The Complete Assassin Episode 24

The Complete Assassin Episode 24

Stella snuggled up in James’ arms as they lay exhausted under the sheets. Her head was on his chest with his hand around her shoulder. It had been a very energetic, raunchy session and they had gone at it for five hours nonstop. James caught a quick nap but had been awake since. He was thinking about how wonderful it would have been if Stella did not work for ShadowCorp. How simpler it would have been if she was just a mere reporter and he was just an ordinary IT Guy. No complications, no webs. They could have ended up as husband and wife. But things were not that way. It was like he was suddenly drafted into a horror movie that he could not get away from. He had to see this to the end; either the end of his life or the end of ShadowCorp. He was caught and he could not get out.

He looked at Stella. She was sleeping so peacefully. He recalled how she had been screaming and moaning a while back, riding him and ordering him to go faster. He smiled. He just had a great time with a sexy cold blooded killer.

He kissed her forehead and a smile played on his lips.

Stella turned and stretched, then turned back to face him.

“Why are you smiling?” She asked playfully, punching him softly.

He faked pain and screamed holding his ribs. They laughed. He bent forwards and kissed her gently on the lips. As he made to disengage, she held his face back in her palms and kissed him deeper. He flung the sheets off their body onto the ground and started caressing her. They rolled on the bed, kissing and touching each other, with Stella moaning audibly.

Just then there was a continuous beep sound from the living room. James disengaged from the kiss and listened to the beeping sound that had intensified.

“What is it?” Stella asked.

“It is from the tracker. We have a hit on Steven’s location.”

********

James jumped out of bed completely unclothed while Stella grabbed the sheets and u were covered herself with it, hurrying behind him. He sat in front of the computer and clicked on a few buttons on the keyboard. A GPS mapping system appeared on the screen with a blinking red dot. He zoomed in on the location of the dot until he was live on the address.

“Block 14 Mariana Estate, Osborne Lekki.” Stella read out.

“Yea. I am calling up the yellow papers that contain occupiers and sellers of all the buildings in the estate. It should have the record of all occupiers of that building since launch.” James said.

He fiddled with the keyboard and bypassed several security authorizations until he got into the Yellow Pages database. He scrolled to the house he was looking for and clicked on it. It gave him a message:

“ACCESS DENIED”.

“Hmm. . .” James hummed

“What’s happening?” Stella asked

“I am being denied access. Access to the yellow pages is unrestricted to authorized persons. I logged in with the details of an occupant of the estate and went through a back door tunnel. Once the database is open, it should not require any more authentication. Unless . . .” James paused in mid-sentence.

He moved the cursor up to Block 11 and clicked on it. The details opened without asking for permission. He did the same thing randomly for seven other blocks and they opened easily. He went back to Block 14 and clicked on it.  It did not open. It brought out a box asking for Username and Password. James smiled.

“There’s something fishy about this house. It’s the only one with protected info. And that’s a first mistake. Whenever you want to hide something, hide it in plain sight. That way it would be more difficult to locate and less conspicuous. Now, I have no doubts in my mind that this house is an operating base for ShadowCorp. And all I need to do is get into this information field.” James said.

Stella did not say much. She only watched as James did what he knew how to do best, bypassing authorization. He opened a notepadX program and keyed in some hacking algorithms. He copied the source file from the Yellow Pages website and merged the source code with the mini worm he had just created. It blended seamlessly and he launched the website again. He went straight for Block 14 and clicked on it. After ten seconds of nervous waiting, the page opened. There was only one person listed as the occupant for the last ten years, since the existence of the building.

“Mr. Shittu Adekunle Owolabi. Status: Empty. Last Occupied: Six years ago.” James read out and continued,

“It makes no sense. This place has not been occupied in years. Is there any Mr. Adekunle who is a contact of the Corporation?” James asked.

“Let me see.” Stella commanded, dragging the laptop towards herself.

She looked at the information for a while and turned the laptop back to him.

“It is not a name. It is a code. Take the first two letters of each name. What do you get?” Stella asked.

James paused for a moment and scrutinized the name.

“SHADOW” he whispered.

“Good. That is where Steven is being held and I am not sitting here any second longer. I am going to get my brother out.” Stella said, getting up from the chair.

She dropped the sheets from her body as she picked her top from the floor. She went beside James and tool her bra from inside the chair. She dressed meticulously and picked her gun from the table when she finished, removing the cartridge to check the bullets she had.

As she re-inserted the cartridge, she looked at James. He was staring at her lustfully.

“There will be other times for your hunger to be quenched. Right now, we have a job to do.” Stella said, corking the gun and checking the safety.

She walked towards James and brushed her lips against his very lightly.

“Meet me in the car. You have three minutes.” Stella said, walking to the door and swaying her hips seductively.

********

Detective Samson sat by the bed watching his daughter breathe.  He had her right hand in both palms as he scrutinized every unconscious movement she made. It had been two hours and he had refused to move an inch, even after several pleas from his wife. He was not going to leave her bedside until she got better. His wife had left him several minutes later, to prepare breakfast and get their son ready for school. The detective could not bring himself to understand why he was such an important part of their plans. He seemed to hold a very vital position and a lot rested on his shoulders. The organization needed him and they would do anything to have him cooperate or wipe him out. Sensei had said without mincing words that if he failed to cooperate, he would pay with his life and that of those who are dear to him. He needed a trump card. He needed something to give him an edge, an advantage, any form of leverage so that he would come out unscathed. As far as he was concerned, he was expendable.

He was still in deep thought when his phone rang. He picked it up and looked at the Caller ID. It was a private number. He had a feeling that he knew who it was calling. After letting it ring for a few seconds, he pressed the answer button. He remained silent for the first three seconds.

“Detective Samson, how is your daughter doing?” The voice at the other end asked.

“Not as good as I would want her to. I got your message. Okay? I agree to your terms. I will do whatever you ask. Just tell me where to go find the antidote. Please.” The detective pleaded.

“Tsk tsk tsk. Not so fast Samson. You tried to be smart once. See where it got you. Now to avoid this . . . scenario happening again, we have decided that you have to complete a task.” The voice said.

“We? Who is we?”

Just then the detective’s wife came through the door. Samson signaled to her to remain quiet as she sat on the bed opposite him.

“Oh, your wife just walked in. Good. Make sure she knows none of this.” The voice said.

The detective got up from the bed and scrutinized the room, hoping to find anything strange. These people were watching him and he didn’t know how they were able to do that. There had to be some sort of device, a bug that had been planted in his daughter’s room. With his phone still firmly planted on his left ear, he searched the walls with his eyes.

“What are you looking for detective?”

“Nothing, really.”

“Move to the window. And stand still.”

The detective obeyed.

“Now what?” Samson asked.

“Just stay still.”

Samson immediately noticed an infra-red marker on his chest. There was a sniper outside somewhere. It was not so bright outside but whoever it was could see him. His best guess was that the sniper was using a thermal reflector. The infra-red marker moved from his chest to his groin area, then back up to his neck. Before he could blink, the sniper fired a shot.

Samson’s heart skipped several beats as the bullet whizzed past him. He almost thought himself dead. His wife gasped and her mouth was still wide open as Samson regained composure.

“What was that for?” Samson asked his heart still pounding.

“Just making a statement. Did I hit my target?” The voice asked.

The detective looked behind him. On the bookshelf, the large framed wall size family picture had fallen to the side. He walked to the shelf and picked the picture frame. It was their latest family portrait. The detective and his wife sat side by side, while Vincent sat on his mother’s laps, gazing into her eyes. Caroline sat on her father’s shoulder, a wide playful smile on her lips. However the picture had just being ruined. The bullet was firmly lodged directly in his wife’s forehead. Fear gripped him.

“Now that I have firmly reinforced how deadly we can get, do we have an understanding?” The voice said.

Samson could only nod.

“Good.  Now this is what you have to do. You need to carefully get into an apartment. Block 14 Mariana Estate, Osborne Lekki registered under Mr. Shittu Adekunle Owolabi. I need you to extract someone for me. Once there, you will understand the peculiarity of the situation. There may be one or two hindrances, but getting the person out is your utmost prerogative. Clear?”

“The parameters of this assignment are not clear. Who am I extracting? What hindrance exactly am I expecting? You are throwing me blindfolded into a mine field and I am supposed to miraculously come out unhurt? I need more information to deliver correctly.”

“Detective, this is an assignment that you can conveniently handle. Just rest assured that we will be watching. Complete this assignment and your daughter will be riding her bicycle by the time you return. Good luck detective.”

The line went dead.

He took the phone from his ear slowly, his mind trying to piece together all that had just happened. He looked at his wife. She was still in shock. He took the phone and began typing on it, then handed the phone to his wife.

“I will end this my love. Do not be afraid. Nothing will happen to the children. I love you.”

She read the message twice and relaxed. She was at ease now. She handed the phone back to him with a weak smile.

Samson went to the book shelf and turned the picture against the wall. A he did that, the bullet dislodged from the picture. He took a tissue and picked up the bullet. Folding the tissue, he put in his pocket.

“I have to go now. There are a few things I need to put in order. I love you.” The detective said, kissing her gently on the cheek.

She could only nod as a tear trickled down her cheek.

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