® PG-13
© Oyinloye Oluwatosin Emmanuel
Location : Ngozika Estate, Awka. Anambra State
April 22, 2031
9:25am
The hospital was a usually busy one but at this time of the day, there was very little going on. The opposite will be the case in ten hours time. It would be evening then and the nurses on duty would be so busy that they would have no time to even glance at the television. It was EKME HOSPITAL, one of the biggest private hospitals in town and the biggest in the estate. Founded twelve years ago, the hospital was known for it’s good services and inexpensive charges. Even with the large facility and high cost of maintenance, it still posed a relatively low burden on patients and their families. The hospital was owned by Dr Martin Ekwueme who founded it after his legal retirement. He had claimed to establish the hospital with the money paid him at retirement but everyone knew establishing the hospital cost more than that. And even with the low charges made, a lot of profit was still being made.
‘Dad, I think you should just go and rest at the house in Nnewi. You shouldn’t have come here at all.’
That was Martin Ekwueme jnr, the first son of Dr Martin Ekwueme who graduated as a Mechanical Engineer. He worked in the city of Port Harcourt in an oil company and had come to Anambra to visit his mother who was on a short visit to Nigeria. She had moved to the United Kingdom to live with their last born some years ago and both of them had come to Nigeria for a short stay.
Their parents had separated a year before Dr Ekwueme’s retirement based on ‘irreconcilable differences’. It had come as a shock to everyone. After over thirty years of marriage with no notable or significant disagreements, the couple had decided to part ways without giving any reasons apart from irreconcilable differences’ and incompatibility. Their children had been surprised the most and all efforts made by them to identify the problem and fix the marriage proved futile. The woman kept telling the kids that their father was wicked but gave them no reasons for saying so with the excuse that she did not want them to h@të their own father, while the Doctor himself remained quiet and gave no reason no matter how pressured he was.
‘Son, I will take a rest. I just had to come today. I only come to the hospital on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and a lot of people would be expecting me, it won’t be nice if I don’t show up.’
‘But you shouldn’t do it to the detriment of your own health, you should have rested at home today, you’re not looking healthy at all. I thank God Tracy hinted me that you weren’t feeling fine.’
‘Have you seen Tracy after she left here?’
‘No, she called me on phone and told me she with you since last night.’
‘I had a nice time talking with her after so many years,’ the man said with a deep breath. Tracy was the name of the family’s last born.
‘Don’t shift the focus Dad, we’re talking about your health here.’
The argument in Dr Martin Ekwueme’s office continued. The man who had a tall and moderately sized body was seated on the swivel behind the table, he had some medical files in his hand and his eyeglasses on. His son, Junior was standing close to the door, his hand on the knob but facing back towards his father. He had been like that for several minutes. He wanted to leave the office but the talk with his father had not let him proceed.
‘I’m not staying for long today, just two hours more and I’ll be going back home.’ the man explained to his son.
‘You should just go to Nnewi when you leave here, don’t stay in the house here.’ Martin jnr said in a calm voice.
‘I really don’t want to go to Nnewi except your mother would come there to see me, it reminds me of her so much.’ Dr Martin said in a soft tensed tone.
Martin was about to turn the knob but his father’s word stopped him. He took his fingers off the knob and turned back to look at his father. He then exhaled and inhaled deeply before proceeding back to the table.
‘Mother doesn’t want to see you,’ he said in a sad tone as he sat in one of the visitor’s seat behind his father’s table. ‘I don’t know but…’ he stopped and look at his father’s face.
‘Go on son, spill it, don’t be scared to hurt me. I’m already an injured man.’ the man said with so much pain in his eyes and voice.
‘I don’t know why you would never tell us the reason for your separation but mum seems to grow her hatred for you everyday.’ he stopped and paused to see if his words had not hit the man badly. He continued on seeing that the man took it calmly, ‘She doesn’t want you to know her movements and doesn’t want to come to around here just because of you, she’ll be going to Lagos in two days time, after finishing what she came to do in the village and from there she’ll travel back to the UK.’
‘Son, please can you do something for me?’ the man with a pitiful look. The boy’s attention was on him. ‘Can you talk your mother into seeing me, even if it’s for thirty minutes?’
‘Daddy, that would be difficult.’ Martin sighed bitterly. Then he looked his father in the eyes, ‘If only you would tell me the problem, we, your kids can resolve it if you open up to us.’
The man gave a gasp of exasperation and fell back in the chair. ‘She would h@të me more if I tell you,’ he said with his eyes closed. ‘She would h@të me.’
Martin had a confused look on his face. He tried to speak but no words came out.
‘Look at me son, I didn’t develop any fever. The fever excuse is a lie. What’s making me look sick is because of the worries I’ve had since I heard of her presence in Nigeria. I’m in a tight condition now and I have some challenges that only her can help me with.’ Dr Ekwueme confessed.
Martin jnr stared at his father’s face for a while. ‘You said she would h@të you more if you open up to us?’
‘Argh!’ Dr Ekwueme suddenly grabbed his head and his face squeezed in pain, almost falling from the chair.
Martin got on his feet immediately and rushed to help his father.
‘Don’t come!’ Dr Ekwueme raised his hand in the air to stop his son who had already turned to the other side of the table. He struggled to sit up.
‘Dad, I need to call one of the Doctors to see you.’ Martin said with a worried look on his face as he helped his father back on the swivel properly.
‘No,’ Dr Ekwueme held his hand to stop him from going. ‘There’s no need for that, no Doctor can help me, only your mother can,’ he said, looking deeply into his son’s eyes.
Martin stared at his face for a while. The man was sitting up and his face was relaxed again.
‘I’m going to bring mum to you today, but on the condition that you’ll follow what I say. I will take you to Dr Dorcas and we will go to the house from there.’
*
10:36am
‘Dr Dorcas says you need a lot of rest, I think we have to go to Nnewi from here.’ Martin Jnr said as he walked with his father along the corridor in the hospital.
‘I still have some of my things in the house here, I think I should just rest for some hours. When you come back from seeing your mother, you can take me to Nnewi. I’m sure your mother must be waiting for you now.’
‘Okay then, I have to tell them to keep an eye on you there.’
‘I don’t need anyone to look after me son, I know well how to manage myself.’ the man said. He stopped and squinted as they got to the entrance of the corridor. ‘What’s that?’ he said. He could hear a sound of people arguing. ‘The nurses at the reception are at it again,’ he frowned his face bitterly. He always h@tëd it when the nurses were idle.
They walked out of the corridor into the reception and met the nurses arguing with a young woman.
‘You cannot just see him, you have to see another Doctor.’ the Matron said in a loud voice to the young lady, oblivious of Dr Martin Ekwueme’s presence.
‘Well, then I’ll wait for him or come back tomorrow when you can fix an appointment with him.’ the young lady replied in a calm voice, not like one who was arguing.
‘We won’t fix an appointment with him for you, there are other doctors who can see you and if you’re not ready, you leave or I’ll get the security for you.’ the Matron threatened.
‘I still think you should tell him someone wants to see him, he might make out time to see me.’ the young lady argued.
‘You are…’
‘What’s happening here?’ Dr Ekwueme spoke, bringing everyone’s attention to him.
‘Oh! Good morning sir,’ the Matron curtsied. ‘This lady I heard came here first last week Friday and requested to see you. She was told you were not available and advised to see other doctors. She refused. And when she insisted she wanted to see you, she was told that you only came on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but that you were already booked for the two days this week and even next week. But today she’s here again, asking us to tell you to make out time for her from your already booked day.’
‘It’s okay,’ Dr Ekwueme said to the Matron and turned to the young lady with an inquisitive look on his face. ‘So young lady, what’s the matter?’
‘Good afternoon Doctor,’ she greeted, bending her knees slightly. ‘I have an health issue and I. requested to see you.’
‘Okay, but we have other doctors here who can attend to you, even Doctors more efficient than I am.’
‘Yes sir, I’m aware of other doctors but I only wanted to make sure it’s you that attends to me, if only for a few minutes.’ she replied.
Dr Ekwueme paused to take a look at her. She dressed in a modest apparel, on low cut and kept a light smile on while talking to him. He seemed to be considering giving her audience.
‘You should allow other doctors see you,’ Martin jnr stepped forward to his father’s aid. ‘As you can see, he was about leaving and can’t see you this week or even next week like you’ve been told. See the other doctors if you love yourself.’
He led his father away, leaving the young lady with the nurses at the reception.
The Matron had a victorious look on her face when Tarasha looked at her. Tarasha was tempted to talk but she didn’t. She looked at the Doctor again as he walked away, he didn’t look healthy or fit to her. She had to use her plan B if she wouldn’t be able to see him until after two weeks like they said. But she loved plan A the most, she would have been able to hold him to ransom with his hospital.
‘I’m free if you want to talk to me,’ a young handsome Doctor who had been watching them offered.
She hissed and eyed him before turning away. She could hear tongues wagging and the nurses laughing at her as she walked out of the hospital.
*
*
*
2:30pm
Dr Martin Ekwueme’s Residence, Ngozika Estate
Dr Ekwueme had just finished having his lunch and was still at the dining room when a maid came to announce the arrival of his ex-wife. The news had taken him so much by surprise that he couldn’t take the drugs he was supposed to use for afternoon.
He sat there on the shiny metal and leather chair, with his plates on the table unpacked. He had been wishing to see Adaeze but now he wondered how he was going to face her. She had said to him the last time they met that she would never forgive him for all his atrocious deeds. He had never done anything against her, he loved and protected her all his life and for their thirty two years in marriage never lifted a hand against her. But her love for him disappeared when she found out his cruel deeds against humanity and the country which he claimed to love. She had said to him that she could not continue to live with such a man like him and requested for a divorce immediately paying deaf ears to his pleas and claim to have turned a new leave.
He wondered how his son had been able to convince her to see him finally after many years of pleading. And what surprised him most was that she came to him in less than five hours. His son must have said something really serious to her.
‘Martin!’
Fear gripped his heart as he heard the voice he hadn’t heard in years. She had entered into the house and was looking for him, he could tell she was already in the living room. He sat still, knowing that she was going to locate him soon.
‘Martin.’
Here she was, standing directly opposite him with an angry look on her face.
Martin closed his eyes. She was still as mad at him like she was over ten years ago when they divorced even though he still loved her like no other woman in his life. He had loved her like that and never cheated on her while they were married.
‘Martin, what is this I hear that you’ve invited all the kids to come over during the weekend so that you can tell them what transpired between us.’
He opened his eyes to look at her. She had aged just like him in the past few years but she still looked very beautiful to him even though she was in her late sixties.
He now knew what made her come so quickly to him, just hours after his son had gone to her. His son had told her that he (Martin snr) was about to tell them why she divorced him. That was it. She was still protecting him, trying to make the children not h@të their father. Was that because she still had some love left for him? He asked himself.
‘I have to do it,’ he played along. ‘I have to tell them.’
‘Have you gone nuts?’ she gave him a cold look, climbing unto the dining.
‘Yes, I have. I’ve gone mad without you. I’m dying of guilt and I don’t have anyone to listen to me. I have to let it out before I die.’ he said, looking down as he couldn’t look into her eyes.
‘You’re really crazy. How can you tell your children? They would detest you.’ she said, now closer. She placed her handbag on the dining table.
‘I deserve it. Let them h@të me. I brought it upon myself.’ he replied, now considering on making it real – considering telling his children if she wasn’t going to listen to him.
‘I won’t allow you do that.’ she gave him a furious look.
‘I have to tell them, I need someone to listen to me. You’ve been the one who listens to me and nobody has occupied that spot since you left twelve years ago.’
‘What exactly do you need someone to listen to?’ she queried.
‘I’m dying Ada, I know. These drugs here cannot save me.’ he raised up the nylon of drugs on the table and dropped it back. ‘I’ve been having nightmares of my death for some weeks now and it got more intense few days ago. I know I’m about to pay for my sins but I need someone to talk to before I finally die.’
‘You deserve something more than death, you did so much evil; you stained your noble profession and betrayed the trust of many in you.’
‘I know.’
Tears began to drop form in the man’s eyes. He picked up a napkin to stop the tears.
‘Mum,’ a voice called from behind. It was that of Martin Ekwueme jnr.
‘Give me and your father some time,’ she said, turning back to Martin who was already approaching the dining.
Martin stopped and stared for a moment at his father, he could see their discussion was heated. He stared at his mum’s face for a while before walking away hesitatingly.
‘These kids must not know anything, I won’t let you pass your guilt to them.’ she continued after the boy left.
Martin Ekwueme remained silent.
‘I’ve lived with the guilt of the things you did for the past few years and it’s tormenting enough for me just knowing we used the monies you got from evil together. I don’t want you to pass the guilt to the kids, I’m protecting them from your torment.’
More tears flowed from the Doctor’s eyes. It was confirmed. She didn’t love him anymore and wasn’t protecting him, her protection was for their kids.
His life had been a disaster. The feeling of unfulfillment never left him from the day she divorced him. Even after he established the hospital and tried to get fulfillment by helping people with it, his past will not let him be. And the thoughts of what he had lost, Adaeze, the woman he had worked so hard to be able to spend the rest of his life with finally leaving him and hating him took away every room of happiness from his heart.
He knew his days were numbered. The recent nightmares had confirmed it. He was always seeing a person whose face was always covered with a mask, shooting a bullet into his head.
‘If you love your children, and I hope you do. Do not let them know about it, do not trouble their lives with your problem, allow them continue their lives and don’t put the seed of evil into them.’ Adaeze said in a concluding tone and picked her bag from the table. ‘Goodday,’ she said before storming out of the place.
‘How did it go mum?’ Martin jnr who was waiting outside walked to his mum as she came out of the house.
‘Take me back to Nibo’ she said , walking to the car. ‘I’ll call to confirm if Tracy has gotten home so she can make plans for us to leave.’
Martin froze where he was. He had expected something positive from his parent’s meeting, after over ten years that his mum agreed to meet with their father. But he was wrong, he could see from the look on her face that nothing pleasant happened between the couple. He heaved a sigh of frustration, after several years his mother was still bitter at his father and didn’t look like she was going to ever forgive him.
He finally moved from where was but he entered into the house again. He met his father still at the dining with his eyes closed and tears around the eyelids. He decided not to say anything and he quietly turned back and walked out to meet his mum in the car. They drove out of the compound few minutes later.
Dr Martin Ekwueme still remained on his seat at the dining. The maids had come to clear the used plates from the table and served some fruits. The Doctor stayed still with his eyes closed. He knew he would never see his wife again. It was the end of their love.
He remained there for several minutes, imagining how his life would be. Then suddenly, he felt a presence in the room with him. He opened his eyes and he saw his visitor. Dressed on black from head to toe, the face was also covered with a mask, there was a gun in the left hand.
He heaved a sigh. His nightmare was coming to pass.
He saw the gun raised. He was sure his death had come. He had nothing more to live for and couldn’t wait for the bullet to enter into his head.
*
The gun was raised. He was sure his death had come. He had nothing more to live for and couldn’t wait for the bullet to enter into his head.
The sound of the bullet released from the gun hit was drowned by the silencer. It hit the camera at the corner of the ceiling and parts of the ceiling materials fell to the ground. She lowered her gun and slowly put it into her pocket. The man still had his eyes closed. Maybe he was still expecting the bullet to run into his body, she thought to herself. But she wasn’t ready to take his life yet, she needed more from him. She had been in the house for more than thirty minutes and had come out of hiding after the doctor’s visitors had left. She had put off all the security cameras she found in the house and the security alarms and also made sure that no one was close when she decided to appear to the man.
Dr Martin opened his eyes back. He saw his guest still standing at the same spot but without the gun anymore. He had been expecting the sound of a gunshot and thought he was going to open his eyes in the underworld the next time he did but here he was, his would-be killer still wasting time in taking his life. He looked back to see the cause of the sound he heard, he saw pieces of the gadget on the floor and he traced it up, then he realized she must have shot at he camera
He noticed his guest was a female; it was obvious from the curves on her chest and the hips. He had seen a man in his dream and not a woman, maybe that was the cause for the delay of the bullet entering his head. But if she would still kill him, he didn’t know. He knew he was at her mercy, the guards at the gate would not come in for no reason and he had also sent on an errand his niece who stayed in the house with him.
He watched as she pulled off the mask from her face. He stared at her intently. She was the same girl from the hospital.
‘How did you get in?’ Dr Martin suddenly developed boldness to talk. To him, the girl he had seen in the hospital was a young innocent girl whose he thought he could break into two in a physical fight. He didn’t think he should give her more respect because she now had a gun.
Tarasha took two steps forward. She folded the mask neatly and inserted it into the inner pocket of her black leather jacket. She stared at the man’s face. She knew he had developed some boldness because he now saw her face but she was ready to make him go through pain if he didn’t give his cooperation willingly.
_____
Time: 2:36pm
Location: NIS Underground Office, Asokoro, Abuja.
The beep sound from Dave’s phone temporarily distracted him from his work on the laptop. He picked it to check what the notification was for. He unlocked it and found a pop-up WhatsApp message from Lizzy.
‘Are you in the office now? I’ve checked on you before.’ the message read.
‘Yes, I returned few minutes ago.’ Dave quickly typed a reply and sent. He dropped the phone and returned to round up what he was doing on the laptop.
The phone beeped again. It took him sometime before picking it up.
‘Where do we meet?’ the new message read.
‘Can you come over to my office? My officemate has closed for the day.’ he typed in and sent.
‘Okay, I’ll be there in one minute.’ the reply entered seconds later.
He put down the phone and continued on his laptop. Lizzy got into his office within two minutes.
‘Lizzy,’ Dave welcomed her with a brief smile as she proceeded to his table.
‘How are you doing Dave?’ she asked in reply. She pulled his visitor’s chair back a little from the table before sitting on it.
‘I’m fine, how about you?’ Dave replied.
‘I’m fine too.’
‘You were out in the morning when I checked your office.’ Dave said.
‘Yes. I also checked you here when I returned. You weren’t answering your calls.’
‘Yes, I was out with the chairman. I’ve been handed another case.’
‘Alright. So what’s your message?’ she leaned forward and placed her hands his table. ‘You said it’s important we see today.’
‘Yes, I’m traveling this evening and I don’t know when I’ll be returning.’
‘A trip for the new case?’
‘No, on Samantha’s case.’ Dave turned his laptop’s to her. ‘There, I’ve been tracing a credit card transaction all day.’
‘Whose credit card is it?’ she raised a brow as she read the details on the screen. ‘This name isn’t familiar.’
‘It’s Samantha Osman. She uses multiple identities, that name is one of the identities she uses.’
‘How did you get this?’ Lizzy began to scroll down with a finger on the screen.
‘I’ll tell you,’ Dave said and turned the laptop back to himself. ‘I want to hear your experience with Victor first.’
‘Well,’ she gave a wry smile. ‘He’s been very careful.’
‘Were you with him on Saturday?’
‘Yes for several hours. We went to the cinema to see the crime thriller, “A New Creation”. He was careful throughout, he wasn’t carried away by the thrills of the movie and I couldn’t even use his device. He is also good with lies, he answered every question I asked expertly.’
‘Hmm… You just have to keep trying.’
‘I’m tired of the dunce. The lustful ways he stares at my body is annoying and I can’t wait to see him behind bars.’
‘That, I believe will happen soon.’ Dave said with a note of confidence. ‘My trip would bring us closer I can tell.’
There was a brief silence before Dave continued to speak.
‘I got to know that Samantha Osman transferred some money into a lady’s account several weeks ago. She did it anonymously but I visited the receiver’s bank to trace the source, it took me some time to link the source with this credit card I’m tracing now. I had to go to the bank that issued it to check, they even had no idea of the official records, she manipulated the bank details herself; no fingerprints, multiple bank verification numbers and pins for one account. I decided not to bother with the real name, since I knew it is none other than Samantha. But then, I discovered from her transaction history that she used the card for payment last week Thursday, payment for a flight to Anambra State. She also made bookings for an hotel room for two weeks. I can’t tell if she made the payment for herself or on behalf of her men. The thing I’m certain of is that Samantha or one of her team members is in Anambra State now and I know the hotel the person is lodged in.’
‘Wow! That’s a good one. So what time are you leaving today?.’
‘The flight is by three thirty.’
‘Don’t you think you would need backup?’
‘I thought about that already but you see, I’ve not been giving real reports to the chairman on this case. Having a backup plan from my team will give the team members too much information.’
‘So, what are you planning?’
‘The chairman knows I’m traveling to Anambra but I told him it’s just to make some enquires and interrogate some people.’
‘But it’s dangerous for you to go alone,’ Lizzy said staring at him thoughtfully.
‘Yes, I know. I would be careful.’
‘But why don’t you involve Inspector Dakolo in this? Since you trust his motives?’ she suggested.
Dave closed his eyes and took in a breath. He had not thought about the option.. Inspector Dakolo would have been of help to him in providing a backup when necessary.
‘I didn’t think about that and I could still have called him now but Inspector Dakolo doesn’t know me yet, he only thinks I’m a journalist and I don’t have enough time to start explaining things to him anymore. Besides, it’s even against our rules to reveal our identity.’
‘Well then, I wish you goodluck.’ she said with a smile and rested back in the chair.
______
‘Bro, what’s up with you and Tomi?’ Henry asked after closing the door of the control room.
Cole who was seated in the chair before the master computer, rested back and sighed after giving Henry a cursory glance.
‘Did she tell you anything?’ he asked as he took his fingers off the mouse.
‘No, but I can sense the ill feelings between both of you.’ Henry said as he sat on the seat beside Cole’s.
‘She’s just making things complicated. She’s trying to promote herself from the place of a sëx partner.’ Cole explained with a mischievous chuckle.
‘I don’t understand.’
Cole turned to face Henry. ‘She’s beginning to claim possession of me because I sleep with her often.’
‘But why are you sleeping with her if you have no feelings for her?’
‘You should ask her that question too, we both enjoy the act and she’s even the one that pressures me for it every night.’
‘You should have refused her.’
‘Refuse a free gift?’ Cole put on an evil smile. ‘I’ve not just had time for her recently. But next time she pressures me when the boss isn’t around like this, I’m going to bang her so hard that you won’t be able to sleep because she’ll be screaming for help all through the night.’
Henry frowned. ‘Now, you’re not going to do that, are you?’
‘Just forget it bro,’ Cole dismissed the issue with a hiss. He sat up and reached for the mouse to continue his work. ‘I have some assignments from the boss.’
‘From Omotara? Where is she now and when is she coming back?’ Henry asked, now looking at what Cole was doing.
‘I don’t know when she’ll be back,’ Cole replied, deliberately ignoring the question about her location. Tarasha had asked him to kept it unknown to anyone else until there was need for backup.
‘So you want to buy a house?’ he asked. Cole was browsing a property agency website and was checking the interior of a particular house.
‘The boss is the one who needs it and I paid for it already.’ Cole replied him. He closed the tab and navigated to another website to avoid further questions.
‘Where is the location of the house?’ Henry asked, wondering what Omotara needed a new house for.
‘It’s where she is.’
‘Where? Lagos?’
Cole closed his eyes and let out a breath tiredly. ‘Henry, I’m not permitted to answer your questions. You chat with the boss, if she hasn’t told you her location. I shouldn’t be the one to tell you.’
‘Oh!’ Henry suddenly lost his voice. He had nothing else to say. He knew Omotara was up to something somewhere, he only hoped it wasn’t something that would cause the loss of the lives of innocent people.
*
*
*
Ngozika Estate, Awka.
‘I asked you a question young lady, how did you get in?’ the doctor asked boldly again.
Tarasha calmly pulled out the dining chair close to her and sat on it. She took out her gun and placed it on the table, to remind him that she still had it with him. She then brought out a phone and a small device which looked like a switch from her trousers’ pocket. She unlocked it and placed it on the table, she pushed it gently and it slid to the man’s side.
‘Watch the video on that phone,’ she said. The man stared at her thinly for some seconds before picking up the phone. A confused expression appeared on his face as he looked at the screen, he clicked on play.
‘I know your recognize that car,’ she said, fully aware that the man was now watching the video. ‘I hope you also recognize that apparatus you see there,’ she placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward. ‘That’s an explosive. Your first son and your ex wife are in that car now, the bomb will go off once I push this button.’ she placed her finger on the switch.
The phone dropped from the man’s hand. He was now vibrating. He wasn’t afraid of death, but he was terribly scared of losing his first son and ex-wife.
‘Young lady, what do you want?’ he asked with more reverence now.
‘I came for you, not to kill you but to take you take you with me, I need to discuss with you but we can’t do it here. My car is outside your gate and I would like you to follow me quietly.’
The man stared at her carefully for some seconds like was going to object. Then he got up to his feet slowly. ‘Take me but we have to take out that bomb from their way.’
‘That’ll be done after you comply, so lead the way,’ Tarasha got up and ushered him forward with her gun.
They walked out of the house side by side in silence. Tarasha had the switch in her hand and a finger on the button to constantly remind her not to make any funny move.
The man kept on wondering who she was as they walked out of the house. He wondered how she got into the house without the security men’s knowledge and how she was able to place the bomb into his son’s car, under the seat and even film it. But he had hopes that the two security men at the gate would come to his rescue and he wouldn’t have to go out with her.
‘Are you going out sir?’ a maid asked the man as they climbed down the verandah. He ignored her and kept on walking, taking a glance at Tarasha. Tarasha didn’t seem to be disturbed, she was relaxed, just like somebody taking a stroll with her friend.
The maid stared at them for a while, especially at the strange lady which she had not seen before. Then she walked off hurriedly, probably to gossip about the stranger and the man’s strange behavior to the other maids.
Dr Ekwueme was disappointed on getting to the gate. He continued to stare at the Security room in expectation.
‘You’re wasting time, go out.’ Tarasha said to him impatiently as she opened the gate with a hand for him. He stepped out and she stepped out after him.
‘Over there, walk faster.’ Tarasha now pointed her gun at his back. ‘Your security men can’t save you, j took care of them after your son and his mother left. They’ll be sleeping for the next two hours.’
They got to the place her car was and she opened the door for him to get in. He kept staring at the hand in which she held the switch even as he stepped into the car. She closed the door and turned to the driver’s side.
She put her gun on her left knee, the switch still in her right hand, she took out her phone again and passed it to him.
‘I want you to exit the video and check the next video , I think you’ll like to know that I met your beautiful daughter today and she’s in my care right now.
The man stared at her with unbelieving eyes. He was sure she didn’t know what she was saying. His daughter had come to see him that morning, few hours before her elder brother, Martin Jnr arrived and she had told him she going back home to meet her mother. He exited the video and opened the next. He was shocked at what he saw. His last born was in a room alone, sweating furiously and her whole body tied to a chair. Her mouth was covered with a band but her eyes were left open.
*
*
*
4:15pm
Crescent Moon Hotel
The man looked around as they drove into the hotel compound. He wondered what she had brought him there for. She had been quiet all through the drive. The bomb switch was now placed on the dashboard of the car and her gun hidden in her pocket.
His phone began to ring as he turned off the car engine after parking properly in the garage. She placed her gaze on him and he stared back at her shakily. He didn’t want her to know he had a phone with him.
‘Who’s the caller?’ she asked.
He took out the phone with trembling hands and checked the screen, his first son was the one calling.
‘Answer and place it on loud speaker,’ she said on confirming the name of the caller.
He obeyed. Martin jnr voice came through, he sounded worried.
‘Dad, where are you?’
The doctor stared at her face, as if to ask for what to say.
‘Tell him you’re with your friend,’ she whispered.
‘I’m with a friend,’ he said into the phone.
‘With a friend? The maids said you went out a girl they’ve never seen before.’
‘Tell him not to worry, you’ll be back home soon.’
‘Don’t worry son, I’ll be home soon.’
‘But Dad, we agreed that I was going to drive you to Nnewi when I return.’
‘I know son, I’ll be back soon, just go and take your rest.’
‘Dad, you’re acting strange, hope all is well?’
There was no reply.
‘Have you seen Tracy? Mum said she’s has not returned since she came to see you this morning and she’s not been answering her calls.’ Martin jnr asked.
The man looked at her face again for what answer to give. Tracy was the girl Tarasha had tied up in a room.
‘She’s at the first room at the upper floor of the house.’
The man stared at her for a while with a shocked expression on his face. Now he was beginning to fear her greatly and knew she was more than the innocent girl he thought she was when he saw her at the hospital.
‘Dad, are you there?’ Martin jnr asked when he didn’t get a reply.
‘Yes son, Tracy is in the first room at the upper floor of your mum’s house.’
‘Huh? Dad? What do you mean? She can’t be at home and be silent while we’ve been looking about for her.’
‘Just tell your mother to check her there, I don’t know how she got there but I know she is there.’
‘Dad,’ he called and paused for a few seconds. ‘What’s happening? Where exactly are you?’
‘I’ll explain later son,’ the man said and ended the call immediately. He closed his eyes, there were tears in it.
Tarasha’s phone began to ring just as the man ended the call. She took out her phone and answered the call.
‘Hello boss,’ Cole’s voice came through. ‘I paid for the house already.’
‘What kind of house is it?’
‘A three bedroom flat, well furnished and by the road side in Udoka Estate.’
‘How far is the place from my present location?’
‘Not far, they’re on different sides of an expressway. I’ll send you the coordinates and the address of the house. When should I tell the Agent you’re moving in?’
‘Right away, I’m leaving the hotel this minute.’
‘Okay, you’ll get the message soon.’
The call ended and Tarasha placed the phone beside the hand brake. She stared at the hotel building for a minute, trying to figure out if she would need anything from the room. There was a small piece of paper she had written some codes on she might need, she had put it in the pocket of the trouser she hung in the bathroom. She decided to come back for the paper later that night, taking the man to the house was safer than the hotel room even though she planned on injecting him to make him lose his speech and senses temporarily before entering the hotel.
She had booked the hotel room for two weeks and was still going to keep it in case the need for it arises before she completes her mission in the state.
Dr Ekwueme’s phone was ringing again but he refused to pick it. He had his eyes closed and his head against the headrest of the seat. Tarasha picked his phone and silenced it, she turned it off and tossed it to the backseat.
‘Do you know the way to Udoka Estate?’
The man opened his eyes and nodded affirmatively.
Tarasha started the engine again and drove out of the garage. A cab drove in by her side as she approached the gate.
*
*
Dave’s attention moved from the security men at the gate who were communicating to the driver of the cab to the black Chevrolet Camaro he could see driving towards them from the compound. He kept on admiring the car as it came closer. The security guards gave the driver of the cab a pass and he drove on.
Dave’s eyes came in contact with the driver of the Chevrolet as the cars met, both on slow speed. Her eyes met with his too but she didn’t give him much attention while Dave attraction to the car totally disappeared and moved to the driver. He had never seen a lady with a low cut hair so beautiful.
The motion of the cars didn’t give him the opportunity to admire her beauty like he have would love to. He felt an urge to stop the cab and go after the lady in the Chevrolet but he resisted it easily. It was going to be the most stupid thing to do; he had a huge work facing him and it would be unwise to distract himself with a beautiful lady. And he also saw the elderly man beside her, he was sure it was her father, so even if he didn’t have any huge work ahead, it would be foolish of him to go after a lady with her father in a car.
*
*
15 minutes later
The Security Control Room of Crescent Moon Hotel.
‘What can I for you sir?’ the bald headed stout security head asked his guest as he sat in his seat. Dave was seated behind the table in the visitor’s chair.
‘I’m Agent David James from the State Security Service Abuja Headquarters,’ Dave said, showing his ID card to the man.
‘But they told me my guest was a journalist.’
‘Yes, I can’t tell who I am to everybody.’
‘Okay, I understand. So how may I help you?’
‘I’m here on the trail of a suspect, I traced her here using her credit cards and I need your help to move around this place without disturbance.’
‘Hmm… Well, I have to verify your claims first before I see how I can help you. So how do I know you are real?’
‘I showed you my ID card already.’
‘Yeah, I can see the seal which shows authenticity but I need to know if you’re authorized to be here.’
Dave took out a neatly folded paper from his pocket, ‘Here’s my permit, signed by the Chairman himself.’
__________
‘She has to be this,’ Dave said, pointing to a name in a table of several rows and six columns. Several other names were on the column the name was and the name he pointed to was A.K Evelyn. ‘Her full name is Alexander Kimberly Evelyn,’ Dave said to the head security officer standing behind him. He was seated at the front of a computer after being given the permission to go through their payments.
‘Is that the name on the credit card?’ The man behind Dave asked. He leaned forward to see the name on the screen, placing a hand on the backrest of Dave’s seat.
‘It’s one of the names, she uses several names on the same card.’ Dave replied.
‘How then are you sure this is the person you’re looking for? What if the initials do not mean what you think?’ the man asked, pulling a seat closer to sit.
Dave took out his phone and unlocked it. He opened the messages and scrolled down, searching for a particular sms. ‘Here,’ he said, handing the phone to the man. ‘That’s the text I extracted from the bank concerning her transaction with this hotel. The date and time of transaction, amount paid, transaction number matches correctly only with this name on your record.’
The head security officer compared the details on the phone and on the computer screen to confirm.
‘It’s true. So how are you planning to go about it?’ he asked after verifying.
‘We have to confirm first if she’s in the room right now.’
‘Do we need to call the police?’
‘No, not yet please. She’s just a suspect and I have to prove that she is the right person first. Right now, we can’t level any accusation against her.’
‘Then how are you going to prove it?’
‘You’re going to allow me, I know what to do. You can watch and monitor me but I’ll only call for your help when I need it.’
*
*
8:06pm
Martin Ekwueme opened his eyes to find himself in a large bed which wasn’t his. He turned and looked around the room he was, he had never been there before and couldn’t remember how he got there. He sat up and placed his feet on the ground. He found his sandals placed on the ground close to the bed. He turned and looked back, he noticed a drawer at the other side of the bed with the stool at the front. There was a tray containing plates which were covered, a bottle of water and a glass cup. The man could perceive the delicious aroma of the food in the plate even though he couldn’t tell exactly what the meal was.
He closed his eyes in his confusion, trying to remember what he was doing in that room and how he got there. He tried hard to recall but couldn’t still figure it out. He must have slept for a very long time, he thought. Maybe he was in his son Mr Ekwueme Jnr’s house, he thought. The last thing he remembered was he and his son in the car driving to his house in Ngozika Estate, then he remembered the boy telling him he was leaving to see the mother and would be coming back to take him to Nnewi after he (the father) must have had enough rest. Then a dream, he remembered; his wife had come to meet him in that dream and warned him not to tell the children about his past deeds.
He frowned as he recalled the masked girl which looked like the girl he met at the hospital that morning. Was that real or also part of the dream? He wasn’t sure. But the girl claimed to have placed a bomb in his son’s car. Does that mean his meeting with his wife was real or was it his meeting with the strange young girl that was part of the dream? Now, he was totally confused.
He looked towards the door as he heard a sound from the direction. The knob turned and in came the answer to his questions. The young lady in the supposed dream. She still had the same clothes on with the exception of the jacket. It looks real, the man said to himself. The sleep he had must have done some damage to his memory. He couldn’t remember anything from the moment she took off the mask in the ‘dream’.
‘You’re awake,’ Tarasha said as she proceeded to the other side of the bed. She carried the stool with the tray and plates on top and turned to the side the man was facing. ‘Here’s your dinner, I hope you like Nigerian jollof rice.’ she said as she opened the cover.
Confusion was written all over Dr Ekwueme’s face. He was hungry because he barely tasted the lunch he was served at home and the aroma of the jollof rice was intimidating but he didn’t consider the option of eating it. He needed answers to the questions in his mind. The memories he could recall, were they part of a dream and what he was experiencing at the moment.
‘I know you are wondering how you got here,’ she said to him, as if she could read his mind. ‘I injected you Benryl, so you can’t remember no matter how hard you try.’
‘Benryl!’ the man voiced under his breath. He remembered the substance; it induced instant sleep for few hours and a two hour memory loss in the one whose blood it mixed with in the body. He remembered that the substance was discovered in Nigeria some months ago even though it had been found in some few other developed countries before.
The doctor racked his brain to remember when it was first discovered in Nigeria. He suddenly recalled and it brought a sudden tension to his heart. The person who introduced the substance to the history of Nigeria was an assassin and there was no record of its use anywhere or by anyone else yet.
‘You should eat, you’ll need it I tell you.’ she with a convincing smile for him to eat.
‘Who are you?’ he said, staring at her thinly.
‘Oh! My bad, I should have introduced myself earlier.’ she said and took two steps backwards, rubbing her palms gently on her laps. ‘They call me Samantha Osman in Nigeria,’ she said as she folded her arms across her chest, standing with her legs slightly apart.
His fears were confirmed. Samantha Osman was the assasin that introduced the substance in the country by using it on her victims. But what he couldn’t understand was what she wanted from him.
‘What do you want from me?’
‘Nothing much really; just your cooperation. Don’t be scared; I’m a very pleasant person to work with; if you’ll only cooperate.’ she said, in a kind of mocking tone.
The man stared at her speechlessly. There was total silence in the room for a moment. He could hear the sound of his heartbeat whose rate had doubled.
‘You need to eat now, we have so many things to do together. I’ll be back in thirty minutes time.’ she said and proceeded out of the room.
*
*
Some minutes later
Dave adjusted the belt holding his trousers on his waist for the second time in the elevator. His eyes met with the other man in the elevator and the man smiled. The concierge’s uniform which Dave was given to put on was obviously not his size. The trouser looked like a baggy on him while the shoes he had on were so small.
The elevator finally stopped at the tenth floor and Dave gracefully exited. As he stepped out of the elevator and proceeded on the corridor, he was conscious that he was being watched by the head security officer through the cameras. He checked the label at the door of each room as he walked and soon located the room assigned to A.K Evelyn. He stopped at the door and turned to face the camera. He made a sign with his hand towards the camera hoping that the man was watching at that moment.
He turned back to the door and brought out the key given to him. He decided to still push the bell button in case they had been wrong about her absence. He used the button again and waited for another thirty seconds before he inserted the key into the keyhole. It made the sound that it was unlocked after turning twice. Dave looked around the corridor again, there was a couple kissing and hugging each other in the passage as they walked to their room.
He turned the knob and pushed the door gently. He entered slowly and locked the door from behind. He quickly located the switch and turned on the light. His eyes hovered around the room for a moment. It was neatly arranged and it looked like no one had used the room that day. The reports of the cleaners had stated that she allowed no one into the room that morning, claiming that she wouldn’t need their services until the next morning, so she must have cleaned and arranged the place by herself that day or probably used it carefully. That further convinced Dave that he would get something very useful in the room but he hoped that she wouldn’t return while he was still in the room. They had not been able to pick out her face from the footages from the security cameras but he had agreed with the security head that he should be alerted when a lady enters the corridor of the tenth floor.
He proceeded to the wardrobe straightway after looking around and being sure that there was nothing in the room to check. It wasn’t locked so he opened it easily. There were no clothes hung but two bags on the shelves; a backpack and a briefcase. He checked the backpack first, he pulled the zips of the large section apart widely.
His heartbeat was racing faster now. He could see things he was expecting to see there; two neatly arranged pistols by the left side placed on top of a pack of cartridges. On the right side, there was a set of medical equipments in a transparent rectangular case placed on top of a black polythene bag which had a box in it. Dave felt the urge to check what was inside the polythene bag but controlled himself, he didn’t want to touch something he would not be able to arrange back in the position it was before. He zipped up the section and put the zips together at the side which he met them. He opened the next section, there was a laptop and it’s adapter in it. He thought of bringing it out but he realized that it would make him spend more time than he was supposed to and he might not even be and to use if it was protected. He closed the section and moved to the briefcase. He was careful in touching it, so as not to move it from the position. He studied the briefcase, it was secured with fingerprint lock. The only way he could see what was inside the briefcase was to destroy it but that wasn’t an option.
He decided to check all the corners of the wardrobe to ensure there was nothing left to see before he closed it. He saw a whitish substance at an edge at the ground side of the wardrobe. On a first look, he thought it was cocaine but as he looked well and touched it with two fingers, he realized it was dust that had dropped from the joints of the wooden wardrobe. He rose up and closed the wardrobe gently. Then he turned and looked around the room, his eyes searching for a place to attach the camera bug he brought with him. He knew he had to hide it somewhere her bug detector would not be able to screen, that was if she would put her bug detector on which he really doubted, she would have no reason to put on a bug detector except he leaves a trace behind.
His eyes met with bathroom door as he searched around for where to hide the bug. He realized he had not gone to check inside the bathroom if there was anything there.
He got to the bathroom and stepped in. There were two black clothes – a black shirt and trouser – hung neatly on the line above the bathtub. He stepped forward to examine the two clothes. He noticed that there was a little swelling at the pocket of the trouser. He touched it to see, there was a hundred dollars note in it.
‘Oops!’ he exclaimed as he noticed that the dust on his fingers had rubbed up at the front of the pocket. It was little and there was a ninety five percent probability of it going unnoticed but Dave didn’t want to leave any traces, he moved closer to clean the little trace of dust. He held the trouser in position with the other clean hand and wiped the stain with an handkerchief. The stain was gone. He looked around the bathroom again, there was nothing else to see. He quickly proceeded out of the bathroom, not knowing he had stepped on a folded white piece of paper on the floor.
_____
‘You’re hurting yourself by not eating,’ Tarasha said as she closed the door and proceeded towards the direction of the man. She held a small handbag with her. She stood at his front and folded her arms, ‘Well, my work has to continue whether you eat or not.’
She moved the tray away from the footstool and placed it on the ground. Then she took out two guns from her pockets before sitting on the stool. She placed the guns on her laps before she began to talk.
‘You’ve been cooperating so far, I can see that you’re a wise man.’ Tarasha said with a crooked smile. She had expected him to try to call for help by making noise for those in the surroundings to hear and she would have been forced to torture him and tie him up but he was quiet all through which she thought very unusual of someone that was kidnapped, but she was already used to meeting unusual people.
‘Let’s go straight to the point,’ she said and adjusted her seating position, guarding the guns with her hands for them not to fall. ‘I’m here to find out a few things about your work with Vice President Elvis Richards and his gang of friends. I learnt that you worked closely with them,’ she stopped to get a confirmation from him but he remained still, staring at her without saying anything. ‘Talk to me man,’ she frowned at him and picked up a gun.
‘Yes, I worked with Elvis Richards before he became the Vice President.’ the man finally replied in a weak voice.
‘What did you do for him?’
He stared at her speechlessly again, hesitating to reply.
‘You don’t want to cooperate anymore?’ she asked with a raised brow. ‘I could take out your wife and two children this night and show you the videos for your viewing pleasure if you refuse to cooperate.’
The man shivered visibly at her threat. The life of his family mattered more to him than his life and he couldn’t imagine them having to die for his own sins.
‘What work did you do for Elvis Richards and his friends?’ she asked again.
‘I was their Doctor.’ he answered, this time his voice was both weak and shaky.
‘Don’t lie to me,’ Tarasha frowned.
‘I’m not lying, I was their Doctor but not for personal or family medical issues.’
‘What were you to them? And how did you even meet them?’
The man sniffed. Tears began to form in his eyes. This was a secret he had kept for years, the same one that broke his marriage. He had told no one in his lifetime, none, not even his wife. His wife had discovered it herself and h@tëd him for it. He couldn’t imagine himself narrating everything; it was just like telling someone how wicked and cruel he was; or he had been in the past.
‘Talk to me,’ Tarasha said in an encouraging voice on seeing the tears running down the man’s cheeks.
He sniffed again and cleaned the tears with the back of his hand. He seemed to have become a woman as he now cried easily nowadays. He sniffed in the mucus already formed in his nose before he began to talk. ‘I helped a particular group of people run a baby factory years ago, that was where I met Elvis Richards. Then, he found out…’
‘What’s a baby factory?’ Tarasha cut in.
‘A house where young pregnant prostitutes, mostly pregnant teenagers were kept. They are delivered of their babies and allowed to go without the babies. The babies were usually sold in return for money of which the mothers get a little percent. I don’t know how they sell them, my job was to coordinate the nurses that took care of the delivery.’ the man explained with a drop of tears rolling down his face.
Tarasha stared blankly for a while, trying to imagine the scenario. She never thought Elvis Richards corps have involved himself in such dirty and petty things that the doctor had just narrated.
‘That was before Elvis Richards became rich, he didn’t own the baby factory but he was the police backup for the people who ran it. That was where I met him.’
‘And so when did you start working for him and his friends?’
‘I met him again after I had stopped the job with that baby factory after working for three months with them. I decided to turn a new leave after confessing Jesus in a church. I abandoned my hospital which wasn’t thriving and dusted my certificate to look for a job. I found one at a big hospital and I began to work there faithfully. I did well and got promoted quickly. After some years, the hospital had grown bigger then. I had a Doctor who worked under me, his name was Danjuma. He was so close to me, we moved from friends to brothers. He got to treat a very rich and patriotic businessman’s daughter who was a victim of fake drugs. The businessman didn’t take it lightly and wanted to make sure the source of the fake drugs is exposed. I never knew that Dr Danjuma and his wife were being pressured and threatened by some people who were in charge of importing those drugs who also heard about the incident, that was one secret Danjuma kept from me. They told him to change the report so that the businessman could end his rage but Dr Danjuma would not give in. The case lingered because these guys who brought in the fake drugs were being backed by a very powerful politician, I don’t know who that politician is till date. Danjuma never suggested anything about it to me, maybe he didn’t want to get me into his troubles. Those pressuring him got to know that I was his senior, they came to me to influence him, Elvis Richards was their leader, then he had become bigger financially and was occupying a higher rank in the force. I told them I couldn’t influence Danjuma to do such but Elvis Richard who knew me threatened to expose my past, I had to give in. Danjuma soon left town when the pressure was much, even the rich businessman could not guarantee him safety as there was a richer man on the bad side. As Danjuma’s senior doctor, I decided to handle the case myself after Danjuma left and I worked it in Elvis Richards and his people’s favour. Danjuma never knew I was the one who took over the medical case.
Well, I thought it was all over after that ended, but Elvis Richards came back. I was far older than he was but he was arrogant because he had the support in high places. He was doing well in the police force and getting praises but was doing evil underground. I was threatened and forced to continue working with Elvis Richards. He was into child trafficking, I became the Doctor who certified the health of these kids. I also treated some criminals secretly, some members of the then Boko Haram terrorist group. Surprisingly, there was a lot of support for us. A lot of people are benefiting from the Boko Haram insurgency so they wanted it to continue. Then I lost my conscience and did many other awful things…’
‘Hold on for a minute,’ Tarasha cut in again. ‘I think we have to continue later and I also need some specifics and not just this story you’re telling,’ she said checking her wristwatch. ‘I’ve got to pick something outside now before it’s late.’
She opened the small handbag which she placed on the floor and took out a syringe and ampoule. She drew into the syringe the content of the ampoule. The man was already staring at her, looking very scared.
‘Here, it’s just something to make you sleep.’ she handed the empty ampoule to the man to read the label. ‘Be good,’ she said with a wry smile and took his hand gently. He didn’t object. She located the appropriate blood vessel and released the contents of the syringe into it. The man began to doze off even before she removed the syringe. She laid him gently in the bed.
_____
9:55pm
Crescent Moon Hotel
Tarasha took in a deep breath as she entered into the hotel room. She turned on the light and proceeded to the wardrobe to search for the piece of paper which she came for. She checked the section of the backpack where some clothes were before remembering that the paper was in the back pocket of the cloth she hung in the bathroom. She closed the backpack and took the briefcase out of the wardrobe, she placed it on the bed, she would be taking it with her to the house. She then proceeded to the bathroom to take the piece of paper.
*
In the dark security room.
‘It looks like she’s still going out this night, she has gone straight into the bathroom’ Dave said to his partner who was seated absentmindedly on a seat some metres away from him. Dave’s laptop was on his laps and he was watching the lady who had just entered the bugged hotel room. She had a face cap on and that was preventing him from seeing her face because the camera bug was attached at the middle of the ceiling where a dark design was.
‘You’re going to see her face soon, when she relaxes on the bed.’ Dave’s partner who’s name he had found to be Clement replied.
*
Back in the hotel room.
Tarasha removed the cap on her face as she entered the bathroom. She reached for her trousers and dipped her hand into the back pocket. A frown appeared on her face as her fingers touched nothing. She paused to recall carefully. She remembered that she didn’t change of the paper before leaving the hotel room but she had carelessly hung the trouser in the bathroom, forgetting there was any paper then. She looked into the bathtub to see if had fallen inside. Then she looked at the ground, it was there, just beside the bathtub. She picked it up with a frown, it had been stained, she could tell the stains were from the soles of someone’s shoe. She raised her leg up to check the soles, it wasn’t her shoe, the soles of her shoes were dirtier. It had to be someone else’s.
But she was the only one who entered the room that day. She had given instruction for the cleaners not to clean the room, or did they come in to clean the place after she left?
A note of alarm was raised in her mind. She wore her face cap back and walked back into the room with the trouser and paper in her hand. She went straight to the drawer and picked the phone provided by the hotel. She dialed their customer service.
‘Hello, did anyone come to clean my room today?’ she asked.
‘Humm… What’s your room number please?’
Tarasha replied with the room number.
‘Please a minute to check.’ there was silence for more than one minute. ‘No ma’am, you requested earlier that you wouldn’t need our cleaning services till morning tomorrow.’
‘What? Did any of your other workers enter the room while I was away?’
‘No, nobody did. We would not come into the room without your consent.’
She dropped the phone even before the receiver finished talking. Someone had entered into the room, she was sure. Could someone be trailing her? She had noticed some restrictions on her credit card which was the reason she was creating another whose number she wrote on the paper she came to pick.
She took out her mobile device from her pocket. She unlocked it and turned on her bug detector. She then walked to the wardrobe to take out a black mask from the backpack.
*
‘d@mn it! She’s suspecting already that someone came into the room,’ Dave said in a loud angry voice that attracted the attention of his partner.
‘What?’ Clement asked.
‘She just made a call to the customer’s service to find out if anyone came into the room.’
‘That’s crazy but you said you left no trace, ‘ Clement said, getting up to join Dave.
‘Oh now, she’s put on a bug detector,’ Dave exclaimed as he zoomed the video and saw what Tarasha’s was doing on the phone. ‘Please alert your security officials Mr Clement and call the police, we need a good number of officers with us.’
Dave got up and dropped the laptop on the chair. He quickly reached for his bag and took out two guns. He fixed the cartridges into the guns and proceeded to the door.
Clement was already talking to the police on phone. Dave waited for him to finish with the call.
‘Raise an alarm to protect the other guests in the hotel, and block all the exits. I’m going up to the top floor, I’ve got my earpiece on, feed me with details.’ Dave said as he opened the door and stepped out.
‘Samantha ain’t getting away from justice tonight,’ he swore under his breath.
The alarm from the bug detector began to sound louder as she got closer to the middle. She raised the phone and faced up to the ceiling, then the red thin light from the phone located the bug. Tarasha was facing up and looking directly into the bug, if she didn’t have a mask on, that would have been a simple mistake that would reveal her face to whoever bugged the room. She quickly reached for the footstool beside the bed and climbed on it to remove the bug, she dropped it on the floor and crushed it under her feet. Then she proceeded hurriedly to the door and ensured it was locked properly. She turned back and went to the wardrobe, she flung the doors open and reached for the backpack. She took off the cloth mask from her face and took out a box from the backpack. She took out a skin mask from box and took her time to put it on carefully. She now had a face of a totally different person.
She quickly went to the front of the mirror to adjust the skin mask so as to fit her face properly. It was one of those masks Henry had seen when in the underground which used to be secret before they were attacked. She had made it specially for days like this and she knew she might be needing it; that was one of the reasons she had to cut her hair. The skin mask she was putting on now was the face of a lady, the same skin colour with her, so it matched with her fingers and other visible body parts. The hair behind the mask was much and flowing. Tarasha packed it neatly with a rubber band and hurried back to the wardrobe. She took out another set of clothes from the wardrobe and a kelvar to put on underneath; she needed to change the shirt and jacket, she was sure the person who bugged the room must have taken notes of her clothes already.
She began to hear to sound of an emergency alarm as she stripped to her underwear. The alarm instructed those in their rooms to remain there and those on the corridors or walking somewhere to move to the security section at the reception for safety.
*
*
Dave was running up the stairs hurriedly, he had put on the NIS licensed mask which covered only his top head and jaw, that was to make the police and other security agents recognized him as an SSS agent when they arrived. He could hear shouts of order and arrangement by the security men in the hotel as he climbed up the fourth floor stairs. He would have taken the elevator but he knew he might be trapped in it as they might turn off the operation during the process as a security measure.
He was on the fifth floor now and he couldn’t wait to get to the tenth. ‘The Police have arrived, we have about twenty of them.’ he heard Clement’s voice sound from his earpiece.
‘Allow half of them in, the rest should stay outside to ensure she doesn’t get out anyway. Did you reach the SSS office too?’
‘Yea, they’re on the way here.’
‘Okay, make sure there are people outside.’
‘Sure, I’ll give the order from here. I didn’t lock the lifts yet, I’m on my way to the tenth floor with some men. They’ll turn off the elevators when we get there.’
*
*
‘Cole, where are you?’ she said into the phone as she strapped on her backpack. She had emptied the contents in the bed and rearranged the ones she’ll be needing to tackle the current situation inside it. She had three loaded guns placed in the bed and a bullet pack, four other revolvers in the four outer pockets of the backpack and two long guns in the bigger section of the backpack. The ropes, laptop and other materials that had been in the bag were abandoned in the bed to create space for the small briefcase which she had now fixed inside the backpack. On a second thought, she picked the rope and put it into another section of the backpack without taking it off.
‘Boss, I’m at the base.’
‘Okay, a second please.’
She stopped and stared at the window, thinking of taking the option of escaping through there. She took out the ropes again and approximated the length with her eyes, the rope would not get her to the ground. She put it back into the backpack.
‘I’m in a tight situation,’ Tarasha continued. ‘I think I have security officers surrounding Crescent Moon Hotel to get me. Monitor the environs of the hotel for me. Connect me with your talkon communicator, I need you to feed me important details. Get Henry to work and see if you can cause a crash the in communication network of Ngozika Estate and the roads leading to the place.’
‘Right away boss.’
She ended the call and fixed the earpiece of the talkon device into her ears, the mouthpiece attached to the tip of her vest. She then picked the guns from the bed and put them into her pockets carefully. She headed for the door.
She turned the key twice and opened the door carefully. She peeped first and saw no one at the corridor. She stopped briefly at the middle of the entrance, thinking of which direction to follow; there were staircases leading to other floors in both direction. As she pulled the knob to close the door, the door of the elevator opened. Four security men fully armed with guns rushed out of the elevator. Tarasha stepped forward without closing the door anymore, she hands reached her pockets swiftly and she drew out the guns at both sides.
____
Abuja.
‘Get up bro, Tarasha needs our help right now.’ Cole opened the door and shouted loud into Henry’s room from the entrance. ‘Meet me right away at the control room.’
He slammed the door back and hurried off to the control room.
‘What’s the matter?’ Tomi approached him on the way.
‘Tarasha needs assistance urgently, the least thing I need from you is disturbance this night.’ Cole said with a warning tone to her and hurried off to the control room.
Henry was out of his room in a second, he rubbed his sleepy eyes as he hurried after Cole.
‘Locate Ngozika Estate in Anambra, get their communication and transportation lines and see if we can cause a major distraction or network failure there.’ Cole said to Henry from his seat as Henry stepped into the control room. Cole inserted the talkon communicator earpiece into his ears and turned to mic to his lips.
Henry choose a computer hurriedly and switched it out. He took out his phone to begin the check for the coordinates of the estate whose names Cole mentioned while the computer was still booting.
‘What exactly is going on?’ he decided to ask Cole.
‘Tarasha needs to get away from the location, she has been surrounded already.’ Cole replied.
‘Surounded by?’
‘By the police.’
Henry’s heart skipped a bit as he scrolled hurriedly on his phone. He couldn’t imagine seeing Omotara dead or being caught by the police, he knew there was no way she would be rescued if she was captured this time.
____
Anambra
Three of the men received the bullets into their bodies before they could even think of raising their guns. Only Clement was able to dodge and hide behind the wall enclosing the staircases. Tarasha sent in more bullets to the fallen men’s body to ensure they died completely. She surged forward and continued to shoot in direction the man had hidden behind, both up and down; up to stop him from coming out and down to ensure a bullet entered into his body before he could shoot at her if he decided to come out rolling on the floor.
She got to the end of the corridor. There were two staircases, one in the right direction where Clement had taken, leading to the upper floor and the other in the left direction leading to the lower floor.
‘She’s changed her dressed, she’s now putting on a cream coloured jacket on a navy blue trousers and she has a bag strapped to her bag.’ she could hear the man saying to someone. He had gone up the stairs to hide from her bullets.
She raced down the stairs in the left direction after shooting twice at the empty right. Clement came out on hearing her footsteps go the other direction. He shot at her from the top of the right stairs but she dodged and shot back at him. He dodged too and hid behind the handrails. She was gone by the next second he came out of hiding. He raced down the stairs to follow her. As he stepped on the passage in front of the elevator, Dave appeared from the stairs at the other end of the passage.
‘She went this way,’ Clement said, pointing forward before proceeding.
Dave proceeded forward hurriedly with a gun raised above his shoulder and a another held facing down in the other hand. He flashed a look at the three dead bodies on the floor before following in the right direction.
Tarasha got into the passage of the ninth floor, she proceeded in the opposite direction which lead to the tenth floor but stopped as she stepped on the third stairs. She noticed that three other security officials were on their way up from the other turn of the stairs. One of them shot at her but missed widely.
She hurried to the other end of the corridor, dodging the bullets following after her and shooting back sporadically to ensure they weren’t able to aim at her freely. She took the stairs in the direction leading to the eighth floor. There was only one security official coming from the other turn and her bullet entered into his head before he could raise his hand. She turned and rushed down, she dropped one of her guns on the body of the dead security man in exchange for his. She proceeded onto the eighth floor. Two security men were already at the other end and shot at bullets at her but she dodged by bending down and fired one shot each from both hands, hitting the targets down. She proceeded down the other stairs hurriedly.
*
‘Tell the remaining men to wait at the fifth floor instead of coming up, they’ll take her by surprise when she gets there.’ Dave who was now leading in pursuit said in a loud voice to Clement who in turn took out his talker to voice in the instruction.
*
Tarasha got to the sixth floor without meeting any official on the stairs she passed. She was about to proceed to the fifth floor when she remembered the rope in her backpack. She proceeded to the middle of the corridor and stopped, she located the cameras there and destroyed them with her bullets from her gun. She proceeded to the fourth room by the left and inserted a metal from her bag into the keyhole. She patiently set it until it fitted into the curves of the keyhole, she turned it and it gave way immediately. She removed the metal and entered into the room. She locked it back from behind with the real keys.
A fat woman was in the bed, covering herself in fear with the blanket and already shivering at the sounds of the gunshot. Her trembling increased on seeing the girl with guns enter into her room.
‘Shhh…’ Tarasha placed a finger on her lip to signal silence to the trembling lady who was now sweating profusely in the fully air-conditioned room. ‘Just keep quiet and I’ll be out of here soon.’
Tarasha hurried to the window side and took the backpack off. She took out the ropes and dropped it on the floor. She took another look at the woman in the bed. She realized that the girl could shout when she heard voices of the security officers in the passage. She took out a tranquilizing pin from her bag and hurried towards the woman who was now vibrating noisily. She administered the pin into the woman’s arm and returned to the window side.
She opened the net and looked out through the window. She looked down at the backyard, there was no movements there. She picked the neatly folded rope from the floor and began to stretch it.
*
*
‘Have you seen her?’ Dave barked out as he stepped into the passage of the fifth floor. There were eight security officers already waiting on that floor. Clement and two others followed Dave from behind.
‘She hasn’t come here,’ the security men at the left side where Dave faced replied him. They could see the SSS special agent tag on his face mask and they accorded him the respect.
Dave turned to the back.
‘She didn’t come to this floor,’ the other security men confirmed his thoughts.
‘We didn’t see her in any of the floors we passed,’ Dave said, looking at Clement’s face. ‘She must have stopped to enter a room in one of the floors.’
Automatically, Clement knew what to do. He turned the tiny mic to his mouth, ‘Anthony, check for the footages covered within the last three minutes in the passage of the seventh and sixth floors.’ he said to the man in charge of monitoring the security cameras from their Security room.
‘Only three people should stay here. Three guys should follow me right away to the sixth floor and the others should go to the seventh floor.’
‘Hey!’ Clement shouted to stop the guys from moving yet. ‘We have to do it gently, don’t just barge into the rooms, enter courteously because of our guests.’
The guys sprung into action immediately, three of the men spread around the fifth floor, three followed Dave up to the sixth floor while the others followed Clement to seventh.
‘Agent, she should be at the sixth floor, she fired at the cameras there and they stopped working.’ Dave stopped to listen well, Clement was talking to him through the earpiece.
‘Okay, you guys should chill there, so we don’t miss her.’
‘Anthony is monitoring, he said she’s not been seen on any other floor since she destroyed the cameras.’
‘Okay, come up to the seventh floor.’
They began to check the rooms one after the other and the men who had gone to the seventh floor joined them soon.
‘This person isn’t answering,’ one of the men called Dave’s attention. Dave was just coming out from a room he entered to check.
‘Are you sure someone is there?’ Dave asked and hurried towards the room where the man was standing in front.
‘Yes, the sign of occupancy is there.’
Dave landed a heavy knock on the door twice and there was no answer. ‘We got to open this place, she’s here.’ Dave called on Clement on noticing that the keyhole of the door had been tampered with.
‘Destroy the locks, it will take us time to find the keys.’ Clement said back to him.
Dave stepped back and pointed his gun at the lock. Two other men already stood beside him with their guns in readiness to enter the room. With two shots, the door gave way and the men rushed into the room holding their guns up. Dave followed them carefully. His eyes went straight to the opened window and then the fat woman in the bed. ‘Check if that woman is okay,’ Dave said to one of the men and hurried towards the window, he noticed a rope tied to the lower part of the bed extending through the window down but not to the ground. The rope stopped somewhere at the second floor.
Dave turned back and proceeded towards the door, wondering if Samantha could have jumped down from where the rope stopped or if she entered into the room at the second floor. He thought of going down using the rope but discarded the thought quickly, that would be one way ticket to his death for him if Samantha still hung around and was waiting to see who would come down using the ropes.
‘She’s escaped through the window with a rope, she must be somewhere in the compound or in the building.’ Dave shouted to Clement as he stepped back outside.
‘Activate the elevators,’ Clement said into one of his communication devices. ‘Anthony, check the past four minutes footages for the backyard.’ he turned the mouthpiece to his mouth.
*
*
Abuja
‘Boss, I’ve gotten into their system.’ Cole said for the umpteenth time into the mic. He got no answers but sounds of gunshots again. He released a deep breath with his lips shaking slightly. His felt anxious as the gunshots went on continuously. He realized Tarasha was in a messy situation and didn’t even have time to reply him anymore. She had replied him about eight minutes ago but he had not successfully hacked into the NSCC system then which would grant them access to view the footages from Anambra state. He wondered why Tarasha did not prepare enough for backup when she knew she would be facing something like that.
‘What’s happening?’ Henry asked, he had been noticing the strange expression on Cole’s face and had heard him try to get Tarasha’s attention several times to no avail.
‘Nothing… The boss is just busy,’ he said. He flashed a look at Tomi who now standing by the side with her phone and turned towards Henry. ‘Have you been able to do anything?’
‘No, still trying to get into the servers from here.’
‘Do they… Oh Sh|t!’ Cole exclaimed and turned back to his computer as the sound of continuous gunshots filled his ear, he knew the boss was now holding a long gun.
‘What is it?’ Henry couldn’t take it anymore. He rose from his seat and proceeded to Cole.
‘Stop,’ Cole said, trying to prevent Henry from taking the earpiece off his ears but Henry did not stop, Cole had to give up to avoid destroying the device.
‘Oh Jeez!’ Henry exclaimed with his mouth widely opened. He couldn’t believe Tarasha was live at the place in which the gunshot exchange was taking place. ‘What’s she doing there?’ he asked in a jittery tone, his face full of fear.
‘Killing people who are trying to kill her of course,’ Cole said and rose up to remove the earpiece from Henry’s ears. ‘That’s the reason you should get done with what you’re doing, she needs our help to get out of that place safely.’
*
Anambra
She hid behind the walls covering the window and took off the backpack. She folded the remaining parts of the rope and put it into the backpack, then she took her time to reload her guns fully.
She stepped out of her hiding place, looking at both sides of the backyard. Three police officers were coming from her left side, she caught them off guard, they were all down to the floor in five seconds. Now she was certain that the gunshots at the backyard would have alerted the other officials and revealed her location. She went in the right direction, it was closer to the place her car was parked. She could hear voices of men approaching from the right side of the wall as she approached the edge, she was ready with her guns as she turned.
*
‘She has been spotted at the backyard,’ Clement’s voice sounded in Dave’s earpiece. Dave was at the reception at the ground floor, there was no one in sight, no guest and not even the front desk clerks. They had all run to the security building for protection as the sounds of gunshots razed the whole building. The security men had done a good job in getting all guests and non security officials to safety.
*
With the two guns still in her hands, Tarasha shot continuously as she proceeded carefully forward, sparing none of the three men that were coming towards her. They were caught unawares, not knowing she was close to the edge of the wall and was hearing their voices as they went closer.
*
There was a police sonata vehicle some metres away from the front of the hotel building and a van beside it. The officers standing in front of it and beside it rearranged themselves as they saw what had happened to their colleagues and began to shoot at Tarasha. Most of them choose the back of their vehicles as hiding spots.
*
Dave could hear sounds of gunshots as he proceeded towards the entrance. He hastened his steps and got out of the building, he turned in the left direction where the police sonata was parked. He could see the police officers already scattered abroad, they seemed to be more than the twenty he was told. He noticed a police van also parked beside the sonata as he approached and officers behind the vehicles shooting at the person shooting from the backyard
*
*
Tarasha quickly ran for cover to the large Crescent Moon Hall whose entrance faced that right side of the main Hotel building. There were huge stacks of plastic chairs and tables at the front of the Hall. Tarasha pulled one of the stacks down to the floor and hid behind another. Their shooting stopped for a moment, they probably thought she had gone into the hall. She quickly inserted the pistols into her pockets and took out the Beretta AR70/90 rifle from the backpack, she had loaded a 100-round C-Mag drum magazine in it and was sure it was the right tool for the number of people shooting at her.
She took in a very deep breath before coming out of her hiding place. She balanced her legs well before she began to shoot towards the men hiding behind the vehicles, some of them had come out when they did not see her. She began to walk forward slowly, with eyes following the movement of the policemen as they ran for safety. She continued towards them in confidence but still conscious of the space behind her. The policemen were going down fast helplessly and none of them could have a clear shot of her because of the power of the machine in her hands.
*
Dave was close to the edge of the wall but he halted at the sound of the new gun. The policemen were falling dead helplessly and Dave knew better than to rush out of covering into the kind of scene. From the speed of the moving bullets which he could see, he was sure that the bullets from her machine would have entered into his body before he could aim at her. He waited for her behind the front wall. He could sense the shooter was coming closer already, so he raised his gun in preparation.
To his uttermost disappointment, he felt a vibration on the wall which he leaned on. She was now shooting at his direction even though she had not seen him yet. He could not but marvel at her experience and expertise. She was already shooting at his direction even without seeing him to cater for the kind of surprise he was planning to give her.
She was closer and now walking faster, he could tell from the movement of the bullets. He knew he wouldn’t be missed if she met him there. He decided to leave the place before she got there.
*
She reduced the frequency of her shots as she got closer to the front of the building, all the men she saw in front of her where the police vehicles were parked were dead already. She began to target some shots at the front of the building in case there was anyone hiding there.
Where she parked her car was still about forty metres away even though it was on the same parking line with the police vehicles.
She walked past the front wall of the building, still shooting. Like she expected, there were police officers waiting for her at the corridor of the building, some hiding behind the columns. Her gun still proved powerful enough to pierce through the edges of the concrete columns and bring down the hiding men, she continued to shoot at them even as she continued straight to the vehicles. She considered using the police vehicles but her bullets had pierced through them earlier and made them unfit for a race.
Now she had stopped shooting, she walked past the second and fourth cars after the police vehicles, her Chevrolet was still far away on the long line of cars. Then a car caught her attention, it looked like one of the Zenvo series. She moved closer and discovered it was Zenvo ST1. She took out the metal from the outer pocket of her backpack and dipped it into the lock of the driver’s side. She took a moment to look back and there was nobody yet in sight but she knew she had little time. It was either she faced more policemen from outside or more the building.
The car door refused to open through the lock and she had no choice than to break the glass and open it from inside. She entered and threw her backpack with the Beretta to the backseat. She broke the switch panel of the car and found the part behind the switch to press. She pushed it with the metal in her hand and the car engine came to life. A bullet hit the car as she reversed out of the midst of the other parked vehicles. She bent her head slightly to dodge another possible shot as she turned the steering. She took out a pistol from her pocket and shot towards the entrance of the hotel building where the gunshot was coming from. She zoomed off towards the gate with bullets hitting the car and the glass from behind.
*
Dave continued to fire at the car as he ran down towards the car park. He knew she wouldn’t be stopped at the gate even though she might be delayed, the delay would not just be enough for him to catch up with her. He began to look for a car to use in pursuing after her, he was sure she would be caught on the road as they had called for more police officers and efficient SSS men already. His eyes spotted the Chevrolet he had seen in the morning and his legs followed in the direction, not because he loved the car this time around but it was the fastest car which could try compete with the speed of the car she took.
Like he rightly thought, she was delayed at the gate but not stopped. He had already reversed out of the parking space before she was able to drive out.
‘Sir, tell the police she’s on the road now. Tell them she’s on a Zenvo ST1, let them track it with the security cameras.’ Dave said to Clement through his communication as he sped out through the gate. There was no way Samantha was getting away with all the SSS officers already called to join him in pursuit, Dave was sure of this. As far as he could keep getting feeds from the Security Cameras, he was going to follow anywhere she goes.
Can Dave stop Tarasha?
Madam Adaeze’s Residence. Nibo, Anambra State.
In a large and beautiful sitting room. Six people were seated, all in a worried mood except for Miss Adaeze who looked more relaxed. Tracy, her daughter was lying on the three seater sofa with her head resting on the armrest. Two other members of the extended family sat each in the one seater sofas directly opposite miss Adaeze and her eldest son, Martin. A policeman was seated on a footstool in front of Martin.
‘Inspector, she destroyed some of the cameras in the house and even the ones left didn’t capture any view of her.’ Martin jnr complained bitterly to the policeman who in turn took down notes.
‘The maid who saw the woman, is she here?’ the officer asked, looking at Martin’s face.
‘No, she isn’t.’ Martin replied. ‘My Dad’s house isn’t far from here; I would have asked her to come here if wasn’t late already.’ Martin replied.
‘Okay, what about your sister who you found tied in the house?’
‘She’s here,’ Martin said, pointing to the three seater where Tracy laid.
‘Okay, I’ll like to ask her some questions before I go.’ his eyes lingered on Tracy for a while. ‘Has she been seen by a doctor?’
‘Yes, she wasn’t injured except for the few marks left on her body from the ropes.’
‘Okay, so when last did you hear from your father?’
‘Between four to five o’clock, we agreed that I’ll come drive him from his house in Ngozika to Nnewi where some of my younger ones are…’
‘You have siblings leaving in Nnewi?’ the man interrupted.
‘No, they’re family members who are so close to us.’
‘But where did you go to? I thought you said earlier that you were with him all through the morning time.’
‘Yes, but I had to bring my mum back here after she met with him. We agreed that I was coming to pick him to Nnewi but I got to the house in the estate and did not meet him at home. I called to find out where he was and if Tracy told him in the morning that she was going somewhere else from his place, that was when he told me that she was in first room at the upper floor.’
‘Your Dad told you where she was?’ the Inspector asked, pointing at Tracy.
‘Yes.’
‘How did he know? Do you know if he came here today?’
‘No, he doesn’t even know this place.’
‘But how then did he know where she was? How did he know about the rooms at the upper floor?’
‘I suspect that someone was with him and was telling him what to say.’
‘Did you hear any other voice apart from his?’
‘No, I didn’t. But I noticed he was slow in answering. I’m sure he was listening to someone else.’
The Inspector stopped to think for a while but he wasn’t able to make a conclusion yet.
‘Did you ask him where he was?’
‘Yes, but he didn’t tell me. He only said I shouldn’t worry about him and that he was going to be fine. He cut the call afterwards.’
‘He cut the call?’
‘Yes, I tried to reach him again but his line was switched off and it’s been off ever since then.’
‘And what did you do?’
‘I came to the police station, I called my mum and she told me to ask of you but you weren’t there. So I made a complaint to the officers present, they requested for details and collected my contacts and told me that I had to wait for twenty four hours before he can be declared missing. And they claimed the case was even different because he walked out by himself.’
The Inspector let out a silent breath, his gaze moved for a moment from Martin’s face to the mum who was seated beside.
‘Do you know if he had any disagreement with anyone that day?’ he turned to Martin again.
‘Humn…’ Martin was reluctant to answer. ‘My mum went to see him that afternoon.’
‘And was there any argument?’
He flashed a look at his one with one side eye and looked back at the Inspector. ‘It wasn’t a pleasant conversation, I believe. But none of them raised their voice against each other.’
‘Did you speak to him immediately after that? Was he still ready to go to Nnewi?’
‘He was never ready to go to Nnewi, I talked him into it.’
‘You did?’
‘Yes.’
The Inspector cleared his throat. ‘Well, it doesn’t look like your Dad is in danger.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean… I think he’ll come back home soon. You said he cut the call without telling you where he was, it could mean he just wants to take some time off.’
‘No, Inspector, ‘ Martin disagreed. ‘I would have agreed with you if that girl wasn’t involved.’
‘That girl, hmmm…’ the Inspector bit his lower lip for a moment, wondering whether it was wise to say what he wanted to say I’m the presence of Adaeze. Even though she was seated in a way that obviously showed that she wasn’t paying attention to them, he knew she would still hear what he was about to say. He then remembered that she had divorced her husband and didn’t have any reason to be jealous about him anymore. ‘Do you know if your father keeps girlfriends?’ he leaned forward and whispered to Martin, still being careful for Adaeze not to hear.
‘Girlfriends?’ Martin questioned in a loud tone, contrary to the Inspector’s desire of not wanting his mother to hear. She however made no visible reaction, she seemed not to be concerned. ‘My Dad doesn’t keep girlfriends, he’s not been with anybody since he and mum parted.’
‘Well… I was just saying… You know we are all men and ermm… We sometimes…’ the Inspector struggled in low tones to find word to support his question.
‘Just forget that Inspector, my Dad does not do that.’ Martin defended.
‘Well, I believe if you say so.’ the Inspector lied. Martin’s argument had further strengthened his opinion. ‘Well, I believe your father will try to reach you soon but allow me ask your sister some questions before I make any conclusion,’ the Inspector said and looked towards Tracy.
‘Of course, you can.’ Martin said and got up from his seat. ‘Tracy, Inspector Mezie will like to speak to you.’ he said to his sister who was trying to sit up as she already heard them mention her name in the conversation. ‘I’ll be back,’ Martin said and walked out of the living room.
The Inspector moved to the one seater beside Tracy and settled in. He cleared his throat before he began to talk. ‘Hello Tracy, I’m Inspector Chimezie.’
‘Good evening Inspector,’ she replied, folding her arms across her chest and placing her knees close together.
‘I hope you’re feeling better now.’
‘I’m fine, she didn’t really hurt me.’
‘So tell me how it happened and what she did to you,’ the Inspector adjusted himself on the seat to listen properly.
‘I just returned from the shopping mall that afternoon, I was about entering into this living room when I heard my mum and elder brother arguing about my father. I didn’t want to join the argument because it happens every time and I was tired of it. So I decided to enter through the backdoor so that both of them would not see me. As I got close to…’
‘Sorry please…’ the Inspector interrupted. ‘What time was that?’
‘It was some minutes past one,’ she replied.
‘Okay, please continue.’ he said as he wrote down some details.
‘I was close to the entrance at the back when someone grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth, she was with a gun and her face was covered with a mask. She dragged me in and pushed me against the wall with her gun. I initially thought it was a man because of her strength but then I saw noticed she had Brë@šts when she held me to the wall. She asked me what direction my room was, but I was too scared to answer.’ she paused and shook her head. ‘That is all I can remember about her. When I woke up, I met myself tied in one of the guest rooms. My mouth was covered and I couldn’t make any sound.’
‘Why didn’t you call for help when she attacked you?’
‘She covered my mouth with her hand, I couldn’t make any sound.’
‘And you didn’t try to fight her?’
‘Try to fight?’ Tracy raised her brow. ‘I fought her but it was useless, she was to strong.’
‘Hmm… That’s strange. So she carried you all the way upstairs?’
‘I don’t know how I got up, but there is a staircase close to the back entrance.’
‘Okay but was there no one else in the house?’ Inspector Chimezie asked, knowing Martin jnr had returned and was leaning against the wall behind. He didn’t use a loud voice but the voice he used could be heard by those sitting close because of the silence of the house. ‘You and mummy were at the living room then,’ he said, referring to Martin as he looked at him. ‘Is there no one at the gate or no maids at home?’
‘We have no maids here, we can’t keep them because we only use this place for few days in a year or sometimes two to three years.’ Martin jnr was the one who answered. ‘The security guard lives here with his family to keep the house occupied while we are away. They stay at the back quarters but his office is just beside the gate.’
‘And does he stay there always?’
‘Yes, he does. At least while we’re around. He opened the gate for me to drive in when I came.’ Martin replied.
‘Okay, I think he has some questions to answer too.’ the Inspector said and turned his focus back to Tracy. ‘Tracy, did she do anything else to you?’
‘No, I’ve not noticed anything except for the marks the ropes left.’ Tracy replied.
‘Did the medical checkup confirm it?’
‘Yes.’
‘And she didn’t take anything from the house?’ he looked back at Martin.
‘Nothing, we’ve not discovered anything missing yet.’ Martin answered.
‘Now, where did you go from your Dad’s house? I’m aware you spent the night at his residence and left this morning,’ he turned back to Tracy.
‘Yes, I left around eight in the morning but on my way here, I decided to get something from the mall. I met an old time friend there and that’s why I took so long. We spent time together, catching up on old times and she even took me to see one of our course mates from school.’
‘Your course mate at the university?’
‘Yes.’
‘I thought you schooled in Europe.’
‘Yes, we were at the same school there.’
‘Okay and you came home directly from her place?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you drive or you took a cab?’
‘I drove in mum’s car.’
‘Did you notice anyone following you?’
Tracy squinted deeply for a moment. ‘No, I didn’t,’ she finally replied, shaking her head to emphasize.
‘Okay, well… It’s even obvious that the intruder was in the house before you. What else do you think I need to know?’
Tracy frowned at him, not knowing what else to say.
‘I mean did she say anything to you?’
‘No.’
‘Okay.’ The inspector paused for a while to scan through his note and think. ‘Did you have a quarrel or fight with anyone who you suspect might be responsible?’
‘Quarrel?’ she gaped. ‘What would I quarrel with anybody? And why would someone just want to punish me by just tying me down?’
The Inspector folded his lips in, he had no answer to the question. ‘Well, I believe that lady did something we’re yet to discover.’ he paused for a moment staring at the ground. Then his gaze moved to Martin’s face, ‘I think I have to see the man outside now, will you accompany me?’
‘Yes, sure.’ Martin replied and stepped forward immediately.
‘So, miss Tracy, take care of yourself.’ he said to her with a smile. ‘Goodnight.’
‘Thank you Inspector,’ she replied before returning to her previous lying position.
‘Nnukwu nne,’ the Inspector turned and addressed Adaeze in an Igbo word which meant ‘great mother’. ‘I’ll be leaving after seeing the security man, it’s late already and I have to be home soon.’
‘Alright, thank you Mezie. Greet your wife for me,’ she said with a light smile.
‘Goodnight ma,’ he bowed slightly before proceeding out of the house with Martin.
*
5 minutes later
‘Didn’t you notice any lady coming in?’
‘Walahi talahi officer, I no see any woman enter.’ Audu replied the officer in Pidgin English using his thick Hausa accent.
‘But she was in, she tied up your madam’s daughter upstairs and even got out of the house without you knowing.’ the Inspector insisted. He sat on a metal chair in Audu’s security room, Martin stood leaning against the wall beside him while Audu sat on a mat, his legs folded and knees slightly raised with a prayer rosary in his hand.
‘Officer, walahi I no see am.’ Audu couldn’t stop swearing.
‘But is there any entrance apart from this gate?’
‘No officer, no other place wey people dey enter.’
‘Then it means she could have only entered and left through the gate. Your fence is well secured so, I don’t think she’d easily go over it.’ he paused for some seconds. ‘How many hours did you spend away from here?’
‘Haba Officer,’ Audu gaped, knowing the man was trying to trick him with words. ‘I no comot from here at all.’
‘All through the day you were here?’
‘Yes, Officer.’
‘How did you eat and how did you take your bath?’
‘Oga, my pikin them go bring me food and I get toilet for here’ he said, pointing to the door of the bathroom where his towel was hung on.
‘So you no comot for here at all?’ Inspector Chimezie decided to also use pidgin but in a very strong tone.
‘Ermmm… Na only when I go buy shaving stick for afternoon and I no tey for the shop at all.’
‘Oh! So you went to buy shaving stick in the afternoon,’ he said, nodding his head thoughtfully. ‘What time in the afternoon?’
‘I no check time but na after Oga Martin here come,’ Audu answered with a frown, hoping that he hadn’t implicated himself by admitting he went out.
‘How long did you stay outside?’
‘E no reach five minutes.’
‘And you didn’t notice anything when you returned?’
‘Ermm… I no see anything o.’
The Inspector stared at him in silence for a while. ‘Well, you’re still the one to be held responsible for allowing an intruder into the house. If no valid conclusion is drawn out of what we have already, we may have to invite you to our office for more questioning.’
The Inspector rose from his seat and signalled to Martin that it was time to go.
‘So what next Inspector?’ Martin asked after both of them walked out of Audu’s security room.
‘Let’s watch what happens before twelve noon tomorrow,’ Inspector Chimezie answered.
‘Watch?’ Martin stopped walking and stared at the Inspector with his eyes widely shone.
‘Yes, we can’t do anything yet. The way the situation looks now, it like your Dad got into something with some dangerous people or maybe a dangerous girl and he’s being forced to do something.’
____
‘Cole, give me directions.’ Tarasha finally had time to fix the mouthpiece back and respond to Cole who had been trying to get her attention for a long time.
‘Where exactly are you?’
‘I just got out of the hotel and I’m driving in a Zenvo ST1,’ she replied.
‘Okay,’ there was a silence for some seconds. Cole was trying to spot the car. ‘Okay, boss I just spotted the car.’
‘Okay, should I continue on this road?’
‘No, take the next U-turn, there’s traffic jam at the front.’
‘Was Henry able to work on the communication lines?’
‘No, he said there is no way to do which it won’t affect you and our communication with you. The distance is much.’
‘Okay,’ Tarasha sighed. She switched to the lane beside the median as she approached the U-turn. ‘How do I go from this road to Udoka Estate?’
‘Give me a few minutes to check and get back to you.’
‘Okay, be fast about it.’
Tarasha made a turn to the other side of the median and continued with the same speed. She considered whether going back straight to Udoka Estate was a good idea but she had no option. The time for the effect of the sedative she had given the Doctor there had elapsed and it was possible the doctor was now awake and fully conscious. Even though the area was quiet and it would be difficult for the man to get attention or help with the way she had firmly locked the doors and windows, she still didn’t want to give a chance. She had to find a way to change her car first, Cole would help make sure the new car would not be traced by the police.
‘Boss, someone is following you.’ Cole’s voice sounded through the earpiece again.
‘Huh?’ she quickly placed her gaze at the rearview mirror to confirm. There were some cars behind her but none of them had a motion which suggested they were after her. The darkness of the day also made it difficult for her to see more.
‘The guy’s in even in your car, the Chevrolet.’ Cole said. ‘I watched him leave the hotel after you did.’
Tarasha looked again at the rearview mirror and the side mirrors, she couldn’t see the Chevrolet yet. ‘I can’t see him yet, what direction should I take?’
‘Continue going straight, I’ll tell you when to turn.’
Tarasha continued without increasing her speed, she wanted to see the car trailing her first. The vehicle she was in was faster than the Chevrolet and that was why she had chosen it. Soon the Chevrolet overtook the cars behind and was directly at her back, only about eight mebehind. Tarasha increased her speed.
‘Good speed boss, you’ll take the next turn right, I’ve located another car for you to take.’
She moved to the other lane in readiness to turn. In two minutes she left a good space between herself and the Chevrolet and the driver in it was trying his best to catch up.
Soon she got to the junction and made a turn to the left. It was a single carriageway with two lanes, she wondered if Cole knew what he was doing but she still followed the direction. The road was a less busy one so she sped on with no disturbance and caused panic on the road as she switched to the opposite direction lane whenever she met a car.
‘Slow down boss, we’re close to the car.’ Cole said to her. She obeyed. She couldn’t see the Chevrolet anymore, she knew the driver could still be after her but she was sure her car which was being used couldn’t meet up with her speed.
‘That’s the car boss,’ Cole voice came through as she approached a Toyota Yaris. ‘The owner just left it there.’
She slowed down and parked behind the car. The shops in the area had closed due to the lateness of the day and there was no one in sight. The Toyota Yaris was parked at the front of an unfenced compound.
Tarasha stepped out of the car and looked around, there was no one around and she could only see the headlights of only one car coming from the other direction. She pulled out the metal she used in breaking into the Zenvo and pulling out her backpack.
‘I hope the owner isn’t around?’ she asked Cole as she walked to the car.
‘No, he isn’t. He walked into that house with his girlfriend some minutes ago,’ he replied her in a joking tone.
She chuckled. The door of the car gave way immediately she used the metal. She bent forward and threw in her backpack to the backseat first. She looked around again before stepping into the car.
‘What direction should I go?’ she asked as she started the car engine.
‘Turn back the same way you came and continue straight on the previous road.’ Cole replied.
She obeyed his instruction without asking questions. The Toyota Yaris wasn’t as fast as the car she left but changing it was a good option that’ll waste the time of anyone coming after the Zenvo.
‘I’m going to clear the NSCC system records once you drive out to the main road,’ Cole said to her.
‘Okay. What’s the location of that Chevrolet now?’
‘He’s turning into that road way now, all you need to do is to keep the tinted window glasses closed and there’s no way he’s going to even see you in the darkness.’
‘Okay.’
‘I think they’ve called other police officers to join the pursuit but the police cars are still far off.’
‘Keep me updated.’
She drove on and soon the Chevrolet came driving past her, she could see that a man was the one pursuing her but didn’t see his face properly.
_____
12:12am
Dave was getting frustrated as he drove on. The Zenvo was totally out of his sight and the speed of his car couldn’t match up with it. He got the direction to take the left turn from Clement who was now with a NSCC staff and monitoring through the security cameras.
‘Any change in her movement yet?’ Dave said into his mouthpiece.
The answer came after thirty seconds. ‘We’re trying to locate the camera covering her now, we have been following your car.’ Clement’s voice sounded in his earpiece.
‘Okay,’ Dave drove on. He could hear Clement discussing something with the NSCC officer but couldn’t make out what was being said. Clement must have taken off the mouthpiece and left only the earpiece on.
He drove for two more minutes before he saw something that looked like the Zenvo parked at the front
‘Hey sir! I can see the car parked here, I think she stopped already,’ Dave said in an excited voice to Clement through the mouthpiece.
‘We’ve already seen it sir,’ Clement replied in a sad tone. ‘I’m sorry she left there already.’
‘What do you mean?’ Dave said as he parked behind the Zenvo.
‘We watched in the footages how she parked there but we can’t seem to find what she did from then on.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Dave said as he switched off his car. He took out his gun and looked around before stepping out of car.
‘Agent Dave!’ Clement called in an urgent manner as Dave wanted to close the door. ‘She’s no longer there. We rewound to the previous footages now and there was a Toyota Yaris there before she parked and when she did. I think she left in the Toyota but we can’t confirm that, footages from when she parked to the following five minutes is missing.’
‘Did you say a Toyota Yaris?’ Dave asked, pressing the earpiece to his ears.
‘Yes.’
‘Oh! d@mn it! I saw the car pass me when I was driving down here.’ Dave hurriedly returned into the car but jumped out as soon as he jumped in. He picked his other guns from the Chevrolet and proceeded to the Zenvo. He entered into the Zenvo with his tools, Tarasha had already broken the lock so it was easy for him.
In less than a minute he had turned and sped back in the direction which he drove there.
‘Have you located her now?’ he said into the mouthpiece.
The reply was delayed as usual. ‘No. You said you saw her pass by your side and we’re trying to follow that direction and locate her. I’ll get back to you as soon as we do.’
*
*
**12 minutes later**
‘Shi*t boss!’ Cole’s voice suddenly through her earpiece after over ten minutes of silence. There roads were clear as they usually were at that time of the day.
Tarasha could tell that there was trouble from his tone, ‘What is it Cole?’
‘The guy is still after you boss, he took the Zenvo car you left behind.’ Cole explained.
‘Where is he now?’
‘About 0.93km behind you.’
‘What?’ she widened her eyes in shock. She rolled down the window and adjusted the side mirror, she also adjusted the rearview mirror. She confirmed Cole’s claim, she could see something far behind her even though she couldn’t tell what kind of car it was. The driver was an experienced one and had dimmed his light to ensure that she doesn’t know that he’s tailing her. She increased her speed, ‘Cole, didn’t you clear the footages?’
‘I did. I think boss, he’s also connected to a security staff monitoring live just like I am.’
‘What about the other police officers?’
‘They’re far behind and SSS officials too. But I believe the one after is the one giving them the directions to follow but I don’t know if anyone is coming from the front.’
‘Crash the NSCC system now and tell Henry to crash the communication lines,’ she said in a desperate tone. The Zenvo was closing in on her.
‘What? Boss, we would loss this connection.’ Cole sounded afraid.
‘Yes, I know. I can handle it if he’s the only one pursuing and so we have to stop him from communicating to other police officers.’
‘Okay boss,’ Cole let out an audible sigh.
*
*
‘I should overtake her in few minutes but I still need the officers,’ Dave said into his mouthpiece.
‘There are three cars coming behind you and we also contacted another set, they’ll meet you at the front.’
‘Thank you,’ Dave said and released a breath in excitement.
He noticed that she had increased her speed, it meant she was now aware he was coming after her. He increased his too. He was sure of catching up with her in less than seven minutes time no matter how hard she tried to drive faster.
Soon, he could notice her reducing her speed gradually. He reduced his too and took out his gun in readiness, anticipating what she was about to do. He was surprised when the Toyota Yaris took a turn into another road, then he knew the reason for the reduction in speed. He increased his again until he got to the turn.
‘She has changed direction, have you seen her?’ he said into his mouthpiece but was replied with total silence. ‘Hello Sir, are you there?’ he said, touching the earpiece with his fingers, there was an unusual silence. He detached the connection box attached to his belt and checked the screen. ‘Shi*t,’ he cursed, the signal had totally disappeared. He attached it back, hoping that the signal would return soon. He also hoped that Clement was still being able to communicate with the police officers.
The signals did not return. He continued driving, getting closer to the car as it approached another junction on the short road. He held his gun in his left hand, he was sure he would catch up with her before she gets to the next turn. He planned on firing at the tyres of the car without caring whether she dies immediately or not, or if a terrible accident would go. He was willing to capture Samantha anyhow; whether alive, injured or even dead. He raised up his gun in readiness.
Tarasha could see the car closing in on her and she was sure that she would be overtaken before she got to the junction. She rolled down all the windows and took out her revolver in readiness, she placed it on her lap and focused back on the road and the mirrors.
The Zenvo was right behind her, it was only a matter of seconds before it got to her front. She held up her gun and suddenly hit the brakes hard.
Tarasha could see the car closing in on her and she was sure that she would be overtaken before she got to the junction. She rolled down all the windows and took out her revolver in readiness, she placed it on her lap and focused back on the road and the mirrors.
The Zenvo was right behind her, it was only a matter of seconds before it got to her front. She held up her gun and suddenly hit the brakes hard.
Dave was taken by surprise as he never expected her to hit the brakes. The bullets hit the car unexpectedly and shattered the glasses causing him to loose control. The gun in his hands dropped as he struggled to control the wheels, but the bullets kept coming and he had to bend his head. He ran the car off the road and the right side tyres entered into the drainage just before it got to the junction, making the car slant upwards with the left side up.
Tarasha took a few seconds to observe the Zenvo. She reversed the car about five metres back and halted. Then she stepped out of the car holding an extra gun in her hands. She continued shooting at it as she walked forward. She was determined to end the life whoever was in it. But as she got two metres close to where the car had fallen, she began to hear sounds a vehicle coming from behind. She stopped and looked back, she could see the headlights of a vehicle coming afar off.
‘d@mn it!’ she let out a painful sigh. Cole had told her that the other cars pursuing her were far off and she wondered how this one could get to meet them so quick. She turned back and proceeded into the car hurriedly, she drove on to the junction and turned into the new road. She sped off on the free expressway.
*
*
Abuja
‘What do we do now?’ Henry asked Cole in low tones, his eyes still full of fear.
‘We just have to wait for some minutes,’ Cole replied gently and then placed his forehead on the table.
Henry got up and began to pace around the room, his heart beating fast and his lips trembling. All he could imagine were the bad things that could have happened to Omotara, she had asked them to crash the NSCC cameras and the communication lines and there was no way they could see her or talk to her anymore, that means they would not know wh@tëver happened to her.
‘When do we open back the systems?’ Henry stopped to ask Cole.
‘I don’t know for certain, but we have to give her enough time to do away with the guy trailing her.’ Cole replied without looking up.
Henry continued pacing around and making noisy sounds with his breath.
‘Calm down man, worrying isn’t going to change anything.’ Cole said to him.
Henry paused for a while and stared at Cole. He tried to reason the words said to him but he still couldn’t calm himself. He continued to pace around with his arms folded across his chest.
The door to the control room opened gently and in came Tomi. Cole’s eyes met with hers, he could tell she hadn’t slept yet.
‘You guys are still working?’ she asked, with her eyes fixed on Cole after taking a glance at Henry.
Cole wanted to ignore her but he decided to reply on a second thought. ‘Yes,’ he said and looked up, shaking his legs slowly from side to side.
She walked closer to him and sat on the seat beside him. She was in her night gown which wasn’t covered properly, Cole could see everything underneath. He wondered if she had been at his room waiting for him like she was fond of.
‘What’s the matter?’ Tomi who was now looking at Henry asked Cole.
‘Well, we don’t know what’s up with the boss right now and that’s why he’s seems worried.’ Cole replied her.
‘Can we put it up back now?’ Henry asked, returning back to his seat.
‘No,’ Cole said in a strong tone. ‘It’s not up to an hour yet, it’ll take her up to ninety minutes to keep them totally off track.’
Henry heaved a sigh of frustration, he shook his head and then placed his forehead on the table.
____
Anambra.
1:05am
Dave winced in pain as the SSS officers laid his back to the ground. He fastened his right hand palm to the left upper region of his back where a bullet had entered in between his shoulder blades. His palm was soaked in blood already. Blood was also dripping down his head where he injured slightly. It would have been a worse situation if he didn’t have his seatbelt on.
‘Just leave me here, keep following her.’ he managed to say to one SSS officer who was putting on a similar mask like his.
‘No Agent, we can’t leave you here like this. We have to take you for treatment with the car.’
‘No, go after her. You call the ambulance to pick me up here.’
‘There are no signals, we stopped getting directions from the Security Cameras office. We were coming from the front and we got to know it should be this direction when we heard gunshots.’
‘Oh shi*t,’ Dave cursed. He was in pain but he was still determined not to let Tarasha go. He closed his eyes as a gentle breeze swam across his face. He heaved a sigh of frustration, he knew for sure she had escaped again.
‘Careful,’ the SSS officer cautioned the other security officers as they lifted Dave into the car.
*
*
1:58am
Udoka Estate.
Martin Ekwueme sat at the edge of the bed where he had been for over thirty minutes waiting for his host to return. He had been awake for more than one hour and did not make any attempt to escape. He discarded the thought the only time it had crossed his mind for the fear of making a futile effort. He was sure she was somewhere around the place or that she had other people around and could be testing to see what he would do. The hunger he felt when he woke up forced him to take the meal she had served him since afternoon which he refused. Since then he sat at the edge of the bed, taking his time to think about his life and his family’s, and spent more thinking about what Samantha was going to do with him.
Tarasha walked into the house at 2:15am. It had been another work for her to go through the security at the estate gate but she did without killing anyone but only leaving them with minor injuries and in an unconscious state. She also injected into their bodies the substance benryl to make them totally forget their encounter with her and make them unable to explain their ordeal when they woke up the next morning.
Martin Ekwueme’s mind skipped a beat as he heard the sound of the keys working at the door, he knew Samantha was back for him. Soon she entered and closed the door. She stopped behind the door to look around the room, it was just the same way she left it. She looked at the man’s face, he was also staring at her. The look on his face showed he had been expecting her for long.
As she proceeded towards him she noticed he kept his gaze on her face but it was no longer a look of delayed expectation, he seemed to be interested in something on her face. Then she realized that her face would still full of the temporary marks and sweat left by the mask she had just taken off. She wiped her face with her hand and sat at the other end of the bed.
‘I see you’ve been doing fine in my absence,’ she said with a wry smile as she sat at the other end of the bed.
He still continued to stare at her face in silence. He wondered where she was coming from and what she had been doing that made her sweat so much. But the strange thing about it was that her face was the only part of her body sweating profusely. He watched as she wiped off the sweat and stared back at him. Her face still looked innocent and young like that of Tracy his last daughter and for a moment, for a moment, he doubted again that she was really Samantha Osman.
‘It’s midnight already, you should rest more now, we would continue by morning.’ she suddenly changed her mind and got up from the bed.
She proceeded to the door and was about to turn the knob when he said something.
‘Are you really Samantha?’ he repeated when her expression showed she didn’t hear him the first time.
She stayed for a moment but didn’t turn or say anything in reply. Then she opened and the door and walked out without giving him a reply.
**12 minutes later**
She just finished having her bath but was still in the bathroom when she heard her phone ringing. She wiped her face with the towel before wrapping it around her body. She knew the caller would be no one else but Cole.
____
Abuja
‘She’s not answering,’ Cole said in reply to Henry, dialing the number again.
Henry was still looked deeply terrified but Cole was more relaxed. Tomi had slept off on the chair beside Cole and wasn’t conscious anymore of anything happening around her.
‘Let me try,’ Henry said, getting up to pick Cole’s phone which he had dropped on the table.
‘She’ll call back when she sees the call,’ Cole said, trying to discourage him from dialing again.
Henry ignored and dialed back, the call was answered at the first ring.
‘Cole,’ she called as she answered.
‘Omotara,’ he called with his eyes widening in surprise. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine Henry, I’ve gotten to the house now. Did you just reset the communication lines?’
‘Yes, about five minutes ago,’ he replied.
‘What about Cole, is the NSCC system also back in operation?’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘Handover the phone to Cole.’
Henry obeyed silently.
‘Boss,’ Cole said with a note of happiness in his voice.
‘Have you checked if the guys are still out there?’
‘Yes, I’ve checked but I can’t find them anywhere. Are you now at Udoka estate?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay, I’ll switch to the cameras there in some minutes and call you back.’
‘Thank you.’
*
*
*
*
5:30am
Lizzy yawned and stretched as she got out of the bed that morning. She sat at the edge she placed her elbows on her knees. She buried her face in her palms and managed to say a few words of prayer. Then she reached for her two phones beside the pillow and unlocked the iPhone. She swiped down the notification bar and was quite worried that there was no message yet from Dave. She opened her WhatsApp instant messenger and opened the chat with Dave, he had still not received the message she sent him the last night to ask about his trip. She was sure Dave could take care of himself and if he was going to get into trouble, it wouldn’t be on his first day of arrival at the place. She unlocked the android phone also, she was also expecting Victor’s annoying message which always come in before she woke up. She never wasted her time to read his love messages but always replied with ‘Thanks, I love you too. Have a nice day,’ or any other similar phrase.
She opened the Google chrome browser on the android phone and typed in the Nairaland url. It loaded in a few seconds. She scrolled through the updates but stopped when she got to the centre and found no topics of interest to her. She opened another tab and navigated to the desert reporters website. Her mind skipped a bit as she saw the first topic on the news portal. ‘Police and SSS battle with suspected Samantha Osman agent in Crescent Moon Hotel, Anambra – Over twenty confirmed dead, six officers injured.’
She quickly clicked on the headline and waited for it to load. She then knew the reason for Dave’s inability to reply her message or call since the last night.
The first thing she checked after the article loaded was the time it was posted, 5:32am, that was some minutes ago and it explained the reason the news had not made the Nairaland forum front page yet. The content of the news read;
‘Between the hours of 10:30pm last night to 1am, the whole Ngozika Estate area was filled with terror as sounds of gunshots rent the air causing all business centres that works till late night close early and left the roads deserted so early – this causing so much traffic jam in other areas. Our correspondent who was a guest in the hotel that night gathered that the lady suspected to be Samantha Osman lodged in the hotel five days ago with a different name and was traced to the place by a SSS agent whose identity is yet to be revealed. It was reported that the assasin exchanged gunshots with the officers and security men in the hotel building, leaving dead security officers whose numbers have been counted up to this time as twenty one and six others badly injured. The head security officer of the hotel stated the reason of her escape to be the sophisticated weapons which she used against them. He claimed that they couldn’t respond to her in the same manner she shot at them because of the fear of hurting the innocent guests of the hotel.
Our source also revealed that the SSS agent who traced her to Ngozika Estate and whose identity is still been hidden by his colleagues at the SSS is badly injured. ‘
Lizzy paused at this. Her mind began to beat faster. She continued:
‘Several of the guests at the hotel were seen this morning leaving with their luggages as early as five am.
More details to be revealed later.’
Lizzy released a deep breath after reading the article. She was greatly afraid that something terrible had happened to Dave. She picked her iPhone again and dialed his number. It rang again for several minutes but wasn’t answered by anyone.
_____
Udoka Estate, Anambra
7:46am
Tarasha had woken up already but felt too lazy to get up from the bed. She didn’t plan to do much that day, her main reason for coming to Anambra was already being fulfilled; the Doctor was in the same building with her.
The last night had been an exciting one for her, she had for some weeks never had the opportunity to race so fast on major roads and she felt good to have someone giving her a hot chase, it was a kind of exercise that she needed often.
Her phone began to ring where she plugged it to charge and that gave her the push she needed to get up from the bed. She dragged herself to the place the phone was plugged and disconnected it from the charger. Cole was the one calling her.
‘Good morning boss,’ Cole greeted.
‘Yeah Cole, morning. What’s up this morning?’
‘Been up to check the footages this morning, there’s nothing that links you to Udoka Estate.’
‘Good job man,’ she let out a smile.
‘Thank you, and I also wanted to find out if you need something else this morning.’
‘Well… I think I just need some guns and another face mask.’
‘Oh well, what guns do you need and how do I send them?’
‘I’ll send you the specifications of the guns in a text but of course you should be able to get a transporter to get them to Anambra.’
‘Yes boss but… Don’t you think you need us there?’
‘Don’t bother, I’m almost done with what I came for, I don’t think I’ll need you to come. Just send the guns and mask, I’m not sure I’m going to use them but they’ll be useful in case any unforeseen situation comes up.’
‘Okay boss, if you say so. But have you read the news today?’
‘No, I just got out of bed.’ she took the phones off her ear briefly to check the time. ‘It’s almost eight, I’ll join the news in some minutes and also read online.’
‘Yeah, I think you really need to do.’
‘Thanks Cole,’ she said in a soft voice which made her sincerity obvious.
‘I’m doing my job boss,’ Cole replied.
‘Till later.’
Tarasha ended the call and let out a breath. She walked to the wardrobe and took off her night gown, leaving her P@?tië? and bra on. She opened the bag and took out the only gown in it. It reminded her that she needed to go out to shop for more clothes. She put on the gown and proceeded to the living room where the television was set up, the one in the room had not been connected to a decoder yet.
As expected, the previous night’s event was what made the headlines at all news stations. The media houses provided the videos of the hotel taken after she left there and showed the places where the deaths occured. The dead bodies had been taken away already but the traces of blood were still on the floor and on the walls. It was also reported that an agent of the SSS was the one who traced her to that destination but the agent’s name and identity was not disclosed or known by anyone.
Tarasha took time to brood on the situation, wondering how she was traced to the place. Then she realized it must be through the credit card like she had been suspecting, the SSS Agent must have gotten the details from someone or a company she paid money with the credit card to. She wondered who or where could be the source of the Agent’s information. She had to find out so as to ascertain that there were other things which couldn’t link them to her from the same source. She also needed to know who that SSS agent was before she leaves the state.
She reached for her phone and dialed Cole’s number, she instructed him to destroy the card details and cancel the connections to the bank. She was still wondering how the credit card was traced to her when she heard a sound from behind. Martin Ekwueme was walking to the living room. She put her legs down from the three seater, for she was sitting with her legs crossed on the seat and her back resting partially on the armrest and partially on the corner of the backrest.
The man ambled to the living room and sat in the one seater close to her. ‘Good morning… Samantha,’ he greeted.
She didn’t honour him with a reply immediately. She stared at him wondering if she wasn’t making him too comfortable around her by not inflicting pains on him.
‘I’m greeting… Samantha,’ the man said to her, thinking she was lost in thoughts.
‘Good morning old man,’ she replied coldly in a bid to remind him that she wasn’t his friend.
‘You didn’t close the doors of my room,’ the doctor said with his eyes full of surprise.
Exactly! Tarasha thought, that was the reason he was becoming so free with her, maybe he was thinking she was a nice girl he could joke with.
‘I thought you’ve been a good boy, you didn’t give me troubles last night, so I’m just treating you as one – a good boy.’
The man chuckled and scratched his chin with his finger. ‘What if I tried to escape when you went to sleep?’
‘You wouldn’t have made it out of the door alive,’ she answered him sharply with a wicked smile, pointing with her brows to the door which led out of the living room.
The cheerful look on his face disappeared, he seemed to be thinking deeply as he kept his gaze on her face.
‘You don’t stare at me anyhow, I could kill right away.’ she threatened the man, meaning every word she said.
She felt she had become feeble. Before she came to Nigeria, she had never had an hostage who was so bold to talk to her like that, they would always tremble at her presence. But like she had previously admitted, she started to become weak when she didn’t kill Jefa and allowed herself to love him and when Henry had also been allowed to resurrect her feelings. She felt she was loosing all the ‘values’ she got from the Nefary clan and needed to get back on her feet if she wished to be successful in her mission.
‘I’m sorry if I angered you,’ the man made a sincere apology and looked away. ‘It’s just that… I’m close to eighty and I’ve seen different young girls like you, you look too beautiful and innocent to be Samantha,’ he said, looking up at her face again with a smile. ‘I’m not scared of death anyway.’
Tarasha was deeply infuriated. She gritted her teeth. She would have pointed a gun at him if she had one by her side. The man was taking her for granted.
‘I’m sorry but whenever I look at your face, you remind me of my daughter and some of those young nurses at the hospital.’
Tarasha wanted to punish him for continuing despite seeing that she was angry but something struck her mind and her muscles relaxed as he mentioned ‘nurses’. She remembered Jumoke instantly. She had sent money to Jumoke using the traced credit card, could it mean that the SSS agency had traced her to Jumoke and extracted the information from the nurse.
‘I’m hoping you kill me very soon, I’m tired of this life.’ the man bursted out with a sudden change in countenance. ‘Kill me already, I’m tired of waiting for the judgement of my sins.’
She gave him a side look and lowered her brows at him. ‘I’m not here to judge you, I’m not here to kill you. I only need some information from you.’
‘No, you have to kill me quickly. I’ve been expecting you. I’ve seen you in my dreams even though in the image of a man, I know you would kill me soon, why the delay?’
Tarasha stared at him in silence as he let out his frustration wondering what the cause of his sudden mood change was.
‘I’ve lived my life for the last twelve years after I retired regretting all my past deeds and wishing I could correct them. I’ve done everything I could to feel fulfilled. I engaged myself in charity activities, tried to help the poor with my hospital but I still feel my life is a waste.’ the man continued to vent out his frustration, tears were rolling down his eyes now.
Tarasha saw an opportunity to make use of him through his emotions. ‘But why did you do those things you did in the past? You are a brilliant doctor who had a good future, was it because of money?’
The man’s tears increased, he dropped from the chair and sat on the floor. ‘I was covetous, I was in a hurry to make money and secure a good life,’ he said, sobbing and coughing. ‘When I tried to stop, those men came again and threatened me into it, I joined back and lost my conscience, I became an animal.’
The man’s face was soaked in tears like that of a baby. Tarasha felt it funny but tried to suppress her laughter. Strangely, she felt no pity for him in anyway like she had been feeling recently.
‘Wipe your tears Dr Martin,’ she said. ‘You see, I think there’s still one thing you need to correct in life if you want to ever feel forgiven.’ she said to get the man’s attention. He reduced his sobbing and wiped his face with his palm, he stared at her waiting for what she wanted to say. ‘Those men who made you do evil, some of them are still alive today and occupying high positions, doing more evil under the guise of developing the nation. I’m out to fish out all of them and punish them and it’ll be easier if you would work with me, you’ll also be doing the world a great favour and that way, you could make an amendment to your past sins.’
The man’s lips trembled. He stopped crying totally and stared blankly at the ground. Tarasha knew she had gotten him, he was on her side.
9:02am
Dave inhaled the cold air in the ward deeply as he opened his eyes. He looked to his left and saw a man putting on the SSS top seated by his side. With the inscription on the shirt, Dave could tell that the man was a very senior official of the service.
‘You’re awake,’ the man said and got up from his seat to move closer.
‘Yea, Good morning sir,’ Dave said and managed to seat up. He felt pains at his back as he rested it against the headboard. He was without a shirt because of the plastered wound behind him. He also had a plaster on the left side of the head. Luckily for him, the bullet that got into his body narrowly missed the bone at the shoulder plate, making his injury less severe.
‘Good morning Agent. I’m Godwin Anyim, assistant director of the State Security Service in Anambra state.’
‘Oh!’ Dave smiled and raised his hand to make a salute.
The man smiled back briefly and then put on a serious face, ‘Agent, why didn’t you reach us early last night to provide support for you?’
Dave sighed. ‘I never knew I was going to need support, it came unexpectedly.’
‘But you should have reported to the SSS office first when you got into Anambra.’
‘Sir, I don’t work for the SSS, I work with the SSS. My direct Agency doesn’t have an office here, so I’m not obligated to report to any other organization.’
The man was silent for a minute. ‘So under whose covering were you working in this state?’
‘I got direct permission from the NIS Chairman,’ Dave replied.
The man chuckled. ‘Talking about the chairman, he called this morning and asked that you reach him as soon as you wake up.’ the man said and turned back to take Dave’s phone. ‘Here’s your phone, you also have a couple of missed calls.’
Dave collected the phone and unlocked it, he opened his call records and found the names of those that tried to reach him – Lizzy, Daniel and Inspector Dakolo. He exited and quickly searched for the chairman’s number.
He took in a deep breath before dialing the number. He knew he was in trouble with the chairman already. There were only two options; either he was suspended for a week or two or asked to withdraw from the case totally. He had only gotten permission for interviews and was supposed to have called to inform the head office immediately the game changed.
‘Dave,’ the chairman’s voice sounded through the phone’s speaker.
‘Good morning sir.’ Dave replied.
‘Dave, what happened to you?’
‘Sir, it came suddenly. I…I didn’t…I never expected to meet her here,’ Dave stammered.
‘And why didn’t you reach the office before taking any action?’
‘It was too sudden sir, I acted proactively.’
There was a few seconds silence. ‘You also never wrote in your reports that you were tracing Samantha through her credit card.’
‘Yes sir, I wasn’t sure if she was that person, I needed to make confirmation and that is what I was trying to do when…’
‘Shut up Dave!’ The man slammed. ‘Don’t you know who you’re talking to?’
Dave remained silent. He folded his lips in as his eyes met with Godwin’s.
‘Don’t ever take me for a fool and tell me stupid stories, is that clear?’
‘Yes sir, I’m sorry sir.’
There was another brief silence.
‘When are you going to be discharged from the hospital?’ the chairman asked.
‘I don’t know yet sir, I’ve not seen the doctors this morning.’
‘You should find out and book the next flight available to Abuja as soon as possible. You can continue with your treatment here.’
‘I’m sorry sir… But don’t you think I need to still do some work here before returning?’
The Chairman was silent for a moment. Dave was afraid he had made the man angrier.
‘If you have to do that, ll send Daniel to you, he’ll take the next available flight there. Do make sure you don’t do anything till he comes.’
‘Okay sir,’ Dave replied and gave a sigh of relief. He never thought the man would agree for him to stay and continue on the case.
‘Be careful Dave, be very careful Dave’ the man said in a tone which depicted more of threatening than warning.
‘Phew!’ Dave forced out a breath from his mouth as he dropped the phone. He closed his eyes, partly in frustration. Making any of his team members join him was something he dreaded. It meant he wouldn’t be able to cover his activities from the corrupt chairman and the police anymore but it was a better option than the case been withdrawn totally from him.
He stared at the SSS man’s face for a while. The man was back on his seat and scrolling through his phone without paying any attention to him. Dave opened his call records again and dialed Lizzy’s number first. She picked the call at a ring and he apologized for not having the time to call her the previous night.
‘Come on, hope you’re fine.’ she replied to his apologies.
‘Yes, I’m trying. I got a bullet beside my shoulder though.’
‘Aww! Sorry about that,’ Lizzy expressed her concern in a sad tone.
‘Thanks Lizzy, so how are you?’
‘I’m doing good. How long will you be in the hospital?’
‘I don’t know how long they plan to keep me, but I don’t want to stay here till tomorrow.’
‘Dave, please take care of yourself.’ she said in a pleading tone.
‘Don’t worry about me Liz, I’ll call you again soon.’
He ended the call and dialed Inspector Dakolo’s number. As usual the Inspector was requesting if he had any information contrary to what the news had reported that morning, not knowing that he was a part of those who made the news. He replied with a negative answer to the Inspector’s disappointment.
______
‘I don’t know what you would like to eat, I’m going to get food from the eatery along this street,’ Tarasha said to the man who was still seated in the same spot she left him in the living room.
The man turned to look at her where she stood behind the chair. He suddenly remembered that he didn’t know the exact location he was. He had been indoor since the day before and had not seen outside the place.
‘Where are we?’ he asked and waited for a reply but she gave no answer.. ‘Are we still in Anambra?’ he pressed on.
‘Yes.’
He got up slowly and sat on the sofa. ‘I have a time table at home which the maids use in preparing my meals, I don’t really choose what I like to eat, so I can’t tell you what to get for me.’
‘Well, I got some groceries from the store yesterday but your breakfast might come late if we have to follow your timetable this morning.’ she said. She hoped he would not insist on following the time table because she wasn’t ready to cook. She had learnt how to prepare some Nigerian dishes from Aisha and Tomi but didn’t like to prepare them herself even though she enjoyed eating.
‘I don’t even remember what’s on the timetable for today, you can get me anything to eat, I’m really hungry.’ the man replied.
‘Okay, I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.’ she said and walked away.
He drifted back to the realm of thoughts as she left him alone. He considered her offer again. Was it really the opportunity he had to finally right his wrongs? He asked himself. And what if his wrongs could not be righted? But it was still an opportunity to help the nation like she had put it, and it could just be his last opportunity to do something good for his people.
*
*
NIS Office, Abuja.
Lizzy was already preparing to leave her office when Victor’s call came in. She wondered if he was also in Anambra with his boss or if he was still in town. She didn’t hear from him the last night and even in the early hours of the morning which was unusual. She sat back and relaxed in her seat to answer the call.
‘Good morning Victor, how are you today?’
‘I’m fine, how about you?’
‘I’m fine too, hope you slept well?’
‘Yes, I did. Did you?’
‘I did too. So are you at work already?’
‘Yes, I am and I’m even preparing to go for a delivery now.’
‘Oh! Okay. I’ll call you later then.’
‘Okay, bye.’
‘I love you Pat.’
‘I love you too,’ she replied, shaking her head in disgust.
She hissed and tossed the phone into the bag after the call ended. She then rose from the table and adjusted her skirt.
‘One of those old men, right?’ one of her office mates hinted, talking about her conversation.
‘No, an annoying young man actually.’
‘Which case is that?’ the office mate asked.
‘It’s an old case,’ Lizzy answered reluctantly. She picked up her bag and hurried towards the door. ‘I’ll see you guys tomorrow,’ she said, her shoes making noise as the soles came in contact with the ground.
*
*
The door to Cole’s room opened just as he ended the call. He sat at the edge of the bed facing the door directly. As expected, Tomi was the one who entered without knocking.
‘So that’s the girl right, Pat?’ she stood at the door with her hands on her waist. She was putting on an apron and had just finished from the kitchen.
Cole knew instantly that she had listened to his conversation on phone but still decided to feign ignorance. ‘Which girl are you talking about?’
‘The one you just spoke to on phone,’ she replied and folded her arms across her chest.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he replied with a hiss.
‘I heard all you said on phone, stop lying to me.’
‘You shouldn’t be going around listening to other people’s conversation, don’t you have work to do?’ Cole slammed, trying to turn the tables.
‘Just shut up, I came to tell you breakfast was ready. You should be ashamed of yourself, always jumping around from one girl to another.’
Cole stared at her face for a moment and then burst into hysterical laughter. She stared at him thinly, wondering what the cause of his sudden madness was.
‘Girl, I believe you know I’m well aware of the many guys that have entered you back and front. And you know we don’t hide things from each other, I’ve heard stories on how you ride for several hours tirelessly. You shouldn’t be the one educating me in sticking to one girl, after you’ve been laid by every man that knows how to talk. Now stop acting like I’m the only one who has access to what you have there,’ he said with an evil smile, pointing with a finger to her chest and down to her privates.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Her face clearly showed her embarrassment and anger. She turned and stormed out of the room without saying any other thing.
He laughed to himself after she walked away. He stopped laughing when a thought flashed through his mind. He decided it was time he had to stop eating her food. With the way things were, she was likely to poison him as soon as she gets the right opportunity.
________
10:45am
Udoka Estate, Anambra.
‘I brought you some clothes from the mall,’ Tarasha said as she walked into the room unannounced. The man was lying in the bed but wasn’t asleep. He sat up slowly and his eyes followed Tarasha to the wardrobe in which she dropped the bag of clothes. ‘I also bought you an antiseptic soap, a sponge, toothbrush and toothpaste. I know you must be feeling unclean the way you are now.’ she closed the wardrobe and proceeded back towards the door. ‘You have enough time to rest after your breakfast, we’d have to do some work together after lunchtime.’ she said and walked out without waiting for a reply.
The man rolled out of the bed slowly and slipped on the slippers by the bedside. He walked to the wardrobe and opened to check what she had bought. After checking all what she came with, he wondered if he was still in abduction or if she had already accepted him as a co-worker.
*
*
2:30pm
Defence Hospital, Anambra
‘Doctor, just dress up the wound. I need to leave here once my colleague arrives.’ Dave said to the Doctor standing in his ward who had just administered some injections to him. Two nurses were in the ward with them.
‘I know you have to get back to work but I’ll advice that you let us watch you till tomorrow afternoon.’ the doctor replied him.
‘For another twenty four hours?’
‘Yes, so we can monitor the wound and ensure its going to close up soon.’
‘I can always come back for you to check me, but I can’t stay here for another twenty four hours. I have some things to do tonight,’ Dave stepped down from the bed and put on his slippers. ‘Excuse me Doc, I’ll like to use the restroom.’
‘I’ll give you sometime to reconsider your decision Agent,’ the doctor said as he watched Dave walk to the toilet. He signalled to the nurses with him and they proceeded out of the ward together.
*
35 minutes later
Agent Dan had arrived with Godwin the SSS director. Another chair had been added to the ward, Dan and Godwin were seated and facing Dave who was sitting in an upright position at the edge of bed.
‘The chairman is mad at you and he wants quick correction,’ Dan said to Dave.
‘I know, but you think he would still place me on suspension?’ Dave asked in a sad tone.
‘I honestly don’t think so,’ Dan replied. He bit his lower lips slightly and placed a thin stare at Dave’s face. ‘That’s what he should have done but I think he was stopped.’
‘Stopped? By who?’
‘I don’t really know but the bottom line is that they think you’re doing well on the case and should not be stopped yet.’
‘And do you know if the police has taken any action with the information available especially the credit card details?’
Dan was yet to answer when the door of the ward flung open and the Doctor walked in with a file in his hands. Everyone in the room turned to him.
‘Agent, you’re free to leave when you like.’ the Doctor stopped beside Dave and handed an A4 sized paper to him. ‘Show them this at the reception, the nurses would give you the drugs I recommend for you.’ the doctor paused a little. Dave was scanning through the paper. ‘Agent, do not involve yourself in strenuous activities or exercises yet, you may open up the wound again.’
‘Thank you,’ Dave said in reply. The doctor turned and courtesied silently to the other agents seated before he walked.
________
‘Have you had lunch?’ Tarasha asked the doctor as she walked into the living room. She had a can of spray paint in her right hand and a license plate of a car in the left hand. From the little stains on her top and jeans trousers, he could tell that she had just finished spraying a car.
‘Yes, I took the plates and tray to the kitchen already,’ he replied and returned his gaze to the television. The news was being read.
She walked to the store in the house and dropped the things she had with her, then she went outside again and returned with a can of spray primer and a masking tap. She didn’t return until fifteen minutes time. She had changed into an armless black top and a blue jean bum short and also carried a laptop with her when she returned.
‘Can we work now?’ she asked as she proceeded to the man’s seat.
He sat up and watched as she approached him. She dragged a footstool with her and placed it beside him.
‘I have a couple of docvments here detailing the importation of some drugs into the country between 2010 to 2016. I made some research and discovered that these drugs were banned in the US during that period,’ she said as she opened a docvment. ‘But the confusing thing here is that the importation was approved by the Nigerian drug agency then. I don’t understand this, ‘ she stopped and looked at his face. ‘You confessed to work with them in the business, so I believe you should have an explanation.’
The man didn’t appear to be listening to her. His focus was fully on the docvment she opened. ‘Where did you get this from?’ he asked, referring to the article.
She closed the laptop screen on seeing that he wasn’t paying attention to her. ‘I asked you a question first, how did they get this importation and many others to be approved?’
The man sat, he released air from his mouth and looked the other way. ‘The drug agency Chairman at that time was a part of Elvis Richards team, I can recognize his signature in that docvment you opened but I never knew a docvment like that existed.’
‘But people bought this drugs, if they’re really fake, how come there were no deaths credited to them?’
‘There were several deaths, an example is the patient that doctor Danjuma treated which led him into trouble. But the way those drugs were; they weren’t really fake or expired. A more proper way to describe them is calling them substandard, they did lesser than they were supposed to do.’ the doctor explained.
‘And no investigation was ever carried out?’
‘During the early days, the drugs and vaccines were only acquired and used by low funded hospitals and some petty pharmacies. Our hospital had to get from them when we suddenly ran out of supply and needed those drugs urgently.’
‘How long did the substandard drugs business last for?’
‘I don’t really know how long they’ve been operating before I met them, but the operations stopped totally in 2015.’
‘But I’m still wondering how they could operate at all, how come no report or investigation was made?’ Tarasha asked with a confused look on her face. She opened up the laptop again.
‘I’m aware that after the Danjuma’s incident, they began to repackage the drugs into similar containers of well known pharmacies in Nigeria. Several of these pharmaceutical companies were shut down by the new government that came in in 2016 because the substandard drugs were found in their names and containers . I think it must be the reason for the end of operations in 2015.’
‘So, do you think we can get proofs for all these?’
‘Well…’ the man sounded not sure. ‘We might get some proofs but we have to visit some locations in Lagos.’
‘Okay,’ she said and opened back the laptop.
There was silence for the next two minutes.
‘But sir… Do you have anything else you think we can use against Elvis Richards?’ Tarasha asked after the silence.
The man who was still reading through the docvments Tarasha opened on her laptop stopped and leaned backward. He closed his eyes for a moment as if to recall something. Then he opened it again. ‘I have some docvments in my house at Nnewi, if you’re ready we can go there to get them.’
‘Oops! That reminds me, your family has officially declared you missing. What do you want to do about them?’
The man stared at Tarasha blankly. Sadness overwhelmed him. He didn’t know what to do. He had expected that she would tell him what to do instead of asking.
‘How did you know they are looking for me?’ he asked.
‘I heard it being said when I went to get paint earlier and I’m also with your phone, you’ve gotten a lot of messages already,’ she replied and took out his phone from the laptop bag. ‘Would you like to speak with your son?’ she asked as she gave it to him.
‘What would I tell him?’ he replied.
‘Tell him not to worry about you and to make sure the rest of the family is also calm. Also assure him that you’ll be back soon, let him know you’re just taking a short break somewhere.’
8pm
Crescent Moon Hotel
‘These clothes are very useless to us,’ Dan said flinging back the clothes to the bed.
‘I wasn’t expecting her to leave anything useful behind though, we just had to come so that we could write a complete report.’ Dave said to him.
‘Well… Let’s get out of here, you need to get some rest.’ Dan said, proceeding towards the door.
The were in the room previously occupied by Tarasha. It had been locked since the last night by the other SSS officials and nobody was allowed to enter. Both Dave and Dan had SSS tagged masks on their faces which covered only some parts of their faces just to make them unrecognizable when seen without the masks. The masks looked more like helmets. The head security officer of the hotel was there with them, standing, with his back resting against the wall beside the door and watching while the agents ransacked the room.
‘Officer Clement, I do need to thank you for your time and patience. I’m sorry about the loss of your men and the disruption of your normal activities.’ Dave said as he turned towards the door. Dan was already out and walking away slowly.
‘It’s okay, we could have made history if we got her yesterday,’ Clement replied in a rather low tone.
‘Yea we could have,’ Dave sighed. ‘But it’s sad that she still got away.’
‘We made a good trial at least, I think we put in our bests, she was just too ready.’ Clement stopped to lock the door after both of them stepped outside. Dan had stopped at the front of the lift and was waiting for them.
‘The vehicle she got away with hasn’t been located anywhere, I heard the owner was at the police station to make report.’
‘Yes, the SSS general was at the station when he came, so he told me about it when he came here. But we’ve driven the Chevrolet you left at the front of his house to the SSS office for repair of the door.’
They began to walk towards Dan.
‘I hope there’s no other problem with the Chevrolet?’
‘No, there was no scratch on it.’
‘What about the owner of the Zenvo ST1? Has anyone come to ask about it?’
‘No, not yet.’
‘Well, I think I saw the owner of the Chevrolet that afternoon when I drove in. Those cars are expensive, I trust their owners to come very soon.’
‘Yea… But that Chevrolet,’ Clement stopped walking. ‘A police Inspector was here this morning, they said it was likely owned by a kidnapper.’
‘Kidnapper?’
‘Yea.’ Clement affirmed. They continued walking towards Dan but at a slower pace. ‘A wealthy Doctor was said to have left his residence with a girl in that car and didn’t return home that night. So they traced the car and found out it came here yesterday afternoon but didn’t know where it went to from here, they couldn’t find the footages.’
‘What’s wrong with these NSCC guys these days? Their system crashed when we needed them last night and that is what has been happening for the past few months,’ Dave said, wondering what Mr Sylvester and the others were doing at the headquarters. He knew they must have been trying the number he submitted to them.
‘They just need to improve, I believe it was the overload and unusual collection of the footages that crashed it last night.’
‘But isn’t that what they’re meant for?’
The man gave no reply.
‘So, that girl kidnapped the old man?’ Dave asked.
‘No, the officer called back this evening to ask if they had come for the car. He said it wasn’t a kidnap. The old doctor called them in the afternoon to tell them he was fine and he just needed a break from his family and that’s why he went with her.’
‘Hehe,’ Dave chuckled. ‘I thought the man was her father when I saw them together yesterday. I was wondering how that kind of young girl was riding that expensive car, but I believe the wealthy doctor must have gotten the car for her,’ Dave said in a light tone. The picture of the girl on low cut appeared in his mind again and he continued to marvel at her beauty even though she now seemed more like a runs girl to him.
Three of them stepped into the elevator and the door closed.
*
*
9:12pm
Tarasha’s Residence, Udoka Estate.
‘The rain has just begun heavily,’ Tarasha said as she walked into the man’s room.
‘I can hear the sound,’ the man replied, buttoning up his shirt, one of the new shirts Tarasha had gotten from him.
‘I brought this for you, you might need it.’ she said as she passed a blue cardigan to him.
‘Thank you,’ he collected it gratefully. ‘Are we leaving right away?’ he said, noticing she was fully dressed up in her usual black on black.
‘No, we’ll wait for the rain to subside a little, it’s quite windy now and I won’t like to drive yet.’
‘Okay,’ he said and began to put on the cardigan. He said something which wasn’t audible because of the cardigan covering his voice as he wore it.
‘What did you say?’ Tarasha asked.
‘Why are you on black?’
‘Dark colours are good for dark periods of the day,’ she replied.
He looked at her face and nodded in agreement.
‘I want to believe your security officials at the place won’t give us trouble,’ Tarasha implied.
‘I’ll try to make them not to, but let’s be prepared for them. I’ll prefer if there’s a way we can go in without going through them, they know my family has been looking for me and may want to raise an alarm even if I tell them not to.’
‘I’ll take care of that, we can help them sleep for two hours and forget all that happened when they wake.’
‘I have two guards there and two relatives, are you going to inject them all benryl?’
‘I don’t have to inject them for it to get into their bodies, but anybody that comes in sight will get it.’
The man replied with silence and proceeded to put on his shoes.
‘We’d leave this state finally on Friday, I hope you’re ready to depart from your family.’ she said and proceeded towards the wardrobe.
The man exhaled and inhaled deeply for a moment. He repeated the process one more time before he spoke. ‘Where are we going to from here?’
‘I can’t tell you for now,’ She stopped at the front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. She placed a palm to press down her neatly combed hair gently and rubbed her forehead with the hair cream that stained her palm.
‘How long are we going to stay? Or how long do I have to be there with you?’ he asked another question.
‘For as long as it takes to achieve the purpose we’re coming together for,’ she replied.
The man closed his eyes briefly and took in a breath. ‘Will I be allowed to make calls to my family?’ he asked as he opened his eyes.
‘I’m too not sure I’ll allow you do that, but if it’s ever gonna happen, it’ll be monitored.’
There was silence for some minutes. Tarasha turned to the other side of the bed and sat on the footstool. Both of them seemed to be waiting for the intensity of the rain to reduce.
‘Do you know why I’m taking you with me?’ Tarasha asked, looking at the man’s face.
The looked back at her with a pitiful look on his face. He nodded sideways to answer ‘No’.
‘I just don’t feel like killing you,’ Tarasha voiced out, feeling embarrassed at herself. ‘The normal thing is to kill you after extracting the information I need from you but I’ve not been moved to do that especially because you’ve not given me any trouble. But I won’t allow you return to your family until we’re done, allowing you return would be dangerous for me andit’ll be more dangerous for you because I can still come back to kill you and your family members whenever I want, no matter where you run to. But now that you’re traveling with me, I still promise you a bullet in your brain if you ever mess up.’
Tarasha closed her eyes briefly after talking. She knew something was wrong with her. Killing people haven’t been easy for her for sometime and it even became more difficult after she was saved from death by Cole and Henry. However, she didn’t tell the man the real truth. Even though she didn’t want to kill him, the main reason she was taking him along with her in a healthy manner was because she believed he could still have more information than they were going to retrieve from his house that night. She could have injected him substances that’ll make him have a total memory loss or another that’ll turn him to a dummy and render him useless even if she wanted to preserve his life.
The man stared blankly into the air. He believed every word she said. He had seen the crime scenes on the news that afternoon and knew what she was capable of doing. And maybe he still could prevent the bullet from entering into his head by helping her against her targets and at the same time ‘helping his nation’ like she had put it and by that he would totally avert the nightmares he had been having.
_______
Abuja.
‘So, you really want us to go out tomorrow?’ Cole typed into the chat box with Patricia and clicked on send.
There was a smile on his face as he scrolled up the messages again. It was her first time of ever asking him for an outing first, even though she only suggested it indirectly.
‘No, it’s not compulsory that we go out. I could come over to your house. Probably prepare dinner for us if you allow me and then we can spend the night together. I’ll leave from your place to work tomorrow.’
The smile on Cole’s face totally disappeared after reading her message. On a normal day, he was supposed to be glad that she offered to come to his home. He should have started preparations immediately for things he would do to her and with her when she comes. But the reverse was the case here.
‘But what about your parents, will they like it if you sleep out?’ Cole sent his reply.
‘They won’t know where I slept. I could just tell them I have to work late that day and that I’ll be sleeping at the staff’s quarters.’ her reply came in.
Cole heaved a sigh on reading the new message. He had houses in Lagos he would have taken her to if they were to be in the state but he had never thought of having a house in Abuja even though he had the money to buy several, the reason being that their stay in Abuja wasn’t planned to be a long or a permanent place of residence.
‘I won’t like you lying to your parents just because you want to spend time with me,’ he replied, surprised at rate he had turned to a good moral adviser.
‘Why? I’m a woman and not a girl anymore, so they can’t dictate what I should do.’ she replied.
‘I know but I’ll prefer that they know me and know that you’re coming to my place,’ Cole typed and sent. He really wished the argument wasn’t going to continue. He didn’t have much excuses to give anymore.
‘Then why are we wasting time? I think you should come to my place this weekend so that I can introduce you to my family as my boyfriend.’
Boyfriend? Cole gasped. Nobody had ever introduced him as a boyfriend in his life since he never had the chance to keep a girlfriend. And he also thought that it was only fiances that were introduced to families.
He sat up and rested his back against the headboard. He exited the messenger and opened a web browser. It was time for him to get a personal house in Abuja. He knew he would find a good one within minutes of checking.
‘Hey?’ another message entered from Patricia. She could see he had read her message but didn’t reply. ‘Are you coming to visit my parents?’
‘Ermm… Don’t you think we’re taking things too fast?’ he typed and sent.
‘Do you love me?’ she replied in less than ten seconds.
‘Yes, you know I do.’
‘Isn’t that what matters?’
Cole heaved a sigh and shook his head. He began to consider the option of going to see her parents. It wasn’t really a dangerous idea for him but it could be for her.
Getting an apartment was the solution for him. Once he finds a house and pay for it the next day, then he would be able to take her somewhere whenever she requested to go to his house.
‘Are you coming?’ her message entered before he could type anything again. ‘Please don’t say no if you really love me.’
Cole let out a breath, he felt weak. ‘Okay, this Saturday.’ he finally replied.
___
Three minutes later
‘Yeah! The dummy has finally agreed to come see my parents,’ Lizzy typed into her second phone. She was also chatting with Dave.
‘Wow! How did you go about it?’
‘I asked him to prove his love with it.’
‘Nice, so how do we make plans for him?’ the reply came in.
‘You have to arrange parents for me,’ she replied and dropped the phone to reply to Victor’s message on the other phone.
‘I’ll get back to you tomorrow,’ Dave replied.
______
April 24, 2031
10am
Crescent Moon Hotel, Anambra.
‘Sir, that wasn’t her face.’ Dave said to Clement in the security office. They were the only two persons there. Since a great number of the security men of the hotel had died days ago, the office had always been scanty with only Clement and his assistant there most of the times.
‘I don’t understand, do you mean that the face captured by our cameras was unrecognizable?’ Clement asked with a frown.
‘No, the pictures from the cameras were clear enough but we still couldn’t find her as a registered citizen of the nation or even in the guests records.’ Dave replied, shaking uncomfortably in his seat.
‘That means it’s a problem from the records,’ Clement suggested.
‘No, it isn’t. We’ve never been able to trace Samantha Osman’s records from the start.’
‘What of the records as AK Evelyn which she used here?’
‘The AK Evelyn she registered here isn’t the same as the one I thought, it is something else not Alexander Kimberly Evelyn, Dave said.
‘Okay, if you know the full for the initials of her new name, why don’t you trace through that?’
‘We’re doing that already but I’m sure it won’t lead us to her, she would have discarded the name and cleared the records like she does always.’
Dave’s phone began to ring at that moment. He politely excused himself from Clement to receive the call.
‘Good morning Agent Godwin,’ Dave said into the phone.
‘Good morning Agent Dave, you’re needed at the headquarters right away.’ Agent Godwin replied from the other end.
‘I hope there’s no problem,’ Dave replied, a frown appeared on his face.
‘It’s not a problem really, but it’s urgent. It’s about the car you used that day.’
‘The Zenvo? I thought we addressed the owner yesterday. We pleaded with him that it might take some time for the government to release us money except the car is insured.’
‘No, it’s the Chevrolet.’
‘Oh!’ Dave paused a bit. ‘Okay, but my colleague is at the office, he can address their questions for me.’
‘No, he’s tried but couldn’t answer all. You need to be here, because the owner is claiming there’s something missing in her car.’
‘Something missing? That’s not true. The only problem is the door which was destroyed.’
‘So you need to come say that yourself to the owner.’
‘Okay, I’ll be there in few minutes.’
‘We told her that you are a doctor and you only used her car to go to the scene to give first aid to the victims.’
‘Okay, that’s fair enough.’
‘Yea, we’re waiting for you.’
Dave got up from his seat immediately he ended the call. ‘I’ve got to go now,’ he said to Clement.
‘No problem,’ Clement also rose up from his own seat to see him off. ‘So what’s the direction of your investigation now?’ Clement asked as they walked towards the car park.
‘No direction yet, Samantha has destroyed the credit card I traced here.’ Dave said with a sad tone. ‘I don’t think we’ll stay up to two more days here. I’m not sure she’s in this state anymore.’
‘But what if she launches an attack elsewhere after you leave?’
‘For now, I don’t have an idea where she is or what she might be doing next. If she does anything after we leave, the men of the SSS here will take over, we’ll come back if there’s any need.’
‘Alright, I wish you goodluck with your work.’
‘Thank you sir.’ Dave gave a light smile. ‘I would like to apologise again for the troubles we caused here and for all the men you lost.’
‘It’s okay Agent, it had to happen. I just hope you help us push it and make the government provide the adequate compensation for their families.’
‘We’d try our best,’ Dave replied. He shook hands warmly with Clement again before he made his way into the passengers’ side of the car. A driver was waiting in the car for him.
Dave groaned slightly as he sat, the wound at it back was opening up because of lack of rest. He closed the door and put on his seatbelt before signaling to the driver that he was ready. Clement stepped back and watched until they drove away.
Dave took a glance at all the cars in the hotel compound as they drove towards the gate. The sounds of gunshots and the screams of men falling returned to his memory. He felt guilty for their deaths and wished he could do something to reverse it. But he knew it wasn’t his fault. He had done his best to avoid a shoot out that day but had no option other than it as he didn’t want to let Samantha go.
He tried to change his line of thoughts as he let out a deep breath but couldn’t until they got to the gate.
The security men opened the damaged gate as he approached them, Dave remembered the lady in the Chevrolet again. He wondered if she was the same person waiting for him at the SSS office and thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to meet her if she was. He began to think of words to say to her when they meet.
*
16 minutes later.
‘Agent Dave,’ Agent Godwin offered him a handshake as they met at the entrance of the reception.
‘Sir, where’s she waiting?’
‘In the lounge with your partner,’ Godwin answered. ‘I am going out already, I’ll be back before you guys leave. Remember that you’re a doctor.’
‘Okay,’ Dave smiled and let go of the man’s hand. He made his way to the lounge, hoping that Dan would have left there before he got there so that he could have enough privacy with the lady.
He was disappointed when he got to the lounge, not because Dan was still in the lounge but because the lady there was different from the one he saw in the car two days before. This one was not as beautiful as the other but wasn’t ugly as well, she had her hair plaited and all falling back.
‘Good afternoon ma’am,’ he greeted as he walked closer.
‘Good afternoon sir,’ Tarasha squinted at his face. She wondered what kind of doctor he was, the bandage on his head wasnt as neat as it should be which showed that it needed to be redressed and it was also obvious that he was a victim of a recent accident.
‘You own the Chevrolet?’ Dave asked as he settled in the seat close in front of her.
‘Yes, I do and are you the doctor who drove in it?’ She didn’t take her eyes off his face as they talked and It didn’t take long before she recognized him and remembered how he drove in with the taxi that day she was leaving. She recalled that their eyes met briefly and that he kept staring at her until she drove out through the gate.
‘Yes,’ Dave replied. He looked towards Dan with a frown. ‘Have you guys confirmed that she’s the owner?’
‘Yes, she has all the necessary docvments and knows everything about the car.’ Dan answered.
‘Okay.’ Dave looked back to the lady and let out a fake smile. ‘Sorry, I just needed to be sure.’
‘It’s okay. I’m sorry I had to make you rush down from where you were. I thought I dropped a folder in the car that day but I’ve been informed that it has been found. I didn’t bring it along with me to the hotel that day.’
‘Okay, so you have no need to see me again?’
‘Yes, I’m sorry. I just decided to wait for you and apologize since they said you were already close,’ she said and got up to her feet.
Dave flashed a look at Dan to confirm and Dan shrugged in confirmation.
‘But… I thought I saw your car earlier that day in the hotel driven in by someone else,’ Dave said as he got up from his seat.
‘The SSS director and this your friend, already confirmed that i what you saw wasn’t my car, the car you saw was different.’ she replied. Her phone began to ring in her bag and she stopped to search for it.
‘Different?’
‘Yes, Agent Dave.’ Dan confirmed. ‘Her Chevrolet drove down to the hotel from Asaba, the other one you saw came from an hospital in Ngozika Estate. The car couldn’t have been in two locations at a time.’
Dave felt somehow confused. He knew it was possibly true because most Chevrolet Camaro were painted in that same color but he wondered how they had to use the same hotel that day. He however had to accept since Dan had confirmed that the cars were different. All his hopes of meeting the beautiful girl on low cut totally diminished. Not that he really felt lust for her but there was just a strange desire to get closer to the low cut lady.
‘It’s okay ma’am, sorry for stopping you again.’ Dave said to her.
‘Thank you doctor,’ she said and raised her phone to her ear as she turned. Her finger touched the volume button at the side of the phone.
April 25, 2031
Asokoro, Abuja.
2:49pm
‘Cole, look out for a pharmacy as you drive, we need to get some drugs.’ Tarasha said to Cole as he drove them home in the car from the airport. She and Dr Martin Ekwueme sat comfortably at the backseat of the car.
‘Okay boss,’ Cole nodded. He looked at the rearview mirror to look at the man’s face again. He knew it must be the man who needed to buy drugs, Tarasha had never stopped to buy drugs on the road without taking a license of representing a hospital or clinic.
His eyes met with Tarasha’s in the mirror and he looked away . He knew she had caught him observing the man and would be wondering what he had in mind.
He flashed a look at the mirror again, this time to have another view of her face but she had moved closer to the door and her face couldn’t be seen except he adjusted the mirror position. What caught his interest on her face was her new hairstyle. He hadn’t imagined she was going to cut her hair when she asked him to suggest to her a good salon in Lagos.
‘There’s a pharmacy over here,’ Cole said and moved to the slow lane of the road, he reduced the speed and put on the trafficator.
‘Where’s the list of drugs?’ Tarasha asked Dr Martin.
‘Here, just five drugs.’ Dr Martin pulled out a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Tarasha.
Cole parked at a reasonable space in front of the pharmacy and took off his seatbelt.
‘Get these drugs and three bottles of water,’ Tarasha said to him, handing him the list of drugs and a debit card.
Cole collected the items from her and stepped out from the car. ‘Can I also get myself a bottle of water?’ he asked Tarasha after closing the door.
‘The third bottle was for you,’ she replied him. He nodded and mumbled some inaudible words before walking away.
‘Who’s he?’ Martin Ekwueme asked after Cole left.
‘He’s Cole,’ Tarasha replied briefly.
‘Your driver?’
‘He’s Cole,’ she repeated.
‘Okay,’ the man stopped and refrained from asking more questions about Cole. Tarasha had already told him she wasn’t going to be answering all his questions and that he would have to either keep shut or find out some things by himself.
*
*
Twenty minutes later
‘Just take those ones in, I’ll bring the remaining with me.’ Tarasha said to Cole who was trying to overload himself with the bags in the boot.
Cole pulled the big traveling box in his right hand and held Tarasha’s backpack in his left. He left Tarasha at the boot with the briefcase and a cubic shaped bag.
‘Can I help with any?’ Tarasha heard Dr Ekwueme offer.
She let out a fake smile and said, ‘Don’t bother, just follow him inside.’On a usual day she would have said, ‘Old man, get the f*** in and stop misbehaving.’
She closed the boot and carried the bags in her hands, following the man behind at his pace.
Dr Martin glanced around, taking a good view of the house as he proceeded towards the entrance from the car park. It was where he was going to live till Samantha said she was done with him, he assumed. It looked beautiful to him but he wondered if it would be livable like a normal residence or more of an assasin’s crib. Anyone it was, he was ready to live there until it was over. Tarasha had threatened that the lives of his family members were at stake if he ever tried to betray her. She had said it lightly and indirectly, but he wasn’t going to take it lightly especially after he had watched the news on TV with her the last night and saw the recap of the blood scenes at the hotel. From that he also got to know why she repainted the Toyota Yaris they left in the compound at Anambra state. Tarasha seemed to be someone of two different personalities to him; the first a lovable innocent girl who was ready to listen and help always and the second personality, a ruthless assasin.
Tarasha followed patiently behind the slow walking aged man until they got to the corridor and she found her way to his front.
‘Where is she?’ she heard Henry’s voice as she stepped into the living room. She halted at the entrance as her eyes met with his, he was standing at the entrance of the corridor leading to the rooms. She knew her arrival must have taken him by surprise, she asked Cole to come to the airport without saying any word about her arrival.
‘Omotara,’ Henry mumbled under his breath with his eyes widely shone at her as if he couldn’t believe that she was really there.
For reasons unknown, Tarasha could not move any further from where she was and Henry also froze for sometime. Their eyes connected and something similar to an electric current surged through Tara’s body.
Henry began to walk close to her while she remained at the same spot. Dr Martin was now standing behind her and couldn’t pass because she blocked the entrance, he however didn’t say a word but waited patiently to see what was making her remain there.
Her bags dropped from her hands as Henry got closer and he didn’t not allow her say anything before he pulled her into warm embrace.
Tarasha remained stiff for a while, not knowing how to respond as it felt strange. The only time she knew how to respond to an embrace was when it was being given to her by someone she was trying to lure to his death or extract an important piece of information from. She finally realized that he was holding her tightly and one of his hands was at her back and the other close to her waist, then she responded by placing her hands at the same position his was.
‘I thought I was going to lose you,’ Henry said, finally releasing her from his grip.
She stared at his face passionately without knowing which words to respond with. Her hands found it’s way to his back and pulled his face closer by his neck to her own face for a kiss.
Someone cleared his throat as their lips touched each other’s.
‘I’m sorry, but I’m quite tired, you have to allow me pass first so that I can give you all the time to enjoy yourselves.’ the doctor said.
Both of them disengaged and Tarasha picked up her bags from the road to allow the man pass.
‘Good afternoon,’ Dr Martin greeted Henry as he walked past to the centre of living room.
‘Wow! We have someone new,’ Henry exclaimed with a chuckle, his surprise causing him not to return the man’s greeting. His eyes followed the man as the man walked to one of the sofas and sat down tiredly.
‘Yes, we do.’ Tarasha replied him and attempted to proceed forward with the bags. Henry stopped her and collected the bags from her. He then carried it to the rooms while she joined Dr Martin where he was seated.
She walked to his front and stopped right there with her back turned to him. Then she turned back and squatted at the same time. He stared at her face wondering what she was up to.
She could see the fright in his eyes as her eyes met with his. She held her breath for a moment. ‘Don’t get too familiar with me, it’s dangerous,’ she said in a serious warning tone.
He nodded fearfully, holding his breath in his throat as she stared at his face coldly. She finally got up and walked away, leaving him to keep wondering what she meant by her warning. He couldn’t tell if it was connected to what he just did at the door or if it was something else entirely.
*
*
Control room
‘I want the list of all NAFDAC’s director generals from 2008 till date,’ Tarasha said to Cole who was working on another system while she worked on the master system.
Cole nodded in response and began his work. He knew what she meant when she said ‘list’, it meant a complete profile and details of each one of the director generals and not just their names.
The door to the control room opened and Henry stepped in. He was surprised to see Tarasha working already, he had expected that she would take some time to rest, probably a day off before resuming work. He closed the door gently and walked towards her. He stopped behind her chair and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at what she was doing.
Her body twitched as Henry’s hands touched her shoulders. She hoped that he didn’t notice the twitch and continued with her work without looking at him. His fingers spread around her shoulders for a while gently caressing her neck and shoulder muscles.
‘Who’s he?’ Henry suddenly stopped what he was doing and stared at a picture she just opened. Previously, she had been on the Nigeria Citizen’s directory portal and had hacked into it. She then minimized and opened an USB device connected to the computer. The file she clicked on was what displayed the image Henry was asking about. The man had a bandage around his head.
‘He’s the SSS agent who traced me to Anambra state,’ she replied, not getting rightly the pronunciation of ‘Anambra’.
‘How did you get him? I thought the news reported that his identity was unknown.’ Henry asked.
Cole’s attention had also been drawn to them from where he was and was staring at them, wishing he could see that SSS agent that was able to trace Tarasha.
‘Yes, no one knows his identity except the top Security agents. I had to go the SSS head office to find out,’ Tarasha replied.
‘Boss, can I see his picture? He could be someone I know,’ Cole said and got up to his feet.
Tarasha opened the picture back for Cole to have a view.
Cole stared at the picture for close to thirty seconds. ‘His face is familiar,’ Cole said. ‘How did you get his picture?’
‘I captured him with the back camera of my phone,’ Tarasha replied and exited the image.
‘Wow!’ Cole exclaimed and returned to his seat, imagining how Tarasha was able to take the picture boldly without the SSS guy knowing.
Henry dragged a seat close to Tarasha and sat beside her, watching as she selected the main features of the face in the picture and exported it to the citizen’s directory checker. She clicked on search by passport and relaxed back as it began to load.
‘I think I know who the guy is,’ Cole suddenly spoke again after three minutes. He had thinking about it since he saw the picture. ‘That guy is a journalist,’ Cole added.
Tarasha glanced at him without saying anything back, he didn’t sound too sure of his assertion. She looked back to the screen in front of her. The search on the citizen’s directory was slow and had only loaded two percent. ‘You’re not sure,’ she turned back to Cole.
Henry moved his chair backwards to allow her see Cole easily.
‘I am, I’ve seen him at several crime scenes with cameras and recorders.’
‘He can’t be a journalist, he was the SSS official that came after me in the Chevrolet.’
‘Did you confirm he was a officer of the SSS from their office?’
‘No, they would never confirm that. They told me he only had to use the car to pick up one of the injured officer and that he was working as a doctor close to the hotel.’ she said and looked back at the screen, it was now at nine percent.
‘I’m sure he’s a journalist, I’ve seen him with the desert reporters’ badge at crime scenes several times.’ Cole insisted.
‘Desert reporters?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’
She minimized the current window and opened another app. ‘We can get more information about him if he’s truly a journalist for desert reporters.’
______
Aguda House, Aso Rock.
Elvis Richards made slight noises with the soles of his shoes and the walking stick as he made his way down the stairs. The Chairman of the NIS and the Inspector General of police who were waiting for him in the living room already got alerted of his coming by the sounds made. The NIS Chairman rose up to his feet as the Vice President approached while the IG who was in his wheelchair remained seated.
‘Good afternoon sir,’ the NIS Chairman and IG chorused.
‘Good afternoon gentlemen,’ Elvis Richards stretched forth his hand to the NIS man first before going to the IG. ‘Please be seated,’ he said and also located a seat. ‘I believe the both of you know it’s really important we meet. We need to really know what happened in Anambra two days ago and I think you’re in the best position to answer us,’ he concluded by facing the NIS Chairman.
‘Yes sir, reports from my men have already been sent to me and I transferred them to the IG already.’ the NIS Chairman said.
‘So, IG, what have you been able to make out of the report sent to you?’ the Vice President turned to Chief Rikau.
‘Sir, we couldn’t make out anything tangible, her going to Anambra doesn’t really make any sense except she went there to kill someone else we don’t know about and who isn’t connected to us.’
‘What about your Undercover agent who traced her there?’
‘He’s still there but with company now, they’ve not made any progress on her since she escaped that morning and they should be returning here tomorrow morning.’
‘Is he fine now? I mean how Undercover agent.’
‘Not yet, he goes in and out of the hospital every now and then to redress his wounds.’
‘I don’t know why but I’m having a feeling that wh@tëver she went to do in Anambra is still connected to us,’ the Vice President said thoughtfully.
‘I don’t think so,’ Chief Rikau replied. ‘I think she went on another different mission, she’s an assassin who kills for money, so she could just take another job.’
There was a brief silence.
‘Well, I want that your man thoroughly monitored from now on, he seems to be making more progress than the police team is doing and that’s why I asked you not to suspend him.’ Elvis Richards said to the NIS Chairman.
‘Yes, the agent is efficient and intelligent.’ the NIS man replied.
‘So we have to work with him closely and provide him the necessary support needed.’
‘Yes sir, we would.’
‘Okay. Another thing I wanted to let you know is that I’ll be functioning more from here henceforth,’ the Vice President said and paused to see their reactions. He noticed a visible change in the looks on their faces, especially on Chief Rikau’s face. ‘Listen men, I’m not trying to escape from there. As you know my house there is also well secured. But I’ve just made my intention to contest for the presidency next year known to my party and common sense tells that I stay here.’
‘Oh! I’ve been expecting that,’ the IG said with a bright smile.
‘Yeah, now. It’s here,’ Chief Elvis smiled back.
‘Wow! Congratulations already sir, I believe no one else deserves the position better than you do.’ the NIS Chairman commented.
‘Thank you,’ Chief Elvis said as he dipped his hand into his pocket to take out his phone. He checked the screen, his daughter was calling. He silenced it and held it in his hand.
‘So, I guess the primaries are holding very soon right?’ Chief Rikau asked.
‘Yes, before the end of the year.’ he replied. His phone was vibrating again, his daughter was calling again. ‘Please excuse me misters, permit me to answer this call, she won’t let my phone rest if I don’t.’ he said before clicking on the green button.
‘Hello dear,’ he said into the phone with a smile.
‘Hi Dad, where are you?’ the tiny voice was audible to him only.
‘I’m in the house,’ he replied.
‘Which one?’
‘The Villa,’ he replied.
‘Okay, I’m on my way there now.’ she said.
‘Hey, I’m quite…’ he tried to tell her not to come but she already ended the call. He looked at Chief Rikau’s face and shook his head with a smile.
‘Isn’t that Vivian, is she in the country?’ Chief Rikau asked.
‘Yes, but I thought she was in Lagos, only for her to tell me she’s on her way here already.’ the Vice President replied.
‘Hahaha…’ Chief Rikau laughed heartily. ‘The lastborns of the house can be full of surprises most times.’
‘This one is surely a bundle of surprises everytime, she doesn’t take no for an answer.’
_______
‘Why is his name only written as DJ in the citizen’s directory?’ Tarasha asked aloud, staring at the computer with a confused look. After waiting close to an hour for the search to be completed, it loaded very scanty details after it finished loading.
‘What other details does it show?’ Cole asked from his seat. Henry was no longer in the room with them.
‘It shows his previous occupation as a student and shows his hubby as swimming,’ she answered him.
‘No address or present occupation?’
‘None.’ She folded her arms and rested her back. ‘There’s no way we’re going to confirm if he’s affiliated with Desert reporters with this.’
The control room door opened and Henry entered, now on a sleeveless top and shorts. ‘Lunch has been served, I’ll advice you guys go for it before it gets cold.’ he said as he walked to the seat beside Tarasha.
As he sat, he noticed that none of them replied him and also observed the look on Tara’s face. ‘Is there any problem?’ he asked, looking at Cole.
Cole nodded a no and continued with his own work but Henry wasn’t convinced. He looked at Tara’s face, she wasn’t saying anything but was staring at the screen with a thoughtful face. He looked at the screen. A Nigerian citizen’s profile was being displayed, an old passport of boy in his mid teens was the picture there and the name showed was only ‘DJ’.
‘Is this the SSS agent’s profile? If his details are not there, it means he’s not just an official of the SSS but a special agent of the NIS.’ Henry said after skimming through the profile.
He finally got Tara’s attention. ‘What’s NIS?’she asked him.
‘National Intelligence Service, a secret division of the State Security Service.’ Henry answered. Cole was also staring at him now.
‘So, it means we can’t identify him from this directory?’ Tarasha asked.
‘You can but only with an authorized computer system.’
‘And how do we make this computer authorized?’
‘There’s no way we can make the system authorized, what makes it authorized is if it is used in the premises of the NIS Headquarters.’
‘You mean we can only access his profile from their office?’
‘Yes.’
‘That’s crazy!’ Tarasha chuckled. Going into the den of several NIS officers just to get one of them would definitely be the most stupid thing to do. ‘So, where is this NIS office?’
‘I don’t know, it’s secret and their operations are secret too.’ Henry answered.
Tarasha closed her eyes for a moment and laid back her head on the backrest of the chair. She searched her mind for another method to find the Agent. The only thing she could think of was going to meet Jumoke in Lagos but then there was a high certainty that Jumoke wouldn’t know anything about the Agent, he could have gotten the information from her secretly or even from somewhere else entirely.
‘I think I’ve also met the guy, he’s a journalist.’ Henry said, staring thoughtfully over the computer screen.
Cole and Tarasha fastened their eyes on him, wondering if he was sure of what he was saying.
‘Can I see his recent picture again?’ Henry said to Tara.
She located the gallery tab in the status bar as clicked on it. Henry got up and placed a finger on the screen, covering the bandage head in the picture. He titled his head in both directions one at a time to view the picture.
‘It’s him,’ he said as he returned to his seat. ‘David James, Desert Reporters journalist. He’s quite young and intelligent, we met thrice and worked together on one occasion.’
‘What did you do with him?’ Tarasha asked.
‘It had to do with creating a virtual server, the guy is quite good in cracking and developing too.’ Henry replied.
‘So how do we find him?’
‘I don’t know, I don’t know anything else about him apart from our work together.’
Tarasha remained silent for a moment and bit her lower lip thoughtfully, ‘I hope you’re right with this name you just provided, if you are, then we don’t have a problem with locating him anymore.’
‘He’s right,’ Cole stated boldly, getting up from his seat. He walked towards them and stopped beside Henry. ‘When you travelled, I made some research and I got to know the name of the journalist who broke the news of your mother’s kidnap,’ Cole said looking at Henry. ‘His name was David James, he’s the same person.’
Tarasha turned away from Cole and faced the other side. She smiled evilly to herself. The initials ‘DJ’ which she saw now made sense to her. The guy’s real name was David James.
‘He must have been trailing me for a long time,’ she said, turning back to the men. They both stared back at her expressionlessly. ‘I need to pay him a visit soon,’ she said and got up to her feet. ‘Now my tummy is asking for food, I’ve got to settle it.’
With that she walked out of the control room. Cole and Henry stared at each other for some seconds before Cole followed her. Henry stayed back as he had already eaten.
April 26, 2031.
3am
Tarasha squeezed his fingers as it touched her palm. It took him by surprise. He didn’t know she was awake and had been watching him as he walked towards her, leading his way with his phone’s screen backlight. She had noticed when he sat on the floor beside the sofa and was wondering what he was doing when he spent sometime there silently without doing anything.
‘So you’re awake?’ he said, raising his phone to see her face with the backlight.
‘Yes, why didn’t you switch on the light and why were you tiptoeing here like you wanted to steal something?’ she asked with a light tone.
He chuckled. ‘I didn’t want to wake you up,’ he said and tightened his fingers around hers. She pulled his arm across her body making it lay on her belly touching his Brë@šts slightly. He adjusted his seating position on the floor while she also turned towards him on three seater where she laid. ‘So why are you not sleeping?’
‘I was sleeping,’ she replied. Their faces were close to each other’s.
‘Sleeping? But you saw me tiptoeing to you,’ he questioned.
‘Yes, you woke me when you got out of your room.’
Henry was confused for a moment. He had opened and closed his door as gently as he could and the door wasn’t even one that made noise when it wasn’t even handled gently.
His phone’s backlight went off and he could barely see Tarasha’s face in the darkness.
‘How did you know I was still here?’ she asked while Henry was still trying to turn on his phone’s screen again.
‘I’ve not slept, I’ve been waiting to hear you enter your room since but I never heard the sound of your door closing.’ Henry replied.
‘Well… I just wanted to think alone in the darkness, that’s why I turned off the light but then, I slept off.’ she explained.
‘But you said I woke you up when I stepped out of my room, how is that possible? I didn’t make any noise with the door,’ Henry asked.
‘It still made some very low sounds, especially when you closed it back.’
Henry tried to remember the manner at which he closed it. ‘I closed it gently,’ he argued.
‘The whole house is silent, I can hear the gentlest sound now. Even if the noises are from different sources, I can still differentiate where each is from, I did a course on that for three years.
Henry shook his head and smiled. A brief silence followed. The phone’s backlight switched off but he didn’t bother to turn it on again.
‘That man you came with, who is he?’ Henry asked.
‘He’s Dr Martin, he worked with Elvis Richards several years ago and he seems to know a lot of the man’s secret.’ Tarasha replied, after taking some seconds to consider whether it was time to tell him or not.
‘How did you get to meet him?’
‘I got him from my research on Elvis Richards, he was the one I went to look for in Anambra.’
‘And he agreed to come here with you?’
‘Yes, he did.’
Henry let out a breath, not really sure of what to talk about anymore.
‘I was scared of losing you, I thought I would never see you again when I heard the sounds of those gunshots that night.’ Henry said in a deeply terrified voice. ‘Thank God you’re alive but…’ he stopped and gave a gasp.
‘But what?’
‘So many innocent people died,’ Henry said in a sad tone and let out a very deep breath.
‘They had to die, I was attacked,’ Tarasha said defensively and sat up, she felt he was about to judge her again. ‘There was no way I could have left there without them going down.’
‘I know, I understand that they had to die. But I think is that we should avoid such situations from reoccurring,’ he said, turning on his phone’s backlight again. She had shifted away from him to the middle of the sofa while Henry remained at the edge with his hands on the armrest where she previously laid her head.
‘I didn’t plan to fight or kill anybody there, the only ones I plan to kill remains Elvis Richards and Inspector Rikau. But anybody that comes in my way and leaves me without a choice will have to go too.’
‘But do you know we can do this without you having to kill?’ Henry asked thoughtfully. ‘Even Elvis Richards and the Inspector General.’
‘That’s not possible, I’ve told you several times that I ain’t gon take that sermon.’
‘It is very possible Tara,’ Henry insisted.
‘It isn’t,’ she argued.
‘Shh…’ Henry hushed, their voices were getting louder. He moved closer to her and positioned his elbows on her knees, he located her palms and held both in his. ‘Now, you said that man, the doctor that came home with you worked with Elvis Richards for several years.’
‘Yes, he worked with them.’ she replied, wondering what he was driving out. She tried to release her hands from his grip and fold them but he didn’t let her go.
‘And you also say he has so much information,’ Henry continued. He released one of her hands to take his phone, he turned on the flashlight and then placed the light to face up on the seat. He took her hand in his again.
‘Yes,’ she now folded her lips in and stared at him sternly.
‘Then, if we’re to go by the manner you said it, we should be able to get enough information from the man to bring these wicked men to justice.’
Tarasha shook her head at him. ‘How can you suggest that when you know that Elvis Richards can easily influence the court processes? The judiciary system here is still been control by the men at high places.’
‘I know, but we don’t have to take them to court directly.’
She stared at him without saying anything.
‘Now, for example, Inspector General Rikau was a major head of the terrorists that disturbed the nation several years ago. If we can get valid proofs of the man’s involvement from anywhere , then we can bring him down with that. If we also get valid proofs implicating the Vice President too, we can do the same with him.’
‘I still don’t understand how that is going to send them six feets down,’ she argued.
‘They would be killed or be forced to kill themselves especially if we make it in a way that none of them would be able to escape,’ Henry said. He paused to see if she understood him.
‘I still do not understand him.’
‘Simple, we can get the masses to also want them dead. That would force the system to judge them rightly but if that doesn’t happen, the cry of the masses can make international bodies come in.’
‘Hmm… So how do we make that happen?’
‘Easy, this is how…’
*
5:02am
‘Good morning Sunshine, I can’t wait for us to be at my parents house together this afternoon.’
Cole’s heart skipped a beat as he read the message. He wasn’t scared of meeting her parent, he was only afraid that it wasn’t the right time to do it. He also knew he could be putting her life in danger by associating too much with her.
He wanted to send a reply immediately to cancel off the appointment but he stopped. He had already planned it to take place during a period that Tarasha won’t need him and also planned not to stay long at the place. There was no need to change his plans now, except if the boss needed him to do something unplanned for.
‘Good morning dear, I can’t wait too. Hope you slept well,’ he typed in a reply and clicked the enter button.
He dropped the phone beside the pillow and stretched for some seconds in the bed. He stopped as he realized something, he picked his phone again and opened the messaging app, it was actually the first time Patricia would be the first to send a message in the morning. Maybe she was loving him more, he thought. Or perhaps she was taking him more serious because he was now ready to visit her family. He drew in a breath and closed his eyes. He got some kind of encouragement to meet her parents more.
Her image formed in his thoughts. He fantasized about her smooth curves and sëxy lips, how he wished he could just have a taste of her that morning. Maybe that day could be the day. They had planned to go to his new apartment together after leaving her house. That could be the opportunity he had been looking for to have a taste of her great body. Not that it mattered to him than she herself but he still longed for the opportunity.
His phone beeped in his hand again and he scrolled down to read her reply.
______
10:25am
Inspector General Rikau’s Residence, Asokoro
‘Rex, I think you should just tell us how long we should give you to kill her. We’re tired of just making empty assumptions,’ the IG complained bitterly.
‘C’mon, give me a break dude,’ Rex replied in a rude way which shocked the IG. The IG looked around to see if any of his men had not heard or seen the way he was being disrespected. Rex gulped down a glass of hot drink before he continued, ‘You give me a target without sufficient information and you’re expecting magic, you must be kidding.’ he said as he dropped the cup on the table noisily. ‘Stop bossing me around like you give me the information I need.’
They were in the same room Rex was always allowed to stay whenever he came to the IG’s house. Rex was seated on the armless chair which back was turned to the table, his legs crossed and his left hand resting on the table. A bottle of wine and a small cup was on the table just beside the computer set.
The Inspector General stared at Rex with so much anger bottled inside for some seconds, he couldn’t find words to say anymore, he only clenched his teeth and fists in anger and disgust.
‘What do you need from us?’ he asked, his fists still tightened in anger.
‘Just tell me where she is right now and her movements for the next forty eight hours, then I’ll bring her dead body to you in less than seventy hours. That’s the information you should give to an assassin if you want immediate results. But right now, I’m doing the job of an investigator too.’
The IG’s mouth was sealed after hearing his words. He still felt feed Rex wasn’t right but he had no words to counter him.
‘Let me go straight to the reason I’m here,’ Rex said after gulping another cup of wine. ‘I wanted to ask if there is anything of yours or the Vice President which Samantha Osman touched in that state she went to.’
The Inspector General stared at his face, ‘Things like?’
‘Your family, investments or property.’
‘I don’t have anything in Anambra State and the Vice President also does not have any business or family member there too.’
‘So, it meant she might have just gone for another business?’
‘Yes, as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing in Anambra that has to do with us.’
‘What about that SSS Agent who trailed her, do you know him and what useful information does he have?’ Rex asked.
‘I don’t who he is. Right now, he’s still in Anambra State but I’m aware he’d be returning today.’
‘That means you can find out who he is when he comes?’
‘No, he’s a secret agent, the only person allowed to know him is the Agency’s Chairman.’
‘Is there no way you get any details about him?’
‘I can, but I don’t know what he has to do with this,’ the Inspector General said, giving Rex a questioning look. ‘What do you need to know him for?’
‘I do not necessarily need to know him, I only need to know what he knows.’
‘If that’s what you need, I can provide you with that. He’s submitting a report to the NIS immediately he returns.’
*
*
*
1:43pm
‘Come on, they’re waiting for us already.’ Patricia said as she dragged Victor by hand into the house.
‘Wait!’ Victor pulled her back. She stopped and turned to listen to him. ‘Are you sure I’m properly dressed?’ he asked. She had painted her parents as very strict people and he tried his best to dress as responsible as possible.
‘Of course, you look perfect.’ she replied, sizing him from head to toe with her eyes. She wrapped her arms in his and pulled him along as the climbed the stairs to the balcony.
Victor couldn’t explain his anxiousness. The thoughts of having her parents reject him kept running through his mind. He felt for some reason that they might find something in him that they didn’t like and order their daughter to call off their friendship.
Patricia’s father was in the living room when they entered. He was lying on the three seater sofa with his legs crossed, a tablet device in his hands and an earpiece fixed in his ears.
He didn’t seem to notice their entrance until Patricia got to his front.
‘Pat, when did you come back?’ the man asked, sitting up and taking off his earpiece.
‘Just now, Daddy. Good afternoon sir,’ she said all smiles, bending her knees slightly in courtesy. ‘This is Victor,’ she said beckoning on Victor who was still standing afar off to come closer.
‘Victor!’ the man called with so much enthusiasm showing his complete set of teeth.
‘Good afternoon sir,’ Victor bowed slightly as he proceeded forward, the man was already stretching his hand forward to him.
‘My son,’ the man continued cheerfully as they shook hands warmly. ‘You’re welcome to our home, Patricia has said a lot of things about you already.’
Victor faked a smile and flashed a look at Patricia. He hoped she had told the father only good things about him and not how he was staring at her Brë@šts and backside when they first met.
‘You may have your seat,’ the man finally released his hand and pointed him to an adjacent seat close to the couch.
‘Thank you sir,’ Victor said as he took his seat.
‘You should go and call your mother to come see our guest,’ the man said to Patricia. She turned and smiled at him before taking the way that led into the other parts of the house.
Victor took some seconds to look around the house. It wasn’t expensively decorated but was beautiful enough. He noticed that the walls were just recently painted and the air conditioners newly installed.
‘So Victor, where are you from?’ Patricia’s father began. ‘I mean your state of origin.’
‘From Edo state sir,’ Victor replied, focusing his gaze on the man’s face. The man had a round face with a flat nose, his hair, partly grey and already halfway the top of his head.
‘Where in Edo State?’ he asked.
‘Benin sir,’ Victor replied.
‘Benin!’ the man gave out a bright smile. ‘I served in Benin and also spent the first five years after service working there. I have a lot of friends there. So can you tell me which area in Benin?’
Now Victor was scared to continue. He didn’t lie when he said he was from Benin but his fear was the man knowing more about him if he mentioned the exact location. If the man knew his area, then research could be easily made on his background and details he would want to hide revealed.
Patricia and her mother joined them in the living room at that moment, rescuing Victor from his tight situation.
‘So, is this the young man who wants to marry my daughter?’ Patricia’s mother said in a lively tone as she approached them. She was short and fat. She had a round face just like her husband and walked like someone who was struggling to support the weight of her body on her legs. However, she was neatly dressed and her hair was well plaited. She had an apron on her body which showed that she was coming from the kitchen.
‘Good afternoon ma,’ Victor stood to greet her, managing to put on a smile.
‘Good afternoon my dear,’ she walked close to him and gave him a side hug before going to the sofa just opposite him. Patricia stopped behind Victor’s seat and rested her elbows on the top of the backrest. ‘Pat, aren’t you going to entertain your husband?’ she said to Patricia.
‘Oh! Mum, thanks. I’m okay for now,’ Victor tried to stop Patrica from going.
‘No, you can’t just be seated like that,’ the woman insisted. ‘Pat, get your husband fruit juice while we wait for the food.’
Cole took in a deep breath. He didn’t know whether to feel welcomed or uncomfortable now that her mother was already referring to him as her husband, does it mean that she accepted him already. She also asked him when she entered that was he the man who wanted her daughter’s hand in marriage. It meant Patricia must have told her parents that he was her fiance. He was also amazed at the way he was welcomed, he was expecting a thorough scrutiny by both parents.
‘Yea, I’m very hungry too, I would not mind a cup of juice first too.’ Patricia’s father joined in.
‘Always hungry Papa Pat,’ the woman jeered at him.
‘Yes o, Saturdays are my free days, allow me eat as much as I can please.’ the man replied back jovially.
‘So Victor,’ the woman called to his surprise. ‘You didn’t answer my question.’
Victor stared at her inquisitively, not knowing what question he didn’t answer.
‘I asked if you are the man that wants to marry my daughter.’
He let out a smile, feeling embarrassed as his eyes met with the man’s own. ‘Yes, by the grace of God,’ he responded shyly. He was surprised at the words which came out of his mouth. He could tell where he got ‘by the grace of God from’. Now, Patricia must explain to him why she told them he had asked to marry her.
‘You’re welcome my son, feel at home.’ she said with a smile and relaxed back.
‘Thank you ma.’
‘So what job so you do?’ Patricia’s father asked and Victor’s gaze turned to him immediately.
‘I run my firm under AA group of companies.’
‘What do you do in your firm?’
‘I deal with exporting Nigerian made products, so it means I serve as a mediator between the indigenous production industries here and the distributors in other countries.’
‘That sounds nice. Where do your parents stay?’
‘My parents are in Lagos state,’ Victor replied.
‘Okay, well…’ the man got up to his feet holding his device in his left hand. ‘I want to do something inside before lunch, do make sure you feel at home.’
‘Thank you sir,’ he bowed slightly and his eyes followed the man as he walked inside.
‘Let me go and check the food in the kitchen,’ the woman was already up before Victor turned his face back. ‘Pat!’ she shouted as she made her way into the kitchen. ‘Don’t you know you’re keeping the young man waiting?’
Her voice vanished as she disappeared and for once Victor was left alone in the living room. He took a moment to look round the walls of the living room again. He could see the wedding pictures of Patricia’s parent and also a family picture by the side. An old wall clock was positioned up above the flat screen TV close to the ceiling.
‘Victor, what do you think about my parents?’ Patricia said as she walked in from behind with a tray and a pack of juice in it.
‘They are wonderful people,’ Victor said, turning back to look at her. His eyes followed as she walked to the footstool and placed the tray on it and then carried everything to his front.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘You’re welcome,’ she replied with a smile and squatted beside the stool to open the fruit juice, she poured some into the cup for him. ‘You’ll like it, it’s cold.’ she said as she got up to her feet.
‘Thank you,’ he took the glass cup and took the first sip. He dropped the cup and relaxed his back. Patricia was now seated on the left side arm of his chair and her right hand placed on top of the backrest. ‘Pat,’ he changed into a serious tone and turned to her. ‘But why did you…’
His statement couldn’t be completed as she pulled him forward with his collar and covered his lips with hers. He felt powerless for that moment and couldn’t resist the kiss. She placed her arm on his head and pulled him closer.
‘Pat! Food is ready now, come and serve.’
They quickly broke away as they heard the voice of her mother approaching. Patricia got up and turned towards the kitchen immediately.
‘Victor, hope you’re enjoying yourself?’ the woman asked as she came in view.
‘Yes, thank you ma.’ Victor replied and quickly went for the cup of juice again, grateful that the woman did catch him smooching her daughter.
55 minutes later
‘I was thinking I would meet your sister today,’ Patricia said as they drove down the road. Victor was in the driver’s seat and she was at the passenger’s.
Victor gave a chuckle, ‘She’s not the kind of person that likes meeting people, except for business reasons.’
‘She seems kind of weird to me,’ Patricia said, bending her lips in a funny way.
‘People say that often,’ Victor nodded.
‘So why haven’t you moved into your own apartment since you have one?’
‘There has really been no reason to, and I also don’t want it to sound like I’m an ungrateful person, so I have to take it slowly.’
‘Okay… So, do you have foodstuffs in your house there?’
‘Ermmm… Yes, I stocked the place with some…’
‘You didn’t order from us?’ she cut in.
‘No, I did. EasyShoppers sent another of their delivery men.’
‘Okay, but you should order through me next time’
‘It’s okay ma, correction taken ma.’ he said and both of them laughed briefly. ‘But I hope you’re not planning to cook again when we get there?’
‘Why shouldn’t I cook?’ she raised a brow.
‘We just had lunch,’ he stared at her with his eyes wide open.
‘Yes, that’s lunch. Won’t we have dinner?’
‘Dinner? Isn’t it too early to think of dinner?’
‘Early? It’s not,’ she argued.
‘I think you shouldn’t bother about cooking, we could just get something to eat from an eatery close by before I drive you back home.’
‘No, I’ll cook.’ She insisted. ‘In fact, we have to stop by at the mall in front. I’m sure you don’t have the food items for the meal I’ll like to prepare.’
Victor shook his head and blew out breath from his mouth. He knew he couldn’t convince her to stop. It took them three minutes to get to the mall and she stepped out after Victor stopped the car in the parking space.
‘What exactly do you want to buy?’ Victor asked as he stepped out from the other side.
‘You don’t need to follow me,’ she said and began climb up the verandah of the mall.
‘So you think I’ll sit and wait for you in the car?’ he asked after leveling up with her.
‘I won’t stay long in there, that’s why I asked you to wait.’ she replied.
‘It doesn’t matter how long you want to stay,’ Victor said to her. He got distracted as his phone began to ring. He took it out from his pocket and checked the caller, a serious look appeared on his face as he stopped to answer the call. ‘Boss.’
‘I’m in the compound of the mall, my car is parked at the other side. Come meet me there briefly.’ Tarasha’s voice sounded through the speaker.
His heart began to beat faster as he turned back and looked towards the parking space at the opposite side to locate her car.
‘Ain’t you coming with me anymore?’ Patricia stopped to ask as she was about going in through the door.
He took the phone away from his ear to whisper to Patricia. ‘I’ll meet you.’ He put the phone back to his ear. ‘I’ve seen your car boss, I’m coming there.’
Patricia watched him for some seconds before entering the mall.
_______________
‘Good afternoon boss,’ Cole greeted and stood beside the door.
‘Get inside the car,’ she replied with a firm tone, also signaling with her head.
Cole turned to the other side and entered into the right front seat. Tarasha’s gaze lingered at the entrance through which Patricia entered the mall for some seconds before she turned to Cole.
‘I was just returning from Olusegun Obasanjo way and I saw your car driving into this place. I have a task for you and this is the best time to tell you.’ she said and turned to look at the back seat. She took off the face cap on her head and hung it on her right knee, then she stretched forth to the backseat and picked a brown paper file from there. ‘Here, take this and open it.’
Cole opened the file and took out the only A4 sized paper in it. Drawn on the paper was a table of seventeen rows and five columns. The first column contained the serial number, the next was titled ‘Name of drugs’, the third ‘Pharmaceutical Industry’s, fourth ‘Country of origin’ and the last column ‘Year of ban’.
‘The table contains the names of sixteen drugs which were banned by the World Health Agency between 2008 to 2015 but still found their way to Nigeria, and were used during those years. The drugs actually numbers more than a hundred but these sixteen drugs were the most dangerous ones,’ Tarasha explained. ‘Do you know where the drug Agency headquarters is?’
‘Yes,’ Cole replied. ‘Olusegun Obasanjo way, Wuse… Is that where you are coming from?’
‘Yes, I went there to take a survey, to check how easy to gain access into the place will be.’
‘Okay…’
‘It’s quite easy and that’s why you’ll do the job for me tonight so that we can use the proofs we get as soon as possible. I’ll leave further instructions on how to go about it at the base for you. Now listen, here’s what I want you to do.’ she stopped and narrowed her gaze on his face. ‘You would retrieve from the drug Agency files the emails sent to them from the World Health Agency informing them of the ban of these sixteen drugs during those years, also retrieve their confirmation of receipts, make sure the names and signatures of the drug agency’s chairman and Health Ministers’ of the respective years appear on them.’
‘Boss, but do you have the key to their database?’ Cole asked after her explanation.
‘I’ll leave everything including the keys you need at the base for you,’ she replied.
Cole took in a breath and nodded gently. He put back the paper into the brown file neatly.
Tarasha’s gaze moved to the side mirror by left. She could see the image of the lady Cole had come to the mall with there. The lady had gotten back to Cole’s car with a nylon bag and was standing outside, looking towards the car they were seated in.
‘That girl, who is she?’ Tarasha asked.
Cole raised his brows and squinted, he had been expecting the question. His second phone began to ring at the same time, he checked the screen , Patricia was calling. He looked back briefly and saw her standing beside the boot of his car and looking towards their direction.
‘Boss, she’s my girlfriend.’ Cole replied. He silenced his ringing phone and covered the screen with his palm.
There was silence for a while. Tarasha stared straight through the front window thoughtfully. She had no reason to come into Cole’s personal life. He was her employee and he was doing his job efficiently. She couldn’t tell him what to do with his life as far as it doesn’t affect his job with her.
‘My flight to Lagos is by 6pm. As I said, I was about calling you to meet me at the base when I saw you driving into this place. I want you to ensure that the Doctor at the base is being monitored and that the communication lines with me is kept open at all times.’
‘Okay boss. How long are you staying in Lagos?’
‘I plan to stay till tomorrow only but it could extend to next tomorrow if the need arises,’ Tarasha said and took a glance at her wristwatch. ‘I have to get my bag from the base now, Henry would drive with me to the airport,’ she stopped as she looked at the side mirror again. She could see Patricia already walking towards their direction. ‘You have to go now, your girlfriend is coming here already. Be careful.’
Tarasha put her cap back on and switched on the car engine immediately.
‘Okay boss,’ Cole said and got out of the car immediately.
‘Baby, I’m sorry.’ he apologized as he approached Patricia.
‘What are you doing there?’ Patricia said, still walking forward with her eyes on the car which Victor had come out from.
‘Nothing really, that was a friend of my sister, she asked me to take this home.’ He answered, displaying the envelope in his hands to her.
‘What’s that?’ she said, with her eyes still fixed on the car which was already driving out of the parking space. She still tried to continue going forward as they met but Victor held her by the wrists on the two hands.
‘Nothing important,’ he replied.
Her eyes followed the car as it drove off. ‘Who’s she?’ she asked, her gaze finally settling on Victor. She had watched his expression when he received the call earlier and also saw him walking towards the car direction but she thought he was only going to answer the call where she wouldn’t hear his conversation.
‘Like I said, she’s a family friend, she gave me something to give to Kimberly.’ Victor answered, now looking at Tarasha’a car which was now at the gate. He knew Patricia had seen that the person driving was a lady but he was sure she couldn’t have seen the face because of the cap Tarasha had on.
‘How did she know you were here?’
‘She came to shop here too and happened to see us driving in when she was walking to her car,’ Victor lied.
‘Okay,’ Patricia said and Roorkee to him, she faked on a smile and looked into his eyes. She rubbed his chest briefly with her palm. ‘Let’s go home.’
‘Yeah, let’s go.’
The held each other’s hand and walked back to Victor’s car. The bag Patricia had gotten from the mall was still on the boot.
‘Sorry, how did you pay for the things you bought?’ Victor asked as he saw the nylon bag.
‘Don’t worry about that,’ she replied and picked the bag from the boot. Both of them split ways, Victor to the driver’s side while she to the right hand side.
‘You can’t tell me not to worry, I should have given you my credit card when you were going in.’
‘I have enough money to pay and I’ve paid for it already.’
They both continued their argument on who should have paid as they got into the car. Soon they were on the road, driving to Cole’s new apartment.
*
*
*
5:46pm
‘Ensure that the Doctor does not have access to a phone, he shouldn’t reach any of his family members until I return.’ Tarasha said to Henry who just drove her into the airport.
‘I’ve heard you already and I’ll see to it.’ Henry replied.
‘Thank you,’ she said and took off her seatbelt. She leaned closer to him and placed a kiss on his lips before opening the door. She stepped out and strapped on her backpack. ‘Take care,’ she said before closing the door.
He watched her walk away in silence. He closed his eyes and drew in a breath after she walked into airport check-in. He prayed in his mind that she would not come across a similar situation to the case of Anambra.
He reversed out of the parking lot and turned into the roadway. He continued towards the gate, pondering on the tasks Tarasha had given for him to accomplish before she returned. The tasks were not tedious but necessary for the success of their coming operations and he also needed to get them done so as to avoid her changing her mind again about killing their targets with her own hands.
*
*
Victor and Patricia kissed each other like hungry lions. They had just entered into the living room of the house but couldn’t hold themselves to get into the bedroom before satisfying their urge for each other.
Patricia had started it, wrapping her hands around Victor’s neck immediately after he closed the door. He in turn lifted her up slightly and pressed her Brë@šts against his chest. They continued with the kiss as they moved to the centre of the living room.
Patricia broke away from the kiss and dragged Victor by hand to the couch, she pushed him to sit on the sofa. She placed her knees each by both sides and made her bum rest on his knees. Her fingers reached for the buttons of his shirt as her lips located his again. His hands also located the zip at the back of her blouse.
Twenty five minutes later, both laid unclad and tired on each other in the three seater sofa, their clothes scattered in different directions in the living room.
The sound of Victor’s ringing phone brought them back to reality.
‘I got to pick this,’ Victor said as he tried to lift her away from his body. He recognized the ringtone, it was the one assigned to his boss and colleagues.
‘Oh! Can’t you just leave it for now?’ she resisted and covered his mouth with hers again, rendering him temporarily powerless. He fell back on the chair and responded to her kisses. The kisses stopped after a minute and Patricia laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his hands around her and closed his eyes.
Her gaze fell on the brown envelope which Victor had kept on the centre table. She began to think of the best way to gain access to the content of the envelope before leaving the place.
She could hear feel and hear his breathing as his belly gently rose and fell, she felt disgusted at every sound of it and even on imagining his body still wrapped around hers. But this was the stage where she always had her men under control, she knew what they could do to get her laid and what she could do to them after it.
Victor’s phone began to ring again and this time, he lifted her up quickly before she could overpower him. He searched around for his trouser and quickly located it. He took out the phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen before answering the call. The caller was Henry.
‘When are you coming back to the base bro?’ Henry asked.
‘Henry, I may come very late but I’ll surely come back this night,’ Victor replied.
‘I thought the boss had an assignment for you.’
‘Yes and that’s why I’m coming, I would have loved to stay here till morning.’
‘Try come earlier bro, she asked me to show you some of the details you need for the task.’
‘It’s okay, I’ll try my best to get there as early as possible.’ he replied.
The call ended and Victor heaved a sigh. He stared at Patricia who was already picking up her clothes. He tried to stretch his body to check if he still had enough strength for the boss’ task that night. He realized that he would need to inject himself some drugs if he didn’t want to mess up.
Patricia still glanced at the brown file as she picked her clothes. She had heard Victor talking about returning late that night. She wished that they had agreed to sleep over that night. She would have been able to go ahead with her plan of putting the sedative in his food and would be able to check the content of the brown file and even hack into his two phones before the next morning. Now, she couldn’t put him to sleep because he’ll surely know that she drugged him if he suddenly slept off when he didn’t plan to sleep overnight there.
*
*
Lagos, Nigeria.
6:54pm
‘Which hotel did you say you’d like madam?’ the cab driver asked again.
‘Take me to any good one around this area,’ Tarasha replied.
‘There are plenty good ones o, it all depends on your money.’
‘Just take me to the closest one, forget about the money.’
‘Okay madam.’
Tarasha took out her phone again and opened the notepad application. She copied the Drug Agency’s Lagos address which she had jotted there and pasted it in another application to check the distance from where she was now. It was 29.9km and approximately 1 hour 9 minutes drive through the Apapa Oworonshoki Expressway.
‘Driver, can you take me to “Bar-deer”?’ Tarasha asked, missing the pronunciation of the location name ‘Badia’.
‘Badia ma?’ the driver asked to be sure, pronouncing the word correctly.
‘Yes, I think so. NAFDAC’s office is located there,’ Tarasha replied.
‘No ma’am, our cabs don’t go that far and I don’t even know the routes to the place very well. I just started this taxi business,’ the driver replied.
‘Okay, thank you. Just take me to an hotel. I’ll use Uber services to get to Badia,’ Tarasha replied, still mispronouncing the name of the place.
She cleared all the apps running on her phone and opened her gallery to check Nnamdi Okafor’s picture which she had downloaded on her phone. She remembered how he died as her first victim in Chief Gab’s main task. She had thought he was just a victim, not knowing that he was also reaping the harvest for his bad works.
She checked the time and calculated the duration of time she would use in the two locations she planned to visit. She had it well planned out and would not need up to twenty four hours to complete her mission there except something unexpected came up.
_________
8:45pm
Cole’s Residence, Abuja.
‘Men… You’re such a good cook too,’ Victor said as he swallowed the last mold of semovita.
‘Thank you,’ Patricia smiled back at him. She watched him as he took out the meat from the plate of ugu and egusi soup and tore it with his teeth. She smiled and did the same with the meat in her plate.
Both of them were distracted from the beautiful moment by the sound of a ringing phone. It was Patricia’s phone, she hissed as she heard the sound.
‘That must be my mum,’ she said with a sigh.
‘I guess it’s already time you should be home.’
‘Yes.’
‘I’ll drive you home once we finish the meal,’ Victor offered.
‘No, you’re going to have to take your bath first before we leave this place.’ she retorted.
‘Take my bath?’ Victor looked at himself. To him, there was nothing dirty about him.
‘Yes, I called you to come in when I was taking mine but you were too busy with your tablet device.’ she said.
‘That’s true,’ he remembered her calling him to join her in the bathroom but he was busy then studying the drug Agency building. ‘But, I still have to drop you first, I can have my bath when I get home.’
‘No, no, no,’ she said and folded her lips in. ‘I won’t let you drop me without having your bath.’
‘Must you always be this stubborn?’ he asked jovially.
‘Yes, especially when it’s about the right things.’
He shook his head and chuckled. ‘I’m going to have my bath now, but would you like to come with me?’
‘Come with you to unclothe you or flight you to wash well’ she asked and laughed. He joined in the laughter. ‘I’m not having another bath, it’s your punishment for not answering me when I called you.’
‘Okay, let me just go already.’ Victor said and got to his feet, still munching the piece of meat in his mouth.
‘I’ll clean the dishes while you get ready,’ she said and began to pack the plates on the dining table as she watched him go into the room. She stopped with the plates after he walked out of sight. She proceeded towards the room to ensure that he was already in.
She returned to the living room quickly and headed straight to the centre table where the docvment was. She held it and positioned herself in the three seater whose back was turned to the path of the room so that she could quickly hide it if for any reason he comes out unexpectedly. She also held her phone which was previously ringing closer.
She opened the brown file and took out the paper in it carefully. She unfolded it and scanned through the content. At first, she didn’t understand what it was until she took her time to go through it. Then, she took a shot of the paper with her phone before folding it back into the envelope neatly.
A message entered her phone as she walked back to the dining. She unlocked the phone, the message had popped up on the screen. It was from Dave and it read; ‘I’m in town.’
*
*
9:15 pm
Jumoke trudged through the passage of the house with her bag which seemed heavier than it should be in her left hand. She had a stressful day at work as there happened to be more than five emergencies in just one hour of that day.
She managed to pick out the keys to the door from her bag and inserted it into the keyhole. It opened as she turned it, easier than it should have but she was too tired to notice. She pushed the door in and stepped inside. The house was dark and hot, the curtains were all closed. She closed the door and reached for the bulb switch. She turned on the bulb and turned to meet a surprise.
‘Hi,’ Tarasha said and made a smirk. She was seated on top of the backrest of the three seater sofa and her feet was placed on the seat cushion. She was dressed on a white top and black shining trouser, her jacket which she took off because of the heat laid beside where she sat. She was fondling a pistol in her hands.
Jumoke froze on the spot. Even though she didn’t recognize immediately who her guest was, she knew she was in trouble. Her legs vibrated on the spot and her bladder suddenly became full.
‘Don’t be scared, I’m supposed to be your friend. Or have you done anything wrong?’
Now Jumoke recognized her, both her face and her voice. The change in hairstyle had been the cause for her not recognizing immediately.
‘You helped me some months ago, and now I’ve come to pay you fully.’ Tarasha said and jumped down from the chair.
Jumoke’s heartbeat faster than normal. She knew she was staring death in the face and didn’t know what to do to save herself.
‘I left you alive because you were good to me but I’m here to kill you now because you decided to sell me out even after I warned you,’ Tarasha said as she stepped closer to her slowly.
She stopped at Jumoke’s front and placed the gun on the nurse’s lips. Now, Jumoke’s whole body was vibrating. Tarasha dragged the gun down from the lips through her neck and stopped in between her Brë@šts. Then she hit the nurse’s face with her backhand suddenly, making the nurse crash into the television behind.
She followed and dragged her up with the collar from the shattered parts of the television and disks on the floor. She left her for a moment and proceeded to door to lock it. Then, she pulled the nurse along and pushed her to the sofa.
‘Now, look at me.’ Tarasha said, pointing the gun at her. She placed her feet on the centre table and supported the arm with the gun on it. ‘Where can I find him?’
Jumoke’s face was soaked with tears already. Her back head had hit the television and it hurt so much that her head had become so heavy for her body.
‘Where can I find him?’ Tarasha asked again, this time in an impatient tone.
Jumoke managed to voice out something amidst her tears but it was inaudible.
‘Look here, I’m not joking with you.’ Tarasha warned. ‘I don’t want to repeat any question again.’
Jumoke sniffed in and managed to stop sobbing, her nose was running already. ‘He stays in Abuja, but I don’t know where exactly.’ she repeated the same thing she said earlier which wasn’t audible.
‘What’s his name?’
‘David James.’
‘You told him about my Bank transaction with you?’
‘Yes.’
‘What else did you tell him?’
‘How I found you that night and your warning to me,’ she said in a teary voice and sniffed in again.
Tarasha smirked, ‘How did he find you?’
‘He’s my boyfriend.’
‘Your… Boyfriend?’ Tarasha widened her eyes and released a deep breath. She put her leg down from the table.’So what does your boyfriend do? Where does he work?’
‘He’s a journalist, he works with Desert Reporters.’
‘Desert Reporters?’
‘Yes,’ Jumoke nodded like a frightened baby.
A knock was heard at the door.
‘Are you expecting someone?’ Tarasha asked, taking a brief glance back at the door.
Jumoke shook her head in negative, folding her lips in to avoid making any sound.
‘Okay, talk to the person,’ Tarasha ordered her in whispers.
Jumoke sniffed in again and managed to clear her throat. ‘Who’s it?’ she shouted at the person at the door.
‘Aunty Nurse, hope everything dey okay, we dey hear noise from your room.’
Jumoke stared at Tarasha face for a moment. She would have loved to shout that moment and tell everyone she was in trouble but she knew that would take away all her hopes of remaining alive. She had heard of Samantha’s ‘exploits’ and even seen on the news the recent one at Anambra state, so she knew there was no one around who could save her except Samantha decides to leave her alive.
‘No wahala, thank you Bros.’ she replied and sniffed in.
‘You dey sure, Nurse?’
‘Yes, thank you, I go see you later.’ she replied.
Tarasha waited some seconds for the person who knocked to leave totally before she continued.
‘You said your boyfriend works with Desert Reporters?’
‘Yes.’
‘In which of their offices does he work?’
‘In Abuja.’
‘In Abuja?’ Tarasha widened her eyes.
‘Yes,’ Jumoke confirmed.
Tarasha had been thinking he was following her from a distance not knowing he was very close to her.
‘Do you know where he stays in Abuja?’
‘No, I don’t know.’
Tarasha stared at her thinly for a while, trying to access if she was speaking the truth or not.
‘Do you know I’ll kill you if you lie to me,’ she threatened.
‘I…don’t know… He only told me he stays in Abuja,’ Jumoke replied in a shaky voice.
‘He told you…’ Tarasha muttered to herself. She realized that Jumoke was not the Agent’s real girlfriend, but only a tool in the agent’s hand and maybe a sëx partner for the agent whenever he visited Lagos. There was really no need to keep Jumoke alive again because she knew nothing else apart from what the Agent had fed her. ‘Since when has he been following me?’
Jumoke tried to keep quiet for a moment but Tarasha raised gun on seeing her hesitation.
‘I don’t know how long for certain but he was also around when you came to the hospital to drop those people,’ she quickly spoke on seeing the gun point directly to her eyes.
‘So he knew I was here with you that night?’
‘I didn’t tell him that until last week.’
‘What day last week?’
‘Uhm… Not last week, last two weeks. I think it’s on Wed…nesday,’ Jumoke said.
‘You told him you treated me and what else?’
‘That you sent money to me as a repayment for the things I had to buy.’
Tarasha took some seconds to process the information in her mind. That was exactly it. It was how Agent Dave got to get her card details and trace her recent transactions with it.
‘Was he at the hospital when I came to drop those people?’
‘No, he wasn’t. He came the next morning.’
‘And what did he come to do?’
‘He came asking about you. He said he was given an assignment to write about you and he wanted to know all but the police changed the story that you were a member of the force and he couldn’t do anything since he wasn’t a witness.’
‘How long did he stay during that period?’
‘He didn’t stay up to a week,’ she replied.
‘And you never saw him in the hospital again?’
‘After he left, he hasn’t been in the hospital again.’
‘I mean during his stay for that week, was it only once he came to the hospital?’
‘No, he hid himself in our premises for some days.’
‘And what was he doing there?’
Jumoke sniffed in again. ‘He tried to find out the truth from the patients you brought in, he checked on all five of them.’
‘You guys allowed him?’
‘No, he sneaked into their wards occasionally.’
‘How?’ Tarasha narrowed her gaze at Jumoke’s face.
‘I helped him, he always walked around in a doctor’s suit.’
‘You helped him? That was before you met me?’
‘Yes.’
‘And which of the patients told him the truth?’
‘He was only able to speak to one of them, he only placed recorders in the wards of the others.’
‘Which of them did he speak to?’
‘Stephanie George.’
Tarasha paused for a while to recall the girl’s face. She could recall again Stephanie’s screams and her struggles under the rapist and that frightful look on her (Stephanie’s) face after she killed the man trying to molest her.
‘According to the report, Stephanie George lost her memory, was that true?’
‘No, it wasn’t. The police tried to induce memory loss into her but he changed the ampoule containing the mixture from the lab.’
‘Who changed it?’
‘My boyfriend, Dave.’ Jumoke replied, her voice still shaky and her look frightful.
‘So it means Stephanie still remembers everything that happened?’
‘Yes, she does. Dave made her agree to pretend.’
Tarasha stopped to think again. If Dave had asked Stephanie for information about her, the girl would have only told him about their encounter that night as there was nothing else she knew. But it was possible for Stephanie to still be in contact with the Agent. She considered the situation careful for some more seconds. Stephanie George would be more useful than Jumoke, that because, Stephanie was kind of well known in her school and had been made more popular due to her encounter with Samantha Osman but Jumoke was just a nurse whom the secret agent had used to fulfill his purpose, Tarasha was sure that the Agent had no feelings for her.
She raised her gun and pointed it straight at her forehead. ‘Did you see note I write wrote to you before leaving here that morning?’
‘Ye…ss..ss, I saw it.’ Jumoke trembled with her whole body vibrating. Her knees were on the seat now and her bum resting on the back of her ankle.
‘I also warned you when I sent the money not to let anyone else know but you refused,’ Tarasha said and gave a brief chuckle. ‘I left you alive because I thought you were a good girl but you proved otherwise… And do you know you’ve been a fool? The man you called your boyfriend isn’t a journalist, he is a secret agent of the SSS and he traced me to Anambra with the payment information you gave to him.’
Jumoke’s eyes widened in shock at the revelation. It instantly made more sense to her why Dave always returned free from the police and the source of the bullet wounds she had treated got him.
‘Agent David James has taken you for a fool, but I’m going to help you end your foolish life.’
Tarasha raised her brow and tilted her head leftwards a little. She ÇOçked the gun.
_
_
Abuja.
8:30am
‘Are you coming to the office today?’ Lizzy typed into the chat box.
‘Yes, I’m on the way already. Dan is driving.’ the reply from Dave entered almost immediately. ‘We’ve got a lot of reports to write at the office this morning, so I may not be able to see you until noon.’
‘I’m also leaving the office in some minutes. I got some thing from Victor last night.’ she typed in and sent. She exited the app and opened her pictures gallery where she located the photo of the docvment she took the last night. She marked it and forwarded it to the messaging app.
‘What did you get?’ Dave’s message had already entered before she sent the picture.
‘It’s a list of drugs, I don’t know what it’s all about. He got it from a lady when we stopped at the mall yesterday afternoon to get some food items.’ Lizzy sent.
‘Which lady gave it to him?’
‘I don’t know her but I think he was being traced all the while we were together.’
‘Did you see the lady’s face properly?’
‘I didn’t see her face at all, she was far from me and was even putting on a face cap.’
‘A face cap? Black one?’
‘Yes, a black one.’
‘Samantha was dressed the same way at the hotel that day but we can’t say if she was the one you saw.’
‘Just check the pictures and see what you can make out,’ Lizzy sent.
‘Okay, thanks. I’ll call you later today.’
Lizzy dropped the phone on the table after the chat ended and continued to arrange the rest of the makeup kits into her bag.
_____
‘The Chairman may get mad at us if we run late,’ Dan said to Dave, after taking a glance at his wristwatch.
‘I know, but what can we do now?’ Dave replied back and folded his arms.
There was an unusual traffic jam along the way that morning. From the look of things, they could guess the reason of the delay to be a malfunctioning of the traffic signs. Dave and Dan had an appointment with the NIS chairman that morning.
‘I think we should call him now and tell him we’re stuck in a traffic jam right away,’ Dan suggested.
‘Do you think that’ll make anything better?’ Dave sounded pessimistic, even though he still took out his phone.
‘Just try and let’s hear what his response would be,’ Dan replied.
A call came through just as Dave was about to dial the Chairman’s number, the caller ID displayed was Jumoke. He answered the call and placed it close to his ear.
‘Good morning Jummy.’
‘Good morning, is this Mr David?’ a strange male voice spoke.
‘Yes. Is there any problem? Where is Jumoke?’
‘Where are you? You’re needed right away at the Lagos State General Hospital.’
_______
11am
‘I copied eleven messages from the archives, each one carrying the names and full signatures of the persons involved.’ Cole typed on the computer keyboard and tapped the enter key. He minimized the app with the use of the mouse and opened a picture folder, he selected three pictures and renamed them one after the other.
The computer speaker beeped while he was still renaming, Tarasha had replied.
‘Send me all of them, everything in a word docvment but each one starting on a new page.’
‘I would do that now boss, but while I’m at it, here is Henry’s work last night.’ he typed in and sent first before clicking on the attachment button, he selected the three pictures he renamed from the picture folder and sent it to her. ‘Henry got their full details and location, we can begin work on them as soon as possible.’ he sent and minimized the chatting application again.
He navigated with his mouse to “My Computer” on the desktop and clicked on it, then he selected the removable disk A from the opened window. A beep sound came from the speaker again but Cole continued with what he was doing. He opened a txt docvment from the removable disk and then opened the Microsoft office word 2030 from the start icon. He copied the messages from the txt docvment into word and spaced them just like Tarasha asked him to do. He saved the new docvment to the desktop with the name ‘NAFDAC’ and then maximized the chat application again.
‘Do you know any of those in these pictures before?’ Tarasha had sent to him.
‘Yes, I had always known of Vivy the girl and the first son James, but I never heard of the middle one even though I knew they were three.’ he sent in reply. He continued to type after sending, the messenger also indicated that she was typing. ‘I’m attaching the word docvment now, I couldn’t fix in the signatures yet.’ he sent his message before she could finish typing.
‘Okay, I’m sure you know we would place more focus on James.’ her message entered, just two seconds after his.
‘I know boss, but I suggest we use Vivy too, James as a man would accept and handle it maturely and would be calmer due to the nature of his job but Vivy would get emotional, and because she’s a public person, I think she’d help us with our target more.’ Cole typed. Another message had entered from her before he finished typing.
‘We would fix the signatures after I select the useful ones.’ Cole read her reply before sending his message. He began to type again.
‘Are we sending to them in hard copy or soft copies?’ he asked.
‘Okay, we’d use the girl also.’ Tarasha’s message entered. Cole waited for her to reply his last question. ‘Both formats to make them know the seriousness, but we’d send the hard copies first and only use the soft copies as a reminder. I’ll personally deliver it to James and you’d get it to the girl.’
‘Okay boss.’
‘You have to show this docvment to Dr Martin after I verify and send back to you.’
‘Okay, the doctor has asked of you and said you promised to allow him speak with his family today.’
‘I’ll be back before evening, my flight is by 3pm.’
‘Oh!’ Cole typed and sent. He was surprised she had finished all she went to do so quickly.
_______
SSS HEADQUARTERS
12pm
‘Have you been able to reach her parents?’ Dave said into the phone. He stood by the boot of the car in the garage.
‘Yes, we’ve been able to reach them and her mother is here already.’ the receiver replied.
‘What’s her state now?’ Dave asked.
‘Well, it’s not something I can say on phone, you just have to be here.’
‘I’m in Abuja now, but I will try my best to get there tomorrow.’
‘Where are you going Dave?’ Dan’s voice sounded from the back.
‘Okay, thank you.’ Dave said into the phone before turning to Dan. ‘I have to be in Lagos briefly tomorrow.’
‘Lagos? For what?’
‘My girlfriend is in a critical condition at the hospital,’ Dave replied.
‘Your girlfriend? I never heard you talk about a girlfriend,’ Dan said as he walked to the driver’s side of the car.
‘That I never spoke about her doesn’t mean she doesn’t exist, does it?’
‘Well…’ Dan shrugged. He opened the car door. ‘So how do you plan to go about it? You are aware you can’t get permission to leave town anytime soon.’
‘I know, but I have to find a way about it.’
‘I’m sorry I can’t help you, I don’t want to get into trouble with the chairman again. Today’s trouble was enough,’ Dan said before entering into the car. Dave also walked to the front and got into the passenger’s side.
_______
The Inspector General’s Residence.
4:55pm
Rex sat in front of the table, working on the computer system. The Inspector General sat somewhere far behind while Stainless sat close to his boss
‘The credit card has truly been destroyed,’ Rex turned away from the computer and faced the IG.
‘That means the report is true,’ the IG replied and wheeled himself forward.
‘But I’m finding it difficult to believe that the Agent doesn’t have an idea what Samantha planned to achieve in that state.’ Rex said thoughtfully, moving gently side to side with the swivel.
‘I don’t think he lied about that, he wouldn’t have returned soon if he knew her next plan.’
‘I need to know that Agent,’ Rex said and sprung up to his feet. He walked past the Inspector General towards the door.
‘Rex, I’m not going to allow you meet him.’ the IG turned back and shouted at him.
‘You don’t need to bother yourself, I know what to do.’ Rex said before stepping out of the room. He closed the door noiselessly.
‘Good day sir,’ Stainless’ voice brought Chief Rikau back to reality as he kept on staring at the door through which Rex left. He was still speechless as he watched Stainless also go out through the door. He hoped that Rex wasn’t planning to go looking for the secret Agent because it could cause troubles for him as the Inspector General.
______
5:34pm
‘So you made her lose her memory permanently?’ Henry questioned Tara. He sat at the edge of the bed in her room, Tarasha standing at the front, arranging and hanging some clothes in her wardrobe.
‘That was the only choice I had. The reason I didn’t kill her was because I promised you no death until it was really necessary.’
Henry let out a deep breath. ‘Well… I don’t know if I should say the permanent memory loss is really better than that.’
‘I think it is, she can start a new life without remembering something about me that’ll get her into trouble again or even make her eventually lose her mind.’ Tara replied, arranging a black jacket on a hanger.
‘Is there any possibility of her ever regaining her memory?’
‘There’s none,’ Tara stated blankly. ‘The liquid had enough time to circulate her body, no one discovered her until late in the morning.’
There was silence for the next thirty seconds.
Henry shrugged after trying to shake off the guilt he felt thinking about what happened to the girl Tara had to drug. He remembered that the same drug was used on him but he was lucky to be discovered before the mixture circulated his blood. ‘So, did you get enough information from her?’
‘Yes, I did get as much as she had. The secret agent only uses her for his works, she doesn’t really know much. But I got his mobile number from her,’ Tara replied.
‘That’s something tangible, so when are we going to work on the number?’
‘Monday morning after our first set of tasks are completed,’ she answered.
‘Monday is tomorrow.’
‘Yes, tomorrow.’ she replied and closed the wardrobe, she was done with arranging her clothes.
She turned towards him and placed her hands on her waist. She stared at him for a while. He also stared back at her. She was putting on a v-necked top on a black pencil jean shorts which stopped on her knees. Her uncombed hair made her look like a young tomboy.
‘Were you also able to extract everything we need from the drug agency’s office?’ Henry asked.
‘Yes, I got everything we need.’ she replied as she walked straight towards him. She climbed up the bed and on his legs with each knee placed by his sides.
‘Ermm… What are you doing?’ Henry asked, staring straight at her face as she firmly gripped his shoulders by a hand at each side.
‘Trying to get you to f…’ she stopped as she lacked the right word to use. She had wanted to use the f word but she knew it would be inappropriate for what she really wanted. She could feel his breath touching her chest through the open v-neck part. She pulled his head closer gently and covered his lips with hers.
She pushed him gently to the bed and their lips continued to work on each other. Henry grabbed her by the waist and pressed her body gently against his. She broke the kiss and raised her head, she unbuttoned his shirt slowly and began to use her lips on his chest hungrily. She pulled away again and tried to take off her top. Henry got to his knees and their lips covered as he tried to help her take off her own top.
The shirt was taken off and flung to the floor, leaving her with the bra covering her Brë@šts only. He was already taking off the bra from behind when she voiced out some words which killed the urge in him immediately.
Henry pulled back at once. A sudden feeling of guilt and weakness overwhelmed him at that moment. He began to think he was only about to fulfil his lust because of his inability to control his sëxual urge. He moved away from her and stepped down from the bed.
‘What’s the matter?’ she stared at him with her eyes widened, disappointed and feeling angry. Her bra was already off halfway and she was seated on her heels.
‘I can’t do this,’ Henry said, shaking his head in an agitated manner. He buttoned up his shirt quickly and fixed his legs into his slippers.
‘What?’ she stared at him with so m annoyance in her eyes.
‘I don’t want to f*** you Tara, I want to make love to you.’ he said before walking to the door.
Tarasha remained in the same position, lost in thoughts. ‘F*** me hard,’ that was the phrase that dropped out of her mouth and made him pull away. It was the language she understood not ‘make love’. She realized she had never ‘made love’ to anyone, this would have been her first time, all she had ever done was to have sëx with people to get something done or eventually kill the partner.
