Recollection
Last year...
February 5, 2019
Freetown, Sierra Leone
The black Toyota Camry pulled over next to the gutter. Hot wavy air danced around its metal frame. Its bumpers and mud flaps brandished their new brown paints. Kenneth sat in the front passenger seat. He examined the neighborhood through the windscreen. Tall wooden poles supported power cables that had laced shoe pairs hanging from them. Children chased after discarded rolling tires which they had initially set into motion. Their destination, the bungalow, was within shouting distance. The structure had lost most of its white paint and managed a flapping rusted zinc as its roof. A deranged black man sat in front of the bungalow staring into thin air. Kenneth turned to Jacob who'd just put off the ignition.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
"Obviously" Jacob put on his dad cap, "shoes hanging from cables, a deranged man..."
"Okay I get it," Kenneth adjusted the pistol beneath his black leather jacket and fitted his snapback "This is gonna suck."
Kenneth opened the door to the heatwave; he'd forgotten all about it while the car's air conditioning pampered him but this was a fine reunion. A strong smell traveled through his nostrils arousing nausea. Kenneth looked down at the gutter. Amid the algae and sewage colony, flies hovered cheerfully over something solid and brown. Jacob had stopped too close to the gutter so Kenneth figured he would have to walk the tightrope. He held his breath as he got out of the car, shut the door, and shimmied his way into the road. Jacob adjusted his backpack as he joined Kenneth.
"You... asshole" Kenneth gasped "You were so close to the gutter, I literally saw shit."
"My bad" Jacob smiled
"How much time do we have?"
"Fifty minutes tops" Jacob stared at his watch.
"Three o'clock, we're being watched." Kenneth pushed his shades with his index as he spotted two men observing them from the window of a building. They arrived at the bungalow where they caught the attention of the deranged man. As Kenneth got a better view of the man's features, he wished he'd kept his distance. The man wore a beanie which had more holes than wool, dirty sweat trickled down the black wrinkles of his forehead and the sclera of his eyes were a dead shade of brown. He clenched both of his hands probably to stop the shaking. The man pursed his chapped lips and moved them from side to side like it was some sort of mouth exercise. His left eye twitched as he spoke, "pardon brothers, we are closed."
"We're here for delivery" Jacob pointed at his backpack.
"What is the password?" asked the deranged
Kenneth and Jacob stared at each other. Jacob elevated both his shoulders and Kenneth squeezed his eyebrows. "mhm" Kenneth cleared his throat "Takiboshi." The man smiled at Kenneth and nodded. His lips broke and refreshed old sores in the process. Kenneth reciprocated by forcing a smile back at him. The man swiftly raised his left hand, enclosed his index and thumb but avoided contact between the two as he placed them on his lips and blew as hard as he could. The whistle echoed through the immediate surroundings. "Shit!" Kenneth pulled his pistol and jabbed the man on the head. The deranged fell back to the sandy floor. Kenneth espied something black drop out of his now relaxed right hand.
Jacob covered his face "I knew you were gonna screw that up for sure,"
"At least I tried something," Kenneth leaned over to pick the black object "What is this?"
It looked no more than a black candy wrap, with three Japanese symbols and the word Shinrai inscribed in white colours on it. Kenneth felt something hard inside the wrap as he squeezed.
"Another question for Horis I guess." Jacob pulled two Beretta's from the holsters beneath his shirt as heard the door being unlocked.
"I guess we're going in loud." Kenneth ran and kicked the door the minute he saw the handle move. The man behind lost his gun and crashed to the ground. Kenneth put two bullets in him before firing blindly at the approaching guard. The bullet missed the guard who sidled into a room nearby. Kenneth took cover by the doorway to a bathroom not far from the front door. Jacob emerged with his Beretta's outstretched before him. "That one's yours" Kenneth whispered. Jacob watched as the guard revealed his leg and eye searching for a target.
Jacob fired without hesitation. The bullet projected itself into the man's leg and smashed his shinbone in the process. The guard wailed as he dropped to the ground. He attempted to hold onto his injured leg, but the bleeding bedazzled him. Kenneth rushed out to the guard and put his foot on the injured leg. Jacob joined them after locking the front door. "arrgh" the guard moaned through clenched teeth as Kenneth pressed down.
"Where's Horis?" asked Kenneth
His teeth remained clenched "Lascht room..., to your right"
"Is he aware?"
"I... doubt it" the guard replied, "He should be on his bubble bath therapy."
"How do we get in?" Kenneth pushed harder
"The Kids" he blabbered "The kids are priceless."
"What kids?"
***
Horis relished the last few seconds of his warm bubble bath before his timer blared. "The good things never last" he mumbled. He neutralised the timer and stood from the bubbling sea. He grabbed two towels from the rail, dried up with one, and tied the other around his waist. "Nothing better than a warm bath after a clean shave." Horis walked into his room and sat before the mirror on his dressing table. He smiled as he rubbed his fresh white chin. He'd detested any visible hair strands on his skin so he always made room for his weekly shave. He rubbed the tattoo on his neck as he grabbed a lotion from the table. A soft knock came from the door as he squirted the cream into his hand.
"Who?!" Horis caressed his skin with the lotion. "I said no disturbing for an hour and thirty minutes."
"Sorry baas," Jacob deepened his voice "But it's urgent"
"What?"
"One of the kids, she's been crying"
"Give her a pill or something" Horis retorted
"She won't budge"
"What the hell..." Horis looked through the peephole to see a black little girl standing on the other side with her hands crossed and tears rolling down her eyes. He unlocked his door and opened it to receive the jab from a pistol on his nose. "You really love doing that don't you?" Jacob returned his guns to their holsters. Horis staggered back a few steps before being decked to the ground by Jacob who eventually dragged him to the dressing table. "Go back to the room," Kenneth said to the girl before locking the door. The detective had his eyes locked on Horis as he grabbed a stool in front of the bed. "Horis the mouthpiece" Kenneth sat down "You look even worse in person. Hairless freak." Jacob pulled a pipe wrench from his bag and stood by Horis. Horis held unto his nose as a red streak occurred from his orifice and journeyed down to his lip.
"What do want" muttered Horis
"Straight and honest answers" Kenneth replied
"Well..." Horis gazed at Kenneth "Ask away."
"What's this?" Kenneth presented the strange object from earlier.
Horis stared at the object, even in pain his acting was one to behold. He shook his bald head "Candy?"
Jacob slammed the pipe wrench on Horis' shoulder. The man attempted a scream, but Kenneth slapped his hand over the man's mouth to insulate it. "Breath" Kenneth advised "Now, straight and honest."
"Confidence," Horis huffed "Shinrai is Japanese for confidence. It's Takiboshi's new product, they give the user confidence at least that's how it's advertised."
"And then users overdose or dealers like you start using toxic fillers." Kenneth fiddled with the drug
Horis squeezed his face and inhaled "I only sell pure."
"Why are you holding children captive?" Kenneth asked
"They're troublemakers," Horis exhaled "we caught them trying to steal from us."
"huh," Kenneth looked at Jacob. Jacob descended on Horis' knee this time, something snapped as the wrench made contact. Horis' scream transmuted to a squeak as Kenneth grabbed and squeezed his neck. The clamour of people yelling and banging on something came from the front door. "Not much time left" Jacob warned.
"Don't make this hard Horis." Kenneth released his neck.
"Takiboshi," Horis coughed "He needs test subjects, I... I don't know why I'm just down for the money."
"Where is Akio Takiboshi," Kenneth asked
"Last... seen in Daunthill" answered Horis. A booming sound came from outside, the yelling sounds got closer. Kenneth stood from the stool and grabbed Horis by the cheekbones, he pressed hard compelling the poor man to open his mouth. Kenneth stuffed the Shinrai into Horis' mouth before pulling his pistol and sending a bullet right after the pill. Jacob froze, this wasn't the first time he'd seen Kenneth go overboard on the Takiboshi thing, but the dude seemed to be coming up with new tricks every time. Kenneth wiped some blood from his face as he walked to the room window. "Jay let's move!" Kenneth scaled the window. Jacob stared at the bloody mess that used to be the face of Horis. The footsteps on the other side of the room door called him back to his senses. He placed the wrench back in the bag and followed Kenneth. The two escaped the neighbourhood through a backyard route. As they took to their heels they heard sirens wailing from behind.
"Just in time," said Jacob
"What about the car?" Kenneth asked
"Leave that to me"
***
Later that day...
Kenneth and Nina's place
Freetown Sierra Leone
The apartment was what one would call quality at a good price by Freetown's standard. The kitchen and living room were connected to each other. A sliding glass door led to the veranda from the living room and the wooden door behind the kitchen was for the bedroom. Kenneth sat on the sofa with his arms folded as he stared at, his distorted reflection on, the dead TV screen. The power had just failed, and the heat began to seep into the room. The veranda door squeaked as Jacob slid it open to let in some fresh air. The bar nearby had kicked off their grilling activities and the aroma of the meat mixed with the scent of the air fresheners in the apartment. Jacob made himself comfortable next to Kenneth as he popped a can of soda. Jacob exhausted the fizzy liquid in a few gulps and let out a loud burp. Kenneth shot a sharp look at Jacob, the urge to slap him on the head lingered for a while. "Sorry about that" Jacob rubbed his short hair. He squeezed the can and threw it at a plastic bin by the corner. He hissed as the can hit the rim and dropped to the floor. Kenneth overlooked Jacob's silliness and returned his gaze to the TV.
"You alright?" asked Jacob
"Yeah, sure" Kenneth replied
"Yeah... sure?" Jacob repeated "That didn't sound alright"
"What do you want from me, Jacob?" Kenneth retorted "I'm thinking how the hell we're gonna get to Daunthill"
"We'll figure it out."
"Yeah," said Kenneth "Which is what I'm trying to do."
"Well, I wanna talk about something else," Jacob added
"What is this something?"
"What you did back there with Horis," said Jacob "It was quite extreme don't you think?"
"Maybe,"
"I'm serious"
"Don't piss me off, Jacob"
"Woah" Jacob spread his palms "That's the last I'd try to do right now. I'm just trying to make things clear."
"Things like what?" said Kenneth "You wasted people, I wasted people the methods used doesn't change a thing."
"I would've agreed with that before you started playing the Grim Reaper." Jacob folded his arms
"Grim Reaper?"
Jacob nodded "Exactly,"
"I need a drink" Kenneth stood from the chair and walked to the fridge. He opened the lifeless machine and grabbed a sweating bottle of water. He popped the cap and took a few gulps before slamming the fridge door. Jacob patiently watched the man's stalling process. Kenneth knew Jacob was used to his methods of crafting distractions, but there was no harm in trying. The American took a few more gulps and returned his gaze to Jacob, whose eyes were still fixed on him.
"It's funny how warm a fridge can get after a few minutes of power failure" Kenneth stared at the empty bottle.
"Stuffing a drug into a man's mouth and then shooting into it," said Jacob "Sounds very Reaper to me."
"Says the dude who fractured the same man's bones with a pipe wrench," Kenneth responded "Besides Horis was an asshole."
"Horis was an asshole, and I agree that he probably deserved death" Jacob stated "But what you did back there wasn't for justice's sake. You even destroyed the pill which would've been valuable to our investigation."
"I'm sorry Dr. Jacob," said Kenneth "Can we adjourn this discussion until the next therapy session?"
"You thought of Takiboshi at that moment and you lost it."
"Horis is dead Jacob, let go of it."
"I'm not pleading for his life, I'm pleading for yours"
Kenneth walked to the bin and dropped the empty bottle inside before picking the can which Jacob had tossed previously. "Is there a gun to my head? Because I don't see the reason for your plea."
"You didn't drag me into this mission, Ken." Jacob explained, "We both had our grief to share because of Takiboshi, and we hope to end his reign, but this was not the plan."
"Oh yeah, so what is?"
"The whole point of this mission was to fix things, to get it right." Jacob said, "We'd never achieve that if we let the hate feed on us."
The lock of the entrance door clicked twice and Nina walked in with her cell phone glued to her ear. "There has to be something you can give me; people don't just vanish!" Nina yelled. Jacob and Kenneth watched the woman shut the door behind her and walk slowly into the room. Her eyebrows pushed hard to make contact and she breathed like a raging bull as she listened to whoever was on the line. "Do not hang up on me" she commanded "Shit." Nina lowered the phone, clenched her other hand tightly, and took a deep breath.
"I'm filing a lawsuit against Freetown central prison" she opened her eyes.
"You've gotta be kidding," said Kenneth
"I'm even more serious than I was the last time I told you I love you." Nina turned to Kenneth "I mean it's insane how over fifty grown men vanished from their prison cells overnight and no one is talking about it."
"Who were you speaking to?" Jacob relaxed his arms
"An officer from the prison," said Nina, "He said he has no idea what I'm talking about"
"If I'm right about NORD having a hand in this" Kenneth said "Then don't expect anyone to spill."
"And we're back to the Nord theory," Nina rolled her eyes
"Let's face facts here, Brandon's podcast was shut down but his theory lives on, what other company has the influence to ship anyone and anything to anywhere in the world without being questioned" expounded Kenneth "I think you should lay low so you don't attract dangerous attention."
"I'm a lawyer," Nina walked to the fridge "I won't stop till there's justice."
"So no good news?" asked Jacob
"Forensics found the DNA evidence that could possibly exonerate Nkibo, but you can't defend a missing person." She opened the fridge "How long has the power been out?"
Kenneth looked at Jacob "Told you the fridge was warm"
"So how about you guys any good news?"
"Yeah, Horis gave us sweet intel" Jacob answered "Before Kenneth put a bullet in his mouth?"
"What?!" Nina turned to look at Kenneth
"That's not the topic here" Kenneth swooped in "Horis said Takiboshi was last seen in Daunthill."
"Oh my God" Nina dropped the bottle of water she was holding "How could I forget?"
"You knew?"
"No not that" she reached into her handbag for her smartphone "Mrs. Nkibo forwarded a mysterious message she received." Nina held tapped the phone screen a few times before showcasing her screen to the other two. The message had arrived a couple of hours ago, Mrs. Nkibo had written a short message explaining what had happened before forwarding. The chatbox beneath simply read "check Daunthill". Nina pulled back her phone and slid it back into her handbag. "Crazy, isn't it? The message came from a foreign number," Nina said.
"Yeah, but quick question," Kenneth rubbed his sideburn "what's up with your text font?"
"This is serious Kenny" Nina frowned "Someone anonymous is trying to give us a clue."
"Okay then," said Jacob "We'll go to Daunthill, and maybe we can kill two birds with a stone."
"So we're back to trying to figure out a plan then?" Kenneth turned to Jacob
"Oh about that," Jacob said, "I and Jayla already brainstormed a plan."
There was a moment of silence. Nina picked up the water bottle she'd dropped earlier and stared at Jacob as she popped the cap.
"You've been in contact with Jayla?"
"Yes, I have," said Jacob "And no she hasn't mentioned you or Nina, she's been very official."
"Well, that's great news" sighed Kenneth "What other teammates have you been speaking with?"
"Everyone, you're the only one who isn't aware of the plan."
"That sucks," said Kenneth
"Of course, it does, Grim"
"Jacob," Kenneth raised his index finger "If you call me that one more time, I'll poke you in the eye."
"Wow I'm scared to death"
Nina placed her bottle on the kitchen counter and raised her voice to interrupt their bickering "Can we get into the details of this plan, I have court files to work on!" Kenneth and Jacob turned their attention to Nina.
"The lantern festival is in a week or two and Daunthill's princess or whatever they call her would be here filling in for her father." Jacob explained, "Daunthill is interested in anything that could improve their tourism and that's our loophole to get in."
"So what are we going to sell her?"
"Not we, more of you" Jacob answered "I'll establish a tourist agency with a promising manifesto and it would have all team members registered as employees. All team members except you."
"What do you mean except me?" Kenneth crossed his arms.
"You'll be the one who sells the idea to the princess, it's your forte, so you'll need an alter ego because we don't want your past reputation blowing our cover."
"Damn," Said Kenneth "so how do I get to Daunthill with this alter ego"
"That'll take time to process," said Jacob "I'll work on it, and once it's ready you can come to join the gang."
"What about Nkibo?" Nina asked
"If he's in Daunthill then I'm sure we'll come across him."
"Perfect," Nina smiled "I'm going to shower"
Kenneth and Jacob waited until Nina had shut the door behind her. "You're sure Jayla's cool?" Kenneth asked.
"Hundred Percent" Answered Jacob
"Great," said Kenneth "I'm thinking our favourite drug lord might have a hand in the missing prisoners. I mean think about it, Horis said he was looking for test subjects."
"I see your point, but don't be so sure yet."
"Well," Kenneth sighed "I guess we're back on mission."