Tarasha

"Rex, I"ve tried all that you taught us, we can"t seem to track their location." Don said into the phone. He was seating at the pa.s.senger"s side of a car with Stainless at the driver"s side, Stainless had his hands on the wheel and the car"s engine was on but it wasn"t in motion. They were in front of a three storey building house, the colour of the painted walls shone in the night with the aid of the bright lights hung around it and the bright lightening of the environment.

"Are you sure you did it the way I asked you to?" Rex replied from the other end.

"Yes, I did it exactly the same way you did." Don answered.

"Then it means they"ve got it encrypted just like us," Rex said.

"And I also think Tarasha has been informed."

"You think?"

"Yes, the girl whose parents we have tried to question us." Don replied.

"Okay then, keep me updated." Rex concluded the call.

"Alright boss," Don replied and took the phone off his ear. He locked the screen and kept it into his pocket, after which he released his seatbelt immediately and opened the door at his side. Stainless turned off the engine and also released his seatbelt, he opened the door but only placed a foot on the ground outside when his phone which was inside the car began to ring.

He turned and picked the phone, "Stone," he muttered under his breath before answering the call. "Bad man, whatta guan?" Stainless said.

"Man, when are you guys coming to the hotel?"

"We"ll hit you this night man, or are you scared of Lagos already?" Stainless replied as he stepped out of the car and jammed the door.

"Hahaha," Stone burst into laughter from the other end. "I"m not a Jew man, why should I be scared of anything talk less of Lagos?"

"Then relax man, we"ll meet you tonight." Stainless said, staring at Don who had turned to his side and was staring at him.

"What about Don? He"s number has been busy," Stone asked.

"He"s here with me, he was discussing with our boss."

"Okay then, I"ll just wait for you guys."

"You have no choice man," Stainless replied tauntingly before ending the call.

"What"s he saying?" Don asked as he led the way into the building.

"He"s asking where we are," Stainless replied.

Both of them walked to the left side of the house and opened a door which led to a staircase. The staircase was extremely dark. Don took out his phone and decided to make a phone call before stepping in.

"Ojo, we"re coming up now. Open the door," he said in a commanding tone and ended the call. He then switched on his phone"s torchlight and entered into the place, Stainless entered behind him and locked the door. Then they began to climb up the stairs using the torchlight as source of light.

Soon they got to the second floor and entered in large, almost empty but well lit room. The floor was barely screeded and very dusty, the walls were also not plastered. The interior of the building was a complete opposite of the exterior.

A younger man walked out from one of the inner rooms, proceeding towards Don and Stainless. He was dressed in all green.

"Boss," he said, staring at Don"s face, a evil smile formed on his face.

"Ojo," Don called back.

Ojo was the guy who addressed the six other young men earlier that day, telling them of how Don was going to pay them handsomely for a job.

"Where are the old cargos?" Don asked as they stopped at each other"s front.

Ojo greeted Stainless with a nod. "They"re in," he said, tightening the rest of his fingers while pointing the thumb finger backwards, towards the place he had come out from.

"Okay, I hope you"re feeding them well. You"re aware they need to feed well to regain strength after all the torture they pa.s.sed through," Don said.

"Yes, they"re feeding very well. I"m even hoping we"ve not been overfeeding them," Ojo replied.

A smile appeared on Don"s face and vanished almost immediately, "Are your boys ready now?"

"Yes, they are all prepared."

"Did you get up to thirty of them?"

"Yes, even more than. We have thirty five," Ojo replied, twitching his lips as a crooked smile appeared on his face.

"You really have thirty five?" Don asked, widening his eyes. He took a quick glance at Stainless"s face and returned his gaze back to Ojo.

"Yes, I have thirty five." Ojo replied back, full of confidence.

"Now, that"s nice. But I think we should just work with thirty first, we have some of my guys at the Nanl Territory already." Don said.

"Okay, there"s no problem. I even have an a.s.signment for the remaining five boys," Ojo said.

"All good," Don took in a breath of confidence. "We"ll move the couples to the Nanl Territory very early tomorrow morning. Five of your boys would accompany them with you but then…" Don took a brief pause. "Stainless needs to talk to the remaining twenty five."

"Of course, there"s no problem with that. They"re inside and I can call them out for you anytime you want."

**Inspector Dakolo"s Residence, Asokoro, Abuja**

Dakolo and James were seated in the living room, both in a solemn manner. James had a pack of untouched juice and a gla.s.s cup on a stool in front of him.

"I think my Dad"s hiding something but I"m not certain what that thing could be. My best guess is that Samantha Osman is not just an hired a.s.sa.s.sin, she"s killing for a cause." James was saying to Dakolo.

"You"re right, I already began to make some discoveries in that direction. I"ve been able to link together all Samantha Osman"s major victims except one, the late River"s State Governor who was the second victim to be killed. The first, Chief Nnamdi Okafor, the third Chief Jubril Lawal and your Dad have so much in common. In fact they were all good friends. The fact is that they"ve not been seen moving together recently, but in their younger days, they were always together. I believe there must be something they did together several years ago. There must something wicked your father did."

James shot a quick angry look at Dakolo at the sound of his words but Dakolo wasn"t looking at him. James wasn"t comfortable with the way the man addressed his father. Even though he nurtured the same thoughts, he still believed he had to protect his father by keeping somethings to himself.

"Sorry about how plain I sound this night," Dakolo apologized, now staring at James. He knew that James must have been offended by his words.

He stared at the wall behind Dakolo thoughtfully. Thoughts of Kimberly Alexandra drifted back into his mind. He closed his eyes briefly as he remembered his meeting with the NSCC chairman concerning her.

**Flashback**

"Sir… I need to get some details about Kimberly E. Alex."

Mr Sylvester stared blankly at him for almost thirty seconds without replying, he couldn"t tell what was going through Mr Sylvester"s mind but he knew the man was surprised by the question.

"Miss Kimberly E. Alex worked here for barely one month and she doesn"t work here anymore," Mr Sylvester finally replied.

"I am aware she doesn"t work here anymore, I would have gone directly to her. So I"m asking you now so you can provide information about her." James replied.

"Ermm… I barely know much about her too," Mr Sylvester said as he began to work on his computer. "Let me see what I can help you with."

Four minutes later, Mr Sylvester turned the laptop to James. James looked into it for up to five minutes.

"And why did she have to leave the way she did?"

"The reasons are written there," the chairman replied.

"But do you believe the reason she gave?" James asked, staring at him eyeball to eyeball.

"Of course I believe, her mother has been always sick before then and her father was down with stroke."

James took another one minute to read the doc.u.ment on the laptop again. "I want to see her pictures," James said.

"Pictures?"

"Yes sure," James answered with a nod.

Mr Sylvester turned back the laptop to himself and began a search for Kimberly"s scanned pa.s.sport.

"Ermm… I can"t find her pa.s.sport here but it would be in our master system," Mr Sylvester said after ten minutes of fruitless search.

"Okay please, how do I get it? I also need to print this doc.u.ment which has in it her house address and her guarantor."

"Oh! I"ll get someone to do that for you," Mr Sylvester said. He picked the phone from the table and dialed a number. "I"m sending you a doc.u.ment to print right away," he said briefly and cut the call after the secretary"s reply. He dialed another number, "Do meet me at the control room right away." he said.

After two minutes of more work on the laptop, he closed it and rose up from his seat.

"Would you like to come with me to the control room?" he asked James as he stepped out from behind the table.

"No, I"ll just take my leave. I want to get somewhere else," James said and also rose up. "I"ll be here tomorrow morning, I"ll appreciate if the hard copy report is available before I arrive."

"Okay Agent, I"ll ensure that happens." Mr Sylvester replied and led the way to the door. He opened the door and ushered James out first.

Someone almost collided into James as he stepped out, it was a young man, he had a laptop in his hands and wasn"t looking forward while walking.

"I"m sorry sir," the young man apologized with a smile.

"It"s okay," James returned the smile.

"What"s happening here?" Mr Sylvester asked as he stepped out, trying to lock the door. "Oh you!" he exclaimed as he saw the face of the young man.

"Yes sir, I was going to the control room already. I wasn"t concentrating and almost collided with your guest."

"Oh! Sorry about that," Mr Sylvester apologized with a sincere look.

"It"s nothing," James said.

"You should be careful next time," Sylvester cautioned him.

"Yes sir, I will be." the young man replied, bowing his head.

"Okay, I"ll join you in the control room soon." Mr Sylvester said and gave way for the young man to pa.s.s.

"Okay sir," he said and hurried off.

James and Sylvester watched him walk away before they began they continued in the opposite direction.

**PRESENT**

"Agent James, what are you thinking about?" Dakolo cut through his thoughts.

"Ermm… Nothing sir," James replied. He felt like telling Dakolo about Kimberly but he decided not to talk yet, he wanted to make more investigations by himself and make sure he wasn"t going to put his Dad into trouble. "I think I"ve got to leave now," he added and picked up his car keys.

"Why James? You didn"t even take the drink I served you," Dakolo said staring at him with a surprise look on his face.

"I"m sorry sir, but that"ll be next time." James replied with a smile and rose to his feet.

"Okay then," Dakolo rose up to see him off.

Soon, James drove out of Dakolo"s compound in his car. Several thoughts filled his mind as he drove down. He put on the music player in the car to help him relax his mind. He saw his phone ringing as he was about to change the song playing. He took a quick glance at the phone"s screen, a smile appeared on his face as he saw the caller"s ID. He reduced the music player volume and quickly searched for a place to pull over. He answered the call after carefully parking.

"h.e.l.lo dear!"

______

"Here"s the picture of the girl, your devices would be connected always, make sure you raise an alarm and notify us her location immediately you see her." Stainless stood before a group of over twenty guys, giving them instructions. "Does anyone have a question?" he asked, planning to dismiss them already.

"Ermm… Yes," someone raised a hand from behind.

"What"s your question?" Stainless asked, a frown formed on his face.

"It"s not really a question but suggestion," the guy replied.

"Okay, go on." Stainless said and folded his arms.

"Ermm… I was just thinking that we could also make use of technology. Instead of just standing at the bus points and the airport. We have some computer scientists amongst us who has previously gone through his Industrial attachment at the NSCC and still has access to the place, I"m thinking he could help us track the girl using the cameras."

"Okay, does anyone else have anything to say, or ask?" Stainless asked, using his eyes to search for anyone else with a raised hand. He continued after he saw that no one was, "That would have been the best option, I can even do that myself but the girl you"re about to track is who you all know; Aisha Bello, a member of Samantha Osman"s gang, Samantha could disable the cameras to hide her movements. So we already have plans for that but we need to focus on this other plan too. You get me?"

"Yes," the questioner nodded in response.

_____

"Her noise has been too much recently, I want us to silence her already." Ojo was speaking to five boys sitting before him. "I want us to capture her first and then bl**p the h.e.l.l out of her before killing her," he said and paused to stare at his men"s faces. They all had a contented look on their faces, which meant they were okay with his idea and had no questions.