"How far Debo?" Chief Jubril asked as his personala.s.sistant stepped into the office.
"Fine sir. The call was from Canada but we"ve not
been able to verify the user"s details"
"When would that be done?"
"We should get the report by next tomorrow"
Debo answered.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, very sure sir"
"Good…" The man paused and focused on his
laptop for a minute before he returned his gaze
back to Debo. "Do you know what is happening
next tomorrow?"
"Yes sir." Debo smiled sheepishly.
Jubril Lawal smiled back. "I want you to organize
a banquet for me. The venue would be my villa.
Send invitations to every friend on my contact
list"
"Okay sir"
"Invite Evelyn Alex also." The man paused and
cleared his throat. "I"ll like her to meet with some
of our other business partners that would be
involved in our partnership. Make sure you also
mobilize for proper security"
"Okay sir." Debo bowed and proceeded out of the
office, trying to come up with ideas on how to
organize for the birthday celebration Tarasha eyes began to search around for Henry
in the reception as she came out of the elevator.
She took out her phone from the jacket and
dialed his number.
"Where are you?" She spoke into the phone.
"Outside the gate" a gruff voice which was not
Henry"s answered, Tarasha noticed.
"Okay, I"m coming" she replied and ended the
call. She dropped the phone back into the
jacket"s pocket and proceeded out of the
building.
She spotted Henry"s blue Honda car parked
behind a police sonata as soon as she stepped
out of the gate. She noticed that three
uniformed police officers were at their car with a
non uniformed person. The officer at the front
seat beside the driver"s came out looking at her
direction. She took out her phone and placed
another call to Henry as she proceeded slowly
towards his car.
"Hey Madam" the police officer accosted her.
"h.e.l.lo, what can I do for you?" Tarasha ended the
call she was trying to make and turned to attend
to the officer.
"Are you Miss Evelyn Alex?" The officer asked.
"Yes, I…" Tarasha was cut short by what she saw.
The "non uniformed officer" which appeared to
be Henry was motioned out of the car by
another officer which was huge in size.
"Do you know that man?" The officer continued,
looking towards Henry.
Tarasha paused for a while before answering.
"Yes" She stared at Henry as the huge officer
motioned him towards their direction.
"You were with him yesterday?" He asked again.
"Yes" Tarasha answered.
"Your attention is needed in our office" he said.
"For what?" She inquired.
"Just to answer some few questions" the officer
replied with a brief smile.
Tarasha stared at Henry"s face for an explanation
but he just stared back until she spoke. "What"s
all these Henry?"
"I"m sorry, I don"t understand too" Henry replied.
"I asked them to leave you out of this but they
said that we must go together. I believe that
Dare must have told huge lies about us to the
police"
"May we leave now?" The huge officer
interrupted, eyeing Tarasha wickedly.
"Can I have my phone to make a call now?" Henry
demanded, stretching out his hand to the slim
officer.
"Of course, it"s in the car. Let"s proceed first,
then you can make your calls on the way" the
officer made way to return to the car.
"You go with her in the Honda" the huge officer,
Afo , said in a commanding tone.
"Okay" the other officer obliged and led Tarasha
who followed silently to the Honda.
The officer in the driver"s seat of the Honda
already started the car engine before they
entered into it. They drove away from the hotel
fence in few seconds.
Tarasha kept a searching gaze on the officer
accompanying her. He stared back
intimidatingly into her eyes when hers met with
his. "Is this how you pick up people in this
country?" She asked a question which made the
officer look stunned. "I wouldn"t have followed
you if I didn"t see Henry with you"
"You have no choice madam." He gave a wicked
smile as he answered. "You don"t defy police
orders here"
"I have a right to know why I"m going with you"
she snapped at him.
"I"m only inviting you for interrogation" he
snapped back. "Madam business from Canada,
don"t provoke me"
Tarasha looked away from him and carefully
examined his words. He just qualified her as
"Madam Business from Canada". Whatever he
meant by the phrase, it revealed that he had
found out from somewhere that she was from
Canada and was doing a business. She glanced
at him again with suspicion in her eyes. She
began to search around his uniform again,
searching for something to confirm her
suspicion.
Henry had also become suspicious too when he
asked from his phone from the huge officer and
he replied him coldly. "It"s with my colleague in
the other car, you"ll get it when we get to the
station, we can"t pause our journey just because
of you"
At this time they had driven for about fifteen
minutes.
"Officer" Tarasha called softly. She placed a hand
on his chest seductively covering the pocket on
the shirt.
"Yes…" He answered, his body shivered as her
fingers proceeded behind the b.u.t.tons.
"What"s your name?" She asked.
"Erm…" He stammered and looked towards his
chest to check the name inscribed on the tip of
the pocket. He flung her hand away from him
suddenly as he figured out what she was doing.
"What that flip" he cursed and brought out a
gun, pointing it at her immediately.
"I know you"re fake, you don"t own the uniform"
Tarasha said bluntly and sat back properly,
ignoring the gun pointed at her. "Who sent you?"
"Shut the h.e.l.l up" he shouted at her, still
threatening with the gun. He searched his pants
pocket with the left hand and brought out his
phone.
"h.e.l.lo, this girl don burst me o" he informed his
colleague that he has been busted by the girl in
pidgin English.
"No problem, just keep her there. We would be at
the workshop in the next two minutes" the huge
man answered through his phone in the police
car. He brought out his gun also and pointed it
at Henry.
"Boy, it"s better you cooperate with us without
making noise or I"ll burst your brains" He said in a
harsh manner, terrifying Henry.
"Who sent you?" Tarasha asked the slim officer
again as they drove into a large compound. He
replied her with a wicked look.
"But this is not a police station" Henry protested
as he looked around the bushy compound.
"Shut up and get out of the car" Afo ordered and
pushed Henry out angrily.
Tarasha was also escorted out of the car with a
gun by the other guy. The drivers of the cars
came out of the car two with their guns, making
it four armed men against Henry and Tarasha.
"Get into the house" Afo commanded, motioning
them with his gun. Henry and Tarasha began to
walk slowly into the brick walled building
covered with corrugated iron sheets at the front
section. The door was opened by one of the
drivers and they were led into the poorly lit
room, the windows were not opened and it made
it hot. Three other guys appeared from another
section of the building and hailed their Boss Afo.
"Kneel down there" Afo commanded the two,
pointing his gun at them as he lit a cigarette
with his other hand. "Raise up your hands" Afo
added after they obeyed his first instruction. He
brought out his phone and dialed a number.
Tarasha carefully dipped her right hand into her
jacket"s pocket and made sure n.o.body noticed
as she took out an item and attached it into her
sleeve before slowly raising up her hands.
He puffed out some quant.i.ty of smoke before
placing the phone on his ear. "h.e.l.lo… We"ve got
them here" he said through the phone to his call
receiver, staring deeply into Tarasha and Henry"s
faces. "My boy told me that you called and said
you wanted to see them before we finish them
off"
Afo inhaled another quant.i.ty of smoke before he
continued. "That means your money has
increased, you"ll add twenty percent… Ok, we"re
expecting you by evening time"
"Who sent you to kidnap us?" Tarasha asked in a
calm voice.
Afo chuckled mockingly and hissed as he stared
at her face. He turned to Kalu, the guy who was
with Tarasha in the Honda car. "Where are those
chairs?" He asked searching round the room. "Get
the chairs and tie them up" Afo ordered and
walked out of the building hurriedly.
++++++++++
"Good" Dare stamped his feet on the floor in joy
as he ended the call. He rejoiced with himself in
his office. He would finally put to rest his past
which just resurfaced and was trying to haunt
him. The only painful part of it was that Evelyn
had to go with it.
He remembered the look on Henry"s face when
they met again after several years. Henry"s gaze
had sent shivers down his spine. What his guilt
made him see was thirst for revenge in Henry"s
eyes. Then he decided that there was a need to
totally wipe out the past of which Henry is a part
of.
His phone beeped. He quickly picked it up and
checked the screen. He smiled. It was a
reminder for his Dad"s sixtieth birthday which
was coming up in two days time. He began to
think of what gift was best to present to his
father.
What could his money buy that his father
couldn"t get? His father was a hundred times
richer than he was. The only gift he knew his
father would be impressed by was a profitable
business idea. "D--n!" He sighed. His father was
so business and money minded that it was
possible for him not to remember his birthday on
the day. He was sure there was going to be no
party, his father barely attends social functions
nowadays for the fun of it. He only did it if he
was going to meet his business partners there.
Or should he organize a surprise birthday bash
for his dad? He thought.
No, the man would not appreciate that. Instead
of getting pleased with the action, his father
would probably be disappointed.
Dare shook his head thoughtfully and dropped
his phone on the table. Then he returned his
focus back to the files on his table.