DEEP SECRETS
EPISODE 24
01:45 PM, MARCUS VILLA
Stanley and Eve were off the leash. They hardly get angry at the same time, but in this occasion, they were both breathing fire. The Helmsman tried to stop Stanley but the dude was too slippery for him. A few punches from Stanley to Baribote’s face left it disfigured and torn open.
“You are not in the position to make threats here! Answer her questions! Who shot us? Who made the videos? I want answers now!” Stanley yelled.
Baribote didn’t budge. Through his bloodied eyes he stared coldly at Stanley. No one saw it coming, Stanley was too fast. He pulled out the jackknife in his back pocket and plunged into Baribote’s thigh, missing his testicles by inches. Stanley held down the jackknife and twisted it; causing Baribote mind-snapping pain.
“Are you ready to talk now Chief?” Stanley asked.
Baribote’s mind was snapping. He could not utter a word. All he could do was nod his head indicating he would talk. Stanley pulled out the jackknife and arterial blood fountained up. The Helmsman had to apply a towel on the injury and asked for help. They spent the next few minutes trying to patch up Baribote.
Stanley had cut through a major artery, without major medical care Chief Baribote was as good as dead. Eager to extract from him as much information as possible, Stanley pressed him for answers,
“You are going to die here Chief. Start talking if you want to live. Who had us shot? Who made the videos?”
“I paid for the videos to be made. I had support from Julia Idris and Elizabeth Sekwa. There were a few top politicians who knew about the plan, but played very minor roles. Their only interests were to use the videos to destroy their political opponents who are in the videos. You don’t want to bother about them. Emilia was the person who executed the plan. She had Steve and Bimpe wire Mayo’s house with video cameras. Steve and Bimpe have been part of the plan after the meeting in Ghana. Mayo was told about the videos but he did not support it. His interest was to keep the 0rgies going on in his fun house for his personal benefits…” Chief Baribote explained.
Stanley was eager to find out what he meant by Mayo’s ‘personal benefits’.
“What do you mean by Mayo’s personal interests?” he asked.
“The 0rgies in Mayo’s fun house were a form of sacrificial worship. If you have been a part of it, you need help. Those students who die there during s*xual interc0urse don’t die by accident. Mayo chooses who dies before each nvde party would begin. The sacrifices make him powerful and rich. Mayo, Steve and Bimpe all knew you and Eve were going to be killed long before we sent the assassin after you. I spoke with Bimpe on your wedding day to know if to move the attack to another day and she said no. She and Emilia had it all planned out,” Baribote explained further.
Eve and Stanley felt their ears tingle at that revelation. While Eve and Stanley planned their wedding, all their friends were supportive of them. They gave money and bought loads of gifts for them. Bimpe alone gave them six thousand dollars in cash. Mayo and Steve gave equally generously to them. There was not a hit in their attitude that they were part of a plan to kill them on their wedding day.
Though they had heard it from Sekibo and Leroy, Eve still wanted to hear from Baribote why they were shot.
“I still don’t get it, why shoot I and Stanley when we knew nothing about the videos?”
Baribote was shocked to hear that from Eve. Though he was going through nerve racking pain, he could not help express dismay at Eve’s claim.
“What do you mean by you know nothing about the videos? The man Steve killed at the nightclub sent you the videos, did he not? The two of you were shot because the military trained squad working for Billy Sekwa were inches close to finding the original copies of the videos. Somehow the videos took wings and flew. The man who was killed at the nightclub hijacked them and sent them straight to you, Eve. I have the DHL document showing you received the videos. The document has your signature on it.” Baribote paused to regain some strength he was bleeding to death slowly.
The room was eerily silent over his claim that Eve had the videos. Not even Eve could move a limb. Stanley and all those in the room turned and looked at her in disbelieve.
Eve was an open hearted lady who could not hide a lie. She was in shock over Baribote’s claim. She could swear on her life that she did not receive the videos or signed any document for receiving them. However, Baribote’s claim were heavy. She just did not know how to defend herself. All she could do was let tears run freely from her eyes. She turned to Stanley, shook her head and said,
“Baby he is lying, I did not receive any videos from anyone.”
Stanley did not doubt her; he knew she was the type to tell the truth even if it would hurt her. He turned to Baribote and yelled with his gun pointed at him,
“Eve does not have the videos! Why are you feeding us lies?!”
“I swear by God; I have the document. It has her signature and name on it,” Baribote insisted.
“How do you know it’s her signature chief? I have to see the document now,” the Helmsman pointed out.
“It is in a safe in my office.”
“Eve, I think someone forged your signature and took the videos. The question now is, who did?” Stanley conjectured.
While they all pondered the twist, the Helmsman’s phone rang. It was Annabel calling,
“Hello Annabel,” said the Helmsman.
“Steve is here. A taxi just drove him into Marcus Villa.”
“Thanks Anna, please make sure he doesn’t escape from here alive if he by any chance escapes us,” the Helmsman said.
His voice made everyone to wonder who he was referring to.
“Who was that?” Eve asked.
“Steve is here and I think Baribote knows why,” the Helmsman replied.
“He is here to give me a document he took from the man he killed at the nightclub. My plan was to nail Emilia with the document. Mayo told me that she is about to sell me out to wriggle out of this mess. They already know you and Stanley are in the street investigating this case.”
The Helmsman was well trained to handle such situations. He quickly had his men leave the room and took vantage positions outside to shoot even a shadow bearing semblance with Steve. He opened his knapsack, removed a small bottle of cocaine and blended it with water. He drew a sizeable amount of the substance with a syringe and injected it into Baribote’s arm. With the crack in his system, he would certainly get enough adrenalin to stand to his feet and walk.
While they dressed Baribote up, his phone rang. It was Steve. With a gun to his head, Stanley asked him to pick the call and tell Steve to come to his hotel room. With the coke surging through his blood, Baribote spoke without a hint of pain in his voice.
“Steve, I am in room 309. I am waiting. I hope you were not followed. I have some security guards outside my room, don’t shoot them please.”
Baribote was not asked to mention the guards outside, but he knew that Steve would be spooked out the moment he saw them. Baribote was that good. It was what he had been doing for some time in politics. The helmsman had to thank him for that even though he was going to kill him after questioning him. Stanley went into the wardrobe and hid, while Eve and the helmsman went into the bathroom. One of the ladies the Helmsman brought along, undressed down to her undies and jumped on the bed to give the impression that she was the one keeping Baribote busy in the hotel room. Stanley had left her an order to plunge a knife into his neck if he so much as wink at Steve to give him a hint of what was going on.
A knock was heard on the door and Baribote bellowed,
“Come in boy!”
“Steve walked into the room and his eyes went straight to the unclad lady on the bed. The lady had heard so much about how randy Steve and his friends were, following her instincts without a thought, she spread her legs wide and seductively began to pull off her underwear with one hand, while the other held a pistol under the pillow. Steve was gone.
“Chief, is she for me?” he asked, fighting hard to resist the lust which swooshed over him.
“Where is the document?” Baribote asked.
With his eyes still fixed on the lady on the bed, Steve rummaged in his bag for the document. Muffled gunshots were heard and Steve hit the floor. Stanley had to disarm him by shooting at his knees. The lady on the bed sprang on Steve making sure he did not reach for his gun. The helmsman and Eve leapt out of the bathroom and pinned him to the floor. Steve could not believe his eyes. While he cried in pain, he looked from Baribote to Eve. Stanley pushed the glass door of the wardrobe and came out. When he saw Stanley, he knew he had walked into an ambush.
***************
3: 19 pm, Lizzy’s Brother’s House, Port Harcourt.
Lizzy was in tears as she explained her ordeal to her brother.
“I have a video of the sort of life he lives. All these years I did not know who he was. Whoever sent you these photos was after him for the things he did to him or her. I was kidnapped for days and was made to pose nvde with men I did not know. Before then, they had sent a nvde picture of me to Steve. I took the picture in South Africa, how they got the picture is still a mystery to me. I shudder when I think about what they might do with my pictures which they have,” Lizzy explained.
“I would like to see the videos you are talking about. On the other hand, I think you are not safe yet. I may have to move you out of the country. If the two of you were chased around by gun men for days, then you have to go under. Sadly, they have already found me and might know you are in Port Harcourt now,” Austin, Lizzy’s brother said.
He stood up and made a few calls. He had contacts in the army. He would use them to protect his sister.
“Even in Ghana, we were followed. Whoever Steve offended must be very powerful,” Lizzy said.
“I don’t care about Steve now. He can rot in hell for all I care. You and the children are my concern.”
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