Inspector Mac
Agent Tim
Agent James
Agent Dakolo
Tarasha had the four officers profile docvmented on a page, the picture of each officer placed beside the texts. She had taken time to carefully study in order to detect which of the officers might have been working with Don Daniel. She also studied their full upright pictures to see if any one had the same posture or body size which was like the man who killed Aisha and shot her but there was none.
Before that, she had made a search on the top assassination and robbery gangs in Nigeria and still found the Nanl Gang to be on top of the list. There was no other gang that was as powerful as the Nanl. This made her narrow down her search to the police and other security agencies to see if the new man was a special agent working on the Samantha Osman’s case and had probably worked in Don Dan’s gang as an undercover. But even with her narrowed down search, she had gotten no result yet. She was very sure that the new man was a well bred and trained personnel who wasn’t Don’s match or inferior. The penetration of the bullets through the sofas and the one into her arm had further proved that the new enemy needed to be paid special attention to, but she still didn’t know how well bred and trained he was and couldn’t ascertain if he was from the security agencies or he was an illegal agent.
The phone on the table vibrated as she minimized the page and maximized the NSCC app. She picked up the phone and looked at the screen to see the caller, it was Chief Gabriel. She swiped right to answer the call.
‘Good day Chief, I was planning to call you very soon. Anyways, welcome to Nigeria.’ she rapped.
‘Humm… Thank you,’ Chief Gab appeared to be surprised with the way his voice sounded. ‘How did you know I’m now in Nigeria?’
‘You still have a lot of training to do with your guys, cloning your phone number as foreign would not work when you call someone like me. Now lets go to the reason you called, I also have something to discuss with you.’
‘Alright, I don’t think I have to tell you again that I’m in Lagos. I came to pick some few things but I’ll also like to see you before I leave.’
‘And what’s the reason you want to see me?’ she asked.
‘I have to discuss some important things with you,’ Chief Gab replied.
‘What could that be? I think we can discuss wh@tëver it is now if it’s very important, because I’m in the mood to listen to you.’
‘We can’t discuss it on phone,’ Chief Gab said. ‘We have to see and talk.’
‘Alright, we can have a video chat then.’ she suggested.
‘No Tarasha,’ he said in a stubborn tone. ‘We have to meet physically, a video chat won’t do.’
‘Maybe you’re not ready for a discuss then, I’m very busy now. I don’t think I can spare time and leave what I’m doing.’
‘But what about the time you are going to have for the video chat? Isn’t that enough time to spare for us to meet physically?’
‘Doing a video chat would offer me the opportunity to do other things while I talk to you, but it won’t be the same when we meet physically?’
‘Tarasha, I want us to meet tomorrow 3pm unfailingly. Do all you can to be in Lagos then, I’ll text you the address.’ Chief Gab said with a note of authority.
‘And what if I don’t show up?’
‘You have no choice, I’m your boss here and I give the orders. You are working for me, so you listen to me.’ Chief Gab blared in an angry tone.
‘But I’m about your work already,’ Tarasha retorted with less energy, knowing Chief Gab was right with his argument.
‘Then if you’re about my work, you should give more attention to the person who gave you the job.’
‘3pm tomorrow Chief, text your address as soon as possible.’ she succvmbed.
‘Good, you’ll get it in no more than a minute after I end this call.’
‘Till then Chief.’
‘Till then,’ the Chief replied as his voice faded away. The call was ended.
Tarasha dropped the phone gently on the table and turned back to the system. Her eyes widened at what she met on the screen. The NSCC application had opened and the camera was directly on the position where Henry had his car parked. Two other cars had joined, one in front and the other at the back. There was a suspicious looking man who was walking around the vehicles and peeping through the window glasses. The man finished with the first car and attached something to the back. Then he proceeded to the second car, the one in the middle which was the one Henry drove in. He repeated the same process of checking through the window glasses and then attached a similar device to the car. He was taking out the devices from somewhere under his jacket.
He moved to the third car and repeated the same whole process for the third car. Then he turned, his face now to the camera and Tarasha cut his image with the cut tool, she zoomed the photo and squinted as she paid close attention to his face. He had his head slightly bowed in the captured image and only more of his hair could be seen. She exited the zoomed image and returned to the live stream, the man had returned to the first car to cross check what he did.
She now believed that Henry had no hand in the deactivation of her NSCC account. There had been nobody following his car from the base, so it couldn’t have been that he was traced there. It only meant either he was being expected or she was being expected at the NSCC Headquarters by someone. Who the person was she didn’t know for sure but she placed a ninety percent possibility of it being the same man who attacked her with late Don Dan.
Another thought struck her mind as she rose to her feet. If her new thought was accurate, then it had to be a hundred percent possibly that it was the same man who almost killed her who was behind this new trick. He must have been able to deactivate the NSCC account with information from Cole. She knew at once that there was trouble and Henry was in danger.
In a twinkle of an eye, the lights in the computer room turned red and returned white again, a short alarm tone sounded from the main system speakers. She turned back to the system, the man was now at the back of the third car, he took out a phone from his back pocket and placed it on his ear. He began to talk as he walked away.
Tarasha minimized the app to see the notification which made the alarm sound and caused the blinking of the light. It was a notification from the NSCC app, her account had been restored and the log-in details changed. That meant Henry was done and would be coming out of the NSCC Headquarters not too long after, without being aware of the danger awaiting him outside. She picked her phone and typed his number into the dial pad, she clicked on the green button and turned round the table to the wall surrounding sofas as she placed the phone to her ear. She opened the seat of the sofa and searched for suitable arms to select. She paused to redial Henry’s number as the connection ended without the call being answered. She tried the second time but he still didn’t answer.
__________
‘Boss,’ Stainless spoke into the phone as he walked away from the cars, he had a small bag hung around his neck but was hidden under his jacket.
‘Have you installed the devices?’ Rex asked.
‘Yes, I’m walking back now.’
‘Don’t walk back, cross to the other side and hide somewhere directly opposite the cars and watch. I just got the alert now, Samantha’s NSCC account has just been restored, that means she’s in the building.’
‘Okay, so what do I do if I see her come to the car?’ Stainless asked, looking left, right and left again as he made his way across the carriageway.
‘Just take note of the car she enters and notify me immediately. You make use of your InstantVoice, put it on right now.’
‘Okay,’ Stainless said. He took out the InstantVoice communication device from his bag and clipped it to the front of his jacket’s collar. He put the small wireless earpiece in his left ear.
__
Rex had his eyes fixed on his tablet’s screen which streamed live a footage of the NSCC gate and a few metres square around it. He watched and waited keenly for Tarasha to show up from the NSCC gate. He knew she would be disguised and decided to monitor strictly any lady that comes out from the gate.
________
‘Oh!’ Mr Sylvester exclaimed as his eyes met with Steve who walked into his office. ‘You’re done already?’ he asked like he didn’t know the answer to the question.
‘Yes, I’m done.’ Steve said, closing the door behind him. He could feel a vibration in his pocket as he walked towards the table. He had avoided answering the two calls from Tarasha in the NSCC control room because he didn’t want to speak with her in front of Dayo. With the short length of the new vibration, he could sense that he had received a text message and he hoped it was from her.
‘Please be seated,’ Mr Sylvester said cheerfully. ‘So the program FRCappers is produced for two million naira?’ he asked, after waiting for Steve to settle.
‘Yes, my Agency got it for that amount.’ Steve replied, positioning himself well on the seat. He took out his phone from his pocket and turned on the screen.
‘Hmm… I wish I had enough money, I could have gotten that for us here. We have so many other programs we need too but it’s a pity that the government would not invest more in this commission. They even refused to pay some of our own programmers here the money they deserve and that’s why we have the challenge of retaining the likes of Henry Ekene George.’ Mr Sylvester said. He looked at Steve’s face and Steve seemed to be absent minded, he was focused on something on his phone. ‘Are you here?’ Mr Sylvester said, tapping the finger of the other palm which was placed on the table.
‘Yes, of course.’ Steve looked up and faked a smile. ‘It’s sad the way our government are treating our talented people. That’s why most of these young ones go to work abroad and never come back home. They remain there because they are appreciated and rewarded handsomely.’
‘That’s true,’ Mr Sylvester put in.
‘But I still think it’s better nowadays that some years ago. The government still pays us more attention than they use to do but we just still have a very long way to go.’ Henry said. He glanced at his phone’s screen and read the message again, he could feel sweat forming on his forehead as he imagined what would happen next. The message read, ‘Do all you can to remain in the NSCC building until I tell you otherwise. It’s a trap, there’s danger outside.’
‘Is there anything?’ Mr Sylvester asked, noticing his shaken state.
‘Nothing really,’ Steve said, faking another smile. He took out a white neatly folded handkerchief and touched his forehead gently with it, careful not to clean off the makeup. ‘I’m just feeling a little headache but it’ll pass,’ he said, closing his eyes.
‘Oh then, I think I should let you be on your way now. You probably need to rest,’ Mr Sylvester said with concern in his voice.
‘Oh no,’ he opened his eyes immediately. ‘It’s nothing really, I’m not about to leave yet.’
Mr Sylvester paused to stare at his face for a moment, he folded his arms and relaxed into his chair. He was surprised at the sudden outburst and Steve’s unwillingness to leave at that moment when that should be the normal thing.
Steve realized that the voice tube under his tongue had mistakenly slipped up and the man might have heard his voice sound like Henry’s. He moved it back under the tongue carefully.
‘Then what are you planning to do if you are not leaving yet?’ Mr Sylvester asked. ‘I thought you’re done with the job.’
The question seemed like a trap to Steve. It was of course to be expected after he said he wasn’t planning to leave yet but he had no answer for it.
‘Ermm…’ he stammered for a while. ‘ I have some programs I’ll like to introduce to you here, some of my own designed programs. That’s what I wanted to do before leaving.’
‘Hmm… Well, are you sure you can do that today or you’ll like to come back some other time?’ Mr Sylvester asked, unfolding his arms as he sat up.
‘Yes, I’ll like to do that today.’ Steve answered.
‘Em…’ Mr Sylvester frowned as he checked the time. ‘Well, I just think you’ll have to come back because I’ve got some work to do right now, I won’t be able to attend to you.’
‘I can show it to someone else who is less busy,’ Steve persisted.
‘No one is less busy,’ Mr Sylvester retorted.
‘I mean Mr Dayo, I could show my works to him.’
‘Mr Dayo?’ Mr Sylvester raised a brow. ‘How did you know his name? I don’t remember you two introducing yourself to each other.’
Steve had flopped and he knew it, he was thinking of a lie to say when Mr Sylvester spoke again.
‘And he also said you didn’t chat with him at all through out your period of work.’
Steve would have made another flop again if not for Mr Sylvester’s impatience and not allowing him talk before he said what Mr Dayo said. Steve had wanted to lie that he had a conversation with Dayo, not knowing that Dayo had told Mr Sylvester of his absolute silence.
‘I saw it on his ID card,’ Steve finally came up with a good lie. ‘He came so close to me to watch my activities.’
‘Oh! I see,’ Mr Sylvester nodded slowly, staring at Steve with his eyes partly closed. He had his chin on his palm whose elbow rested on the arm of his swivel. ‘But Mr Dayo is not less busy right now, he had to leave some of his responsibilities just to stay with you and I think that’s enough troubles for him already.’
‘Sir, I do promise you it won’t take time.’ Steve said, almost pleading even though he wasn’t sure he could keep the promise. His leaving depended on when Tarasha would call for him.
‘I think we’ve tried enough for you today,’ Mr Sylvester said in a repulsive tone. ‘Just come some other time if you do not want us to regret giving you audience,’ he said, it sounded more like a threat.
‘Hmm…’ Steve sighed. ‘But what about if I install the softwares there now and you check them when you’re free?’ he asked, make another trial to convince the man.
Mr Sylvester heaved a sigh. He stared at Steve with a bad eye to express his displeasure and Steve got the message. He knew there was no way Mr Sylvester was going to be convinced, he could tell that the man was already regretting having him at the first instance.
‘Okay sir, I’m sorry for the troubles. I’ll take my leave now,’ Henry rose slowly to his feet. He dropped a software disk from his bag gently on the floor as he got up. ‘Thank you so much for your help sir, I’ll return some other time like you suggested.’
‘It’s okay, just leave now.’ Mr Sylvester said impatiently.
He watched Steve walk out of the door and heaved a sigh of relief. From a strange person whom he was interested in knowing, Steve had reduced himself by his last act to a desperate programmer who wanted to sell his less innovative program.
_________
Cole and his partner sat quietly at the same table, they both had snacks and a bottle of coke each before them but there was still a feeling of uneasiness especially for the other man. They had been waiting for several hours but they had no option than to wait for Rex’s instruction.
After hours of waiting, Cole’s phone finally rang, the long awaited call had come. It was a moment Cole had wished will never come, he hoped in his heart that Rex and Stainless would just get killed while trying to attack Tarasha.
He answered the call and placed it on his ear without speaking. ‘We’ve confirmed that she’s in the NSCC Headquarters, you can now go into the base.’ Rex voice sounded and the call ended without a chance for him to reply.
His eyes met with his partner’s as he dropped the call, the man understood what the call meant. They rose at the same time and Cole proceeded to pay for the barely touched bottle of coke and snacks they had ordered for.
_________
Tarasha had a soft white jacket on top of her plain white top. The very skinny trouser she wore underneath was also as white as the tops. It had several enclosed pockets at the sides of but she only made use of two to store her two pistols at different sides. She also had some tiny tools in the inner pocket of her jacket.
Her choice of white was made for two reasons, she wanted Henry to be able to locate her easily when the need arises and the other reason was because she didn’t have enough time to disable to NSCC cameras from working for the moment, the white clothes she wore were made of a special material which will only not cause a high reflection of sun rays but make her full image totally blur white to the camera. If not for the two important reasons, putting on white would have been more of a disadvantage.
She proceeded towards the door and picked her backpack along the way. In her backpack were more bullets and arms, masks and other things she could need. She went back into the computer room and walked straight to the master system, she tapped the keyboard and unlocked it. She was about to run a program with which she’ll use to turn on the security for the whole facility and lock the doors when the lights blinked severally and a long alarm tone sounded. She paused and flashed a quick look around the place before turning back to the computer to see what the cause of the alarm was. The alarm was still beeping. Someone was trying to break in.
Mr Sylvester was deeply engaged with something on his computer when he heard a knock on his door. ‘Who is it?’ he barked, angry that he was being disturbed and wondering why his secretary did not inform him about the visitor. He believed it was a visitor because the doorbell wasn’t used. He minimized the opened window on his system to check who the visitor was through the monitoring cameras but the door opened before he could see anything.
His hand dropped from the mouse and he sighed as he saw Steve walk in again. He checked the time, Steve had left his office for over thirty minutes ago, he expected that he should have gone far already.
‘I’m sorry sir, I believe I forgot something in your office. I’ve checked the control room and it isn’t there,’ Steve said before the man could ask what he wanted.
‘What did you forget?’ Mr Sylvester asked coldly.
‘A disk, I couldn’t find it in my bag.’ Steve replied as he approached the table. He searched the table with his eyes for a moment, he could feel Mr Sylvester eyes suspiciously following him as he searched. He then pulled back the visitor’s chair he had sat on earlier and stared at the ground. ‘Oh! I found it already,’ he exclaimed and bent to pick it. ‘Here is it sir,’ he said with a smile, displaying the disk cover to the man.
Mr Sylvester narrowed his look to the cover, not because he was interested in the disk but to be sure that it wasn’t something of his that Steve had taken. His gaze left the disk cover and was fixed on Steve’s face.
Steve’s smile faded away slowly, he felt blood suddenly rush through his veins as the man stared at him. He had intended to catch the man’s attention with the software disk cover and was hoping that the man would be interested in knowing more about it and acquiring it. But it was not so, the disgusted look on Mr Sylvester’s face said it all, he didn’t care at all about what the disk was, all he wanted was for Steve to get out of the office and probably out of the world forever.
‘Now that you’ve found what you lost, why are you still here?’ Mr Sylvester barked.
‘Em..’ Steve smiled sheepishly. ‘I will put it in my bag and leave your office,’ he said foolishly, mentioning his words slowly. He still held the software in his hand.
‘Get out of my office,’ Mr Sylvester barked angrily, looking irritated as he leaned towards the table and picked his office phone.
‘I’ll get out sir,’ Steve replied almost breathlessly. He hurriedly put the software disk into the system.
‘Security, there’s a man in my office now. He’s about leaving, I want you people to ensure you see him leave this environment immediately, don’t let him stick anywhere inside this facility.’ Mr Sylvester said into the phone angrily, he looked up and Steve was already closing the door after getting out.
_____
Cole closed the gate carefully after his partner entered behind him. He looked around the compound briefly and turned to his partner, ‘We’re going to meet Henry E.G inside, so we are not going in as enemies. We’ll walk in casually and I’ll introduce you as my friend, he shouldn’t suspect anything. Do you understand?’
The man nodded silently in reply.
‘Also, when he asks me questions and I start telling him stories, just pretend as if you know all about what I’m saying and as if they are true.’
He nodded again like a dumb person.
Cole eyes wandered around the main building again and the spaces around, he observed the parking space and took note of the vehicles there. He also looked towards the points where cameras were placed in the compound. He heaved a sigh of frustration as he proceeded forward, his partner following behind.
This task would have been simpler for him if Rex didn’t pay too much attention to details. He had planned not to destroy Tarasha’s connections and network lines like he was asked to but to temporarily disable in a way she can easily re-enable it when she returns, then to drop a note which will apologize and explain his actions and the mess he was in to Tarasha. But with the strict instructions Rex had given him, he would have no other choice than to paralyze the network lines completely. Rex strict order was that he took a screenshot of every major step of the operation and the final result, the pictures would be a proof that he really did the job. Rex had also instructed that he destroyed the cables, dish and any physical apparatus that could enable her create another network in two weeks and his partner was asked to take pictures of him as he did this.
_____
Tarasha squinted as her eyes met with Cole’s face on the screen, she stepped back and watched as Cole looked around the house and said somethings in whispers to his partner before they started proceeding forward. Her mind began to work at once and she was certain that Cole must have been given an assignment by the enemies, she wondered what it was. She took a glance at the timer on her wrist and heaved a sigh. Her decision would have been to hide somewhere and wait to watch what was Cole’s mission but it was a hard one to make because of her inability to predict the amount of time Henry had to stay in the NSCC office. She touched the mouse to move the camera focus with Cole and his partner’s movement and watched as they approached the main door. Cole put his access card into reader and the door gave way.
Tarasha closed the stream and switched to the cameras inside the building. Cole and his partner had entered but Cole was waiting to lock the door back with his access card. She took two steps back from the computer to think. After about forty seconds, she finally decided to wait and see Cole’s plan. Henry would have to wait longer in the NSCC building, she believed he could waste more time on the system and lie to the officials that he wasn’t done yet.
She walked away from the table to a locker not to far away and took out a flash drive. She returned to the main control system and inserted the drive. After copying a file from the system into the drive, she shut down the system and walked out with the drive, a tablet device and her bag.
___
‘Hello, anybody in here?’ Cole shouted in as he walked on slowly into the living room. He looked around and noticed that all the windows were locked and the curtains drawn. He signaled for his partner to wait in the living room while he proceeded further, calling for anyone who could be in the house. He returned two minutes later and motioned for his partner to join him as he led him to the control room.
He switched on the bulb in the control room when he entered and he proceeded straight to the master system. He opened up the screen and pressed the boot button, he motioned his partner to a seat beside him while he also sat in front of the system. He took sometime to look around as the computer booted, he observed carefully how the cables connected to the network dish outside the house were arranged, they were all hidden inside the casings. There was a receiver hung on the wall close to the ceiling at the edge of the left side wall which had a green light on, signaling the presence of signals. He was to destroy everything – the connection settings on the master system which will make the light on the receiver turn red and then the physical cables and appliances which ensured the connection and receiving of signals. His partner’s job was to support his operation, especially if there was any unforseen situation which arose and also to take the pictures as Cole destroyed the physical wires and connection tools.
A thought struck Cole’s mind as the system made a sound to signal the complete booting. The idea was to start with a note to explain to Tarasha the situation and also give out hints to her on Elvis- whom he now knew to be Rex- and how she would be able to locate them. He began to think of a way to get his partner busy while he composed the note.
‘Hey, can you turn on the system. I want you to help with a job there,’ Cole said, pointing towards the system at the end of the long table.
His partner shrugged. ‘Of course, if it’s something I can do.’ he rose up and journeyed towards the system he was pointed to. Cole opened the Microsoft notepad application and began to type as fast as possible.
‘What am I supposed to do for you?’ Cole’s partner asked after he got to the place and pressed the boot button.
____
Tarasha watched Cole’s actions through the device in silence. She couldn’t read the expression on his face because of the light from the screen he was focused on. She deeply wondered what his mission could be. She enlarged the view point and watched to see what he was doing on the laptop. She could see him typing words into the notepad application. What could he be typing? She asked herself. If not for the speed at which he was typing, she could have concluded that he was trying to draft out codes for a program but with his fast speed, she knew he wasn’t writing codes but English words.
Something vibrated on the drawer by her bedside. She rose from the bed which she was sitting in and picked up her phone. There was a text message and it was from Henry. She swiped down the notification bar and dragged in the text message
‘I got into trouble with the NSCC boss and he has ordered the security men to throw me out. They are behind me now, following to see that I go out immediately.’
‘Sh|t!’ she cursed and hit her fist on the drawer. She hurriedly returned to the bed and put the tablet device she was using to monitor Cole into her backpack. She strapped it to her back and hurried out of her room, taking one of her guns out of the pocket on her trouser.
_________
‘Hey men! You got to take this easy,’ Steve said to the security men who had been told to ensure he gets out of his building and its surroundings.
‘Just go out, you can use your phone outside.’ the middle aged security man replied him as they pushed him gently from behind with a club.
‘I’m not playing with it, I’m sending a text message, can’t you see?’
‘That’s not my concern,’ the man barked as he pushed Steve forward with his club. The other security man opened the smaller entrance of the gate and Steve was pushed outside.
Henry heaved a sigh of frustration as the gate was slammed behind him. He straightened his cloth and looked around carefully to see if there was anything or anyone watching around. The environment looked it’s usual way. He straightened his cloth again, not knowing what next to do as his heart began to thump faster. He took two steps forward and turned back to look at the gate again, adjusting the bag on his back tighter. He felt a short vibration in his pocket. He took out his phone, the screen was turned on already. He waited two seconds for the screen light to adjust to the new surrounding light before he dragged down the notification bar. It was a text message from Omotara replying his.
‘Stay still when you get outside, don’t look around.’ the message read.
‘Oh!’ Henry heaved a sigh. He had already gone against the instruction which came in late but he decided to carry it out anyway. He took two steps closer to the road but fixed his eyes on his phone. Another text message entered.
‘Walk in the opposite direction to your car, DO NOT look towards where your car was parked.’
Like a robot, he turned to the opposite direction and began to walk slowly, still holding the phone in his hand and waiting for more instruction.
‘Try as much as possible not to look afraid, you’re disguised and they can’t recognize you. Just walk as fast as possible, make sure you follow the three instructions accordingly.’ a third message entered.
Henry began to walk fast. He had followed the last two instructions properly but the first one unfortunately came after he did the opposite.
_______
‘Try as much as possible not to look afraid, you’re disguised and they can’t recognize you. Just walk as fast as possible, make sure you follow the three instructions accordingly.’ Tarasha said into her phone using the voice typing option. She clicked on send and then returned the phone into her pocket. Then she proceeded straight to the control room.
_______
‘Who’s this?’ Rex muttered under his breath, asking no one in particular but himself. The man who had been pushed out from inside the NSCC facility was looking around. He placed two fingers on the device’s screen and zoomed the video to the face of the man. He zoomed out almost immediately as he didn’t know who the man was. He watched for some more seconds until the man began to go his way. The man looked quite suspicious but a lady was who Rex was expecting and he had viewed the man’s head and chest well and was sure he wasn’t a lady disguised as a man.
Still seated in his car and waiting patiently for Tarasha to come out of the NSCC gate. He had two earpieces with him, one in the left ear which he used to listen and communicate with Stainless while the other one was attached to the tip of his collar and transmitted Cole’s voice from where he was.
‘I’m sending two docvments to that system, they both contain some codes, one of ten pages and the other twenty pages.’ Cole’s voice sounded loud through the earpiece in Rex’s collar.
_________
‘I’m sending two docvments to that system, they both contain some codes, one of ten pages and the other twenty pages.’ Cole began answering his partner’s question of what he was supposed to help with after two minutes of focus on the note and ignoring the man. ‘I want you to merge the docvments, but the way to merge is the real task.’ Cole paused to clear his throat. ‘From each page of the ten pages docvment, you copy the last line of codes and you search for the same line of code in the twenty pages docvment, you create a one-line space above when you find it. After creating the space, copy the whole full one page of the ten pages docvment and paste it in the created space. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, I do.’ the other man replied.
‘Ehen,’ Cole said like he just remembered something. ‘For each line of code you find in the twenty pages docvment, you will find more than one. You have to create spaces and paste above each line of codes you find.’
‘Okay,’ the man nodded, still staring towards Cole, his fingers on the mouse.
‘I’ll send it to you in two minutes,’ Cole eyes scanned through the words on the notepad app again before he minimized it.
‘Are all these connected to the network lines we are here to disable?’ Cole’s partner questioned.
‘My job is to paralyze the network lines, your job is to help me and also take pictures.’ Cole replied, sounding disgusted by the question. He moved the cursor on the system to the network and security option.
Just as he clicked on it, the door opened slowly and Tarasha entered.
Like a programmed device, Cole rose up to his feet instantly. He could recognize her perfectly even though she was wearing makeup to disguise.
Tarasha looked from left to right, at Cole who was staring down timidly and to Cole’s partner who was looking shocked.
She raised her gun and sent a bullet into Cole’s partner’s chest. He tumbled and landed on the floor with the chair.
‘You came to paralyze my network lines?’ She said as she turned towards Cole, squinting at him with a questioning look. She pointed her gun to his head.
________
Rex could only hear Cole’s voice clearly in the conversation because his partner was far away. He could only hear the other man’s voice as very low whispers which he couldn’t make any meaning from. He heard Cole speaking angrily to the other guy because that one had questioned him. There were no voices for very few seconds, he could only hear softly Cole’s fingers on the keyboard and the sound made by the computer in refuting commands. Then every sound stopped and the next thing Rex heard was something which sounded like a gunshot, he was sure it was. Then he heard a lady’s voice, but couldn’t make out what she said.
‘d@mn it!’ he cursed, landing his fists on the wheels as he realized what was happening. Tarasha was at the base and must have sent Henry to the NSCC office. Henry must have been the man he had seen come out of the place few minutes ago. He never imagined that Tarasha could send Henry to the NSCC Headquarters, since all he read about Henry never suggested he was an assassin nor that he ever underwent any form of physical training. He was sure Tarasha would be the one to come to the NSCC office because he expected her to have suspicions about the deactivation of the account. He expected her to expect some form of attack and that expectation would have allowed her come by herself and not send Henry who wasn’t trained to handle any form of attack.
His speculations were true. Tarasha would have done exactly as Rex had thought if not for the mistrust issues she had against Henry. She would have known automatically that the source of the hacking of her NSCC account was from the gang that had Cole in hostage. She would have visited the NSCC office herself, prepared, and expecting an attack. She probably would have survived or escape Rex at the NSCC but Rex would have won through Cole whom he sent to the base.
Rex pushed the start button in the car and the engine came to life. He turned on the screen of his tablet device as he reversed out of the curb. He could no more see the man who came out through the NSCC gate but he still knew the direction which he took. He would probably loose Cole to Tarasha but he wasn’t going to let Henry go. However, he still had suspicions about Henry being a secretly trained personnel or assasin but none of his research had confirmed that.
‘Hello boss… Boss,’ Stainless had been calling unto Rex but Rex had been too busy with his thoughts to reply.
‘Yes, Stainless,’ he answered, placing a finger gently on the earpiece.
‘I thought you were saying something to me,’ Stainless answered back.
‘No, I wasn’t.’ Rex said. Stainless must have heard him when he cursed loudly.
‘Okay boss.’
‘Stay connected man, Tarasha isn’t here. She sent Henry E.G and she’s got Cole at the base. I’m going after E.G now, and I want you to take my position here to watch if anyone else comes out of the place’ . Rex said.
‘Okay boss,’ Stainless replied. Rex could hear him accompanying it with a release of breath.
As Rex moved into the road, he could imagine what was happening on the other end of Cole and Tarasha with the little sounds he was now hearing. Cole might be gone but Henry had to be captured.
He drove on the fast lane on a high speed and didn’t drive for so long before he spotted the man who had come out through the NSCC gate at the pedestrian side of the other carriageway, he was walking fast and holding his phone.
‘You came to paralyze my network lines?’ She said as she turned towards Cole, squinting at him with a questioning look. She pointed her gun to his head.
Cole was speechless for a while. He stared straight into the hole of the gun and his body trembled. His eyes met hers and what he saw was more than fury, he saw hell in it. He couldn’t find his voice until he heard the sound of the ÇOçking of her gun.
‘I can explain,’ the words jumped out of his mouth as his hands went up in the air simultaneously. He got up to his feet slowly.
‘Start your explanation before you join your friend,’ she said and began to take slow steps towards him.
‘I… I didn’t plan to paralyze the networks but I had no choice,’ Cole stuttered.
‘Explain yourself better, I have no time to waste with you.’ Tarasha said in a strict voice and paused to bring out of her phone.
‘I was sent and the other guy was sent with me to ensure I do it,’ Cole continued with stammering lips.
‘To do what?’ she stared at him with a questioning look and then briefly looked at her phone on which she was typing a text message. ‘You were sent to do what?’ she repeated.
‘To paralyze your created network,’ Cole said, mentioning his words slowly and out of fear. Tarasha gave him a cold look which made him tremble all over. ‘I already explained here,’ he added quickly, pointing with a finger to the screen of the system before him. His heart began to race thrice as normal as she raised her gun again to his head level.
‘You explained what?’ she sounded impatient.
‘I explain…I explained everything…’
‘Who sent you?’ Tarasha cut in, reaching for something in her bag.
‘Elvis,’ he stated. She raised a brow at him. ‘Rex,’ he added.
‘Who the hell is Elvis and who is Rex?’
_____
‘Rex…’ Cole’s voice sounded through the earpiece. ‘Who the hell is Elvis and who is Rex?’ Rex could hear the voice which sounded faint after Cole’s. That was the first time he heard her voice in the conversation but he had been hearing what Cole was saying. He needed no one to tell him the voice was Tarasha’s. He was sure Cole was going to spill out all he knew about him to her but he wasn’t bothered. He still had an advantage over them, he could hear Cole and would be aware if they made any plans against him but they didn’t know he was listening to them.
With his hands on the wheels, he looked back the other carriageway through the open window and could still see the man far behind walking fast. He was only few metres close to the U-turn and the man called Henry E.G would be captured.
_______
‘When you get to a reasonable distance, cross to the other side and pick a cab to Goodluck flyover.’ Henry read the new text from Tarasha. He turned to look back briefly to see if he had covered a reasonable distance, but then he didn’t know what she would define as reasonable distance.
He could see a U-turn somewhere afar and thought that after the U-turn should be a reasonable distance to cross to the other side.
_____
‘I don’t really know who he is, but he’s intelligent and he leads Stainless and Don, he deactivated your NSCC account and asked me to come here.’ Cole explained.
Tarasha wanted to hear more about this Rex but there was no time for her to talk or listen more, she raised the second gun which she had taken from the bag and released a shot towards his arm. The release pierced into his shoulder.
Cole’s body shook all over and he collapsed to the ground slowly. He was deep asleep in few seconds. Tarasha took out her phone again and typed in another message. ‘Tell me when you are in the cab taking you to the Goodluck flyover.’
She opened her bag to put her other devices and then strapped it on properly. She returned the two guns which she had kept in the same hand back to their hidden place.
She took a brief look back at the mess Cole’s partners body had created before she proceeded to where Cole was and began to drag him towards the door with his collar.
As she dropped his body out of the computer room, she remembered that she had left a recorder on Henry’s body which she hadn’t been able to listen to. She turned into the room to get the receiving piece.
_______
Henry still had some metres to the U-turn, he kept taking glances at the other side to see if cabs were readily available there. His phone vibrated again. He paused to check the message. He thought she would explain to him what she meant by reasonable distance but she was only telling him to inform her when he gets a cab.
He wondered why she wasn’t there yet. If there were enemies around, then she was supposed to have gotten there to help him. Maybe she was also scared, he thought. Or why else would she be sending him messages from home instead of being there to get him out of trouble.
He spotted a car making its way straight towards him and moved closer off the road for the driver who appeared to be desperate to escape the building traffic, but the car changed its direction towards him and drove with a higher speed that Henry thought the car was purposely coming to hit him.
The car finally stopped a metre before him and the engine went off. Henry heaved a sigh and continued his walk, thinking that the driver was drunk or just someone talented with madness. As he reached the front of the car, he took a brief look at the driver who had come out hurriedly from the driver’s side.
‘Hello,’ Henry could hear the driver call someone. It appeared to be him the driver was signaling to because no one else was in the direction the driver was looking towards. Henry pretended not to hear and continued to walk. He had less than ten metres to the U-turn. He decided to take the narrow space between the car and the drainage instead of going through the place the driver was standing. He was at the middle of the car when the door to the back seat flung open, blocking his way. He took a quick glance at the driver and met a strange and scary face which sent shrills down his spine. He would have jumped over the drainage but just by the side was a heap of red sand. He turned to run back but the door of the front seat also flung open and hit him in the belly. He was still desperate to escape and jumped into the dirty drain but his attacker was faster than he was. The man was already at his front. He was dragged up with the collar and a blow was sent simultaneously to his face.
_________
Lagos, Nigeria.
‘I’ll be traveling back to the states tomorrow morning,’ Madam Henrietta said to Stephanie. She was arranging her clothes into the small traveling box she brought with her.
Stephanie was seated on the sofa in the room. She could hear her mother talking to her but she gave no visible response immediately. Even Madam Henrietta wasn’t looking at her for a response, she only announced it because she had to.
‘I’m sorry mum, I just have to…’ Stephanie spoke after a long moment of silence but Madam Henrietta cut her short with a raise of her hand. She had her mind made up already, Stephanie was only being ungrateful and there was no explanation to it.
Stephanie rose up and walked towards madam Henrietta, she stopped and stood in front of her, the woman ignored her completely and continued with what she was doing. The box was fully loaded, she zipped it up and turned it upright.
‘Mum, please don’t misunderstand my reasons for wanting to stay…’
‘Steph, I said I don’t want to hear any of that.’ the woman slammed, staring Stephanie straight in the face. ‘You’ve made your choice and I can’t force you to leave the country with me. It’s your life and not mine, so you’ll take responsibility for wh@tëver happens to you.’ she said and rolled the bag away from the bedside.
Stephanie heaved a sigh and closed her eyes, she knew there was nothing she could say to appease madam Henrietta at that moment. And there was also no going back on her decision to stay, she couldn’t leave her real mum at that moment.
‘Here’s your phone,’ Madam Henrietta said, taking out something from a nylon bag.
Stephanie turned to her and saw her stretching forth the phone to her. She quickly moved closer and collected it from her. ‘Thank you.’
‘And I thought you could make use of a better one also,’ Madam Henrietta continued, searching for something else in the bag. ‘I don’t know if you’ll like this,’ she brought out a small carton containing a new phone.
Stephanie’s eyes widened and her mouth opened as she saw the carton of the new iPhone 22B, ‘Mum, this costs a lot.’ she exclaimed.
‘Yea, I got it for you.’ the woman stretched it to her, unsmiling.
‘Wow! Thank you mum,’ Stephanie collected the phone, her face was full of smiles and she was almost jumping. She wanted to begin unboxing the phone that moment but she stopped as her eyes met her mother’s unhappy face again, her smile diminished gradually.
____
Dave clicked on play again. It was the fifth time he was going to watch the video. It showed a lady who walked like she was wounded until she stopped a taxi and entered, then it faded in and another showed a masked man who rushed out of the gate looking left and right of the road as if he was searching for someone he was pursuing. Dave had confirmed from the previously unedited footages that the lady came out from the same gate the masked man came from. His guess was that the lady was Samantha Osman after she had allegedly killed Don Dan and Aisha Bello, she also had sustained an injury. He didn’t know where exactly but he believed it must have been at the back. Then the man was unknown but report had it that he was an NIS agent. That was what baffled Dave more. He was the NIS agent in charge of the case and he had no assistant helping him. So the man was definitely not an NIS Agent.
Dave’s mind wasn’t at rest, he reached for his phone and dialed the number of the NIS chairman.
‘Hello DJ,’ the chairman’s calm voice sounded at the pick of the call.
‘Good afternoon sir, I’ll like to correct a misinformation.’ Dave said.
‘What misinformation is that?’ the chairman replied.
‘It’s on this Samantha Osman’s case sir. I was going through the NSCC files and videos to match up somethings and I watched a particular video where a masked man came out from the gate after Samantha Osman,’ Dave said.
‘Ermm… Okay, so what’s wrong with that?’
‘Reports says it was an agent of our organization and I’ve been wondering why the false info has not been corrected.’
‘Who told you it’s a false information?’ the man asked, sounding evasive. Dave could sense that he was hiding something.
‘I wasn’t at the scene that day, so it’s a false information.’
‘Are you the only NIS agent we have?’
‘No sir, but I am the one in charge of the case.’ Dave argued.
‘Who told you that you’re the only one?’
‘Ermm… But I’m not aware of anyone else. No one…’
‘Just keep quiet Dave,’ the man cut in. ‘I’m the boss and I can assign as many agents as possible to a case, especially if the initially assigned one is underperforming.’
‘But sir… Am I underperforming? I don’t think so.’
‘This conversation is over Dave, don’t talk to me about this anymore.’ the man said and the line went off immediately.
_
Jumoke adjusted her scarf and put her bag on the floor to take out her key. She tried to slip it into the keyhole but she discovered that a key was in from behind and removed it. She had thought Dave was not at home since she couldn’t see any of his shoes or sandals at the door but with the key in the keyhole from behind, she was sure he was in.
Her knuckles hit the door thrice and she waited to get a response.
‘It’s Jumoke,’ she replied in response of his question of who was at that door.
In few seconds, she heard the sound of the key turning in the hole and then the door was opened.
‘Welcome baby,’ Dave said and turned back immediately. Jumoke picked her bag and entered.
‘Phew!’ Jumoke stopped and exclaimed in surprise as she stared around the living room which was well tidied and arranged. ‘Good evening, you did all these?’
‘All what?’ Dave asked, returning to the laptop he dropped on the three seater. He sat on the close to the arm rest and carried the computer on his laps.
‘I mean you cleaned and rearranged the whole house?’
‘Oh! Yes, it wasn’t all that dirty though. I just thought it could be arranged better.’
‘Wow! Thanks,’ she let out a deep breath and proceeded towards him. She placed a kiss on his lips and sat beside him on the three seater, looking into the laptop he was holding.
Dave continued with his work with full concentration, even though he knew she was watching what he was doing.
‘You’re allowing me see you work today?’ Jumoke asked, staring at his face in surprise.
Dave took some seconds before answering, ‘I don’t get you,’ he glanced briefly at her with a raised eyebrow and returned his focus to the computer.
‘You allow me sit beside you while you’re working on your computer today, this has never happened, you don’t always want me to see what you’re doing.’ she accused.
‘Oh that!’ Dave smiled very briefly. ‘Well, I’m working and you’re not supposed to see the details of my job but since you know so much about me already, it doesn’t make sense hiding it from you anymore. And I’m a hundred percent sure that you don’t even understand what you are seeing right now.’
‘Hmm…’ Jumoke took some few seconds to look at what he was doing again. She could see the name of the software he was working on, ‘The profiler’. She could also see the notepad application opened by the side in which Dave was typing in some words and copying from time to time into the NSCC profiler. ‘True, I don’t understand what you’re doing but I’m sure it’s about your job,’ she said.
It took Dave some time to reply again, he was consumed with his work. ‘Yes, it’s about my job.’ he said without taking his eyes off the screen.
‘Well, let me go change inside.’ Jumoke said and rose up to her feet.
‘Ermm… I wanted to tell you something,’ Dave said, holding her by the hand as she was about to leave and looking up to her face.
‘What’s that?’ she asked as she returned back to the seat.
Dave adjusted the computer and bent the screen slightly as he turned to give her full attention. ‘I’ll be returning to work tomorrow. Very early in the morning, I’ll be leaving for Abuja.’
The words hit Jumoke like a huge blow. Not that she wasn’t expecting it to come but her expectation did not stop or lessen the impact.
She was silent for a brief moment. ‘So when do we see again?’ she finally spoke, letting out a breath exhaustively.
‘I’ll be coming to Lagos frequently and I’ll make sure I always stop by.’ Dave said slowly, mentioning every word with effects like he was making a promise.
‘Well, I hope it happens that way.’ Jumoke said and sighed. ‘Is that all you wanted to tell me?’
Dave let out a breath. ‘Jumoke, I need a favour from you.’ he said and let out another breath.
‘What’s that?’ She raised her eyebrows.
‘I’ll be glad if you provide me with any information you have about Samantha Osman or any new one you get about her after I leave.’
‘I already told you all I know now but I’ll make sure I tell you immediately I find out any new thing.’ she replied.
Dave knew she lied but he allowed it pass. ‘Thank you, that’s all I wanted to talk to you about.’
‘Alright,’ she said and heaved a heavy sigh. She then picked her bag and walked into the living room.
Dave returned the computer to his lap and switched back to the NSCC app.
_____
__Abuja__
Twenty five minutes later
With sleeping Cole in the boot of the car, Tarasha raced to the NSCC office as fast as possible. There was no traffic jam on the way and this made her journey easier and quicker. She had an earpiece on her ear with which she was supposed to hear what was being recorded from Henry but she didn’t hear anything since she had put it on except for the occasional horn and other sounds made by cars. It could only mean two things, either the recorder had been taken off from his body or Henry was talking at all. But the second reason was less reasonable, there was no way he could have kept quiet for so long. She expected him to be in a cab like she had directed, so he should have had the need to talk to the cab driver. She also checked her phone from time to time and there was no message from him yet.
Different thoughts flooded her mind. She had not heard from him neither had she received any message from him since the last one he sent telling her he was about to be thrown out. Maybe he had been captured immediately he was thrown out by Rex, the enemy whom Cole alleged to be the intelligent Assasin who deactivated her NSCC account. And it was possible that he only lost the phone or it was seized from him. Any one it was, it still didn’t explain why he had not spoken for over twenty five seconds.
She turned into the road leading to the NSCC office from the roundabout, the same one Henry had taken and parked his car after going past the NSCC office. Her eyes searched around for any signs of him as she reduced her speed. She then reached for her phone and dialed his number. It rang twice without being answered.
She reduced her speed more and moved away from the fast lane, then she took out her device from her bag and unlocked it. She selected the tracker application and took the time to look around again while she waited for it to load.
The app loaded and she placed her touch on one of the options displayed, ‘Track Device c403’. She renamed it as Henry and clicked on it. The map of Abuja displayed and a small yellow circle could be seen moving round on it. The map zoomed in, showing only the parts of Asokoro and then the yellow circle became smaller but continued to move. It stopped at a particular place and then changed to green, which meant it had located the device. Tarasha pulled over to the side of the road. She zoomed the map to see the exact location, the green circle was moving but very slow. She could tell that Henry was in a vehicle, going the opposite direction of Goodluck flyover where she asked him to go. He was not too far away but with the speed of the vehicle’s movement, it would only take a heavy traffic jam for Tarasha to be able to catch up with him.
She sighed and hissed almost simultaneously, wondering why Henry did not follow her instruction. Maybe he really wasn’t with his phone, she thought again. She picked her phone again and dialed for the third time. This time it was answered immediately.
‘Where the hell are you?’ she voiced out angrily.
‘Hi,’ a strange voice replied her and followed the reply with a loud chuckle. The person seemed to be chewing something he was enjoying. ‘I’m Rex, I know Cole should have mentioned my name to you. I hope you were patient enough to let him tell you more about me because you can’t fight me if you don’t know me. Well, find me and catch up with me if you can. I’ll kill this guy in the next one hour.’
Tarasha was shock and speechless as she heard the line trip off. Someone knocked the glass of the car window but she didn’t give him attention. The policeman continued to knock and wave to her. She had parked wrongly.
Tarasha finally took a glance at the policeman trying to get her attention. He stopped knocking on seeing that she looked towards his direction. He tried to say something to her but she looked away again, this time, she turned and stared straight forward with a narrow look. The policeman began to knock again and another one appeared at the window of the driver’s side
Tarasha took a briefer look at both policemen, her eyes met with the eyes of the policeman at the driver’s side. Then she looked towards the road. She accelerated all of a sudden and turned into the road, causing panic to both policemen who fled immediately and a motorist coming from behind.
She continued on a medium speed for the first one minute, taking time to place her device in a place she could easily see the map to track the movement of the vehicle in which Henry was. The sound of police vehicle’ siren could now be heard from behind but she was sure the vehicle wasn’t moving yet. After sticking the tab to a place on the car dashboard with the aid of the magnet behind the device’s case, she increased to a very high speed and began to overtake the vehicles in front of her.
She took a glance towards the gate of the NSCC as she drove past and spotted the car which Henry had driven there still parked where it was, there was only one car close to it now, the one behind. She cursed under her breath as a powerbike nearly hit her car as as she tried to overtake another vehicle. She then put on the trafficator and placed her hand on the car horn, overtaking more vehicles and causing panic on the road.
____
Rex was getting irritated by the traffic jam. There was a long queue of cars at his front and on the other lane, even the return carriageway was also jam-packed. Henry was in his vehicles’s booth and was going to be sleeping for a long time, Rex had injected him with a sleeping liquid.
Rex’s eyebrows raised in hope as the vehicle before him began to move, he placed his hand on the steering wheel and also joined in the movement but the vehicle stopped after covering less than a distance of six metres. He hissed and cursed under his breath again, slamming his fists against the wheels at the same time.
He wouldn’t like for Tarasha to meet him on the way, he would like for her to meet him at the place he was leading her to, where he could properly finish her up and also have her body in his custody to later present it as a trophy to Chief Elvis. He wasn’t scared of having to fight her on the road, he had his face disguised with makeups and there was no fear of being recognized or having his real image docvmented later by the security operatives. But the possible interference of the police or other security agencies if Tarasha met him on the way was what bothered him most, it would not allow him deal with her the way he wanted, they will cause him to be in a hurry and give her a less painful death.
He popped his head out through the window again to see what was happening but he couldn’t see anything at the front. He withdrew and bounced his back against the rest angrily. Just then, a bike manoeuvred through the little space left between his car and a bus. He hissed and cursed at the impossiblity of snatching the bike, he couldn’t leave Henry who he had in the boot. At the same time, another thought struck his mind, Tarasha could appear by his side at any moment with a bike.
He pulled a bag from the backseat of his car and placed it on the passenger’s side at the front. He removed a pistol from it and placed it under the bag, then he took out two long knife-like metals which had tiny ropes attached to them. He placed them under the bag too.
The vehicle at his front made signs of movement again and the vehicles by his side also moved but he paused to see how far they would go before he joined them. He hissed on seeing that they didn’t move more than two metres ahead each.
_____
‘Sir, we were at the reported kidnap scene some minutes ago but we’re now pursuing a car we met there,’ a gruff voice sounded through Inspector Dakolo’s phone.
‘You met a car at the kidnap scene?’
‘Yes, but the witnesses of the kidnap said the car just arrived there about two minutes before us.’
‘Then why are you on the trail of the car since it just arrived?’ Dakolo asked.
‘We actually thought the new motorist was innocent and only wanted to tell her to move forward to allow us check the scene but then she just raced off and has been driving with a crazy speed since then.’
‘The driver is a woman?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you think she’s a part of the kidnap?’
‘I’m not really sure sir but we don’t just want to take any chances but however there’s a higher possibility that she’s just an unlucky driver who thought we had come to arrest her for breaking traffic laws but now she’s breaking more traffic laws with the speed she’s on and she really needs to be arrested and made to face the penalty.’
Dakolo chuckled at the sound of the officer’s last words. ‘Face the penalty’ by the officer could just mean that she’ll have to pay a bribe. ‘Do you still have her car in sight?’ he questioned.
‘Not at all sir, she’s far ahead of us but we’ve called for reinforcement and our cars would soon stop her from the front.’
‘Good but how come a young lady is driving at such a high speed that has our vehicle left far behind?’
‘I wonder too sir.’
‘Maybe she’s not just running from the penalty from disobeying traffic laws, she could have done something criminal also, she might also be a part of the kidnap plan or on the party of the person who was kidnapped.’
‘It could be any of that sir. Well, I’ve just reported to you based on the director’s directive, it looks like you’re taking up the kidnap case.’
‘Yes, he informed me already.’ Dakolo replied. ‘I’ll be at the kidnap scene in few minutes time. Inform me once you get that lady, okay?’
‘Yes sir.’
‘Thank you officer,’ Dakolo said and ended the call.
‘Can you put a call through to the Security cameras department for me?’ Dakolo said, turning to the lady who had her table close to his in the office for three.
‘Just a minute Inspector,’ the policewoman replied, trying to round up something she was typing on her laptop.
Dakolo busied himself with the report file on his table while he waited for the woman to connect to the security cameras section.
‘Sir, they’re online now.’ the policewoman said, getting up from her table to give Inspector Dakolo a phone.
‘Good afternoon, a kidnap of an unidentified man took place along the NSCC road about an hour ago, it was reported by the street officers and onlookers less than thirty minutes ago. Please search and provide footages received for me, I’ll be in your department block in ten minutes time.’
‘Did you say NSCC Headquarters road sir?’
‘Yes, NSCC road.’
‘Okay, we’ll get that right away.’ the call ended.
‘Thank you officer,’ Dakolo said as he returned the phone to the lady standing close to his table. He looked into the report file again. The kidnap was reported to have taken place unexpectedly. The victim was walking down the road and a vehicle drove towards him forcing him to enter the trapezoidal drainage instead of jumping into the red sand at the other side the drainage. The kidnapper was reported to have dealt the victim some blows and pierced the victim with something in the shoulder after which the victim was thrown into the backseat of the car. The kidnapper sped off before any of the street police officers could interfere.
‘I don’t know if I’ll be returning to the office soon,’ Dakolo spoke aloud to his office mates as he rose up from the seat. He took his car keys and proceeded towards the door.
Soon enough, Dakolo was in the security cameras section, in an open office which was shared by not less than ten people. He stood behind a desk where he watched as the computer operator searched for the footages he had requested for.
‘I think this is it sir,’ the female computer operator said, playing a particular clip which showed how Steve was being kidnapped but only from the backview.
‘Can I get any footage captured from the front?’
‘Yes, it wouldn’t take me so much time to find it.’ the lady replied.
‘Please do that right now,’ Dakolo said and stood upright. Bending for over five minutes had begun to have an effect on his body. He pulled a chair from another table to himself, he had been previously offered the seat but had refused because he thought he wouldn’t need it. ‘And I also need to trace where the victim was coming from and the kidnappers too.’
‘That would take a longer time sir, you can’t get it before you leave, probably you would in the next one or two hours.’ the lady replied without looking at him.
‘I know I can’t get it before leaving, I just want it to be ready before I return.’
‘Well, it depends on when you return sir.’
‘Okay, you know what? Just put a call through to me immediately you finish.’
‘Okay sir,’ she said and a silence of about two minutes followed. ‘We’ll have the footage front view in 3,2…’ the video player window popped open before she completed her countdown.
It began to play from the point where the backdoor of the car opened. Now they could see the faces of the victim of kidnap and the kidnapper.
‘Please pause and zoom,’ Dakolo said to the lady and she obeyed. ‘Take a screenshot,’ he added and she responded. ‘I think you should delegate the assignment of finding out who they are to someone else, I’ll need that too,’ he said, rising up to his feet. ‘This might just be more than a kidnap,’ he added thoughtfully after a minute of standing, still watching the video and replaying some parts occasionally. ‘I think the kidnapper and victim are not strangers to each other, it is evident from the body language of the victim.’
____
Tarasha could see the three vehicles far in front of her before the roundabout slowing down, two on the left side, one behind another and the third one on the same lane she was. The traffic light had just changed to red.
She wondered what the reason was for the traffic light which turned red, there were no much cars coming from the other sides of the roundabout neither was there any work been done on the road. She slowed down several metres behind the car in front of her and took some seconds to study the space beside the road. There were small stalls made of temporary wooden structures and then a newspaper vendor’s shelf at the edge of the straight road close to the roundabout. Some people, mostly men were at the vendor stand, purchasing and discussing. She moved the car bit to the edge and studied the space between the car in front and the vendor. She made sure she maintained a space of more than three metres behind the car in front.
Vehicles from behind began to level up with her, a school bus driver behind her was pushing the horn in desperation to make her cover the space she left in front but she ignored.
Tarasha was still wondering what the cause of the halt was and was undecided about what to do when she began to hear faint sounds of sirens. She knew at once that the traffic marshalls have been ordered to cause the stop because they were still on her trail for parking at the wrong space, not knowing that she was also been suspected for kidnap.
In a twinkle of an eye, she pushed the car horn to alert the people at the vendor stand as she swerved off the road with one side of the vehicle down and the other still on the pavement. She moved with a speed that allowed for the men at the vendor stand to flee, but some stubborn ones remained there, believing that it was impossible for her to want to pass the place.
She increased the speed of the car and crashed into the stand, not minding what would become of the men. She swerved to avoid a car as she drove into the roundabout but she was unable to avoid it completely. She hit the tip of the car and sent it crashing into a powerbike rider while she turned rightwards with the other cars going the same direction.
She adjusted the gear after entering into the new carriageway and continued on a high speed. The sounds of the sirens increased from different directions and became louder. She realized that more police cars were now on her trail.
________
At last, the vehicles finally began to move at a constant but slow speed. Rex remained alert and observant. He wiped off a drop of sweat away from his chin, his hand touched his collar in the process and he remembered that he still had the sound piece connected to Cole’s recorded on his body. He had switched it off after he observed that Tarasha had done something to Cole. He wasn’t sure whether she killed or hypnotized him but he chose to believe the former. But then he began to consider the latter option again, it was very possible that she had him in her car with him alive, maybe hypnotized or temporarily paralyzed in her boot. He brought forward his tablet from behind and placed it on his lap. He turned on the screen and selected the tracker app for the purpose of tracking to know the location of Cole’s dead or live body.
Something sounded from the sound piece on Rex’s collar, it was the sound of the horn of a high duty vehicle and this confirmed to Rex that Cole was on the road with Tarasha, either dead or alive, conscious or unconscious and now he could track her location by tracking Cole’s.
___
The chase was getting hotter and messier. Tarasha could sense the presence of more police cars following her now and she began to wonder why they had to be so much pursuing her just because she parked at the wrong space. Or could it be that someone who was watching her movement had reported to the police? She asked herself. She realized now that Rex had said the truth when he said that she had not been patient enough with Cole. She should have been more patient to have allowed him talk more, maybe he would have told her that there were others outside watching her.
She pushed the horn desperately as a car whose trafficator was on tried to get in her way. It had just gotten into the road from a narrow way which led into the major road. Tarasha narrowly missed the car but not without taking off the side mirror with her car, it must have been driven by a learner for the car to be moved into the road at that time, seeing the speed at which she was coming with.
Another police vehicle surfaced behind her, from the narrow road the car she had scrapped the front mirror came from. It followed closely on her trail.
‘Young woman, it is in your best interest to surrender and stop this pursuit. Police vehicles have been dispatched all around town to stop you and there’s no way you’ll escape us.’ she had a voice from a loud speaker behind. She looked at the side mirror and noticed the new police vehicle, just about eight metres behind her. A car was in between them but the police vehicle overtook the car in a matter of seconds.
‘Young lady, Stop!’ the voice sounded again. She took a glance at the side mirror and saw an officer with his head slightly out through the window and his gun pointed at her car. Luckily for her, the road was scanty due to the lack of many road users at that time of the day. She took a glance at the tablet device hung to the dashboard stretched her hand to turn on the screen.
The green dot on the map had made some visible progress compared to what she saw the last time she checked but she could tell that she wasn’t far from Rex and Henry anymore.
She had used thirty five minutes out of the one hour Rex had given her, she was sure that she would catch up with them before that time if she didn’t encounter traffic jam and as far as they continued with the slow speed. But with the police vehicles unrelentlessly trailing her, she wondered how she was going to catch up.
‘Young lady, you have the last opportunity to stop. Do that now,’ the voice from the loud megaphone sounded again.
Tarasha took a glance at the side mirror, two more police cars were behind her and they were convertibles which allowed for officers to stand in them and point their guns to her car. She reached out for her guns and placed them on her laps.
She picked one of the guns as she swerved to drive past another car. She leveled up her car with the car and raised her gun to the driver who stared back at her in fear. She took two shots at the steering wheel and then lowered the gun and shot at the front tyre before driving past the car, wishing the driver good luck with the accident that was about to happen.
She swerved to the lane on which the car which she had shot at was and stared at the mirror. The police vehicle right behind her had escaped the accident but the second one behind collided with the car.
She began to hear the sounds of gunshots following her. A bullet hit the back of her car while one narrowly missed the driver’s side mirror. She picked the gun again and took some shots back at the police vehicle without aiming.
____
‘Good afternoon Inspector,’ Dakolo could hear the salutation in unison from the two officers he met at the kidnap scene.
He threw a salute to them in reply and smiled briefly. ‘What have you got here?’ he asked, stretching forth his hand to collect the notepad which one of the Inspectors was writing on.
‘Some data we got from those around,’ the officer replied and handed the notepad to Dakolo. ‘They said they’ve never seen the kidnapper or the victim around here before neither had they seen the car.’
‘Did you get any description of the victim or the kidnapper,’ Dakolo asked, just for clarity sake. He had several screenshot photos of the kidnapper and the victim already in his device.
‘No sir, the victim and the suspect did not relate with anyone around but some said they saw the victim come out of the NSCC Headquarters.’ the officer replied.
‘The NSCC Headquarters?’ Dakolo mentioned, looking towards the far end where the NSCC building was. ‘Let’s go there,’ he said, shaking his car keys in his hand as he proceeded towards the car.
The policemen got into the car and Dakolo began the drive to the NSCC office. His phone rang three minutes into the journey.
‘Help me check who that is,’ he said to the younger officer sitting with him at the front.
‘Officer AB,’ the officer replied.
‘Abraham,’ Dakolo muttered under his breath and nodded in signal for the officer to drop the phone. Maybe Abraham had gotten the girl they chased after, he thought. He would call him back after they got to the NSCC Headquarters which was less than two more minutes drive.
____
Three minutes later
‘Sir, she’s got a gun.’ officer Abraham announced into the cellphone.
‘She’s got a gun?’ a surprised voice replied her.
‘Yes, she just shot at an innocent driver and that has caused an accident here involving one of our cars. The third car is also stuck behind them.’
‘How did you level up with her?’
‘We were able to trace her with the plate number and took a short route to meet her.’
‘Well, then I think we’ve got one of the kidnappers and not just an ordinary girl. Make sure you stop her.’
‘Make sure you try your best to stop her but try as much as possible to hurt other motorists and pedestrians,’ Dakolo added in a encouraging tone. He got a response from the officer before ending the call. He was still seated in the car at the driver’s side but they had driven into the compound of the NSCC and the car wasn’t in motion.
‘Let’s find out who that victim is,’ Dakolo said to the men with him in the car as he opened the door to his side. They followed his lead and all stepped onto the interlocked floor of the park.
Dakolo took the lead towards the security building and his men followed closely behind.
‘Good afternoon Agent Dakolo,’ one of the security men greeted as he approached them, a middle-aged man.
‘Good afternoon sir,’ Dakolo greeted back. He recognized the man as one who he had had a previous encounter with at the NSCC office. ‘We need to make an enquiry and get quick answers ,’ Agent Dakolo said, bringing out his device. ‘There’s this man who was kidnapped along this road today, we noticed he came out from this place.’ Dakolo added, busy with his device as he tried to display the screenshot.
The security man’s eyebrows gathered together, he didn’t reply yet but waited patiently for Dakolo to show him wh@tëver it was on the device.
‘Here,’ Dakolo finally said, swiping up the gallery as the security man looked at the pictures.
‘This man?’ the security man frowned, placing a finger where Steve’s image was in the particular photo. ‘He arrived here very early in the morning, he spent some hours in the main building and left around noon time,’ he began to explain as Dakolo turned off his device’s screen and returned it to his pocket. ‘He was a private security agent, I personally checked his ID card and allowed him in but I think he did something inside because two security men had to escort him out of the building on orders of the chairman.’
‘The Chairman? That’s Mr Sylvester right?’ Dakolo put in.
‘Yes.’
‘Okay, I think I’ll just find out more from Mr Sylvester himself. Thank you,’ Dakolo said and offered the man a handshake.
________
The roads became less jammed and the vehicles began to move faster. Even though it wasn’t up to the usual freedom, it was far better than it was some minutes before.
Rex turned on the screen of the device on his laps which had gone off. He zoomed the road map and observed the point which the tracked object was being located. A thick frown formed on his face. He reduced his speed and looked back through the rearview glass, he could see the road still covered with several vehicles behind him who were trying to chance each other and take advantage of the new speed at which they could be driven.
There was a new problem for him with what he saw on the map. But it wasn’t a big problem, it was only going to change some of the things in his plan. Tarasha had taken an easier road to his direction than the same place he had taken. The road wasn’t shorter, it was longer but she, being more used to the Abuja road than he was had been able to detect that there would be traffic on the route where Rex took. Now she was going to join the traffic somewhere at the front before the Mogadishu flyover where Rex was heading towards.
_____
The police officers were being careful in using their guns , Tarasha knew this and was taking advantage of it, and she was going take more advantage of it. Their bullets had once hit another vehicle behind and they stopped shooting since then. She reached for the device and turned on the screen again, she was very close to them – Rex and Henry. She only had a U-turn to make and then turn into a one-carriageway road which will lead her to the back of the Mogadishu area through which she’ll turn into the road leading to the flyover. According to her calculations, the vehicle she was tracking should have gotten to the flyover by the time she gets out to the road leading to it and they’ll only be about twenty metres apart. All that would happen if she experienced no delay.
As she approached the U-turn to the other carriageway, she began to hear the sounds of more police vehicles and she could tell that they were coming far behind from the carriageway she was about to turn into. The police vehicle following behind her was now more than fifteen metres behind which was due to their avoidance of colliding with other vehicles Tarasha set them up with.
She was sure they weren’t expecting her to make a turn and decided to use it as a trap to get them off her trail totally. She reduced the speed of the car to a very low extent as she moved to the slow lane preparing to turn, giving the police vehicle time to level up with her. Her car was five metres to the U-turn, there was a bus there in front of her turning but no car behind her or by her side made the signal of wanting to turn.
The police’s vehicle was about six metres behind hers now and she could hear the sound of the megaphone again. She noticed from the side mirror that the policemen on seeing her vehicle barely moving began to slow down also, then she looked towards the carriageway she was about to turn into, there was only a car forthcoming. She ÇOçked her gun as she changed the gear and raced to the U-turn, swerving into the road sharply that the car almost lost it’s balance.
She didn’t loose her balance but the coming vehicle did instead. The driver pushed the brakes hard and swerved to avoid colliding with her car which was successful but then the police officers fell for her bait by following with a high speed to the U-turn which made them hit the rear of the vehicle on which brakes had been applied, scraping off the vehicle’s taillights carrier with it.
The door to the driver’s side of Tarasha’s car opened slightly while the car came to a quick halt, she raised out her body supporting herself as she rested her back with one hand against the backdoor and the other pointing the gun towards the police car which was trying to gain it’s balance. Her seatbelt was still around her body, providing her a firm support and holding her to the car.
She released several bullets to the police car, which pierced through and shattered the glasses, also entering into the bodies of the officers seated in. The police vehicle ran straight without control into the drainage, almost tumbling. She also released some shots to the tyres of the vehicle which had stopped after passing halfway the space for the U-turn.
She entered back into the car and closed the door, then she continued driving, leaving the road blocked; the car with the deflated tyres partly slanted at one side and the police vehicle which had hit it had the front tyres in the drainage and the back slightly lifted upwards with the tyres still rolling fast and the whole vehicle smoking. The space left between the motionless vehicles was only enough for a motorcycle to pass through. Both no cycler will dare it, seeing the cause of the occurrence.
She sped on crazily. She had lost another one minutes and thirty seconds and Rex’s vehicle would now be about forty two metres ahead of her when she turns into the road leading to the flyover, and that was if he didn’t increase or reduce his speed.
Another thought struck her mind. To avoid another police vehicle showing up from nowhere, she had to change her car somewhere she’ll ensure did not get full coverage by the security cameras. That would take some more time but it was the best thing to do if she really wanted to stop the police from disturbing her.
Her eyes met with a car she could change to as she approached the curve into the road which would lead her to the flyover. The driver had put on the trafficator and was also taking the same route. She had to act fast.
_____
‘The guy came in to get some data from us,’ Mr Sylvester explained to Dakolo as he stared at Steve’s image in the device. ‘He was from a private investigation firm and he had the seal on his ID card. We allowed him access the information he needed and he was here for more than four hours.’
‘What information did he come to get?’ Dakolo asked.
‘The footage of a crime scene which happened some years ago,’ Mr Sylvester answered briefly.
‘And did you see to it that it was the only thing he did?’
‘Yes, I even had one of the staffs with him. This one,’ he said, pointing to Dayo who was standing behind with his back against the wall very close to the door. Dakolo was partially seated on the arm of Mr Sylvester’s visitor’s seat, holding his device for Mr Sylvester who was also standing, leaning against his table to see what was being shown to him. The other two officers were standing a few distance away from Dakolo.
Dakolo and the other officers turned to see Dayo who Mr Sylvester was pointing at. ‘Did you watch him closely at all times?’Dakolo asked Dayo.
‘Yes sir, I was in the room with him…’ Dayo began but stopped in fear as he remembered that they could find out later that he left the room at some point. ‘I left for sometime to make him think he’s got some space while I monitored him from my office.’
Dakolo turned to Mr Sylvester and gave him a questioning look, as if to ask if Dayo was making sense; if it was really possible for Dayo to monitor from his office. Mr Sylvester understanding the look, nodded in agreement.
‘But did you notice anything about him?’ Dakolo asked Dayo.
‘Not really sir, except for the fact that he’s loaded with uncommon softwares and applications.’ Dayo replied.
‘Did you?’ Dakolo turned to Mr Sylvester.
‘Ermm… Notice anything like what?’
‘Anything strange, did he act like he had another motive or aim here?’
‘Nothing but he desperately tried to sell me some softwares I wasn’t interested in buying, that is however a common trait of most hungry developers, there was nothing else.’ Mr Sylvester answered.
‘So you think he’s an hungry developer?’
‘He behaved like one.’
‘Why did you have him escorted out of the facility by your security men?’ Dakolo asked.
‘He was too desperate to sell his works and was causing a nuisance already.’
‘Okay,’ Dakolo said and paused for a brief moment. He stared at the screenshot again and then swiped to one which showed the kidnapper’s face again. ‘Please check again, are you sure you’ve never seen this person before?’ he said, showing the shot to the NSCC chairman again.
Mr Sylvester stared for about ten seconds and shook his head in negative. ‘I don’t recall ever seeing him anywhere.’
‘It’s obvious that this person knew that the private investigator was coming here because according to the footages your department in our headquarters have shown us, the kidnapper’s vehicle have been waiting for him outside. And it is also looks like he was also expecting an attack because he didn’t return to the place he parked his own car.’
There was silence for a brief moment.
‘Ermm…’ Mr Sylvester wanted to say something but stopped and hissed. He squinted and shook his head in hesitation, as if considering what he wanted to say again.
‘Did you just remember something, Mr Sylvester?’ Dakolo asked, raising his eyebrows and gesturing in a way to encourage him talk.
‘Yes, but I’m not really sure if it makes sense.’ Mr Sylvester said and hissed under his breath again.
‘Just say it out first,’ Dakolo urged.
‘Well, at a particular point in time before he started acting like an hungry developer, he sounded like Henry E.G,’ Mr Sylvester paused to see the reaction on Dakolo’s face. Dakolo had also squinted, focusing his eyes on his face with full concentration. Mr Sylvester continued, satisfied that Dakolo was showing interest. ‘His voice sounded alike and his choice of words were similar to Henry E.G’s but they do not look alike in anyway. I just think that Steve could have learnt somethings from Henry.’ Mr Sylvester said.
There was another brief silence. Then Dakolo turned back to Dayo who was also looking thoughtful. ‘What about you, did he sound like Henry E.G to you?’
‘I really did not pay close attention to his voice, but playing back now, I can say his mannerisms and the way he worked was similar to Mr Henry’s. He had the keyboard placed on his laps when he wanted to type something much and even bent the screen to himself when he was reading for long.’ Dayo gave his reply.
‘Oh!’ Dakolo nodded thoughtfully, trying to connect what the two NSCC men had said. ‘But it wasn’t Henry right?’ he asked. Both men nodded ‘No’.
‘But did you observe if he was makeup or not? Was the colour of his fingers different from his face?’ Dakolo added, directing his questions to both men.
Both looked lost for a minute, trying to get a reply to Dakolo’s questions from their minds.
‘I don’t think there was any makeup,’ Mr Sylvester said and Dayo nodded slowly in agreement. ‘It was his colour, I think they just possess a lot of things in common, I will definitely not miss Henry whenever I see him.’
‘So you’re saying it’s not Henry?’
‘I don’t think he is,’ Mr Sylvester replied.
Dakolo turned to one of the junior officers behind him, ‘I want you to check on that private investigation firm for me, find out about any of their staffs called Steve who was sent to the NSCC today.’ he said to the officer who saluted and sprung to action immediately. ‘Be fast about it,’ Dakolo added as he watched the Officer take the name of the firm in a piece of paper.
Dakolo turned back to Mr Sylvester and sat properly on the seat, he waited for Mr Sylvester to also take his seat. He was about to say something when his phone rang. ‘Excuse me please,’ he said before answering the call. ‘Officer AB, what’s the progress?’
‘Sir, this is officer Tracy.’ a female’s voice sounded instead of AB. ‘Officer AB has been shot. We lost the car and we’re waiting for directions from the office, we’ve also requested for an helicopter to enhance our search.’
‘Who shot officer AB?’
‘The lady in the car,’ the female voice replied. ‘She’s more dangerous than we thought.’
‘d@mn it!’ Dakolo cursed, clenching his fists. ‘I can read your location from my device and I’ll be with you very shortly,’ Dakolo said and ended the call. He sprung up to his feet and adjusted his shirt and belt.
‘If that Steve happens to be Henry E.G or connected to Henry E.G, then that lady we’re pursuing after must be Samantha Osman or connected to her.’ he said aloud, although speaking to no one but himself. He offered a quick handshake to Mr Sylvester who had also gotten up from his seat. ‘Thank you sir, please do not hesitate to reach us with more information.’ he said and hurriedly made his way out.
______
Rex felt some excitement as he got on the flyover, in very few minutes, he’ll have the chance to deal with Tarasha. He glanced at the device again, he had gain some more distance and was going to gain more because the road was now clear. Now that he had gotten more gap from her, he began to think of the nearest place where he could lead Tarasha and finish her up appropriately. After searching and searching in his mind, the only place he could think of was the office of the Vice President, the same place Tarasha had threatened to attack him sometime ago.
‘Stainless,’ he spoke into his phone.
‘Boss,’ stainless replied in low tones.
‘Meet me at the Vice President’s office in as soon as possible, all other instructions would be sent to you in text before you get there.’ Rex said and ended the call without giving Stainless an opportunity to reply.
He pondered for some seconds about his decision of fighting Tarasha at the Vice President’s office again, it might not be too favourable to the Vice President but he had no option, he was already going in that direction. The only alternative would be if somewhere close to the office was provided to him.
He dialed another number and placed the phone to his ear. ‘Where are you Vice President Elvis?’ he spoke into the phone.
The reply was delayed for almost a minute, Rex could tell that Chief Elvis was trying to move away from the listening ears of other people.
‘Rex, what do you need my location for?’ the reply came in a muffled tone.
‘I’ll be in your office in very few minutes,’ Rex stated.
‘Why?’ the man sounded alarmed. ‘I’ve told you that you can’t come to meet me there. Right now I’m not even at the office.’
‘I’m not coming to meet you there, Samantha Osman is coming to meet me and I don’t know any other spacious place where I could receive her.’
‘Rex, how can you think that my office is the right place to receive Samantha Osman?’
‘Can you provide me with somewhere close to that area where I can receive her?’
‘Why should you receive her anywhere close to my office?’ the Vice President asked angrily.
‘Calm down man, all I require is a good place to meet with her and kill her which is the assignment you gave me.’
‘But why must you meet her somewhere close to my office?’ the man asked stubbornly.
‘She’s already on my trail and would catch up with me soon, I have to lure her into somewhere I would get her easily. I just need a facility, a spacious one with few buildings will do.’
‘Where are you now?’
‘Running down Modagishu flyover.’
‘You can’t lure her to my office and I don’t have any other facility you could use there but there’s an old computer village there whose renovation is supposed to begin next week…’
_______
Thirty minutes later.
Tarasha reduced her speed as she drove down the flyover. Looking at her device’s screen, the tracked object wasn’t in motion anymore and she was very close to it.
She got into the road leading to the Vice President’s office and finally located the exact point where the object was. It was close to the far end of the road several metres away from the Vice President’s company’s block.
4 minutes later
She stopped her car after driving some metres away from the gate. As she wind up the window glasses, she took a glance at Cole who was still unconscious and now at the backseat of the car, she left the window at his side slightly opened at the top. She picked up her bag and stepped out. She strapped on the bag. She was fully loaded, her pockets were full of loaded guns and body full of weapons. Her device was placed behind, held below the bag to her back firmly with the belt of her trouser. She began to walk back towards the gate of the computer village which had been proposed for renovation.
She stopped at the gate and stared for a minute at the high signboard placed at the gate and read the information. ‘Renovation of the Computer Village 2032 by President Emeka’s administration.’
She took out her device and checked the tracker map again to confirm the location and it had not changed. She returned the device. She took another minute to take another look at the moving vehicles on the road at both sides and the few pedestrians passing by who paid very little attention to her. Then she proceeded towards the gate, not knowing what to expect from the strange man called Rex.
She looked around the place as she entered in through the gate. The whole floor of the place was tarred, though it looked rough because of the work going on there. There were four large old storey buildings at the four edges of the large rectangular space. The roofs and windows of the building had been taken off and some parts were being demolished gradually. The spaces in between the buildings formed a large cross sign which would be hundreds of thousands square metres if measured.
She placed her palm slightly above her eyes to shade it from the sun as she looked around. She could see a few construction vehicles around and some construction materials like gravels, sand and crushed stones, the removed roofs and window materials were also at one side. Then she spotted a car at the large space between the buildings at the rear edges. She took out her device again and turned on the screen. She clicked twice on the green point on the map and a set of options displayed, she selected the option ‘compass’. It loaded and displayed in less than ten seconds, the arrow pointed straight to the direction of the car she could sight from afar. That affirmed to her that Henry was in the car and Rex who brought him there was also somewhere around. She knew Rex must have seen her, there was no way he would miss the radiation of her all white costume.
She looked around again to see the possible places he could be hiding, she couldn’t see any one or notice any movement around. She stretched her hand backwards to reach for the zip of her bag and was about pulling it open to take out her telescope when she saw a male figure appeared, the figure looked little because of the far distance she was looking from. The man had just gotten out of the driver’s side of the car. He pulled out a bag from the car and placed it on the bonnet. He took out something which was later found to be a mask from the bag and put it on. He seemed to be oblivious of her presence but she was sure he had seen her. He strapped the bag to his back just like she had hers. Then looked straight to her direction for the first time after coming out.
Tarasha also reached for her mask from the outer pocket of her bag and put it on. By the time she looked up, she couldn’t see him anymore.
She felt a bit troubled as she wondered where he disappeared to in just few seconds she wasn’t looking but then he appeared again, from behind a huge heap of gravel some few metres away from the car. He stepped back to the front of the car and looked in her direction, he adjusted his mask and began to walk straight forward.
Tarasha looked around briefly again before she began to march forward towards him. She didn’t know who he was or what his real mission was, but she was determined to kill him to save Henry. Even with her determination, there was this fear in her heart; not the fear of losing her own life but the fear of failing to kill Rex which will mean Henry would also die.
Chief Elvis tried Rex’s number for the fourth time in a row and it rang again like the previous times without being answered. He clenched his fists with the phone in his palm in anger. After some minutes of pacing about the place with his walking stick, he dialed another number and the call was answered immediately.
‘Good afternoon your Excellency,’ Chief Rikau’s voice sounded through the phone’s speaker.
‘Chief Rikau, Good afternoon.’ the Vice President replied impatiently. ‘Rex called me few minutes ago and claimed to be around my office, he said he wanted to receive and kill Samantha Osman in my building but I have asked him to do it in that mini computer village undergoing renovation. That’s thirty five minutes ago but I’ve been trying his number since then and he’s not been answering, I sent him a text message which has been marked delivered and read but he hasn’t replied me still. I want you to find a way to pass my message to him, so that he wouldn’t use not receiving the message as an excuse and I also want you to ensure he does not use my building.’
‘Okay, how do you suggest I do that sir, should I call him on phone first or just go there with my men?’
‘No, he’s not answering his calls but you can still try anyway. However, I’ll prefer that you go there to meet him without involving your men, that could disrupt his job. I also believe he’ll respect the message if it’s from you and not just anybody else or via text.’
‘Respect, sir? That guy is an arrogant fellow, I don’t think he will show me respect for anything.’ Chief Rikau retorted.
‘Yes, I know he’s arrogant and what I said is that he’ll respect the message if it’s from you, that’s why I’m not sending the message through another person.’
‘Okay sir,’ Chief Rikau heaved a sigh which showed his reluctance but Chief Elvis understood him and the reason for his reluctance. Chief Elvis knew how Rex always acted disrespectfully to Chief Rikau but he had no choice, Chief Rikau was the only person that could handle what was to be done.
‘What’s the message?’ Chief Rikau asked.
_______
Stainless read the last line of the text sent to him over and over again, trying to make meaning out of it and the present situation. ‘Be watchful, Tarasha would join you on the road soon, take Cole out of her vehicle once she parks the car and walks out of sight.’
It was twenty five minutes after he had gotten to the place and he had not seen anything like Tarasha arriving. He had also not seen any signs of Rex in the area and that kept wondering if he heard rightly that he was supposed to be at the road off the Vice President’s office.
Unknown to himself, he had focused on the Vice President’s office alone and paid very little attention to the surroundings. Since his mind was on the office, he was expecting that Tarasha’s car would be parked close to the place. He didn’t see when she drove into the road and did not even suspect when he saw the car later on.
______
It took them both up to eight metres to walk to the middle of the facility. They stood on a straight line opposite each other, leaving a distance of more than five metres between themselves.
Their eyes locked from behind the masks and the two assasins could see the fury in the each other’s eyes. They were sure in their hearts that someone was going to have the last breath that day.
Tarasha scrutinized his body with her eyes, he was someone she didn’t remember ever seeing anywhere. His mask carried a sign at the top which looked familiar but she couldn’t remember because of the tensed mood. However, she knew from his confidence and body language that he must be representing a very deadly organization.
The breeze blew crazily around the dead silent place, raising some dusts on the assasins but neither of them shook nor did any care to stop the dust from entering into their eyes. They began to move slowly in an anticlockwise direction and at the same time closing the distance between each other.
Rex’s fist tightened in anticipation, his blood boiling with his thirst for her blood. He had sized up Tarasha with his eyes, she was of good heights but had a smaller body from a closer view. He mocked himself in his heart amazed that it was someone as little as her that had been giving him problems for months. He classified as a toy. The fight was going to be fun, just like an unserious training session.
He had read Vice President’s Elvis text and the man had given an instruction which would change his plans but it was none of his business. He was sure that his contract will be fully executed in some minutes and his business in Nigeria would end after presenting Tarasha to Chief Elvis that night.
For Tarasha, the major purpose of the fight was for Henry and then to also prove that the Nefary Clan was bigger than wh@tëver organization he was from. To Rex, it wasn’t considered as a fight, it was just something he had to do to make himself free from Chief Elvis and and free to leave Nigeria and to also prove that the Nefary Clan always remained junior to the Villary Clan.
Both were less than two metres closer now. They could almost hear the sound of each other’s heartbeat. The distance was closing in and the peering into each other’s eyes was getting deeper and intense.
Tarasha was the first to launch an attack which didn’t catch Rex unawares, he swerved to the side, making her blow which she targeted at his face run in the air. She was quick to follow up with another blow with her left hand to his right chin but her fist met his wrist and her knuckles cracked hard. She took a step back as she tried to absorb the pain on her knuckles, she looked at Rex’s face and the lines formed on the mask was an evidence of an evil smile underneath.
He launched the next attack, sending a blow to her face but she had her hand crossed diagonally stopped his fist. He was quick with his follow up as he leapt and turned round in the air, sending her a well calculated kick with the back of his foot. But he landed without his leg touching her face. She had been quick to see it coming and had bent backwards down, extending her palms to the ground with which she supported herself and flipped backwards.
Both stood three metres away from each other now. Each one’s legs slightly apart and fist raised in the air as their eyes remained on each other’s faces.
Tarasha took two steps backwards and released the straps of the bag at her back and Rex followed her example. Both took off their backpacks and threw it behind them some metres away from the battle space they had drawn.
She straightened her cloth and clenched her fists and Rex did likewise. The bags which had served as the only restriction to both of them were now away. Both moved closer to each other tactically, the same way they did the first time.
As soon as she got closer enough, Tarasha threw a blow directed to his chest but Rex didn’t only dodge it this time but had her fist stuck in between his elbow. He twisted her arm with his and tried to reach for her other arm but she bent and wriggled out of his grip with a muffled groan. He had held her by the shoulders before she recovered and sent a headbutt directly to her face making her land with her butt to the floor.
Her vision was blur for the first three seconds and then she saw him clearly, standing a metre before her, still waiting for her to rise as he rubbed his forehead with a finger.
Tarasha straightened her nose with her fingers as she rose to her feet and placed her legs widely apart to ease the pain she felt from landing on her butt. Rex was ready for her again and was halfway in the air, turning to her with a kick. The adrenaline rush in her system relieved her temporarily of the pain as she leaped away from the direction of his kick and met his thigh with a heavy kick sending him to the floor unexpectedly. He landed on his back heavily but he was up again in three seconds. His eyes were on her as he straightened his neck by bending it sidewards and clenched his fists again.
Tarasha rushed towards him targeting a kick to his chest but he held her foot in his palm and tried to fling her away but she had wrapped her second leg around his neck and both of them landed on the floor Tarasha on the side with Rex’s head in between her leg and his knees on the floor. Rex was first to recover from the fall and he sent her a blow in the butt immediately, making her release her grip on his neck. He climbed over her immediately, pinning her thighs to the floor with her knees and sent her two blows on the face, she stopped the third one and pushed him away from her body.
He was up again before her and he rushed back to her while she still tried to recover from the pains on her knee and face. He grabbed her two hands and pulled it to her back while she was still on her knees trying to get up. He held her hands to her back in one of his and tried to press her from the shoulder down backwards, with the aim of bending her into two by forcing the back of her shoulder to the back of her foot but Tarasha did not allow him go far with that. She was able to struggle off her hands from his grip and fall sideways, pushing him away with a kick to his chest.
She was still with her back on the floor when Rex rose up again. He pulled up with his hands below her chin and sent her a headbutt again. This time she didn’t fall but only staggered backwards a bit. He rushed towards her and tried to pull her by the shoulder but she grabbed his fists in hers and twisted it, sending him a kick in the groin simultaneously. He staggered back and stumbled but he was up again immediately. She rushed towards him and sent a kick with the soles of her feet to his chest before he could make any move, sending him back to the floor with a thud.
Rex took more than four seconds to recover this time and that also gave Tarasha enough time to ease some of the pains she felt, she also found a blunt shovel on the floor and charged towards him with it. He rolled away as she struck the first time with the shovel, making it land on the bare ground. He was up with a knee to the ground and the other foot halfway up when she swung the shovel towards his face but he stopped it with his hand, just below the palm. The shovel made a clang sound as it touched his hand and bounced back, making it evident that Rex had a metal object hidden under his sleeves. She raised the shovel up and moved for the middle of his head but he held the part of the instrument just before the blade with a hand first and added the other hand. The struggle for the shovel began as Rex pushed it up as he rose up slowly while Tarasha pushed it firmly towards him body.
Rex gained a upper hand as he turned the shovel in his hands and Tarasha lost grip of it. He turned it and held it by the handle but before he could do anything with it, Tarasha had given him a headbutt in his chest, making him stagger backwards and following it with blows until the shovel dropped from his hand. She jumped and finally sent him to the floor with a kick to the side of his head.
He fell down heavily but followed with a backward roll which made him stop partially squatting. Tarasha followed with a kick to his face with her two legs and it sent Rex crashing to the floor heavily.
Tarasha stood and watched as he groaned slightly, twisting on the floor. He ran his fingers under the mask and touched his face to soothe the pain from the kick. Tarasha took a glance at the car as she remembered Henry. She was on top of the situation and was very sure that they would be on their way to the base very soon.
Rex was up in few seconds, it seemed the impact on the kick to his face had given him more strength instead of weakening him. He could see Tarasha peering at his face as he opened the mask halfway, rubbing his lips which Tarasha had kicked. He felt some liquid on his fingers and raised it to his eyes to see, the liquid was dark red.
His blood boiled in anger at the sight of his blood and his eyes shone with fury. He wiped his lips with the sleeve of his shirt and pulled down the mask to cover back the opened area. The introduction play he had with her was over and now, he was going to show her what it meant to be from the Villary Clan.
___
Cole felt his head heavily pounding as he twisted and turned at the backseat of the car. His face and body was covered with sweat. He rose up to look out through the car window and stared at the passers-by who didn’t seem to notice him. It was then he remembered his encounter with Tarasha, he couldn’t remember anything that happened after she raised her gun but he knew he must have been sedated. He looked around inside the car, wondering if it was Tarasha that kept him there. If she was the one, he would have no problem staying there till she returned but then, he searched around for anything that could suggest the owner of the car and found nothing. Not that he was expecting to find anything though, he had learnt from Tarasha not to leave anything that could be used traced to you anywhere you visited and not even in your personal car.
He struggled for a minute to open the door but it was firmly locked. He had no choice than to wait till passers-by close to the car were less and broke the glass with his feet. He used the soles of his shoe to break some part of the glass edges which still remained.
He looked around again, more carefully this time before he squeezed himself out carefully through the space. He wondered what Tarasha had brought him there to do if she was really the one who brought him. She should be going after Rex and not on this street. He began to walk away slowly from the car, searching around with his eyes to make sure he wasn’t being watched by anyone around.
____
The traffic was heavier and road was totally blocked. An helicopter was hovering above the vehicle while three police vehicles surrounded it on the ground. The officers were out of their cars and pointing their guns at the car.
Dakolo moved closer to the car slowly, holding his gun firmly and fully alert. He turned round the car looking in through the windows. Two other officers joined him. There was a man laying face down at the backseat of the car, he looked lifeless with the manner at which he laid. Dakolo opened the door of the backseat at his side while the other officer at the other side opened the door there, both pointing their guns at the man and ready for any surprises. The other officer leaned into the car and searched the body of the man, he turned the body over from his side while Dakolo helped him at the other side. Both stopped to look at the man for a moment, unsure of his state, then Dakolo leaned in again and touched the man’s neck and also placed his palm over the man’s chest.
‘He’s alive,’ Dakolo announced to the other officer as he rose out of the car. ‘Let’s put a call through to the medicals,’ he said and turned back.
‘Sir, the man’s car was snatched by the girl.’ an officer who had gone to make enquires from those around reported to Dakolo.
‘I know,’ Dakolo replied. What else could be the explanation for finding an harmless man in the car.
‘So, we lost her?’ Dakolo could hear an officer ask. The question didn’t get a vocal reply from anyone except for the brief glances those closer to the car gave.
‘Officer Tracy,’ Dakolo called on to the lady Inspector.
‘Sir,’ she answered in a firm voice.
‘You know the next instruction to give them,’ Dakolo stated as he stared at the hovering helicopter.
‘Yes sir,’ officer Tracy answered. Dakolo’s words were more than a statement but an order.
Dakolo took a glance back at the car as he walked back to his own vehicle. His phone rang as he opened the door.
‘Officer,’ he said into the phone as he answered, one of his legs already in the car while the other stood outside.
‘Inspector sir, I just made a check for the private Investigation Firm and I didn’t find any firm with their name in the records.’
‘Are you sure you conducted the search properly?’ Dakolo questioned.
‘Yes, I did and even repeated several times.’
‘Okay then, also search for the full names of that NSCC visitor to see if his name exists amongst the registered private investigators.’
‘Alright sir,’ the call ended. Dakolo entered into the car and closed the door.
____
The blow that landed on her face sent her staggering backwards and almost falling. Rex was at her front before she knew it again. He pulled her by the head and intended to give her an uppercut but she twisted the hand on her head and sent him a jab in the belly. The jab seemed to have only a little effect on him as he turned back to her almost immediately. She sent him a blow but he held her fists in his hands firmly. She followed up directing another blow to his chin but he caught her by the wrist before the blow to touched his face. She tried to wriggle her hands off but his hands were strong and unmoving. He began to push her backwards, forcing the weight on her legs as she tried to resist him. She tried to send a kick with her knee but he was faster, he stopped it with his foot and then landed a kick on her chest and also released his grip on her. She staggered backwards but he followed immediately, rushing her with three blows on her face. She tried to return the blow but he caught her hand with his again and th-ru_sted his feet onto her chest making her stagger uncontrollably backwards. He followed her, giving no time for her to recover. Another kick dug into her belly and she landed painfully on the floor with her butt and muffled in a groan.
Rex followed her. He dragged her up with the head and dealt her blows on her face and chest. She stopped one of the blows and sent one which was delivered close to his eyes, she tried to send another but he swerved and caught her by the upper arm. He pulled her by the arm and turned to her back as he delivered a kick to her butt, making her fall forward and land on one palm. He paused for a moment as he heard her give a scream.
He watched as she tried to recover while he took some casual steps, stretching his arms and legs to continue the fight. He pulled up his mask partially again and rubbed his lips while she was still trying to get up.
Tarasha got up to her feet feeling pains all over. She tried to stretch her arms and legs but the pains at the upper part didn’t get any lesser. It was coming from behind and having it’s effect all over her shoulders. The incompletely healed bullet wound at her back was beginning to open up . She stretched her shoulders and tried to ignore the pain as she watch him cover his face again.
They drew closer to each other slowly, each one watchful of the other’s steps. Tarasha sent a kick to him first but he bent low, making her leg hover past his head. She responded with a kick from the other leg as he rose up even before the first leg touched the ground. The kick was directed to his head but it met with with the bone between his wrist and elbow. He moved back a little and she rushed him with a blow in the belly. She didn’t miss his belly but Rex gripped her by the upper arm again. She tried to make him release her as she sent blows with the other hand to the side of his belly but he held her firmly and twisted her arm backwards.
She screamed as she felt excruciating pains all over but Rex grabbed the other arm and pulled both to their opposite sides, making the pain more unbearable. She screamed louder.
The torture continued.
______
Cole after turning to the other side of the road, hid himself and watched from a bus stop, waiting for Tarasha or whoever kept him there to return. He was there for close to fifteen minutes when he saw a car that looked familiar approaching from the lane closer to the bus stop.
‘Where you dey go Oga?’ a bus conductor asked him as he walked past the danfo. He ignored and walked to the front, hiding behind another vehicle to see the coming car properly.
There were three people seated in the car, two men in front and another at the back. The third man at the backseat was Inspector General Rikau.
Cole came out of hiding as the car drove past. His eyes followed them far off until the vehicle approached a turn before the flyover and moved to the return carriageway. They had to be going to the Vice President’s office, he thought in his mind.
Another thought popped up in his mind that minute. He wished he had the necessary weapon and car. He had learnt enough from Tarasha to be able to take out the three men. He would have followed them and carried out the execution of his boss’ enemy.
His eyes continued to follow the car.
_____
Rex finally released her and watched as she ran to the ground. She was strong, he could tell. But not stronger than he was. It shouldn’t have taken him so much time to defeat her if he hadn’t underrated her from the beginning of the fight. He also had just noticed that she felt more pain when he did something which had effect on her upper back and decided to inflict more pains in that direction.
He charged towards her before she could recover and turned her face to him. He lifted her up with one hand on her neck, the other holding her belt behind and slammed her with her back to the ground. He was satisfied at the scream she let out as she wriggled all over the floor in pain.
He dragged her up again to repeat the process. She struggled harder this time, but her struggle wasn’t enough to help her as Rex slammed her to the ground again, this time the back of her head and her back hit the floor together.
Rex stared at her for a second and then picked her up again. He slammed her to the ground again without any struggle from her. She laid on the ground, without any movement just like a lifeless steel.
Rex took a step backwards and stared at her body. It was time to finish off his business in Nigeria.
Rex took a step backwards and stared at her body. It was time to finish off his business in Nigeria.
The gate sounded from behind as he dipped his hand into his pocket to take out something. He took a glance back immediately and saw someone opening the gate. He removed his hand from his pocket and stared for a moment, then a car followed in slowly. His gaze remained there until he recognized the car as Chief Rikau’s own.
He turned and moved closer to Tarasha slowly and stood beside her, now facing the gate directly and watching the car which had parked just about two metres away from the gate.
His eyes left the gate and he took out his gun from the other pocket, he stared at Tarasha’s body and pointed the gun down at her, hovering over as if he was searching for the best place to shoot on her body. He looked up again and Chief Rikau had come out of the car and was heading towards him alone.
Rex returned his gun and took off his mask after. He then dipped his hand into the pocket at the other side. He took out a small thin metal case with the shape of a pentagon and placed it by his feet as he bent down beside Tarasha. He began to search her body and all the pockets in her jacket and trousers. He took out a set of knives from the inner pocket of the jacket after opening it. Then he took off her jacket entirely, following that by taking off the white round neck top that was underneath, exposing her white bra which covered her Brë@šts and then a white belt which covered her tummy for protection. He took off the belt and flung it away. Then he knelt and took out a small knife from his pocket with which he used to cut Tarasha’s trouser from the feet up to her waist on both legs and both sides. He flung away the separated part of the trouser which was on top first and it landed close to her bag, making a loud noise because of the weapons in the pockets. He pulled out the second part from underneath her legs and thighs which was now covered with only her pants of some strips of white bands on her thighs and below her knees worn to hide tiny weapons. He flung the other part away and it landed with a piece of cloth without any sound like the first part. He took off the bands from both thighs and the one below her knees. Her body was now left with the bra and the pant alone.
Then he brought the metal case he took from his pocket closer to himself and turned her body face flat. He paused to look up briefly, chief Rikau was closer and just about ten metres away. He pulled her two hands behind her and then unlocked a button on the thin metal case and began to pull out a rope from it. He fastened Tarasha’s both hands together, then he moved to her legs and repeated the same process there. He turned her body to lay on the side and rose up to return the metal case into his pocket. He dipped his hand into the lower pocket and took out a flat and small rectangular shaped material. He bent down again and peeled a thin sheet from the rectangular material, he covered her mouth with it. Chief Rikau was only three metres away now.
‘You were not supposed to kill her,’ the man shouted in a scolding manner.
‘Does she look dead to you? Why should I be trying up someone who is dead.’ Rex replied without looking up. He turned Tarasha’s body back with her face to the ground and rose again to take something from the pocket of his trouser. He brought out a small purse and then took out a very small transparent nylon containing a white powdery substance. He turned back and search around for some seconds before he located his bag. He proceeded there and took out a syringe and an ampoule from the bag.
He placed the syringe and ampoule on the floor beside Tarasha, then he made a tiny hole in the small nylon. He opened up the cap of the ampoule and poured in part of the powdery substance from the nylon into the transparent liquid in the ampoule. The white powdery substance turned transparent as it mixed with the liquid. Chief Rikau was standing before him and watching closely.
Rex took off the covering of syringe and inserted it into the ampoule. He drew the liquid into the syringe and then turned to Tarasha’s body. He surveyed her body briefly before opening a part of her pant and injecting her the liquid. He looked up at Chief Rikau’s face as he did.
‘You’ve come to get her right?’ he said to Chief Rikau.
‘You didn’t reply the Vice President’s message,’ Chief Rikau replied, instead of answering the question.
‘I didn’t need to, why should he send a message at a time I’m supposed to be working for him?’ Rex replied him with a raised eyebrow as he flung the used syringe away and rose up slowly.
‘We thought you didn’t see the message,’ Chief Rikau said.
‘I wouldn’t have agreed to change terms at the final point, I only did because of the money he added.’ he said, dusting off his hands. ‘I could use the money to get a taste of some of those big a$$ Nigerian ladies before I leave the country.’ he added with an evil smile.
Rikau joined in the smile and then stared down at Tarasha’s body. He squatted and then his eyes followed her body lustfully. He placed his hand on her bum and squeezed it in his palm and gave a laugh of victory.
‘She’s unconscious and I injected her something that’ll prolong her darkness for six hours more and make her very weak even when she’s awake.’ Rex said with a serious tone, looking straight into the Inspector General’s eyes. He continued, ‘The ropes are strong enough, don’t take it off even while she’s still unconscious except you have something stronger to tie her up. But I’ll advice that you should be done with her before you take off the ropes.’
‘Done with her?’ Chief Rikau asked with a raised eyebrow. He was offended, thinking that Rex meant being done with her sëxually.
‘I mean after you kill her or wh@tëver you plan to do with her,’ Rex explained and then looked away. He took in a breath and looked around the place, searching for anything that was left undone. His eyes met with Tarasha’s bag and the materials he had flung from her body. He ignored then and looked towards his car. He remembered that Henry was still there. Henry would still be asleep but Rex had no business with him anymore as the main target had been captured. ‘When will my flight back be?’ he turned back to ask Chief Rikau.
‘I don’t know, Chief Elvis should be the one to answer. But I think he still has other jobs for you,’ Chief Rikau replied.
Rex stared blankly for a while. ‘This contract is expired already, I hope he knows any new one would involve fresh terms and conditions?’
‘He’s ready to sign anything new with you. But it’s not really something that should take your time, he only wants you to help him with her sponsors,’ he said looking down at Tarasha’s body. ‘It’s not something new.’
‘It’s new even though it’s connected to this,’ Rex replied. ‘This has ended now because I’ve released her body for you to take to him and that was the deal.’
‘It’s okay Rex,’ Chief Rikau agreed.
‘Cool,’ Rex smiled faintly. ‘Bye for now,’ he said and turned back. He proceeded towards his backpack and picked it from the floor and then began to walk back to the car.
_____
Hot balls of sweat formed on Cole’s body as he watched through the hole of the gate. He had seen Rex flinging off the white pieces of cloth from a female’s body which laid on the floor. He couldn’t see the lady’s face from where he was but he remembered that he had seen Tarasha putting on all white that day. He watched silently while Rex and the Inspector General spoke but he had no idea what was being discussed.
He shifted back from the gate uncomfortably, something fell on his shoes from his trouser and startled him. He looked down and looked back to see if nobody threw it from behind, there was none. He picked it up, it was a small piece of tracker that was attached to his body. He opened the detachable cover and removed the micro card from the space, which will ensure the person tracking him does not find him again. He returned it into his pocket and then returned back to the gate to peep. Then he saw the car he and Rex’s team had come with, driving from afar towards the gate. He quickly turned back and crossed to the median of the road, he paused and watched carefully before crossing to the other side of the road.
He watched as the car was driven out of the gate and down the road. He continued to watch until the car turned into the side of the road he was on, he quickly hid himself behind a parked bus and continued to watch from there.
Rex’s car got to where he was in some minutes and drove past. Cole stepped out from behind the bus and watched, expecting the car to drive out of sight but it took a U-turn again into the road leading to the Computer village undergoing renovation. Cole hid himself behind the bus again, expecting Rex to drive back into the mini computer village but Rex drove past again. He came out from behind the bus, looking confused as to why Rex seemed to be going round in circles. But then as he watched on, he could see Rex slow down beside a car, the same car he had broken the window and come out from. Rex parked in front of the car and came out to check the car. He didn’t spend up to a minute before he returned into his car and drove off. Cole watched on until the car finally drove out of sight. He realized that he was the one Rex was searching for but wasn’t able to locate him because of the unconnected tracker.
He hurried out from behind the parked bus, crossed to the other side and proceeded to the gate. He peeped through the space between the opened gate and the fence and saw the Vice President’s car driving towards the gate from the center of the facility. He tried to confirm if Tarasha was still on the floor but couldn’t as the car obstructed his view, he had to leave the gate before the car got there.
________
‘Fool! Didn’t you see me drive past you?’ Stainless heard Rex’s voice sound angrily through the phone’s speaker.
‘Ermm… I didn’t s..s…see you,’ Stainless stammered in reply.
‘How would you, you were just standing like a drunk.’ Rex sounded really angry. ‘Have you gotten Cole?’
‘No, I couldn’t find him and Tarasha.’
‘Did you even see their car at all?” Rex asked.
Stainless’s reply was delayed as he tried to think so as not to give a stupid response. ‘Their car didn’t pass through here at all,’ he finally said.
‘Fool!’ Rex cursed again. ‘The car is still there right now, Cole escaped and took the tracker off his body.’
There was no reply from Stainless.
‘Meet me at our base as soon as possible,’ Rex ordered and the call ended.
Stainless hissed and sighed. He looked around for signs of Rex and Tarasha’s car which Rex claimed to be around but he saw nothing. He hissed again and then turned towards his car.
_______
Cole proceeded into the place after the Vice President’s car was totally out of sight. He walked hurriedly to the middle of the large area where he had seen the lady’s body laying. He could see nothing there as he approached but he kept on moving.
He finally got to the centre and located the point where Tarasha’s body was previously placed, there were traces of blood there and pieces of the white material. Fear gripped his heart as he saw the white jacket. That was the jacket he had seen on Tarasha earlier. His heart began to pound heavily as he picked up the jacket. He was sure of one thing, Tarasha was dead. Rex had killed her.
He tried to hold himself back but tears filled both eyes as he proceeded towards the white pieces of cloth he had seen flung around. He picked it up and checked the pockets which still had weapons in it. The jacket and the white piece of cloth dropped as his hands grew weak.
He fell to his knees and buried his face in between his laps. He thought about the emptiness of life. If the great Tarasha who appeared undefeatable could be brought down, then what was there in life? After all her strength, training, intelligence and bravery, she still died like that – just like a goat will also die- then what was the need for the struggle for power?
He rose up to his feet and wiped his face after some minutes of muttering words to himself. He looked around again as he sniffed in, he could see something like a human body straight at the beginning line of the two buildings in front. He wiped his face again as he gathered his eyebrows together and picked a gun out of the pieces of cloth, he proceeded towards the place.
It took him about five minutes to walk there and he found a man’s body laying on the floor. He bent down and placed his palm on the man’s chest to check if he was still breathing. He could feel the chest slow rise and drop.
He got up and stared at the man’s face for a while. His eyebrows gathered together again. Then he moved closer to the man’s head and touched the face with a finger, his fingertip was stained with a white substance. He then used his palms to rub the man’s face, until the real colour of the face began to show.
He rose and his eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the man. It was Henry. He stood still for a while, confused as to what to do next, his eyes blinking and head shaking. Then he froze as an idea came to his mind. He let out a deep breath and began to walk back towards the gate like a robot.
It took him another ten minutes to get to the gate. He walked to the side of the road and waited. Soon, a taxi without passengers came by and he waved it down.
‘I want to pick something inside here?’ he said to the cab man, pointing into the place.
‘What do you want to carry?’
‘A board and some buckets,’ he replied.
‘To where?’ the cab man asked.
‘Just a shop along the road,’ he answered.
‘Hope my boot can contain it?’
‘Yes,’ Cole answered after pretending to examine the boot by looking towards the back of the car.
‘Okay, I hope it’s not something too heavy, your bill is five hundred naira.’
‘Five hundred naira is okay,’ Cole replied as he opened the door to the passenger’s seat and hopped in.
The cab man looked at the side mirror for a while before he reversed the car a bit and turned into the place.
‘Just go straight,’ Cole said as they drove past the gate.
‘Okay,’ the man replied and continued silently for some seconds. ‘Do you work here?’
‘Just shut the hell up and drive,’ Cole slammed, now pointing his gun at the man.
________
2 hours later
Henry felt the gently breeze blow on his chest as he opened his eyes and yawned. He stared at the ceiling with his eyebrows gathered together, wondering where he was. He turned and realized he was laying on the backseat of a car which had the door opened at both sides. He sat up and stepped out on his bare foot, buttoning his shirt which he didn’t remember unbuttoning. He looked around and realized that he was back to the base. Then he remembered his experience at the NSCC and his encounter with the man who knocked him out. He turned to look back and stared in shock as his eyes met with Cole’s.
‘You’re awake now,’ Cole said, walking towards the car from the other side of the front yard.
Henry ignored his statement but stared at the cab and the building for a while, then he looked back at Cole again as he suddenly remembered that Cole was supposed to be with the enemy.
‘What are you doing here?’ Henry asked Cole, staring thinly into his eyes as the latter drew nearer.
‘I’m back now,’ Cole replied briefly, stopping by the bonnet of the car. He turned briefly to look at the building and then returned his gaze to Henry who was still looking lost.
‘Who brought me here and where is everybody else?’ Henry asked. He fixed his eyes on Cole’s face and noticed the dull look.
‘Everybody else?’ Cole asked, raising a brow. ‘There’s no other person here, it’s just the two of us.’
‘I mean where is Tara? Is she in?’ Henry asked and began to walk towards the entrance of the building.
‘Stop!’ Cole shouted in a loud voice, preventing Henry from moving further. ‘The security lasers are still on, your body will be cut into pieces if you proceed.’
Henry stared back at him with a questioning look. ‘Why is it on? Where has Tara gone to?’ he asked, staring keenly at Cole’s face.
Cole folded his arms and looked away.
‘I said where is Tara?’ Henry walked to him and pulled his hands.
‘Tarasha is dead,’ Cole stated blankly, looking straight into Henry’s eyes.
It took Henry some minutes to process Cole’s words in his mind. He released his grip on Cole’s hands slowly and began to laugh.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ Cole asked in concern, shocked at Henry’s response.
‘Come on, stop the joke and tell me where she is.’ Henry said, tapping Cole on the shoulder as he stopped the laughter.
‘I’m not joking, she died while trying to rescue you from Rex. He killed her,’ Cole replied him in a serious tone.
‘I don’t believe you.’ Henry’s face turned cold now, with his eyebrows gathering together.
‘Better do, the Inspector General has taken away her body and I don’t know where he’s taking it to.’
Henry did not want to believe Cole’s words but the look on Cole’s face was a very serious one. He considered the possibility of trueness of Cole’s words and his knees buckled and touched the floor.
‘Tara is not dead, the person you saw wasn’t her.’ Henry argued with Cole as he led him to the backyard of the building.
Cole did not reply him immediately until they took five more steps. ‘I’m pained by her death too but I won’t live in self deception. I’ve showed you the pieces of her clothes already and I told you I saw Inspector General Rikau and his men carry her body away.’
‘You could have seen another girl for all I care, I won’t believe she’s dead until I see her body and confirm that she has stopped breathing.’
‘Then, I’m not with you on that.’
Henry stopped and turned, he stared at Cole’s face for a second before he continued walking. ‘I’ll go in search of her alone if I have to,’ he said as he turned from the side of the building into the large backyard.
‘That will be suicidal,’ Cole said in a warning tone.
‘I don’t care,’ Henry replied.
There was silence for the next few minutes as Henry searched for something around the walls of the building.
‘That’s a window, how can you think there’s an entrance there?’ Cole questioned, watching in disbelief as Henry hands fumbled around the glasses of a particular window. Henry ignored him and moved to the next window.
‘This is the only entrance from behind,’ Cole continued to talk, pointing to a door at the centre of the long wall. ‘And we can’t enter turn through it also, the switch for the front lasers are the same for this.’
Henry stopped and turned to look at his face, as if questioning the trueness of his words.
‘I know this because we installed them together,’ Cole explained.
‘You installed the lasers together with her but I’m sorry you didn’t install every other thing with her.’ Henry said as he walked past the door at the centre in front of which Cole stood and walked past the windows of the other rooms until he got to the last window at the left side. He touched something at the top left edge of the window glass and shifted back suddenly as he felt a movement. He stared at the point for a while and then stepped back forward. ‘We have the hidden entrance here,’ he said with a note of victory in his voice as he touched the same point he touched before and began to unscrew something with his fingers. Cole moved closer and stared intently at him .
There was a soft sound of sliding of glasses after Henry finished unscrewing the metal. The remaining block walls below the window gave way and the window glasses extended mechanically to the ground. Then the glasses slid into the side walls, revealing a door of normal height but a window size breadth.
Cole’s eyes shone widely as he was dazed by the revelation. His eyes danced slowly up and door the electronic metal door which looked new was coloured shining silver. His gaze moved to Henry’s face. Henry had stepped back, though wasn’t looking amazed as Cole but his face showed confusion. The amazement on Cole’s face vanished and he frowned at Henry. ‘What’s the matter? Didn’t and tell you the lock code?’
Henry remained quiet as he stared with a narrow look. There were so many codes he had seen and he didn’t know the one to use.
He finally stepped forward again after two minutes of gathering courage. He reached for the screen which was at the position of the door handle and a box for the code appeared with the numbers 0 to 9 below. He typed in numbers which appeared as dots on the screen, it blinked red with a low warning sound accompanying as he typed the fourth number. The dots disappeared and an empty box showed again.
Henry stepped back again to think on which of the codes it could be, he had only two trials left and if he failed, their chances of entering into the building will be very slim. He stepped forward after another three minutes and typed in another set of four numbers. It was rejected by the system again.
He turned to Cole with a sigh of frustration. After some minutes he spoke, ‘Can’t we just break this door by destroying it totally with bullets?’
Cole stared at him thinly. ‘We’re going to beef up the security that way. If a bullet touches this metal door, I’m sure we’ll turn on lasers at this entrance too.’
Henry heart felt broken at Cole’s reply. His shoulders dropped and his eyes closed briefly and opened again.
‘Didn’t she tell you the code?’ Cole asked again.
‘She didn’t tell me the code or anything about this entrance, I found out myself.’ Henry answered.
There was a long moment of silence and it seemed all hopes were lost.
Henry stepped forward again, he took in a breath and began to type a new code. A different sound was made at the input of the last digit and a blinking large red triangle showed on the screen.
Henry stepped back and glanced at Cole’s face. Both heaved sighs of frustration.
________
‘Oh finally!’ Chief Elvis entered into the large room beaming with smiles. Chief Rikau rose up from the seat and met him with a smile.
‘Good evening, Your Excellency.’ Chief Rikau greeted with a slight bow.
‘Thank you Chief Inspector,’ Chief Elvis replied without looking at Rikau. His eyes were fixed on the lady’s body placed on the floor. Her body was placed on her left side and her hands and legs were still tied. ‘Samantha Osman,’ he smiled devilishly as he proceeded towards the body.
The room was a scanty one with few sofas and a wooden chair. It was stuffy and lacked fresh air, it smelt like a weed joint for smokers and there were also wraps of unused weed on the floor and used sticks of cigarettes. Bottles of alcoholic drinks, some broken and others intact also laid on the floor even though every other thing about the room appeared neat and clean. Inspector General Rikau was sitting in the room with two men standing at different sides of the room. The Vice President had also entered with his personal security officer, making it a total of five people now there.
The Vice President had received the text message informing him of the victory from Rikau while in a meeting with the President and governors of some states. He had been so excited about the news and couldn’t focus anymore on the meeting, so much that the President noticed and even asked him what the matter was. He had lied to the President and the others sitting that he just developed an headache and chest pain and was excused from the meeting after some more minutes of acting uncomfortably and unfocused.
As he moved closer, his three legs- two legs and the walking stick – made soft sounds that were audible to everyone there because of the quietness of the place. He finally got to where she was laid and slanted his head to look at her face properly.
‘She’s the one,’ he said after staring close to one minute. ‘She’s Kimberly, that girl that worked at the NSCC. She deceived us all but now she will pay and her sponsors with her.’ he shouted in a loud voice which reverberated around the room.
He paused to stare at her face again and kept staring for long. All of a sudden, she rose and tore off the ropes from her hands and legs. She grabbed his neck and squeezed it as he screamed. He had begun to vomit blood before the other men could run to his rescue.
‘Are you okay sir?’ Chief Rikau asked, staring at Chief Elvis in surprise as the man held his neck and made funny sounds.
Chief Elvis opened his eyes to see Samantha still on the floor with the ropes firmly on her hands and legs. His walking stick had fallen to the floor and he was grabbing his neck with his two hands. He dropped his hands and quickly looked around, he met the eyes of the other men staring at him. He knew he had just acted a funny drama and that they all had laughter suppressed which no one dared to let out. He looked back to Samantha’s face, she was still giving him nightmares after being captured. He had to find out who sent her and kill her with his hands after that as soon as possible to stop the nightmares.
‘Did Rex bring her here?’ He turned and asked Chief Rikau.
‘No, I did.’ the Inspector General replied.
He turned back to Samantha, ‘Does she need medical attention to be conscious?’
‘No, Rex said she’ll be unconscious for more than six hours and will be very weak when she regains consciousness.’
‘So we have to wait for six hours to get her to talk?’ Chief Elvis questioned, raising up his wrist to check his watch.
‘It might be longer than that,’ Chief Rikau replied. ‘Rex only injected her with something to make her unconsciousness six hours longer, he did that probably to give us more time.’
‘That means I have to wait till tomorrow and I don’t think I can do that,’ he said as he stamped his feet on he ground angrily. One of the men helped him with his walking stick and handed it to him.
‘So what do you suggest we do?’ Chief Rikau asked, staring thinly at the Vice President’s face.
‘You, what do you suggest we do?’ Chief Elvis directed the question back to him.
‘We don’t really have a choice if we want to hear her talk,’ Chief Rikau answered. ‘We just have to wait until she’s conscious.’
‘And do you think it’ll be easy to get her to talk to us?’ Chief Elvis questioned.
‘No, but we’ll ensure she goes through a lot of torture, she’ll surely give in quickly.’
‘Cool.’ Vice President Elvis remained silent for some few seconds. His eyes ran around Samantha’s body in disgust. ‘I think we should tie her in a different way.’ he said and turned to the other men standing in the room with them. ‘I want you guys to move her into another room where you can find something to tie her standing.’
‘Sir?’ the men responded in unison, not understanding the instruction.
‘I mean, tie her standing up. It could be between two poles, her two hands should be tied separately to the poles’ the Vice President explained, using his fingers to demonstrate.
_____
‘His name does not exist on the registrar, his firm’s name does not exist and there are no records of him on the citizens database.’ Dakolo thought aloud. He was in the cameras department of the police headquarters. He was in the office with officer Tracy and the lady who had provided him with footages earlier. ‘This just sounds too alike,’ Dakolo mused.
He raised his wrist to check the time and shook his head with a sigh, he never expected to stay that long in the office because of an abduction case and a traffic law offense.
‘I’m sure that girl is connected to the kidnap,’ he said again, looking at officer Tracy’s face as if to ask for her input.
Officer Tracy was about to talk when the door to the office flung open and Agent Tim walked in with a junior officer.
‘Good evening Inspector Dakolo,’ Agent Tim greeted as he approached where they were seated.
‘Good evening sir,’ Dakolo replied with a frown on his face.
‘I was just sent a memo from the director,’ Agent Tim continued, offering Dakolo a handshake. ‘It’s about the abduction case you are on.’
Dakolo’s frown deepened as he feared what was about to happen. ‘Yes, I just sent him a quick report about thirty minutes ago.’
‘He mentioned that in the memo,’ Agent Tim said, taking out a neatly folded paper from his back pocket. ‘Here, sign,’ he said as he unfolded the paper and handed it to Dakolo.
Dakolo collected it and scanned through. What he feared had just happened, he had been asked to transfer the case to Agent Tim since it involved more than what an ordinary inspector was supposed to handle. And Agent Tim was chosen specifically because of the resemblance of the case to Samantha Osman’s operations.
_____
Henry’s face lit up in happiness as the door gave way surprisingly. He and Cole glanced at each other with brief smiles and Henry attempted to proceed inside but Cole stopped him by grabbing him on the left shoulder. ‘Let me go in first,’ Cole said, raising his eyebrows to reassure him it was for safety reasons.
Cole gently pushed the door further, the passage was dark except for the reflection of the evening light that could enter through the opened door. He took out a phone – Tarasha’s phone which he had gotten from her bag- and put on the flashlight. He took a step in and looked all around – the ground edges, the ceiling edges and walls.
‘Let’s go in,’ he gestured for Henry to follow him.
In less than five minutes time, both were in the main living room of the building. Cole was first to sink into one of the sofas while Henry stood behind the three seater sofa and stared at the walls of the living room as if it was his first time of entering the place.
‘Don’t you think we should put out the lasers now?’ Henry broke the silence.
‘Can you put them out?’ Cole stared back at him.
‘No, I don’t know how to but I thought you said you installed them together with Tara.’
‘Yes, and I can put them off but I don’t think there’s any need to do that for now.’
‘Why?’ Henry asked, giving Cole a narrow look.
‘Because we could still be attacked,’ Cole replied. He rose up and began to loose the buttons on his shirt.
‘Attacked by who?’
‘By Rex, the guy that killed Tarasha.’
‘Omotara is not dead,’ Henry corrected again.
‘She is, get that into your head.’ Cole fired back, sniffing as he shot Henry a cold look. ‘I saw them carry away her dead body and the pieces of her clothes are a proof of her death.’
‘She’s not dead until I see her body.’ Henry shot back.
‘You must be sick,’ Cole stated and took his eyes off Henry’s face to take off the last bottom on the shirt.
‘What would they need her body for if she’s really dead, they would have left it there.’ Henry spoke.
Cole flashed a look at him again. He took off his shirt and wiped his face with it. ‘Why should they leave the body of their arch enemy Samantha Osman there? Wouldn’t it be implicating if the police met it there?’
‘If anything would have been implicating, it would have been the bag and cloth pieces they left behind.’
‘No, her body would have been more implicating. The police would be more curious to know how Samantha Osman’s body got there.’ Cole shot back his argument.
‘Who is the Police?’ Henry asked, giving him a narrow look. ‘Isn’t it their Inspector General you claimed took her body away?’
Cole paused to think for a moment. Henry was making some sense but he wasn’t ready to give in to him, he was sure that Rex couldn’t have left Tarasha alive, he had heard Rex several times talk about how he couldn’t wait to send her to the grave.
Henry continued to speak when Cole was silent, ‘The inspector General himself took her body away, what say do you think any other police men would have in this. And do you think anybody else knows how her face looks? They only know her as Samantha Osman but no one has seen her real face, so if they had left the body there, no one would have recognized her as Samantha Osman.’
The words sank slowly into Cole’s mind, he stared a bit at Henry thoughtfully but still refused to acknowledge that Henry was making any sense. He looked away and walked towards the flat screen television, he turned it on and picked the remote control in the shelf.
Henry eyes followed him as he returned to the seat and faced the television. Henry left the back of the three seater and sat on a one seater facing Cole. ‘This is not the time to remain quiet and do nothing,’ Henry continued. ‘Her life may just be in our hands right now and her salvation depends on the action we take.’
Cole did not move a bit but kept his eyes on the television which was still loading. So many thoughts flashed through his mind. He remembered Benny and Aisha again and tears welled up in his eyes. He coughed and used the back of his hand to clean his eyes. He blinked and kept his look on the television, conscious of Henry’s eye on him. He remembered again how he used to believe against all odds that Tarasha was still alive and would come out victoriously when Benny and Aisha had already thought she was either dead or that all hopes of her escaping the situation were lost. But now he was trying hard to believe the possibility of her still being alive. With the determination to kill her and competency he had seen in Rex, it was almost impossible to believe that she would escape death.
The loading on the television finally completed and a breaking news was being aired on the national TV station. Cole’s eyes almost popped out as he saw a car he recognized on the screen, racing crazily on the road, a police vehicle was racing after it. The scene also caught Henry’s interest and both of them for a moment, placed their focus fully on the news.
They watched as the car continued to swerve pass different cars and vehicles until it got to a U-turn and slowed down, then it picked up suddenly again and turned into the road after the police car came closer. They watched as a car at the other carriageway screeched to a halt and the police vehicle hit the back. Then the car being chased slowed down again and out came someone with a gun, releasing bullets that finally made the police car lose control totally.
‘That’s Omotara,’ Henry screamed on seeing her show out of the car.
‘Yes, it is.’ Cole replied calmly. He had seen the car when he entered into the compound earlier that day on Rex’s assignment. ‘That was before her death. I believe it was when she was chasing after Rex.’
‘She’s isn’t dead,’ Henry corrected again. Cole sighed and blinked. ‘Why was she chasing him?’
‘You were the one who was sent to the NSCC right?’
‘Yes, I was the one.’
‘I believe Rex took you as an hostage to lure her to his den. That guy is just so intelligent.’
Henry stared blankly at the wall. He remembered how he was attacked by the strange man and how he blacked out since then.
‘She escaped with someone else’s car, onlookers said she carried out someone from the boot of her car into the car she hijacked…’ a journalist was reporting the news.
‘That should be me,’ Cole cut in, looking at Henry’s face. ‘And I really found myself in another car.’
Both returned their focus to the television screen and the car with which Tarasha was racing was shown again, this time it was stationary, the four doors of the cars were opened and there were policemen surrounding it.
The scene faded out and the Inspector General was shown with some journalists and mics before him. He was putting on the same clothes Cole had seen him earlier on. He began to talk on the death of the policemen and accidents that occurred during the chase of the car. Both Cole and Henry watched the man in disgust, the anger was visible on their faces.
‘He killed her parents, killed her brother and now he has her captured too.’ Henry said angrily to himself but it sounded loud enough for Cole to hear.
Cole flashed a quick and shocked look at him and their eyes met. He was shocked to hear what Henry had just spoken out. He looked away and stared blankly at the wall wondering if Henry knew what he had just said. If it was true, then it just made sense to him why Tarasha had always seen the man Rikau with so much hatred.
‘Let’s find her together,’ Cole sprang up to his feet suddenly, staring at Henry with a determined look.
