There was no response. He knocked again. There still was no response.
“Derek, it’s me, Rex. Open the door,” the security capo said. He had to shout to be heard above the rain.
“Which Rex?” a voice from inside the room asked. It was Derek.
“Derek, it’s me Rex Yamoah, your boss” Rex Yamoah replied. Presently, the door opened and a head popped out. It was Derek. He saw his boss alone standing in front of the door. He peeped into the darkness and the rain to make sure no one was lurking about. Then believing his boss was alone, stepped out on to the small porch. Immediately, the two of them were surrounded by four soldiers with their guns aiming at him. It was too late for Derek to make any attempt at escape.
“Oh boss! Why? Why have you done this to me?” he cried out in pain to Rex Yamoah while raising his hands in surrender.
“I am sorry, Derek but I had no choice. They ordered me here. Perhaps, it is best for us all this way. Kruger is dead. Tiger, Sphinx, Attinka, Gloria and Phan Xuan are all dead”, Rex said, as if to tell his subordinate he would be killed if he tries anything foolish. While he was talking, two of the soldiers frisked Derek and then handcuffed him.
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Adu-Tutu had come to the door and was about to step out too after Derek when the soldiers suddenly emerged from the darkness and surrounded the two security operatives. Quietly, quickly and soundlessly, he backed off into the room, realizing he had nearly walked into a trap.
Thankfully, the light in the room had not been switched on, leaving the room in darkness. He began to sweat in spite of the cold weather. He deduced that the soldiers who had come to arrest Derek did not know he was in the room. If they knew, they would have stormed there immediately and arrested him too. He, however, reasoned there was a big possibility they would come into the room to conduct a search. He decided he had to leave the room immediately.
He looked around. The lone window was the only route of escape. Groping in the darkness, he made his way to the window. Then opening it gently, he heaved himself onto it. It was still raining very hard but that was the least of his concerns. Standing on the frame of the window, he jumped down. Immediately, he regretted his move.
“Hands up or we fire!” a voice suddenly boomed. Then he found himself surrounded by three soldiers. They all had the AK 47 rifles they were wielding pointing at him. He shook his head and sank to his knees in despair.
“It’s the Speaker!” one of the soldiers exclaimed.
“Wow! True! It’s the Speaker, the very person we have all been searching for all night. And see where he has been hiding all this while”, another soldier said.
“I am finished”, Adu-Tutu said quietly to himself as the rain mercilessly lashed at him. The soldiers hurled him up and led him to the front of the house where Brigadier Addy and the others were.
“Well, well, well! Look who we have here?” Brigadier Addy said to Lt. Clottey who was standing by his side together with Lt. Badoo. One of the soldiers who arrested the Speaker told the Brigadier the Speaker was arrested while trying to escape through the window.
“We have hit the bull’s eye. We have killed two birds with one stone!” he celebrated. The rest of the soldiers cheered heartily in the rain. Brigadier Addy then ordered everybody back into the three vehicles. He, Lt. Clottey and Lt. Badoo climbed aboard the lead while Rex Yamoah, Adu-Tutu and Derek Ashong sat on the flow of the second jeep with five of the soldiers keeping guard over them. The third vehicle had the rest of the soldiers in it. Then while the entire Nima neighbourhood was still asleep, oblivious about the operation that had taken place right under their noses, the three military jeeps which came calling in the dead of the night made their way out with two men who were hiding there trying to escape arrest for plotting to assassinate the Vice-President, Gertrude Mensah.