FicStorm's The Chase

Chapter Twenty One

06:27

Tega sat at the dining of Henry Paul’s house sipping coffee as he waited for the boy to get ready. He had been disappointed when he got to the nightclub. After going through the parking lot in search of a red Toyota Venza and finding none, he had gone into the club in search of the duo, but they weren’t there. He loitered around a little in wait for Bright knowing that there was no way Bright could have gotten there before him. While he waited at the bar counter, he logged into his mail with his phone and reread Richard’s dossier thoroughly. It was there he saw the name Henry Paul and the relationship between his subject and the single heir of the billionaire. He was already thinking about how to get into the mansion at Victoria Island when he saw in the report that the heir was currently residing alone in the family house at FESTAC town. He forgot totally about Bright and went straight to the house where he let himself in easily by picking the locks.

After talking to Paul, he was convinced that the boy was saying the truth. He would have left the boy alone, but there was nobody else who could have been closer to Chase. According to what he read in the dossier, his mother had died of cancer when he was six and his father had died only three months ago. He was the only child and there was no mention of any other relatives. Eventually, Chase would get in touch with his best friend.

“I know your father.” Tega said as soon as he felt the presence of Paul behind him. “I wonder though if you know who he is.”

There was no response and Tega looked over his shoulder to see if he was mistaken. He turned fully in his seat to get a better view. Paul was frozen to the spot less than a foot behind him in a weird posture. He had one leg on tiptoe and the other suspended in mid-air as though he were about to take a giant step before he got stopped in time. His hands were spread out like wings and his face had a distorted expression.

“Don’t make me laugh, kid. I honestly can’t laugh this morning.” Tega said and faced his coffee. Behind him, Paul let air gush out of his mouth as though he had been holding his breath and walked around the table so that he faced Tega.

“Are you supposed to be the lawyer?”

“What lawyer?”

“Okay, I guess not. What were you saying about my father?”

“Never mind. If he hasn’t told you, then I shouldn’t.”

“If you’re about to talk about the DSA, forget it. It’s no news.”

“You know?”

“And I know that you’re DSA too. I can smell it from here.”

“Now, that’s weird.” Tega said unimpressed. His face a total mask of unconcern. He knew that most DSA operatives and agents kept their work a secret from their families and friends but Henry Paul Senior seemed to put his family first.

“I’m willing to work with you to find Richie. Did my father send you?”

“No. I guess not.”

“Well, since I don’t know who sent you, I can’t give you up to sixty percent trust.”

“So, you’re trusting me a little because…”

“You’re with the DSA.”

“What happened to all the fear you displayed earlier on.”

“Ah” Paul said and used his hands to pack his dreadlocks together at the back. “I realized that you’re a DSA agent. And as a DSA agent, you wouldn’t be stupid enough to do anything stupid. You should know that this house is being monitored remotely.” He used an elastic band that came from nowhere to pack the hair together as he spoke. “Cameras and state-of-the-art equipment that are nearly microscopic are reporting back to a remote office at the DSA. So, you cannot see them but they can see you. And hear you.” He shook his head gently and let three of the locks fall in front of his face to cover his left eye. “Tell me why I should be afraid then?”

“Because of this.” Tega said and reached below the table to pull up a glass of water which he thumped on the table. Inside the glass was a tangled mess of all the equipment the young lad had bragged about.

“Jesus. You removed them.” The grin slowly faded away from his face.

“All of them. Just before you woke up and found me sitting in your bedroom.” Tega said, drained his cup of coffee and began pointing as he spoke. “There was a camera in that wall clock hanging up there, a listening device in the flower vase in that corner, that outdated desk phone had a bug, I found a panic button on the TV remote that’s currently way out of your reach for now, there…”

“I don’t want to hear anymore. There are sixteen cameras in all and…”

“Twenty one cameras.”

“Jesus Christ! You really removed every single one of them!”

Tega was about to reply when sounds from outside the house reached his ears. He stood up and hurried for the window that gave him clear view of the street. He parted the curtain slightly and peeped outside to see three men get out from a black Range Rover. Bright was one of them. Bright was a lover of only one fashion so Tega couldn’t tell if he was wearing the same cloth he was wearing when he shot James, but it was a turtleneck, a pair of black trousers and black overcoat.

Tega turned and found Paul walking to meet him.

“Follow me, there’s no time.” Tega said as he walked hurriedly for the kitchen without answering any of Paul’s questions. So, Bright knew about Chase’s friend and decided to check on him. It was logical. But there was no explanation for why he wanted Chase in the first place. Tega marched up to a window in the kitchen and pushed it wide open. He had noticed while taking a survey of the house that there was no back door and no emergency exit which was bad. The only way out was the window. The plan was simple and he explained it to Paul; jump, walk the long way round to the front, get into the garage and get a car ready while he stayed behind to keep them busy.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing good is about to happen right now. Just jump and do what needs to be done.”

There was a loud knock and Paul looked out the window while Tega backed out.

“Jump!”

“Me?” Paul asked pointing at his chest.

“No. Not you.” Tega said with a violent shake of his head. “I’m talking to the i***t behind you. Move it.”

“But, I can’t.”

The knock came again.

“These people are brutal. They don’t think twice before pulling the trigger. They’d drive a knife through your chest and ask why later.”

“I’m not an athlete for Christ sake.”

“Look here you idiot.” Tega said gripping Paul and pulling him closer. “You better become one right now or else you’d be dead.” Tega pushed him to the window and pulled out his gun as the knock got louder. Paul looked out over the window as though taking the height in.

“What’s wrong with you? A little kid would have done that already.” Tega yelled and immediately, he heard the sound that told him that the door had been blown off its hinges.

That seemed to be the motivation for Paul. He was up and out the window before Tega gave him the command again. His landing was reckless and without grace, but he didn’t mind. Adrenaline had taken over now and he half-ran, half-crawled to the garage. There were six cars in the garage but he dashed for his yellow GT Mustang without thinking and sat for a moment to catch his breath till he heard the first gunshot. A shiver jolted him and he hit the button to start the ignition. To his own surprise, his bronchodilator was already in his sweaty palms in preparation of an attack. He slipped it back into his pocket, rubbed his hands dry on his trousers, and then sat still to wait for Tega to join him in the car. Leaving the windows rolled up sounded like a good idea as the car was bulletproofed. He put on the AC and watched the entrance in the rearview mirror. There were two more gunshots, but he stayed still except for a little spasm. It was at the sound of the first explosion that he started working anti-clockwise. He was meant to have duck for cover or zoomed out of the garage-even his mind told him to do both. But instead, he got out of the car and waited for the second explosion before deciding that he needed to see what was going on. He left the car opened and began walking out of the garage when Tega sped into the garage.

“What are you doing?” Tega yelled as he dashed past Paul for the Mustang. “Get in the car.”

“Are you out of your mind? You’re blowing up a family heirloom. This house is as old as Festac itself and my father spent billions renovating it four years ago. Are you crazy?”

“Get in the car, you bleeding idiot.” Tega said gesturing to Paul before getting into the driver’s seat and shutting the door.

“This is my car. You don’t drive it. Nobody drives it except me.” Paul said storming over to the driver’s side and knocking on the window. The engine revved as the car jolted back. It was Tega giving him the sign that he was going to leave without him. It was at that same moment a man in a black coat came into view with a gun at the ready. Tega opened the front passenger door for Paul who hurried over to the other side of the car with his head low as sparks flew from the impact of bullets smacking the car.

“Drive!” Paul yelled as he got into the front passenger seat and shut the door.

Bright jumped out of harm’s way and pinned himself to the wall as Tega backed out of the garage in full speed. But as soon as the car was past him, he gained his balance and started shooting at the car till it went out of sight. As he lowered his gun, his anger increased. If only Blackhawk had let him put a bullet in Tega’s head when he had the chance, this would have been a smooth operation for him. He would have gotten to Paul, questioned him on his friend’s whereabouts, the information would have led him to the boy called Chase and since Chase had the girl, Bingo! Problem solved. But no! Tega was still alive and doing what he was best at; ruining things up. This time, Blackhawk wouldn’t be there to stop him. He was going to put a very big hole in Tega’s head.

He walked back to the house while tucking his gun under his waistband and looking around for stray eyes. The fire was still burning brightly inside the house. The i***t had thought that shooting a gas cylinder would take him down. Not so easy, Tega. Bright thought. The smoke made it difficult to breathe or see, but Bright wasn’t bothered. He didn’t have any need to go inside. He pulled out the wallet he had taken from the boy called Chase during their brief brawl at the school and tossed it far beyond the darkness, where the fire burned less. The wallet had helped him so far and he didn’t see any need for it again. It had let him know a lot about who Richard A. Chase was. The ID card had led him to the plant where the boy worked and he had asked a couple of questions that led him to Henry Paul. But thanks to Tega, he had reached another dead end. First, it was James, then John Okigbe, and now Tega. All of them seemed to be working together to make sure he failed and his boss was a very impatient man. If he didn’t deliver Essy before nightfall, he would end up like Tony, but this time in the hands of another minion. Blackhawk never pulled the trigger. He never fancied guns. He had a special liking for knives and swords, but why pull the trigger when you have people to do it for you?

Bright pulled out a pair of sunglasses as he walked back to the Range Rover. He quickened his steps at the sound of sirens.

***

Dr. Ezekiel didn’t sleep well. He hadn’t slept well in the past few months leading to his abduction and now it was even worse. Labyrinth had been a huge source of sleepless nights on its own. He had been working round the clock with his team at Zyberdine to make the project a success and just when that was achieved and he thought he was going to get enough rest to make up for all the lost ones, he found himself here; locked in a cell far away from home. He had no idea if he was still in Nigeria or if his house was even less than a day’s drive away. There was no window in his cell but it was well lit with bright fluorescents fixed into the ceiling and the temperature was perfect. Thanks to a cooling system he could not see. It was not much of a prison as everything was being done to make him feel at home except for the see-through iron door that was always shut. But there was no place like home. He had no idea how many his abductors were. He could count the foreign man with the disfigured face and the girl the man called ‘Alice’. If she was a girl. But he also noticed the foreigner was always saying ‘I’ and not ‘We’. He thought of Dr. Sarah. Why did she steal Labyrinth? What was she thinking? Who killed her? He thought of Dr. Christopher. Labyrinth was his brainchild, but he would never admit it. He was that modest. What was going to happen to him now? How was he going to feel when he found out what Sarah had done? Was he going to ever find out?