This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.
***
CH65: ULTIMATUM
Chike joined the men in the living room, just in front of the study. He led the men to take cover. Some of them were feeling jittery waiting there while hearing the sound of gunfire.
"Hold your positions. Kill anyone who enters the house. The group attacking are traitors. The Boss has ordered you that kill them all." Chike said as he took cover behind a decorative pillar close to the study door.
There was another person beside him. He turned to the man.
"Chuks, we have to make sure no one enters the study."
"Alright, leader."
Chike turned his sights back to the door. He could hear the sound of gunfire coming from outside. The guards outside had already confronted the invaders.
**
From his vantage point, Korede had a clear view of the entire mansion. Seeing the way Peter attacked the mansion, he shook his head.
"Amateurs. You just threw away your element of surprise."
Even though he said this, Korede could guess why Peter acted this way.
This wasn't about just revenge, it was also a power play.
If Peter had attacked by surprise and killed Jonathan, he would have been seen as a 'coward' which would make his rule difficult.
To avoid such future troubles, Peter had decided to make a 'brave' move.
'Utter foolishness. When you're king, would anyone care about the method you used? If there are detractors, can't you just use your new authority to deal with them? This is a gang, not a democracy. Now the result of the battle is unpredictable.'
After a moment of contemplation, Korede came to a decision
'Looks like I have to interfere."
He used his sniper rifle's scopes to locate all the Duke's guards outside the mansion exchanging fire with Peter's group.
As he did so, he caught the figure of Esther by the side. She surprisingly held herself well as she actively took part in the shoot-out.
Soon, Korede finished marking the position of the guards.
'First, let's see if I can be discrete.'
He aimed and shot a guard by his lonesome.
Puut. (suppressed gunshot)
When the guard dropped, Korede checked the reactions of the combatants.
'Looks like no one noticed he was sniped. Bet they think he was killed by the other group. I can make this work.'
He aimed at another guard who was under focused fire from Peter's group. He shot him immediately he left his cover.
Puut.
Once again, the combatants didn't notice anything amiss.
'Good thing I didn't bring the other two rifles. Their stopping power is too big and the Gunshot Wound(GSW) would be easy to differentiate from the rifles they're using here.'
Emboldened by his previous successes, Korede turned his aim to another person. This time, it was a member of Peter's crew. The man had taken cover away from view making him Korede's next target.
Puut.
Another clean shot, another kill.
Korede took out six more people. Four from the guard side, two from Peter's side. This gave the advantage to Peter's side while also reducing their number so that the advantage wasn't overwhelming.
With ten people left in his crew, Peter led his team to kill the remaining five guards. Korede had refrained from doing anything.
'Let's let them decide who wins. I wonder what the Duke has in store.'
Amidst heavy fire from the six bodyguards inside the mansion's living room, Peter and his crew rushed into the house and quickly took cover.
An intense exchange of gunfire ensued.
Duke's bodyguards were very good as they were able to hold off Peter's crew even though the opponents had a numerical advantage.
To Korede's surprise, Esther continued to hold her own well in the fight. She had previously killed one of the guards outside before they rushed into the house. Even after rushing in, her ferocity didn't diminish under the heavy fire.
Korede felt like he was watching a blockbuster action movie.
'I wish I had popcorn and a drink. This might even be better than a blockbuster movie.'
[You know people might find your actions disturbing. Even veteran soldiers don't take gunfights this calmly. Not to mention you're still a rookie.]
'Are you trying to say I have a screw loose?'
[Perhaps.]
Korede chuckled.
'I'll like to think it was all the training the Family put me through all these years. As you know from my memories, the Family was very practical in my training.'
[I don't think it's just that, Korede.]
'If so, then I don't know what to say.'
While Korede 'enjoyed' the gunfight and bantered with Aon, two saloon cars quietly pulled up in front of the mansion's gates.
The cars' headlights reflecting off the gate attracted Korede's attention. He shifted his sight over.
Four men got out of each car. All eight men looked armed to the teeth while also wearing combat body armour.
They didn't rush into the building, rather they organised themselves into two teams of four men each. They moved calmly and cautiously as they swept every corner while making their way over to the main mansion building.
Korede frowned.
"Homebase, do we have any assets or friendlies in the area?"
"Negative. You're the only one on the ground at your location." Special Agent Ndike replied.
"I'm seeing eight well-armed, well-trained men here. Are you sure they aren't ours?"
"Positive, Operator. They are not ours."
"Copy. Considering them hostile and acting accordingly."
"Solid copy, Operator."
Korede returned his full focus to the men who had almost made it to the main building. From the look of things, they were planing on flanking Peter's group from behind.
'Is this the Duke's trump card?' Korede mused.
He shook his head a bit. Something didn't feel right.
'Body-armour, M4 carbine, this level of training, they can't be Duke's men. Then Mercenaries? Or …?'
A thought appeared in Korede's mind but he quickly pushed it away with a shake of his head.
'Should I interfere?'
Once again, he shook his head a bit.
'No, not yet. Let's see what happens.'
The men made it to the door and took cover on both sides of the door.
One of the men brought out a phone and typed something. Once done, he nodded to the man at the head of the formation.
Meanwhile, inside, Chike suddenly made a hand sign to his men. They reduced their rate of fire.
Peter and his crew took it as an opportunity to press them. Some of them left their cover positions to have a better line of sight as they increased the pressure on the Duke's bodyguards.
Suddenly, the armed men at the door burst in and took them by surprise. Without any hesitation, the men opened fire. In a matter of seconds, they killed all of Peter's crew except for Peter and Esther.
With guns pointed at him, and most importantly at Esther, from both sides, Peter knew his only option was to surrender.
"Drop the gun, Peter. You've lost." Chike said.
Esther was horrified while Peter gritted his teeth before dropping the gun.
The door to the study opened and Jonathan Duke calmly walked out.
"Little brother, I'm disappointed. To think you would betray me for a mere woman." He said as he ignored Esther, whose expression alternated between fear and hate as her body trembled, focusing his gaze on only his brother.
Peter positioned himself in front of her, blocking her view of Jonathan.
"To me, she isn't a mere woman. She is the most important person to me in this world." Peter said.
Esther's expression brightened a bit as she forced down her fear. Thanks to what Peter said, she was able to gather the courage to look at her 'husband' defiantly.
"So there's nothing I can say to change your mind from this foolishness?" Jonathan asked as his gaze continued to remain on only his brother.
"No!" Peter replied firmly.
"You know there's only one end to this if that's the case, right?" Jonathan asked again.
A bit of anger was apparent on his face. He was trying to give his brother a way out but the latter was remaining defiant.
"Yes, I know. I was prepared for that the moment I set all this into motion." Peter replied.
Jonathan closed his eyes, then a second later, he opened them again.
"Is that so?" He signed.
He brought out a pistol from the back of his waist and aimed at Peter. A part of him was hoping that his brother would change his mind in the face of death. Alas, Peter just looked at him even more defiantly.
Jonathan knew there was no going back anymore. In their line of work, what Peter just did was a death sentence. He had already tried to use his influence to give his brother a way out but he refused defiantly. The Duke had only one choice now.
He squeezed the trigger and shot his younger brother in the heart.
Bang.
Peter's body felled to the floor with a thud. Dead.
Esther screeched, "Nooo!!! Peteer!!!!"
She shook his body as she wailed. Suddenly, she turned to Jonathan.
"You monster. He's dead. You killed him. You killed him!!" She shouted in hysteria.
She broke down and wept on the floor beside Peter's body.
"You've taken everything from me."
"Give him back to me. Give my love back to me." She muttered as she slowly crawled to Jonathan. "Give my life back to me!" She screamed as she lunged at Jonathan.
He didn't dodge her lunge as he just sent her back to the floor with a slap.
"Shut up, you bitch. If not for you, would all of this have happened? Listen well, you bitch. After everything that happened, Peter is still my brother. I want to respect his death. If not for that, I would have had you used by at least fifty men like the bitch you are." Jonathan glared back at her.
Esther's body shook as she shrank back.
"I wish you die a miserable death, you monster." She said even as her body trembled from fear.
"At least, you won't see it." Jonathan said as he also shot her in the heart.
Thus, he took the final thing of value to her that she had.
Her life.
Jonathan stood there as he looked at the two bodies before him in silence.
"Foolish little brother." He muttered. Pain, sadness and disappointment was obvious in his voice
He turned to Chike. "Clear the bodies. After this farce of a war, we'll give them a proper burial."
"Alright, Boss."
Jonathan was about to turn back into his study when the sound of a rotor was heard. A small drone entered the living room through one of the broken windows. The drone hovered as a clapping sound was heard from it.
"Bravo. Bravo. As expected of the Duke of NDz. Colour me impressed. No hesitation in killing those who oppose you. Not even your brother and wife are spare of your ire. A true tyrant crime lord through and through. Once again, Bravo." The voice said as the clapping continued.
"Who are you?" The Duke as his expression turn savage.
"Who I am is irrelevant." The voice said. "But if you must call me something, you can call me 'Ghost'." The voice chuckled.
Jonathan felt a familiar feeling from listening to the voice speak. It reminded him of 'that bastard' he bought the video from. Even though the voice was not modulated like last time, Jonathan felt he wasn't wrong.
"You're that bastard that sold me the intel two days ago. Don't you dare deny it. I can't forget that annoying tone." He said.
"Wow! You could tell? I'm flattered." Korede responded in the usual joking tone.
"What do you want?" The Duke asked drily.
"Oh! Where are my manners?" Korede said as if remembering something he forgot. His tone became serious, "Jonathan Duke. For the crime of selling arms and ammunition to a known terrorist group; Colluding with hostile foreign elements; Taking part in the sale of nuclear radioactive material; Conspiracy to used said nuclear radioactive material in an attack against a Nigerian military base and your part in the deaths of four highly decorated soldiers, you have been charged with High Treason amongst other charges by the JSOB High Command and the Nigerian Military."
The room descended into stunned silence. Korede seemed not to have noticed as his voice continued.
"You and everyone around you have two choices. One, Surrender. you shall be treated with leniency should you cooperate.
Two, Resist or try to escape. But fair warning, I have been authorised to use lethal action as I deem fit.
Those are your options. You have 5 minutes to consider it."
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]
AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLING.
M4 Carbine
Weight: 3.51Kg
Length: 75.6cm
Barrel Action: Gas-operated, Rotating bolt, Stoner expansion gas
Rate of Fire: 700 to 950 rounds per min
Effective Range: 500m
Muzzle Velocity: 910m per sec
Calibre: 5.56x45mm NATO rounds
Magazine: 30 rounds STANAG magazine
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]