Black Rose

Chapter Twenty Three

Accra, Ghana
Kotoka International Airport…….. KIA

"This is it?"
"Yes but you are under no circumstance to open it till you deliver it to the Base, that is your mission, got it?"
"Affirmative"
She handed the box to the two, code named, Sage and Sparrow, the Egyptians posing as husband and wife to retrieve the box.
"And do be careful, may the Saints be with you" She smiled at them.
"You too ma'am and…….."
She did not finish her statement when suddenly, Sage dropped to the floor dead, killed by a single bullet through her head from behind. She fell on her supposedly bulging pregnancy, someone saw what had happened and screamed then everyone turned and saw the blood and the dead woman in it and they went hysterical rushing for the doors Sparrow acted on impulse thanks to his military training, he picked up the box and grabbed Melissa and rushing to take cover behind a pillar.
"Are you hit?" He said
"No" She replied.
The Egyptian looked round to fathom where the shots had come from, then he saw them, two armed men, both blacks, dressed in security uniform.
"Come with me" He took her arm and pulled her through the crowd, they took a back door and soon they were out of the airport, they had made use of the crowd and the airports structures to stay hidden.
They could not get to Melissa's car so they stole one instead. Sparrow broke the glass with a spanner wrench he'd found outside the airport, he hotwired the car as quick as he could and sped off.
Then he spoke into his mic.
"Sparrow, to Base, our mission has been compromised, I repeat our mission has been compromised, Sage is KIA, we do have the box, Pegasus is at a standstill, I repeat, Pegasus is at a standstill!"

***

Minutes after he delivered the message, Melissa's cell phone rang.
She answered.
"Hello,… Dianne you were right…if this happens that means we need to abort the missions." She said.
"Listen You need to leave Ghana ASAP, can you make it to Ivory Coast?"
"Yes we can"
"You and your niece have got to leave Ghana, ASAP, they think you have the box they will come for you, I'll reach our contacts there and get you three tickets to New Zealand, you know our hideout Mel, you'll be safe there"
"Four"
"Sorry?"
"Make the tickets Four"
"Alfre is fine, no one would target her, we still need her to make sure Richard is not with the Black Rose, we still have him on our suspect list" Dianne said.
"No not Alfre, Wes, I'll explain later"
"Just get to Green Cliff" She said and hang up.
"You knew this was going to happen?" Sparrow asked.
"Dianne suspected it so she sent a team way before she even sent you guys, they were in Ghana a week earlier, I sent them away with the disc, the box you possess is empty, Dianne suspected there was a mole within the White Rose, she's suspected it for quite some time, that’s why she intentionally called an urgent meeting, told us all the box had been found if we were going to find the mole, we needed to take the risk, I'm sorry about Aisha"
"She was prepared for it" He replied.
"What do we do now?"
"We get out of here" She said as she dialed Wes' number.
He answered almost immediately.
"Thank goodness Melissa I have been trying to call you but it seemed your number was busy or something listen I just got off the phone with Lee, Janice's family was murdered and he thinks there is a mole in the White Rose, you guys need to….."
"Wes, calm down we know, we were attacked at the airport, one of our own was killed but you need to get your stuff, and get Ady, we are leaving Ghana right now"
"Dammit, Adriana just left for the office"
"Call her tell her not to go to the office, tell her to go to my 'crazy pink place', she'll know where that is, I'll pick her up from there, meet me there, I'll send the location"
"No need, I have a GPS of my own, see you soon" He said and hang up.
"Oh my God I hope she's okay"
Akeel turned to her for the first time since he got on the road and that was when he saw the blood.
"Dammit Melissa you were hit"
"What?" She said and traced his gaze down to the left side of her stomach, she had not even felt the pain or the blood, he hadn't seen it either since she wore a loose gown.
"I don't even feel the pain" She said.
"You're in shock" He said and pulled over.
"What are you doing?"
"I need to have a look at it" He said as he got out.
"Are you crazy, we need to go now" She stuck her head out the window and screamed and that was when she felt the pain.
"He opened her door and adjusted the seat backwards"
He lifted the gown to her belly, above the waist line of the jeans she wore under it and examined the wound. He frowned then asked her to turn, he checked her back and gave her a look that was one of pity and concern.
"What is it?" She touched her back and felt the warm liquid then looked at her hand, it was definitely bloody.
"Its a  perforating wound and from the distance he shot from it has got to be an R.I.P"
"A what?"
"A Radically Invasive Projectile" He swallowed.
"We need to get you to a hospital"
He got into the car and drove off.
"I don't know of any members of the White Rose that have hospitals in Ghana or work in any for that matter, we would only waste our time, they'll call the police and……." She screamed in pain.
"Melissa these things are pretty dangerous
"You're skilled you can get it out"
"I have zero experience in the medical field and you could die"
He said bluntly driving as fast a she could.
"We can't go to the hospital, we'll just have to do it at my friends saloon"
"Are you kidding me?"
"It’s the only place you can get a sterilizer, some alcohol and a few tools you can use for the operation"
"You have got to be kidding me"
"Hurry, this hurts like……" She screamed again.
"In case anything happens to me and I don't make it, tell Wes to get into Cote d'Ivoire, find Hotel Bleu in Abidjan and look for a man named Vitalis, he's one of us and the owner of the Hotel……he'll know what to do"

***

When they arrived at the saloon, Wes and Adriana were already there and when Akeel stepped out to help Melissa, they knew instantly that something was wrong. She was bleeding badly, Wes rushed to help as the ladies in the salon cleared a table on Akeel's orders.
"What happened?"
"Naa, it’s a long story"
"Don't tell me armed robbers did this"
"Exactly"
"Where?"
"Long story Naa" She said.
"Aunt don't talk, you'll be fine"
Adriana was hysterical.
Wes tried to take her away but she insisted on staying. She held unto her Aunts hand as Akeel sterilized the tools.
Her aunt began to doze off.
"Melissa you need to stay with us"
"Aunty please don't die, you can't leave me"
Adesha appeared. Wes shot her a look.
Akeel cut through her dress and poured half the container of spirit on the wound as everyone else watched on. Tina then sacked the girls to go out.
"You can't call the police, neither of you" Akeel said to everyone. Some nodded others looked confused and simply followed their mistress' orders and walked out.
"Come with me dear, you don't have to be here"
Tina said, pulling Adriana aside and this time she obliged, sobbing, she allowed herself to be taken to the other part of the salon. Wes kept talking to Melissa but it was just a matter of time before she passed out.
He quickly checked her pulse.
"She's still alive but barely, oh my God cant we get a doctor or something? it's worth the risk" He said.
"If you want people to barge in here with guns and take her into custody, you and I inclusive and torture us all into revealing the……." Aware he was going to give off classified information he broke off.
"....Look, I'll try my best to keep her alive, for now but I need you both to get out of here, you need to get into ivory Coast, get to Hotel Bleu in Abidjan ask for a man named Vitalis and tell him this 'Cerberus is on the loose', he'll understand"
"What of you guys?"
"We'll catch up"
"We can't leave her…."Wes began to say, staring at Melissa.
"I'm not asking……..you have a mandate to get her to safety now"
"Listen to him Wes" Adesha said.
He was quiet for a while, confused….
"Go now!" Akeel screamed at him and he walked away to get Adriana who resisted. She resisted so much he had to practically drag her into the car screaming and crying like a child. He hated having to do that. It broke him but he had to.....he was mad…very mad at those who had done that, who were ruining her life, they'd gotten her family and now the only person left on earth who loved and kept her safe was almost dying……..
"Wes I'm sorry for getting you into this mess, I honestly didn't know things will get this bad"
Adesha said, Appearing in the backseat.
He said nothing, he was just too furious to speak.
"Take me back Wes I need to go back" Adriana sniffed. She was sobbing and breathing so hard, she looked to be having a panic attack, before he knew it , she'd opened the door. He stepped on the brakes so hard they both jerked forward. The cars behind honking as his sudden act had caused them all to halt as well. He grabbed her and stretched to shut the door locked it again and drove to the side of the road.
"Listen to me, we can't go back Ady, I hate leaving her behind too but we have to for your safety"
"What do they want, why are they doing this to me, why?" She cried and Wes released his seatbelt and wrapped his arms around her drawing her in a hug till she calmed down then they set off again.
Adesha watched on, broken, she could feel her pain. She too was furious, she hated being useless, but her helplessness was coming to an end, she had to help, she didn't know how but she had to!

Authors Note

Yaaaaayyy you made it this far but vote mehn😒😒😒