Читать книгу The Vice President Directive 17 The Origins - Carolinadeivid . - Страница 7

“I can’t believe you even said that?”

There was silence in the room.

Oliver’s face blushed and creased with anger and rage. He appeared to be choking with rage as his eyes turned red.

“How can you say that? Did you see how they slaughtered innocent women and children.”

There was a brief silence.

“I am just saying don’t be too quick to judge.”

“Don’t make me angry. Don’t just say things for the sake of it. I know what I am talking about. They ripped open pregnant women and children. You heard the General, they have fallen below standards.”

“The General has no tangible evidence to support his remarks. I am just saying it will be hard to prove.”

“Hard to prove or not! This is below standards. I have watched them for the past seventeen years. It can never be lower than this. What are you waiting for? They were swift to attack for lesser crimes than this. I say we should reciprocate. Swift and ruthless and match their actions.”

“Oliver! Listen! We need tangible evidence. We need to convince everyone or else tomorrow it will be our turn.”

Oliver punched the table with the side of his hand very hard that papers flew in the air before landing on the office carpet.

“Don’t talk nonsense. They are just going to destroy all the evidence just like before. I say to hell with the evidence. We have seen a lot for the past seventeen years. Just look! All the data erased, just a few days ago. I say we contact the others and invade.”

Bryson looked scared for a while. He had never seen Oliver that upset before. Surely something big was on the cards. It seemed the table had turned. The world before today had turned a blind-eye, but it seemed time was catching up with them. This was the worst for the past seventeen years. They had become so complacent and arrogant that things had fallen way below what was expected. Oliver had seen the attack. It was like yesterday. It was so vivid in his mind that at times he had panic attacks just thinking about this. Even though he was young when it happened. It was a day he will never forget. Even now, more often he would look inside the palm of his hands and can still see the blood. It was horrific, worse for a kid like him to see people being slaughtered that way. Even now it hasn’t sunk in. How all his small-town people ended up the sheep for the slaughter. He had no idea who the General was. He had no clue how his small-town people ended up dead because of the General’s crimes. He remembered all the people talk badly about this General. Honestly even they, they disliked this General. He was even mean to them. Stealing the little they had before killing the men in their town. It was like a double edged-sword piercing them when they got attacked because of this General. A person they despised. It was horrific. For Oliver it was the worst day in his life. He lost all his family. He remembered seeing people begging for mercy only for bullets to be lodged in their temples.

“I say we invade. An eye for an eye. Remember? We should revenge. This is the only way to heal the pain and anguish suffered those days.”

“Oliver. I am with you. I know you are hurting but I think we need a diplomatic solution.”

A big bang was instantly heard and papers on the table flew in the air in slow motion. Bryson looked at them before they landed on the ground. Oliver’s face bloated with rage. His once blue eyes had instantly turned to blood-red color.

“Diplomatic solution! Why they didn’t do the same! They were swift to invade and slaughter our people. I say we do the same. A cheek for a cheek. You must get out!”

Bryson breathed heavily.

“We don’t want others to be in this situation. When will this stop? We invade with swiftness and tomorrow someone will raise your issues too. People will keep dying.”

“I don’t care. What about the blood that was spilled? Who will quench the wailing souls? The spirits haven’t rested. There is restlessness. Too much evil still going on. We need a conclusion to all this and that can only be achieved if we match evil with evil.”

“I understand. I feel your pain too.”

“No! You don’t!!”

Bryson kept quiet for a while whilst Oliver raged.

“Did you see innocent women and kids die?”

Bryson did not answer. He could only look down.

“I saw women beg for their lives. I saw helpless kids being shot at point-blank. So, don’t tell me you feel my pain. Everyone knows they have fallen below standard.

“I am doing my best.”

“Your best? You think this is a joke. You should have listened to me. Invade! A test of their own medicine. We could be in a better position now. All your fault. Look seventeen years now and they have only become more devious and cleverer and manipulating. Just imagine the pain and suffering for the past seventeen years. Still no change. You should have listened. If you hadn’t stepped in today, things could be for the better. You cost us lives and precious time. There are some things not to negotiate and this is one of them. There is no room for negotiations. So, don’t waste more of our time and lives. You leave now. Escape as planned.”

“But...”

“Listen this is not negotiable. They will never change.”

“Sir. With all due respect the main idea behind me negotiating was for us to gather enough evidence so we bring them to the international court.”

“Seventeen years! What do you have?”

Bryson stood up and walked toward the window.

“You are right there. Nothing, but I think we can still bring them to the court.”

“You know that can be another ten years? Who has that time? You saw it yourself they erased the documents submitted just a few days ago.”

Bryson breathed heavily before sitting down.

“You know I have a point. Time for negotiations is over. Send the word. Leave now. Once you are out, we will invade swiftly and ruthlessly. Like I have been saying evil can only breed evil.”

“But I sent all the documents to the court can we at least wait for the court’s decision.”

“You haven’t heard!”

“Heard what?” asked Bryson.

“Judge Kaden died of blood-sugar this morning?”

Bryson sunk in his chair and looked at Oliver.

“Excuse me I have to make a phone call.” said Bryson getting up.

Miles away a couple were watching the news.

Seth a man in his forties was in the lounge area with his girlfriend Jacqueline.

“Just in. Armed men have entered the bank in broad daylight and ordered everyone down before leaving with hundred thousands of dollars if not millions. Surprising no one called the authorities until after the robbers had long gone. The manager of the bank is under criticism today and many hope and wish that he should lose his job over the incident. The men are believed to have ordered everyone to cooperate at gunpoint. Even if this is the case it took minutes for those involved to have called the authorities. No one was shot. Often most expected someone to have called the authorities soon after. This is one of the strange occurrences that have hit the cities across the country. Susan reporting for Touchladybirdlucky Studios.”

Jacqueline sat up straight and looked at Seth.

“Have I heard correctly? I find that very strange. How can the bank staff get robbed and no one alert the authorities soon after the robbers had left?”

“Odd but there could be a lot of reasons to explain that?”

“Seth! What reasons?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they threatened them?”

“But they said that they alerted the authorities long after the robbers had gone.”

“I don’t know babe.”

A knock at the door of the bank manager’s office startled Mr. Trenton the bank manager.

The door suddenly opened, and Mr. Trenton came face-to-face with Detective Braden. A young detective late twenties with well shaven face with dark long hair.

“Don’t worry it’s just me.”

Mr. Trenton's face changed from a haunted face to a welcoming face.

“Come in Detective. What a relief. I have been through a lot. Just don’t think I can go through that again and survive. They nearly blasted me at point-blank.”

The detective walked in and looked around. He looked at the bank manager and retrieved a small pager like device. He retracted a pen attached on the side and pointed at the screen.

“Don’t get me wrong. I understand what you have been through but....”

He paused and sat down.

“Yes, go on Detective.”

“All the people I asked said there was no struggle at all. Most didn’t panic as they might have had in other robbery situations. To put it in one of the witnesses’ words it was like a collection if you know what I mean rather than a bank robbery. What do you say to that?”

Mr. Trenton’s face creased as his eyes squinted.

“What are you implying Detective?”

“I am just saying there was no struggle at all. Lets’ see...”

“Do you struggle with people holding guns Detective? They were armed. They said cooperate and live, struggle and die.”

The detective coughed slightly clearing his throat.

“Even in the given circumstances it took you more than twenty minutes to call for help.”

“We did what we can do in the given circumstances. Maybe that’s why also that no one was shot or killed for that matter. We were just afraid.”

“It seemed also that no emergence buttons were activated when the robbers were still in the vicinity why is that? Isn’t it your job to alert the authorities as soon as possible?”

“It happened so fast my main concern was with the safety of the people.”

“But still you have a duty to alert the authorities so that we try to trace these robbers as soon as possible.”

“Not trying to be funny Detective I did what I can in the given circumstance.”

“Have they threatened your family, threatened to come back for you, threatened you personally?”

Mr. Trenton looked surprised for a while.

“No Detective. They just walked in with guns and demanded that we cooperate.”

“But still you should have followed protocol. Increase the chances of these robbers getting caught by alerting us quickly.”

“That I will leave to you Detective. They did not destroy any CCTV cameras, and they were recording the time they robbed us. That’s why I did not panic I know it was only a matter of time before you get them.”

The detective looked surprised and confused.

“Are you sure the cameras were working? What kind of robbers are they? Stealing all that money? Leaving clues behind?”

“There you go that can explain also my reactions. I thought they were bluffing.”

The detective retrieved his cellphone and dialed a number.

“Okay, Mr. Trenton. I think I must watch the CCTV footage first. I will be in touch.”

The detective walked to the door and was about to go outside the bank managers’ office.

“One last thing. Are you sure they did not threaten you personally? Not related? Do you know any of them?”

“What are you implying Detective? Like I said they did not threaten me directly.”

Detective Kristy a tall slim attractive and fit woman with long but nicely tied blonde hair entered the office. She sat down before her cellphone started ringing.

“Yes Braden. What’s up. What did you get?”

“You won’t believe it. Either they are amateurs or very cocky. They left the CCTV untouched.”

“Yeah. I still recall all witnesses saying they were wearing masks! So, no big deal. Give me something I can use Braden.”

“This is something. Surely, we must watch the footage. We might get clues. A tattoo or something. I don’t know. Get the evidence processed quickly. I have a gut feeling that there must be something we can use.”

“Come on Braden. What did the others get? Didn’t they have the CCTV footage? I need something I can use. An electronic-Fit or a witness statement or something.”

“I am on my way there.”

Soon after the line went dead.

Detective Kristy was startled by her pager.

“Sugar!! Son of a beast,” she cursed.

She looked at the pager and soon left the office. She walked in the long corridor ignoring Detective Paxton’s taunting. A brief knock at the door and the door was swayed wide open. Inside were two other detectives.

A man smartly dressed opened the parked car door and got out as soon as another car approached from the other side. He pulled down the suite jacket and straightened his bow tie. He moisturized the tips of his fingers and slightly stroked his hair. He had a sleek clean shave. He felt a million-dollars as evidenced by the way he walked. The look on his face said it all. This was no other day. It was a very important day in his life. At sixteen he had dropped out of college. This was his first job interview. He was excited, very excited at the prospects of becoming a working-class citizen. He worried if he had made the right decision; dropping out of college. The car stopped and Cynthia, a very attractive lady got out of the car dressed-to-kill in a short dress. The couple were in each other’s hands in no time.

“Thanks for coming. This means a lot to me. I am ready.”

Cynthia smiled and landed a kiss on his lips before they walked toward the office blocks. Bradley opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a luxurious hotel room. He could hear the shower water. Ever since getting his new job life had never been the same again. His job could mean him in a different city every weekend the main thing he loved the most. He knew this was very healthy for their relationship with Cynthia. Dynamic and different. The company paid for everything. He knew he had made the right decision dropping out of college. The past three years had been the best he had had. Suddenly the shower water stopped running, and he heard Cynthia’s shouting something from the bathroom.

“What did you say darling?” asked Bradley.

Cynthia entered the hotel bedroom with a towel round her body.

“I said I want to go shopping.”

“You know I have to do my job first.”

“I know. I can go on my own. I need to stretch my legs anywhere.”

“That’s alright darling.”

Cynthia left the hotel room and headed to the city center for shopping leaving Bradley doing his work.

Bradley got out his laptop and started typing. He connected an external hard drive and kept typing. He paused and looked around thinking. He noticed Cynthia’s bra under the bed. He smiled and pondered his life with Cynthia. He remembered the day of the job interview. She had stood by him. Life had been a blessing since then. She had trusted him from the very first day they met. She was completely different from Sienna. Sienna was the most beautiful girl he had laid eyes on. She was very beautiful and a perfectionist. She was like an angel with everything small, a small nose that made her accent sound sweet and sexy with small perfect lips as compared to Cynthia’s. She wanted everything to be perfect. All she talked about was getting married first before even contemplating sleeping together. To Bradley she was the ultimate dream girl for him but to be honesty getting married was a very remote idea for him. He had dropped college at sixteen with no prospect of finding a job or any concrete plans of how he was going to support himself let alone miss-angel-Sienna. Even the talk of marriage at that age made him resent the idea. Later he found his love for Sienna changing with every date they had. He had a lot to deal with and Sienna kept pushing and comparing their relationship to others. The day he met Cynthia was after one of their burst-ups. He had walked away. He knew, or should I say he hadn’t anticipated to be as successful as he ended up being. Sienna was a high maintenance lady with a huge taste of the best life had to offer. Too much pressure. Complains after complaints had driven him mad. He knew he had to let her go and let her have a man who she deserved. Someone rich enough. Someone who understood her. He knew he had to let her go. It wasn’t easy though. He truly loved her. In fact, he loved her very much to let her go. He knew it that he was never going to make her happy. They loved each other no doubt. It’s just the pressure that was too much for him. The expectations were very high. He remembered crying himself to sleep the day he walked away from her. But somehow, he found solace in her complaints that he never really felt how much he loved her until years later. I guess her complaints had suppressed his feelings for her that it was easy to walk away but he truly loved her. He remembered the look in her eyes that one afternoon. She was the woman of his dreams. The love of his life yet he managed to walk away from her leaving her standing there in tears. It was such a traumatic day for both. They had just quarreled. He had no job. He had just dropped out of college. She had thrown the million-dollar question. How was he going to provide for them let’s say if he got her pregnant? He knew she had a point. It was a question he had no answers to. It was a question he had been asking himself. He looked at her. He saw the passion in her eyes. He could read that face like a book. He knew he had to leave her. He had nothing to offer. In life sometimes, there are situations when just love is not enough. She was like an angel. She deserved the best life had to offer. She had cried numerous times in his arms. All the tears and complaints were starting to show. He knew he would dislike himself if that angelic face was to change for the worse because of him. He knew to love her was to let her go. To love her was to exchange happiness for her for his selfish dreams. Another day another cry was to leave scares on that gorgeous face of hers something he never wanted to associate himself with. Bradley although he struggled during his early years he understood and valued beauty, probably the main reason Sienna loved him in the first place. He knew God created some on days when he had a lot of energy and very enthusiastic that he ended up showing off and that was one of the days he created Sienna. Everything about her was in perfect detail. He remembered the first time he laid eyes on her. He could see God himself. The way she was brought up had a lot to do with her attitude as well and probably the main reason behind her complaints. To Bradley the things she considered as basic, a huge house, a car, a good education and all the best life has to offer were dear things you must sweat for. Now that he had everything even though that seemed distant those days. He sometimes wondered what if he had stayed with her through thin and thick? He knew she was right but at the same time he never really regretted it. He had put her happiness first something he would not trade for even today. It was the ringing of the phone that startled him and woken him up from this dream.

“Hello! Who is this?”

The person on the other side of the phone spoke in what seemed to be a foreign language. Soon after a beep sound alerted him that it was an international call and that the conversation will be translated after and that to keep holding the line. The message went on for some time before the English translation.

“Hello Mr. Bradley. This is a security message to alert you that your account has been accessed and funds have been transferred from your account.”

“Hello, are you sure the message is for me?”

Bradley placed the receiver down briefly.

“Automated message.”

He quickly took out his cellphone and dialed the number showing on the hotel's phone receiver.

The number was an international number.

“Hello. I just received a call from this number. What is this place?”

The person replied in a foreign Baltic language.

“Hello.”

The person on the other end asked for Bradley to hold the line and there was silence for a while. Later another person this time a woman spoke on the line in English.

“This is the headquarters of the bank. Can I have your account and reference number?”

Bradley looked surprised and confused.

“Has the headquarters moved? Last time I checked the headquarters was in the States.”

“If you give me the account number, I will be able to help you.”

Bradley looked surprised and quickly retrieved a card from his wallet and gave the account number and reference number. The woman typed and punched figures quickly.

“Yes Mr. Bradley. We send a security alert every time you transfer money from your account especially if you transfer the maximum limit.”

Bradley laughed and pulled his laptop close to himself.

“Maximum? Did she buy a plane or what?”

The woman interrupted instantly.

“I don’t know you tell me it’s your account.”

“Sorry I was just thinking out loud. Could this be a mistake or a false alarm? I don’t think she will need that kind of money. Still, I don’t see how that’s possible even though we share the account, the alerts go to her cellphone.”

The woman paused a while and punched the keyboard.

“The message is correct. $100 000 has been transferred out today.”

Bradley stopped looking at the laptop screen and shouted.

“$100 000?”