(Continued from The Warrior Princess V)
Dave smiles at his fortune. It may have taken him many years, but he is finally going to “score” on Celina. He doesn’t love or even like her. But she is beautiful, and he has always wondered how it would feel to take her to bed. It started with a bet while they were in medical school. He was the ultimate casanova on campus, so his friends dared him to seduce her and get her to his bed. Everybody knew she was dating a Cabinet Secretary and had no time “small boys” as she called her colleagues on campus. But that did not deter Dave. He tried to seduce her, was treated with loads of contempt, but kept trying and failing. The more she resisted him, the more he became obsessed with the idea of bedding her.
It may have taken years, but it is finally happening. And all he has to do is kill a woman who is dying anyway.
Just like Celina, he figures that the best way to kill a patient post-surgery is to inject them with an overdose of anesthesia. Getting a hold of the substance is not difficult for a doctor who knows his way around the hospital. That way, an autopsy will blame the anesthetist if the patient does not wake up from the ICU.
Fortunately, he is on call and will be expected to be roaming around the wards. The Governor will be in a private ward so giving her the injection will not be difficult. As he leaves his office and goes to find the anesthesia, he is thinking about nothing else except Celina.
*
“What do you think you are doing?” someone asks. Celina whirls around and comes face to face with a small-bodied, middle aged woman.
“I am a doctor. I am doing my job,” Celina replies, trying to control her panic. Who is this woman and what is she doing here? She needs to shoo her away so that she can finish her job.
“My husband’s doctor is Dr. Muriithi, and he has told me that no medication will be administered on my husband for the next eight hours. So what exactly are you doing?”
Celina is furious. That fool Henry will pay for this dearly. But now she needs to control her temper and get rid of this woman.
“I am not sure why Dr. Muriithi told you that madam, because he is the one who told me that your husband needs a pain reliever. He told me to help him with the injection because he needs to rush somewhere,”
The woman smiles.
“You must think I am a fool. I have just been with Dr. Muriithi, and he is not going anywhere. Besides why would he send another doctor to administer a painkiller? Aren’t there nurses in this hospital?”
This woman is becoming a nuisance. Celina’s mind is working quickly. How can she get rid of her without causing a scene? Perhaps she should just act authoritatively. She makes a step towards the woman. Her intention is to hold the woman by the shoulders then gently shoo her away from the room. If she proves to be stubborn, tell her to go and complain to the CEO. But before she can get where the woman is, the woman draws a pistol.
“Give me that syringe,” the woman orders.
“You have no idea who you are messing with. You will regret this,” Celina says defiantly. She has no intention of surrendering the syringe.
“The only one who will regret anything is you. Now, are you going to give me that syringe or do I have to take it from you by force?”
“Take it by force,” Celina says cynically, before she can stop herself. The woman probably doesn’t even know how to use the gun. She probably just got one because her husband is a former Governor. Spoilt housewife.
But the woman takes her by surprise. Before she can realize what is going on, she is on the floor and the syringe has been taken away from her. The woman has moved with surprising speed. And she is wearing a gloves. She is clearly a pro.
“Don’t look so surprised doctor. You have not seen anything yet. I will have the contents to this syringe examined so that I can tell what you intended to kill my husband with,”
Just then, there is commotion outside, and the door opens. Henry is leading a team of medical personnel. Some of them are carrying a stretcher. It doesn’t take long for Celina to realize what is happening. They are transferring the Deputy Governor. Henry is surprised to see Charles’ wife pointing a gun at Celina, who is still on the floor.
“Doctor, this woman says you sent her to administer this drug to my husband. Is that right?”
“No, I told her no such thing,” Henry replies.
He is still surprised at the idea of the pretty Deputy Governor’s wife wielding a gun. But if he knew who she is, or that she had known what he told her in his office before he even said it, he would be stunned. But he has no idea.
“I thought so,” Mrs. Kanga replies, grinning.
Charles is carefully put on the stretcher and taken to one of the two waiting helicopters. He will be flown to Pride Hospital, a private hospital in Nairobi. His wife is left in the ward, still pointing a gun at Celina. Henry gives them one last amazed glance and hurries out of the room.
Celina is surprised when Mrs. Kanga is left behind. She still has no idea who the woman hovering above her with a gun is, besides being the wife of the Deputy Governor.
“Aren’t you going with your husband?”
“I will catch up with him later. But right now I have business to take care of. You. You see, doctor, I have stayed away from my husband’s political career all these years because we agreed very early in our marriage that neither one of us will use his/her position to influence the other’s career. We wanted to progress in our careers by merit. Sometimes it was difficult. I was particularly annoyed to see him getting frustrated and humiliated as Governor. By I stayed clear because that is what he wanted. But this time, you and your people have crossed the line. By making an attempt on my husband’s life, you have invited me to a war. I don’t care whether Charles would have approved my intervention or not. You touch my husband, you have touched me. And you, Celina, will be the first casualty of this war,”
Celina is surprised that the woman knows her name. She checks her chest. She is not wearing a name tag.
“No, I didn’t read your name from a name tag, Celina. Immediately my husband was shot, I made it my business to know you and your bosses in the Caucus. I have always known that that Caucus is made up of crooks who are up to no good, but since I have had no information that they have ever committed any federal offences, I have never bothered to look into them. I knew they were frustrating my husband, but like I said, we had agreed to stay away from each other’s work. But now that they have declared war on me, my agents are digging up their histories. If any of them has ever committed a federal offence, God help them. But I don’t even have to dig very far to get something on you, Celina. Attempting to assassinate the Deputy Governor of a State is a federal offence. But I am sure we will find more, because people like you cannot stay out of trouble. You simply are never caught because you have godfathers. But now that I have you and your godfathers on my radar, every dirt will come up. And oh, in case you are wondering, my name is Ingrid Auma,”
Celina freezes. Very few people have ever seen the face of the Director of the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), the dreaded federal agency that chases federal criminals across states. She is a career detective who has risen through the ranks over the years. Her appointment to the position of Director by the former President eight years ago did not require parliamentary approval, so she was not publicly vetted. She does not talk to the press. But almost everyone in the country knows her name. Ingrid Auma.
*
Dave has the syringe with anesthesia in his pocket as he walks towards the Governor’s room. To his delight, she is alone. He had thought he would find her husband there and had already started thinking of ways to send him away. But now that she is alone, he will have to be swift. He will do the necessary before anyone arrives.
He removes the syringe from his pocket and is just about to inject when the door opens. He turns around with a smile, ready to give a cover up story to whatever family member or nurse that has entered. Instead, he comes face to face with two NCIS officers, their guns aimed at him.
“Drop the syringe, doctor,” the older one says.
Dave obeys. He has never been a hero in his life, and is not about to try to be one now. He knows attempting to assassinate a State Governor is a federal offence. But how did the feds know what he was about to do? Did Celina set him up? Is that why she agreed to sleep with him-because she knew it would never happen? He knows she is a dangerous woman, but he has never crossed her so why would she set him up? His mind is in a turmoil as he is led to the federal van that will transport him to the federal holding center.
*
Kibaara smells trouble when he sees the two NCIS helicopters land. He watches from his office window as paramedics troop out of one. But it is the other one that makes his blood run cold. He is sure that the men hopping out of the second helicopter are NCIS officers.
He needs to get out of here as soon as possible. The feds can only come because they have caught wind of the plot against the Governor and her deputy. But first he needs to inform the Chairman. The Chairman will get this sorted within no time.
*
The NCIS officers listen triumphantly as Kibaara tells the Chairman of the Caucus that their plans to assassinate the Governor and her deputy have failed and that federal officers have arrived in a helicopter. His line is supposed to be secure, but the officers from the NCIS Chuka office arrived and commandeered the hospital communication center. The young men and women manning the station are not allowed to leave the room or use cell phones. The officers have hacked all the phones, but the one they were most interested in is the CEO’s secure line.
They were sure from the beginning that the CEO was involved. They just needed him to call someone and admit his involvement on phone. And he has. The network is unfolding. Within a week, they will have everyone involved in the assassination plot. Having gotten what they wanted, they move quickly and arrest Kibaara.
*
The Chairman of the Caucus rocks in his chair gently. He is holed up in an underground office in his farm. Above him is a store with maize, beans and other cereals that are normally harvested from his various farms. There are no employees in the warehouse at this time, although there are workers in the farm. There is a secret door on the floor of the warehouse that very few people know about. It leads to an underground apartment complete with an office. It is his hiding place.
At sixty one, the Chairman has a lean and athletic frame, unlike other members of the Caucus who are fat with bulging bellies. He is a sharp dresser and takes personal grooming very seriously. He watches his diet carefully, and works out every morning. His office is also neat, not a single thing out of place.
He is not a man to display emotion. Right now he is bubbling with anger on the inside, but his face is impassive. He will deal with all those incompetents who failed him, but right now he has a bigger fish to fry. Ingrid. She rarely appears in public with her husband, but when she does, usually in small intimate events, she introduces herself as Auma Kanga and imagines nobody knows who she is. Most people don’t. But the Chairman knows her position in the federal government too well. He did not become the leader of the Caucus by being an ignorant fool.
She needs to be silenced. He will get the three choppers carrying Ingrid, the Governor and the Deputy Governor shot down. He has been informed that the Governor was also picked at Eagle Flight Hospital by a NCIS chopper less than ten minutes ago.
There is a sophisticated drug and smuggling cartel that owes him several favors. He is the one who opened the Tharaka Nithi market for them, and locked out a rival drug cartel. And since the Caucus controls the leadership of the State, the Chairman ensures that the cartel’s people are not bothered by the State Police as they peddle their drugs. That is always a better option than having to kill cops. The drug cartel is a deadly gang with sophisticated equipment that will pick the planes in the air within no time. Wherever the planes will be, there will be a cartel group that can shoot them down. The drug network is that wide.
Ingrid has over the years tried to destroy the cartel to no avail, largely because they have very powerful friends in the federal government. And since they owe him, he only needs to say the word and the three choppers will blow up long before they reach Nairobi.
He leans forward on his desk, picks the telephone and makes a call to Kashfa, the leader of the cartel. Then he leans back and smiles. The three will be dead soon, and Tharaka Nithi will remain the playground of the Caucus.
(Continued Here)
Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/universe-moon-african-woman-galaxy-3281542/
***
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