AUTHOR'S ARC
When Justice fails, When the Law turns a blind eye, When darkness has engulfed the light, When the Truth has been buried with so much violence and misery, one man will do what no other man will, His name is John Dare Henry.


I AM PLEASED TO INFORM YOU ALL, I AM PUTTING IN A LOT OF EFFORT IN JDH'S STORY, I DECIDED TO DROP ALL OTHER WORKS IN MOTION FOR THIS GRITTY, SUSPENSE, ACTION PACKED NOVEL BASED ON THE FICTIONAL CHARACTER OF JDH.




SYNOPSIS


"If you are reading this, then its true, they finally know by what rules I play this dirty game, there are no forgiveness, there are no redemption, there are no second chances, there are no happy ever after, I am the very pain you have unleashed into this world, I am John Dare Henry" - John Dare Henry

BOOK 1.1 MALACHI


I was still trying to make a call when I heard that monotonous siren that announced the men of the force's presence within my proximity but this was set to be a movie , the kind of movie where the cops always arrive on scene at the very last hour.

A quick check on my watch made me nod, they had arrived as I expected them.

They stopped and fired a single shot into the air hoping to scare off whatever they felt meant still be hanging around as four I'll equipped men of the force finally jumped down their pick up and cautiously began to approach the bar.

It was then I remembered I hadn't even tried to wash off my face yet. They were in a rude awakening I thought dully to my self as I replaced my phone back into one of my pockets.

"What the..."

"Hey, you, hands in the air!"

Fear, Anxiety, Confusion sprung into the men's faces as they walked into the bar seeing the countless bodies lying either unconscious or dead sprawled around in various positions and places.

They thronged around me as I completely ignored them.

"I said hands in the air or I will shoot you right now!"

A fat sturdy character who by now I had come to know said, taking the safety off his gun to show his seriousness; he seemed the most able to do such whilst his colleagues merely followed suit.

I stopped drinking and turned to them with a grin on my face the kind that took one of them back.

"Why don't you shoot lieutenant?"

I asked him almost politely.

"Eh, are you out of your mind," he bawled returning the safety of his assault rifle back on with some theatrical display that should have sent me to scamper for cover, my reply?

"Officer, you have just walked into one of Lagos city's underworld club where all sort of crime are been committed, in fact if the police force knew about this joint some of the murder, drugs and cult cases still pending will be solved in an instant,"

I stopped and stood back knowing they had began to give me their interest with each step they take; further backwards.

"So when I asked myself surely the police force must know of the crimes that go on within this club , I mean there is a patrol team that constantly sweeps through the streets daily , there is also a road block a few miles from here,"

I stopped and walked over a dead body making the blood didn't stain my boots , again they made a conscious effort to move backwards.

"I mean why is it that this wretch of a dump for criminals alike has been allowed to stand for as long as it has by the four of you, lieutenant Ajayi Nelson, Matthew Obo, Chike James and Steven Isaac, but then you four frequent this bar four times in a week, don't you?"

Steve the short sturdy one made an effort to check if his tag was on his breast pocket but when he realized he had none on, it was evident he knew I knew something else.

BOOK 1.2 MALACHI



"Who are you, who sent you?" He replied, his voice holding no water as I came closer.

"Mondays you come to collect protection money, this money paid by the owners of this bar, keeps it invincible from prying eyes of your folks, Tuesdays, you come for the free beer again this is okay by the standards of your kind but Fridays and Sundays, that's where we get the action,"

I said as I began to fold my sleeves, inching closer and closer to the four who suddenly became too enchanted by my words to do anything else.

"On those two days, you and your brothers in arms come around the bar to run your businesses, gun running and information selling, your rifles, I tell you it was hard getting to know how many people you have lend your rifles and your fellow officers to the criminals, about fifty-two times, thirty two of those times is why I am here, because thirty two of those times your weapons have killed nothing less than eighteen people, four children between the age of 4-6 years have been in that category!" I said.

"Fifty two times? no, that's no true, He has only..."

"Shut up your mouth James, do you really believe this liar!" Steve rebuked his comrade who seemed unsettled by my revelation.

"Of course they have no idea about your Sunday visits to the bar, they have no idea how much you get on each weapons you trade, right now your weapon has no magazine , you traded it off last week to Kassim, a known kidnapper and Friend of yours but since the past three days he has failed to return or show face don't worry he hasn't run off, he and his gang are somewhere in the bushes getting fed on by animals, I made sure of that,"

I gave a wicked grin that fully expressed a detailed plan on how they too would end up, Steve saw the sign and went on an offensive producing a 45. Pistol

But seeing him pull up his weapon was like watching a movie in slow motion, I had already grabbed my army standard dagger and threw it at his hand.

He let out a painful shrill as the knife penetrated his hand with an explosive force that sent the other three running out.

Good let them run, I came for the short gorilla anyway.

His weapon went to the ground and I kicked it a side once I came closer.

"Are you ready to atone for the pains you have put into this city?"

I asked him producing another knife beneath my belt line behind, his eyes showing his horrors at the steel blade.

"What, wait, no!" He stammered turning to run as well, wrong choice, I flung the second blade with an accuracy worthy of an Olympic gold medal at his lap, he let out a loud yell ,staggered and fell to the floor.

"Imagine going home and finding out your daughters have been killed by the exact weapons you put out just to satisfy your greed, imagine finding family members killed and dumped in the Bushes like wild animals, your atonement begins now,"

"Please Don't kill me, I am a police officer, you cant kill me, my people will..."

"Your people will do nothing, its the reason they haven't come back with reinforcements, your gun running business ties in with more than seven others officers directly or indirectly, they will come for your body only, its time you pay for your pains"

I took out my daggers from his body and then proceeded to take a picture of him, "your colleagues will learn from you lieutenant if they don't they will meet your fate,

" I replaced my phone back and walked up to get his .45 caliber pistol.

It was foreign made and felt good around my finger when I toyed with its trigger.

BOOK 1.3 MALACHI




"Please i am sorry, I didn't know, I didn't know, please forgive me, I have a wife , I have kids!"

"I don't judge, I just execute,"

"Gboah!!"

The shot shattered the empty air and I walked out of the bar unscathed, I didn't kill him though I just permanently retired the old fox although I doubt his partners wouldnt finish the job.

Today was only day 8, my next target was over a hundred miles away, I had to begin my hunt quickly if I was to make any break.

Top notch delivery

BOOK 1.4 MALACHI


Hotel De Splendour stood at over 12 storey tall, it had a navy blue and peach color scheme that I found resenting once my taxi had dropped me off at the gate with my big vanilla butter cream cake, I had purchased along the way.


But it couldn't have been perfect for my next victim, my eyes strolled to the car pack where I found a black E350 Lexus with the plate number I had in my head lying around, I made a detour quickly when the gateman had returned to his cubicle, checked the silencer and realized it was still warm, observed closely the car seaters and made sure I had flattened the tires of the car, accidents happen, my next target was a slippery fella who had been on the run for over a year now, evading the eyes of the law but not my eyes.

Satisfied, he wouldn't be leaving until I was done with him I walked into the reception and headed for a short curly haired damsel who wore a smile on her face, cheap but effective if I had other intentions.

"Good afternoon sir, what can I do for you?"

" first of all You look gorgeous and secondly I need your help, anything you can do for me would be appreciated "

I put up my charm, all eyes on her.

"Anything I can do for you sir," She replied with a seductive smile.

"My friend, his name is Aziz Nabir Majid, He is the one with the who drove the lexus E350, he must have arrived in the company of..."

"Two girls, a fair robust one and a fair slim one,"

She suddenly seemed to have tasted bitter pills, of course I could think of a reason or two why she would if truly she knew who I was after.

"But that was not the name..."

"Baby that's good news to me, I thought he was screwing with me, Listen I need to deliver this cake to him, it's his birthday, so maybe you can give him call and tell him john is out here to celebrate him to stupor,"

The trick was to make her not to make the call by insisting she made a call, in the art of war, deceit and trickery always finds a way to gain the enemy's trust.

Her hand worked her way to the telephone slowly as she thought about it.

"You might have to take this heavy and delicate cake up to his room yourself," I added.

BOOK 1.5 MALACHI



"You know what, why don't I just get his room details, maybe you can surprise him with the cake," She replied.

"You are such a darling, hebia going to love it, after this birthday I doubt he would want to celebrate another!" I added.

She brought the details quickly and sent me up my way by the time I was on the sixth floor , my legs felt good enough to go up to the top if I hadn't been drenched by the afternoon's sun.

"Knock!.. Knock!!"


I rapped my fingers as gently as I could his door, by now he must be very busy to suspect a damn thing.

No answer came but as I decided to knock the second time, I heard a little scuffle, a soft moan and then his voice.

"Wait,!"

He ran up the door and slid it open, my reply was a cake to his face, birthday boy was adorned in butter cream and sweet cake and as he staggered back hoping to clear the mess of his face, I chased his face with my brace knuckle tightly wore around my fingers, who knew vanilla cake went so well with blood gushing out of Aziz's forehead.

His companions laying nude in the bed let a loud yell but once I produced the .45 caliber pistol they seemed to have made a hasten resolution to comply and hope for the best.

I locked the door behind and quickly grabbed hold of Aziz who I flung into the bed, he groaned helplessly as a stream of rich deoxygenated blood poured down his jawline.

"You two should be thanking your stars,

" I said to the ladies as I walked over to Aziz's little bag where I pulled out a wire strip perfect for strangulating even the toughest victim.

Aziz Nabir Majid aka the LovePeddler Killer has been on a murderous killing spree of commercial sex workers, The thirty four year old deranged fella had been the talk of the city seven months ago after killing two underaged sex workers in what appeared to be strangulation gone wrong as one of the victim's head was perfectly detached from the rest and the other had been drowned in the hotel's room bath tub.

His sickening murder spree had sent chills down the spine of so many yet he remained invisible, why?

Because really no one cared about those victims, the police played tantrums and easily shoved whatever case that came their way after a week or there about but he dropped out of my radar after killing a hotel receptionist, the forensic and the eye witnesses report came through for her, she was raped and strangled, she was no sex worker now that was the icing, a state man hunt had forced Aziz out of the state and out of my radar but three weeks ago after a body had been discovered in one of his goto hotels, I knew he was back.

"You will pick your things, take his phone , watches and whatever expensive he has on him and take your leave, you will not talk to anyone or say anything, if the receptionist asks tell her, the Boyd are having a reunion of a lifetime, if you don't do this, I will find you and make sure you regret ever choosing this sort of job, is that understood,"

My voice was calm and precise such that they merely shook their head out of fear and quickly dressed up and proceeded to take whatever they could find on him while Aziz sat their looking like a pretty damsel.

BOOK 1.6 MALACHI


They disappeared like a whirlwind letting me to focus on my job.

"Please, I will confess to the police force, I will do whatever you want me,"

"Do you know how many minutes it takes for a victim to die by strangulation?"

I asked him.

"In two minutes you go unconscious as air is cut from your lungs, as the wire tightens around the neck and under five minutes, the brain suffers permanent damage and death occurs after then,"

I walked up to the bed side where he sat and starred at him, he was someone's brother, someone's son, the average Joe on the streets of Lagos yet his hands had taken the the lives of over thirteen victims.

"Many have thought you do what you do because you are some occult or ritualist but really you are just the demented soul that should be pushed into the lowest depths of hell,"


He didn't see the knife so when I pushed it through his ankle, he went crazy but I wasn't going to let him off that easily, my brace knuckle sealed his mouth in an instant and in that instant he went unconscious.

"4:22 pm"

I said to myself checking my watch, there was a lot of time to burn and I had only just began, so i set out to work.

In the next fifteen minutes he groaned out of his misery, awakened by new sensations of pain emanating from his lower body frame.


He left out a muffled scream as the bedsheets tucked tightly into his mouth and considerable loud music drowned his scream.

Before his eyes laid carelessly on the bed, his manhood nicely severed from his body, he seemed terrified and began to wriggle but his greatest surprise came from his tightly tied hands.


His muffled scream spelt out the words "my fingers!"

"I flushed them down the toilet like the waste they are, you are going to die painfully and slowly, I made sure of that, in your next life I hope you find a better path"

I went to the shower, took a cold bath , dressed up , took one good look at him and locked the door behind him.

As I strode to the stair way, my phone suddenly began to ring, a text which was quite unexpected as I rarely ever gave my number out.

"MALACHI"

The text read out, I nodded dully , it appeared the evening had only just started.

BOOK 1.7 MALACHI


Colonel's Lamido Hassan was an old brute with a deep coarse voice and a face warned of impeding danger even when he smiled, he had steel eyes and a misaligned nose that had suffered various fracture when he fought in the war front.

As a retired colonel his contributions to my mission had become enormous and imperative, our history pegged us at the ends of what justice was all about yet he had come to accept my necessity if his ideas were to find root in this part of the world.

Last Two weeks we had sat down at the same table I was now approaching once I climebed up the entrance stair case of Susan's corner and eatery.

"It has the best food no man can refuse,"

He had said on our last meeting but God knows if I had my way I would burn that building down for what it served as food.

"What is it this time John?" He had asked toying with a Cuban cigarette as we exchanged greetings and sat to discuss.

I had produced a newspaper page and showed him an headline I circled out with a marker,he shook his head and dropped his cigarette, produced his phone made a call and then studied me for a brief while all the while pondering what he was going to tell me.

"It's true, I don't know the name yet but a secret task force set up by the military to crack down the activities of Douglas Ephraim, its above my pay grade and if they are denying it already then you know it won't hold, they will bury it long with anyone,"


"Isn't that what they do, they will protect that murderer just to save their skin, Douglas wasn't even in the country, the mission was botched from the beginning, over a hundred and twenty two people were killed during the operation and the military wants to blame it on terrorist attack? Its not enough, I need names,"

I had urged him.

"You can have the boys but the men at the top won't go without a fight, I will try and find out more about the secret mission and reach out to you in the next two weeks,"

Our discussion was as brief as it was, I took my leave and now I sat where I sat previously and waited for him, I wondered what he had to tell me.

BOOK 1.8 MALACHI


"Why I am doing this, I wonder" He announced himself coming from behind suddenly to take a seat with me.

he had a brown parcel with him but I could tell he seemed genuinely disturbed by something; hard to say but I had never seen him this way.

"Is that it?" I asked eyes on the parcel.

He stared at the parcel and exhaled sharply and made a movement to readjust himself on his seat.

"This is bigger than you not even the likes of the so called vigilantes running around the country can take this up, remember this is the..."

"This is the army and if I go after them they will come after me, good let them come,"

I jumped him, stretching my hand to collect the parcel to which he seemed hesitant to release.

"Are you giving me the documents or not?" I asked sternly.

He dropped the parcel by his side and rolled his eye glass off his face, thought about something I could tell was a conflict of interest and then he made a decision.

" They deserve justice, all of them, every single one of them," he said almost to himself.

I sat there, my mind busy like a steam engine train off its tracks.

"I served 36 years in the army, I fought for this country not because I was asked to do it but because I wanted to, I love this country you know and if there is one thing I have come to accept is that there is always a better way , violence doesn't solve anything but this..."

He waved the parcel at my face.

"This is just horrifying and unimaginable," He paused to think.

"Are you going to tell me what is in the parcel or not?" I asked calmly.

"They lined up those innocent people, shot and butchered them like animals even when they pleaded they were innocent,"

He seemed genuinely shaken and finally he produced the parcel and handed it over to me, I scrambled for it and produced a plethora of pictures and documents watermarked operation Malachi.

"During the lockdown , October 15-December 28, a special military task force headed by major general yakubu abdulahi fatai was launched in southeastern state , IMO. Its primary purpose was to lay siege on The drug trafficking syndicate spear headed by Douglas Ephraim an ex soldier and ex police officer aka DG, it took a while but the army played well , the operation was ran by lieutenant colonel Isaac Ishaku of the 53rd battalion, over 400 soldiers, you must know DG is a ruthless and violent man, his dealings was what lead to the death of 12 police officers and the burning of three police stations when one of his trucks was seized, his network spreads far and across the country,"

The old colonel said, not sure if I was listening to him or not as my eyes festered on the graphic images; scores of dead people, shot or butchered , men , women ranging from age 20-45 plus, I felt the sickness in my stomach crawl to my throat but more than that I felt the anger rise like bile acid melting my organs deep within, screaming murder, fury burning in my eyes.

"They knew he wasn't in the country so why wasn't the operation called off?"

I asked.

BOOK FINAL 1.9 MALACHI



"That I don't know, on December 16, the operation Malachi came into light, the information was that Douglas was in the small village of Inedoh, now don't get me wrong , a small local terrorist gang had found an haven in Inedoh all those time, the army came with their tanks and bombed the village, they went crazy when small factions of the terrorist groups returned fire, it was crazy, they killed them all, the villagers, terrorists, the village men and most of its women were chartered off, what you have there isn't the full story, there are report that the total of deaths goes up to 200+, the villagers can't talk about it, I just don't know what happened, lieutenant Isaac was a good boy, When the media got wind of it, the army generals stepped in, they buried three on going probes and made sure the matter was swept under the carpet, why is what I don't know, That was a massacre, they should have been brought to face the full force of the law,"

Lamido explained.

What would the likes of the green vigilante or black patriot do, vigilantes sworn to justice, they would channel their righteous anger through the right channels, me? I just go all out.

"They need to pay, I know we don't agree on everything but they need to pay, Isaac has blood in his hands, innocent people died for nothing, you need to brink them to books,"

He produced a Cuban cigar and lit himself up, I had much on my mind, there were a lot of open spaces I needed to fill up, an investigation needed to be conducted, why did the army not prosecute this senseless act of violence, Isaac ishaku was still walking around doing his duties months after, the press grew tired and dropped the case and everyone moved on yet I had heard the voices of the countless lives that had been drowned in blood, those voice I could never forget.

"What are you going to do now, you can't take the army all by your self,"

"You need not worry about me, the people of Inedu will have their vengeance, just pay close attention to the news,"

I stood and stretched myself only to remember I had only managed to wash off a cut down my rib cage while I was at the bar earlier that morning.

I need to treat and rest and make a plan, my mission, my vengeance Operation Malachi had just been set into motion.

Op gudmorin, pls come and update

Dacallartow:
Op gudmorin, pls come and update

Book 2 is here boss

BOOK 2.1 TO KANO WITH LOVE


My taxi arrived at my resident, a self contain that could be described as a burglar's worst nightmare, my shed where I poured hours of ruthless investigation and intricate plannings and their executions into motion.

I rolled my shirt off and took off my kevlar bullet proof vest, found my way to the bath tub and deeper myslef into its cold running water, my open wound seem to ooze a bit of thick blood; I would later go on to fix my self, good as new, good as done just like the old days.

I felt hunger crawl angrily down my stomach angrily so I fed myself with whatever leftover I had left the previous night.

I went through the parcel more carefully this time, concise and calculated, my photographic memory wouldn't miss any details on that parcel even if I had my eyes shut.

Fifteen minutes into the set up, I could just imagine a total blood shed unworthy of justice, just vengeance for the victims but this was the army we were talking about, if you go for just one of them, they go all out against you, This path I needed to thread carefully.

I dialled a distant associate of mine whose career my activities had greatly influenced, Mrs Veronica Fashola Badmus or Vee.
I had come across her name on one of my Jobs, a child trafficking syndicate, it turns out her investigative piece had led me right straight to my target, she and the old colonel and three others have knowingly and unknowingly brought me to my targets across the nation wide.

"Hello, This is John right?"

"Yeah, This is John, Congratulations on that promotion to senior writer, your piece on the Ikoro gang murders was a masterpiece,"

She scoffed behind the phone receiver.
"Well it's all thanks to you, isn't it, your information has a way of getting the most attention, can I ask you a question?"

"No but I need to ask you one, what do you know about the Inedoh Massacre of 2019,"

She held tightly her breath and gave a long sigh after wards.

"Don't tell me you are on to this..." She scoffed "...this is going to be interesting,"

I could sense the feeling of been handed a hundred million naira cheque at the other end of the call.

"I will send you a parcel tomorrow, It contains a bit of the real details that happened in that village, I need publicity, vee, can you get me that madam?"

I asked.

"Oh hell yes johnny boy, The media would go crazy on this, you know that, if its publicity you want, enough for a distraction then this is just more than enough, any story at all on the army at this point, on that incident would rock..."

BOOK 2.2 TO KANO WITH LOVE



"Then it's settled isn't it,?" I asked cutting her to which she didn't really mind.

"Yeah, I will be receiving this parcel tomorrow, right?" She asked again.

"By 10:00 o'clock in the morning, you will have on your desk, am counting on you, this case is a tight one, they may want to play, are you up for it?"

She remained silent for awhile as I anticipated the answer knowing fully well if she said know it could make my work a whole lot difficult yet quite understanding of the fact that she needed to know what she was getting into; I won't be able to save her, if she gets burnt up in this.

"You just worry about getting me that parcel, The media will take care of its own,"

I could trust her not to develop cold feet when push came to shove, we ended our little conversation , I went onljne and made efforts to track the Operations commander Isaac and I found him, up in kano.

The cold air of the evening against my skin felt good for me to call it a night, I had a road trip so three hours of sleep seemed ideal to me, so I did just that.

My utility portfolio boasted of everything I needed from preparing from a stealthy mission to taking down a criminal organization and by the time I got off the bus in kano, two things had come into light.

"my boss chickened out," She announced in a feat of disappointment behind the receiver.

"What do you chickened out?"

"He is afraid of what the army might do, its old news but he has some points, the documents you sent are highly classified even if it is not the real deal it is a big deal, we cannot come out with stuff like this openly, we would be probed and be filed with God knows what charges,"

"I thought you wouldnt chicken out?"

"Don't get my words wrong, I said I won't back down but I won't do this knowing I am putting others in danger, we are talking about the end of their professional careers, long and agonizing jail terms, unending law suits, the documents are classified, we won't be able to explain how we got them in the first place,"

She made sense, she always did.

"So what do we do,"

"I need something like an appetizer, anything at all, a sort of introduction to the main course, I can use what you give me only when I am certain the military would be too open to cover their assess when everything spills out, john I need a coffin, what you have given me are a whole lot of nails, get me something lighter to start with,"

She replied.

BOOK 2.3 TO KANO WITH LOVE


Just maybe my trip to kano was what the journalist was referring to , I told I was going to get her something real soon and hung up.

Now as I found my way to one of the hotels, clearly dressed in my disguise of facial prosthetics make up and fake beards that gave the impression that I was just another middle class hard living citizen coupled with the fact I could speak the local language; well, generally I could speak eighteen languages in total.

I blended in like butter to bread.

My base of operation was the Haliyat Hotel in Doguwa, kano from there once I settled down I quickly set out to work, gathering information and I did get a lot.

"Yeah but if you ask me I don't know what they are doing all the way in Tofar,"

At some point my new found friend Hakim a drunk at the reception bar had said when I asked about the Operation Dogo launched by the army to keep the state calm as it's election were coming around.

"Let me get you another one, brother" I said signalling service much to his satisfaction; nothing else is worse than getting fed the necessary information and not feeding the mouth they were coming from, he could talk for hours if I wanted, I just needed to keep the drinks coming.

"if you ask me why go to a border village that has been lost to the banditry and terrorists, you see..."

He belched loudly and stuffed his guts more with some grilled cow meat (suya).

"You see, Tofar is a no-go area, the army have tried severally for decades but have recently stopped trying, its a cat and mouse game and the mouse finally understood they were the mouse, tofar has and will always belong to the bandits and terrorists,"

"But why is that?"

"Oh my friend, you south bred Hausa men don't usually know the whole story, its pitiful sometimes, you see tofar is blessed with mineral resources intact its no secret, tofar has mines of gold scattered around its lands, this gold is the subject of cries facing its people, everyone wants the gold, the government have tried by using the army but failed woefully because the bandits have resisted strongly but now they are back again only to fail," hakim concluded.

Gold, of course I had been opportuned to have read how illegal gold mining had been one of the major ways terrorists financed their operations and how hard it was to seize such territories under them, a few have been shrouded in secrecy and many of this stories have lived only in the hearts of top government officials, no official word on them and the people who suffer the outcome but what had this to do with Isaac? Why had an operation meant to keep Doguwa and 9 other major cities in the state safe been suddenly changed to Tofar, I wondered, I was still piecing a theory but if I needed an answer I needed to call both the old colonel and Mrs Veronica soon.

BOOK 2.4 TO KANO WITH LOVE


"Since when has it been customary for the army to go against its own rules of engagement, Operation Dogo covers just ten cities with over a hundred and sixty one check points, a battalion of 200 soldiers would barely do anything so why is Tofar a downtrodden and terror prone village suddenly its interest, the battalion has been splitted with over 60 percent of its troop engaging the rebels and bandits up in Tofar, this could outlast the span of the entire operations, what is Isaac doing there?"

I and the Old Colonel had began to speak on the phone once I returned to my room and had gotten rid of my make up.

"I don't know, that's unlike the...you know what give me an hour from now, I will have to find out what's going on over there,"

"Eh, I need something else colonel, I need an Colonel Isaac's operation portfolio documents,"

I added.

"I can't do both at a time, you would need to pick one, I can't rush this things you know, you don't want the army to get suspicious,"

he reminded me, I gave no thoughts to its question.

"Fine, let me have something on the mission to Tofar, the other will have to wait," I concluded.

"Okay, expect something real soon,"

He hung up and I turned to Mrs. Veronica.

"John, I am here!"

She seemed almost excited to receive my call I thought.

"I need a favor but you are not going to like it,"
I came slowly on this particular matter, something you should know about Mrs Veronica, sic months ago I had gone rampage on a local drug syndicate whose case, she and another reporter by the name Matthew Osas was covering, her sworn rival.
Unfortunately the report had gone to Matthew before I could get it to her, it was while we talked she had spilled the beans.

You see Matthew wasn't just another reporter but her ex-husband, a bitter divorce had drove her out of his media firm, now an employee of another, that rivalry sustained her pride in pursuing the truth.

"I will never speak to him again,"

Her words not mine; so you understand why this favor needed to be handled carefully.

"I found three articles online, they were never fully published and didn't last long on its official site before taken down but it was there , they covered the army's presence in three locations Ijah, Soku and Dediwara, I think there is more, I need the full reports, they were covered by..."

"Matthew isn't it?"

"Yes, I need the full original files, I am working on those nails you asked me, if I don't have those files..."

"I will talk to him but..."

I could hear her hold her breath behind the call.

"Know that I won't do such favor next time even if my life depended on it,"

there was strength in her voice, the sort I admired.

"Okay, I will be expecting them,"

She must have hung up while I was still putting up that last line, it didn't matter, I could piece something here.

The night was cold and the northern air was dry yet it felt good on my skin and I could only appreciate the little I had seen so far, maybe some day I would really come around for a visit, maybe a real visit.

I had laid still on my bed and drifted into a surreal utterly calm atmosphere enough to let my mind think when I suddenly heard my phone ring, one hour had elapsed.

"Damn it john, I don't know what i can tell you right now but there isn't any commands on Tofar, I have double checked, Tofar isn't in the mission statement, this is bunkers,"

the old Colonel exploded.

This was making a lot of sense now unfortunately only to me.

"Who are the people in charge of this operations , who are the people Isaac reporting?"

I asked.

"The ministry if defence does the overseeing,"

"I need names, colonel, who is Isaac reporting to?"

"Okay, okay, I will have to find that out but it's going to take the whole night and I can't promise any thing real,"

He added.

After we were done talking, I had hoped to get in touch with Veronica but by the time I tried to call, her phone was switched off, In the dark imagined the entire scheme, it's players, its pawns and then I slid into my nightmares once more; the familiar ones.

BOOK 2.5 TO KANO WITH LOVE


"Ring-Ring-Ring"

My Phone woke me up; vee was finally back in track with me.

"Subah, Ori-Ama, Hadima,Wajor, I have got seven more including the ones you brought up, John I think I have found a pattern,"

"I know, I just needed to confirm, the military boys aren't just invested in the protection of this areas due to insurgency, they are interested in its gold mines, inedoh was an exclusion, it had nothing but the rest falls into the pattern,"

"Yes, exactly, Oh this is good. This is so good, this is perfect john,"

"I take it, you have your nails for that coffin!"

"Oh yes, is the army involved in illegal gold mining and extraction amidst security claims? What do you think of that heading?"

"Its a good one, let it roll!"

"Yes boss man, hey, keep me in the loop, I sense this is only the beginning,"

She was right, turning the army's head inside out would do two things. Focus my search light on the culprits as a secret investigation would be carried by the army to find out how true the media's claim was while denying it openly.

I did my share of my morning drills, took a cold bath and resumed my false identity as mallam Idrissa.

I found my way to the bus station and asked s around for any means of getting to Tofar but was quickly turned down by all including the bike men who cast a suspicious eye on me; so Tofar had that much of a reputation.

"I heard you are looking for transport to Tofar, I know someone who might be able to help for the right fee," a tricycle driver said at the time I had given up on my trip.

he beckoned on me to follow him to a discrete area where a woman was Selling food and we only got down to discuss when I had ordered something for the both of us; we spoke in Hausa dialect and I could tell he was impressed about my fluency.

"How do I get to Tofar,"

"It's hard but its doable but I have to ask you first, why do you want to go there?" He eyed me suspiciously.

"You won't believe it if I told you,"

I started catching his attention almost immediately.

"Try me, what stories don't we hear in the north, go on, tell me!"

He beckoned.

"I was raised by parents who were not my mine, recently my father passed away.......so now I am searching for my real parents and I have been told to go to tofar, that there is my birth place,"

A wise man once said, the best lies are those you, yourself believe, I wiped a tear from my eye lids garnering all the sympathy in the world from my friend who sobbed with me.

"This is too much for one man, You know what , it's Allah's will that you should be reunited, it is why we met in the first instance, my friend you will get to tofar, I promise you that,"

The next three and a half hours, I and Salma rode the perilous roads towards tofar, discussing and having a good time; at least he was.

"Oh no, I couldn't accept that, keep it, you have lived a hard life and Allah has deemed it fit to bless you, it will be a sin if I take anymore from you, have this?" He paused and produced an purple Arabian coloured sheath with a dagger inside from underneath his seat.

"Tofar unfortunately is a dangerous place my good friend, you must take care of yourself, this is all I could do for you, if we get to see again in the city, don't hesitate to ask for me, I will treat you to a very beautiful meal at my place,"

I collected it happily; by now you must have figured out that I was a knife person. He made a reverse at the junction of the long road that led to tofar and sped off.

I watched him drive off and then I continued my journey on foot.

If you are an ardent follower of JDH, kindly signify and comment please your words keep's this book going.

Who is following john and why do you think about the character so far.

WriterX:
If you are an ardent follower of JDH, kindly signify and comment please your words keep's this book going.

Who is following john and why do you think about the character so far.

It's a nice story you gat going, man. I am so into it. But please I will like you to touch on the past of our dear protagonist. Let's have a feel of who he is, his past, his identity. We are yet to know if he is a vigilante, or just another knucklehead on a killing spree.

Salahdin:


It's a nice story you gat going, man. I am so into it. But please I will like you to touch on the past of our dear protagonist. Let's have a feel of who he is, his past, his identity. We are yet to know if he is a vigilante, or just another knucklehead on a killing spree.

BOOK 5-TILL DEATH DO US PART

Is set to be JDH's finale book for volume 1, it will touch on this particular idea of who the protagonist, john truly is and if he is a murderous maniac on the loose or a Vigilante when he goes fist to fist with someone from his past.

Thanks for your contributions, I really appreciate this.

BOOK 2.6 TO KANO WITH LOVE



To far was everything I had imagined, a local community at the borders of no where land, riddled by the dry Sahara winds and dense shrub bushes spread across for miles, I found Nurudeen Musa, a local cattle merchant who had a placr or two around the village for rent; brick constructed buildings which werent too many in the villages, the lots of them having suffered past destructions by either the military or bandits.

"You say you are a journalist?"

He investigated my fake ID as we arrived at the house with a low fence that seemed more like beautiful add-on than a means of security, his expression after returning my card seemed furtive and restless.

"Yes, I am doing a big news documentary for my station,"

I explained in hausa language to which he did approve, nodding yet with a cautious smile.

"Your people don't come here often anymore, its a pity but what can we do, its still good you came but you must be very careful, you are a stranger here, they might not like you and may try to silence you if need be,"

He advised.
"Who exactly?"

"You don't know who..."

He gave me a searching expression and when my facial expression changed not he continued, however disappointed.

"The soldiers of course,"

He must have guessed I would be asking him a lot more now and quickly withdrew himself off the issue.

"If I would give you an advice I would say you should pack up your things and leave as soon as you can, the whole village by now knows there is a foreigner in the village and so do the ones we do not talk off, its dangerous here sir but I will do what I can, if you want I can send someone who can give you a good account of what the army have been doing to our people,"


That wasn't a warning I imagined as he handed over the keys to me and took his leave.

"I will send someone nevertheless, its all I can do for you now, lock your doors and windows at all time, listen and make sure you're well armed, you never can tell when or who wants you dead in this place,"

He left me to my imaginations so I went in to prepare and make plans for the predicted.

He didn't keep to his words as no one came, meanwhile I could really envision the terror faced by this people, for starters there was no electricity or means of communication as my phone was locked on SOS mode, thankfully I worked with a satellite phone and could access both network and the internet, the roads outside the town were devoid of any activities even the animals stayed clear off it, For the entire day I was only able to count five people who walked sketchily and scarred through the street.

It was about 8:00 pm, I heard two bike approach my gate, then I heard a metal clung on my gate, I peeped through the window in the dark only lighted up by the moon when I found four unwelcomed visitors scaling through the gate with ease.

I turned to the darkness of the room for protection and watched my first victim kick the door open, barring a touch in his hand and a locally made double barrel, quickly followed up by another with a machete and a touch, the other two must have been outside or combing the exterior.

"Wakanda forever!"

My laptop screen came up blaring a movie, the result was a two shots fired from the double barrel as they forced their way past me.

My distraction was perfect, my hands effortlessly slid out of the darkness snatching the second man with the machete, whom my dagger slid past his neck like hot knife to butter.

He choked on his blood as he staggered forward letting the other turn to face his worst nightmare me, the problem with locally made guns isn't about their potency , its the intricacy about how they work.

He pointed his weapon at me but hadn't loaded any as I predicted, I took one long stride towards him , catching his hand, pulling him closer and digging my dagger into his throat, he fell face to the ground and slumped in his blood.

"Hey sheka, bring him.out quickly!" Someone called from outside, I took my daggers off the still bodies and dragged them out of sight.

It took two more minutes of barking at the dark before the two came running inside, my answer, a reloaded double barrel aimed at their chest, they were blown into pieces by the shrapnel of ball bearings fired from the gun.

I rushed out to grab one who was barely alive and urged him to answer me.

"Who sent you?"
"Who sent you to me?"
"Who sent you to kill me?"

"Not kill, bring you, Jafar!" He managed to say before he died.

In no distant time, Nurudeen and a few men aimed with Dane guns and machetes came up to me, shocked by the scene and an unscathed me.

"You are alive?"

"Who is Jafar?" I asked him with dead eyes.


The name seemed to hit them,they murmured in a deeper language I could hardly pick out meanings off.

"Jafar is a cattle rustler but if this are his boys, then you have killed the wrong people,"

" what do you mean by that?"

Jafar's story would make my plans a lot easier once nurudeen decided to tell me what was really going on.

BOOK 2.7 TO KANO WITH LOVE


"Jafar Ahmed used to be a soldier, he is from Adamawa but was posted here some eleven years ago, he got injured in a grenade blast letting him lose his right hand, when he was dropped out of the army and paid for his service, he didn't go home, our people welcomed him and he stayed with us, even took his wife here, he had three kids, he went into the gold mining business buying the lands this gold were found on, Jafar was one of the first few people who knew our village had gold,"

Nurudeeen broke his story to adjust himself on the chair while his daughters cleaned up the bloody scene with mops and rags.

"He employed the young men in the village who had been mining the gold but getting chips from buyers far and wide and they began to work for him for something better, but he started having issues with transportation of his gold, first it was the bandits, who were content with hijacking the gold on their way out of tofar until they decided to take over the gold mines, jafar's wife and children were killed in the process and he went into hiding but even the army only proved to be another headache at the time they came around..."

"Headache, what do you mean?"

"Oh the army came for the gold as well, it appeared their general or commander was been directed to seize and take over the mines, they didn't care about us so each time the bandits failed at reclaiming a mine they came and melted their anger on us but Jafar came back, he had himself a number of mercenaries who proved quite efficient and stubborn to the army so the army left. unable to fight against jafar's men and the bandits, since they left its been an all out war, various bandits have been fighting over the mines but Jafar is different, he and his men have never attacked the village and sometimes thru are the ones who help us fight them off, of recent unfortunately his men have been divided, with a larger faction under the command of his second in command bashiru, Jafar was said to have missed death at the hand of bashiru and since then he has been in hiding, bashiru controlled the mines before the army came back recently, there has been an ongoing battle between bandit's led by bashiru and the army, our people suffer the brunt, the army come around and take our young men and women away claiming they work with the bandits and the bandits do the same, you see if Jafar is sending for you, then it must be for a good reason, we must get to him!"

Nurudeen concluded.

I gave a listening ear and made some mental notes, I could track Jafar if I wanted so I returned to the already huge crowd gathering outside and went through the pockets and leftovers of the bodies, I found nothing of worth but I didn't to, nurudeen joined me and quickly pointed out my first victim.

"He is from the next village, he is a local cattle rustler and petty thief, he often frequents a bar just down here...I can take you there!"

He volunteered as if by some power within he could tell if that was what I wanted to do.

I took one of the bikes with nurudeeen and my utility bag, to the place, for a bar it was deserted yet filled up.

The faces wore a particular look, the same on the faces of the previous owners of the bike I rode on.

"That is jafar, he is in town!" Nurudeen said almost excited as we got down, a few branded their machetes openly while the others shoved their guns in our face as we walked in with jafar's eyes on us.

"Where are my boys?"

Jafar spoke in a voice that surprised me, it wasn't one filled with the experience from someone on the wrong side of the law, it wasn't a voice that was deceitful or manipulative, there was genuine care in his voice.

"I killed them,"

I returned in Hausa, his eyes lit up as I spoke, a sudden show of sadness and sympathy summed up his next move, he waved us to a chair but nurudeen urged me to go without him, choosing to stay on another seat.

"You are not a journalist, are you?"

I shook my head dully with eyes on his facial expression, Hoping to get an angle on his olay.; none came through, this man was genuine.

"I see, army, terrorist, mercenary or?" His words hung on his mouth as if he was trying to read me.

"Why did you send your boys after me?" I asked.

"Hmm, I thought I could get the media to expose the dirty antics of the military on my lands,"

Jafar was embittered.

"They have completely taken over everything and not just that they are using bandits and villagers taken to mine the gold, my gold!" Jafar's voice shot up.

"Am not that kind of journalist,"

He seemed to get what I meant or at least a bit of it, s he nodded dully.

"Those lands belong to me, I paid for them, the federal government cannot take my gold without compensation, its illegal"

"What about bashiru and his boys, why has the army's presence suddenly brought you out of your hiding?"

"I wasn't hiding, I was gravely sick all this time, bashiru is a coward and a fool, in time I will deal with him but the army won't leave , they have more fire power than ever, eben bashiru has been dealt a series of heavy blows of recent, he is losing grounds and men, I have little resources so I have tried playing it smart all this while, hope they kill themselves and let me have my lands back!"

Jafar explained yet I could see the defeat in his eyes, his plan required years of Patience , for an amputee with no other source of income , he won't last the next year I reckoned.

"The army will never leave my land, there is already a kill on sight order on people like me and bashiru, the army want me dead, I am not a bandit am not like bashiru, I am.just fighting for my right, am I not?"

I said nothing in reply, he seemed to be comfortable with that.

"You killed four of men so I think the least you can tell me is why are you here?" He asked me.

"The army owes me a lot, I am just here to collect my debt,"

I explained.

"You want to take up the army? Are you an arm's smuggler, do you have men or money to go against the army?"

He asked.

"You want the army and bashiru out of your way right, so you would help me isn't it so?" I asked .

He nodded suspiciously.

"I need information, can you give me that?" I asked.

He gave a devilish smile and then a dull smile.

"Anything you need, hopefully you are not as crazy as I think you are!"

We got down to business.

Am so loving this piece, jah bless man

BOOK 2.8 TO KANO WITH LOVE


In the old days, wars were not only won by numbers but by intellect, jafar was excellent, he provided me with everything I needed, there were in fact 9 mines and possibly five other areas with possible deposits of the minerals.

Six were under colonel Isaac's grab and three remained under bashiru's tight grip, this three remained under bashiru's grip due to their terrain which had continually put the army boys at various ambush.


"They can not access this mines and bashiru would die before he relinquish control to the army because this three hold the most deposits, The colonel has lost a lot of men here, its quite fortified by nature, huge cliffs from where no attackers can easily penetrate, bashiru knows this because he used to work under me, those were good old days" Jafar explained.

"What do you intend to do now?" He asked seeing I had remained silent and calm while he talked.

I stretched and took another look at the time, it was time I leave.

"I need to see this places for myself, I need maps and a guide by Tomorrow,"

"Done, anything you say but why does this interest, you are here for the gold isn't it?" An alarm shot up in his voice but I merely walked away, nurudeen who had been fighting a battle of wits against his sleepy eyes suddenly jerked up and ran after me.

"It went well?"

He asked with no certainty in his voice, I nodded and climbed on the bike and drove off.

Three hours of sleep was all I could muster before I devised my plans, I was still up on this when the old colonel called in.


"Isaac is a Hussein Ahmed's boy, his operations have been closely monitored by the general , every one of them, even his promotion was fostered by the general, they had a bit of quarrel after the inedoh after which Isaac was transferred to warri, but it seems they patched up things before Isaac's latest operation, in my opinion..."

"He is using Isaac to carry out illegal mining operations,"

I heard him inhale sharply, he must have been shocked to his core because he said nothing afterwards.

"I need to know what caused the quarrel, I need exclusive details on the mission to inedoh, can I get it?"

"Well, well, you see,"

Calm down colonel, take easy, breath slowly and get yourself out of the shock that the army are no different than any other government organization riddled with corruption, the same organisation he had been proud of all his life.

"I will try,"

he managed to say before ending the call.

Isaac was piece of cake and bashiru was just another opportunistic who deserves whatever was coming to him, I reckoned.

The next morning I returned to the bar where I found one of the boys who were jafar the previous night.

"Everything is here, my master wishes to help you in whatever way you wish,"

He added, I took the map and he joined me on the bike.

We rode two kilometers into thick shrubs before we arrived at our destination. "We will trek from here, the open road from here is always monitored by bashiru's men, we won't last a second trekking through before we are shot or captured,"

the guide warned.

We took the Bush and made a u-turn around the mines camp ground, high ground helped us get a good view.

Poor structures begging for demolition sat upright , a few men with Dane guns and locally made rifles walked around while what we suspected were prisoners comprising of captured soldiers and villagers went to and fro the mine's entrance, bashiru was no where to be found.

"If he is not here , he must be in one of the other two or plotting an attack against the enemies,"

the guide seemed to read my mind.

"There are the Jakahs and Muambis, which have been the biggest threats to bashiru and the mines"

I asked.

"The Jakahs are fearsome even master fears them but since the government of chad have been out on them, they have reduced their operations in our lands,"

I wore my gear and wrapped my head with my turban scarf, I looked more like the Jakahs than the Jakahs did.

"Wait here!" I urged him.

I disappeared down the lower ground and easily found my way into the camp ground, in the next thirty eight minutes I breezed past the bandits, killing each and every one of them.

It was easy, this men were quite under equipped and ill trained I could do this with my eyes close, in another fifteen minutes, I had freed the prisoners who took to their heels without asking questions, the mass loads of dead bodies were about to be my message to bashiru and the Jakahs.

I gathered them and made a camp fire out of them; when I send a message, I mean to send a message.

I returned to my guide shortly who lost words; a renowned sense of fear and confusion had gripped him so tightly I felt he wanted nothing to do with the mission anymore but somehow scarred for his life, he found his steps and joined him, this time silent .

Encore

Nice story line pls update more

I'm with you OP, following you bumpa to bumpa. Abeg we need updates o.

Sorry for the break in transmission, I ran out of data like play like play..updates for 2 and 3 will begin shortly

BOOK 2.9 TO KANO WITH LOVE



I dropped him half way once I returned , he said nothing and I did nothing to help him.

Two hours strolled by before the much needed action came around, two vans filled with soldiers rammed the brakes in front of my home.

I already had my disguise in place so I strolled out with a attitude of innocence that kept the so called leader at bay; relaxed if you may call it.

"You, you are new in this village, you're the reporter?" He pointed a finger at me.


"Yes sir," I produced an ID card, knowing they could never authenticate any of that in this sub Sahara desert with no access to technology.

He collected it as he joined me where I stood, watched closely the passport and mine face and seemed to care not the less about anything.

"You will be coming with us, if you don't mind!"

"I do mind, I came here under the free acts that govern the media and its personnel, I will not go anywhere with you unless given enough proof that my well being is and will be catered for besides with the latest attacks of the jakahs, no one and no where is safe,"

My words drove a sledge hammer down his throat, he stopped and gave me a hard stare.

"You know about the jakahs? What do you know?" He questioned me for answers.

"Of course I am a reporter, I came specifically to cover the jakah's senseless acts of violence perpetrated on Nigeria soil and how the brave men of the army are doing their best to foil it although I doubt you all will succeed,"

"What do you mean by that, you had better watch your..."

"Sir, am sorry but haven't you heard, the jakahs seemed to have partnered with ISIS , they have been heavily armed and fortified with long and short range automatic weapons and mercenaries but why they would want to return back to such a small and out of place village like this is what I don't know,"
I returned with a wondering face.

"You don't mean this, do you?" The military officer asked.

"Oh I do, my informants have asked me to get out of this town as soon as I can, the jakahs are planning a large and wide full scale invasion but I know the army will..."

"Your source, it is credible?"

He asked me.
"I wouldn't risk my life to come here if it wasn't?" I added confidently.

"Take my number, if you have any information of any kind, you know you would be helping the army by sharing, right?"

He said.

"The army is my friend, of course, I would do that, I admire the army and I am a patriotic Nigerian,"

We e xchanged contacts and There he stopped me dead in my tracks before I could say anything else, returning back to the truck as did his men and there and then they were gone as they came.

Plan A had been executed perfectly, I went in and began Plan B.

Six hours crawled by before I set out to meet my guide who seemed a bit better now however he avoided eye contacts and said few words.

"The mine is a fortress but we have been constantly surveying it, it seems to be the busiest, it transports mined gold back to their camp three times daily, in another thirty minutes , its last trip will commence!"

Jafar's man relayed to me as we his in grassy plains high above the main roads leading to the mine.

We waited only 10, it seemed they were in a hurry, who knew the arrival of jakahs could get the army to panic, just ahead a 4 × 4 army land rover conveying four men armed drove out , slowly behind was a truck.

I produced a grenade and waited for the exact moment.

The explosion created a small shock wave sending the land rover as a projectile into the sky wrapped in a ball of fire and dismembered body parts.

The truck behind halted and its driver disappeared into the near by bush but three men stayed, taking cover behind the truck as they shot everything and every were in panic and confusion.

I leapt down and crawled into safe space undetected, maneuvered my way within good distance as bullets flew everywhere.

1...2...3, they all stopped firing; out of ammo and proceeding to reload if they had any extra in the first place.

It was my time so I appeared out of nowhere, sending a dagger into one of the three's neck, the other two hadn't thought for a second before they came swinging their weapon at me.

I threw a powerful swinging high foot , collecting their weapons and throwing it somewhere out of reach.

One reached out for his dagger, wrong move; I threw mine at his hand, nailing his hand into his appendix.

The other stood no chance, in his confusion, I covered the distance and delivered a high flying jaw breaking kneel kick to his jaw, he took off and landed like a crashed airplane; fatality maxex out.

The other came at me with an air of confidence I could have been impressed with if I was just watching an amateur boxer go at it for the first time.

I caught his hands in mid air, and squeezed tightly, the breaking of bones sent him screaming; too much noise.

I let him enjoy the pain for a brief moment before he found my dagger slicing through his throat, he staggered to the ground, both hands round his neck.

I turned to the other who had his hand nailed and realized he had stopped breathing as well.

Inside the truck laid drums around nine, inside laid raw deposits of gold, I returned to jafar's man.

"Take this back to jafar, take the shortest and safest route, no one must see you, can you do that?"

He mode f admirably and took the truck away, there and then I called my army friend.

Su Tzu's Art of war was one of the few books I had picked up to read and master, my art of war was simple, divide and kill them all.

BOOK 2.10 TO KANO WITH LOVE FINAL


"Whatever you are doing , keep doing it, that spill was a bomb, an international investigation has been launched, oh so many heads are going to roll" Mrs. Vee sounded ecstatic.

"Get the media up and running to the location I will be sending to you, you cannot be greedy on this one, I want them all to have their fill on this," I replied.

Oh heads were going to really roll now said to myself once I was done with the call, then jafar called in.

"What really do you want mister?" He asked in panic ridden voice.

"I have no issues with you so you can relax, any news on bashiru?"

He said nothing for the longest hour and then continued "no, nothing, the gold deposits, it seems the army are doubling their efforts to mine what they can but i am worried, it will drive them crazy,"

"You will need to find bashiru and make peace, you will inform him of the mine I will communicate to you later you get ready to move in with your people, the army will withdrawn to regroup, I will send you a signal once this happens!"

"Okay,"

But Crazy was what I wanted so I said nothing, the army truck moved into my space outside my home once more.

A few gun shots scattered the air as I walked out.

"You, you, you are coming with us, where is your source?" My army friend asked angrily on top of his voice.

I said nothing and merely lowered my eyes, right now his agitation would only be fuelled by my words.

"I said where is your source, we need your source ,who is he, our truck has been taken" he blared like a Bandwagon's crooked horn.

Of course they would be.

I was quickly taken into the truck as well as the room ransacked and my stuff catered with me; the stuff they could find.

The journey was not without hitches, I sat with a couple of newbies, who ranted their displeasures and fears about the jakahs.

The journey took us deep into one of the mines, which was heavily fortified, their base of operation.

I was going to see Isaac, The finale had just began.

They led me to a camp site, outside stood Isaac, a big man he was, fair and hairy.

Sturdy with muscular body that looked like a wrestler's body in fine form, He had only a singlet on, his large dagger hanging by his side on his khaki trouser.

His eyes bore the looks of someone who was bored and same time, anxious.
"You are the reporter?" Isaac asked me as I came face to face with him.
"Yes Sir," I replied.
His eyes ran the length of my entire body. "You don't look like a reporter, did he show you an ID card?" He turned to our friend who nodded lazily.

I turned for a minute around and noticed the huge drums, prisoners, blast equipments and tools.

I was briefly searched thoroughly after that.

"You were the one who reported the jakahs?" He asked leading me to the interior of the makeshift camp.

"Your latest call, you don't happen to know anything about it, do you?" He asked producing his dagger; I must say it looked too sharp and large to be a decor, this one smelt of blood.

"Your army officer...?"
"His name is Lawan, Sergeant Lawan,"

"Okay Lawan, asked me to give them information from my source,"

"Your source, who really are is this source, the number of your source..."

His phone rang sharply and I had suddenly become nonexistent to him.

He stood up and went deeper where I could hardly hear him speak but his facial expression told me what I needed to hear.
"Yes sir, all correct sir!" He thundered like the lap dog he was.

He called Lawan and joined him outside , his commands only echoed my plans.

"Sorry about that, I need information on the jakahs, you know this people don't mean well for our people right?" He asked me.

"Certainly intact had I known sooner, I would have given this to you, I might be a media personnel but my allegiance is to this great country and her people,"

I swore as I produced my phone and shoved a text at him.

He read and gave me a dull smile. "We will wrap up this business quickly," hr nodded to himself.

He got Lawan and the awaiting trucks sent out immediately, while he was doing this, I sent a message to jafar; his play cards were now in his hands.

By the time I joined the big man outside, the camp was almost deserted, except for a few who walked around with little to no weapon to defend themselves; these men were busy loading one of many trucks with their stuff.

"You are leaving to far?"
I asked.

"Oh yes, once we wrap up this banditry thing , we will return back, infact by the end of the day, we will be done!" He replied.

Of course he would, the media would fry up their assess if they were ever found now, the plan was simple try to retrieve the gold van, blow up the mines and kill everyone and everything who bore witness that included me; too bad for them.

We returned back to the camp but it was right there the first shot of gun fire rented the air.

Everything turned chaotic and I took my leave under its Shadow, jafar's men were unstoppable in the chaos, I found jaffar.

"You were able to get bashiru?"

"Yes, he is engaged with the other boys," jafar replied.

"He won't make it and we won't if Lawan catches up with the plan, I need to find the colonel, he is the key,"

Under the chaos, I scaled through the gun fire and reached out to the colonel, barring ak-47.

He saw me and hesitated, I took it as liberty and threw a dagger at him but the colonel was not disappointing, he caught my knife and threw it back at me, it sliced off my big thumb on my left hand, the pain was exhilarating.

I dodged and Summersaulted as he pursued my movement with his gun fire.

I tore quickly a piece of my shirt and wrapped my hand and came out quickly.

1...2...3, my steps covered the distance I kicked his gun out of his hand and he immediately went for his dagger.

"You bastard, I will cut you up like the goat you are!" He shouted swinging his dagger at me.

I went out of its way and produced a kukri blade, small but effective, the colonel had the body of a body builder, I could only hope to get him down with a lesser favourable method of attack.

I took to my heels, small cuts aimed at his veins proved efficient, in two minutes time, the big man was losing more blood than an hemorrhaging patient.

"Twenty five cuts, you will die slowly colonel for your sins, you killed a lot of people for gold, now you will die with it,"

I hammered a jaw breaking low kick to his mouth loosing his jaws to accommodate what I had with me.

I produced some gold deposits and proceeded to drive them deep into his throat.

His muffled scream gave me undeniable satisfaction.

He tried moving his hands but with the amount of blood drained from those, he had not a single comeback.

By the end of the day, the media was all over the place, bashiru and his men had been killed, Hussein's dirty trick was uncovered and the gory scene I painted was never aired out, the jakahs were blamed, jafar got his lands back but his fight continued.