Mr Franklin mind was already thinking the worst but he was using years of experience to keep his voice level.
He checked the time on his silver wristwatch.
5:02 pm.
"Have you tried calling Mr Clinton's line?" He asked.
"Yes. Several times already."
The dread grew heavier.
"And...?"
" He refused to pickup. Not even once."
" Now this is very serious."
"I know sir."
Mr Franklin took a deep much needed breath then released it.
""Did they go somewhere else?"
"That's the problem sir. An hour to the time I was supposed to come pick up Kelechi from school,my younger brother Clinton asked to pick him up as a form of uncle, nephew bonding,after that, for some reason I was just feeling to tired to disagree. Some minutes later I fell asleep and it was just some minutes ago that I was woken up by calls." Martins said voice tinged with something complex.
"Pardon me. Don't cut the call yet, I just need a minute to clarify something." Mr Franklin said and ran hurriedly to the security guard building that was beside the gate.
"Ade!" He called out from outside.
"Sir...?" A voice came from inside as the sounds of approaching footsteps was heard.
Ade the security guard finally came out wearing a white singlet with normal plain trousers.Ade is a fair yourba young man of average height and average facial features.
"Did u see who carried Kelechi home?" Mr Franklin asked.
"Kelechi...? Ohh,that dark boy right?" Mr Ade said after some thought.
"Yes that one."
"Well,when I looked outside last I saw Mr Chinedu and one tall dark man entering a dark blue camery with the boy." Ade said casually after much thought.
Mr Franklin thanked him and focused on the person on the other line.
"You heard what he said right? What you need to do now is to call the police and report this case immediately." He said, voice serious.
"Really? B-but Clinton maybe bad but even he won't stoop this low to do something like this." Martins said with clear disbelief in his voice.
"It's better to be wrong than to waste any more time. If I'm wrong then I'm willing to take any responsibility for whatever might happen." Mr Franklin said.
"Alright then. I'll do that right now."
*Beep.
Mr Franklin stared at the now disconnected phone on thought about the possibility of the young boy who hadn't seen anything yet currently being in danger.
"I really do hope I'm wrong." He muttered to himself.
Umuchike Road
Close to Owerri.
6:38 pm.
Chikodi sat in the middle seat section of the big bus that was the company's mode of transport for the event. He wore a grey suit
The bus was filled with laughter and chatter of his fellow colleagues.
Chikodi wanted to laugh but couldn't. He felt a nagging sense of unease since over two hours ago but he couldn't place where it was coming from.
He had already called Martins some hours earlier in the afternoon concerning his son and he just spoke with his wife 30 minutes ago.
'So what exactly is the problem?' He thought feeling the unease growing instead of reducing.
Yesterday his wife called tell him that she had a surprise for him when he came back and he was looking forward to it.
*Ring! Ring! Ring!
The sound of his phone ringing pierced through his thoughts and prompted him to casually reach inside one of his trouser pockets that was vibrating.
He pulled out the phone,looked at the caller ID,smiled a bit and answered.
"Hello Martins,howfa-"
"Brother Chikodi there's a serious issue at hand here." Martin's voice interrupted him halfway sounding seriously worried.
Chikodi felt the unease growing.
His fingers subconsciously tightened on the phone.
"What happened?" He asked voice cold and serious.
"Brother Chikodi I'm really sorry about what happened today, please for-"
"Sorpuruchi." Chikodi said voice dropping a few more degrees,"what happened?"
"Where are you now first? Are you driving?" Martin's asked.
Chikodi's eyes narrowed.
"No. I'm not driving currently. I'm in the company's provided bus and we're very close to Owerri."
Martin's gave a small breath of relief.
Chikodi frowned slightly upon hearing that.
"Brother Chikodi..." Martins said voice shaking a bit." Kelechi is missing."
There was a very heavy pause after that.
Chikodi felt like something exploded in his head and immediately started breathing heavily.
One of his colleagues noticed and patted him on the shoulder repeatedly asking if he was okay.
Martin's was on the other end calling his name repeatedly.
Some minutes later Chikodi finally controlled himself and placed the phone back to his ear. He was gripping the phone tightly now.
"What." He said voice strained with a hint of something dangerous."Happened?"
"After the call with you to remind me on picking Kelechi, Clinton over-"
"CLINTON!!" Chikodi roared, voice instantly cutting through the joyful chatter in the bus.
Everyone stopped talking immediately and looked at him,but Chikodi didn't even notice. His mind was elsewhere filled with an unbridled rage that was held on by the last vestiges of his experience of calm.
"WHAT THE HELL DID THAT B**TARD DO TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS?!!" Chikodi roared once more.
No one in the bus tried to stop him because they all say the emotions on his face.
Underneath all that anger was a raw fear.
A genuine fear of losing someone important to him.
"Brother please calm dow-"
"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN SORPURUCHI! THIS IS MY SON WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE." Chikodi roared once more,voice very nearly breaking but he was trying his best to control himself.
Chikodi then took a deep breath, closing his eyes tightly then gently loosened them before finally breathing out.
"Save your stories for now Martins, here's what I need you to do; one, don't tell Chioma anything about this yet. Two, call the police and have them on the matter immediately,start by tracking your car because I know very well that that lazy fool won't and don't have one to call his."