Cole quivered as he got up from the bed, blood pumped in his heart abnormal at a speed faster than that of Usain Bolt. The first time he ever had a nightmare was in his University days, when a dreaded cult group was after his life because of a girl that was in love with him.
This time around, he dreamt that he was being given a hot chase by the Rivers State Governor’s body guards. He outsmarted them and hid in an uncompleted building where he slept off for hours, only for him to open his eyes and find several guns pointed at him by a group of policemen.
He glanced at Benny who was sleeping peacefully on the left side of the bed despite the hot condition of the room. He took off his wet shirt and proceeded out of the room bare chested, using the shirt to fan himself. He first headed into the kitchen to quench his thirst after which he proceeded out of the house with an extra cup of water to seek fresh air in the compound.
He got a little surprised when he met the door unlocked but he shook off his fears, his mind suggesting to him that Tarasha must be the one outside
He was right! There in the middle of the compound was a female figure lying flat on the long bench that used to be at the verandah, she seemed to be busy with something and didn’t notice his presence. He tiptoed carefully towards her, trying his possible best not to announce his presence.
He stopped halfway when he saw her insert a magazine into the revolver she was playing with, she seemed to also halt with his movement. He was contemplating whether to turn back or not when his name was called.
‘Cole’ he quivered at the sound of his name, still on the same spot, he watched her unload the gun before he proceeded further.
She rose from her sleeping position and sat up, smiling at Cole who stared at her funnily.
‘Why were you scared?’ She asked mockingly.
‘You loaded your gun like you wanted to aim at something, I was scared that you didn’t know I was the one coming’ he answered, feeling slightly embarrassed.
‘I knew it was you and I wasn’t planning to shoot’ she collected the cup of water from him and drank slowly.
Cole watched her taking in the water, like a kid who was already dying of thirst. He had the opportunity to notice her very young face, she looked like an innocent girl in her early twenties. Her face was the youngest he had ever seen involved in the assassination business, several of her mates he has seen involving themselves in crime only participated in petty robbery and as informants.
‘Cole’ she startled him, his eyes was still hovering round her body in awe.
‘Boss’ he called back, scratching his head as he looked away.
‘Why are you staring at me like that?’ She asked.
‘No, nothing. I was just wondering what you were doing outside here’
‘What else should I be doing? I was sleeping’ she answered.
‘Sleeping? How? I saw you awake when I came out of the house’
‘You woke me up, I was asleep before you came out’ she insisted.
‘Asleep? How?’ He looked bewildered. ‘No one can sleep here with all the mosquitoes around,’
‘Forget about me Cole, you should tell me why you are awake’ she looked sternly at his face.
‘I couldn’t sleep, my mind has been occupied with all we did yesterday’ Cole explained his woe. ‘I can’t seem to figure out how we’ll be able to accomplish our task here’
‘That’s for me to worry about. I give the plan, all you need to do is to follow’
He looked at her face in an awkward manner as if to ask why she way arrogant, or why she thought she knew everything.
‘Young girl like you, who made you a devil? I could kill you now if I want to’ He said in his mind.
‘The greatest mistake you’ll ever make is dealing with me like the ordinary person my face projects’ she cautioned immediately add if she heard his thoughts. ‘You may lose your life the next time you think that way’
‘Hu..uh’ he stammered and got up shakily from the bench.
‘Come on, go inside now’ she said in a command tone. Flinging the cup away, she returned to her former position on the bench.
Cole hurriedly returned into the house, scared to look back until he entered and closed the door. He paused to think for a while leaning his back on the door, the sound of his heartbeat echoed in his ears.
Maybe she was more than who he thought she was. She is probably an adult hiding under a younger body or a young girl endowed with diabolical powers.
He tried to calm himself and waved off his thoughts as ridiculous, she wasn’t a super human, she was only good at playing smart with their emotions. He decided to put up a bold response if there was a next time, why should he be scared of her anyway? He had worked with several make assassins and none made his heart filled with fear like this.
‘Go and sleep Cole, we have a lot to do tomorrow’ her voice jerked him into action again, he proceeded to his room with no further delay
**
Tarasha was already thinking of different possible plans for their new task. Earlier that day when she and Cole worked to gather information about the Governor on the internet, they also visited his twitter profile and studied several tweets mentioning his handle and those including his name in the text. Out of the several hundreds of tweets that had his handle mentioned, three got Tarasha’s attention.
One was from the Rivers State Commissioner of works and transport, reporting the progress of a bridge project. The other was from a popular artiste who displayed his invitation to a dinner night with the governor.
The last one was from a news reporting media, Desert Reporters. They tweeted one of their headlines which talked about an Engineering student of the Port Harcourt University who had just successfully manufactured a small airplane singlehandedly. The tweet read “Governor of Rivers State, Kelechi Edwin commends engineering student John @Johnnonexistent who manufactured an air plane, plans to visit on…”
With the tweet as a lead, Tarasha visited the student’s twitter profile and gathered more information about the record breaking feat achieved. She got to know what kind of airplane it was and specifications of the size, she also found out that the plane had been tested by several professors of the University and experts from outside the country already. The video of the several test run was recorded and uploaded on YouTube and had since attracted so many views from in and outside the country.
Governor Kelechi Edwin and the country’s minister of aviation were to visit and have a special flight in the plane on the eighteenth day of the month.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
**9.12.2030**
‘Wait! Scroll up a little, I think I saw Samantha now’ James said to secretary who scrolled down the list hurriedly. He had been standing beside her for minutes, watching while she logged in to the School Administrative portal to get a list of all the pharmacy students in thee school.
Officer Segun and Dr. Hammed also came to the school with him. They had gone to see the Vice chancellor of the school who then redirected them to the pharmacy department and instructed the department’s secretary to show them a list of the pharmacy students in their database.
‘That’s 200 level not 300’ she replied him without bothering to obey his order
‘Let’s see it’ he insisted stubbornly
She scrolled up and halted where she saw the name, ‘this is Samantha David, isn’t it Osman you’re looking for?’
‘Can we see her profile?’ he requested
She clicked on the name and the student’s profile appeared. Samantha David was in 200 level, eighteen years of age and had the matric number 745666.
‘Is this the girl?’ James asked, turning to face the doctor.
Doctor Hammed stood up from the sofa where he and Segun was seated and walked to the table to get a clearer view of the passport photograph displayed on the profile, ‘No, not this one. Samantha Osman is not as dark as this’
‘Please, let’s continue’ James pleaded with the secretary.
The other Samantha that was found after scrolling the whole list was a 400 level student which Dr. Hammed responded negative to. James was forced to ask the secretary to profile of all the 300 level female students but none was identified as the doctor to be Samantha Osman.
‘We don’t have any Samantha Osman in our department’ the secretary stated for the second time.
‘But she was wearing the school ID card’ James talked back.
‘Maybe she was a student of another department’ she replied. ‘You should check medicine or nursing’
‘No, she said she was a pharmacy student’ Dr. Hammed mentioned each word one after the other.
‘I think it’s clear now’ James continued after taking a deep breath, ‘that girl was on a mission and that mission was to get some information for the killers’
‘She could be a student studying another course’ Segun who had been silent began, ‘I believe that if we get a database of all the students, we can fish out every Samantha Osman we find or better still every girl named Samantha in the school’
‘No!’ the secretary exclaimed. ‘Who’s gonna go through that herculean task? Do you know how many students the school has?’
‘It doesn’t matter how herculean the task is’ James countered. ‘She was with the school’s ID card and that confirms that the suspect is your student’
‘How are you sure it was our ID card?’ she queried. ‘Did any of you check it? How did you know it wasn’t fake?’
Her question was answered with silence; the officers stared at each other and at the doctor, each expecting one to come up with a counter opinion.
James gave in, ‘you’re right, it may be fake but you still have to help us confirm it is’
‘Or better still, let us have access to the database, we’ll check it ourselves’ Segun suggested.
‘Better!’ The secretary got up from her seat , adjusting her skirt. ‘I can’t help you with that, you have to return to the VC’
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
‘I got it Boss’ Cole announced, looking into his laptop. ‘I got access to the account’
‘Good!’ She exclaimed, approaching him with a plate of potato chips. ‘Any useful communication between them?’
‘There is a conversation here, but I don’t think it is useful for us’ He gave more space for her to sit closely beside him. ‘They’ve got an interview with him this Wednesday’
‘Where’s the venue of the interview’ she asked expecting no reply as she saw the details in the message for herself. ‘I think we can make use of this’
‘How? How do we go about it?’
‘We’ll be the ones to interview him’ she answered, offering him chips which he refused politely. ‘Now, you have to monitor the two accounts closely. Send the student a message from the desert reporters’ account’
‘What message?’ he asked, frowning.
‘Must you ask about everything? Come on use your head’ she slammed, getting up from his side, she faced him. ‘Send him a message, change the time and venue of the interview’
‘I thought you said you were the Boss ’ he mumbled like a kid. ‘You said the thinking and planning was yours and we should only obey instructions’
She laughed loudly, ‘come on, send him a message now’
He gave her puzzled look, ‘but they’re gonna know that their account was hacked when they see the message’
She returned his look with an awkward one, ‘delete the message once it is delivered, then monitor until he replies’
‘Then?’
‘Delete his reply once it gets into their inbox so that they won’t see it’
‘Wow! I grab’
‘You have to keep tabs on it, they must not get any message, you should get them first and delete’
‘Okay Boss’
‘Then you send a message from his account which you’ll delete afterwards, inform them that he won’t be able to make the interview anymore. That way, we’ll keep the Desert Reporters away while we carry out the interview and get more information from the student’
++++++++++++++++++++++++
**11.11.2030**
John Obiano sat alone, busy with his Ipad as he waited for the Desert Reporters’ journalist. The cafeteria where he sat was the biggest one in school; it was mostly patronized by the rich students and sometimes patronized by the not-too-rich after saving money to spend on a special day.
His yellow designers shirt drew so much attention to him, coupled with the fact that he was fast becoming a celebrity as the first student of the school and the second in the country to manufacture an airplane. He was proud of himself, seeing people glance at him from their table several times, he knew they were referring to him and probably discussing about his exploits with their partners
He took a sip of the fruit juice occasionally and glanced at his wristwatch from time to time, looking up to see if the journalists are forthcoming. In a little while, he saw two people approaching him at exactly two minutes before the interview time.
‘Good afternoon Mr. Obiano’ the chocolate skinned lady greeted, offering him a handshake
‘Good afternoon, Miss…’
‘Samantha’ she completed it for him as he took her hands in his.
‘I’m James’ the guy who accompanied her also introduced himself.
‘Welcome’ He replied with a smile. ‘It’s nice to have you here’
‘Thank you’ Samantha said as they took the seats facing him.
‘Would you like to take something?’ he offered.
‘No, thanks. We’ll just go straight to business’ she rejected politely.
‘Okay, I’m all ears’ he said, sitting up right.
‘We’ll like you to tell us a little about yourself first, your personality and views about life’ she began the long series of questions.
John Obiano replied intelligently to the interview questions, giving answers that’ll convince the listeners that he was truly a guru.
‘So how do you feel? Having the Governor of the state and the Minister of Aviation coming to have a flight in your own produced airplane?’
‘I feel awesome’ he smiled cheerfully, ‘it’s a great honour to have a flight with great personalities like them’
You’re gonna be flying with them?’ She asked
‘Yes, I will be seated with both of them in the plane’
‘Wow! But I thought you’ll be flying the plane while they enjoy’
‘No, I’ll be seated with them, we already have two pilots who are going to fly with us’
‘How many of you are going on board?’
‘Seven; His Excellency, Honorable, myself, the two pilots and two flight attendants’
‘Oh! I see. So where are you flying to?’
‘Just around Port Harcourt, we’ll be flying around for just thirty minutes before we return to the airdrome’
‘I know several media houses have been denied the opportunity to have look and take a picture of the inner view of the plane, when would we be allowed to do that?’
‘Who told you that?’ he frowned, ‘several pictures of the inner view are online already’
‘But there seems to be a notion that the pictures online are not real’ she countered. ‘People say they are pictures of a foreign built plane’
‘They are real, I posted some by myself’ he replied confidently. His interviewer paused for a while and then continued with the concluding series of questions.
++++++
**14.11.2030**
** Port Harcourt School of Aviation**
A CRV jeep sped past, splashing the stagnant rain water on Gloria’s body as she carried out the early hours jogging with several other students. Only few girls could be seen amongst the joggers, and the few girls were with their male partners.
She jogged to the area of the road shoulder close to the drainage, smiling broadly to guy who was also jogging beside her.
‘Hi’ he greeted, panting heavily
‘Hi’ she replied, flashing her teeth
‘I’ve not seen you with us before, it’s like you just made a decision to start exercising your body’ he continued in a cheerful manner.
‘No, I’ve been exercising my body. I just decided to join you guys today’ she said.
‘Well, today must be a very special day then!’ He exclaimed
‘Why did you say that?’ she gave an inquisitive look.
‘It’s not every day I wake up to see such a pretty lady very early in the morning’ he commented, admiring the beautiful eyes on the chocolate skinned face.
‘Oh!’ She blushed. ‘Come on, stop flattering me’
‘I’m not flattering you’ he replied, gradually reducing his jogging speed. ‘I’m only saying the truth’
She chuckled, ‘Thanks anyway’
‘You’re welcome’ he smiled back
‘Why?’ she asked in respect of his reducing speed, he increased it back to level up with her. ‘Are you tired already?’
‘No, I just jogged past my hostel’ he answered
‘Your hostel?’ Gloria looked back at the hostel building and they gradually came to a halt. ‘Your hostel is Block C?’
‘Yes’ he cleaned his face with the hand towel placed round his neck. ‘But never mind, I’ll see you off to yours’
He motioned to keep jogging but she refused. ‘No, I don’t stay on campus’
‘You stay off campus?’
‘Yeah’
‘Does that explains why I’ve not ben seeing you jog with us?’ he questioned
‘Yes’ she replied with another smile.
‘Would I see you again?’ he requested.
‘If you want to’ she gave a sharp reply.
‘Hope you don’t stay too far from school?’ he asked and without waiting for a response continued, ‘may we meet this evening?’
‘This evening? Let’s make it afternoon, my lectures for the day will end by noon and I might be going home immediately’
‘Come on Gloria! Let’s go’ someone shouted from afar. ‘We’ve got a practical course today’
‘Gloria is the name?’ Is she your friend?’ he asked double questions
‘Yes, I’ve got to go now’ she turned to leave in a hurry. ‘We’ll see later’
‘How do I reach you?’ he shouted without getting any reply, Gloria already jogged off with her friend
**
‘We’ll return to the hotel now and return as students’ Tarasha spoke to Aisha as she started the car engine. ‘Remember to always put on your ID card when you are in the school premises’
‘Okay’ Aisha replied calmly and remained quiet, secretly staring at Tarasha often times as they journeyed.
‘Do you have any question?’ Tarasha startled her. ‘Ask your question and stop looking at me like that’
‘No question really, I was just wondering how you were sure that he was going to start a conversation with you’
‘I wasn’t sure he was going to start a conversation with me’ Tarasha replied. ‘I was going to start something with him if he didn’t’
Aisha gazed at her, the look in her eyes showed that she still had unanswered questions.
‘I would have fainted and fall on his body if he didn’t notice me’ Tarasha added. ‘He only made things easy for both of us by not ignoring me’
‘Hmm, I see’
‘Yeah’
———-
**4pm**
‘Gloria’ someone called, trying to catch up with her as she was about to enter the Year 1 lecture room. She turned back to find the same guy she met that morning during the morning exercise. He had spotted her walking towards the lecture room as he came out of his, with his friends.
‘Hi’ she greeted as she turned back.
‘Hi Gloria, I see you’re a year one student’
Yes, I am’ she squinted flipping her hair backwards, she switched her hard cover note to the left hand. ‘Where did we…’
‘You don’t remember me?’ he cut in, falling for her trick. ‘The guy who stays Hostel Block C, we jogged together this morning’
‘Oh!’ She exclaimed cheerfully. ‘Pardon me, you just look very different from the person I saw in the morning’
‘I’m the same person’ he chuckled, following as she walked into the empty lecture room. They took their seats beside each other and continued with the conversation.
‘When did the lectures end for today?’ he asked.
‘Two pm’ she answered. She placed her book on the table and brought out a pen and the school’s customized tablet from her bag.
‘Oh! You want to study?’ he asked a question with an already obvious answer
‘Yes’ she answered.
‘Maybe we’ll talk some other time then’ he said, getting up from the seat. ‘Would you give me your phone number?’
She stared at him awkwardly for a moment before she spoke, ‘I don’t even know you yet, and you didn’t introduce yourself’
‘Oh! Sorry’ he sat back hurriedly. ‘Forgive my manners please; I’m Jude, a final year student in this same institution’
She looked unimpressed as she received his offer for a handshake. ‘You’re final year?’ She asked again.
‘Yes, final year’ he repeated. ‘I’m particularly one of the best students in my level’
‘Hmm’ she sounded indifferent. ‘Can you help me with my courses then?’
‘Yes’ he replied happily, ‘I will help you, just tell me the course or topic you want me to help you with’
‘This’ she opened her hard cover note and showed him a topic.
‘How far have you gone with this?’ he asked, moving his body closer to hers. He could perceive the fragrance of her perfume.
‘I’ve not started at all’ she answered with a note of sadness. ‘I resumed school late, the lecturer had gone far beyond before I was admitted in the third batch list’
Ermmm… It’s kind of long o’ he gave a slight frown, ‘I can finish teaching you if I start now’
‘Why?’
‘I have a meeting by four pm with some of our professors’ he answered. ‘I’m one of the students that’ll be flying the Governor in John Obiano’s plane’
‘Oh! You’re really going to pilot the plane?’
‘Yes, I did with my partner during the several test runs’ he stated excitedly. ‘I can’t miss this opportunity to fly the governor’
‘Wow! That’s awesome. I really like the fact that students are in control of everything’
‘Yes, we are’ he smiled happily. ‘Some years back they wouldn’t have allowed us fly a Local government chairman talk more of the Rivers State Governor’
‘How come they are now allowing students do it now?’
‘They believe in us now, the professors are sure of what they thought us and can brag with their lives that we’ll deliver properly’
‘Wow!’ She continued excitedly, ‘I believe this will give you employment immediately you graduate’
‘Yes, I just need to finish my youth service and I’ll be employed immediately’
‘Congrats’ she offered him a handshake.
‘Thank you’
She stared at him in silence for some seconds, ‘I wish I could watch you fly that airplane’
‘Oh dear, I wish that was possible too’ he replied sympathetically
‘Can’t I be allowed to be one of the flight attendants?’ she pushed further.
‘No’ he answered sadly. ‘It’s only two of the best final year female students would be picked to do that job’
She looked depressed immediately, her countenance fell. She turned and faced the wall, backing Jude.
‘The only thing I can do is to take you along so you can watch the plane fly’ he tried to give another option. ‘But you might not be allowed to come close because of the security officials that would be with the Governor and Minister; you have to stay with other spectators and the journalists’
Don’t bother, I just met you and I’m giving you too much troubles already’ she said turning back, she tried to fake a smile.
‘No, I’m not troubled. You have to be there that day to experience it’ he insisted.
‘Well, I’ll think it’ she answered. ‘I’ll come if I’m chanced’
‘Please clear your schedule’
‘Okay’ she replied and placed her hand on her book. Suddenly remembering something, she turned to face him again, ‘Who is copiloting the plane with you?’
‘A final year student also, her name is Lovina’
‘Hmm, Lovina’ she whispered, nodding her head slowly.
‘I have to leave right n..’ he was saying as he got up from the seat, a Lady interrupted walking in noisily into the lecture room
‘Gloria, you’re not reading?’ she exclaimed, using her two hands to cover her mouth. Gloria got up suddenly and rushed to her friend, she covered the girl’s mouth again as the girl dropped her hands.
‘Don’t mind her’ she smiled at surprised Jude, still covering the girl’s mouth with her hands. ‘ She talks too much, you can go now Jude’
‘Okay, but not without taking your phone number’ he said, bringing out his phone from his pocket.
‘23480….. ‘Gloria called the digits, still covering her friend’s mouth.
‘Okay, I’ll give you a call’ Jude walked past the two friends, giving them a surprised look.
**
Gloria ensured that Jude was gone before she took her hand off the girl’s, her hand left ugly dark marks on the girl’s face.
‘Dummy’ she slammed at Aisha. ‘You didn’t use enough quantity of the powder and you didn’t allow it dry properly before walking under the sun’
‘I’m sorry Boss’ Aisha apologized, realizing that she almost blew their cover. She had used her hand to clean off thee powder meant to disguise her face when she used her hand to cover her mouth.
++++++++++++
**8.12.2030**
– 8am-
Cole quietly compiled and arranged his tools and devices into the small bag. He looked around the floor to check if there was anything left, there was a microphone with the desert reporters’ badge on it. He picked it up, standing from his squatting position; he dropped it carefully into the opened bag.
Tarasha walked briskly into the room in her ‘Gloria disguised form’, she took a glance at Cole. ‘Hope you’ve got everything ready?’
‘Yes Boss, I’m ready’ Cole answered, pinning the Desert Reporters’ chest tag to his front pocket.
‘You take Aisha along when you’re leaving the place’
‘Okay, is Benny coming to meet us?’ he fastened the bag to his back.
‘No, Benny is taking care of the other pilot, he’ll return on his own ’ she answered. She hung the ID card tag on her neck and adjusted her short skirt. ‘Don’t forget the instructions, your job as a journalist ends once you stick the needle to John Obiano’s collar’
‘Yes’ he affirmed, ‘and I’ll go to wait for you at Onne’ he said shaking his head funnily.
‘What?’ Tarasha asked, responding to his funny stare.
‘It’s just that I don’t know these places, what if you don’t drop at the place we speculated?’ he answered.
Tarasha frowned, ‘isn’t that why I have a tracker on me? It’s your business to find me if I get lost’
She shook her head degradingly and walked out of the room, Cole followed after her feeling embarrassed, blaming himself for talking like an amateur.
+++++++
9am
Benny sat in a red Benz quietly, waiting for his target to come out of the house. He was properly disguised with a beard and his face was lighter than his normal skin, there was also a dark scar on his forehead to make himself look uglier.
He had lodged into a hotel close to the target’s house the day before, he booked two rooms on two different floors , at different times and as different persons. First as the young light skinned man with the dark scar, he took a room at the third floor and the second time as an old man with his normal chocolate skin, he took another room on the third floor.
His target, Lovina was the second final year student that was selected to copilot the plane with Jude. She had rich and influential parents, their connection plus her intelligence earned her the privilege of flying the plane though she was not the most qualified student. She lived off campus with her parents in their house located in the Port Harcourt GRA.
Benny glanced at his wristwatch from time to time, getting impatient already. The police might get attracted to him very soon if he wasted too much time parking his car illegally. His plan was to send in a bullet into the girl’s arm or leg if possible and flee back immediately to his hotel to escape the ever working policemen in the area.
The gate was opened at exactly fifteen minutes past eight; Benny started his car engine and got prepared to move. A black jeep was seen driving slowly outside, a guy who he presumed to be the driver was at the wheels and two girls at the back seat. He recognized the girl on the side visible to him to be Lovina.
He drove slowly after them in order not to raise suspicion; it was after they had gone far enough from the house he began to level up with them.
He smiled at the driver who replied him with a casual look. Still flashing his teeth, he brought out his revolver. He let their car move forward a little so he could be on the same line with the girls seated at the back.
Ignoring the cars horning behind him, he raised up the revolver and pointed it at the girls . They let out a scream in horror but he missed his shot, he was taken aback by what he saw at the back seat.
++++++++++++
‘Hey Gloria’ Jude called, approaching her with two of his friends.
‘Hi’ she smiled happily at him.
‘I’m so glad you came’ he smiled back, his friends left him with her after waving in greeting to Gloria.
‘I wouldn’t dear miss it!’ she exclaimed.
‘Thanks, how are you doing this morning?’ He asked, extending his hand to her.
‘I’m fine, what about you?’ she replied, accepting his handshake.
‘I’m great’ he answered. He took a look at his wristwatch and touched his forehead with a handkerchief. ‘Hope you’ll be here for long?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘The Governor and Minister would be here anytime from now, the plane would fly by thirty minutes past ten’
‘Oh! I’ll still be here’
‘Good’ he chuckled. They both turned and faced the transparent glass wall which showed the plane on the runway.
‘Don’t you think this is marvelous?’ Jude commented.
‘Yes, it is’ she answered, full of smiles once more.
Their attention was drawn to somewhere else, journalists were gathering round someone walking by.
John Obiano had arrived the airdrome, several new medias rallied round him, pressing further even though they were resisted by guards. Gloria smiled as she spotted two Desert reporters’ journalist, she signalled to Cole to carry out the Job quickly before he would get noticed.
‘John Obiano the genius’ Jude hailed loudly, John Obiano noticed him and stopped to greet.
‘Hey Jude, hope you’re ready?’ He asked cheerfully.
‘Yes Boss’ Jude replied in a friendly tone.
‘Good one’ John replied, taking a long stare at the girl beside him.
‘This is my friend Gloria’ Jude quickly introduced.
Gloria smiled, she stared at his collar in search for the pin but it wasn’t there. She later found a thin line in his suit pocket, Cole had done a better job.
‘Okay, she’s the other pilot?’ John misinterpreted, unable to hear properly due to the noise around.
‘No, she’s just a friend’ Jude tried to clarify, but John had moved on already after being pressured by the guards to continue walking before the journalists number increased.
‘Do I really look like a pilot already?’ Gloria asked excitedly, both watching John as he moved on.
‘Yes, you do’ He answered with laughter, he glanced at his wristwatch again. ‘I have to go now, I need to meet Lovina’
‘Okay then’ Gloria waved reluctantly as she watched him go.
+++++++
The driver of the girl’s car was quick to react and he increased the car’s speed immediately, but unfortunately for them another jeep was driving slowly before them, navigating in preparation to take the u-turn centimetres away from them. Benny leveled up and had the chance to shoot again. He sent a bullet into the first girl’s arm and was about to deliver a bullet to the second girl when the car behind hit his car violently, that made the bullet fly in a different direction as his car swerved, narrowly missing a speeding motorcycle.
His target car had used the opportunity to speed off immediately. He thought of pursuing after them but changed his mind on hearing the sound of the police siren. He increased his speed drastically, taking the U-turn to the return lane, he headed for the hotel, causing commotion on the road as he drove crazily, the police were on his trail but far behind.
He reduced his crazy speed to the barest minimum before he drove in through hotel gate, he parked quickly at the garage and proceeded into the building with his bag. He paused at the entrance to make himself calm, he didn’t want to attract attention to himself by rushing inside. He smiled sheepishly in response to the receptionist’s greeting as he entered and headed for the elevator afterwards.
Luckily for him, he was the only one using the elevator then so he wouldn’t have to silence anybody. He punched in the commands for the elevator to take him to the third floor. He searched round the elevator and found a camera which he destroyed with a bullet immediately. He didn’t get out at the third floor but punched in another command to take him to the tenth floor.
He pulled off his bag, brought out a white beard and stuck it to his chin after removing the black one there before, he rubbed a white liquid on his hair that turned it grey immediately. Using a hand towel from the bag to clean off the powder on his face that made him lighter than he was, he sprinkled a liquid on his face that made it rougher. He then brought out a folded walking stick and a rumpled long jacket from the bag which he wore immediately; he finished just at the same time the elevator stopped.
A couple and two young girls stepped into it, greeting the bent old man with the walking stick as the man smiled at them and walked to his room slowly, supporting himself with the stick.
__
A group of ten policemen rushed into the hotel building, holding their guns in readiness for any attack. About other ten officers were also outside in the compound, watching for signs of the criminal. The policemen had already ransacked the red Benz drove into the compound by Benny, leaving the doors widely opened.
Officer Dakolo walked to the receptionists’ stand and displayed his ID card. ‘A criminal just walked into your hotel, lock all your exits immediately’ He said in a command tone.
One of the receptionists in response dialed a number on the landline and conveyed the message to the control room. Every movement in the hotel was stopped; those who were heading outside had to wait at the reception.
‘We heard a gunshot some minutes ago and we don’t know where it came from, what’s the matter?’ a man who was the manager of the hotel asked, looking alarmed as he approached them from the stairs.
‘They are looking for a man who just walked in now, he parked a red Benz outside and he was wearing a green shirt on blue jean, he had a black bag strapped to his back’ a security man described.
‘I saw him, he went up now’ the receptionist who greeted Benny spoke, she moved back and pressed some buttons on the computer keyboard. ‘Room 49, floor 3’ she announced to the waiting ears of the officers.
‘Hey! Come with me’ he commanded, pointing to four other officers, he turned to his assistant and gave an order. ‘No one should go out from here’
He surged up through the stairs with the four other officers to the third floor, they headed for room 49 hurriedly, positioning themselves strategically as they got to the door.
Dakolo landed a heavy kick on the door and it gave way, he poured in rains of bullets into the room but there was no response. He moved in tactically with two guys carefully following him searching everywhere in the room. Dakolo was the first to notice behind the curtains that the window was widely opened with the glass shattered carelessly on the floor, there was a rope tied to the bed and it passed through the window to the backyard of the hotel.
‘The criminal is outside the hotel building, everybody must be on guard’ Dakolo spoke into the walkie talkie as he rushed out of the room with his men
___
Old man Benny heard the several gunshots but he didn’t panic, the plan of the operation already provided for their intrusion. Tarasha already taught him several tactics to use incase they did show up and he was carry out one successfully.
He smiled at the old man facing him in the mirror as he added other things to his face to complete his disguise. He commended himself for a very good job, feeling proud as he heard the shouts and screams from the policemen looking for him in and outside the hotel building. Greatly surprised at the development of his new skills, he praised Tarasha in his heart for teaching them some very dangerous new techniques.
His smile changed into a frown when he remembered something, he picked out his phone and dialed Tarasha’s number to inform her of something very important. He gave up after the call was unanswered so many times.
His happiness gradually turned to fear, not fear of the police but a fear of failure at his operation. He wasn’t sure if he had shot the right girl in the car. His research before the operation didn’t reveal to him that the girl had a twin and a very identical one at that.
How’s she?’ A middleaged man asked no one in particular as he rushed into the hospital reception, he had a pot belly which clearly showed it round signs from the neatly ironed shirt.
He turned to Lovina who was sitting in the reception sofa with the driver, three uniformed policemen were seen standing beside them. ‘How’s your sister?’ The man asked again.
‘Loveth is fine’ Lovina answered, folding her arms as she stood up with tears formed in her eyes. ‘The doctor said she didn’t lose much blood because we brought her in early, they just have to take out the bullet’
‘Thank God!’ He exclaimed, rubbing his palms in the air in appreciation. He turned to the three policemen that stood beside Lovina, ‘but how did it happen? Who was the criminal that tried to kill my Loveth?’
‘We don’t know sir, but our men are after him and would surely get him’ one of the officers replied.
He turned back to Lovina, ‘I think you should go back to school now since Loveth is already on treatment. I’ll see the doctors’
‘Huh?’ Her eyes widened in disbelief. ‘Dad! That guy tried to shoot me also’she exclaimed.
‘The criminal is already being pursued by the police, he can’t come after you again’ he reassured. ‘These officers would also follow you there’
‘Dad, I’m scared’ she said as she ran into his warm embrace. ‘I don’t think I’m stable enough to fly the plane anymore’
‘Don’t be scared dear, my enemies have failed’ he said, patting her on the back. ‘I’m sure they only want to stop you from flying the plane successfully’
‘Would you go with me Dad?’ She looked into his eyes and asked.
‘No’ he replied, he could read the disappointment in her eyes. ‘I have to stay with your sister’
‘Ok’ she agreed hesitatingly, ‘ I’ll go’
She picked up her bag and looked at her father again for reassurance before she walked out of the hospital, two officers and the driver followed.
The man sat into the sofa where Lovina where Lovina got up from, he ignore the gazes of other waiters in the reception and buried his face in his palm. He wondered who it could be that attacked his daughters, he wondered who wanted them dead. Loveth, Lovina’s twin sister was a student of the university of Enugu and had come on a short break to grace the special event with her sister. The assailant’s target was surely Lovina but the great resemblance of the twins must have confused him and he decided to shoot both but failed.
+++++++++++
Jude paced the floor, already getting impatient waiting for Lovina. He was already dressed in his pilot’s uniform, the flight was to take off in the next twenty minutes and he was to walk out with his partner and pass through the security protocols before going to settle in the airplane.
His mind became at rest when he noticed a figure behind him, he heaved a sigh of relief.
‘Lovina, why did …’ He was saying at he turned to look at the figure. His sorrow returned when he turned back to see Gloria dressed in a pilot uniform.
‘Jude’ she called and smiled at him.
‘What?’ He barked at her turning his back to her, ‘I’m in a serious dilemma here and you’re playing games with me’
‘I’m here to help you Jude’ she said calmly.
‘What stupid help?’ He growled, he narrowed his gaze at her and examined her appearance. He asked with a threatening tone ‘where did you find this uniform?’
‘I’ve come to help you Jude’ she ignored his question and continued. ‘Lovina is not here and I don’t want you to lose this opportunity, I can represent her’
‘You know that’s not possible’
‘It is’ Gloria insisted
‘It’s not, all the students and lecturers present already know who is supposed to fly with me’ Jude argued.
‘But they would not notice, they’ll only be watching us from far’ She put in. ‘I won’t stay out of the plane so long for them to see me’
‘You can’t even get into the plane’ he said sternly, ‘Only Lovina’s ID card and mine would be allowed by the security to enter the plane or even access the runway
‘I have one here’ she displayed an ID card to him.
‘What? How did you get that?’ He asked, his look turned into a suspicious one.
‘Shhh…’ Gloria hushed him, placing a finger on her lips. ‘Stop raising your voice, I only want to help you’
He narrowed his gaze first and then raised his brow, ‘I don’t need that kind of help, it could get me into more trouble’
She moved closer to him, removing an android device from her pocket. She opened her chat with Aisha on the instant messenger, revealing some pictures and videos.
‘Here’ she pointed something to him on the screen. He refused to look into it first, but he saw something familiar that caught his attention. The picture she was showing him looked like one taken in his sister’s hostel room. He moved closer to have a clearer view.
He was greatly shocked by what he saw. His younger sister, the only sibling he had and the only surviving member of his family who was a law student in the port Harcourt university couldn’t come to the event because she had an exam that day. He was terrified seeing her tied to a chair in the room, blindfolded wearing a bomb jacket.
‘Who are you and what do you want with my sister?’ Jude asked shakily.
‘I want nothing with you or your sister and I won’t harm any of you if you cooperate with me’ she spoke, tapping in some commands into the android device, she switched it off and flung it into a locker. She returned to face him, ‘all I want is to get on the plane with you’
‘But that’s not possible’ his eyes was full of pleas.
‘Then you have to sacrifice your sister ‘ she said bluntly. She rolled up her sleeve and showed him a device placed around her wrist close to the watch, she placed her hand on the red button. ‘All I need to do is touch this and your sister would join your parents’
‘No no, please’ he pleaded with tears forming in his eyes, he knelt on the floor.
‘That won’t work Jude, what I want is to fly plane with you, I’ve have a message for one of our passengers’ she continued without no pity in her voice. She glanced at her wristwatch and turned her back on him, ‘we have only eight minutes to board the plane, your sister or I pilot the plane with you?’
‘Okay’ he finally agreed, wiping off his face as he got up from his kneels. ‘But you have to promise me that nothing will happen to her’
‘Nothing would happen to her’ she said with a smile.
‘Let’s go’ Jude said as he matched forward to the exit.
‘Wait!’ She ordered, ‘clean off your face properly, no one must suspect anything’
‘Okay’ he used an handkerchief to mop his face and tried to put on a smile.
‘Good’ she smiled again. ‘We’re going straight into the plane after we pass the governor’s security officials, no wasting of time’
She walked back to the second exit which she entered from and opened the door slightly. She inserted a metal into the lock and fastened it like a bolt, she left the site slightly opened and turned back to join Jude.
Jude led the way out and they proceeded where the plane was parked. Gloria took care not to look back at all as she could hear several voices chanting the names ‘Lovina’ and ‘Jude’, they thought she was Lovina since she was wearing a wig of the same hairstyle Lovina had on. They passed the governor’s security officials easily after they displayed their ID cards and were searched.
She avoided looking towards John Obiano who was outside, looking fly in his black shiny suit complimented with a red tie as he chatted with the minister and the Rivers state governor, Kelechi Edwin.
The Aviation minister was also dressed in a black suit and shirt but he had no tie on. The only odd one was the Governor, he was adorned in a native attire and a black hat to match it, he always loved to represent his culture especially when he was in a program that was being televised internationally.
Gloria greeted the dignitaries briefly and walked into the airplane immediately with Jude to settle in the ÇOçkpit. Jude took the Captain’s position at the left while Gloria took the first officer’s seat, a drop of sweat rolled down her head from underneath the wig she wore.
++++++++++
‘Hey!’ A lady dressed in an air hostess’ uniform carrying a black bag approached Cole in the midst of several students and guests walking in and out of the field.
‘Hey’ Cole replied with laughter in seeing Aisha, ‘you looked great in this uniform’
She poked him by the side playfully and joined in the laughter, ‘are you done with your job?’
‘Yes, I’ve been waiting here for you all day’ he replied.
‘Well’ she continued and they began to walk slowly, ‘my task was a little bit cvmbersome’
‘What were you asked to do?’
‘To handle the pilot’s sister and also exchange one of the flight attendant’s bag’
‘And how did it go?’ He asked.
‘Fine, how was yours?’
‘Good, it was easier than I thought it would be’ he replied, ‘I only dropped a needle into John Obiano’s pocket’
‘Needle?’ She asked, facing him.
‘Yea’
‘I think there was a pack of needle in my bag too, but the main thing was a parachute’
He chuckled as they continued walking, ‘I was almost wondering how she intended to drop off the plane before’
‘Your task was simple ‘ Aisha teased. ‘No one could have failed that’
‘Huh?’ He gave her a sharp look. ‘Do you know how many bodyguards I had to go past?’
She hissed playfully, ‘stop magnifying it’
‘See you’ he gave a playful hiss and peeped into the bag she was carrying. ‘What do we have there?’
‘Nothing edible, stop sniffing’ she pushed his nose with a finger. ‘Except you want to eat first aid materials and other hostesses’ kits’
He replied with a prolonged hiss showing his disappointment
Cole stopped suddenly, he looked shocked as he stared at someone approaching them. Aisha paused to see what he was staring at, the same look appeared on her face.
‘Gosh!’ Cole whispered. They stared at Lovina and the two officers approaching hurriedly.
+++++++
Benny was jerked off with a knock on the door to his hotel room. He quickly rushed to the mirror to check if his disguise was still in order, the knock sounded again.
‘Come.. in.. ‘ he answered, forming a weak voice.
The door was opened before he could finish talking; three police officers barged into the room.
‘Good afternoon sir’ one of the police officers greeted politely on seeing the old man.
‘Good morning’ the old man corrected.
‘Sir, didn’t you hear the alarm that was sounded some time ago?’ The officer went straight to his point. ‘Everyone was asked to come out of their rooms, there’s a criminal lurking around’
‘I heard it, but what could I do?’ The man replied in a pitiful voice, he took a glance at the other officer who was searching the room. ‘I came out and tried to use the elevator but it was locked, I had to come back into my room. I can’t use the stairs because of my bad leg…’
‘There’s nothing here ‘ the officer searching around interrupted.
It’s okay sir, you’ll be allowed to go downstairs soon but in the meantime, don’t hesitate to raise alarm if you find anything strange’ the officer concluded and they walked out of the room in a hurry.
+++++
Officer Dakolo and the rest of his team in the control room fixed their gazes on the screen as the surveillance tapes were played. The first tape played showed the back view of the young man walking to the elevator and then another one was played that showed the front view, the video was zoomed and a screen shot of the man’s face was taken. Another one was played and it displayed the criminal in the elevator, the viewers were watching intently, then the criminal faced the camera and pointed a gun straight at it. The bullet was released and the streaming stopped immediately..
‘d@mn!’ Dakolo cursed under his breath, he turned to the manager. ‘He was headed for floor 3 right?’
‘Yes he was’ the manager replied.
‘Let’s see more of the tapes’ Dakolo demanded.
Several other clips were played but there was none that showed the same young man leaving the elevator or entering any room.
+++++++
‘Where have you been Lovina? Everybody has been waiting for you’ Aisha said as she approached Lovina who gave her a confused look.
‘I had some problems’ Lovina replied hesitatingly, trying to answer the stranger politely.
‘Its best you go change immediately, it’s only five minutes to the flight’ Aisha advised, glancing at her wristwatch.
‘Oh! That’s true’ Lovina confirmed from her wristwatch.
‘Your uniform is there’ Aisha pointed to a different changing room, in an attempt to mislead her but Lovina surged forward, half running and walking towards three girls who were her coursemates. Cole and Aisha hid behind a wall to listen to them.
‘Where have you been?’ One of the girls scolded her as she ran towards them, the police officers followed slowly, one of them looked back for signs of Cole and Aisha. The girl turned to the other two girls who were looking shocked, their arms were folded. ‘I told you that girl wasn’t Lovina’
‘But who was she? ‘ another girl with a roughly bleached skin spoke, looking stunned. ‘Their backview and hair are the same’
‘I don’t know’ the black third girl joined. ‘I only suspected that something was amiss when she didn’t turn back to greet us when we called her name’
‘Even Jude was not looking well, he couldn’t respond to us’ the first girl added again.
‘Has the plane taken off?’ Lovina asked, she sounded frustrated.
‘No, but they were about to when we left there’
‘I have to go and stop them now, that imposter would be in serious trouble’ Lovina said and she raced towards the pilots’ lounge where Jude and Gloria went into the runway from.
‘Stay back’ Lovina shouted at the police officers who stood at the entrance, some other students and lecturers who had seen Lovina also came closer.
Lovina pushed opened the slightly opened door and entered the room where Jude and Gloria had their last discussion. The door was jammed by the last of the three friends who came in.
‘d@mn!’ Lovina cursed on seeing the plane through the transparent glass wall. It was already moving . She proceeded towards the other exit that led to the runway and struggled to open the door but her struggle was fruitless, it seemed the door had been locked from outside, one of her friends joined her in the struggle while the two others tried to open the door they came in through. It couldn’t open also, they had been trapped.
++++++++
‘What are we going to do now?’ Cole looked frustrated, looking to Aisha for answers. ‘The plan B has failed’
‘I don’t know, I think we should just get out of here immediately’ Aisha replied, she looked around and saw several eyes staring at them already. ‘Let’s leave here before we get into trouble too’
Aisha began walking furiously out of the school’s airdrome and Cole joined her hesitatingly. ‘We can’t leave the boss here, she might need us to escape’
‘Can’t you see that people around are suspecting us already?’ She asked, increasing her pace. ‘We might not be able to escape ourselves if we stay here any longer’
‘The car is here’ Cole pointed to a black car parked alongside with other cars outside the airdrome.
++++++++
Tarasha wristwatch beeped as she piloted the plane alongside Jude, she knew at once that someone had entered the room but she was indifferent about the situation, everything was in control already, Lovina’s uniform had even been infected with dangerous substances by Tarasha and would cause severe itching to anyone who wore it.
She didn’t infect only Lovina’s uniform but several others that she found hung in the dressing room. This was done to stop anyone who tried to substitute Lovina and even Lovina herself in case Benny failed.
+++++
‘That Tarasha is just too full of herself’ Aishat commented bitterly as they drove out of the aviation school. ‘Why didn’t she let us do the planning together?’
‘She’s a professional Aisha’ Cole said thoughtfully, ‘I believe she has other plans’
‘Professional my foot’ she stamped her fingers, ‘a professional that’ll soon be caught as an imposter’
‘She won’t be caught’ Cole spoke confidently as he drove, he paused and waited for the right time before turning into the road. ‘I believe in her’
Aisha bent to look into his eyes as if to ask if he is mentally stable, ‘just don’t drive to Orogbum, we need to stay somewhere else and plan on leaving this state immediately’
‘Oh!’ Cole exclaimed as he remembered something, he turned to look at the back seat. ‘Please bring that phone for me’ he said to Aisha.
‘What?’ She gave an inquisitive look as she handed the phone to him.
He ignored her question and placed the phone on his lap, using his left hand to swipe through. He opened a GPS application and waited for it to load. After successfully loading, it displayed a map and a revolving sphere appeared, under it was written “searching for target 0%”.
‘What are you doing?’ Aisha asked again.
‘Wait!’ He hushed her.
‘Just don’t drive to Orogbum, I can’t picture myself sleeping in the police cell’ she folded her arms in a stubborn manner.
Cole smiled as he glanced at the phone’s screen again, ‘it displayed “searching completed, one target found” and a red blinking dot appeared on the map.
‘What?’ Aisha was getting angry as she couldn’t figure out the reason he was smiling happily.
‘The plane is moving already’ he answered happily, ‘we’ll pick her up at Onne’
‘Huh?’ She asked with a doubtful tone
‘You heard me right’ he increased his speed rapidly and zoomed past slow driving cars before him.
++++++++
Jude watched in awe as Gloria controlled everything perfectly. Right from the takeoff time, he had been expecting her to look confused and watch him fly the plane but the reverse was the case, she flew the plane while he watched. He wanted to ask her questions but his mouth only opened and closed, no words could come out of it.
He was full of regrets for being so careless and unsuspecting of Gloria. He remembered the day they chatted in the lecture room, he had found several of the year one students having practical on the runway after he left her to meet with John Obiano. He wondered why she wasn’t involved in the practical but he dismissed the thought of her being an unserious student, he concluded that the lecturer must have divided the students into batches for the practical and that it wasn’t her batch’s turn.
‘Who are you?’ He asked in low tones, finally finding his voice.
‘Take control Jude, I’m going to ease myself’ she ignored his question, getting ready to stand up.
Jude glanced at the time, they had spent only ten minutes on air. He looked back at her to ask another question, but the look on her face had changed, her entire look had changed. The Gloria whose face once radiated the spirit of friendship and peace now radiated evil. The colour of her skin was also changing, it was then Jude fully realized that he didn’t know who he was dealing with.
‘Ok’ he said fidgeting all over, scared to look back at her face.
She walked slowly out of the ÇOçkpit, a blow knocked out the first air attendant who came forward from the cabin. The noise attracted the other attendant and she appeared to find her colleague lying on the floor. She looked up at the pilot that was supposed to be Lovina but No, the Lady in the pilot’s uniform looked like the devil’s incarnate. The disguise makeup on Gloria’s face was already fading, that made her face and hands show two different colours; one of the real Tarasha and the other Gloria.
The air second hostess was silenced too but after letting out a slight scream. Tarasha saw the hostesses’ kits bag and checked to confirm if her parachute was there.
*
‘What’s that?’ The Governor, Kelechi Edwin panicked as he looked at the other two guests seated with him on the the seater sofa.
‘Are you sure it’s not from the TV?’ the aviation minister joined in, he looked alarmed also but he was calmer as he thought the noise came from the film they were watching on the flat screened TV.
John Obiano stood up partially and remained quiet as if to listen if he would hear something of the same manner. He sat back after a minute of waiting, ‘I think it’s from the Tv’ he said with a note of finality
**
Tarasha removed the wig on her head and flung it away, exposing her unplaited long natural hair, a part of it fell on her face and covered one of her eyes slightly making her look more devilish.
An ID card dropped from her body as she tore the left part of her uniform’s top, she picked it up and broke out the part of the ID card that displayed the passport. She flung it to the side and opened the curtains that divided the section of the cabin where John Obiano and the guests were, they were taken aback as they saw the slender monster approaching, blood was dripping from her fingers on the left hand and a bag was on the right.
John quickly surged forward with aim of taking the monster by surprise but she dodged his blow and grabbed him on the neck with her right hand, she dropped the bag. She drew out something from his suit pocket and stuck it in her hair. She lifted him up with both hand and threw his body on the minister of aviation who was already on his feet and was trying to shoot a gun. John crashed into the minister and they both collapsed into the sofa, the gun fell off the minister’s hand.
Kelechi Edwin was up and ready to defend himself as she ran towards him but Tarasha bent to escape his punch and took him off his feet with a kick. She took the pin hung in her hair, removed the lid and pierced into the governor’s neck, he fell to the floor unconsciously. She stood up to face John Obiano who to her surprise quickly recovered and was up again, charging towards her with the glass table. But she was always ready to deal with surprises, she picked up the fallen Governor quickly and the table was shattered on the man’s head.
Tarasha dragged John towards herself by his tie and gave him a uppercut, she dragged him violently alongside as she rushed towards the minister who was crawling to pick the gun. She stepped on the man’s hand and kicked the gun farther, she pushed John forcefully making him hit his head against the flat screen TV. A heavy kick on the face took out the minister.
Tarasha picked up the gun and pointed at John, he was still sprawling on the floor weakly, she walked towards him and knocked him out with the butt of the gun. She stepped backwards and picked the bag from where she dropped it. She brought out the parachute and put it on hurriedly. She walked towards the unconscious and bleeding body of the Governor, she pulled the Governor by his shirt’s collar and dragged him with her towards the exit. On another thought she turned back and entered the section where the fallen attendants were, she started taking off the clothes of the most slender one.
++++++++++
The plane had gone far when the door was finally opened, Lovina was already soaked in her tears, her friends tried to console her. The professors, school authority and the airdrome officials were thrown into a state of confusion and panic. They found the android device Tarasha dropped and the police immediately sent a special team to diffuse the bomb and save Jude’s sister.
Officer Dakolo was confused and at the same time irritated, he stood in the room with two members of his team questioning the airdrome security officials and Lovina.
‘How did a stranger pass through you guys?’ he barked angrily at the officials, bombarding them with questions. ‘Where were you? Was there no one who saw her?’
A uniformed security man answered him confidently, ‘We were outside here, so no one could have entered without passing through us. Jude greeted us when he was about to enter but we didn’t see any girl’
‘So you mean she appeared into the room from nowhere?’
His question was answered with silence, no sound could be heard except for the sobs of Lovina.
‘Nobody can gain entrance into these rooms, only Jude’s and Lovina’s ID cards was configured to pass through the door’ A professor spoke, pointing towards the damaged metal door
‘I don’t get you, how did the imposter pass through if only Jude’s and Lovina’s ID cards could allow them entrance?’ Dakolo raised his eyebrow as he asked.
‘I don’t know’ the professor in charge looked puzzled, he turned to Lovina and asked multiple questions. ‘Where’s your ID card?’
Lovina answered in low tones, wiping her face, ‘my ID card is with me but I didn’t enter with it, the door was left open’
Dakolo walked closer to the entrance and bent down to inspect the destroyed door, he stood up after some seconds. ‘That means she probably gained access through Jude, by threatening him with his sister’
‘Yes, but..’ The professor argued thoughtfully, ‘she could have gained access into this room through Jude but she wouldn’t have been allowed to enter into the plane without Lovina’s ID card’
‘My ID card is with me’ Lovina repeated, still sobbing.
A familiar noise distracted them, they all looked back to see the plane returning. Officer Dakolo hurried towards the other exit which had the transparent wall with his team. He stopped when the door refused to open, ‘is this door still locked?’ he spoke angrily, directing his question to the professor.
‘Yes, I don’t know how and why it got locked’ the man replied, ‘we have to destroy it like the other one’
Dakolo glanced back at the plane which was already on the runway, ‘how do we get there now?’ he asked impatiently.
‘Come with me’ the professor said, leading Dakolo through a longer route to the runway, where the press were and where the passengers in the plane had passed through.
Dakolo signaled for several other armed officers to follow as they hurried to attack the imposter on the plane. They got to the runway in two minutes and waited for the plane to stop successfully.
About twenty officers surrounded the plane, waiting patiently for the passengers to come out. The governor’s security guards and officers were also on guard as they joined the officers to surround the plane.
‘Don’t try anything stupid’ Dakolo said into the megaphone after waiting for two minutes and there was no signs of anyone in the plane. ‘The police are surrounding you already and it will be best for you to surrender’
**Lagos Nigeria, 12pm**
Chief Gab stood up from his office seat to take off his suit, he hung it behind the seat and loose his tie as he sat back into the swivel. He heaved a sigh of relief as he rested his back and hands on the support, the rotating chair, turning him from side to side. He had gotten so much good news that day. At first it was Tarasha who called him very early in the morning to inform him that the job would be finally executed that day, then just some minutes after Chief Nonso also called to tell him that one of their illegal business deals had yielded millions of naira.
His phone rang for the third time that day, disrupting his thoughts, the caller was his friend Nonso. Gab wondered what the reason was for the call, they had just discussed some few minutes ago and he didn’t expect Chief Nonso to call him again so soon.
‘Hello’ came Chief Nonso’s impatiently, with a hoarse voice
‘Hello Chief’ Gab replied.
‘Where are you now?’ Chief Nonso asked a silly question.
‘We spoke some minutes ago’ Gab reminded him, ‘I’m in my office’
‘Switch on your TV now’ Nonso said with a note of urgency. ‘There’s something you need to see on AIT’
‘Ehen’ Gab got up from the seat immediately. He headed for the section of his office where he received visitors, still placing the phone on his ear. ‘What’s there?’ He asked Nonso.
‘Have you switched on the TV?’
‘Yes’ Gab sat on the sofa, dropping the remote control beside him.
‘See for yourself, I’ll call you later’ Nonso said and the line went off.
“… the identity of the imposter is unknown yet but the police are after her and would surely get her soon” A reporter was saying. An airplane was shown and some bodies were being carried out from it into special ambulances. A young pilot was also shown being escorted away by some police officers.
“The Governor and the suspect is yet to be found, it is greatly feared that this is a case of kidnap but the police and other security officials are working hard and they promise to find the Governor and bring him back safely before the end of the day. I’m Nwanko Vivian reporting from Rivers State, AIT news” the reporter concluded. A newscaster heaved a sigh and continued with the other news headlines.
Chief Gab gave an evil simile as he picked up his phone and swiped in the pattern. He opened his notification bar and saw several messages from different news apps. They all carried the same breaking news of the governor’s kidnap. He opened the Punch newspaper app and read the article in details.
++++++
* Aviation School, Port Harcourt. 12.30pm *
Inspector Dakolo sat on a stool facing the distressed Jude who was made to sit on a more comfortable chair with a back and armrest. They were in the schools security room with two other officers and some of the school’s security men clad in their yellow and black uniform. Jude was still in his pilot’s uniform but he was unrecognizable in it, he looked like someone who was the only survivor in a nationwide war.
Dakolo was already looking stressed out himself, his neatly tucked in shirt had flown out and the waistcoat was unbuttoned too. Apart from the disfigured ID card he had found in the plane, he found no other useful lead.
‘You have to tell us everything you know about this’ Dakolo warned, ‘you could be in serious trouble and charged to court for being an accomplice in the crime’
‘Where’s my sister?’ Jude asked, ignoring Dakolo’s threat.
‘I told you before’ Dakolo slammed, ‘your sister is fine, she’s safe with the police’
‘Where’s she?’ Jude pushed further, unintimidated by Dakolo. He said amidst tears, ‘If she’s dead, then I’ve lost everything already’
Dakolo got up from the stool, making a phone call, he realized that Jude wasn’t going to say anything until he was sure his sister was safe.
‘Hello officer, where’s she?’ Dakolo spoke into the phone. He took a look at Jude after some seconds of silence ‘please give her the phone, her brother wants to speak with her’
Jude collected the phone hurriedly, his hand shaking as he placed it on his ears. Tears flowed down his eyes as he heard his sister’s voice, ‘are you okay?’ He asked and waited for a reply and heard a soft voice reply ‘yes’ before he continued. ‘I promise I’m never going to allow anything bad happen to you again’
Jude spoke with his sister for few more seconds before he handed back the phone.
‘Would you speak now?’ Dakolo said, taking back his position on the stool.
‘I never knew her until few days ago’ Jude began, ‘we meet very early in the morning during the exercise hours and she introduced herself as a fresher’
Dakolo listened with rapt attention as Jude relayed to him how he met with Gloria. ‘Did you ever try to confirm if she really was one of the hundred Level students?’
‘No, I had no reason to doubt her. She was always putting on an ID card’ Jude answered.
‘Did you ever see her with any other student?’
‘Yes’ Jude replied, stressing the word as he tried to remember. ‘I saw her with a girl on the day we met and when we discussed in the class’
‘Do you know this girl you’re talking about? Do you know her name?’
‘No, but I can recognize her if we see. Gloria never mentioned her name ‘
‘Okay’ Dakolo paused for a while and then continued, ‘did you ever suspect anything when you were around her?’
‘Just on two occasions’ Jude said after thinking for a minute. ‘On the first day we met in her class, she was supposed to be on the practical ground with other year one students’
‘And which day was the second?’ Dakolo asked impatiently.
‘Two days ago’ he said thoughtfully. ‘She asked me to explain a particular topic to her’
‘What happened?’
‘I really don’t know’ Jude looked puzzled, ‘I don’t know how I got to my hostel that day, I woke up feeling an headache the next morning’
‘What else did you notice that was strange?’
‘The other thing I noticed was my …’ His volume reduced, his eyes widened. ‘My ID card’
‘What happened to your ID card?’ Dakolo pushed on with great interest.
‘I hung it on my neck that day but later found it in my bag’ Jude said.
‘Maybe you kept it there yourself, you said you don’t remember how you got home that day’
‘I could have kept it in my bag without knowing, but…’ He gave another long pause. ‘It was in a position I never keep things; that means someone took it off my neck and kept it in the bag for me’
‘Why…’ Officer Dakolo’s phone rang, interrupting their conversation. ‘Yes… What?’
Dakolo ended the call after receiving what seemed to be a urgent message, he looked at Jude to ask a final question. He brought out a broken card from his pocket and showed it to Jude, ‘ who owns this ID card’ he asked.
‘Samatha Osman’ Jude muttered under his breath, he squinted as he tried to read the other details. ‘I don’t know, I never came across anyone with that name’
‘Okay’ Dakolo turned in a hurry, he signaled to an officer to take care of Jude and for another to follow him out.
+++++++
*Lagos Nigeria, 1pm*
Officers James and Segun stood behind a computer operator, looking into something the man was showing them on the screen. James had one of his hands placed on the table as he bent to have a clear view of the screen. The screen displayed several thin lines of different colours which all met at the same point.
‘The person who installed the bug is a professional, it keeps directing me to a proxy and port in Russia’ the computer operator said.
‘Can you find out who operates from the port?’ James questioned
The operator gave a short smile. ‘The position here has been located already’ he said, referring to the point where all the lines met.
‘Yes, where exactly in Russia is it?’ James interest rose
‘Grand kremlin Palace, Moscow’ the operator said bluntly.
‘Huh?’ James eyes widened in shock, he stood up straight and glanced at Segun who also looked surprised. ‘Are you sure of what you’re saying?’
‘Is that not where the Russian president stays?’ Segun interjected.
‘Yes, that’s the official house for the president’ the operator replied, he turned back to stare at his superiors’ faces. ‘I was surprised when I saw it first, but then I realized that someone is just fooling with us’
James looked defeated as he stepped back and sank into a plastic chair. He heaved a sigh of frustration, ‘Is there no hope of finding the real location?’
‘I don’t know yet, the criminal must have used a powerful software to adjust the server location’
‘So what do we do now?’ Segun joined in.
‘Good afternoon officers’ Sandra interrupted their discourse, walking into the room with a serious look. ‘Have you listened to the news this afternoon?’
Her question got a reply of awkward stares from the trio. ‘The Rivers State Governor has been kidnapped’ she announced after looking at each of their faces one after the other.
‘What?’
‘Yes, he was kidnapped this morning by an unidentified girl’ she continued, feeling fulfilled as she was the first to break the news to them.
‘A girl?’
‘But he was supposed to launch an airplane today’ Segun countered.
‘He was kidnapped in the plane’ she added quickly, ‘the kidnapper disguised as one of the pilots’
Interesting, I never thought such a thing could happen in Rivers State with the level of security that it has now attained with new IG and Inspector Dakolo’ James commented, ‘well, we have also a serious task before us, lets pray for the governor and hope he’s safe’
++++++++++
1.45pm
**Onne, Rivers State**
Cole drove through the pathway surrounded by bushes, following the direction given to them by the map. He had stopped several times to ask for directions from people but had been misdirected twice due to his wrong pronunciation of the address. A community came into view as he got to a junction, he could see several houses and people walking by. He saw a group of people rushing towards a specific direction, most of them were in haste as if they got a glimpse of something very spectacular.
He took a look at his tracking map again and confirmed he was very close to Tarasha’s location. The compass pointed him to the same direction he saw people heading for, he turned and drove slowly towards the place. Not too long after, he got a clear view of where the people were headed for, he parked the car at a far distance to where people were gathered and came out of the car with Aisha.
They followed the direction of the compass until they got close to a river bank. A crowd of villagers were seen gossiping around the river with about five police vans surrounding the place, the villagers kept a reasonable distance from the officers.
Cole halted and warned Aisha not to move further, they stood under a tree where some other people were seen standing and discussing about the matter but took care not to go close to them to avoid raising suspicion. The villagers were discussing in a native language so nothing could be made out of their discussion.
After waiting for some minutes, Cole and Aisha’s confidence grew as they saw several other people dressed in a civilized manner like them moving close to the scene. As they proceeded further, not less than fifteen police officers were seen questioning individuals or discussing with each other and taking notes. Cole took a look at the compass again and it pointed to a direction where about five police officers were gathered.
His heart skipped a beat as he realized that the compass was leading them right in front of the officers, the target was in an ambulance and the officers were just at the front of the vehicle. Aisha nudged him to give an explanation on seeing panic all over him, she held on to one of his arms and looked into his face.
‘I’m afraid something terrible has happened’ He said shakily. ‘We have to get out of here immediately’
‘What?’ Aisha asked him as they took a backward turn.
The compass is leading us into the ambulance’ Cole said, he drew her back as she was walking too fast. ‘We have to walk back slowly like we came so that we don’t attract anyone’s attention’ he scolded.
‘Okay, you’ve not told me what it is’ Aisha decreased her pace hesitatingly.
‘If the tracker is still on Tarasha, then she must have been caught by the police’ Cole expatiated. ‘The tracker is leading us into the ambulance, that means the person that it was attached to is also in the ambulance’
The news frightened Aisha and she increased her pace rapidly again only to be cautioned seriously by Cole. ‘If someone notices us here, you’ll have yourself to blame’ Cole warned in a low but strict voice as he pulled her back again.
A heavily built man in a native attire was seen approaching with an entourage of guards surrounding him, the crown on his head hinted Cole and Aisha that the King of the town was the one approaching. There were other men who were dressed like him, in their native attires too; they looked like the Chiefs. They all seemed embattled as they hurried to the river bank.
Cole and Aisha halted and stepped aside as the other villagers did for their king and his entourage to pass before going further. Cole decided to talk to someone before they leave the place, he looked around for someone who looked a little civilized and would be able to communicate well in English Language.
‘Hello sir’ he greeted a teenager politely.
‘Chai! Hello’ the shirtless young man replied , folding his arms.
‘Have you been here since?’ Cole asked.
‘Yes oooo’ he answered, looking very ready to grant them an interview if they needed one.
‘What really happened?’
The boy carefully directed Cole and Aisha to a corner devoid of passers and began to relay what he had heard, his accent made him less audible. ‘I wasn’t there o, but my friend said they saw something coming from heaven with an Umbrella. They said the strange thing became a person before it dropped in the river’
‘Ehen?’ Aisha was getting impatient with his long narration.
‘All the ladies that was fetching water in the river at that time became scared and ran away before it dropped in the river, they said that it changed into three or four people after it fell into the river. Some of them even say they saw six or seven’ the boy continued enthusiastically. ‘The only man that was at the river that time went closer and he said he noticed movement in the river. They later brought out two bodies from the River; one was a woman’s body and the other was a man’s body’
So what happened?’ Cole urged him to continue.
‘They brought out the two bodies; Professor says the woman is a pilot while the man looks like our governor. Oga police was the one who called the other policemen and they came into the village some minutes later with their big big cars’ the boy continued, describing ‘big big’ with his hands.
‘Oh! Thank you very much’ Cole said, patting the boy on the shoulder as he ran to join his peers.
His heart was heavy as he turned to Aisha, ‘we have to get out of here immediately’ she said and began to hurry towards the car
Cole stood dumbfounded, he couldn’t accept the fact that Tarasha had gone down so easily, he brought out his phone again and the compass was still referring to the same direction. He felt a sharp pain in his heart as he trudged after Aisha to the car.
++++++++
‘Good afternoon your highness’ Dakolo curtsied, after leaving the group of officers studying the dead bodies to approach the King.
‘Officer!’ the king barked like an angry dog. ‘What is this I’m hearing? The Governor was found dead in this river?’
‘Calm down your highness’ Dakolo eyes was full of grief as he talked. ‘It is a very sad occurrence your Majesty, very sad’
‘Oh!’ the King wailed, ‘how can this happen to us?’
Dakolo led the King to the ambulance where the Governor’s body was kept. At this time more security officials were already arriving to escort the body back to town.
‘Eh Oh!’ the King broke down again, he closed his eyes in horror as he saw the Governor’s body laying lifeless.
Dakolo closed back the door to the vehicle, ‘We’ll be leaving now, we have to report to the headquarters as soon as possible’
‘Yes, I know o’ the King replied, him and his entourage looked bereaved. ‘May God be with you officer’
‘Amen, thank you your highness’ Dakolo answered as he took a turn to the right side of the vehicle to take a seat in front.
The Police vehicles and ambulances drove away from the scene not too long after, leaving the villager’s behind in a pile of dust. Several thoughts ran through Dakolo’s mind as they drove back to Port Harcourt, he didn’t like the way the criminal was found dead, he wished to have caught her alive. He felt greatly enervated.
+++
Cole and Aisha hid under another tree with the villagers and watched as the police vehicles and ambulances sped past hurriedly. They waited till the cars were out of sight before they came of their hiding place and hurried to the point that their car was parked, several of the villagers followed them heading for their various places of abode while some stayed back and still continued to gossip about the incident.
Cole looked like he had just lost something very important as he walked tiredly to the car, the information they had gotten suggests that Tarasha was dead but he still hoped and believed that she could be alive. Aisha was more concerned about leaving there safely, she knew from when Tarasha had announced their mission that it was only a suicide attempt, she secretly thank God that only Tarasha was gone.
The two with their worries did not notice a woman dressed in a village attire following them until they got to the car, they thought the lady would walk past after they stopped at the car so they didn’t pay any heed to her when they finally noticed. Aisha opened the door to the right front seat and entered in a hurry. Cole was about to open the door and enter when he noticed that the village lady was also trying to open the back door.
Fear surged through his body as his eyes met with hers, shrills were sent down his spine. He was too shocked and couldn’t open the door anymore.
‘Stop staring at me and open the door’ Tarasha slammed
‘Sorry Boss’ Cole said and quickly opened his door first. He released the lock to the backdoor.
Aisha was startled on hearing that voice; she quickly jumped out of the car and stared at her Boss in awe. Tarasha entered into the backseat without giving both of them another look, Cole and Aisha stared at each other in shock for some seconds before they could recover and enter back into the car.
Cole drove off immediately without saying a word, he and Aisha occasionally glanced at Tarasha fearfully through the front mirror. He was full of mixed feelings, he felt happy and at the same time also scared and shocked. Aisha on the other hand was feeling greatly terrified, she already thought that the end had come for their pompous Boss.
‘Take another route’ Tarasha said calmly, breaking the awkward silence. ‘The police just went that way and it’s not safe for us to pass there at the same time’
+++++++++
**8.30pm**
Dakolo drove home quietly in his CRV jeep, meditating on all that happened that day. In just one day, he dealt with three linked cases. The first was a case of attempted murder, the suspect had escaped after being pursued into an hotel. His investigation had led him to the airport only for him to meet a case of impersonation; someone had disguised as Lovina and boarded the plane in Lovina’s stead. The third case was one is kidnap which later turned into assassination.
He had thought that the Assassin had died with the Governor when the two bodies were found in the river, only for him to get back to town and find out that the dead lady was one of the flight attendants. That means the imposter who carried out the assassination escaped, only God knew how she did it.
Since he came into the state in the year 2029, the rate of crime had drastically reduced, even petty robbery and pickpocketing had been curbed, so the murder of the Governor came as a big blow to him and to the other top security officers in the state.
He blared the car horn impatiently as he got to the gate, the gate man responded accordingly and he was allowed entrance in few seconds.
‘Daddy!’ his three kids called happily as they scampered out of the house to welcome their Dad. He carried the youngest one into his arms, trying his best to smile as he hugged the two other.
‘Daddy, what did you buy for us?’ The youngest kid whom he carried asked him. He smiled as he stared back into her face, she was a girl of about two to three years of age and was in her first year in Nursery School.
‘Daddy was very busy today dear, the shops had closed when I was coming home’ He replied in a pleading tone. He gave a smile at their mum who was just coming out of the house.
‘Daddy, hope you bought my gift?’ The eldest son asked hopefully. He was a boy of seven years old but looked too big for his age. His big stature and heavy weight instilled fear in his mates and even seniors who tried to bully him.
‘Oh!’ Dakolo suddenly remembered that it was the boy’s seventh birthday and he had promise to get him a good gift when returning from work. He had no excuse to give the boy, or rather, the boy was too young to understand his plight. ‘I ordered for it already, I don’t know why they’ve not delivered it yet’ He lied, feigning a very serious voice.
‘Oh!’ the boy hummed as he folded his arms and wagged his head back into the house in disappointment.
‘Don’t worry, I promise that it would be here by tomorrow’ Dakolo shouted, trying to console the sulking boy.
‘How are you dear?’ The wife gave him a peck on the cheek as she took his suitcase from him.
‘Fine’ he replied, and dropped the little girl to run into the house with her older ones.
‘A lot has happened today and I know you must be so tired’ she said as they walked into the large and well-furnished sitting room.
‘Come on, it’s not time for TV, got to your beds now’ she scolded the kids who walked away hesitatingly.
Dakolo sank into the sofa, loosening his shirt buttons. His shoe released a stinking stench as he took out his legs, he quickly took the shoes away from the sitting room. His wife had already returned with a glass of cold water before he came back into the sitting room.
‘Take this’ she said as he sat down.
‘Thank you’ he gulped down the water hurriedly.
‘You really need to have a good bath’ his wife said as she collected the cup from him, her eyes searched all over him body. ‘You should go take your bath while I serve the food’ she said and helped him up.
‘What about Lydia?’ Dakolo asked about the maid.
‘She’s feeling sick, so I allowed her sleep early’she replied.
Dakolo smiled as he held her hands, his wife was the loveliest and kindest person he had ever met. He recalled when he first met Angela. He had been chosen to lead a security team for an event for which she was the head caterer. Her natural beauty and simplicity had attracted him and he didn’t waste time in approaching her to get her contact although he told her at first that he only needed the contact for business.
Dakolo and his wife paused as his phone rang, he took it out from his pocket and checked the screen. He mumbled inaudible words before he picked the call. ‘Hello Officer’ he said
‘Hello sir, John Obiano just came out of his unconscious state’ the officer announced. ‘It seems he knows the person who is Samantha Osman’
‘Yes’ He responded excitedly, motioning his wife to go on with his bag into the room, he sat back into another sofa. ‘What did you find out from him?’
‘He couldn’t really talk to us and the Doctors advised against it, so we couldn’t really find out much ’
‘Okay then, we should be able to get vital information from him by tomorrow’
‘Yes sir’
‘Alright, just make sure that he is safe’ he said before cutting the call. He was happy with the recent development and his mood became livelier. He was about o get up from the seat when he remembered something, ‘James’ he mumbled under his breath.
James was one of the most competent officers that Dakolo had trained and worked with. He recalled that James had called him to tell him about a certain case in Lagos which involved the same name ‘Samantha Osman’. He dialed James number to confirm.
‘Hello, Good evening sir’ James voice came through
‘Good evening Officer James, how are you doing?’ Dakolo replied his greeting.
‘Fine sir, how is your family?’
‘Thank God, they’re all doing fine’
‘Thank God’ James said cheerfully before changing into a more serious tone. ‘We saw in the news all that happened in Rivers today’
‘Hmm, Well’ Dakolo continued after letting out a deep breath. ‘That’s why I’m calling you, concerning the Governor’s death’
‘I’m all ears sir’
‘Okay. Erm… You called me last week and mentioned a particular name “Samantha Osman”, am I correct?’
‘Yes sir, Samantha Osman’
‘Well, that name just came up here also’ Dakolo continued, ‘we found her ID card in the plane’
‘Her ID card? What type of ID card?’
‘Her office ID card, we were able to decipher that she was a journalist but the name of the news media and her passport had been scrapped off’
‘Hmm… I think that is still traceable’
‘Yes it is, I only want to find out if you have similar information concerning her’
‘No sir’ James gave a negative reply. ‘The Samantha here was a fake, she used a student ID card to get information from the pharmacy’
‘And what else have you gotten about her?’
‘Nothing yet’ the reply came slow, James envisaged that Dakolo would be disappointed. ‘There’s no matching records in the school’s portal’
‘Okay, thank you. I’ll update you when necessary’ Dakolo concluded and cut the call, his wife was already standing before him.
‘I think you should allow me keep your phone for now’ she said, giving him a serious look. ‘At least they should let you rest’
+++++++++++++++++++
Benny stood out on the corridor, patiently awaiting the arrival of the rest of his colleagues. The news that day had been confusing. It started with a report of the Governor’s kidnap, then changed to rumors of his death. Later that night, the news media had reported that the body of the Governor had been found dead with the perpetrator. Benny didn’t believe that Tarasha could be caught, he was very sure she wouldn’t be caught. If she could give him clever ideas to escape the police then she couldn’t have been caught by the police herself, so he thought.
His face lit up as he saw signs of a car coming towards the house. In less than two minutes, Cole had driven in and parked with Tarasha and Aisha. Tarasha was the first to come out of the car, she walked into the house after greeting Benny with a pat on the shoulder and a smile. Benny smiled back hut his smile was short lived; after he remembered that he failed at his mission. He was expecting her to scold him.
Cole and Asiha walked wearily to Benny and paused. They stared at each others faces in silence for a minute before walking into the house.
…to be continued
