Jack held the phone in his hands for a while before replacing it to his ears.
"Listen Nicky, I don't expect any laxity in my missions. I said you should be at the place before 3.30! Where the hell have you been?" he spattered into the phone immediately he went back on the call.
"Am sorry Boss, it was Tony who did not show up earlier!"
"I don't want to know what your excuses are Nicky! Get yourselves down there at once and pull a clean deal for me. Any mistakes and you will live to regret the day you were born. You get it?"
"Yes sir!" Nick answered swiftly as he knew that his boss, Jack, was in a foul mood. Whenever Jack was in that mood Nick knew better than to engage him on an argument. He understood that the only mission ahead of him was to deliver the package to Jack's clients and return the money received back to him.
Nick and Tony were Jack's errant boys whom he used in his business. Jack operated an underground drug syndicate which covered the entire country. Rumors had it that he operated even in nearby countries and he was slowly becoming a renowned drug lord, feared among his peers.
He had recruited both Nick and Tony into this business and he liked them for their thoroughness, especially Nick. For most of the time he used them even in the riskiest and trickiest of places. The two young men never disappointed him. And he intended to keep them that way because he was a man who could not stomach any failures or mistakes. That is the reason why he was sending them earlier than the appointed time and yet he was acting as if they were already late.
After the phone call, Nick quickly motioned Tony to tell him to be on the move. He of course had heard everything and knew that Jack was no guy to play with. He, therefore, sat on his motorbike and followed Nick who had already started riding his ahead of him. The two rode for like two kilometres along the Tamul tarmac road and reached the interchange of the roads at the Bingo flyover point. Here they disembarked and moved to the lower partially hidden side of the road below the flyover. This section was not as busy as other parts of the road and because of its darkness, few people cared to pass by that point. At the wee hours of the morning it looked as deserted as the cemetery.
This was the best place for Jack's trade. It was well hidden from the public eye unless one was a very keen observer to be able to notice any kind of meeting going on down there. Jack liked the spot and organized most of his clients to meet at this point. It was now his favorite drop point as well as his pick point. Nick and Tony each wore heavy jackets within which they carried five sachets of opium packed in 0.9 kilograms each. A single packet was worth hundred thousands of shillings. Technically the two were walking with Jack's millions of shillings that early morning. They were to give these sachets to their clients who were coming to meet them at that point that very hour.
The young men arrived and each took their positions in very well hidden crevices at the points where the different floors of the bridge overhead met. Nick advanced this idea as a measure against any surprise attacks from their clients. He always wanted them to arrive early as at now and wait for their mates, so that if they arrive and have other alternatives they would be better prepared to counter attack.
So they waited in silence having rehearsed all that they were required to do once their clients arrived. This was not the first time they were doing this, so no one was an armature at the game. In fact they had an upper hand to most of the clients that they did business with.
After waiting for twenty minutes, two range rovers pulled up into the section of the road where they had set camp. Their lights went out as they turned off their vehicles. Then two men stepped out. One from each vehicle. They scanned the area for a while then returned to the doors of the vehicle , they opened them and two other gentlemen stepped out, each with a briefcase.
"You can come out now, boys!" One of the first two guys shouted at Nick's direction. From where he was hiding Nick got startled. How had they known that they were already there? He wondered within himself. He waited hesitantly for a moment. The man called again.
"Hey boys, you don't want to waste our time, do you?"
Nick looked at the man speaking and gave Tony the signal.
The two stepped out of their hiding slots within the crevices and cautiously approached the other party. Though surprised, Nick and Tony gave no signs of weakness or show of being taken aback. They stood at a safe distance and Nick took up the initiative of announcing their already known presence.
"Glad you are here Eagles. We can proceed to business if you don't mind!" he spoke up to the other team.
"Straight to the point, I like that! Well you can proceed and show us the products!"
With that Nick and Tony placed their hands into their jackets to get out the sachets. Perhaps out of caution or misunderstanding from the other party, the two men who had first come out suddenly pointed their guns at the two. They were so swift in their movement that Nick admired them. However, he was quick to shout;
"Easy! Easy! My friends! We are only bringing the stuff out." The men did not lower their guns but continued pointing them at the two. They hesitated for a moment then Nick added;
"We shall take out the sachets one after the other , slowly as you look on." Then they proceeded and placed the 10 sachets on the ground in front of them. Then they stood back a few meters. One of the men lowered his gun as he came and randomly collected on of the sachets. He took it to one of the men with the briefcase. The man checked out the sachet's content and nodded to his partner. Then they gave the two briefcases to the man who took them back to Nick and Tony.
"With you is 150 M for your boss!" The first guy stated as Nick opened the first suitcase. " Same goes for the other bag!" he added. Nick confirmed the contents of the briefcases and handed one to Tony while he retained the other one. They locked the bags and stood to go.
"It was nice doing business with you!" Nick said to them.
"Pass our regards to that jackal. Tell him we shall need more of his services soon!" and they turned to leave.
Suddenly a stern voice rung through the early morning hours.
"Police!! You are all surrounded!! Put your weapons down!"
They was total panic at the scene. Nobody had anticipated the coming of the police. This spot was so secluded and rarely patrolled. Furthermore it was in the odd hours where nobody walked down those paths. But it was also the best time for criminal operatives to be in action and the police seemed to have gotten the gist of this fact.
The men with the gun turned here and there trying to get the glimpse of the one speaking. But they did not put down their guns.
"I repeat, put down your weapons and raise your hands to your head! You are all surrounded by the Police! I repeat, you are all surrounded!" Nick and Tony were already on their knees but hands still held on the briefcases. They knew this to be the best position in order to avoid being shot at as a resistant individual. They were looking for an opportunity to scamper for safety whenever even a small chance shall present itself.
From the corner of his eye he saw one of the men with the briefcase quickly getting back to his car. The other one did the same but was too late. A shot rendered the air piercing deep into the still night. The bullet lodged itself into the man's thighs and he fell on his stomach, scattering all the sachets he was holding. The other guys with the guns started shooting toward the place from where the first shot had come. No one could tell if actually they had seen the one shooting or were they simply acting in defense. The police also responded with gunshots too. There was an intense exchange of fire for like two minutes. Each side seemed experienced enough to hold the other party at bay.
Through slithering and rolling on the ground and moving with their bellies at times, Tony and Nick managed to crawl to the further side of the road. Lucky for them they did not get any bullets. On reaching that side Nick looked here and there and saw that all was clear and decided to run out to where his bike was hidden. Just as he was running he heard two shots ringing behind him. He fell on his stomach as quickly as he could and turned back to look. He saw all the two body guards lying on the ground motionless. Immediately he knew they had been shot. May be they are even dead!
"Tony! Tony!" he called frantically for his partner but he did not hear his response. He looked at the other side and even there Tony was not present.
"Where could he have gone?" Nick thought in his head as he contemplated on his next move. He grabbed his briefcase tightly and ran off into the shadows. Several bullets followed him hitting at several points close to him but none touching him. He got to his motorbike, and thank heavens for its automatic ignition, he was already gone by the time the police got to where he had packed.
As he sped off, his head continued ringing with Tony's name. Could he have been shot? Could he have escaped just as he had? Did he carry the briefcase or left it there at the scene? These questions pummeled his head as hard as a ten-pound hammer. He wondered how the police had gotten wind of their business meeting. Normally nick ensured total secrecy to his business dealings and shared the details only between himself and his partners, in this case Tony and Jack.
Obviously, Jack could not have sold them out because he is the one who stood to lose so much more than any of them. Could it then be Tony? But to what gain? What if in the process he had been shot, how would his betrayal serve him? Nick started feeling a tinge of anger which continued rising. As he thought about the possibility of being betrayed by his partner, emotions rose to a crescendo and he pulled his motorbike to full throttle. He sped past as fast as lightning. It was a wonder he did not crush the bike.
Getting off the bike outside of their safe house one, Nick quickly entered the flat with the briefcase and proceeded to the secret room. This was a hidden chamber with all communication tools to be used to alert the boss in case of any mayday. Nick pressed the alarm button in what looked like a safe-holding and dropped in there the briefcase he had carried with him from the merchants. He then went back to the living room and took an identical briefcase then went out through the back door. He stealthily looked around and seeing no signs of being followed, hoped into his motorbike and sped off in the opposite direction.
In his house Jack saw the alarm lights coming on and the equipment buzzing to life. He immediately trans-coded the message and knew that it came from Nick and was sent from safe house 1. According to his operations, whenever a business deal backfired in such a case as on this day where the police busted them, they were required to send a coded message through safe house 1. On the device they used were three buttons for communicating the levels of mayhem encountered. Green was for showing that the police had interfered with the business but nothing is lost and no one is injured, but the transaction failed. The amber was to communicate that the transaction which had been underway had faced police interference and someone was hurt considerably but none of the commodities were lost. Then there was the red button which signified that due to the police involvement, everything went wrong, there are injuries, possibly even death and that the tools of trade were lost, either partly or in whole.
Jack saw the red lights blinking and knew that Nick had communicated to him a great danger. He stood up quickly and cursing, started hitting and knocking down anything that was before him. He smashed the flower vase that was on the table where the alarm devise sat. He spat on the ground uttering the f-word severally cursing Nick!
"What the f…. have you done now, you, son of a b….!?" he bitterly said. Then he took up his landline phone and dialed there a number. After a few ringing someone from the other end billowed.
"What's the emergency this early?" the man from the other side asked. Jack took some times to heave a sigh then responded.
"Code red at safe house one. That boy has burned us up!"
"Do you want me to go after him?"
"Right away! He must be heading to Boduli right now." Jack added.
"How long ago?'
"Just now, probably five minutes gone. Remember I need him alive until we secure all our money or goods!"
The man speaking from the other side said he was already hitting the road promising to return the kid within that same day and that Jack shouldn't be worried.
Nick was riding of town having known clearly what the implications of his actions would be. Come what may, he told himself that he needed time to think things over clearly. He understood that the biggest concern Jack would have will not be for their well-being but for the whereabouts of his money or his drugs. Yet for him, he wanted to find out first of all where Tony was, if he had been killed and the money taken by the police or if he had succeeded to run away.
He reached the Lake-view motel and decided to take a rest in there. using his card, he paid for two days accommodation. He then washed and got into bed. He did not sleep but just relaxed his body as reflected on how quick things had changed within a span of hours only.
Nick bolted up suddenly and sat on his bed. He had been having nightmares since he went to rest in the motel soon after the shootout with the police during their foiled drug sale. Nick had merely escaped death during the incident and now as he sat on the bed he wondered where his friend and partner, Tony, was. Had he made it out successfully too, or he had he been hit? He tried to recollect in his mind the images of that night. He remembered that while he was trying to crawl away from the shooting he had looked back and saw two bodies lying motionless on the ground. He tried to think deeply if he had been able to ascertain who were those on the ground? Could they be the two bodyguards or the men with the briefcases? Was one of them his friend Tony?
Nick could not get answers on these numerous questions and he started feeling his head pounding him. He rose from the bed and started pacing around the room. He was making a plan for his next move. Since he woke up he had not put on the lights in his room but it was not so dark. It seemed like it was already in the morning and so the natural light made the room's interior a little lit. As he paced around he weighed his options. What chances did he have of outrunning Jack's long hands? He realized it was only a matter of time before Jack found him! And what chances did he have of being spared by Jack? He concluded that it would all depend upon the recovery of Jack's money or his goods. This gave him shivers. The only thing he was sure of was the one briefcase of money which he had managed to take with him in the deadly shoot out. This was only half of what he owed Jack. The rest was with Tony or maybe with the merchants who did business with them or the police! So Nick heaved a deep troubled sigh and sat back on his bed. Then he remembered the television in the room and he switched it on. After browsing through the channels and finding nothing about the incident, he was about to turn the TV off when suddenly the presenter on National News Channel came up.
"As regarding the developing story that we brought to you earlier of the shoot out between the police and a number of drug traffickers, we have received fresh details that the police have so far taken into custody one of the suspects. The man whose identity has been classified had sustained minor injuries and was apprehended by the patrol police as he tried to make his way out of the crime scene. Remember that earlier today the police had gunned down two of the armed merchants. The police are pursuing one of the sellers whom they believe had managed to escape their tight net. We shall keep you posted throughout the day about this and many other stories. This is NNC!"
Nick stood up brightly. The anchor had just confirmed his thoughts that two of his would be buyers had been killed. Tony and him were not armed, at least did not show it, but the buyers and their bodyguards had come with guns already drawn. Nick supposed that the two armed men whom the announcer said were gunned down were the bodyguards. He was hopeful that the news referred to Tony as the suspect in custody. Better in prison than death, he thought. But now he knew he was under the police's radar. He was now a wanted man, not just by Jack but by the police too. He got up and left the motel. He knew what he had to do.
That morning Caroline had woken up with a feeling in which she could not explain. At one point she felt sad, lonely and angry yet she did not know why she felt like that. She was so moody that when her younger brother, Hilkah came to her to ask for breakfast she rattled harsh words to him, sending him away almost in tears. Caroline had stepped into the shoes of her parents ever since her mother got paralysed due to a chronic strong that hit her on the right side of her body. Her father was rarely concerned with family matters. He was a defeated man, a complete drunkard and a perennial drinker who woke up to alcohol, stayed in alcohol and only talked alcohol. He wasn't even aware that he had a family that needed him. None of their problems was his concern. Caroline had analysed this situation and had stepped in to shoulder all the responsibilities of the family. It wasn't easy but she had to. This sometimes took a drastic toll on her and she could be found stressed all the time.
Two things had happened in her life that brought back hope and light in her. First, she had met Nicky and they had become lovers. Nick was so loving and caring. Caroline always found solace in him. He was gentle, supportive and understanding apart from being so handsome. They had met at a party where both Belindah and Vicky had attended with her. The two had started out with just greetings and talking to each other, telling stories to one another, while her two friends sang on the stage. They had liked one another instantly and from there they decided to begin courtship.