CH54: WARNING

This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.

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CH54: WARNING

Korede had not gone to meet the Duke. He felt everything could be done over the phone. His coming to this Gym was also not necessary. However, something compelled him to come.

Perhaps, he felt Peter would take his warning more seriously if he came in person or he just wanted to make sure he got the message on time or something else.

Whatever the reason, he arrived at the Gym to meet the man.

Of course, he wasn't warning Peter out of the goodness of his heart. He had very ulterior motives.

He entered the Gym and looked around a bit before he found his target.

As he made his way over, a Gym staff approached him.

"Are you new here? I've never seen you before. Do you want to join our membership?" The staff asked.

"No. I'm just here to meet someone." Korede responded with a smile. "However, maybe next time I come, it would be to join your membership. I quite like how equipped your Gym is and the atmosphere is to my liking."

"It's good you like it. Our Gym is one of the best in Onitsha. From your body, I can see you are no novice. Only a top class Gym like ours can best cater to your needs. Feel free to look around. Let me know if something catches your eye or you change your mind and decide to join our membership." The Staff said.

"Will do." Korede replied.

Korede walked away from the Gym personnel and approached Peter Duke who was currently on a bench, lifting weights.

"Not a bad technique and form." Korede commented to the man.

"Thanks. Who are you? I don't think I have seen you here before." The man replied while still lying down. He was preparing to lift the weights again when Korede said

"This is my first time here. Actually, I'm here to see you, Peter Duke."

Hearing his name from a stranger, Peter left the weight and sat up.

"Who are you?" He asked sternly.

"I'd rather not say my name for now. You might find out in future if you're still alive." Korede replied. "All I'll tell you is that I'm a DSS agent and I'm here to give you a warning. It's up to you whether you take it seriously or you disregard it."

"What is it?" Pete asked though he didn't look like he was taking it seriously.

Korede chuckled at his reaction.

He replied with a smile, "Your brother knows about your little rendezvous with his wife two days ago."

"What?!" Peter was shocked.

"My partner and I had the house under surveillance. We have a video of everything you did and said. A video my partner is now selling to your brother as we speak. I figured since I couldn't stop the sale, I can warn you."

"Impossible!" Peter denied it. "I made sure no one could find the house." Denial and horror thick on his face.

"It's up to you whether you believe me or not." Korede said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"Why are you telling me this? What do you want? Money?" Peter asked.

Korede's face changed as his expression became serious.

"I don't need anything from you. Don't take me to be the same as my sell-out partner. I'm a true agent." He said, after which his expression returned to its previous smile. "However, you are right to think I have an agenda because I definitely do. If what you said that night is true, you have a plan against the Duke. Now that you know your brother knows and will be gunning after you, you have no choice but to accelerate your plans."

The smile on Korede's face grew a little wider.

"When you initiate your plans and a civil war occurs in the NDz, the DSS will be ready to pounce. The beauty of me telling you all this is that, even if you know there is a trap, you have no choice but to jump in.

Your back is now against the wall. What are you going to do? Fight or Flight?

Either way, the DSS gets something. "

"You b*st*rd." Peter said gritting his teeth.

The next moment, however, he calmed down. Korede was surprised. He thought he had sufficiently riled up the man.

"If I fight, the DSS will moving in on any openings we invariably leave. If I run, the NDz will lose an official. This might even cause some men loyal to me to leave the NDz as well which will weaken the NDz. Either way works fine for the DSS. Am I right?" Peter said.

"As expected of the second-in-command of the largest criminal organisation in Onitsha. You calmed down and analysed the situation quickly. You're right. Actually, there's also a third option.

You do nothing and the Duke catches you. We both know he will kill you. That also weakens the gang. We can even get more members to flip if that happens. After all, if a man can execute even his own brother, who can be safe from him.

Anyhow you look at it, the NDz was destined to suffer the moment we found out about the relationship between you and Esther. Or was it the moment you two started your extra-curricular activities?" Korede said.

"No, it was from the moment he put his hands on her." Peter said curtly.

Korede merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Well then. I should take my leave." He said as he turned around to leave.

He had only taken a few steps when Peter said from behind him,

"Do you think you can just leave?"

Korede only turned his head to him as he replied, "Do you think I would come here like this if I wasn't confident I could leave unharmed? Besides, you should be asking yourself if you can deal with the attention a confrontation between us will cause right now.

Your time is limited. The Duke could already have the video in hand by now. Can you risk wasting time with me now? If you can, can your girl risk it?"

With that said, Korede swaggered out of the Gym. Peter didn't make any rash moves as he expected.

Truth be told, as Korede said, Peter wasn't sure he could hold back Korede if they fought. He also couldn't attract attention to himself right now. He knew how good the NDz network in Onitsha was. He needed to stay under the radar right now to give himself and Esther the chance to escape.

He picked up his phone from his Gym bag and dialled Esther's number. Immediately she picked, he said hurriedly, "Get out of the house quickly but don't attract attention. My brother knows about us. He probably knows everything."

On the other side, Esther's face had turned pale. She recalled Jonathan's attitude this morning and connected the dots.

"Did you hear me?" She heard Peter's worried voice from the phone.

"Yes. I'm leaving now." She managed to say.

The two dropped the call immediately.

Esther went into the master bedroom and packed some clothes into a luggage bag. She also took her identifications and various other important personal documents as well as every bit of money and jewellery in the room, including those in the safe and drawers.

When she made her way out of the house, a maid met her by the door.

"Are you leaving for the orphanage already, Madame? Let me help you with the bags." The maid said.

For a while now Esther had been visiting Orphanages every Friday evenings and would return in the evening of Saturdays. She had been doing this for a while now.

Most people thought she did this because she couldn't give birth to one of her own. They didn't know she was the one preventing herself from getting pregnant. She definitely wouldn't allow herself to give birth to a child sired by Jonathan nor did she want to raise one under his roof and open to his influence.

The true reason she went there was because of her guilt about what she had done to survive. It helped her emotional state as she helped children who were in difficult situations that were no fault of theirs or situations out of their control. Something she felt was similar to her own.

So, it wasn't exactly strange to see her carry a bag. It was a little strange for her to carry one so big but the maid didn't think much of it.

"Yes, I'm leaving earlier today. I want to spend more time with the children." Esther lied. "You can go do your work. Don't worry about the bag."

The maid hesitated a bit but still followed her orders. Esther got into her car and quickly drove off.

Peter had also left the Gym immediately. He made his way home quickly, doing as much as possible to be discreet and avoid attracting attention.

At his house, he quickly packed a change of clothes, money and other important documents. He also didn't forget to get his guns and ammunition.

He left the house as quickly as he entered. He had not taken a shower or a bath nor even change out of his sweat-filled gym clothes. These didn't matter at the moment as he had to get to a safe location as soon as possible before his brother started looking for him.

As for Korede, he was very relaxed. He had calmly walked to his car after his conversation with Peter.

[I didn't know you were such a good actor.]

'Neither did I. It just naturally came to me at the moment.'

The two chuckled as Korede started his car.

[What next?]

'I'm thinking of doing a little recon. It's still too early to make any other moves.'

[Ok.]

Korede drove to a location Special Agent Ndike had sent him. While Oziomo Okoh and the other survivors of the drug deal massacre might have done enough to evade the NDz trace, they couldn't evade the surveillance of real professionals like the NDI's agents and assets. The Saints' movements didn't escape the eyes of the NDI. Their new location and meet with the A4s naturally didn't go unnoticed.

Korede arrived not too far from the current location and reconnoitred the place from a distance with binoculars. He also examined the surrounding areas and landscape. He didn't have anything to do at the moment, so he decided to get a little bit more closer to scope out the mood of the two gangs to see if he could determine their plan.

He didn't have to get too close though. He was quickly able to take note of some things that help him to come to a reasonable conclusion.

'From the look of things, they seem to be waiting for reinforcements. Looks like the two gangs have decided to fight.'

[How can you be so sure?]

'If they weren't going to fight, they would be trying to leave Onitsha. From their actions, however, you can see that they're planning on staying for a while. They are increasing security around the surrounding areas in their own way. That can only mean they plan to wait for reinforcements before going to war.'

[What if they choose to negotiate?]

'Only if the leaders have left Onitsha can they securely negotiate with Jonathan Duke at this point. Since they are still here, they must be taking direct charge of the war efforts.'

[Ok.]

After a while, Korede was satisfied with everything he had seen.

'Let's move to the next place.'

While Korede was making his way over to the next location, his phone vibrated.

He realised that it was the alarm he had set to remind him when the time was close for Friday Jumat service. He found the nearest mosque and went to the service like every other Muslim.

After the service, Korede left the mosque and went about completing his recon plans.

He broke into two office buildings.

At the first, he searched around a particular office but didn't seem to find what he was looking for.

At the second, he stole a package and a uniform.

Done with his itinerary, he returned to the mosque where he stayed till after the final Solat of the day.

He checked the time and discovered it was almost 8:30 pm. He drove around and found a fast-food restaurant to eat at.

After eating, the time was around 9 pm.

'It's time' He thought as he looked at his watch.

[What's next?]

'It's time to go cause more trouble for the Duke. Family, Reputation, Business and Money. To varying degrees, these are the things that the Duke has shown to define him. I have attacked the first three. It's time to go after the last one. Or at least, the person that manages it.'

[So, you are going after your second target?]

'Yes. It's time to go bring in the Accountant.'

Thus, Korede drove off. Headed in the direction of the home of the Head of the NDz financial apparatus, Adeshina Owolabi aka The Accountant.

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]