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BOOK 3. THE END



"Go through the back door, you will find a ladder by the wall, use it and don't look back, go now!" I urged Vee who seemed confused as black patriot edged nearer to us.


"Don't die, we still need you!"

She said to me before she disappeared.


"Where does your little girlfriend think she can run to, when I am done with you, she will be next!"

Black patriot vowed as I began to pick myself up,leaking blood like a petrol can suddenly turned on its head.


"I have yo admit I am jealous about how good you treat these bastards in some way, we are not so different..."


"You don't know me blackie so cut the trap and let's do this!" Fist up high and eyes all on him.


He smirked and decided to go fist to fist with me; I bet I already looked like an overkill.


"It's a pity I was looking for something more,"

he took a quick swing at me, I failed to courter and got staggered by the power behind the punch , again I took a stance as he came even closer ,landing successive strikes at my gut, I managed a headbutt crashing his helmet and he replied with a powerful kick into my chest.


"Stand down john, you are out, this is madness!"

He urged me yet I couldn't stay down.


I stood up, bloodied and definitely dying , listening to the slow uncertain beats of my heart as I bled continuously.


I rushed at him and got a swinging kick to the face that sent me somersaulting to the ground and for a moment I wondered if this was how I was going to die.


Death, the one thing that had so eluded me countless times seemed to be calling for me, I could see it all happen again, oh yes, I could see it happen.


That cold morning, the truck conveying Mary and Little Teju back home while i was about to board the flight and that call.


That call had changed my life, it had shut the jaws of death, it had born a fire never to be quenched, a mission without end, it had given birth to me and I in turn had become the hand of death itself.


"Stand down idiot!"

He yelled as I pushed what was left of myself up, he came at me with so much anger, his punches seemed to have broken my ribcage with each blow, a knee to my face and another high boot to my jaw, I flew a good distance and crashed into the glass window nearby impaling myself on broken glass.


There I wondered as my heart began a dreadful thumping, there I wondered if I could have done things better, could Vee have been correct, could the black patriot be telling the truth, had I become the very monster I swore to eliminate?


"No!" I mumbled pushing one lump of glass shard out of my thigh as I stood up but the patriot didn't give me any chance , he speared me into a pillar and began to punish me with heavy blows , raining his strength into my already lifeless body.


"Stay the f***k down, you lunatic!" He yelled.


"Gboah!...Gboah!!...Gboah!!!"


Three shots came from behind and pierced the black patriot's helmet-head shots.


Vee was a damn good shot I could tell as I found her starring at us, the black patriot stood no chance, he fell limp and numb on top of me.


Suddenly I could see them, Mary and Teju, she was more beautiful than I had known and my little boy had a big smile on his face, he seemed proud of me, they both wanted me to go meet them, I could tell as my eyelids began to shut down, who really would the people judge me to be? A lunatic, a vigilante , an anti hero or just a man on a mission?


I never cared because I am John Dare Henry and just maybe tonight wasn't going to be the night I go to them.

BOOK 3. FINAL 2 BLACK PATRIOT VS JOHN DARE IN BODY BUSINESS


We came under heavy gun fire for more than five minutes straight, in between Eazyee had been bloodily massacred by his own people, once it stopped we couldn't have struck a deal better than this.


"We are not done yet, I will find you and put a stop to your madness!" He swore as he took his exit.


He took his leave through the nearest door and I disappeared from the scene as well.


Who would have a thought I would be seen as the dark horse in this affair, it's not that I did give damn but I could at least be appreciated for the many unjust in the state I had made just.


I retired to my sanctuary that day to find someone I hadn't thought to see in this life, Mrs. Vee at my gate.


How did she find me, I wondered.


"I know who you are john dare, I want us to talk!" She said as I got out of the taxi.


"You should not be here, whatever it is, you should have called, you are putting yourself in a lot of..."


"Everyday in this godforsaken country is putting my life in danger, we need to talk, you don't seem so good yourself..." She paused and starred blankly at my side.
"John you have been shot!" She cried out as I took a look, damn it, my body weakness and slowness all this while had been coming from a hit to my side.


"Its okay, I am..."




I woke up in my living room, undressed in a bloody mess, the time was 9:00 in the evening, I must have passed out hours ago while I was pulling the tough guy card; good thing I was around.


"He is calling you out!"

She said shoving her phone in my face - a vide of black patriot with a headline below

JOHN DARE IS A PYSCHOPATH NOT A VIGILANTE.


I said nothing but only returned my eyes to my patched up ribs. "Thank you!" I said dully.


"I learnt from my mother how to patch things up, my biological father used to be small time robber before his demise, my mom a quack nurse never told me this, she said he was a night guard and I believed her, so I learnt how to patch bullet wounds and other stuff up" She revealed with a doleful expression hanging on her brutalized face- brutalized?


"What happened to your face?" I asked.
"My ex-husband, don't worry I will sue the hell out of him and make his life a living hell!"

She swore,I could trust her on her words.


"John, the back patriot has you in his sight, his involvement has Alps brought the awareness of the army and police combined upon your recent activities, they are tagging you a mass murderer and a killer on a rampage, you have a shoot on sight order on your head, they are coming for you,"


"What do you think?" I asked her.


"About you? I don't know, you know the very first time you called me even though you had warned me not to call the police, I hesitated, I wanted to, I thought you were a lunatic, a denormal or even a crazy prenormal, I was scared and didn't know what to do, could I trust you, well you know what I think, I think you are doing what the rest aren't doing, you are hope and trust for the people of this state, the crimes have gone down, the criminals they don't just go around, they are scared shitless of your name, you are inspiring a new brand of vigilantes across the state and the country but I think you can do more, I think you can do better because if you can't, then you are no better than the exact same people you are swore to defeat, be the hero this time, let justice prevail, not your justice but their justice, if they don't do what's right then do it but you have to trust them first and then your own actions can be justified!" She said


Just then the phone rang, an unknown number that can't be good I noted of myself as I picked it up.


"Who is this?"


"John Dare Henry, isn't it? So you are the man responsible for my..."


Just then I heard a loud gun shot outside my building followed by arrival of some vehicles-now that can't be good!


"...brother's death, you thought you could walk away, I have been doing what I do for years man, do you honestly think I was as dumb as they come? I was going to lure you with my brother denying your stupid ass deal and getting you to a location where you would never trouble me or anyone again but you and your friend ruined it but not for long, now you and your girlfriend are going to feel my wrath, each armed man out there has been a promised five million naira if they get to bring me your head, you hear that, now I will know what you are made up against my men and their people!"


The calm ended just as my gate came under fire- I was under siege I reckoned.


I flipped up the cushion pillow and tossed to her a hang gun which scarred her the most.


"it's loaded, shot and kill anything that isn't me!" I tugged her and moved her to my door with a bullet proof door and shatter proof windows, she will be safe against small fire arms and weapons for a limited time.


Outside my home, I could already count twenty five plus, heavily armed, knives won't do, I switched to my 9mm pistol, tucking my revolver and enough magazine behind my belt as I switched off the entire building's light down and armed myself for war.


I didn't need any night goggles, I knew the entire building's schematic even in my dreams.


The first sets of idiots barged through the front door under heavy fire and chants, my spot shielded me completely I picked them up, bullet to head- all three of them dropping like heavy rain drops on dry land.


Again more heavy fire came shattering everything I could imagine where I laid still, then the back door had been infiltrated, two more fire shots continuously as they walked in. Ak-47s, amateurs I could tell.


I shot one on the leg who let out a loud yell letting the other face him while still clutching the trigger , he was as shocked seeing the mess he made out of his dear brother in arms-not for long, I shot him in the heart and switched position as four more came into the parlor, my cover had been blown.


I came under heavy fire once again until I wrapped my face with clothing and then threw in a smoke grenade.


I picked them up in the smoke as they panicked and moved around like sheep's without shepherds.


More gun fires echoed from outside as I could tell more men were still coming on, their advantage was in their numbers, my advantage was in my knowledge.


I dropped low under heavy fire again and found my way to a secret door that sealed me away from the eyes off everyone.


"Go in, everyone!" Someone said and so twelve more came in.


The last hadn't seen me behind him, I drove a knife into his neck and used his body as a bullet vest for his friend who fired without restraint.


I replied quickly, cutting three down and disappearing into the smoke that had now covered almost everything.


A few torch light flickering only gave me a good idea of where they were I fired a single shot and watched the idiots fire into every direction until they started killing themselves, fear, alcohol, drugs, adrenaline, excitement, these morons were chicken for slaughter.
I found my way out and continued the fight, a revolver on one hand and my 9mm on the other, we exchanged gun fire far longer than I wanted, I was running out of bullets fast if only I had taken out my much more heavy artillery out.


I took a bullet in my hand and my shoulders, yeah I was going to die.


But I wasn't to wish any longer.


"Kakakakkakakkkakakakakak!"


My ears went deaf as Mrs. V announced her entrance, A sub machine gun in her hand with rounds of live ammunitions hanging around her shoulders, Rambo style!


Her composure and handling were second to none, two cars and their occupants went up into the night sky in flames amidst explosion and many more men were cut in halves by armor piercing rounds firing at 0.2 seconds a whole hundreds of rounds.


She held her ground for ten bloody minutes and a thousand bullets seemed like popcorn been fried before my eyes as empty shells dropped happily around us.

"you learnt that from your mum?" I asked impressively.

"This one, I learnt from my father" she replied throwing the weapon to the floor as she got to help me up.

Amidst the settling dust, there was only piles of bodies here and then butchered in halves and decapitated by bullets.


Yet I could see that figure announcing his presence, I could see him far off, I could almost see his face, the black patriot had just walked in.

BOOK 3.FINAL 1 BLACK PATRIOT VS JOHN DARE IN BODY BUSINESS


"This is not right, Don would have jumped at this offer!" Stanley said to himself since he believed I could really converse in English.
I took an Uber and left him there.


However I was not to be go home empty handed, I left for a safe spot and began tracking Eazyee through to the evening.


I followed him up to the evening when he went to Club 50, a so called big business men and celebs hang out, outside I waited around for him, the bouncers seemed like trouble and I hadn't come prepared, next time I would be I said to myself then a car drove into the scene, all black, a one seater with the roar of a beast, i could only admire the car but i was in for a shock as it's occupant announced himself to the bouncers.


He was in full black Kevlar armor vest, masked up and combat gear fitted, two metallic rods for batons that he held on each hand and a set of expensive gadgets that hung on his waist.


The black Patriot had just announced himself, the bouncers got the idea and disappeared out of fear; by now if you didn't know who the black Patriot was it was certain you were a stranger to the state.


He slammed the glass doors with one foot up high and it gave way instantly, I had to see this for myself, what on earth was the black Patriot doing here, I wondered as I followed stealthily.


I hadn't gotten close to the door before screams filled the air, customers fleeing the scene, eazyee was nowhere to be found or was he?


I walked in and just was able to catch the black Patriot smashing his fist into eazyee's face.


He took one look behind his iconic helmet at me and stopped.


"Who are you?" He asked in a cold gritty voice I knew was to intimidate me.


"I am John" I replied as I took a seat without taking my eyes off him, he dropped eazyee who slumped on the floor and walked slowly towards me, batons, combat ready.


"You haven't answered my question Mister, who are you and what is your business here, are you a friend of his?" He pointed at eazyee.


"No, not a friend but I do need him for now, I have heard a lot about you, the black Patriot, super hero for justice and a better society, the media says, I am impressed"

I said fully as he came face to face with me.


"You are john-John Dare Henry, isn't it?" He asked almost uncertain at the time but I nodded.


"I see, hmm it seems I am very lucky this evening mister John, I get to take out a human trafficking scum and a senseless psychopath off the street," He reached out quickly for me, hoping to catch me by the neck but I pushed back and kicked the table in between us to create some space.


"Surrender now, Mr. John, your senseless acts of violence and incessant murders have come to an end, you are giving vigilantes a bad name, boy!"


He ran up to me with confidence waving his batons in combat manner determined to foil my resistance, I dropped low dodging them and producing my blades and swinging low, they came brushing his kevlar armor and only left a scratch and then I felt the batons descending heavy on my back and my head with no time to react he gave me a knee to my jaw, sending me staggering backwards, blood flowed down my jaw as I spat a tooth out.


"You are no match,boy surrender and save your self..."


"Don't you get tired?" I asked as I spat more blood out.


"Get tired? Of what?"


"The bad guys, you get them caught and the justice system let's them walk out, what about Alhaji Takur, I heard he is back to smuggling contrabands, the people praise you and your likes but what really are you doing if you are not doing enough-if you are not doing anything, when I fight the baf guys I don't spare them, they finally know the rules by which I play this game, my name is john dare henry and I will not stop until I clean this city of its filthiness!"


I came at him and he hadn't expected it, throwing him off with an open swinging of my right hand at his chest, he reacted as I wanted him to moving back and out of the way- enough for me to deliver a powerful right kick to his chest followed by a left.


He staggered back throwing away one of his batons which I caught ,now I had a blade and one of black patriot's weapon,thick steel bar meant to beat the devil out of anyone.


We came at each other again, his technique was a plus and relentlessness but I was built for combat ,body,soul and spirit.


Blow to Blow, Kick to Kick and Strength to Strength, We outmatched only ourselves.


Then we heard a shattering gun fire that sent us to the ground quickly, we hadn't know it yet but Eazyee's Calvary of heavily armed men had just arrived.

BOOK 3.3 BODY BUSINESS




The next day, I returned to Stanley's bar, he seemed lively and well dressed.

"He will not come with us,"

he pointed out to the translator who interpreted to me, I paid the interpreter after knowing this was the don's request.

He drove forty-five minutes and said nothing only eyes that probed me to and fro.
"I will make the introductions," he seemed to say but when I looked him and spoke in French, he gave a sigh and smiled at me.

"Why would he ask me to loose the interpreter, how am I supposed to explain to this idiot that I have to handle things,"

he said still smiling at me.

I smiled innocently at him then we stepped out in front of the resort besides the beach.

Inside was a calm well ordered resort, a few people seated here and there, Don't clezzy was nowhere in sight, this had taken me into a more cautious and threat assessment stage of everyone we kept walking past.

"Don?" I pronounced in what anyone would laugh at as a clumsy nod towards speaking English.

He demonstrated and shook his head in disagreement as he led me to an empy table where we sat.

He looked around dully and began to tap nervously, each time peeking at me when I pretended I wasnt monitoring him.

I could sense something wasn't right but I couldn't lay hands on it so I had to be patient then a young man in a cheap blue suit appeared through the entrance and walked straight to us. Stanley got up and joined him at a corner after which a three minute discussion ensued.


They both joined me and then a forth person came in; he may not have introduced himself yet but I knew him from my research.
Don's goto man, his junior brother; Emmanuel aka Eazyee, a smart, clean handsome young man who worked as Don't Clezzy's financial manager and adviser, caretaker and many other things that involved money.

The first class graduate of financial accounting taking care of the financial aspect of every deal for Don was rumored to be an illiterate to some extent but Eazyee was an eagle eyed eccentric business man who made sure his brother was never to be toyed with in financial decision making.

Stanley walked back to me and passed his phone to me; a call was waiting.

The receiver spoke in fluent French; I had to put up my French accent as well.

"My name is Emmanuel, I heard you were pitching business with my boss, he was supposed to be here with me but emergencies happen, so you will discuss with me as his business representatives and what i say hear goes and don't worry as you can see I can speak French quite well, so let's hear your proposal, Mr. Jean"

He gave a confident smile at me.


"Okay that sounds fair,"

I nodded. "I have a proposal for your brother which will see his profit soar three times than what he is getting per shipment,"

I paused and could only marvel at the young man's stillness as I spoke.

"His market route is similar to every other trader in the business just okay with minimal profit, sell to the Liberians and the Liberians sell to the rest of the Asia, I know so because I have dealt with the Liberians for years now but I think that's not fair, your brother should be earning a lot more but those pale skins are reaping your brother buying cheap and selling big to me so I want to buy directly from your brother and do the heavy shipping direct to Asia, I hear he once did reach out to Asia bosses over direct shipment, I am offering that deal, think about it,"

My French was excellent.

He said nothing for a while as did Stanley the onlooker then gave me a rousing smile.

" we have been in partnership trade with the Libyans for years now, its been very smooth, we know they deal with us badly, its no secret but 18million per cargo was a good deal, it still is,"

Impulsive breathing, occasionally starring and then taking off eye contact, under a minute of his speech I could tell, this young man was lying buy why? I had wondered.

"Am sorry, its too risky, you see the saying that among thieves there is honor isn't far fetched, my brother will work with the Libyans for now if you don't mind!"

He said.

He picked himself up, stretched forth a hand which I took and then he left without looking back.

Plan A in this case was a total failure, I needed to rethink my entire plan. I left disappointed.

Draft is almost complete guys, john reaper is coming together.


Feel free to book your seats for the sci-fi fantasy gritty story.

BODY BUSINESS WILL COME TO AN END THIS COMING WEEK


The JDH series WILL BE giving way for another work this July JOHN REAPER : SONS OF WARS 2101.
SO JDH WILL BE HAVING IT'S CONCLUDING PART AS BODY BUSINESS (3 MINI PART EPISODE)

BOOK 3.2 BODY BUSINESS


Don Clezzy lived a stylish and luxurious lifestyle, he had a mega supermarket, an international poultry farm and a leading pharmaceutical drug store, father of four and husband to one.

A saint and prolific charity giver, well that's what the media painted but not everyone knew of don's past.

He did his best to wipe it, former human trafficker and drug smuggler with connection to the italian mafia in the late '90s, he served half his time in the Italy and got out, returned back and went out of sight and a year later he seemed to have been favored by his gods or acquire some prenormal ability to make wealth for himself.

Sometime ago, he became the subject of speculation when some people fingered him as their benefactor, the report were denied and the police buried it for lack of evidence.

Kingsley had already opened a can of worms, Don't Clezzy was using one of his set ups , the poultry which supplied meat to five countries across Africa including Mali, Libya, Tanzania, Togo and Ghana.

Of course, his shipment to Libya had nothing like poultry meats, this was his money maker, he wasn't just a facilitator, he was the facilitator of all facilitator, his ability to smuggle other people's harvested human organs through the seaports made him one of the biggest bosses in the game.

How do you take down a boss who is quite the boss of his game, give him something he wants.

It was time I asked another friend for help, Majesty and I met five years ago, his set of skills and prenormic ability made him one hecn of an asset only to be called upon for emergencies.

"I need a favour," I asked him through the phone.
"I am busy with something," he returned.

"It's urgent, I need to be in the system,"
"Hmmm, okay what's the ID?"

"I will let you go free on this one, anything within the middle class, human trafficking and Organ facilitation across Asia,"

"Done, you will get it within the next hour, ID, bank statements, shipping orders and documents,"

the call went dead.

You see, that's how I like him, effective and no question asked.

I settled on my next target Stanley assien, I wasn't exactly sure how deep his connection was to Kingsley but I was to put him to the test.

I set out to meet him but this time with an employee, an intern french student. Necessary for my act.

Stanley posed like a honest business man running a little bar down town, he was fat and hairy with a round face; the size of a FIFA football, his fat nose could not contain the amount of hair that ran out to join his mustache, but his tribal marks seemed to be his most prominent features, big crosses like the one they ruled over an empty page.

I patronized him and ordered for a bottle for me and my employee, as hours rolled by and the customers began to fizzle out, in no distant time, it was just him and I.

"Hello, I am about to pack up," he called out to us before he drew near to us.

"Can I have another beer?"

I asked him in French to which my translator explained in English to him.

He returned quickly sensing some level of foreign blood in my manners.

I stood up and stretched my full length, this seemed to put him a back and then I stretched my hand to the empty chair in front of me for him to seat, he seemed willing to take my offer.

"My name is Jean Yudi Kabir, Kingsley asked me to see you!"

My translator went to work.

His eyes went up as I mentioned kingsley's name.

"Kingsley? He is still alive?"

"He is on the run but he is alive, I needed a broker but he wanted nothing to do with it, it seemed your country's law was catching up to him," I explained.

"What are you selling, powder?"

He asked half thoughtful and half conscious.

"Not your field, Kingsley asked me to tell you to make contacts with the Don except you do handle body businesses then I shall deal with you directly?"

He nodded in great disappointment and scoffed.

"Oh no I don't do body business that was Kingsley bread and butter, what is in it for me?"

My translator seemed to have a hard time explaining what he said at about this time, it was a good moment; Stanley was anxious and excited at the thought of riding me off some money.

"100k, 50 now and the other when I an certain we have a deal"

"200k and that's it, Don is not an easy person to see, you don't just pick up the call and expect he is on the other side waiting, 200k or nothing!" He threatened.

I pretended to give it some thought and then stood up as did my translator, his eyes went crazy with alarm and I hadn't even turned around before he stopped me.

"Okay, okay, let me have it, I will make the calls, get you a location and set up the meeting, who are you again?"

He asked urging me to seat.

"I am Jean Yudi Kabir from Congo," I replied.

"If you are interested in powder, I have been trying to get some nice stock, you will not be disappointed, I can..."

His advertisement seemed to stop once the other person on the other side of his call picked up.

The chat lasted for only five minutes and then he beamed at me with great joy.

"I got one of his inside contacts, He will be at the marina beach resort, its a hotel around the..."

"You will be coming with me, right?"

"Oh that's true, yes my friend, sure!" He added.

We shook hands and I left, paid my translator who took the money no question asked and disappeared into a taxi.

BOOK 3.1 BODY BUSINESS



"The police aren't doing anything about it, they had a suspect brought in but my sources said, money has passed hands, he is to he released today, a group of grave robbers fingered him as their benefactor weeks ago," Mrs. V reported to me via phone call.

"What's his name?"

"Clement Ubah alias Don Clezzy, he is one of..."

"I know him, he is one of Kingsley's contact"

"Kingsley, you know Kingsley Adolph?"

"Never mind, I need information on Clezzy, anything at all, Kingsley was kind enough to let me know Clezzy isn't just a facilitator, he has bigger contacts, he is the big fish here," I replied.

"Hmm, let me get my people on it, what do you need!"

"Contacts, addresses, locations, friends and enemies,"

She scoffed "Okay uhm but Kingsley, the police have declared him wanted but he seems to have vanished out of thin air, you don't happen to know..."

"I will wait for your call on what we talked about later,"

I replied, by now she had come to accept I never gave out information I wasn't prepared to give out so she sighed and ended the call.

My eyes now moved to a black tinted Camry just across the road, it packed in front of a high electric fenced building, from one of the back doors came in a young man; so there were a lot more inside , my guess was five as Kingsley openly disclosed to me the previous night.

He opened the gate and only closed it when the car had driven inside, I waited another thirty minutes before I settled to work.

I found my way around the bushes surrounding the fence, short circuited the fenced building but only realized the electric fence was no more than a decor it hadn't been connected.

I landed dully and came face to face with a large malamute dog who began to growl slowly and aggressively at me.

So I returned the favor, a slow, horrifying and death threatening growl that sent it running back to somewhere I didn't know.

I quickly found myself under the window frame of one room that had its light turned on and its window opened, then I noticed the uncanny smell of dried blood oozing everywhere; this was a slaughter house.

Inside the room, I found three girls lying nude and in shackles, legs, mouth and hands, the tiled floor was filled with human waste, urine and blood.

One of the girls caught sight of me and became to move around as I slid into the room.

My nose caught the stench and at a glance I could guess they had been here for quite some time.

I produced one of my handy knives and cut open her rag holding her mouth.

"Are there others in here?"

It took her some time to say anything as she licked her dry lips for moisture and strength.

"Yes, they took....them!"

She mustered as tears dropped freely under her eyes, the others seemed to have caught on with what was happening.

"How many are they?"

" five, they are five, please help us?"

She cried again, I motioned her to stop talking as I heard incoming footsteps.

I tipped the light off and laid siege with dagger in hand.

The door slid open slowly as a nude male figure suddenly shot its head through the door.

I sent my dagger into his skull immediately with enough force that told me his brain must have suffered a stroke before it went dead.

He slumped to the ground and I drew him in quickly; the idiot came to have some fun with his captives I guessed.

I took my knife and the keys I found in his hands, cut off the shackles off the victims hands and told them to wait there.

For the first time I didn't know what to do really, I had started to enjoy my life as an avenger of justice but not as a hero, I wasn't the green vigilante, k.o john or black patriot who enjoyed hero business but here I was rescuing these girls and yet somehow it felt good.

They locked me behind as I instructed and I continued my journey through a passage, one door was open and I could see a stream of fresh blood oozing from the floor out into the passage amidst a whacking sound.

There I stood at his back, the nude figure had a clean machete up in the air , taking swing at the leg of a lifeless vicitm , this was his third as two other dismembered bodoes were packed together at one end.

"Hold it there!" Someone screamed from behind with a gun to my head , this alerted the man with the machete who I recognized ad the one who had opened the gate earlier.

I didn't give him time to say anything, I docked instinctively, the gun fire caught my friend in his face blowing his brains into the wall.

I merely needed to lift my body mid air as I docked to perform a hybrid back kick that sent the gun out of my gun wielding Friend's hand.

He came at me while yelling for help; wrong choice.

I sent my head towards his and cracked hard his skull before sending him to Neverland with a deadly right hook delivered with brute force to his jaw, he spewed his teeth and blood into the air.

I rolled quickly and caught the machete, the new arrival got a quick death, the slippery floor drew him closer to me, my machete went forward with one swing like a pro baseball player and his head rolled downwards.

I stood up, Machete in hand and went out to find the fifth man.

Somewhere I came face to face with the coward, a gun to a one of the abductee's head and shivering like a cow.

"If you come near me I will kill her!"

"Then kill her!"

I said as I took steps towards him, the thing with been apprehensive is how much of a puppet it makes you become, your words, your actions become a screen cast in the eyes of a true manipulator.

He pointed the gun at me and I whacked him in his moment of indecisiveness, his hand and the gun went to the ground, the gun fired a single round that greased my stomach.

I went to ground for a moment as my friend screamed painfully at the lost of his hand.

"I was going to kill you quickly but now I am pissed!" I told him.

A day later, what was tagged THE HOUSE OF HORRORS by the media had the icing on top in the form of a half dismembered man found in the cage with the dog inside; food for thought or food for the dog.

BOOK 3.0 BODY BUSINESS



"What is wrong with them?"

The fat security man asked like one who was uncertain of his own Sanity.

"They are asleep, been drinking, don't worry I will take them home, its while I came along,"

I replied as I went through Kingsley's phone.

He made to say something but decided against it, made a u-turn and stopped abruptly when he heard a sudden clash in the boot.

He turned once more to me.

*we got a little dog in the boot, it's suffering from rabies, we are to branch off and drop the poor animal at a friend's house who is a veterinary " my explanation hadn't bought him yet he walked away, saying nothing maybe for fear of his own life.


There was good reasons to be afraid, first of all the slumped body in the SUV hadn't been asleep, they had been violently strangled and stabbed and the rabies dog was no dog at all, Kingsley Adolph laid in the boot of his car, bonded and nicely tied up like a little Christmas present.

I had gotten what I needed and so I decided to take a ride downtown, the guy in the trunk had suffered a lot already , it was time he said his goodbyes but what was I doing in one of the many body organs facilitator's car in the first place.

This story began three days ago for me but had become public five days behind.

I was at a filling station hoping to get some fuel when I noticed something wasn't right.

"Oga, bimbo nor dey again oh,"

A fuel attendant I had come.to know as Stella said; seemingly understanding my observation.

Bimbo, a sweet young and Innocent secondary school girl had been this dull reflection of what my state could be in the future after I was done cleaning it up.

Sweet, loving , optimistic, full of bright ideas and a killer smile that melt hearts; not mine though yet it did try to put a smile on my face each time I came to the petrol station.

"What happened, she is not well?"

"Hah, no oh, dem kill her elder sister last three days ago, abandon the body for road side, na ritualists oh oga,dem say dem remove her kidneys, heart and other organs for her body including her ehm..."

How surprising even with the sort of society that has done everything to desensitize its people on sexualized words and slangs we still feel this quite timid to say them, I watch her struggle to say it for the next several seconds; I had enough to begin my next hunting.

What I hadn't picked up on while I was away in Kano was the sudden boom in the organ business in the state.

Whilst many figured this was a spree for ritualists, my sources had pointed the finger to an increase in demand of human organs in far Asia country supplied by cartels and crime syndicate across Africa particularly Nigeria been listed as one of five red zones.

My investigations led me to Kingsley Adolph, former organ facilitator and drug smuggler who just got back from a three year prison time, no job, no family, no friends, yet somehow he still managed to get a three hundred thousands naira apartment and an SUV, talk about jack pot.

The Police were all eyes fixed on one of his partners, Stanley Assien who was only a puppet taking their eyes off Kingsley the real baddie, bad for them but just perfect for me.

I had two set of people to deal with, the work men who bought and kidnapped unwilling victims off the streets and murdered them in cold blood and the buyers.

Kingsley's phone had already provided me all I needed on those who took the people off the streets.

I drove to one of my secret locations where help was only a product of imagination, smoked a few cigarettes and then went on to check up on my friend.

He swung hard once I opened the boot but felt the full force of my boot impaling his face back into the boot, then I dragged out his hand and slammed the boot across his fingers, he screamed like a little girl as I slammed his other hand as well.

I had hoped at some point , I would get tired off this, the mannerism at which this so-called bad guys become when faced with their own death but I only found myself getting addicted to it.

"Please, please don't kill me oh, please sir, I am sorry," He cried as I dragged him across the distance into an uncompleted building or if I would prefer to call it, my torture chamber.

He thought me loosening up his fingers from the rest of his body was pain but I had the whole night to explain in full details what pain was all about.

"Are you hungry?"

I asked him with a grin smile to which he seemed confused.

He didn't have to be, in the next thirty minutes I planned to feed him, his associates, sushi style.

BOOK 2.10 TO KANO WITH LOVE FINAL


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Okay,"

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

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

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

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

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

Of course they would be.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I was briefly searched thoroughly after that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"You are leaving to far?"
I asked.

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

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

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

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

"You were able to get bashiru?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His muffled scream gave me undeniable satisfaction.

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

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

BOOK 2.9 TO KANO WITH LOVE



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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Your source, it is credible?"

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

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

He said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I produced a grenade and waited for the exact moment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ThothHermes:
Sharap. It is a good deal if they truly pay those quoted rates.

Am.interested, I mostly write fantasy, action, anime, action, horror, mystery, adventure , I also do script writing as well , am looking for a partner to work with ,currently I have 50+ titles in the pipe.

I write long and short ones as well.

BOOK 2.8 TO KANO WITH LOVE


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

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


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

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

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

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

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

"It went well?"

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

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


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

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

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

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

"Well, well, you see,"

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

"I will try,"

he managed to say before ending the call.

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

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

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

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

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

the guide warned.

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

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

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

the guide seemed to read my mind.

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

I asked.

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

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

"Wait here!" I urged him.

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

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

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

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

BOOK 2.7 TO KANO WITH LOVE


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

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

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

"Headache, what do you mean?"

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

Nurudeen concluded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Where are my boys?"

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

"I killed them,"

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

"You are not a journalist, are you?"

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

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

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

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

Jafar was embittered.

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

"Am not that kind of journalist,"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I explained.

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

He asked.

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

He nodded suspiciously.

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

He gave a devilish smile and then a dull smile.

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

We got down to business.

BOOK 2.6 TO KANO WITH LOVE



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

"You say you are a journalist?"

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

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

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

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

He advised.
"Who exactly?"

"You don't know who..."

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

"The soldiers of course,"

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

"Wakanda forever!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"You are alive?"

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


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

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

" what do you mean by that?"

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

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

BOOK 5-TILL DEATH DO US PART

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

Thanks for your contributions, I really appreciate this.

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

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

BOOK 2.5 TO KANO WITH LOVE


"Ring-Ring-Ring"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Its a good one, let it roll!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"How do I get to Tofar,"

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

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

I started catching his attention almost immediately.

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

He beckoned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BOOK 2.4 TO KANO WITH LOVE


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

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

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

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

I added.

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

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

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

"Okay, expect something real soon,"

He hung up and I turned to Mrs. Veronica.

"John, I am here!"

She seemed almost excited to receive my call I thought.

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

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

"I will never speak to him again,"

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

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

"Matthew isn't it?"

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

"I will talk to him but..."

I could hear her hold her breath behind the call.

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

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

"Okay, I will be expecting them,"

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

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

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

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

the old Colonel exploded.

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

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

I asked.

"The ministry if defence does the overseeing,"

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

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

He added.

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

BOOK 2.3 TO KANO WITH LOVE


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

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

I blended in like butter to bread.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"But why is that?"

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

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

BOOK 2.2 TO KANO WITH LOVE



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What do you chickened out?"

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

"I thought you wouldnt chicken out?"

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

She made sense, she always did.

"So what do we do,"

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

She replied.

BOOK 2.1 TO KANO WITH LOVE


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

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

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

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

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

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

"Hello, This is John right?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I asked.

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

Dacallartow:
Op gudmorin, pls come and update

Book 2 is here boss

BOOK FINAL 1.9 MALACHI



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

Lamido explained.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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