How Peter Abel escaped from desert prison

How Peter Abel escaped from desert prison

The call came into Chief Benson’s office late one afternoon. The muffled voice simply recited the address of a house near Minna, the capital of Niger State, and said Abel would be there. But to hurry because he might not be alive much longer.

Benson arranged for a quick flight to Bammak City, then for an ambulance and paramedics to drive with him out to the remote address. When he pulled up to the ramshackle place, he wondered if this was a cruel hoax. Either Abel wouldn’t be there or he would already be dead.

Advertisement

 

á   á   á   á   á

Advertisement

 

Peter Abel became dimly aware of voices and people moving around him. He realized he wasn’t dead and opened his eyes. A sturdy man in a white uniform was kneeling beside him with an IV stand to his left. Over the man’s other shoulder Chief Benson looked down, an expression of deep concern on his face.

“Take it easy, Peter. The cavalry’s here. And the medical corps. I’d say we got here just in time.” Abel could barely make sense of the words. He closed his eyes as he felt a slight prick in his arm.

Advertisement

Abel tried to remember where he was and what had happened, but he couldn’t think. He suddenly felt exhausted by the effort. Even opening his eyes wore him out. He let himself drift off to sleep.

 

á   á   á   á   á

 

Advertisement

When word reached Rika that Peter Abel was alive and had been transferred to a hospital in Lagos in critical condition, she was furious – no matter that reports said he could still die. Rika knew he wouldn’t. He was like a cat. He had plenty of lives left.

Huud was not in his office, which had become the norm. Rika noticed lately he was there only to sign paperwork and take care of things he couldn’t pass on to some assistant or department head. She wondered if the man was having a mental breakdown. In any event, she couldn’t depend on him for anything, as if she ever could have.

Rika demanded her driver take her to party headquarters immediately. She stormed into Tiko’s office, interrupting a strategy session on an upcoming local election and cleared the room. When they were alone, Rika flew into a rage. “You told me Peter Abel would not bother us again.”

“A guard helped him escape. Under interrogation, he told us where the safe house was, but we got there too late. Abel had already been rescued.”

Advertisement

“And?”

“And he’s under heavy police guard. We’ll never get to him now. Not while he’s in the hospital at least. And who knows, he could still die.”

Rika ignored Tiko’s wishful thinking. “Who paid the guard? This person must be found and dealt with. You have an informant, Timo. A very serious problem.”

Tiko nodded. “We’ll find the leak, and that person will be taken care of.”

Advertisement

“I heard the tip came to Chief Benson from overseas. An anonymous call.”

Tiko looked at her, clearly surprised. “Yes. I heard the same thing.”

“But you weren’t going to tell me?”

“Of course I was,” Tiko said.

“Millie is out of the country.”

She saw Tiko stiffen. “She wouldn’t do that. And she didn’t even know where Abel was.”

“See that the man is taken care of. Immediately. He can bring us down, Tiko. All of us.”

“As soon as we can move against Abel, we will,” Tiko promised. Rika could see he was terrified of her and he should be. She was planning on using her own people to kill Abel. Then maybe her husband.  And Camp, as well; let him join his wife and children.

Rika walked from the room.

 

á   á   á   á   á

 

After she left, Tiko sat in his chair, shaken. It had crossed his mind, too, that Millie might have been the one responsible for Abel’s escape. But he couldn’t figure out how she could have learned of the kidnapping. He tried to recall if she had left the country before it happened, but events of the last few weeks had escalated so quickly he couldn’t be absolutely sure of the sequence. If Millie found out about the abduction, she certainly had ways of finding out where the reporter had been taken. And she would never condone murder.

Tiko had enjoyed bedding Rika, but he wouldn’t let her run wild. And he feared that once she got started, he wouldn’t be able to stop her. Frankly, he was worried she’d kill him.

Tiko picked up the phone and dialled. After two rings, Huud answered his cell. “Yes?”

“Idi, it’s Timo. I believe Rika is going to move against me.”

Huud laughed on the other end of the line. “Welcome to my world, Timo..”

“Idi, if she moves against me she’ll also deal with you.”

“What am I supposed to do, Timo? You made it clear long ago I was simply your front man, your errand boy. And now you want me to what? Save you from her?”

“I want you to help me save both of us.”

“She won’t hurt me, Timo. If I go, she loses her power. She only has this First Lady position because I’m governor. She needs me. You on the other hand …”

Tiko hung up and cursed, knowing Huud was right. In some bizarre way, Huud, the dullard, had outfoxed him and was going to let Tiko swing alone. Tiko wouldn’t let this happen, no way. He would strike first.

 

á   á   á   á   á

 

After Huud hung up the phone, he went back to his business, finalising arrangements with his loyal secretary, Issa. Issa had been close enough to witness the humiliation of his boss, and was therefore willing to see an end to it.

“Sir, as you can see, your tickets, visa and all the reservations are set,” he said proudly.

“You have been a true brother, James Issa. I won’t forget this.”

Huud had also arranged for all of his money to be transferred into a secret account that he had opened when the trouble first started. Rika knew he had stolen, but she had no idea how much or where the funds had gone. She had no access to his accounts, so she would never know the money had disappeared.  And she would be pained by that because she always boasted half of his wealth was hers.

The truth was, the longer he thought about the deaths of Camp’s family, and the more time he spent with the man, the more depressed he grew. He couldn’t fix the mess he had made, he couldn’t bring Rika and Tiko down without going to jail himself, but he could get out. Everything was in place to flee, save one detail. He needed to talk Comfort into fleeing with him. That was the most important part of this whole plan. He had prepared for it, even buying her papers and a passport under a phoney name. But would she come with him? He was gambling it all on the hope that she would.

 

á   á   á   á   á

 

After one week in the hospital under heavy guard, Abel was still very ill but feeling stronger. During the long days in bed, he was able to ponder the experience. He mourned the loss of his friend, Billings, and had told both the police and Benson that whoever had kidnapped him had murdered Billings and Camp’s family.

The day before, Abel had dispatched a story, written with another reporter, about his experience in the desert. He recounted Muzo’s death. Things had quieted down while Abel was in captivity, but the article stoked the fires. That morning demonstrations against the party and the government broke out all over Bammak City.

Benson reported to Abel that Camp felt he was close to breaking Huud. He and the governor were spending a lot of time together, and apparently Huud had said things to Camp, which made him suspect Huud was going to turn against Tiko and testify about the corruption. Huud had admitted nothing, but was talking about changing his life, cleaning the slate and getting back to what he had once done so well.

Benson arrived early one morning, looking grave. “What is it, chief?” Abel asked, struggling to sit up in bed.

“I received some reports from the street about your safety. Apparently, there will be another attempt on your life.”

Abel closed his eyes and lay back. “These people don’t give up, do they?”

“This is more than political, Peter. This has to be personal. What did you do?”

Abel wanted to tell him he’d refused to sleep with Rika, but it sounded too ridiculous to be the reason for all this nonsense. “Look, I don’t know for sure. But Rika Huud is a crazy woman. My guess, she’s behind a lot of this. Getting Huud to turn on her would be a lot more productive than turning on Tiko.”

Benson nodded. “I’m inclined to agree, but we have nothing on her except living large.”

“When I get out of here, I’ll give you plenty.”

“That’s what I came to tell you, Peter. I’m worried we can’t protect you here. You’re not well enough to be out and about, so I’m sending you to London, Queen’s Cross Hospital. Great place.  Where I go every year for my physical.”

Abel was about to argue, but didn’t bother since he knew Benson wouldn’t change his mind. “You think I’m strong enough to travel?” was the only squeak of protest he mustered.

“Our doctor says you are, and I’m sending him with you to make sure you arrive in good shape.”

“You’re flying the doctor to London?”

“Yes. And before you ask, it’s partly because I feel guilty about what you went through.”

Abel laughed so hard he almost pulled out his IV.  Benson finally joined him. Abel looked at his boss with great affection and thought how nice it was to be alive and how unlikely that circumstance seemed only a week ago.

 

á   á   á   á   á

 

Abel rested comfortably in Queen’s Cross Hospital for almost a week after he arrived from Nigeria. For the first two days, all the tissues and systems of his frail body were subjected to a thorough medical examination. He was getting stronger and eating more and felt almost ready to be discharged. It became a daily argument with the doctor.

Abel had an agenda for wanting to leave. Benson told him that when he was discharged he was to remain in London and work with Inspector Clarke, who had been following up on Comfort Deree’s leads. The inspector had indicated to Benson he was getting close to arresting an English citizen for money laundering in connection with the Tinnakan corruption investigation. Abel wanted to cover that arrest.

 

á   á   á   á   á

 

On the day Peter Abel was to leave the hospital, Chief Benson gave him direct orders to remain in the wheelchair inside the lobby until he was called for by several detectives. Whether he liked it or not, Abel was getting protection again, though not as up-close-and-personal as it had been with Billings. Benson had booked him a suite at the Star Point Hotel, on Kingsway. The rooms on either side of the suite and across the hall would be occupied for the duration by off-duty police officers being paid by Benson. At least one would be outside Abel’s door whenever he was in the room. Even the maids had been screened.

The detectives escorted Abel to Inspector Clarke’s car and pulled in behind when it drove off. Clarke had promised Abel he could be in on the arrest of Martin Pinch, who was Tiko’s and Huud’s business associate in London.

The night before, Clarke had visited Abel in the hospital and told him in confidence that his investigation had linked Pinch to several high-end properties, which he had purchased with funds he could not account for. He simply said he had silent partners, whom he refused to name.

There was, alas, no paperwork actually linking the Nigerians to the property, but they sat on the board of the corporation that owned these estates.

The inspector and his men had managed to trace the money used for the purchase of estates back to Nigeria by examining books seized from Pinch’s business. The money came from government accounts. However, there was no way to pinpoint the actual thieves.  A good lawyer could argue the thief or thieves could have hacked into the government coffers from anywhere in the world.

The only one the police had in hand was Pinch. They knew he had handled the transactions. At first, he claimed ignorance, but government lawyers put together a case against him. The only way Pinch could stay out of jail was to name others.

Clarke was waiting for a warrant and would arrest Pinch the next day and formally charge him. Abel was invited to witness this act, and Clarke hoped, under pressure, Pinch would make a deal and give up the Nigerians.

Abel settled into the passenger seat beside Clarke and drew a deep breath of clean air, happy to be alive.

“A banner day, inspector,” he said. “Great work!”

“Peter, I must sincerely apologise for the leads I had given you earlier, but I am happy Comfort’s involvement in the search turned out to be positive for us all.”

“No, that is not strange in our kind of work, but you can trust that I had other leads,” he said and patted Clarke on the back.

They drove to an upscale business area and got out of the car. As they rode up the elevator, Clarke drew the warrant from his coat pocket. When they left the elevator they were met by two uniformed police who were there to affect the arrest.

Clarke and company entered Pinch’s large suite of offices. There was no receptionist present so the men proceeded directly to Pinch’s office and opened the door. They all stopped in their tracks. Pinch lay on the floor, dead, a bullet wound to the head. His secretary, a middle-aged woman with brightly coloured fingernails lay nearby, also dead of an apparent gunshot wound.

One thing was very clear. Martin Pinch would not make the case against Tiko, Rika and Huud.

 

 

 

 

No Comments

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.