The messenger had just stepped away leaving Inu pondering the contents of the letter held in his hands. Indeed, it was authentic, even the seal had not been tempered with. But just what in the world would require such secretive action from the council that they couldn’t contact him by mail, regular postage, the old-fashioned way his father, head of the council liked it. That worried him all the more as he slowly torn open the letter with his pen knife.
He stared blankly at the only statement written in bold in the letter, “TWO DAYS, MIDNIGHT”. A baseball suddenly came flying across the park towards Inu who caught it by sheer reflex. “Sorry Mister” was the next thing he heard, three kids sweating profusely stood before him, one with a bat. Inu looked them over assessing them as he had learnt to be suspicious of any and every one, “Don’t sweat it”, he tossed their ball back at them as he stood to leave. He was never one for public places anywhere.
As he walked calmly out the park, all he could think of was the letter he had just received, what could possibly require such urgent action, or just some ploy to get him back home. He had not been home since august 11, 2031, a day he would never forget, for in that period of twenty-four hours his life had turned upside down.
The letter had not come alone, a little box wrapped with old brown paper had come with it. A box he had decided not to open in public as he could only imagine what it contained. Taking a fourth left turn, Inu had confirmed that he was in fact being followed. The assailants also seemed to notice that they had messed up as they had arrived at the same point they had started, the park.
Inu on his part kept walking, thinking on how to handle the situation at hand, three trackers, all comfortably at six foot, probably armed and not well trained to fall for such a simple trick. Inu surveyed the buildings above for a possible watcher although unlikely. Nothing, he decided, well he had to deal with these three fellows and do so away from the eye of the public. He couldn’t afford anyone getting caught up in another one of his messes.
Instantly, he broke into a stride, the trackers immediately engaged in hot pursuit. Running several blocks they saw him duck in an alleyway and followed and stopped in shock as there he was standing before them. Inu looked up, “I will give you one chance, who sent you”, to which there was no reply, just the panting of the men. “Guess I will just have to make you tell me”, he signed as he began talking great strides towards them. “Stop right there”, one of the men exclaimed as the men pulled out hand guns but before any could react Inu had covered up the distance. Knocking one of the men out with a single punch to the jaw, he pushed another into his partner, jumping in the air he landed a kick which sent both into the nearest waste bin, their guns flying out of their hands.
“I don’t want to kill you”, Inu said picking up one of the guns and pointing it at the men “just tell me what I want to know”. One of the men rushed to him earning two shots in quick succession and slumped dead, while the other had managed to pick up his weapon but was at a disadvantaged angle. “Drop it, just talk”, Inu whispered. “I can’t, they will kill my family”. The man suddenly swung around and shot his comrade who had been knocked out. Inu dispossessed him of his weapon putting him in a submission hold, the man slumped all of a sudden.
Opening the mouth of all the dead men, Inu’s suspicions were confirmed, unused cyanide pills lay in the mouths of the others. These men came prepared to meet their maker. “What a waste”, Inu thought as he closed their eyes and paid his last respects, these men were just pawns and he needed to get to the person behind the screens. He picked up one of the guns and examined it, it was a SVI Tiki-T, not an easy gun to come by. Even their teeth had been filed clean and finger prints wiped. Someone obviously didn’t like loose ends.
Expensive military grade weapons and cyanide pills, these thugs or “agberos” as they were called in his hometown were obviously well funded. This couldn’t be unconnected to the letter he had received barely half an hour ago, he thought as he placed the bodies in a hidden corner. “Well guess I’m in for an interesting couple of months”, he chucked as he slid one of the guns into his jacket walking out of the alley into the now approaching nighttime.
'''To be continued ......'''
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