Tarasha

He crossed to the other side of the road and located a Sports betting shop on the second floor of a big building which had several shops and stores in it. He proceeded to the sports betting shop hurriedly but instead of entering, he stood at he balcony, resting his arm on the handrail. There he was able to get a very clear view of the Vice President"s house entrance. He put on his field gla.s.ses and adjusted the size of image formed with the aid of the tiny roller attached to the left hinge.

"h.e.l.lo man, you wanna play?" Someone asked from behind, tapping him softly on the shoulder.

"Yea, I"m waiting for a friend to join me." He replied without looking at the person.

"Okay," he could hear the person respond and walk away.

He kept on monitoring the entrance to the house, he pulled the gla.s.s down to his nose to check his wrist.w.a.tch with his bare eyes. It was just a minute past the stated time for the commencement of the naming ceremony, invitees were still walking in, their cars had been parked at a fenced and secured s.p.a.ce just besides the venue.

People, both male and female, dressed in different ways but mostly in native wears, were allowed to enter into the house after being confirmed at the gate. Most of them were in groups of two; male and female, and they wore almost the same design and color of cloth.

Soon, he saw James go in. He kept on watching as more guests continued to enter until they drastically reduced and finally stopped. He stood straight as he took off his eyegla.s.ses and rubbed his eyes briefly with his palm, he took in a short breath and began to proceed downstairs. He didn"t see any sign that Samantha had entered into the place, neither did he see any suspicious thing but he was very aware that she was capable of entering as usual as every other guest would, without raising any suspicion.

_____

"Here"s Bevo Hotels," the tricyclist announced to Aisha.

She continued taking selfies with her phone"s front camera while the the tricyclist pulled over for her to drop. Waiting hurrying, she took out her mirror to check her face, repeating exactly the same process she followed when she entered the tricycle.

"Here," she said, handing a five hundred naira note to the tricyclist as he and the other pa.s.sengers stared at her impatiently to get out of the vehicle.

"Madam, do you have twenty naira, so I can give you four hundred and fifty naira?" the tricyclist asked.

"The fare is seventy naira?" Aisha asked as she finally stepped out of the tricycle.

"Yes," the cycler replied.

"Just give me four hundred naira and keep the rest," Aisha said. The man gave her four hundred naira and drove off immediately. She turned back to face the hotel and stood still, staring at the sign board for a couple of seconds. She covered her mouth slightly with the back of her palm as she yawned, she looked to the left and right direction to check if she"ll see anyone or the man on green she had seen making a call through the mirror which she pretended to be checking her face with. She used her hand to brush back her hair and proceeded into the hotel.

Cole"s call came in as she stepped into the reception. "Hey boy," she said as she answered.

"What"s up? I just got into Lagos few minutes ago," Cole replied.

"I got to Lagos more than an hour ago and I"m now at Bevo Hotels in Ikeja," Aisha replied.

"Hope no one is trailing you?"

"Someone is, I saw a guy on green speaking to someone on phone and watching the tricycle I boarded move," Aisha replied.

"Is he aware you saw him?"

"No, I didn"t look at him directly, I use the magnifying gla.s.s I got from boss."

"Okay, I believe you know what next to do right?"

"Yes, I do."

"Cool, I"ll come closer to you soon, make sure you raise an alarm whenever you need me."

"Okay, thanks." she said she ended the call.

"Good evening miss," she turned to the receptionist.

"Good evening ma, you"re welcome to Bevo Hotels."

"Thank you, I"ll like to book a room for twenty four hours," Aisha said.

"Okay, what kind of room would you like?" the receptionist asked, turning a card on the desk to Aisha.

"Hmm… This," Aisha replied after going through the list for some seconds. She placed a finger on it as she turned the card back to the receptionist.

"Okay, please wait while I fix one for you."

____

Tarasha located the table where the newly born baby"s parent at the front before settling with some other guests at a table at the far end of the canopy. She took off her sunshades and crossed her legs, fixing her gaze towards the Islamic clerics who moderated the ceremony.

She felt her phone vibrate in her bag and she took it out. She took a quick glance around the place before swiping down the notification bar. She clicked reply and a box popped up.

"Boss, I"m being followed." the message from Aisha displayed.

"Where are you now?" she typed in and sent. She took another glance around as the box still showed "Aisha is typing".

"I"ve settled in the hotel room," the reply came in.

"You know what to do, carry on and keep me updated about any new development." she replied.

"Okay Boss," Aisha"s reply entered and went offline immediately.

___

With the cameras hung around his neck, he walked up the aisle, taking shots of different sections of the place. He would pause at times to occasionally stare at the guests" faces, especially the younger ladies. None was like the face in the picture nor was there any with a semblance to her.

Maybe she didn"t come, he thought to himself. Maybe she had decided to attack Chief Elvis at his office or maybe she wasn"t planning to attack anyone that day. He smiled as he turned to the front of the high table and took two shots of smiling Rikau, he was hundred percent sure Rikau"s smile would have turned to a frown if he knew he was the disguised photographer. He began to walk back again, being more careful and taking less pictures, he was sure that Tarasha could suspect him if he refused to apply care. He finally stood at the back behind all the seated guests and folded his arms with his camera hung around his neck.

________

**Lagos, Nigeria**

"WELCOME TO LAGOS,

By this time, I know you should have arrived safely and I believe it would be nice to be the first to welcome you.

I would like to remind you of some of the things we agreed on, especially the ones you"ve broken already. We agreed that no one, including Tarasha should know about your movement here but I"m aware that you already told her your plans before coming. Well, whether she"s aware or not, it won"t save your parents from our hands; it"s your obedience to the rules we give you that"ll matter.

We also agreed on meeting each other without weapons or plans to attack each other. So make sure that you come with any weapon anytime we"re supposed to meet.

Today by 8pm, meet me at Bolevian Garden unfailingly.

Attached below is another video of your parents. I"m sure you"ll like it."

Aisha read through the email quickly. Her finger hovered around the attached video as she contemplated whether or not to download. She closed her eyes and forced out a breath before closing the window, she refused to download it as she would not want to see a video of her parents being tortured again.

She dropped the phone and continued with the makeup. She was seated at the edge of the bed, facing the mirror. She wore an ap.r.o.n-like material to protect the clothes she was putting on from being stained.

In four minutes time, her face had changed form, she now carried somebody else"s face on hers.

"Cole, are you closer now?" She said into her device as she rose up.

"Yes, I"m in Ikeja now. I"m tracking you to locate the hotel." Cole replied.

"Notify me immediately you pick my location," she replied back.