“Please act quickly. I want him under lock and key within the next ten minutes. Treat this with the utmost urgency,” the National Security capo had said. Then he sent the car zooming forward, wanting to get back to the office in a hurry to go over the security arrangement for the visiting Russian prime minister before he arrived.
About fifty metres ahead from him, seated among the leaves of one of the trees that dotted the side of the road was Phan Xuan, the Vietnamese sharpshooter and assassin who Rex Yamoah had hired to assassinate the Vice-President if all other plans fail. He was in all green attire, making it very difficult for anyone to spot him among the green leaves of the tree on top of which he was.
Xuan was a professional Vietnamese army deserter who over the years built a reputation as a deadly assassin. He had never failed to deliver for his clients. In addition, he cared less if his target was an angel as far as the fee was right.
Xuan, spotting the vehicle that was identifiable to him by his employer, lifted his telescopic sniper rifle and aimed at the figure in the driver’s seat. It was the National Security Coordinator all right. He did not blink nor did his hands tremble as he took aim. He was very steady and cool. A few seconds later, he pulled the trigger, letting go off a single bullet. The bullet whizzed through the air, went through the front windscreen of the security capo’s vehicle and drilled through his head. He died instantly, slumping down on the steer, sending the car veering off the road and slamming into the post of a billboard. People started running towards the vehicle. They got to it in no time, pried the door open and then tried pulling Ian Sackey out of the wreck but gave up after they noticed he was dead.
They were all nonprofessional’s; none therefore could accurately guess what had killed the man behind the steer. They did not even know who he was. However, someone had the good sense to advise them to leave the body as it is and call the police. The police soon arrived. Sergeant Joshua Okpoti who led the police team nearly fainted out of shock when he saw the man who the sniper shot in the accident; the dreaded National Security Coordinator himself! He immediately called his superior. Soon the IGP was receiving the news from his Deputy. Sergeant Okpoti, at the accident scene, established minutes later that the security capo did not die because of the accident; he sustained a gunshot wound to the head.
He called his superior again. In a space of five minutes, the IGP received a second call that the security capo is dead and someone has assassinated him. He nearly dropped the cup of coffee in his hand. Quickly, he placed the cup down, told his Deputy he was moving to the scene and instructed him to meet him there.
Meanwhile, immediately after he shot and killed the security capo, Phan Xuan came down the tree and walked away in the opposite direction. Once, as he walked away, he turned back and saw people far behind near the accident scene, rushing across the road to see what had happened. He walked briskly, his rifle back in its case. The case looked like a tennis racket. Finally, he got to the car that had been waiting for him, opened the door and sat down.
“The boss just called me to say it was successful. Congrats” Kruger told the sniper. Phan Xuan did not say anything in reply. He only nodded.
“Now, we need to catch up with Derek. He is following the Vice-President. As soon as we catch up with him, the plan is to follow the Vice President quietly so she would not notice. Once we get to a place where the traffic is not heavy, Derek will cross her and block her path. Then you can take out the Vice-President while I deal with that nosy soldier” Kruger said. The Vietnamese nodded.