The two men at the door noticed them first then tensed ,hands already lifting their weapons till they saw the man in front properly who gestured to them,making them relax slightly.
The man moved ahead till he reached the two in front and whispered some words to them which they nodded then focused ahead.
The man turned around and indicated for them to follow him inside before opening the single door after knocking three times and waiting a few seconds before hearing something and entering inside.
The others followed suit.
The room inside the building was a well lit office with a medium sized office desk and a dangerous looking dark-skinned man with broad shoulders and a scarred face which reduced his good looks sitting behind it.
There was a wooden door by the corner behind him.
There were a few seats available presumably for guests of equal prestige. As no one from their group of three was invited to sit.
The man who lead them in walked forward till he was directly in front of the office desk and bowed slightly before reporting.
"Boss G,these are the people from earlier." The man said using a hand to gesture at the three people standing close to the middle of the room.
Boss G's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at each of them one by one.
Then he spoke,his voice deep and dangerous.
"Who did you say sent you?"
Clinton looked at him directly before responding,"The big boss. Boss M."
Boss G chuckled slightly,a very dangerous sound.
"That b**tard short changed me on the earlier trade and reduced my credibility in the eyes of some customers..."
He paused,a cold sneer on his face.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you two fool dead right here?"
Clinton gulped, sweating a bit while Anthony visibly tensed.
"We brought this child to complete the earlier trade sir and my boss sends his deepest apologies." Anthony said calmly while looking down to avoid looking challenging.
Boss G looked at him then sneered once more but didn't say anything.
This time he turned his eyes to Kelechi in the middle.
Kelechi's body subconsciously shivered in response.
After a few minutes of contemplation on what to do with this incompetent fool in front of him he finally spoke.
"Tiger." He said looking at the man standing by the side.
Tiger immediately reacted with a"Yes Boss?"
"Go and call the compound doctor here. Let him access the boy." He said.
"Immediately boss." Tiger said then bowed slightly in salute before moving out.
In the office silence reigned with only the sound of crickets coming from outside and the occasional hooting of owls.
Some minutes later the silence was broken by three sharp knocks on the door.
"Come in." Boss G said.
The door opened to reveal Tiger who walked in before stepping aside to allow an elderly fair-skinned man in a not so white lab coat.
The man walked forward with a kind of elderly stride,he wore glasses over his black eyes that gleamed with something unreadable. And most of all he wore a sweet elderly smile on his face, looking every bit the warm elderly village doctor.
But Kelechi keenly noticed that when the man turned to look at them who were standing by the side Clinton and even Anthony who always looked unphased shivered uncontrollably.
They even slightly shifted away as if the space given was too small.
The elderly man noticed this but simply kept that warm smile on his face and walked forward.
"A very pleasant early morning to you Boss G." The elderly man said with a warm elderly voice and an even warmer smile as he stopped a few feet away from the desk.
"Check the boy for any deficiencies." Boss G said coldly, completely ignoring the earlier greeting.
"Okay." The elderly man said warmly with a smile still on his face as if his greeting wasn't just ignored.
Then,he turned around and walked towards the group of three.
Clinton saw this and pushed Kelechi forward causing the boy to stumble and nearly fall down.
"Now,now... that's not the right way to treat a child you know?" The elderly man said slowly as he bent down to Kelechi's level, brushing his tattered clothes with a warm smile on his face.
Although the man wasn't looking at him as he spoke Clinton felt a chill down his spine and shivered slightly,beads of sweat on his brow.
Anthony watched on with a cold, indifferent calm.
"Now child..." The elderly man said adjusting his medicated glasses as he gave Kelechi a scrutinizing look that chilled the boy for unknown reasons.
"Let's take a good look at you."
He immediately started touching Kelechi's body up and down,not in a perverse way but rather like a farmer appraising livestock.
"Interesting...he is very well fed and healthy. No physical defects." The doctor said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Then he stood up.
"I'll check him properly later,as of now he's a perfectly healthy boy." The doctor said after he stood up, looking at the boss.
After that he simply turned around and walked out the door.
There was a bit of silence before the boss gestured to Tiger who nodded and walked towards Kelechi taking his arm roughly and together they walked out the door.
"Alright gentlemen, business is done and I do hope your boss doesn't pull such a stupid stunt again, otherwise..." The boss said coldly, voice trailing off at the last part.
The clear threat was unmistakable.
Both Clinton and Anthony nodded their heads stiffly before turning around and walking out the door.
Once outside a man was waiting for them-obviously their escort - and with a stern no nonsense face led them out the compound in silence.
The early morning air was cold but the hearts of people even colder.