FicStorm's The Chase

Chapter Fourteen

18:10

Dr. Christopher quietly walked to his car, fishing for his car keys in his pockets. He found it in the pocket of his lab coat which he was still wearing and which he was probably going to wear till he went to bed. He was the kind of man that worked around the clock and having neither a wife nor children made it easier for him to take his work home with him. He adjusted the heavy files that were slipping from his right hand and used his free hand to press a button on the remote to unlock his car. A blue Nissan Pathfinder responded with the flashing of lights.

For someone in his early fifties, Christopher had a fit athletic figure that most of his mates would die to have. Last time he had seen some of his mates from his younger years, they either had potbelly or were already bending. Some of them even had graying hair and looked way older than they should. It wasn’t like it came easy to Christopher. He had worked for it by carrying out exercises daily and staying away from certain foods and drinks.

As he inserted the key to unlock the door, he saw someone’s face appear in the tinted glass of the vehicle and froze. He let go of the keys and expected to feel the hard muzzle of a gun against his back but all he got was a voice that called his name.

He turned around slowly to find himself dwarfed by a man who could have been mistaken for a titan. The man wasn’t dressed like a hoodlum or someone who wanted to attack. He had on an affordable suit and when he spoke, his English was perfect.

“I’m sorry to barge in on you like this.”

“Who are you?”

“Detective Chase from the Homicide Department.” The man replied fishing out his badge from his pocket and holding it up for Christopher to see. “Sorry if I frightened you.”

“You didn’t.” Christopher said opening his car and dumping the files onto the rear seat. He pulled his lab coat, folded it neatly and placed it in the front passenger seat while listening to the Detective state that he just wanted to talk and didn’t plan on wasting too much time.

“What do you want to talk about?” Christopher asked, starting the car and putting on the air conditioner.

“Have you heard about the murder of Dr. Boyle?”

Dr. Christopher stepped out of the car and shut the door. He took in a deep breath and let it out before replying.

“She didn’t deserve to die.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Who killed her?”

“I was hoping you might have an idea.”

“You’re the detective, not me.”

“Dr. Agbetunde.”

“What?”

“He’s missing.”

“Yes. We all know that, but why did you mention the name.”

“There’s a connection between his kidnapping and her murder. The Zyberdine connection. What were you guys working on?”

“There’s no connection detective.” Dr. Christopher said even though he knew it was true.

“Dr. Agbetunde was a close friend of yours. He…”

“I’m sorry, detective, but it appears that you’re just as clueless as I am. What have you been doing all day?”

“Wondering what Zyberdine was cooking that got two of their staffs in…”

“So you fifth floor boys get paid for sitting down in nice chairs wondering throughout the whole day. How nice that is.” The detective was right in saying that he and Ezekiel were close and that had struck a nerve. If only the detectives do their job, his friend would have been found and Sarah’s murderer would have been caught and brought to justice already. But all the detectives ever did was ask useless questions and do nothing with the answers.

“You should think about this, Doc; who would die next? How many more would have to die? As far as I know, everyone here at Zyberdine is in danger including you.”

“It was not nice talking to you, Detective. You should go back to your precinct and watch your screensaver if you don’t have anything better to do or you could just sit down in your nice chair and wonder.” Christopher said and got into his car which he had left running.

Detective Chase watched the car drive out of the well-lit parking lot and shook his head slowly.

***

18:10

They had refueled the car and kept on driving for hours till they found themselves in Obalende. Richard lodged them into a hotel. It was a small non-attractive hotel and that was why he chose it. As he had no idea if his debit card was already being monitored, he booked for a room and felt it was better to pay with cash, but the problem was that his wallet was not in his pocket. There was still a lot of money in his back pack which hung on his shoulder, but then he couldn’t find a way to bring it out without drawing anyone’s attention. He was still patting his body to feel for the wallet when Essy brought out her purse and paid. It was an awkward moment for Richard as he saw the lady behind the counter smiling sheepishly. He could only imagine what was going on in her head and began explaining to Essy and the lady how he was sure he had his wallet in his pocket when he left the house in the morning. He went further to tell them that he had paid for an espresso at the KFC in Maryland shopping mall and also the taxi that had conveyed him to Essy’s school, but neither of them paid attention. It was when the lady told him that he was just being ashamed because a girl was paying the bills that he kept quiet. He didn’t say anything else until he and Essy were in the room and there he brought up the topic again. This time he started listing the important things in his wallet, but she wasn’t interested. Her mind was preoccupied and so he kept quiet. He watched her lean her travelling bag against the wall and settle down on the cheap bed.

“Quit looking at me as if you expect me to take my clothes off.” She said without looking at him. There was still some rigidity in her voice and Richard feared that any moment she was going to breakdown again. He moved on to the other side of the bed and sat so that his back was facing hers and then he set the backpack on his lap and opened it. The first thing he removed was a pair of trousers. He dipped his hands into the pocket, pulled out his phone and unlocked it with his fingerprint. Fifty three missed calls, nineteen voice mails and twelve text messages. He guessed at once that they were all from his friend Henry Paul junior and his guess proved correct when he scrolled through the list. He had saved the number as HP and that was all he saw as he scrolled, except for a couple of strange numbers. It was just like Henry to worry a lot and he thought of calling back to let him know that he was alright, but it occurred to him that it was best if he kept his best friend out of the mess that he was in. There was no need dragging him into it. The smile drained from his face as he switched the phone off and tossed it aside. He would have to destroy it. He went on to remove the remaining clothes from his bag till he was staring at the money. He thought for a moment and then he cast a glance over his shoulder at Essy. She was still sitting with her back to him rocking forth and back in a smooth rhythm.

Richard called her attention and pulled out from his pocket, the picture he had removed from the frame earlier. He passed it on to her and watched as the puzzlement on her face changed into a look of recognition which disappeared and was replaced with a sad smile.

“Yeah, you asked about that before. That’s how I found you.” Richard said and sat up in the bed. She was quiet for a moment and then she spoke to tell him that the picture was three years old.

“I thought so. You look quite different from the girl in the picture. So what are you now? Eighteen?”

“I never asked for your name.”

“Call me Richard. That would be fine.”

“Thank you, Richard. I think you saved my life.”

“Think?” Richard said and inhaled deeply. “I smell pride in the air.”

A sad smile flickered on her face again and she reluctantly told him that she was nineteen, but refused to believe when he told her his age. She went on talking about how he was so immense and how his beards made her think of a wrestler. It was not a new thing to Richard. He had heard it from a lot of people. His lecturers at the university were on the list. When he mentioned it to her, she became interested and wanted to know his discipline. They both shared information about each other for a while. Richard got to know that she was in her third year studying mass communication with a big dream of being a model and an actress, and she got to know that he was an intern at a vehicle assembly plant with a dream of being an engineer to the end. Things were going fine until she began talking about how messed up her life was. She broke down in tears again, and before Richard could reach for her, she got up, ran to the restroom and locked herself in. Richard sighed as he made up his mind to let her be. He felt it was better if she let it all out. With that in mind, he went back to the backpack and emptied it onto the bed. All the money came plummeting to the bed and with it, the bloodied knife. Richard nearly jumped in fright. He had totally forgotten about it. He quickly picked one of his clothes, wrapped the knife in it and thrust it into the bag. He had planned to empty the bag like that in front of her to surprise her, and now it occurred to him that she would have seen the knife and that would have blown everything. The realization forced a loud exhalation through his mouth. Why did he still have the knife? His fingerprint was on it. But it didn’t matter, did it? He had left his fingerprints at the murder scene already. Maybe it did matter. The knife was the only clear evidence that the police could use to nail him and he couldn’t give them that. Her sobs were still reaching his ears from the restroom and gradually the hammering in his chest reduced. There were still many ways in which things could get worse, but he had to be really careful at all times. He put his fresh clothes back in the bag and zipped it.

The money heaped on the bed drew his attention once more. It was so much that he thought there was no need to count it. Henry would say, ‘Let it go as it comes.’ A smile spread across his face as he remembered his best friend and then it disappeared. Henry was definitely not smiling right now. He was definitely out there somewhere trying to find him. Richard stood up and moved to the window and stared out at the enveloping darkness stretching across the sky. Things get nasty in the dark. It was his father’s voice this time. Richard stared out at the web of flyover bridges stretching across the city of Lagos. The street lights had already brightened up and the headlights of cars heading home or going for night shift gave him an electric feeling he couldn’t explain. He shuddered and he felt goose bumps on his skin. What was he excited about? There was a girl, but was that it? Essy was good looking. Beautiful, and he had to admit it, but he didn’t see them getting anywhere. There was so much in the mix already. Tossing an emotional attachment into it was going to ruin everything and make his mission far more impossible. His eyes refocused and stayed on the image of Essy in the window watching him. She was done weeping and was out of the restroom. He turned to stare at her and asked her how she was feeling. Nothing had changed. She wasn’t feeling any better but she was sure she wouldn’t go crying in a while. There was no tear left to shed. She smiled. The same sad smile, and there Richard saw her in a whole different light. He saw a strong lady with determination and a resolved mind. He knew at that point that he was going to love her and there would be nothing he could do to stop it. His relationships in the past year had never been anything serious. None of them could be described as emotional in anyway. There hadn’t been a connection of any kind with any of the girls, but here as he stood, he felt the pull towards a girl he had only spent a couple of hours with. What are you made of Essy?

“That look again.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind. What’s with all these money on the bed?”

“Your mother left it behind.” Richard watched to see how she would react. She didn’t. “I think she wanted you to leave town and go somewhere really safe. Ready cash is the fastest way to force people’s hands in the world these days.”

“We can’t be walking around with so much money. Put it in the bank”

“Bad move. I said ‘ready cash is faster’ we need to get out of town fast. That aside, the money is much and I don’t have proof that I earned it. Before you know it, the bank would alert the Financial Intelligence Unit of a suspicious financial transactions and unfortunately enough for me, I’m already a prime suspect in your mother’s murder.” Richard stepped away from the window. She had flinched at his last words.

“So let’s get out of town.”

“We need to get new identities first or we might as well use some private jet of which neither of us has.”

“New identities? For what? Forget it. I’m staying. I have to find who killed my mother.”

“My name and probably, my face would be everywhere in a matter of minutes. We won’t get anywhere before the police get us, and don’t even think of saying again that you want to stay behind.”

“I guess you’ve been watching too much movies.”

“Movies have nothing to do with this. The Nigerian government is not what it used to be. Security just got smarter. I’ve been reading the news and keeping my eyes open. I’ve heard things that half the country have no idea about. Why do you think the Federal Anti Corruption Operations popularly known as the FAC-Ops was set up? What about the Interstate Security? Oh! Forget about those. What about the new programs initiated by the police and the division of the CID? What about the more recent trainings detectives have to undergo before getting the badge?”

“Calm down, Richard.”

“No, I’m not yet done. What about the DSA?”

“What’s that?”

“Department of Secret Affairs and funny enough, it’s a big secret agency of which nobody has any idea where their headquarters or any of their safe houses are.” Richard’s words had come out in one breath.”

“Okay, Richard. I believe you. Let’s just go and do the new identities thing.” Essy said with a wave of her hand. Richard walked up to her.

“I’m not telling you any of this is going to be easy, but I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” Richard said as he took her hands in his and observed that they were unbelievably hard. That explained why it had stung so bad when she had swatted his hand away the first time he reached for her in the car.

“You can trust me, Essy. I’d be there with you all the way. I’ve got your back.”

“Who’s got yours?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Richard said after a pause.

“I’m really scared.” Essy said softly. Richard let out a sigh and placed a hand on her cheek. She locked gaze with him. Her eyes were beautiful, he observed.

“It’s alright to be scared. It’s part of what makes us human, part of what makes us sane. My friend would tell me ‘The fear of nothing is the beginning of madness’”

“That’s funny.” Essy said and tried to laugh, but a tear dropped from her eye.

“Hey, Essy. Don’t do that.” Richard said and used his thumb to wipe the tear away. She inhaled deeply and used her hands to wipe her face.

“Alright then. So who’s going to help us create the identities we need?”

“I know someone. He was my father’s friend, but that won’t stop him from charging us big time.”

“We have the money, don’t we?”

“Exactly.” Richard said and a grin stretched on his face.

***

18:51

Ann looked up at the time on the wall clock. It was just a few minutes to seven. She was meant to be at home already, but she was still chasing leads for her story. The doctor’s murder was already on the news and her story was set for making headline tomorrow but she still needed to do a follow up on the story. She could smell that it was a big one. Her editor thought so too and that was why she still sat her cubicle making research on Zyberdine as her colleagues walked past her for the exit. The story was more appealing than dinner. It gave her a surge of adrenaline that kept her going without lunch and she prayed that Olamide wouldn’t show up to interrupt. Her episode at the precinct would have been a total waste of time if she hadn’t bumped into the billionaire’s son or rather if he hadn’t called for her attention. The name she got from him had gone with her story. Her editor frowned on the fact that there was no picture of the suspect, but he was okay with a name. She could only imagine the surprise on the detective’s face when he reads the paper in the morning and sees a piece of information he had definitely not given her.

When her search on Zyberdine didn’t provide anything new or useful, Ann decided it was time to go home. While watching the system shut down, she thought about paying the missing doctor’s wife a visit, but then it was already late. As she got up to leave the office, her desk phone rang and she sat down to pick up the call. It was her office number. When ever she interrogated someone, she always left her personal number and her office number just in case they remembered anything important while she was gone.

“Hello, you’ve reached Ann from Spring Updates.”

“This is Dr. Christopher from Zyberdine. You were at my place to question me on the kidnapping two weeks ago.”

“Yes. Yes.” Ann said nodding her head in excitement. She couldn’t believe her luck. She quickly reached for her pen and notepad.”

“I’d like to talk about something. Can we meet tomorrow?”

“Name the place.” Ann said. She was clearly disappointed. What was wrong with saying it on the phone? Why tomorrow? Why not tonight?” She looked up and saw the security man giving her the signal that he wanted to lock up. She held up a finger to request for a minute and listened as the caller picked a location for their meeting.

“Do you mind telling me what this is about? I just need an idea on what to expect.” Ann said with the thought that if the man started, he wouldn’t stop. That was what she wanted.