Tarasha

particular as he rushed into the hospital

reception, he had a pot belly which clearly

showed it round signs from the neatly ironed

shirt.

He turned to Lovina who was sitting in the

reception sofa with the driver, three uniformed

policemen were seen standing beside them.

"How"s your sister?" The man asked again.

"Loveth is fine" Lovina answered, folding her

arms as she stood up with tears formed in her

eyes. "The doctor said she didn"t lose much

blood because we brought her in early, they just

have to take out the bullet"

"Thank G.o.d!" He exclaimed, rubbing his palms in

the air in appreciation. He turned to the three

policemen that stood beside Lovina, "but how

did it happen? Who was the criminal that tried

to kill my Loveth?"

"We don"t know sir, but our men are after him

and would surely get him" one of the officers

replied.

He turned back to Lovina, "I think you should go

back to school now since Loveth is already on

treatment. I"ll see the doctors"

"Huh?" Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Dad! That

guy tried to shoot me also"she exclaimed.

"The criminal is already being pursued by the

police, he can"t come after you again" he

rea.s.sured. "These officers would also follow you

there"

"Dad, I"m scared" she said as she ran into his

warm embrace. "I don"t think I"m stable enough

to fly the plane anymore"

"Don"t be scared dear, my enemies have failed"

he said, patting her on the back. "I"m sure they

only want to stop you from flying the plane

successfully"

"Would you go with me Dad?" She looked into

his eyes and asked.

"No" he replied, he could read the

disappointment in her eyes. "I have to stay with

your sister"

"Ok" she agreed hesitatingly, " I"ll go"

She picked up her bag and looked at her father

again for rea.s.surance before she walked out of

the hospital, two officers and the driver

followed.

The man sat into the sofa where Lovina where

Lovina got up from, he ignore the gazes of

other waiters in the reception and buried his

face in his palm. He wondered who it could be

that attacked his daughters, he wondered who

wanted them dead. Loveth, Lovina"s twin sister

was a student of the university of Enugu and

had come on a short break to grace the special

event with her sister. The a.s.sailant"s target

was surely Lovina but the great resemblance of

the twins must have confused him and he

decided to shoot both but failed.

+++++++++++

Jude paced the floor, already getting impatient

waiting for Lovina. He was already dressed in

his pilot"s uniform, the flight was to take off in

the next twenty minutes and he was to walk

out with his partner and pa.s.s through the

security protocols before going to settle in the

airplane.

His mind became at rest when he noticed a

figure behind him, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Lovina, why did …" He was saying at he turned

to look at the figure. His sorrow returned when

he turned back to see Gloria dressed in a pilot

uniform.

"Jude" she called and smiled at him.

"What?" He barked at her turning his back to

her, "I"m in a serious dilemma here and you"re

playing games with me"

"I"m here to help you Jude" she said calmly.

"What stupid help?" He growled, he narrowed his

gaze at her and examined her appearance. He

asked with a threatening tone "where did you

find this uniform?"

"I"ve come to help you Jude" she ignored his

question and continued. "Lovina is not here and

I don"t want you to lose this opportunity, I can

represent her"

"You know that"s not possible"

"It is" Gloria insisted

"It"s not, all the students and lecturers present

already know who is supposed to fly with me"

Jude argued.

"But they would not notice, they"ll only be

watching us from far" She put in. "I won"t stay

out of the plane so long for them to see me"

"You can"t even get into the plane" he said

sternly, "Only Lovina"s ID card and mine would

be allowed by the security to enter the plane or

even access the runway

"I have one here" she displayed an ID card to

him.

"What? How did you get that?" He asked, his

look turned into a suspicious one.

"Shhh…" Gloria hushed him, placing a finger on

her lips. "Stop raising your voice, I only want to

help you"

He narrowed his gaze first and then raised his

brow, "I don"t need that kind of help, it could

get me into more trouble"

She moved closer to him, removing an android

device from her pocket. She opened her chat

with Aisha on the instant messenger, revealing

some pictures and videos.

"Here" she pointed something to him on the

screen. He refused to look into it first, but he

saw something familiar that caught his

attention. The picture she was showing him

looked like one taken in his sister"s hostel

room. He moved closer to have a clearer view.

He was greatly shocked by what he saw. His

younger sister, the only sibling he had and the

only surviving member of his family who was a

law student in the port Harcourt university

couldn"t come to the event because she had an

exam that day. He was terrified seeing her tied

to a chair in the room, blindfolded wearing a

bomb jacket.

"Who are you and what do you want with my

sister?" Jude asked shakily.

"I want nothing with you or your sister and I

won"t harm any of you if you cooperate with

me" she spoke, tapping in some commands into

the android device, she switched it off and flung

it into a locker. She returned to face him, "all I

want is to get on the plane with you"

"But that"s not possible" his eyes was full of

pleas.

"Then you have to sacrifice your sister " she

said bluntly. She rolled up her sleeve and

showed him a device placed around her wrist

close to the watch, she placed her hand on the

red b.u.t.ton. "All I need to do is touch this and

your sister would join your parents"

"No no, please" he pleaded with tears forming in

his eyes, he knelt on the floor.

"That won"t work Jude, what I want is to fly

plane with you, I"ve have a message for one of

our pa.s.sengers" she continued without no pity in

her voice. She glanced at her wrist.w.a.tch and

turned her back on him, "we have only eight

minutes to board the plane, your sister or I pilot

the plane with you?"

"Okay" he finally agreed, wiping off his face as

he got up from his kneels. "But you have to

promise me that nothing will happen to her"

"Nothing would happen to her" she said with a

smile.

"Let"s go" Jude said as he matched forward to

the exit.

"Wait!" She ordered, "clean off your face

properly, no one must suspect anything"

"Okay" he used an handkerchief to mop his face

and tried to put on a smile.

"Good" she smiled again. "We"re going straight

into the plane after we pa.s.s the governor"s

security officials, no wasting of time"

She walked back to the second exit which she

entered from and opened the door slightly. She

inserted a metal into the lock and fastened it

like a bolt, she left the site slightly opened and

turned back to join Jude.

Jude led the way out and they proceeded

where the plane was parked. Gloria took care

not to look back at all as she could hear

several voices chanting the names "Lovina" and

"Jude", they thought she was Lovina since she

was wearing a wig of the same hairstyle Lovina

had on. They pa.s.sed the governor"s security

officials easily after they displayed their ID

cards and were searched.

She avoided looking towards John Obiano who

was outside, looking fly in his black shiny suit

complimented with a red tie as he chatted with

the minister and the Rivers state governor,

Kelechi Edwin.

The Aviation minister was also dressed in a

black suit and shirt but he had no tie on. The

only odd one was the Governor, he was adorned

in a native attire and a black hat to match it, he

always loved to represent his culture especially

when he was in a program that was being

televised internationally.

Gloria greeted the dignitaries briefly and walked

into the airplane immediately with Jude to

settle in the c.o.c.kpit. Jude took the Captain"s

position at the left while Gloria took the first

officer"s seat, a drop of sweat rolled down her

head from underneath the wig she wore.

++++++++++

"Hey!" A lady dressed in an air hostess" uniform

carrying a black bag approached Cole in the

midst of several students and guests walking in

and out of the field.

"Hey" Cole replied with laughter in seeing Aisha,

"you looked great in this uniform"

She poked him by the side playfully and joined

in the laughter, "are you done with your job?"

"Yes, I"ve been waiting here for you all day" he

replied.

"Well" she continued and they began to walk

slowly, "my task was a little bit c.u.mbersome"

"What were you asked to do?"

"To handle the pilot"s sister and also exchange

one of the flight attendant"s bag"

"And how did it go?" He asked.

"Fine, how was yours?"

"Good, it was easier than I thought it would be"

he replied, "I only dropped a needle into John

Obiano"s pocket"

"Needle?" She asked, facing him.

"Yea"

"I think there was a pack of needle in my bag

too, but the main thing was a parachute"

He chuckled as they continued walking, "I was

almost wondering how she intended to drop off

the plane before"

"Your task was simple " Aisha teased. "No one

could have failed that"

"Huh?" He gave her a sharp look. "Do you know

how many bodyguards I had to go past?"

She hissed playfully, "stop magnifying it"

"See you" he gave a playful hiss and peeped into

the bag she was carrying. "What do we have

there?"

"Nothing edible, stop sniffing" she pushed his

nose with a finger. "Except you want to eat first

aid materials and other hostesses" kits"

He replied with a prolonged hiss showing his

disappointment

Cole stopped suddenly, he looked shocked as he

stared at someone approaching them. Aisha

paused to see what he was staring at, the same

look appeared on her face.

"Gosh!" Cole whispered. They stared at Lovina

and the two officers approaching hurriedly.