Chapter Three

Robert was shocked as Rod left the room. No, wait. Did he let that man just walk out on him? He knew Rod wouldn't give up, even if he had no leads. That man was one hell of a trouble. He imagined what would happen if he get a clue. Just a clue. No. Rod can't go free. He must learn the consequences of crossing the red line. You can't step on sacred toes and expect a cup of coffee. Can you? Hurridly, he dialed a number on his telephone.

" Hello, this is Matthew. How can I help?"

" Matt, do you still have your sources in the Jumbo Quadrant?"

" Yeah. And I'm growing" the man boasted. Robert smiled knowing that this was a sign of luck.

" There is a man capable of eliminating us. And I don't want that to happen."

" So..?"

" I need you to eliminate him. Before sunset tomorrow" his voice, more of rough.

" Consider him dead" he replied. Robert cut the call as he envisioned the breaking news. "Local Detective found dead in his car" A wild smirk spread across his lips.

Meanwhile, Rod was in his car, watching the whole scenario on his tablet. He knew that he didn't have enough time. But this had cleared his doubt. Robert and Matthew were the masterminds of the kidnapping. And all he needed was a clue to find out where they hid her.

....

Humphrey looked at the door which was closed. Did he say door, moments ago, it was. But now, it was a thick wall like any other walls he could find. He should have never gotten himself into this deal. Forget that he had been living in an exquisite mansion all this while with cooks and maids at his beck and call. And to add, to the luxurious cars he all owned now. That was all trash. To him, he preferred his old way of living. Having money to satisfy your basic needs, which were; housing, clothing, and feeding. All others were secondary. He walked to the other end, where the door opened automatically. It seemed that it was waiting for him. Sounds creepy. He walked outside to meet a plantation where different herbs of different breeds could be found, all bathing in the sun's warmth. A smile spread across his face as he examined the herbs. There was mint, moringa, oregano, Brahmi, aloe vera, and lots more. Before he made his collection, he had to study the virus characteristics, and how it reacts in certain conditions, as Robert told him. With that in mind, he walked inside.

,....

Nick still gazed at the path Claire followed. The law interns were having a practical test, on defending a murder case so she needed to practice hard. She was to prepare for the questions the harsh jury would ask, and do her possible best to defend the murderer, and if possible, the judge would free him. The previous day, she collected as much information as needed from the person in question. Things like his bio-data, the reason he committed the murder, and lots more. He smiled in defeat because he knew that Claire was just wasting her time over nothing. No, look at it. How possible can you present your case in such a way that the judge would free the murderer? It's just like convincing the devil to repent. But Claire was determined. No one could talk her out of what she has planned to do. This made Nick wonder again. How would someone so refined and diligent like Claire, date a brat like Anthony. If he were to think critically, Anthony was an interesting case. One, he had this black mark on his left cheek. He thought it was an injury but Gad told him it was a birthmark. Anthony was so proud of that mark, that it made him unique and he didn't have anything about that. Secondly, there was a way he spoke. As if he recovered from a severe case of speech disorder. He didn't have anything against that either, but it just sounded somehow. Somehow in a way that he didn't like.

"What's popping bro" someone's voice broke out, breaking him from his world of thoughts. It was Mason. This guy wouldn't let him rest for once. A girl stood beside him, and it seemed that they came to sit under the tree shade too.

"Hey, Nyssa. I'm sorry about what happened to your sister" he said, getting up. Nyssa was Mason's girlfriend's sister.

"Thanks for your concern. I'm sure she'll be back by next week". From her tone, it implied that she didn't want to talk much about it. Soon, they sat beside him, the cool breeze refreshing their mood.

"So, why are you all alone here," Nyssa asked, her voice showing concern.

"I wanted to be myself. Mentally speaking" he replied. There was a look of concern in Mason's eyes.

"I understand the feeling " Nyssa replied. There was a long and awkward silence. He hated when there was a prolonged silence in an active conversation.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine" he added quickly.

"You have to be more worried about yourself" Nyssa added. Nick and Mason looked at her with an expression that was like why?

"Don't you guys remember that we're having the mid-test next week?". At this, Mason's eyes rolled over in despair. Hell no. He wasn't ready for any test at all. And besides, geography classes had been becoming harder by the way. He imagined how the test would look like.

" Why are you scared? Just scram a couple of theories and excel, or you carry some cool stuff inside". Immediately he said this, Mason and Nyssa burst out laughing. He wondered what he said that was funny.

"Nicolas, it's impossible to cheat in this institution!" she stated.

"That's because you guys are dummies. What would happen if you carry a paper or mark yourself?"

"There's a security camera right on each and everyone's desk, and besides, there are four drones which are assigned to each class" Mason replied. At the mention of drones, Nick's heart skipped a beat. He knew how efficient drones could be. He once had a horrible experience with that. And cameras on your desks. It was kind of scary.

"Alright, alright. The night before you write the exam, do a couple of scramming. nothing more or less"

"Nick, the test is much harder than you think. There might be questions that would be based on your understanding of the topic, not penning things down" she explained. He took a deep breath. Mason, too was scared. Like, he hadn't been preparing. And he doubted if he still had much time.

"You call it a test don't you?" Nick asked.

"Yeah" the duo replied in unison.

"Fine. If I fail or not, it's not an exam that I should feel remorseful for" Mason chuckled. This guy was playing with fire.

"I believe you're aware that from score seventy-five and below is an F"

"Crap!" Nick gasped. No. He remembered when the vice-chancellor told him that. He thought of it as a joke. But, it came to him again. And the worst part is that his highest score was forty-seven over one hundred. This school must be mad if they emphasized the standard. So his father had all this in mind when he brought him here huh?

"Not only you get an F, but also you will be expelled" Nyssa added. Now, this was crazy. You're getting expelled for getting an F. And that F happened to be seventy-five over one hundred. What everyone accepted as an A.

"I'll need your help then," he said turning to Nyssa. She extended her hands for a shake and he shook it readily.

"I'll do my best" she replied. Mason sat there enjoying the scene of the friendship union. There was an unexpected outburst. Everyone ran out of the classroom block at the sound of the bell. Watching their movements, they all ran towards the football pitch. Then it clicked. The match between the Jelly beans and the Dark horns was today. And they couldn't offer to miss this match. As they ran, someone stopped Nick. It was Anthony. And Nick had stepped on him. Again.

....

The knocking on the door intensified. It was as if the person knocking was under such pressure. Or maybe, he was out of patience. Moses turned off the television wondering who might be the person. Like how can someone get the guts to knock at his door like that? Or could it be someone important? Even if it was, the person must have contacted him before knocking like this. He checked his phone for any new messages. No new notifications. Just three missed calls from detective Roderick. He walked sluggishly towards the door and opened it. To his surprise, the person there was no one else but Rod. He heaved a sigh in confusion.

"How did you get the guts to knock on my door that hard," he asked, looking at him as if he was an alien.

"Considering the nature of my information" he replied, not minding Moses's tone. Rather his was that of calm and relaxed.

"Fine. What did you come to say?" he asked. Rod was perplexed. So did the man don't have manners or something?

" Do you expect me to blurt it out? Here?" he started further. Moses sighed again.

"Fine. Come in" he offered, opening the door up to its limit. He walked in and made himself comfortable on a cushion. Moses had entered his room to have a change of clothes. Rod took advantage of this opportunity to examine the sitting room. Wow. Moses truly was a billionaire. It expressed itself fully in his room, the decorations, the pieces of furniture and all others were expensive. What else did he expect? Moses came inside thus interrupting his train of thoughts.

"Sorry I took too long. I had to organize some things" he apologized, sitting on the cushion. Rod nodded his head in a gesture of approval to his apology.

"I went to your office" he began, on a note of silence. Moses nodded his head in a random gesture.

"Yeah, I didn't have the mind to go to work" he replied, defending his actions.

"I understand. Considering the emotional blow, by the kidnapping of your wife" The two nodded their heads in mutual understanding.

"But, fortunately, I have good news"

Awkward silence. Direct eye contact. Awkward again.

"Enlighten me" he replied when the silence was much.

"I found the culprits" Silence again. "Professor Robert, and Matthew". He looked at Moses to observe his reaction. It was evident on his face. Shock, betrayal, and anger. He expected nothing more or less. After all, he would feel betrayed after his most trusted COO who was more like a brother would have a hand in this.

" Have you arrested them?"

"No". Anger was visibly written on his face this time. It was as if he suppressed it the whole time.

" What are you waiting for then?! Aren't you concerned about my wife's safety!?"

"I do. As well as ours" he stated instantly.

"What do you mean?". Rod stood from his seat and handed Moses his mobile phone containing the video. When he was done watching, he was well as afraid.

" Don't worry. I have the entire police force at my aid now. As well, I framed a fake location for the assassins if they were to strike. I will only be here to make sure you were safe". Moses nodded his head in understanding. Rod was right anyway.

...

We've argued about this for about thirty minutes now. Okoh wasn't actively involved as he just nodded occasionally to indicate that he was part of the conversation. Passively though. However, his attention was on the online game he played on his tablet. Looking at Stanley, I could tell that he was even tired of arguing. Just that he was too stubborn to admit defeat. Soon, I changed gears and the van stopped.

"Are you sure this is the spot?" Okoh asked, taking out his headset?

"Very much sure" I replied, as I alighted from the van. The environment was rural, and the mud hut was covered with overgrown weeds I wondered how I would pass through those without being disturbed by serpents. Just then, Stanley threw a sac towards me to catch my attention. Guess I have been looking at the hut for too long now. Looking at them, they were ready, with their weapons. Okoh was with his sword, Stanley, a gun rifle then me; unarmed.

"Sorry" I apologized immediately and opened the sac. It contained a bow and a quiver full of arrows. But what I liked what that, it was my favorite bow. A recurve bow. I wore it quickly and nodded to them, in a gesture that I'm ready. Before we could move, there was a bomb explosion at the hut and it was shattered to pieces. Smoke and dust oozed from all directions as my vision blurred. Then the hut was buried underground. As if it never existed.

"The formulas!" I screamed, running towards the site. The duo followed suit. Upon getting there, I found out that the place was already compromised. Assassins, dressed in their deadly uniforms could be seen. Oh no. What could I do now? I'm not much of a fighter, and even if I was, I can't take them down. This was going to be a death battle by the way. I shot a bomb arrow at the wall, to get their attention, and I did. Before they could turn or move, the arrow exploded massively as the walls gave in and collapsed.

"Now!" Stanley screamed as we all jumped down. I ran off, heading towards the lab, leaving Okoh with my bow and Stanley to fight the assassins.

...

Robert removed the mask he wore. He was hot in this assassin's clothing. He felt sorry for Raven's men who had to wear the mask all day. And, plus the thick clothing. It just made him sick. He cast the thoughts aside as he walked towards a safe. The safe needed a retina scanner before it could open. He brought out a glass casing from his pocket, which contained a human eye suspended in cold neon gas. He opened the case and placed the eye on the retina scanner. It clicked. Then it opened.

"Cool" he gasped, looking at what he had opened. A small book was inside and he pulled it out. The book was rumpled and had the scent of an ancient library. Opening page after page, a smile spread across his lips when he recognized the writings. It was a handwritten encyclopedia for bio coding viruses.

"Can I have that?" a voice asked, so warm but it had a hint of danger. Robert held the book and turned around. It was Winnie.

"Surprise"

"How did your eye grow again?" he asked, seeing no reason to fear her.

"Better answer, give me the book" I replied.

"And if I don't?". Before he could reply, a female assassin jumped and began to attack me. He took advantage of the opportunity and ran. Crap. This female was skilled. Her advantage was she was younger and faster, but mine was that I was calculating and my hits were on point. She tried using trick moves on me, but sorry miss. My experience had the better part of me. The unarmed combat lasted for a few seconds before I could finally take her down. I ran after Robert, chasing him as if my life depended on it. We climbed the staircase faster than we thought we could, and another assassin collected the book. It looked more like a marathon race where batons were passed. This assassin wasn't a fast runner, I could notice and he seemed old. We ran inside a tunnel then out into someone's house. By now, I was catching up on him now. I could hear helicopter blades nearby which made me wonder. The man ran towards the sound and was about to jump through the window when I dived like a cat and caught him. Then I made sure we rolled far from the window as possible as I could push him. He was angry now. He brought a knife which he carried and ran towards me with such a fury. Knife fighting wasn't easy, but I tried my best. From the way he fought, this man was a skilled killer. Instead of martial art moves, or acrobatics stunts, his movements with his hands were horizontal, vertical, and cross diagonally, each movement in an attempt to stab. I got a grip on his bloodthirsty hand and disarmed him of his weapon. If fighting that female was hard, this one was insane. Not just that he was experienced like me, he was ten times faster than that girl and his moves were accurate. But trust me. I'm not the type to give up that easily. To an onlooker, our fight looked like those choreographed fight scenes with lots of editing by pros. Thanks to Okoh's training. I managed to get some space and blessed him with a curved karate kick. The impact was that he tumbled then rolled over. He lay motionless on the ground. I ran towards him to get the book. Taking it out of his pocket, his eyes shot open. As if he was jolted back to reality. My heart skipped a beat as I thought of what he would do next. It resulted in a childish play. We started dragging the book. I don't know what he placed on my wrists, then it was as if the world stood still. My vision began to blur. He snatched the book from me and threw a smoke bomb to suffocate me. All he needed was a simple tap to make me unconscious. And he blessed me with that too. I lay on the ground as everything went blank. Once again,

"May science be cursed forever"

.., ....

"Look, Anthony, I'm so sorry. It wasn't my fault" Nick apologized. This time it was his fault. Not just he step on him, he had also injured him. Everyone gazed in shock at his bleeding toe. Shock because Anthony's reaction would be outrageous. He looked at Nick in shock. He too hadn't expected this. He felt anger rise in him like a storm upon seeing the bloodstain. People shifted back as they were expecting a fight to start.

"Nicolas," his cold voice said as he touched the injury. "Why" his anger clouded voice blurted. He got up slowly, clenching his fists. A punch was about to land on Nick's face.

"Anthony. It's enough" Laura said, trying to save the poor Nick.

No response. Probably, she. was wasting her time talking. Just as he raised his fists, Nick braced himself for impact. Either to dodge the punch or to prepare his body to receive the pain. But someone held his hand. It was a young girl. Was this girl foolish? Don't she know her limits or?

"It's okay. Don't let your emotions cloud your actions" Anthony, surprised at this instant looked at the girl. Surprisingly, his anger was gone too. He didn't understand how his anger left. It showed as he lowered his fists and his face forced a smile.

" Perhaps you could offer him some apology" she added. No. This one was beyond shocking. They looked at the girl like what? Do you know who you're talking to? Do you think he's just a random dude?

"For what?"

"Do as I said" she replied. He felt his anger rise again. Just a bit. Why would he apologize to Nicolas? Wasn't he the one that injured him? But looking at her eyes, he kind of like, imagined how Nicolas felt at this moment. He gained himself in his shoes. If he were to be the one that may be stepped on someone important like the mayor, what would happen? Would he inflict pain upon Nick as he deserves, or would he be the bigger person and show a little humanity by forgiving.

" Okay. I forgive you" he replied, between mumbles. People began to murmur. Was he under a spell or something? But Anthony did way more than that. He opened his arms in form of an embrace and the two hugged each other as if they were brothers. People began to clap and cheer them. It became a new gist in the school. Anthony felt as if a burden had been lifted off his heart. He felt free again. Nick was a bit off when Anthony hugged him. When did this anger lord, become brotherly? Anyhow. After all, it ended for their good.

"I'm Mabel by the way. I wanted to show you how sweet forgiveness can be" she replied, then left for the stadium. He and Nick nodded at each other, then followed her to the stadium. As they left, they discussed as if they were old pals.

....

The phone on the table rang.

"Here," Moses said motioning to Rod. Rod nodded and collected his phone from Moses.

"Yeah, Wane any news?" he asked putting it on the loudspeaker.

"Yeah. Your trap worked. We caught ten assassins. Not without a tough fight though. Three escaped" Moses looked at Rod in fear and nodded.

" Don't worry. Whoever that sent them would know better when the three return. Run a background investigation on those you caught. I'll have a view of them shortly". The caller ended the call.

"I guess I'm safe now". Rod looked at Moses and smiled. This man was always scared in matters concerning his life.

" Not yet" he teased. Just then, there was a knock on the door. They looked at each other. The knock came again. Typically, assassins don't knock. They jump from the ceilings. Rod passed Moses a pistol as he brought another.

"Don't shoot yourself" he said and winked. He held his pistol and walked towards the door. He opened it, holding his pistol, but no one was there. All that stood there was a glass casing containing a human eye that was suspended in air. He picked it and there was a paper attached to it. The message on the paper was a website and a password. Moses out of curiosity came and looked at the glass casing. His heart skipped a beat.

"That looked exactly like my wife's eye"

"Except it's not"Rod cut him off. He walked inside and bolted the metal door behind him. He turned on his phone and logged in to the website using the password. What he saw shocked Moses. Winnie was tied with chains. A man approached her with a knife and ripped her eye out. She screamed and kicked in all directions, but to no avail. The man put the eye inside a glass casing. In the end, a caption read.

" There will be more"

Moses couldn't breathe as he gasped for air. Rod came to his aid because he looked like he was dying. But by then, it was too late. Moses was in a coma.