Temperate Anxiety

~~~~~~~4:20 by young ck~~~~~~

Maurice was not a temperate man, He was always energetic.

But not today.

He was calm,

He was very calm that his heartbeat was steady in a was breathing like others did,he wasn't stressed,he was feeling rather lighthearted as he was only thinking about one thing.

Gasana Benjamin.

His only son,his only family left,  his only hope, his forever companion who now was probably abducted with no trace and hope to help him.

He felt guilty about everything as he remembered the night before Ben left that Ben was trying to bring up a discussion about a trip he was going to take but he didn't hear anything as he was tired from the pile of documents he have worked on and left him in the saloon to rest without even trying to figure out even a single detail of the trip location.

When he received a call at 5am from the abductors this morning his pulse quickened he didn't hear too much because he froze and became dizzy that he threw up what he ate at dinner the night before, all his strength left him.

He called Melissa's mom, Marie Jean to ask her if Melissa knew the last whereabouts of Ben but to only find her in hysterics that her daughters were kidnapped and she cried even more whenever she thought that she couldn't pay for the ransom the abductors would charge them as she was merely a nurse who survived on middle class salary but Maurice calmed her saying that he will handle the case.

But to be exact he didn't know how he would start investigating, he was wondering if it was one of his numerous enemies who pulled on this stunt and it would be understandable because as a General director of Rwanda Investigation Bureau, He was responsible for put uncountable culprits in jail.

Deep down in his psyche, he knew that it wasn't his enemies but some other powerful group but he couldn't quite come up with any other possible reason why would they kidnap them except for him being the director of RIB.

As he was now climbing the stairs to his office, even though it was tiresome to climb the stairs given that his office was on the last floor but today he didn't use the elevator fearing that he would totally lose it in a confined space so he used the stairs to be in public and control his emotion turmoil.

When he reached the end of the stairs on the last floor,he saw his young secretary who was pacing back and forth in front of the meeting hall worry evident in her posture.

When she raised her eyes and saw him she sighed and came toward him.

"Thank God, you are here I thought I was going to be the Minister's brunch, they are really angry when I said angry I mean enraged to tear this building down" Aurore explained to him but he didn't say anything as they entered the meeting hall which was exactly next his office.

When they entered, the guest who were having a heated debate paused to acknowledge his arrival, one woman who had maroon braids and a very bright make up came toward him with her arms crossed around her chest.

"And he finally rolls in" the woman hissed through her teeth as Maurice remembered the woman was Kayitesi Beatrice the second right hand senator.

Maurice proceeded to sit in the front seat facing them all totally ignoring the enraged woman behind him.

"We've called you for like..... a hundred times and you didn't even have the heart to answer, do you think this situation is a joke? You are not serious, are you?" The minister of association and welfare Sibomana Jean de dieu added within a monotone angry voice.

"And don't you dare came up with any excuse why you are late or didn't answer us!" The minister of economy Mugesha Fiston bellowed angrily.

"With due respect...." Maurice replied but was cut short by the minister of economy, Habakuki Jean Marie Vianney.

"Do you realize that neglecting your duties especially in a case involved multiple ministers and senators could lead to your disposal?" He added with a ferocious glint in his eyes.

Now, Maurice was starting to lose his coolness which he have been avoiding all morning.

"We should follow the usual etiquette to present your case..." But he was again cut short by the same woman who was standing above him making it uneasy for him.

"Etiquettes? Who the hell has time for etiquettes? Our children were abducted and for as we know, we haven't even heard a single word again from the abductors and here you expect to calm down and for etiquettes! etiquettes! You are shameless" she yelled pointing her perfectly manicured hands at him and proceeded to pace around shaking her head.

And Maurice lost it.

"One,you didn't call me my secretary did, second, she enjoy calling me for no reason and you know well enough that umwana murizi ntakurwa urutozi (a repetitive action reads to bias)" Aurore rolled her eyes and was about to protest but Maurice continued on effortlessly. "And by etiquettes,I meant to say the usual process of introducing yourselves and present your case next, Mine is Gasana Maurice and I can make your lives a living hell what's your names your honors?" He drew out the last word lazily and he really enjoyed their priceless expression.

Aurore face palmed her self.

"The audacity of this man..." The minister of drugs, Mugesha Fiston said as he banged his fist on the table making a loud sound, his face  looking like the red tie he was wearing .

"Enough" the first senator finally spoke up in a more loud but calm tone than expected. "You want us to follow etiquettes? Fine, I am Ruremesha Claude, I too can make you lose everything you have so now how do we find our kids if you turn out to be this irresponsible,do you even have children?"

"Regardless the situation, Mr Maurice do you really expect us to introduce ourselves in any other circumstances? right now, We could be done with this and you pulling the best team of detectives to go and search for our kids

but here you are reminding us nonsense" Kabera who was deadly calm replied in hushed voice.

"I have a kid" Maurice replied facing Ruremesha in the eye "His is my only son, his name is Gasana Benjamin" he added calmly.

He removed his phone from his blue suit, he tapped something into it and placed it on the table.

Good morning Mr Gasana Maurice, We call you on this early morning to inform you that your son Gasana Benjamin is within our custody at the moment and due to all respect, we request to calm down and stay healthy before we give you the rules and regulations regarding this situation and you will be informed shortly of our condition to return your son into your hands safely as he is now, have a nice day, The recorded low monotone voice said politely.

The Ministers now stared at him blankly after hearing the same recording they have received this morning.

Aurore only stared at him wariness creeping into her as she finally realized why he wasn't energetic as usual.

"Madam senator, could you take your seat?" Maurice requested as he calmly switched off his phone and kept it back in his breast pocket.

Kayitesi looked like was going to add something smugly but when she met Kabera warning eyes, she sat down begrudgingly an action which wasn't left unnoticed by Maurice.

"My only son Benjamin is also in the hands of these anonymous people just because I am feeling helpless myself doesn't indicate that I am being careless about this situation because all I know now, this case is in good hands, a person who share the same feelings with you" Maurice added clearly looking everyone in the eye.

They were all silent for moment every processing what to say next to avoid making the situation unbearable.

"Good now, we can hold a conversation without you acting like rabid dogs" He said as the Ministers snorted.

"How much money do you think they are going to approximately ask for?" Rubagisha Faustin the minister of justice who was silent for the whole moment asked who was clearly counting his check balance in his head.

"I don't think they are looking for money" Maurice replied.

"Why would you assume that Director?" Kabera asked raising his eyebrows.

"Because as it seems if they wanted money they would have kidnapped your children only and I don't even know how they managed to take mine in the process I doubt he was even acquainted with any of your children" Maurice added casting a look at Aurore who was staring attentively to her phone.

"That doesn't make sense, what do you mean by that? Are you saying that you are not financially stable? And I don't see how whether our children and yours knowing each other is associated with their abduction" Rubagisha commented.

"I am not referring to my finances because these people also kidnapped other two girls whose single mother is a mere nurse leaving out the money question " Maurice replied.

"Then what do you think they want? Because we need to be prepared" Habakuki who was now calm.

"I really don't know, I don't even know if they really don't even want money" Maurice continued on "But all I know is that if they want money, We should keep this quiet to avoid enraging them because if we reveal any of this, things are going to turn upheaval in the whole country"

"Good point, Abductors always want

things to lay low so that they can request as anything they want without interference from the government mainly the police" Ruremesha suggested, fixing his glasses.

"But they abducted your son and you are the General director of Rwanda Investigation Bureau do you think they don't expect government interference?"Sibomana pointed out.

"He is my son not RIB's son, if the abductors put on conditions I will act accordingly as an individual and I will not pull down the whole RIB with me"Maurice answered ignoring the protruding gaze from Aurore.

Aurore cleared her throat to get their attention but they carried on their conversation.

"Excuse me your honors, but I think keeping this low key is next to impossibility" She finally said deciding she wouldn't get their attention if she didn't speak up.

They all stared at her that she even forgot why she spoke up.

"What do you mean by that?" Kayitesi asked clearly annoyed by the interruption of the impolite secretary who have bothered her early requesting her to stop smoking in the office.

Aurore picked up the remote on the table and switched on the TV which automatically turn to 243 channel TV1 a private channel.

Sorry to interrupt you in watching the ongoing movie our dear viewer, your continue to watch it afterwards but we thought you would like to hear the emergent news which we received from an anonymous informant right now who apparently claim to have abducted following Four Minister's children:

Keza Rita, the daughter of Habakuki Jean Marie Vianney the current minister of economy, 19 years old.

Mugesha Hughes, the son of Mugesha Fiston the current minister of economy, 20 years old.

Higiro William, the son of Sibomana Jean de Dieu the current minister of association and welfare, 23 years old.

Manzi Miguel, the son of Rubagisha Faustin the current minister of Justice, 24 years old.

And two senator's children:

Rwiza Chloe, the daughter of Ruremesha  Claude the first hand senator, 20 years old.

Ngabo David, the son of Kayitesi Beatrice the current second left hand senator and former deputy, 21 years old.

And other children;

Gasana Benjamin, the son of Gasana Benjamin the current General director of Rwanda Investigation Bureau, 24 years old.

Kabera Linda, the daughter of the retired business tycoon Kabera Augustin, 21 years old.

Kabera Shema, the son of the retired business tycoon Kabera Augustin, a business tycoon himself  who is currently the president of Jabana textile, 24 years old.

Rusaro Melissa and Kirabo Benitha, 21 and 18 years old respectively whose parents aren't known at the moment.

The TV announcer paused and eleven youthful faces were displayed on the screen arranged perfectly.

And it was then replaced with a grim but young man who was sitting on a wooden chair with a solemn expression.

"Good morning Rwanda, I am grateful to be given a chance to talk to the whole nation" He paused "I reckon that the announcer have already said the important things but I repeat again that We have these people whose parents hold great influence in the whole country in our custody,we didn't abduct them as the presenter said but we are only hosting them, they are perfectly safe, well fed, sleep in a nice place and does who even have healthy problems are looked after"

"I suppose that the parents after receiving the shocking news in this early morning they rushed to the Bureau of investigation without thinking twice about the usual conditions of this kind of situation but that's what we have predicted, We want them to stay calm and not rush into irrational and impulsive action because their kids are perfectly fine at the moment but we don't know about the future maybe they will trip on nothing and die according to how their parents act in this situation"The young man said clearly smiling at his indirect threat.

"And to the parents, please rest assured your children told me to greet you on their behalf and for now wait patiently until we decided to tell you what would be the perfect price to convince your rebellious children to comeback to you, Thank you everyone for watching this I bid you good bye and I remind you again no irrational actions,wish you a happy Umuganura day in advance" and he disappeared from the screen.

Aurore changed the TV channel, all the nation TV, TV10, RBA,KC2, Izuba TV, Isibo TV,Isango star,BTN TV, Prime TV every channel, was re-airing the same speech from the anonymous man.

"It's even all over the social medias not including all the newspapers like Igihe"Aurore added as she placed the remote gently back to the table.

They fell silence everyone deep in their thoughts clearly confused by the turn out of the events because it appeared that the abductors were one step ahead of them.

Maurice broke the silence laughing earning him troubled look from the elite group and his secretary who was already worried that he was loosing his mind.

"That young man is.....funny" He threw his head back again and laughed again "Yet at the same time cunning, Did you hear how he prevent to say abduction but referred to it as a situation? If you analysis his whole speech you can't find any word to fire a suit against him as an abductor, such a calculated speech, he even fueled it by saying that our children are rebellious which make the situation children who ran away from their parents and are currently being hosted" Maurice remarked suddenly feeling as if he lost the battle without even beginning.

"He just tied our hands because right now the whole country is watching us monitoring but at the same time they also limited themselves because at the moment we can't comply to their will easily being surveyed leaving me to wonder,why?" Rubagisha added "Why would they expose it to the whole nation when they knew it would have been easier for them and us?"

"Isn't this like declaring a war or something? We are like high figures in the country, this is beyond tolerable, this can put shame to our country" Mugesha said as he stood from his seat panic taking over.

"I guess this is FDLR, they are pulling this scheme to put us to shame as the whole country that even the high figure in our country couldn't even protect their children, this is so messed up" Kayitesi said as she put her face in her hands looking as if she aged in one minute.

"If it was the FDLR, they would clearly say it and boast about it because the situation would be adding marks on their account and they would immediately tell us the ransom the moment they kidnap them" Ruremesha added, Maurice have figured out that of all the people here, Ruremesha and Kabera were the genius one in their little group.

"Then if it's a declaration of war, shouldn't we be consorting the nation army, this is beyond our control" Habakuki suggested.

"This isn't a declaration of war on the country" Kabera firmly replied.

"Exactly, this isn't a declaration of war against the whole nation but a declaration of war against you precisely us" Maurice spoke the obvious but which was oblivious in their eyes.

They all stared at him his words sinking in.

"That's....odd" Sibomana commented in a hushed voice.

"Can you think of your common enemy....I mean our common who would like to declare a war against us and can actually declare a war against us?" Maurice asked.

"Humility" Aurore said and her eyes widened after she realized she said out loud with the holes they were drilling in her head with their eyes.

She coughed

"I mean...third class rebels"

They reverted their gaze from her.

"No idea...?" Maurice asked looking back and forth among the elite. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think it should be a wastage of time sitting here thinking of our potential enemies while we should searching for them using our available knowledge, so I propose that I will send my trusted detectives in your respective households to conduct further investigation which may lead us to clues who they got abducted in the first place"

"And even though, it is going to be tough for our department or the police as abduction crime rate are 0.000005% in Rwanda making it hard to follow up in this unknown procedure but I promise you I will do my best"

They all nodded, he stood up and looked them in them firmly.

"I therefore excuse myself and hope that in the conduct of  this investigation in your house wouldn't be a complication as our early acquaintance or it will be a failure" He said as he looked at Aurore who was begging him with her eyes to not say what he was going to say next.

"Aurore, please escort our guests safely, I have other matters to attend at the moment" he inquired with a sweet smile clearly indicating that even though it was a matter of etiquette that people of higher profile should be escorted by the higher profile of the place they are being hosted themselves, he wasn't going to follow it.

And with that he departed.

"And he speak of etiquettes" Kayitesi bellowed in annoyance as she picked up her snake skin red bag marching her red clothes and also darted out of the meeting hall.

Kabera leaned back in his seat.

He knew that young man very well.

He was sure he died in a car accident or a purposely car accident.

But how was he alive?

And more importantly, why was he doing this?