Cole was only forty minutes away from Kurudu and he had not seen Henry’s car in front of him. He checked his wristwatch, it was already five minutes and Tarasha had not called back yet. He decided to call back in case the boss had forgotten to check her time.
‘Boss, I’ve been waiting for your call.’
‘I was about to, have you found Henry?’
‘No, I think he’s gone far already. I was thinking I’ll be able to catch up with him because of the routes which he had no knowledge of but now I remember that it’ll be as easy for him to locate the place as it for me because of the games we have been playing.’

‘Hmm…’
There was silence for almost ten seconds.
‘Hello boss, you’re there?’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘You said you’ll tell me how to stop Henry when you call back.’
‘No, I said I’ll tell you what to do when I call back but you called back.’
‘Okay, should I cut the call?’ Cole asked but the call had gone off before he finished.

_______
‘I’d like to stretch a little, please pull over.’ Tarasha said to the driver who in reply looked at her through the rearview mirror and nodded to signify he heard her. The driver turned on the trafficator immediately but it almost took a minute before he located a good place to stop.
Tarasha got out of the car with her phone and looked around for a second. They were already out of Lagos State. As she dialed Cole’s number, she noticed that the driver had also stepped out. She moved farther away from the earshot of the man.
‘What weapons and tools did you take along with you?’

‘Guns, tranquilizers and ropes. I had them in my bag before, so I just picked it up.’
There was another silence.

‘Boss, are you there?’
‘Yes, I am.’

‘Speak on boss, tell me how to stop him.’
‘There’s no way you can stop him, his mother has only few hours to live if he doesn’t get there.’

‘So what do I do? You said before I left home that facing Rex in a place he set up by himself is not an option for now.’
‘How close are you to the place?’
‘About 40 minutes close, I’ve been driving since but I stopped only to hear the instruction from you.’

Tarasha was silent again. There was only one way to stop Henry, it was to kill him before he gets to the place.

‘Boss, you’re not talking.’
‘How many minutes ahead is Henry?’
‘He was about six minutes ahead before but with this stop I just had, it should be close to eight minutes.’

‘Okay, you can’t just invade the place with the weapons you have without studying the place first.’

‘But there’s no time to study now.’
‘We have two options right now, the first is to let Henry go into the place alone.’
‘But he might never come out and it will mean danger for all of us.’
‘Yes, I know but we have to find a way to escape the danger.’

‘Boss, maybe the second option is better.’
‘Yes, I think the second option is better but I don’t think you’ll want to do it.’

There was a brief silence from Cole’s end. Tarasha knew he was wondering why she was talking the way she was – instead of giving direct instructions, she was thinking of what he would want to do.

‘Tell me boss, we’ve been preparing for sometime now. I’m not scared,’ Cole replied confidently.
Tarasha could sense the confidence in his voice but she knew their preparation was not something to rely on because Rex must have also been preparing for them and not sleeping, and furthermore, the option didn’t even have anything to do with their preparation.

‘The option is to catch up with him and stop him totally.’ Tarasha said, still hiding the option with words.

‘How do I catch up with him?’ Cole sounded surprised at the kind of vague instruction she had given him but he wasn’t bold enough to tell her it was vague.
‘I’ll call him and ask him to wait for you to join him.’

‘And what will I say to stop him.’
There was silence for a moment..
‘Boss?’

‘You kill him when you meet him.’
‘What?’ Cole exclaimed in a loud tone.
‘Yes, you kill him.’ Tarasha said plainly and turned back towards the car. ‘Call me back in two minutes to tell me what choice you have made but you’ve got to start moving right now.’
She ended the call and entered back into the car. ‘Let’s move on,’ she said to the driver who had entered back before her.
Her heart was pounding heavily as she thought of what she had just told Cole. It was the best option for the safety of the whole team even though she was hoping for Cole to choose the first option. She had left the choice in his hands to remove herself from being the one whose choice will turn things upside down for the team. But either ways, she was still the one who had the blame to take. Immediately Cole called to inform her that Henry had driven out, she was supposed to have given him the instruction to race after Henry and kill him immediately but she couldn’t. And that’s what happens when an assassin becomes weak; when an assassin begins to let the emotions take over; Henry was more of a danger than an asset to them and should be eliminated without thinking twice.


She stared at the phone in her hand, pondering on whether to call Cole back and tell him to forget the option of killing Henry or whether to wait for Cole’s choice and take it as it is. Even though, she couldn’t imagine how she would feel if Henry is killed by Cole but she knew that the first option would not even keep Henry alive, it was only going to prolong his life by some hours or days because Rex would never leave him alive after getting the information he needed. The option of killing Henry first was still the best.
Her phone began to ring.
She stared at the buttons for a while before answering.
‘Boss, I can’t kill him.’
Cole’s answer came as a disappointment to her because it meant he was also judging with his emotions too but she had nothing to say because she was also guilty of the same thing.

‘Should I drive back home and get some of the important things out first?’
‘No, follow him there but make sure you are not noticed.’
‘But what if he gives out information about the base to them? We have a lot of secrets there.’
‘We’ll get the whole place destroyed before they can access anything.’
Her eyes met with the driver’s in the mirror, he was staring at her suspiciously but she was sure he couldn’t be certain of what she was discussing about but could only remain suspicious.

‘Get me updated as frequently as possible.’

‘Okay boss, I’ll connect a talkon to myself.’ Cole replied and ended the call. A talkon was a voice transmitter.
She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Possibility of still saving Henry after he got into the building with Rex began to mix with her thoughts, but it would mean facing Rex again earlier than she planned and without getting ready enough for him. Was she going to leave Henry in Rex’s hands?
____