The Red Briefcase

©2018 CONTENTS PROLOGUE Page 3 CHAPTER 1 THE SEARCH Page 12 CHAPTER 2 THE CUFF Page 26 CHAPTER 3 DEATH PLOT Page 39 CHAPTER 4 UNCALCULATED SHOTS Page 51 CHAPTER 5 ON THE CHEST Page 62 CHAPTER 6 THE FIRST SECRET Page 75 CHAPTER 7 BEHIND BARS Page 89 CHAPTER 8 THE SILENT GUN Page 104 CHAPTER 9 THE POLICE UNIFORM Page 117 CHAPTER 10 THE SUD-AIRLINES TAKEOFF Page 128 CHAPTER 11 KENYA Page 139 CHAPTER 12 RE-UNION Page 151 CHAPTER 13 PEEP-HOLE Page 162 CHAPTER 14 LAST HOUR Page 175 CHAPTER 15 THE TRUCK Page 186 CHAPTER 16 THE PHONE MESSAGE Page 199 CHAPTER 17 THE SHORTLIST Page 212 CHAPTER 18 BLACK MASKS Page 222 CHAPTER 19 HELICOPTER LIFT Page 234 CHAPTER 20 THE GOVERNMENT LETTER Page 244 CHAPTER 21 TALK TO THE PRESIDENT Page 257 CHAPTER 22 HER EMAIL Page 268 CHAPTER 23 I WANT HIM DEAD Page 280 CHAPTER 24 THE SHOCK Page 291 CHAPTER 25 ARREST COMMAND Page 305 CHAPTER 26 INSIDE THE CENTRAL PRISON Page 319 CHAPTER 27 São Paulo BANK Page 332 CHAPTER 28 JOHNSON Page 344 CHAPTER 29 REFUSING ORDERS Page 356 CHAPTER 30 THE PRISON AMBULANCE Page 368 CHAPTER 31 HANDS UP! Page 380 CHAPTER 32 RESIGNATION Page 392 CHAPTER 33 THE RED BRIEFCASE Page 405 …..About the Author Page 445 THE RED BRIEFCASE…Prologue T he ambulance driver drove beyond the bounded speed needed in saving life. The cautious paramedics could not stop the changeless exceeding breath of Jessey, who had a dreadful heart attack. An oxygen mask was put over his face and an IV was inserted into his left arm while lying on a transport chair with severe pain and suffering. They continued examining his breathing as the ambulance danced on the bombed-out road tracks of Serrekunda heading to the major hospital in Banjul. Motor-vehicles and pedestrians made the road empty and wide open, giving justice to the ambulance. As time was running out fast, one of the paramedics on board made a phone call to the Banjul Hospital urging them to get set for an emergency treatment. Within thirty minutes, the ambulance arrived at the hospital, its blue and red lights flashing and its siren making the atmosphere more tensed. The paramedics and the vigorous nurses took Jessey out of the ambulance, placed him on a hospital bed and rushed him to the emergency room. “You’ve all done great exertion keeping the patient alive and bringing him on time,” said Dr. Fatty, a specialist in heart surgery. The ambulance driver nodded. “Yes, you’re right, Doctor. We hope you can help him survive further.” “I will definitely do my best. Now, I got to go!” he replied, striding towards the emergency room. No sooner had he stepped into the emergency room than the nurses started bawling for him. “The patient’s difficulty in breathing is exacerbating, Doctor!” said one of the nurses. “Take him! Move him to the operating theater right away!” Dr. Fatty said. “We need to conduct a super-fast surgery in ten minutes time.” “That will be exactly 4:00 pm,” said another nurse. “Yeah!” Jessey was quickly taken to the operating theater while Dr. Fatty and his surgery team were dressing up in surgical clothes. At four O’clock prompt, Dr. Fatty kick-started the operation; he was the cardiovascular surgeon and the rest of the surgical team attentively followed his direction. Jessey’s wife, Mayuka, who could not get a seat in the ambulance, came to the hospital in a rather small taxi. She jogged to the emergency room, threw the door wide open and went inside. She slapped the door back and walked noisily to the medical receptionist, who was sitting behind a counter talking on a telephone. “Madam! Um, am looking for…” she interrupted. “Could you please allow me to finish this call? “Alright,” she muttered. Mayuka sighed and took two steps back from the counter. She looked down at her feet and noticed that she was putting on a toilet shoe. “Oh! My God,” she whispered. In less than two minutes, the desk woman concluded her telephone conversation. “What can I do for you, woman?” she asked. Mayuka quickly stepped forward. “I am looking for my husband. His name is Jessey.” “I think your husband is undergoing a surgical operation and I advise you to go to the waiting room. The operation will be completed very soon. “Is he going to be fine? Will he survive?” she asked, staring like a frightened rat. “I can’t assure you anything, lady,” she said. “I am not a doctor and I don’t have any further information about your husband. The doctors will soon complete the operation and they will give you every detail.” Mayuka was very terrified and wasn’t satisfied with the response of the medical receptionist. She felt more depressed and turned back, took one step from the counter and became so dizzy before she felt down on the floor. “Help! Help!” the medical receptionist shouted. Two men in police uniforms, who had just entered the emergency hall rushed and came to Mayuka’s rescue. One of the police checked her carotid pulse and found that she was alive, but unconscious. All her eyes were closed and she looked like death. Nurses ran and came very quickly to the scene. Mayuka was lifted, placed on a stretcher and moved to the emergency ward. They quickly tried to ascertain what was wrong with her and a stethoscope was used to examine her blood pressure. Two doctors came five minutes later and joined the busy nurses who were observing and taking charge of Mayuka’s situation “What’s going wrong with this patient?” said one of the doctors. “She lost consciousness and her blood pressure is rising too fast,” said a senior nurse. “When did it occur?” “A couple of minutes ago.” The youngest nurse soon went back to the medical receptionist. “Did you talk to that lady who fainted here?” she asked. “Yes, I did. She was looking for her husband and when I told her that he was going through a surgical operation, she could not withstand the weight of that news.” “Oh! You should not give such information like that. There is a way to reveal shocking news to people without it causing much harm.” “I’m very sorry. I don’t have much experience in this job.” “I know you are new to this job, but be more professional another time or let us be informed before you give-out any serious information.” “Okay, you have my word.” When the evening came close, Mayuka’s neighbor whose home is adjacent to hers came home in his car. His name was Sanna and he was the General Manager of Root Bank at the time. He parked his car in his garage and as he walked to his parlor, he had the crying voice of a kid. It was Mayuka’s son, David. He went in and carried him in his hands. Sanna’s wife, Aisha, came out from the kitchen with a small packet of flour in her hand. “Where were you today I tried to call your phone, but it was switched off,” she said. “You sure?” “Yes, I tried to reach you on the phone several times, but failed entirely.” Sanna took his right hand and dug his cell phone from his pocket while carrying David in his left arm. “Oh! You’re right. I forgot to switch it on after having a disturbing meeting with President Ali Benzouda at his palace.” “Hope you are not in any trouble with him?” “Of course not,” he said. “But as a patriotic citizen I feel very bad when the head of state exercise his power to make deliberate corruption. Since he authorized Johnson to be my main assistant eight months ago, everything is slowing down at the bank.” “You mean Johnson is not fit for the job?” “You’re correct. There were many qualified candidates for the post, but the president used his power and gave Johnson the job.” “Why did he do that?” “Um, many people believe that it’s because his university education was financed by Johnson’s late father. They all come from the same village.” “This is indeed a dirty corruption.” “Yeah and it’s very sad that most government banks across Africa are falling because of this kind of corruption by Presidents. Um, what did you want to talk to me about when you could not reach me through the phone?” “Jessey was rushed to the hospital by an ambulance about three hours ago.” “Gracious me! Which hospital was he taken to?” “He is at the Banjul Hospital and Mayuka is with him.” “I have to go there right away.” Sanna handed David to Aisha, ran to his car, jumped in and headed to the country’s main hospital. When he reached Westfield Junction, the traffic lights turned red and he stopped his car. He called Mayuka’s cell phone, but no one picked the call. He bent his back and slowly dropped his head on his two hands which were resting flat on the steering wheel. The traffic lights turned green and he was still bending forgetting that he was in the traffic. Different varieties of car horns began to storm, urging him to move. He came back to his senses and he pressed his foot on the accelerator and sped off. He drove very fast and after twenty-five minutes, he arrived at the hospital. Sanna entered the hospital ground and met a nurse who was in haste. “Sorry Nurse. I am looking for a patient called, Jessey,” he said. “Please, could you check the emergency hall right there?” “Yes, for sure. Thank you.” He walked fast and went into the emergency hall and came right in front of the medical receptionist, who was busy writing. “Ma’am do you know where a patient called Jessey is located?” he asked. “You’re in the right place,” she said. “Let me look for Dr. Fatty in just a moment. He had asked me to call him when anyone related to Jessey comes.” “Okay.” The medical receptionist left the counter and went for Dr. Fatty. After some minutes, she found him in the mortuary and they came together to emergency hall. Dr. Fatty saw Sanna by the counter and he walked to him. “Good afternoon, Sir. Your face looks very familiar to me. What’s your name?” “I’m Sanna Ceesay, the General Manager of Root Bank.” “Oh! You’re right. I used to watch you on TV during news and interview programs. Well, nice to meet you.” “Thanks and nice to meet you.” “Are you a relative of Jessey and his wife?” “Yes, I am their neighbor, but am more like a relative to them. Where are they?” “Please, come with me to my office. We need to talk first.” Sanna followed Dr. Fatty to his office which was located some distance from the counter. They went in and sat at a desk across from each other. Dr. Fatty took off the stethoscope that was around his neck and placed it carefully on his desk. “The first patient we received, um…” he paused searching for the correct name. “Jessey. He suffered a serious heart attack and later during our operation, we found-out that he had a liver cancer too.” “Where is his wife?” “She is unfortunately undergoing a medical operation right now.” Sanna was completely mesmerized and confused. “What happened to her, Doctor?” “Um, she couldn’t bear the fact that her husband was undergoing a critical heart surgery. That made her lose consciousness, but she’ll be fine.” “Can I see her?” “No, not now. Maybe in the next five hours. I mean by 12 O’clock, you’ll have the chance to see her because that’s the exact time we expect her to be back to normal.” “Okay and how was the surgery on Jessey? Was it very successful?” Dr. Fatty’s face became darkly with that question. He kept silent for some seconds before he responded. “Jessey’s heart muscles suffered serious damages which made the operation on him difficult. Before my medical team and I began the operation on him, we knew we had a very thorny task. In fact, he breathed some words which we could not understand. The only thing I heard clearly from his chocking words is ‘Diamond’. Sanna stood up with a bad feeling. “But what do you mean, Doctor? Are you trying to tell me that Jessey is dead? THE SEARCH…Chapter ❶ I ts three years from those dreadful shocks. Mayuka’s life has become so challenging after her husband failed to survive from that heart attack. She could not understand why Jessey uttered the word ‘Diamond’ shortly before his death. Did Jessey have a diamond? If so, where did he keep it? Did he keep it in the bank? Or did he hide it in the house? Every day, she would lie down on her couch for many hours trying to satisfy these questions which kept on begging her for answers. She tried so hard, but her mind didn’t give her any idea that could answer the questions which bothered her. Wednesday six O’clock in the evening, Mayuka went to Sanna’s compound with her son, David. She met him watching TV and drinking refreshments in the parlor.