TARASHA – Episode 29

Time : 11:35am

Cole eyes ran around the place in awe as he dropped the wheelchair to the ground and positioned it well for Henry to put Tarasha in it. He took a second to look down the stairs from where Tomi was climbing up tiredly with a big bag hung around her shoulder. The walk from the underground facility to the new structure had been longer than expected, reason being that every single door they encountered had a special way of opening it only known to Tarasha, and it took her more than usual to open the doors because of her inability to stand and use her hands properly.

Cole turned back and met Henry also motionless with his eyes wondering about the place.

‘Are you sure we didn’t just go in circles? Is this not the same place we’re supposed to be running from?’ Henry moved in, away from the two others, staring at the walls, ceilings and even the floors.

The underground had led them into a study and it looked exactly the same way the study in the structure that was being thr_@tened looked. It had the same kind of books, shelfs, chairs and their arrangements. The only difference being that this place looked a bit dusty and it was obvious that it had not been used or cleaned for sometime.

‘Everything in the other structure is the same as this, so non of us should have troubles using the place.’ Tarasha said as she began to wheel herself further. She was the only one apart from Tomi not surprised as to the outcome of their walk. Henry quickly walked back to her and continued to roll her in.

As soon as Tomi surfaced, Cole went back down the stairs to carry the bag he left down the stairs. They had reduced the bags into two and left the others in the underground, to enable them to walk easier and faster.

‘But, are you sure this place can’t be discovered?’ Henry asked as he opened the door of the study and returned to the wheelchair. ‘I mean the connection with the underground and the other structure.’

‘It can be discovered but that will be after the destruction of so many other properties along this axis,’ she replied.

‘And that can’t be done easily?’ Henry questioned.

‘It won’t be done,’ she stated. ‘lt will cause the government billions of dollars to control the adverse effects of any attempt to demolish the structure above ground level at the other end, that’s enough to keep them busy and limited for several years.’

They continued the rest of their movement in silence and stopped in the living room which looked exactly the same just like Tarasha had said. Henry sank into one of the sofas after wheeling her to the centre of the living room. She turned the chair by herself and wheeled it to the side of the three seater sofa where Henry sat directly opposite. Both of them remained in silence, waiting for Cole and Tomi.

Tomi showed up with her bag in the living room two minutes later but Cole showed up five minutes after. Tarasha knew he would have been taking his time to look around the house and wonder why Tarasha had set up exactly same structures in two different points in Maitama and how she connected them together through the underground.

‘I think this place needs cleaning up too,’ Tomi was the first to speak when Cole returned.

‘I gotta rest for a minute,’ Cole said in a refuting manner before Tomi would ask that they begun to clean the place immediately. He sank into the chair beside Henry, closing his eyes as he rested his head. He and Henry had done most of the jobs they needed to do before leaving the underground; disconnecting the servers, turning off the lasers in the first main structure – Tarasha had asked them to turn them off as their continued running of the security process added to their electric power usage and bill – and closing up of the entrance from the first main building.

‘We need to take care of the control room first, I’ll like to use the place very soon. Others can be taken care of after you’ve had your breakfast,’ Tarasha said. After giving the instruction, she wheeled herself to the centre of the living room where Tomi dropped the bag she brought and stopped beside it. She tried to bend and open the bag but she had a struggle holding the zip firmly.

Henry got up to help her but Cole beat him to it. He opened the main section of the bag widely for Tarasha to look into what was there. It contained books – some old and some new- documents, files and some stationeries all arranged in the bag although had been quite disorganized by their movement from one place to another and the way Tomi carried it when she did.

‘You want something there?’ Cole asked, looking up at Tarasha’s face from his squatting position. Tomi was now seated at the one seater on a perpendicular line to the three seater.

Tarasha did not give a quick response but her eyes scanned round the bag for some more seconds.

Tarasha looked up as she suddenly remembered something, she stared thinly at Cole’s face and then at Henry’s. ‘Before I work in the control room, we have to set up the connection and also open up the cameras. I’ll allow you guys work for today while I start what I want to do tomorrow.’ she said and then turned to Tomi. ‘Can you please make us breakfast? Cole would show you the way to the kitchen, there should be some foodstuffs there.’

‘I think I should go ahead to the control room now,’ Henry said, getting up with Tomi and Cole and they began to walk away one after the other.

Cole suddenly stopped and turned back to meet Tarasha. ‘Boss, I forgot to tell you something.’ he said with a serious look on his face.

‘What’s that?’ Tarasha asked.

‘Chief Gab called yesterday.’

‘And what did he say?’

‘He wanted to speak with you but we told him you could not talk to him then,’ Cole answered.

‘And is that all?’

‘Hum… No,’ Cole said as paused again to think, wondering if Tarasha would get angry with him for what he was going to say next.

‘What else?’ she raised a brow.

‘I told him that we needed a new facility and he promised to call back since then,’ Cole said.

There was a brief moment of silence.

‘Bring my phone to me after you show Tomi the kitchen,’ she said in a dismissal tone. Cole nodded slightly and turned to join the rest.

Tarasha’s eyes moved back to the opened bag beside her after they left. She fixed her gaze on a book she had overlooked before. Her mind made a quick flashback to the day she got the book and how she did; the torn incomplete book she got from the former Senate President’s study. It was still as tattered as it was when she got it. She bent and reached for the book and as she picked it up, her eyes met the one that was just under it and this brought a sudden and sharp pain to her heart. She felt a kind of hotness in her eyes and she closed it to absorb the pain.

She opened her eyes and stared at her mother’s diary for another second, then she looked away and flipped open the Senate President’s book, she scanned through the page and flipped to the next. She was about to open to the another page again when a name in first sentence of the last paragraph on the page caught her attention. She narrowed her eyes as she began to read from that sentence, ‘Our last meeting with the Danjuma’s didn’t go well, even after our thr_@ts, the doctors refused to budge. While we were still thinking of what to do about them, the news of their disappearance hit us. We were worried at first but the Chief gave us the assurance that there would be no problems. Shortly after their disappearance, Elvis Richards called called to inform everyone else about the discovery of their location. The Chief gave Elvis and Gabriel the assignment to mute the doctors but Gabriel did not really agree to the plan and…’ the page ended.

She tried to flip to the next page to continue reading but…

**Flashback**

January, 2014.

Location: Lagos Nigeria

‘Good morning Gabriel, where are you?’ the caller’s voice sounded through the phone’s speaker.

‘Good morning, I’m on the way to my office. Why do you ask?’ Gabriel answered the caller’s question.

‘How long will it take you to get to your office? I’m coming over there with Jubril,’ the caller replied.

‘I’ll be there in less than fifteen minutes, someone is waiting there for me.’ Gabriel replied. ‘But I hope there’s no problem? It’s strange that you and Jubril are coming over this early morning.’

‘There’s no problem, we just want to discuss something brief with you, it’s concerning our hanging deal.’

‘Okay, I’ll be expecting you.’ Gabriel said and cut the call. He took off the earpiece from his ears and increased the speed of his moving car.

Gabriel got to his place of work ten minutes later. He hurried into his office and met the young lady waiting for him at the secretary’s stand. He signalled for her to follow him in after replying to the secretary’s greeting. He settled down quickly in his office and offered his guest a drink after apologizing for keeping her waiting for long. They had begun to discuss the reason for their meeting for only three minutes when the door of Gabriel’s office opened slightly and someone poked his head in.

‘Gabriel,’ Elvis Richards smiled as he entered and closed the door, not minding the look on his friend’s guest’s face. ‘Sorry, I didn’t know you had a visitor,’ he apologized on seeing the embarrassed look on his friend’s face. It was one of those very rare days Elvis wore his police uniform to his friend’s place. He was always in casuals whenever they met and sometimes disguised like a criminal instead of dressing like the police official he was.

‘That girl is not always doing her job,’ Gabriel complained about the secretary, even though he knew his friend could have ignored or refused to stop at her warning. That was how Elvis behaved, he always walked straight into his office, except for days that he didn’t call to inform him of his coming.

Gabriel and Elvis’ gazes locked for a moment. Gabriel expected Elvis to excuse him and his guest but it was certain with Elvis’ body language that that wasn’t going to happen.

‘Please excuse us,’ Gabriel finally said in a pleading tone to the young lady seated in front of him. She courteously picked her bag from the floor where she kept it and got up, she greeted officer Elvis briefly before proceeding to the door.

Elvis’ eyes followed her backside as she went and he whistled lustfully after she closed the door. ‘All these girls will not ki|| somebody with their mini skirts,’ he commented, shaking his head as he sat on the second visitor’s seat. ‘Is she one of those who needs help?’ he asked, staring back at the door with his eyes still filled with lust.

‘Do you have help to give her?’ Gabriel asked sardonically without expecting a reply. ‘She is a graduate who wants me to approve a letter for her,’ Gabriel added as he folded his arms and rested back in his chair. He gave his friend a thin and serious look. ‘And how come you’re the one still asking about girls here? I thought I’ve told you not to talk about girls anymore when you come into my office. The rubbish you did the last time is still making people curse me till today.’

Elvis hissed and blinked, ‘Curse?’ What effect has their curses have on you? Did it affect your job? Didn’t you get promoted after that and now you’re even in a better place.’ he added a brief laughter. ‘Besides, I’m not planning to do it in your office, it’s only for her to say she needs my help and I’ll take her to somewhere I can help her well.’

Gabriel shook his head at him. ‘I wonder how you became a policeman and I wonder how your excess lust for women does not affect your ability to catch criminals.’ Gabriel paused and sat up. ‘By the way, where’s the Jubril you said you were coming with?’

‘Jubril couldn’t come again, he received a call and had to leave immediately.’

‘Okay, so what brings you here?’ Gabriel asked and placed his elbows on the table.

Elvis adjusted his seating position, ‘Chief has given both of us a special assignment.’

‘His Excellency?’ Gabriel cut in.

‘No, the Special Adviser.’ Elvis Richards answered. ‘We’ve found the location of the Danjumas,’ he paused to adjust his seating position again. ‘And Chief has asked both of us to take care of them.’

‘Where exactly were they found?’ Gabriel asked, a frown had formed in his face and the uneasiness he was feeling could be heard in his voice.

‘Somewhere in Borno, Maiduguri.’ Elvis Richards answered.

‘Ah! How can they go somewhere like that?’ Gabriel opened his mouth in shock. ‘That place is dangerous right now with the Insurgency.’

Elvis hissed. ‘I think Danjuma’s father has a house somewhere there but what’s our problem with that anyway?’

‘Well, what are we supposed to do about them?’ Gabriel asked in a tensed tone.

‘What else? Send them to heaven of course,’ Elvis Richards replied in a cold tone.

The frown on Gabriel’s face thickened. ‘Has the Chief asked us to do that?’

‘Yes, that’s exactly what he wants us to do and I’ve even found a way to do it so easily,’ Elvis said.

Gabriel’s eyes widened as he pulled back a little from the table.

‘What’s the matter?’ Elvis asked with a raised eyebrow as he noticed Gabriel’s countenance.

‘No, it’s nothing.’ he shook his head. ‘Just continue,’ he made a hand gesture to his friend to keep on speaking and then folded his arms.

‘I recently met this boy whom I knew during his training in the police force some years back, he is now a member of the Boko Haram group…’

‘What?’ Gabriel cut in, spreading his hands out in fear. ‘What do we have to do with Boko Haram?’

‘Are you crazy Gabriel? What’s the matter with you?’ Elvis Richards flared up. ‘I would have loved to do this with Jubril or Nasiru if not for the Chief that insisted we involved someone from the other political party not to make it look partial. I don’t even know who acts more like a woman between you and Onwuli.’

‘It’s okay Elvis, don’t insult me.’ Gabriel cautioned.

‘Then stop acting like a woman. I don’t know if you’re not tired of this whole hanging deal but I am, we need to finish it up quickly. I’ve not been able to enjoy the honour of my chieftaincy since we all received our titles because we’ve been running up and down all through.’ Elvis blared on.

‘Alright Elvis, speak on.’ Gabriel said and folded his arms again.

‘Are you sure you’re ready to listen?’

‘Yea, speak on.’

‘We are all aware that the Chief also works with some of these terrorist guys, so it means there’ll be no problem if we use them too.’

‘But…’ Gabriel’s voice faded out as he tried to cut in. He stared at Elvis’ face for a moment to see if the latter wasn’t angry about the interruption. ‘Don’t you think working with this deadly group is a bad idea? I mean, these guys are ki||ing people in their hundreds and we want to join them.’

Elvis shook his head and hissed. ‘What’s your concern with how many people they’re ki||ing?’ he asked, giving Gabriel a side look. ‘Even Chief that is from the region is not concerned about his people that are dying daily as you are.’

‘Hmm… But you know that Chief is using it for political reasons and we don’t have to become as cruel as he is just because we want to be successful politicians.’

‘Gabriel, open a church if you want to preach , don’t preach to me as if you are a saint.’

‘I’m not a saint but…’

‘What about the bag drugs we bring it?’ Elvis cut in. ‘Does that not ki|| hundreds of people everyday?’

Gabriel let out a deep breath and shook his head.

‘We’re doing the same thing Gabriel, ki||ing less privileged people to make our money.’ Elvis stated.

Gabriel was silent.

‘Look here, like I said; this young Boko Haram guy is one of their commanders who I know very well. All we need to do is give him the address of their house and he’s going to lead his troops to the area. We will tell him to pay special attention to that particular house and even give him the couple’s pictures. He will have to make sure that they are dead and bring picture proofs to us.’

Gabriel closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. ‘I…’

**Present**

She tried to flip to the next page to continue reading but it was stuck to the previous page. She couldn’t tell if a liquid had poured in between and gummed them together or if it was the quality of ink used that made them stick. She tried to separate the pages carefully but ended up splitting them halfway into two. She let out a breath, wondering what to do, whether to continue from the third page which was already divided into two or try harder to open the middle pages and risk losing all. She decided to read the available page first before going back to the middle but as she began to read, she noticed that it continued from the page she read last, meaning that there was nothing in the pages she was trying to access and that the book had always been like that.

She turned back to the previous page again and read from the last line to ease her understanding, ‘Gabriel did not really agree to the plan and he tried to stop it initially, he held the opinion that since the doctors had fled already, there was no need hunting them again. But that didn’t stop what was to be done, the doctors were ki||ed and the pictures were shown to us before our business continued as usual.’

Tarasha stopped after reading the paragraph and closed her eyes to absorb the pain and anger that was welling up in her. She could feel a cold sensation spread through her body as it vibrated, that was the only way she could express her anger with the strength she had.

Her eyes popped open as she sensed the entrance of someone else in the living room. Cole’s eyes met with hers. He was standing close to the entrance of the corridor and staring at her with an expressionless face. She took in a breath and her body calmed down on seeing him. He began to walk towards her with the phone she requested for in his hand.

She stretched out her hand even before he got to her, he dropped the phone and turned back without saying any word.

She unlocked the phone as soon as he walked out of the living room and searched for Chief Gab’s number, one of his numbers was the first contact on the call records. She dialed his number and placed the phone close to her ear but ended it as soon as she noticed it was being directed to voicemail. She opened the contact list and searched the Chief’s second Nigerian number but got the same response after dialing. Then she tried his only foreign number on the list and it began to ring.

‘Hello,’ Chief Gab answered after the second ring, he sounded like he had a hard time making the decision of answering the call.

‘Chief Gab, you left the country already?’

‘Tarasha!’ he exclaimed in a loud tone. ‘I was told you were badly injured…’

‘You were asked to provide us a new facility,’ she cut in.

‘Yes Tarasha, but ermm… You see,’ the Chief paused for a while trying to find words to use. ‘You see, I had limited time to use in Nigeria, I told you the last time we spoke, didn’t I?’

‘What about the facility?’ she asked again, ignoring his explanation.

‘Ermm… Are you well and out of danger now?’ the Chief asked, trying to evade answering Tarasha’s question.

‘That isn’t the reply to what I asked you Chief, what about the new facility we need?’

‘Tarasha, I’m still working on it.’ he finally answered.

‘When will it be ready?’

‘Ermm… I’ll call you back to let you know when it is.’

‘Please, we have two days to work on that,’ she said and took a brief pause. ‘Now, I want you to tell me everything you know about the Danjuma’s death.’

‘All I know about the Danjuma’s death?’ Chief Gab repeated the question, the surprise he felt could be heard in his voice.

Yes, I mean your involvement in their death.’ Tarasha replied.

‘But ermm… Tarasha, what do you need that for?’ Chief Gab asked, making it clear he was unwilling to talk about it.

‘I work to ki|| people for you and you should expect me to discover along the line how the victims are connected to you.’ Tarasha explained.

‘But Tarasha, I explained to you on the first day we met physically.’ the man argued. ‘I told you how we were all connected together and how they cheated and ki||ed my family and friend, Onwuli. Did you think I was lying then?’

‘No, I didn’t think you were lying neither do I think you are now, but I just need you to give me a honest reply to my request. I do need the information and will need some others soon to be able to hunt and pull your enemy down, I’m changing the strategy I planned on using and I require more information that can bring him down.’

There was silence at the other end for a couple of seconds, then a release of breath was heard before the voice. ‘Danjuma and his wife Lydia were doctors. They got involved with us when the wife Lydia had a patient who died after taking a drug, it happened that the drug was being distributed in the country by us under the shadow of the registered company of Nnamdi Okafor, the health Minister who was the first person I sent you to. The Doctors had to help us cover up and verify the drug but they refused to. They had to leave Lagos after the troubles got too much but then they move to Borno where they were ki||ed by the Boko Haram insurgents.’

There was a brief moment of silence after Chief Gab finished talking.

‘Are you sure that’s all?’

‘Yes or what else do you want to know?’

‘I want to know the whole truth, tell me the truth about their death.’ Tarasha said in a serious tone which sounded like a thr_@t to Chief Gab.

‘Hmm…’ the Chief let out a deep breath. ‘The Boko Haram guys actually ki||ed them but it was set up by us.’

‘You and who?’

‘Me? Not me,’ Chief Gab denied. ‘Actually a larger number of people in the group agreed to the plan since they posed a thr_@t to us.’

‘And so, who gave the contracts to the ki||ers?’ Tarasha asked.

There was another long silence.

‘Chief Elvis did, he knew someone in the Boko Haram camp.’

‘And who was that person he knew?’ Tarasha asked immediately, not giving the man any second to rest.

‘Tarasha!’

‘Yes, answer the question.’

‘This is not what I sent you.’

‘Don’t you think leaving that Boko Haram guy alive could cause problems for you later?’

‘Hmm…’ there was a short hiss. ‘The man is Inspector General Rikau. Were you the one that tried to ki|| him yesterday?’

‘Thank you for your answers Chief Gab, we will talk more later,’ she said and ended the call without giving him a chance to speak again.

‘Omotara, did you order for something online?’ Henry walked in asking as soon as she ended her call.

She narrowed her eyes at him, ‘Order for something online?’

‘Yes.’

‘No, I did not.’ she shook her head.

‘But there’s a lady from an online food store and their car waiting outside for us at the house on the other end.’

‘Oh!’ Tarasha let out breath from her mouth as she remembered that it was the day for the online shopping store to deliver the foodstuffs they get monthly to the house. ‘Just ignore them, I’ll change the address of the delivery soon.’

***

They watched from their car as the lady flipped her hair backwards, shading her eyes from the sun with the other hand. She had been at the gate for close to ten minutes now and had used the gate bell several times without getting any response from inside. She was also seen using her phone and trying to call someone but never seemed to connect successfully.

Five minutes later, she turned back and entered into the car that brought her, they stayed for five minutes more watching the gate before driving off.

Fabian started the car engine and put on his seatbelt, he turned the rearview mirror to check if the makeup Esther had done to his face was still intact. She had done it so well that no one will suspect that he was makeups, it was a perfect one for his face and skin colour. Esther was sittng right by his side in the car and also had her face made up, which wasn’t too much or strange for a lady. Fabian flashed a smile at Esther and sped onto the road like a crazy person, leaving her surprised and staring at him with her mouth agape.

‘Don’t tell me you’re going after that EasyShoppers car,’ she stared at him with her eyes opened widely.

‘What else would I be doing? That’s our best bet to get access to those guys right now,’ Fabian replied her as he turned on the trafficator.

‘Are you sure it’s the right thing to do now?’

‘Yes, it is.’ he replied firmly.

‘But then reduce your speed, you don’t have to get both of us ki||ed because you want to catch up with them, we can always go to their stores any other time.’

‘I don’t want us to go to another branch of their office but this particular one they receive supply from.’

______

**NSCC Headquarters**

‘Good morning Agent Dakolo,’ Mr Sylvester said in reply to Dakolo’s greeting and gestured for him to have his seat.

‘Thank you Mr Sylvester, I’ll go straight to my reason for visiting which you already know. I’ll like to find out every detail about this Dave of a guy and how he was employed here.’

‘Sir…’ Mr Sylvester began in low tones. ‘Dave applied for employment some days after Kimberly Alexander mysteriously disappeared. And we employed him immediately since he had the necessary qualifications to fill in the gap. And he has been working with us since then until some days ago when he suddenly stopped coming without leaving any message to explain or notify us of his absence.’

‘Okay, you said you have tried to reach him and you couldn’t.’

‘Yes.’

‘Does he not have a guarantor or a referee?’

Mr Sylvester paused for a moment. ‘Yes, he does. I’ll have to check it right away.’ He opened his drawer and began to search for something. He brought out a key and a phone from the drawer and closed it back. ‘I’ll have to call for it to be searched out for me.’

‘It’s okay but before you do that, I want you to also help me with details of his last days here. What his activities were before he left and the exact date he stopped coming.’

______

__20 minutes later__

‘What’s in your boot?’ the security man at the EasyShoppers Abuja headquarters asked Fabian at the gate.

‘There’s nothing there,’ he replied.

‘Can we see it?’

‘Yes, of course.’ he said and pushed the button for the boot to open. Another security man at the right hand side began to walk towards the boot as he saw the cover opening up. He looked into the boot briefly before signaling to his colleague that they had nothing in it.

‘Alright, you may go in.’ the security man said to Fabian and the latter drove in after closing the boot.

He came down from the car with Esther after parking in the space provided and they proceeded straight to the main building. The glass door opened for them as they got to the entrance and they walked into the large and reception hall and went straight to the desk.

‘Good morning, you’re welcome to EasyShoppers. How may we help you?’ a lady with a calm voice addressed them.

‘Good morning, what services do you render here?’ Fabian asked, without looking at the lady’s face. His eyes wandered around the place like he was searching for something he lost. He returned his stare to the lady’s face to meet her staring at him in surprise. Esther was also giving him a reprimanding stare. That was when he realized that he had asked an irrelevant question. Or how would a grown up man like him make a visit to a company without knowing what they do there?

‘This is our head office in Abuja. We run an online store where people order for foodstuffs and home equipments and we also provide home delivery services.’ she finally gave a reply, disregarding the silliness of the question.

‘Sorry for troubling you,’ Fabian replied with a smile. ‘We are licensed journalists working for Desert Reporters,’ he said and took out an identity card from his front pocket to display. ‘We need some information about this company of yours and I’m sure you wouldn’t be the right person to provide that to us, so we would like to see your boss.’

‘Okay,’ She said and paused for a while, sizing up Fabian and Esther with her eyes as if to confirm if they were smart enough to be Journalists. ‘I’ll have to make a call first, please have your seat.’ she said, pointing them to the visitor’s seat behind.

_____

Cole was sitting right in front of Tarasha, his knees touching her wheelchair and hers touching his chair. Tomi stood beside them holding a box from which Tarasha picked the makeup tools and materials and applied them on Cole’s face. After sometime, Tarasha stopped and gestured for Tomi to drop the box on the ground and signalled that she was free to sit on the short stool beside them. She took half a minute to see the transformation she had done to Cole’s face and was satisfied with what she saw. A look at Tomi’s surprised face further proved that she had done a good job.

Tarasha pointed to the medium sized rectangular mirror and Tomi handed it to her, she turned it to Cole and held it for him to see. A smile formed on Cole’s face on seeing his reflection in the mirror. What he saw was a totally different face from his and he had no fears of being recognized.

Tarasha returned the mirror to Tomi and adjusted herself on the chair. ‘So I want the XL series, don’t get another type and allow them show you the car before you start answering questions of who you’re to buy it for. You can call me after that and I’ll tell you where to meet the delivery woman and transfer the goods into the new car.’ she said and rolled her wheelchair back, away from him.

‘Alright boss,’ Cole got up to his feet and used a towel to clean his hand dry.

_____

‘Please do have your seats,’ the manager of the EasyShoppers online store company offered them seats before sitting on his own chair. ‘So I heard you guys are from Desert Reporters,’ the man said with a smile, adjusting himself on the seat.

‘Yes, you heard so but we are not really from Desert Reporters,’ Fabian replied him.

‘Huh?’ the man’s smile quickly changed to a frown.

‘Yes and we only work as per time journalists,’ Fabian continued.

‘But what do you want then?’ the man asked, looking around as if to raise alarm.

‘Relax sir, we’re not here for something evil.’ Fabian said with a light smile. He took a brief pause and took out two identity cards from the brea$t pocket of his shirt, he returned one and showed the other to the man. ‘We’re from the State Security Service and we’ve come to find out something important from you and also seek your cooperation.’

‘But how do I know you’re saying the truth? How do I know that you’re truly from the State Security Service?’ the man asked in a doubtful tone. His eyes peering into Fabian’s as Fabian returned the identity card into his pocket.

‘I just showed you my ID card.’

‘Yes but they also saw your ID card before referring you to me. I was told your ID card confirms you guys as journalists,’ the man retorted.

‘Yes, the ID card I showed them confirms me as a journalist but didn’t state that I work with Desert Reporters.’ he said, bringing out the ID cards again. ‘It states my position as a journalist but still under the State Security Service, your workers did not understand it.’

The man kept a straight face at them, still doubting Fabian’s words.

‘Here, take a look at this.’ Fabian said and handed him the SSS identity card. ‘Turn behind and you would find my registered number there, you can search it up online to confirm.’

The man fixed his gaze on Fabian ‘s face for a while, contemplating whether to do as Fabian suggested or just ignore and deceive them.

‘Try it,’ Fabian encouraged with a shrug. He rested his back against the backrest of the seat and kept his gaze on the man’s face.

The manager finally turned to his computer system and opened the browser, he typed in the agent’s registration number into the www.youngicee.com search engine box. He looked up after two minutes and returned Fabian ‘s card. ‘It shows that the number is truly registered under the Abuja headquarters but didn’t confirm the names of the card holder.’

‘My name is Fabian as the ID card states,’ Fabian said, you can confirm by calling the phone number you see on that screen.

The man took a glance at the computer screen and then picked up his phone on the table, he typed in the number on the screen and dialled it. Fabian ‘s phone began to ring. He raised it up in the air to show the man.

‘Okay, so is she from the SSS too?’ he asked, looking at Esther as he dropped the phone back to the table.

‘Yes, we came together.’ Fabian was the one who answered.

‘Okay, so what can I do for you?’

‘We want some information about a client you guys tried to deliver something to this morning.’ Fabian began, he collected a sheet of paper from Esther and handed it to the man. ‘That’s the address.’ Fabian waited for the man to read it. ‘We want all you know about the client. The name, how frequent she orders for your products and her contact details if you’ve got it.’

‘Well,’ the man let out a breath as he put the sheet of paper back on the table. ‘I can only give you the person’s name and tell you how frequent she orders but her contact details is a No No,’ the man stated, shaking his head side to side to emphasize his point.

‘Why can’t we get her contact?’

‘You shouldn’t be asking me that; I believe you guys are on an investigation and you should know I truly want to help you but as a company, we’re supposed to protect our customers. I have to get a paper written from the authorities to give you anyone’s contact.’

‘Alright, I understand but there’s one more thing I need you to do for us.’

‘What’s that?’ the man raised his brow.

‘Your delivery truck returned today without supplying this house we’re investigating. I think the owners were not around or unavailable at that time but I believe they’ll call back when they’re around for your guys to come back.’ Fabian said and paused to see if the man was following.

‘Huh… So what happens with that?’

‘We want to take charge of the delivery once they call back,’ Fabian replied.

‘What do you mean?’

‘We want to deliver your goods to them for you,’ Fabian replied.

‘Huh?’ the man’s eyebrows gathered together as he tried to reason out what Fabian said to him. ‘No, that won’t work.’ the man said shaking his head.

‘Sir, be rest assured that nothing bad will happen. We’re not going to hurt them.

‘No,’ the man repeated in a strong tone, still shaking his head.

‘But sir…’

‘I said No, Officer Fabian.’ the man snapped, with his eyes widened at Fabian .

‘Okay sir,’ Fabian forced a smile. ‘I understand perfectly well and I commend you for doing your job well. Maybe we’ll come back for that later after meeting with the necessary authorities to permit it.’

‘Maybe…’ the man said, stressing the word longer that he should.

‘Alright, for now. We’ll just make do with the name and any other information you can provide us.’ Fabian said, forcing a smile on his lips again.

‘Okay then, I call for someone who will search out the address and tell us the name of the client who receives order at that place.’ he said, picking up his office phone. He placed a stern gaze on their faces as he punched in the digits.

He made the call and asked for someone to come to his office. A man knocked on the door a minute later and was allowed in, he proceeded straight to the table and stopped beside Esther’s seat. He bowed slightly in courtesy to his boss and also acknowledged the presence of the visitors.

‘Come closer, ‘ the manager beckoned on the man and the man obeyed immediately. ‘Look here, I want you to search out this address, fish out every detail you can get and send them to me as soon as possible.’ the manager said and handed the sheet on which the address was written to the man. ‘How long will it take you?’ he asked, looking at the man as he read what was on the paper.

Fabian passed something tiny to Esther while the men were discussing. It took Esther only a glance at it to know what Fabian wanted her to use it for.

‘It’ll take us only five minutes,’ the man replied to the EasyShoppers manager.

‘Okay,’ the manager turned looked at his guests’ faces. ‘Is five minutes okay?’

‘Oh yes! It is,’ Fabian replied.

‘Good, go and get it done.’ the manager dismissed the man.

‘Oh shi*t! What’s this?’ Esther jumped up from her seat suddenly and held the man who was to get them what they requested for. She quickly released him and pointed to the ground.

‘It’s a rat,’ Fabian joined in, looking at the floor as if he had seen something while the manager and his co-worker searched around the floor for what the guests had seen but saw nothing.

‘A rat in my office?’ the manager glanced at Fabian ‘s face and then placed his gaze on Esther’s face.

‘It looked more like an electronic mouse, do you guys have those monitors here?’ Fabian asked the man.

‘Electronic mouse?’ the manager took a look at his co-worker’s face. The co-worker bowed again and turned to leave. ‘We don’t have such here?’ he said to Fabian .

Esther returned to her seat, looking down around the chair.

‘Maybe it’s been used by your security staffs,’ Fabian smiled. ‘Most of them make use of that technology now.’

‘Well, I’ll find out from them.’ the man replied and shrugged. He pulled his laptop closer and rested back against the backrest of his seat.

‘Are you okay?’ Fabian said in whispers to Esther but made sure it was loud enough for the man to hear.

‘Yes, I am.’ she replied back in low tones.

Fabian let out a smile and turned to the front, he also rested his back just like the manager did. He took out his phone from his pocket, unlocked it and opened his tracker app.

‘ I’m so sorry, I just realized that you guys just need to take a drink. So what can I offer you while the guy prepares the information,’ the manager spoke, not out of sincerity but just to make the place not too silent.

‘Oh! Thank you sir but we’re very okay, we had a meal some minutes before coming down here.’ Fabian replied, taking some seconds to look away from his phone to the man.

‘What about you? Would you like something to drink?’ he turned to Esther.

‘Thank you, I’m okay sir.’ Esther refused politely.

The manager got the email containing the answer to his request after six minutes in total. ‘The information you need is here,’ he announced to his guest.

‘Wow!’ Fabian sat up. He passed his phone secretly to Esther.

‘Here, it’s coming out.’ the manager said and rose to his feet. There was a printer at the left side of his office, he walked to the place and took the output produced. ‘Here we go, ‘ he gave the A4 sized paper to Fabian before he sank into his seat.

Fabian scanned through the paper briefly and looked up at the man’s face with a smile. ‘Thank you so much,’ he said and looked at the contents of the paper again.

Client: Alexander Kimberly E

Mode of Service: Receives supply for household goods once in a month.

Mode of Payment: Before delivery

Last time supplied : Today

Delivered: No

Reason for failure of delivery: Client’s absence at venue of delivery

He stopped after reading the third line and folded the paper neatly. ‘Thank you once again sir,’ Fabian said as he rose up to his feet. ‘We will now take our leave.’

‘You’re welcome,’ the manager rose with them and shook their hands before seeing them off to the door.

_

‘Fabian, ‘ Esther called after they got out of the office into the secretary’s office. She had her eyes fixed to the phone he had passed to her secretly in the office.

‘Yes,’ he answered, rearranging his shirt and tucking in the flown out part.

‘The direction is left,’ she whispered to him and took the phone closer to him to show him something on the screen.

‘I’ll handle it, you wait for me at the car.’ he whispered back and collected the phone from her. They began to proceed out of the secretary’s office together. ‘Have a nice day ma’am,’ Fabian said to the secretary before walking out.

**45 minutes later**
Esther sat at the passenger’s side in the car alone. She had her legs crossed and her eyes fixed on the tablet device on her laps. She kept checking her wristwatch from time to time and would look out through the open window occasionally to see if Fabian was coming forth. After a long time of waiting, she noticed a man dressed in the security men’s uniform walking towards the car. She placed her eyes on him as he approached further and discovered from his manner of walking that it was Fabian coming.
He got there in no time and took off the cap from his head. ‘Move to the driver’s side,’ Fabian said to her in soft tones.
She did as he said and Fabian entered and settled in.
‘How did it go?’ she asked, staring at his face as he began to take off the buttons of the security uniform.
‘It went well,’ he replied, now unbuttoning the sleeves. ‘They didn’t have much useful information about Kimberly Alexander, I only got the phone number she uses to call them. Now, I’m monitoring her phone number and theirs, we will intercept once there’s a connection between both.’
‘And what’s the next step after that?’ Esther asked.
Fabian did not answer immediately, he took off the uniform top and flung it to the backseat of the car, leaving only his white underwear vest on. ‘Let’s take it one after the other,’ he said and strapped on his seatbelt. ‘Now, you need to get us out of here before someone discovers the unconscious security guard at the toilet and the data resource manager under his table.’
‘I see…’ she said, giving him a searching look as she strapped on her own seatbelt. ‘I hope they won’t stay so long in their unconscious state,’ she said as she started the car engine.
_____
Daniel’s eyes wandered around as he entered into his bookstore. He had received a call few minutes ago from one of his employees that someone asked to see him for a large supply of books which could only be authorized by him. The bookstore was a large and there were so many people in it buying and checking books on the shelf. He saw someone that looked familiar siting on a leather bench close to the sales desk and wondered if that could be the person who wanted to see him. His face met with the man’s but he looked away to other points in the store to see if there was anybody else waiting around.
‘Good morning sir,’ one of the employees called unto him.
‘Yea, good morning.’ he said, looking at the middle-aged woman’s face.
‘That’s the man who wanted to see you,’ she said, looking towards the man on the bench who Daniel had considered to be the one.
‘Okay, thank you.’ he said and the woman walked away. He began to walk towards the man on the bench.
The man rose to greet him as he got closer. ‘You must be Mr Daniel,’ the man said with a smile.
‘Yes, I am. Good morning sir,’ Daniel said, bowing slightly to show respect as he offered a handshake, the man was older than he was.
‘Good morning Mr Daniel,’ the man answered with a smile and took Daniel’s hand in his.
‘Please, you may have your seat sir.’ Daniel said and he turned to the chair behind the desk. He allowed the man to settle before he continued, ‘I heard you wanted a special supply of books…’ he began but suddenly paused. He narrowed his eyes and placed a firm stare on the man’s face. ‘I think I’ve met you somewhere before, ‘ he said. ‘You look so familiar.’
‘No, I don’t remember us meeting anywhere,’ the man stated and smiled even though Daniel was still staring at him like he was sure of his assertion. ‘Can we really discuss here?’ the man asked, his eyebrows gathering together.
‘Yes, are we not talking about books and the supplies you want?’
‘No, we’re talking about something different.’ the man said and cleared his throat. ‘I’m Inspector Dakolo from the Abuja Police Headquarters,’ he added, taking out his identity card.
Daniel already knew he was Inspector Dakolo but just had to say he looked familiar for the man not to know he was recognized. The only thing he was bothered about was the reason for the man’s visit.
‘What can I do for you Inspector?’ he asked and stared at the man’s face in silence, hoping it wasn’t that he was being investigated. He controlled two bookstores in town, both in his name though he wasn’t the real owner. The bookstores were just a tool given to him by the agency to hide his real job from the world.
‘I’m here to get some information about a certain man who I’m investigating, he listed your name as one of his guarantors in his recent job.’ Dakolo paused and waited to see if Daniel would know who he was talking about but Daniel continued to stare at him silently, a look of confusion forming on his face. ‘I’m talking about David James who recently began to work at the NSCC office,’ Dakolo stated.
‘Oh!’ Daniel blinked. ‘What about him?’
‘He’s been missing at work for some days now and they’ve been so worried at his place of work,’ Dakolo answered.
‘Oh! And did they declare him missing at the NSCC?’ Daniel joked with a broad smile on his lips. His smile quickly faded away when he realized that the Inspector saw no joke in what he said. ‘I don’t really know his whereabouts for now, but the last time I heard of him, they said he had an accident and was badly injured but I’ve not seen him for a long time now.’
Dakolo took a minute to consider the man’s explanation and concluded that it may be true since he saw Dave with bandages on the head and wrist that morning. ‘So, how do I reach him?’
‘Let me check for his phone number,’ Daniel said and hurriedly searched his pocket for his phone. He took it out and dialed Dave’s number. ‘It’s switched off,’ he said looking at the man’s face but dialed the number again and put the call on loud speakers for the Inspector to hear the response.
‘How about his house? Do you have his address with you?’
‘Ermm…’ he closed his eyes and moved his head from side to side trying to remember something. ‘Allow me for another minute, I think I saved the text somewhere on my phone.’ he began to press his phone again. ‘David James is a regular customer of this store, he reads and buys books a lot.’
It took him about two minutes to get the address he was searching for. He passed the phone to the Inspector to have a look.
‘This is the same address he left at the NSCC,’ Dakolo said after looking at the address severally within forty seconds. He returned the phone to the owner. ‘So you don’t have any other information we can use to find him?’
‘Any other information like?’
‘His family’s address, their home or maybe any of his siblings you know.’
‘I don’t know any of his family members or any of his other friends. He’s just a regular buyer here who became my friend because we share the same philosophies, I don’t know so much about him.’
‘You don’t know much about him but you signed to be his guarantor?’
‘Well, I just thought I should help him since he was badly in need of a job.’ Daniel answered with a stupid shrug.
Dakolo stared at his face for a while, feeling irritated at the stupidity of Daniel as displayed in his last statement. ‘You signed for someone who might just be a hardened criminal and he’s nowhere to be found now, you will have a lot of questions to answer if we don’t find him.’ Dakolo said and stamped his fists on the table, attracting the attention of some of the people in the store. ‘And don’t think of playing any stunts, we’ve got our eyes fully on you henceforth. The best thing you can do to yourself is to inform me immediately you have any information about him,’ he said and dropped a sheet of paper on the desk. ‘Call me when you do have something to say.’ With that, Dakolo turned and walked out of the store. Several people’s eyes followed him as he exited the place.
Daniel picked the paper containing the Inspector’s number and stared at it briefly. After that he picked his phone again and unlocked it. He scrolled down the menu and clicked on an unnamed application. It opened and displayed two icons on the dashboard, one for phone calls and the other for text messaging. He clicked on the text messaging option and began to search for the number he wanted to send it to. He selected the contact ‘David James’ but quickly unmarked it again. He scrolled up and marked the contact stored as ‘Agent DJ’. Then he began to type in his message into the box.
With the unnamed application he was using to send the message, the network providers would not have a record of the text message neither would their system have any idea of the transaction.
______
‘It’s been a while you took me out and paid for my meal like this,’ Esther commented as she munched the food substance in her mouth. ‘It’s only when you need help you behave like a good boy.’
‘Must I be the one to take you out and pay for the meals? Can’t you take me out and foot the bills?’ Fabian gave a reply sooner than she expected and it got her surprised. It seemed like he knew that the question was coming and had already prepared an answer for her.
‘I thought you were the man,’ she said, giving him a side look. She dropped back into the plate the fork she was about to take into her mouth.
‘Which law says it’s the man that must foot the bills?’ Fabian said and continued eating without looking at her face. ‘You’re so used to men buying the stuffs for you. Sometimes, I feel envious of you. You get to go to several places free of charge with the men you investigate and they buy a lot of things for you but I do the buying except if it’s a very rich sugar mummy and not a young girl. The crazy thing is that most times we are underfunded by the agency and we put in our own monies to get the job done.’
‘And I put in my own body to get the job done,’ she snapped. ‘Do you think I like touching those men, especially the obese ones?’
‘Oh!’ Fabian dropped his fork and stared at her face. ‘You think I enjoy sleeping with the women because I am a man?’ he asked with a narrow look. ‘And you don’t even sleep with the men except in very extreme cases which comes rarely. Men can easily get deceived and carried away by just giving them a simple massage, lap dance or…’ he ran out of words, wriggling his fingers. ‘You know the rest of the things you do to them. But the women do not get carried away by those things easily, you have to really go down on her first…’
‘And how many times have you had to do that?’ she cut in. ‘How often do you get to have those kind of jobs? I bet you can’t mention more than one right now,’ she said and looked straight into his eyes, waiting for him to prove her wrong.
He wriggled and scratched his head on the hot seat he put himself. He was still trying to come up with an answer for her when his phone beeped. He quickly took it out and unlocked it.
‘Holy shi*t!’ he exclaimed after taking close to a minute to check the notification.
‘What’s it?’ Esther asked.
‘I just got a message from Daniel, he said Agent Dakolo is on a search for me.’ Fabian replied, looking up at her face.
Esther raised her brows and shook her head slightly, wanting more explanation as to why the Agent was searching for him.
‘He saw me that day before yesterday with the bandage on my head and he also knows I work at the NSCC,’ he explained to her.
Esther’s shoulders dropped. ‘So what are you going to do now?’
‘I don’t really know,’ Fabian said and placed two fingers on his lips. He stared blankly for a short while. ‘I think I would have to leave you to help me monitor the EasyShoppers, just for a short while, I have to see the Agent. But do remember that you need to clean off the disguise and switch to your look as Lizzy, just keep the name Esther.’ he began to tidy up his things on the table.
‘I do remember all that but are you really sure of what to do right now?’
‘I think I am. I just have to do something before the Agent spreads the word too quick.’ he answered, getting up from his chair.
‘Alright, but do make sure you don’t get into more troubles.’
‘I won’t. Thanks for helping out.’ he said as he dipped his smaller phone into his pocket and dropped a bigger one on the table. ‘I’m leaving the car with you,’ he said, showing her the car key on the table. ‘Please send me a message if anything comes up and you need to act.’
‘Okay, I’ll do that. I just hope the office does not call me up for an assignment.’
____
‘Tara, Rex is back again.’ Henry came into the living room saying to her.
She took her eyes off the late Senate President’s book which she was still reading for a minute to look at Henry. She fixed her gaze back to the book before speaking. ‘What did you see him try to do?’ she asked as she folded her the page she was reading and dropped the book. On a second thought, she picked up the book again and rolled her wheelchair closer to the bag of books and dropped it in. She had continued reading the book for up to one hour and had found nothing else about her parents or her family. All that was left were boring details of the other deals the then young politicians involved themselves in.
‘He was just searching around the house, I saw him throwing some tiny particles around.’ Henry replied her question.
‘In what direction was he throwing them?’ she asked another question and began to wheel herself towards him, putting in so much effort to do it with speed. He quickly walked to her and held the wheelchair by the back, leading her into the corridor away from the living room.
‘I don’t really know what directions he did…’ Henry mentioned his words slowly, still thinking as he said them. ‘But I think he was throwing them towards the origin of the laser scopes security at the different points.’
‘That’s means he was checking if the lasers are still on,’ she said as he wheeled her on. ‘I believe he will discover now that we have left the facility.’
They continued on another corridor until they got to the control room. Henry wheeled her to the front of the main control system. It was on and was showing a video of a section in the structure at the other end. Henry held the mouse and closed the player, an option of views of the different parts of the house covered by the cameras displayed like a DVD selection page. He zoomed the selection page for a clearer view and began to scroll down, searching for which part Rex was now. He located it not too long after and selected it. Rex was at the same corridor from which the lasers had sent him running back the night before and was treading carefully, looking back and forth everytime.
He stopped at the entrance of a door and took out his phone, he was seen dialing a number. The call was answered and he spoke to the person at the other end for only thirty seconds before he put the phone back into his pocket. He then turned back suddenly and his eyes searched round the walls until he located the camera focus on him. He pointed his gun at it and sent a bullet straight to it.
Henry was alarmed as their screen went blank. He looked at Tara with a trembling eyes, ‘He knows we are watching him just like the other day,’ he said.
‘Yes, he knows but he also knows that we are not in that facility anymore.’ she replied him.
‘What if he discovers the underground?’
‘He cannot,’ she stated emphatically. ‘The only way he would is if someone tells him about it.’
‘Hmm…’ Henry hummed, not too sure whether to believe her or not. The cursor showed on the blank screen as his hand touched the mouse.
‘We actually don’t have a business with that other facility anymore, there’s no way he can connect this place to that except he gains access into the Ministry of Housing documents but he wouldn’t even think of it having an underground which connects somewhere else.’
The phone on her lap began to ring as she was still talking. She answered the call and adjusted her wheelchair backwards before speaking. ‘Hi Chief Gab.’
‘Good afternoon Tarasha, I have gotten another house for you to use now.’
_____
NSCC Headquarters
Dave ignored the prying eyes of the other NSCC officials as he walked through the offices. He greeted back those who cared to greet him first and just ignored those that were looking at him like they had seen a ghost.
‘Mr Dave!’ someone shouted from behind.
Dave turned back and his eyes met with Dapo’s. ‘Good afternoon sir,’ he said with an indifferent look.
‘Where have you been?’ Dapo asked with eyes wide open in surprise.
‘It’s a long story,’ Dave said and took in a breath. ‘Is the chairman on seat?’
‘Yes, he should be.’ Dapo got to the same place with him and they began to walk on together. ‘Inspector Dakolo from the Police Headquarters was here for you this morning.’
‘Inspector Dakolo?’ Dave feigned a surprised tone.
‘Yes.’
‘Is that not the man previously in charge of Samantha Osman’s case?’
‘Yes, you’re right.’
‘What does he want from me?’
‘I don’t know for sure but I think it is connected to your disappearance for so long.’
Dave as sighed and shook his head and they walked on in silence until they got to the point for Dapo to turn to his office.
‘Alright man, goodluck with the chairman.’ Dapo said as he walked away.
‘Good afternoon,’ Dave stopped at Mr Sylvester’s secretary’s desk.
‘Good evening Mr David!’ she was also surprised to see him. Dave smiled at the expression on her face. ‘You want to see Mr Sylvester?’
‘Yes, is he in?’
‘You may go in, or isn’t he expecting you?’
‘No, he’s not.’
‘Okay, wait a second. I’ll inform him right away.’
She picked up the landline receiver on her table and connected to Mr Sylvester. ‘Mr David James is here to see you sir,’ she said and a smile appeared on her face as she got a reply. ‘Yes, the same Mr David James.’
‘You may go in now, ‘ she said to him and he bowed slightly before proceeding.
Dave opened the door slightly and walked in slowly, poking his head in first before his legs and other part followed. He closed the door and stood behind it for a second, his gaze meeting Mr Sylvester’s eyes which was fixed on him. The man was carrying a very stern gaze on his face and Dave could read his demand for a reasonable explanation even without the man saying anything yet.
‘Good afternoon sir,’ Dave greeted and began to proceed forward slowly.
‘Good afternoon,’ Mr Sylvester replied in a muffled tone.
‘I was attacked at my house by armed men and I got badly injured,’ David began his explanation immediately. ‘I’ve been at the hospital for days now.’
Mr Sylvester shook his head in disbelief, he narrowed his look at Dave wondering why the young man had decided to lie to him and even choose a stupid lie. He rested his back and folded his arms with his eyes still on Dave’s face. ‘So you got attacked by armed robbers and was badly injured but none of your neighbours knew about the attack or even your whereabouts.’
Dave knew the man didn’t believe his words but wasn’t bothered if he did or not, all he wanted was to have a story to say. ‘I didn’t say armed robbers sir, armed men.’ He corrected.
‘Armed men? What are you talking about?’ Mr Sylvester looked away for a second and picked his phone.
‘They were not robbers and did not take anything from me. They only came that night and forced me with their guns to follow them without making any noise. I got dropped on the road after being thoroughly beaten.’
‘Sorry to say Dave, this your story sounds somehow ridiculous, more like it was made up.’ Mr Sylvester adjusted himself on the seat, placing his elbow on the left armrest while he typed on his phone with the fingers on the other hand.
‘Sir, I know it does…’
‘Please, have your seat Dave.’ the man interrupted.
‘Thank you sir,’ Dave said and took his seat. ‘Sir, I know it might sound ridiculous but it’s the truth. Those guys met me that night and asked that I leave the house with them, pointing their guns at me.’
‘And did they tell you what they wanted?’
‘Hmm… No,’ Dave looked straight into Mr Sylvester’s eyes. The man had stopped typing on his phone and Dave knew that the man must have sent a text message to someone which was most likely Agent Dakolo.
Both men’s gazes remained on each other’s faces for a long moment as both thought to themself in silence.
_____
**Maitama**
‘Cole,’ Tarasha’s voice sounded through the phone’s speaker as he answered.
‘Boss,’ Cole replied.
‘I’ve called the EasyShoppers administrators and I’ve asked that they deliver the goods to you at the parking space at Leads way.’
‘Alright boss, I’ll be going there immediately.’

_____
‘Have you reported the incident to the police?’ Mr Sylvester finally asked after the long moment of silence.

‘No,’ Dave shook his head.

‘No? I thought they should be the first you would have reached.’

‘No, not yet sir.’

‘Not yet, when?’

‘Very soon.’

‘Very soon, what do you mean by very soon?’ the man narrowed his look. ‘How can you be attacked and you are saying you’ve not reported, and you are not even ready to report?’

‘Sir, it’s strictly for personal reasons.’

‘For personal reasons?’ Mr Sylvester narrowed his eyes, he now had more reasons not to believe Dave .

‘Yes, I can’t let it out for now.’

‘Dave,’ the man called softly. ‘Except you’re able to prove your claim, you might have to face the punishments attached to being absent from the office for so long without permission.’

‘Sir, I know the corporation has it’s rules and regulations but I’m not here to continue.’ Dave said. He rose up slightly and took something out, he sat back as he placed the envelope on the table. ‘I have come to tender my resignation letter.’

Mr Sylvester’s eyes widened in surprise, a resignation letter was what he least expected from Dave. ‘You must be joking,’ he said, pushing back the letter to Dave.

‘I’m sorry sir, I just can’t continue this job. My life is being thr_@tened,’ Dave said, shaking his head as he let out a breath.

‘No, we have a strong policy here and you have to follow it.’

‘But sir, how can I continue when my life is in danger?’

‘What do you mean by saying your life is in danger? Did the NSCC send the men to beat you up?’ Mr Sylvester shouted. Though he was angry and wanted badly for Dave to be queried for his sudden absence for days, he wasn’t ready to lose another competent employee and he began to accept the fact slowly in his mind, he now regretted sending the text to Inspector Dakolo instead of protecting Dave.

Dave shook his head again and swallowed in. It was obvious to Mr Sylvester that he was hiding something and was desperate to keep it to himself.

‘Tell me, those men that attacked you, do they have any connection with the NSCC?’ the man asked again but Dave was silent.

Mr Sylvester’s phone vibrated on the table and he swiped it open with the tip of a finger, there was a pop-up message on the screen from Officer Dakolo. It read, ‘Just keep him there, I’ll be in your office in five minutes time.’

____

He kept glancing out through the window from time to time for signs of the EasyShoppers vehicle and would take a look at his wristwatch after every glance outside. The EasyShoppers delivery guys were over ten minutes late already and that wasn’t the EasyShoppers he knew, they always arrived on time and were never late for delivery. He was about to pick his phone to call and inform Tarasha about their lateness when he saw the EasyShoppers minivan driving towards the parking space from the road.

He quickly turned the rearview mirror to face and took a quick look at the reflection. He took out an handkerchief from his side to clean his face again. Tarasha had instructed for him to clean the off the makeups after acquiring the car she sent him to, she had asked him to run more errands that’ll cause the makeups to fade off gradually and disfigure the look on his face.

The van got into the parking space a minute later and halted right beside his car. He got out before the engine of the van was switched off and waited for the delivery man or woman at the front of his car.

Someone came out from the driver’s side, a young woman. She locked the door and took some steps towards the back to check the other doors. She had a stunning look and elegant walking steps. Cole observed her from the second she placed the first leg outside, she had on the EasyShoppers customized top but a short skirt which stopped above the knee contrary to the EasyShoppers mode of dressing which included the women also putting on trousers. The EasyShoppers customized top was a round necked collared short sleeve shirt with only three buttons at the top, it had their logo at the belly side and their motto written under it.

Before Cole knew it, a gorgeous lady was standing right in front of him. He wouldn’t have been so carried away by her presence but the fragrance and concentration of her perfume was enough to sweep one away.

‘Good afternoon sir, I’m Patricia.’ the lady greeted the stunned Cole.

‘Good afternoon ma’am,’ he greeted back and shook his head gently and briefly, deciding to shake her off his mind immediately.

‘I’m sorry for coming late, I’m new to this job and it took me sometime to locate this place.’ she apologized with a kind smile.

Cole nodded and smiled back in acceptance of her apology. He looked away from her face as she was staring into his eyes in a way that made him not too comfortable.

She looked away also, realizing the impact she had on him. It was her first time of delivering goods to anyone and she wasn’t too sure if it was right to stare at the receiver’s face like she did. But he wasn’t just a receiver but a very handsome one.

‘I hope you won’t rate our service by this performance,’ she added, glancing at his face again.

‘No, of course not.’ he smiled back. ‘So how do we do it?’ he asked, looking around the car to see if she came with a man who would help with transferring the supply into the car he brought.

‘I was asked to give you an invoice and also explain somethings about our previous transactions to you. Our policies regarding our delivery and types of goods have also changed and I was asked to brief you about the changes, it will only take some few minutes,’ she said before she turned back towards the car. She opened the door to the driver’s side and bent in to pick something from the middle of the seats. Her backside was turned towards Cole and he could see the smooth curves formed in her tight black skirt. He drew in a deep breath and looked away, he could not but admit that she was richly endowed at the backside even though she wasn’t fat.

‘Didn’t you come with any man who can start moving the foodstuffs into my vehicle while you explain what you’re supposed to?’ he said, still struggling to keep his eyes off the sight before him.

‘I didn’t come with any,’ she finally rose out with a small bag and turned to him. She brought out a book from it, ‘That’s part of the details I’m supposed to brief you about. The delivery officials would stop coming with people to help in the carrying of the goods anymore except it is paid for.’

‘Oh, I see…’ Cole hummed with his mouth ajar. His eyes wandered to the top of her shirt and two of the three buttons were now opened, he could see drops of sweats and a tiny necklace around her neck. He looked up and realized that they had been standing under the scorching sun, the only reason he hadn’t felt it too much was the cooling effect of the car Air conditioner on his body which was now vanishing and his body beginning to feel the impact of the sun. ‘Can we sit in my car while you explain to me,’ he offered, looking into her eyes once again.

‘Yes, I was about to suggest that.’ she gladly accepted.

‘Okay.’ Cole quickly walked to the driver’s side and got into the car. He opened the door to the passengers’ side for her to get in.

‘Thank you,’ she said as settled in. Her short tight skirt stopped halfway her thigh as she sat, revealing too much for Cole to see. She began to explain immediately, ignoring the fact that Cole’s eyes were prying her laps. ‘So this contains records of all your transactions with us,’ she said as she opened the book to show him.

Cole took a brief glance at the opened book but his eyes did not stay there, it kept scanning up and down her revealed thighs. He could feel a rush in his blood and something rising under his trousers. He closed his laps together to prevent the bulge he could see forming slowly. She kept talking but his mind was far away, he wondered why many companies uses ladies as marketers and even the segz appeal strategy in their marketing and adverts. He was angry about the situation but there was nothing he could do about it, the marketing strategy had an effect on him and it was taking over his senses. This lady beside him was d@mn segzy, one of the segziest he had ever met.

‘Hope you understand,’ she stopped talking and stared at his face. She closed the book, putting a finger in between to avoid losing the page.

‘Oh Yes,’ Cole nodded even though he couldn’t recall a word out of all she said.

‘Okay,’ she opened the book again to continue. She adjusted her seating position and crossed her legs. Cole twitched uncomfortable at the new sight of the view. His body trembled and he adjusted his legs.

She continued to speak and this time he tried hard to listen and began to hear some of what she was saying.

‘We also have a new mobile app,’ she said and took her tablet device from her lap, putting the book in the position she took the device from. ‘It’s very easy to use,’ she said and leaned closer to him.

Cole could not concentrate anymore. He could feel her brea$t pressing hard against his shoulder and the scent of her perfume filled his nose, making him want to have a quick exploration of her body at that moment. His eyes wandered away from the phone to the tiny necklace around her neck. He tried to look in through the opened buttons but couldn’t see much except for the top of the twins. His eyes then wandered to her face and remained there while she continued with her navigation on the mobile app.

‘Sir, sir!’ Cole suddenly heard her calling. She was still leaning towards him and now looking directly at his face. ‘You’re not listening,’ she complained.

Cole’s heart throbbed at the echo of her voice in his mind and the movement of her lips. The pink lips were as segzy as her body was. He felt like taking her lips in his and engaging her in a deep kiss but he feared what could be the result, he could be accused of assault and would that way cause unnecessary problems for himself and his boss. His eyes were searching deep into hers and hers was too. Both of them remained that way in silence for close to a minute. Then something happened which Cole could not explain, her lips had brushed his softly, he knew for sure that he didn’t initiate it. In a twinkling of an eye, her mouth had covered his. He could feel the softness of her lips. He wrapped his hand around her body and pulled her closer to himself, enjoying her expertise in the kissing game.

She broke away after a minute and both of them stared into each other’s eyes for a couple of seconds. Then she climbed over him, placing her knees by either sides of his seat. Her mouth met his again as she ran her fingers into his shirt, taking off the buttons from the middle.

Cole responded to her every touch and move, temporarily forgetting that he was on an assignment. His hand reached for the switch in the middle and he placed a finger on it to adjust the power seat. His finger remained there until the backrest got to a comfortable level for the action that was about to happen.

He allowed her take off his shirt completely disregarding the fact that they were in a public environment. The window glasses of the car were tinted so he had nothing much to worry about. Her fingers ran under his singlet and she dragged it up, a brief smile formed on her lips as she saw his well formed abs. She reached for his abdomen with her lips while his hands ran up her thighs.

Someone’s phone began to ring but none of them responded at first, until it rang the second time. Cole suddenly recognized the tone as the customized ringing tone he saved for Tarasha. He quickly held Patricia’s hands and stopped her from taking off his belt which she was about doing. He set up and picked his phone with her still on his laps, he confirmed that the caller was Tarasha as he looked at the screen.

‘Hello boss,’ he said, releasing a deep breath as he gestured with his fingers for Patricia to move back to the other seat.

‘Cole, where are you now?’ Tarasha’s voice sounded loud from the other end. Cole finger quickly found the volume button and he reduced it.

‘Still with the EasyShoppers delivery woman, she had some issues and came a bit late.’ he said and flashed a look at Patricia. She frowned at him for telling his boss that she came late when he had earlier promised not to judge by her performance. ‘She also said she needed to explain somethings about their changed terms and conditions and that’s what she’s doing right now.’

‘Cole, is everything alright?’ she asked, sensing that something was wrong with the way he was breathing in and out.

‘Yes boss, there’s nothing. We’re done already, what’s left is to move the goods into the car.’ he replied.

‘But why are you sounding like…like you just had a duel with somebody?’

‘No boss,’ Cole said and chuckled in an attempt to convince her. ‘There’s nothing like that.’

‘Then hurry up, remember that you have very limited time and you have some other things to do.’

‘Okay boss,’ Cole replied. The call ended and Cole locked his phone instantly. He closed his eyes to take in a breath, then he placed his palms on his lips and exhaled from his mouth. He opened his eyes again and turned to Patricia. She was staring at him, her shirt and her skirt ruffled a bit. Her thighs were more exposed than they were before and she was sitting with her legs turned towards him but he had no time to waste. He looked away and searched for his shirt. The rush of hormones in his body had reduced and his attention had gone down. He began to wonder why he couldn’t resist her as he put back on his shirt. She didn’t need him to tell her anything before she sat right and also started to straighten her top and skirt.

‘So do you have any questions about the things I explained to you?’

He flashed a quick look at her as he buttoned his shirt, ‘No.’

‘Okay then, I think you can now start to move the goods into your car.’ she said to him.

‘Move them into my car?’ Cole stared at her.

‘Yes, I explained to you already that you have to request for that and you’ll be charged separately and you already agreed that we should add it to the charges from next month.’ she replied him and then opened the door.

‘I agreed?’

‘Yes,’ she turned to give him a look.

‘It’s okay,’ he said and also opened the door to his side. Both of them stepped out simultaneously.

____

The thin yellow line continued to spread on the map until it got to a certain point and stopped. A small blinking green circle formed at the point indicating that her tracked object was in that location. Tarasha zoomed the map to read the address of the location, she right clicked and copied the text.

Cole’s response had gotten her suspicious, he sounded like someone who had done something hectic when he spoke to her and the explanation he had given her was not convincing enough. She at first thought that he had been caught by the enemies and was being forced to give her those answers like he did. She didn’t know what to do about it at first, she did not place a tracker on his body before he left. But she remembered almost immediately that she could be able to track his location using the IMEI of his phone and decided to do just that. It took her about eight minutes to locate the place the phone’s IMEI was stored and began to track it since then.

She minimized the tracker app and opened the NSCC application. It took some seconds to finish loading, she logged in and input the address details she got from the tracker app to locate and connect to the source of cameras in that area.

After a couple of minutes, her request was processed and a DVD selection page displayed, showing the various views from the different cameras on the streets. She selected one in which she could see a car which looked like the one she sent Cole to get. It expanded and the car was when shown from the front. She continued to switch until she got to one which showed Cole and a lady putting the EasyShoppers top. Cole was seen closing the boot of the car. Then the EasyShoppers woman passed a book and a pen to him and waited while he signed on it.

Tarasha minimized the app. With all she could see, everything was going on perfectly well and there was no cause for alarm.

______

20 minutes earlier (During Cole’s exploration with the delivery woman)

Dave was not surprised when he heard a knock on Mr Sylvester’s door and the man asked for the person to come in. He was already tired of going back and forth on why he wasn’t going to tell the man the reason he was attacked as stated by the attackers and was waiting for Dakolo to show up, so the knock was a relief to him.

He didn’t look back immediately until the man almost got to his seat. He quickly looked back and feigned surprise. Dakolo stared straight into his eyes intimidatingly. Dave turned back and shot Mr Sylvester a quick look of a betrayal feeling, like to ask why the man had summoned the police on him.

‘Good afternoon Mr Sylvester,’ Agent Dakolo greeted.

‘Good afternoon sir,’ Mr Sylvester said and turned back to Dave. ‘Agent Dakolo was here to see you earlier today and he’s back again for you,’ he said to Dave and looked back to the Inspector.

‘Yes, Dave.’ Dakolo said as Dave turned to look at him. ‘Both of us have got things to discuss, don’t you think so?’

Dave was silent.

‘Mr David James,’ Dakolo called the name thr_@teningly as he paced the floor. He was alone with Dave in a new room still in the NSCC Headquarters. Dave was seated on a plastic chair and an empty plastic chair meant for Dakolo was in front of him.
Dave fixed his eyes on the man’s face at the call of his name, but he didn’t bother to respond vocally as there was no need for it. The call was only for Dakolo to get his attention which he had now.

‘I think I respect you a lot, this our discussion is supposed to be done in the police investigation room you know?’ Dakolo said and stopped pacing, he looked directly into Dave’s eyes.

‘I do not still understand you sir,’ a frown formed on Dave’s face.

Dakolo licked his lower lip softly. ‘Don’t make things hard for both of us man, you know what I’m talking about.’

‘No, I do not.’ Dave insisted in a calm but assertive tone.

Dakolo smiled. ‘Please do not make me lose the respect I have for you, you should just stop acting innocent.’

‘Acting innocent? I do not even know what you’re talking about yet sir.’

‘I met you yesterday during the early hours and you offered your help which I declined, so where did you go after that?’

‘I went back home.’

‘You are still saying you went back home even after you told me clearly that you were going to work.’

‘No, I went home. I wanted to go to work but I received a call after you left and I had to go home immediately.’

‘You lie,’ Dakolo snapped, squinting into Dave’s eyes. Dave remained quiet. ‘What do you take me for, a kid?’

Dave shook his head and sighed tiredly. ‘Agent sir, I do not understand what you’re talking about. I met you and offered to help you, you didn’t accept but you suddenly ran off like you were chasing after something and now you show up here looking for me and asking questions about my movement.’

Dakolo chuckled and shook his head briefly after hearing what Dave had to say. He walked slowly to the seat in front of Dave and sat on it, adjusting the position so that he could face Dave straight. He placed his feet on the brace between the chair legs and placed his elbows on his knees. ‘Mr Dave, I can see you’re very intelligent and that you know how to play the mind game very well, but I’m not about to fall for it. I’m going to plead with you to tell me the truth for the last time and if you don’t, we will have to settle this in our office and that would mean you’ll be arrested.’

‘What would you arrest me for?’ Dave smiled and shook his head in mockery of the man’s words. ‘I’m a citizen of Nigeria who knows his rights and I would not allow you or anybody trample on them.’

‘I won’t trample on them, I’ll get a warrant to arrest you.’

‘For what exactly? You think you can just take me away?’ Dave asked in a very harsh tone, his eyebrows raised and his head shaking.

Dakolo let out a breath. He stared at Dave’s face silently for about fifteen seconds. It was getting more difficult than he thought it would be, Dave was proving to be a hard nut to crack.

‘Mr David, that morning, you had a bandage on your head and one on your wrists but I can’t see any right now. Do you want to tell me your wounds have healed up so quickly?’

‘That isn’t any of your business sir,’ Dave slammed.

‘Of course it is my business,’ Dakolo grit his teeth and tightened his fists. ‘It is my business especially when a man with a bandage on the head and wrist was the one who attacked the Inspector General and his men that morning.’

‘And what are you insinuating?’ Dave asked with a deep frown.

‘It’s time you stop pretending man, I know you were that man and I came ready for you.’ Dakolo said, taking out his gun and getting up to his feet.

‘Hey! Take it easy man,’ Dave pleaded, raising his hands up in the air as Dakolo pointed the gun at him.

‘Get up,’ Dakolo gestured to him with the gun. ‘You’re coming with me to the station,’ he added and removed an handcuff attached to the belt hole at his back.

‘Come on sir, we’re not done with our discussion yet.’ Dave said, getting up to his feet in response to the man’s gesture. He had a story to tell the man but didn’t want to let it out without easily without giving the man any tough time.

‘I don’t think you have anything else to say, just stretch your hands forth,’ Dakolo said firmly.

‘And why should I stretch my hands forth?’ Dave said, putting his hands down by his side, now showing defiantness contrary to his first attitude of fear at the first sight of the gun. ‘You’re not supposed to be on this case, why don’t you just face your own job?’

‘My job is to ensure justice and that’s what I’m doing,’ Dakolo replied, still pointing the gun at him.

‘Agent, I’m tired of this conversation, I have some other things to do.’ Dave sank back into his seat disregarding the Agent and the gun being pointed at him.

Dakolo Ç0çƙed the gun and Dave’s eyes shone at him immediately. Dave’s hand went back up in the air and he rose slowly.

‘Hey! You not holding that well. Do not cause an accidental discharge,’ Dave warned, pointing to the gun.

‘I’m not stupid, I’m trained and can’t make such a mistake but there’ll be no difference if I ki|| you now or not.’

‘Okay, just put down the gun. I’ll tell you everything,’ Dave pleaded.

Dakolo lowered the gun slowly and stepped backwards a bit. ‘Start talking.’

‘Agent, I planned to tell you this before.’ he stopped and got up to his feet and began to pace the floor. ‘But I thought it would be sometime later. I was on bandage yesterday and…’ he stopped abruptly and looked around. ‘Sir, can we go somewhere else to talk? I don’t feel comfortable here.’

‘Somewhere else like the police station?’

‘Huh? No, but I maybe that’s even be safer than this is. Someone else might be listening to our conversation here,’ Dave explained.

Dakolo raised a brow at him, doubting the fact that he didn’t mind to go to the station even though he agreed that someone else could be listening to them where they were.

‘So we go to my office at the station?’

Dave shrugged in response.

Dakolo stared at him unblinking, wondering if he was trying to play a prank or being honest. ‘I have to search your body first,’ he said. Dave moved closer and Dakolo searched his shirt and trousers pockets. The only thing he found there was a phone which he took out and handed back to Dave.

‘So, let’s go to my office. At least, it will be easy to turn you into a cell from there,’ Dakolo said, gesturing for him to move first.

Dave began to walk towards the door, glancing with the side eye at Dakolo who was walking a metres behind him. He had a well developed story to tell Dakolo and needed to act well to make it look and sound really serious. He checked for the time on his phone which was still in his hand and locked it back, he was about to put it into his pocket when it vibrated. He turned the screen to himself again and unlocked it. There was a text message from Lizzy and it read;

‘I’ve got a tracker on Samantha’s man who came to get the goods from the EasyShoppers agents and we just went our different ways a couple of minutes ago, I think you need to come down now, I don’t know where to continue from here.’

Dave closed his eyes briefly and released a breath after reading the message. That was going to change his direction again. He didn’t know Lizzy would have made such quick progress. Now he had to find a way to escape Dakolo.

‘Come on, go out.’ Dakolo said in a calm but authoritative voice.

Dave opened his eyes and looked back. He realized he was standing at the door with his hand on the knob.

_____

Lizzy continued to stare at her phone’s screen for several minutes, hoping to get a reply from Dave to her text message but none arrived as soon as she expected. She got out of her car and looked towards the EasyShoppers’ van. She could see the two EasyShoppers’ workers who she had drvgged already awake in the car. The lady Patricia who she had disguised was checking the already signed receipt. Lizzy knew both of them would be so confused and will never get an explanation for what happened.

She entered back into the car and picked her phone to see if there was any reply from Dave yet, there was none. She then started the engine and drove away.

_____

‘The car is being sprayed already and I’ve gotten the other gadgets you asked for,’ Cole said into the phone as he got up from the reception seat where he was waiting. One of the assignments Tarasha had given him was the get the colour of the car and the plate number changed. He had gotten the car with the name Kimberly Alexander and using the car for any operation without changing the plate number would expose them to danger by allowing it to be easily traced. The security officials could easily meet the authorities in charge of roads and keeping records of cars registration and trace it to them but if the necessary change was done to the car, there would be no way to link from it to the name.

‘What name did you use?’ Tarasha’s voice sounded.

‘Aj Johnson,’ he replied.

‘Nice one… But I still do not want you to leave any trace of you there. So instead of waiting there, I think you should just go out and get some new clothes, caps and accessories that would make you look totally different when you take out the car.’

‘Okay boss, I’ll do that right away.’ Cole replied and began to journey towards the door.

____

Dave’s mind was no longer with Dakolo as they got to the car, he kept looking around uncomfortably and searching in his mind excuses and a way to escape. Dakolo also noticed the change in his behavior and watched him more closely.

‘Get in,’ Dakolo said to him after opening the doors of the front seats.

Dave got in first and closed the door before Dakolo entered into the driver’s side. Dakolo was about to start the car engine when Dave stopped him by holding his hand.

‘Sir, you really thought I was going with you to the police station?’

Dakolo paused and stared at him suspiciously, his second hand already trying to bring out the gun from his pocket.

‘Don’t bring out the gun, Agent,’ Dave said in a pleading tone. ‘You can’t take me to the station or even anywhere else because I don’t have time to follow you right now.’

‘I’m taking you to the station?’ Dakolo asked, becoming angry.

‘You can’t, I won’t allow you take me into the investigation room without any charges against me.’

‘But we planned on using my office.’

‘And do you know I can implicate you that way?’

‘Implicate me for what?’

‘Agent Dakolo, you’re not in charge of this case anymore, so what would you say you’re investigating me for?’

‘What case are you talking about? Are you a criminal or do you have a previous case with the police?’

‘No, I’m not a criminal but I know you’ve been asked to stop work on this case for a long time now. Agent Tim is now in charge of Samantha Osman’s case, why don’t you allow him handle it,’ Dave said.

‘Samantha Osman’s case?’ Dakolo exclaimed and stared at him with suspicion in his eyes. ‘How do you know this is connected to that?’

‘Are you not investigating me for the attack on the Inspector General?’

‘Yes…’ Dakolo replied slowly. ‘Yes, I am but how is that connected to Samantha Osman? You should know since you were the one captured by the camera and you even mentioned Samantha Osman now.’

Dave stopped to stare at the man with his left eye partially closed, he took off his hand which was still holding Dakolo’s hand from touching the start button.

‘It proves that you really are involved in this,’ Dakolo accused.

‘Yes, I am but in a good way.’ Dave finally admitted to Dakolo’s surprise.

‘And then I have to get you to the station immediately.’

‘Do you think you can force me there?’ Dave asked. He began to feel a continuous vibration of the phone in his pocket.

‘I have tens of other security officials around who would enforce that I get you to the station,’ Dakolo thr_@tened, referring to the security guards around.

‘Hehe…’ Dave chuckled, taking a look towards the security post from the car. He wondered how any of men he used to see at the gate would stop him from leaving if he wanted to. ‘And what benefit do you think it would do you if you get me to your station?’

Dakolo paused to think about the question, wondering where Dave was getting his sudden boldness from.

‘We both know it will be of no good for you even if you arrest me. This case is not supposed to be handled by you, so I am under no obligation to answer queries from you.’

‘Where did you get all these ideas from?’

‘That’s not necessary sir and I won’t answer you anymore,’ Dave said, now taking out his phone from his pocket.

‘I’m definitely going to hand you over to the man in charge.’ Dakolo said with determination in his voice. He pressed the start button and the car engine roared to life.

Dave opened the door stubbornly and put a leg out. Dakolo took out his gun.

‘Is this how to make an arrest?’ Dave put his leg back in and began to laugh out loud, making Dakolo stare at him stupefied. He reached for the start button and turned it off. ‘Look Agent, you don’t need all this. I knew you came here to look for me today and that’s why I came to present myself. I wanted to see you. And I also knew when Mr Sylvester sent the message of my presence to you. So, I’ll tell you all I can tell you in five minutes and leave right away. My partner is calling and I have to go immediately,’ he said, displaying his phone’s screen for the man to see the incoming call from Lizzy.

‘You don’t dictate what I will do,’ Dakolo said and tried to reach for the start button again. Dave stopped him.

‘Hey! Stop getting sentimental about this,’ Dave said. ‘You’re getting desperate because you feel I’m stubborn and I’m taking you for granted.’

Dave’s words hit Dakolo like cold water and he realized that it was the truth. He wriggled his hand from Dave’s hold and raised his gun with the left hand.

‘You know that Agent Tim has compromised already and that’s why you’re still on this case. So what will happen if you hand me over to him? Would anything good come out of it?’

Dakolo’s hand weakened the more as Dave’s words settled in his mind. Dave seemed to know about him and the activities in the police force more than he thought.

‘Agent, like I said before; I was the one who’s image was captured by the camera yesterday but I didn’t go there to attack the Inspector General. I followed behind you after you left yesterday because I was interested in knowing what made you leave hurriedly.’

Dakolo lowered his hand.

‘I stayed after you left at the pursuit of the vehicle that took away the Vice President and got into the building…’

‘Wait! How did you know I followed them to the Vice President’s house?’ Dakolo interrupted.

‘I don’t know where you followed them to, I only know you followed the car that took the Vice President away.’

‘Was the Vice President in the car?’ Dakolo asked, raising his brows.

‘Oh! You didn’t see him?’

‘No, Agent Tim was the one in the car and he left with a man that came out of the building. They took him to the Vice President’s house.’

‘The man Agent Tim left with was the Vice President himself and not someone else. He was disguised in a funny way.’

‘Oh shi*t! That man was Chief Elvis?’ Dakolo stared in surprise, realizing the reason why the man never came out of the Vice President’s house with Agent Tim as he had expected.

‘Yes, it was.’ Dave replied and continued. ‘The Inspector General was in that building with Samantha Osman and was attacked by Samantha’s men, that was the real cause of the gun exchange that morning.’

‘But who are you and why are you involved in this?’

‘I’m a journalist, a per time journalist working for Desert Reporters.’ Dave took out an identity card.

‘Desert reporters?’ Dakolo mumbled, collecting the ID card to look at it.

‘I’m on a project on Samantha Osman and that’s why I’ve been away from this office for some days. I left to Lagos to make a research on the clash of Samantha Osman with the Nanl Gang and I’ve told them here that I was attacked by unknown men. I was coming here with the bandage on my head to show when I met you but then I couldn’t come here again when I suspected that something was going on in that building.’ Dave stopped and turned his phone. It was ringing again. ‘I have to go now Inspector,’ Dave said as he swiped the call answering button to the message option. He quickly typed in; ‘I’ll call you back in two minutes.’

‘How do I know all these things you told me are the truth?’

‘You can google up the keywords NEWS FROM DAVID JAMES right now, you’ll find several of my articles and reported news online.’

‘I’m using the search engine on www.youngicee.com right now,’ the Agent said as he took out his phone. He placed his phone on his lap but put his hand in such a way to protect it from the reach of Dave.

Dave dialed Lizzy’s number while the Inspector busied himself with the search.

‘Lizzy, where are you?’

‘I’m going after him already, I got a static location indicated on the map already.’ Lizzy’s voice sounded from the other end of the phone.

‘Lizzy,’ Dave called out the name, partially in concern for her and partially to reprimand her for making moves without his consent. ‘Did you put on makeups before meeting him?’

‘No, I did not.’

‘Then you shouldn’t go near, it would be dangerous if he sees you and finds out you’re following after him. That is suicidal,’ Dave warned.

‘I just want to know the place, I’m not going near.’

‘Lizzy, just tell me where you are. I’m coming to meet you there right away,’ Dave said.

‘Okay, let me check for the address around. I’ll call you back in a minute.’ she said and hung up.

Dakolo was through with his search by the time Dave was done with the call. ‘I’ve seen your articles,’ he began. ‘But don’t you think you’re going to far? You are already doing what is supposed to be the job of the police and that’s dangerous, you shouldn’t have gotten into the building at all. You could have called the police when you had a suspicion.’

‘I can’t trust the police, was it not the Inspector General Of Police that even led the police team for the illegal operation that night?’ Dave said, taking out his wallet from the back pocket. He took out a sheet of paper from it and a pen from his pocket. ‘Please write down your phone number here sir, I will reach you tonight or tomorrow morning,’ he said, handing the paper and book to the man.

‘No, you write yours.’ Dakolo refused to collect it.

‘Okay,’ Dave quickly scribbled his number on it and gave it to the man. ‘I’ll tell you everything when we see later,’ he said and tried to open the door but it was stuck.

Dakolo stretched forth his hand, leaning slightly on Dave’s body as he tried to help him open the door. The door finally gave way. ‘Sorry Dave, the door malfunctions sometimes.’

‘Alright, thank you sir.’ Dave said and stepped out.

‘Okay and do make sure you don’t play pranks,’ Dakolo said in a warning tone.

‘I hear you sir,’ Dave saluted and began to walk away.

He searched his body for the tracker which Dakolo had placed on him as he approached the gate and glanced at the device before flinging it away. A smile appeared on his face as he wondered what kind of world police officials were still living in. The tracker Dakolo had placed on him was too big compared to the one he was used to and could never be placed on a trained personnel like him without the person finding out, he wondered what Dakolo was still doing with that kind of ancient device. However, he praised the man in his mind for being able to bring out the tracker in the same car without him seeing it and also for the stuck door strategy.

‘Lizzy, what’s the address?’ he said into the phone as he walked out through the gate.

He hastened his steps to the road so as to find a cab and leave the place before Dakolo would discover that the tracker had been removed.

_____

Rex sat in the passengers’ side of the car tiredly with his back and head rested and his phone close to his ear. Stainless was driving the car with full concentration.

‘Chief Elvis, I couldn’t answer your calls when you called. What did you want to tell me?’

‘Rex, I wanted to ask you how far with the job? Have you found her again?’

‘No, I’ve not.’

‘How soon would you find her? Please do not hesitate to ki|| her immediately you do,’ the man said.

‘Listen man, the truth is she’s nowhere to be found right now. She’s moved from her previous base and it might be difficult to locate her again.’

‘Rex, what if I increase your current pay by two hundred percent?’

‘It wouldn’t increase our chances of finding her,’ Rex replied almost immediately, like he was expecting the question.

The man sighed. ‘So what can we do?’

‘Nothing. The only thing that can increase our chances of finding things to link to her is if she increases in her efforts and attempts to ki|| you.’

There was a long silence from the other end after Rex’s statement and he could tell that he had caused great fear for the man.

‘Rex, you need to do everything to protect my life. I will pay you wh@ťěver you ask for,’ the man said in a shaky voice, proving the fact that he was greatly afraid.

‘I hear you man, I’ll call you later for more talks.’ Rex replied and hung up immediately.

_____

__20 minutes later__

‘He’s been static for a long while, he just began to move again.’ Lizzy said to Dave who was now at the driver’s side of the car and driving while she sat at the right front seat holding and using her device to monitor the tracker placed on Cole.

‘Maybe he’s not gotten to their base yet,’ Dave replied her. ‘But it’s evening already, I believe he should be heading home soon, at least they should need the foodstuffs to cook by now.’

‘Yea, I think so too.’

‘So don’t you think the EasyShoppers would find out and warn Samantha about us so soon.’

‘Their delivery men may be too ashamed to say anything because they really did not know what happened. But even if they gather enough courage to talk, the tracker should have led us to Samantha’s location by then.’

‘Nice one,’ Dave smiled. ‘At least we know the type of car they’ve got and the details and you also confirmed the guy’s identity.’

‘Yea.’

There was silence for about ten minutes.

‘It has been static again for over seven minutes now,’ Lizzy said to Dave.

‘He could just have gotten home.’

‘Yea, this location looks sure like it.’

‘Read out the address, let’s go for them baby!’ Dave said as he increased the speed of the car.

________

Dakolo hissed and muttered a curse word under his breath as he discovered that the tracker he placed on Dave’s body had been dropped just outside the gate. He turned off his car engine and refreshed the app running on his phone again, to see if it will bring a different result but it didn’t not. The map still displayed exactly the same location. He wondered how Dave had discovered the stuff so easily, he looked too young to have so much experience in journalism.

He hissed and shook his head before starting the car engine, having it in mind to stop and search for his tracker at the gate where Dave had left it.

_____

‘We’re closer now,’ Lizzy said in an unsure tone, taking glances at her device’s screen and then outside to the buildings as they passed.

‘This place isn’t a residential area,’ Dave commented, also looking out with an eye through the window and also trying to focus on driving.

They continued for three more minutes before Lizzy spoke up. ‘Stop,’ she said suddenly. Dave who already had his indicator on and was driving at the slow lane pulled over beside the drain. ‘I think we are right at the place,’ Lizzy said, looking out through the window to the right side.

There was a magnificent building of a boutique there. The sign board glowed from the impact of the aesthetic lights placed under which turned on automatically at night time. The day was getting dark already, so the lights were bringing out their full beauty and colours.

‘Menista!’ Dave exclaimed, reading the text in the signboard. ‘This is one hell of men’s clothing source, most likely the best place for men to get their clothes of different kinds.’

He reversed the car a bit and turned towards the boutique. He drove to the back of another car and turned off the engine.

‘But could he still be shopping at this time? They’re closing already,’ Lizzy said as she opened the door.

‘He could just be doing the late hour shopping thing,’ Dave said as he got out and closed the door.

Both of them proceeded right into the building, Dave holding Lizzy gently by the hand and helping her navigate as she fixed her eyes on the device’s screen, trying to find the exact point indicated on the tracker app.

‘Good evening sir, what kind of clothes would you like to purchase?’ one of the very busy attendants approached Dave.

‘Ermm…’ Dave itched for a few seconds. Then he took a quick glance at Lizzy’s device and then took a quick look towards the left. ‘I think I’ll like to check out some suits,’ he replied, looking towards the suits section.

‘Sorry sir, but they closed in that section already.’ she replied him.

‘Ermm…’ he collected the phone from Lizzy’s hand. ‘I’ll check the jean jackets then,’ he said, pointing towards the next section to the suits.

‘Okay sir, you can go there quickly. Our official closing hour for all sections is just two minutes from now,’ she said.

‘Thank you,’ Dave said and took a quick glance at the time. It was two minutes to seven. He dragged Lizzy along with him towards the section. ‘I want a jacket I can wear on a dark blue jean,’ he said to the waiting ears of the attendant as they approached.

The attendant allowed them into the place and began to take them through the lined up options of jackets which matched Dave’s request. Dave then requested for a place to try on the cloth, adding that he had a blue jean trouser in Lizzy’s bag which he was going to try it on. The attendant pointed him to direction and he took Lizzy’s bag and the device with him as he went but not without giving Lizzy a signal.

Lizzy used the waiting time to look around the place. The only other female customer she saw was at the kids section and she could tell that the woman was picking clothes for her kids. She looked towards the door and saw that the entrance door had already been closed and many people going out through the exit. Her thoughts drifted to the EasyShoppers office and the agents, she wondered if they would have discovered what happened to them or have reported to their management.

‘Isn’t your friend out yet?’ Lizzy heard a voice behind her and she turned. It was the salesman who attended to them.

‘No, I’ve not seen him yet.’ she replied, shaking her head slightly.

‘It’s ten minutes now since he left to try on the jacket and I can’t find him in there,’ he complained.

‘I’m sure he will be somewhere around,’ Lizzy said, looking around for any trace of him.

‘I need to write my submission for the day already,’ he said to her.

‘Don’t worry, he’ll be here. I remember he said he also wanted to use the toilet. Be rest assured he wouldn’t not leave without paying you,’ she replied.

‘He would dare not, I’ll inform the security now.’ the salesman thr_@tened.

‘No, you don’t have to go that far sir.’ Lizzy pleaded. Not because she was afraid of getting into trouble with the guards but she didn’t just want any issues that will cause them delay. ‘I’m still here, he cannot leave without me.’

‘I’m still gonna alert the security guards though,’ he replied adamantly, making his way out of the section.

‘Well, maybe you don’t have to. Here he is,’ Lizzy said aloud as she sighted Dave coming towards the place with the jacket on.

The man turned back and hissed. He walked back into the section and continued arranging the goods he was arranging while waiting for Dave to meet them.

‘He’s been looking all over for you,’ Lizzy said to Dave as he got to the entrance of the section. She collected her bag from him.

‘I went to use the restroom,’ Dave replied, placing a stern gaze at the salesman. He dipped his hand into his back pocket and took out his wallet from which he removed his debit card.

Dave and Lizzy were on their way out in a few minutes and Lizzy had the time to ask him what he found. Although she was sure he wasn’t able to locate Cole because if he had done, they won’t be on their way out.

‘He visited here and changed his clothes,’ Dave replied her question. ‘I saw the clothes which you put the tracker on, it was well arranged in a bag and kept behind the door in the restroom. The guards said it doesn’t look like the guy’s coming back for it anytime soon. I detached our tracker from the cloth already.’

They climbed down the stairs of the building and proceeded straight to the car. It was after Dave started the car engine that Lizzy spoke again. ‘So what are we doing now?’

‘Take out your tab and check if the location of the car has changed. We’re going after the car. I believe he left the car there only to come have a change of clothes here,’ Dave answered.

‘I believe so too,’ Lizzy said, taking out her device. ‘But do you think he was aware that a tracker was on him?’

‘I’m not really sure about that. I think he should have just removed it if he knew, he didn’t have any need for a complete change of clothes. It’s likely he wanted to disguise with the new set of clothes.’

‘Well…’ Lizzy hummed, releasing a huge mould of breath.

____

‘It took you longer than I expected,’ Tarasha said, watching as the guys moved in the foodstuffs into the house from her wheelchair. She tried to roll herself around leisurely but every roll she tried took more energy but produced less movement for her. Henry who would always come to her aid wasn’t looking at her side. Tomi was standing close to her. All of them were in the front yard which also looked exactly the same like the other facility that had been discovered by Rex and Dave.

‘I think the delay was getting the foodstuffs from the easy shopper’s guys, the lady insisted that she had to intimate me about their new terms and conditions before delivering the goods,’ Cole replied without stopping to talk. He carried a half bag of rice on his shoulder into the house while Henry followed behind him with two cartons.

Tarasha’s eyes met with Tomi eyes after the guys had gone in and the latter quickly looked away. Tarasha let out a chuckle and also looked away. She had nothing to say or to do with the girl, at least not yet, except of course her ongoing treatment. She stared at her legs on the wheelchair footer for a couple of seconds, she was feeling better now. Though she was still weak but the very little strength she had gotten and at the pace she did was something she had thought impossible but then forgetting that Cole had also been an assassin for years and would know medical experts who were experienced in treating assassins and criminals alike. But one thing she knew for a certain was that all the strength quickening drugs she was been administered were reducers of lifespan. Most assassins she knew that had been treated often for cases like hers never lived above the age of fifty five. Five years to that, they always begin by feeling pains and inability to move their bodies and then it progresses to a more complicated medical condition which they have to live with until they died which was always not too long after. But this was Tara’s first time of treating such a condition and she hoped that it would be the last; not for the fear of it reducing her days on earth but for her not to ever face a time that she’ll be bedridden and unable to ki|| people anymore, she preferred to die the easy, which was; having a bullet shot into the middle of her skull or a knife ran through her throat or even a sword sliding through her neck.

She could feel her hands and legs stronger and she was tempted to try to get up to her feet since she was already being able to use her hands. She decided not to complicate issues by trying something dangerous, all she needed to do was wait for a few days and her strength would have fully returned.

Soon, the guys were back to carry the remaining foodstuffs into the house. Both of them picked bags convenient enough for them to carry and both walked back in. Tarasha’s eyes met with Tomi’s again and this time, Tomi fixed her eyes at the entrance where Cole had just walked in.

‘Do you like him?’ Tarasha asked, turning her chair to Tomi.

The question came as a surprise to Tomi. She blinked and quickly looked away from Tarasha’s face. ‘Like him? No, I just have a close business partner relationship with him.’

‘Just a close business partner relationship?’

‘Yes,’ Tomi answered.

‘You’ve forgotten that we caught both of you smooching?’ Tarasha raised her brows.

‘Oh!’ Tomi’s voice was covered by silence. She faced down knowing she had no other argument to make.

‘I’ve not said that you shouldn’t like him or that I was going to penalize you people for smooching but you need to be careful and don’t allow it disturb your job. That could lead to easy and premature death of the both of you.’ Tarasha warned.’ she paused to clear her throat. ‘I’ve warned Cole too,’ she added, having listened and accepted Cole’s explanation earlier that day.

______

‘But he cannot be working here,’ Lizzy said to Dave with a frown on her face. Both of them were at the painting house where Cole had gone to repaint the car.

‘I think he came to repaint his car,’ Dave said as he led the way into the place. ‘Where did you place the tracker?’

‘On the plate number,’ Lizzy replied. ‘I attached it because it had exactly the same colour with the plate.’

‘You placed it in a nice position, it shouldn’t be discovered easily.’

‘Good evening gentleman and lady, we’ve closed already for the day. You can check us tomorrow for any of our services you need,’ a short man with a big face cap on his head said to them.

‘We’re from the SSS,’ Dave displayed his identity card to the man immediately, not wanting to waste time since it was dark already. ‘We need to check something right in here,’ he said and pushed the man gently aside. He noticed the shaken attitude of the man but ignored it.

He proceeded on in the place with Lizzy and entered into the section where vehicles were being painted. They both stopped at the entrance and Dave looked around while Lizzy looked into her device. Dave could see men at different angles washing different tools and some their hands and legs. Two other men approached he and Lizzy to ask them what they wanted but the short man who first questioned them answered his colleagues before Dave could speak.

‘What’s the direction?’ Dave asked Lizzy about the location of the tracker placed on the car which she was monitoring on the device.

‘Right there,’ Lizzy pointed to the wall at the left, where there were no cars.

‘There?’ Dave questioned. He moved closer to her and looked into the device to confirm. ‘It’s really there…’ he agreed in low tones. ‘Let’s check.’

Dave knew at once that the tracker on the car was also discovered and had been removed but he decided to still follow the direction shown to them by the application and retrieve the tracker if possible. Lizzy continued to look around at all the cars parked as they walked to the wall, she wanted to see if tracked car was anywhere around. It wasn’t in sight and heart continued to beat fast as they walked on, she feared that all her troubles the whole day might have been in vain. The three men watching them followed slowly behind them.

They soon got to the wall and realized that the tracker was already in a dustbin, a very dirty one. Dave decided not to bother about retrieving the tracker. He asked Lizzy to put back the device into her bag and they both proceeded out of the place to their car, believing beyond every sense of doubt that the trackers were discovered by Samantha’s man.

It wasn’t until they entered into the car that Dave noticed Lizzy’s gloomy face.

‘Lizzy, what’s the matter?’ he asked, taking off his finger from the start button and turning to her.

‘It was all a waste of time,’ she said in a very sad tone.

‘You did your best Lizzy, you tried.’ Dave said as he faced front and released a breath. ‘Remember we are dealing with Samantha Osman, it won’t be that easy to get her.’

‘But I just made a terrible mistake by allowing her know someone who might not be the police is on her tail. The EasyShoppers office must have called to inform them about what happened, that’s why he changed everything and even came to drop his registration plate on a dustbin here.’

‘I think you did a nice job with the EasyShoppers staffs, they couldn’t have reported their stupidity so easily. Trust me, you did a very nice job, I couldn’t have done better than this. Samantha Osman is a just a very cunning woman,’ Dave said and smiled at her. He took her palms and squeezed it in his.

________

9:23 pm

Cole took off the shoes and threw them around carelessly in the room, then he sank into the bed tiredly and released a deep breath. Tarasha had declared the next day as a day of rest for all of them and he personally really needed it. After taking the foodstuffs into the house with Henry, he had to test the car in Tarasha’s presence for her to see all it’s features and confirm that he bought the right thing. He felt so tired even though the stress of that day wasn’t up to a sixth of what he goes through on some other days but his feeling at that moment was a result of accumulated tiredness and lack of proper rest for some days.

His mind quickly drifted back to the day’s activities and he remembered Patricia, the EasyShoppers worker. His body shivered again as he could feel her effect just at the thought of her. Maybe she was a goddess of some sort, he thought.

He searched his trouser pocket and brought out two sheets; the only two things he had taken out from the cloth he left at the boutique. The first was the EasyShoppers receipt given to him and the other was Patricia’s mobile number which she had scribbled hastily into the paper for him in case he needed to reach her again.

_____

‘Thank you,’ Dakolo said into the phone and ended the call. He turned off the screen and dropped the phone on the table. He typed some more commands on his laptop before shutting it down. Then he stood up from the desk and turned towards his bed with a loud yawn. It had been four hours of trying to confirm Dave’s identity and he had been informed by the manager of the Dessert Reporters that Dave James was one of their per time journalists.

He sank into the bed and turned off the light. As he closed his eyes, he made a silent wish in his heart that Dave would agree to work with him and then they can both bring down Samantha Osman.