ELVIS: EPISODE 16-18

EPISODE SIXTEEN

Elvis sat down deeply lost in thought, he had hoped to solve the case of the greedy pot-bellied politician with ease or if it’s going to be difficult, he had hoped it won’t lead to something bigger. He had hoped for a straight forward case, something easy but now it’s linked to the most dreaded criminal in Nigeria, one who killed his competitors to monopolize the crime world of Nigeria. A young man feared by all.
He asked Timi to draw up all the information the department has on MSN and compile everything; he’ll go through them tomorrow. He remembered he won’t be able to go through them tomorrow because of the TBS bombing the department is looking to prevent tomorrow. That’ll have to be next week.
He dispersed Timi and Dauda for the day, they sure need some rest for tomorrow; he hadn’t even briefed them on their task tomorrow, that’ll have to wait till tomorrow morning, right now he needed a long rest and they sure need it too. Timi and Dauda nodded in agreement.
“What’s going on here” Ben hollered walking towards them. His face still a bit contorted; signs of a good thumping but he looks fine.
“Ben, you’ve been discharged so soon?” Timi asked excited
“You haven’t spent a day”
“Told you I hate hospitals, I’ll do just fine without them, the doctor had to let me go when I kept on disturbing the whole ward” Ben said laughing
“Welcome back bro” Elvis said hugging him
“You still look like a gnome” Dauda said hugging him in turn.
Timi patted his face with Ben winching a bit in pain,
“I see, you do just fine” Timi said before hugging him.
Elvis was very happy to see Ben healthy again. People say trouble strengthen bonds, Ben’s mauling strengthened his. A touch of happiness that eased the tension of a tiring day. He told them to meet early tomorrow morning at a particular location close to the TBS, Timi will get the van and the equipment; he’ll give them a quick debrief then.
“Welcome back bro” Elvis said patting Ben again, evidently happy with his radiating smile.
He took a last look around his team, affection and trust glaring back at him from the eyeballs glaring back at him; smiles of understanding and unionism reached back at him, Timi’s eyes glaring in excitement, Dauda’s face has that straight look; gained from years of experience; behind that face, total trust is all Elvis felt, Ben with his bumper body has that wry look on his face, worsened by the dilapidated state off his face. Now they are a team.
……………………………………………………………………
Elvis got home, took off his clothes and walked towards the bathroom for a shower. He looked at the frame glaring back at him, he looks leaner and stressed out, the scar that ran across is chest now looks bolder, his six packs are becoming less seeable; thanks to his less visit to the gym; his face now looks paler, and the ‘pits’ at opposite end of his neck are now getting deeper; he hadn’t been eating much; all in the space of a week.
He made some sandwiches of bread and jam, took a jar of milk before heading towards his bedroom. It has been long he called his family, he’ll do that tomorrow after catching the bomber tomorrow-hopefully, he thought as his eyes obeyed nature and he drifted to wonderland.
……………………………………………………………………
SATURDAY 08:00 AM
He had briefed his team about the situation at hand, emphasizing on the gravity and magnitude of the case; a lot of life is at stake. They must be at alert and pay utmost attention to any unusual observation. Elvis will stay on one of the floors, where he can oversee the whole square, Timi will stay in the van, giving backup and easy getaway if need be, Ben and Dauda are to mingle with the crowd observing the surroundings. The other teams have taken position in their pre-planned location too.
“Team, get to your position” the ringing voice of the IG blared through the walkie-talkie. Elvis nodded and they dispersed after wishing each other luck.
The TBS is an iconic square built in memory of the great Tafawa Balewa, the square is very large used for hosting large events, large scale evangelism, campaigns, and other programs. The square has a large podium at one end from which speakers stay to address the audience, the podium is very large, large enough to accommodate up to 100 people at once, the other end is littered with shops over which rents are collected for the upkeep of the grass overlaying the ground of the square. The square is large enough to accommodate 10,000 people at once.
The surrounding of the TBS is just getting filled up, the shops built around the square are just opening up, some displaying their wares outside their shops, detachable shops are also been constructed around the square with traders hurrying to display their wares to the passer-bys. Shouts of traders advertising their goods rent their air, shouts of conductors shouting different bus-stops in the route they are plying, hailing of touts and “street lords’ spiced the air as they acclaim praises and rendition to one another, shouts of angry passer-bys who had just been stepped on or one who just discovered his missing accessory added to the chaos, all coalescing to create a messy atmosphere.
Time flew by, seconds into minutes, minutes into hours, nothing unusual is noticed, the teams are getting weary, maybe it is a hoax after all, the information might be false. Sirens could be heard afar off announcing the passing of an influential person. The blaring of the siren gets closer and closer; suddenly the progress of the blaring stopped and blared from a specific distance, louder than the rowdy atmosphere, near the entrance of the square. Up ahead, an empty tanker just tumbled across the road, bringing the passage of automobiles to a halt.
The car with the siren is a black rangerover jeep, leading the procession of five cars, another similar jeep is at the end of the procession also with a siren. After some time the cars filed into the spacious end of the TBS, close to the podium, armed men chased away the few people hanging around the area, some of the armed men stood guard around the vehicles, while some of the armed men ran out to check what is delaying traffic.
“Who the heck is that?” The IG asked over the talkie
“That’s Honorable Titus sir” someone replied
“Honorable Titus? What is he doing here?” he asked again
“Seems he’s waiting for the traffic to ease up, before moving on, he’s having a meeting with the ex-governor” Timi replied
“How do you know he’s having a meeting?” the IG asked
“Did some findings sir” Timi replied uncomfortably. Seems the IG sensed it, he didn’t push it.
A group of plumbers dressed in yellow overalls walked towards the podium, they were accosted by the armed men but later let go. They walked towards podium and disappeared underneath it.
“Why can’t someone tell me that podium has an underground?” The IG screamed into his walkie-talkie.
No one replied, he heaved in exasperation, one can notice he’s furious at his end.
Elvis was not perturbed by what the IG is blazing over; his interest is in the group of plumbers that just disappeared under the podium, there’s something unusual about one of them, he sensed it, one of them had looked back and he had caught a glimpse of his face through the pair of binoculars with him. He knows that face, where did he know that face.
His eyes widened when he remembered the questioning pair of eyes that had looked at him when he was spying on Emeralds a few days ago.
The kiosk owner.

EPISODE SEVENTEEN
Elvis hurried down the stairs of the building he is overlooking the square from, he had a bad feeling about the kiosk owner ever since he had glared at him suspiciously at his kiosk. He had thought him to be a look-out for Titus in his dark deeds but he had never envisaged him to be a bomber, he had never suspected him to be one at least, alas he was wrong.
“Timi, do you have any idea of what is underneath the podium?” Elvis asked over the earphone.
“Not yet sir, I’m currently working on it, I’ll update you soonest” Timi replied
“Hurry up”
“Sir, it contains the connection of pipes sir”
“Pipes for what” Elvis asked now at the foot of the stairs
“Water sir, the underground of the podium was once used as a water distribution facility in the early 70s to late 80s before it was closed down, large quantity of water from the water distillation facility at the outskirt of the the state are sent down here, where it is distributed in lower quantities to surrounding towns. It has since be closed down”
“What is it used for now?”
“The state governor is planning to rehabilitate it for efficient distribution of drinkable water, something the state is lacking” Timi explained.
“Alright, get the schematics of the building, I’m going in”
“Sir, I think that is dangerous, the schematics of an underground facility constructed long ago, that will be hard sir” Timi said
“What the heck is going on here” the IG barked into the walkie-talkie
“It seems I’ve found our bomber” Elvis replied, now rushing towards the other end of the square.
“What?” the IG said, promptly alerting the other teams “Let’s move in” he added.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea sir, it’ll be too risky for us all, I’ll signal for backup when I’ve secured the bomb” Elvis said approaching the armed men guarding Honorable Titus. He showed them his ID card “It seems we are having a bit of a situation here, I have to pass” he added, they looked at him at loss of what he meant, they let him pass nonetheless.
“Elvis, you can’t go in alone” the IG barked furiously
“Sir, trust me on this”
“Elvis stop now, that’s an order” the IG shouted into his walkie.
Elvis switched his walkie-talkie to a new channel; he pulled out his earpiece and replaced it with another, one only his team members have.
“Sir, this is too dangerous” Timi said concerned through the new earpiece.
“Trust me Timi” Elvis said, pulling out his 9mm pistol from his belt, he cocked it and held it out before him, pointing forward.
“I’ll tell you when to tell others to switch their walkie-talkies to channel 7, right now work on the schematics and tell me what you can bring up, that’s the help you can give me”
“Ben and Dauda, standby for any instruction” Elvis said as he climbed down the stairs. He pushed open the door to the underground and walked in, his pointing finger on the trigger.
The door opened to a dark alley, old rusting pipes connected to each other ran across the roof of the underground, the pipes are ran vertically down at intervals connected to large reservoirs and delivery plants. The ground is wet and greasy, wet from the ever ending drops of water leaking from the rusted pipes, visibility would have been impossible if not for an old fluorescent tube flicking on and off, other lightening tubes have packed up, another fluorescent tube was flickering at a distant, although low, one can see the silhouette of someone far away and the face of someone close by.
He walked in, gently, stepping silently through the messy floor, he heard movement at his right, he turned suddenly to see one of the plumbers doctoring one of the pipes, the plumber gasped on seeing him; wanting to shout, Elvis quickly put his pointing finger on his lip signaling to the man not to shout, he showed him his ID card and collected a torch from him before telling him to get out of the facility immediately.
He continued his movement into the underground facility, walking stealthily, he saw three more plumbers who left immediately after he told them too, and the facility is getting darker as he could see the end of the facility ahead. He wouldn’t have been able to see anything if not for the torch; he switched off his touch as he got towards the end of the facility. It’s very dark, he couldn’t see the lines of his palm, he wouldn’t have switched off the torch but he doesn’t want to announce his presence to the kiosk owner; he’s not among the plumbers that left the facility.
His eyes caught the reflection of an illumination weakly; the rays are reflected to his path but not bright enough to be easily detected. He now walked on his toes, his whole body alert to any movement, his grip on his pistol got tighter as he walked to see the source of the light. He turned to his left and walked gingerly, the light is coming from a point up ahead. he walked quietly towards the light source, the light source is at the end, a connection of pipes forms a half rectangle shape with the wall, the light is coming from the enclosure of the rectangle, he got to the edge and peeped, he saw a man lying on the floor dead and another working furiously at something; something he couldn’t see, the man’s opaque frame is hindering his sight, the man’s bent over something, his hands at work.
Outside the IG is fuming, he hate his order been disobeyed, especially in front of his underlings, no superior likes that thou, he was boiling over after Elvis shut out all connections, he had ordered for all teams to move in, but Dauda had managed to talk him out of it, requesting that 5 minutes should be given to Elvis, he had agreed, just 5 minutes and they are storming the underground facility. He’ll surely have to punish Elvis for his indocile behavior afterwards.
Elvis pointed the gun at the head of the man bending over; he walked to the open space making sure his gun doesn’t deviate from the direction it’s pointing to, the nozzle of the gun directly at the man’s neck.
“Put your hands on your head” Elvis commanded walking closer, but keeping a safe distance. The man stopped what he’s doing obviously shocked.
“Your hands on your head” Elvis said again more affirmatively
The man stood up slowly, his hands slowly been dragged up to his head, his hands now holding his head, but the man still stand with his back facing Elvis.
“Turn around, slowly” Elvis said, his peter’s finger staying lightly on the trigger.
The man did so slowly, Elvis pointed his torch, now switched on towards the man’s face, alas it’s the kiosk owner. Elvis could see the bomb, blinking, beeping as its timer counts down, behind the man. That familiar sense of guilt and responsibility came over him. The countdown looks just like 8years ago.
“I’m an officer of the CIO department, I’ll advice you not to do anything rash” Elvis said still keeping a safe distance, his gun still pointing directly towards the man.
“I am ….”
“Shut up, remember every word you say can and will be used against you in the court of law” Elvis interjected.
Elvis wanted to use his left hand to press the earphone to connect to Timi, the man sensed his lapse in concentration and made to grab something from his trouser.
A shot rang out and the man fell limply to the ground. The shot echoed around the whole facility, all seem to stand still, the timer now comes into full view, blinking as the figures on it keeps reducing with every passing second.
00:07:25 00:07:24 00:07:23
Elvis ran towards the timer, it looks beautiful with the blue light blinking incessantly albeit an apocalyptic device. He turned towards the body of the kiosk owner, he frantically searched the pockets to see if he could find a trigger or something like a detonator to stop the bomb, he found the wallet of the man and decided to go through it.
He was dumfounded by what he saw, his lips went numb, his throat went dry immediately, his head became light, he couldn’t believe what he has done, before him is an NBI (Nigeria Bureau of Investigation) ID card, with the picture of the kiosk owner printed boldly over it with the name Cedrick Nwosu.
[08/08, 19:32] +2347034432761: I’m not a bomb expert neither a detective, this episode might belittle the gravity of the situation at hand, just bear with me.

EPISODE EIGHTEEN
Elvis felt himself going numb as he fell on his buttocks, his lips quiver in shock, he had just killed a detective, an officer of the law, they are both fighting the same course, they are both on the same side but different segment, they both have the same aim, the same goal; to stop the bomb but he had killed him, he just shot a friend, all because of his delusion, he had thought he was thinking right but he didn’t realize that till it’s too late. He sat dejectedly on the floor, forgetting his surroundings and wept.
Behind him the timer wasn’t aware of the abject emotional breakdown going on just beside it, it doesn’t feel concerned if it was aware as it blinked and countdown, determined to complete its obliterating task.
00:05:50 00:05:49 00:05:48
“Sir, come in, sir, please come in” Timi’s voice shrilled out of the walkie-talkie kicking him out of his slumping emotional state.
“Sir, report sir, the teams are about to storm the facility, I’ll need you to report sir if it’s safe” Timi said becoming apprehensive.
“Sir” Dauda said hiding his worry expertly
“Sir I’m coming to get you out” Ben said sounding determined.
‘The team is storming….’, ‘I’m coming to…..’, ‘is it safe?’ ‘Sir…..sir…’ ‘….storming the facility’ these are his hearing faculty playing prank on him; his brain is having an arduous task deciphering the messages with the current emotional slum he’s in.
‘Sir….there is a bomb under the building’ ‘Where is your board…..’ ‘Get out…….if you are not…’ ‘shey he no de do exam ni’ he held his head as the memories bashed around in his thought about the bombing of the past 8 years. He had to do something
00:03:40 00:03:39 00:03:38
He jumped up, took his walkie-talkie from where it had fallen. He had to do soft
“I’ve found the bomb” he said smartly into the walkie-talkie
“How many minutes does it have left sir” Timi asked relieved but quickly.
“Less than three minutes” Elvis replied.
“The bomb squad can’t get there and diffuse it within that short time, what are we to do” Timi asked
“Tell everybody to switch to channel 7, I want to speak with the IG” Elvis said.
“Elvis you will be punished severely for this, this is abject belittling of my orders….”
“Sir I’ve found the bomb….you can punish me later but right now I want you to clear the area” Elvis said calmly.
“The bomb squad will be there shortly”
“They can’t make it sir, just a few seconds more than two minutes left, clear the area!!” Elvis said looking at the Bomb counting down before him.
“Elvis, get out of there, you are going to get yourself killed” The IG said now concerned.
Just like the realization of what is happening just dawned on him; before him is an instrument of death and he felt cool about it; he started sweating all over, beads of sweat bigger than fists dropped from his body. He can’t get away far enough, he has to do something.
“Sir, can I speak with the leader of the bomb squad?” Elvis suggested,
00:01:20. 00:01:19. 00:01:18
The team leader of the bomb squad came online, Elvis asked him how he can diffuse the bomb, the man told him to try and describe the bomb, Elvis tried to describe it but his nervous self made him to make a mess of his description. Now peels of sweat are all over him, he started getting hot all over.
“Sir, there is a pen in your pocket, I kept it their in case of emergency, it is a micro-camera, unscrew the end and pull it out, you’ll be able to send the live video of the bomb” Timi said.
00:01:01. 00:01:00. 00:00:59.
He did as he was told, shaking all over, he directed the thin wire he had pulled out from the pen towards the bomb, the torch aiding visibility
“I have the video, I can see the bomb” Timi said.
“How will the team leader of the bomb squad see the video” Elvis replied now sounding alarmed as the timer has 40 seconds left. The increasing sound of the beep from the bomb hightening his agigation.
“I’m……sending……the…..life…..coverage……..to….. his…phone……..now, done” Timi said, sounds of his hands running over the keyboard can be heard all through.
“Oh my God, this is a F-13 atomic bomb, capable of bombing an area within the radius of 200m. It was last used in the……..” the bomb squad team leader rambled on
“Can you just stop this history and get me the f--k out of here” Elvis screamed, apprehensive.
Outside, the whole surrounding of the TBS is cleared, the empty vehicles of honourable Titus procession lies outside the podium, deserted vehincles are on the main road, gathering of people are standing at a safe distance, gentlemen and ladies of the press are already around, each trying to be the first to air the news but they couldn’t enter the restricted area so they have to make do with the distance. Buildings surrounding the TBS has been vacated, empty like a deserted farmhouse, how quick people react to the scare of death. How afraid are they of death. Within a short while, TBS and its immediate surroundings looks like a graveyard, like a leper.
All team leaders of the CIO and their team are also at safe distance trying to hold back the crowd, something that doesn’t seem needed as the crowd has held themselves back. The IG and the CIO members are biting their fingernails, breathing heavily, praying, expecting a miracle, hoping for the best, each clawing at his own thought and version of optimism. Ben had started moving towards the podium turning deaf ears to pleas for him to do otherwise. Dauda looked unperturbed but refused to leave his location, Timi is sweating profusely as he worked tirelessly on the computer in the van.
00:00:30. 00:00:29. 00:00:28
“Just beside the timer, there’s a metal plate screwed into place, you have to unscrew it, God knows we don’t have that time, under the panel is the wire connection” the Bomb squad team leader lamented.
Elvis saw the panel, luckily it has been unscrewed, seems the bomber left in a hurry….oops that’s what the detective was doing.
“I’ve seen the wire connection” Elvis said trying to hold together his inner self already tearing apart.
00:00:15. 00:00:14. 00:00:13
“What?, so soon?…em okay, you’ll see a red wire among the wires, you have to cut it” The team leader said.
“There are three red wires here” Elvis said his heart beating louder than a bass drum, with a plier in hand.
00:00:08. 00:00:07. 00:00:06
“It has to be one of them, there ought to be only one, what other colours are there?, it must be red, one red…..”
00:00:02. 00:00:01. Beeeeeepppp
Elvis had cut the three red wires, hearing the bomb give out a long beep before the timer stops brought his heart to his mouth. He sat down exhausted as he could hear clapping, whistles and sounds of jubilation from his radio, from the other teams and their members.
“Elvis, you are a sick son of a b**ch” the IG said
“Bomb diffused! You can now move in” the IG mellowed into his radio in awe
“Timi, bring up the information on Cedrick Nwosu, NBI” he said before dropping his radio, his heart still pumping loudly, as he tried to breathe in the whole atmosphere to make up for the ones he missed.
#GOODNIGHT