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The Great Heist Chapter Twenty-five
Director Julia shut the door gently behind her. She had managed to escape into the cocoon of her office at last, after spending the last hour between meetings with some concerned personnel of the museum. These meetings as was expected were intended to ensure that Mr. Leigh’s inspectorial visit to the MIA went smoothly and without kinks.Apparently, having something go wrong was the last thing she wanted while he was here. Heaving an obvious sigh of relief, she shuffled from the door toward the center of the room almost hesitantly. Her feet already leaden in her pumps barely left the Persian rug that took up a third of the office space as she made her way to her desk. She didn’t waste time once she got to it. She just slid the swivel chair bracketing it back a little, then plopped right into it. Today, for her had been a most eventful day, to say the least. Aside being the Qatari National Day; one in which they usually received a large turnout here at the MIA. It also happened t
The Great Heist Chapter Twenty-six
Mr. Ahmed Al-Shahbaa, director of the Al Jazeera TV network was winding down in his office having gotten through yet another stressful day at work. Already, the black suspenders holding his black slacks and shirt together were nowhere to be found anymore. Now it was lying somewhere in his briefcase stowed away under his Elm desk. The sleeves of his white-stiffed-fronted shirt were rolled up to the elbows, exposing deeply tan, slender forearms covered by a fine coat of body hair. His head of sable hair, frosted at the edges by a wisp of gray found rest on the headrest of his executive swivel chair, while his overly long legs were thrown heedlessly over the varnished top of the same Elm desk.His job at Al Jazeera was not the hardest in the world. But surely, every day in office in this position at one of the top-flight news agencies in the world must have counted for something. Today, however, seemed to be so different. Different in that it was most overwhelming in every sense of
The Great Heist Chapter Twenty-eight
Liam. They had tailed the SUVs all the way from the Sports District in Lusail to the headquarters of the Al-Jazeera in Doha. Of course, it’s not been an easy ride though. They have had to identify themselves to every cop at every road blocks. Liam had even made the best of the situation, seizing the opportunity to make a report of the situation of things across the country. The hardest part had been how to escape the police at every roadblock and Terry stop they encountered on their way here. He was beyond shocked to find a roadblock on every block from the Sports District in Lusail all the way to Doha. But thankfully, the BBC logo on their van, couple with a flash of an ID here and there had proven sufficient enough to buy them a passage at every point of the trip.Thiago Silva was washing out his tinted terracotta hair back to his natural black when his burner rang beside him on the washbasin/vanity. Like the burner which he kept on his person at all times, the disguise—the facemas
The Great Heist Disclaimer/Author's Note
This story despite its likeness to reality is entirely a work of fiction. However, all artwork, Intelligence agencies, locations, sportspersons, royalty and dignitary names mentioned in this book belong to real people and places and are not imaginary.Copyright © Akinbami Hayoub Adeoye 2023This book is subjected to copyright and may not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, licensed, or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the author, or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text will be treated as a direct infringement of the author’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
The Great Heist Facts
The World Cup football tournament is the most-anticipated, the most-watched, the most-talked-about event on planet Earth. The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world; not only that, but it’s also the most widely viewed and followed single sporting event in the world. The cumulative viewership of all matches of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup to date. A combined 3.572 billion viewers – more than half of the global population aged four and over – tuned in to world football’s ultimate competition, according to audience data for official broadcast coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Qatar is by far the only country with the highest buying value of any country in the Art market. Sheikha Al-Mayasa Bint Hamas Al-Thani
The Great Heist Prologue
All the world was here in Qatar. Most notably in Lusail—a coastal city in the southern municipality of Al-Daayen—and approximately twenty-three kilometers north of the city center of Doha. For three weeks on, the planned city had witnessed and recorded the biggest influx of people arriving in the city proper and the country as a whole. Hence, leading to an upward surge in the number of people in the city from roughly 450,000 to about 600,000. This among other things, had spurred city officials and the Qatari government into taking necessary actions to make stopgap plans to create more accommodations and breathing space within the city—which was initially proposed to have the infrastructure to accommodate a mere 400,000 people.Today was no different, either. Despite the nippy climate of late December, the traffic on this Sunday evening on all major freeways, thoroughfares, and causeways throughout the city of Lusail was heavy and near-congested. The lightest and most accessible traf
The Great Heist Chapter One
The Lusail Iconic stadium was a madhouse. Presently, its 105 m x 68 m (344 ft by 223 ft) grass pitch was nothing short of a crime scene from a mystery flick with the current buzz of activity. Everyone from standard security personnel at the stadium to stewards, and the smart-looking police officers and their counterparts from other Qatari Intelligence agencies—mainly, the Qatar State Security had one thing, or the other to attend to at the moment. This had been the new normal in the stadium ever since The World Cup Trophy had been pronounced missing by FIFA Officials. And had lasted for about thirty minutes, or so, with each and every one of the men responsible for security and policing present here at the stadium being thrown into total restiveness. Things happened really fast after the smoke incident. Men from the Rescue Police Department—otherwise known here as Al Fazaa— heavily dressed and equipped as stormtroopers had stormed the scene, joining with the stewards and the stadiu
The Great Heist Chapter Two
Since the completion of over 70% of its infrastructure in 2018, the planned city of Lusail was witnessing an unprecedented record of activities on its streets so far.This was currently evident on all streets within the Sports district and its axis; as people—mostly locals— from all walks of life gathered around as bystanders to witness what seemed to be a rather unexpected ending to the greatest event on earth which they have witnessed for almost a month now. However, it appears this new surge in activities was not about to end just yet. Because a new wave of siren wails split the Lusail air, as a motorcade barreled down the Al-Khor Coastal road of its Sports District.The fleet, led by the sweepers—three Porsche Panamera police cruisers—and guarded at the rear by four Toyota Land Cruiser V8s breezed past the crowds of bystanders lining the Al-Khor Coastal road on both sides in a stream. Then, followed a sharp right at a turn into the stadium’s proper, before coming to a screeching
Latest Chapter
- The Great Heist
Chapter Twenty-eight
Liam. They had tailed the SUVs all the way from the Sports District in Lusail to the headquarters of the Al-Jazeera in Doha. Of course, it’s not been an easy ride though. They have had to identify themselves to every cop at every road blocks. Liam had even made the best of the situation, seizing the opportunity to make a report of the situation of things across the country. The hardest part had been how to escape the police at every roadblock and Terry stop they encountered on their way here. He was beyond shocked to find a roadblock on every block from the Sports District in Lusail all the way to Doha. But thankfully, the BBC logo on their van, couple with a flash of an ID here and there had proven sufficient enough to buy them a passage at every point of the trip.Thiago Silva was washing out his tinted terracotta hair back to his natural black when his burner rang beside him on the washbasin/vanity. Like the burner which he kept on his person at all times, the disguise—the facemas
- The Great Heist
Chapter Twenty-six
Mr. Ahmed Al-Shahbaa, director of the Al Jazeera TV network was winding down in his office having gotten through yet another stressful day at work. Already, the black suspenders holding his black slacks and shirt together were nowhere to be found anymore. Now it was lying somewhere in his briefcase stowed away under his Elm desk. The sleeves of his white-stiffed-fronted shirt were rolled up to the elbows, exposing deeply tan, slender forearms covered by a fine coat of body hair. His head of sable hair, frosted at the edges by a wisp of gray found rest on the headrest of his executive swivel chair, while his overly long legs were thrown heedlessly over the varnished top of the same Elm desk.His job at Al Jazeera was not the hardest in the world. But surely, every day in office in this position at one of the top-flight news agencies in the world must have counted for something. Today, however, seemed to be so different. Different in that it was most overwhelming in every sense of
- The Great Heist
Chapter Twenty-five
Director Julia shut the door gently behind her. She had managed to escape into the cocoon of her office at last, after spending the last hour between meetings with some concerned personnel of the museum. These meetings as was expected were intended to ensure that Mr. Leigh’s inspectorial visit to the MIA went smoothly and without kinks.Apparently, having something go wrong was the last thing she wanted while he was here. Heaving an obvious sigh of relief, she shuffled from the door toward the center of the room almost hesitantly. Her feet already leaden in her pumps barely left the Persian rug that took up a third of the office space as she made her way to her desk. She didn’t waste time once she got to it. She just slid the swivel chair bracketing it back a little, then plopped right into it. Today, for her had been a most eventful day, to say the least. Aside being the Qatari National Day; one in which they usually received a large turnout here at the MIA. It also happened t
- The Great Heist
Chapter Twenty-four
One-and-a-half hour after he arrived at the mews.The tall, trim black man still was unable to get a breather. Much less sit his ass down for a minute. This considered with the fact that he had been up since 5:00 am after a mere two-hour sleep and had also managed a one-hour long session of exercises meant he was far spent at the moment.So far, it was thanks to the excess caffeine in his system that he was still kicking and functioning at full throttle. As it is, he was already into his twelfth cup of coffee for the day. And it was just 11:30 in the morning.Just as he anticipated earlier, he had assumed the command of the emblematic ship that was the mews as soon as he had stepped in through its backdoor. Overseeing the highly-prioritized activities going on around there ever since then. While at the same time delegating the less-prioritized, but nevertheless important ones into good hands.Now, holding a disposable paper cup that holds the coffee in his left hand and peeking ov
- The Great Heist
Chapter Twenty-three
Several miles from the Green Palace, a wizened grey-haired man in a blue blazer worn over white, razor-sharp creased pants and balmorals paced up and down the expansive terrazzo floor of the command center in silence. Gnarled arms folded and gingerly tucked behind his stooped back. His mind shuttered against the low drones of computers and the beehive chatters around him. But otherwise, fixated on other things.Other things like the closed surveillance footage of the Lusail Arena splashing across the rank of computer screens around him. The conflux of communication—both inbound and outbound—as well as the ongoing strings of investigation into the likely scenarios that might have led to today’s awful events being carried out by half of the room’s occupants. But despite his obvious concerns about these things. The simple fact remains, he wasn’t so much concerned about them as much as he was with one thing in particular: The intercom mounted on a table somewhere in the room.This was
- The Great Heist
Chapter Twenty-Two
Prime Minister Qabid El Hamdi took one last glance at the three faces standing like posted sentries across from him. Faces he knew all too well. Faces of individuals who had served under his administration for so long that he now trusted them completely with his life. Soon as Al Jazeera had faulted the gagging order placed by the government on all media agencies in Qatar, the need to go public with the disappointing news of the stolen world cup trophy had become not only apparent but inevitable. Therefore, his study has been instantly transformed to make it scenic enough for his address to the nation broadcast under the ever-efficient guidance of those three. As expected, a whole lot has been put in place to make this realizable: one such thing is the at-the-ready camera crew assembled immediately by his Chief of Staff that now hung about the study. Same with the ad-lib speech scrolling horizontally across the teleprompter’s screen which was churned out courtesy of his Press Secre
- The Great Heist
Chapter Twenty-one
Liam Nielson had this strange feeling the moment he watched three SUVs ripped away from the stadium’s parking lot and tore along the Al-Khor coastal road in a whoosh. He was standing in the dusting of snow with his videographer getting ready to record the latest update of their quarterly live spot report when he first noticed some movement at the stadium’s ‘Entrance Gate Four’. This movement as he would later discover turn out to be the tripping of the squat agent from when the director had arrived earlier at the parking lot and a handful of suited agents who trailed after him.Call it the sixth sense. A gut feeling. A hunch. Or whatever. For all Liam cared, it is something that has served him right up until now, and he would be damned to just shrug it off as nothing this time. Or ever!Not surprisingly, his reasons for this rather uncompromising stance hinged upon two sentiments: The first being that; it’s a well-established fact anywhere in the world that, trusting in one’s inst
- The Great Heist
Chapter Twenty
Commander Ali was just getting off another call with the Minister of Interior when he noticed Amman approaching his position from across the corridor. Slipping his cell back into his jacket’s breast pocket, he stared at the squat older man in earnest.That close, Commander Ali could easily observe the uncanny resemblance his inferior had to a raging bull as he scuttled toward him. The big scowl on his face didn’t make him appear any less frightening, either.From his comportment alone, the commander could tell something was amiss, he just couldn’t say what exactly yet.For the span it took as he waited for him to shorten the distance between them, all that preoccupied the commander’s mind from considering what could have happened between the time he had excused himself from the control room to pick a call here in the hall was the thought of the unsettling news he just heard from the Minister.“I have some bad news, sir,” Amman rattled off as soon as he was close enough to be heard
- The Great Heist
Chapter Nineteen
Downtime was a real bitch! Kante knew this as he lay unstirring on his back on the divan, staring at the off-white ceiling with a pop of cream. Even as the strings of joyous shouts and ululations around him swelled into a grating crescendo in their two-bedroom apartment on West Best Lagoon, he couldn’t think of any other thing than this. Not to mention joining in to celebrate with his comrades, who are responsible for it. Instead, he lay there; arms rigidly folded over his chest, eyes shut against the amber light coming from the chandelier hanging down from the ceiling as if in a self-induced hypnosis. Right from time, he was never the one to favor downtime of any type while on a job. Even though he had been trained to remain sangfroid and unperturbed like the leaves on a tree on a windless Summer day in times like this, he had taught himself not to be fooled by the quiet and tranquility that came with them. Being an Ex-serviceman, he was well aware that moments like this one