Tarasha Season 2 : The Return For Revenge
Tarasha returns to get the blood of all those involved in her brother’s death but she is unaware of Rex’s presence, the assassin from the Villary Clan.
Her mum’s diary reveals more secrets but blood stains from Jefa’s murder covers some names. She tries to link some cases but with Rex tailing her, it becomes a difficult job.
She then comes in direct battle with Rex who is as trained as she is. It is the greatest battle of her life, the country is thrown into confusion as these assassins come against each other, spilling the blood of several other top government officials.
With Rex coming for her life and Henry trying to make her stop the death toll, how will she win this battle?
Find out in Tarasha 2 : The Return For Revenge.
PROLOGUE
The night was cold and the air was moisty, the wind swept across the land gently, transporting some dry leaves from the ground of the forest occasionally. The leaves and branches of the high trees danced gently and made melody in their own way. The rhythm made by their movement makes one easily guess that the plants were having an old school party. Other inhabitants of the forests were not left behind in the celebration, the croaks of toads and squeaking of insects formed another melody. It was as if the living things had decided to break themselves into groups for this party, the animals formed one music band while the plants; trees and shrubs- formed another. Anyway it was obvious their different styles music didn’t seem to disturb each other.
It continued for a long period until the weather began to change, the winds became more violent and desperate. The party of the plants had been disrupted, their slow happy dance turned into a violent scene. The branches and leaves of the different trees suddenly began to clash with each other, one would think that they had the intention of killing each other. Maybe something had gone wrong in their party, one of them might have gotten drunk and began to cause trouble. The animals were not left out in the fight, some rodents and bush animals could be seen running out occasionally from their hiding place in the bush, fighting each other for a prey or a piece of food substance. The croaks and noises from the insects became louder, but it wasn’t melodious anymore. It became a harsh displeasing sound to the ear.
Soon, light appeared from a far end of the road and the forest suddenly turned quiet. Something about the light had hushed the noisemakers. The ground began to vibrate as the source of the light moved closer and the light became brighter. It was an heavy duty truck.
Cole got up from the bonnet of the car he was sitting on and adjusted the zip of his jacket properly. He also adjusted his headwarmer to cover his ears well before turning back towards the direction where the truck was coming from. He took out his phone and opened the tracker map, he saw the yellow dot at the same location as theirs, thereby confirming that it was their boss approaching.
‘I think the Boss is here,’ Cole said to Aisha who had just rolled down the window of the car and was about to ask him what was going on.
Aisha wind up the glass and then opened the door, then she took her head warmer from the backseat and stepped outside.
Soon, the truck got closer and parked behind their car. Cole and Aisha moved towards the front of the vehicle, they could see Tarasha through the front glass, she had her eyes closed and her head rested back tiredly. Cole tried to move towards the driver’s side but then the door was opened and he couldn’t pass as thick bushes were on the other side.
Tarasha jumped out of the vehicle two minutes later, she closed the door and moved to the front where Cole and Aisha were standing. Her face could be clearly seen due to the brightness of the full moon. She was putting on a shiny black jacket whose length went below her knees, her trouser was also of the same colour and texture.
‘How long have you been waiting?’ She asked in a strange voice, taking slow steps past them.
‘Over two hours,’ Cole replied shakily, there was something terrifying about the look in her eyes and voice.
He and Aisha had been thrown into surprise when they received the call earlier that day with the boss paying them off and asking them to live a good life, they were still contemplating on what to do and wondering what could have happened to their boss when Cole received another call, she was asking them to come back with a promise of tripling their previous pay. They were confused at the second call and didn’t take any step until there was a third call, then she asked them to come and wait for her at their present location. It was at this third call that Cole began to guess what could be happening to their boss. Her voice at the first call had shown softness, the second time had shown a certain weakness but the third time her voice communicated anger and that was what it still communicated now, same with her eyes and whole body language. Cole concluded that something terrible must have really happened to her, but he thought it was concerning Henry.
They turned to the other side to face their boss at her new position, she had her back turned to them and her hands on her waist.
‘Have you taken note of anything? Is there any place we could camp here tonight?’ Tarasha asked.
‘The abandoned houses here are not too suitable, I don’t know if you’ll like to stay in them overnight.’ Cole said.
‘There are abandoned houses?’ She asked.
‘Yes, there are.’
Tarasha closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, her brother’s face flashed back into her mind. She could see him seated close to her in the bed, with smiles on their faces as they recalled their childhood events. Then she saw him in his pool of blood again, the bullet holes in his forehead with the diary in his hands. She remembered the page the diary was opened to, their mother had mentioned five Chiefs who were involved in making them leave Lagos to Borno in it. Chief Nasiru Attahiru, Chief Jubril Lawal, Chief Onwuli… The other names had been covered with a blood stain. She thought the men who sent her parents out of town deserved punishment but she was more desperate to kill all those who just killed her brother and also trace those who killed her family years ago led by Chief Rikau.
‘We have some business to settle at the Kuje Maximum Security Prison before we start with our new tasks.’ Tarasha said as she turned swiftly and walked back to her vehicle.
The light in the room was dim, a thin line of smoke could be seen rising from a dark corner of the room, sometimes it was a huge brief mold. Someone was seated at that corner quietly while two others were standing close to him at his different sides. There was someone else seated at the opposite side to the dark place, the room was brighter at that part but the face of the person could still not be seen. His shadow was formed on the ground and the wall behind. He was putting on a black trouser and a white shirt, his right hand on his knee while his left hand on a table which was by his side.
An unexpected faint beam of light appeared from the table. The man’s hand reached for the source of light and picked it up and turned it to his face. The light from the Android phone revealed his face as he typed in a reply to the popup message.
‘The Vice President is cool with my decision,’ Chief Rikau spoke aloud after replying the message.
‘It doesn’t matter how many people are cool with it, you took a foolish decision.’ The voice from the dark place replied coldly.
The Inspector General felt uneasy as he adjusted his position on the chair, he loathed Rex’s audacity to address him without respect.
‘We could have taken instead of killing him,’ Rex said, standing up from the seat. He threw the remnant of the cigar to the ground and bent his neck sideways, it made a crack sound.
‘Killing him was the best, those guys are dangerous. We shouldn’t give them any chance.’ Chief Rikau said.
‘You’re a fool man,’ Rex voiced out boldly. ‘How can you say killing him was the best option? He wasn’t even the assassin and I’m very sure he wasn’t her brother, assassins don’t keep close family members who are dear to them.’ Rex paused and took out another cigar, he could tell from the movement of the Inspector General that the man wasn’t comfortable with his manner of addressing him. ‘I’m sorry for insulting you man but it’s just that I’ve never seen such a level of stupidity displayed…’
‘I won’t take that from you anymore,’ Chief Rikau blurted out angrily, standing up from his seat. ‘Don’t talk to me like that again, I was asked to give you orders, you should obey my instruction.’
Rex looked calm and undisturbed, he stared at the man’s face for a while. He placed the cigar in his mouth and lit it. It didn’t take him a minute when he took out the cigar again and threw to the ground. ‘d@mn! I feel too hot here, even with the air conditioners, it’s so hot.’
‘It’s a lot different here boss, the weather cannot be suitable for smoking during this season.’ Don’s voice sounded quickly.
‘I know the bleeping weather is hot, I only wanted to relief myself from the memories of the stupid steps taken today, ‘ Rex replied, stylishly taking another jab at the Inspector General.
Inspector General Riquietlyt an angry look at Rex, he took brief glances towards other parts of the room before he hurried out to meet his escorts and junior officers who had been patiently waiting for him.
_______
**8am, next day**
Tarasha was seated on a bamboo chair in an abandoned hut, she had a black bra on and the black trouser of the last night, the rest of her body was bare. Cole and Aisha were still sleeping on a blanket which they had laid on the floor, they used two different neat wrappers to cover all the parts of their bodies to save themselves from the desperate mosquitoes.
There was a laptop on Tarasha’s lap and her eyes were fixated on it. After composing a long message into the compose box of her email, she put in the NSCC email at the receiver’s address column and click on send. She minimized the window and maximized another; the Google chrome browser. There were several pictures of the Inspector General on the display by the Google image search engine. After saving some of the pictures into her laptop, she switched to another tab where she had searched for images of the man’s house. She saved some views and then minimized the window again.
She opened the map application on the system and searched for the location of the Kuje Maximum Security Prison, she copied the position as soon as she got it and maximized the NSCC application, she pasted the position copied to the column provided and after a minute of loading, an option of nine clips displayed on the first page, four more pages were available. Each option of clip showed a particular view of the prison facility, some of the clips on the third and fourth pages showed briefly some parts inside the facility. She made some few observations and typed some words into her phone to store for remembrance.
‘Good morning Boss,’ Cole interrupted her thoughts. She replied by flashing a look at him. He understood that she wasn’t in the mood to talk and quietly proceeded out of the hut. He stretched and yawned as the cool breeze outside blew on his body, he turned to the back of the hut to release urine before proceeding to the heavy duty truck the boss had come with the last night.
He observed the soil in the place, it would have been impossible to access the location with that kind of heavy vehicle if it was rainy season.
The place was somewhere in previously abandoned community, the people had to evacuate the place because of an epidemic that struck, now the people had started returning one after the other after the community was purified two weeks ago but a larger percentage of the community’s population had not still returned.
The truck was locked behind with a huge padlock, he had seen the content the last night and was baffled by what he saw in the darkness, he wondered what it would be like when it was day. The boss did not act like she was ready to tell him what was there as she only opened it to pick up something and locked it back. He wished she would allow him access the place.
As if his wish was heard, a key was flung to his front from behind. He glanced back to see his boss standing in front of the hut, her arms folded.
‘We have to offload the weapons because we’ll need to change some parts of the truck,’ she said to him.
He quietly picked up the key and opened the truck behind, his mouth was left agape as he confirmed to his greatest bewilderment the quantity of guns, ammunitions and other weapons stored in it. He took a glance at his boss with shock written all over his face, she kept an indifferent look and urged him to continue her instruction.
‘And ermm…’ Tarasha called back his attention as she remembered something. ‘Maybe you have to leave that for now. I’ll need you to check around Kuje Maximum Prison facility now. We have somewhere to go first and we’ll have to also visit one of their top officials in the maximum prison facility.’
________
**10:38am**
NSCC headquarters
‘d@mn!’ Mr Sylvester slammed his hand angrily on the table for the umpteenth time. Frank and his colleague were standing beside him and staring at the screen of the laptop on the table. ‘Why did she have to leave like this?’
‘Sir, it is her decision and we have to respect it.’ Frank put in.
‘She’s needed here, she’s needed by our nation. She could have told me wh@tëver the problem was and we would have offered her a helping hand,’ Mr Sylvester said stubbornly.
‘We just have to respect her decision, she said her mum is bedridden again and the whole family is blaming her for it because her job didn’t give her the opportunity to spend enough time with her recovering mum ‘ Frank said.
‘We would have still found a solution to it, going like this wasn’t the solution.’
‘Let’s just try visit the address provided, we may have luck in convincing her,’ Frank’s colleague suggested.
‘I hope so…’
_________
**10.45am**
Cole and Aisha stood far behind watching as Tarasha squatted before the grave behind the tree. It had only been covered with sand and it looked fresh, they had no idea whose dead body laid underneath but they were sure it was someone very dear to their boss’ heart as they could hear her soft sobs as she touched the soil and mumbled some words.
Tarasha’s eyes were teary as she dropped the flowers on Jeffrey’s grave. She had killed the man, she took the whole blame on herself. He wouldn’t have died if he didn’t find her, and he probably would have still been running his local business if she had not insisted he stayed with her. She also could have saved his life the day he was killed if not for her visit to Henry, she wasn’t allowed to take any device into the visiting hall of the prison, so she did not get an alarm when the intruders entered the house. She also didn’t check her device when she was returning home because she was moved by Henry’s discussion with her, all she wanted to do was get home and fulfil Henry’s wish; that was taking Jefa with her to somewhere far away.
She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the cold breeze.
‘Everyone involved in your death would pay, I promise.’ she said aloud, hoping her brother could hear the reassurance of the promise she had made him while digging the place the previous day.
**1:03pm, next day**
A lady dressed in black suit and a sky blue shirt underneath was seen approaching the reception with confident steps. She had an unusual big designer handbag in her hand.
‘Good morning officers,’ she greeted the men behind the desk. There was a certain seriousness their faces carried and a very tense atmosphere around them. Some officers walking out from the reception could also be heard discussing in low tones. The subject of discussion for the whole facility was the news of one of their Chief Security Prison warders who was abducted in his house the day before.
‘Good morning, what can we do for you?’ the officer asked.
‘I’m barrister Jeffrey, lawyer for Henry Ekene George,’ she replied, brushing the hair which covered her eyes backwards.
‘Barrister Jeffrey,’ the officer repeated, taking a glance at his colleague. ‘Is he expecting you today?’
‘Yes, he should be. He asked his sister to get a lawyer for him.’ she replied.
‘Okay, but you know his case is a special one and you have to see the Agent responsible for his case first,’ the officer said to her, opening a file.
‘Yes, I know.’
‘You’re lucky you won’t have to wait because he’s around,’ the officer said and picked up the landline receiver and dialed, he spoke for about a minute, taking occasional glances at her face. ‘We’ll take you to him in a minute,’ he said to her after dropping the receiver.
She nodded and smiled in appreciation and stepped a little distance back, she raised her hand and turned the head of her wristwatch.
_________
‘Is there anywhere else they operate apart from those two places?’ Don barked at Benny who was looking confused and speechless.
They were in a large room, the room was empty except for some chairs and some daggers and metal weapons scattered on the floor. Rex was seated on a chair at the opposite angle to where his men were dealing with Benny, he seemed to be engrossed in his thoughts and unconcerned with what Don and Stainless were doing.
Benny was looking very weak and sick, he had been reduced to a shadow of himself due to lack of proper feeding and exposure to mosquitoes and bad weather. He was feeling feverish and very weak but he didn’t wish to recover, he wished for his death to come quickly.
How Don and Stainless had found out Tarasha’s two operation places was a mystery to him, they told him that he had revealed it but he refused to believe them as he couldn’t remember giving them the information. Now, they were asking for another possible location from him.
‘Answer me man,’ Don said pulling Benny violently by the chin. ‘Or you want us to force it out of you like we did before?’
‘You guys are fools,’ a voice answered Don from behind. Don and Stainless turned back to see Rex moving closer to them, he was putting on an armless black skirt and a black shredded trouser. He had a pistol in his hands which he was loading as he approached.
Benny looked at the face of the strange man, he had heard the voice before but only seen the figure from behind. Rex had a striking resemblance with someone he knew but he couldn’t just place who it was.
A devilish smirk appeared on Rex’s face as he stared at Benny, then he slowly raised the pistol. Benny closed his eyes and mumbled some words in anticipation of his long awaited death. Two quick shots were released into his chest, his body fell off the chair lifelessly.
Rex tucked back the pistol into his pocket and turned to Don and Stainless. ‘Both of you are fools,’ he reiterated. ‘You guys still believe that he has useful information?’ he asked staring at them in disbelief. ‘He’s very useless already, you don’t expect her to still use the locations he knows. You’ll just fix yourself into a trap.’
Don and Stainless’s shoulders dropped in shame as Rex scolded them. Stainless proceeded to the door and poked out his head, he whispered some thing to the men outside and two people entered back with him, they lifted Benny’s body and carried him out of the room.
_____
‘How come Henry has never mentioned your name?’ Dakolo stared at her skeptically. He was seated opposite the barrister at a table in the visitor’s lounge, the same place Tarasha had met with Henry two days ago, the only difference was that there were no inmates and guests, it wasn’t visiting hours. Only Dakolo was seated with the lawyer, three other officers were standing at different points in the large space, two officers manned the exit.
‘I’m not sure he knows my name, except his cousin has told him about me,’ she replied confidently. ‘It’s the first time I’m working for him, I’m his cousin’s friend and lawyer.’
Dakolo gave a doubtful smile. ‘We’ll have to confirm from Henry first,’ he said and got up from his seat, walking towards the exit of the place. ‘Keep an eye on her,’ Dakolo muttered to the officers at the exit. ‘Don’t hesitate to take her down immediately if she tries anything.’
Dakolo walked briskly with one officer and a warder following behind him. In no time, they got into the building for solitary cells, Henry’s cell was the last on the block. It was a small cell, well cemented and neat. He was seated on the floor and facing the wall like a monk meditating, he didn’t look back or move even when he heard the padlock at the door being opened noisily.
‘Agent Dakolo, what do you want again?’ Henry spoke up after Dakolo and the officer entered.
‘What’s the name of the lawyer you asked your cousin to get for you?’
‘What lawyer?’ Henry asked, still not turning back. But the sudden movement of his head was enough to tell he was surprised by the question.
‘Didn’t you ask for a lawyer?’ Dakolo continued, observing closely. ‘I’m aware your cousin was here two days ago and you discussed about your lawyer with her but it seems who we have here today is an impersonator.’
‘My lawyer is here?’ Henry asked, finally turning back. He knew it could be none else than Omotara herself.
‘Yes, someone is claimimg to be your lawyer. She has some files as evidence, we want you to confirm the name before we allow her see you.’
‘Ermm… But I don’t know her name,’ Henry blurted out, not wanting to complicate matters as he wasn’t sure what name Omotara had told them. It was quite obvious that he wasn’t expecting any lawyer.
‘You don’t know your lawyer?’
‘Yes, it’s a new lawyer.’
‘But you knew the gender,’ Dakolo pointed out doubtfully.
‘Ermm… Yes, I just guessed it should be a woman.’
‘Hmm…’ Dakolo paused for some seconds. The look on Henry’s face had now changed from hostility to anxiety. Dakolo stretched his opened palm towards the officer who came in with him. A phone was dropped into it, the same phone Henry used to make the call to Omotara the day before. ‘I won’t deny you access to see your lawyer but I won’t allow her escape either, if I find out she’s your gang mate.’ He said with a smirk and began to punch some buttons on the phone. ‘I’m aware you spoke to your sister with this phone, I’m dialing her number again and we’ll place it on loudspeakers. I want to hear her confirm the name of the lawyer.’
Dakolo dialed the number and handed it to Henry as it began to ring.
‘Hello Tara,’ Henry said into the phone.
‘Henry, have you seen Barrister Jeffrey?’ a strange female’s voice replied.
‘No, but the police would soon allow me see her.’ Henry replied, taking a glance at Dakolo’s face. He didn’t recognize the voice but he had to play along, he believed Omotara must have designated someone to answer the call.
‘She’s my friend and a very good lawyer, I’m confident in her, please do cooperate with her.’ the voice said again.
‘Thank you Tara,’ Henry replied and stretched the phone back to Dakolo without taking his eyes off Dakolo’s face.
Dakolo collected the phone and gave it to the officer also without taking off his eyes from Henry.
‘You’ll come with me,’ Dakolo said and then turned to make a signal to the officer. The officer stepped forward with an handcuff and fixed it on Henry’s willing hands. Then they led him out of the cell to meet his lawyer.
*
Henry fixed his eyes on the lady seated as he entered into the large hall, of course, she wasn’t looking so different from what he saw the day before, she must have only changed her wig and reduced the makeups.
He proceeded towards the seat, followed by Dakolo and the officer. Thirty seconds after he sat down, Dakolo was still standing behind without showing any signs of moving soon. Henry turned to look, Dakolo had his eyes fixed on the lawyer’s face, sizing her with his eyes suspiciously.
‘Good luck,’ Dakolo said almost in whispers before turning away.
Henry looked around the Hall while Dakolo walked out, he saw the officers standing at different sides.
‘Shh..’ She hushed him as he wanted to talk, placing a finger on her lips. ‘This table is not too convenient for me, let’s move to another.’ She said aloud and got up from her seat, Henry followed her and they moved to another table.
‘You’re supposed to be gone with Uncle Jeffrey, what are you doing here? And where’s he now?’ He asked in a low voice immediately after they settled at the new table
‘I came to get you out of here,’ she replied, without regarding his comment about Jefa.
‘You don’t get? I don’t need to get out of here.’ Henry replied.
‘Don’t make things difficult for us Henry, just place your hands on the table and allow me start with taking off the handcuff,’ she said, raising her eyebrows.
‘Omotara, please don’t do this, don’t waste your time trying to get me out. What you should do is get Uncle Jeffrey out of this country and make him happy.’
‘Uncle Jeffrey is dead,’ she said coldly.
‘Huh?’ Henry’s eyes widened in shock of the news. His heart beat speed increased and his cold currents were sent down his body.
‘Place your hands on the table, my team is waiting for me,’ she said in a commanding tone but Henry was still too shocked to respond.
She stretched her hands to him and gently dragged his hand to the table softly, pretending like she wanted to hold his palms. Taking careful looks at the officers around, she carefully rolled down something attached to her wrist under her sleeves. and it was an electric key attached to a sling.
‘No, I don’t want to go.’ Henry said aloud, raising his hands from the table and attracting the officers’ attention.
‘Investigations are on already to capture the attackers of the weapon store. The police has found the account of eyewitnesses unbelievable that only a lady was the one who attacked the store and got away with so many weapons after taking out the guards and sellers in charge. The identity of this lady is unknown yet but all fingers points to Samantha Osman who is the head of the dangerous assassin group that has been troubling the nation. More details on this to come as investigations proceed…’
Cole smiled as he listened to news via his phone’s radio, they had just provided him an answer to the question bubbling in his heart since the past two days; that is , how Tarasha had gotten a truck filled with different kind of weapons and arms.
He was seated at the passenger’s side of the truck which had a seat for two, the driver’s side was empty. Aisha was outside by the right side of truck, she was walking from behind the truck forward. She had her a tiny earpiece in her ears and she was busy with the phone in her hands as she opened the door to the passenger’s side and slid in beside Cole.
Cole sat properly to accommodate her, she sat comfortably and rested her arm on the window. Cole continued browsing on his phone while the radio played on loudspeakers.
‘We’ve gotten the first and second signal already, do you remember what the third signal means?’ Cole asked some minutes after she entered. He turned to her and nudged her by the side when he didn’t get a response after few seconds.
‘Yes?’ she answered, taking a brief glance at him and taking off the earpiece before she returned her focus to the phone again.
‘I’m asking if you remember what the third signal would mean when we get it,’ Cole repeated but there was still no response, Aisha had her full focus on her phone’s screen.
‘What did you say?’ she asked again.
‘What are you doing?’ he ignored her question and fixed his eyes on her phone’s screen to see what was distracting her.
‘I’m just scrolling through some pictures,’ Aisha answered, even though Cole had already seen the opened photo files from her phone’s gallery, she was staring at a family picture.
‘Then why is it having so much of your attention?’ Cole asked.
Aisha sighed, ‘It’s my family, I haven’t seen them for a long time.’ she replied, handing him the phone to take a look at the pictures. Cole took the phone and took some seconds to look at the old picture which had a family of five covered.
‘Which of the girls are you?’ Cole asked, bending sidewards to her.
‘Here,’ Aisha pointed at the smallest girl in the picture. Cole grinding and sat back straight, still staring at the pictures.
‘So where are your siblings now?’ Cole asked.
‘I don’t know where my elder brother is, but my sister is married with kids and with her husband in Ibadan.’
‘What about your parents?’
‘Of course you know they’re in Lagos,’ she replied and took in a deep breath. ‘I wish to see my mum again but I don’t know if she’ll even accept me as her child.’
‘Hmm…’ Cole dropped the phone on his laps and drew in a deep breath. He rested his head backwards and stared blankly to the roof of the vehicle, biting his lips. ‘I don’t think my family even knows I’m still alive, they should have long forgotten about me.’
Aisha took a glance at his face, tears were gathering in his eyes already, she had never seen him like that. She wanted to comfort him by saying that his family couldn’t have forgotten him but she knew it would be a futile effort, there was no need denying an obvious truth. She leaned towards him and placed her head on his chest. Cole responded by holding one of her hands and placing the other on her forehead, he rubbed it gently.
____
Two officers immediately began to journey towards them slowly, ÇOçking their guns at the same time. The other officers closed up and formed a wall at the entrance, holding their guns at alert.
‘I don’t want to go to court, please just leave,’ Henry resorted to acting quickly as he realized his mistake.
‘But you just have to,’ the barrister replied in the same loud voice.
‘No please, there’s no need to, it’s a lost battle already.’
‘Please keep your voice low sir, you’re disturbing the officers already.’ she said aloud, motioning him to calm down as she made her eyes meet with the officers who had come close to them. They had a look of disappointment on their faces, meaning that they had believed Henry’s acting as real. A glance towards the exit also revealed to Tarasha Dakolo who was peeping from outside, their eyes met, he had been hiding somewhere close.
Their was a look of dissapointment in Dakolo’s eyes as he noticed that they were not at the table where he left them. He quickly returned to his hiding place as his eyes met with the lawyer’s.
Henry and the lawyer both maintained a reflective silence until the two officers who were approaching them returned to their previous positions after strolling around them.
‘Omotara, I don’t believe your story,’ Henry said, returning back to his low voice. His eyes showed the fear he had in his heart. ‘You’re only saying this to manipulate me. ‘
‘There’s no time for arguing, I need you out of here. So that I can focus on getting other things.’
‘Please Tara, you don’t need me out of here. Just tell me what you said about your brother is a lie.’
‘Unfortunately, it’s true.’ She replied.
‘I don’t believe you, you don’t look like you just lost your brother.’
‘He was killed yesterday, I met him dead at the house when I left here.’ She said, slowly mentioning her words slowly.
‘No, it can’t be true.’ Tears ran down Henry’s face and he began to sob.
‘You’ll have enough time to cry when we get out, let’s go now.’ She said.
‘Please, I don’t want to get out of here by killing more people.’ Henry said almost inaudibly, tears still streaming down his face.
‘We have no option,’ she said, holding his palms in hers.
‘Have you reported his death to the police?’ Henry asked, wiping off the tears on his face hurriedly. ‘I could talk to Inspector Dakolo, he’ll be willing to help us.’
‘No, the police does not need to help us,’ Tarasha said, her tone change, she felt angry at Henry’s mention of the police.
‘They can help us,’ Henry tried to hold her hands again.
She pushed away his hands and put hers below the table, ‘The killers were led by the leader of the police force, the police themselves are helpless here.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Henry looked more confused.
‘The Inspector General led the group of people who killed my brother,’ she said in plain terms.
Henry was taken aback by her statement, the tears from his eyes seized and his eyes widened in shock.
‘Let’s get out of here now, we’ll have time to talk later.’ she stopped him as he wanted to speak.
‘But how are you going to get me out of here?’ he asked, considering all the police officers watching them.
‘Just follow my instructions and don’t try to stop wh@tëver I do,’ she replied him.
‘Okay, what should I do?’ Henry asked, not yet enthusiastic about escaping. He watched as she glanced around the place, ‘Hope no one would have to die in this process,’ he quickly added.
‘They don’t necessarily have to, they only need to cooperate well,’ she replied. There was a brief silence, Henry seemed to pause and consider the options.
‘Okay, take off the handcuff now,’ he said stretching his hands on the table. Tarasha ignored him at first, she took a glance at her wristwatch and turned the head a little. She closed her eyes briefly as she tried to recall the secret exits which the Chief warder they abducted had been coerced to tell them about. He told them of about three points and she had to calculate the best point to follow based on their position they were in the facility. Luckily for her, the job was easier because they were far from the main buildings for prisoners, the secret escape there was more complex.
*
Dakolo sat outside the visiting hall patiently waiting for the lawyer to round up her meeting with Henry. His plan to record their conversation had gone wrong already, he had secretly fixed a recorder under the table where he left the lawyer sitting with Henry but to his disappointment, he saw that they had moved to another table when he peeped in the other time.
His phone began to vibrate in his pocket, he took it out and stared at the screen. His eyes wudened in surprise as he saw the caller’s ID, it was the missing Chief securit warder.
‘Hello,’ he said with a stern voice as he rose up from his seat, he was expecting to hear the abductor’s voice. He began to walk fast out of the yard as he listened. He heard nothing except the sounds of a noisy moving vehicle until the call was cut. He dialed the number again as he entered into an open office, it began to ring but was not answered.
‘Somebody just called me with the Chief warder’s number,’ he announced to the occupants of the large open office. He caught their attention and two male officers sitting behind their desks with computers sprang up to the feet immediately. ‘Is it still ringing?’ One of them asked.
‘Yes, I think they made a wrong dial.’ Dakolo said, handing over his phone to one of the officers. The officer sat back behind the computer to track the location the call came from.
____
Henry’s hand remained on the table, waiting for Tarasha. He began to wonder why she wasn’t taking off the handcuff anymore, since she was the one who had been rushing him.
‘We can’t do it like that anymore, these guys are extra alert than they were before. If you’re observant eough, you don’t need to look towards them before knowing that their eyes were fixed on your hands immediately you placed them on the table.’ She explained and took a brief pause. ‘Now, when I drop the key on the table, you pick it up and hide under this table, then take off the handcuff yourself while I take the guys out,’ she finally said to him.
A protesting look appeared on his face and he withdrew his hands from the table ‘They don’t have to die except they prove too stubborn, we don’t have any choice now.’ Tarasha added, he placed his hands back on the table.
She rested her back in the chair and stretched, then she leaned forward to the table again. She continued speaking in low tones to erase suspiciin. She could feel the prying eyes of the officers on them, the two who had come closer earlier, began to approach them again. She folded her arms and carefully detached the key, then she rested back again. The officers had come very close, only about two hundred centimetres from them, behind other tables, they were staring at their table with suspicion in their eyes.
Tarasha took a look at the officers, ‘Please may I have your attention,’ she said with a hand gesture to one of the officers, she placed her other hand on the table and in the process dropped the key but still using her palms to cover it. The officer she called hurried forward, it was his chance to move closer to them without making them alert.
‘Yes, how may I help?’ the officer asked, now standing close by the middle of the table.
She looked up at his face and then took a quick glance at her wristwatch without saying anything.
‘You called me…’ the officer tried to say but wasn’t allowed to land.
‘Go Henry,’ Tarasha said as she th-ru_sted her attached finger nails into the side of the officer’s belly and rose up. Henry quickly picked the key slid under the table. The officer screamed in horror as his body felt weak immediately.
Some bullets followed from different directions of the hall but the attacked officer’s body was the recipient, Tarasha used his body to shield hers. She took out the pistols from his body and threw a backflip, ÇOçking the guns as she did.
Bullets followed from every direction of the hall but the officer’s body was the recipient as Tarasha used his body to shield hers. She took out the pistols from his body and threw a backflip, ÇOçking the guns as she did.
_____
**7 minutes ago**
Aisha’s head was laid on Cole’s chest warmly, she closed her eyes as she enjoyed the fragrance and warmth of his body and his arms wrapped around her. He touched her forehead and stared at her face, they had never been this close.
Their magic moment was ended abruptly as the head of their wristwatches moved at the same time and their alarms sounded. The separation between them was sharp and instant. Cole quickly moved to the driver’s side of the truck and fastened his seatbelt, he adjusted his rear view mirror before starting the engine. Then he collected a black piece of clothing Aisha was handing to him, both of them put on the face at the same time. He took another quick look at Aisha, she had also fastened her seatbelt and was about to begin to setting up guns for the both of them.
_____
**Present**
‘Where did that sound come from?’ Dakolo paused to ask Clem who he was conversing with on his way back to the visitor’s hall. They were in the prison yard, some prisoners on uniforms were clearing grasses while some were filling a pit with sand, there were several warders around supervising them.
‘From…’ Clem was pointing to the direction of the visitor’s lounge of the prison when a louder noise distracted them, there was a explosion several metres away before the reception, sounds of gunshots followed. ‘It must be from the gate.’
______
She landed on the table behind, standing on her left foot alone, at the same time taking out the two closer guys as she released bullets from the two guns. As she shot them, flashback of her brother lying in his own pool of blood ran through her mind, she began to see the face of the Inspector General Rikau on every officer’s face.
She placed her second feet on the table and sent in bullets to the bodies of the officers still trying to aim at her correctly. In less than fifteen seconds and with just six bullets, she had taken down the six officers in the visiting hall with her. She climbed down the table and proceeded forward, still pointing her guns towards the main entrance and keeping an eye towards the other entrance which was from the prison cells.
‘Let’s go,’ she said to Henry with a note of command. Two prison warders appeared from the exit into the cells and received two shots into the chests instantly.
Henry got up from under the table soberly, tears formed in his eyes as he saw the dead bodies of officers scattered all around the visiting hall. He was now seeing the Samantha side of Omotara, just few minutes ago, she had promised him to not shed the blood of innocent people but now she was killing mercilessly.
‘Let’s go,’ she reiterated to him as he was still being sluggish. This time the note in her command sounded more dangerous. The look in her eyes also told him she wasn’t pleading with him or would consider his say in the matter. He hastened his steps and followed closely her behind to the entrance.
She signaled for him to stop and peeped to see outside of the hall; the whole prison yard was in disarray, the prisoners working in the compound had fled and some were still fleeing at the sounds of the gunshots from the visiting hall and the loud explosion from the main entrance of the facility. ‘Let’s go,’ she motioned him to continue following behind while she led the way.
Half walking and jogging sidewards, Tarasha gunned down any warder or officer who sprang out of the buildings around and tried to aim at them, the only ones left to live were the ones who were running out without noticing them and the prisoners who were running for safety.
*
About eight police officers positioned themselves straight at the front of the reception building of the maximum prison facility, all of them got on their left knees and aimed their guns at the approaching vehicle.
‘Stop right now before, the count of three…’ The ninth police officer shouted into the megaphone. ‘1…2…3,’ he shouted but the driver of the truck seemed not to be moved.
*
‘What’s happening? Where did that explosion come from?’ Dakolo asked aloud on getting back into the open office. The whole place was in disorderliness. some officers were running in and out, trying to get their guns and bullets.
‘It looks like we’re under terrorists attack,’ an officer who was making a call paused to answer him. ‘More reinforcement needed, purpose of attack undefined yet…’ he continued with his call after answering Dakolo.
*
‘I repeat, surrender yourself now or we…’ He couldn’t complete his statement as the officers pushed the triggers in panic when a grenade ball was launched from the truck towards them. The speaker dropped the megaphone and fled for his life, the shooting officers also fled before the ball landed but none of them could escape the effect which followed.
Cole had halted the vehicle before Aisha launched the ball and waited for the explosion. The bullets from the officers hit the front glass but could not pierce through because of the bullet proof quality. Other parts were also bullet proofed, that was a result of the parts of the truck they had worked on the day before.
He adjusted the rearview mirror again before he started to reverse the vehicle.
*
‘Terrorists attack, what the hell could be…’ Dakolo could not finish his statement as another explosion rocked the place that moment, causing a vibration which sent them all to the floor.
*
Henry kept following closely, without asking questions, even though it looked like she was leading him into fire. Another explosion had sounded and it was at the reception building where Omotara was leading him towards. The effect of the vibration was not felt much from where they were running, but Henry still almost fell while running.
It seemed Omotara had everything well timed, Henry had watched as she received another signal through her wristwatch, she then halted with him and hid behind a wall until next explosion went off. Then they began to run towards the place that went up in flames.
They got to an open office by the left and Omotara stood at the entrance, she threw in a small material which look like a cigarette lighter in and covered her nose with an handkerchief before entering. She asked Henry to wait at the door. Henry could see Agent Dakolo amongst the officers sprawling on the floor who were just trying to recover from the vibration that swept them off their feets, they began to cough as the gas from the object Tarasha threw in spreaded.
Tarasha proceeded straight to a table and picked the bag which she had come with, she took out a perfume like bottle from it and dropped it on the floor shattering the bottle into pieces. A blue smoke was being emitted from the spot which the bottle was dropped as Tarasha walked back out of the office, that was the second gas she released into the place.
‘Well aimed,’ Henry heard Tarasha say into the wristwatch as they got closer to the exploded place. Amidst the thick dark smoke and flames, Henry could see the lights and hear the sounds of a heavy truck driving.
Henry stopped to look back at the open office which they just left, he could see that Dakolo and some of the men were up and still coughing but they also seemed to be struggling with standing and seeing as they all were rubbing their eyes vigorously. He needed no prophet to tell him it was the effect of the gases Omotara had dropped.
‘Henry!’ He heard her call him name angrily, he turned to her, she was already several metres ahead of him but she had taken another direction opposite to their previous movement.
‘Tara!’ Henry shouted back her name but in fear, his eyes widened. An officer was standing several metres behind her and was about to pull the trigger.
She turned back without panicking and sent a bullet into the officer’s chest, as if she Wa aware of the officer behind. The gun fell from the officer’s hand and he dropped to the floor lifeless.
‘Now, let’s go,’ she said to him and continued in her direction.
She led him through one of the farms that the prisoners were previously working on. They continued walking until they got to a well.
‘Go in,’ she said to him. Henry gave a quick look, wondering what she meant by telling him to get into a well. ‘Or would you follow after me?’ she asked.
Henry’s mind was a little bit calmer at the revelation that she was also entering into the well with him. He stepped in and began to make use of the supports provided by the sides to proceed downwards. Tarasha took a look around the place again before entering into the well with him, she had just entered into it fully when she stepped up again with her head above the well level, she fired two quick shots at a tree and began to descend with Henry. She switched on her torch and placed it in her mouth to provide light.
A body fell to the ground lifeless from behind the tree she shot at, an officer had been hiding himself and watching them from there.
Do you think we’ve done well?’ Aisha asked as she took off the mask and Cole killed the engine of the truck.
Cole ignored her question and quietly unfastened his seatbelt, he took off his face mask and opened the door. Then he picked the bag beside him and jumped down from the truck, Aisha followed his example. They both hurried into the car parked behind the truck. Cole pressed the button on the remote control and the doors of the car were unlocked, Aisha stepped into the passenger’s side first while Cole opened the door to the back seat and dropped his bag into it, he also looked around for a few seconds to see if anyone was looking at them before opening the door and entering into the driver’s side.
‘We did what we were asked to do,’ Cole said to Aisha as he started the car engine. ‘We caused enough distractions, I’m sure she’ll be on her way out of the place too.’ He said as he drove off.
‘d@mn! This mask and gloves stuff is really tiring,’ Aisha said as she looked into a small rounded mirror. ‘There are marks on my face.’
Cole took a glance at her and chuckled, ‘you didn’t wear it properly, that’s why the lines are showing there.’
‘No, I did wear it well.’ Aisha argued, ‘I still prefer using makeups.’
‘Makeups? Who the hell fancies that?’ Cole asked with a look of contempt, taking a quick glance at her and focusing his eyes back to the road. ‘You get all sweaty in the face and you can’t scratch or wipe your face with an handkerchief because you don’t want to clean off the d@mn paints.’
‘It’s still a better way of hiding identity, it eliminates the possibility of alarming unsuspecting victims.’ Aisha said.
‘Yes, I agree but everything just has it limits. The boss has said we can only have three proper versions of ourselves disguising with makeups, trying more would make it obvious that you’re hiding something on your face…’ Cole paused as the head of the wristwatch on his hand turned. He took a glance at Aisha, she was also staring at the wristwatch as she had gotten the same signal.
‘Track her and feed me details,’ Cole said as he increased his speed.
_____
‘Humn,’ Omotara made a humming to Henry as he got closer to the ground. Their bodies had dragged cobwebs along as they proceeded downwards, mosquitoes and other flying insects also attacked them but they were not stopped.
He raised up his head to look at her, she made a signal with her hand for him to stop. Henry stood with his legs spread out to both sides on the third steps before the ground level while she slipped past carefully and dropped to the ground. The ground of the well was dry and very dirty.
‘Are you okay?’ He asked as he took a quick glance downwards. She didn’t answer him but squatted and took out a metal from her bag. With her hands, she began to search around the lower part of the rim just before the ground. She stopped searching after almost a minute when her finger entered a hole. Then she used her hand to dig out and clear the sand at that part until her fingers touched concrete. She widened the dug area and found the openable semicircular shaped part of the concrete which led to the underground, it was more than quarter of the whole ground and was wide enough to allow a body at a time. Then she th-ru_st the metal into the hole which she found by the sides of the rim, the semicircular part loosened. She pushed it down, it opened inwards without falling in.
*
Dakolo eyes were heavy as he struggled to get up from the floor, he staggered like an intoxicated person, holding a table to support himself. For the first few seconds, the only thing that bothered him was the throbbing headache he had developed. Then as he stared around the place and saw several officers like him, he recalled the event which sent them to the floor. He quickly picked up his gun from the floor. He remembered seeing Henry’s lawyer enter into that office while tried to stand up, he would have stopped her with his gun then but it had fallen far from him and the cough would not allow him get it. He then remembered seeing the lawyer drop a bottle to the floor and walk out of the office again. His eyes had suddenly became hot and peppery and his knees weak as he tried to stand, he struggled for about one more minute before he finally fell to the ground. He had to remain on the floor for several minutes.
Several officers with helmets on their heads and rifles in their hands could be seen from inside the open office running in from the direction of the exploded reception.
About five of the officers entered into the office while the several others spread themselves outside. The effect caused by the gas had totally disappeared.
‘Agent Dakolo,’ Officer Clem came running with them into the office. He stopped abruptly as he met the whole place disorganized and his boss looking ruffled.
‘Yes, Clem. Did you see them?’ Dakolo asked as he tried to rise but sank back into his seat. Water was falling from his eyes in drops like one who had an eye infection.
‘No sir, they were gone before I got there.’
‘What do you mean by they were gone? What about the prisoner, didn’t he run back into his cell?’
‘No, he wasn’t in his cell,’ Clem replied, jittery. ‘I’m afraid sir, the lawyer might just be connected to the presumed terrorists. I met the visiting hall in a mess.’
‘What kind of mess are you talking about?’
‘Sir… I mean all the officers were down, all of…’
‘Agent Dakolo,’ one of the officers who had just come in interrupted, proceeding towards Dakolo with the other senior officer who had called the head office for support. ‘Did you witness what happened here?’
‘Agent Tim,’ Dakolo sighed on seeing the man’s face. Agent Tim was a senior Agent to him and they worked in different departments. ‘I was here when it started, but I’m not even sure about what really happened.’ Dakolo replied.
‘I was told the lawyer of one of your prisoners just escaped with the prisoner,’ Agent Tim said.
Dakolo sighed again without responding, he buttoned up his shirt and rose up from the seat. He was more stable now. Agent Tim took his silence for a ‘Yes’.
‘How come you didn’t conduct a proper search on the lawyer? I was briefed that she singlehandedly took out the six officers in the visiting hall and even more outside.’ Agent Tim added.
‘Agent, you should know me better. A proper search was conducted on her by my team and even the prison warders. They certified that she was harmless before allowing her in.’ Dakolo replied, staring around the whole office in a mess.
‘Hmm… She’s definitely connected to the other attack, those guys did not take anything from the prison. They turned after bombng the reception, an in-house member must have told them how to catch the security at the front gate off guard.’ Agent Tim said. There was a long silence between them and all the officers listening. Then Agent Tim signaled to Dakolo for them to have a discussion in private. Both of them moved out of the office and continued to walk slowly in the prison yard.
‘Agent Dakolo, do you think it’s an attack from the Samantha Osman gang?’ Agent Tim asked as they took what was like a stroll together but definitely not leisurely. The facility was filled with activities of officers roaming the place, trying to clean it up and others trying to make sure there was nothing of the attackers left behind.
‘Of course, it’s from the gang,’ Dakolo replied in a sad tone.
‘How come it wasn’t detected by you of all people?’ Agent Tim stopped walking abruptly and stared Dakolo in the place.
‘Agent,’ Dakolo closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. ‘Those guys are intelligent, there was nothing on the lady’s body to suggest she was coming in to do anything.’
‘But I think you should have been more careful.’
‘I was careful sir.’
‘Why then didn’t you allow her see him inside the main prison facility? You could have also allowed them to meet inside the cell?’
‘Sir, Henry is not a convict yet. Even keeping here is very wrong and illegal, we just had to do that because we wanted to ensure he doesn’t escape. The lawyer knew her job and was demanding for the right thing to be done. And I also wanted to monitor them closely, I placed a recorder under the table but…’
‘But what?’
‘She didn’t use the table we set up for her, she moved to another.’ Dakolo said.
‘But I still expected you to be around the place where she was seeing the prisoner,’ Agent Tim said with a frown.
‘I was around, staying outside. Staying in the same room with them would make them too cautious but I received a call…’Dakolo stopped abruptly and widened his eyes as a thought popped into his mind. He remembered that the location of the call was not successfully traced, he must have been purposely distracted with the call.
He gave us accurate details,’ Cole replied Aisha after she read out to him the position of their tracked target from the tracker map. The road they were driving was one which was newly being developed by the Federal Government, it had thick bushes by the both sides.
‘We’re getting closer now,’ Aisha said. She stretched her arm to the back seat and picked up a back. She took out the guns and began to set in the cartridges.
‘How many police men are you ready to take out?’ Cole asked with a smirk.
Aisha took a quick glance at him and continued to fix her guns, ‘I’m not scared of some things anymore, a man can only die once.’
‘So you’re ready to die?’ Cole grinned.
‘I won’t die now, we’ll take out the policemen successfully.’ She replied him confidently.
‘I see,’ Cole continued to drive in silence. The sped past an interstate passenger’s bus and a fuel tanker. Aisha continued to monitor the points on the map. They had gotten accurate information from the Chief Security warder. Tarasha was going to come out from a hole around that place, but there was a police roadblock just beside.
‘Stop!’ Aisha said suddenly. Coe applied the brakes so quick that the car tyres screeched and raised dust with it. ‘I think they are around.’ Aisha said.
Cole collected the device from her to confirm, there was an angry look in his eyes. ‘Why did you have to say it so suddenly?’ Cole asked as he looked into the device.
‘Sorry, I was expecting to see the police roadblock before us.’ She apologized.
‘Ermm…Yes, the locator indicates here.’ He said, confusion written all over his face as he looked up. His face brightened up as his eyes met something. ‘There’s the roadblock, the officers are not there.’ A smile appeared on his lips. ‘I think we met them on our way here, they’ve been called up to Kuje.’
He could hear the horns of a vehicle from afar, he quickly handed back the device and reversed the car out of the road, he parked neatly close to the bus. The driver of the approaching vehicle did not go without hurling insults at them for parking wrongly.
____
The exit from the underground was hidden in another well. The ground of the well could be seen shaking until the semicircular part beside the rim below was dragged in. Henry was the first to step out, Tarasha followed after. She closed back the opening and began to proceed up the well using the supports holes, the handbag hanging on her shoulder. Henry followed behind this time.
In few minutes, they were out of the well and in their new environment. Tarasha was already staring around the farm when Henry stepped out.
‘Uh oh! ‘ Henry exclaimed as he got out, he couldn’t help but smile at how terrible she looked. The both of them were covered with dirts and almost unrecognizable. She took a glance at him, wondering why he exclaimed but then a smile escaped her lips as she saw his distorted face.
She raised up her wrists to make use of the wristwatch and communicate to Cole but it was covered with mud. She cleaned it up but it has spoilt already. She had no option than for them to proceed to wait beside the road in their dirty state, hoping that Cole would find her as quick as possible.
***
‘Hey boss,’ Cole was the first to see them approaching from inside the bush. He had been using a compass in trying to locate them. Tarasha hastened her steps and was soon out of the forest to the front of the car. She noticed Cole and Aisha’s attempt to conceal a laugh as they saw her. Cole was about asking of Henry when he showed up.
‘Welldone boss,’ Cole hailed as he opened the boot of the car. He could see Henry’s eyes behind his mud covered fac, staring intently at him but he ignored as he opened the door to the backseat for them. Aisha took the bag from the boss and proceeded to keep it in the boot.
‘Did you meet the officers at the roadblock?’ Tarasha asked Cole.
‘No, they’ve all been called away. They are all at Kuje now.’ Cole answered turning towards the driver’s side.
Tarasha motioned to Henry and they both entered into the back seat of the car. Henry remained unrelaxed and kept staring at Aisha and Cole who were now taking their seats at the front.
‘I know those two,’ Henry exclaimed almost in whispers, now staring at Tarasha.
‘Yes, I once sent both of them to kill you,’ Tarasha replied him without thinking twice. She already knew that was the question on his mind.
Henry gave her an awkward stare for a couple of seconds. ‘You sent them?’
‘Ouch! Seems this is going to be a little bit difficult,’ she stretched out her right hand to Aisha and made a signal. Aisha handed something small to her, Henry couldn’t see what it was even as his eyes followed her movements closely.
‘What’s that?’ Henry asked again.
She leaned closer to him and inserted the pin halfway into his arm, he slept off immediately.
Cole smiled to himself on seeing the mess Tarasha and Henry had made to the backseat, he would need to clean the car as soon as they got home. He started the engine with a sigh and pulled his seatbelt.
_____
Henry woke up in a large bed in a wide room, he sat up and stared around, trying to figure out where he was. e got up and proceeded to the window, he opened the curtains and stared outside, it was still dark. It must be midnight or early morning, he thought to himself. He proceeded to the door and tried to open it but it was locked from outside. He returned to the bed quietly, still trying to figure out to remember who he was and what he was doing in the room.
Few seconds later, the door opened and a lady entered carrying a tray of food, Henry’s stomach made a rumbling sound at the sight of the tray. She proceeded closer to the bed and he caught good view of her face. That was when he remembered everything; the news of Jefa’s death, his escape from prison and the deaths that had to take place. He lost his appetite immediately.
She placed the tray on her stool and opened the plate, it was meal of fried rice and chicken. A bottle of water and a glass cup was placed beside the plate in the tray.
‘I’m sure you must be very hungry now,’ Aisha spoke after moving the stool to his front. ‘The boss asked me to serve you this.’
‘I’m not hungry,’ Henry said stubbornly even though the aroma of the meal had returned his appetite to him and all the organisms in his belly were already dancing and rejoicing about the meal. ‘Where is your boss? I want to see her.’ He asked.
‘She would come to see you when she comes back,’ Aisha said to him.
‘Then keep the food till she comes back,’ Henry said, adding a frown. He saw Aisha bent forward a little and was scared that she really wanted to take the food back but she only helped him adjust the cover of the bottled water properly. He heaved a sigh of relief.
‘I will advice that you eat sir, the substance used to induce sleep to you is a very strong one, you must be very weak.’ Aisha said.
Henry wanted to refuse loudly again but he quickly advised himself against it, he really felt weak as she suggested and he felt that he could faint if he decided to argue further.
‘And you should rest more,’ Aisha added after seeing that he was finally considering eating the food.
Henry gave her an awkward stare, he felt she had just spoken to him like a kid.
‘Wait! Who took off my clothes?’ Henry asked, suddenly remembering how dirty he was before. Henry also remembered hearing her mention about sleep being induced. ‘How did you make me sleep and who exactly did?’
Aisha sighed before answering, ‘The boss did, she washed you up.’
‘The boss?’ Henry squinted as he mumbled the words to himself. He began to wonder how Omotara must have taken off his clothes and wash him up, how had she cleaned the vital parts of his body. He get embarrassed at the thought alone.
Aisha, sensing that he was going to come up with more questions decided to escape quickly. ‘I’ll be leaving you to eat now, the boss gave me other assignments to do.’ She said and turned to leave.
Henry watched her back as she walked out and closed the door. HD remembered her face clearly as Cole’s partner that was left in the car when Cole pursued him into the bush to kill him.
As he took his first spoon of the meal, he began to wonder what kind of life he would live now that he had been taking away from prison. He was sure it would be all over the news and his pictures would be everywhere with the police promising a huge sum of money to anyone who would provide information about him.
Henry had slept off minutes after the meal the last night, he woke as early as 5am the next morning. There were now some changes in the room, a television set and a decoder had been set up for him. There was also a very small fridge kept in a corner of the room. A drawer had also been introduced to the side of the bed, a laptop was on the drawer. A doormat had also been placed at the entrance. A look at the door suggested that he was locked in.
After mumbling some words of prayer, Henry rose up from the bed slowly and stretched his body, he still felt pains at some of his joints. He proceeded first towards the door and confirmed it kicked, so he turned to the TV and switched it on, he also turned on the decoder and returned to the bed with the remote control. Seconds after, the decoder loaded completely, he switched to the network news station purposely to see if there would be any report about his escape. He only watched for few minutes when he saw his name been written in a statement in the news flash. Just as he expected, he had been declared wanted already.
His eyes remain fixed to the television but his mind travelled far away. His name had been spread all over the nation as a criminal and that grieved him but he was feeling more grieved when he thought of Jefa’s exit. He wished someone would tap him and wake him up from the unpleasant dream. But No, this was reality.
____
‘We’ll take some weeks off, not to rest but to strategize and to properly build structures,’ Tarasha was speaking to Cole and Aisha in the living room of the new house. The morning still smelt of freshness but for them, it was already work time.
‘We have two main targets now, the Vice President and the Inspector General.’ Tarasha said to them. ‘After strategizing and putting up of structures, we’ll know the one to go for first, but I’m sure we won’t kill the both of them immediately because only they can reveal who our next targets would be,’ Tarasha paused and took in a deep breath. ‘One thing I assure you is that many more people still have to die.’ She waited to see of they had listened to her attentively, ‘Do you have any questions?’ She asked.
‘Yes,’ Cole responded swiftly. ‘I heard you mention Don Daniel day before yesterday and I thought he’ll also be one of our targets,’ Cole said.
‘I don’t think Don should be counted as one of our targets, he’ll surely be taken down along the way. He doesn’t look like a worthy target to me. It’s just that now I understand why he’s been trying to tail me, he was working for the IG all these while.’
‘Okay and the IG is using him as an external hand for the police?’ Cole asked.
‘No, the IG is using him for something personal. Something I’m yet to grasp yet.’ she replied, staring blankly at the wall as she began to take slow steps around the room. She tried to capture Don’s face in her mind, he had never really being like a threat to her, she believed it was only for her mistake Don and the Inspector General had been able to access the house and kill her brother.
Cole and Aisha remained quiet but Tarasha could sense they were hiding something, they still had questions in their hearts. She knew the possible questions they had bottled inside them and weren’t bold enough to ask. One of those questions was how the enemies penetrated her so well to hurt her without her receiving any alarm or prior warning about it.
‘Now we won’t let our guards off anymore, they got to kill my brother because when I visited Henry at Kuje Prison.’ she began suddenly again. ‘They don’t allow phones and devices to be taken into the prison visiting hall, so I wasn’t alerted when the enemies gained entrance into the house.’ She closed her eyes as she recounted the sad experience. She also had refused to check her phone after the talk with Henry that day, all that was in her mind was to get home and fulfil Henry’s wish; that is to leave the country with her brother. She felt tears form in her eyes but she fought back, not wanting to look weak before Cole and Aisha.
Cole and Aisha watched their boss being so emotional for the first time ever, she had partly answered some of the questions they had in mind. She had given them an idea of the drama that ensued on the day she dismissed them from working for her, only to call back for them few hours later. She also revealed the nature of their next set of tasks and answered the questions about the person whose grave she had visited with them two days ago. They also knew now, why she did not let them return to the house in Asokoro, because she was hiding her brother there. But they still had many questions left unanswered, one of the questions was why Henry who they had made several attempts to kill was rescued from the prison and now kept with them. Since they were unaware of Henry’s presence in Tarasha’s house for days, they couldn’t comprehend the situation, all they could think was of their boss’ weirdness and wonder about her recent emotional change.
____
It was 7.15am when Henry began to hear a noise at the door to his room, someone was opening it from behind. He quickly sat up, hoping it was Omotara this time.
The noise seized for some seconds but the door refused to open, Henry was about laying back in the bed when the door creaked slowly and his hope materialized, Omotara entered. She closed the door and stopped at the entrance, they both stared at each other’s faces for some couple of seconds.
She was the first to break the silence, ‘Good morning Henry,’ she said as she threw the keys to the top of the drawer beside the bed.
‘Good morning Omotara,’ Henry answered with the same tone, rising up to his feet.
‘Have you had your bath already?’ She asked, giving him a searching look.
‘No,’ he replied flatly. ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’
‘I’m here now, would you go and have your bath?’ She said, folding her arms.
‘Tara, we need to talk.’ Henry gave her a look of seriousness, ‘What you… What we did yesterday was grievous…’
‘Is that all?’ Tara cut in.
‘No,’ he replied stubbornly. ‘Why did you bring me to a new house? You said at the prison that Uncle Jeffrey was killed by a team led by the Inspector General but you still haven’t explained to me how it happened I don’t understand what is going on.’
Tarasha narrowed her gaze at him and stared at him quietly for close to a minute, ‘What would you do if I grant you an explanation?’
‘What would I do?’ Henry asked, staring at her with an unbelieving look. ‘Don’t you think I deserve an explanation considering the fact that it was your story about his death that made me agree leaving the prison with you? Or did you lie about his death?’
Tarasha chuckled and gave no reply, she kept staring at his face, there was just something in his eyes that always made her calm. He wanted an explanation but she wasn’t ready to start telling him a long story of how Inspector General Rikau was the same man who killed her parents and molested her when she was eight because she didn’t understand yet why Rikau was still after them and why he came for her brother, leaving a note behind in which he promised to come for her.
‘Have your bath and dress up, I’ll like to take you somewhere,’ she said before turning out of the room.
‘Incompetence of the highest order is what you have shown by this,’ The Inspector General barked. ‘Your carelessness and inefficiency has put the security of the whole nation in jeopardy.’ He continued. Dakolo was standing with his head bowed right in front of the table. Agent Tim was standing by the side quietly.
The Inspector General remained in a silence for a short while, going through a paper on his table. He looked up again and directed his gaze to Agent Tim, ‘Has the mode of escape been detected?’ He asked.
‘Yes sir, they took the outer escape. The one for emergency. It all happened because of their closeness to the place,’ Agent Tim replied, trying to shift the blame to Dakolo again. ‘I think they also forced out some information from the Chief warder.
The Inspector General took back his gaze to Agent Dakolo and stared at him thinly for seconds, ‘Should I consider this as carelessness or assume that you work with the Samantha Osman gang?’ He barked.
Agent Dakolo was too ashamed to raise his head, he felt so foolish of himself. He never imagined that he could be easily deceived and defeated, she had done it so easily and quickly ensuring that he couldn’t even make a counter move.
‘I give you a twenty four hours to give me a positive feedback, else you won’t like what would happen to you.’ the Inspector General threatened. ‘Now get out of my office.’
Dakolo saluted and turned quietly, he flashed a look at Agent Tim before walking out of the office.
‘How is the Chief Security Warder’s health now?’ The Inspector General asked Agent Tim after Dakolo had gone out. The warder had been found dumped outside his house gate the night of the prison escape.
‘He’s better but he still does not remember anything that happened,’ Agent Tim replied.
‘Okay, then you guys should keep tabs on him.’
‘Yes sir.’
‘You can leave now,’ Chief Rikau said and rolled his swivel playfully. Agent Tim saluted and walked out.
Chief Rikau was left with his thoughts, if Samantha Osman could be so bold to go take someone in the maximum security prison which was well guarded, it meant he had to double his own guards and security to ensure his safety.
__________
Dakolo slipped into the driver’s side hastily, he heaved a sigh as he entered. His face met with Angela’s picture, a brief smile appeared on his face. He wondered why he was even rushing, he had been given twenty four hours by the IG and he didn’t have a clue of where to start from but he just knew something had to be done. He couldn’t just fail after his sacrifice of leaving Angela and his lovely kids behind. The thought added to his strength, even if he couldn’t meet the twenty four hours deadline, he was going to make sure he hands over Samantha Osman the law.
__________
Henry kept staring around as Tarasha led him into the forest. Several thoughts had been running through his mind since she parked by the bush side but he refused to believe the worst. They finally got to a large area mainly populated by low grasses, there were evidences around that the place had just been cultivated; remains of burnt leaves, and stumps could be seen at the other end of the place. There was a tree at the middle of the land. Tarasha took a two minutes pause to have a broad view of the field before stepping on the grasses.
Henry followed behind slowly, ‘Where arebwe heading to?’ He asked.
‘He’s at the back of the tree,’ Tarasha halted and said, pointing Henry to behind the tree.
‘Who? Uncle Jeffery?’ Henry asked, standing beside Omotara. The tree was still about ten metres ahead.
‘You should go closer,’ Omotara said and gave him an assuring look.
Henry’s steps were slow and heavy as he proceeded forward, leaving Omotara at the same spot he met her.
‘Uncle Jeffery,’ Henry called repeatedly in soft tones as he approached the tree, hoping he’ll hear a miraculous reply but the only replies he got was Jefa’s voice sounding in his head. He was just five metres closer when he noticed clearly the unique bed of sand. The sight sent cold shrills down his spine as he halted, he closed his eyes briefly and drew in a deep breath, tears escaped his eyes.
‘I brought him here myself,’ Omotara said, approaching him slowly. I buried the last surviving member of my family myself.’ She got beside him and glanced at his teary eyes, she twitched her lips and let out an involuntary chuckle.
‘How did he die?’ Henry asked, sniffing in tears, he began to move closer to the grave slowly. ‘Who killed him?’ Henry quickly rephrased his question, remembering that she had mentioned about someone killing him.
‘He was killed by the same man who killed my parents and destroyed our family,’ Omotara replied in a cold voice, proceeding towards the grave too but at a slower pace.
Henry was already in front of the huge heap of sand, squatting as he fondled the upper layer of the sand. ‘And who is that person?’ Henry turned his head to Omotara who was now standing closer and leaning on the tree. His voice sounded determined and ready for revenge.
‘The Inspector General Of Police,’ Omotara answered. ‘He killed him with his group.’
‘Who are the other members of the group?’
‘I only know one of them but he really doesn’t matter, he’s a poor specimen.’
There was a brief silence between the duo. Henry rubbed his hands on the top soil and mumbled some words passionately as if he was talking to Jefa directly. Memories of the times he spent with the man flashed back through his mind, he recalled as the man communicated the painful death of his parents, he could still feel the pain as the voice rang in his memory, as strong as he felt it that day. He recalled Jefa’s struggle to reunite with Omotara and how the man finally succeeded, Jefa had always mentioned to him his heart desire to be happy with someone who was a member of his family and that he found fulfilled in Omotara. Jefa had also shown his selfless love just during the brief moments they spent together. Now the same man was lying feets under the ground level, lifeless and unable to love anymore. Jefa did not deserve to die like that and who ever killed him also deserved a painful death.
Henry rose up shakily with some quantity of sand still in his hands, he sniffed in and moved back a little to spit out.
‘They all deserve to be punished and they will be punished,’ Henry mumbled to himself but was still loud enough for Omotara to hear.
