moment, Odio could not still tell who it was. The removed glasses only confirmed that he had seen this person before. Henry then detached the beard and then like a flash, it rushed into in Odio’s memory and he realized that who was standing in front of him was Agent Carl Winston of the FOX.
He widened his eyes and mouth in great horror as he whispered, “Agent Carl Winston.”
He began to tremble unconsciously and he did not know when he held on to the arm of the lady beside him for support. She stared back at Odio in surprise and saw his great fright, she knew at once that Odio wasn’t in control this time around.
She looked up to the intruder’s face again and felt a relief on seeing him gesturing for her to leave the room for them. She quickly picked her bag and scampered off towards the door.
Henry stopped her on the way and whispered. “You can’t remember my face, can you?” he asked with an evil smile.
She shook her head in fear.
“You would regret the day you remember my face,” he added and chuckled before letting her go.
He walked quickly to the table and turned to the back where Odio was sitting. Odio turned in his swivel to face him.
Henry placed the mouth of the gun on his chest. Odio only held his breath. He knew there was no point struggling or trying to fight. He knew that he was no match for this man physically.
“I want you to answer my questions quickly as I ask them,”Henry began. Odio nodded slowly in response. “Who sent you that night to the Turin Province?”
“Turin Province?” Odio replied in a shaky voice.
“Don’t lie to me, I saw you with them that night and you were pacing up and down like this boss.”
‘Yes,” Odio finally admitted. “I was with them, but I do not know who the order was from. We were gathered a night before that and they told us the plan for the attack.”
“Who gathered you guys?”
“Eddy,” Odio replied.
“Eddy?” Henry questioned. Odio nodded in affirmation. “Eddy what?”
“I don’t know, I only know him as Eddy.”
“What else do you know about him?”
“I know only very little about him.”
“How and where can I find him?”
“I…I don’t know,” Odio stammered.
Henry stared at his face for a moment, then a light evil smile disappeared from his face as soon as it formed, it was replaced by a dangerous look.
Odio was scared by the look and didn’t know what to expect. He did not quickly see Henry’s fist already being clenched. A heavy punch was dug into his belly the next second after he caught a glimpse of it.
He crashed with the chair to the floor heavily. It felt more than a punch, it felt as if he had been hit by a fast moving heavy vehicle. Pain surged through his whole body and was transmitted to every organ in his belly.
He opened his eyes but it felt so heavy to be kept open. He struggled and turned his back to the floor, facing the ceiling. He could see the stars and the clouds instead of the ceiling of the building. he closed his eyes again for a moment and opened it. His vision was still blurry, but this time he saw the Agent face over him.
Henry reached for his neck and grabbed his collar. He pulled him up with one hand and the chair with the other. He made him sit back on the chair. Henry also rested his bum slightly on the table before he continued his interrogation.
“Don’t make things hard for yourself, tell me how to find Eddy now.”
Odio of course wasn’t ready to make things harder. He knew there was a possibility he wasn’t going to escape death with this man, but even if he was going to die, he preferred to have it the easy way instead of going through hard torture first. He had heard, seen and just tasted a bit of the brutality of this agent, he did not want to have another taste of it which might be disastrous.. Heecided not to hide information from the Agent any longer.
“You can find Eddy, here in Bexford.” He began slowly, panting heavily as he mentioned each word. “He owns the biggest night club with strippersin Bexford…”
“Club DDY?” Henry chipped in.
“Yes, club DDY, he owns it.”
“Is he always there?”
“No, but he never misses Friday nights.”
“Is it easy to gain access to him?”
“No, except you are his guest, no one gets to see him easily. His men are always around with him at the club every Friday.”
Henry nodded his head gently and muttered under his breath, “Friday…”
Henry stood after a moment of silence and pulled Odio up. He fixed the gun to his neck and pushed him towards the door. He covered his head again with the hood and his eyes with the dark goggles.
“Cooperate with me so I don’t hurt more of your men, I don’t want them coming after me” Henry whispered to Odio before opening the door.
Odio was willing to cooperate even before being told. He didn’t want to have a taste of the Agent’s anger again.
“Step back everyone,” he shouted as they stepped out to see his men already assembled at the passage with weapons.
They all stepped back and cleared the way at his instruction. The surprise on their faces could be seen, they had never seen or imagined their boss being held hostage.
“Boss…” A man appeared at their front as they were about to turn out of the hallway. He raised the gun in his hand quickly and pointed at Henry.
“Stop that Lucky, I’m leaving the premises with him. Please, make sure no one tries to come after us.”
“But boss…” Lucky tried to protest.
“Follow my instructions!” Odio shouted. “No one should follow us, and do not make a report to the police.”
Henry proceeded with the gun on his hostage’s neck slowly and carefully. Henry dragged him to the reception to pick his walking aid and then proceeded out of the hall.
“Don’t shoot,” Odio shouted to the security men who were standing outside with their guns. They had been alerted of what was going on inside.
Henry led Odio to the where the mini van was parked .
The driver was surprised to see what was going on. He had heard that something was happening in the hall but never thought it could be the man he brought in who was causing trouble.
“Get out of the vehicle,” Henry said to the shocked driver whose mouth was left agape. He held his hostage by the neck for a moment and pointed the gun at the driver who was acting reluctant to step out.
The driver stepped out quickly and Henry ordered for Odio to step into the car through the driver’s side and asked him to move to the other seat. Henry also stepped into the car after Odio was seated at the passengers’ side.
“I’ll leave your van somewhere you can easily pick it up,” Henry said to the driver before zooming out of the place.
Two Hours Later
Henry drove to the front of his lodge in a different vehicle with Odio tied blindfolded and gagged in the boot of the vehicle. He stepped out of the car after turning off the engine. He walked straight to the boot and pulled out Odio. He took out a knife and cut the ropes binding Odio’s legs together. He then led Odio into the lodge.
He pulled Odio to a seat after they stepped into the living room. He took out his gun and took off Odio’s blindfold. He sat on a plastic chair facing Odio.
Odio drew in a deep breath on seeing the some light again. His eyes hovered around the living room for a moment. He had no idea where he had been brought to.
His eyes settled on the Agent’s face after hovering around for a while. The Agent was staring at him expressionlessly.
So many things were going through Henry’s mind. He remembered clearly that he had read the news and it was said that every single person involved in the death of Agents Carl and Rex had been caught by the FOX and given death sentence after trial. He wondered how Odio was still alive and how Eddy, whom Odio claimed to have organized them could still be found at his nightclub on Fridays.
“Odio, tell me something. How was Agent Rex killed?”
Odio thought of coming up with a lie but he remembered the pain he felt few hours ago when he was punched in the belly. He wasn’t sure he could survive such again if the Agent punched him.
“I don’t really know, I did not go with the other group that day but it had to be the same way you were treated.” Odio replied.
“Which group did you go with?”
Odio shook uncomfortably in his seat. He was tempted to lie again but he knew it was dangerous especially if this man already knew the answer to the question he was asking.
“I was with the group that had you.”
Henry’s eyebrows gathered together and he raised up his head slightly as he stared at the window, trying to recall something.
He suddenly looked again at Odio’s face. “You were one of the men that held me while they took my wife and child into that house?”
The memories played back again. He could feel Odio’s filthy hand holding him back as he watched his wife and child being taken away.
Odio was silent and fidgeting seriously in his seat.
Henry felt like delivering the judgement of death on him at that moment but he managed to keep himself calm because he thought he would still need him. He took in a deep breath and continued with his questioning.
“So tell me how you got out of prison.”
“Prison?” Odio blinked.
“Yes,” Henry frowned at him.
“Ermm… We never went to prison.” Odio stammered.
Henry raised his brows. He looked away, trying to recall what he read in the news. “A week after Agents Carl and Rex were reportedly killed, the FOX claimed to have arrested everyone involved in their deaths. Months after, they were said to have received death judgement at the court.”
He stared at Odio’s face with a questioning look again.
“How did you escape that?”
“We never went to prison, we were replaced with some other prisoners.” Odio answered.
Henry frowned. How could that be possible when Agent Paul Edwards had confirmed himself that the men had been caught? But Odio in front of him was a living proof, Henry however still found it hard to believe.
“Tell me the whole truth.”
“I’m saying the truth,” Odio answered. “We had the backing of the FOX agency’s boss and he made the arrangement perfect for us.”
Henry eyes widened in shock on hearing those words from Odio. Could it be true that they really had the backing of the FOX Agency? That would mean that Agent Paul Edwards was a part of the terrorist group.
“But… But,” he got up from his seat and he ran his fingers through his hair. He turned again to Odio. “Some weeks ago, the Red Wolves attacked the families of top FOX agents. How would they have done that to the FOX if the FOX was working with them?”
“I can’t explain that,” Odio replied.
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