The Hyena Code — Continuation 9
Someone was planning an ambush.
Yemi was not sure who it was but he knew there was a mole among the three new guys he had enlisted for this mission. Or worse case scenario, they were all moles. He had been connected to them via the influence of a former cult leader, a trusted friend of his, and who had had the current cult leader send his best shooters to him. It was the same friend that informed him of the proposed ambush. A life for a life, his friend’s debt was now paid.
The change of plan was not a change of plan, hitting the bank had always been the plan. He was the only one who knew why they had to hit a bank and why it had to be that bank. It was never about the money. But he couldn’t let anyone in on the original plan just in case they had had time to perfect their ambush. He had to keep them guessing and ill-prepared.
He knew he could trust his two friends, Tony and Usman. But he needed them in the dark for now. They were both hotheads and might be unable to keep their emotions in check. If they moved against the moles too soon, they could jeopardize the whole mission.
It was going to be a long night, and he knew he was not going to get much sleep. His freedom and his life were now at stake.
But he had an ace up his sleeve.
An ace no one would see coming from half a mile away.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
In a Commercial Bank on the outskirts of Lagos. 8:45am.
Yemi passed through the metal detectors at the entrance into the banking hall and headed straight for the customer service unit, which was beside the cubicles that housed the bank cashiers and was opposite the main entrance. The customer service unit had two officers seated side by side on their desks, and a third officer was seated behind them, who was the unit head.
He adjusted his black face cap and inserted an earpiece into his ear, and his all-black attire was a sharp contrast to the sky blue colour of the banking hall. He frowned as he stopped at the desk of the unit head. “Good morning, I have come for my money that your ATM didn’t release to me. My account has been debited for over two weeks now, and no reversal of the debit has been done.”
The middle-aged woman looked up at him, smiled, and pulled a form from a file on her desk. “Good morning sir, sorry about that. I will need you to….”
“No, no, no. I’m not filling that form again,” Yemi shouted.
She flinched. “Please sir, calm down.”
“Stop telling me to calm down. I’ve filled that form twice or thrice, yet no action. And you are telling me to calm down. Do you think money grows on trees? If it was your money, would you be calming down?”
“Sir, please step into my office. We will resolve this issue immediately.”
Yemi turned to the man who had just spoken, his tag read, Head of Banking Operations (HBO). He turned back to glare at the woman. She looked down at her table. Yemi then followed the HBO, who opened a security door and led Yemi behind the bank cashiers who were seated in their cubicles, into his office.
“He is in,” Usman said to the two guys in the car and removed the earpiece from his ear. Then he turned and nodded to Tony who was in another car beside them. The two cars were parked in the bank’s gated compound along with a couple of other vehicles belonging to the bank's staff and customers. The unarmed guard at the gate had welcomed them with a salute when they drove in.
The five of them all got out of the two cars and walked separately towards the banking hall entrance. There were two long queues outside the bank, one for those using the ATM and the other for those who wanted to enter the banking hall. The guys, individually and at different points, joined the queue of those who wanted to enter the bank.
It was a sunny morning, so Usman and Tony used it as a pretense to leave the queue and join other customers who stood under the shade cast by a tall building that was in another compound beside the bank.
Two armed Policemen attached to the bank were seated in the shade, their rifles resting on their laps. The third officer was seated beside the gatehouse and his rifle was leaning on the wall.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The way the young man shouted and raved till he got the attention of the HBO had Daniel’s senses on the alert. He knew something was up, but was not sure what it was. He had scrutinized the young man over and over, and he didn’t notice any bulge that suggested he was armed. However, the young man exuded an aura of danger. Daniel knew from his experience as a member of the Special Intelligence Force (SIF) that some dangerous fellows looked nothing like the evil they committed.
Daniel glanced at his colleague, Uzo, who was standing close to the counter. They were both in the Bulk Cash lodgement room, which was opposite the office of the HBO. The feeling of dread he woke up with had grown stronger when Uzo had insisted they come to the bank to lodge the ransom money they had recovered the previous night from the kidnappers of a popular pastor. He and Uzo had waited for the ransom to be paid and the pastor released, then they had tracked the kidnappers to their hideout and in the ensuing gunfight, they killed three of them while two escaped with gunshot wounds.
He would have preferred they took the cash back to their head office. But he did not want to insist as it could look like he had an ulterior motive. Daniel watched as the young man entered the HBO’s office. He could only see their heads when they both sat down.
“You feel his vibe too,” Uzo whispered, as he stood beside him.
“Yeah, too bad we had to leave our guns in the car,” Daniel replied.
“We can take him. He is just one man. But what’s the aim of getting into the HBO’s office?”
Daniel looked at Uzo who was about two inches taller than him at 6 foot 2. He was heavyset, while Uzo was all muscle no fat. “That’s where the bank’s secret alarm button is. The one that is connected to the Police Station. And any intelligent fool can figure out that the HBO would know the code to the vault.” Daniel added, “I’m not sure. But my hunch tells me this might be a robbery attack.”
“Okay. You move to the customer service area, I will distract him once he comes out of the office. Then you sneak up from behind and grab him.”
“But he does not look like he has a gun on him. At most, he could have hidden a knife or two on him. I’m trying to imagine how he plans to rob the bank with a knife.”
“Well, never say never. Let’s just be prepared for the worst.”
“Okay. Death strike?”
Uzo shook his head. “No. We need him conscious and alive.”
Daniel frowned. “Why?”
“He is likely not working alone. Besides, he might have the information we need.”
“Hmm. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“You dey fear? We are bigger than him. So between the two of us, we can handle him.”
“I prefer a dead lion to a living dog.”
Uzo gave a reassuring smile. “Calm down. We can do this.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Trust me. We can do this.”
“Okay.”
“Relax, we’ve got this,” Uzo said and lightly punched Daniel’s shoulders as he walked away.
To be continued…
Signed
Olumide Holloway (King Olulu)
