EPISODE TEN
The dream is no different than the previous ones, but something is very different about this one. The broken walls and bricks lying in waste, the muffled cries of the wounded rent the air, dead students litter the ground, detached hands and other body parts are scattered as in previous nightmares. But this one is different.
Elvis could sense that he retained his sanity all through the dream, unlike before. The fear and anxiety he felt in previous versions of the dream are absent, replaced by conspicuous calmness. He had become familiar with seeing himself lying on the floor, the man bent down as usual to check the boy, turning the boy’s head around as the whole dream play out before him.
Elvis woke up with a throbbing headache, his head as heavy as a tonne of cement, a church bell ringing with maximum dexterity in his head. He dragged himself out of the bed, he’s still in the T-shirt and trouser he wore the previous day, he pulled off his shoe and made for his kitchen.
He ruminated on the event of the previous day as he gulped down the water content of the cup he’s holding. He placed the cup down as everything replayed in his brain, the structure of the building, the fence covered with roofing sheet, the heavily built well-armed guards, the stacks of boxes and the searching eyes of the kiosk owner. He remembered his dream and saw that he could remember all the details of the dream. Why did that dream keep coming back, maybe he has to learn something from it.
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They sat each on the chair as they watched their team leader with rapt attention; Elvis gave them the details of his findings, the fence, guards to the pious kiosk owner. His summary is much detailed than the one he gave on phone. The summary he gave on phone was out of fear, fear of being killed overnight.
His cover been blown, it was decided that Ben the ‘bouncer’ should scout the firm. He should gather as much information about the firm as possible. Ben didn’t need to be told, he’s not new at this. He had spied on a lot of organisation. Since he is entering the firm, Timileyin gave him a very minute earpiece which disappeared into Ben’s ear, it was tested. Ben set to work.
He went home and changed into some weird work clothes, a faded short sleeved shirt and a faded blue jeans torn at both knees, a worn out all-star shoe to match, and grabbed a suitcase of tools too. He stood before the large building and waited for the right time. He wore an orange lab coat over his ‘work clothes’ and went towards the entrance of the firm.
He showed the security personnel on duty an ID card
“I’m from the air conditioning company, our service is needed and here I am.” Ben said rather convincingly.
The security guard looked at him then at the ID card, visibly checking the authenticity of the card.
After a few seconds, Ben was allowed in.
He took a deep breathe, and walked towards the lift which is situated at the far end of the large room.
There is a door on the left before he got to the lift. On the wall on the right before the lift is a large ceramic board, on it is written the floor each section of the firm is, on the ceramic board, only 15 floors were represented out of 20 floors. He entered the lift, but was shocked to see that the maximum number of floors the lift could go is 15 too. Something is fishy.
He squeezed himself out of the lift before it could close, earning funny looks from the other passengers. He located a secluded corner, and he spoke lightly to himself, about the mystery of the 15 floors. He was told to try and look for another lift, but the story is the same for all.
“Hey you, come here, what are you doing there” a voice barked behind him, he turned to see a well-built man, maybe in his late thirties.
“eh….eh….I’m the air conditioning guy, the guy that do come is not feeling well, so I’m sent here to stand in for him” Ben replied, amazed with the way he was fluent and how quick he cooks up a lie.
“have you checked the other floors” the man asked again with a piercing look.
“The company mentioned the 18th floor specifically when I’m sent here” he replied now comfortable with the lie.
“Let me see your ID card” the man asked again, stretching out is left hand.
Ben produced the ID card he showed at the entrance, the guy collected it rudely and took his time examining it. He led Ben to the door on the left before the ‘commercial’ lifts, he opened and Ben stepped in.
Ben gasped when he saw well-built men in uniforms, each handling various species of guns, from Ak-47 to semi-automatic rifles. He could see shot guns and pistols strapped to the waist of some.
“I’m in” he managed to say to the earpiece.
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Elvis punched the air in jubilation when he heard the clause ‘I’m in’, he had been sitting with the audio transmitter all through, he was shocked with the ease Ben swerved through lies, ‘This guy is good at this’ he muttered under his breath.
He decided to take a break and get a glass of water, he instructed Timileyin to keep on recording every word. As he headed for his office.
He reduced his step, and made it as soundless as possible when he saw Ellie with her head bent on the desk, obviously crying. He felt hurt and walked towards her, her phone is lying on the table, with a picture of a man adorning the phone’s screen.
He touched her and she raised her head, her eyes
were five times bigger, blood-shot like a weed smoker, he pretty face messed up with streaks of dried tears, yet, new ones are busy finding there way out of her tear glands. She failed woefully at trying to clean up the tears with the back of her hands, her face getting more messy in the process. She clicked a button on her phone and the picture dissappeared.
He managed to drag her to the rest room for her to clean her face. His act of goodwill is not sincere, he felt hurted, an emptiness surfaced in him. He felt he just lost a diamond.
He doesn’t need to be told, that is her fiance.
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Back at Emerald shipping firm, an àir-conditioning engineer made his way to the door, clutching a case of tools.
[08/08, 07:20] +2347034432761: CHAPTER ELEVEN
The man walked towards the door, only one security personnel is at the door.
“Bros, how now?” he greeted in pidgin
“I dey o” the security answered, familiarity seems not to be a problem with the two.
“How family?”
“family dey o, we sha dey push am”
“them call us say one A/C get problem for 10th floor say make we cme help them check am”
“I sha talk say I see you, na nxt tomoro you suppose cme” the security personnel replied.
“their word don taya me self, the tin wey be say we do two days ago, all dis big people dey quick spoil tins” the engineer replied visibly exasperated
“no mind dem, dem dey quick spoil things”
“make I quickly dey comot jare, before them para, nah them kuku dey control us” the engineer said quickly, ‘killing’ the discussion.
“ok nah”
“we go see when I dey comot” the engineer replied hurrying away.
The engineer hurried to the elevator and went to the 10th floor.
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Ben was led to the entrance of a different elevator, another door stood directly opposite the door through which they came. His escort waited behind as Ben prayed he should as Ben stepped into the elevator. He clicked the button for the 20th floor, every human with questionable activities always prefer places people seldom go to, if he will find anything useful, it’ll be on the 20th floor, the doors of the colorful elevator slid shut. He took a deep breath as the elevator starts its ascension, defying gravity.
The elevator shook lightly as it stopped its ascension signaling it’s reaching its destination. The doors slid open and Ben walked out, walking as unsuspicious as he could manage. The elevator led into a passageway; he walked along it, the passage way was quiet with an ominous loom hanging over it, doors leading to offices *he presumed* flanked the passage way.
He followed the passage way as quietly as he could, his ears are standing tall trying to pick up any sound wave they could, they kept streching trying to pick something not available. It felt like a graveyard. He was afraid to open any door in fear of barging in on anyone and being thrown out of the floor, at least he’s still in his work clothes. He has almost gotten to the end of the passage way when he heard the footsteps approaching from behind, he quickly opened the door on his right and went in.
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Elvis day has just gone sour, his mood went downhill, although he hadn’t proposed to her, buh he felt the feeling is mutual and above all thought that she’s single. She must have sensed the cloudiness on his face as he lead her back to her table but she didn’t show it.
He rose up to go and meet Timileyin about the latest updates when someone came to tell him about an improptu meeting in the board room. That’s when he remembered that today’s Thursday and the bombing ‘event’ is gonna be on Saturday. He had totally forgotten. He rushed to the boardroom.
After more three hours of hot breifings and investigation result debriefings, it was learnt that the bomber was targeting a programme at the TBS. But the programme’s details and bomber’s information are not known. Those still remain a mystery, seems the information about the bombing is a top secret information, one that ought not to be leaked.
Elvis was so worn out by the happenings of the day, hungry, sleepy, walked out tiredly out of the boardroom, he needed a long sleep, wish he could afford that. He realized he’s sleeping has been indefinitely postponed when he saw the sour look on Timileyin’s face. He sensed trouble.
“Is Ben out?” he asked
“No” Timileyin replied mildly, visibly shaken.
“Have you tried to create connection with him?” he asked again, his shoulders having a landslide.
“His lines are dead” Timi replied.
Elvis turned his gaze to meet Dauda who stood clueless beside Timileyin. Elvis saw the sky falling.
good evening
[08/08, 07:20] +2347034432761: CHAPTER TWELVE
Ben entered the room hoping to see someone with weird square-shaped spectacle glaring back at him from behind a large desk but was shocked to be in a large spacious room, a large desk sat before a chair directly opposite the door he just entered through, a mini-version of a boardroom table and chairs are on the left, cushion chairs about four in all surrounds a glass table with a flower vase on it on the right. A shelf stands on the left of the desk and a refrigerator on the right. Large pictures of the president of the country, governor of the state and that of Honourable Titus adorns the wall. With the superfluous design of the office and arrangement, Ben sensed he must be in the office of a top official of the firm.
He heard the door knob been turned and he dived into the back of the sofa close to the wall on his right. He heard footsteps of people entering the office; he raised his head a bit, for his eyes to be able to see above the sofa, he could see well-built men holding varieties of guns, about four of them standing at different locations in the room. He switched off all the connections on him to avoid undesired noises which might give up his location. A man in overflowing agbada was in the other side of the room, standing at the side of the room discussing silently with two more men. The man has an aura of authority oozing from him, he must be a big man and a big man indeed. The man turned in his direction, the man’s Honourable Titus. Ben now knows he had mistakenly entered the ex-vice Governor’s office. But why was the security so low.
Ben strained his ears to listen but couldn’t get a grip on their line of discussion. Occasional words seeped into his earing range but not enough to have an understanding of what they are saying. Words like “CIO” “Elvis” “Ben” “Dauda” “Package” “factory” filtered into his ears. He didn’t understand what they are saying but he’s more surprised how this people knows about them. The people discussing are so engrossed in their discussion that they didn’t know how time flies. They’ve been talking for hours and they don’t look tired of standing.
Ben took out his phone silently as his hands went to work behind the sofa, furiously and quickly punching the keypads as fast as he could. His heart thumped furiously, loud enough to give rhythm to a song. The room suddenly became quiet.
He noticed the sudden graveness of the room; he stopped punching his keypad and raised his head as he has done before. He saw that the attention of the members of the room is turned towards the door. He listened carefully and he could here sound of people searching furiously for something outside the office, they got to the door of the office and knocked. The men in arms cocked their guns and pointed it at the door.
They lowered it when the people entered and realized they are their men.
“What is going on here” Honourable Titus asked obviously furious
“I’m very sorry sir, but we think we have been infiltrated” the security man who ushered Ben to the elevator said looking around conspicuously.
Ben lowered his head instantly, his heart skipped a beat.
“What do you mean by that young man” Titus asked again, his voice echoing around the office. A deep baritone voice.
“I think the ICO has a man in this floor”
“This floor, what do you mean by that?”
“A man came in the guise of an A/C engineer, he said he’s going to the 18th floor to repair a faulty air conditioner” the man said looking down, in fear.
“What makes you think it’s a guise” Titus asked surprisingly coolly
“I met another man of the A/C company, who denied their sending another man to replace him, saying they aren’t supposed to come today if not for an impromptu call from the 10th floor, he said he’s hale and healthy and further denied their company sending another man to replace him, he called his supervisor and I confirmed his story” the man replied
“What makes you think he’s on this floor?” Titus replied, obviously disappointed with his security personnels but also trying to hold back his anger.
“We’ve searched the other floors but he isn’t there, this is the last sir and he hasn’t exited the building” the man replied recoiling in fear.
Titus clenched his fist in anger, his face getting stony, he walked towards the man who just reported the information and gave him a thumping blow to his face. He turned furiously at the other security guards who cowered under his glare.
“What do I pay you for you fools, get me the b-----d that made a fool of my dumb security guards.” He shouted spitting furiously, fighting space.
Ben raised his head to see the situation of the room but he froze when he saw a pair of eyes glaring furiously at him. Ben looked at the phone and managed to press the send key before dropping his phone under the sofa behind which he had been hiding. The guard waved his gun menacingly as he walked towards Ben and dragged him into the center the room. The looks on face of the guy that led him to the elevator earlier and who was lucky to be on the receiving end of a fist could kill an elephant, full of rage, as he glared wickedly at Ben.
Writing will belittle the shock on the face of Titus as the guard dragged Ben to the center of the room.
“So you have been in this room all this while” Titus asked walking towards Ben.
“It seems your security ‘gourds’ prefers your money to their job” Ben replied sarcastically, earning him a wicked growl from the fisted-faced guy and a punch from Titus who’s now towering in the glory of his regalia above him.
“I’m amazed by the ease with which you slid through them, but you came earlier than expected”
“Expected?” Ben asked, his eyes lightening up.
“Yea, we were just planning about you guys, never knew you will act so fast” Titus replied chuckling lightly.
“You have nothing to hide, why planning?” Ben asked, trying to meet Titus’ comical mental state.
“You know I’m a politician and a philanthropist, people would never believe your words against mine” Titus replied.
“Not if I have the evidences” Ben said lying again, something he doesn’t have.
“It seems you don’t understand your position here, dead men don’t speak or better still don’t tender evidences, the fun of it is killing you will be as self-defence, you broke into my office remember?” Titus said raising Ben’s jaw, with a smirk on his face.
“Enough of this, get this twerp out of here” Titus barked at the bystanding ‘gourds’
Ben shoulder slumped as he saw the wry evil smile that seeped into the face of the guy who’s face was punched, the guy grinned with evil pleasure as he advanced towards Ben. Ben knows he’s up for hell tonight, starting from now as he felt something hitting him hard on his temple and he passed out.
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Elvis has been walking around, head bent, he is the team leader so he has to get a grip on his emotions.
He got a grip on himself and walked around with a faked cool face, he ordered a glass of water to help improve his calmness. He succeeded after a trip to the rest room where he poured cold water over his head and washed his face. He felt better but still at loss on what to do. His emotions are at war, he can’t think straight, Ben’s fate is unknown, his current situation is unknown too.
The other team members looked up to him for answers and instructions he doesn’t have, they couldn’t talk but the awkward silence in the room speaks volume. Timileyin glared at the computer screen before him obviously lost too, elderly Dauda kept a straight face deep in thought. The silence was broken by the message tone of a phone. Its Ben.
He glared at the message before him, his jaw dropped.
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