Chapter 54

Gabrielle never suspected that he was in for a trouble, as they drove back to the woods. They got back to the woods safely even as the drive was not smooth, owing to the state of mind of the driver. Ricardo had taken enough drink which affected the way he drove, they were lucky enough at a point to escape a long truck that would have crushed them, had Chase not called his attention to concentrate. He parked the car at the usual position and they managed to get down and found their way to the house. Chase had been in a deep thought on the best way to go about the arrest of Gabrielle, he felt it would be better in the morning as he had seen that his mood was already that of a drunk. Moreover he wouldn't drive him to the office in the night. He had seen Alicia make gestures, and he understood she was eager to know what the plans was, all he did was to let her be patient and calm down. 

The night was not long, as they came back very late, Chase had intimated Alicia on the plan to interrogate Gabrielle first thing in the morning. So they woke him up with a gun pointed to his face, they made the moved the girl he was with to where Bridget was sitted, Ricardo was now on handcuff, Alicia had taken them from her car and hid it while they were going to pickup Gab. Gabrielle could not believe his eyes, he looked at Ricardo, he saw the handcuff, so he was not able to suspect he has knowledge of what was going on. He looked at the girl he brought home, she was shivering with fear, then he looked at Chase and Alicia, in his mind, he thought they were possibly robbers or criminals. 

What do you want? He asked. I have some few money in my pocket, you can take them. He added.

Chase and Alicia looked at each other, then Chase asked Alicia to search him. He was told to put his hands behind his head, Alicia was able to take his hands and cuff them. She then proceeded to search him. From his pocket, she brought out a jackknife, some packs of condom, a pack of cigarettes and some amount of money. These she dropped on the flow, Chase smiled, and asked the girl Gab brought home, how much they agreed he would pay her. The young girl looked at Gab, she was afraid and in her mind all she wanted was to go home. She told Chase the amount and Chase ordered Alicia to count it out from Gabs money, she did and he collected it and handed it over to the for. He told her not to move an inch, or he would shoot her. He turned and looked at Bridget, he had wanted to give her money from his pocket, but he thought otherwise. So he took the remaining money from Gabs pocket and handed it to her, telling her it was on behalf of Ricardo. He then turned back to Gabrielle.

We are not criminals, we are here to pick you up for questioning, so you would be advised to remain silent and obey instructions as anything on the contrary would be used against you at the law court. It was then that Gabrielle understood what and the people he was dealing with. He nodded his head to show he understood what Chase told him. Chase and Alicia moved all of them back to the Car, he opened the rear door, raised the middle seat to allow the two ladies go in, the Ricardo and Gabrielle satvib the middle seats, while he sat on the front passenger seat. Alicia was behind the wheel as they drove out of the woods. She stopped briefly and bought gas, then stopped again where the two ladies alighted from the car, meanwhile Chase had secretly handed over his call card to both ladies while he handed over the money to them without Alicia nor Ricardo noticing it. 

When they arrived the the office that morning, there were only few people around, and most of them worked night shift hence they were waiting for the takeover from those for morning duty. Gab and Rico were handed over to the cell agent, who took him inside a separate room as directed by Chase, while he and Alicia left for home for a good shower and refreshment.

When Lucy and Olivia had entered the car, Bruno was about to ask where they were headed, when Olivia's phone rang, it was Pat again, this time e called to tell Olivia not to worry as what she needed her for had been handled. Olivia then told Bruno there was no need moving, as the journey was cancelled. She asked that he joined them for a good time in the hotel. They alighted from the car, Bruno locked it up and they headed back to the hotel lobby. Olivia was able to make reservation of table for four, the waiter did that with speed and they all say down, except for one seat that was empty. 

Mike was upstairs deeply sleeping when his phone rang, he looked at the screen and aa it was Olivia, he picked and she informed him that they were not able to leave as what she was to go for was cancelled, she then asked that he joined them at the pool side. Mike had wanted to excuse himself from joining them, but Olivia insisted. He didn't have any choice than to accept. He was not comfortable with Lucy's desperate desire and attitude towards him, he was mostly scared she could throw cautions to the wind and seductively make advances at him. He changed into a lighter outfit and went down to meet them. 

Meanwhile elsewhere, Mira and Brains seemed to be getting along very well, they were staying together in same hotel from where she went to work and return. Brains was now very strong and he had taking the opportunity to say his mind regarding what he wanted with and from Mira, who he kept referring to as Olivia. Mira on her part, had decided to go by whatever he planned but not without caution, she was being careful as she cannot afford to jeopardize her sisters aspiration. She was the Olivia that people see and interact with, and whatever brought scandal, would rob her sister of her planned takeover in the Senate seat of the constituency. Moreover the electioneering period was coming forth. She had ended up what she was doing in the office and about to head back to the hotel when some security men in uniform arrived her office, she probed to know the reason for their visit, she was tod her life was in danger, and they were asked to protect her. Fear gripped her as she became confused. She had never had such experience in her life. She asked them to excuse her, and they did but never left her office. She called her Dad and as soon as he picked, he did not allow her to talk. He told her to follow orders from the personnels sent as regards her security. She knew that whatever her father was involved would be a serious issue, she placed another call to her Mom, and while she told her the development, the Mom responded that she was also in the same shoes. The last call she made was to her sister, after telling her what was going on, the sister told her to follow orders and promised to call her back. 

While this was going on, she never knew there was already a bad news that something terrible had happened. She was actually waiting for her driver to return from where she sent him so that he would drop her off at the hotel. When she was through with her calls, the men in uniform told her they were ready to move her, 

I am waiting for my  driver, she said

We are sorry Ma it's an order and you have to follow, everything would be explained when you get to your hotel. Came the response

Mira was taken aback, she wondered how they knew she was not in her house, but on a second thought, she knew her Dads eyes were everywhere. She did not waste anymore time to join them to the down floor where the Toyota Hilux was waiting. They got in with her, flagging her on both sides for protection. The driver zoomed off. It wasn't long when they arrived the hotel, from inside the car she could see a lot of security vehicles, and siren light of police cars blaring, she got down from the car being duided in both sides by the security deatils, she looked around, this time she observed that her Dad was around as most of the vehicles were from his office. The security guards took her to the last floornofhe building where she met one on one with her father. 

Olivia was answering her sisters call when Mike came down and sat down, he had a handshake with Bruno who introduced himself, Lucy looked at him, saw he was not comfortable, she smiled. Olivia dropped the call, took excuse from them and moved a little from their midst where she called Chase, who was angry after listening to her, he had thought that everything would remain calm as Tim was in their custody, it now became clear to him that there were other Tim out there and there was need to speed up actions. As soon as the call went off, another call came in, this time from his office, the director told him about the assassination attempt on Mira Hart. He was to move to the capital, Paris immediately. At the same time, Bruno got a call from the agency, that Chase recommended him, and that he was to guard Olivia as a personal security deatil. He was not to leave her out of his sight, so there was no need of him going home anymore, as the hotel had made provision for him. Olivia got back and sat down, Bruno noticed she was worried, he sent her a message codedly, informing her of the new development. She looked at him and smiled. She was pondering in her mind how to inform Mike, she thought it was beat when they had gone back to the room. 

Miras father held her closely and told her that an attempt was made on her life, but that they missed her because they thought she was in her car. He then told her the bad news;

Your driver died from the bullets, he said

Mira couldn't hold herself as she fell to the ground and wept. Some of the staff of the hotel, mostly the female ones had to rush and quickly dragged her up. The Dad now signalled Brains to come over, that was when Mira noticed that Brains had been with her Dad. She knew her father was a smart man, he knew that the best place to release that news was in that hotel and that there was someone dear to her who would console her. As she was having the thought, the dad who had finished his discussion with Brains stood up and left with the security details, leaving behind the ones assigned for her protection. Brains was shocked to know that the almighty Ben Hart was Miras Dad, He had been a fan of Hart, although uknown to him for years, he knew he had a lot of investments including the hotel they lodged, but he never knew the lady he had been with, was his daughter.  He drew Mira close to himself and consoled her, while walking her to the room, the security details followed. They were to mount the corridor, the ground floor and the gate. The were also to search every dick and Harry that went in and out of the Hotel. Some where already assigned to the building near the hotel, especially the high rising ones, where they stationed n the roof to monitor incase of any possible sniper. 

Chase rushed to the office with Alicia to inform the Director of the new development, as soon as he got in, the director told him he was about to call him, and that he has just received a call asking that he got to Paris immediately, he then signed his release paper. Chase was to spend two days on Paris according to the paper, so he asked that Riçardo and Gabrielle remained on custody until his return, he also asked that they be fed well too. Alicia was the one that dropped him at the train station as he left for Paris. In the train, he called Bruno to inform him of his recommendation, Bruno old him he had been communicated,and as such, he was with Olivia already at the Hotel. He asked that he spoke with Olivia, Bruno handed over the phone, and he told her to follow Bruno's orders strictly for her protection. She was not to leave the hotel for any reason for now. While they spoke, her phone rang, she looked at it and the call was from her Dad, she immediately handed Bruno's phone back to him with excuse from Chase while she took her dad's call. 

Her dad told her all that was happening, and the instructions he had given, so he demanded that she follow the orders given as it was for her good and the good of the family. He confirmed to her that Bruno was recommended to protect her, while her sister and her mom were also in good hands. He promised he would get to the root of it to find who was responsible for the attempts that had been made both on her life and that of her sister. When he told her there sisters driver was shot dead, Olivia haven known they man for years, broke down in tears. It took a combined effort of Lucy and Mike to console and calm her down.

Chase arrived Paris train station, and was picked up by a driver and one security aid from Harts office, he was driven to his gust house, where he waited for Ben Hart. While he was waiting, they waitress served him some chilled drinks. It didn't take much time when Ben Hart arrived, with the usual team of security. As soon as he saw Chase, heoved to him, they shook hands and he say down.

I heard you are in charge of Tim Case, what have you found out? He asked

Chase was an experience agent, he knew the error in releasing suh information without the consent of his director, he thought for the wt way to reply, 

We actually arrested him and we are still interrogating him, you know how tough these criminals can be. He replied..

My friend we don't have time, do whatever it takes to get names, the election is drawing near, we need to know our enemies. When are we expecting result. He asked

This week Sir, i can assure you. Chase said

Ben was satisfied with the response, he told him that a room had been kept for him in the hotel and that the driver would drop him off. He was to meet with the security details attached to his daughter at the hotel to confirm them and advice them accordingly. Chase thanked him even as he collected a huge envelope that felt heavy, which he later found out were bundles of money. As soon as he was ready, the driver took him down to the hotel.

He met with the security agents and spoke with them advised and suggested strategies to enable them carry out their duties effectively, then he moved to his room where he dropoed his bag, and had some rest awaiting when Mira was ready to see him. He had no idea who the daughter was, all he knew was that office was always sending him to protect Olivia, and he knew Olivia was somehow related to Hart, but this particular client he was to meet and assure that she was safe , there was no introduction. He received a call that Mira was ready, he left his room to meet her at the VIP lounge, as soon as he saw her, he could not move further, he could not explain what was happening to him, the question that came to his mind was, "who did speak with few minutes ago at far away Africa"