11.45am
Dave took another sip from the cup of water and dropped the bottle noisily on the table. He checked the watch on his wrist again and turned uncomfortably in his chair as his eyes wandered around the place for any sign of Stephanie. He had been there fifteen minutes before the time and tried to while away time by watching the music videos been shown on the television but he didn’t succeed in making himself less anxious. His plan was to get everything he could from Stephanie and travel back to Abuja that day but Stephanie’s long delay was posing a threat to his plan. Not that he could blame her though, he knew she could face challenges in trying to sneak out from her mother’s presence.

At exactly nine minutes to noon, his eyes caught a figure while wandering. It was Stephanie, she was dressed in a black denim top and a blue jean trouser. Her face was moderately made up and she had a dark sunshade on to complement her dressing. The high heels she was putting on addedstyle to her steps.

Dave watched and scrutinized her from head to toe as she walked towards him, it was his first time of seeing her upright on her feet and he had just noticed her hips and her eight figure, it was a perfect size for her body.
His urge to leave the place quickly was completely eliminated from his mind by the scent of the perfume she was wearing. She was in front of him already. She adjusted the seat before sitting, then she took off her sunshades and placed it on the table.
‘Good morning Dave,’ she greeted, staring straight into his eyes with a kind smile.
Dave did not respond to the greeting immediately, he was still carried away. He wasn’t only mesmerized by her beauty but also by her confidence and the way she carried herself and took her steps gracefully. She also bore resemblance to someone he couldn’t picture in his mind but he knew he had seen someone who looked and had the same style of walking like her, that was what kept him lost more.

‘Hello!’ Stephanie called, waving her hand in his face. ‘Good morning,’ she greeted again after Dave blinked his eyes and adjusted briskly like someone who had been dozing off and was woken with a poke.
‘Hi Steph, Good morning,’ Dave finally replied with a smile. He rubbed his hands quickly with a handkerchief and offered her a handshake.

‘What were you thinking about?’ she asked, looking amazed as she received his hand.

‘I was thinking about you,’ he smiled. ‘I’ve been waiting for sometime now and that’s enough to get me thinking about you, ,’ he said and quickly checked his wristwatch again.

‘Yes, I know you’ve been waiting. I’m sorry I delayed for so long,’ she apologized. ‘I had to wait for my mum to leave first. I’m not supposed to go anywhere.’


‘I understand,’ Dave said and adjusted his seat, ready for the main talk. ‘Ermm… What would you like to take before we continue?’ he asked, looking towards the waiters and signalling to one.

‘I’m okay, I think we should just talk now.’ she declined his offer politely.
‘Soft drinks or you do alcohol?’ he asked with a mischievous smile.
‘Don’t bother, I’m okay. I took breakfast already this morning,’ she replied.
‘Yea, I know but we just need something to make our discussion livelier. So what would you like?’

‘Just water would do,’ Stephanie answered.

‘Just water?’ he questioned stubbornly, staring at her and squeezing his face. She ended up laughing at the funny face. He straightened his face and stared at her with a serious look for a minute. ‘Hmm… I think I know what you’ll like,’ he said and then turned to the waiter. ‘Get us two packs of fruit juice, preferable pineapple juice.’
‘Oh! How do you know I like pineapple juice?’ she asked, looking surprised.
‘I just know, I read people’s mind.’ Dave answered playfully. He had found out about her love for pineapple juice at the hospital when a friend of hers had brought it as a gift, even though the gift was never delivered for Security purposes.
‘Come on, you must be a hell of a naughty person to be with.’ she remarked playfully.
‘So many others say so,’ Dave replied. Soon the waiter was back with the order and Dave had the juice served into their individual juice cups and the discussion began.
‘What’s the plan now?’ Dave began. ‘When are you leaving with your mum?’

‘Huh!’ Steph exclaimed with the cup on his lips. Her eyes widened as she dropped the cup back on the table without drinking from it. ‘You seem to know everything. How did you know I was supposed to leave with her?’
‘I overheard the police officers talking about it,’ Dave answered.

‘Well, they advised my mum to leave with me but I’ve decided to stay.’
‘You’ve decided to stay?’ Dave sounded surprised.

‘Yes, I want to finish my education here.’
‘But why don’t you just finish this session here and make a transfer to a school overseas. I’m sure your school can provide you the necessary documents for that, it’ll only cost some money which I believe can be paid by your mum.’

‘I can’t leave Nigeria now,’ Stephanie stated in a strong tone. Her face had changed from the jovial looking and relaxed face and a deep frown had appeared.

Dave stared at her face for some seconds, studying her reaction. He knew that her reason for not wanting to leave was something very personal and important. ‘Maybe we’ll come back to that later,’ Dave said, leaving the subject temporarily. ‘How was your experience with the doctors after you woke up that morning after your supposed memory loss?’ Dave asked, adding a smile to ease off the already building tension. ‘Did you find all I told you to be the truth?’

‘Yes, it was all true. They all thought I had lost part of my memory and that I can remember events of fourteen days before I was given that injection.’ she replied. Her frown had faded away and a brief smile surfaced as she remembered acting for the doctors and officers.

‘I hope you didn’t give them any clue that you still remember anything?’
‘Yes, I tried my best to. I don’t think anyone noticed anything.’

‘That’s good. Congratulations,’ he said, offering her another handshake.
‘Thank you but you’ve not still explained what it was,’ she said as she took his hand again. ‘You’ve also not told me who you are.’

‘I’m David James, a staff at the NSCC. I’ve been watching you on cameras while on duty recently,’ he said.
‘You’ve been watching me?’
‘Yes, but I don’t mean stalking or anything like that.’ he clarified quickly. ‘I just saw your image one day while doing a routine check and coincidentally I was also the staff who compiled the videos for the police after your kidnap, so I got to know more about you through that.’

Stephanie listened in silence.
‘I also knew that a lady was the one who took you to the hospital not the police, so when the police lied about it, I was surprised and that was when I stepped in. I knew they had ulterior motives and I wanted to find out.’

‘But how did you know about the injection the was given to me?’
‘I have a friend who is a doctor at City Gate hospital, they only have five doctors there and one of them is my very close friend. He was just complaining casually to me and mentioned that the police officers were forcing them to prepare a mixture that’ll effect the memory loss they want for you. So I sneaked into the hospital using his access cards and placed a recorder under your bed to listen to everything that went on there. It made me able to figure out the time they planned to use the drug on you and I changed it to a sleep inducing mixture in their lab.’
Stephanie continued to stare at him speechlessly.

‘The sleep Inducing mixture was prepared by another doctor and I wanted him to give me a mixture that’ll make you sleep for exactly the same hours they expected you to but he said it could have side effects on you later like severe headache and body pain, so I opted for the one which had no side effects. I think it was even a better choice because it made me think about coming to explain what was happening to you which I did. If I didn’t, they would have found out the next morning that you were not injected with the right mixture.’

‘That’s true, thanks.’ Stephanie said and heaved a sigh. ‘So you’re investigating the Police, or isn’t that what you’re doing?’
‘Not really but I’m okay if you call it so.’
‘Don’t you think it’s dangerous? What if they find out?’

‘I know it’s dangerous and I’m planning to back out already. In fact, that’s why I wanted to meet with you because I wouldn’t like to get into trouble with the authorities. I want you to promise that all that happened will not be known to someone else through you.’

‘I won’t tell anyone,’ she sighed. ‘But I was actually thinking you were a different kind of policeman.’
‘No, I’m not. I’m just somebody who is inquisitive and who also loves adventure.’
There was a brief moment of silence. The two used the silent moment to process their individual thoughts and also finish part of their drinks.

‘So, do you still remember anything about Samantha Osman?’
Stephanie paused and glanced briefly at his face. She had her cup held slanted on the table as she gently shook it from side to side playfully. ‘Yes, I do remember all that happened that night.’ she replied.
‘Can you tell me about it please?’ David requested eagerly.
Stephanie squinted at him for some seconds, she wondered what he wanted to do with the information since he said he was already backing out of his dangerous adventure. ‘I’ll tell you,’ she finally said, only agreeing because she saw it as a way of paying him back.
Dave adjusted his seating position and placed his hands on the table, ready to pick all the details.

‘She came in that day when the capon of the cult was about to molest me, she killed him after hitting a chair on his head. There was a kind of fury I saw on her face that day that I never seen on anyone else. I thought she was going to kill me but she didn’t. Instead she led me out of the place and spoke words to calm me down. The other men in the building came after us after they found out their boss had been killed and she had to ask me to wait in a toilet, she gave me a device to communicate with her while she went out to kill the other men and save the other kidnapped people. I didn’t wait for her and I tried to run away because I was scared of her and that was how I got the injury that got me to the hospital,’ she concluded.
Dave took in a breath. The story was not different from the one he had heard in the recorded tape, so he desisted from asking more questions pertaining to her experience.
‘So you still say you want to stay? I mean you don’t want to leave the country with your mum?’ Dave returned to the first discussion and the tensed atmosphere returned with it.
‘I’m staying here,’ she stated dryly.
‘Why? Can you share the reason with me? I may be able to help, you know,’ Dave offered, his sincerity could be heard in his voice.


‘I already mentioned the reason, I want to finish schooling first.’
‘That’s not true,’ Dave countered. ‘You’re hiding something,’ he accused, looking directly into his eyes.
She looked away from him.

‘You don’t want to share with me?’ Dave said. She remained quiet. ‘Well, I think traveling to the US will be good for you. You’ll be safe from danger there.’
‘Thanks for the advice,’ she said without taking any thought on what he said. ‘What’s the time please, she asked with a raised eyebrow?’

Dave checked his wristwatch. ‘You’re planning to leave already?’ he asked instead of telling her the time. He relaxed his back against the backrest and placed a thin stare at her face.

‘Yes, my mum won’t be staying out for long.’ she said.
‘I understand,’ Dave replied and sat up. ‘I would like to see you again, can you reach me later with your own line?’
‘Yes, I will, whenever I get my phone back.’

‘Good,’ Dave smiled. ‘Please do not hesitate to reach me if you have any problems with the police or if Samantha Osman shows up again.’


Stephanie smiled mockingly and sized him from head to toe with her eyes. ‘What are you going to do if Samantha Osman shows up?’ she asked with a mocking smile.
‘Huh!’ Dave took it jokingly. He placed his hands on the table and rolled up his right sleeves, folding the arm to show his power. ‘I’m gonna deal with her if she tries to hurt you.’

‘Haha! With those tiny hands you’ve got, I’m sure you’ll run away immediately I call to inform you of her presence.’

They continued with the jokes for a few more minutes and left the restaurant together but did not depart until Dave made her promise to call him and urged her to see him as a friend she could depend on and call upon in times of trouble.?