THE BODYGUARD is a story in the Detective Kolapo series. Here, the detective is hired to protect the beautiful daughter of a senator.

The DPO was seated in a popular restaurant around Ring Road, Ibadan and with him was a popular politician who was vying for a post in the House of Assembly. Both men were in disguise to avoid the scrutiny of the Ibadan people or perhaps the busybody journalists and freelance ‘amebos’ as both men refer to them.

Inside the restaurant were three bodyguards of the politician and one of the DPO. The bodyguards were disguised too, pretending to be customers. There were two more bodyguards outside.

“So, my friend, what can I do for you?” the DPO asked,

“I need your help, my friend. I need a bodyguard for my daughter,” the politician said.

“Really? You have five bodyguards here and you can’t spare one for your own daughter? Besides, the police protects people; we don’t do bodyguard work.”

“My enemies know all my bodyguards by sight. I want a bodyguard they have never seen.”

“Wait o. I thought all your children are abroad studying.”

“Four are abroad and only the last born is studying there. The daughter I am talking about, Omolewa, recently finished her Masters program abroad but she returned to Nigeria to start a fashion design business and she is making so much money she doesn’t want to leave Nigeria anymore. And the election is very close. I heard a rumour that my opponent, that bastard Akinpelu, is planning to abduct my daughter.”

“Hmm. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to stay in Nigeria. If I mistakenly get to USA or UK, I will never come back. Okay my friend, I will make a deal with you. How many guards do you need?”

“Just one.”

“What? Why one?”

“I need that young man Kolapo.”

The DPO was surprised. “What do you know about Kolapo?”

“Oh, I have heard a lot of news about him. How he has singlehandedly brought down the crime rate in Ibadan. And he has done well to evade the news. I need him.”

“I need him too.”

“I will pay any amount.”

“Ten million naira.”

“Done,” the politician said.

The DPO was surprised once again. “You mean you will pay?”

“Of course. My daughter brings joy to my heart. I will do anything for her.”
The two men shook hands and the deal was done.

***

When Kolapo set his eyes on Omolewa, he was stunned at the raw beauty. Her beauty was the kind that brings happiness to a sad fellow, hope to the hopeless, optimism to the pessimistic. It was an unforgettable beauty. She was dark and incomparable with flowing hair. He was at loss for words.

“Are you my new bodyguard?” she asked him.

“You are gorgeously beautiful,” he said breathily.

She laughed, shaking her head. They were meeting in one of her shops at Challenge, Ibadan. She had many fashion houses all over Ibadan. She didn’t depend on her father’s wealth but instead had made her own. Kolapo wondered if there was a man in her life.

“I hope my beauty will not hinder your job of guarding me,” she said amusingly.

“Never, ma’am.”

“Call me Omolewa,” she said.

“I can sense you are an independent lady,” Kolapo said. “Are you not bothered about me following you around?”

“Actually, I am but I trust my father. If he says I need a bodyguard then I do.”

“So are you going anywhere today?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I need to visit Shoprite to buy some things for a friend of mine; her birthday is tomorrow.”

“Is it the one at Ring Road, close to Oni & Sons?”

“No, the one at Dugbe.”

“I am sorry but can’t you send one of your workers,” he asked, for she had many workers, most of whom were females.

She laughed again. “I like doing my own shopping.”

So Kolapo drove her. She had a Murano jeep and she vehemently refused to sit in the back, preferring to stay in the passenger seat. As they escaped the busy traffic of Challenge, she said, “Tell me about you.”

“The story of my life is boring. You don’t want to hear it.”

“I refuse to believe that. My dad was full of stories about you and your prowess.”

“Ha. Well, my name is Kolapo, a detective in the Nigeria Police Force, situated in Ibadan. I am also an upcoming musician.”

“Wow. What do you sing?”

“Just some RnB, sometimes gospel, and a few times, hip hop, but my songs are always meaningful and positively life-changing. It is not like the trash many people produce nowadays.” As he spoke, his eyes were constantly watching the rearview and side mirrors of the vehicle.

“I need to listen to your songs then,” the beautiful goddess said.

“Certainly.” Using one hand to drive, he gave her his phone after removing his password.

Just then, he caught a movement on the side mirror. He saw a car behind him and at the passenger window of the car, a man was pointing a submachine gun. At them! Without warning, he swerved the vehicle to the right almost colliding with an Okada rider who had on a passenger. The Okada rider heaped curses on him.

“Get down,” he screamed at Omolewa as bullets flew past their vehicle destroying the back windows of the car in front of them. People screamed, cars scattered and collided and pedestrians took to their heels and the peaceful air chattered.

The assailants realized their mistake and moved quickly to correct it. Kolapo saw that it was not only one vehicle, but three. He had only his pistol with nine rounds. He wondered how he was going to defeat the three vehicles with the occupants who were bent on killing him.

The cars were very close behind him. The normally busy expressway was almost devoid of vehicles and he could see several people running for their lives. Filling stations were closing up and so were many shops.

When he got to a roundabout that led to the Ring Road Hospital, he switched on his left pointer and drove around the roundabout. The vehicles followed him. He drove around in a 360 degrees causing the vehicles behind to collide with one another. He sped away while they were trying to untangle themselves.

He looked over at Omolewa and saw that she was very calm. He was impressed and his respect for her increased. She wasn’t just a beauty, she was also brave. Through the rearview mirror, he saw that the assailants were closer again.

“Permission to shoot through your glass car,” he asked her.

“No problem as long as it saves our lives,” she replied.

He laughed and quickly outlined his plan. While still speeding, they changed seats. They were now around Mobil area and, apparently, the people there didn’t know that something terrible was happening. When the assailants opened fire again, the people around dispersed. Even taxi drivers refused to pick passengers as they sped away. Bullets destroyed the glass of the back of the Murano.

Kolapo crawled to the window and lined up the sight of his gun. He knew that he had to target the drivers of the assailants’ vehicles. He was an expert shot and no one had beaten his record at the Police Academy.

He targeted the hand of the driver of the first car and fired. The bullet pierced the windshield and embedded in the driver’s hand. Instinctively, the driver removed his two hands from the steering and the car veered off the road, over the pavement and somersaulted to the other side of the road.

The shooters of the other two cars saw what he had done and began to shoot again. Suddenly he heard the sirens of his fellow police officers. They were now close to the roundabout that led to Dugbe and Apata. When the shooters heard the sirens, they turned back and drove away.

To be continued…

Source: https://opinionsandstories.com/the-bodyguard-a-thriller/

Nice one.
come and continue o