'Evelyn is nowhere around ' Henry said as he
walked back into the house with his search
party.
'Did you check the whole compound?' the voice
at the other end asked.
'Yes, I searched with the maids and the
security men' Henry answered, motioning back
towards the room.
'Okay, let me check what we have from the
cameras' Sylvester said before hanging up.
Henry was about to enter into his room when
he looked at the door to Tarasha's room and
noticed that the position had changed from
how it was left. He closed back the door and
proceeded towards the room. He touched the
knob, it was tight this time, it was locked. Had
someone else gone in? Henry knocked.
The door was opened in few seconds and
Henry was surprised to meet Tarasha still
clothed in her night gown. His mouth was left
agape.
'Good morning' she greeted first, leaving the
door opened for him. She returned to the
bed.
'Where have you been?' Henry walked in
without responding to her greeting. 'We've
been searching for you everywhere'
'I've been in this room' Tarasha replied him,
unperturbed.
'But I was here some minutes ago, I searc…'
'Yes, you searched everywhere in the room
and also the restroom and you called my
name several times without getting a
response' Tarasha interrupted.
'Were you really in the room?' Henry's eyes
widened.
'Why were you searching for me?' Tarasha
asked, trying to change the topic.
A maid appeared at the entrance off the
room, peeping through the opened door. She
seemed surprise to see Tarasha.
'Come' Henry motioned her in. 'Did you know
she was in?'
'I told you I saw her earlier today and that she
should be in her room'
'But I searched around and couldn't find her'
Henry retorted. He turned to Tarasha, 'were
you really in the room?'
'Yes' Tarasha answered bluntly. 'I was in the
restroom, meditating'
'Meditating?' Henry repeated, still finding it
hard to believe.
'Yes, that's why I couldn't answer you, you don't
speak to anyone in the process'
'Meditating? The Hindu way?'
'Kind of' Tarasha smiled.
'That's strange' Henry frowned. 'I thought you
were not religious at all'
'Ermm…' Tarasha stammered. 'But I do believe
in meditation, it helps to calm the soul'
'Mr Henry' someone called from outside,
diverting their attention. 'The police officers
are here to pick you'
'You have to dress up and prepare, we are
going for medical check-up' Henry said to
Tarasha as he left the room. The door was
closed.
'Thanks for your help' Tarasha smiled at the
maid.
'No problem' the maid smiled back.
'Here's your phone' Tarasha said handing her a
cellphone.
'Alright, so when are you going to see me?' The
maid demanded for her payment as she took
back her phone.
'Humm…' Tarasha stood up and dipped her
hand into her pocket, like someone who was
searching for money. Suddenly she grabbed
the maid by the neck and injected a fluid into
the maid's arm. The maid fell down
unconscious immediately. Tarasha dragged the
body into the restroom and laid her on the
floor, she brought out some money and stuck
it into the maid's pocket before leaving the
restroom. The maid had been injected with
benryl and would forget everything that
happened in the last two hours by the time
she woke up.
**12pm
Henry continued to steal glances at Tarasha as
they headed for the police station to take don
their statement. The officer who drove the car
drove slowly thereby prolonging the journey
and the moment of silence between Henry
and Tarasha.
Henry's phone disrupted their peace. 'Hello'
Henry answered the incoming call.
'I couldn't find anything on the tapes' Sylvester
said with a note of tiredness after being asked
several times by Henry to check and cross
check again.
'Don't bother, I didn't check well, she was in
the restroom' Henry said, stealing a glance at
Tarasha, their eyes met.
'So why were you now disturbing me to cross
check several times?' Sylvester asked angrily.
'Erm…' Henry stammered. He couldn't give an
answer as he did not want Evelyn to get the
impression that he was doubting her.
Tarasha gave a short smile which later turned
into a frown. She understood his trick but was
not bothered. It was just a day left for her to
complete her mission and she would
disappear from him and from Abuja. She'll kill
him immediately if he happens to resurface
anytime or tries to cause trouble for her.
'Oh!' Henry exclaimed as Sylvester reminded
him of the job he was supposed to give a
report for by the next day. 'Thanks for helping
me start the job. I'll report to the office once
we leave the police station'
The drive to Division A lasted for fifteen
minutes more. Evelyn and Henry were
ushered into the station immediately. After
taking down a written statement, they were
ushered into another office for interrogation.
The interrogator, an officer in his early thirties
walked into the room carrying a tablet device
in his hands.
'Hi, I'm officer Ken ' He introduced himself,
shaking the hands of the duo. 'You're Henry
and Evelyn, right?' The two nodded in
agreement. 'I want you guys to tell us all you
know so that we can nab those criminals' Ken
continued, checking through his device for the
list of questions he already compiled. 'How
were you taken?' He began.
Henry started first. He explained how the
kidnappers had dressed like policemen and
come to arrest him with a fake Identity card,
he also explained how they made him lead
them to Evelyn. After him, Tarasha also gave
her own account of the abduction.
Several other questions were asked after that
and henry and Tarasha took turns to reply
each question, most times individually.
'Who were those that you say helped you?' Ken
asked one of his final questions.
'The kidnappers let us go' Tarasha said,
surprising Henry.
'They released you and gave you the car to
leave with?'
'Yes, I believe that they were ordered by the
person who sent them. They released us after
a big man entered and spoke in Hausa
language to them'
'Hmm…' Ken sighed as he took down notes.
Henry was staring at Tarasha in surprise. She
had told him that passersby helped them and
not that they were freed by the kidnappers
themselves.
'The man was somewhat like a boss to them'
Tarasha quickly added. 'He entered into the
compound violently so I first thought that they
were just passersby who heard our screams
outside. It was later I realised that they were
of the group'
Henry became calmer after Tarasha's
explanation but she still had some
explanations to do to him. Why didn't she tell
him the whole story?
Ken gave a signal to one of the junior officers
standing beside him. The junior officer
nodded and left through the back exit. He
returned in two minutes time with Mallam
Jefa.
'Was this man a part of the kidnappers?'
'No' Henry answered. He stared at Tarasha's
face for confirmation.
'No, he isn't' Tarasha confirmed, staring at the
man who she remembered was trailing behind
them as they escaped.
'Okay, you can process his release' Officer Ken
said to the junior officer.
'Please, I have something to say' Jefa shouted
as the junior officer tried to take him away.
All eyes focused on Jefa. 'Bring him back' Ken
said. Mallam Jefa was returned back to his
position. 'Yes, what do you want to say?'
Tears formed in Jefa's eyes as he opened his
mouth to begin. He let out a deep breath.
…
CLICK HERE to read all episodes and chapters
+++++++
'So what's the Boss's instruction now?' Benny
asked joining Cole and Aisha in the living
room.
'You are to act as a backup for her in the
banquet, you step in case anything unexpected
comes up. We'll all be communicating through
our devices, your Bluetooth piece should not
leave your ear'
'Okay. How do I get to attend the banquet?'
Benny asked, taking his seat. 'I believe there'll
be a ban of entry of uninvited guests'
'Tarasha would work out your invitation card,
so you won't encounter any problem entering
into the hall' Cole answered his questions
before proceeding with the rest of the
instruction to Aisha. 'Your job is to monitor
the switch off the streets cameras when if we
give the order. There'll be a tracker on the
Lamborghini, you have to keep monitoring our
location both with the cameras and the
tracker. If you notice any strange movement
or someone following us through the
streaming, you have to let us know
immediately'
'Boss is almost doing this job individually'
Benny commented.
Aisha hissed playfully. 'So don't you like it like
this? You want us to be so involved like we
were in the last job? Her methods are so
daring and dangerous'
'Yes, so dangerous but I do think I love them'
Cole said thoughtfully.
'Yes, I'm beginning to love her methods too.
Its making us gain more experience' Benny
added.
'Too dangerous' Aisha insisted with a playful
frown on her face.
'Lazy girl, just make sure you do your job well
tomorrow' Cole teased as she walked away
from the living room. He turned to Benny
with a serious face, looking like he just
remembered something important. 'Benny,
there's something I've not told you. The
banquet is taking place at Jubril Lawal's
mansion and there may be serious security
protocols there. One very important thing the
Boss wants you to do is to smuggle in the guns
she might be making use of. You have to find a
way to pass through the security stands
without the machines detecting you have guns
with you'
'Wow! How am I supposed to do that?' Benny
widened his eyes. 'That would only happen if
I'm able to get to the control base of the
security doors and deactivate the detecting of
metals'
'If that's the only option, then you have to do
it'
'Huh?' Benny stared at him in surprise. 'Do you
know how many security guys would be
present at Jubril Lawal's doorpost? Am I
supposed to fight all of them?'
'Eh!' Cole hushed him. 'Stop whining already. I
believe the Boss has her own plans. Her
instruction was that I should tell you to begin
to think of a way to do it'
Benny shook his head in disbelief. Cole
continued talking, 'she also said you have to
come in first without any gun and find her
during the party, she'll give you more
instructions'
'Can't she take in the guns herself?' Benny
asked.
'She won't be free to move in and out of the
party. Remember she's a special guest and
would have a lot of business people to meet
and friends to make' Cole answered.
Benny sighed. 'Don't get all worked up Ben,
she only wants to get you prepared. I'm sure
she'll be able to get the job done without guns'
'Then why is she asking for guns then?'
'Because she doesn't want to take chances' Cole
slammed at him. He was getting irritated by
Benny's sissy behaviour.
'Why the hell is she even passing information
through you to me?' Benny shouted back.
'Her phone is lost and she has only my
number offhand' Cole replied, purposely to
taunt Benny.
Benny hissed. He got up from the sofa and
began to walk away slowly, shaking his head.
Her ways were too dangerous truly. How does
she expect him to take in guns past machines
that were designed to detect them?
+++++++
'What do you have to say?' Inspector Ken
repeated to Jefa.
'She..sh..sh..' Jefa stammered and paused
again, facing Tarasha.
'She did what?' Ken snapped impatiently.
'She was the one who drove out the car
yesterday, I saw her' Jefa finally said,
rushingly.
'Is that all?' Ken asked.
Jefa nodded. 'Please take him back and return
his belongings to him, let him go' Ken
dismissed the junior officer.
'That man sells food and drinks just at the
front of the building you were kept in' Ken
said to Tarasha and Evelyn just as Jefa and the
junior officer left.
'Oh! I see…' Henry muttered.
'So, who do you suspect?' Ken directed his
question toward Henry.
'Ermm… I do have suspects from two sides.
First, from Samantha Osman' Henry began.
Tarasha glanced at his face.
'Which Samantha Osman?' Ken asked.
'Same unpopular one, who carried out two
notable assassinations recently'
'Okay, go ahead' Ken relaxed back on his chair
to listen.
'I've been working on locating her recently,
that's why I was brought to Abuja' Henry
continued. 'She might have gotten signals of
my job and decided to come for me'
'She killed the officers and the special US
agent that tried to locate her the other time.
Why did she now free you after capturing you
first?'
'I believe it's because she found out that I'm
no longer working on locating her'
'You're no longer working on that?'
'Yes, it's complicated, we had to quit it. We're
working on blocking her from manipulating
the CCTV systems for now'
'Hmmm…' Ken leaned forward. 'Who is the
other suspect?'
'Dare Jubril Lawal' Henry looked into Evelyn's
eyes as he mentioned
'Huh? Why is he a suspect?'
Henry stared at Evelyn, as if to askfor
confirmation whether to go on or not. The
look in her eyes discouraged him. 'He
threatened me recently' henry gave an
indirect reason. 'He thinks I'm dating Evelyn
here'
'Hmm? She isn't your girlfriend?' Ken asked in
surprise. 'The report we got was that you were
kidnapped alongside with your girlfriend' He
turned to Evelyn.
'I'm not his girlfriend' Evelyn spoke,
mentioning her words slowly, one after the
other. 'We're friends who just met recently'
she glanced at Henry. Henry nodded in
confirmation.
'Unbeleivable!' Ken exclaimed. Correcting his
previous notes on his tablet device. After
sometime, he looked up again. 'Do you have
proof that could link him to the kidnap? Any
proof?'
'No' Henry shook his head sadly.
'Then we just have to investigate properly first
before accosting him. Stepping on the toes of
someone like Jubril Lawal is like stepping on
the government toes itself'
'I understand' Henry shook head slowly.