First Book Launch. The Portrait

The Portrait

Title series 1

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This book is a fiction; therefore the names, places incidents and characters are products of the author imagination

Author’s blog: Alphasoars blog

For comments, send mail to: uchukwuma@rocketmail.com

Chapter one

It has been a hectic day for the citizens of the country recovering from the shocking strike of the allied force against the city. The riot resulted in the abduction of the city’s mayor.

“Morning sir” Barry greeted.

“Is everything ok?” Mr. Kelvin asked.

“Yes sir” Barry replied “My Gabriel will like to see you” he said.

“Welcome Mr. Gabriel, you arrived early enough” Mr. Kelvin said as he welcomes him to his office.

“Yes mayor, I rushed in with my soldiers for the march” Mr. Gabriel replied.

“Alright, let me see your map” the mayor demanded.

Mr. Gabriel stretches out his hand and hands him over the neatly drawn map for the attacked and total destruction against the allied forces of the southern sea pirates and the drug cartels of san pro vio.

He quickly glances through the map and returns it to Mr. Gabriel. “I need a clean job, and by that, I mean my wife will be back here in this city safe” the mayor demanded.

“I will make sure of that, Sir” Gabriel replied.

“Good morning captain” Felix greeted as he walks closer to his father.

“I’m going to Jane’s home now” he told his father.

“Be sure you are conscious of the environment” his father warned.

“I will” and he rushes out of the house.

The captain moves out and led his soldiers to the battle field while the mayor remained in the city.

#          #          #

Felix had planned his marriage for next weekend before this tragic incidence took place. Jane was in her father’s house when he entered. He touched her backed and she suddenly turns for fear and discovered it was her fiancé.

“Why are you here this morning” she asked.

“You don’t want to see me? I just dropped by to say hi! He answered.

“No not at all, oh . . . look, there’s my mother, she just returned from the city yesterday”. She said.

“Wow, I didn’t know she was your mother ‘cause, I saw her yesterday at the square before those hooligans struck the city” he answered going towards the direction of the mother.

“Good morning ma” he greeted.

“Welcome my son and my son-in-law” she replied. They sat down and talked for a while and then after that went on to the beach.

#          #          #

The soldiers got to the base camp of the allied forces later that even and were confronted by the forces of the sea pirates at the coast of the atlantics. “What do you want from us” they asked.

“Release the mayor’s wife so that we all don’t count the cost of wasting a single precious seconds” Mr. Gabriel replied.

“Not so fast, captain” their leader answers from within as he comes out of his chamber. “You will sign a treaty with us to release our warriors in your prison, and if not, then the mayor’s wife will go for their lives in the next few seconds”. He said smiling.

Mr. Gabriel gave his men signal and they immediately seized their leader and placed him under a count of three and if not he will die. He resisted and flunked aside his two attackers and there was a heavy downpour of gunshots from the pirates’ camp against the soldiers. And the soldiers returned fires as they set ablaze their camp in search of the mayor’s wife. The pirates attacked fiercely that most of the soldiers were wounded. Two soldiers moved to a tight corner of the camp where they overheard a voice. And on getting there it was the mayor’s wife. So they rushed in and untied her and as they came out the pirates’ leader appeared before them with his pistol pointing at them. He shot at the mayor’s wife but one of the soldiers drew her aside leading to the soldier’s right arm been shot and paralyzed immediately.

“Run” they told her. And she runs to the sea and finds a boat tied to a stake and drove out. The pirates’ leader tries to run out to stop her but the two soldiers restrained him and pointed their guns at him. He immediately shot one of the soldiers to death, remaining one of the soldiers standing in front of him in confusion. So he quickly shot the man on the stomach and he immediately shot back at the soldier and fell flat on his face dead. The soldier also fell and died. The mayor’s wife drove through the waves and was double-crossed in the middle of the sea by two boats of armed men. They were the force of the san pro vio. The most powerful and organized drug cartel in the district. They again abducted the mayor’s wife and tied her mouth and put her in their boat and zoomed off to their camp. The soldiers burnt the pirates’ camp and arrested about two dozen of them. But couldn’t find the mayor’s wife during the raid. They immediately took their prisoners to the boat and put them in and drove to the city. On their way they saw the boat on which the leader’s wife was riding in before her abductors took her away. They looked in the boat and found a small piece of long cloth that the mayor’s wife always wears on her outings. They searched through the bushes
around but no sign at all so they returned to the city. At their return the mayor asked for his wife and they had no reply to give to him. He held his hand up on his head as he walks in to his house sober. The captured pirates were kept in the prison for two weeks without food. They were so weak and dying. Mr. Gabriel came to them and demanded to know where they have taken the mayor’s wife to. But they refused to talk and they were left for another two days and at last they told the captain that the san pro vio group had abducted the mayor’s wife. After a careful observation and questioning, the captain gathered enough information on the where about of the group.

#          #          #

The captain used two days to organize his army for the encounter. After the preparations had been put into place, he was ready to set out on the attack. Before the plan was finished, a secret ally of san pro vio had leaked the secret of their coming and how they are going to attack to the drug cartel group. So they were as well ready. On the set day the soldiers marched out and went to the base of the drug cartel but on their arrival they were seriously attacked and sixty percent of them lost their lives in the attack. The soldiers had no option as they were outnumbered by the drug cartel group but to return. Another plan was immediately employed to attack the group and again the plan leaked before the soldiers carried it out. So they got to their enemy camp and were shamefully beaten by the insurgent group and they returned.

Chapter two

Felix refused to give in to postponing his marriage to Jane at the absence of his mother. They marriage was organized by the city chapel and taken care of by the clergy in charge of the chapel. After the marriage, Felix received a letter warning him to stay clear of his fiancé, stating to the fact that the war against the drug cartel will be unsuccessful as long as he remains in the city and as long as he (Felix) keeps his betrothed away from him. His last words on the letter were, “you’ll never see your mother again”. Felix couldn’t hold it anymore as the letter came the second time to him reaffirming what was written in the first. He called his father and the captain and showed them the letters that he has received for the past two weeks after his marriage to Jane. A cross examination was set to careful sort out from where the letter could be coming from.

After two months had passed it seemed as if nothing could be done. So Felix called Jane one fateful night and asked her, “Have you got a fiancé beside me before our marriage?” She was speechless for a minute which seemed an eternity before she broke the silence and said, “Yes”. There is a man that I love and I was betrothed to him, but he was not as rich as you the mayor’s son, so I decided when you came that I will accept you just for your riches”, she replied.

“And why couldn’t you tell me all this while” Felix replied.

“Cause I never wanted to lose you” she said.

“So, you never loved me all this while, you’re a good pretender” he said as he brings out a paper to take some notes.

“What’s his name?” he asked.

“Clifford” she answered.

“Where does he live” he asked again as he jotted down her answers on his paper.

“At St. Phillips’s street, but he is not always there” she replied.

“And why, does he have another house?” he questioned

“He is into drugs, he do drugs” was he reply.

“Where does he buy?” he asked.

“From san pro vio, are you going to get him” she asked.

“Why do you ask?” he demanded.

“He is in the army as well” she said.

“Alright, go to bed now” he told her and went out of the house that night. It was about 22.00GMT at the time of their conversation.

He went to the captain and they both went to the mayor’s house.

#          #          #

“And that was why we couldn’t get to this group because he was supplying them with information on our movements” Mr. Gabriel said in astonishment after Felix laid the whole information gathered before the duos.

“What next” the mayor asked.

“I’ll track him down tonight and get to the root of this nonsense” the captain replied.

During the conversation one of the mayor’s servants overheard what was said been an ally to Clifford, he went straight to him and told him to leave the city immediately.  At this moment information had gone out from the captain that all routes leading out of the city be watched. That night a curfew was imposed through a locally organized informer on the decision taken by the city’s heads.

Later in the morning, the soldiers were assembled together and unfortunately for the captain Clifford was not around to answer the urgent call made. An intelligent informer revealed that Clifford left in the early hours of the morning after the curfew was stayed. Immediately soldiers were dispatched to pursue after him. The chase seemed successful to an extent as Clifford was unable to cross the city’s border to the eastern coast where the san pro vio group were and all possible means of communications in the area was suspended and monitored. The water shores were monitored. The bushes became the second home for Clifford as he stayed in them wandering from one path to the other as the soldiers approached his base. The monitor was carried out for two months and no successful results were obtained, therefore the mayor asked the captain to withdraw his troops as the cost for their welfare increased by seventy percent.

“But sir, this wouldn’t be a nice step to take at this time, after all these months of surveillance” the captain replied each day as the mayor made every possible effort to persuade him withdraw the soldiers. Clifford stayed on the forest that linked the city with Port Sasor – a city that fought with his city on the discovering of oil wells around the boundaries of the two cities. He moved over to the city after seven months had passed and the move was not detected as the electronic monitor system company withdraws their equipment from the city due to inability of the city to pay for its dues. As he entered that night he was caught by the vigilante group of the town. He was immediately transferred to the state criminal investigation department. He was discovered to be the among the officers of the city’s hated neighbors. He was put into prison and there he remained for three months.

Chapter three

A plan retaliation was put into consideration by the san pro vio group on the city. They had reinforced and introduced other machineries whereby they may be able to attack the city’s strongest army at the water coasts. The mayor’s wife had already been induced with a memory dispenser that will be active for three weeks. The step was taken by the group as she was seen to possess the skill needed to conquer their enemies. She was trained as a high ranking officer in the cartel group and she proved perfect as the group made her the second in command. She became a powerful warrior among the group. Later that week they set out on their planned attack. They started at Port Sasor and break through all the nearest prison to free their members held in the prisons. Clifford was released and he joined the force on the attack and was amazed as he saw the mayor’s wife and her moves. The news got to the mayor’s city about his wife’s where about and immediately they came to the battle and the force was strengthened as they joined the Port Sasor army after an agreement reached by the captain of both parties’ seconds before the planned attack. Their force seemed as nothing relative to what the cartel group was doing also with the striking moves of the mayor’s wife. As the fight grew hotter, the group retreated and went away with some of their members who were imprisoned.

Right now a formidable force has been raised by the cartel group. They convinced the mayor’s wife to staying with them as they were nourished by the upper house of the state. She accepted.  She came to the understanding of what brought her there after the medicine that was given to her went out of her. She began making plans for her escape. After two months had passed, she was asked to join a raid on her city, which will be lead by Clifford at her command. She agreed to the plans laid down for her and other people that will be joining them. The night before the planned raid, a nurse was asked to come in and inject her, but she was unsuccessful as she silenced her. On the morning they group set out to carry out their plans. She wore mask on her face during the operation. They landed on the city and lay siege against it making every plan they have agreed on possible. At this battle which almost became a civil on the city as everyone lay hold on their arms for self defense. The mayor and his son Felix also joined in the battle. The battle seemed so hot on the city, so the city’s leader and his son retired to a secret place where they always hide during such moments for hidings.

#          #          #

They remained there for more than eight hours as the whole city was taken over by gunshots from all angles and corners. They were at this moment called to consciousness as the mayor was surrendered from behind by an unknown intruder who might have seen them go through the streets to their place of hidings. And immediately, the intruder was gunned down from behind by the Mr. Gabriel who hid a few meters away to see to the protection of the mayor and his son as the battle rages. As the intruder was gunned down, few seconds later, an exchange of bullet was heard from behind, closer to the mayor’s hideout and there was an unquenchable panic in the heart of the mayor as he looks up and pointing his gun towards the direction of the gunshot. Soon Felix joined his father as he leans on the back of his father facing the opposite direction of the gun.

“Take care of my back, son” the mayor said.

“And you take care of mine, dad” Felix replied.

And suddenly the bushes around seemed to move as someone’s back was viewed standing tall and huge on a small tree nearby. Few seconds later, two figures came out of the bush from opposite directions with their guns pointing at the mayor on one side and on his on the other side.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh” was the sound on Felix side as his attacker had been brought down by someone that seemed unnoticeable from the sides of the bushes. And he comes out and it was Captain Gabriel.

“Shoot, sir and let’s get out of here, I’ve got a boat prepared to take you out to a safer place” Gabriel told the mayor. But his hand seemed to hang on the trigger. Felix turns and with a fast drives swings into a drastic action and the intruder was lowered.

“Let’s go sir” Gabriel pleaded.

“Remove the mask captain and let’s know our attackers” the mayor demanded.

The man Felix brought down was first uncovered and it was Clifford.

“Clifford?” mayor shouted.

“Open the other one” he demanded.

And the mask was quickly taken out to reveal the victim of Mr. Gabriel shot.

You think you know who was Mr. Gabriel’s victim?

Got the answer, send to: uchukwuma@rocketmail.com

Visit the author’s blog: Alphasoars blog