Adam

CHAPTER TWELVE (12): - TRUTHS II

The moment the shots rang out, lightning tore across the dark sky and thunder exploded overhead.

 Rain dripped.

 One.

 Two.

 Three.

 Then it began pouring fervently.

The bullets must have passed through to the other side of his skull, because blood sprayed out on both sides.

 He could have avoided the bullets, blocked them, or even caught them if he wanted, but he was frozen stiff in disbelief.

 Blood streamed own his forehead; over his eyes, and the rain drenched both of them just like the night he had saved her.

 This time, he was staring down the barrel of a gun.

 Remi gritted her teeth in frustration, then yelled “You! You bloody murderer!”

 She shot multiple times again.

 One bullet tore through his shoulder.

 Another struck the other arm.

 Then three more ripped into his chest.

 Adam coughed out blood and gasped for breadth as a bullet punched his heart.

 He dropped to his knees, blood pouring from his entire chest.

 Fear filled him as he raised his gaze and met Remi’s crying eyes.

 “Remi…” he groaned “… I came to apologize…I’m sorry”

 She knew.

 How? He didn’t know

 But she knew.

 She knew he was the one that killed her father.

 “Shut up!” she screamed and flung her phone to him.

 He looked down and his eyes widened

 Displayed on the screen, was an image gotten from the night of the raid at her father’s vacation home.

 It was an image gotten at the exact moment when he had struck the senator with the last blow.

 Adam felt his spine go cold.

 How on earth did she get hold of this image?

 Who on earth had taken it?

 The shock hit him now with more force than the bullets.

 “Remi, I…”

 “You killed him!” she shrieked, tears flowing down her cheeks

 “You killed dad! You’re a cold-blooded killer!”

 The rain poured harder and Remi raised the gun to his head again

 “I was so foolish to think that you would be different from the rest. A calvary is a calvary. Nothing matters to you. So pls, rot in hell, Adam”

 She pulled the trigger once more and the bullet sang straight into his head.

 Then he dropped to the floor.

 An hour later, Adam groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

 Everywhere was blurry at first, but then his consciousness completely returned and his vision cleared.

 He was in Kabir’s lab again, in the blue paper gown.

 Lying on one of the hospital beds.

 He sighed “Of course. I came back here”

 Dr Kabir was seated by his side and turned around when he heard the voice.

 “You’re awake” he said casually

 “Your date was much shorter than I imagined. And much more brutal”.

 Adam sat up and rested his weight on his hands

 “She found out before I got there” he groaned “I don’t know how but she found out I am her father’s killer”

 “And she wasted no time putting nearly nine bullets in your body. Including two in your skull. Brutal!”

 “She sounds like the kind of lady I like” Big D said and came inside the room.

 He was carrying a projector

 “You’re awake Adam. How did your date go?”

 “Not exactly how I would have liked it” Adam replied “But I survived at least”

 “The bullets she used weren’t ordinary” Big D said as he lay the projector down

 “They were specially made to harm calvaries. Her father’s breakthrough actually. Aside from metals, the bullets contain bone material”

 He stretched his body and groaned in exhaustion “F**k, I’m tired”

 “Calvary bones to be precise” he added casually

 “Calvary bones?” Adam was perplexed

 “Yes” Dr Kabir confirmed “Using calvary bones against another calvary is just like two calvaries fighting, thus equaling the scores. Although this begs the question, where would they get calvary bones?”

 Adam fell silent for a while, then, “Banks!”

 Dr Kabir nodded “Banks and Sen Makinde were experimenting with bone bullets made from his own bones. The bullets did serious damage to your internal organs, but you’re fine now”

 Big D exhaled “I had a bad breakup, but your girlfriend is pretty wild”

 “She had every right to do what she did” Adam replied “I don’t know what I would have done if I met my father’s killer”

 Dr Kabir and Big D fell silent for a moment.

 Then Kabir turned to his computer system “Adam. That’s not the only hard blow you’ll have to be taking today. Normally, I wouldn’t be divulging such news to you after a heartbreak, but like I said earlier, you have to know the truth. Brace yourself, the worst would soon be over.”

 Adam looked at Big D and Kabir’s faces, he was unsure how to react.

 “This is news related to my father, right?” he managed to ask “Is it…so bad?”

 “Relax” Kabir replied and rose, then walked to the projector “We’ll get there”

 Big D turned the projector on and it blared on a white board at the other end of the room.

 It was displaying a fascinating image.

 That of a dashing young man standing beside his newlywed wife in front of a 2000s Mercedes-Benz E-Class W210.

 In the background, there was a court registrar office, where they had just been officially pronounced husband and wife.

 There was one striking thing in the image though.

 The groom, was a carbon copy, if not the original, more responsible version, of Adam.

 “That is your father, Adam” Kabir said calmly

 “On his wedding day”

 Adam rose slowly, he seemed mesmerized by the image

 “He looks…just like me. And is that my mum?”

 “Yes” Kabir answered “Your father was thirty-two years old when he got married. A successful young man who worked hard for his wife and children. He eventually became the minister of the interior to the Federal Government, and the first non-calvary to find out about the calvaries”

 Adam froze

 “The first non-calvary?”

 “So he thought” Kabir quickly continued “Unknown to him at the moment, the calvary was much too big an organization to keep solely to itself”

 For a moment, Adam said nothing as he studied the image

 “So, is it true?” he inquired “Was my father actually killed by the CCA? What happened to him? And my mother?”

 Kabir adjusted his coat “Before we go into the details of your father’s brutal murder, we should first explain what he discovered, and how far he dug into the secrets he discovered”

 He paused “Adam. You should digest this part; this is everything your father fought for while he was alive. If you aren’t sure about this, you can leave. You can always learn the truth another time”

 “Are you sure you want to hear this bro?” Big D asked softly “Things aren’t going to be alright at this point, trust me”

 Adam closed his eyes for a long time, then opened them and exhaled

 “I don’t have any memories of my family. Even if it’s a bad one, I should at least hear it. If I can learn my past, then I might finally be able to realize what the future holds for me. That way, I can decide for myself, what path I want to follow”.

 Kabir shrugged and finally began.

“Your father discovered a terrifying truth about calvaries. In the year 2020, there was a spike in calvary activities. This came as a result of the mass killings that happened during the ENDSARS movement in October that year”

 The image from the projector change to a news headline from a newspaper

 “Many youths died during this movement, and the CCA seized this opportunity to create hundreds of calvaries at once. Around this time, your father, the minister of the interior, stumbled upon their activities, particularly in Lagos and the FCT. Your father, Hon Peters, discovered much to his dismay, that a certain organization were responsible for the killings of multiple influential political and business figures”

 Adam raised his brow “The missionaries”

 “Tracing the activities to other past mysterious deaths and murders...” Kabir continued “he found out that one of the unfortunate victims, was the wife of his good friend, Sen Akin Makinde”

 He let that part sink in first, watching as Adam’s expression changed

 “Makinde’s wife had been killed six years earlier, seemingly because she was interfering with the gold market in parts of the north. This didn’t sit well with certain people who wanted to loot away the natural resources and cover it up with incessant bandit and terrorist activities. So, they had the calvaries take her out”

 The image changed again to a murder file

 “When Makinde found out from his friend, that his wife’s death was caused by an organization of killers, he readily joined your father in digging up all the information they could about them. It wasn’t much later though, they found out that these people responsible for the killings, were superhuman”.

 Kabir let it sink in again. This was huge information that needed to be digested very well.

 Adam’s expression was transitioning from calm, to interest.

 He continued

 “Soon afterwards, they recruited Salih into their ranks, a formidable bank industry giant and business tycoon. Salih had everything to lose and nothing to gain if he one day became a target of the calvaries. So, he readily joined as well”.

 “Salih happened to be a Ph.D. holder” Big D put in “A champion, if any, of critical analysis. It was Salih who theorized it impossible for the calvaries to have such a wide reach and network, without a solid backbone”

 “Correct” Kabir took over “And after much digging, it was proved beyond any doubt, that the calvary did in fact have solid backing. Not just financial backing, but solid political banking”

 Adam was beginning to piece things together.

 He recalled that Douglas had agreed to the fact that the missionaries were mercenaries for hire.

 They weren't wiping these people out simply because they'd uncovered the organization. They were being eliminated because ‘certain people’ wanted them gone..

 Those certain people, were the politicians funding their missions.

 Using them as cleaners to eradicate anyone who stood in their way.

 “You’ve pieced it together by now” Kabir said, almost telepathically reading Adam’s mind with a glance “What this political backing was. And what their objective was”

 The image changed again

  “The revelation was nothing short of stunning” he continued “It clearly meant, that Hon peters, wasn’t the first one to find out about this organization. They had a root, a network of strong political figures, godfathers and cartels, who were using them to their own benefit, as hired assassins. At this point in time, the three men had only one option if they wanted to continue digging and reveal the identity of this organization. To go against them with the backing of cartels, they needed financial backing equal to that of the cartel. After all, the only way to fight embezzled funds, is with embezzled funds”