Oyinprince:

2:30pm

Dr Martin Ekwueme's Residence, Ngozika Estate

Dr Ekwueme had just finished having his lunch and was still at the dining room when a maid came to announce the arrival of his ex-wife. The news had taken him so much by surprise that he couldn't take the drugs he was supposed to use for afternoon.

He sat there on the shiny metal and leather chair, with his plates on the table unpacked. He had been wishing to see Adaeze but now he wondered how he was going to face her. She had said to him the last time they met that she would never forgive him for all his atrocious deeds. He had never done anything against her, he loved and protected her all his life and for their thirty two years in marriage never lifted a hand against her. But her love for him disappeared when she found out his cruel deeds against humanity and the country which he claimed to love. She had said to him that she could not continue to live with such a man like him and requested for a divorce immediately paying deaf ears to his pleas and claim to have turned a new leave.

He wondered how his son had been able to convince her to see him finally after many years of pleading. And what surprised him most was that she came to him in less than five hours. His son must have said something really serious to her.

'Martin!'

Fear gripped his heart as he heard the voice he hadn't heard in years. She had entered into the house and was looking for him, he could tell she was already in the living room. He sat still, knowing that she was going to locate him soon.

'Martin.'

Here she was, standing directly opposite him with an angry look on her face.

Martin closed his eyes. She was still as mad at him like she was over ten years ago when they divorced even though he still loved her like no other woman in his life. He had loved her like that and never cheated on her while they were married.

'Martin, what is this I hear that you've invited all the kids to come over during the weekend so that you can tell them what transpired between us.'

He opened his eyes to look at her. She had aged just like him in the past few years but she still looked very beautiful to him even though she was in her late sixties.

He now knew what made her come so quickly to him, just hours after his son had gone to her. His son had told her that he (Martin snr) was about to tell them why she divorced him. That was it. She was still protecting him, trying to make the children not hate their father. Was that because she still had some love left for him? He asked himself.

'I have to do it,' he played along. 'I have to tell them.'

'Have you gone nuts?' she gave him a cold look, climbing unto the dining.

'Yes, I have. I've gone mad without you. I'm dying of guilt and I don't have anyone to listen to me. I have to let it out before I die.' he said, looking down as he couldn't look into her eyes.

'You're really crazy. How can you tell your children? They would detest you.' she said, now closer. She placed her handbag on the dining table.

'I deserve it. Let them hate me. I brought it upon myself.' he replied, now considering on making it real - considering telling his children if she wasn't going to listen to him.

'I won't allow you do that.' she gave him a furious look.

'I have to tell them, I need someone to listen to me. You've been the one who listens to me and nobody has occupied that spot since you left twelve years ago.'

'What exactly do you need someone to listen to?' she queried.

'I'm dying Ada, I know. These drugs here cannot save me.' he raised up the nylon of drugs on the table and dropped it back. 'I've been having nightmares of my death for some weeks now and it got more intense few days ago. I know I'm about to pay for my sins but I need someone to talk to before I finally die.'

'You deserve something more than death, you did so much evil; you stained your noble profession and betrayed the trust of many in you.'

'I know.'

Tears began to drop form in the man's eyes. He picked up a napkin to stop the tears.

'Mum,' a voice called from behind. It was that of Martin Ekwueme jnr.

'Give me and your father some time,' she said, turning back to Martin who was already approaching the dining.

Martin stopped and stared for a moment at his father, he could see their discussion was heated. He stared at his mum's face for a while before walking away hesitatingly.

'These kids must not know anything, I won't let you pass your guilt to them.' she continued after the boy left.

Martin Ekwueme remained silent.

'I've lived with the guilt of the things you did for the past few years and it's tormenting enough for me just knowing we used the monies you got from evil together. I don't want you to pass the guilt to the kids, I'm protecting them from your torment.'

More tears flowed from the Doctor's eyes. It was confirmed. She didn't love him anymore and wasn't protecting him, her protection was for their kids.

His life had been a disaster. The feeling of unfulfillment never left him from the day she divorced him. Even after he established the hospital and tried to get fulfillment by helping people with it, his past will not let him be. And the thoughts of what he had lost, Adaeze, the woman he had worked so hard to be able to spend the rest of his life with finally leaving him and hating him took away every room of happiness from his heart.

He knew his days were numbered. The recent nightmares had confirmed it. He was always seeing a person whose face was always covered with a mask, shooting a bullet into his head.

'If you love your children, and I hope you do. Do not let them know about it, do not trouble their lives with your problem, allow them continue their lives and don't put the seed of evil into them.' Adaeze said in a concluding tone and picked her bag from the table. 'Goodday,' she said before storming out of the place.





'How did it go mum?' Martin jnr who was waiting outside walked to his mum as she came out of the house.

'Take me back to Nibo' she said , walking to the car. 'I'll call to confirm if Tracy has gotten home so she can make plans for us to leave.'

Martin froze where he was. He had expected something positive from his parent's meeting, after over ten years that his mum agreed to meet with their father. But he was wrong, he could see from the look on her face that nothing pleasant happened between the couple. He heaved a sigh of frustration, after several years his mother was still bitter at his father and didn't look like she was going to ever forgive him.

He finally moved from where was but he entered into the house again. He met his father still at the dining with his eyes closed and tears around the eyelids. He decided not to say anything and he quietly turned back and walked out to meet his mum in the car. They drove out of the compound few minutes later.





Dr Martin Ekwueme still remained on his seat at the dining. The maids had come to clear the used plates from the table and served some fruits. The Doctor stayed still with his eyes closed. He knew he would never see his wife again. It was the end of their love.

He remained there for several minutes, imagining how his life would be. Then suddenly, he felt a presence in the room with him. He opened his eyes and he saw his visitor. Dressed on black from head to toe, the face was also covered with a mask, there was a gun in the left hand.

He heaved a sigh. His nightmare was coming to pass.

He saw the gun raised. He was sure his death had come. He had nothing more to live for and couldn't wait for the bullet to enter into his head.

*

*

Who is Dr Martin Ekwueme and of what relevance is his story?

You'll find out in the coming episodes. The story becomes more interesting.



Read the complete Chapter 12 on www.youngicee.com

Joshmedia: You rock!!

Tarasha 2 - Chapter 12 Part 4

® 18+ SNVL

© Oyinloye Oluwatosin Emmanuel

The alarm from the bug detector began to sound louder as she got closer to the middle. She raised the phone and faced up to the ceiling, then the red thin light from the phone located the bug. Tarasha was facing up and looking directly into the bug, if she didn't have a mask on, that would have been a simple mistake that would reveal her face to whoever bugged the room. She quickly reached for the footstool beside the bed and climbed on it to remove the bug, she dropped it on the floor and crushed it under her feet. Then she proceeded hurriedly to the door and ensured it was locked properly. She turned back and went to the wardrobe, she flung the doors open and reached for the backpack. She took off the cloth mask from her face and took out a box from the backpack. She took out a skin mask from box and took her time to put it on carefully. She now had a face of a totally different person.

She quickly went to the front of the mirror to adjust the skin mask so as to fit her face properly. It was one of those masks Henry had seen when in the underground which used to be secret before they were attacked. She had made it specially for days like this and she knew she might be needing it; that was one of the reasons she had to cut her hair. The skin mask she was putting on now was the face of a lady, the same skin colour with her, so it matched with her fingers and other visible body parts. The hair behind the mask was much and flowing. Tarasha packed it neatly with a rubber band and hurried back to the wardrobe. She took out another set of clothes from the wardrobe and a kelvar to put on underneath; she needed to change the shirt and jacket, she was sure the person who bugged the room must have taken notes of her clothes already.

She began to hear to sound of an emergency alarm as she stripped to her underwear. The alarm instructed those in their rooms to remain there and those on the corridors or walking somewhere to move to the security section at the reception for safety.

*

*

Dave was running up the stairs hurriedly, he had put on the NIS licensed mask which covered only his top head and jaw, that was to make the police and other security agents recognized him as an SSS agent when they arrived. He could hear shouts of order and arrangement by the security men in the hotel as he climbed up the fourth floor stairs. He would have taken the elevator but he knew he might be trapped in it as they might turn off the operation during the process as a security measure.

He was on the fifth floor now and he couldn't wait to get to the tenth. 'The Police have arrived, we have about twenty of them.' he heard Clement's voice sound from his earpiece.

'Allow half of them in, the rest should stay outside to ensure she doesn't get out anyway. Did you reach the SSS office too?'

'Yea, they're on the way here.'

'Okay, make sure there are people outside.'

'Sure, I'll give the order from here. I didn't lock the lifts yet, I'm on my way to the tenth floor with some men. They'll turn off the elevators when we get there.'

*

*

'Cole, where are you?' she said into the phone as she strapped on her backpack. She had emptied the contents in the bed and rearranged the ones she'll be needing to tackle the current situation inside it. She had three loaded guns placed in the bed and a bullet pack, four other revolvers in the four outer pockets of the backpack and two long guns in the bigger section of the backpack. The ropes, laptop and other materials that had been in the bag were abandoned in the bed to create space for the small briefcase which she had now fixed inside the backpack. On a second thought, she picked the rope and put it into another section of the backpack without taking it off.


'Boss, I'm at the base.'

'Okay, a second please.'

She stopped and stared at the window, thinking of taking the option of escaping through there. She took out the ropes again and approximated the length with her eyes, the rope would not get her to the ground. She put it back into the backpack.

'I'm in a tight situation,' Tarasha continued. 'I think I have security officers surrounding Crescent Moon Hotel to get me. Monitor the environs of the hotel for me. Connect me with your talkon communicator, I need you to feed me important details. Get Henry to work and see if you can cause a crash the in communication network of Ngozika Estate and the roads leading to the place.'

'Right away boss.'

She ended the call and fixed the earpiece of the talkon device into her ears, the mouthpiece attached to the tip of her vest. She then picked the guns from the bed and put them into her pockets carefully. She headed for the door.

She turned the key twice and opened the door carefully. She peeped first and saw no one at the corridor. She stopped briefly at the middle of the entrance, thinking of which direction to follow; there were staircases leading to other floors in both direction. As she pulled the knob to close the door, the door of the elevator opened. Four security men fully armed with guns rushed out of the elevator. Tarasha stepped forward without closing the door anymore, she hands reached her pockets swiftly and she drew out the guns at both sides.

____

Abuja.

'Get up bro, Tarasha needs our help right now.' Cole opened the door and shouted loud into Henry's room from the entrance. 'Meet me right away at the control room.'

He slammed the door back and hurried off to the control room.

'What's the matter?' Tomi approached him on the way.

'Tarasha needs assistance urgently, the least thing I need from you is disturbance this night.' Cole said with a warning tone to her and hurried off to the control room.


Henry was out of his room in a second, he rubbed his sleepy eyes as he hurried after Cole.


'Locate Ngozika Estate in Anambra, get their communication and transportation lines and see if we can cause a major distraction or network failure there.' Cole said to Henry from his seat as Henry stepped into the control room. Cole inserted the talkon communicator earpiece into his ears and turned to mic to his lips.

Henry choose a computer hurriedly and switched it out. He took out his phone to begin the check for the coordinates of the estate whose names Cole mentioned while the computer was still booting.

'What exactly is going on?' he decided to ask Cole.

'Tarasha needs to get away from the location, she has been surrounded already.' Cole replied.

'Surounded by?'

'By the police.'

Henry's heart skipped a bit as he scrolled hurriedly on his phone. He couldn't imagine seeing Omotara dead or being caught by the police, he knew there was no way she would be rescued if she was captured this time.

____

Anambra

Three of the men received the bullets into their bodies before they could even think of raising their guns. Only Clement was able to dodge and hide behind the wall enclosing the staircases. Tarasha sent in more bullets to the fallen men's body to ensure they died completely. She surged forward and continued to shoot in direction the man had hidden behind, both up and down; up to stop him from coming out and down to ensure a bullet entered into his body before he could shoot at her if he decided to come out rolling on the floor.

She got to the end of the corridor. There were two staircases, one in the right direction where Clement had taken, leading to the upper floor and the other in the left direction leading to the lower floor.

'She's changed her dressed, she's now putting on a cream coloured jacket on a navy blue trousers and she has a bag strapped to her bag.' she could hear the man saying to someone. He had gone up the stairs to hide from her bullets.

She raced down the stairs in the left direction after shooting twice at the empty right. Clement came out on hearing her footsteps go the other direction. He shot at her from the top of the right stairs but she dodged and shot back at him. He dodged too and hid behind the handrails. She was gone by the next second he came out of hiding. He raced down the stairs to follow her. As he stepped on the passage in front of the elevator, Dave appeared from the stairs at the other end of the passage.

'She went this way,' Clement said, pointing forward before proceeding.

Dave proceeded forward hurriedly with a gun raised above his shoulder and a another held facing down in the other hand. He flashed a look at the three dead bodies on the floor before following in the right direction.


Tarasha got into the passage of the ninth floor, she proceeded in the opposite direction which lead to the tenth floor but stopped as she stepped on the third stairs. She noticed that three other security officials were on their way up from the other turn of the stairs. One of them shot at her but missed widely.

She hurried to the other end of the corridor, dodging the bullets following after her and shooting back sporadically to ensure they weren't able to aim at her freely. She took the stairs in the direction leading to the eighth floor. There was only one security official coming from the other turn and her bullet entered into his head before he could raise his hand. She turned and rushed down, she dropped one of her guns on the body of the dead security man in exchange for his. She proceeded onto the eighth floor. Two security men were already at the other end and shot at bullets at her but she dodged by bending down and fired one shot each from both hands, hitting the targets down. She proceeded down the other stairs hurriedly.

*

'Tell the remaining men to wait at the fifth floor instead of coming up, they'll take her by surprise when she gets there.' Dave who was now leading in pursuit said in a loud voice to Clement who in turn took out his talker to voice in the instruction.

*

Tarasha got to the sixth floor without meeting any official on the stairs she passed. She was about to proceed to the fifth floor when she remembered the rope in her backpack. She proceeded to the middle of the corridor and stopped, she located the cameras there and destroyed them with her bullets from her gun. She proceeded to the fourth room by the left and inserted a metal from her bag into the keyhole. She patiently set it until it fitted into the curves of the keyhole, she turned it and it gave way immediately. She removed the metal and entered into the room. She locked it back from behind with the real keys.

A fat woman was in the bed, covering herself in fear with the blanket and already shivering at the sounds of the gunshot. Her trembling increased on seeing the girl with guns enter into her room.

'Shhh...' Tarasha placed a finger on her lip to signal silence to the trembling lady who was now sweating profusely in the fully air-conditioned room. 'Just keep quiet and I'll be out of here soon.'

Tarasha hurried to the window side and took the backpack off. She took out the ropes and dropped it on the floor. She took another look at the woman in the bed. She realized that the girl could shout when she heard voices of the security officers in the passage. She took out a tranquilizing pin from her bag and hurried towards the woman who was now vibrating noisily. She administered the pin into the woman's arm and returned to the window side.

She opened the net and looked out through the window. She looked down at the backyard, there was no movements there. She picked the neatly folded rope from the floor and began to stretch it.

*

*

'Have you seen her?' Dave barked out as he stepped into the passage of the fifth floor. There were eight security officers already waiting on that floor. Clement and two others followed Dave from behind.

'She hasn't come here,' the security men at the left side where Dave faced replied him. They could see the SSS special agent tag on his face mask and they accorded him the respect.

Dave turned to the back.

'She didn't come to this floor,' the other security men confirmed his thoughts.

'We didn't see her in any of the floors we passed,' Dave said, looking at Clement's face. 'She must have stopped to enter a room in one of the floors.'

Automatically, Clement knew what to do. He turned the tiny mic to his mouth, 'Anthony, check for the footages covered within the last three minutes in the passage of the seventh and sixth floors.' he said to the man in charge of monitoring the security cameras from their Security room.

'Only three people should stay here. Three guys should follow me right away to the sixth floor and the others should go to the seventh floor.'

'Hey!' Clement shouted to stop the guys from moving yet. 'We have to do it gently, don't just barge into the rooms, enter courteously because of our guests.'

The guys sprung into action immediately, three of the men spread around the fifth floor, three followed Dave up to the sixth floor while the others followed Clement to seventh.


'Agent, she should be at the sixth floor, she fired at the cameras there and they stopped working.' Dave stopped to listen well, Clement was talking to him through the earpiece.

'Okay, you guys should chill there, so we don't miss her.'

'Anthony is monitoring, he said she's not been seen on any other floor since she destroyed the cameras.'

'Okay, come up to the seventh floor.'

They began to check the rooms one after the other and the men who had gone to the seventh floor joined them soon.

'This person isn't answering,' one of the men called Dave's attention. Dave was just coming out from a room he entered to check.

'Are you sure someone is there?' Dave asked and hurried towards the room where the man was standing in front.

'Yes, the sign of occupancy is there.'

Dave landed a heavy knock on the door twice and there was no answer. 'We got to open this place, she's here.' Dave called on Clement on noticing that the keyhole of the door had been tampered with.

'Destroy the locks, it will take us time to find the keys.' Clement said back to him.

Dave stepped back and pointed his gun at the lock. Two other men already stood beside him with their guns in readiness to enter the room. With two shots, the door gave way and the men rushed into the room holding their guns up. Dave followed them carefully. His eyes went straight to the opened window and then the fat woman in the bed. 'Check if that woman is okay,' Dave said to one of the men and hurried towards the window, he noticed a rope tied to the lower part of the bed extending through the window down but not to the ground. The rope stopped somewhere at the second floor.

Dave turned back and proceeded towards the door, wondering if Samantha could have jumped down from where the rope stopped or if she entered into the room at the second floor. He thought of going down using the rope but discarded the thought quickly, that would be one way ticket to his death for him if Samantha still hung around and was waiting to see who would come down using the ropes.

'She's escaped through the window with a rope, she must be somewhere in the compound or in the building.' Dave shouted to Clement as he stepped back outside.

'Activate the elevators,' Clement said into one of his communication devices. 'Anthony, check the past four minutes footages for the backyard.' he turned the mouthpiece to his mouth.

*

*

Abuja

'Boss, I've gotten into their system.' Cole said for the umpteenth time into the mic. He got no answers but sounds of gunshots again. He released a deep breath with his lips shaking slightly. His felt anxious as the gunshots went on continuously. He realized Tarasha was in a messy situation and didn't even have time to reply him anymore. She had replied him about eight minutes ago but he had not successfully hacked into the NSCC system then which would grant them access to view the footages from Anambra state. He wondered why Tarasha did not prepare enough for backup when she knew she would be facing something like that.

'What's happening?' Henry asked, he had been noticing the strange expression on Cole's face and had heard him try to get Tarasha's attention several times to no avail.

'Nothing... The boss is just busy,' he said. He flashed a look at Tomi who now standing by the side with her phone and turned towards Henry. 'Have you been able to do anything?'

'No, still trying to get into the servers from here.'

'Do they... Oh shit!' Cole exclaimed and turned back to his computer as the sound of continuous gunshots filled his ear, he knew the boss was now holding a long gun.

'What is it?' Henry couldn't take it anymore. He rose from his seat and proceeded to Cole.

'Stop,' Cole said, trying to prevent Henry from taking the earpiece off his ears but Henry did not stop, Cole had to give up to avoid destroying the device.

'Holy Moses!' Henry exclaimed with his mouth widely opened. He couldn't believe Tarasha was live at the place in which the gunshot exchange was taking place. 'What's she doing there?' he asked in a jittery tone, his face full of fear.

'Killing people who are trying to kill her of course,' Cole said and rose up to remove the earpiece from Henry's ears. 'That's the reason you should get done with what you're doing, she needs our help to get out of that place safely.'


*

She hid behind the walls covering the window and took off the backpack. She folded the remaining parts of the rope and put it into the backpack, then she took her time to reload her guns fully.

She stepped out of her hiding place, looking at both sides of the backyard. Three police officers were coming from her left side, she caught them off guard, they were all down to the floor in five seconds. Now she was certain that the gunshots at the backyard would have alerted the other officials and revealed her location. She went in the right direction, it was closer to the place her car was parked. She could hear voices of men approaching from the right side of the wall as she approached the edge, she was ready with her guns as she turned.

'She has been spotted at the backyard,' Clement's voice sounded in Dave's earpiece. Dave was at the reception at the ground floor, there was no one in sight, no guest and not even the front desk clerks. They had all run to the security building for protection as the sounds of gunshots razed the whole building. The security men had done a good job in getting all guests and non security officials to safety.

*

With the two guns still in her hands, Tarasha shot continuously as she proceeded carefully forward, sparing none of the three men that were coming towards her. They were caught unawares, not knowing she was close to the edge of the wall and was hearing their voices as they went closer.

*

There was a police sonata vehicle some metres away from the front of the hotel building and a van beside it. The officers standing in front of it and beside it rearranged themselves as they saw what had happened to their colleagues and began to shoot at Tarasha. Most of them choose the back of their vehicles as hiding spots.

*

Dave could hear sounds of gunshots as he proceeded towards the entrance. He hastened his steps and got out of the building, he turned in the left direction where the police sonata was parked. He could see the police officers already scattered abroad, they seemed to be more than the twenty he was told. He noticed a police van also parked beside the sonata as he approached and officers behind the vehicles shooting at the person shooting from the backyard

*

*

Tarasha quickly ran for cover to the large Crescent Moon Hall whose entrance faced that right side of the main Hotel building. There were huge stacks of plastic chairs and tables at the front of the Hall. Tarasha pulled one of the stacks down to the floor and hid behind another. Their shooting stopped for a moment, they probably thought she had gone into the hall. She quickly inserted the pistols into her pockets and took out the Beretta AR70/90 rifle from the backpack, she had loaded a 100-round C-Mag drum magazine in it and was sure it was the right tool for the number of people shooting at her.

She took in a very deep breath before coming out of her hiding place. She balanced her legs well before she began to shoot towards the men hiding behind the vehicles, some of them had come out when they did not see her. She began to walk forward slowly, with eyes following the movement of the policemen as they ran for safety. She continued towards them in confidence but still conscious of the space behind her. The policemen were going down fast helplessly and none of them could have a clear shot of her because of the power of the machine in her hands.

*

Dave was close to the edge of the wall but he halted at the sound of the new gun. The policemen were falling dead helplessly and Dave knew better than to rush out of covering into the kind of scene. From the speed of the moving bullets which he could see, he was sure that the bullets from her machine would have entered into his body before he could aim at her. He waited for her behind the front wall. He could sense the shooter was coming closer already, so he raised his gun in preparation.

To his uttermost disappointment, he felt a vibration on the wall which he leaned on. She was now shooting at his direction even though she had not seen him yet. He could not but marvel at her experience and expertise. She was already shooting at his direction even without seeing him to cater for the kind of surprise he was planning to give her.

She was closer and now walking faster, he could tell from the movement of the bullets. He knew he wouldn't be missed if she met him there. He decided to leave the place before she got there.

*

She reduced the frequency of her shots as she got closer to the front of the building, all the men she saw in front of her where the police vehicles were parked were dead already. She began to target some shots at the front of the building in case there was anyone hiding there.

Where she parked her car was still about forty metres away even though it was on the same parking line with the police vehicles.

She walked past the front wall of the building, still shooting. Like she expected, there were police officers waiting for her at the corridor of the building, some hiding behind the columns. Her gun still proved powerful enough to pierce through the edges of the concrete columns and bring down the hiding men, she continued to shoot at them even as she continued straight to the vehicles. She considered using the police vehicles but her bullets had pierced through them earlier and made them unfit for a race.

Now she had stopped shooting, she walked past the second and fourth cars after the police vehicles, her Chevrolet was still far away on the long line of cars. Then a car caught her attention, it looked like one of the Zenvo series. She moved closer and discovered it was Zenvo ST1. She took out the metal from the outer pocket of her backpack and dipped it into the lock of the driver's side. She took a moment to look back and there was nobody yet in sight but she knew she had little time. It was either she faced more policemen from outside or more the building.

The car door refused to open through the lock and she had no choice than to break the glass and open it from inside. She entered and threw her backpack with the Beretta to the backseat. She broke the switch panel of the car and found the part behind the switch to press. She pushed it with the metal in her hand and the car engine came to life. A bullet hit the car as she reversed out of the midst of the other parked vehicles. She bent her head slightly to dodge another possible shot as she turned the steering. She took out a pistol from her pocket and shot towards the entrance of the hotel building where the gunshot was coming from. She zoomed off towards the gate with bullets hitting the car and the glass from behind.

*

Dave continued to fire at the car as he ran down towards the car park. He knew she wouldn't be stopped at the gate even though she might be delayed, the delay would not just be enough for him to catch up with her. He began to look for a car to use in pursuing after her, he was sure she would be caught on the road as they had called for more police officers and efficient SSS men already. His eyes spotted the Chevrolet he had seen in the morning and his legs followed in the direction, not because he loved the car this time around but it was the fastest car which could try compete with the speed of the car she took.

Like he rightly thought, she was delayed at the gate but not stopped. He had already reversed out of the parking space before she was able to drive out.

'Sir, tell the police she's on the road now. Tell them she's on a Zenvo ST1, let them track it with the security cameras.' Dave said to Clement through his communication as he sped out through the gate. There was no way Samantha was getting away with all the SSS officers already called to join him in pursuit, Dave was sure of this. As far as he could keep getting feeds from the Security Cameras, he was going to follow anywhere she goes.


Can Dave stop Tarasha?



We're at Chapter 13 here: www.youngicee.com

Dave stop wasting your time,u will end up having a bullet or two in dat ur skull

Oyinprince welldone sir,i really appreciate ur work

Chapter 12 Part 6


Madam Adaeze's Residence. Nibo, Anambra State.

In a large and beautiful sitting room. Six people were seated, all in a worried mood except for Miss Adaeze who looked more relaxed. Tracy, her daughter was lying on the three seater sofa with her head resting on the armrest. Two other members of the extended family sat each in the one seater sofas directly opposite miss Adaeze and her eldest son, Martin. A policeman was seated on a footstool in front of Martin.

'Inspector, she destroyed some of the cameras in the house and even the ones left didn't capture any view of her.' Martin jnr complained bitterly to the policeman who in turn took down notes.

'The maid who saw the woman, is she here?' the officer asked, looking at Martin's face.

'No, she isn't.' Martin replied. 'My Dad's house isn't far from here; I would have asked her to come here if wasn't late already.' Martin replied.

'Okay, what about your sister who you found tied in the house?'

'She's here,' Martin said, pointing to the three seater where Tracy laid.

'Okay, I'll like to ask her some questions before I go.' his eyes lingered on Tracy for a while. 'Has she been seen by a doctor?'

'Yes, she wasn't injured except for the few marks left on her body from the ropes.'

'Okay, so when last did you hear from your father?'

'Between four to five o'clock, we agreed that I'll come drive him from his house in Ngozika to Nnewi where some of my younger ones are...'

'You have siblings leaving in Nnewi?' the man interrupted.

'No, they're family members who are so close to us.'

'But where did you go to? I thought you said earlier that you were with him all through the morning time.'

'Yes, but I had to bring my mum back here after she met with him. We agreed that I was coming to pick him to Nnewi but I got to the house in the estate and did not meet him at home. I called to find out where he was and if Tracy told him in the morning that she was going somewhere else from his place, that was when he told me that she was in first room at the upper floor.'

'Your Dad told you where she was?' the Inspector asked, pointing at Tracy.

'Yes.'

'How did he know? Do you know if he came here today?'

'No, he doesn't even know this place.'

'But how then did he know where she was? How did he know about the rooms at the upper floor?'

'I suspect that someone was with him and was telling him what to say.'

'Did you hear any other voice apart from his?'

'No, I didn't. But I noticed he was slow in answering. I'm sure he was listening to someone else.'

The Inspector stopped to think for a while but he wasn't able to make a conclusion yet.

'Did you ask him where he was?'

'Yes, but he didn't tell me. He only said I shouldn't worry about him and that he was going to be fine. He cut the call afterwards.'

'He cut the call?'

'Yes, I tried to reach him again but his line was switched off and it's been off ever since then.'

'And what did you do?'

'I came to the police station, I called my mum and she told me to ask of you but you weren't there. So I made a complaint to the officers present, they requested for details and collected my contacts and told me that I had to wait for twenty four hours before he can be declared missing. And they claimed the case was even different because he walked out by himself.'

The Inspector let out a silent breath, his gaze moved for a moment from Martin's face to the mum who was seated beside.

'Do you know if he had any disagreement with anyone that day?' he turned to Martin again.

'Humn...' Martin was reluctant to answer. 'My mum went to see him that afternoon.'

'And was there any argument?'

He flashed a look at his one with one side eye and looked back at the Inspector. 'It wasn't a pleasant conversation, I believe. But none of them raised their voice against each other.'

'Did you speak to him immediately after that? Was he still ready to go to Nnewi?'

'He was never ready to go to Nnewi, I talked him into it.'

'You did?'

'Yes.'

The Inspector cleared his throat. 'Well, it doesn't look like your Dad is in danger.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean... I think he'll come back home soon. You said he cut the call without telling you where he was, it could mean he just wants to take some time off.'

'No, Inspector, ' Martin disagreed. 'I would have agreed with you if that girl wasn't involved.'

'That girl, hmmm...' the Inspector bit his lower lip for a moment, wondering whether it was wise to say what he wanted to say I'm the presence of Adaeze. Even though she was seated in a way that obviously showed that she wasn't paying attention to them, he knew she would still hear what he was about to say. He then remembered that she had divorced her husband and didn't have any reason to be jealous about him anymore. 'Do you know if your father keeps girlfriends?' he leaned forward and whispered to Martin, still being careful for Adaeze not to hear.

'Girlfriends?' Martin questioned in a loud tone, contrary to the Inspector's desire of not wanting his mother to hear. She however made no visible reaction, she seemed not to be concerned. 'My Dad doesn't keep girlfriends, he's not been with anybody since he and mum parted.'

'Well... I was just saying... You know we are all men and ermm... We sometimes...' the Inspector struggled in low tones to find word to support his question.

'Just forget that Inspector, my Dad does not do that.' Martin defended.

'Well, I believe if you say so.' the Inspector lied. Martin's argument had further strengthened his opinion. 'Well, I believe your father will try to reach you soon but allow me ask your sister some questions before I make any conclusion,' the Inspector said and looked towards Tracy.

'Of course, you can.' Martin said and got up from his seat. 'Tracy, Inspector Mezie will like to speak to you.' he said to his sister who was trying to sit up as she already heard them mention her name in the conversation. 'I'll be back,' Martin said and walked out of the living room.

The Inspector moved to the one seater beside Tracy and settled in. He cleared his throat before he began to talk. 'Hello Tracy, I'm Inspector Chimezie.'

'Good evening Inspector,' she replied, folding her arms across her chest and placing her knees close together.

'I hope you're feeling better now.'

'I'm fine, she didn't really hurt me.'

'So tell me how it happened and what she did to you,' the Inspector adjusted himself on the seat to listen properly.

'I just returned from the shopping mall that afternoon, I was about entering into this living room when I heard my mum and elder brother arguing about my father. I didn't want to join the argument because it happens every time and I was tired of it. So I decided to enter through the backdoor so that both of them would not see me. As I got close to...'

'Sorry please...' the Inspector interrupted. 'What time was that?'

'It was some minutes past one,' she replied.

'Okay, please continue.' he said as he wrote down some details.

'I was close to the entrance at the back when someone grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth, she was with a gun and her face was covered with a mask. She dragged me in and pushed me against the wall with her gun. I initially thought it was a man because of her strength but then I saw noticed she had breasts when she held me to the wall. She asked me what direction my room was, but I was too scared to answer.' she paused and shook her head. 'That is all I can remember about her. When I woke up, I met myself tied in one of the guest rooms. My mouth was covered and I couldn't make any sound.'

'Why didn't you call for help when she attacked you?'

'She covered my mouth with her hand, I couldn't make any sound.'

'And you didn't try to fight her?'

'Try to fight?' Tracy raised her brow. 'I fought her but it was useless, she was to strong.'

'Hmm... That's strange. So she carried you all the way upstairs?'

'I don't know how I got up, but there is a staircase close to the back entrance.'

'Okay but was there no one else in the house?' Inspector Chimezie asked, knowing Martin jnr had returned and was leaning against the wall behind. He didn't use a loud voice but the voice he used could be heard by those sitting close because of the silence of the house. 'You and mummy were at the living room then,' he said, referring to Martin as he looked at him. 'Is there no one at the gate or no maids at home?'

'We have no maids here, we can't keep them because we only use this place for few days in a year or sometimes two to three years.' Martin jnr was the one who answered. 'The security guard lives here with his family to keep the house occupied while we are away. They stay at the back quarters but his office is just beside the gate.'

'And does he stay there always?'

'Yes, he does. At least while we're around. He opened the gate for me to drive in when I came.' Martin replied.

'Okay, I think he has some questions to answer too.' the Inspector said and turned his focus back to Tracy. 'Tracy, did she do anything else to you?'

'No, I've not noticed anything except for the marks the ropes left.' Tracy replied.

'Did the medical checkup confirm it?'

'Yes.'

'And she didn't take anything from the house?' he looked back at Martin.

'Nothing, we've not discovered anything missing yet.' Martin answered.

'Now, where did you go from your Dad's house? I'm aware you spent the night at his residence and left this morning,' he turned back to Tracy.

'Yes, I left around eight in the morning but on my way here, I decided to get something from the mall. I met an old time friend there and that's why I took so long. We spent time together, catching up on old times and she even took me to see one of our course mates from school.'

'Your course mate at the university?'

'Yes.'

'I thought you schooled in Europe.'

'Yes, we were at the same school there.'

'Okay and you came home directly from her place?'

'Yes.'

'Did you drive or you took a cab?'

'I drove in mum's car.'

'Did you notice anyone following you?'

Tracy squinted deeply for a moment. 'No, I didn't,' she finally replied, shaking her head to emphasize.

'Okay, well... It's even obvious that the intruder was in the house before you. What else do you think I need to know?'

Tracy frowned at him, not knowing what else to say.

'I mean did she say anything to you?'

'No.'

'Okay.' The inspector paused for a while to scan through his note and think. 'Did you have a quarrel or fight with anyone who you suspect might be responsible?'

'Quarrel?' she gaped. 'What would I quarrel with anybody? And why would someone just want to punish me by just tying me down?'

The Inspector folded his lips in, he had no answer to the question. 'Well, I believe that lady did something we're yet to discover.' he paused for a moment staring at the ground. Then his gaze moved to Martin's face, 'I think I have to see the man outside now, will you accompany me?'

'Yes, sure.' Martin replied and stepped forward immediately.

'So, miss Tracy, take care of yourself.' he said to her with a smile. 'Goodnight.'

'Thank you Inspector,' she replied before returning to her previous lying position.

'Nnukwu nne,' the Inspector turned and addressed Adaeze in an Igbo word which meant 'great mother'. 'I'll be leaving after seeing the security man, it's late already and I have to be home soon.'

'Alright, thank you Mezie. Greet your wife for me,' she said with a light smile.

'Goodnight ma,' he bowed slightly before proceeding out of the house with Martin.

*

5 minutes later

'Didn't you notice any lady coming in?'

'Walahi talahi officer, I no see any woman enter.' Audu replied the officer in Pidgin English using his thick Hausa accent.

'But she was in, she tied up your madam's daughter upstairs and even got out of the house without you knowing.' the Inspector insisted. He sat on a metal chair in Audu's security room, Martin stood leaning against the wall beside him while Audu sat on a mat, his legs folded and knees slightly raised with a prayer rosary in his hand.

'Officer, walahi I no see am.' Audu couldn't stop swearing.

'But is there any entrance apart from this gate?'

'No officer, no other place wey people dey enter.'

'Then it means she could have only entered and left through the gate. Your fence is well secured so, I don't think she'd easily go over it.' he paused for some seconds. 'How many hours did you spend away from here?'

'Haba Officer,' Audu gaped, knowing the man was trying to trick him with words. 'I no comot from here at all.'

'All through the day you were here?'

'Yes, Officer.'

'How did you eat and how did you take your bath?'

'Oga, my pikin them go bring me food and I get toilet for here' he said, pointing to the door of the bathroom where his towel was hung on.

'So you no comot for here at all?' Inspector Chimezie decided to also use pidgin but in a very strong tone.

'Ermmm... Na only when I go buy shaving stick for afternoon and I no tey for the shop at all.'

'Oh! So you went to buy shaving stick in the afternoon,' he said, nodding his head thoughtfully. 'What time in the afternoon?'

'I no check time but na after Oga Martin here come,' Audu answered with a frown, hoping that he hadn't implicated himself by admitting he went out.

'How long did you stay outside?'

'E no reach five minutes.'

'And you didn't notice anything when you returned?'

'Ermm... I no see anything o.'

The Inspector stared at him in silence for a while. 'Well, you're still the one to be held responsible for allowing an intruder into the house. If no valid conclusion is drawn out of what we have already, we may have to invite you to our office for more questioning.'

The Inspector rose from his seat and signalled to Martin that it was time to go.



'So what next Inspector?' Martin asked after both of them walked out of Audu's security room.

'Let's watch what happens before twelve noon tomorrow,' Inspector Chimezie answered.

'Watch?' Martin stopped walking and stared at the Inspector with his eyes widely shone.

'Yes, we can't do anything yet. The way the situation looks now, it like your Dad got into something with some dangerous people or maybe a dangerous girl and he's being forced to do something.'

____

'Cole, give me directions.' Tarasha finally had time to fix the mouthpiece back and respond to Cole who had been trying to get her attention for a long time.

'Where exactly are you?'

'I just got out of the hotel and I'm driving in a Zenvo ST1,' she replied.

'Okay,' there was a silence for some seconds. Cole was trying to spot the car. 'Okay, boss I just spotted the car.'

'Okay, should I continue on this road?'

'No, take the next U-turn, there's traffic jam at the front.'

'Was Henry able to work on the communication lines?'

'No, he said there is no way to do which it won't affect you and our communication with you. The distance is much.'

'Okay,' Tarasha sighed. She switched to the lane beside the median as she approached the U-turn. 'How do I go from this road to Udoka Estate?'

'Give me a few minutes to check and get back to you.'

'Okay, be fast about it.'

Tarasha made a turn to the other side of the median and continued with the same speed. She considered whether going back straight to Udoka Estate was a good idea but she had no option. The time for the effect of the sedative she had given the Doctor there had elapsed and it was possible the doctor was now awake and fully conscious. Even though the area was quiet and it would be difficult for the man to get attention or help with the way she had firmly locked the doors and windows, she still didn't want to give a chance. She had to find a way to change her car first, Cole would help make sure the new car would not be traced by the police.


'Boss, someone is following you.' Cole's voice sounded through the earpiece again.

'Huh?' she quickly placed her gaze at the rearview mirror to confirm. There were some cars behind her but none of them had a motion which suggested they were after her. The darkness of the day also made it difficult for her to see more.

'The guy's in even in your car, the Chevrolet.' Cole said. 'I watched him leave the hotel after you did.'

Tarasha looked again at the rearview mirror and the side mirrors, she couldn't see the Chevrolet yet. 'I can't see him yet, what direction should I take?'

'Continue going straight, I'll tell you when to turn.'

Tarasha continued without increasing her speed, she wanted to see the car trailing her first. The vehicle she was in was faster than the Chevrolet and that was why she had chosen it. Soon the Chevrolet overtook the cars behind and was directly at her back, only about eight mebehind. Tarasha increased her speed.

'Good speed boss, you'll take the next turn right, I've located another car for you to take.'

She moved to the other lane in readiness to turn. In two minutes she left a good space between herself and the Chevrolet and the driver in it was trying his best to catch up.

Soon she got to the junction and made a turn to the left. It was a single carriageway with two lanes, she wondered if Cole knew what he was doing but she still followed the direction. The road was a less busy one so she sped on with no disturbance and caused panic on the road as she switched to the opposite direction lane whenever she met a car.



'Slow down boss, we're close to the car.' Cole said to her. She obeyed. She couldn't see the Chevrolet anymore, she knew the driver could still be after her but she was sure her car which was being used couldn't meet up with her speed.

'That's the car boss,' Cole voice came through as she approached a Toyota Yaris. 'The owner just left it there.'

She slowed down and parked behind the car. The shops in the area had closed due to the lateness of the day and there was no one in sight. The Toyota Yaris was parked at the front of an unfenced compound.

Tarasha stepped out of the car and looked around, there was no one around and she could only see the headlights of only one car coming from the other direction. She pulled out the metal she used in breaking into the Zenvo and pulling out her backpack.

'I hope the owner isn't around?' she asked Cole as she walked to the car.

'No, he isn't. He walked into that house with his girlfriend some minutes ago,' he replied her in a joking tone.

She chuckled. The door of the car gave way immediately she used the metal. She bent forward and threw in her backpack to the backseat first. She looked around again before stepping into the car.

'What direction should I go?' she asked as she started the car engine.

'Turn back the same way you came and continue straight on the previous road.' Cole replied.

She obeyed his instruction without asking questions. The Toyota Yaris wasn't as fast as the car she left but changing it was a good option that'll waste the time of anyone coming after the Zenvo.

'I'm going to clear the NSCC system records once you drive out to the main road,' Cole said to her.

'Okay. What's the location of that Chevrolet now?'

'He's turning into that road way now, all you need to do is to keep the tinted window glasses closed and there's no way he's going to even see you in the darkness.'

'Okay.'

'I think they've called other police officers to join the pursuit but the police cars are still far off.'

'Keep me updated.'

She drove on and soon the Chevrolet came driving past her, she could see that a man was the one pursuing her but didn't see his face properly.

_____

12:12am

Dave was getting frustrated as he drove on. The Zenvo was totally out of his sight and the speed of his car couldn't match up with it. He got the direction to take the left turn from Clement who was now with a NSCC staff and monitoring through the security cameras.

'Any change in her movement yet?' Dave said into his mouthpiece.

The answer came after thirty seconds. 'We're trying to locate the camera covering her now, we have been following your car.' Clement's voice sounded in his earpiece.

'Okay,' Dave drove on. He could hear Clement discussing something with the NSCC officer but couldn't make out what was being said. Clement must have taken off the mouthpiece and left only the earpiece on.

He drove for two more minutes before he saw something that looked like the Zenvo parked at the front

'Hey sir! I can see the car parked here, I think she stopped already,' Dave said in an excited voice to Clement through the mouthpiece.

'We've already seen it sir,' Clement replied in a sad tone. 'I'm sorry she left there already.'

'What do you mean?' Dave said as he parked behind the Zenvo.

'We watched in the footages how she parked there but we can't seem to find what she did from then on.'

'I don't understand,' Dave said as he switched off his car. He took out his gun and looked around before stepping out of car.

'Agent Dave!' Clement called in an urgent manner as Dave wanted to close the door. 'She's no longer there. We rewound to the previous footages now and there was a Toyota Yaris there before she parked and when she did. I think she left in the Toyota but we can't confirm that, footages from when she parked to the following five minutes is missing.'

'Did you say a Toyota Yaris?' Dave asked, pressing the earpiece to his ears.

'Yes.'

'Oh! Damn it! I saw the car pass me when I was driving down here.' Dave hurriedly returned into the car but jumped out as soon as he jumped in. He picked his other guns from the Chevrolet and proceeded to the Zenvo. He entered into the Zenvo with his tools, Tarasha had already broken the lock so it was easy for him.

In less than a minute he had turned and sped back in the direction which he drove there.



'Have you located her now?' he said into the mouthpiece.

The reply was delayed as usual. 'No. You said you saw her pass by your side and we're trying to follow that direction and locate her. I'll get back to you as soon as we do.'

*

*

**12 minutes later**

'Shi*t boss!' Cole's voice suddenly through her earpiece after over ten minutes of silence. There roads were clear as they usually were at that time of the day.

Tarasha could tell that there was trouble from his tone, 'What is it Cole?'

'The guy is still after you boss, he took the Zenvo car you left behind.' Cole explained.

'Where is he now?'

'About 0.93km behind you.'

'What?' she widened her eyes in shock. She rolled down the window and adjusted the side mirror, she also adjusted the rearview mirror. She confirmed Cole's claim, she could see something far behind her even though she couldn't tell what kind of car it was. The driver was an experienced one and had dimmed his light to ensure that she doesn't know that he's tailing her. She increased her speed, 'Cole, didn't you clear the footages?'

'I did. I think boss, he's also connected to a security staff monitoring live just like I am.'

'What about the other police officers?'

'They're far behind and SSS officials too. But I believe the one after is the one giving them the directions to follow but I don't know if anyone is coming from the front.'

'Crash the NSCC system now and tell Henry to crash the communication lines,' she said in a desperate tone. The Zenvo was closing in on her.

'What? Boss, we would loss this connection.' Cole sounded afraid.

'Yes, I know. I can handle it if he's the only one pursuing and so we have to stop him from communicating to other police officers.'

'Okay boss,' Cole let out an audible sigh.

*

*

'I should overtake her in few minutes but I still need the officers,' Dave said into his mouthpiece.

'There are three cars coming behind you and we also contacted another set, they'll meet you at the front.'

'Thank you,' Dave said and released a breath in excitement.

He noticed that she had increased her speed, it meant she was now aware he was coming after her. He increased his too. He was sure of catching up with her in less than seven minutes time no matter how hard she tried to drive faster.

Soon, he could notice her reducing her speed gradually. He reduced his too and took out his gun in readiness, anticipating what she was about to do. He was surprised when the Toyota Yaris took a turn into another road, then he knew the reason for the reduction in speed. He increased his again until he got to the turn.

'She has changed direction, have you seen her?' he said into his mouthpiece but was replied with total silence. 'Hello Sir, are you there?' he said, touching the earpiece with his fingers, there was an unusual silence. He detached the connection box attached to his belt and checked the screen. 'Shi*t,' he cursed, the signal had totally disappeared. He attached it back, hoping that the signal would return soon. He also hoped that Clement was still being able to communicate with the police officers.

The signals did not return. He continued driving, getting closer to the car as it approached another junction on the short road. He held his gun in his left hand, he was sure he would catch up with her before she gets to the next turn. He planned on firing at the tyres of the car without caring whether she dies immediately or not, or if a terrible accident would go. He was willing to capture Samantha anyhow; whether alive, injured or even dead. He raised up his gun in readiness.





Tarasha could see the car closing in on her and she was sure that she would be overtaken before she got to the junction. She rolled down all the windows and took out her revolver in readiness, she placed it on her lap and focused back on the road and the mirrors.




The Zenvo was right behind her, it was only a matter of seconds before it got to her front. She held up her gun and suddenly hit the brakes hard.



Read more here: www.youngicee.com

Nice one

Chap 12 Part 7

® PG-13

© Oyinloye Oluwatosin Emmanuel


9:02am

Dave inhaled the cold air in the ward deeply as he opened his eyes. He looked to his left and saw a man putting on the SSS top seated by his side. With the inscription on the shirt, Dave could tell that the man was a very senior official of the service.

'You're awake,' the man said and got up from his seat to move closer.

'Yea, Good morning sir,' Dave said and managed to seat up. He felt pains at his back as he rested it against the headboard. He was without a shirt because of the plastered wound behind him. He also had a plaster on the left side of the head. Luckily for him, the bullet that got into his body narrowly missed the bone at the shoulder plate, making his injury less severe.

'Good morning Agent. I'm Godwin Anyim, assistant director of the State Security Service in Anambra state.'

'Oh!' Dave smiled and raised his hand to make a salute.

The man smiled back briefly and then put on a serious face, 'Agent, why didn't you reach us early last night to provide support for you?'

Dave sighed. 'I never knew I was going to need support, it came unexpectedly.'

'But you should have reported to the SSS office first when you got into Anambra.'

'Sir, I don't work for the SSS, I work with the SSS. My direct Agency doesn't have an office here, so I'm not obligated to report to any other organization.'

The man was silent for a minute. 'So under whose covering were you working in this state?'

'I got direct permission from the NIS Chairman,' Dave replied.

The man chuckled. 'Talking about the chairman, he called this morning and asked that you reach him as soon as you wake up.' the man said and turned back to take Dave's phone. 'Here's your phone, you also have a couple of missed calls.'

Dave collected the phone and unlocked it, he opened his call records and found the names of those that tried to reach him - Lizzy, Daniel and Inspector Dakolo. He exited and quickly searched for the chairman's number.

He took in a deep breath before dialing the number. He knew he was in trouble with the chairman already. There were only two options; either he was suspended for a week or two or asked to withdraw from the case totally. He had only gotten permission for interviews and was supposed to have called to inform the head office immediately the game changed.

'Dave,' the chairman's voice sounded through the phone's speaker.

'Good morning sir.' Dave replied.

'Dave, what happened to you?'

'Sir, it came suddenly. I...I didn't...I never expected to meet her here,' Dave stammered.

'And why didn't you reach the office before taking any action?'

'It was too sudden sir, I acted proactively.'

There was a few seconds silence. 'You also never wrote in your reports that you were tracing Samantha through her credit card.'

'Yes sir, I wasn't sure if she was that person, I needed to make confirmation and that is what I was trying to do when...'

'Shut up Dave!' The man slammed. 'Don't you know who you're talking to?'

Dave remained silent. He folded his lips in as his eyes met with Godwin's.

'Don't ever take me for a fool and tell me stupid stories, is that clear?'

'Yes sir, I'm sorry sir.'

There was another brief silence.

'When are you going to be discharged from the hospital?' the chairman asked.

'I don't know yet sir, I've not seen the doctors this morning.'

'You should find out and book the next flight available to Abuja as soon as possible. You can continue with your treatment here.'

'I'm sorry sir... But don't you think I need to still do some work here before returning?'

The Chairman was silent for a moment. Dave was afraid he had made the man angrier.

'If you have to do that, ll send Daniel to you, he'll take the next available flight there. Do make sure you don't do anything till he comes.'

'Okay sir,' Dave replied and gave a sigh of relief. He never thought the man would agree for him to stay and continue on the case.

'Be careful Dave, be very careful Dave' the man said in a tone which depicted more of threatening than warning.

'Phew!' Dave forced out a breath from his mouth as he dropped the phone. He closed his eyes, partly in frustration. Making any of his team members join him was something he dreaded. It meant he wouldn't be able to cover his activities from the corrupt chairman and the police anymore but it was a better option than the case been withdrawn totally from him.

He stared at the SSS man's face for a while. The man was back on his seat and scrolling through his phone without paying any attention to him. Dave opened his call records again and dialed Lizzy's number first. She picked the call at a ring and he apologized for not having the time to call her the previous night.

'Come on, hope you're fine.' she replied to his apologies.

'Yes, I'm trying. I got a bullet beside my shoulder though.'

'Aww! Sorry about that,' Lizzy expressed her concern in a sad tone.

'Thanks Lizzy, so how are you?'

'I'm doing good. How long will you be in the hospital?'

'I don't know how long they plan to keep me, but I don't want to stay here till tomorrow.'

'Dave, please take care of yourself.' she said in a pleading tone.

'Don't worry about me Liz, I'll call you again soon.'

He ended the call and dialed Inspector Dakolo's number. As usual the Inspector was requesting if he had any information contrary to what the news had reported that morning, not knowing that he was a part of those who made the news. He replied with a negative answer to the Inspector's disappointment.

______

'I don't know what you would like to eat, I'm going to get food from the eatery along this street,' Tarasha said to the man who was still seated in the same spot she left him in the living room.

The man turned to look at her where she stood behind the chair. He suddenly remembered that he didn't know the exact location he was. He had been indoor since the day before and had not seen outside the place.

'Where are we?' he asked and waited for a reply but she gave no answer.. 'Are we still in Anambra?' he pressed on.

'Yes.'

He got up slowly and sat on the sofa. 'I have a time table at home which the maids use in preparing my meals, I don't really choose what I like to eat, so I can't tell you what to get for me.'

'Well, I got some groceries from the store yesterday but your breakfast might come late if we have to follow your timetable this morning.' she said. She hoped he would not insist on following the time table because she wasn't ready to cook. She had learnt how to prepare some Nigerian dishes from Aisha and Tomi but didn't like to prepare them herself even though she enjoyed eating.

'I don't even remember what's on the timetable for today, you can get me anything to eat, I'm really hungry.' the man replied.

'Okay, I'll be back in fifteen minutes.' she said and walked away.

He drifted back to the realm of thoughts as she left him alone. He considered her offer again. Was it really the opportunity he had to finally right his wrongs? He asked himself. And what if his wrongs could not be righted? But it was still an opportunity to help the nation like she had put it, and it could just be his last opportunity to do something good for his people.

NIS Office, Abuja.

Lizzy was already preparing to leave her office when Victor's call came in. She wondered if he was also in Anambra with his boss or if he was still in town. She didn't hear from him the last night and even in the early hours of the morning which was unusual. She sat back and relaxed in her seat to answer the call.

'Good morning Victor, how are you today?'

'I'm fine, how about you?'

'I'm fine too, hope you slept well?'

'Yes, I did. Did you?'

'I did too. So are you at work already?'

'Yes, I am and I'm even preparing to go for a delivery now.'

'Oh! Okay. I'll call you later then.'

'Okay, bye.'

'I love you Pat.'

'I love you too,' she replied, shaking her head in disgust.

She hissed and tossed the phone into the bag after the call ended. She then rose from the table and adjusted her skirt.

'One of those old men, right?' one of her office mates hinted, talking about her conversation.

'No, an annoying young man actually.'

'Which case is that?' the office mate asked.

'It's an old case,' Lizzy answered reluctantly. She picked up her bag and hurried towards the door. 'I'll see you guys tomorrow,' she said, her shoes making noise as the soles came in contact with the ground.

*

*

The door to Cole's room opened just as he ended the call. He sat at the edge of the bed facing the door directly. As expected, Tomi was the one who entered without knocking.

'So that's the girl right, Pat?' she stood at the door with her hands on her waist. She was putting on an apron and had just finished from the kitchen.

Cole knew instantly that she had listened to his conversation on phone but still decided to feign ignorance. 'Which girl are you talking about?'

'The one you just spoke to on phone,' she replied and folded her arms across her chest.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' he replied with a hiss.

'I heard all you said on phone, stop lying to me.'

'You shouldn't be going around listening to other people's conversation, don't you have work to do?' Cole slammed, trying to turn the tables.

'Just shut up, I came to tell you breakfast was ready. You should be ashamed of yourself, always jumping around from one girl to another.'

Cole stared at her face for a moment and then burst into hysterical laughter. She stared at him thinly, wondering what the cause of his sudden madness was.

'Girl, I believe you know I'm well aware of the many guys that have entered you back and front. And you know we don't hide things from each other, I've heard stories on how you ride for several hours tirelessly. You shouldn't be the one educating me in sticking to one girl, after you've been laid by every man that knows how to talk. Now stop acting like I'm the only one who has access to what you have there,' he said with an evil smile, pointing with a finger to her chest and down to her privates.

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Her face clearly showed her embarrassment and anger. She turned and stormed out of the room without saying any other thing.

He laughed to himself after she walked away. He stopped laughing when a thought flashed through his mind. He decided it was time he had to stop eating her food. With the way things were, she was likely to poison him as soon as she gets the right opportunity.

________

10:45am

Udoka Estate, Anambra.

'I brought you some clothes from the mall,' Tarasha said as she walked into the room unannounced. The man was lying in the bed but wasn't asleep. He sat up slowly and his eyes followed Tarasha to the wardrobe in which she dropped the bag of clothes. 'I also bought you an antiseptic soap, a sponge, toothbrush and toothpaste. I know you must be feeling unclean the way you are now.' she closed the wardrobe and proceeded back towards the door. 'You have enough time to rest after your breakfast, we'd have to do some work together after lunchtime.' she said and walked out without waiting for a reply.

The man rolled out of the bed slowly and slipped on the slippers by the bedside. He walked to the wardrobe and opened to check what she had bought. After checking all what she came with, he wondered if he was still in abduction or if she had already accepted him as a co-worker.

*

2:30pm

Defence Hospital, Anambra

'Doctor, just dress up the wound. I need to leave here once my colleague arrives.' Dave said to the Doctor standing in his ward who had just administered some injections to him. Two nurses were in the ward with them.

'I know you have to get back to work but I'll advice that you let us watch you till tomorrow afternoon.' the doctor replied him.

'For another twenty four hours?'

'Yes, so we can monitor the wound and ensure its going to close up soon.'

'I can always come back for you to check me, but I can't stay here for another twenty four hours. I have some things to do tonight,' Dave stepped down from the bed and put on his slippers. 'Excuse me Doc, I'll like to use the restroom.'

'I'll give you sometime to reconsider your decision Agent,' the doctor said as he watched Dave walk to the toilet. He signalled to the nurses with him and they proceeded out of the ward together.

*

35 minutes later

Agent Dan had arrived with Godwin the SSS director. Another chair had been added to the ward, Dan and Godwin were seated and facing Dave who was sitting in an upright position at the edge of bed.

'The chairman is mad at you and he wants quick correction,' Dan said to Dave.

'I know, but you think he would still place me on suspension?' Dave asked in a sad tone.

'I honestly don't think so,' Dan replied. He bit his lower lips slightly and placed a thin stare at Dave's face. 'That's what he should have done but I think he was stopped.'

'Stopped? By who?'

'I don't really know but the bottom line is that they think you're doing well on the case and should not be stopped yet.'

'And do you know if the police has taken any action with the information available especially the credit card details?'

Dan was yet to answer when the door of the ward flung open and the Doctor walked in with a file in his hands. Everyone in the room turned to him.

'Agent, you're free to leave when you like.' the Doctor stopped beside Dave and handed an A4 sized paper to him. 'Show them this at the reception, the nurses would give you the drugs I recommend for you.' the doctor paused a little. Dave was scanning through the paper. 'Agent, do not involve yourself in strenuous activities or exercises yet, you may open up the wound again.'

'Thank you,' Dave said in reply. The doctor turned and courtesied silently to the other agents seated before he walked.

________



'Have you had lunch?' Tarasha asked the doctor as she walked into the living room. She had a can of spray paint in her right hand and a license plate of a car in the left hand. From the little stains on her top and jeans trousers, he could tell that she had just finished spraying a car.

'Yes, I took the plates and tray to the kitchen already,' he replied and returned his gaze to the television. The news was being read.

She walked to the store in the house and dropped the things she had with her, then she went outside again and returned with a can of spray primer and a masking tap. She didn't return until fifteen minutes time. She had changed into an armless black top and a blue jean bum short and also carried a laptop with her when she returned.

'Can we work now?' she asked as she proceeded to the man's seat.

He sat up and watched as she approached him. She dragged a footstool with her and placed it beside him.

'I have a couple of documents here detailing the importation of some drugs into the country between 2010 to 2016. I made some research and discovered that these drugs were banned in the US during that period,' she said as she opened a document. 'But the confusing thing here is that the importation was approved by the Nigerian drug agency then. I don't understand this, ' she stopped and looked at his face. 'You confessed to work with them in the business, so I believe you should have an explanation.'

The man didn't appear to be listening to her. His focus was fully on the document she opened. 'Where did you get this from?' he asked, referring to the article.

She closed the laptop screen on seeing that he wasn't paying attention to her. 'I asked you a question first, how did they get this importation and many others to be approved?'

The man sat, he released air from his mouth and looked the other way. 'The drug agency Chairman at that time was a part of Elvis Richards team, I can recognize his signature in that document you opened but I never knew a document like that existed.'

'But people bought this drugs, if they're really fake, how come there were no deaths credited to them?'

'There were several deaths, an example is the patient that doctor Danjuma treated which led him into trouble. But the way those drugs were; they weren't really fake or expired. A more proper way to describe them is calling them substandard, they did lesser than they were supposed to do.' the doctor explained.

'And no investigation was ever carried out?'

'During the early days, the drugs and vaccines were only acquired and used by low funded hospitals and some petty pharmacies. Our hospital had to get from them when we suddenly ran out of supply and needed those drugs urgently.'

'How long did the substandard drugs business last for?'

'I don't really know how long they've been operating before I met them, but the operations stopped totally in 2015.'

'But I'm still wondering how they could operate at all, how come no report or investigation was made?' Tarasha asked with a confused look on her face. She opened up the laptop again.

'I'm aware that after the Danjuma's incident, they began to repackage the drugs into similar containers of well known pharmacies in Nigeria. Several of these pharmaceutical companies were shut down by the new government that came in in 2016 because the substandard drugs were found in their names and containers . I think it must be the reason for the end of operations in 2015.'

'So, do you think we can get proofs for all these?'

'Well...' the man sounded not sure. 'We might get some proofs but we have to visit some locations in Lagos.'

'Okay,' she said and opened back the laptop.

There was silence for the next two minutes.

'But sir... Do you have anything else you think we can use against Elvis Richards?' Tarasha asked after the silence.

The man who was still reading through the documents Tarasha opened on her laptop stopped and leaned backward. He closed his eyes for a moment as if to recall something. Then he opened it again. 'I have some documents in my house at Nnewi, if you're ready we can go there to get them.'

'Oops! That reminds me, your family has officially declared you missing. What do you want to do about them?'

The man stared at Tarasha blankly. Sadness overwhelmed him. He didn't know what to do. He had expected that she would tell him what to do instead of asking.

'How did you know they are looking for me?' he asked.

'I heard it being said when I went to get paint earlier and I'm also with your phone, you've gotten a lot of messages already,' she replied and took out his phone from the laptop bag. 'Would you like to speak with your son?' she asked as she gave it to him.

'What would I tell him?' he replied.

'Tell him not to worry about you and to make sure the rest of the family is also calm. Also assure him that you'll be back soon, let him know you're just taking a short break somewhere.'




...to be continued



Read more here: www.youngicee.com

Chapter 12 Part 8


® PG-13

© Oyinloye Oluwatosin Emmanuel

8pm

Crescent Moon Hotel

'These clothes are very useless to us,' Dan said flinging back the clothes to the bed.

'I wasn't expecting her to leave anything useful behind though, we just had to come so that we could write a complete report.' Dave said to him.

'Well... Let's get out of here, you need to get some rest.' Dan said, proceeding towards the door.

The were in the room previously occupied by Tarasha. It had been locked since the last night by the other SSS officials and nobody was allowed to enter. Both Dave and Dan had SSS tagged masks on their faces which covered only some parts of their faces just to make them unrecognizable when seen without the masks. The masks looked more like helmets. The head security officer of the hotel was there with them, standing, with his back resting against the wall beside the door and watching while the agents ransacked the room.

'Officer Clement, I do need to thank you for your time and patience. I'm sorry about the loss of your men and the disruption of your normal activities.' Dave said as he turned towards the door. Dan was already out and walking away slowly.

'It's okay, we could have made history if we got her yesterday,' Clement replied in a rather low tone.

'Yea we could have,' Dave sighed. 'But it's sad that she still got away.'

'We made a good trial at least, I think we put in our bests, she was just too ready.' Clement stopped to lock the door after both of them stepped outside. Dan had stopped at the front of the lift and was waiting for them.

'The vehicle she got away with hasn't been located anywhere, I heard the owner was at the police station to make report.'

'Yes, the SSS general was at the station when he came, so he told me about it when he came here. But we've driven the Chevrolet you left at the front of his house to the SSS office for repair of the door.'

They began to walk towards Dan.

'I hope there's no other problem with the Chevrolet?'

'No, there was no scratch on it.'

'What about the owner of the Zenvo ST1? Has anyone come to ask about it?'

'No, not yet.'

'Well, I think I saw the owner of the Chevrolet that afternoon when I drove in. Those cars are expensive, I trust their owners to come very soon.'

'Yea... But that Chevrolet,' Clement stopped walking. 'A police Inspector was here this morning, they said it was likely owned by a kidnapper.'

'Kidnapper?'

'Yea.' Clement affirmed. They continued walking towards Dan but at a slower pace. 'A wealthy Doctor was said to have left his residence with a girl in that car and didn't return home that night. So they traced the car and found out it came here yesterday afternoon but didn't know where it went to from here, they couldn't find the footages.'

'What's wrong with these NSCC guys these days? Their system crashed when we needed them last night and that is what has been happening for the past few months,' Dave said, wondering what Mr Sylvester and the others were doing at the headquarters. He knew they must have been trying the number he submitted to them.

'They just need to improve, I believe it was the overload and unusual collection of the footages that crashed it last night.'

'But isn't that what they're meant for?'

The man gave no reply.

'So, that girl kidnapped the old man?' Dave asked.

'No, the officer called back this evening to ask if they had come for the car. He said it wasn't a kidnap. The old doctor called them in the afternoon to tell them he was fine and he just needed a break from his family and that's why he went with her.'

'Hehe,' Dave chuckled. 'I thought the man was her father when I saw them together yesterday. I was wondering how that kind of young girl was riding that expensive car, but I believe the wealthy doctor must have gotten the car for her,' Dave said in a light tone. The picture of the girl on low cut appeared in his mind again and he continued to marvel at her beauty even though she now seemed more like a runs girl to him.

Three of them stepped into the elevator and the door closed.

*

*

9:12pm

Tarasha's Residence, Udoka Estate.

'The rain has just begun heavily,' Tarasha said as she walked into the man's room.

'I can hear the sound,' the man replied, buttoning up his shirt, one of the new shirts Tarasha had gotten from him.

'I brought this for you, you might need it.' she said as she passed a blue cardigan to him.

'Thank you,' he collected it gratefully. 'Are we leaving right away?' he said, noticing she was fully dressed up in her usual black on black.

'No, we'll wait for the rain to subside a little, it's quite windy now and I won't like to drive yet.'

'Okay,' he said and began to put on the cardigan. He said something which wasn't audible because of the cardigan covering his voice as he wore it.

'What did you say?' Tarasha asked.

'Why are you on black?'

'Dark colours are good for dark periods of the day,' she replied.

He looked at her face and nodded in agreement.

'I want to believe your security officials at the place won't give us trouble,' Tarasha implied.

'I'll try to make them not to, but let's be prepared for them. I'll prefer if there's a way we can go in without going through them, they know my family has been looking for me and may want to raise an alarm even if I tell them not to.'

'I'll take care of that, we can help them sleep for two hours and forget all that happened when they wake.'

'I have two guards there and two relatives, are you going to inject them all benryl?'

'I don't have to inject them for it to get into their bodies, but anybody that comes in sight will get it.'

The man replied with silence and proceeded to put on his shoes.

'We'd leave this state finally on Friday, I hope you're ready to depart from your family.' she said and proceeded towards the wardrobe.

The man exhaled and inhaled deeply for a moment. He repeated the process one more time before he spoke. 'Where are we going to from here?'

'I can't tell you for now,' She stopped at the front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. She placed a palm to press down her neatly combed hair gently and rubbed her forehead with the hair cream that stained her palm.

'How long are we going to stay? Or how long do I have to be there with you?' he asked another question.

'For as long as it takes to achieve the purpose we're coming together for,' she replied.

The man closed his eyes briefly and took in a breath. 'Will I be allowed to make calls to my family?' he asked as he opened his eyes.

'I'm too not sure I'll allow you do that, but if it's ever gonna happen, it'll be monitored.'

There was silence for some minutes. Tarasha turned to the other side of the bed and sat on the footstool. Both of them seemed to be waiting for the intensity of the rain to reduce.

'Do you know why I'm taking you with me?' Tarasha asked, looking at the man's face.

The looked back at her with a pitiful look on his face. He nodded sideways to answer 'No'.

'I just don't feel like killing you,' Tarasha voiced out, feeling embarrassed at herself. 'The normal thing is to kill you after extracting the information I need from you but I've not been moved to do that especially because you've not given me any trouble. But I won't allow you return to your family until we're done, allowing you return would be dangerous for me andit'll be more dangerous for you because I can still come back to kill you and your family members whenever I want, no matter where you run to. But now that you're traveling with me, I still promise you a bullet in your brain if you ever mess up.'

Tarasha closed her eyes briefly after talking. She knew something was wrong with her. Killing people haven't been easy for her for sometime and it even became more difficult after she was saved from death by Cole and Henry. However, she didn't tell the man the real truth. Even though she didn't want to kill him, the main reason she was taking him along with her in a healthy manner was because she believed he could still have more information than they were going to retrieve from his house that night. She could have injected him substances that'll make him have a total memory loss or another that'll turn him to a dummy and render him useless even if she wanted to preserve his life.

The man stared blankly into the air. He believed every word she said. He had seen the crime scenes on the news that afternoon and knew what she was capable of doing. And maybe he still could prevent the bullet from entering into his head by helping her against her targets and at the same time 'helping his nation' like she had put it and by that he would totally avert the nightmares he had been having.

Abuja.

'So, you really want us to go out tomorrow?' Cole typed into the chat box with Patricia and clicked on send.

There was a smile on his face as he scrolled up the messages again. It was her first time of ever asking him for an outing first, even though she only suggested it indirectly.

'No, it's not compulsory that we go out. I could come over to your house. Probably prepare dinner for us if you allow me and then we can spend the night together. I'll leave from your place to work tomorrow.'

The smile on Cole's face totally disappeared after reading her message. On a normal day, he was supposed to be glad that she offered to come to his home. He should have started preparations immediately for things he would do to her and with her when she comes. But the reverse was the case here.

'But what about your parents, will they like it if you sleep out?' Cole sent his reply.

'They won't know where I slept. I could just tell them I have to work late that day and that I'll be sleeping at the staff's quarters.' her reply came in.

Cole heaved a sigh on reading the new message. He had houses in Lagos he would have taken her to if they were to be in the state but he had never thought of having a house in Abuja even though he had the money to buy several, the reason being that their stay in Abuja wasn't planned to be a long or a permanent place of residence.

'I won't like you lying to your parents just because you want to spend time with me,' he replied, surprised at rate he had turned to a good moral adviser.

'Why? I'm a woman and not a girl anymore, so they can't dictate what I should do.' she replied.

'I know but I'll prefer that they know me and know that you're coming to my place,' Cole typed and sent. He really wished the argument wasn't going to continue. He didn't have much excuses to give anymore.

'Then why are we wasting time? I think you should come to my place this weekend so that I can introduce you to my family as my boyfriend.'

Boyfriend? Cole gasped. Nobody had ever introduced him as a boyfriend in his life since he never had the chance to keep a girlfriend. And he also thought that it was only fiances that were introduced to families.

He sat up and rested his back against the headboard. He exited the messenger and opened a web browser. It was time for him to get a personal house in Abuja. He knew he would find a good one within minutes of checking.

'Hey?' another message entered from Patricia. She could see he had read her message but didn't reply. 'Are you coming to visit my parents?'

'Ermm... Don't you think we're taking things too fast?' he typed and sent.

'Do you love me?' she replied in less than ten seconds.

'Yes, you know I do.'

'Isn't that what matters?'

Cole heaved a sigh and shook his head. He began to consider the option of going to see her parents. It wasn't really a dangerous idea for him but it could be for her.
Getting an apartment was the solution for him. Once he finds a house and pay for it the next day, then he would be able to take her somewhere whenever she requested to go to his house.

'Are you coming?' her message entered before he could type anything again. 'Please don't say no if you really love me.'
Cole let out a breath, he felt weak. 'Okay, this Saturday.' he finally replied.

___

Three minutes later
'Yeah! The dummy has finally agreed to come see my parents,' Lizzy typed into her second phone. She was also chatting with Dave.

'Wow! How did you go about it?'
'I asked him to prove his love with it.'
'Nice, so how do we make plans for him?' the reply came in.

'You have to arrange parents for me,' she replied and dropped the phone to reply to Victor's message on the other phone.

'I'll get back to you tomorrow,' Dave replied.




______


April 24, 2031

10am

Crescent Moon Hotel, Anambra.

'Sir, that wasn't her face.' Dave said to Clement in the security office. They were the only two persons there. Since a great number of the security men of the hotel had died days ago, the office had always been scanty with only Clement and his assistant there most of the times.

'I don't understand, do you mean that the face captured by our cameras was unrecognizable?' Clement asked with a frown.

'No, the pictures from the cameras were clear enough but we still couldn't find her as a registered citizen of the nation or even in the guests records.' Dave replied, shaking uncomfortably in his seat.

'That means it's a problem from the records,' Clement suggested.

'No, it isn't. We've never been able to trace Samantha Osman's records from the start.'

'What of the records as AK Evelyn which she used here?'

'The AK Evelyn she registered here isn't the same as the one I thought, it is something else not Alexander Kimberly Evelyn, Dave said.

'Okay, if you know the full for the initials of her new name, why don't you trace through that?'

'We're doing that already but I'm sure it won't lead us to her, she would have discarded the name and cleared the records like she does always.'

Dave's phone began to ring at that moment. He politely excused himself from Clement to receive the call.

'Good morning Agent Godwin,' Dave said into the phone.

'Good morning Agent Dave, you're needed at the headquarters right away.' Agent Godwin replied from the other end.

'I hope there's no problem,' Dave replied, a frown appeared on his face.

'It's not a problem really, but it's urgent. It's about the car you used that day.'

'The Zenvo? I thought we addressed the owner yesterday. We pleaded with him that it might take some time for the government to release us money except the car is insured.'

'No, it's the Chevrolet.'

'Oh!' Dave paused a bit. 'Okay, but my colleague is at the office, he can address their questions for me.'

'No, he's tried but couldn't answer all. You need to be here, because the owner is claiming there's something missing in her car.'

'Something missing? That's not true. The only problem is the door which was destroyed.'

'So you need to come say that yourself to the owner.'

'Okay, I'll be there in few minutes.'

'We told her that you are a doctor and you only used her car to go to the scene to give first aid to the victims.'
'Okay, that's fair enough.'
'Yea, we're waiting for you.'

Dave got up from his seat immediately he ended the call. 'I've got to go now,' he said to Clement.

'No problem,' Clement also rose up from his own seat to see him off. 'So what's the direction of your investigation now?' Clement asked as they walked towards the car park.

'No direction yet, Samantha has destroyed the credit card I traced here.' Dave said with a sad tone. 'I don't think we'll stay up to two more days here. I'm not sure she's in this state anymore.'

'But what if she launches an attack elsewhere after you leave?'

'For now, I don't have an idea where she is or what she might be doing next. If she does anything after we leave, the men of the SSS here will take over, we'll come back if there's any need.'

'Alright, I wish you goodluck with your work.'

'Thank you sir.' Dave gave a light smile. 'I would like to apologise again for the troubles we caused here and for all the men you lost.'

'It's okay Agent, it had to happen. I just hope you help us push it and make the government provide the adequate compensation for their families.'

'We'd try our best,' Dave replied. He shook hands warmly with Clement again before he made his way into the passengers' side of the car. A driver was waiting in the car for him.
Dave groaned slightly as he sat, the wound at it back was opening up because of lack of rest. He closed the door and put on his seatbelt before signaling to the driver that he was ready. Clement stepped back and watched until they drove away.

Dave took a glance at all the cars in the hotel compound as they drove towards the gate. The sounds of gunshots and the screams of men falling returned to his memory. He felt guilty for their deaths and wished he could do something to reverse it. But he knew it wasn't his fault. He had done his best to avoid a shoot out that day but had no option other than it as he didn't want to let Samantha go.
He tried to change his line of thoughts as he let out a deep breath but couldn't until they got to the gate.

The security men opened the damaged gate as he approached them, Dave remembered the lady in the Chevrolet again. He wondered if she was the same person waiting for him at the SSS office and thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to meet her if she was. He began to think of words to say to her when they meet.

*

16 minutes later.

'Agent Dave,' Agent Godwin offered him a handshake as they met at the entrance of the reception.

'Sir, where's she waiting?'

'In the lounge with your partner,' Godwin answered. 'I am going out already, I'll be back before you guys leave. Remember that you're a doctor.'

'Okay,' Dave smiled and let go of the man's hand. He made his way to the lounge, hoping that Dan would have left there before he got there so that he could have enough privacy with the lady.

He was disappointed when he got to the lounge, not because Dan was still in the lounge but because the lady there was different from the one he saw in the car two days before. This one was not as beautiful as the other but wasn't ugly as well, she had her hair plaited and all falling back.

'Good afternoon ma'am,' he greeted as he walked closer.

'Good afternoon sir,' Tarasha squinted at his face. She wondered what kind of doctor he was, the bandage on his head wasnt as neat as it should be which showed that it needed to be redressed and it was also obvious that he was a victim of a recent accident.
'You own the Chevrolet?' Dave asked as he settled in the seat close in front of her.

'Yes, I do and are you the doctor who drove in it?' She didn't take her eyes off his face as they talked and It didn't take long before she recognized him and remembered how he drove in with the taxi that day she was leaving. She recalled that their eyes met briefly and that he kept staring at her until she drove out through the gate.

'Yes,' Dave replied. He looked towards Dan with a frown. 'Have you guys confirmed that she's the owner?'

'Yes, she has all the necessary documents and knows everything about the car.' Dan answered.

'Okay.' Dave looked back to the lady and let out a fake smile. 'Sorry, I just needed to be sure.'

'It's okay. I'm sorry I had to make you rush down from where you were. I thought I dropped a folder in the car that day but I've been informed that it has been found. I didn't bring it along with me to the hotel that day.'

'Okay, so you have no need to see me again?'

'Yes, I'm sorry. I just decided to wait for you and apologize since they said you were already close,' she said and got up to her feet.

Dave flashed a look at Dan to confirm and Dan shrugged in confirmation.

'But... I thought I saw your car earlier that day in the hotel driven in by someone else,' Dave said as he got up from his seat.

'The SSS director and this your friend, already confirmed that i what you saw wasn't my car, the car you saw was different.' she replied. Her phone began to ring in her bag and she stopped to search for it.

'Different?'

'Yes, Agent Dave.' Dan confirmed. 'Her Chevrolet drove down to the hotel from Asaba, the other one you saw came from an hospital in Ngozika Estate. The car couldn't have been in two locations at a time.'

Dave felt somehow confused. He knew it was possibly true because most Chevrolet Camaro were painted in that same color but he wondered how they had to use the same hotel that day. He however had to accept since Dan had confirmed that the cars were different. All his hopes of meeting the beautiful girl on low cut totally diminished. Not that he really felt lust for her but there was just a strange desire to get closer to the low cut lady.

'It's okay ma'am, sorry for stopping you again.' Dave said to her.

'Thank you doctor,' she said and raised her phone to her ear as she turned. Her finger touched the volume button at the side of the phone.


...to be continued.


Read more here: www.youngicee.com

Tarasha my luv mst nt die oooo, she mst live 2 expose all her enemy... Thumbs up � 2 u bin d writer am sorry i did nt comment since ts jst dat am a wonderful ghost reader.... U gat a nyc piece.

Nice update... Read other interesting stories on Tushstories via

www.tushstories.com

#Click

Dave is in a big mess already; Tarasha has just captured his face with her phone camera.
what a smart move by Samantha.
Following.......

oyin plz what are you doing about the comments box on your blog, av been trying to comment for a while now ND I can't seem to get it.. Plz do something **thanks

Oyin old what are you doing about the comments box on your blog? Av been trying to comment for a while now ND I can't seem to get it done , plz do something **thanks

Tobennz:
Tarasha my luv mst nt die oooo, she mst live 2 expose all her enemy... Thumbs up � 2 u bin d writer am sorry i did nt comment since ts jst dat am a wonderful ghost reader.... U gat a nyc piece.

Thanks man

.

wwwtortoise:
Dave is in a big mess already; Tarasha has just captured his face with her phone camera.
what a smart move by Samantha.
Following.......

Wehdone mr tortoise

pearl009:
Oyin old what are you doing about the comments box on your blog? Av been trying to comment for a while now ND I can't seem to get it done , plz do something **thanks

Please read this: http://www.youngicee.com/2016/08/how-to-make-comments-on-this-blog-and.html

Tobennz:
Tarasha my luv mst nt die oooo, she mst live 2 expose all her enemy... Thumbs up � 2 u bin d writer am sorry i did nt comment since ts jst dat am a wonderful ghost reader.... U gat a nyc piece.

actor not they die for film na, nr fear

This one thing is certain....more update is meant to quench the hunger for more....but no....we want more......thanks bro for being consistent.

dimssy:
This one thing is certain....more update is meant to quench the hunger for more....but no....we want more......thanks bro for being consistent.

You don't quench hunger rather you....
sate hunger and
quench thirst

my 2cents

wwwtortoise:


You don't quench hunger rather you....
sate hunger and
quench thirst

my 2cents

Many thanks bro.....

[quote author=EmpresFIDEL post=62073689]actor not they die for film na, nr fear[/quote
E beta be ooo

oyinprince weldone jare

dave see ur life u think u can arrest trasha abi


cole u better one ur self, the way u calling liz

hope u won't put trasha in a problem .

but i know one thing that , if cole find out ur real identity lizy , that day will be ur end.

Chapter 12 Part 9



© Oyinloye Oluwatosin Emmanuel

April 25, 2031

2:49pm

'Cole, look out for a pharmacy as you drive, we need to get some drugs.' Tarasha said to Cole as he drove them home in the car from the airport. She and Dr Martin Ekwueme sat comfortably at the backseat of the car.

'Okay boss,' Cole nodded. He looked at the rearview mirror to look at the man's face again. He knew it must be the man who needed to buy drugs, Tarasha had never stopped to buy drugs on the road without taking a license of representing a hospital or clinic.

His eyes met with Tarasha's in the mirror and he looked away . He knew she had caught him observing the man and would be wondering what he had in mind.

He flashed a look at the mirror again, this time to have another view of her face but she had moved closer to the door and her face couldn't be seen except he adjusted the mirror position. What caught his interest on her face was her new hairstyle. He hadn't imagined she was going to cut her hair when she asked him to suggest to her a good salon in Lagos.

'There's a pharmacy over here,' Cole said and moved to the slow lane of the road, he reduced the speed and put on the trafficator.

'Where's the list of drugs?' Tarasha asked Dr Martin.

'Here, just five drugs.' Dr Danjuma pulled out a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Tarasha.

Cole parked at a reasonable space in front of the pharmacy and took off his seatbelt.

'Get these drugs and three bottles of water,' Tarasha said to him, handing him the list of drugs and a debit card.

Cole collected the items from her and stepped out from the car. 'Can I also get myself a bottle of water?' he asked Tarasha after closing the door.

'The third bottle was for you,' she replied him. He nodded and mumbled some inaudible words before walking away.

'Who's he?' Martin Ekwueme asked after Cole left.

'He's Cole,' Tarasha replied briefly.

'Your driver?'

'He's Cole,' she repeated.

'Okay,' the man stopped and refrained from asking more questions about Cole. Tarasha had already told him she wasn't going to be answering all his questions and that he would have to either keep shut or find out some things by himself.

*

*

Twenty minutes later

'Just take those ones in, I'll bring the remaining with me.' Tarasha said to Cole who was trying to overload himself with the bags in the boot.

Cole pulled the big traveling box in his right hand and held Tarasha's backpack in his left. He left Tarasha at the boot with the briefcase and a cubic shaped bag.

'Can I help with any?' Tarasha heard Dr Ekwueme offer.

She let out a fake smile and said, 'Don't bother, just follow him inside.'On a usual day she would have said, 'Old man, get the f*** in and stop misbehaving.'

She closed the boot and carried the bags in her hands, following the man behind at his pace.

Dr Martin glanced around, taking a good view of the house as he proceeded towards the entrance from the car park. It was where he was going to live till Samantha said she was done with him, he assumed. It looked beautiful to him but he wondered if it would be livable like a normal residence or more of an assasin's crib. Anyone it was, he was ready to live there until it was over. Tarasha had threatened that the lives of his family members were at stake if he ever tried to betray her. She had said it lightly and indirectly, but he wasn't going to take it lightly especially after he had watched the news on TV with her the last night and saw the recap of the blood scenes at the hotel. From that he also got to know why she repainted the Toyota Yaris they left in the compound at Anambra state. Tarasha seemed to be someone of two different personalities to him; the first a lovable innocent girl who was ready to listen and help always and the second personality, a ruthless assasin.



Tarasha followed patiently behind the slow walking aged man until they got to the corridor and she found her way to his front.


'Where is she?' she heard Henry's voice as she stepped into the living room. She halted at the entrance as her eyes met with his, he was standing at the entrance of the corridor leading to the rooms. She knew her arrival must have taken him by surprise, she asked Cole to come to the airport without saying any word about her arrival.

'Omotara,' Henry mumbled under his breath with his eyes widely shone at her as if he couldn't believe that she was really there.

For reasons unknown, Tarasha could not move any further from where she was and Henry also froze for sometime. Their eyes connected and something similar to an electric current surged through Tara's body.

Henry began to walk close to her while she remained at the same spot. Dr Martin was now standing behind her and couldn't pass because she blocked the entrance, he however didn't say a word but waited patiently to see what was making her remain there.

Her bags dropped from her hands as Henry got closer and he didn't not allow her say anything before he pulled her into warm embrace.

Tarasha remained stiff for a while, not knowing how to respond as it felt strange. The only time she knew how to respond to an embrace was when it was being given to her by someone she was trying to lure to his death or extract an important piece of information from. She finally realized that he was holding her tightly and one of his hands was at her back and the other close to her waist, then she responded by placing her hands at the same position his was.

'I thought I was going to lose you,' Henry said, finally releasing her from his grip.

She stared at his face passionately without knowing which words to respond with. Her hands found it's way to his back and pulled his face closer by his neck to her own face for a kiss.

Someone cleared his throat as their lips touched each other's.

'I'm sorry, but I'm quite tired, you have to allow me pass first so that I can give you all the time to enjoy yourselves.' the doctor said.

Both of them disengaged and Tarasha picked up her bags from the road to allow the man pass.

'Good afternoon,' Dr Martin greeted Henry as he walked past to the centre of living room.

'Wow! We have someone new,' Henry exclaimed with a chuckle, his surprise causing him not to return the man's greeting. His eyes followed the man as the man walked to one of the sofas and sat down tiredly.

'Yes, we do.' Tarasha replied him and attempted to proceed forward with the bags. Henry stopped her and collected the bags from her. He then carried it to the rooms while she joined Dr Martin where he was seated.


She walked to his front and stopped right there with her back turned to him. Then she turned back and squatted at the same time. He stared at her face wondering what she was up to.

She could see the fright in his eyes as her eyes met with his. She held her breath for a moment. 'Don't get too familiar with me, it's dangerous,' she said in a serious warning tone.

He nodded fearfully, holding his breath in his throat as she stared at his face coldly. She finally got up and walked away, leaving him to keep wondering what she meant by her warning. He couldn't tell if it was connected to what he just did at the door or if it was something else entirely.

*

*

Control room

'I want the list of all NAFDAC's director generals from 2008 till date,' Tarasha said to Cole who was working on another system while she worked on the master system.

Cole nodded in response and began his work. He knew what she meant when she said 'list', it meant a complete profile and details of each one of the director generals and not just their names.

The door to the control room opened and Henry stepped in. He was surprised to see Tarasha working already, he had expected that she would take some time to rest, probably a day off before resuming work. He closed the door gently and walked towards her. He stopped behind her chair and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at what she was doing.

Her body twitched as Henry's hands touched her shoulders. She hoped that he didn't notice the twitch and continued with her work without looking at him. His fingers spread around her shoulders for a while gently caressing her neck and shoulder muscles.

'Who's he?' Henry suddenly stopped what he was doing and stared at a picture she just opened. Previously, she had been on the Nigeria Citizen's directory portal and had hacked into it. She then minimized and opened an USB device connected to the computer. The file she clicked on was what displayed the image Henry was asking about. The man had a bandage around his head.

'He's the SSS agent who traced me to Anambra state,' she replied, not getting rightly the pronunciation of 'Anambra'.

'How did you get him? I thought the news reported that his identity was unknown.' Henry asked.

Cole's attention had also been drawn to them from where he was and was staring at them, wishing he could see that SSS agent that was able to trace Tarasha.

'Yes, no one knows his identity except the top Security agents. I had to go the SSS head office to find out,' Tarasha replied.

'Boss, can I see his picture? He could be someone I know,' Cole said and got up to his feet.

Tarasha opened the picture back for Cole to have a view.

Cole stared at the picture for close to thirty seconds. 'His face is familiar,' Cole said. 'How did you get his picture?'

continuation



'I captured him with the back camera of my phone,' Tarasha replied and exited the image.

'Wow!' Cole exclaimed and returned to his seat, imagining how Tarasha was able to take the picture boldly without the SSS guy knowing.


Henry dragged a seat close to Tarasha and sat beside her, watching as she selected the main features of the face in the picture and exported it to the citizen's directory checker. She clicked on search by passport and relaxed back as it began to load.

'I think I know who the guy is,' Cole suddenly spoke again after three minutes. He had thinking about it since he saw the picture. 'That guy is a journalist,' Cole added.

Tarasha glanced at him without saying anything back, he didn't sound too sure of his assertion. She looked back to the screen in front of her. The search on the citizen's directory was slow and had only loaded two percent. 'You're not sure,' she turned back to Cole.

Henry moved his chair backwards to allow her see Cole easily.

'I am, I've seen him at several crime scenes with cameras and recorders.'

'He can't be a journalist, he was the SSS official that came after me in the Chevrolet.'

'Did you confirm he was a officer of the SSS from their office?'

'No, they would never confirm that. They told me he only had to use the car to pick up one of the injured officer and that he was working as a doctor close to the hotel.' she said and looked back at the screen, it was now at nine percent.

'I'm sure he's a journalist, I've seen him with the desert reporters' badge at crime scenes several times.' Cole insisted.

'Desert reporters?' she asked.

'Yes.'

She minimized the current window and opened another app. 'We can get more information about him if he's truly a journalist for desert reporters.'



______

Aguda House, Aso Rock.



Elvis Richards made slight noises with the soles of his shoes and the walking stick as he made his way down the stairs. The Chairman of the NIS and the Inspector General of police who were waiting for him in the living room already got alerted of his coming by the sounds made. The NIS Chairman rose up to his feet as the Vice President approached while the IG who was in his wheelchair remained seated.

'Good afternoon sir,' the NIS Chairman and IG chorused.

'Good afternoon gentlemen,' Elvis Richards stretched forth his hand to the NIS man first before going to the IG. 'Please be seated,' he said and also located a seat. 'I believe the both of you know it's really important we meet. We need to really know what happened in Anambra two days ago and I think you're in the best position to answer us,' he concluded by facing the NIS Chairman.

'Yes sir, reports from my men have already been sent to me and I transferred them to the IG already.' the NIS Chairman said.

'So, IG, what have you been able to make out of the report sent to you?' the Vice President turned to Chief Rikau.

'Sir, we couldn't make out anything tangible, her going to Anambra doesn't really make any sense except she went there to kill someone else we don't know about and who isn't connected to us.'

'What about your Undercover agent who traced her there?'

'He's still there but with company now, they've not made any progress on her since she escaped that morning and they should be returning here tomorrow morning.'

'Is he fine now? I mean how Undercover agent.'

'Not yet, he goes in and out of the hospital every now and then to redress his wounds.'

'I don't know why but I'm having a feeling that whatever she went to do in Anambra is still connected to us,' the Vice President said thoughtfully.

'I don't think so,' Chief Rikau replied. 'I think she went on another different mission, she's an assassin who kills for money, so she could just take another job.'

There was a brief silence.

'Well, I want that your man thoroughly monitored from now on, he seems to be making more progress than the police team is doing and that's why I asked you not to suspend him.' Elvis Richards said to the NIS Chairman.

'Yes, the agent is efficient and intelligent.' the NIS man replied.

'So we have to work with him closely and provide him the necessary support needed.'

'Yes sir, we would.'

'Okay. Another thing I wanted to let you know is that I'll be functioning more from here henceforth,' the Vice President said and paused to see their reactions. He noticed a visible change in the looks on their faces, especially on Chief Rikau's face. 'Listen men, I'm not trying to escape from there. As you know my house there is also well secured. But I've just made my intention to contest for the presidency next year known to my party and common sense tells that I stay here.'

'Oh! I've been expecting that,' the IG said with a bright smile.

'Yeah, now. It's here,' Chief Elvis smiled back.

'Wow! Congratulations already sir, I believe no one else deserves the position better than you do.' the NIS Chairman commented.

'Thank you,' Chief Elvis said as he dipped his hand into his pocket to take out his phone. He checked the screen, his daughter was calling. He silenced it and held it in his hand.

'So, I guess the primaries are holding very soon right?' Chief Rikau asked.

'Yes, before the end of the year.' he replied. His phone was vibrating again, his daughter was calling again. 'Please excuse me misters, permit me to answer this call, she won't let my phone rest if I don't.' he said before clicking on the green button.

'Hello dear,' he said into the phone with a smile.

'Hi Dad, where are you?' the tiny voice was audible to him only.

'I'm in the house,' he replied.

'Which one?'

'The Villa,' he replied.

'Okay, I'm on my way there now.' she said.

'Hey, I'm quite...' he tried to tell her not to come but she already ended the call. He looked at Chief Rikau's face and shook his head with a smile.

'Isn't that Vivian, is she in the country?' Chief Rikau asked.

'Yes, but I thought she was in Lagos, only for her to tell me she's on her way here already.' the Vice President replied.

'Hahaha...' Chief Rikau laughed heartily. 'The lastborns of the house can be full of surprises most times.'

'This one is surely a bundle of surprises everytime, she doesn't take no for an answer.'