Tarasha

opened window as she peeped outside. The

moon lit the earth brightly, working with the well

lighted streets to reveal every road and blocks

on the streets. Tarasha looked up at the

shining stars, they seemed to communicate

something to her which she didn"t understand.

She turned back into the room and glanced at

the wall clock which was her only companion in

the large bedroom as the tick tock sound it

made was the only sound that could be heard in

the house.

She closed the window and walked to her

planning table; she switched on the laptop and

waited patiently for it to finish booting before

she clicked on a folder icon on the desktop. The

folder opened, revealing a Microsoft word

doc.u.ment which she opened and began to scan

through.

She stood up a minute later, obviously satisfied

with thedetails gotten from the doc.u.ment. She

glanced at the wall clock again; it was fifteen

minutes past 1am already. According to the

information she was given to work with, the

Nanl gang would move the targeted van by

3am.

She walked to the drawer and bent as she

pulled it out, she didn"t think she would require

a lot of instruments for this job as she was only

required to pick up a carton from a van that

wasn"t heavily secured. She picked out her

favourite tool, a Walther PPK which she fondly

referred to as "baby", she inserted it into the

pocket in her jacket with a silencer and closed

the drawer. She picked up a small black piece

elastic material from the table and stuck it into

her back pocket as she walked out of the

house.

In no time, she drove out of the compound and

hit the main road. The road was very free as it

used to be at midnight, so she got to her

destination in less than ninety minutes.

She parked her car at a reasonable distance

from the house which was located at a T-

section part of the road, in a very dark corner

on the street where she was able to get a clear

view of the warehouse. Not too long after, she

could hear the sound of a vehicle engine being

started, she glanced at her wrist.w.a.tch, it was

2.58am. She quietly came out of the car

through the other side and hid in the darkness,

looking around to be sure no one was watching

her. She sat on the car bonnet, pulled out the

mask from her back pocket and wore it, the

mask covered only part of her face having holes

that allowed her see and talk freely. She also

picked some black hand gloves from the car

and put them on.

At exactly 3 o"clock, the screeching sound of

the opening gate was heard. Tarasha changed

her position and bent down by the side of the

car as the opened gate now revealed a vehicle

whose front lights shone brightly, illuminating

the compound.

She watched as the van was driven outside the

compound and the gate closed. She noticed that

his two men seated in the van, one of them

spoke as they got close to her car. She couldn"t

make out what was been said but she knew

they were talking about her car as the driver

looked towards her direction.

After they drove a little bit far past her, she got

into the car and waited for them to make a turn

at the junction before she started the car

engine and pursued after them.

"Look, isn"t that the car we saw parked a by the

road side now?" The driver of the van asked

after spotting the car racing after them through

the side mirror.

"Yes" one of his companion answered him,

"looks like a Lady is the driver"

"A lady? What does she want at this time of the

day?" The driver was amazed, he made s.p.a.ce

for her car to pa.s.s beside the van.

"I"ve got something of mine in your van" Tarasha

shouted as she already levelled up with them.

"Park your van and let"s talk"

"Are you crazy wo…" The driver couldn"t

complete his question as one of the van tyres

deflated at that moment. He struggled with the

steering wheel but was able to avoid an

accident since the van was on a low speed.

"What happened?" The other guy asked the

driver.

"I don"t know" he replied as he opened the door

and came out of the vehicle. Tarasha"s front

car light shone brightly into his eyes.

He was vexed and he approached the car in

anger where it was parked behind them, the car

light was turned off as he got closer. The Lady

came out and faced the opposite side, waiting

for him.

"What on earth do you…" A blow landed on his

face he staggered backwards, almost falling.

He charged towards her but she dodged his

attack and sent him another blow on his

stomach. Tarasha held his head before he

recovered and hit his head on the car bonnet

which sent him sprawling on the floor with a

loud cry.

The other man in the car was already rushing

towards her with a iron rod but she bent down

making him miss his target and almost falling

down. Before he could make another attempt,

she sent his legs off the ground with a sliding

kick that made him hit his head on the floor,

after which she hit his head his head with the

b.u.t.t of her gun, knocking him out.

She picked up the other man who was already

bleeding through the nose and dragged him to

the back of the van.

"Open it" She commanded as she placed a gun

at the back of his neck.

"The key is in the car" he replied shakily. She

escorted him as he walked to the driver"s side

and picked the key.

"Get me the carton labelled "D" " she ordered as

the man busied himself with the key.

The man switched on his torchlight and begun

to offload the neatly arranged cartons. It wasn"t

too long before he saw the carton labelled "D".

Tarasha made him carry it to her car boot then

she knocked him out with the b.u.t.t of the gun

and drove off after making sure n.o.body saw

them.

She checked her time as she parked car in her

compound, it was 3.50am already. She left the

carton in the boot and walked into the house.

Before she laid on the bed, she sent a text

message to an unsaved number from her phone.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*10am, same day *

"D--n! You idiots" Don exclaimed angrily as he

scattered the objects placed on his table. He

picked his gun and walked closer the two men

kneeling at the front of his table, there were

other five mean looking men standing in the

office.

"So you two mean an ordinary lady knocked out

both of you?" He continued angrily.

"Sir… I… I…" One of the men kneeling down

stammered, he was the driver of the van.

"You what? And you still laid helpless till the

police found and arrested you"

"We are sorry sir, we promise to get her and

recover the carton" the other man replied,

fidgeting all over.

"Idiot, what did she look like? Can you recognize

her?"

"No, she was wearing a mask, we didn"t see her

face"

"Idiot, how do you intend to get her?" Don barked

angrily.

"We …" The man began to speak but couldn"t

continue as Don fired bullets into the chests of

the both men.

"Dispose them off" he ordered the men in the

room.

Four of the men carried the bodies outside, two

carrying each one. The remaining man who

seemed to be the next in command walked

closer to the table as Don walked back to his

seat.

"We should have sent more capable men" Don

said as he sat down.

"We were not expecting any attack and this isn"t

the first time of sending both of them on

errands like this, they"ve never failed"

"So how did this happen?"

"It must have been well planned, I think we were

played"

"Played? Do you think Felix can play a trick on

me, knowing the kind of person I am?"

"I believe that the carton was returned to that

warehouse, no one else knew about the

transaction"

Don picked up his phone and dialed a number,

placing a stern look at the man standing at his

front as he waited for his call to be answered.

"He"s not picking" he announced to the waiting

ears of his subordinate.

"I told you" the man said boastfully.

"Go get my stuff for me and bring Felix down

here in two hours" Don ordered in a gruffy voice.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+

Tarasha rode speedily on the free expressway,

the breeze making her jacket fly backwards.

She loved the attention she got when she

occasionally sped past cars, the look on the

drivers" faces was always a questioning look of

how a lady should be riding so crazily. But it

was her hobby, that was the way she relaxed.

She slowed down a little bit when she looked at

the side mirror and noticed someone waving

and calling.

"Hey" Henry shouted, slowing down the

powerbike speed as he levelled up with her.

"Hi" she replied him.

"I"m Henry, can we stop and talk a little?" Henry

asked, increasing his speed to level up again as

she increased hers first.

"What do you have to say? I don"t have enough

time to stop and chat"

"Sorry for disturbing but are you new around

here? I"ve never seen you with us at the bike

riders a.s.sociation"

"What bike riders a.s.sociation?" She asked,

increasing her speed again.

"Nigerian bikers a.s.sociation, you don"t know

about it?"

"We"ll… other time" was what the guy heard due

to obstruction by the breeze before she sped

off.

He concluded that she must have said to him

that they"ll talk some other time. But how were

they going to meet again, they didn"t even see

each other"s faces as their helmet concealed

their faces

He decided to race after and catch up with her,

but even after rapidly increasing his speed and

riding crazily for some minutes, no trace of her

nor her bike was seen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++

"It looks like we have someone who"s still alive

here" Inspector James summoned other officers

to where he squatted, a wounded body was

laying in front of him.

"He"s still breathing" an officer who also

squatted beside him added.

"He needs medical attention immediately, take

him to the hospital" James said to the medical

officers approaching with a stretcher, as he

stood up from his position and gave way for the

officers to carefully carry the body.

He watched as they carried the body into an

ambulance and sped off. He looked around and

saw the medical officers packing the already

dead bodies into their vehicles.

"The manager of the warehouse is missing and

there are no traces of him or his body around

the place" he said to his colleague who was

standing beside him.

"Yes" came the reply, "we can"t tell if he was

taken away by the attackers or if he was killed

and dropped somewhere else"

"That"s possible, but we have to confirm first

that he"s not at home or somewhere around

town. We have to reach members of his family

and his friends"

"I"ve sent men to his house already, they"ll be

back with a reply soon"

"Good" James turned and looked around the

warehouse again, the look on his face turned to

a more confused one. "I"m just wondering what

kind of people attacked this place"

"I wonder too and it doesn"t look like anything

was stolen, all the packaged goods are still

intact", the colleague added.

"I don"t think those who carried out this attack

are thieves, I believe they came on a different

mission"

"Yeah, that"s true"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++

"Felix Felix" Don taunted the already tortured

man as he walked into the large room. "I see

you"re playing games with me"

"No Don, I swear. I don"t plan the attack on your

boys"

"Then where is my carton?"

"I don"t know, we arranged the carton with the

other cartons and labelled it differently

according to our plan"

"Who else knew about this our deal?"

"No other person knew, even the men that

packed the cartons didn"t know that there was

anything different in it" the man.

"Who did you send to do the repackaging after it

landed in your warehouse?"

"I did the repackaging myself , I removed it from

the beer carton and packaged it in the tin milk

carton"

"Who saw you while you were doing it?"

"No one did"

"Hmm, then why is it that it was that same

carton that was taken from my boys?"

"I don"t know sir , maybe someone here knew as

about our conversation"

"Huh? Someone here?" Don barked loudly and

stared fiercely at his men surrounding them,

who all shook in fear.

"Yes, someone in your organization must have

leaked out the secret"

"Them?" Don gave a short laugh and stopped to

stare wickedly at his men again. "These ones

dare not sell me out, most of them weren"t even

aware of the deal"

"Then, maybe you…"Felix stammered out of

fear.

"Maybe I?" Don barked as he brought out his gun

and pointed it at Felix. "Now, tell me where and

who you took it to"

"I swear, I don"t know anything about this.

Believe me, I did everything according to the

plan and made sure no one was aware" Felix

answered, shaking terribly at the sight of the

gun.

"Okay, stand up and get out of this place" Don

lowered his gun.

"Ehn?" Felix eyes widened in shock, not believing

that Don would allows him go.

"I said get out before I change my mind"

"Thank you Don" Felix picked up his shoes and

stood up from his kneeling position. He

straightened up his shirt and headed for the

door immediately, he was about to open the

lock, bullet went in through his head.