₦airaland Forum

rachealfst:
Eh ya.....sorry about the ban. We miss your updates. Take care, we'll be expecting......
Happy Sunday.

Happy new month rachealfst thanks for your constant support...pls bear with me for the late update

Missmossy:
Strange eyes the sharp guy its getting more captivating. Keep it coming, thumbs up.

Thanks..happy weekend...don't go too far, I'm still modifying

Transportation was another problem but Strange eyes had the answer for that too. I don't know what he had done or said to the doctors but they were extremely helpful. But when he told me he would be driving one of the ambulance so Andy could remain on the bed and continue receiving his drip, I was impressed. "How did you get them to agree to that?"
He smiled then lowered his voice "well....you know Andy's dad the Senator doesn't joke with his son's health"
I might be many things, but not slow. I smiled, "that's true..the senator"
Olivia looked at us "his father's a senator?"
I gave her a conspirator's wink and she smiled. "Oh..."

We stepped aside as the doctors performed a final checkup on Andy. The doctor was obviously not pleased as he filled a form and handed it to strange eyes to sign.
I had disappeared into the toilet immediately the doctor I had assaulted had entered, but the two doctors had gone straight to work. Now I counted up to ten then decided I was wasting time..Olivia was there after all and if he should recognise me, I was going to deny him in a way that would make Peter proud.

"Is this how you're going?" I asked strange eyes. He was still in the hospital gown and he looked quite ridiculous, with his hairy legs on display and his feet buried in size 45 shoes.
"Do you have a problem with it?" he asked me pointedly
I bit my tongue "no...no I don't"
Olivia laughed from behind me.

A doctor/nurse wheeled Andy on the mobile bed, strange eyes was beside him matching his pace with the man and they were talking.
I wheeled Olivia behind them, I was on the lookout, my guard was up and I kept on looking at each face. Everyone was a potential shadow, take Tosin for instance, he had seemed like just a nice cleaner the first day I had seen him, Andy and he had even been involved in a discussion not knowing he had his plans.

Outside, the doctor left Andy in our care and hurried in. "So what's the hold up?"I asked strange eyes the minute he was out of earshot.
"They have a designated driver..his job is driving the ambulance he should be here any minute now"
We waited for about ten minutes and I used the opportunity to fill in Andy(who had woken up)on what was going on.

The driver turned up, he had been having dinner and he was sorry he wasted time. We assured him it was no problem.

Strange eyes told me his agents would be driving his Ford jeep behind. "They're trained in spotting tails...if anyone would follow us they would definitely notice and throw him off"
I nodded, it was good to see I wasn't the only one that was worried we might be followed from the hospital.

We drove in a convoy formation, the ambulance in front, with Strange eyes in it, I followed closely with Olivia beside me. The jeep was a couple of cars behind, on the lookout for any suspicious cars.

The sun had set by the time we got to the hospital.
Once the doctor was assured that we were financially stable to foot what was sure to be a very heavy bill, he was all smiles. Andy was set up in a private room,much better than the one he had been in previously.
I wasted no time in taking Olivia for her checkup and injections. The doctor(another jovial nice woman) smiled and waved her finger at me "you've not been bringing her...you're interfering with her meds o!"
I smiled politely in response. Truth be told I was sick and tired of medical workers, both friendly and unfriendly. I had met enough to last my lifetime.
I made a graceful escape as the doctor was still giving her lecture on the importance of sticking to medical appointments.

I met strange eyes outside. He handed me my car keys. "Your car is downstairs"
"Wow..nice..who brought it?"
"I had another agent bring it"
"Okay cool"
He kept on looking at me and I knew something was wrong, finally I asked him "okay..what is it?"
"This your plan...you mind telling me how you intend to kidnap an exco?"
"That's the problem...I haven't really figured that part out"
"And you say you have a plan? So what's your plan then?!"
"To kidnap them of course!"
He was about to reply...but then his eyes strayed over my shoulder. I turned and saw a young lady walking briskly towards us. She wore a suit and there was something sharp about her movement.
"A.j..all has been rectified" she spoke up once she reached us.
"OK...that's nice...this is my friend Rex..Rex..this is Tonye"
"Nice to meet you" we shook hands and I noticed she had a firm grip, that wasn't all I noticed, she was a looker, she was quite stunning and I knew immediately what I had to do. "So...agent Tonye right?..how would you like to seduce someone on my behalf tomorrow?" I asked her with what I hoped was a charming smile.
She jerked her hand away immediately, then glanced at Strange eyes, unsure how she should react. She must have been surprised I knew she was an agent but she herself had called strange eyes A.j(Agent John) besides, I hardly met anyone friends with strange eyes who was not some kind of agent or the other.

Bami nodded hastily "he's cool he's cool, he's almost an agent himself so don't worry" then he turned to me "what the Bleep are you saying?"
I raised up both hands. "Before you crucify me hear what I have to say..."

Ten minutes later(or five to be honest) and I had the both of them nodding thoughtfully "so that means...we go for the lawyer then...not the Chief's wife"
"Yes..the lawyer...the minute I saw his picture...I just knew there was an angle there..."
He nodded "your hunch is spot on...because the rumour is that he's a sucker for anything in a skirt"
"Really...I'm standing right here!" Agent Tonye reminded him.
'No offense" he smiled sheepishly.
He then directed her to try and get the Lawyer's call records from the service provider.
She nodded politely at me and we watched her walk away in silence.
"There's something between you two isn't there?"
He looked at me "what...me and Tonye? are you drunk?"but I could swear his eyes got brighter.
"I've seen you with other agents and its always yessir! Yessir! This is the first time I'm seeing someone talk back at you and caution you and you were quick to apologise"
"I said something abusive..that was all..a mature leader knows when to say sorry"
I shrugged "its none of my business..I'm just saying what I noticed"
"Well you noticed wrong..." He grumbled and denied continuously and I knew my guess had been spot on, he liked her alright and from what I had learnt about agent Nancy who had died saving his life or to be precise his eye sight, I hoped this didn't also end like that. I looked at him suddenly "you don't have any problem with what she's going to do, do you?"
"What nonsense is that? Its part of her job and she's good at it!" He replied crossly.
"Temper temper..." I said in a placating tone which he took for sarcasm because he shot me daggers with his eyes.

Olivia was done with her checkup and she was in a good mood. "Are we good to go?" I asked her
"Good to go, good to go...good to go sir!" She replied me with a mock salute and we both laughed.
Strange eyes had been watching us but he too smiled. "You people better invite me to your wedding o"
My smile froze...that had to be the worst thing to say to a less than two week old widow. I glanced at her, expecting some form of awkwardness...but she was smiling...dare I say she was smiling dreamily.
"As long as you invite us for you and Tonye's own" I replied him with my voice light,That shut him up.
"Where are you people going?" He asked stiffly as I wheeled her away
"We have an appointment...when you see us you'll understand!"
"The toys are still in my car" he meant the earphones and recorder.
"We'll be back...later tonight, I'd call you"
He just shrugged in an 'if you like call, if you like don't call' manner.

The BMW or my car....I faced the great dilemma and I asked Olivia.
"I've never seen your car..your real car..let's take your car"
Chai....I was certain it was going to 'fall my hand' with its chronic startup cough, but I wheeled her towards the car. Somehow I wasn't worried..with Olivia things like that didn't bother me anymore...she had seen too much of me and it would be foolishness to feel embarrassed by something as insignificant as that...or maybe with the right person it didn't matter.
I was in for a surprise when I got to the car, it was waxed and polished a gleaming black, and it looked new that I stood looking around for my car even when the lights had blinked in response to the remote control.
Strange eyes had really pimped my ride like it was an 'exhibit' and I was awed.
We settled in and for the first time ever, without pumping the clutch, the car responded with a smooth engine sound. No wheezing,no coughing, nothing!
"Wow...you have a nice car"
"Thanks..you should have seen it before" my tone of voice must have conveyed what I meant because she laughed happily and freely. The sound was like a fist on my heart...I hoped and prayed that in the next few hours the laughter won't be replaced by tears. I closed my eyes and I could see her locked in a container, among scores of other women, all scared and crying...I gritted my teeth.
"Rex...Rex..what's wrong?"
I opened my eyes and smiled "nothing....I was just thinking of that traffic we faced while coming" I put the car in gear "Wendy...here we come!"

•°•°•°•°•°•
Wendy was the type of person that once an idea of a work was in her head..it never went away..she was waiting impatiently and she had called me countless times to figure out if I was still on my way.

The school had long closed and she was the only one who waited behind. She was standing at the main gate with the security guard. She must have told him she was expecting us because he only tapped my booth for me to open it for him, after which he waved me on after checking.
I moved in and parked to the side of the road. Wendy hurried to my window. "Just go in and park...I'd be with you shortly" she saw Olivia and smiled "he told me he was coming with someone..its nice to finally meet you"

Wendy led the way inside, switching on the lights as we passed.
"Hope the guard is cool and not a snitch?" I asked her.
"No...well maybe but I'm going to give him some money to be sure of his loyalty"
"Wow..you'd so that for me?"
I was behind her, Wheeling Olivia but I could tell she rolled her eyes. "Duh! Where do you think the money is going to come out from?"
I chuckled "Wendy....sha take it easy with my pockets"
"You just see what I have planned for you and your friend"

She worked on Olivia first and I stood to the side and watched as little by little, her hair was turned grey. Wendy was a master with hair dyes and she mixed two different shades of grey to give her the required shade she wanted.
The result was how the hair of an aging 50/60 year old woman would look.
"Okay...lemme see" she studied Olivia's face intensely through the mirror. "Okay...just a few wrinkles here and there...you want any scarring? No scarring won't be nice..you're an elderly elegant woman..yes just wrinkles...not too much, just to age your pretty face a little"
"Wow..you're very good..I'm already feeling old now" Olivia was impressed.
"Trust me..it isn't complete..there'd be a little line, here, here and here...behind your eyes..not to talk of your teeth.." She touched almost all over Olivia's face and I laughed. "Wendy the magician...are you going to add all those ones tonight?"
"No...since its Tomorrow..its best to do it in the morning...when the effects would still be fresh"
"Okay...that sounds nice..." But then I remembered where the interview was supposed to hold. "Actually, we won't be able to come all this way tomorrow..why don't you just do it all now?"
She was already shaking her head "no...no...instead I'd prefer to come to you myself in the morning"
"Wow..you're serious? You'd do that?"
She rolled her eyes again and I interrupted her this time "okay I know..I know..I'd be paying your transport right"

She fussed on Olivia a bit, greying the eyebrows slightly, adding a fake birthmark then taking it off"
"I thought it looked well" Olivia said when she removed the birthmark she had placed above her left eye.
"Yes darling..it would come on tomorrow..tonight is just your hair basically..that's half of the job alone"
"What's the other half?" I asked "the facials?"
"Yes..and don't forget the fun part...the dressing up!"

My turn and she asked me "Old or young?"
"I don't know...just make me totally unrecognisable"
She went for old again...the similarities would have been too much otherwise. This time however, she went a different route, instead of balding me, she added a toupee, a patch of grey afro hair that was greyed white completely. She worked on my eye brows, my moustache and the beards "justice the barber is not around...but I think I got this" and truly she did, she worked the beards perfectly, no touch of black just grey all through.
"Hmmm...I'm looking like Wole Soyinka a bit" I said checking out the result.
"Believe me that would change when the wrinkles come on...you're going to look like an Old weathered and battered man"
I couldn't help it, I flinched and Olivia burst out laughing "you know what that means..you better enjoy your youth tonight" she had said it innocently, but trust my dirty mind to interpret it another way. I stared at her thoughtfully through the mirror and she blushed.
Wendy must have been feeling the chemistry whether organic or inorganic because she cleared her throat suddenly "ehem...so Mr Rex tomorrow morning you're going to be so old, that your eyes would hardly open clearly...deal?"
"Deal" I agreed.
She rubbed her hands together "now for the fun part..let's get you dressed up!"

Half an hour later and she escorted us to the car. Olivia had the nylon bags containing the clothes we had selected in her lap while I wheeled her.
"So..where do I meet you people tomorrow?" Wendy asked me
We had gotten to the car and I scratched my head. "I'd give you the address..but it would likely be a hotel"
She raised an eye brow slightly, but she didn't miss a beat "okay..just lemme know on time..before 8 I'd be there"
I could tell she was dying to ask about Fome but was trying to mind her business.
I thanked her and Olivia thanked her also, commending her as one of the very best makeup artists, that made her blush.

I tipped the guard an extra thousand naira to smoothen things further, I knew Wendy was going to give him something, and it had to be something significant, judging from what she had gotten from me, but I knew Jossy was a no nonsense person and she had risked her job for my sake.

I called strange eyes from the car "Are you at the hospital?"
"Is that your greeting?"
I sighed "okay good evening sir...are you at the hospital?"
"Not at the moment but The bull is there"
"Which one is the bull again?"
"That's the captain agent"
"Oh..you mean the fake Captain. Anyway...let's meet up tomorrow for the recorder and earphones and a final briefing"
He chuckled "I'm telling you you've found your calling...you sound just like an agent!"
"Bami...good night, we'll meet tomorrow"

"So what now..we get some sleep?" Olivia asked me, she was trying to stifle a yawn and I knew she must be tired.
"Yes..and pray the sun takes its time before rising"

•°•°•°•°•°•
At the hotel, the very same hotel we had left before checking in two nights ago, the same friendly clerk was at the desk.
"Ah...customer...hope you're here to stay?"
"Yes o...sorry about the other time" I paid and he gave me the keys.
It was past 11 when we got in, and I asked Olivia "hope you're not hungry?"
"No..that brunch we had earlier..that was just too heavy...like this I'm okay till tomorrow"
"Okay..good...me too"
I stood pacing around, like my mind was on different things, but to be honest all I could think about was the fact that there was one bed...I kept on reminding myself she was a widow, and I was a responsible man...but the mental reminder wasn't holding much weight anymore.
"We better get some sleep" I told her.
Wendy had said to leave the hair overnight before washing...so having a shower was out of the question...which was just as good because I had been thinking of the fact that my mom wasn't around anymore to help with the dressing.
That reminded me, they didn't call me when they landed, but it was late now...it would have to be tomorrow.

We talked about the initiative and how the interview might turn out, it seems sleep was hard to come for both of us.

I don't know what got into me suddenly, but one minute we were talking, and the next I held her chin in my hand and was pressing my lips against hers, she leaned into the kiss immediately and it was the sweetest thing ever, the kiss played on for seconds until I heard her moan(or my God...was it me?)
The kiss broke naturally and I rested my cheek on her head and kissed her hair, "I swear...nothing would happen to you...I swear it" in the heat of passion and swimming with emotions I truly meant what I said...nothing was going to happen...no way! If I had been doubting it before, the kiss had confirmed it, I loved her alright and I had lost someone before....we had both lost someone before...but now..loosing wasn't an option.

°•°•°•°•°
5:00am(five hours to the interview)

I didn't sleep much, I kept on looking at the ceiling....the fear had descended all of a sudden from nowhere and I continually stretched my hands to touch Olivia and assure myself she was with me.
Right now she was still asleep, hopefully with good dreams playing behind her eyelids judging by the smile on her lips.

I hadn't prayed in a long while, I think the last time I prayed was when I was staring down the barrel of the gun, but this morning I went on my knees and I prayed..

Bibi294:
My best stowi is Delayed Diagnosis by souloho19

Wow madam bibi thanks dear

queenitee:
Lol, I can only write short stories, I'm not good

You'd be surprised..same thing I used to tell myself..anyway 'twas nice

queenitee:
God,I can't just stop staring at his sexy lips, I always dream of having his lips on mine. John has always been my crush from childhood, dark, tall and handsome. Is he also staring at me? I thought when i saw his pale blue eyes fixed on me, but before I could think otherwise, that sexy lips of his was already on mine. The kiss was a long sweet one.

Lucky John
Well done ma..are u sure u won't pick up a pen one of these days

I saw the ford jeep outside immediately I entered the parking lot, but I could tell it was empty. I tried not to hurry but my steps were brisk and I wheeled Olivia swiftly down the corridor. No matter what my mind would never be at rest, where Andy was concerned, the only time I had believed he was safe was when my father had been watching him.
Strange eyes was on the bed, he was in a pale yellow hospital gown.The gown meant for patients and Andy had on one that was similar. I could see he was receiving an intravenous drip and it seems he was sleeping, but the moment we entered the room completely his eyes were wide open and I could see his other hand was gripping his gun, he had whipped it out in a heartbeat. What's more, he wasn't receiving any drip because as he swung his legs down, I could see the needle passed over the plaster and he had been holding it in his hands.
"Woooa...what are you doing?!" I shouted.
"Sorry....I'm expecting the worst..."
"The worst...what's going on...who were you expecting?"
He sighed then stood up, the gun disappeared inside the gown. "There's every possibility that the news reached the underground that one of the shadows was killed by his contract/hit...the mariner is just a stones throw away, and for me to link it to Andy...anyone interested anx smart enough can also link it here"
"What about the other two agents"
"Their presence was a giveaway here...if truly anybody where to come here in search of the person that killed the shadow, I need them to identify and intercept the person before he even gets into the hospital"
I was really getting worried...I glanced at Olivia and she shook her head. No. Although I wasn't sure what the "no" meant.
"So you mean one of the shadows might turn up looking for the person that had survived the shootout while the shadow had died...they wouldn't even bother that he was a victim and not the one who pulled the trigger?"
"Rex why are you talking like this? You know how this people think..as long as you are slightly connected.. Most times even if you are not connected, its what they do...they're killers"
"No way...no way.." I checked my watch "we're approaching sunset...there's no way I can leave Andy behind"
"Don't you worry, I'm on top of the situation,I sent for two extra agents they're really good, between the four of us we should be able to hold it down"
"Bami...one shadow..just one shadow alone, believe me four of you can't hold him"
He took offense immediately "what do you mean? We're not civilians! Unlike you we are highly trained for these kind of situations"
I held up my hands "I'm just telling you what I saw...anyway there's no way I can leave him behind...I won't be able to focus on the initiative...not with what I've learnt about them recently"
"So what do you think...we don't go ahead anymore?" This was from Olivia.
"Actually...I was thinking....we're supposed to go to the private hospital for your checkup and injections...." I trailed off, then glanced at Andy...letting my eyes show my intent.
"I don't think its a good idea..we can't just move him to another hospital..he's barely recovering"
"Then he'll continue his recovery somewhere else..somewhere safe, in a hospital they'll have his time"
She seemed uncertain..."I don't know..."
Strange eyes jumped in "actually its a good idea...we can get the main doctor to write a transfer or referral..to another hospital"
"Would he want to do that?" I asked.
"Believe me he will" the way he said it made me think even if he didn't, he was going to make him, courtesy of his pocket gun.

We decided on this first and strange eyes was to go and get the doctor, whatever bills would have to be paid first. I didn't feel the doctor would agree but strange eyes assured me he wouldn't have any choice.
"Okay..before I forget, the earphones are in the car...with the recorder...and I have my mechanic coveralls on stand by"
"Perfect"
"Are you sure the plan is going to work?" Olivia asked me worriedly.
"What plan...what's the plan?" Strange eyes asked..looking at both of us
She looked at me first and I nodded. I didn't see any reason in not sharing a plan he was going to be part of
"We're going to kidnap an exco" Olivia told him.
He looked at me. "Which one?"
"The one sure to know about the location..my instincts are telling me to go for the lawyer" normally the old woman who was allegedly the Chiefs mother was the one that made the trafficking selection so she was the one I should be targeting but after that dream, I didn't want anything to do with her.
"Why not go for the head then..?"
"The chief?"
"No..his wife..she's the head of the organisation right?"
I sighed impatiently,"Mr Bami, can we leave here first before the shadows start turning up?"
He nodded and hurried out. It seems for all his talk of being adequately trained to handle the shadows, he didn't plan to face them if he could avoid it and to be frank, I didn't blame him.

I was surprised not to see strange eyes jeep(its going to take some time to get used to 'Bami') anywhere when I got back. The day was quite clear now, just few minutes before 7 and I looked round, but the jeep was no where to be found.
'So he's finally gone to sleep' I thought idly to myself, 'after sitting outside the hospital overnight' ..and he'd said he no longer slept at night...I hoped I didn't get to be like that.

I called him before I went in and when he picked on the first ring I glanced around the parking lot, half expecting to see him parked somewhere else like before.
"Rex..what's the matter"
"I just wanted to remind you about the flight booking"
"I'd send you the details later this morning..I have someone working on it right now,just expect it to be this evening"
"Okay..thanks...so you disappeared again..rules of survival right?"
"In this case its basic survival .the body needs sleep to function and it has been functioning, over functioning without sleep..."

Upstairs I met a doctor in the room, my father was still sitting but I could tell he was sharp and wide awake,monitoring every movement of the doctor who it seemed was unsettled by the intense scrutiny.
He glanced as I entered, the barest of glances then returned his watchful gaze immediately to the doctor who was checking on Andy.
"Is your mother up?" He asked without looking at me.
"Oh...I didn't check"
"Okay...stay here lemme go"
"Actually..I want to see them..lemme check on them quickly" I hurried to the door and my dad was obviously not pleased,he had been in the room for hours, since the previous evening and I knew he didn't like being in one place for too long.
He mumbled about me passing by their room first and not stopping to branch. Actually, I was in a haste to leave the room.The doctor...I could swear he was the same doctor I had injected barely 3 nights ago,He had taken off when the shadow had began to display with the deadly mop stick, but I was sure he could recognise me if he looked at me well enough and I didn't plan to give him the opportunity.

My phone rang outside. It was Gwen. "Obasi....I did you a favour...I helped your sorry ass and looked how you turned my house upside down!"
"Haba...not upside down...I know the fridge was almost emptied...I'm sorry about-"
"Just the fridge?what about the mattress?what about the pipe in one of the toilets? I cant see most of my gowns!You see how you spat in my eye abi?"
"Look Gwen...I'm sorry believe me..what did Ariyo say?"
"He was angry...according to him I'm sleeping with someone else!"
"But..you should...you're not his wife...hell...you're someone's fiance!"
"So..what's your point..that's what gave you the right to rip out the PVC pipe...or to rip out the foam...I don't just understand the type of life you're living!" She sounded baffled.
"Will it make you feel better if I say the pipe saved my life and someone else also" we (or Andy)had used the pipe for designing the gun suppressor same thing the foam had been used for actually.
She shouted some nasty words in reply then ended the call.

My mother and Olivia where up and they must have been talking for some time. I met them both sitting on the bed and they must have been in some kind of intense conversation because Immediately they saw me, my mother said "Rex..thank God you're here...I don't like what I'm hearing about this interview of a thing..is the organisation legitimate?"
I glanced at Olivia "its just the interview we plan to go for....nothing else...its tomorrow actually and you don't have anything to worry about" Actually there was plenty reason to worry..,the first being I had been having my doubts since the dream had woken me up and now learning about this shadow fiasco was another matter totally.

We talked for some minutes, maybe even half an hour..Olivia had not told my mother that the interview we were going for was with the very people responsible for the crimes we had come across recently and she thought it was just a private organisation "How come I've never heard about it?"
"They don't really do press releases like that..I'm sure they're afraid of the amount of widows that would really turn up should they really advertise" of course I knew the real reason they weren't that popular, but there was no way I was telling her. I didn't want her to worry and start having second thoughts about leaving, after what had happened with nurse Ify and those few painful minutes she didn't wake up, I had known I couldn't take it again...no way...they were safer in Benue state..away from the danger and most importantly, away from me.

I passed the time with them till I was sure the doctor would have left.
We decided that when they washed up we would look for breakfast, everyone was hungry I could tell.
I didn't feel guilty when I rushed down to the car and handed Olivia the bag of Gwen's clothing. She (Gwen) had every right to be angry I mean, I went as far as to remove clothes from her closet although all my mind had been on what Olivia could wear and at the time I didn't care, the thing is if I could do it again I would.

My dad's face was almost purple when I got back to the room. "What took you so long? You know how long I've been sitting here?"
"I'm sorry..the thing is I had to get something from the car"
"You spent more than 30 minutes in the car?" He got up and stretched "Anyway..Andy has been awake...he just drifted off again"
He walked to the door but I stopped him "When I left,they were about taking their bath..so now might not be a good time"
"Whatever....I must leave this room...since yesterday!"
He stomped outside and I locked the door. I couldn't afford to leave Andy unguarded while I washed up in the bathroom.
The first thing I did was to pump almost all the toothpaste on the brush.
I stared at the mirror...trying to recall traces of the dream but it was thankfully blurred, and as I scrubbed my teeth away, it felt like washing the taste of blood away with good ol' MacLean.


Strange eyes called me a little later. My dad had once again been the designated security to stay by Andy's bed...but I could see he was tired of sitting in the room alone. Apparently my mom did too, because she offered that they all stay behind while I went food hunting so I assured them I would get something nice and be quick.
Currently, I was skipping down the stairs when strange eyes called me.
"Bami!"
"Please..use my alias...I'm known as agent John...don't come and give away my identity unknowingly"
"Agent John?...I'd try my best but won't it be better to still protect your alias.."
"Don't call me strange eyes if that's where you're going"
"Okay..I won't...so what's up..any news?"
"The flights have been booked..4pm..first class...you should receive the details as we speak"
True enough my phone vibrated "thanks..you won't believe how my mind just calmed down now"
"I'd have the things you requested for tonight....and you can trust me to provide security for Andy anytime you won't be there....especially when the sun sets..."
I lowered my eyes at his choice of words, but I said nothing...instead I ended the call.

I spent a small fortune on food alone, everybody was super hungry and I didn't hold back, it was a popular eatery I went to, and their food is known to be too expensive, coupled with the fact that I couldn't stop my eyes from roaming everywhere in the show glass....everything I was seeing rice, porridge,plantain, salad, not to talk of the dilemma to choose between meat/fish/chicken/snail......at the end I settled for almost everything and from the amount of paper bags I held, one would think it was for at least 20 people or they were about to sell me.
The hunger must have been more serious than I thought because my father called me twice, and both times I assured him I was on my way.


°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
The day seemed to fly by and my parents where no longer as supportive as they had been concerning their journey back. I knew however, that I had to be firm and I maintained that they had to go. "You came to spend the weekend..its already Monday...we can't be jumping from hospital to hotel like this.."
We bantered back and forth but I was firm. They had come to visit me..and the visitation was over. By 2pm we need to head towards the airport..they couldn't afford to miss their flight.
It was 12:30pm currently and I was thinking about how I would drop them at the airport, drive towards the other end of Lagos to the hospital for Olivia's checkup then drive back to Jossy's makeup school for our makeover session.
Olivia and I were in the room with Andy. My parents were somewhere outside in the "sunlight" as my dad had put it,he had been super restless and I know he was tired of the hospital really, he said he needed a different kind of air and was taking a walk..my mother had joined him saying the antiseptic smell of hospitals always made her queasy. So currently we were alone with Andy who was still sleeping(a different doctor had come to check on him and announced that the next time he would wake..he should be strong enough to speak softly)
I decided to fill Olivia in with what I had found out in the last few hours.

For a minute I thought I had succeeded in scaring her with the horrific tales of how the widows were snatched by the shadows. One would think the shadows had supernatural powers with the way i narrated it and she must have thought so too because her eyes were wide and white.
"Its okay Olivia...we'll find another way I'm sure..we don't need to risk your life"
"No its not that..." She shook her head "I'm just shocked at how this people have been messing and playing with lives all along..kidnapping them...treating them like objects" her eyes had some kind of fire in them "No Rex..the time is now..we need to stop them..they feel invisible... But we need to expose them!" She was such so fired up that she got up as she was talking so she could look at me without turning her neck and I assisted her to the bed.
Chai...my plan had backfired, instead of scaring her,it had motivated her...nothing else I could do...we were in this together in every sense. So I told her the first part of my plan...or to be precise, the only part of my semi plan. The thing was the widows were formerly locked up in containers before they were shipped out, but ever since the coordinates had turned up in my hands..they had been evacuated..I could tell they had been moved in a rush, the evidence of that little baby shoe..I could imagine it falling down and getting lost in the hasty movements of frightened bodies.. I shook my head. I was sure all the other coordinates had been emptied by now... So that would mean the Chief must have another place he used as a holding facility before he 'shipped' them out...that's if he didn't also use other methods.
"So our number one priority is finding out about the widows and rescuing them first...what I understand is they have a specific number of women they need for each shipment and when they reach it, they start afresh, holding them somewhere until they reach the required number again."
I could see my words were fanning the flames in her eyes rather than scaring her. "Just imagine what they would be going through...poor women, first to lose your husband and then to be packaged like crate minerals and just sold out...from your own country!"
For a moment her words painted a clear picture in my head, helped by the fact that I had been in one of such containers just few nights ago, It was too easy to picture the disturbing image.
"The thing is...according to the briefing I read....all indication point that the supposed number for a full shipment should be met any day now...and you saw how fast the waiting list moves on their website"
She nodded...and for a second I saw a flicker of fear. I hurriedly assured her. The fact that she wasn't getting scared away didn't mean she wasn't afraid, I assured her it would be okay...and somehow I found myself comforting her then hugging her.."shhh...its going to be okay.."
We stayed that way for some while and I was just content to sit there and stroke her back comfortably.(we were both on the bed. She had left the wheelchair sometime during our discussion)
I don't know how long we stayed like that, I could just hear my own voice over and over again "shhh...its okay..its going to be alright"
Then somehow she was looking at me with big soulful eyes and I knew what was coming...I couldn't stop the slow descent of my head and a tiny weenie part of my brain must have been shouting 'finally! Hallelujah!'
Just an inch from those lips..those wonderful lips... And the words carried into my ear stopping me:"Not in my room you dog" my eyes cleared and I noticed we were still in the hospital, Olivia's eyes were still closed,and her lips for the taking, I almost wanted to plunge my head down again but I heard the whisper once more "you dog...." It was Andy!
In one word I was simply overjoyed and Olivia looked embarrassed at first, but the happiness in talking to Andy was just too much(he listened more,Just speaking few words in between). We fussed over him both of us filling him on the crazy nurse that had almost ended his life. I was in the process of making cinematic gestures and replaying everything in slow motion not to talk of amplified sound, when my parents entered.

An hour later and it seems we had talked him to sleep. He was snoring softly but we kept on talking...now to ourselves,from the shadow, then the nurse, my dad was surprised to learn that the captain hadn't been a soldier at all, before long the topic digressed with my mother telling me about my sisters and their children..most of which she had told me previously but I listened with keen and renewed interest. And before long Olivia was talking too...about her family and her mother. How her mother didn't yet know about the accident and that she's a widow, how being the only child had always been and how she suspected her father went to the grave wishing he had a son. We were all quiet, listening to whoever was speaking. A quick glance at the time told me 4 o'clock was almost upon us and it seems 'The last bonding' was going on.
Just as it must, the discussion entered Rambo..with my father saying the ram had done him proud. He had received a call and his ram had won the finals, beating the other soundly "That ram just earned me three times what I used to buy it" my father said proudly.
I brought up the idea of barbeque..at first just having fun and enticing them with descriptive words of how I could grill the lamb perfectly with ketchup,onions and pepper over an open fire and before long I had put my father in a dilemma, still he stood his ground. Rambo was a champion not food...I could see his eyes however...and he finally added "I'd rather buy another one and you must roast it just like you described"
"Deal"
My mother added "why don't we do it together with when Nyesom comes with her children next month...just something like a get together, family reunion. .Rex and Olivia would come and the children would be on holiday by then so I would talk to Utebo and Cynthia about coming also"
"And you would grill the ram....in the backyard..under the tree..perfect"my father added.
"Al...I can see your mind is really on the meat"
"Martha...no no....this one I'm not doing cholesterol level with you...I want to eat meat and drink ammunition in peace that day" we all laughed but somehow we had something to look forward to,that was a sign of hope!. I wondered if I should tell my dad that the drink he had come to like so well was owned by the man we had come to hate.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°••°•

We arrived at the airport few minutes before 3 and after the rushing and the frantic hugs and goodbyes, I was back in the car with Olivia...it was just the two of us now.
"They're really gone" we stared ahead for some while then I looked at her.
It felt like a massive weight had just been lifted off my shoulders but looking at Olivia now I felt another massive weight...I placed a hand over hers, to reassure both of us.
She looked at me as I started the car "now it begins" she said.
I nodded...truly it does begin...hopefully it wasn't the beginning of the end.


03:45pm(19 hours till the interview)

"Okay safe journey..call once you land"
"Okay dear...my regards to Olivia.."

"They're just boarding?" Olivia asked as I returned the phone.
"Yes..she says they'll call once they land"
She nodded then I pressed my palm down on the steering wheel, releasing the horn. Not like the car in front could move anyway, we were stuck in traffic once again, a complete stand still. I was in a haste to return to the hospital, I had called strange eyes and even though I wouldn't say I trusted him fully I knew he would truly watch over Andy. So I had called him before we left for the airport and in the next ten minutes the same two agents had turned up. My father had sneered at the fake captain. "I cant believe you're impersonating an officer! My son in law is a major..how dare you abuse what they stand for"
"Its my job I'm doing...and its not so different if you really look at it"
"better don't let them hear you speak such folly" my father advice him. I had stayed behind and emphasised on Andy's safety and they had assured me, with the other agent seeming to take offence. "That's our job...you want to teach us our job?"
"Who've been doing your job for you all this while?...you're the gala seller agent aren't you?"
He smiled mischievously "you punch like a girl"
"That was then...don't try me now, I'd break your face" I warned him through clenched teeth. The guy was always getting me worked up.

Now stuck in traffic and I called strange eyes again.
"Please call your agents again..they need to be extra watchful"
"Rex...fear not..I'm at the hospital already..I have the things you requested for"
"Wow..that was fast..we'd be there as soon as we escape this traffic."

The traffic had other plans and almost an hour gone we were still inching away. I lowered the radio when my phone rang expecting to Strange Bami to be calling but it was Wendy.
"Hello...Jossy is gone for the day..its just we workers left now"
"Wow..she closed early"
"Yes..sometimes its like that, I think the earlier you come the better..you said you need it for tonight?"
"No..tomorrow.. Tomorrow morning"
"Oh..we won't do much then..what time tomorrow?"
"Like ten o'clock"
"Okay..I'd work on most of the physicals today dressing,hair..and the rest, then tomorrow would be for the facials and makeover.
"No problem..whatever you say..I'm headed there now"

Olivia looked at me "what of the hospital?"
"We're almost at the hospital..nothing can stop us from checking up on Andy".

forzarush:
Welldone Souloho,thanks for the mention. I won't forget to invite you for naming in due time. lol

Lol I wouldn't miss it for anything..I have a feeling I myt be calling you 'mama ibeji'

marianneada:
Abefee99, Sirblero,Urchman23, Souloho19, Jbaby265, lolsd, Hadampson, Xavier casmier, Azeequeen, Lankyannie, Ifecoded, aishatry, Aminzy, Campala, Eniquirl, Rhayne, missmossy, Ronnylove, Princessadeola, akinkudin, BlissfulJeff, sheynex, Halyma, Ami joy, Bangalee1,May Mac, Jlake, Horlardorjah, Nancydearie, Heemah, Funmilade11, crislyn, Bimberry1307, Halyma, Kimkardashain, Chizim1, Miss Claire, Mary chommy, Kimberly West, Joettti, Lankyannie, Victorydgirl,Eniquirl,crislyn,


I'm inviting you all to enjoy this piece i'm about to drop, pls if i didnt mention you, pardon me, my head don full,.... Luv u all.

Wonderful..thanks for the invite,this is looking good already, where did I keep my glasses sef........ okY! Fire on madam!

Sunrise was a steel company. 'Sunrise steel' that was the name in full. As I viewed the short documentary on strange eyes tab, I knew immediately that this was the company Fome and Mona's father had started up. He himself had told me just nights ago.
Strange eyes was quiet still puffing away, but I could tell he was sleepy. We were fast approaching the break of dawn and possibility of nightmares was at the barest minimum and so he was sliding further into the seat.
Me on the other hand, my eyes were glued to the screen.
Sunrise steel had taken off in the early 90s, the brilliant owner Chief Amunike had gotten the brainstorm to start up with a foundry, and began in metal casting and the production of crude steel.
I knew for a fact that the brainstorm had been by his friend at the time who had been walking home tiredly,choked by poverty then had noticed unwanted and 'condemned' metal being carried away to be broken in pieces.
That was where Mr X had gotten to the night we spoke before emotions and bitterness had taken him over but now I could connect it well and I also knew he had started it up wo years before Fome's birth when Mona was still a baby and I knew for a fact it was in the late 80's not early 90's.

Anyway, the demand of steel was on the rise that year and it would infact increase rapidly in the next decade and so the little company began to grow and presently it is one of the biggest steel industries in Africa.
So basically from melting metals, refining and solidifying it and marketing the crude steel, the Chief made a fortune and I could see it was truly a fortune because the slides also showed his 'official' net worth. I blinked and counted the digits again, Of course he was into other things, there was the ammunition,(I mean the drink now) he also had a line of cologne and perfumes and other string of businesses scattered around the Country.
I gritted my teeth..businesses like drug dealing and human trafficking, once more I marveled at how he had managed to run his illegal businesses for years and get away with it.

Anyway,so the Sunrise Steel was one of the sponsors of the initiative and their major sponsor I was sure.
I wondered about the setup of it all, Could the Chief be this dangerous? It felt like a stupid question really, I mean once a person is heartless that equals danger don't you think?
So somehow the Chief was linked to this kind of group..assassins and mercenaries that did the dirty job, but the vibe I was getting was that theirs was more of a partnership...I couldn't say they worked for the Chief...that wouldn't quite fit with what I could percieve...they were assassins..and the only two that had ever been killed(and given us some inkling about their existence)had been on some kind of personal contract. I was one of them recently...and thhe other was four years back...all failed operations thankfully.
Still these shadows of the sunset(if I could call them that) they were truly shadows in every sense.
I thought back to the kill strikes and abductions I had read about all were swift..and most times nobody expected anything to happen.

I had to act..I could sense something hovering on the horizon, there was the Chief on one side, there was Mr X on the other, and there was me...I could forsee some kind of clash in the nearest furure
It was some kind of triangle...I could picture the three of us in a desert, circling and sizing each other up while each of our hands itched for the gun on our hip like the last scene of the movie: 'The good, The Bad and the Ugly' the name was frightfully accurate and if that were the case..I planned to act exactly how Clint Eastwood had done, the way he had been two steps ahead of his two antagonists every time.
I realized I could still take it literally a step further. You see, in the western classic, Clint Eastwood, sharp as ever removes the bullets from the gun of the Ugly before hand and so when they have their showdown, he isn't worried about him..all his focus is on the Bad, because he knows the Ugly can't shoot him, he's removed the bullets!
The other two on the other hand have to keep moving their eyes focusing on him and each other. And so he takes down the Bad easily, the Ugly shoots at him but realises he's shooting breeze because no bullets in his gun and so the Good turns his own gun on him...

So same way I could apply it in my case, Mr X was planning something deadly against the chief, the ripple effects of which would affect his children Ada, I had wronged her and taken advantage of her naivety, somehow managed to dash her dreams of being a fashion stylist not to talk of dragging her to the thick of things that horrible night...and yes I couldn't forget...I had stolen her ride too.
The very least I could do was try protect her from whatever the Ugly (Mr X) was doing then I could leave the battleground for them...the Bad and the Ugly (Chief and his Old friend) they had a score to settle, at least as long as I protected everyone else.
The protector abi...why don't you protect yourself first..and try and survive tomorrow first

I immediately touched my chest...damn that little voice! Its official...I'm losing it...!
I rubbed my face tiredly..my beard scratching my hands...I couldn't remember when last a blade had touched my jaw,probably when Wendy worked on the disguise...well, I'd be seeing her again today! I thought to myself..and I suddenly had something to look forward to, apart from the possibility of getting killed.
I opened the door and hopped down.
Strange eyes....no, no longer strange eyes...(but truthfully I would miss the name)his name was Bami....agent Bami. His eyes opened immediately. "Where you going?"
"I need fresher air...I'd be in my car"
"Your car..." He smiled..."That reminds me your car is in my possession right now"
"Hmmm...its been long...so all the trackers...hope their gone?" I had abandoned it in a fearful haste after my first encounter with the old crooner.
"Gone with the wind..believe me you wouldn't recognise your car if you see it again..trust me...even the sound..the annoying noise is gone"
"Interesting...but the present car I've been driving..that is working out fine for me" but then I thought..the car had been taken from killers from men sent to kill Andy the night Mona had talked about the initiative.(That dreadful night) It wasn't wise to continue driving the BMW..and then a bigger thought:...the hit men....I knew they couldn't be part of the Shadows because I had broken his fingers(the dreaded thug)and knocked out his partner easily(with the pestle) and it had taken a heated knife dipped in red oil wielded by Andy to get him talking....he couldnt be part of the shadows...they ate the seeds of poisonous castor plants before they talked...still they were all from the other side of the fence..the Chief's side..the 'Bad' side.
I didn't want to focus on the Dr Rasheed(a.k.a Carmichael), Betran and Mr X..that was 'The ugly' side of the fence.
I was definitely representing the Good and as I closed the door I began to whistle the tune of the soundtrack.
"Actually....it would be a good idea to drive my car tomorrow" I told strange eyes. No need driving the car that was probably bought by the initiative to the interview..that would be foolish
"I'll drive it here later then...wait where are you taking my iPad to?"
"Calm down..I'm going to the car just across..I haven't finished with the slides yet"
"I have sensitive material in there...I can't let you take it" he sounded really sleepy.
"Bami..believe me..the trouble I put my hand in is what I'm still struggling with..do you think I plan to make the same kind of mistake again?"

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
I returned his tab hours later. "What I have seen is enough for now..I need to find a store"
He checked the dashboard for the time. "Its almost 6;30..let's go together"
"To be frank I just want to drive around alone for some minutes...I know I wouldn't get the chance again" he seemed to understand or maybe he badly wanted to go back to sleep. I drove out the hospital and around the neighborhood till I saw a kiosk. I succeeded in waking the owner up..and I wondered how he could sleep comfortably in such a tight space...
I bought a toothbrush and soap, but then I bought extras for Olivia and another just incase an extra was needed.
I took my time and drove round, not heading directly for the hospital,chewing the plan in my mind..or to be honest chewing the half formed plan...over and over..trying to give it shape.
Damn this shadows of the sunset! Damn the old woman..big mummy or whatever she was called..that dream had succeeded in shaking me to the core and learning about this sunset of a thing and the sunrise part..two sides of the same coin they were and I was wary of the meeting tomorrow...I still needed to talk to Olivia..even though she won't agree, I need to make her understand this latest development..the danger was very much real..the shadow had a family of shadows..maybe more ruthless and more crazy than him and she would be exposed to them..because no matter how you looked at it, the moment we went for their so called 'interview' as a widow she was exposed.
I headed back to the hospital and my phone rang.
It was Wendy.
"Hello...Wendy..I was going to call you but I thought it too early"
"No..I've been up since..look you know how we work...you specifically asked for something extra and I've been looking up our inventory...its going to cost you"
"No problem...bring everything you think you will need..I would pay you"
"Bring..are you not coming again?"
"You know I don't want Jossy to see me" indeed should her boss see me, uncomfortable questions would follow, plus I know she would relay everything to my sister Cynthia. If she had forgotten to relay the previous one which was likely..considering I haven't gotten a call from my sister asking me if Fome had said yes to my marriage proposal. Seeing me again coming for another disguise and makeover session would definitely prompt her.
Wendy was saying "so what do you want..I should come to your place?"
"Actually..it might have to be a.....a hotel"
"Hotel!...." She sounded unsure.
"Yes..actually I also have a lady friend that I need you to disguise like an old woman also.."
"Hmm...na wa o...what is the reason this time?"
"Actually, we're going for a couples game night show..there's a nice money prize attached to it..and the winning couple can choose any kind of wedding they want..and the organisers would foot the bill....they'd air it, I think in a fortnight." My God..where did I get all these lies from?
"Hmmm..Rex.." She laughed and I knew she wasn't really fooled..."if it were only you I could manage because I've worked on you before..I know the measurements..I know what to do and I can visualise how it would look but for someone I haven't met...you have to come down....I can't just pick things blindly...what of shade of hair..eyebrows...the facials...all those important things? You wouldn't understand but unless you want me to carry the whole female shop to meet you, you'd both have to come"
"Would Jossy be around?"
"Of course...its her place"
"Okay...I'd need the disguises late into the night anyway...so maybe when she closes if you can stay back...and we'd both come over"
"Why don't you want her to see you?" She asked
I had turned into the hospital, I waved the guard as I drove in.
"I don't just want it right now..she's friends with my sister and frankly I don't want to be asked questions I can't answer"
There was silence, then "okay..I'd give you a call when she leaves tonight"

sikells:
oga boss, I greet you o... you go drop one today na shey?

Yes bro..very very soon..in fact like in ten minutes..happy sunday

ElZionista:
This is by a million miles by the best thing I've ever read on nairaland. Not just that, but one of the best fiction I've read by a Nigerian.

The storyline, the characters, the chain of events, the connecting lines, the intrigue, suspense, drama, mystery of it all blows me away.

To think this is all a product of your creativity and imagination, is mind-blowing. It dragged me out of my shell to comment on nairaland.

Seriously bro, not only should you publish this work, you need to get a copyright, get it scripted and screened internationally.

You're a gem in my eyes. Kudos Bro.
May your ink never dry.

Yours literally,
An ardent Fan.

Wow..I'm honoured and humbled by your comment..thanks so much God bless you I really appreciate..this makes me even want to try harder!! Gracias bro

Silensa:
this work isn't a piece but a master work.

souloho19 keep up with the good work, still glued to this work

Tnx bro..I appreciate

nastynic:
That moment Ur Hommie Is Getting The Recognition He Deserves Nd Am Like Ojere.....


Nice work Solo, Tbh... Haven't Seen Fluxi For SomeTime Now...
As Usual, Am Watching From The Sidelines.... That moment Ur Hommie Is Getting The Recognition He Deserves Nd Am Like Ojere.....


Nice work Solo, Tbh... Haven't Seen Fluxi For SomeTime Now...
As Usual, Am Watching From The Sidelines....

Nasty! Thanks bro..your ginger then helped a lot..it seems flux has deactivated...since his battle with Payne the nigga been MIA.. I for mention am for this update self..how scl tins

Dedicated to queenitee blissfuljeff petitchouchou Aminatope247 olamega78 pweetywizzy emmotion countrygirl maryclaire1 Forzarush
Yommy20 mzztega kaytash olu317 mariamalheri honourable356 bibi294 atayis princessadeola arrestdarrester precial419 yorhmienerd missmosy jamieoyel ashatoda pheto(thanks for your comments)


°•°•°•°•

He stopped, touching his pockets frantically, finally he gave up and returned the cigarette back in his pocket. I could see the lighter he searched for on the dashboard but I kept quiet.
"Okay...first of all, on a not so different note...a division of our internal investigation that deals with counterintelligence pointed our attention to a group of...." He gestured with his hands, looking for a suitable word "I wouldn't call them killers, because that's like saying...." He trailed off again, searching for words that seemed to elude him.
I was patient, but to be frank I wasn't liking what I was hearing, "....its like saying....like..like..saying a cheater...no no no...its like saying a Bollywood actor only acts"
I yawned tiredly(although I didn't have any plan to sleep, not anymore)
"So you're saying that asides from killing, this people sing and dance too?" I asked him.
"its good to see you're recovering your careless humour but believe me, this is a discussion that you better leave it behind"
I held up both hands "They're involved in other things, I got it"

He nodded satisfied "Anyway, there was nothing...absolutely nothing concrete...no sort of evidence..no intelligence or information about them whatsoever only the fact that they was a group...skillful, and trained and above all deadly!"

A car pulled in front of the hospital entrance and there was a flurry of activity as nurses emerged with stretchers and hastily rushed the patient who had been brought in into the hospital.
We watched in silence even after they had all rushed in and the car had gone to park, somewhere at the extreme end of the lot.

Strange eyes continued speaking. Still staring and drumming his fingers on the steering. "Four years ago, we made a breakthrough...there was a case gone wrong, an assassination attempt on the first lady of a particular state.."
"That was in Jos..I remember something like that"
"Well..what the masses didn't know was that the perpetrator was caught weeks later by our hardworking and fearless agents"
I would have rolled my eyes if my eyelids were not so heavy. He continued..."After a series of...eh...shall we say investigations, we managed to get the name of his organisation.."
I could bet my left arm that 'investigations' meant series of torture...I was sure of it.
"What was it?"
"just a simple name"
"What?!"
"Sunset"
"Sunset?"
"Yes...sunset..what was more, the assassins name was shadow"
At first I was quiet...thinking about the name 'Sunset'...where had I seen it before? then I realized he had said the assassin was called Shadow....same with the maniac I had killed, and I thought: 'what a coincidence'...but then I remembered recent experience and beliefs didn't permit me to believe in coincidence anymore, if there was one thing I had found out, it was that everything was connected somehow...there was hardly any coincidence...I began to get worried.
"Hmmm...shadow?..did you have the chance of "interviewing" him yourself?"
"Unfortunately I was in Egypt at the time...don't ask me" he said when I arched my eyebrow about to ask him what he had been up to there.
"And somehow he managed to commit suicide before I got back" he continued.
"How was that possible?...In detention?"
"He somehow managed to poison himself" strange eyes mumbled weakly.
"How..how was it possible?"
"He managed to get a plant...a deadly plant"
"What plant"
"Not the plant per say...the seed...he managed to get the seeds and eat..the seed of a very dangerous plant..castor plant"
"This castor whatever, where is it gotten from..here in Nigeria?"
"No...its only indigenous to India and East Africa."
"So you mean somehow...someone got the poisonous seeds to him to chew, when he was in supposed to be locked up...someone from within!"
"Actually Mr smart mouth...,the seed doesn't kill immediately but within two days which makes for a very agonizing death..he exhibited the first symptoms after the first few hours he had been arrested..which would mean he probably ate it the moment he was caught."
"Hmmm...but you still managed to get something from him"
"I tell you it wasn't pretty..vomiting..bloody diarrhoea, everywhere! We didn't even need to really tortu- interrogate him much we knew he was dying and he gave us the name we needed before he died"
"Hmmm...." All this was almost too much..."so.. You said he was called shadow..?"
"Yes..he had a tattoo of identification on his back with the four words: "The shadow is tallest"
"The shadow is tallest...what does that mean...?"
"Beats me..anyway we ran series of investigations but couldn't come up with any substantial lead..its like they fell into thin air...I can't tell you how many people I tore their shirts off, after suspicions and vigorous investigations...only to see there was no ink of what was surely their identity..."
I was listening raptly and I didn't talk, I felt something heavy was coming.
"I got too..too involved that same year...I was reaaly attached to the case and soetime that December, I tracked some suspects to a warehouse in Edo state.. I was so sure I was on the right track...I had linked them to a group of car jackers who had been stealing cars, around the country..and more than one of the car had turned up in a further murder case..that had gotten my attenrion..I remember that night clearly...my partner and I had intercepted a frequency on the radio and we knew it to be the same sunset group that had caused us sleepless nights that was communicating over the radio..we tracked them to a garage and long story short...." He trailed off. The way he had said the 'partner' had convinced me that he meant more than a service partner and fellow agent.
He conrinued, "We had spread out in the garage...going according to tactics and training....the garage had seemed empty and I had moved between some cars, with my smith and Wesson in my hand and feeling really untouchable "and the next thing I knew was I couldn't see..there was this impossible pain in my eyes....I remember shouting and shouting..." His voice trailed off again and I touched my own eyes subconsciously, trying to picture what he must have gone through.
He continued, "The stinging....I pray you never go through what I went through that day.."
I couldn't help it I said "Amen" any thing with the eyes always made me cringe..my eyes were quite sensitive and dust alone was enough problem.
Strange eyes kept quiet...I knew he didn't talk about this..nor at all.
"What... What happened to your eyes?" I asked him not quite expecting an answer, but he replied me.
"It was battery acid...sulphuric acid"
"What!...acid?..how come?"
"I don't know..the only thing I remember is my partner Nancy holding my head up and shouting that we needed to go to the hospital"
"And the person who had done that?....a quick shadow he was"
"But how did you survive something like that..with your eyesight still intact?"
"I went through surgery...or surgeries..limbal cell grafting...surgical debridement...and so, so many I don't plan to remember"
I looked at him with a questioning look.
"Believe me, when you have your entire eyes in a bandage for weeks upon weeks,
you'd want to know why"
I nodded.."sorry for such experience..I can't even imagine.."
"And I would have lost my eyes to..but for my partner...she was a wonderful woman..according to the doctors..she irrigated both eyes with about 25 litres of water...normally it should be a saline solution...but she used water...just water...and she used it so thoroughly that it gave me a chance to see"
"You can't remember her doing it?"
"No..not really...the pain was too much to take consciously...but I do recall hearing her voice..soothing me and urging me to be calm"
"She sounds like a wonderful person...what happened to her..where is she now?"
He looked at me and I could see pain in his eyes..the eyes that weren't so strange anymore. "That's the painful part...she was shot!...she was shot yet she..attended to me...she was bleeding yet she washed my eyes,helped me in the car then headed for the hospital"
My eyes were wide "you mean she drove?"
"She drove me to the hospital...but she bled to death on the way...just passed on one second and drove the car into the ramp"
He shook his head sadly. "But she had gotten to just a Stone's throw away from the hospital.. So she saved my eye sight"
"I'm really sorry about that...sorry you lost someone that way..."
He waved it off..."so yes I do understand how you and Andy feel...and I'm very sorry and I hate myself that I played a part in making you feel what I felt four years ago..."
He continued "do you see why I must take down the initiative now?"
"I'm understanding..but I can't really see the connection...so this sunset of a thing helps the initiative with abductions and executions as well..and they are responsible for your strange-.....peculiar eye sight and the loss of the woman you loved"
"Who mentioned anything like love?"
"You didn't have to..the thing is I can see how badly you may want to take down the initiative now..but this sunset...what's the connection...there has to be something concrete"
"Rex...I repeat if you're ever in need of a job...one is open as my partner..you are good at this job..you'd make a fine agent" he had sighted his lighter finally and he happily grabbed it and proceeded to light his cigar.
"The thing is..the man you killed.. The man who shot Andy..he also belonged to this group"
"You mean the shadow?"
"Aaah...so you knew him well" he blew the smoke out the window "actually he's not the shadow..he's 'a' shadow..just like the one who commited suicide years ago...there are probably dozens of them as estimated in our last security briefing"
"So the shadow belonged to this your Sunset group too?"
"Firstly its not my group...and secondly yes..he had the tattoo with the same words.."The shadow is tallest" on his back"
"Hmmm...that's strange"
"Exactly...I have a riddle for you...the phrase alone is a clue to their identity...as a league of shadow killers and also as a link to their cooperate body"
"They have a corporate body?"
"Yes..the answer is in the tattoo..in the words 'The shadow is the tallest"
I scratched my jaw. "Please..if you have any info just tell me...I'm just too tired for all this"
"But its morning...look 5:37am already...you need to task your brain..its at its freshest now..trust me"
I sighed tiredly..my brain wasn't feeling 'fresh' it felt abused from the dream..and tired, but still I chewed it over.."the shadow is tallest..."
I seemed to be remembering where I thought I had seen the name...but I kept missing it...finally after turning it around without any recognition, I focused on the phrase...
Taking it literally...the shadow is at its 'shortest' at noon, when the sun is shining directly above...or pretty close right....?
I waved the smoke that had managed to get into the car away from my face..
So...the shadow was at its tallest during sunrise/sunset.....
Bingo!...I just remembered where I had seen it...it wasn't sunset I had noticed but the word 'sunrise' and if I remember correctly, the organisation was listed as one of the sponsors of the widows initiative. I had seen it on the website the day I had been breathing down Short Sam's neck.
I looked at strange eyes then nodded.."you're right...the corporate organisation is one secretly held by the Chief isn't it..that way he has the perfect access to records of the widows...and he passes it from sunrise to sunset!"

Strange eyes couldn't help himself he burst out clapping.
The hospital was getting livelier now with more cars driving in, most of them the doctors and nurses coming for the morning shift.

"So that's my theory...and the fact that you caught on to it means its probably spot on...so this is why we need to stay together...to tackle the initiative and keep your lady friend safe at the same time..is something that planning alone can not guarantee.. We need all hands on deck, and what's more...we need luck...the good kind!"
I scratched my head....I couldn't imagine more of the shadow Anywhere....others just crazy and deadly like him...maybe more.."but wait...the shadow was an assassin hired to kill me who took it personal..."
"It doesn't matter...individual contracts applies in this case too...they each probably make their personal money by employing thwir skills in contract killings...unless you think there's another possibility"
You wouldn't blame me if I thought of Mr X, (I didn't even trust myself not to talk of another person)
"Can you?" Strange eyes asked me
"Can I what?"
"Think of another possibility?"
"No...not really...wait what about the nurse Ify...did she belong to?"
"Well my agents didn't find any tattoo on her if that's what you mean"
I nodded...I thought as much..if she had truly been a shadow I would be dead by now no doubt.
"So what's the plan?" He asked me.
"Honestly...I'm scared...I'm scared for Olivia...I'm scared of all these shadows..."
"The important thing is safety...I have the two agents...you saw earlier....they're really good...I can get two more...but the truth is since the explosion disaster, I've been on some kind of suspension...pending internal investigation, the only reason I wasn't locked up is because the Chief probably has friends in high places and I had attended to him and his family that night!"
He shook his head bitterly.
"Look strange-....wait what's your name?"
"Agent John"
"No...your real name"
He was silent then he said "Bami...call me Bami.."
"Hhunn..okay..look Bami...the interview is tomorrow, and I'd need the address of the lawyer Mr Bright...I'd need the earphones and the recorder we talked about and I'd need you to prepare to be a mechanic again by tomorrow..."
"A mechanic?...what do you have planned.....and what about these sunset shadows?"
"In the mean time, I need to transform myself into something else..something unrecognisable and also transform Olivia into an elderly woman(I was counting on Wendy and her brush or 'magic wand' as she called it)I need to do everything to make sure she gets disqualified..to make sure ahe doesnt meet the requirements for their trafficking scheme...as for the sunset shadows....(what an apt name, I thought) only...God can help us there"

BlissfulJeff:
interesting...

Thanks bro..more twists still up ahead

Darn!! This woman is pure evil

Dedicated to rachealfst and sikells(its been quite a while)


"So you think you can be the hero don't you?"
'Big mummy' eyed me through wickedly wrinkled eyes while I fumbled for an answer, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, we had been seated round a table, a dinner table from the look of things, I couldn't even tell what was spread out before us but I could sense from the aroma it was something delicious.
But all thoughts of food were cast aside as I could feel the coppery taste of blood in my mouth.
I looked at the old woman, at "big mummy" as she was called. Then I looked back at the knife she had stuck in my chest. Olivia was beside me, not in a wheelchair but in a dining chair also and she was crying and screaming, pulling my arm.
I kept on looking up and down, first at the knife then the woman's face with the taste getting stronger in my mouth, suddenly her hair wasn't so grey anymore, or should I say it was a different shade of grey. She began to laugh crazily.."hahaha...you wanted to be the hero...hahaha..!!" her face suddenly seemed to undergo a kind of transformation and true enough I was staring at the old crooner.
She stopped laughing and I could hear her sing the song I had come to dread "coat of many colours that my..."
The blood was streaming down my mouth now.. Olivia was crying and I looked around the hall. It was empty..just this single table the three of us sat with the single light from the ceiling illuminating the table alone.
"Rex!!!"
I guess there's still a kind of consciousness even in our subconscious state because a tiny part of me(very tiny-atom size) that knew it was a dream latched on to the voice that was calling my name roughly "Rex!Rex!"
My eyes flew open.
"Haba..how could you sleep on the floor like that?" My father asked.
My heart was still racing and I couldn't find the finish line. I struggled to steady my voice as I blinked..trying to adjust my eye sight...I was still sitting on the floor with my back on the wall "I...I must have slept off...I was reading something..."
"You should have woke me at least..I thought you went to the car!"
"What's the time..?" I looked around for any wall clock.
"Its 4:30"
I nodded.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes..I'm fine"
"Its just..you were making some kind of noise..that was what woke me up"
"It was a bad dream"
"I'm not suprised...I've been having my own share lately...its as a result of all the excitement of the past few days..that's all"
"True..true..." but this dream felt like some kind of premonition...some kind of warning..? I shook my head..God forbid! But it had felt so real....I tasted my mouth....
"Are you okay?" My dad asked me
"I'd do anything to get a toothbrush right now"
"You'd have to wait till morning...what did you dream about...what's that you were reading?"
I got to my feet slowly, the papers spilling on the ground.
"We'd discuss in the morning..you can go back to sleep...I'm going to sleep in the car." I bent down to pick them and return it to the folder. I haven't even booked their flight!.. I had totally forgotten...but right now, I was feeling like I should book four flights and just abandon everything else and takeoff with them plus Olivia..the initiative was not my fight afterall.
I left the room assuring him I'd be back in the next couple of hours and I could tell he really wanted to go back to sleep.
I walked down still entertaining the thought...the initiative was not my fight..I had played my part..no matter how small..nothing more I could do...
is this how you'll repay Fome and Mona's deaths? the annoying voice again
Men...Bleep my conscience! I had just been stabbed in my dream....now I wasn't superstitious but I knew that was a bad omen...and no way..I didn't want to die. I had waltzed with death on many occasions but now I was going back to my previous lifestyle.. To run, keep on running and never have to fight another day!

I told myself this as I walked down the stairs and down the hall. Everyone was asleep now and even the TV was off.
Outside,I found myself walking towards the ford jeep.
"I guess I have my answer!" I shook my head in self pity..too bad I was a changed man..somehow I managed to develop a kind of 'service to humanity' mentality and I knew there was no way I could back down...even if I were to run away..I'd still run back. I couldn't fool myself, the initiative was my fight I was in this for the real ride.
"Damn!" I banged the nearest car in frustration with my fist and it immediately began with its loud security alarm and blinking lights.
I hurried away feeling frustrated.
The frustration multiplied when I got to the the Ford's 'parking space'. It was empty!
Strange eyes must have gone somewhere. Probably where he could sleep on a real bed, I thought to myself. "Well too bad I can't wait"
I brought out my phone and dialed his number.
He picked up on the first ring.
"Yo!Rex.."
"You're not at the hospital again?"
"Actually-"
"Listen..you're going to do as I say..if you really want to help..I need you to arrange some gadgets for me."
"Hmmm...what kind of gadgets exactly are we talking about"
"Nothing fancy just ear pieces...the type that wouldn't show and can't be seen...wireless..you known the type I mean..like the movies!"
He laughed "oh..calm down Rex..its a taboo to discuss such matters over the phone....come across to the car"
"But I'm there...and the car isn't!"
"Check again..notice the headlights"
A pair of headlights came on from the opposite end.
"That's you?"
"You know it"

Its like I covered the short walk with a single step. I yanked open the door "why did you change position"
"I'm never in one position for long...rules of surviving" He looked at me then chuckled "I knew you wouldn't sleep..not with that kind of explosion in your hands"
"You did a good job...but some basic information like address would have been helpful"
"The fact that it wasn't there doesn't mean it doesn't exist..you don't expect me to include such data...knowing how unstable you are known to be"
"What do you mean by that?"
"You're always going with a whim..always jumping on an idea..the first idea to come to your head...now I've profiled you ..I've done my profiling and I know that even with good intentions, the outcome might he deadly because you didn't go the right way"
I sighed wistfully.
"What is it?" He asked me
"I wish...I wish your opinion was something I could hold...something I could carry in my hands...so I could hit you over the head with it!"
He had been smiling thinking I was complementing him but he frowned.
"I once told someone something like that once upon a time and now I have a coloured eye to show for it..."
"What really happened to your eyes?" I asked him.
"What did you say you needed..earpiece?" He ignored my question.
"Fine don't tell me I don't want to know the silly story anyway!"
"What is wrong with you...why are you so cranky?"
I calmed down.."sorry...bad dream".
"Oh..I understand..that's why I wasn't sleeping myself"
"Oh..so a dream also woke you up?"
He shook his head "Rex..when you have the kind of dreams I have..you don't sleep at night"
"They don't come during the day?"
"They hardly...there's something peaceful about daylight"
"Well I just had one now and I'll need to prevent"
"Name what you want..we're together in this"
"First I'd need address of the four of them...I need to do a little calculation..or the three of them rather..I already know where the chief's wife stays"
"Actually...she has been splitting her time recently between the house and a lovers apartment"
"Really....cheating on the chief? Is that wise?"
"Its not today she just started...she has experience on her side"
"But the chief.."
"Rex have you seen the chief before?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Does he strike you as someone who even has the interest of fucking his wife?"
I pictured the chief...strange eyes was right..the chief never came across as someone who was interested in a sex life anymore. I didn't even know he had a family till Fome told me.
"You're right..."
"Of course I'm right! I spent a year working for that man..and believe me the only time he climaxes is when he pulls off a drug deal or a weapon or human trafficking deal and has an insane amount of cash to show for it....and I mean that literally!"
I squeezed my face..."you creep..I'd need both addresses then..especially that lawyer guy...Mr Bright something..and that woman...that old woman.."
My voice trailed off.
"What about her?" Strange eyes asked then he smiled knowingly "oh..you're having a phobia for old women right..because of the assassin...that old woman!" He shook his head and I could tell he was remembering the old crooner (may her soul rest in pieces) "very dangerous woman..you can thank my men for ending her life too.." He looked at me "I have all the address up here" he touched his head "but you need to understand this is a partnership"
"Heey...you offered your help..and now you want to take it back?"
"Of course not...what else do you need"
"I need some kind of earpiece communication device..like I said that is almost invincible and no part would show..that can work over a far distance and won't enter static"
"Can you get that for me?"
"Earphone you mean?"
"Whatever..you know what I mean"
"There's this ear microphone I can get you, no single coil, wireless, doesn't irritate the ear...its a dream..but mind you its imported and at the moment the stock isn't as much as I would like it..so no harm must come to them"
"Don't worry..even if any harm should come to me, you would be able to retrieve it"
"Rex! Why are you talking like that? How can you say such a thing?!"
"Honestly...I don't know..." I shook my head, trying to clear traces of the dream out.
"I'd get them later today...how many do you need?"
"Two.."
"Okay..that's all?"
"No..I need some kind of recording device..something fancy..like cufflinks! Or a bow tie..some kind of disguised recorder that can catch any conversation and record it"
"You think this is a James Bond movie...cuff links..bow tie..."he laughed
"And you call yourself a federal agent!"
That seemed to hit home because he sobered immediately..."okay...I can get you a pen.. You just hang it on your breast pocket, one click, it starts recording...two clicks it stops..it records in a small memory card."
"that's cool...perfect"
"So that's all?"
"For now..I'm still working things out...wait..one more thing!"
"I'm listening"
"I'd like you to book flights for me..two flights two benue..for tomorrow..preferably preferably late morning or early afternoon"
"Do I look like your P.A?"
"You said anything..." I reminded him
He grumbled and grumbled but I knew he would get it done.

We were quiet after that and we both watched as a security guard approached the car that had stopped its alarm long ago to inspect it. He moved kind of warily and unsure around the car, pointing his torchlight and I couldn't blame him,two of his partners had been killed in this hospital about 72 hours ago after all.
"are you hungry?" Strange eyes asked
"You wouldn't believe....you have anything eatable here?"
"No"
"So why'd you ask?"
"Just to be polite" I could smell sarcasm anytime, even with a blocked nose but I let it pass..
"So did you see the possibilities and probabilities I wrote?"
"Yes...I've been thinking of it since...everything is just stange and hard to believe"
"Yes it is...we do live in a crazy world"
"And a crazier country"
He laughed at that...but I didn't, I couldn't laugh..I was feeling messed up on the inside and I hoped that dream hadn't destroyed my smile...at least not permanently.
I looked at strange eyes as he quieted down.
"You mean..on their way to Church..on their way from Church...in their houses...going to the market..hair dresser..work....they just disappeared and no one saw them again?"
"Yes..its all very strange...around the country! Not just in Lagos for that matter!"
"What kind of people are they?Clean abductions...to have kidnapped hundreds maybe thousands of women with no mistake whatsoever?"
"I tell you...its a really scary thought,although I have my own theories about that"
"Theories?"
"For lack of a better term...let's call it a theory for now"
"Okay..I'm all ears"
"I first stumbled unto this possibility when I was researching the mysterious deaths of family members of the abducted widows...the way they were all killed. Most were classified as accidents or something unrelated...but I sensed some kind of superior force..some kind of elite force at work..all the hits were clean and even I almost didn't raise an eyebrow..but for the fact that the victims all had one thing in common...they were related to a widow"
"So...you're saying the initiative uses mercenaries to assassinate anyone who blows the whistle and also in the kidnapping?"
He brought out yet another stick of cigarette from his pocket. I was about to ask him just how many he had in there.
"Rex...you're not going to like the smell of this smoke..but you're also not going to like what I'm about to tell you"

MzzTega:
This guy you are just too good.

More Grace unto you!!

Keep it coming.

Gracias señorita

I stood watching to see where he would park. He returned to the spot he had been before, with the vehicle blending perfectly into the night the moment he killed the headlights. So is he spending the night there or what..?
I shook my head and entered the hospital, it had quieted down, still about 2-3 people still sat in the reception, staring at the mute TV on the wall. Watching some kind of cooking channel (that I unfortunately glanced at to see a delicious looking spread that reminded me I was hungry) Some others were stretched out asleep on benches.
I located the office again and woke the man yet again from his sleep. His eyes popped open the moment I entered the room. "You're back!"
"Why do you leave your door open?"
He shrugged as he hopped down from the bed "I would have to lock it from now" he replied with a gleam in his eye. He seemed eager and hurriedly locked the door.
I wanted to warn him against greed, almost five weeks ago a single act of greed had unleashed a chain of events that had no doubt changed my life(and still changing my life) I handed him the bundle which he counted-twice! Apparently, he was satisfied with the bonus I left him(and the oil he got off the bottle. If you know what I mean)
"Okay....you want a room on the last floor?"
"Yes..preferably next to my brother's ward"
He seemed in a good mood and I wondered just how much the man had skimmed off me.
He smiled "welcome to Apapa suites"
"That's a rotten joke"

°•°••°•
Upstairs, I could tell fatigue had set in. Once they had all seen with their eyes that Andy was indeed awake and recovering well, it seems only then did they realise how tired they all were.
I told them I had gotten a room two doors down, it had two beds and the fan was in good working other, the toilet was clean and it had a clean bath too.
"See how you're talking as if you're describing a holiday inn!" My dad shook his head and I shrugged, it didn't matter anymore as long as we got to sleep.

Minutes later I stood looking at Andy, my dad was stretched out on the two chairs and he was fast asleep, the same way I knew my mother and Olivia were asleep in the room down the hall.
I planned to sleep in the car..if I could sleep. The folder I held in my hands had occupied my thoughts since strange eyes had given it to me.
I watched Andy for some seconds more. He was asleep now and you just knew this one was a natural sleep and not as a result of constant sedation.

I sat on the floor and opened the folder. The florescent light from above was really bright and I could see the papers clearly.

The first contained pictures alone. Although it wasn't coloured and looked like it might have been photocopied but still the features were clear and I could make out the faces. Three women and one man.
There was a group photo of them where they stood together, all in identical polo shirts with some kind of crest and the same kind of teeth displaying smile, and individual photographs but no indication of their names. I kept it aside.

On the next paper who else would I see but the Chief's wife Mrs Benita. She had her icy look on as she stared back at the camera. One would get the impression that she was a very proud woman, I wondered how the photographer who had taken the photo had been because she stared up at me with disdain on her fine features as if the photograp her had crawled out of the sewage and proceeded to take her picture.
Her details were written under.

Rosaline Benita
1967
Founder "The widows initiative"
5ft 9in
O-
Ec-01

"This information could have been lifted off a drivers license..this strange eyes eh!" I studied the details once more. I had no idea what the last number stood for I would have to ask him later. I had expected something thicker since he was the "king" of 'information gathering' but the inclusion of the pictures helped a lot. I had to acknowledge he had done a good job to obtain it alone.

Next was another woman, this one was very old and her picture even though black and white I could tell her hair was grey. She stared at the camera through impassive eyes that had nothing grandmotherly in them.
Her details were under the picture, just like the first.

Uduak N.k
1947
sponsor "widows initiative" (unofficial title: "big mummy"
5 ft 5in
ec-02

I studied her face again then checked what had to be her day of birth..1947...she was really old..Her face was wrinkled but she still had a smart and scholarly look about her. She had a scarf that covered most of her hair and she had reading lasses on with a very slim frame.
This number was '02' the first was '01' I thought about this then decided the 'Ec' had to stand for "Ex-cos"

The next picture was that of a very young and pretty woman.
If I were to guess her age I would say she was in her late 20s or early thirt- no it couldn't be more than late 20s.
I checked the biodata to be sure.

Sofia O. Annette
1983
Sponsor: Socials "widows initiative"
Ec-04

The last was a man and as I studied his picture, I knew he was vital to the set up of the initiative. He looked really sharp and you just knew he was very intelligent. I felt my instincts tell me that this ...this was an angle worth looking into...

"How..how dare you.." My dad grumbled in his sleep making me to jerk up. I shook my head and smiled as I imagined the kind of dream he was having right now, the past few days had really been something else.

I spaced out a bit, replaying the events of the previous days in my head, from the fight with shadow to the trailer road block, to the mariner shootout then the craziness with nurse Ify...

I brought myself back to the present then forced my eyes back on the papers.

Bright A. Edidion
1973
sponsor: lawyer "widows initiative"
[b] 5 ft 11in
O+
Ec-03

I spread all the papers with their details before each other and compared.
So these were the four excos.. I compared their ages 50(Mrs Benita and Chief's wife), 70(the elderly wrinkled "big mummy", 34(the younger and pretty socials...what was her name..Sofia) and 44(the lawyer man..with his sharp and piercing eyes)

I don't know how long I sat on the floor, studying the pictures but it must have been long because I could tell the faces and all their details had been ingrained in my brain..and I could feel something encouraging going on up there...something resembling a plan trying to take shape.

I selected another paper with the heading

what to expect?

This had to be a writeup from strange eyes himself. I schemed through the details..wondering why he would go through the trouble of typing.


The interview is divided into three parts. Background| Sensitization/Orientation | Luncheon. What these basically means is questions, questions and more questions!
The questions don't have any range and can cover any topic. But its mostly about the widow's family and her deceased husband.
The ex-co to watch out for is the lawyer. Intel shows the Lawyer "Mr. Bright" is the one who basically decides the widows who get rejected, and the ones that the initiative renders help to.
However a deeper investigation concerning the smuggling ring revealed that the Old woman "big mummy" is the one that personally selects the widows that are chosen for trafficking.
There is a high possibility this "big mommy" is the chief's biological mother but no evidence as at yet to back up the claim.


I studied her picture again..but I didn't see any notable resemblance. I continued the next paragraph,


The interview has lasted for as long as 7 hours in some cases and as short as an hour in others, depending the number of widows being interviewed in a day. The luncheon takes place immediately after the interview.
A serve-yourself buffet consisting of the excos and all the interviewed widows in a big hall,after which the widows are dismissed with the promise of an email to alert them to the result/decision.

Those that are rejected are rejected, and those that are chosen are chosen and all would receive a mail confirming her status. However, those selected for the second and deadly part, i.e: the trafficking part don't receive any mail, rather they go missing within a period of three days. The cases have always been scattered and unique that no pattern was formed..but after incessant digging of, a link has been formed.
I've been able to form some distinct and specific scenarios from Intel gotten from the disappearance of past widows...


I knew I needed to sleep, but what I was reading was just to potent..at the same time I knew there was a lot of work to be done tomorrow,because from what I was seeing, we weren't halfway prepared for what we wanted to embark on.
Strange eyes had done a good job and as I read through the scenarios of how widows got missing most of them had happened in the past and the rest were possibilities.. It all boiled down to a surprise visit, or forced entry or in some cases the widows had been in discussion with someone on the phone and may/may not have arranged to meet the person somewhere...
There were a lot of possibilities and I could see each of them could happen easily to Olivia..I needed to create counter measures for each of them if it were possible..but that wasn't all, a fool proof plan was needed and my brain had still been turning around with an idea and it was gradually forming... I knew what I had to do first..I'd try to discourage Olivia about it because to be frank the dozens of kidnapping scenarios I was reading had got me thinking...I couldn't afford anything to happen to her. But I knew what she was going to say, she was in...she had survived a drastic accident maybe so she could play a part in saving hundreds of women and children and she wasn't going to abuse it. I smiled..it was almost like I could hear her voice already.
Secondly if what I was thinking was going to work..I was going to need strange eyes help..that part I still had my doubts. But if we were going to take down the initiative from what I was planning..he was needed. The first time I had met him, he had played me into believing he was a mechanic...I needed him to do it again...I needed him to-
I heard a groaning sound from the bed and looked up to see Andy's eyes were open and they were on me.
He must have tried to speak. He looked on intently like he were trying to say something. "Its okay buddy...don't stress yourself..."
He moved his hand and i smiled "Oh! I see you bro..I see you!"
I had noticed his right hand and he was giving me a sign. A thumbs up sign. I smiled and gave him two. Raising both hands so he could see "Don't worry..the initiative is going down..." I assured him and I wasn't sure from were I was but I thought he smiled.

It had to..either the initiative went down or..... No...I didn't want to think of it.

PWEETYWIZZY:
[s]Update pls

Here you go ma'am thanks for keeping up

I ended the call and faced my parents. Strange eyes could wait, I had my priorities. "So now that we're all here..how do we sleep?" I asked
"They'd bring beds here! That's what they'll do...we can't leave this boy alone..we're ready to camp here! All of us!"
"I'd be right back.. Lemme see what arrangements I can make." I left the room and asked the doctor I met on the stairs who directed me to "somewhere" downstairs.
I was able to locate the office after haggling every hospital personnel I could see. A nurse finally supplied me with the right directions and I located the door.
The man was sleeping. He actually had a bed in his office. I closed the door which had been open and he must be a very light sleeper because he woke up suddenly.
"Yes.. What do you want?"
"I need a room.."
He struggled to sit up "A room?"
"Yes, one on of the private rooms on the last floor"
He rubbed his head "who's the patient?"
"The patient is in another room.." I tried to recall the lettering on the door, but I hadn't paid much attention to it.
"So...if the patient is in another room, why do you need another?"
"Look Mister don't be difficult..its late and our place is too far..there were plenty empty rooms on the floor that I saw..we need one"
"For how long?"
"Just to spend the night" It felt like a taboo, to want to pay to stay where people prayed daily to leave.
He called an exaggerated price I was sure, or maybe Mr X had truly spent such on the room for Andy.
"Do you have pos?"
"What is that?"
"For my card..ATM?"
"No..no..you bring the receipt from the bank, look at this office...does it look like I keep cash around?"
He wasn't understanding me but I had gotten his point.
"At this time of the night..no bank would be open... I can only withdraw somewhere and pay in cash.."
"We don't allow cash payment" he pointed to the wall where sure enough the sign read the same.
"You need to make an exception..after all it was your staff that tried to kill my brother if not why would we all be here?"
His eyes widened "you mean nurse Ify's....the man is your brother?"
"Yes he is..so you really must help us..look at the time. Its almost 12!"
"I know..I know..I wish I could collect cash"
"What if I use mobile banking?"
"You must bring some form of hardware receipt..the alert doesn't go into my phone!"
"So you help us pay it tomorrow. I'd give you the cash now and you lease us the room."
He looked uncertain and I went in for the kill. "You know what they say about red oil..you don't need to touch the oil itself to get it on your fingers..handling the bottle is enough"
I could see I had chosen my words carefully. His eyes gleamed as greed finally did what all my long talk could not.
"OK..OK...bring the money first lemme see what I can do"

Outside I used my eyes to track the ford jeep strange eyes had told me he was in.
I saw it in the shadows, it blended perfectly with a side of the building the solar lamps didn't reach. So if you didn't look carefully you wouldn't know there was a vehicle there.
I approached the car watching it closely. I couldn't make out any figure inside, I squinted my eyes as I passed car after car. The doors were closed and the engine wasn't running..if anyone was in there, he would be roasting himself.
I sensed some kind of movement from the left suddenly and I reacted quickly crouching in a fighting stance. Strange eyes held his hands up as he emerged from behind an ambulance van.
"I was wondering how sharp your reflexes and instincts were.." he smiled sheepishly "I must say you've improved rapidly..I'm astonished..if you should be in need of a job..your country needs you"
"This is exactly what I told you I don't want..why sneak up on me? What do you hope to prove?"
"Heey..I'm a federal agent. It has gotten too used to me..I like to appear and disappear like smoke. Its one of our strengths"
"I don't have time for your bollocks...I need to go to the bank"
"At 12 in the morning?"
"Its the ATM...never mind that. what is it you planned to tell me?"
"Let's take a ride..I'd drive,there's a bank around the corner"


He lit a cigarette in the car as I strapped in. "I'm not supposed to smoke in this car because its a government vehicle..but who cares?"
I was quiet but the minute he turned the key. I asked him "so what's the information you have for me?"
He brought out a cigarette stick from his breast pocket and lit it.
"Rex.. the minute I found out about the widow, I knew what you had planned. I had to do some digging around. And my investigations revealed a lot-" He broke of and blew smoke out of the window. He was driving at a leisurely space not speeding the car and not speeding his words, I relaxed into the chair, if he wanted to take his time..I wasn't going to rush him.
I couldn't take it for long however "So? What did you find out?"
"All the widows always have an interview first with the initiative..its called an interview but its more like a cross examination"
"I know about The interview"
"Oh... What else do you know?"
Nothing else really so I remained mute.
I could tell he always loved this his position of having information I didn't. He threw the cigarette butt out the window before he continued.
"I can tell you all the widows that have turned up missing is always after the interview..but not more than a three day period"
"Three days..but how is it possible..how would a widow just be missing without any alarm...there has to be at least one friend or somebody that would notice now"
"Yes..exactly..what happens is so many widows have been rejected by the initiative..but on a closer look I realized they're the ones with sisters, a surviving parent, or friends....the ones who could be easily missed"
"And the rest?..you mean to tell me all the widows that have been shipped out don't have one single person that would notice..someone that would know about the initiative and ask questions?"
"Of course..there are cases like that..the crazy thing I found out is, different cases of accidents, murder, robberies gone wrong, kidnapping cases where no ransom was made and random events that happen around this country that lead to death, I fished out cases where the victim was connected to the widow and had began to cry foul and ask questions about his or her sister, daughter or friend, and they're a lot believe me...I don't know how they do it..but the way its done is efficient and untracable."
"How did you find out all that?"
"Information gathering is my specialty..and I'm sharing it with you because we're in this together"
"The earlier you stop lumping us together in your sentence the better. What is it you said the chief was planning?"
"Go and use your card first, I'd be waiting here"
He had stopped outside the bank.

I returned after some minutes and we headed back to the hospital.
"From what I've told you, you should have deduced that the initiative played things pretty close to their chest..apart from press releasing and interviews of a couple of satisfied widows all singing their praise about the initiative, the supposed founder runs everything with a tight lid on"
"Yes..there's a cloak of mystery about the whole organisation..but maybe its because I know the inside dirt..that its noticeable to me"
"Well..there's something the Chief must be planning"
"Wait..I thought his wife was the owner of the initiative?"
"She is actually..and the face of it too..but the Chief is heavily involved because of the other evil purpose the initiative serves"
Strange eyes stopped speaking..Just like he was known for..to always draw back when he was dishing out information..he never gave it in full doses. He brought out another cigarette from his pocket again.
"You're killing your lungs" I told him.
"Better to kill it before it kills me!" He laughed humorlessly but I didn't get his joke. However he didn't light it. Not yet at least.
"The initiative plans to expand..according to what I discovered they want to extend and form a sub initiative. This one for orphans alone"
"What?...wait..that can't be possible..trafficking widows they might have been able to pull it off because they were adults...but children...everybody wants to see the children"
"When it comes to the chief, always expect the unexpected..besides. That was the same way the initiative started..legit..but the chief would always see loopholes he can exploit for his wiles"
"Not with children" I shook my head stubbornly "what of our Child's services?"
"Shey you'll go and work there? So that you can keep an eye?..." He burst out laughing "child services...hahaha"
I ignored him.
"Whatever they have planned I plan to stop them..please hurry up..we're not cruising around..I need to see my family"
He sobered up immediately. "That's the spirit..Rex WE won't let them!..I have some Intel about the so called excos and I have a lot of scenarios that we need to go through and come up with a plan A,B and C that is absolutely foolproof!"
We were at the main gate of the hospital and we waited for the sleepy guard to open up gate.
"There's no way you can sweet talk me into working with you..I'd rather be on my own and to be honest..I don't plan to go through with it again"
"Rex..what can I do to let you believe me..I want to take this initiative down..I feel like I sold my soul, I'm just trying to redeem myself"
Somehow I knew if we would go through with the plan(and I mean 'plan' in the vaguest sense possible) strange eyes inclusion or exclusion would somehow be a determining factor in the failure or success of our own operation 'wrath of God' campaign. I only wished I could know which one his inclusion would bring about specifically.
"What kind of information do you have..?" I asked him
He drove through the gates before answering "I have data on all the excos you would meet should you go through with it and different possible 'what to expect' scenarios..this is how intelligence works"
I scoffed "your so called intelligence..if you want to take down the initiative so much, why don't you arrange for the kind of firepower you prepared for Fome who was Just one person!!"
"This is different...this case..I can't trust anybody..no one knows what I'm telling you now..even the two agents getting rid of the nurse's body right now think its a drug burst we're doing"
I was hardly listening, I was suddenly remembering the night Fome and Mona died..."what happened to Mona's body?" I asked him suddenly.
"Somebody pulled some heavy strings the next day..the body never even got to the morgue...it got diverted. that was one of the things that snapped me back to reality..I've never felt like such a puppet in my entire life!"
I knew it had to be Mr X, who did the pulling of strings. A very sad and bitter man he was, but when you learnt of what he had gone through, you knew he had every right to be.
"What of Fome...?"
"She too..."he lowered his voice "what was left of her."
I closed my eyes, feeling, pain, regret,grief.
"Let me down here" I told him and He complied, stopping close to the hospital entrance.
"Where do I track you..I have Intel to share with you that would go a long way in helping our cause." he said as he stopped the car.
I opened the door. My mood had darkened with memories of the sisters deaths.
"Look..strange eyes..I'm tired of seeing and talking to you...I need to sleep..and my family is waiting for me..thank you for all you have told me so far"
I got down but he held my shoulder restraining me. For a moment I thought he
wanted to caution me for calling him strange eyes. " I knew you were going to say that which is why I have it compiled here for you to read. With pictures...I spent a lot of time on this report and its 100% accurate"
He brought out a slim folder from the side of his door.
"There are four excos in total, the chief's wife included..their pictures are all there as well as what to expect from each of them..and the possible outcome of the interview..if I were you I would study it vigorously and come up with a plan.....the 3rd is almost upon us"
I had collected the folder and was nodding but I stopped "wait..who told you it is on the 3rd. .I never said anything"
"Oh.. Rex my man...I have my ways..in and out like a smoke remember?"
With that he drove off leaving me with the folder in my hands,standing at the entrance and feeling quite alarmed.