Chapter One


With nowhere else to run and being seriously scared out of her wits, Monica Anderson stood with shaky legs in a large auditorium inside an abandoned theater house she had just ran into. Her three months old baby Jeff Junior drew closer to her bosom as he slept in her arm, completely unaware of his mother’s plight. Monica looked at him with grief written all over her face, she didn’t know or understand why things had taken a sudden turn in her life and that of her child’s, how they moved from a stable, normal everyday life to that of a fugitive’s.

It all started with the death of her husband Jeff Anderson. Her first contact with Jeff was on facebook . At first it was just a normal friendship until he started making advances. Monica was not the type to date online so she ignored him but when she saw that he was not going to stop, she insisted on meeting him face to face before making her final decision. Jeff agreed to her condition and they fixed a date.

When the day came, they met at a local restaurant by the beach. Monica was pleased to see how charming Jeff was and that day, she fell heads over hills for him. They started dating immediately and were so happy and comfortable with each other.

Jeff was everything she hoped to have in a man and even more. Monica was constantly grateful for having him in her life, everyday was a dream come true but soon, they were separated.

Jeff worked for an oil company in the Niger Delta region and as one of the top engineers working there, he was awarded visa to China for industrial training along with some other colleagues. The training program was for one year. Though her friends tried to discouraged her with stories of infidelity with men who went abroad and got married to other women, she did not believe that Jeff could do that to her. She knew her husband very well and was deeply sure that he truly loved her. Cheating was not one of his traits. She remembered when they were still dating, although she got naked in front of him several times and asked him, even begged him to take her, Jeff never did then. All he said was that her virginity was priceless to him and until he married her, he will not take her innocence.

“Wow” She thought then, smiling to herself, “What kind of man would resist a stark naked girl who was begging to be done?”

You don’t see such a man everyday and so, Jeff was indeed a great and trustworthy man in her eyes and she did not think anything was going to change that.

They were still dating when Jeff was awarded the visa for overseas training and because he did not want to come back only to find her with another man, he quickly engaged her, a date was fixed and they both got married two days before the trip to China. Their honeymoon and bedroom activities lasted only two days but it was fun and Monica cherished every moment.

Two months after Jeff left, Monica found out that she was with child. Jeff was so excited over the phone when she told him about it, he wished he was with her to support her in any possible way but since it was not possible, they agreed that Monica stayed with his parents for the period until after her delivery. After that day, he constantly called to check on her and the baby.

Along the way, something suddenly happened, something Monica was yet to understand. Jeff stopped calling as he used to and eventually, stopped picking her calls. He would call once in a month or twice and he usually sounded dull and cold. Monica sensed that something was wrong but when she asked, she met a brick wall because all he said was “All is well.”

Monica did not feel like all was well. She began to suspect that he had lost interest in her but since her suspicion had no base, she let it go. Jeff continued avoiding her and it disturbed her. She voiced her fears to Ella, her late best friend’s immediate younger sister who was a private detective and security agent. Ella encouraged her not to think negatively but to have faith. Ella was her back bone. She wouldn’t have come this far without her. When things were so bad, Ella stood for her, through thick and thin she was there and promised never to leave her until Jeff came back.

It is well over a year now and Jeff is back, but not in the way she expected. She hoped to see him well and happy, not receiving his corpse alongside news of the disappearance of everything her and Jeff had worked for, their companies, houses, cars and other landed properties most of which she inherited from her late father. Her mother had died when she was eight years old and her father, when she was in the university.

Right now she was all alone, especially since she was an only child. But things were not so bad at first; she had done well for herself, built up her father’s business and was very successful before she even met Jeff. She could not understand how situations just turned around so fast and so bad. Monica was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she did not see detective Godwin come in through the side entrance with three steps that led to the back stage. His croaked voice was what snapped her back to reality.

“Hello Monica” he said,

Monica felt the blood drain from her as she looked up at him, what was she thinking? Standing in the middle of this large auditorium and thinking about her miserable life? Now she has been caught by one of them, soon the others will come trooping in, at least that was how it was in the movies. She had to try to plead with him, try to make him see things from her own side.
“Please listen to me” she pleaded, I did not kill my husband. This whole thing is a complete mix up. Why won’t you people believe me? And if you lock me up for a crime I know nothing about, who will take care of my baby?”

“Relax Monica” said the detective as he hastily walked up to her. ”We have a mutual friend, Ella. She has managed to convince me that you are innocent of the crime, she called me to ask if I knew where you were, I told her and she is on her way here.”

“Well,” said Monica, “If you are not here to arrest me, then what are you here for?”

“Am here to get you out before the others know where you are, apparently whatever it is you were thinking of didn’t allow you hear the sirens. You better follow me.


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