Bounty

©Written by Victor Olusa

Episode 2

"This will be the last face you will ever see!!!" He added, swiftly bringing out a Glock 19 pistol from his back....

A loud gun shot followed his swift and quick action.

Dante fell on his knees, with blood pouring out of his mouth, the Glock 19 pistol falling from his grip. Behind stood Abel with a Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol pointed forward, with the wasted cartridge falling to the ground.

Abel moved closer towards where Dante knelt,  struggling to breathe as Abel shot him at the left side of his back, with the bullet puncturing some of his vitals organs, and almost reaching his heart.

"Who sent you?" Abel asked placing the muzzle of the pistol at the back of Dante's head.

Dante coughed, then released a mocking laughter, more blood pooling out of his mouth.

"We are all pawns in this game". He paused, inhaling more oxygen to regulate the inconsistent and painful gaseous exchange. "While they are the players".

"Who are the players?" Jenny asked aloud from where she laid on the roof with her index finger still placed on the trigger of the sniper.

"The same set of people that ordered me to eliminate your family" Dante laughed. "To destabilize you, and to get you out of the way of poking your nose into their affairs"

"The Cooler project" Abel mumbled with a shocked facial expression. "Who are those sponsoring it?"

"Find out yourself" Dante replied and fell to the ground dead...

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"So now that the assassin of my family is dead, I don't see any reason why I should still work with you or for your higher ones, which you refuse to disclose their names or anything about them to me" Abel elucidated, wrapping a bandage round his head. 

"But those that sponsored it are still alive. Didn't you hear him, the reason for thier death was to get you off their tail. If you give up now, they have won" Jenny said walking towards the fridge. She opened it and brought out a bottle of water.

"I never knew those that sponsored the cooler project. I wasn't even close to finding out" Abel replied pissed off.

"But they obviously knew you will still find out, so they acted fast"

"I can't do this on my own. I no longer work with the CIA"

"That's why I'm here." Jenny paused, taking a gulp of water from the bottle. "It's time I disclose who sent me. I am an agent from Horizon Zero".

"What's that?" 

"A top secret non governmental organization, containing early retired elite military personnels, ex mercenaries, laid off police officers, skilled hackers, with the responsibility of handling criminal cases and taking down bad guys the FBI, CIA, and others are not capable of".

"Okay..okay..okay...So this your organization sounds well equipped with all these bad ass guys, so why am I needed?" Abel asked.

"The same reason the sponsors of The Cooler project wants you out of the way...You gat potentials..you good...And we need all hands on deck to stop them" 

"Fu©k this! I ain't joining any secret organization! And I ain't investigating sh!t." Abel exclaimed, jerking up from the wooden chair he sat on. He picked his red tuxedo suit hung on the arm rest, swung it across his shoulder and walked towards the door.

"By the way, you have a nice house" he said, opened the door and walked out.

"Our paths will still cross... I'm certain"....

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"The Mayor is dead! And so is Dante!" Kim Lee spoke into the telephone, twirling round in his office seat, with a lit blunt in between his fingers.

Kim Lee, American born Korean, head of the popular and notorious cult group "Venom Tract". Also works for the inevitable 5, helping do their dirty jobs, eliminating those who stand in their way. The same cult group Dante was in..

"Hmmm" A thick masculine baritone voice sighed from the other side. "Such a pest!"

"Yes he is sir"

"Put a bounty on his head. A million dollars for who delivers his head to you. And upload it on the grey market, make sure every assassin and cult group is aware."

"Yes sir. Should we proceed with the assassination of Jàck Daniels tonight?" Kim asked.

"Yes"....

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Abel fell on his medium size bed, with the first 4 buttons of his shirt opened, exposing his hairy bare chest. His suit laid beside him on his bed. He stared at his roof as he replayed the  activities of yester night, thinking deeply as he processed a lot of things.

He stretched his left hand towards his suit, and brought out the file Jenny gave him at the mayor's party. He opened it to the first page, and glanced through. He did the same for the second and third page, then closed the file and dropped it.

He brought out his cellphone and dialed a number.

"Hey Cory."

"Hey bro!" A lively voice replied from the other end.

"I need a quick solid from you." 

"Shoot!" Cory replied.

"I need you to hack CIA database, and d******d every information gathered about The Coolers project by Other investigators and particularly John Fishman before he was murdered. Then send everything to my email".

"Hmm..okay..I thought you done with all these?" Cory asked.

"Yes I was, until some Asian chick showed up yesterday night, and pulled me into all these again. I know they have got their eyes on me all over again", Abel replied wit furrowed brows.

"Be careful Abel!"  Cory said with a concerned tone.

"This what I'm best at. And by the way, is Senator Jack Daniels hosting a party tonight?"

"No. But his son is. One wild school party going down tonight at the mansion." Cory laughed, remembering his school days also. 

Abel laughed also, knowing the reason why Cory laughed. Both went to the same highschool and attended so many school parties together hosted by the rich kids, and remembered what always went down in those parties, from drinking alcohol, to taking and sniffing of hard drugs, playing of naughty games, gang fights happening once in a while, and then ending up with two or three babes for the night.

"Alright then. Later bro." Abel ended the call.

Abel stood up from the bed, squeezing his face in pain, placing a palm on his bandaged forehead. He was having a Migraine. He hadn't taken any painkillers since the accident. He walked towards the kitchen, picked a Glass cup from the dishrack, placed it under the tap and runned water into it. 

He headed to the sitting room, picked a plastic box containing painkillers, opened it and took two tablets. He laid back on the one seater chair and swallowed the tablets, then finishing the glass of water. 

He removed his trousers and shirt, stripping himself till only his pants remained. He needed a bath.

He walked towards the bathroom, with his white towel hung round his neck, and was about to enter, but stopped Midway hearing the ringtone of his phone.

He sluggishly turned back and headed towards the direction of his bedroom where he dropped his phone, but stopped again at the loud and repeated knocking of his door.

He made a quick decision, and decided to first check who was knocking impatiently at his door.

He looked through the peep hole and saw a blonde hair lady, clad in a black glossy tight overall, with a fake smile plastered on her lips. 

She waved at the peep hole, grinning and Making hand signals to Abel to open the door for her.

Abel reluctantly opened the door halfway with the intention of asking her what she wants right there on the spot.

She violently kicked the door open, pushing Abel to the back unbalanced.

Instantly Abel knew he was in trouble. She brought out a Glock 17 pistol from her back and shot at Him twice. Abel dodged both bullets, rolling on the ground, then kicked her at her leg, knocking her off to the ground, with the gun falling from her hand. 

She did a quick Chinese get up, with a dagger in her right hand, she swiped low, giving a not too deep cut at Abel's lower abdomen. Abel blocked the next dagger attack with his palm grabbing her wrist, twisting it and using his other hand to give her a jaw breaking punch. 

Blood dripped from her mouth from the heavy punch delivered on her jaw from Abel's fist.

"I don't really like to hit women. What problem do you have with me, that you want me dead"  Abel panted as he spoke, with his palm pressing the wound he got from the dagger cut. 

She threw the dagger at him, aiming for his right eye. Abel dodged real quick, blocking a knee kick from her with both palms closed together. 

She slammed both her feet at his chest, thrusting Abel away and falling real hard on the glass table, shattering it into pieces.

Abel laid weak trying to Numb the pain he felt.

The blonde hair lady stood on top of him with the gun she just picked from the ground aimed at his head.

"This was easier than I thought. Soon I will be a million dollar richer after presenting your head" She said with a wide grin.

"What the he¢k! I gat a price on my head?? Or what?"

She pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed.

Abel acted fast, using both legs to hook hers, pulling her down to the ground where he was. He turned around, and placed his body on hers, with his palms wrapped round her neck, strangling her till she breathed her last.

He stood up, and went straight for his phone and saw 15 missed calls from Cory with two  texts from him

"Leave your residence now. I just saw on the grey market, you have a bounty on your head. Right now you are more wanted than the way Escobar was" he read the text.

He went straight to his wardrobe, wore a jean short and a sleeveless top showcasing his heavy biceps. 

He opened a  black suitcase containing pistols and clips. He picked a Berret Nano semiautomatic pistol, with 4clips and a Glock 19 pistol with another 4 clips.

He tucked them both at his back. He picked the painkillers box, and popped more pills into his mouth swallowing them straight without the aid of water. 

He dialed Cory's number, and the latter picked at the first ring.

"No time. I just got attacked by some blonde assassin. Who placed a bounty on my head" Abel spoke immediately, running down the stairs, as he occupied an apartment on the last floor of a 3 storey building.

"I don't know. You can't trace such on the grey market"

"What's a grey market?"

"Something similar to black market, but worse."

"What..." Gunshots interrupted, as Abel bent low, evading bullets aimed at him, with other bullets hitting the stair railings. 

He ran back upstairs as he also shot back,  with two cleanshots, one hitting the forehead of one out of the ten gunmen, while the other hitting the throat of a female. Reducing the number to eight.

He ran back into his apartment. Headed for the window. Jumped through it without giving it a second thought and fell on the roof of a moving truck. He waited five seconds, bringing out a detonator from his pocket, and then pressed the red button on it. Blowing up his apartment with all 8 gunmen in it. But the bomb was a small scale one, Makin sure other apartments were not affected. Then soon after he heard police sirens heading for his apartment.

He laid his back on the roof of the moving truck as he stared into the sky.

"So much for being good" He muttered...

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to be continued

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