FicStorm's The Chase

Chapter Twenty Four

10:07

As tired and beaten up as they were, Richard and Essy agreed that it was safer to use the stairs than the elevator. She was walking without Richard’s help now and he made a mental note to applaud her for it later. That and how she had put up a good fight. Her face was a bloody mess and one of her eyes looked as though it were closing permanently. She could even see that the man’s palm left prints on her neck and her face was already red. He could only imagine what he looked like and just had to agree that Essy was right to call him ‘mirror’.

They avoided the reception and the main entrance by using an emergency exit that led them to the parking lot on the fourth level. Richard had no idea if it was because of the sight of so many cars at their disposal, but he suddenly found himself looking for a getaway vehicle. And even Essy blurted out that stealing a car wasn’t such a bad idea. He corrected her and used the word ‘borrow’. She explained softly that she knew how to hotwire a car and that she had learnt it from George. He noticed a strange cold overtake her as she slipped back into her old self. A skin she had shed a long time ago to make her late mother happy.

“I just shot a man and now I’m about to hotwire a car. Maybe tomorrow, I’d be smoking weed again.”

“That wouldn’t happen. You shot in self defense.” Richard said but she didn’t reply. She just kept scouting as they made their way through a maze of vehicles. It was hard finding the perfect car as most of the cars were modern and made use of fingerprint software. They split up as Essy moved on to find a car she could easily manipulate. Richard kept meandering his way through all the cars in his path looking for one that was unlocked and luckily had a driver’s key waiting in the ignition or used a button ignition. He was looking in the wrong direction when an attack came from behind, and if Essy hadn’t yelled at him from the distance, he would have probably been impaled by a hollow metal pipe. His reflexes were good. He ducked and shot his elbow out, momentarily knocking the wind out of the invader who let go of the pipe. It fell with a loud clang and Richard pushed him so hard that he heard something break as the man collided with a car and bounced forward. He wasn’t half as big as Richard and was rather small. Richard rammed his knee hard into the man’s groin and he went down on his knees with his hands clutching his groin. A punch to his face sent him sprawling on the floor and groaning extensively. Richard kicked away the metal pipe and stooped low. He pulled the man up to a sitting position so that his back rested on the side of the car. Essy caught up, and for a moment he thought she wanted to deal out a blow of her own. He wouldn’t have stopped her if she wanted to. Here was a man to transfer aggression on for everything they had been through all day.

“He was the one who handed our keys to us.” Essy said as she stooped low beside Richard. “The keys to our room.”

“Alright, mister. We’d just like to talk. I’d be really polite but I’m not patient. Sum that up with the fact that I’m in a really bad mood right now and you’d see that I’m going out of my way to be nice to you.”

“Who do you work for?” Richard asked in a calm voice, but the man didn’t reply. He exchanged a glance with Essy and repeated the question again, still no reply. This time he pulled out the gun from under his waistband and the man got the message immediately.

“I’d talk.” He said nodding his head continuously with a wide-eyed expression.

“Then if the next thing that comes out of your mouth is not the answer to his question, he’d gladly spill your guts and I’d feed on them.” It was Essy and Richard recognized the steel in her voice. It was the same voice he’d heard when she had said ‘I’d kill them’. He couldn’t forget it. It had been echoing in his head since the moment she said it and when he saw her holding the gun a few moments ago he’d become sure that she meant it. Now, he was scared and he had no idea why.

“Blackhawk. He’s called Blackhawk.” The man said.

“Who’s that?” Richard asked.

“He’s big. He’s no ordinary man and you have messed up by getting in his way.” Then he turned to Essy. “He wants you alive. You’re his prize.”

“Why does he want her alive?”

“Word has gone out to everyone under him that he wants her. I don’t know why. I recognized her the moment you both walked up to me to lodge in and after I gave you guys your keys, I called my manager and he told me to keep you guys busy while he got in touch with someone that would come pick her up. I sent Superbite up to your room and a moment later my manager informed me that Blackhawk has already dispatched someone to get here as soon as possible.”

“Richard, that doesn’t sound good.”

“One more question.” Richard said after a quick glance at Essy. “There are two burly men, identical twins. Do they work for Blackhawk?”

“Blackhawk does not like relatives in his business. A father would shoot his son and a mother would shoot her daughter. A man would shoot his wife and kill his own brother. Blackhawk would pit them up against each other if he ever found out.”

“Who’s coming for her?”

“Forget it, Richard. Let’s go.” Essy said tugging at Richard.

Richard hit the man hard on the head with the butt of the gun and the man became unconscious in his still sitting position.

“Come on. What are you still doing?”

“We need a car.” Richard said tucking the gun away and patting the unconscious man down. He got lucky and found a key.

“You won’t need to worry about hotwiring a car.” Richard said palming the keys and rising to his feet. “Come on”

Their getaway car was a white Kia Stinger GT.

The woman parked the car as Bright directed. The drive had been fun for him, only because the doctor had cooperated with him. Throughout the drive she had left the A.C on and the tinted glasses of the car rolled up making it impossible for her to communicate with other drivers even in the usual Lagos traffic.

“Stay. I’d be back.” Bright said getting out of the car and flashing the gun through the tinted glass so she could see that he still had the upper hand. He walked to the blue dodge where the young man sat still unconscious. That was the first thing he had noticed as the doctor drove into the parking lot. He stooped low to the man’s level and felt for a pulse.

“Wake up.” Bright said repeatedly snapping his fingers very close to the man’s ear, and then he slapped the man several times on the cheek repeating the command. He woke up with a start.

“Don’t tell me they got away.” Bright said.

“They did,” Came the reply. Bright whistled and looked around the parking lot then in one movement he had his gun pinned to the man’s forehead pushing it way back so that it kissed the vehicle. He watched as the man took in a deep breath and let it hang.

“Why did you let that happen?”

“I swear, I tried! I did everything I could. I followed the order I was given to keep them till you got here.”

“And here I am.” Bright said gripping the gun tighter.

“Please, Bright. Don’t shoot.” The man said shutting his eyes tightly. He had probably heard stories about this merciless and ruthless man called Bright and right now, Bright was willing to let him experience what the stories had said about him. He fingered the trigger and was ready to pull when an idea jumped into his head.

“Tell me what happened.” He said easing up on the gun but not withdrawing it. The man exhaled loudly

“I sent Superbite up to their room to make sure they didn’t get away, but he apparently failed. I don’t know where…”

Bright gripped the gun even tighter this time and the man’s head hit the car hard.

“Of all people, Superbite. That i***t is an aggressive, bad tempered, wild son of a b***h who’s got anger issues and lack of control.”

“My bad, sir.” The man said and Bright withdrew the gun completely asking for the room number the couple had lodged into. The man replied and Bright stood and started walking back to the doctor’s car. On his way, he called out to the man without looking back.

“Call the police and tell them you need to report a murder at your hotel. Do that and meet me in the room. We have to set the stage and do some dress rehearsals before the police get here.”

He opened the driver’s side door and smiled at the doctor. He could see the tears in her eyes and thought, for a moment, that she looked cute.

“You don’t have to cry. You’ve been good so far.” Bright said and pulled her gently out of the car with one hand and used the other that held the gun to shut the door. She was whimpering now.

***

GAUTENG, JOHANNESBURG

Emilia was sipping red wine from an expensive glass cup and staring out the window when her husband came into the room.

“How did it go?” She asked as she turned away from the window.

“Smooth. She was on the jet more than an hour ago. Any moment from now, she’d be joining him on the ship. She’s really happy.”

“What about the devil of a stepmother?”

“She’s already on a flight to another continent with new identities and-let’s hope-a new life.”

“Good. And how are we looking for tonight?”

“Perfect. I can handle it from here. I’ve booked an afternoon flight for you back to Nigeria and I’ve gotten in touch with the lawyer. You made all of this a whole lot easier and comfortable. I owe you.”

“What about the fire?” Emilia asked as her husband got closer and collected the cup from her hand.

“My boys have it covered. I just need you back in Nigeria ASAP and I’d join you by nightfall.” He drank from the cup and handed it back to her.

“Have you told him?”

“We’ve discussed it, Honey. You can rest easy. We got this.”

“I can’t stop thinking about Richard. I’m worried. Who’s he with? Where is he? What’s he doing? He must be really scared. I promised him that I’d be there for him all the time.”

“I love what you did with Melanin last night and…”

“It’s Minenhle not Melanin and I hope you aren’t trying to change the topic?”

Paul shrugged.