Tarasha

"Have you made up your mind now?" she asked immediately the call was answered.

"Let"s meet, when and where do you want it to be?" the Vice President replied in a decided tone.

Tarasha paused to think carefully, the man was sounding so confident and his tone suggested to her that the man had something or someone he had confidence in and was depending on. "Let"s make it today," she said but still considering the if there were other options available. She was only aware of the police and the NIS guarding him, so she believed the Vice President must be depending on one of the agents.

"Where?" the Vice President"s voice from the phone snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Ermm…" Tarasha seemed undecided for a moment. "I"m on my way to your office already and I"ll be there at exactly 8pm," she said, taking a quick look at her wrist.w.a.tch.

"I"ll be waiting for you," the Vice President replied confidently.

_____

He quickly scrolled down his dialed numbers list to check for the Inspector General"s number. He found it and dialed immediately, it rang for some few seconds and ended without being answered. He dialed again, this time it was answered after the second ring but all he could hear was noise and loud music playing at the background. The Inspector General was saying something he couldn"t make out, then the call ended again. After some few seconds of waiting, the Inspector General called back.

"Your Excellency sir, good evening." The Inspector General"s voice sounded cool and somewhat relaxed, the background was silent now.

"Good evening Rikau, I can see you"re digging it at the party."

The Inspector General chuckled in reply, "I was actually expecting you sir."

"Yeah, sorry I couldn"t make it." Chief Elvis replied cheerfully. There was a brief pause which made him remember that he was almost forgetting the reason for his call. "Inspector Rikau, there"s a bit of trouble now." he said.

"Huh?" Chief Rikau"s tone changed to a serious one.

"Yea, Samantha Osman called me and we have a meeting by 8pm tonight."

"What?"

"Yea, but just listen to me." he paused and cleared throat. "I want you to leave the NIS in charge, what you need to do is excuse yourself from the party right now and meet with Rex at the roundabout before Metro street."

"But sir, I"m still going to be called by the NIS…"

"Don"t argue! Don"t answer any call except mine, let your a.s.sistant handle anything you need to," Chief Elvis interrupted. "Just follow what I tell you or you may have to pay with your life." He paused. There was a silence of few seconds. "Excuse yourself from the party now and meet with Rex at the roundabout that leads to Metro street." Chief Elvis repeated.

_____

10 minutes later

Tarasha could see the several vehicles of the NIS driving down the road, she knew their destination and was a bit relieved that her plans were now working well. She checked her wrist.w.a.tch, it was 6:59pm. In thirty minutes time, she was sure the officers would have perfectly arranged themselves into strategic hiding places to trap her when she enters into the Vice President"s firm to see him in his office. But that was never going to happen, she had other plans.

She started the car engine and put on her dark eyegla.s.ses, then she reversed the car out of the parking s.p.a.ce into the road.

She took out her Android device and placed it on her laps, at the same time looking into the side mirror for cars coming from the back. Then she picked out the smaller phone and opened the contact list, she scrolled until she found Chief Rikau"s phone number. She took another look at the side mirror then she took the opportunity to make a perfect turn into the road and zoomed off.

_____

**Ikeja, Lagos**

7pm

"Coming out already," she said into the phone. Searching around the roof of the elevator with her eyes. She was dressed in a short blue party gown and had a black handbag in her left hand.

"Okay, I"ve got my eyes on three people outside already. I don"t know if they are the ones," the call receiver replied.

"What position were the guys?" she asked.

"At the left hand side of the gate," he answered.

"I"ll check them when I get outside, fix your gaze at the gate and expect me in two to three minutes."

"Okay."

She ended the call and returned the phone into her pocket. Soon, the elevator got to the last floor and stopped. The door opened automatically and she stepped out. She took quick glances at the guests at the mini bar and the reception as she walked out of the building.

In two minutes like she had speculated, she stepped out from the gate of the hotel, she looked right and left before proceeding to stand by the side of the road to wait for a taxi. Instead of stopping the pa.s.sing taxis, she took some more time to look left and right but she couldn"t still find Cole or the three guys Cole talked about. She was tempted to call him on phone but she advised herself against it, it could raise suspicions if there were really three guys waiting for her. She knew they couldn"t recognize her facially as she was perfectly disguised but she was also aware that it was possible that they were expecting her to be disguised and may get suspicious of her if she stared around any longer. She finally stopped a cab, she whispered the destination to the cab driver and he signaled for her to hop in. She opened the door to the backseat and sat in, looking around once more and hoping Cole had seen her when she walked out of the gate.

_____

Cole kept on watching them closely from where he sat beside the hotel fence, putting on a street watchman uniform. He had an unopened packet of cigarette on his lap and a newly bought bottle of dry gin. Those he was viewing remained seated in their car, making no movement which suggested they recognized Aisha when she stepped out of the gate. They had only glanced at the place briefly and paid less attention when they saw a lady dressed in the blue party gown.

Cole rose up from his sitting position and began to walk down the street briskly, he wanted to take a cab but he needed to move farther away from them first. He walked past the hotel gate and walked several metres farther before stopping to wait for a cab.

His phone began to ring while he waited, he took out his phone and answered the call. "What"s up, I saw you walk out of the place at the right time." he said.

"Yes, that"s true. But I didn"t see you or the three guys," Aisha replied.

"I was there, our eyes met."

"Huh? But I didn"t see you," she argued.

"Hmm… If you didn"t see me, it means you"ve not been practicing the tactics the boss taught us." Cole said.

"Which tactic?"Aisha seemed lost.

"Never mind," Cole said in a bid to change the topic and he succeeded. The guys did not recognize you, I wouldn"t have recognized you either if you didn"t tell me what time you would appear at the gate."

"Hehe…" she chuckled loudly and then with a serious tone she continued. "I"m on my way to Bolevian Garden to meet Don."

"I"m tracking you already, would be following closely." Cole replied. "Make sure you don"t forget to hide the mouthpiece under your collar."

"Sure, I"ve got the mouthpiece around the neck of my gown already. I"ll turn it on before entering into the garden."

_______

Aisha opened the dial pad immediately after Cole"s call ended, she selected the boss" number and clicked the green b.u.t.ton.

"Boss, I"m on my way to meet him," she said, taking in a deep breath.

"Aisha, be careful and watchful." Tarasha replied in an unusual voice, full of concern.

"Yes Boss," Aisha replied back firmly.

"Did you inject yourself with the correct mixture?" Tarasha asked.

Aisha was surprised with the question, Tarasha had warned them against forgetfulness and threatened not to remind them to do anything she already instructed but here she was reminding them again, just like a mother who cannot just but keep warning her kids against impending danger."

"Yes, I took the mixture thirty five minutes before I left the house."

"Good, be strong." Tarasha said.

"Thanks Boss," Aisha replied and the call ended. She smiled briefly to herself as she returned the phone into her bag, pondering on how Tarasha had changed from the totally cruel a.s.sa.s.sin to one with a motherly heart.

She took a quick glance up and met with the taxi driver"s eyes in the rear mirror. It looked somehow familiar. She kept staring at his face through the mirror and then the sideview of his face which she could see from the back.

The taxi stopped at the wave of a man standing by the roadside, the man joined Aisha at the backseat without any negotiation with the driver.

He flashed his smoke stained teeth as he entered, Aisha stared at him in horror.

"We had correct info man, she came with someone else." the driver of the cab said, flashing a look backwards. Aisha could recognize him now. The driver was Don"s longtime friend, Stone, while the man who joined her at the back was Stainless.

"She has a mouthpiece around the neck of her cloth, take it off." Stone said to Stainless.