Tarasha

Cole smiled as he listened to news via his phone"s radio, they had just provided him an answer to the question bubbling in his heart since the past two days; that is , how Tarasha had gotten a truck filled with different kind of weapons and arms.

He was seated at the pa.s.senger"s side of the truck which had a seat for two, the driver"s side was empty. Aisha was outside by the right side of truck, she was walking from behind the truck forward. She had her a tiny earpiece in her ears and she was busy with the phone in her hands as she opened the door to the pa.s.senger"s side and slid in beside Cole.

Cole sat properly to accommodate her, she sat comfortably and rested her arm on the window. Cole continued browsing on his phone while the radio played on loudspeakers.

"We"ve gotten the first and second signal already, do you remember what the third signal means?" Cole asked some minutes after she entered. He turned to her and nudged her by the side when he didn"t get a response after few seconds.

"Yes?" she answered, taking a brief glance at him and taking off the earpiece before she returned her focus to the phone again.

"I"m asking if you remember what the third signal would mean when we get it," Cole repeated but there was still no response, Aisha had her full focus on her phone"s screen.

"What did you say?" she asked again.

"What are you doing?" he ignored her question and fixed his eyes on her phone"s screen to see what was distracting her.

"I"m just scrolling through some pictures," Aisha answered, even though Cole had already seen the opened photo files from her phone"s gallery, she was staring at a family picture.

"Then why is it having so much of your attention?" Cole asked.

Aisha sighed, "It"s my family, I haven"t seen them for a long time." she replied, handing him the phone to take a look at the pictures. Cole took the phone and took some seconds to look at the old picture which had a family of five covered.

"Which of the girls are you?" Cole asked, bending sidewards to her.

"Here," Aisha pointed at the smallest girl in the picture. Cole grinding and sat back straight, still staring at the pictures.

"So where are your siblings now?" Cole asked.

"I don"t know where my elder brother is, but my sister is married with kids and with her husband in Ibadan."

"What about your parents?"

"Of course you know they"re in Lagos," she replied and took in a deep breath. "I wish to see my mum again but I don"t know if she"ll even accept me as her child."

"Hmm…" Cole dropped the phone on his laps and drew in a deep breath. He rested his head backwards and stared blankly to the roof of the vehicle, biting his lips. "I don"t think my family even knows I"m still alive, they should have long forgotten about me."

Aisha took a glance at his face, tears were gathering in his eyes already, she had never seen him like that. She wanted to comfort him by saying that his family couldn"t have forgotten him but she knew it would be a futile effort, there was no need denying an obvious truth. She leaned towards him and placed her head on his chest. Cole responded by holding one of her hands and placing the other on her forehead, he rubbed it gently.

____

Two officers immediately began to journey towards them slowly, c.o.c.king their guns at the same time. The other officers closed up and formed a wall at the entrance, holding their guns at alert.

"I don"t want to go to court, please just leave," Henry resorted to acting quickly as he realized his mistake.

"But you just have to," the barrister replied in the same loud voice.

"No please, there"s no need to, it"s a lost battle already."

"Please keep your voice low sir, you"re disturbing the officers already." she said aloud, motioning him to calm down as she made her eyes meet with the officers who had come close to them. They had a look of disappointment on their faces, meaning that they had believed Henry"s acting as real. A glance towards the exit also revealed to Tarasha Dakolo who was peeping from outside, their eyes met, he had been hiding somewhere close.

Their was a look of dissapointment in Dakolo"s eyes as he noticed that they were not at the table where he left them. He quickly returned to his hiding place as his eyes met with the lawyer"s.

Henry and the lawyer both maintained a reflective silence until the two officers who were approaching them returned to their previous positions after strolling around them.

"Omotara, I don"t believe your story," Henry said, returning back to his low voice. His eyes showed the fear he had in his heart. "You"re only saying this to manipulate me. "

"There"s no time for arguing, I need you out of here. So that I can focus on getting other things."

"Please Tara, you don"t need me out of here. Just tell me what you said about your brother is a lie."

"Unfortunately, it"s true." She replied.

"I don"t believe you, you don"t look like you just lost your brother."

"He was killed yesterday, I met him dead at the house when I left here." She said, slowly mentioning her words slowly.

"No, it can"t be true." Tears ran down Henry"s face and he began to sob.

"You"ll have enough time to cry when we get out, let"s go now." She said.

"Please, I don"t want to get out of here by killing more people." Henry said almost inaudibly, tears still streaming down his face.

"We have no option," she said, holding his palms in hers.

"Have you reported his death to the police?" Henry asked, wiping off the tears on his face hurriedly. "I could talk to Inspector Dakolo, he"ll be willing to help us."

"No, the police does not need to help us," Tarasha said, her tone change, she felt angry at Henry"s mention of the police.

"They can help us," Henry tried to hold her hands again.

She pushed away his hands and put hers below the table, "The killers were led by the leader of the police force, the police themselves are helpless here."

"I don"t understand," Henry looked more confused.

"The Inspector General led the group of people who killed my brother," she said in plain terms.

Henry was taken aback by her statement, the tears from his eyes seized and his eyes widened in shock.

"Let"s get out of here now, we"ll have time to talk later." she stopped him as he wanted to speak.

"But how are you going to get me out of here?" he asked, considering all the police officers watching them.

"Just follow my instructions and don"t try to stop whatever I do," she replied him.

"Okay, what should I do?" Henry asked, not yet enthusiastic about escaping. He watched as she glanced around the place, "Hope no one would have to die in this process," he quickly added.

"They don"t necessarily have to, they only need to cooperate well," she replied. There was a brief silence, Henry seemed to pause and consider the options.

"Okay, take off the handcuff now," he said stretching his hands on the table. Tarasha ignored him at first, she took a glance at her wrist.w.a.tch and turned the head a little. She closed her eyes briefly as she tried to recall the secret exits which the Chief warder they abducted had been coerced to tell them about. He told them of about three points and she had to calculate the best point to follow based on their position they were in the facility. Luckily for her, the job was easier because they were far from the main buildings for prisoners, the secret escape there was more complex.

*

Dakolo sat outside the visiting hall patiently waiting for the lawyer to round up her meeting with Henry. His plan to record their conversation had gone wrong already, he had secretly fixed a recorder under the table where he left the lawyer sitting with Henry but to his disappointment, he saw that they had moved to another table when he peeped in the other time.

His phone began to vibrate in his pocket, he took it out and stared at the screen. His eyes wudened in surprise as he saw the caller"s ID, it was the missing Chief securit warder.

"h.e.l.lo," he said with a stern voice as he rose up from his seat, he was expecting to hear the abductor"s voice. He began to walk fast out of the yard as he listened. He heard nothing except the sounds of a noisy moving vehicle until the call was cut. He dialed the number again as he entered into an open office, it began to ring but was not answered.

"Somebody just called me with the Chief warder"s number," he announced to the occupants of the large open office. He caught their attention and two male officers sitting behind their desks with computers sprang up to the feet immediately. "Is it still ringing?" One of them asked.

"Yes, I think they made a wrong dial." Dakolo said, handing over his phone to one of the officers. The officer sat back behind the computer to track the location the call came from.

____

Henry"s hand remained on the table, waiting for Tarasha. He began to wonder why she wasn"t taking off the handcuff anymore, since she was the one who had been rushing him.

"We can"t do it like that anymore, these guys are extra alert than they were before. If you"re observant eough, you don"t need to look towards them before knowing that their eyes were fixed on your hands immediately you placed them on the table." She explained and took a brief pause. "Now, when I drop the key on the table, you pick it up and hide under this table, then take off the handcuff yourself while I take the guys out," she finally said to him.

A protesting look appeared on his face and he withdrew his hands from the table "They don"t have to die except they prove too stubborn, we don"t have any choice now." Tarasha added, he placed his hands back on the table.

She rested her back in the chair and stretched, then she leaned forward to the table again. She continued speaking in low tones to erase suspiciin. She could feel the prying eyes of the officers on them, the two who had come closer earlier, began to approach them again. She folded her arms and carefully detached the key, then she rested back again. The officers had come very close, only about two hundred centimetres from them, behind other tables, they were staring at their table with suspicion in their eyes.

Tarasha took a look at the officers, "Please may I have your attention," she said with a hand gesture to one of the officers, she placed her other hand on the table and in the process dropped the key but still using her palms to cover it. The officer she called hurried forward, it was his chance to move closer to them without making them alert.

"Yes, how may I help?" the officer asked, now standing close by the middle of the table.

She looked up at his face and then took a quick glance at her wrist.w.a.tch without saying anything.

"You called me…" the officer tried to say but wasn"t allowed to land.

"Go Henry," Tarasha said as she thrusted her attached finger nails into the side of the officer"s belly and rose up. Henry quickly picked the key slid under the table. The officer screamed in horror as his body felt weak immediately.

Some bullets followed from different directions of the hall but the attacked officer"s body was the recipient, Tarasha used his body to shield hers. She took out the pistols from his body and threw a backflip, c.o.c.king the guns as she did.