Nikolai

"Convoy?" Cedric said in his mind, confused. He clearly remembered tommy saying a convoy would draw attention and there wasn't a need for that.

"A convoy?" Cedric said, perplexed as the Japanese bloke bowed again and left.

"Yes. I know. I said it'll draw too much attention. But I have a bad feeling that this will be way beyond us so I ordered for one. But don't worry, it'll be an armored convoy so your safety's assured." Tommy explained.

Cedric sighed. "You could've just taken us there in the cab, don't you agree?" Cedric asked.

"We'll be screwed and I'm sure to lose my rank if that incident ever gets out. There was a security camera in that alley. The camera won't have seen my face because we were backing it, but I'm sure it got the license plate of that cab, so I had to ditch it." Tommy answered.

"Ditch it? It's right in the parking garage above. If the cops make it here, they'll find out." Cedric said, panic clearly showing in his voice.

"Relax. I gave an order to one of my men. I told him to ditch the cab as soon as I left. I'm sure it's in the ocean by now." Tommy said casually.

Cedric was surprised.

Where exactly did Tommy get this strategic knowledge from?

"Relax, man. We roll out in thirty minutes. I'll speak to someone to get you and Ms. Florence some food from the mall." Tommy said then walked into a glass cubicle which stood as his private office.

Cedric went to rejoin his wife and moments later, an attendant from the mall brought in some burgers, hotdogs and big sized bottles of Coca-Cola all contained in a shopping trolley.

She carefully rode the trolley through the soldiers she saw, some of which gave way for her. Finally, she stopped in front of the Alexander family, who were seated at a table.

Carefully, the attendant, who put on the mall's work uniform, arranged the meal on the table for the family while Cedric stroked little Adrian's hair. Adrian smiled at the attendant, who smiled back and playfully ruffled his hair a bit.

About twenty minutes later, Tommy called the family into his office. On getting in, Cedric could see he was a bit uneasy while using his computer and small beads of sweat gathered on his forehead.

"Anything the matter, Tom?" Florence asked. She obviously noticed his demeanor.

"I think there's someone down here who's a snitch. Reporting my every move. And yours too. Look at this." Tommy said and faced the computer screen to face Cedric, who was seated opposite him. The screen showed a video on pause.

The video was clear enough, but it was in black and white format. Obviously because it was security camera feed.

Tommy played it. Few seconds later, Cedric saw himself and his family coming into the building. Then Tommy paused it again.

"Look here." Tommy said and pointed to another part of the monitor and replayed the tape.

Cedric focused on that part Tommy pointed. He saw himself and his family walk past a man whose head was facing the ground.

Few seconds after Cedric passes by that man, he raised his head up and stared in Cedric's direction with an angry demeanor. He took out his phone and made a call that lasted about twenty seconds. After that, he went deeper into a part of the bunker.

"Do you recognize that man, Cedric?" Tommy asked on seeing his face twisted in anger.

"That's Nikolai. I remember you gave him to me as a bodyguard about six months ago, when Boris first attacked my family. He supposedly died in Boris' first attack. How's he here?"

Tommy sighed and gently pinched the top of his nose for about three seconds.

"It's my fault, Cedric. I'm deeply sorry. The President gave Nikolai to me. It was an order. He ordered me to make him your bodyguard, which I innocently agreed.

It didn't occur to me that Boris has already told him about the serum. The President saw its miraculous effect and decided to give Boris all the resources he'll need to find it. Including placing Nikolai as someone who will be there to watch your every move.

I'm pretty sure Nikolai gave Boris the intel that led to the first attempt at your assassination. And he faked death to make sure his tracks were covered and didn't need to be traced.

But he's here now. I just had to follow my instincts and review the security feed. I'm sure he knows we have about ten minutes to leave here. I suggest we leave right now. At least we can get there before they plan their ambush." Tommy said.

Cedric thought about Tommy's plan. It seemed like one that was viable. If they could move before Boris planned the suspected road ambush, they could avoid it and safely fly back to the United States.

"But of course," Tommy continued; " I'm not going alone." He said then spoke into a radio different from the other one he used for general orders.

"Akira, Mimiko, Seiichi, Denji, Kenji. My office now." He said into the radio. And even up to twenty seconds later, there was no reply.

"No reply?" Cedric said, curious. He looked at his wife. She had a look of confusion etched on her alluringly beautiful face.

"It's protocol. This is a private channel. The five people I called are the ones who can go down in hell with me and for me. And I'll gladly do the same for them anytime. And anytime I call just five of them on this channel, they know it's a code red."

Cedric thought for a while. His mind then went back to where he first encountered Tommy before they became friends.

He was on his way across a desert on a military helicopter, heading to a US military airstrip after conducting an experiment and study on African genes.

While on the helicopter, the pilot decided to land it right in the middle of the desert.