Tarasha

"We"re getting closer now," Aisha said. She stretched her arm to the back seat and picked up a back. She took out the guns and began to set in the cartridges.

"How many police men are you ready to take out?" Cole asked with a smirk.

Aisha took a quick glance at him and continued to fix her guns, "I"m not scared of some things anymore, a man can only die once."

"So you"re ready to die?" Cole grinned.

"I won"t die now, we"ll take out the policemen successfully." She replied him confidently.

"I see," Cole continued to drive in silence. The sped past an interstate pa.s.senger"s bus and a fuel tanker. Aisha continued to monitor the points on the map. They had gotten accurate information from the Chief Security warder. Tarasha was going to come out from a hole around that place, but there was a police roadblock just beside.

"Stop!" Aisha said suddenly. Coe applied the brakes so quick that the car tyres screeched and raised dust with it. "I think they are around." Aisha said.

Cole collected the device from her to confirm, there was an angry look in his eyes. "Why did you have to say it so suddenly?" Cole asked as he looked into the device.

"Sorry, I was expecting to see the police roadblock before us." She apologized.

"Ermm…Yes, the locator indicates here." He said, confusion written all over his face as he looked up. His face brightened up as his eyes met something. "There"s the roadblock, the officers are not there." A smile appeared on his lips. "I think we met them on our way here, they"ve been called up to Kuje."

He could hear the horns of a vehicle from afar, he quickly handed back the device and reversed the car out of the road, he parked neatly close to the bus. The driver of the approaching vehicle did not go without hurling insults at them for parking wrongly.

____

The exit from the underground was hidden in another well. The ground of the well could be seen shaking until the semicircular part beside the rim below was dragged in. Henry was the first to step out, Tarasha followed after. She closed back the opening and began to proceed up the well using the supports holes, the handbag hanging on her shoulder. Henry followed behind this time.

In few minutes, they were out of the well and in their new environment. Tarasha was already staring around the farm when Henry stepped out.

"Uh oh! " Henry exclaimed as he got out, he couldn"t help but smile at how terrible she looked. The both of them were covered with dirts and almost unrecognizable. She took a glance at him, wondering why he exclaimed but then a smile escaped her lips as she saw his distorted face.

She raised up her wrists to make use of the wrist.w.a.tch and communicate to Cole but it was covered with mud. She cleaned it up but it has spoilt already. She had no option than for them to proceed to wait beside the road in their dirty state, hoping that Cole would find her as quick as possible.

***

"Hey boss," Cole was the first to see them approaching from inside the bush. He had been using a compa.s.s in trying to locate them. Tarasha hastened her steps and was soon out of the forest to the front of the car. She noticed Cole and Aisha"s attempt to conceal a laugh as they saw her. Cole was about asking of Henry when he showed up.

"Welldone boss," Cole hailed as he opened the boot of the car. He could see Henry"s eyes behind his mud covered fac, staring intently at him but he ignored as he opened the door to the backseat for them. Aisha took the bag from the boss and proceeded to keep it in the boot.

"Did you meet the officers at the roadblock?" Tarasha asked Cole.

"No, they"ve all been called away. They are all at Kuje now." Cole answered turning towards the driver"s side.

Tarasha motioned to Henry and they both entered into the back seat of the car. Henry remained unrelaxed and kept staring at Aisha and Cole who were now taking their seats at the front.

"I know those two," Henry exclaimed almost in whispers, now staring at Tarasha.

"Yes, I once sent both of them to kill you," Tarasha replied him without thinking twice. She already knew that was the question on his mind.

Henry gave her an awkward stare for a couple of seconds. "You sent them?"

"Ouch! Seems this is going to be a little bit difficult," she stretched out her right hand to Aisha and made a signal. Aisha handed something small to her, Henry couldn"t see what it was even as his eyes followed her movements closely.

"What"s that?" Henry asked again.

She leaned closer to him and inserted the pin halfway into his arm, he slept off immediately.

Cole smiled to himself on seeing the mess Tarasha and Henry had made to the backseat, he would need to clean the car as soon as they got home. He started the engine with a sigh and pulled his seatbelt.

_____

Henry woke up in a large bed in a wide room, he sat up and stared around, trying to figure out where he was. e got up and proceeded to the window, he opened the curtains and stared outside, it was still dark. It must be midnight or early morning, he thought to himself. He proceeded to the door and tried to open it but it was locked from outside. He returned to the bed quietly, still trying to figure out to remember who he was and what he was doing in the room.

Few seconds later, the door opened and a lady entered carrying a tray of food, Henry"s stomach made a rumbling sound at the sight of the tray. She proceeded closer to the bed and he caught good view of her face. That was when he remembered everything; the news of Jefa"s death, his escape from prison and the deaths that had to take place. He lost his appet.i.te immediately.

She placed the tray on her stool and opened the plate, it was meal of fried rice and chicken. A bottle of water and a gla.s.s cup was placed beside the plate in the tray.

"I"m sure you must be very hungry now," Aisha spoke after moving the stool to his front. "The boss asked me to serve you this."

"I"m not hungry," Henry said stubbornly even though the aroma of the meal had returned his appet.i.te to him and all the organisms in his belly were already dancing and rejoicing about the meal. "Where is your boss? I want to see her." He asked.

"She would come to see you when she comes back," Aisha said to him.

"Then keep the food till she comes back," Henry said, adding a frown. He saw Aisha bent forward a little and was scared that she really wanted to take the food back but she only helped him adjust the cover of the bottled water properly. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"I will advice that you eat sir, the substance used to induce sleep to you is a very strong one, you must be very weak." Aisha said.

Henry wanted to refuse loudly again but he quickly advised himself against it, he really felt weak as she suggested and he felt that he could faint if he decided to argue further.

"And you should rest more," Aisha added after seeing that he was finally considering eating the food.

Henry gave her an awkward stare, he felt she had just spoken to him like a kid.

"Wait! Who took off my clothes?" Henry asked, suddenly remembering how dirty he was before. Henry also remembered hearing her mention about sleep being induced. "How did you make me sleep and who exactly did?"

Aisha sighed before answering, "The boss did, she washed you up."

"The boss?" Henry squinted as he mumbled the words to himself. He began to wonder how Omotara must have taken off his clothes and wash him up, how had she cleaned the vital parts of his body. He get embarra.s.sed at the thought alone.

Aisha, sensing that he was going to come up with more questions decided to escape quickly. "I"ll be leaving you to eat now, the boss gave me other a.s.signments to do." She said and turned to leave.

Henry watched her back as she walked out and closed the door. HD remembered her face clearly as Cole"s partner that was left in the car when Cole pursued him into the bush to kill him.

As he took his first spoon of the meal, he began to wonder what kind of life he would live now that he had been taking away from prison. He was sure it would be all over the news and his pictures would be everywhere with the police promising a huge sum of money to anyone who would provide information about him.

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