FicStorm's The Chase

Chapter Twenty

DAY TWO

…And there were more

“Zyberdine again?” Benjamin asked. “Now there’s clearly a connection.”

Chase looked up at the ceiling. It was high enough but the chandelier above his head had blood on it. He swept his eyes around the room. It must have been a beautiful place but not anymore. It was a mess.

“What’s more, there’s an open safe in the man’s bedroom. It was found empty with bloodied fingerprint on it.”

“I guess we’re looking at a serial killer then.” Chase said. “Who called the police?”

“A neighbor on her way to work flashed her torchlight on that window. Now that’s what I call a stained glass.” Benjamin said pointing. Chase looked and saw it. The blood was thick. “She couldn’t wait for us to get here.”

Chase wanted to speak when a police officer came in.

“There’s a reporter outside, sir. She’s being stubborn.” The officer said.

“Is her name Ann?” Chase asked and received a positive response. “Tell her I’m not here.”

“She said she has news for you that you’d definitely want to hear it.” The officer said. Chase groaned and he followed the police officer outside. The reporter was there amongst those trying to push past the police barricade and through the uniformed officers manning it. Chase walked up to Ann as she was just leaning into the tape. He didn’t put it past her to use a scissors to cut the tape.

“Ann. Is that short for annoying?” He said with a sneer.

“I’d advice you take your words back.”

“You don’t have anything interesting to tell me, do you?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

“I’d like to see the crime scene first.”

“You’re really new to this. Do you think a detective can just let you breeze into a crime scene just like that?”

“Tell me about the murder and I’d tell you what I have.”

“You first.”

There was a moment of silence between them in which Chase could hear the others in the background. There were eavesdroppers and the reporter knew it which was why she beckoned for him to follow her. Detective Chase joined her on the other side and they pushed past the crowd. When they got to a place where they felt they wouldn’t be overheard, Ann spoke.

“The detective was going to talk. Somebody knew it and stopped him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dr. Christopher called me last night. He said he had something to tell me and we fixed an appointment for this morning.”

Chase considered what she said for a moment and nodded. It made sense if someone was trying to silence the doctors from Zyberdine.

“Did he let anything slip?”

“Not really.” Ann said with a shrug.

“You haven’t said anything interesting yet, you know.” Chase said and studied Ann as she thought about what to say and what not to say.

“He said on the phone they were working on something big. Something called Labyrinth.”

“Labyrinth? Blow my mind, Ann. What the hell is that?”

Her voice dropped to whisper as she replied.

“It’s something the world would kill for. It’s a nanotechnology.”

“Nanotech?”

“Yes, and Zyberdine was going to use it to make a weapon. That’s all he said on the phone. Nothing else. He promised to tell me everything when we meet.”

“A weapon.” Chase said and nodded.

***

07:10

George’s idea of a good day was one that started with a good smoke of a cigarette or two and for that reason, he never missed it for anything in the world. He was already consuming the third when his father announced that he was leaving. George didn’t respond. He just sat in the convenience of his bedroom and listened as the sound of his father’s car faded in the distance then began making plans for his day. Checking up on Essy was the first on the list and nothing else would come first except breakfast. His devotion to Essy surprised both his enemies and friends. They never understood that she was his obligation. His mission. His everything. She had no idea how badly she had hurt him when she told him she wanted a break so she could get her old life back. She had given him an option, but he wasn’t taking it. She wanted him to change so they could be together.

A rapt knock on the door penetrated into his thoughts. He inhaled deeper on the cigarette as though he didn’t hear the knock. When the knock came again, he dumped the dregs in the ash tray and walked out of his bedroom to answer the door. He wasn’t expecting anyone at all. He hardly ever had guests in his house and never allowed them to stay too long. The knock came again as he reached for the door knob. He was ready to complain to the visitor for interrupting his morning ritual but he found himself staring at a police badge. The badge was held by a man in gray suit and black tie.

“You must be George.” The detective said putting away his badge.

“Yes. May I come in?”

“What’s this about?” George asked without moving an inch or opening the door to let the detective in.

“It’s about a girl called Essy.”

George immediately threw the door open and asked the detective about Essy. She was an interesting topic he loved to discuss any day, but when it involved a detective or law enforcement…

“I was hoping you might have answers to a few questions on her whereabouts.” The detective said as he walked into the house.

“Are you kidding me?” George asked raising an eyebrow. It really sounded funny to him. Essy wasn’t into anything illegal anymore, so it was impossible that a detective would be looking for her. It would make sense for a detective to show up if Essy had committed a crime because he was always involved in every crime Essy had committed right from the first to the last. But Essy was a different person now. She had turned over a new leaf.

“Her mother was murdered yesterday morning and we need to inform her, but unfortunately she’s nowhere to be found.”

George’s hand was already covering his mouth. He would have rather heard that Essy committed a crime. The death of her mother was worse than what he expected and worst of them, Essy was missing.”

“So, you haven’t seen her, I guess.” The detective asked dipping his hands into his pockets

“Not since yesterday. She left school with a guy.”

“What guy?”

“I talked to him.” George cursed loudly. “I told him where to find her.”

“At the school?”

“Yes. She was set to leave school and I saw this dude asking around. He was flashing her picture in everyone’s face. I helped him. I told him where to find her, but I didn’t trust him. So I trailed him to the parking lot and I saw them get into her car.”

“Tell me about this guy.” The detective said taking a step forward.

“I didn’t get his name, but he was quite tall. Early or late twenties, I guess. He’s got a long hair which is quite rare for a male and some beard. Then he’s muscular. Quite big.” George said dishing out the image as he remembered it. He had been there and he had seen everything, but he didn’t see the need to mention the brawl that had taken place between Turtleneck and Long Hair. What mattered was that Essy had left with Long Hair.

“I should call Essy right now.” George said.

“Here. Use mine.” The detective said and held out his phone George. To George, it looked like the detective had been waiting for that moment.

“Don’t say a word about the murder though. It’s standard protocol that the news is delivered in person by the detective. And make sure to place the call on loudspeaker.”

George eyed the phone suspiciously before collecting it. He quickly entered Essy’s number onto the dial pad from his memory. She picked the call on the third ring and her voice came through the phone’s speaker along with a lot of noise in the background.

“Hello?”

“Essy. This is George.”

“George.” Essy said and George had to wonder if he was hearing happiness or surprise in her voice. He even had to struggle to hear her clearly above the noise on her end.

“What happened to you, Essy? Where are you?”

“I’m fine, George. Don’t worry about me.”

“How do you expect me not to? Just tell me where you are, I’d be there immediately.”

“You have no idea what’s going on, George. Someone killed my mother.”

George looked up at the detective who had his lips pursed. The detective gave a slight nod.

“Jeez! I’m so sorry, Essy. I shouldn’t have left you.” George slapped a palm to his forehead. He had heard the bitterness in her voice and wanted more than anything to be by her side.

“It’s fine. You didn’t leave me, George.”

“Yes, I did. Where are you, Essy? You need me right now.”

“No, I don’t.”

“I can help you.”

“I told you I’m fine, George.” Now her voice was sounding like she was already tired of talking to him. She had been that way lately. She never wanted to be with him for up to two minutes. It was as if that was the length of time it took to transfer whatever virus he had to her.

“Is this about the guy who was looking for you at school yesterday?”

“Listen, George, I have to go now. I’d call you later.” Essy said and the call ended immediately. George sighed and tried the number again.

“She has switched her phone off.” George said to the detective who collected his phone back.

“That’s okay.” The detective said and turned to take his leave.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes.” The man said without turning back. “You’d do well to alert the police when next you hear from her.”

George stood still as the detective shut the door behind him. His mind was with Essy far away. She was not alright and he could feel it. He had to find her. But how?

As he walked away from the house to his black car parked a short distance away, Robin fished his phone out of his pocket and saw that the call had already been traced successfully. He zoomed in on the map to get a closer view of the determined location, and then he exited and placed a call. Victor picked on the first ring.

“It appears Chase has the girl.” Robin said.

“I was afraid that would be the case.”

“He seems to be a few steps ahead of us and now he’s planning to leave town with her. They’re at the Oshodi train terminal. I don’t think either of us can get there fast enough. Who do we have in that district?”

“It’s still morning. I guess the Grim brothers would be off duty. They’re the ones keeping very close tabs on John Okigbe and their house is at Oshodi. They’re the closest we’ve got.”

“Send them.” Robin said opening the door and getting into the driver’s seat.

***

07:10

Essy tucked her phone away the same moment Richard collected their tickets and turned to approach her. He had gone to queue up for the purchase of their train tickets and she had decided to stand as far away from the queue as possible. She knew he had seen her already and would want to know who she had been on the phone with. After Richard had taken her to the crime scene the previous day, she had ruled out the thought of George playing a prank on her. Now she was surprised that the thought was coming back. He had sounded sincere on the phone, but she knew he had just seen an opportunity to get an easy way back into her life and was making good use of it. She watched as Richard quickened his pace to get to her and found out that she was amazed at how he walked. Richard had traded the hooded jacket for a face cap she had lent him. A cap she had taken from George and never returned. He seemed to be marching but it appeared graceful in every way. As she stared on, she found out that the way he walked was not the only amazing thing. It was like he had activated his charm all of a sudden or maybe her eyes were just being opened. She hated herself for looking at him lustfully as she remembered she was meant to be mourning. They had spent the night in the hotel without a single conversation between them and when morning came, Richard had said they would have to use a train to get out of Lagos. He had no idea where they were headed and neither did she. He had said that when they got to the terminal he would figure it out. He still hadn’t figured it out when he left to buy the tickets. But there he was approaching with the tickets.

“The train should be here soon.” Richard said stretching out her ticket to her with a grave expression on his face. Essy knew what was coming next. She reached and collected her ticket but he held on to it so tight that it didn’t leave his grasp.

“Who did you call?” He asked. Their gaze locked and Essy felt a yank in her stomach.

“No one.”

“I’m serious, Essy. Who did you call?”

“I did not call anyone.” Essy said and tugged at the ticket but it didn’t budge.”

“You stashed your phone away when you saw me coming.”

“I was just checking weather report.” Essy shrugged.

“Let me see your phone.” Richard said, but his words were drowned by the loud blast of the train’s horn.

“The train is here.” Essy yelled. Richard let go of the ticket a full second later. She knew that it wasn’t going to end there. He was going to bring up the question once they were inside the train.

“Ibadan? Richard!” Essy said as they headed for the train that was chugging slowly to a halt.

“Best place to lay low, but we won’t be staying there long. We’d move on from there to somewhere safer.”

Essy adjusted her backpack as she struggled to keep up with Richard’s pace. They had agreed to travel light and so she had transferred a few things from her travelling bag to a backpack which now contained the naira notes her mother had left. Richard still had the dollar bills in his own backpack which he was not willing to share with her. Not like it could have contained both of their stuffs. They hopped into the open doors of a cabin and sat by each other’s side. Essy realized her mistake and moved to sit opposite him. She didn’t want to give him a chance to ask about the phone call again.

Richard watched her with knowing eyes but didn’t bother to stop her or go after her. He leaned his back and kept his head low while he waited for the train to move. The electronic doors closed but the train didn’t move an inch. A few minutes later, the train still stayed immobile. Richard knew at once that something was wrong and he sat upright. A few of the other passengers in the train were starting to voice their inconvenience. Essy had obviously never been on a train before and so she didn’t seem bothered by the delay. She was probably thinking this was the norm.

Eleven minutes into what appeared to be longest wait of Richard’s life, the train still didn’t move. Richard stood up abruptly and looked through the windows of the cabin at the people bustling to get their tickets to be on the next train. He studied the movements of everyone and checked for anyone or anything that looked out of place. When he found nothing, he hurried over to Essy.

“Essy, I need to know. Who did you call?” He said through gritted teeth

“I’ve told you. I didn’t call anyone.”

“Don’t lie to me. The lives of the people on this train are in danger.”

“Because of one call? God! You take paranoid to another level, do you know that?”

“Yes. I’m the definition of paranoid but it’s better than being careless, so stop being stubborn and tell me who you called.” Richard spat with anger.

“Leave the girl alone, big guy.” A young man called a short distance away. Richard gave him a once-over then fixed his gaze back on Essy in wait for a response. Essy stood up and gripped the long handrail in case the train jerked and caught her off guard. She looked into his eyes as she whispered.

“I wasn’t lying. I didn’t call anyone. George called me. George’s my ex and it’s okay for him to call to check on me. Do you have a problem with that?”

Richard was about to reply when the electronic doors hissed and opened. He turned to check why and saw a big hand zooming for his face. He sidestepped easily and the punch caught Essy hard. She grunted as she collapsed into the chair. The man with the big hand turned to face Richard with another punch, but he ducked below the man’s arm and was easily at the man’s back so that when the man turned to strike, he had an elbow ready to smash into the man’s face. The man doubled back from the impact and Richard followed up with a plunge of his fist to the man’s neck. The effect was instantaneous. Richard watched as the man went down on one knee struggling to breathe while gripping his neck as if to get back into shape. It was a move that would have killed the man if Richard had used enough force, but Richard didn’t have time to wait and see. He ignored the passengers who were already watching with alarmed expressions and dashed for Essy. She was gripping her nose tightly and it wasn’t till he pulled her up by her hand that he knew that she was bleeding.

“We have to get off right now.” He said pulling her past the helpless thug for the door.

“I am dead.” Essy said and whistled as she tried to get on her feet. “I take my words back. Paranoid is good.”

“Can you run?” Richard asked as they stepped off the train onto the platform.

“I can’t breathe. I’ve never been hit so hard.”

“Try to keep up.” Richard said walking as fast as he could

“Did you see the dude’s face? He was at the club last night. John’s.”

“Now that you mentioned it, I see it’s true.”

“Just slow down. You’re way too fast.” She was pinching her nose as she walked. Richard kept looking over his shoulder past her to see if the man was coming after them, but there was no sign of him.

They had barely gone far. They hadn’t even gone close to the exit when Richard stopped abruptly. The man was up ahead with his hulking form fixed to one spot as the crowd of people rushed to get their tickets. Essy bumped into Richard and yelled.

“God!” Why would you do that? Have you forgotten that you’re as sturdy as a rock? Now you just made my condition worse.

“Oh my God, He’s right ahead of us. Same guy. Same suit.” Essy said as she looked over his shoulder and saw what he was looking out. The man had his eyes fixed on them as he struggled to get closer.

“Quick. Let’s go the other way.” Richard said and turned around in time to see the other one step out of the cabin.

“How is he doing that?” Essy asked in awe. Richard looked over his shoulder and saw that the other one was now squeezing through the crowd to get to them. He immediately realized that the lights weren’t tricking him at the club.

“There’s two of them, Essy. The guys at the club were twins.”

“You gotta be kidding me. Who would have thought that cute Taiwo and Kehinde would grow up to become professional gunmen? We’re so screwed.”

“Now you’re being paranoid.” Richard said, grabbed her hand and bolted to his right for the escalators. He didn’t need to look back to know that the twins had started running too, but he needed to know if they had pulled out their guns. Their guns were out and they held them with professional precision. Two hands gripping the gun with the muzzle pointed downwards.