Restless - S01 E231

Story 2 years ago

Restless - S01 E231

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPIS

w

11 PM

An evil smile appeared on Hutton’s face as he read the text from Michael. He forwarded it immediately before dialling a number.

“Hey, I want you to do a quick survey of the address I sent to you now. Get back to me quickly with results,” he said into the phone quickly and ended the call.

____

12: 03 AM

“Hey, Max. We got into El Deols a couple of minutes ago,” Henry said into the phone as he and Jennifer walked together to where a cab was waiting for them. “What’s the update?”

“The President has been moved to a safe place, an apartment of his registered in his first son’s name,” Maxwell replied. “It’ll be difficult for Hutton to suspect he was moved to a non-official building.”

“That’s great,” Henry remarked. “Please let me know when you hear from Dave and Paul.”

“Sure.”

Henry ended the call and put his bag into the boot of the car before joining Jennifer in the backseat.

“We can leave now,” Jennifer who had already given instructions to the driver ordered him to proceed.

Henry took out his phone again after they drove into the road. He located Sheila’s number and dialled it. The call was answered but there was no voice from the other end.

“Hey, dear,” Henry voiced.

There was no response still. Then Henry realized that Sheila was probably not sure of who was on the phone.

“It’s Henry,” he stated.

He could hear her heave a sigh of relief before speaking. “Henry, you’re in El Deols?”

“Yea, in El Deols. Just got in about thirty minutes ago. Where exactly are you?”

“Don’t you think it’s best if only I knows my location,” Sheila replied.

“Are you sure no one else can find you?” Henry asked.

“A hundred per cent,” she replied.

“Okay, I just thought to let you know I’m in town,” Henry stated.

There was some silence from the other end and Henry sensed her uneasiness.

“Hey, do we make a video call for you to confirm that it’s me?”

“Yea, a video call will do,” Sheila agreed.

“I’ll call you on Whatsapp in a second,” Henry said and ended the call.

Immediately, he connected his phone to a wireless earpiece. Then he switched to the instant messenger and initiated the video call. She answered a few seconds after.

“Can you see me now?” Henry questioned. The video call was on but he wasn’t seeing anything from her end. She switched off the camera.

“Yeah, why not just stick up two fingers to confirm it’s real?” Sheila requested.

Henry did as he was told and added a smile. A few seconds after, Sheila’s face showed on the screen.

“Hey, you really thought someone was playing you?”

“Yeah, I did,” she replied with a smile. She was putting on a winter jacket and sitting on a sofa. “My Dad could go any length to find where I am.”

“I understand.”

“What are you here for? I tried to reach you an hour ago,” Sheila asked.

“Here to look for a man, I’ve gotten his address already,” Henry answered.

“I’ll send you my location immediately after this call,” Sheila replied.

“You mentioned that you called my number an hour ago, what did you want to tell me?”

Sheila let in a deep breath first. “Do you know the man named Foden?”

Henry widened his eyes and adjusted himself as he heard the name. “Rex has been contacting Foden?”

“Yes, he’s been contacting Foden.”

“Foden is…” Henry stopped immediately as he realized that he was still in the cab. He couldn’t talk freely there to avoid giving the cabman unnecessary information. “What else do you know about their conversation?”

“I think they exchanged numbers and met with each other. The software has been able to read letters and the same sequence of numbers. I’ll send you what I’ve been able to decrypt.”

“I will be expecting that,” Henry said before ending the call.

He covered his mouth with a palm briefly and breathed into it thoughtfully.

How could Foden be alive? He thought to himself. Foden had been reported dead over three years ago. He remembered he and Rex had visited the man’s family after hearing of his death. How then could Foden be alive and communicating with Rex?

He took in a deep breath. Anything was possible in their world, he knew. The most likely explanation was that Foden faked his death to stop his enemies from coming after his life. Yet, Henry wondered why he never had an idea that Foden could be alive. If there was anyone who knew his and Rex’s secrets, it was Foden.

Foden was one of the external men who helped Carl and Rex with logistics in their missions. He was the closest of all the men. They introduced him to their families and even had dinner with him and his family. He knew many things about them and was as close to them as they were to the late Doctor Alan.

After some more seconds of thinking silently, Henry decided to log in to the mail. It took him one minute to get in. He switched to the inbox to see that there was a new message, it was from Foden’s email. T

His heart skipped a beat and he feared for Sheila. Could it be a coincidence that Foden’s message came in at the same time Sheila discovered him? Or was Rex trying to play a game? He wasn’t sure of what to think. He opened the mail to find out what was in it.

Foden was asking Carl to reach out to him. He dropped a phone number which revealed that he was in Bethanna.

Henry minimized the app and dialled Sheila’s number again.

“Hello, have you gotten what I sent to you?” Sheila asked.

“No, I haven’t checked. But I just opened my mail now to find a new message from Foden.”

“Huh? Foden sent you a message? I should have seen that,” Sheila sounded surprised.

“It was delivered to my mail an hour ago,” Henry replied.

“Oh! It past two hours since I last checked it,” Sheila stated. “What does the mail say?”

“Foden wants to meet up with him. He didn’t say why but he dropped a phone number for me to call him,” Henry explained.

“What country is he in?”

“Bethanna, his number had the country code.”

“Do you need me to track the number?”

“No, not yet. Please, don’t track it. I can’t risk exposing you further,” Henry begged. “I think this might be another trap.”

“I don’t think it’s a trap. I was careful. There’s no way anyone’s going to know I had access to check the mail server’s history,” Sheila sounded confident.

“No tracking. Please, don’t do anything else for now. You’ve done enough already,” Henry insisted.

“Okay, if you want it that way,” Sheila finally gave in. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m gonna call him first and hear what he’s got to say,” Henry replied.

“You just got into the country. You will be revealing your location if you do. Do you need a secure environment where you can make your call to make it untraceable?”

“No, that’s not gonna hide the country code. It will reveal that I am in Anthanna. I can’t afford to let anyone know now,” Henry replied. “The call will be made after I finish executing my mission here.”

“Okay, please keep me updated.”

“I will,” Henry replied and ended the call.

He stared at the screen for a moment while biting his lower lip. A call came in as he was about to tuck the phone into his pocket.

“Max,” Henry answered the phone.

“Dave and Paul are in Johannesburg. They didn’t find Dexter.”

“They didn’t find him or he’s been taken?”

“He’s been taken,” Max clarified. “They got to his home and found policemen there. Dexter has been kidnapped. His wife and last child in the house think that the abductors were just robbers.”

“Have the police been able to trace them?”

“I can’t tell, boss. But I don’t think that will be possible. Hutton wouldn’t make something like that traceable.”

Henry took in a deep breath and muted the phone call for a minute. “Hey, pull over,” he ordered the driver. He unmuted the phone and spoke again to Maxwell. “Give me a minute, I’ll call you.”

“Okay…” the driver glanced back with confusion written all over his face. It took him a minute to find the best space to pull over.

Henry turned to Jennifer and gave her a signal. Immediately the car stopped, Jennifer stepped out of the car and took out the pistol in her pocket.

She walked to the driver’s side and pointed the gun at his face. “Get out fast.”

The driver gasped in shock as he saw the gun. He stepped out of the car quickly as he was ordered.

Jennifer got into the driver’s side while still pointing the gun at him. “We’ll return your car with your payment at the right time. Now, run!”

The driver took to his heels while Samantha zoomed off. Fortunately, there was almost no vehicle on the road at that time of the day. So it was easy for them to execute the ‘robbery’.

Henry dialled Maxwell’s number again.

“Hey, boss,” Maxwell answered the call.

“We already discovered some venues owned by Kahn and Hutton in Johannesburg, Dave and Paul can easily trace them there.”

“We have seven locations in South Africa, boss; three in Johannesburg, two in Capetown, one each in Durban and Pretoria. Going to these wrong locations will blow our cover and we might lose the chances of finding them. If we want to stand a better chance, we need to check these places simultaneously. And we need more men for that.”

“Is there any way we can hack into the security cameras? I think that would help us.”

“I can’t do that from here, boss. If I could, I would have done it already. We don’t have the facilities and personnel. I’ll have to be in South Africa to gain access to such.”

Henry heaved a sigh of frustration. “That’s leaving us in a tight corner.”

“Yeah, boss. That’s why I was sceptical about your decision to let us follow them when it’s late already.”

“It’s not late yet, Max. The FOX can help us get it done,” Henry opined. “Is Evelyn there?”

“She’s asleep, but I’ll get her.”

“Please do that right away,” Henry replied and ended the call.

After three minutes, Maxwell called.

“Evelyn?” Henry asked as he answered the call.

“Yeah,” she replied in a sleepy tone.

“Hey, has Maxwell explained the new developments to you?”

“Yes, I understand that you and Jennifer are in El Deols while Paul and Dave are in South Africa.”

“Yeah, that’s right. But now, we need to find Dexter Joe in South Africa. There are seven different locations they could have taken him to. Paul and Dave cannot visit all seven locations at the same time. That’s why we need the FOX right now.”

“It might be difficult to get the FOX men to join us search, except we’re borrowing them for an unofficial task,” Evelyn replied. “Paul who is on the search makes it even more complicated, he’s still a wanted man.”

“No, it’s gonna be official. We don’t need the FOX men to join the search, we just need the organization to get us the correct location. Through the FOX in South Africa, we can gain access to the security footage and find where he was taken.”

“Oh! I understand you now. But I can’t get it done by myself. The Chairman must approve it.”

“That’s why I’m calling you,” Henry stated. “You’ll talk to the Chairman and let him know as much as he needs to. Then, get him to give the order.”

“I’ll do that right away,” Evelyn replied.

_____

Johannesburg, South Africa

12:45 AM (11:45 PM in South Africa)

“I feel useless sitting here doing nothing,” Dave complained to himself in the driver’s seat of the car where he was. His seat was reclined and he was sitting comfortably. “I might sleep off soon.”

“There’s no sleeping tonight, son,” Paul said in the same tone.

Dave’s eyebrows gathered together as he shot a glance at the man.

It felt odd to hear Paul referring to him as ‘son’. He knew Paul was well advanced in age but didn’t agree he was old enough to father him.

He sat up and used the telescope to look in the direction of the house they were monitoring. The house was a one-story building and Dave could only see the upper floor. From what he could see there were still signs of movement in the house. It meant that the policemen were still in.

“Hope you’re not planning to suggest that we go closer,” Paul wondered aloud as if he could read Dave’s thoughts.

“So, what do we do? Sit here and just watch while Chanda goes far with the Dexter guy? We stand a better chance if we got close and hear what they say,” he said before leaning back again.

“No, I’m sure Henry must have made contact with Mark. The FOX can get the information directly from the South African police and help us locate where Dexter was taken.”

Dave who was quiet for a while suddenly sat up again. A thought had just popped up in his mind. “What if we take one of those policemen? He could provide us with information and we won’t need to wait for the FOX.”

Paul’s eyebrows gathered together as he stared at Dave with an eye partially closed. Dave leaned back, already sure that Paul wasn’t welcoming his idea.

“If we try to kidnap a policeman and we get caught. That could result in destroying the whole thing.”

“Then, we have to be wise enough not to be caught,” Dave folded his arms across his chest.

“It’s not an option, Dave.”

Paul and Dave eventually slept off in the car while waiting to get a response from Maxwell. They had been asleep for over one hundred minutes before Maxwell’s call finally came.

The ringing sound of the phone jerked them both up. Paul answered the call and placed it on loudspeakers while Dave sat up to use the telescope again.

“Hey,” Paul said in a clumsy tone. “Have we made any progress yet?”

“Yes, I was able to trace Chanda with the footage from the FOX. They’re holding him in their Pretoria house. I’ll send you the exact coordinates right away.”

“How many men are we going to face there?” Paul asked.

“I don’t have an idea,” Maxwell replied. “There were two vehicles. I can’t tell how many people are in the vehicles, nor do I know how many are in the house.”

“How big is the house?” Dave joined in.

“It’s a large duplex,” Maxwell replied. “I’m sending you the pictures now. You can check the details while you wait for Henry’s call. He’s gonna call you soon.”

The call ended and the partners came together to look into the iPad to see the details sent by Maxwell. Not long after, a call from an unregistered number came in. Paul answered the call immediately and put it on loudspeakers.

“Hey, Paul. How is it going over there?” Henry’s voice sounded out of the device.

“We’re wondering what our next move will be,” Paul replied him.

“What do you have in mind?” Henry questioned.

“Nothing, boss,” Dave was the one who answered. “The house is big and there might be up to 20 men in there. We only have pistols with us and have no idea what they have there. We need more weapons to stand a better chance of attacking them successfully. And I’m not sure we can get that tonight. We might have to wait until tomorrow to do anything.”

“It’s not wise if we wait until tomorrow,” Paul put in. “That might give them enough time to make the next move. We’re already behind them.”

“So, what do we do?” Dave stared at him.

“We’ll have to wait, Paul,” Henry put in.

“Wait? Come on, Carl,” Paul sounded disappointed that Henry agreed with Dave. “We can’t just sit and do nothing. What if everything gets done before morning? Can’t we get the FOX to help us?”

“That’s what we’re doing, Paul, getting the FOX to help us,” Henry replied. “You and Dave will have to go to the location right away. Your job will be to monitor them, to make sure that Dexter isn’t taken out of the location to somewhere else without our knowledge. The FOX will attack and retrieve Dexter by morning.”

“Why do they have to wait till morning?” Paul asked.

“Because the attacks must be launched simultaneously.”

“What do you mean?” Paul frowned.

“I just got to Evans Blake’s home in El Deols and he’s also been kidnapped. He was kidnapped not too long ago. We only missed them by a few minutes. The Red Wolves men put all those in the house to sleep, including the two security guards. No police report has been made yet and no vital information.”

“If you missed them by a few minutes, it should be easy to follow them then. Checking the security cameras can help you find where they went through,” Paul opined.

“They turned off the cameras,” Henry replied him. “Sheila could get the cameras turned on, but it will make them know we’re after them. So we’re focused on finding the location they are headed for.”

Paul heaved a deep sigh.

Henry paused for a second before replying. “I just hope we don’t miss this chance to nab these guys. This looks like the closest we’ve been.”

“We won’t miss it, Paul. Chanda is going to be cooling off in jail by this time tomorrow. The men here are also going to get arrested. Then we’ll focus on catching Hutton, Kahn, and every other people that work with them.”

_____

Henry heaved a sigh after dropping the phone. Jennifer was already asleep at the front of the car.

His thoughts drifted to the message from Foden again. Even though he had earlier decided not to call yet, he couldn’t keep his mind at rest.

If Foden was really alive, it was good news. After all, he and Rex had always trusted Foden. He just wondered what Rex and Foden must have been discussing without involving him. There was only one way of finding out if Foden was alive. That was by making the call.

After contemplating for a few more minutes, he eventually picked up his phone and dialled the number sent to him by Foden.

The phone rang for close to a minute but wasn’t answered. It took him some time to dial the second time. This time, the phone didn’t ring for so long before it was answered.

“Hey, it’s damn late. Why are you calling at this time?” A sleepy voice answered from the other end.

Henry let out a deep breath. It was Foden’s voice.

“You crazy motherf***er! How are you alive?”

There was silence for a while as Foden tried to process the voice he heard. “Carl?”

“Yes, it’s me, dude.”

“You’re truly alive, like Rex?” Foden sounded like he was surprised. “Why didn’t you reach me?”

“Stop being dumb, man. I never knew you were alive.”

“Rex never told you?” Foden asked and there was silence for a while. “He knew I was alive before your rumoured death.”

Henry’s jaw dropped in surprise. How did Rex know Foden was alive and hid the information from him?

“Maybe it skipped his mind, he never told me,” Henry played along.

“I met with Rex recently, he let me know you were alive. We need to meet and talk, Carl. Rex is up to some deep sh*t and you need to be careful. How soon can we meet to talk? Will you be coming to Bexford soon?”

“I don’t have an answer to that right now. I will call you when it’s time to talk. For now, I need to concentrate on my work with Sheila Jack.”

Henry dropped the call and shut his eyes for a moment. He took in a deep breath as he pondered on the conversation.

Foden sounded happy and there was nothing suspicious about the conversation. Nevertheless, he still would not take chances. If someone was monitoring Foden’s phone, they would know his exact location with that call.

He picked up his phone again and removed the sim card with which he called Foden. After that, he stepped out of the car and asked Jennifer to get into the backseat while he drove to a different location.

___

Hutton was fast asleep in his bed when his ringing phone woke him. He picked it up and answered the call.

“Boss, Carl made some contact with Foden not too long ago.

He’s mentioned that he’s in Anthanna, doing some work with Sheila.”

“Send men to his location right away.”