RESTLESS
Restless-Episode 45
Story By
Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel
20:42PM
Alexis Park, Bexford, Bethanna.
Alexis Park, Bexford, Bethanna.
Paul Edwards drove alone in his car into the Alexis indoor car park. It was night already but the well positioned halogen lights in the park provided enough brightness as day light.
The car park was almost empty. It was usually full at noon times when office workers and other car users had their cars to go to work. At that time of the night, the number of vehicles in the place was very scanty.
Paul Edwards drove into one of the parking spaces and turned off the engine. He took off the seatbelt and pulled out his phone quickly, he was about to dial a number when he got an incoming call.
“I’ve got my eyes on you,” the caller said in a slow voice. “I watched as you drove in, stay put and I’ll talk to you in few minutes time.”
“Don’t keep me waiting,” Paul replied in a confident tone, without any trace of fear or panic in his voice.
The caller ended the call without replying him.
Paul let out a sigh as he took the phone off his ear. He took out the car keys and opened the door quickly. He stepped out slowly, looking around the place carefully. He was sure that whoever invited him over to the place was already in there and was probably watching him from where he was.
He closed the door gently and slowly walked to the back of the car. His confidence and fearlessness was evident in his walking steps and the way he looked around.
He was a man of average heights and well built body, and even as he approached sixty years of age, he seemed to grow stronger with his age. He had been in the force for over thirty years, the first eight years spent in the Bethanna Military Service while the rest of the years working out the FOX corporation.
He stepped out totally from the parking space to the roadway and looked left and right. He stared again for a while at the right side before he advanced forward towards the opposite parking space. He had about three revolvers around his body and easily accessible to his fingers. And contrary to his agreement with the caller, he had informed the FOX team in charge of finding the boy about the planned meeting at the park and they were closeby listening through some devices placed on his body.
After a few minutes of pacing and looking around, he began to hear some sounds and he quickly looked towards the direction. He saw the gate of the park shutting down slowly. Some of the lights in the park began to go off, especially at the center where he stood. He raised his brows to see if there was anyone close to the gate but saw none, then he heard some sounds behind him again and quickly looked back.
He spotted the man coming out from behind a Mercedes bus at the far end right corner. He turned slowly and stared intently at the man. The man was dressed in all black with a leather jacket and had a car key which he rolled continuously in his hand.
Paul Edwards took in a long deep breath as he waited and watched the man coming towards him slowly. The man’s face was not very visible because of the position of the light behind him.
“Chairman Paul Edwards,” Cole said in a calm voice as he got closer to the man. He stopped directly opposite him when he was about four metres away from the man.
“Who are you?” Paul Edwards asked in a confident tone. “And where is the boy you took?”
“I thought your grandson died last year, why do you seek him again?”
Paul Edwards peered at him intently, being careful in choosing words to respond with. Even though he had ordered men check around before his arrival, he knew it was still possible that a transmitting or recording device was around and he decided to be careful in choosing his words so as not to implicate himself.
“We had an agreement before I came here, and that’s why I’m here, not to answer questions from you.”
“You want to see your grandson again? Then you’ve got to answer my questions.” Cole replied him .
“What do you want young man? Name your price and let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Good one Paul, what I want is a complete list of all top members of the Red Wolves and how I can locate them.”
Paul squinted at once and then looked around quickly to be sure no one was watching or listening. He took three steps forward closer to Cole.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You heard me right Paul, I want a list. A list of all the top members of the Wolves.” Cole maintained firmly.
“You’re talking trash, the FOX is yet to find out who the top members of the Red Wolves are.”
“The FOX may be yet to, but you know the Red Wolves already and you can tell us who the top members are.”
“Are you… Are you sick in the head or something?” Paul asked with a frowned face.
“No Agent, I’m fine. You are the one who needs now to decide between your grandson and your reputation or your allegiance to the Red Wolves. I know this makes you indeed feel sick in the head but you have no choice than to decide.”
“You’re mistaken man, I have nothing to do with the Red Wolves. I lead the FOX agency and we are determined to bring down every member of the Red Wolves as soon as we can.”
Cole let out an evil smile. He took a step closer to the man and stared him directly in the eyes. “I know you are hard and would not succumb but I’m here to let you know you should expect the worst in the next forty eight hours.”
“Who the hell do you think you are to threaten me?” Paul Edwards barked at him as he turned to leave.
“Oh!” Cole turned back, staring at the man with raised eyebrows. “I’m not me, I represent a body that’s seeks justice for the nation, we’re here to stop the terror you’ve agreed with the enemy to cause.”
Paul heaved a sigh of frustration as he watched Cole turned back again to leave.
“And you think you would leave here alive?” Paul asked.
Cole turned back partially and raised a part of his lips smiling mockingly. “Who will stop me from leaving?”
“The six agents, three hiding in the blue coloured car by the right and the three others outside the park?” Cole asked with a chuckle.
Paul Edwards chuckled back. He had expected whosoever he was going to meet to be also ready and detailed but he didn’t know what extent it will be to.
“And you think you can escape them all?” Paul asked in a mischievous voice.
“I don’t need to escape them,” Cole replied and flashed his whole set of teeth mischievously. He took some steps forward until he was a step away from Paul.
Paul observed his face well now. He had never seen him before and had no idea of who he was or where he came from.
“I’ll walk away without being stopped,” Cole said again pointing a finger to a small chip attached to his shoulder.
“Oh s***!” Paul cursed in his mind as he looked into the small video transmitting bug. Before coming to the park, he had ordered that the whole place be scrutinized and that the surveillance cameras should be made to stop working at eight pm. He was however glad that he had been careful in replying Cole’s questions.
“How is that going to save you from being arrested by the FOX tonight?” He asked with a confident tone and then watched as Cole began to unbutton the black jacket.
He unbuttoned it to the last and and then pulled apart both sides revealing what he had behind the jacket.
Paul raised his brows in shock.
“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what this is,” Cole said as he buttoned back up. “But for your information, it has a six kilometres impact energy.”
Cole turned back immediately and began to walk back to the place he came out from. Paul’s phone began to ring at the same time.
“You know what would happen if it gets detonated,” Cole continued in a louder voice as he walked away.
“What of the boy you took?” Paul shouted back at him.
Cole stopped again after hearing his question. He was already at the back of the Mercedez bus. Without saying anything, he continued walking and entered into the driver’s side of the bus.
Paul stayed and watched him get into the bus and kick on the engine. Cole drove the vehicle out of the parking space and proceeded towards the entrance in the same direction Paul was standing.
Paul moved slowly away from the road. His phone began to ring for the second time. The Mercedez bus stopped when it got beside Paul.
“Whenever you want your grandson back, you call me with news that you are ready to give me the list I requested of you.”
With that Cole drove out of the park and zoomed out of the Alexis facility.
Paul took out his phone and answered the call.
“Follow after him at a reasonable pace, but do not shoot, he’s putting on a bomb jacket. Ensure the jacket is taken off before any attack on him is attempted.” Paul said into the phone.
“Roger that sir,” the voice from the other end replied.
Paul ended the call and searched out another number to dial from the contact list.
“Where are you Steve?” he said into the mouthpiece of the phone. “Meet me at the roundabout after Alexis Park, I need to see you right away.”
He turned and walked quickly to his car. He got in and zoomed out of the car park, followed by a blue corolla.
_______________________
Twenty Five Minutes Later.
“We just confirmed that the white car is after you Cole, just drive into the hotel.” Cole heard Henry say to him through the earpiece plugged in his ears.
“Okay,” Cole replied and immediately turned on the indicator of the car.
He moved to the slow lane and reduced his speed drastically. He looked into the side mirror and caught a glimpse of the white car before he turned towards the gate of the hotel.
He looked outside towards the white car as he paused briefly at the gate to undergo the security check. He noticed the white car had also reduced it’s speed and was indicating.
“You can proceed.”
He heard one of the security men say to him and he looked forward immediately. The bar gate was raised for him and he drove through immediately. He turned the steering wheel in the direction he was pointed to and drove through the roadway to the car garage.
He looked into his side mirror and noticed that the white car had gotten in without spending half as much time as he did for the security check.
“I think these guys after me are members of the FOX,” Cole said into his mouthpiece as he stepped out of the car.
“Yes, they are. Their Identity cards got them in quicker,” He heard Henry’s voice replying him.
“Alright, I’m going in.” He said and closed the car door gently. He looked with his side eyes and noticed the white car already driving past him.
He proceeded calmly and unruffled to the entrance of the hotel building. He entered and walked straight to the reception, he displayed a card which showed his room number to the receptionist who stepped back and searched the drawer for some seconds. She finally took out a key and handed it to him.
“Welcome back sir,” she said with a smile as she watched him go.
“Thank you,” he answered and proceeded quickly towards the staircase. He noticed through his side eyes three men walk in through the entrance to the reception as he climbed the first step on the staircase. He continued quickly without acting like he had seen them.
“Good evening, I’m Agent Tam of the FOX.” a man smartly dressed in a black suit greeted the receptionist. He took out his ID card and displayed to the lady.
“Good evening sir, how may I help you?” the receptionist asked the man, her eyes scrutinizing the other two men who were behind the man on suit. The two others were putting on waist coats on their shirts instead of suit jackets.
“What room is that man headed for?” Agent Tam asked.
“Which man?” She squinted at him.
“The one who left here some seconds ago.”
“Room 10C,” the receptionist answered.
“How do I get to room 10C?” the man flanging Agent Tam by the right side asked.
The receptionist stared at Agent Tam’s face as if to ask for permission to answer the man.
“It’s on the third floor, and it’s the second to the last room by the right if you go through this stair case.” the receptionist answered, pointing to the stair case.
The man who asked the question looked around quickly, he spotted the entrance to the restaurant and a man in the hotel attendant’s uniform going in with a tray in his hands. He dashed in the direction immediately.
“Where’s your control room?” Agent Tam asked.
“The manager’s office?” the receptionist asked back absent-mindedly, her eyes still on the man who went in direction of the restaurant.
“Yes, your control room.” the Agent replied in a harsh voice.
“Ermm.. Sorry, I’m not authorized to give such information,” she stammered as she picked the landline on the desk. “I’ll call someone you can talk to.”
__________________
Cole looked back through the hallway as he approached the end of the hall. He stopped at the door where he saw the label “11D”. He looked left and right again before he turned the knob and pushed open the door. He stepped in quickly and locked the door behind him.
“One of the men would soon be on his way to room 10C,” Dave said to Cole as he entered.
Dave was sitting in front of the table, a laptop was in front of him where he watched the live stream from the reception and other parts of the building. Cole walked straight to the wardrobe and picked out a different set of clothes. He began by taking off his leather jacket and shoes at the same time. After that, he took off the attached beards and moustache. Then he quickly walked to the mirror with a napkin and carefully wiped off the makeup on his face.
__________________
“Agent Tam, I’m on the first floor now,” the agent said into a small device as he walked from the staircase into the hallway. He was now dressed in the restuarant’s uniform which he collected from the man he saw walking into the restaurant.
“Do you have Marvel backing you up?”
“Yes, he’s following at a slower pace.” Cole replied.
“Okay, that guy could be extremely dangerous, you have to be very careful.” Agent Tam replied. “We have backups on the way.”
“I would need feedbacks from you, are you close to the control room already?”
“I’m in the control block already and would soon be allowed to access the security cameras section.”
__________________
“Be careful,” Agent Tam said once again into his communicator before putting it into his pocket.
He was in a hallway with the head of security for the hotel and they were walking to the surveillance cameras room. He stopped after getting to the middle of the hallway. “What happened to all these rooms? Why does this place look scanty?”
The security head also stopped and stared at him. He shook his head gently and then looked around for a moment before checking the time on his phone. “Some of the workers have gone for dinner and the rest are probably busy in the offices. Can we please proceed to the surveillance room?”
Agent Tam looked around for one more second and then proceeded further with the security head.
They stopped when they got to the door of the surveillance room. The security head knocked and waited for a response.
Soon, they heard footsteps approaching the door, it stopped when it seemed the person had reached the door and was probably checking their faces from the peephole.
“Good evening sir,” they heard a female voice as the door opened. The person who opened the door stood behind the opened door, instead of being at the entrance.
The security head proceeded in first while Agent Tam followed after slowly.
“Where is Dennis?” The unsuspecting security man asked as he proceeded further without looking at the person who opened the door.
Agent Tam glanced at the face of the lady who opened the door and watched her as she closed it back and locked it.
“Where is Dennis?” Agent Tam asked again after looking around with no one answering him.
Close to the wall were about ten systems arranged on a long semicircle table, four men and one lady could be seen sitting in front of a computer each, all of them were sitting upright and had their hands stretched out in the keyboards but only one of them had his hands busy on the keyboard.
Agent Tam looked around and suspected at once that something was amiss with the way the people were sitting behind the system. The screensaver on the different systems apart from one were on and that showed a sign that they had not been used for a long time, the contradicting element was that all the men had their hands on the systems. He looked back again and stared at the face of the lady at the door.
Samantha stared back as she walked slowly towards them. The Agent turned back to look at the security head and hurriedly walked towards him.
The security head was already so close to them before he noticed that there was something wrong. He increased his steps forward and touched the man sitting in front of the middle system.
His eyes widened in shock as the man fell sideways after he was touched. He looked around quickly and noticed that all the people sitting except for the one whose fingers were active on the keyboard were all unconscious.
“What the hell is happening here?” The security head asked in an alarmed tone as he made to turn back. He glanced quickly at the active man again and noticed he wasn’t one of the workers in the hotel.
The both of them turned as they heard the cocking sounds of guns.
“Don’t make any stupid move men,” Samantha said to them, pointing guns from both hands at each of the men. Henry also pulled out his gun and rose from his seat.
EPISODE 46
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