FicStorm's The Chase

Chapter Nine

13:14

Her hands were trembling violently and Richard, for a moment, thought to reach for it and give it a squeeze. He did just that, but she knocked his hand away before he could even touch her. He explained that he was only trying to help but she said nothing. His heart went out to her. It wasn’t meant to but it did. He barely knew her and had no idea about the kind of person she was but he knew what she felt. He had felt it three months ago when the police officers had brought the news. He remembered locking himself up in the bathroom through out that day and how he would have probably stayed there till the next day if the Paul family hadn’t come for him. All of a sudden, he found himself thinking that his case was better. At least he was told nicely. He didn’t have a scary looking man-with a gun pointed at him-tell him that his father was dead. He knew she didn’t deserve it. Nobody ever did. He balanced his hands on the wheel and didn’t try to reach for her again. His hand still smarted from the way she had hit it and he made a mental note not to get on her bad side. Things were going to get worse and when it did, underestimating her would be a fatal mistake on his part. At the moment, he didn’t have a follow up plan. Maybe, he had made a mistake going after her. He was a wanted man and was meant to be keeping his head low, but here he was shooting a flare and begging to be found. Murphy’s Law started playing in his head. He went on and on thinking about his future plans, about how everything was crumbling right before his eyes. He had set out his life during his days in high school, making plans for every turn. He even had twenty six plans for each alphabet but none of the plans involved him being wanted and now he was out of alphabets. Maybe he would have to scratch all his plans and start afresh.

“Who was that, man?” Essy’s voice pierced his thoughts. He shifted his plans to the back of his mind. He would come back to it.

“I should ask you.”

“He said he was a detective.”

“He lied.”

“Yes. I knew. Who is he?”

“Anything but a detective. I’ve never seen him before.”

“How did you know to come at that time? How did you know something was off? Why did you lie that you were sent by the course adviser? Why was it so easy to tackle him? Why?”

“Your mother sent me. I told you that before. I was just lucky with the timing.”

“How did you find me? Why was that man after me? Why did he have a gun? Why did he want…?”

“Slow down, Essy, we’re both pondering about the same thing. Trust me, we’d solve this together.”

“How did you find me?”

“I was showing your picture to everyone till someone told me you were packing up to leave.”

“Let me see the picture.”

“You can’t. It’s in my back pocket and I’m driving.”

“Describe the person that pointed you to me.”

“Taller than you by an inch. Dark. Thick sleeping beard and Mohawk. Slim…”

“Perfect. You just described George. Now tell me why this isn’t some prank? You and George planned this.”

“I didn’t get to ask his name but I’ve never met the dude in my life, I swear. I just got lucky. This is not a prank, Essy. You’re trying to avoid the truth, but eventually, it would be staring at you in the face.” Richard found out that he was raising his voice.

“So, now you’re my shrink, huh?”

“Look, Essy…”

“Don’t call my name. I wonder how you even got to know it in the first place. God, I will kill George!”

“Whoever killed your mother wanted something badly and it wasn’t money. She sent me to find you because she feared that you might be in danger. She said you have something. She called it ‘the key’ and it seems somebody is willing to kill for it.”

“And how am I sure you aren’t the person.”

“You wouldn’t be in this car right now if you didn’t trust me.” Richard said after a pause.

“What are you? An undercover police or what?”

“I’m just nobody. We’re neighbors.”

“I don’t have whatever key she’s talking about.”

“I’m not interested in the key. I’m only interested in getting you somewhere safe from all the heat that might start anytime soon.”

“I’m not going anywhere until I see my mother.”

“Your mother is dead, Essy. Don’t you get?”

“I don’t believe you!” Essy yelled. “I must see my mom and you might as well just drop me. I know my way home.”

Richard looked at her for a while. This was harder than he thought. The stubborn girl was going to get them killed.

“Alright, fine. I’d take you home. You’d see your mother and you’d be happy.” Richard looked in the rear view and slowly saw the darkness creep into his eyes. “Very happy.” He added.

***

13:14

Tega cruised slowly past what appeared to be a crime scene in his silver Mercedes Benz C300. He knew it was a crime scene because of the police blockade around the house. The crime scene was none of his business. His destination was just two houses away. He was heading to the address he had found in the data his shadowy client sent to his mail. He had finally decided to attend to his client but mostly because he was curious. He wanted to know why the boy cost so much and why his client wanted him so badly. He grounded the car to a halt and looked through the window of his car at the house. It was quite a big house. He knew Richard was not going to be at home. According to the data he had digested, the boy was an intern at a Ford assembly plant and left his house latest by nine o’ clock in the morning and did not return until seven in the evening. Tega walked up to the house and as he got closer, he noticed the dried blood on the door knob and it did not strike him as a good sign. He looked around and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. He used it to open the door knob to avoid leaving fingerprints and he slipped in the house, making sure to shut the door behind him.

***

13:40

The taxi slowed down as it approached Victor who stood on the sidewalk. He had on a face cap to shade him from the sun. He had unbuttoned his black shirt to expose the white V-neck he wore underneath and it went perfectly well with his blue denim jeans and Timberland shoes. He had a backpack suspending on one shoulder and carried in the other hand a folded cardboard. It was hard to predict that he was a venomous man except you judged by his height, thick muscles and his protruding chest that would have made Dwayne Johnson feel intimidated.

Victor got into the backseat of the taxi and was greeted by Robin Hood who was already seated in the backseat. Victor wasn’t surprised. This was the plan. He smiled at the rearview mirror and greeted the driver who replied with a slight nod as he continued driving. He was one of their operatives, so Robin and Victor had the freedom of speech while he was there.

“When I’m not holding a gun, I’m holding a cardboard and when I’m not shooting, I’m painting.” Victor said when he saw Robin Hood eyeing the cardboard.

“I’ve had a boring day since we parted ways at the stadium this morning.” Said Victor. “The girl isn’t at the school. She’s left already.”

“We need to have someone watch her house in case she goes there.”

“As it is, we don’t have anyone to spare.”

“The minister wants us to be very discrete about this.” Robin said thoughtfully after a slight nod. “Cole doesn’t have much good news either.”

“So the woman hasn’t heard from the kidnappers?”

“Cole isn’t buying it. He believes she’s lying. Any idea who the killer is?”

“Yes and you’re not going to believe it.”

“Who is it?”

“The police have a suspect. A twenty year old named Richard Chase.”

“Robin turned sharply to get a better look at Victor.”

“Same Richard Chase I’m thinking?”

“Yes. The son of Anderson Chase.”

“That’s not possible. Why would he?”

“I don’t know. I guess he’s the same rogue that his father was.”

“Then he’d meet the same fate his father met. The minister won’t like this. We have to take him down.”