CHAPTER 20

On one of the other journeys on the sea, he had learnt through gossip of the sea workers that the man Odio asked about was one of the FOX Agents whom the Agency was also searching for. He then thought it had all ended then after FOX had declared an end to their search. It shocked him when his friend explained to him that Odio had commenced a new search and had begun to ask specifically for those who crossed the sea overnight.

He took no step to answer, got a call that day, and was called again by another assistant that night. He was told to report as soon as he could the next day, but he refused to show up and turned off his phone throughout the day instead. He got another call as he dressed up for work the third day and it was from Odio himself, threatening him to find his way to the Bexford Sea area that day unfailingly but Mark gave excuses of having work to do and that he would rey to show up as soon as possible which he never planned to do. Odio gave him till the end of the day to show up, and he did not. Instead, he turned off his line.

It was the night of the fourth day after he got the first call, and there was a message saying Odio was outside his house. He found it hard to believe. He had turned off his line and even refused to go to work that day, hoping Odio would not try to reach him through someone else at work; he didn't imagine that Odio could get to his home so easily. It was a new apartment in a different city from where he lived before and none of his friends at work knew the place or had visited him there.

He was still contemplating on what to do when another message popped in.

"I'm waiting for you , blockhead! Or would you like me to interrogate you in front of your wife and kids?"

Mark got up immediately and carried the baby in his hands to his wife. He really would not love the option of his wife seeing him with Odio.

"I need to use the restroom, honey," he said as he dropped the boy in the hands of his mother. The mother, in turn, laid the boy on the space beside her on the sofa as she wondered what the reason for his suspicious movement was. Her eyes followed her husband as he walked away.

Mark got out through the backyard and turned to the front. It was easy to locate the minivan parked in front of the wooden fenced compound. Mark glanced again at the house as he walked carefully to the van.

Odio was sitting in the front of the vehicle, and his eyes met with Mark as the latter advanced towards them. He felt some anger and disgust on seeing Mark. He couldn't believe that he had called for him, and he had refused to obey.

Mark walked as fast as he could with his short legs. He knew Odio was angry and did not want to provoke him further.

Mark was a petite man of dark complexion. He was in his thirties, but his face made him look way older, like a man in his late forties or early fifties. From his look, one could never guess he was involved in illegal businesses, but as they say, looks are truly deceitful.

"Get into the car," Odio said before Mark got to the car. One of the two men sitting at the backseat stepped out and opened the door for him to enter. He entered back after Mark got in.

"We'd drive a short distance away from here, to somewhere we can talk without you being afraid of your wife's interruption," Odio added in a calm tone, which surprised Mark. Mark expected to get it hot from Odio after refusing to honour his summon to Bexford.

After a ten minute drive, they came to a halt on a deserted dark road. All the men stepped out except for Odio, Mark also had to step out with them.

He turned to the front to speak with Odio, who still sat in the car, facing outside with the door opened.

"Thank you for already confirming that you saw the body of that man, now I …"

"No, I…" Mark interrupted in order to deny, but Odio gave him a threatening look, which cut him short.

"I'm mad at you already. Don't provoke me further by lying to me. And don't interrupt me when I talk, never again." Odio warned with a stern look on his face.

Mark swallowed hard. He had heard of Odio's anger and brutality. He was not willing to have a taste of it.

"You confirmed your guilt by refusing to respond when you should have," Odio continued. "So, I am fully convinced that you know the whereabouts of the dead body, and I want you to tell me now all you know about it."

"…I'm not really sure of which one you are talking about," Mark began in a shaky voice. "They said the dead body was thrown into the sea on Monday night, I wasn't on the Bexford sea on Monday night."

"It wasn't on Monday night, you dummy. The bodies were thrown at midnight. That's early on Tuesday, and even if it were Monday night, you could still have found the body on Tuesday morning."

"It wouldn't have been possible. The body would still be underwater."

"Blockhead, stop lecturing me and go straight to the answer I need." Odio slammed.

"…I was with my crew on the sea that morning, we were approaching the bridge around 3:30am when we saw something drop from afar." Mark stuttered. He looked at Odio's face, and the look thereon was one urging him to continue.

"We noticed that there were some men on the bridge, but they departed before we got under the bridge. We stopped, and three of my men went into the water to help the man that was dropped. We pulled him out and put him on our ship. He looked dead to us, but we had medical personnel who said he could still be alive. So we took him on the journey and got to the Deols Port before 5:30, it was then the stupid personnel confirmed that he could not survive for long and would probably die in the next five minutes. Truly, he stopped breathing in five minutes.

We were in trouble, the port was already opening, and people were around, we couldn't drop the body anywhere around and dig a hole and put him there. We put the body in a body bag and placed him in my car, we drove out, looking for somewhere to put him, and one of my men suggested we go to Nura River. That was where we dropped the dead body.``

"Nura river? Where's that?"

"In Nura Village, it's about a three hour drive from there."

"Three hours? Why did you have to take it so far?"

"There was no way we would have dropped a dead body anywhere in El Deols or close by without the police tracing it to us. We had to take it somewhere far and remote."

"Was he dead before you took him there?" Odio asked.

"Yes, he stopped breathing." Mark answered.

Odio sighed. He cursed Agent Robin in his mind. He was among the men that night, and he remembered how the man was beaten severely and struck several times on his head and chest before he was finally shot thrice and let to fall into the sea. He wondered how the man could still be alive after being found minutes later in the sea. To him, it was naturally impossible, but this was Agent Robin of the FOX who was rumoured to have escaped death with his partner several times. Most people believed that their hard training had made them immune to the natural processes that hurt normal beings.

It was a relief, however, to hear from Mark that the man breathed his last before being put away. He, however, remembered that he needed to go back to the Red Wolves with proof that the Agent was dead. He was about to ask another question when Mark's phone rang.

"My wife," Mark said as he looked at the screen.

"Answer it," Odio permitted.

"No, please," Mark shook his head.

"She'd be worried," Odio replied.

"It's better than knowing I'm out this late in the night, I'll talk to her when I get back home." Mark said as he kept the phone into his pocket.

Odio smiled at Mark's response. If only Mark knew he might never return home, he thought to himself.

"You are not going home tonight. It's better you answer and tell her something."

Mark's eyes widened in shock. "What? But I already told you everything I know."

"Yes, you can't return until you take us to the exact place you kept the body." Odio replied with an oppressive smile.

"That place is far, and we can no longer find the body there. The body would have been eaten up by vultures." Mark retorted, stammering.

"You have to show proof somehow that the man died, and he was eaten up by vultures," Odio replied, unmoved.

Mark heaved a sigh of frustration. How did he ever think he would leave easily? He had heard so much about Odio, and he should know that getting out of Odio's troubles is never easy.