It was still very dark with the time now approaching 3:00am. Despite the murder of Amelley and Ayittey, which had just taken place, the village was still quiet; no one heard the gunshots because Kruger screwed a silencer to his pistol. However, it was just a matter of time before the village woke up to discover the horrendous act.
Sphinx walked quietly by Kruger. His throat was dry. He yearned for a drink; a shot of whisky. He had been shocked at the careless abandon with which Kruger had murdered Charway at the beach and now Amelley and Ayittey. Yes, he was part of the plot to assassinate the Vice-President but the whole operation was becoming too bloody for him. So far, they had not yet made their move but had murdered three innocent people.
He did not like the fact that the whole operation was going bloody. He wondered how many more people would die before they finished off the Vice-President. He had no doubt that whoever Nii Kotey was; he was as good as dead if they caught up with him.
“The whole operation is getting bloody,” he told Kruger. They crossed the road and were back on the beach, walking very briskly to where Tiger awaits their return. For a while, Kruger did not say anything. Finally, he spoke.
“We have no choice. We either kill anybody who knows about our plot or get ready to be arrested, put before court, sentenced to death and shot by a firing squad,” he said. His voice was sinisterly calm.
What Kruger said served as a deep situation for Sphinx the next few seconds. He reasoned that Kruger was right. Anybody privy to the assassination plot will inform the authorities and they will be busted. Death would be the price they would pay eventually for plotting to assassinate the Vice-President and the murders they had already carried out.
However, still, the whole operation was getting too bloody for his liking. He sighed, hoping that after Nii Kotey is located and killed, there will be no more murders until the Vice-President is dead.
Sphinx had big dreams. One included marrying his sweetheart, Agatha. However, she was a sophisticated woman so he needed enough money to keep her happy. With the total of $2 million that will be his share for work done if the Vice-President is successfully assassinated, together with two oil blocks and a mineral concession in the Eastern Region when their man takes over finally as National Security Coordinator, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be able to take care of Agatha.
He had been day- dreaming of holidaying with her in Bermuda as well as visiting the fashion shops of Paris and the Games & Wildlife parks in the Eastern and Southern part of Africa with her. He had plans to settle down with her in London later. These and many more were his dreams; only assassinating the Vice-President stood in his way.
They got to where Tiger was; he was sitting on the hood of his car. A few feet away from him lay the lifeless body of the last member of Nii Kotey’s group, Eddie.
“Good. Get into your cars and let us go now. We need to get to the James Town Police Station within the next five minutes to finish off the Nii Kotey guy. Let’s hurry!” Kruger instructed.
The three men got into their respective cars and drove off, heading back to the main road, leaving two bodies, that of Charway and Eddie , behind on the beach.
They reached the main road in no time and turned left, sped towards the James Town police station. It was a twenty minutes’ drive away but with virtually no vehicles on the way, they could make it in twelve minutes or less.
Kruger’s car was in the lead. He pressed very hard on the accelerator pedal, sending his car surging forward. The other two followed closely. With the neck-breaking speed at which the three cars were travelling, one would be pardoning them for mistaking them to be Formula 1 drivers at the Paris Grand Prix.
They made it to James Town in seven minutes and slowed down when they got closer to the police station, approaching it without raising eyebrows. All was quiet in the neighbourhood. They drove closer to the police station and parked their cars behind a big water tanker, which was about forty metres away from the police station. They then got out and congregated under an old shed to map out a strategy to storm the police station.
“We do not know this Nii Kotey guy. How would we recognize him at the police station?” Tiger asked.
“I saw his picture in his room at Sakumono. He is dark, wears a beard and has a tribal mark on his left cheek. You can’t miss him,” Kruger said. The other two nodded. Then they decided that Sphinx would walk into the police station and pretend to be there to lodge a complaint. This way, he would look out for Nii Kotey and establish how many police officers were at the police station. This will determine what the gang will do next.
Kruger nodded with satisfaction at their plans. He was itching to finish off Nii Kotey and then report back to the Chairman. Only then, will the death sentence the Chairman had subtly passed on him be released if Nii Kotey is not found.