‘Boss, we’ve gotten her message now and we’ve sent the videos. What we’re waiting for is her reply to the videos.’ Don said into the phone.
‘Okay, I just rounded up a meeting with the Inspector General and he gave me some details I’ll be working on. So I’ll leave you to work on getting Tarasha’s two workers.’ Rex said.
‘Alright Rex,’ Don replied.
‘Make sure you feed me with details,’ Rex concluded and the call ended.
‘So what’s the plan?’ Stainless asked as he approached Don with two Mr Biggs polythene bags in his hands containing food packs. Don was still sitting at the table with the laptop.

‘No change in plan yet,’ Don answered.
‘Don’t you think Tarasha may want to interfere?’

‘You mean with Aisha and Cole’s parents?’

‘Yes,’ Stainless replied and sat close to Don. He handed over one of the bags to Don and placed his on the table
‘The boss says she won’t interfere,’ Don replied.

‘The boss says,’ Stainless repeated and chuckled again. ‘She might just show up surprisingly.’

‘No, I think the boss is right. She would know that she is the main target and wouldn’t want to show up but Cole and Aisha would be desperate to save their parents. It’s their desperation we want to take advantage of in this plot and we should not expect to deal with Tarasha.’

‘Well… Anyhow you say it,’ Stainless said, giving up on arguing. He opened the plastic rubber containing the food and wiped the spoon with the neatly folded tissue paper. ‘What about Stone, when is he coming?’ Stainless asked before taking his first spoon of the fried rice.

‘Oh! That boy? Let me even call him to find out where he is now,’ Don said and picked his phone on the table, trying to move the laptop with the other hand. ‘Stone, where the F are you?’

‘Homey relax,’ Stone replied in a gruff voice. ‘I’m on my way to Nigeria, I won’t miss the downfall of that girl for anything in the world.’

‘Where are you exactly?’ Don asked.
‘I’m in Nigeria already, I entered by bus and I was planning to call you when I get into an hotel.’

‘Are you in Lagos already?’
‘Yes, we passed the borders of contonou about thirty minutes ago. I think I’m in Badagry now,’ Stone replied.
‘Okay, holla me when you get to Mile 2, I’m in Lagos too.’ Don said and hung up. ‘He’s on his way,’ he said to Stainless who was already eating. He dragged his own pack of food closer and was about to open when his phone’s screened turned on and it sounded. He swiped it open to see the notification. He smiled as his eyes met with the message and pushed the food aside. ‘We’ve gotten a reply from Aisha,’ he said with a crooked smile and pulled the laptop closer. He input the security password to unlock the system and clicked open his mail application. He stopped for ten seconds to read her reply.

‘Daniel, what do you want?’ he smiled as he read to himself. ‘She’s asking me what I want,’ he said aloud to Stainless.
_______

The Boss’ word had lifted their spirits and given them more confidence. Aisha had quickly typed her message to Don immediately while the boss was still seated at the dining and eating. Cole had also resumed his food, he and Aisha were hundred percent sure of defeating Don, especially when they had Tarasha’s support.

Henry walked into the living room with his laptop noisily, attracting the attention of those at the dining. Tarasha flashed a look at him and their eyes met, she felt a pinch of guilt and quickly hid her eyes while Henry continued to one of the sofas.

‘Has he been served?’ Tarasha asked Aisha in a low voice.
‘Yes, he wanted it in his room.’ Aisha replied.

‘Okay,’ Tarasha flashed another look at him, he wasn’t looking towards them anymore, already seated and trying to balance his laptop.

‘Boss, don’t you think it’s dangerous having him around especially when you say he’s not going to work with us?’ Cole began in low tones, he paused briefly to see if Tarasha was listening. She was, she had even paused chewing to listen. ‘He poses great danger to us now that he’s allowed to use the computer, we all know what he can do with it.’ Cole added.

She let out a breath after Cole finished talking and chewed the remaining food substance in her mouth. ‘I don’t think Henry can do anything to harm me or to harm any of you.’ she said, staring towards where Henry was seating.

Cole stared towards Henry for more than a minute after she had spoken, he could only hope she was right with her confidence in Henry, he decided to focus his mind on rescuing his parents.
‘They want either of us to meet with them secretly in Lagos,’ Aisha announced aloud, distracting Tarasha and Cole who were still eating. She then focused her gaze on Cole’s face to hear his reply, both of them stared at each other’s faces for more than twenty seconds until Cole turned to look at Tarasha’s face, Aisha turned to her too.
‘If they want you to meet with them, then go.’ Tarasha said as she lifted the spoon to her mouth. ‘Go prepared,’ she added before taking the content of the spoon into her mouth.

Aisha and Cole returned their gazes to each other’s faces. The question in their hearts was which of them would go and meet Don.
‘Both of you can go, but make sure they are only aware of one person’s coming.’ Tarasha said, as if she read through their thoughts.

There was a brief silence, Cole had totally lost interest in the food leaving Tarasha to be the only one eating. ‘Boss, but how are we going to handle this?’ Cole asked in soft tones.

Tarasha ignored his question and continued to eat, Cole and Aisha just fixed their eyes on her patiently until she was done with the food in two minutes. ‘You’ve learnt enough already to be able to handle Don and his gang,’ she said, gently cleaning her lips with tissue paper. ‘Just go and get your parents back,’ she said as she rose up from the table. She walked away from the dining, leaving her plates behind. She paused when she got to the middle of the living room and paused to stare at Henry, Henry also stared back without saying a word. She bit her lips and let out a short deep breath before walking away.


Cole and Aisha were left alone to make plans and strategies on how they would save their parents.

‘Let’s play along with them, tell them you’re coming’ Cole finally spoke after five minutes of silence and deep thinking.
_____

‘I think he’s good enough, let him be employed.’ Frank said to Mr Sylvester.
‘He seems inexperienced to me,’ Sylvester replied.

‘But he has passed the tests given to him, his sample works also gives him a good record.’ Frank argued. ‘I think he should be given a chance.’
‘You think?’ Frank’s colleague stared at him in surprise. ‘I believe he deserves the job.’

‘You guys are vouching for him already.’
‘Yes sir, I think his credentials and samples are really very impressive. The only person that has been that impressive is Miss Kimberly.’

‘Okay then, he has a chance to prove himself.’

**20 minutes later**
Frank and Dotun had left the office of NSCC chairman, he now had his eyes fixed to his laptop, he typed occasionally and used the mouse more often. His office line rang, distracting him from his work.
‘Yes…’ he answered the call.
‘Sir, Agent James from the police headquarters is here to see you.’ his secretary voice sounded.
‘Send him in, I’ve been expecting his arrival.’ Mr Sylvester replied, using one hand on the laptop and the other to hold the phone to his ear. The call ended, he quickly concluded his work on the laptop and relaxed back into his seat to wait for his guest. A knock sounded at his door, few seconds after the call. ‘Do come in,’ he said into the transmitter.

The door opened and James stepped in, he closed the door and proceeded to the table at once. Mr Sylvester rose to welcome him. ‘Good afternoon Agent James,’ he greeted, extending a handshake to him.
‘Good afternoon Chairman sir,’ James said, bending a little in curtsy as he took the handshake.

‘You may be seated please,’ Mr Sylvester motioned him to the visitor’s seat politely.
‘Thank you sir,’ James replied and sat comfortably.

‘Yea, so what brings you here?’
‘Sir… I need to get some details about Kimberly E. Alex.’

____
5. 30pm
Chief Elvis stood patiently beside his car in the Vice President’s garage and stared towards the gate as the Vice President and his entourage drove in. Two of his security officers were standing behind him by the car. It took the cars about two minutes to drive from the gate of the large compound to the garage. Chief Rikau carefully observed and waited for the cars to halt completely before proceeding towards the car which carried the Vice President.

‘Good evening sir,’ Chief Elvis greeted as he got to the owner’s side of the car where Chief Elvis was seated.
‘Good evening Rikau,’ Chief Elvis replied, the door to his side had been opened and he already had one leg outside and his walking stick to help him step out of the car but he was attending to something on his tablet. He finished with the device a minute later and handed it over to the security officer standing beside the door before stepping out from the car.

He was simply dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, the top two buttons of the shirt was off exposing the white singlet under. The toe cap of his shiny shoes carried dust on them.

Chief Rikau stared at the Vice President patiently, waiting for the man to give a go ahead.

‘Rikau, you called that you wanted to see me.’ Chief Elvis said as he began to walk towards the house entrance along with Rikau.
‘Yes sir, I wanted to talk to you about James. He’s not cooperating,’ the Inspector General began in a bitter tone. ‘I got information that he went to the NSCC headquarters today.’

‘What did he go there for?’ Chief Elvis asked in a surprise tone.
‘I’m not so sure sir, but I think it’ll be to find out more about Kimberly.’ Chief Rikau replied.

‘I thought that boy would consider the fact that his father is involved in this,’ the Vice President stopped and heaved a sigh. ‘I even have worst news.’
‘What news is that sir?’ a thick frown appeared on Rikau’s face.
‘I’m just returning from the Presidential quarters, I had a meeting with President Emeka. His CSO and the CSA were also present.’ Chief Elvis spoke slowly while Chief Rikau kept staring at him impatiently. ‘I was asked to hands off Samantha’s case and allow the NIS and police continue their job without my interference.’

‘The b*tch has agreed to come,’ Don said in soft tones to Stainless. They had finished eating but still sat at the table with their empty food packs on the table.
‘She’s agreed to come alone?’ Stainless asked.

‘Yes, I warned her strictly not to inform her boss or tell anybody else about her movements.’ Don said.
‘And is she adhering to that?’
‘Yes, read the message here,’ Don said and turned the laptop to Stainless.
…Send me the location, I’ll meet you in Lagos tomorrow but we have to be brief about it. My Boss must not know I’m leaving Abuja,’ the reply read. Stainless heaved a sigh and returned to the inbox, another message from the same email address entered at that moment.
‘She just sent another,’ Stainless said to Don as he clicked on it.
‘What’s she saying?’ Don asked in reply.
There was a one minute delay of the reply as Stainless tried to read the message to his understanding. ‘She says we should start discussing the terms here and now,’ Stainless said as he looked up.
‘She wants to start discussing?’ Don asked, widening his eyes in surprise. He turned the laptop to himself.
‘Yes, see for yourself.’ Stainless said as he relaxed his back.
‘Hmm… This is the sign Rex asked us to take note of, I think Aisha’s informed Tarasha and she’s coming with her.’


_______
***Rael University, Lagos***
‘It’s time for us to stand against every act of violence, students bullying, rape and lecturers assassination in this school,’ a young girl on the podium was speaking. She paused for a moment to allow the chants of ‘Yes’ that accompanied her speech fade away. ‘We can’t sit and keep watching and complaining. We complain too much!’ she shouted and a loud noise of agreement followed her speech. ‘It’s time to lead the fight ourselves,’ she continued. ‘We must protect the freshers, we must protect the helpless alumni. Let’s continue to evangelise our good values to the freshers and stop allowing the bad group get them first before us. And most importantly, we must protect ourselves from them. We must stay away from every bad activity and social vices. Remember, you must first change yourself if you want to change your surroundings. The good life we want begins with us. Thank you and God bless you.’ she rounded off her speech with a thunderous applause following and left the podium, two guys who had been standing behind her followed immediately .
While the other students were still clapping their hands, another speaker climbed the podium and shouted, ‘Great Nigerian Student!’

‘Great!!!’ the students shouted back in a loud prolonged tone.
‘Great Nigerian Student!’ the speaker shouted again and got this same reply, this time louder than the first.
Faint noises from the auditorium could still be heard as Stephanie and the two guys who accompanied her proceeded to the car, other guys from their group had joined them The student journalists were all around, trying to move closer to Stephanie and interview her but the guys accompanying her stopped them and dismissed them with the excuse that she was very tired and couldn’t stop to address them.


Stephanie George was a three hundred level Computer Engineering Student of Rael University, leader of the group named ‘Students With A Difference’ popularly known as SWAD. Though only twenty one years old, she commanded so much respect in and outside the university, it’s campuses and environment. The SWAD group was an initiative started by a group of eight students who were now graduates of the school. The group’s major focus was to produce students who were coming out not just to join the workforce but to take charge of the affairs of the nation. Simply put, the aim was to produce Future Nigerian Leaders. Another aim of the group was to promote a culture of creative students who thinks out of the box and were never limited by their courses of study. The group promoted selflessness amongst their members and dedication to make the world a better place.
Stephanie George who previously nurtured some of the ideas which were the group objectives, joined the group in the first semester of her first year. Her dedication and selfless commitment to the work of the group had made the leaders take quick notice of her and begin to hand over little responsibilities to her. She proved faithful in the responsibilities assigned to her and grew in rank at a fast pace. Before the end of her second year, she was already the assisting the Leader of the group. The then Leader and his executives had before the end of the tenure decided to hand over the baton of leadership to her even though she wasn’t yet in 400 level as she proved to be the best option. The other group members who had been taught to be selfless welcomed her appointment with glad hearts and rejoicing since they knew she was really capable of leading them. Since Stephanie George began to lead, she began a massive crusade for reaching out to more students and getting them to catch the vision of the SWAD. She also began a campaign tagged ‘Catch them young’ for freshers in the school especially those who showed signs of becoming troublesome and problems for the school later on. They made sure that these freshers were quickly reached out to before being reached by the bad gangs of the school and put through a mind renewing process. This way, fifty percent of those they reached out to caught the vision while some others never did and some fell off the way. In less than one year of Stephanie George’s leadership, the group membership strength grew from below two hundred to over five hundred students. Their influence became stronger within and outside the school.
This particular meeting they just concluded in the auditorium was one to inspire the students to shun violence and cultic activities. This was an offspring of the recent cult clashes and bullying of non cult members that became rampant in the school.
Stephanie entered into the backseat with one of the two guys who followed her from the podium while the second guy joined the driver at the front.
‘To the SWAD quarters ma?’ the driver of the car asked after they had settled in, staring at Stephanie through the rearview mirror as he buckled his seatbelt.
‘Yeah, I’ll be leaving there to my place tomorrow morning,’ she replied with a smile.


‘You did a nice job today ma,’ the driver said before driving off.
‘Thanks,’ she said, staring back at him through the rearview mirror with a smile.

_____
About six young men were sitting quietly in a room, three on the short plastic chairs, one on a very comfortable sofa and the two others on rugs. They had gun barrels in front of them which some of them were fondling playfully. The room was stuffy and thick with the smell of Indian hemp.
The door flung open suddenly and in came another young man, he had a green shoe to compliment his green trouser and green shirt, the face cap he had on was also green. His face, though young, had scars which seemed to have been there for over thirty years even though he wasn’t up to thirty himself. The rest of the guys in the room rose up immediately to recognize his presence. An evil smirk lurked around his lips as he scanned the other guy’s faces one after the other with his eyes.
‘I hope we all know that Don Dan is paying us handsomely for this job and that he does not condole nonsense in any form,’ he said in a loud serious tone.
‘Yes boss,’ all the guys replied in unison.
‘Good, we’re going to organize all the other boys for this and brief them on the importance of following instructions accurately.’ he concluded and walked away from the room into another room inside the same building.

_______
**Maitama, Abuja**
7pm
In the workroom, Cole was seated on the table busy with his laptop while Aisha was at the left corner of the room. The seat part of the sofa she was squatting before was opened, just like a toolbox with neatly arranged tools inside; Aisha was carefully selecting pistols of different sizes and arranging them on the floor. She had an small opened black box bag on the floor. After taking out up to ten pistols and arranging them on the floor, she began to scrutinize each one with her eyes. The first one she picked was Berretta M9, Tarasha’s favorite pistol. Then she selected two others which she put in the open box beside her and arranged back the remaining under the seat.
‘How far have you gone with your preparations?’ Tarasha said as she came walking into the workroom.

Aisha and Cole were distracted from their work and they turned to face her, she proceeded towards Cole and stood behind the chair he was sitting, staring into his laptop.
‘Boss, I’ve not been able to track their location yet, it keeps submitting back errors.’ Cole said with a sad tone and sad look on his face.
Tarasha quietly pulled a chair closer and sat on it, she turned the laptop to herself and began to work on it. Aisha also rose from where she was gathering the arms and joined them at the table.
‘What’s up Aisha? What’s the game plan?’ Tarasha asked without looking at Aisha, her eyes were still fixed to the laptop screen and her fingers working on the keyboard.
‘I’m going there tomorrow, they’ve refused to brief me on what they want to discuss.’ she replied.

‘So…’ Tarasha said in a questioning manner, flashing a quick glance at her.
‘So Cole is coming with me, the chip would be on my body everytime so he can always track me.’ Aisha said.
There was a one minute silence, Tarasha seemed to be considering some options before speaking. ‘And where are they planning to meet with you? Is it in a secluded place or an open one?’
‘I don’t know yet,’ Aisha answered.
‘Don’t meet with them in a secret place,’ Tarasha said and suddenly stopped her finger work on the laptop. ‘Ermm… That may not be optional though.’ she added after thinking for few seconds. ‘I think you should just do what they say first, meet with them wherever they want. But make sure you add recording devices to the chip on your body so that Cole can listen to whatever will be said.’
‘Okay boss,’ Aisha replied with a light smile, happy that the boss was finally giving them tips.

‘So have you selected the best weapons for yourself?’ Tarasha asked.
‘Ermm… I’m still trying to,’ Aisha replied.
‘I think Cole can help you with that, he seems to have learned more about guns recently.’ Tarasha said.
Cole and Aisha exchanged quick glances and Cole gave her a naughty wink. They kept making funny faces to themselves until their boss spoke again.
‘I think they’re working on an encrypted network,’ Tarasha said with a serious look on. She paused and stared into the air thoughtfully. The playful look on Cole’s face also disappeared, he turned the laptop slightly to himself to see what Tarasha came to her conclusion with.

‘But Don doesn’t encrypt,’ Cole said, looking surprised. ‘How could he have done that?’

‘People learn new things,’ Tarasha said, mentioning the words one after the other. She flashed a quick look at Cole’s face as she remembered something, ‘Did Benny learn how to encrypt from you?’ she asked him.
‘No,’ Cole answered, shaking his head to emphasize.
‘Then someone new must be teaching Don these things.’
‘Could it be the third unknown guy? Maybe it’s not Benny afterall,’ Cole suggested.
‘Maybe,’ Tarasha said thoughtfully in a low voice, closing her eyes partly as she stared at Cole with a serious look.

** Omonile Street, Off Rael University Road **
‘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 passenger’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 passed 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 assignment 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 glass 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 assassin, 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 document 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 passport.

‘Ermm… I can’t find her passport 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 document 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 document 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 pass.

‘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.
‘Hello 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 hell 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.

chapter 2 part 10
** Next day, 9am**
~Abuja, at the NSCC office~~
‘Sir, how many times have you visited that house after she left?’

‘About three times Agent; twice with two of my colleagues and once on my own,’ Mr Sylvester replied him in a stressed tone, resting his back in the chair and folding his arms tiredly.

James took another long look at the paper in his hand, he heaved a sigh. ‘And who’s her guarantor?’

‘Guarantor?’ Mr Sylvester asked in a surprised tone.

‘Yes, guarantor.’ James replied.
‘Ermm…’ Mr Sylvester scratched his head as he tried to put together words to express himself.

‘Isn’t she supposed to even have more than one guarantor?’ James added.

‘Yes, she had a guarantor but the circumstances that surrounded her employment did not allow us take it very serious.’

James stared at his face in disbelief, he didn’t believe the Chairman of an organization like the NSCC could be talking like an inexperienced person.

‘It was the Vice President that hurried up the process,’ Mr Sylvester quickly added, trying to shift the blame away from himself. ‘He wanted someone else to represent Henry E.G immediately, so he asked to to rush up her employment.’
James heaved another sigh, he placed a finger on his lip and continued to stare at Mr Sylvester in silence.

________
**Rael University premises, Lagos**

Two guys sat under the tree impatiently, Ojo was standing. He was holding one of the lower branches of the tree. He checked his wristwatch from time to time and would change his standing position to the other direction to check if the one they were waiting for was in sight.

‘Capon, don’t you think we should call him again?’ one of the sitting boys suggested.

‘Okay, use your phone.’ Ojo replied, still staring around, he changed the hand used in holding the branch to the right hand.

Other students were around the place but kept a reasonable distance from them. Students who unknowingly moved closer to them would quickly withdraw once they saw their faces. Ojo was a well known cultist in the school, even the lecturers and school board recognised and respected him. His association with top criminals like Don and Stainless made him function in a way that he was invisible to the law enforcement agencies.

‘Where are you?’ one of the sitting guy stood up with the phone on his ear. ‘Come on, we’ve been…’ he stopped abruptly as he noticed someone coming towards them. The guy had his phone on his ear too and was putting on a face cap. The caller cut the call to wait for the approaching guy. Ojo and the other sitting guy also looked in direction of the approaching guy.

The guy with the face cap joined them in less than a minute, ‘I’m sorry for keeping you guys waiting,’ he quickly apologized on seeing the angry look on their faces.

‘Okay, what’s the information you have for us?’ Ojo asked him impatiently.

The guy looked around to check if anyone was watching them, then he took out a paper from his back pocket and handed it to Ojo. ‘I’m going to lure her to the place, make sure you make use of the chance well,’ he said and paused to look around again. ‘You know she’s getting more dangerous and she could cause you a lot of…’ he stopped and a look of fright appeared on his face as he saw the evil face Ojo was making at him.

‘Disappear!’ Ojo barked at him in a loud gruff voice.

He stumbled and almost fell as he took to his heels.


________
*Maitama, Abuja**
10.30am
Aisha and Benny left Abuja very early in the morning but at different times, Aisha left by 5am while Benny left by 6.30am and they took different routes to different transport vehicle’s garage to avoid being tracked. Tarasha was left home alone with Henry.
Henry had been up before Aisha’s departure, he had heard noises and carefully listened from his room. He knew that Aisha must be the one leaving as he heard been suspecting they were planning a journey but didn’t know where they were planning to go to. He was also out of his room and at the backyard doing exercises when Cole was leaving by 6.30am, Tarasha had driven out with Cole in a car, they had kept two big bags in the boot which Cole suspected to contain weapons. Tarasha returned thirty minutes later without Cole and an empty boot. Henry who was in the living room when she drove back into the compound walked into his room before she entered the house. Tarasha of course noticed that he had been in the living room but decided to ignore it like she had been ignoring all his other activities.

Henry kept turning around the bed, he felt tired already without even doing anything yet that morning. He heard a noise from his belly as he ran his hand through his hair, that reminded him about breakfast. He didn’t know if he was going to have breakfast that morning since Aisha was out of the house. Usually, she would have come knocking at his door, asking for where he would like to have his breakfast. He thought of going out to check if the food had been served at the dining but he discarded the idea at the thought of meeting Tarasha in the living room, he wasn’t sure what the feeling would be like between them both, especially now that they were alone in the house. He turned to his left side of the bed and closed his eyes in a bid to force sleep and suppress his hunger but his belly made another sound, this time louder and longer, that was when he remembered that he didn’t take dinner the night before. He had been so engrossed with a new app he was developing that he worked until it was very late and he went to bed tired, without remembering to eat. He rolled out of bed reluctantly and put on his sandals, he proceeded out of the room hurriedly.

He met at the dining what he had been trying to avoid, Tarasha. She was sitting and also taking her breakfast, she was dressed up neatly, like she wanted to leave the house. She noticed his presence as he approached the dining and heard his footsteps, she turned back and their eyes met. Henry felt a little discomfort as their eyes met but the feeling of hunger had overwhelmed him, so he joined her at the dining without minding how awkward the feeling would be for them having breakfast together.

‘Good morning Tara,’ Henry greeted as he walked past her to the seat where he saw his breakfast served.

‘Good morning Henry,’ she replied, her eyes followed him to his seat.
He sat and opened the plate cover almost immediately, he picked the fork and knife and began to eat.

Tarasha watched him silently while eating her meal slowly, he was fully concentrating on his meal though he still ate moderately. She had lost concentration on her own meal, she fixed her eyes on his face as he ate.
He had changed and gained more flesh since he had been taken out of prison, his sores and wounds had also healed but he looked very unhappy, there was an absence of the joyful beam of light that his eyes usually carried. Tarasha felt guilty.

‘Why are you staring like that? Hope you won’t chew your tongue?’ Henry’s words drifted Tarasha back to reality. Then she noticed she had finished chewing the food particles in her mouth and had been chewing nothing for more than one minute. Henry had almost finished his food while she was still halfway.

‘Are you traveling too?’ Henry added, using his eyes to scrutinize her dressing and new ‘gallas like’ hairdo. The food had given him more strength and energy to talk. Tarasha’s thoughtful mood and uneasiness had also added to his confidence to speak.
‘Traveling where?’ she replied with a question.

‘To where your guys went to,’ Henry replied, cutting another slice of yarn in his plate.

Tarasha heaved a sigh and tried to dodge his question, ‘So why were you hiding when you saw them leave?’
‘I wasn’t hiding, I know you saw me watching.’ Henry replied as he chewed the food particles in his mouth.
‘I didn’t see you watching but I knew you were watching,’ Tarasha corrected. ‘So why have you been locked up since?’ Tarasha asked, trying to bring up a lively conversation. All she wanted to see was that beam of happiness on his face again and she thought conversing with him freely could help.
‘Why shouldn’t I stay in? It’s not like we’ve been having any smooth discussion recently, it’s like you just want to keep me here like a dummy.’ Henry replied accusingly, staring into her eyes directly and wondering why she sounded accommodating that morning.
‘It’s not like that Henry but…’ she stopped abruptly and heaved a sigh. She thought it would be unwise stating again how she didn’t want him to be involved in the revenge anymore because of his weakness of wanting to submit to the authorities.
‘When are you going to join them?’ Henry asked, after waiting for few seconds without her continuing her speech. ‘Soon, I’ll be locked in here for days without being allowed to go out or being visited.’
‘No Henry, that won’t happen.’ Tarasha said in a convincing tone. ‘I think we can make a solution to your limitations of going out.’
‘A solution? What solution is there to it? I’ll be caught by the authorities once I’m seen.’ Henry said. He felt like adding that the only solution would be taking himself to the authorities himself but he choose not to, knowing how much she hated the idea. He didn’t want to ruin the conversation they had just begun which was not even going smoothly yet.

‘I can help you with a good disguise idea, something like that of Aisha’s,’ she replied him.

‘Huh?’ he sq££zed his face as he tried to figure out what she meant. ‘Which Aisha are you talking about?’
‘Same Aisha, the wanted Aisha Bello.’
‘Humn…’ Henry stared thoughtfully, he was still trying to figure out where she was driving to. ‘Do you mean the Aisha that works with you is the wanted Aisha Bello?’
‘Yes,’ Tarasha replied with a brief smile. ‘You should have noticed that if you paid more attention to her face anytime she’s here. Her disguise plan is working well for her and she goes out very often without ever being recognized.’
Henry paused for a while to think, he never imagined that he had been living with someone who had been declared wanted like him and she even served him food every morning. He stared at her face blankly for some seconds before letting out a short hiss. ‘Just forget about that, tell me how long you’ll be gone.’
She paused and stared into his eyes for close to thirty seconds, Henry’s eyes looked like that of a terrified child whose mother was going on a long journey. She tried to conceal a smile that was gradually forming on her lips, ‘You don’t want me to go?’ she implied.

‘Huh? Why would I stop you, it’s not as if you’ll listen to me anyway. You should go anywhere you want to, I don’t really care.’ Henry tried to feign carelessness but the look on his face betrayed him, it was obvious he cared about where she was going to.
Tarasha let out a smile accompanied with a short release of breath, she rose up from her seat and moved closer to him, abandoning her food. She turned the seat next to him and sat facing him directly, a very close distance that both of them had to hold their breath for some seconds.

‘You’ve changed a lot, you now smile more this days,’ Henry tried to change the discussion as he knew he had been defeated.
‘You taught me how to, ‘ she said and rested her weight on the table with her arms. She shifted the plate of food away from his front and held one of his palms in hers. Their knees were also touching each others and their face came closer. There was a deafening silence for close to one minute.
‘Tell me what love is,’ Tarasha found herself asking. Even she was surprised as to who and where the question came from.
‘Love?’ Henry mumbled. He took his eyes off her face for some seconds, staring at the table. He looked up again, ‘I can’t explain it but you’ll understand when you feel it.’
Tarasha drew in a short breath, she reached out for his second palm. ‘I don’t know if it is what I’m feeling,’ she said, looking down shyly.

Henry drew closer to her, ‘I’m sure of one thing, love makes you ready to make sacrifices for the one you love.’
There was another thirty seconds silence, ‘Is that why you were willing to sacrifice yourself for me?’

There was another silence, this time longer than the previous ones put together. Henry stared at her lips as their faces moved nearer to each others. Tarasha closed her eyes and held her breath, she could feel Henry hold his breath too. Their lips moved closer, only a centimetre far from each other.