☆☆
Oct 3, 2015
05:30 AM
El Deols, Anthanna.
Sheila was still fast asleep in her bed when she
heard a soft knock at her door. It sounded
distant in her sleepy ears and she turned in the
bed again, covering herself further with the
blanket. The knock sounded again and she
finally opened her eyes, it took her sometime
for her to sit up. She search with her eyes the
wall clock as she yawned lazily.
“Come in please,” she answered after hearing
the third knock and Henry’s voice calling her
name.
The door opened gently and Henry stepped in,
he closed the door behind and remained at the
entrance. He stared at Sheila surprised to see
her still in her bed, looking sleepy.
She had on her nightgown and a shower cap
covering her hair. Her back was resting against
the headboard of the bed and the blanket still
covering her waist to her legs. Henry on the
other hand was already dressed in his track suit
and shoes.
“Good morning Sheila,” Henry greeted first
while she stared at him, still looking like
someone in a trance.
“Good morning Henry,” she replied in a sleepy
voice after which she yawned, covering her
mouth with the back of her palms.
“Why are you still in bed? It’s time for Saturday
workout,” Henry said.
“No,” she shook her head gently. ” We can’t go
for workout this morning, until we decide on
which new workout center is good for us. Or
have you found one already?”
“Yes, I have.” Henry replied sharply.
She raised her brow, expecting him to say where
he found immediately.
“We don’t need to go out to work out always,
we can do some exercises right here in the
house.”
Sheila blinked and breathed deeply. She
remembered Henry had talked about they
exercising in the compound the last night but
she did not take him serious.
“Now, get up, Sheila.”
She yawned and stretched, reluctant to get up.
“Can’t we…” Sheila tried to say something but
Henry interrupted.
“Shhhh… No excuses ma,” he said with a
chuckle placing a finger on his lips.
“Oh!” She grumbled.
“Come on, get up,” Henry urged again, he
moved closer to the bed and turned to the side
she was. He offered her a hand to help her up.
She put her palm in his and he pulled her up
gently. She stood at the tip of the bed for a
second before he lifted her with both arms and
placed her on the ground. He walked
immediately to the wardrobe and opened it.
“I’ll be waiting outside for you,” he said to her
while she was still searching for something in
her wardrobe.
Ten minutes later, she joined him in the
hallway. He led her to the field in the compound
which he had chosen for them to have the
morning exercises.
They began with simple exercises like the cat
camel stretch and jumping jacks which was led
by Henry. After five minutes, it was Sheila’s
turn to lead with an exercise move, she thought
for some seconds before suggesting they do
push-ups.
They began to do push-ups and got to the
twentieth count when she gave up and fell to
the ground. Henry continued however and was
counting close fifty when Sheila got to her feet.
She watched him in awe as he counted close to
seventy five tirelessly.
“Hey wait!” She yelled.
He stopped and turned his face to her, his palms
and feet still in the same position. He watched
as she moved over him and quietly la!d on his
back and arranged her legs on top of his, also
wrapping her hands across his chest.
He was surprised by her gesture and did not
know what to do at first. He felt a strange
overwhelming feeling and he could not tell what
it was.
Their closeness had increased in the three days
of Henry working as her bodyguard. They went
to work together daily and returned together.
He couldn’t really say he worked as her
bodyguard for she did not treat him as such.
She always insisted he sat at the backseat of the
car with her on their way to and from work
which he found odd to do at first, because he
had believed the position of the bodyguard was
supposed to be at the front with the driver.
Everytime they stood or sat close to each other,
she always found herself clinging to his arm or
resting her head on his shoulder unconsciously.
“Continue with the push-ups,” she said to Henry
who still remained frozen in his position.
He continued his count and went past a hundred
and twenty before she yelled that it was
enough.
She rolled down from his body all smiles, while
he was feeling somewhat shy to look at her
face.
“Can we do another exercise now?” Henry
asked after forty seconds of what he considered
as awkward staring at each other.
“I don’t want to do more exercises for today,”
she replied, shaking her head.
He looked at her face, wondering why she was
considering stopping so early. He quickly
looked away as he couldn’t understand the way
at which she was smiling at him.
“I want you to teach me some fighting moves
you know,” she said.
He looked at her face sharply again, this time
wondering why she was making such request.
“But I don’t know any fighting moves,” he
replied, pushing his shoulders up.
“You know many,” she answered back. “Four
days ago, you thrashed five heavy men as one
single man.”
Henry sighed. “But you know that was almost
like unconsciously, I was not sure of how I did
it.”
Sheila contorted her face and raised her brow in
a way to communicate that he was lying. “You
just said you were not sure how you did that. I
agree you were not sure that day but now you
are sure.”
Henry was getting more confused.
“Since the day after that fight, I’ve seen you
everyday read about those fighting moves you
did.” Sheila explained further. “I know you
must have found out what you did that day and
how you did them.”
Henry had a brief smile form on his face, then it
disappeared and turned to a frown. He realized
that she must have been looking into his phone
every time she rested her head on his shoulder
while they were seated close to each other.
“Sheila, I am still not sure of anything yet. Why
don’t we wait till I’m sure first?”
Sheila stared at him quietly for a moment and
then nodded gently in agreement.
“We’ll start next week, by then you should be
very sure.” She answered him.
“But…”
“Shhhh… No excuses sir,” she said with a smile,
mimicking his voice.
____
8:35AM
Oct 5, 2015
Bexford, Bethanna.
The soles of the men’s shoes unpleasant sounds
in the large empty tiled hall as they made their
way to the tail end.
Seven of them in total, Odio at the front leading
the team of his five men and two hostages to his
boss who was seated at the end of the hall.
Mark and his friend had been brought all the
way from Anthanna to Bethanna against their
will.
That night after calling Mark out of his house
and asking that he leads to the Nura River
where the body was dropped, Mark had no
choice than to take them first to his partner’s
house for it was his partner who was a native of
Nura village and had suggested that they took
the body to Nura river where it would never be
discovered. Odio called Mark’s partner the same
way he called Mark out and also coerced the
partner to lead them again to the village.
They got to the Nura River at exactly 5:30am.
Odio asked them questions and he and his men
began to look around immediately for signs of
the body but they still had to wait till day break
to get more light to see.
Flashback
“This is a part of the body bag we brought him
here in,” Mark’s partner said after going into the
river and bringing out some pieces, some other
pieces were in the bushes around the river.
“So, if his flesh was eaten by the birds, what
about his bones?” Odio asked a surprising
question when it was morning.
Mark and his partner had looked at themselves
in bafflement, wondering how he could ask such
question.
“But Odio, we don’t stay here, how do we know
what happened to his bones?”
“You brought his d--n body here when no one
sent you to pick it up, you would have to give
account of everything that happened to that
body.” Odio replied inconsiderately.
“It’s been four months since we brought him
here, his bones must have been moved. Even
the pieces of the body bag found here has
changed colour, we can’t possibly find his body
anymore.” Mark tried to explain.
Odio stepped away from them as he took out
his phone to a distance where they could not
hear his conversation.
“Hello boss,” he said into the phone after his
call was answered. “I got to the location his
body was dropped, there are signs that he has
been eaten by wild birds and animals. We’re
sure he’s dead.”
There was silence from the other end for a
while. “Just bring those men here,” the receiver
replied. “Bring them to me.”
“Okay boss,” Odio said and turned back. He put
the phone back into his pocket and took out a
cigarette and a lighter.
He took his time to lit the cigarette while the
men waited for him to talk. He took a long drag
in and out before lowering his cigarette to talk
to them.
“Sorry guys, you have to follow me to Bexford.”
He announced the sad news to them.
“But that’s impossible…” Mark tried to argue
but Odio made a sign to his guys around and the
sound of the cocking guns shut Mark up.
Present
“Hahaha! So these are the guys that took away
the famous Agent’s body?” Eddy made a
mocking laugh, getting up from his seat as he
saw the men approaching.
He turned to the other side of the table and sat
at the tip, with his arms folded across his chest.
“Yes boss, this is Mark, the transporter from
Anthanna.”
Eddy smiled as he stared at Mark’s face. “I
asked this men to leave you two alive and bring
you here for a reason,” Eddy began, directing
his words to Mark. “I have an assignment for
you, but before I tell you the assignment, I’ll ask
you a question.” He stopped for a second. “How
sure are you that the Man died before you
dropped off his body?”
Mark took some time to think before
answering. “We confirmed when he stopped
breathing and the Doctor also said he was
dead.”
Eddy swallowed a breath and stayed silent for
about a minute before speaking again. “Now,
listen to my assignment for you.”
He got up from his table and turned to the
other side of the table. He opened the drawer
and took out a picture, he handed it to Mark.
Mark and his partner looked into the picture, it
was that of two men standing beside each other.
One of the men’s face had been covered with
blue ink.
“Who does that man in red look like?” Eddy
asked.
“This man?” Mark glanced at Eddy and then
stared at the picture again. He turned to his
partner and asked, “Do you know him?”
The partner muttered a “No”.
“We don’t know who he is,” Mark replied,
attempting to hand over the picture back to
Eddy.
“No, you keep it.” Eddy refused to take it. “The
man on red looks like the man’s whose body
you took, they are brothers. That man you see
in the picture is hunting for the killers of his
brother and is likely to trace you two to
Anthanna. Your assignment is to find if he is in
Anthanna before he finds you two, If he finds
you first, he would use you to get to us and kill
you after. So I’d advise that once you see a man
like that, you report immediately to us.”
Mark and his partner looked again at the
picture, this time more intently.
“There would also be financial rewards if he is
found as soon as possible.” Eddy quickly added.
Mark and his partner was still silent after Eddy
finished talking. Eddy got up from his seat and
moved to the other side of the table where he
was before.
“I’ll let both of you go now, but I must warn
you to be careful, we’ve got our eyes on you.”
____
Sheila’s Firm, El Deols, Anthanna.
Oct 5, 2015
10:36am
“So, what are the uses of Morse codes in this
present age?” Henry asked his personal trainer.
They were seated together behind a table on
two different seats, two computer desktops
were in front of them, one for Henry’s practicals
and the other for the trainers’ use.
“So many uses,” the lady replied him. “In
today’s world, they are still….”
The door bell rang and interrupted their
lessons.
“Please come in,” Henry answered, staring at the
door and wondering who it could be.
The door opened and Sheila’s secretary walked
in. Henry glanced at the wall clock to see the
time. The only times she came into that place
was when Sheila sent her with a lunch pack to
give to him but it wasn’t break yet.
“Mr Henry, You and Miss Sheila would be going
on a one week trip from this evening. You have
to tidy up your office in the next thirty minutes.
You should leave for home anytime soon to
prepare for your trip.” The secretary said.
“One week trip?” Henry questioned. “But she
never told me before.”
“I was asked to deliver the message to you, you
probably should inquire for more details from
her. Thank you,” The secretary replied and then
turned after taking a bow.
“I guess we have to continue your classes when
you return from your trip,” the personal trainer
said to him after some seconds of silence.
“Yeah sure ma’am,” Henry replied her with a
smile.
“So we’d talk more on the uses of Morse codes
when we resume, make sure you practice
writing them while you are away,” the young
lady said as she got up to her feet and began to
put her materials into her handbag.
“Sure ma’am, thanks.” Henry replied.
_
Henry sat quietly at the back seat with Sheila as
they returned home from the office. She seemed
very busy with her palm top computer that she
barely gave attention to Henry who was waiting
patiently for her to talk about the impromptu
trip. He decided not to ask about it, since he had
no choice than to follow her anywhere she
wanted to go as her bodyguard. He however still
felt bad because it clashed with his plans and
goals he had set to achieve for himself with his
personal classes that week and that she did not
think of telling him ahead.
Five minutes to the end of the drive home,
Sheila finally finished with her computer and
closed it up. She looked at Henry’s face and
noticed he had been quiet all through. She could
sense somehow that he wasn’t happy because it
was unlike him to be quiet all through the drive
home. She realized it could be because of the
impromptu trip.
“Oh! Henry, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier
about the trip. I just got to decide this
morning,” she said to him, her face carrying a
sincere sorry look.
He felt relieved on hearing her talk about it, it
made him feel that he was also considered.
“It’s okay, if it’s important, we have to go.” He
replied.
“No, we don’t have to go. If you don’t want to
go, you can stay, I’ll go alone.”
He looked at her and smiled. “Why would I not
want to go? It’s important to you and my job
includes staying with you always.”
“Come on, stop talking about that job.” She
rolled her eyes. “I don’t want you to come with
me if you don’t like to, if you have something
important to do or you have other reasons, you
can stay and I’ll go alone.”
“I truly had plans to do something else, but
since you have something important to do,
you’re important to me than any other plan.” He
said with a smile, his mind truly changed about
the situation.
She stared at his face for a while and then
smiled. “You truly mean that?”
“Yes, I do.” He replied.
She flashed her teeth happily and then drew
closer to him, she wrapped her hands around
his neck and then placed a kiss on his cheek. She
placed her head on his shoulder and wrapped
her hands round his body. He pulled her tighter
to himself with an arm and took in a deep
breath.
“So where are we travelling to?” He asked after
some minutes of silence.
“Hmm… A neighboring country, I’m going there
to buy up some networking firms.”
“Which country is that?” Henry probed
inquisitively.
She chuckled and turned her head to look at his
face. “It’s somewhere you would like, it’s a
beautiful place.”
“Hmm…” Henry smiled.
For a moment, they remained silent and in that
same position. Her eyes staring deeply into his
and his staring back, their lips less than four
centimetres apart, it was so close that they could
hear the heartbeats of each other.
Sheila’s lips looked attractive to Henry and the
encouraging glow in her eyes tempted him to
move his lips closer to hers but for some reason
he didn’t move until her palm found her way to
his cheek. She closed her eyes.
____
Tom’s Apartment, El Deols
“Guys, we need to find a way to deal with that
freaking blockhead, he can’t just mess around
with all of us and go free.” Tom said, pacing
about the ground. He had a tobacco stick in his
hand from which smoke with unpleasant smell
had filled the living room.
He had been smoking and taking his drugs more
publicly since he was granted bail by the police.
He thought there was no more need to hide his
habits since he had already been exposed.
His friends were in the living room with him
and they consisted of three of the body builders
who had engaged Henry in the fight at the
workout center and one another new one.
“Tom, I truly think we should face your hearing
in court which comes up in a few days time.”
One of his friends suggested. He was the same
man who had led the team of fighters by
confronting Sheila that day.
“I have that in control already, my Dad has the
situation in his hands. I’m lucky the b******
maid is still alive, so I will only face charges of
rape and I’m sure the maid has no boldness to
go against me or even the money to get a good
lawyer.”
“What of Sheila? Isn’t she pressing charges?”
The same man asked.
“Not at all, the s--t dropped charges but she’s
being seen recently going around with that
blockhead, I’m sure he has been sleeping with
her freely.” Tom blew out angrily.
“We should still wait till your hearing ends
before we decide what to do to that man,” the
man put in.
“I can’t wait to deal with him man,” Tom grated
out. “I can’t wait to deal with him for what he
did to me and what he did to you guys.”
“That’s true,” another of his friends interjected.
He was the one who Sheila had seen with him
before the incident. He was the most injured
from the fight, he sustained an injury on his
head and had a plaster still on it with a swollen
forehead. “We paid heavily to the authorities
for damages after he injured us.”
“We gotta make him pay, we need to find a way
real soon. I mean very soon, even before the
court hearing. He’s gonna regret coming back
alive,” Tom threatened.
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