SHADOWCORP Episode 7 by kayemjay

SHADOWCORP Episode 7 by kayemjay

Raymond walked through a small corridor as directed by the lady behind him. It was still dark but the illumination from the sun made it easy for him to see his way across. They got to the end of the corridor and came to a wooden door to the left. It had a metal handle and all sorts of weird inscriptions on it. Raymond paused, as if waiting for her to do something.

“Open it!” She barked.

He grabbed the door handle gingerly half expecting something strange and painful to happen to him as he turned. The door opened to a beautiful room. It was spacious and the walls were painted in distinct colours of lemon green and red. There were reclining chairs scattered around the room and a big size fridge by the corner. The room was surprisingly clean considering where he had been held for the past few hours. He stood just by the door, taking in the details of the room when the lady brushed passed him and into the room.

“Take a seat Mr Raymond. I will be with you in a minute.” She said, leaving him there and going into an adjoining room.

He sat on the closest chair to him and kept looking around. He could not stay still, so he got up and opened the fridge. Bottles of water filled the fridge from top to bottom, so he helped himself to one. No sooner had he put the bottle to his mouth than the door opened and the lady came in, with a young man in tow.

“Don’t drink that!” she shouted rushing towards him and yanking the bottle from him. She immediately capped the bottle and replaced it in the fridge. “Those bottles contain treated water for special guests. If you had taken it, you would be knocked out for twelve hours at the least. I told you to sit, not to starting touching things.”

Raymond nodded feebly and then sat back in the chair.

“This is Biodun. He will help you contact your people and you will speak to them. Remember, we have a deal.” She finished, taking a seat opposite him.

Biodun walked to Raymond with a device in hand. The device looked like some sort of scanner. It was in the shape of a handheld metal detector so Raymond wondered what it was supposed to do.

“Please stand and stretch your arms sideways.” Biodun said. Raymond obeyed. Biodun used the scanner which emitted blue rays, to scan his torso and arms. Raymond wondered what they hoped to find.

“I don’t have a gun or anything if that is what you are looking for” Raymond chipped.

“We are not looking for weapons. We just want to be sure that there is no tracker on your person. Even you would not know that it was there.” She finished.

Biodun gave a nod of approval and then left the room. Bringing out a phone from her pocket, she handed it to Raymond.

“Now you can make that call. You can take as long as you like but I would advise that you make it very short. I will give you some privacy. Remember to keep your part of the deal.” She said and walked out.

Raymond quickly dialled his wife’s number and listened as it rang. On the second ring she picked the phone.

“Hello” she said.

“It’s me my pumpkin.”

“Baby! Where are you? Are you okay? When are you coming back? What is happening?”

Raymond listened patiently as she asked questions. He assured her that he would be home before she knew it and begged her to keep the children safe and watch over them at all times.

“Any strange people contacted you lately? Or come by the house or around you or the boys?” he asked as he wrapped up the conversation.

“No dear, nothing of the sort. Although this morning I got an unusually strange email from an unknown sender I find strange.” His wife said.

“What email?” he asked.

“It was sent to you but I was copied in it. It had just two lines.  It said ‘DEJAVU. I hope you are ready for me baby. Give me a sign.’ The sender was SSJ.” She said and continued, “Are you cheating on me?”

“SSJ? I have no idea who that is. I am not cheating on you and I promise you I will be home today at the latest. Just be safe for me. I love you.” He finished and hung up.

Almost immediately, the lady who held him captive walked into the room.

“Who is SSJ?” she asked, standing in front of him, arms akimbo. She looked like she would punch him any moment.

“I wish I knew. I am as dumbfounded as you are.”

“Are you having an affair?” she asked again.

“I will not answer that.” Raymond replied almost instantly.

He was not cheating on his wife but he realized that the message may have a deeper meaning and the less he fed these people with, the better it would be for him.

“So you were listening in on my conversation? I thought it was supposed to be private?” Raymond asked.

“Private?” she scoffed and continued, “There is nothing private in this place. We have cause to believe that you are hiding something from us. We need to run some checks. For your sake, we hope that you come out clean. If not, you will never see your family again.”

She pulled a gun from her hip and pointed it at Raymond.

“You could save us a lot of stress and time and tell us the truth and everything we need to know right now. Have you been cheating on your wife? Who is SSJ?”

“A clean conscience fears no accusation. You can make your findings.” Raymond said.

“Okay then. Sit. This should not take long.”

She motioned to him with the gun, telling him where to sit. She took a seat opposite him and dialled a number from the phone she took from him.

“Biodun, start the checks.”

She hung up and smiled wickedly at Raymond.

*********

Steven needed eyes on the inside. He stood by the door of the house, disguised in guard uniform. He could not just barge into the building guns blazing. He checked his watch. Twenty minutes had passed. He had to move in or all his efforts would have been in vain. He checked his gun and counted the rounds he had left. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and exhaled.

“It’s now or never”. He said to himself. He had barely walked three yards when he heard a voice in his ears.

“Hello brother. Come in.”

“Stella?” Steven asked. He was surprised and relieved at the same time.

“You have to move now. Contact has been made with Geronimo through the email. Shadowcorp is working on that email and it won’t be long before they unravel who was behind it.”

“Lead me.”

“Door is unlocked. It opens to a corridor which leads into a large living room. Once you exit the living room, there are two hostiles guarding the door where he is being held. Use non-lethal force. If they get any wind of a rescue mission, they will kill him and you will not get out alive.”

“Is that why you decided to help me? You don’t want to see me killed?” Steven teased, as he walked slowly towards the door.

“You have thirty seconds to take out the guards. Hurry.”

“I’m on it.” Steven finished and entered the house.

**********

Raymond’s heart beat in his chest. He pondered on what SSJ was and could not figure out who it meant. He was not cheating on his wife. He knew that for sure.  He repeated the words slowly:

“DEJAVU. I hope you are ready for me baby. Give me a sign”

“Give me a sign? What sign? De ja vu? Meaning this was a second rendezvous. SSJ? Who was SSJ?” All these ran through his mind. The more he thought about it the more confused he got. He was beginning to fear the worst. Slowly, reality set in. He might not get out of this situation alive. His thoughts went to his wife and twin sons. Tears filled his eyes as he struggled to remain strong.

He knew nothing would come out of the inquiry towards SSJ and it would mean he was concealing information. The last time he was in this type of situation, he had been saved at the last minute by Stella. He had thought that was the end of his troubles after he had met with Steven and was assured everything would be fine. Now, here he was. Suddenly, his face lit up. Steven, Stella and James! SSJ! He could not help the excitement he currently felt. They needed him to give a sign.

There was only one thing he could do to get the attention of SSJ. He braced himself and hoped for the best. Saying a short prayer, he made up his mind.

It was now or never.

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