When he scrolled up, he found the conversation, which read-
Tim- Mr. Miller, Daniel Shelby, one of the members of SAF, is going to be at my place within few minutes. You can capture him if you come here. However, you must pay me 25% more for this.
Jeremy- Is he still there? We are outside.
Daniel dropped the phone on the table and exited the room with the USB. He went to the window and peered out. Few yards behind his car, he found a black Ford van. He walked back to the bathroom and bolted the door from outside. He stood in the hall and evaluated his options. He knew that taking the regular doorway would make him vulnerable. So, he moved from one window to the other in quest for an emergency exit. He found the emergency stairs outside a living room window, situated away from the view of the van. He opened the window and stormed down the stairs, before a bullet ricocheted off the metal floor of the stairs and Daniel witnessed the guy with the pierced eyebrow pointing a gun in his direction from below.
Daniel swiveled inward towards the wall to evade the bullet and looked around for cover. He wished to run down the stairs and escape the apartment, but he knew that he had greater risk of taking a bullet if he continued to descend the stairs. Reluctantly, he lunged into Bronson’s living room again and evaluated his options, with the bullets raining outside the building. Escaping through the main entrance seemed the stupidest idea he could come up with, and neither did the emergency stairs promise him safety. Realizing his entrapment, he hyperventilated. Suddenly, he had a sense of vertigo and nausea, and he collapsed on the floor clutching his abdomen. The room whirled around him, while the sounds of the banging door and the bullets muted for a few seconds. He got up on all fours and gagged. Even his saliva protested to emit. His mouth felt suddenly dry and his right palm ached. When he turned his gaze to his right palm, he realized that he had injured his right palm during his endeavors.
It took nearly a minute for the sensation to subside, before he could stand up and attend to his surroundings. The banging of the toilet door continued, but the sound of the bullets halted abruptly as he heard. He mustered the courage to peek out the window. He watched Jeremy outside the van yelling in the direction of the beefy guy, who was receding towards the van with his gun drawn. Daniel watched as the beefy guy leapt into the van behind Jeremy and the van made a U-turn and raced off. As Daniel watched, two men with sub-machine guns ran towards the apartment.
Aimlessly, Daniel jumped out of the window. He suddenly realized that escaping the situation was not the answer. He knew that he had to tackle the situation.
When killing the Prime Minister, with all his security, spared me alive, this is nothing.
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
Daniel massaged his arms as he walked towards Martello’s car. The struggle upstairs had left him drained of energy and Tim’s house completely mangled. The tiny computer room had sustained a major blow as the servers and the systems stood completely mutilated by the bullets. Daniel had successfully dislocated the shoulder of one lad, broken the ribs of another lad and literally burst the balls of a surprise-third lad.
He unlocked the car and ignited the engine. Wondering what made Jeremy flee the scene so abruptly, he drove the car towards the hospital.
THE MAN WHO LOST IT ALL
IN THE BARN
JEREMY MUSTERED THE strength to pull himself up, despite his throbbing head and his tender abdomen. He looked around and watched the three captives get into his SUV and flee the scene. He picked up his phone and dialed Philander’s number.
‘Philander, where are you people?’ he asked.
‘Sir, we are two miles away from the highway.’
‘Turn around and come back towards the barn. If you see our SUV on the way, follow it. The captives are escaping in it. They must be captured at any cost.’
With the orders passed, he paced the few difficult yards towards Adam and shook him, not because he cared about him, because he could not drive the car with his dislocated shoulder. It took quite an effort, some water and few offensive words concerning his frame for Jeremy to wake the beefy guy. When he finally woke up, he was even more disoriented than Jeremy was and began examining his injuries. He licked the cuts nastily, which reminded Jeremy of the puppy he had as a boy.
‘Adam, enough of your licking. Let’s get going.’
Adam lazily hiked the few steps to the exterior and took in the air. Jeremy thought for a minute where and how he had to leave. He felt too exhausted to concentrate on anything, except some rest. He had already passed down the responsibilities to his thugs and he felt the desperate need for sleep. He booked a cab on his phone to take him home.
Once the cab was there, he got in and leaned back in his seat.
MILLER’S RESIDENCE
He had not cared about undressing himself and just collapsed facedown on the bed, with the sling removed and lying on the floor. Just as sleep took control, his phone began vibrating in his pocket. At first, he thought of ignoring it. But the vibration shook his genitals and he was obliged to remove it. With foggy eyes, he saw the name of Tim Bronson on the screen and a message from him. Jeremy anticipated something important and opened the message.
Mr. Miller, Daniel Shelby, one of the members of SAF, is going to be at my place within few minutes. You can capture him if you come here. You must pay me 25% more for this.
Immediately after completing reading the message, he dialed Bronson’s number.
‘Mr. Miller, I have got good news for you,’ Tim said. ‘I have a name called Daniel Vab Shelby, who served in SAF in the specified time and specified division. Moreover, if you like, within few minutes, he is going to be at my place. So, if you want to get him, deposit 25% more than the usual and get him.’
Jeremy thought for the name. He had not heard the name during his captivity. ‘Send me his photo.’
As Jeremy patiently waited, his phone pinged. When he opened the photo, he felt oblivious to his emotions on finding that someone he had lost more than an hour ago was going to come back into his cage himself. ‘OK, I will pay you that. Now, I want him straight into my hands as soon as I reach there.’
‘As you please,’ he said.
Jeremy stepped off the bed and bent down to take the sling.
My fucking life! Vengeance is fucking addiction.
OUTSIDE TIM’S APARTMENT BLOCK
Jeremy texted Bronson and waited for the reply, while he tapped his gun impatiently on his thigh. He had murdered many people in the past. However, he attributed his nervousness to his previous encounter with Daniel, which had gone bitter and left him with a still-paining abdomen and a forehead scar.
He examined the bloodstains on his sling and tried to wipe them off with a stroke from the gun’s butt. The blood had already dried, rendering it difficult to wipe off. The permanent stain left him wondering what permanent changes his craving for vengeance was going to cost him.
Ethan had once asked him, ‘What purpose does vengeance serve your life?’
Jeremy had smiled at his doubt. ‘My friend, vengeance itself gives a purpose to stay alive. You know, all the things we do every day, however repetitive, boring or risky they might be, are meant to serve a role, to fulfill our needs and ensure our survival.’
Remembering Ethan aggravated his anxiety and he wondered if someone found his body. The last night, his anger had clouded his reasoning and he hadn’t cared about disposing off Ethan’s body properly. He was so blind with anger that he had not cared about the consequences, which included the risk of conviction if someone linked him to Ethan’s death. However, what tugged him more painful was the blank spot Ethan’s death had left in his life.
Before he could shift his attention to the present, the sound of the gunshot alerted him to his surroundings. He gazed blankly as Adam stood at the bottom of the emergency stairs and shot at Daniel, who had emerged from the window. Realizing that stationing Adam at the foot of the emergency stairs was a clever move, Jeremy leapt out of the van and watched as Daniel lun
ged into the window. Jeremy had already dispatched one of his thugs into the building to bring Daniel, and Adam maintained his ground at the stairs, ready to hit Daniel.
‘I smell success somewhere in the air,’ Jeremy said to himself, as his phone vibrated.
The screen displayed the name of Lt. Grisham, who had served alongside him during his initial years at RCAF. It was on his personal number. ‘Hey Grisham,’ he said.
‘Jeremy, listen to me carefully. I do not know if the allegations about you are true, but I have to alert you. The General has dispatched units to stage your capture.’
‘What?’ Jeremy bellowed.
‘Yeah, talk is that you are the one who murdered the members of SAF. Gen. Levisohn has himself passed down the orders. So, you better escape before it is too late.’
‘Bullshit!’ Jeremy yelled, trying to sound not guilty.
‘Hey, he doesn’t care if you are not-guilty. All he needs is a culprit. So, get the fuck out of wherever you are and save your ass! And, remember to destroy the SIM card registered in your name and use this to keep in contact with me.’
Jeremy ignored the ringing bells in his mind and yelled at Adam, who was still spraying bullets at the wall. ‘Adam, get in. We need to go.’
It took him several attempts to alert Adam of his situation and when Adam got in, he ordered the driver to drive away from the spot. Jeremy discarded the SIM and switched on his phone. As the van neared the road which connected it to the new part of the city, Jeremy sensed his insecurity rising. It was not safe for him to take the vulnerable route. He asked the driver to drive away from the major roads and keep to the countryside. He ran the names of different people he could consult for protection from the scenario. However, what frightened him was the possibility of a turn-in to the military by the very people he consulted. He opened the contacts list in his phone and scrolled through the list for a reliable person. Everyone on his contacts list belonged to a category he liked calling cunning bastards, except for one person whom he considered the best choice. Yet, he felt a little reluctance to call the person.
Doubting the availability of the person, he dialed the number. It was unanswered the first time. Impatiently, he redialed and got an answer. ‘Mr. Holland, it’s me Jeremy Miller.’
There was a silence on the other side before he said cheerfully, ‘Oh Jeremy, how are you, my boy? I am sorry about your father. He was such a great man.’
‘I am fine, Mr. Holland. How are you?’
‘Well, I leave it to your imagination to imagine how a seventy year old man with arthritis and a cancerous wife is. So, what’s the matter, boy?’
Jeremy paused for a moment evaluating the pros and cons of staying with the people, whose son he had murdered the previous night. ‘I am doing just fine. May I know where you are right now?’
‘I am staying with Melissa in our summer house by Anolusa River.’ Jeremy gave attention to the way the man emphasized the word Anolusa, which showed that he was proud for holding a house by its bank.
‘Oh, if you don’t mind, can I stay there for a few days? I am feeling stressful in this city atmosphere and everything.’
‘Yeah sure, why not! You are more than welcome to stay with us. And, we could use some company.’
‘Thank you, Mr. Holland,’ Jeremy said. ‘I’ll be there by night.’ He ended the call and let out a sigh of relief.
He had met Jacques Pti Holland many times during his graduation days as part of his various weekends at their residence. Truthfully speaking, Jacques was a cheerful man, who had spent the initial days of his young age building an empire, which was the Holland and Co. Transports, before it was snatched by his son Ethan seven years ago, claiming that Jacques’s ill-health was a liability for the company’s growth. It had left Ethan separated from his parents. However, despite that, Jeremy’s fondness of the old man left him in good terms with him over the years. And their summerhouse, situated on the bank of River Anolusa and isolated from hassle of the city, struck Jeremy as a perfect place to hide.
He gave his driver the co-ordinates to drive to the place and ordered him strictly to keep off the highway unless mandatory. With the orders passed and Adam to monitor, Jeremy leaned back in his seat and slept.
THE COUNTRY OF CHAOS
IN AN UNKNOWN VEHICLE- ON DAY OF ROCHEN FORT BLASTS
IN SPITE OF A BAG covering his face, Ross looked around and tried to make sense of what was happening. Strong hands captured him from behind, tied ropes around his limbs and shoved him roughly into a vehicle, which moved through traffic sounding horn repeatedly. Ross was able to hear the shouts erupting from outside the vehicle and attributed them to the chaos his car and the explosion had caused.
His taped mouth made it impossible to make a sound, yet he protested to make a sound. He began swiveling his legs haphazardly, which contacted the walls of the van and made noise. When he expected some harsh force to constrain him, a needle was plunged into his median cubital vein and he lost consciousness within a few minutes.
OUTSIDE PRIME MINSTER’S RESIDENCE- THREE MINUTES FOLLOWING ROCHEN FORT BLASTS
Godwin had checked that the time was 11.10 in the morning, when he stepped outside his cabin and walked towards the line of the cars waiting outside his front door. The car was not even out of the gate, when his security-chief halted the car and walked to his door.
‘What’s the matter?’ Godwin asked.
‘Sir, there were a series of blasts outside Rochen Fort and in the Fort a couple of minutes ago, and the Fort has been flattened.’
‘My God! Take me there immediately,’ he said.
‘No sir. It is not safe for you to visit the place as such before the bomb squad checks around for any kind of explosives. We will notify you once it is done, sir.’
Godwin pursed his lips and nodded, posing grievance for the consequences.
EDDAOF HQ- FEW MINUTES POST THE BLASTS
The Explosives Unit stepped out of the building and boarded the truck within minutes of receiving information about the blasts. Ralph Mek Gallitzin, Senior Scientist in Explosives Unit of EDDAOF, gazed through the windows of his office as the field agents loaded their equipment into the truck and left the HQ. He sipped his coffee, turned back to his table, and lifted the phone from its hook. He dialed Donald’s number and waited.
‘Hello,’ Donald said with anxiety evident in his tone.
‘Donald, how are you holding up?’ he asked.
‘Just about good, sir,’ he said.
Ralph played with the paperweight on his table and grinned. ‘Don’t get too nervous. Everything has gone according to our plan. Our field agents are going to be back with the specimens. All you need to do is act like you have deciphered the thing yourself and pose as a fucking genius.’
‘Yes…yes sir.’
‘Donald, do you know why you were specifically selected from all those chemists in our unit?’ he asked. Without waiting for a reply, he said, ‘I sensed a raging fire in you. I thought that I could use it to set fire to the society. So, are you ready to get fucking famous?’
‘Ready, sir,’ Donald said excited.
‘That’s the spirit,’ Ralph said contented.
Once he disconnected from Donald’s call, Ralph dialed Gabriel Romero’s number, the major mediator in Operation Rochen Fort. As the phone rang, he stood on one leg cracking his knuckles involuntarily.
‘Mr. Romero, I dispatched my unit minutes ago. Everything is going according to the plan,’ he said, not minding to start with a formal greeting.
‘Happy to hear that. I believe you remember the guidelines of the mission properly. Take care that your men do not snap under pressure or some sympathy. If it happens so, you know the consequences,’ Romero said, his voice devoid of any emotion.
‘Yes sir.’
After he replaced the receiver in its hook, Ralph wondered how much Romero, who was fifteen years younger than he was, was making from the mission. As he thought deeply, Ralph realized that he was growing envio
us of the lad and attended to the arrangements, which demanded his attention.
…that lucky son of a bitch!
He felt a heavy feeling in his chest, which he knew damn sure was not his envy. Ever since he became associated with the operation, Ralph had difficulty convincing his conscience that his actions were for his own benefit. Yet, the guilt of claiming all those lives was sure to weigh upon his conscience until his last breath. He wondered if the rest of the people felt the same, or it was just him being over-emotional.
OUTSIDE THE GROUNDED ROCHEN FORT
When he first heard the blasts, he thought it was similar to those crackers people enjoyed firing to welcome the New Year or any big occasion. As he stood licking the butterscotch-flavored ice cream in his hand, the Fort collapsed to the ground following a series of blasts and people raced around chaotically. The dust that had settled on his ice cream was no longer his concern. The people lying dead around the Fort made him obvious to the fact that the blasts were unlike those crackers, which people blasted for fun, but those that claimed people’s lives. Sensing the weight of the scenario, he dropped his ice-cream cone and ran in his father’s direction.
Amidst the blazing horns of the cop cars and sirens, he succeeded in finding the lifeless form of his father -a security guard for the inauguration- lying on the ground. His father’s ash-laden face and fractured skull did not prevent him from running away like what is expected of an eight-year old boy like him. He collapsed on the ground beside his father’s dead body and wept, clutching his father’s uniform tightly. After losing his mother during his birth, his father had remained his only support in the big wide world, and losing him was more than he could afford to. As the authorities parted him from his father’s corpse, despite his protests, he pulled off the nametag of his father’s uniform, which displayed the name RANDY RYU XAVIER on it. The boy clutched the strip tightly as if his father’s life remained in it and someone would come to take it away from him.
The Memoir Page 15