“This is too much for me!” she mumbled as she clawed at her chest. Anybody seeing her would think she was having a heart attack. Lt. Clottey dashed to her side and helped her to her feet.
“I am sorry, madam but you are safe,” he assured her. Nana Yaw Ampiah and Baba, the two National Security Operatives and members of the Anti-Bomb squad from the Military Intelligence (MI) all stood by, stunned, realizing that had Lt. Clottey not acted in the nick of time, Cpl. Attinka, even with his right hand badly wounded, would have gunned down the Vice-President.
The Vice-President said it was time to get Rex Yamoah arrested before he tries something else again. She took her phone out of her handbag and tried getting through to the President but his phone was off.
“Madam, I think you need to rest. I would get through to my superiors so they get men from my unit to come and guard you until all those behind the plot to assassinate we arrested those who want to assassinate you. Respectfully, I have to leave now. The Russian President will be arriving this afternoon and I am to be one of his two close-contact bodyguards. The other is a Russian, one of his own. So I have to report back to my office for a final briefing,” Lt. Clottey said.
“You are going nowhere, Lieutenant. I need you right by my side. How can you leave me at this time after all that has happened? I am calling Brigadier Addy right now to tell him to replace you with another person. I need you by me right now till we round up all the criminals behind the plot,” the Vice-President said.
Vice-President Gertrude Mensah soon had Brigadier Addy, the Director-General of Military Intelligence on the line. She told him he needed Lt. Clottey by her side at least for the next twenty-four hours so he should replace him with another soldier to be one of the two close contact bodyguards of President Vladimir Putin during his one-day visit to Ghana.
Brigadier Addy was not happy with the last minute replacement ordered by the Vice-President but did not dare voice it out. It would have amounted to insubordination for him to question the person who was his boss, the Deputy Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces.
“Yes, Your Excellency. Consider the replacement done!” he said, respectfully.
“Thank you, Brigadier,” the Vice-President said. Then she ended the dialogue. Turning to Lt. Clottey, she told him he had been replaced. Lt. Clottey saluted. He knew the order would not go down well with Brigadier Addy but he (Addy) had no choice than to comply.
“Madam, about reporting Rex Yamoah to the President, I do not think it is prudent for you to do so now. We do not have single evidence linking him to the assassination attempts on your life. We have evidence that there have been attempts to assassinate you but we do not have evidence that will pin the assassination attempts on him. The only person who can incriminate him is Gloria. I wonder where she is now,” Lt. Clottey said. Just then, the Vice President’s secretary, Lucy Alhassan walked up to her with her phone and informed her Chief of Staff wanted to talk to her. Then she handed over the phone to her.
“Yes, Chief!” the Vice-President said
The Chief of Staff told her the President was convening an emergency meeting in his ward at the 37 Military hospital where he is on admission.
“Kate, the President is on admission? Since when, why, what has happened? What is the purpose of the emergency meeting? I hope the old boy is safe?” the Vice-President asked the 53 year old Chief of Staff, Mrs. Kate Anaman.