"Where did you say John and the two men were found?", Desmond asked.

"In a junkyard, the three of them beaten to death", Matt replied to his boss as he rode the BMW along the dirt road in a secluded woodland that's outskirts of the city. "Bronco thinks it's the job that we gave his brother, that got him killed", Matt continued with his eyes fixed on the road. "I guess it's probably the reason why he wants to see us. And this doesn't sound good at all", he went on with some concern in his tone.

Desmond wasn't concerned at all. "I ain't worried about that", he muttered as he stared at the green scenery that flashed by. The car was making its way toward the farmhouse that they saw at a distance.

Then Desmond picked up the file lying beside him. He opened it and went through the document in it for a short while. And he studied the picture that was also in the file. The picture is of a good-looking girl who seems to be in her early twenties.

"So how far have you gone with your subject?", he then asked Matt.

"Still in the process", Matt replied as he worked the steering wheel of the vehicle.

"It's almost three months now", Desmond muttered. "I thought that by now you had already made a very significant progress with her. Perhaps already gotten the passcode from her", he sighed.

"I know sir", Matt said quietly. "But Mr. Adams did a good job in making sure that she is the only one that can get her hands on the cash. And from what I have seen so far, it's like she is not even aware of the money in her name".

"What about her relationship with Adams?", Desmond demanded. "How was it? Did she mention any damn thing that might serve as a clue to where to start searching?", he asked impatiently.

"She mentioned nothing except knowing Mr. Adam as the man whose philanthropic foundation took care of her after her mother died", Matt replied. "She only got closer to him a few weeks before he died".

"So are you telling me that I should be expecting to be disappointed", Desmond asked with furrowed brows at Matt.

"I need more time, boss". Matt replied. "If I don't get it the easy way, then I will go for the very easy way", he continued with a lot of determination in his voice.

"Well you damn better hurry up cos we don't have much time".

"I will do that, boss".

Desmond sighed and stared out of the car window with a frown on his face.

"Boss, do you intend to call that woman?", Matt then asked.

"Of course, I will do that for sure", Desmond replied as he stared out of the car window. "But first, I gotta settle this problem with Bronco.

"Is it really necessary to do that?", Matt asked. "You know, with the so-called organization that she is running with, and her being tied to one of the guys that were named in the case that has to do with your boy", he noted. "I just hope that it doesn't put our entire operations at risk".

"That's why I wanna meet her", Desmond replied. "I intend to find out what's her relationship with that young man".

"But who is she?", Matt asked curiously.

Desmond smiled. "She is just an old friend", he replied. "And I also have some catching up to do with her too", he continued with the smile still on his face.

Matt nodded and concentrated on the dirt road as they got closer to the farmhouse.

"So did you get anything on that woman that's hanging out with Ricardo?", Desmond then asked.

"Yeah boss", Matt replied. "And you won't believe this shit that I am about to tell you", he snorted.

"Go ahead", Desmond said.

"Does the name Rangel, ring any bell?", Matt asked Desmond.

"Yeah. I heard that he is a stick-up guy who robs drug dealers", Desmond replied with his eyes focused on Matt, and with less concern. He was very aware of whom Matt was talking about.

"Yeah, and mostly the guys that do business with Bronco", Matt added. "He also robbed one of Bronco's stash houses, and had one of his top lieutenants killed in the process. Bronco had been trying to get him. Even put a price on his head".

"Okay", Desmond murmured, still unconcerned.

"I have been keeping tabs on this Rangel for some time. To which I was able to discover that there is this girl that he secretly meets at times", Matt continued. "A girl that works in a bar".

"So?".

"Well, Ricardo's woman is also seeing this girl that I'm talking about".

Desmond then regarded Matt with some interest written on his face, while Matt threw steady glances at him through the rearview mirror.

"That sounds quite interesting", Desmond said slowly.

"Yeah", Matt agreed with a smirk on his face. "Our guy who saw them together late last night said that they seem to be quite the good friends from the way they related", he went on.

Desmond then thoughtfully stared out of the car window for a brief while. Anyway, that's none of our business", he then sighed. "That's Bronco's affairs. So let him handle it. I just want to make sure that his brother's death, doesn't in any way f@ck sh!t up for us", he muttered.


******************************************

.More....

We need more o

The gunman ushered both Desmond and Matt into the living room of the farmhouse. It was spacious, decorated with antique furniture and vintage-inspired lighting. Bronco was sitting on one of the soft cushion-covered sofas with a bottle of liquor on a side table in front of him, and surrounded by four men that were brandishing assault weapons.

The atmosphere in the living room got tense the moment Bronco and his men set their eyes on Desmond. Matt who was following after his boss maintained a calm composure. And with a lot of effort, he kept his nervousness well hidden from the men in the room. His eyes were making a quick study of the living room and the men. To see if they would have a fighting chance in case Bronco decides to have them killed on the spot.

"These meetings are becoming too frequent for my liking", Desmond then began intently at Bronco.

Bronco regarded Desmond with an expressionless glare for a long moment. Then he got to his feet and walked towards Desmond. Matt saw him approach and moved his hand closer to the weapon he had underneath his open jacket. Bronco's men saw Matt's movement and tightened their grip on their weapons with keen eyes on Matt. Desmond maintained his calm composure as Bronco stood before him.

"I have one question", Bronco then began at Desmond, his tone of voice, low and very serious. And in his red eyes, a burning flame of great anger. "Who the f@ck is that chick?", he asked sinisterly.

"She is someone that I really want to get my hands on", Desmond replied calmly, and casually staring back at Bronco.

"And....you didn't know that the bitch is also running around with killers?", Bronco narrowed his disturbing-looking eyes at Desmond.

"That makes it two questions....", Desmond muttered quietly.

"Stop f@cking around with me!!", Bronco thundered angrily. "Tell me what's up with that b!tch...and don't you dare play games with me", he warned.

Demond sighed and looked away. "So what the f@ck is this shit-show about, huh?" he then began and turned his gaze back at Bronco. "Am I to take the blame for your brother's death? I paid him the full price for a job, and you somehow expect me to do half of that job for him?", he asked.

"You f@cking told him that none of these individuals would be a problem!".

"Of course, and it's the truth cos he had delivered three of them without any problem at all. Maybe he got too comfortable with the job and made a mistake that came with a great cost".

Bronco flashed incredulous glances at his men, and then rested his eyes on Desmond.

"There is a goddamn long list of serious guys that John had successfully dealt with it, and these are thorough men", he stated. "And you want me to believe that a harmless little chick somehow managed to kill him and two of his best men?", he asked, narrowing his eyes again at Desmond.

"You don't ignore the safety procedures in a damn factory just because you are well acquainted with the machinery", Desmond replied irritatedly to Bronco. "Do that, and you gonna regret it one day. That's what happened to your brother", he continued with his forefinger, pointing at Bronco's well-built chest. "He got too complacent with his job. That's what killed and left him publicly displayed", he went on.

"It was a clean job, and very unlikely for a normal girl to inflict the kind of damage that was done to them", one of Bronco's men stated. "More like a professional hit", he went on.

"You hear that?", Bronco flashed a glare at Desmond. "It sounds like the b!tch is rolling with a Murder factory".

"Desmond scoffed. "I said that your brother got too complacent with his job, I didn't say the girl killed him", he noted.

"Meaning what?", Bronco frowned.

"Well.....", Desmond shrugged. "Maybe he was too focused on the girl, and failed to make other observations. Maybe the girl was chilling with a guy who's even more bloodthirsty".

Bronco then stepped closer to Desmond. "If you know something about my brother's killing, then you better spill it out immediately", he demanded "And put a goddamn end to your senseless yappings before it ends your heartbeat", he warned seriously.

"Look man, the last time I heard from him was about half an hour before we had our meeting yesterday night", Desmond said. "When was the last time you communicated with him?", he asked. "Any info on the possible location where he and those guys were killed?".

Bronco turned away, sighed, and paced towards the sofa that he had earlier sat on.

"Nothing at all, except where their dead bodies were found", Bronco muttered quietly and stood over the side table with the bottle of liquor and his glass on it. "Sh!t was just too silent....like a planned hit. John wouldn't go out like that without a fight", then he glared at Desmond. "Unless it was a set-up".

"Did he happen to mention where he was before he got killed?", Desmond asked again.

Bronco picked up his glass of drink, thoughtfully paused for a short moment, and said, "AMBER-CAT". Then he took a sip from his glass. "That's the name of the bar that he said he was at when he called me last night", he continued.

Matt then tapped Desmond on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Desmond listened and then smiled. After Matt was done whispering to him, he glanced at Matt with a smile still on his face.

"I have something that I wanna tell you", Desmond then began at Bronco. "But first, I want all your men to leave us".

Bronco regarded Desmond suspiciously. "Why?", he demanded.

"As I said, I have something, but I'm a guy with trust issues, can't tell who might be listening", Desmond replied.

Bronco then snapped his fingers at his men and jerked his head at the door.

"You man should leave too", he said to Desmond.

Desmond nodded and Matt joined Bronco's men as they filed out of the living room. Desmond and Bronco watched until the last man left, closing the door after him. Then Bronco looked at Desmond.

"Now, start talking".

the story is so interesting that i feel like getting glue to my phone and finish it once. op thanks and keep it rolling in pls

Seated fully for this story

Bro. You write nicely and your use of words is okay but you are making the same mistakes I made when I first started out writing. You are writing both in the present and in the past. These are two different styles. It's either you choose one and leave the other.
Take for example the first sentence of your Chapter One.

It is supposed to be:
It was already past 11 o'clock in the morning.of the first Thursday of the month. And not It is already past 11 o'clock ..

Again, look at this below: @ the bolded. It is supposed to be seemed

But despite the positivity in the air and driving through Chamberlain main street at the hour when the traffic was bearable, Nina seems to be having a bad day. The frown that darkened her face with the hard stare in her eyes that glared right back at her when she glanced at the car rearview mirror, said it all.


Reading your story, I can see you are more comfortable with past tense so, I would advise you stick to it all through. Let every of your narration expression be in the past even if it doesn't sound nice in the ear ( that was the way I felt when I was corrected )
You only have excess freedom during dialogue. Your characters can talk anyhow.

I recommend you join some Facebook book writers groups. It was there I was sharpened although mostly with jokes by the whites who see your English not sound enough. But they will correct and guide you. You don't paste the whole of your book on the pages but excerpts. The areas you doubt if you made sense or wrote good grammar.

In a nutshell, stick to one style while writing. Past or present.

Sorry, I am not an expert myself. I just felt like sharing what I've learned.

Stay blessed and keep writing.

ironkurtain:


CHAPTER ONE.


It's already past 11 o clock in the morning of the first thursday of the month of march. The day had started with a bright sunshine and clear skies in city of Easthill. The weather was forecast to be in good condition throughout the day as the cold hamattan that had swept through the country for months, was now in its final stage.

The day looked promising, and the vibe in the city was positive and full of energy with the school vacation in full swing. The school-age population were in their merry mood and the working-age population, for the time being, were equally satisfied because the vacation meant a crowd less of commuters to contend with for the public transportations during the city's wild rush-hour. And it was a day left for everyone and in their various ways, to go unwind from the week's ever-growing epidemic of big city hustle-n-bustle and get recharged for the next.

But despite the positivity in the air and driving through Chamberlain main street at the hour when the traffic was bearable, Nina seems to be having a bad day. The frown that darkened her face with the hard stare in her eyes that glared right back at her when she glanced at the car rearview mirror, said it all.

She turned on the car right blinker light after checking the distance between her and the car following behind, and slowly decelerated the vehicle. The cream coloured 2012 Porsche Cayenne pulled away from the main street with her hands diligently working the Oak-wood steering wheel, and diverted into the spacious compound of a large modern ten-floor administrative building. She brought the SUV to a stop in an empty spot in the parking lot and killed the engine.

Releasing the hold on the steering wheel, Nina then made a casual scan around the place and sighed at the slight cramps in her wrists as she rotated them. She had been driving with a constrained grip on the steering wheel due to some thoughts that she had been having throughout the journey. Thoughts that were giving her alot of concern.

"We are here", Nina began coldly to the young man seated beside her. The leather covered cushion of the car seat gave a faint squeak as she reclined with eyes staring at the tall building infront of her.

The tall crescent-like shaped architectural structure looked impressive with the way its glass exterior gleamed to the bright mid-day sunlight. But its beauty was a far cry from the purpose that the place served. The building housed the offices of the state's procecutors, a place where the fates of individuals on the wrong side of the law are being decided and the decisions being put in motion.

It wasn't Nina's first time being there. But it was her first time coming to the place with alot of concern. And she was having alot of reservations for the safety of the secrets that she had been keeping from alot people, her father most especially. And she feared the meeting that she was about to have in one of the offices might air out those secrets, and possibly bringing her other scandalous activity to light.

"We are here", Nina said again, moving a hand to her seatbelt buckle. "Remember everything that i've told you, stick to it, and only answer the questions that you have the answers to", she continued. "The rest, i will handle myself".

The young man didn't respond. This made her to take her eyes off from the building and fix a gaze at him.

The young man looked to be in his early twenties, immaculately dressed in a black suit with a matching necktie to fit. He was also quite built for his age both in height and weight. He's quite the handsome young man and one of Nina's twin sons.

He was busy browsing the internet with his cellphone and nodding to music that was playing in the ear plug connected to it. Too immensed in what he was doing with the device to even hear his mother.

Alex!", Nina called his name, and still didn't get a response from the young man. "Aww for heaven sake", she muttered and then irritatedly got hold of the earphone wire, snatching it.

Alex's head made a sharp jerk, as if warding off an irritating Fly that had buzzed into his ear, as his mother forcefully yanked the earphone out of his ear-hole. The sudden movement made his cellphone to almost fall out of his hand, and left him making a clumsy struggle to get a hold of the device that he had recently bought.

"Sh!t!", Alex cursed, made a quick check on his new model Iphone and then flashed an irritated stare at Nina. "Really?!.. Do you have to do that?", he protested.

"Do you want to see what i had really intended to do?", Nina narrowed her eyes at Alex, and containing her anger with alot of effort. "What did i tell you about staying focused and being alert?", she asked him.

Alex made a cursory glance around the parking lot and gave Nina a sheepish look when he noticed for the first time where they were at.

"Who said that i wasn't focused?", he then murmured, lazily folding the wire of his earphone. "I have been doing so...and i'm also alert", he continued, but sounding not really sure of what he was saying.

"I see", Nina scoffed. "Okay, now tell me the address of this place that we are right now....and the floor that we will be going to", she demanded intently.

"Address?", Alex furrowed his brows at the demand that sounds ridiculous to him.

"You heard me right. Gone on, tell me", Nina insisted.

"Why?....are we lost or something?", Alex asked, trying to deflect from providing the answer.

GoodIsGod:
Bro. You write nicely and your use of words is okay but you are making the same mistakes I made when I first started out writing. You are writing both in the present and in the past. These are two different styles. It's either you choose one and leave the other.
Take for example the first sentence of your Chapter One.

It is supposed to be:
It was already past 11 o'clock in the morning.of the first Thursday of the month.

Again, look at this below: @ the bolded. It is supposed to be seemed

But despite the positivity in the air and driving through Chamberlain main street at the hour when the traffic was bearable, Nina seems to be having a bad day. The frown that darkened her face with the hard stare in her eyes that glared right back at her when she glanced at the car rearview mirror, said it all.


Reading your story, I can see you are more comfortable with past tense so, I would advise you stick to it all through. Let every of your narration expression be in the past even if it doesn't sound nice in the ear ( that was the way I felt when I was corrected )
You only have excess freedom during dialogue. Your characters can talk anyhow.

I recommend you join some Facebook book writers groups. It was there I was sharpened although mostly with jokes by the whites who see your English not sound enough. But they will correct and guide you. You don't paste the whole of your book on the pages but excerpts. The areas you doubt if you made sense or wrote good grammar.

In a nutshell, stick to one style while writing. Past or present.

Sorry, I am not an expert myself. I just felt like sharing what I've learned.

Stay blessed and keep writing.

Thanks man. Most of the paragraphs were hurriedly written and stored. In some cases, I just copy and paste it on Nairaland. I don't usually have time to go through them cos i am either working when doing so, or into another activity at home. Please do help me with other corrections bro, and thanks for the advice.

ironkurtain:



Thanks man. Most of the paragraphs were hurriedly written and stored. In some cases, I just copy and paste it on Nairaland. I don't usually have time to go through them cos i am either working when doing so, or into another activity at home. Please do help me with other corrections bro, and thanks for the advice.

Remain blessed bro. You've got good writing skills. Kudos

Editing alone is a job almost tougher than writing. I have edited my book about four times. The last one I just concluded and I still found some errors both grammatical and typos.

Together weld grow bro.
Shalom

GoodIsGod:


Remain blessed bro. You've got good writing skills. Kudos

Editing alone is a job almost tougher than writing. I have edited my book about four times. The last one I just concluded and I still found some errors both grammatical and typos.

Together weld grow bro.
Shalom

Yeah bro, editing is one piece of work. No matter how hard you make the checks, there is always one typo, or one grammatical error there.

Hello,
Iron, We are anxiously waiting, today being FRIDAY.

samebony1:
Hello, Iron, We are anxiously waiting, today being FRIDAY.

I'm loosing interest already

My sincere apologies o. I was down with fever for two days. Season change sickness, we are now heading into winter. Please do bear with me.

No issues, Iron. Wishing you speedy recovery. Stay Positive

[quote author=Richyblack1 post=117565613] I'm loosing interest already[/quote
Then please Waka comot.
Only those who cherish and support creativity are welcomed here

ironkurtain:
My sincere apologies o. I was down with fever for two days. Season change sickness, we are now heading into winter. Please do bear with me.

Quick recovery BOSSMAN

ironkurtain:
My sincere apologies o. I was down with fever for two days. Season change sickness, we are now heading into winter. Please do bear with me.

No qualms boss. Stay strong

Hmmm!!! The boss himself.
Much love from this side.

Ironkurtain, I hope you are feeling much better.....

Our prayers are with you Iron, get well soon

Hi Iron,
Hope you are up and doing again.
Missing your writing baaaaaad

samebony1:
Hi Iron,
Hope you are up and doing again.
Missing your writing baaaaaad

Recovering well my brother. And thanks for all your prayers too. Last week, and this week too, had been very hectic for me. My illness and family issues back home in Nigeria, had really put me in a tight corner. But i will try as much as I can to put up an upload today. I am forever grateful for your patience. I hope you all had a fruitful week and having a blissful weekend.

2.35pm.


Alex swung the grey-coloured BMW into the half-empty parking lot of Charlie's Burger restaurant. He killed the car engine, stole a glance at his digital wristwatch, surveyed the few cars around him, and caught sight of the vehicle that he had been looking for. A sky blue older model Hyundai Sonata sedan. He proceeded to alight from his car, feeling the handgun tucked in his waistband, and started heading towards the restaurant entrance door.

The glass doors automatically slid open and Alex walked into the fast-food place. He made a few glances around and at the customers for a brief moment, and started moving towards a table on seeing the lone individual that occupied it.

"What's up buttermilk?", Alex began at the individual; a young man who was the same age as him, and made himself comfortable on the opposite chair.

The young man by the name of Greg was sitting in a hunched position and staring at the extra large-sized hamburger with a heap of French fries on the food tray in front of him. He was chubby in stature, quite taller with meaty arms that were folded on the table.

He heard Alex's voice and slowly raised his unfriendly-looking eye to him. He regard Alex with the look, fixed a long gaze at Alex, and said nothing. Buttermilk was a nickname that he loathed being called. But seeing whose mouth it came from, he knew very well that he was in no position to kick-up dust about it; it would have been different, six years ago.

"What do you want", Greg asked in a low growling tone of voice, his face expressing his displeasure for being called that nickname.

Alex gave Greg a smile of satisfaction and stared at the food tray. "Are you trying so hard to quicken your death?", he asked and picked a fry from Greg's food. "Didn't you learn in school what this greasy food can do to your body?", he went on and chewed the fries noisily, and reached for another one.

Greg looked at the adventurous hand that reached for one of his french fries for the second time. His eyes which were then clouded with a frown, followed the hand as it transported another fries into Alex's mouth.

"What the f@ck do you want from me?", he asked again. "And stop eating my damn food", he warned.

Alex swallowed the second morsel in his mouth and gave Greg a cheeky grin, seemingly enjoying himself.

"And what are you gonna do if I eat your food? You fat pig", Alex then asked Greg, and reached for the third helping of the fries, this time fixing a hard gaze at the big guy. "Wasn't it your favourite hobby in school?".

Greg remained still, returning the gaze to Alex. But the frown on his face had slightly faded, and his eyes were now expressing some concern for his safety, though trying to hide it.

Alex also sensed the dilemma. But he had no mercy in his heart for the big guy sitting in front of him. Greg used to be his nemesis back in high school. The guy had bullied him to the extent of making his high school life quite unbearable. A problem that was eventually resolved, thanks to both his twin brother and biological mother. And to Alex, it was sorted out real good: Eric, who had at one-time impersonated him in high school, almost pounded Greg into dust when he came with his usual shenanigans and being unaware that he was dealing with Metro-city Steel-hammer whose favourite hobby was bully-beatdown. And the special force style of training that Nina had made him go through, though he always hated it, made him finally put an end to it when Greg and one of his bully-boy friends confronted him to take revenge. That day, Alex left Greg with a deadly warning after severely putting his friend down with the filthiest beating that was fit enough to alter any bad mindset. He told Greg to stay away from him or he will do worse to him: Alex's exact words to Greg were, he will beat him down, jam a pen into his ear and kick it into his brain, and stick around to watch how he dies.

Greg did indeed take heed of that warning, and he henceforth avoided the person that he had mercilessly bullied, like a deadly plague. And it was the reason for the helpless look on his face with his forehead breaking out beads of sweat as he stared at the guy that he was several sizes bigger than, taking his food right under his nose.

"Hey man, I don't want any problem", Greg muttered quietly.

"I know", Alex said quietly as he munched, and picked another french fry. "I only want to ask you something. And it is very important to me", he continued and ate the fry. "So, you better mind how you answer the questions".

Then another young man carrying a tray of snacks came over to the table and stood beside Alex. Alex raised his eyes and looked at the man that was as burly as Greg, though a bit shorter.

The man curiously regarded Alex that was sitting on the chair that was his. He gave Greg a short look and then turned his attention back to Alex.

"Who are you?", he began curtly at Alex, after seeing from Greg's expression, that the person sitting on his chair was an uninvited guest.

"Could you sit somewhere else", Alex said to him and beckoned at another table. "We are having an important discussion here", he went on, turning his eyes back at Greg, and knowing very well that he was Greg's friend.

"What important discussion?", Greg's friend asked, narrowing his eyes at Alex.

"None of your damn business, pal", Alex replied immediately and glared at him. "Now move the block industry somewhere else, I need fresh air", he gestured at Greg's friend to move away from his side.

"Look at this motherfucker", Greg's friend scoffed at Alex and gave Greg an incredulous stare. "Do you know who the f@ck you are talking to?", he asked, returning a glare at Alex.

"I have zero f@cks to give about that", Alex replied coolly.

"Well you better watch your damn mouth or I f@ck you right here!", Greg's friend threatened, drawing curious stares from the few customers in the restaurant.

"And I respectfully decline the offer, cos guys like you do make a lot of noise when they get bent over".

"What?".

Hey!, Julius!". Greg began at his friend as he made a move to set his food tray on the table to start something unpleasant with Alex. Then Greg motioned at him to keep his cool and pointed at the empty table next to his.

Alex had already moved his hand close to his concealed handgun. And he was waiting for him to make his move so as to see if the big fellow was bigger than the trigger of the Glock 43 pistol.

"Better get going....Julius", Alex snorted at the name as Greg's friend went over to the empty table with a low grumble.

"Yo man what's your problem now?", Greg demanded immediately. "I have been staying away from you just as you had told me to do".

"I came to ask about your girl, Sharon", Alex replied.

Greg regarded Alex suspiciously. "Why?", he demanded with furrowed brows.

"I just want to ask her a few questions", Alex said and picked another fry.

"What question?".

That's between me and her. So when can I meet her? It is very urgent".

Greg lowered his gaze to his food and said nothing.

"What's the matter?", Alex asked after a brief silence, and seeing the moody look that clouded Greg's face.

"Well, we are no longer seeing each other", Greg muttered his reply. And seemingly the reason why he had left his favourite food, still untouched.

"You have broken up with her", Alex snorted and reclined in his seat, now feeling that he could fulfill his intention of getting Greg's girlfriend in bed without having any guilt about it. "Anyway", he sighed, glancing around the restaurant and stealing a glance at Julius who was now eating slowly and staring at them, him in particular. "I don't care, just tell me where I can find her", he insisted.

"I can't do that", Greg sighed, still staring at his food. "She changed her phone number, and also told me to never try to contact her", he went on.

"When did that happen?".

"Yesterday".

"It's like she too had gotten tired of you sh!ts", Alex chuckled. But Greg continued in his moody state and he knew that the break-up must have hit the guy quite hard. Then he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "Did you in any way happen to notice anything that's going on around her?", he asked quietly.

Greg raised his eye to Alex. "What do you mean?", he replied with a question.

"I mean something odd, something that speaks of trouble", Alex inquired.

"No". Greg shook his head. "Except for her sudden interest in bad guys", he added.

"You weren't bad enough for her?".

"I am talking about really bad guys, the gang members type".

Alex sighed and remained silent with a thoughtful distant gaze in his eyes. He was doing a lot of thinking: the incident that had happened last night at Lisa's house, what Eric had told him about the men whose bodies he was made to get rid of, the pictures that he had seen with one of them having the face of Greg's now ex-girlfriend, and the news about the murders that he had seen on t.v. with one of the victims' face also being in those pictures.

From the answer that he had gotten from Greg, it was very clear he doesn't know anything, nor was aware of what might be going on. And he didn't want to go into details as to why he wanted to see Greg's girlfriend. He can't risk putting Greg on the edge that might make the guy to do something stupid that could draw the perpetrator's attention to him, or even that of his mother's to the situation at hand. He might have to look for another way to contact Greg's girl, which seems to have gotten more difficult because Greg had informed him of her change of cellphone number.

"Give me your phone", Alex then demanded.

"Why?", Greg asked confusedly.

"Just give me the damn thing, now", Alex insisted and beckoned at Greg to hand over his cell phone.

Greg moved uncomfortably and reached into his pocket. He took out his device and gave Alex a brief curious look before handing the phone to him after unlocking it.

Alex quickly ran his fingers through the buttons to put his cellphone number in it. "I want you to call me as soon as possible if you happen to contact her, or tell her to call my number", he said to Greg and handed the cell phone back to him. And he then got to his feet.

"What is this all about?", Greg curiously asked as Alex turned to leave the table.

"As I said, it is about something very important to me", Alex replied indifferently. "Make sure to call me if you see her, or give her my number", he continued and straightened his shirt. "You wouldn't wanna know what I will do to you if you fail to do so", he warned.

Greg stared at Alex briefly. Then he sighed and returned his gaze to his food as Alex left him, heading towards the door. Then Greg's friend got to his feet and joined him at the table. He dropped his food tray on the table and dropped his weight on the chair that Alex had vacated.

"You should have allowed me to hang one on that fool", Greg's friend began irritatedly. "What's the matter with you bro? You even sat there and let him eat your food", he continued. "You should have punched him in his damn mouth".

"I probably saved your ass from a lot of trouble", Greg muttered to his friend.

"What? from that asshole?", Greg's friend snorted and glanced at the door that Alex had exited. "That guy ain't sh!t. It will end very quickly for him", he continued with a lot of determination.

"Have you ever been hit by a hammer at full force?" Greg asked his friend without looking at him. "That's what you will get if you dare go at him, and it gonna be mostly in your f@cking face", he continued quietly and reached for his hamburger after deciding to eat his food. "Just stay the f@ck away from that guy whenever you see him", he warned and quietly took a bite from the burger.


*****************************************


"Did you meet Greg?", Eric asked as Alex crossed the floor of the safe house living room.

Alex dropped the car key on the center table and tiredly dropped his weight on the sofa with a sigh, sitting beside Eric. Then he took out his cell phone and glanced around the living-room room.

"Where is Lisa?", he asked on sensing her absence.

"She left to go meet a friend of hers", Eric replied. "She will be spending the night there, girls' night out she said", he continued.

"You allowed her to leave to go spend a girls' night out with all these sh!t that's going on?", Alex asked, giving his brother a flabbergasted gaze.

"She disguised herself very well, dressed like a Nun", Eric smirked. "And I rented a car for her to drive around too", he continued.

"And how did she even get the Nun clothing?", Alex asked, looking even more confused. "What kind of scam have you two started?".

"Dude, let's not worry about that", Eric said impatiently. "Just tell me how it went with Greg", he insisted. "Did you meet him?", he asked.

"Yeah, I met Greg", Alex answered the question and then started going through his phone.

"And?". Eric's hand made an impatient gesture after waiting for a short while for him to continue. "

"And the guy seems to be eating himself beyond the limits of what an elevator can carry after his girlfriend dumped him", Alex replied nonchalantly with his eyes still on the screen of his cell phone.

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning that he doesn't know sh!t about f@ck".

"Could you ever for once, speak the language that a human being would understand?"

Alex lowered his cell phone with a sigh and looked at his brother. "I am telling you that Greg knows nothing at all", he muttered. "And I didn't want to tell him too. The guy might go around and start doing stupid sh!ts that might make those goons to find out who took care of their partners", he continued. "I just told him to contact me if he happens to meet the girl".

Eric sighed on seeing that his brother had embarked on a fruitless journey. "Did mother call you?", he then asked.

"She did, on my way back to the house", Alex replied. "She wanted to know how we are coping, and also to know if we have noticed anything that required her attention, to which I responded well".

"She did the same to me too", Eric muttered.

"How about you? What did you find out from the bar owner?", Alex asked.

Eric sighed again. "Some major league deep sh!t", he replied. And it drew Alex's gaze to him. "I just found out that I had killed the brother of the leader of the most dangerous drug gang in this city", he continued.

"That's indeed a major deep sh!t", Alex noted thoughtfully to his brother. "We might have started some kind of a gang war", he continued with a lot of concern in his tone.

"Probably", Eric agreed. "The bar owner even wanted to know if I was on some kind of a take-over mission", he went on. "But I'm still yet to know what Lisa and those girls got to do with those individuals. Everything still looks odd to me".

"Well I do know that illegal organ trafficking and girls being kidnapped for forced prostitution are hot businesses in this country", Alex said. "But sh!ts like that are being handled by the foot soldiers in most criminal enterprise, not the top-notch guys".

"Yep", Eric agreed as he stared ahead with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "And neither are those girls, including Lisa, from a very wealthy family or important people. The top guys would only tag along to make sure that whatever they intend to do, goes well".

"Are you still sure that we shouldn't let mother know about this?", Alex asked.

Eric shook his head. "As I said before, I don't want her getting to know about it", he replied.

"Hey bro, I do know your reasons for not wanting her to know, but if those individuals, dangerous drug gang as you said, happens to find out about us, they gonna be coming with men packing all sorts of heavy artillery", Alex warned and sounding even more concerned.

"You said that you wanted to roll around the sh!t. Are you gonna complain about how it smells?", Eric asked and looked at Alex.

Alex sighed uncomfortably. "So what's gonna be your next move?", he asked.

"I will go meet the waitress that called the bar owner", Eric replied. "She seems to know something though".

"When?".

"Tonight".

Alex then thought for a long moment. "Do you still have the dead guys' cellphones", he asked Eric.

"Yeah, why?", Eric asked.

"I will take it to Chris", Alex replied. "He is very good with digging into these technology gadgets. He might find something", he continued.

"I see", Eric nodded. "You do that immediately", he said to his brother.

"I will be going to his place tonight too. I can't be alone in this damn house". Alex reached for the t.v remote lying beside him.

"Good". Eric then got to his feet to go get the needed rest for what he was about to do tonight.

Corrections made.

CHAPTER SIX.



Eric made a left turn just as the taxi that he had been tailing, did so. He carefully followed the vehicle that had picked up the waitress from the Amber-Cat bar, and being cautious as to not to attract its passenger.

He had earlier gone to that bar at the around 12 midnight; the hour at which the place was packed full with all the waitress being dreadfully busy. He also wore a hooded jacket with it's hood pulled over his face to his hide identity from the waitress that he had been watching. He had spent over an hour, hiding among the crowd at a corner and watching the woman and her every move as she served the customers with her usual briskness. And he was taken aback when the woman then suddenly approached Reggie; the bar owner, whispered a few words to him, got a nod from him, then went into the staff room, and reappeared with her clothings changed. She was leaving work quite early.

Eric had to leave the bar immediately on seeing the new development. And he got into his car in time to watch her hail the taxi that was now transporting to her destination. And the destination was in a neighbourhood that he rather wouldn't want to be prowling around at that time of the night.

The place was located in one of the worst and crime ridden part of town, and probably the worst place in the entire country. Its entire neighbourhood was in a state of total neglect. Most of the structures were ancient looking: it was as if time had stopped in the place while every other parts of the country had moved on. The poorly constructed and dilapidated buildings showed the nation's past history of poverty and economic strives, and a bare reminder of the poor plannings of the country's old corrupt government regimes and political powers before the long consistent governance that was now in place. And the ever continuous redevelopments that came with the country's booming economy, seemed to have strangely eluded the town.

The blasted scenery around Eric was the least of his worries. It was the kind of characters that made the derelict town their place of abode, that had him cautiously driving through the neighborhood as he followed the taxi. Some of them were shady, and the place was well known to harbour all of them; from the petty thieves, burglars, street urchins, prostitutes, and illegal immigrants, to the brazen armed robbers, psychopaths, and murderers. He had once seen on tv, the news of a serial killer being arrested in that town.

Driving through such neighborhood in a fancy vehicle at that hour, was an overly major risk for anyone to take. And it made him to keep a semi-auto handgun that was set in its action mode, within an arm's reach. He also has a loaded Ak-47 under the front passenger seat with a round in its chamber, ready to go. Just being there as a new face was even a bad risk in itself, and he wasn't taking any chances at all.

Eric maintained the distance between him and the taxi as he followed the vehicle, taking the turns that it took without arousing suspicions. When the cab grinded to a halt, he gently floored the brake of the Mercedes benz and immediately turned off its headlights as parked the car several meters away from where the taxi was standing. He watched as the bar waitress alighted from the car and paid the taxi fare. The taxi speedily zoomed off immediately, as if the driver was in a hurry to get out of the place.

Then Eric watched as the waitress casually crossed the street, though with a somewhat brisk steps. She was heading towards one of the wooden fenced bungalow-style houses that lined the street. He closely watched as she paused infront of the door to take out the keys in her handbag, keeping a tight grip on his handgun with steady glances around the empty street to be sure that he doesn't get caught off guard by any adventurous individual.

After the waitress had gotten inside her house, Eric then quietly unbuckled his seatbelt. He got hold of his handgun, made one more cautious glance around him, tucked his handgun in his waistband and slowly alighted from the Mercedes benz after concealing the weapon with his sweater. He shut the car door and crossed the road, heading towards the waitress' house, and stealing steady glances over his shoulder as he did so. He could see the living-room light that had been switched on, through the single front window of the house.

Eric got close to the front door of the house and then paused. He made a quick survey of the surrounding and proceeded towards the front door. He paused again to take one more look over his shoulder and turned his gaze at the door. As he raised his hand to knock on it, a strong hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. Then he felt the muzzle of a handgun being pushed against the back of his head.

"Don't move, you asshole". A deep voice of a man said quietly to him with an unfriendly tone.


******************************************

"So what's the deal, huh? You f@cking sneaky bastard", the voice continued as the hand moved from Eric's shoulder and started giving him a quick pat down.

Eric remained still as the hand took his weapon. He could hear the man's eager and somewhat uneasy breaths as the man further searched his body. He could tell that the man was quite troubled, probably due to his unannounced presence at the house.

With the gun muzzle still pressed against his head, the hand holding his gun stretched forward and tapped the door a few times.

A movement in the house was heard. "Who is it?", the waitress's voice then demanded.

"It's me", the man replied.

"Rangel?". The waitress's voice called out, and a brief quick shuffling of feet followed. The door was unlocked and opened immediately, and the waitress froze on seeing Eric standing before her.

"Move your ass". Rangel forcefully pushed Eric inside the house. The woman got even more unsettled when she saw the gun pointed at Eric. She then quickly slammed the door shut when the man and Eric were inside the house. She locked it and stood beside the man with an inquisitive stare fixed on Eric.

Eric took a few glances around the small, shabby looking living room that was decorated with a few worn-out furniture and turned his attention to the man: Rangel, that held him at gunpoint. He wasn't as rough as Eric had envisioned him to be from his voice, though the black loose jean and black tank top that he was wearing with brown timberland boots, gave him the striking image of a street thug.

Rangel was in his late twenties, a few inches taller than Eric, and muscular built with a good-sized biceps. He also has strong facial features with brown skin.

"Now", Rangel began, tightening his grip on his weapon that was pointed at Eric with a finger on the trigger, and the other hand holding Eric's handgun. "Why are you here?", he curtly demanded.

Eric glanced at the muzzle of the weapon pointing in his direction. "I came here to ask her a few questions", he replied, jerking his head at the waitress, and staring a Rangel.

"And you came to do it with a gun, huh?", Rangel narrowed his eyes and waved the pistol that he had taken from Eric.

"You know very well that this is not a nice neighbourhood to be walking around at this hour", Eric responded.

"Well you better start telling me what brought your f@cking ass to her house", Rangel insisted with anger. "Is it a hit? Who is paying you to carry out the job?!", he demanded aggressively.

Eric smirked at the hysterical questions. "I'm not here to cause harm", he replied calmly. "I just came here to get some information, that's all".

"And what kind of a f@cking information brings you to her place at this hour?" Rangel barked, regarding Eric with a fiery glare as his muscular chest rose and fell to his eager breaths of anxiety.

"Ask your girlfriend", Eric replied, still maintaining his calm composure. "She knows what I'm talking about".

"Honey", Jessica, the bar waitress began at Rangel, her boyfriend. "He is the guy that I told you about", she said.

Rangel glanced at her and stared at Eric intently. "I still don't give a sh!t about who you are or whatever situation that you are having", he then muttered quietly. "But I do know that you have been sneaking around her like a motherfucker to know where she lives".

"My guess is, I won't be asking her any questions", Eric noted.

"Not only that, I might as well have to kill you for having the nerve to follow her", Rangel corrected.

"Look, let's not get all worked up here".

"Shut your f@cking mouth!".

"Honey, I think you should calm down", Jessica put in and gently got hold of Rangel's muscular upper arm.

"Why?". Rangel looked at Jessica. "We don't know who the f@ck he is, or what he is really up to".

"Maybe he indeed came here to ask some questions, just like he did at the bar", Jessica suggested. "And I think he could also be of help....to us".

"Well I don't trust guys like him", Rangel disagreed.

Rangel diverting his eyes to Jessica was the needed opportunity for Eric to make his move and disarm the man. But his line of sight had already been shifted from the pistol pointing in his direction to the window behind the Rangel.

"You better take cover", Eric said, eyebrows furrowed with his gaze fixed at the window.

"What the f@ck did you just say?", Rangel muttered and looked at him.

"I said get down, now!", Eric said out loud as the numerous shadows that he had seen lurking outside, got closer to the house.

Jessica immediately turned to look at the window behind her. And then she suddenly shrilled Rangel's name with terror in her voice.

Rangel swiftly looked behind him and saw a group of masked men speedily approaching the house. His eyes turned wide with fear on seeing all of them brandishing assault rifles with murderous intents written on their faces. He immediately dropped Eric's handgun to get a firm grip on his weapon with both hands. Two of the men aimed their weapons at the window with the rest of the armed assailants surrounding the front side of the house. Eric was now making his move. He got hold of Jessica and pulled her down with him to the floor as flurries of loud automatic gunfires disrupted the early morning serene atmosphere in the neighbourhood. He succeedly prevented her from getting hit by the hails of bullets that started flying into the living room.

Rangel only managed to let off a single shot before his pistol jammed. A bullet knocked his weapon off his grip before Eric's swift action toward his position, left him sprawling on the floor, and saved him from being gunned down instantly. Eric then frantically crawled to his handgun that was lying a few feet away from him as the gunmen unleashed hails of bullets into the living room. He quickly got hold of the weapon and rolled to his back on the floor to get down with the deadly action.

'Click-click!'.

Eric's gun-slide chambered a round and pushed back the hammer as he swiftly cocked the weapon. And the front door got violently kicked open with two gunmen barging into the house as Eric swung his pistol gripping hand to take an aim.

'Bvoom!! Bvoom!! Bvoom!!'

Lightning flashes preceded from the muzzle of the .45 ACP Nighthawk semi-auto handgun with thunder that shook the living room. Three Black Talon hollow-point bullets took flight. Two slugs ripped into the chest of the first gunman that came through the door with the third tearing an ugly hole through his dome before his body doubled over, crashed to the floor, and his assault rifle dropped inside the living room.

The second assailant immediately doubled back to take cover after his partner was gunned down. Eric's trigger finger repeated the firearm's action twice, and the bullets penetrated the second intruder's abdomen. The man's body collapsed outside the house.

More bursts of gunfire from outside the house rang out with an endless barrage of bullets whizzing into the living room. The ricocheting slugs damaged the furniture, left holes in the walls, and the gunmen's intentions to kill everything inside the place were made known. But they seemed reluctant to make another attempt to gain entrance into the house after seeing their cohorts that had tried to do so, being mown down by the occupants' surprising replies.

Rangel then got hold of his pistol that had fallen.
"Damn!", he cursed on seeing that it had been rendered useless. Then he glanced at the two dead bodies and looked at Eric with increasing anxiety.

Eric motioned at the assault rifle that had fallen inside the living room and fired a few rounds to keep the gunmen at bay. Rangel quickly crawled to the weapon. He got hold of it and crawled back to Eric's position more quickly as more gunfire echoed outside with the bullets doing more damage inside.

"Friends of yours?", Eric asked as Rangel checked on his uncontrollably shivering girlfriend to see if she had been hit.

"Do you have friends that want to A.K you down?!", Rangel blurted his reply to the ridiculous question.

"Well, this is not my house, and she is not my girlfriend", Eric muttered under his breath as he shielded his eyes from flying splinters and glasses. "And I don't think those seven guys are here to ask her questions too".

"Seven?",

"Down to five now. I counted seven of them before hell broke loose. But they could be more".

"F@ck!". Rangel muttered breathlessly and checked on Jessica again.

Eric saw a shadow moving behind the window. He blasted two shots and a brief sharp groan of pain was heard, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor.

"Four men now", he gasped. "Any other way to gain access into this house?", he asked, keeping an eye out for the next armed intruder as he tried to stay focused on the nerve-racking onslaught that was going on around them and thinking of a quick escape plan.

It was clear that they weren't faced with a random armed robbery. The armed assailants outside the house are clearly on a grim mission that they intend to accomplish at all costs. And the men do have more than enough bullets to outlast them in the raging shootout. Three of them are down now, but Eric wasn't sure of the number of the rest, even though he had initially counted seven. Making a break through the front door was out of the question. The men might have placed themselves in positions that would make them nothing less than moving objects for target practice if they try to shoot their way out of the house through the front door.

"Is there any other way to get the hell out of this house?", Eric desperately asked Rangel.

"There is a door to the back of the house in the kitchen", Rangel gasped with one hand clutching his new weapon and the other shielding Jessica. She was fearfully grasping at one end of his shirt and shuddering at the loud gunfire roaring outside her house.

"Cover me and try not to get yourself killed", Eric muttered. Rangel nodded vigorously like an overly troubled worker taking orders from an intimidating supervisor.

Then, in a prone position to duck from the flying bullets, Eric quickly made his way to the kitchen.

Rangel covered Jessica with his body to protect her as both of them stayed still in their position. The assault rifle he was wielding was pointed at the door with a hard gaze in his eyes, very ready to blast at anything that comes through it.

Eric quickly made his way into the kitchen and wildly glanced around the place which was quite small and very disorganized. He moved to the backdoor, paused for a short while, and quietly unlocked it. Then he swung the door open and dashed into the backyard, ducking down with his gun pointed and ready to shoot at any assailant that might have ventured their way into the place. Seeing nothing that speaks of danger, he quickly surveyed the dilapidating wooden fence before him and immediately peered through one of several slits in the woods. He saw a shallow open sewer drainage channel that ran between the fence and the fence of another house on the other side. Then he rushed back into the kitchen, glanced at the gas cylinder, and quickly put the idea that crossed his mind, to work.

The gunfires raged on. Rangel sent his replies at the open front door and the living room window. And hitting nothing. The expended bullet casings that littered the floor grimly reminded him that he was running out of bullets. As he aimed the assault weapon to fire off more shots.

"Let's go!".

Rangel looked in the direction of the kitchen and saw Eric frantically beckoning at him. He immediately got off Jessica and both of them speedily made for the kitchen. Eric led them to the backdoor and then raised his hand to stop them in their tracks.

"Give me the rifle", Eric demanded at Rangel and tucked his handgun in his waistbelt.

Rangel took a glance around the backyard of the house to see what Eric intends to do with the weapon. And then he saw a gas cylinder propped against the fence with a spoon stuck in its valve, and hissing out its gaseous content. He handed the weapon to Eric and immediately pulled Jessica into the kitchen, knowing what was about to happen next.

Eric aimed the gas cylinder valve with the assault rifle and stroked the trigger.

The cylinder erupted into a thunderous boom with a ball of flame. The blast tore a big hole in the wooden structure, bombarding the fence of the house on the other side with wooden splinters, and reducing the loud barks of the dogs in there to frightened whimpers.

Eric quickly grabbed Rangel, took out from the man's pocket, the key of the Mercedes that Rangel had taken from him, and bawled at him to follow. Eric quickly made for the opening in the wooden makeshift fence. Rangel and Jessica did so too, and also followed suit when he jumped into the wet drainage tunnel that bore a horrifying stench that made Jessica hesitate a bit as Rangel helped her to join them. Stampedes and gunfire from the gunmen could be heard now in the living room.

The three of them then raced through the filthy drainage tunnel; their feet splashing the dirty water.

Chaiii Am Suspecting that Bar owner,
Thanks for the Updates Iroukurtain , Trust you are feeling great now, send my love to the Family

This is really awesome welcome back Ironkurtain the update is lit , hope you're good and okay now? Been weeks since I last came online just having issues with my phone

Beautiful update

yungbanks:
This is really awesome welcome back Ironkurtain the update is lit , hope you're good and okay now? Been weeks since I last came online just having issues with my phone

I am doing okay now, thanks. I hope you have fixed the issues with your phone.

do4luv14:
Chaiii Am Suspecting that Bar owner,

Thanks for the Updates Iroukurtain , Trust you are feeling great now,
send my love to the Family

Thanks bro.

Thanks for the update......I really enjoy it