KING LARRY 2

Detective Chuks swore at his ringing phone as he struggled to dislodge himself from the woman beside him in bed. He checked his digital watch and it read '2am'. Shit! He thought. Who in his right senses would call him at this hour?
The woman woke up slowly; Chuks smiled. It had been a fun night for both of them until now.

'Hello?' he spoke in a drowsy voice.

'Whoa, Chuks! Don't tell me you're still sleeping?" The voice on the other end asked.

'Yes. I was sleeping like other normal people before you called.'

'Stop talking Chuks and listen to me. I wouldn’t call you if it wasn't important.'

'What's wrong?'

'A few hours ago. We received a 911 call from an anonymous person who reported hearing gunshots in a warehouse.'

'So?' Chuks replied lazily. He knew what it meant. Gunshots usually required investigating and he was about to be dragged into it.

'I'll pretend I didn't hear that Det. Chuks. On arriving to the scene we saw bullets marks on the ground, plus bloodstains.'

'Bullet marks and blood stains, where does this lead us Michael?’ He asked sleepily. The woman was fully awake now and she sat upright on the bed.

'It's a murder Chuks. Medical Examiners are on their way now. Get your lazy punk ass our here now!'

'Can't you get someone else?' Chuks was stalling the inevitable.
Once Chief Superintendent Michael called you, there was no way you would wriggle out of it. He was a rigid guy and it earned him respect. Chuks sighed and asked. 'Address?'

'No 34, Main Terminal, Tin can Port, Apapa. How soon can you be here?'

'Thirty minutes tops.'

'Well then, I'm waiting. Hurry up.'

'Yeah!' Chuks grunted, disconnected the call and turned to face Det. Juliana, also known as Jules--something he called her-- his colleague and lover. '

'Was that Michael?' She asked, fiddling with her hair net. She had put on a shirt to cover her nudity. It fit her so well.
'
Yes love' Chuks planted a kiss on her forehead. 'I have to go now' he continued.

'An accident?' she asked, concerned. 'No, a murder.'

The phone blared again. Chuks scoffed, picking up. ‘Boss.’ He groaned.

‘Is Det. Jules with you?’ He asked.

‘Yes boss. She's--’

‘Get her dressed up and bring her here. Things just turned sour.’

On their twenty minutes rush hour drive to the crime scene with the sirens wailing as they cut through the Lagos traffic. Lagos was one nocturnal city; life did turn up at odd hours.

‘So when are we gonna let the office know of our relationship?’ She asked, unsure of the answer her six month lover would leave her with.

‘Come on babe, you think they don't know? They can feel the heat we expel.’ He purred, smiling and staring her deep in the eyes. He made a face and she smiled equanimously.

‘Watch out!’ Jules cried. The tired of Honda truck screeched, as Chuks swerved, dodging a Toyata Camry that had come out of nowhere. "Shit!" Chuks cussed as he careened to a stop by the shoulder of the road. "You alright baby?"

"Are you hurt?" Chuks asked as he undid his seat belt and accessed Jules. Jules was whimpering, the Camry had rocked the butt of the truck. Chuks planted a kiss on Jules lips, she returned it fidgeting. "Stay put, lemme check it out." He warned. Jules held unto her pistol, she wasn't this fidgety when around other officers, in fact she took charge, she was nicked Jules the Bull, she was famed for taking down brute-framed culprits. One time she had chased a band of thieves and had taken them out singlehandedly without calling for backup but around Det. Chuks, she felt like a lady, a soft rose flower.

‘It just a minor dent and broken tail light!’ Det. Chuks fired from outside amidst the road side music and the blaring horns of impatient commuters.

‘I just got a text babe!’ Det. Jules fired from inside the truck.

‘Who's it?’ Chuks asked stepping into the truck. Switching on the ignition, and turning the siren. ‘Michael, he says we're five minutes late.’

‘Can't that man be patient for once sef?’ He asked rhetorically.
‘You know him, he doesn't appreciate being tardy.’

Chuks revved the engine to life and blazed through the traffic. He and Jules exchanging glances, glances that read... "All we need right now is a room, strawberries and candles."

Superintendent Michael sighed as he checked his wristwatch for the fifth time. What was taking Chuks and Jules so long? They were twenty minutes late.

'Chief, the medical examiner just got here now.' Sergeant Deoye said as he strode towards him. As he turned to answer, he saw a Honda Truck screech to a halt before him. Now they finally show up, he thought. The engine whined to an end as Detectives Jules and Chuks got out from the car at the same time. They strode towards him and he grinned wickedly. 'Well, I hope you're both functional and ready to roll because it's gonna be a long night.'

‘Dang! Here's all messed up.’ Det. Jules spoke wearing the most professional frown. Chuks scowled. He'd seen a more tender, sensual face.

'Oh! Don't bust our britches Boss.' Chuks sneered. The scene was jam-packed with policemen. There were seven squad cars plus two vans. The moon was still in full force. There was an ambulance also in sight. 'Boss, fill us in with more details'

'Like I said on the phone; the 911 Operator on duty received a distress call from a John Doe. We didn't get much detail. We got here and when we proceeded with caution as we entered the warehouse. It was locked so we used a battering ram.' He paused to look at their faces. They were expressionless and it nudged him to continue. 'We broke into the place and it was pretty empty except for five bullet marks and some blood stains, we recovered nothing.'

'That's odd. It seems whatever was done here. It was covered up quickly.' Chuks concluded, making way for a team of police officers striding past them.

'There's no motive here' Jules added. A female police officer walked to Michael and spoke into his ear. He asked carefully. 'Are you sure?' 'Yes sir, the scientist confirmed it.' Before he made to leave; Chuks gleaned at her name tag and it bore Ebby Wright. 'Well; we have a motive now. A stash of coke was discovered'. Mihcael said.

‘Coke. We talking about a shoot out?’ Chuks asked arching a brow, placing his hands on his waist. Indistinct chatter of cops and beeping of forensic devices whirring in the still morning.

"Nah babe--"

"Babe?" Michael asked cutting Jules short...."I see you too are hitting it off already. Police style or is it military?"

"Boss let the lady speak." Chuks defended. Michael shrugged, giving Jules audience.

"If it was a shoot out, there would be no clean ups. There would bodies, bullets littered everywhere. This wasn't a shootout." There was a deep sigh from Michael as he walked the length of the warehouse talking indistinctively with Det. Ebby. He was scolding from what Chuks and Jules could make out.

Chuks chuckled as he caught Jules gaze. There was a momentary silence and they both burst out laughing. "Hey! Get to work, here's not some cupid warehouse!" Michael boomed. Chuks waved an apology. "So if it's not a shootout then would you suppose it be?"

"I think it's more a family, a guerrilla group."
"I see." Chuks sighed as he squatted with flashlight rovering over the ware that stood in front of there. He caught something. "Hey boss!" Chuks called out... "We got something." Michael paced down, signaling Det. Deoeye and Det. Ebby.

"Tell me it's good news." Michael sneered.
"It is boss. It is. We just found blood."

---

The first crack of gunshot brought down Corporal Uchenna as a team of masked gunmen stormed into the downtown Police Precinct. Another bullet whistled past Lance corporal Ama's head as he took cover behind his large desk. He sat still and heard bullets whizzed past him.

The masked men were five. Four of them wielded Kalashnikovs and they sprayed the precinct with bullets. King Larry stood behind them; he lit a cigarette and watched his boys do their stuff.

He raised his hand as a sign for them to stop which they did. He walked slowly and paused to look at every dead body. He counted. Fifteen Cops! Wow! That sent a rush of adrenaline down his system. He ordered 'Jerry! Take the boys into the strong room and retrieve our shipment!' The four men moved into the strong room’s door, a few inches away from where Ama hid.

Ama breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the four men enter the strong room. So they were after the Heroin! He held his .45 pistol and decided not to shoot. He removed his Blackberry from his breast pocket and punched these words on a text message. It read: Captain Michael; It's Lance Corporal Ama. We're under attack. All the officers except me have been gunned down. King Larry is on sight. Permission to engage?'

He sighed with relief when the message was received. Suddenly what he was praying for not to happen occurred. A delivery report sprang his phone to life as it blared incessantly. Ama swore loudly 'Shit!' King Larry stopped dead in his tracks. He raised his head from a dead body and looked at the direction of the sound. He grinned when he heard movements. He moved closer to the table. He didn't see Ama swing his arm and hit him with all his might in his left arm.
Larry fell to the ground.

He hated nose bleeds and it irked him. He punched Ama who was unguarded. Ama clutched his pistol as Larry hit him again. He lost balance and fell. Larry boasted. 'Do you know who I am? I am King----' Ama capitalized on Larrys's mouthing’s and dealt him a jab on his chest. Larry shrieked. Ama made as if to finish off Larry when he stopped moving. A part of his stomach was bloodied as a knife was plunged in his inside by Hymar.

Larry smirked as he watched Ama fall down. 'I am getting rusty Hymar. I should have taken this punk down easily.' He held his bloodied nose.
'Yes Boss'

"Now let's get our babies and get the fuck outta here and make some money."