Vain City (Pt. 7)

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Hello, guys! If you missed the previous parts of this series, you can find them here: Vain City Parts: one, two, three, four, five, six

That morning also, Yusuf had reported to the superintendent's house to drive him to the office. As they got into the car, Bashir asked him for a debriefing of the previous night's meeting at Bodey's warehouse.

"You didn't show up at my place last night after meeting Bodey. How did it go?" Bashir asked, making himself comfortable in the backseat.

"There wasn't a meeting, sir. Something came up," Yusuf answered as he started the engine.

"What came up?"

"I was being followed."

Bashir sat up, apparently alarmed, "By who?"

"I couldn't figure that out. In-"

"So, you're saying you didn't even get to identify the person following you?" he interrupted his orderly.

"I tried to do so, sir, but I nearly got shot at by the rest of the gang" Yusuf explained.

"Wait! Rest of the gang?"

"Yes sir, it's got to be Zacky and his men" answered Yusuf.

"Oh," Bashir felt a bit relieved. "He's becoming too much of a pain in the ass. But he'll soon be crushed," Bashir said, folding his fist to demonstrate.

***

Having heard all that Ibrahim told him, Mustafa began to think of the best way to handle the situation. Believing his orderly's story was not a problem. In fact, it now made more sense to him why Bashir had specifically fingered Zacky as the criminal. He had his suspicions confirmed. However, he needed more incriminating proof that the so-called businessman, Bodey, was a crime lord indeed and that he had most of the police officers on his payroll. But first, he had to meet with this Zacky who was becoming a recurring name in his investigation.

At the police station, he informed Bashir and the rest of the officers that he would be paying the Mayor a courtesy visit. But that wasn't the case. The dirty cops couldn't know that he had made contact with Zacky and that Ibrahim was actually driving him to his camp. After minutes of driving, they arrived at the camp located in the middle of a forest outside the city.

"Welcome, commissioner! I'm Zacky," a manly figure greeted the Mustafa.

"Oh, you're the Zacky I've been hearing a lot about lately. First, I want to thank you for saving my orderly's life" Mustafa said, extending his hand to Zacky.

"Just doing the right thing, sir."

"So, tell me, how did all this begin?" Mustafa was referring to Zacky's organisation.

Zacky's response to the commissioner's question was a long one. It was a story of vengeance. Zacky and his brother, John, had been orphaned when Bodey murdered their parents. Zacky's father was a former police superintendent who refused to take bribe from Bodey. The two boys grew up vowing to get the justice they deserved by themselves.

"Now, I see. This is personal for you," Mustafa said, after hearing Zacky's story.

"Not anymore, sir," Zacky said. "I'm doing this because it's the right thing. Before your arrival, the criminals in this city carried out their crimes without being questioned. My men and I intercepted some of these criminals but the police did nothing to them. Instead, they set them free to continue to terrorise the city. Now, this is about crushing crime completely in Vain City."

"Ok, fair enough," the commissioner said. "You have Bodey's drugs but it's not enough evidence for an arrest cause he'll definitely deny it. It also doesn't prove Bodey's ties with the superintendent and other officers on his payroll. Do you have a plan in mind?"

"Actually, I do have a plan, sir," said Zacky.

To be continued.