‘Hello, anybody in here?’ Cole shouted in as he walked on slowly into the living room. He looked around and noticed that all the windows were locked and the curtains drawn. He signaled for his partner to wait in the living room while he proceeded further, calling for anyone who could be in the house. He returned two minutes later and motioned for his partner to join him as he led him to the control room.

He switched on the bulb in the control room when he entered and he proceeded straight to the master system. He opened up the screen and pressed the boot button, he motioned his partner to a seat beside him while he also sat in front of the system. He took sometime to look around as the computer booted, he observed carefully how the cables connected to the network dish outside the house were arranged, they were all hidden inside the casings. There was a receiver hung on the wall close to the ceiling at the edge of the left side wall which had a green light on, signaling the presence of signals. He was to destroy everything – the connection settings on the master system which will make the light on the receiver turn red and then the physical cables and appliances which ensured the connection and receiving of signals. His partner’s job was to support his operation, especially if there was any unforseen situation which arose and also to take the pictures as Cole destroyed the physical wires and connection tools.

A thought struck Cole’s mind as the system made a sound to signal the complete booting. The idea was to start with a note to explain to Tarasha the situation and also give out hints to her on Elvis- whom he now knew to be Rex- and how she would be able to locate them. He began to think of a way to get his partner busy while he composed the note.

‘Hey, can you turn on the system. I want you to help with a job there,’ Cole said, pointing towards the system at the end of the long table.

His partner shrugged. ‘Of course, if it’s something I can do.’ he rose up and journeyed towards the system he was pointed to. Cole opened the Microsoft notepad application and began to type as fast as possible.

‘What am I supposed to do for you?’ Cole’s partner asked after he got to the place and pressed the boot button.
____

Tarasha watched Cole’s actions through the device in silence. She couldn’t read the expression on his face because of the light from the screen he was focused on. She deeply wondered what his mission could be. She enlarged the view point and watched to see what he was doing on the laptop. She could see him typing words into the notepad application. What could he be typing? She asked herself. If not for the speed at which he was typing, she could have concluded that he was trying to draft out codes for a program but with his fast speed, she knew he wasn’t writing codes but English words.

Something vibrated on the drawer by her bedside. She rose from the bed which she was sitting in and picked up her phone. There was a text message and it was from Henry. She swiped down the notification bar and dragged in the text message
‘I got into trouble with the NSCC boss and he has ordered the security men to throw me out. They are behind me now, following to see that I go out immediately.’


‘S--t!’ she cursed and hit her fist on the drawer. She hurriedly returned to the bed and put the tablet device she was using to monitor Cole into her backpack. She strapped it to her back and hurried out of her room, taking one of her guns out of the pocket on her trouser.
_________

‘Hey men! You got to take this easy,’ Steve said to the security men who had been told to ensure he gets out of his building and its surroundings.

‘Just go out, you can use your phone outside.’ the middle aged security man replied him as they pushed him gently from behind with a club.

‘I’m not playing with it, I’m sending a text message, can’t you see?’
‘That’s not my concern,’ the man barked as he pushed Steve forward with his club. The other security man opened the smaller entrance of the gate and Steve was pushed outside.

Henry heaved a sigh of frustration as the gate was slammed behind him. He straightened his cloth and looked around carefully to see if there was anything or anyone watching around. The environment looked it’s usual way. He straightened his cloth again, not knowing what next to do as his heart began to thump faster. He took two steps forward and turned back to look at the gate again, adjusting the bag on his back tighter. He felt a short vibration in his pocket. He took out his phone, the screen was turned on already. He waited two seconds for the screen light to adjust to the new surrounding light before he dragged down the notification bar. It was a text message from Omotara replying his.
‘Stay still when you get outside, don’t look around.’ the message read.

‘Oh!’ Henry heaved a sigh. He had already gone against the instruction which came in late but he decided to carry it out anyway. He took two steps closer to the road but fixed his eyes on his phone. Another text message entered.


‘Walk in the opposite direction to your car, DO NOT look towards where your car was parked.’

Like a robot, he turned to the opposite direction and began to walk slowly, still holding the phone in his hand and waiting for more instruction.

‘Try as much as possible not to look afraid, you’re disguised and they can’t recognize you. Just walk as fast as possible, make sure you follow the three instructions accordingly.’ a third message entered.
Henry began to walk fast. He had followed the last two instructions properly but the first one unfortunately came after he did the opposite.
_______