Tarasha The Brutal Assassin Story PART 2 EPISODE 1
Robin Kahn’s dead body was finally recovered from the house where he was killed the next day. It took seeing Greg’s dead body for James to remember that they were on a mission to a particular address before the wanted lady attacked them.
James led a group back to the location on Gravel estate that day and they entered into the compound, finding Robin’s body laying lifeless on the floor behind the ambulance. They searched round the compound and even broke into the house but found nothing else implicating, except for some bullets and the blood stained doctor’s coat found in the ambulance.
The bullets and coat were sent to the forensics team immediately for scrutinizing while Robin’s body was driven back to the headquarters.
Still that morning, James and Sandra visited Dr Hammed who had met in 2030 with Samantha Osman in Derl Pharmacy to ask for a confirmation if Aisha Bello was the same as Samantha Osman.
‘They are not the same person’ Dr Hammed replied their question in an angry manner. He was tired of replying questions already, he had had enough from the EFCC and his lawyer. His plan was to rest and prepare for his court hearing the next week.
‘Just take a proper look at it first’ James insisted.
‘Am I a baby who doesn’t know his left from the right? I said they are not the same’ the man replied back stubbornly.
‘Sir’ James tried to calm the situation. ‘I don’t mean to infuriate you. Well, maybe I should show you one of her recent pictures, that one is old and dated back to 2023’
James moved closer to the man with his tablet and displayed some pictures for the man to see. ‘These are her recent pictures on Instagram and Facebook’ he said as he swiped through different photos.
‘There’s no iota of resemblance between this girl and Samantha Osman’ Dr Hammed stood on his point. ‘Samantha looks more like a black American and has a kind of mixed accent, she’s certainly not the same as this’
++++++
Aisha’s eyes opened to see Benny pointing a gun at her, her body which was previously stiff immediately began to vibrate in fright.
‘Benny, what are you doing?’ she struggled to mutter under her breath. She looked over his shoulder and saw Tarasha and Cole standing at the back, close to the entrance of the lab. Cole hid his face immediately, after her eyes met his.
Benny cocked the gun.
06/01/2031
**Maitaima, Abuja**
‘Nice to have you here, Mr Henry’ Sylvester shook hands with Henry as he welcomed him to their head office in Abuja.
‘Thank you sir’ Henry smiled, receiving the handshake. ‘I’m happy to be here to work with you sir’
‘Come in please’ the stout man adjusted his suit trousers belt as he ushered Henry into an office.
Mr Sylvester, the official in charge of the security cameras system of whole nation had been recently embattled with series of breaks and attacks on their operations which always resulted in assassinations.
The first time it happened was in November 2030. The security cameras all stopped transmitting at the same time and for the same duration of a minister’s assassination. Others had happened after that, the latest was just one week ago and it involved the death of United States special officer, Robin Kahn and his team.
After fruitless struggles by all the software engineers and officers to fix the loophole, Mr Sylvester was forced to invite Henry George, a young Internet technician, software and computer engineer and transmission expert to come to their aid.
Henry George, aged 26, was a renowned ethical hacker who had saved the nation on a previous attack by enemies on their security official websites. Henry saved his country four years ago when he was serving as a youth corper in Maiduguri. His breaking of the limit brought him fame and money as he was well sought for by several organizations after his service. He decided to settle in Lagos with his parents, occupying a good position in a well respected computer security firm.
‘Please have your seat, sir’ Sylvester motioned him to the visitor’s seat.
‘Thank you sir’ Henry replied as he sat comfortably into the seat.
‘I believe you’ve heard about the recent security breaches we’ve had in our systems’ Sylvester began before sitting down.
‘Yes. As a matter of fact, I’ve been trying to work on it already’ Henry leaned forward, placing his hands on the table. ‘But you know there’s a limit to what I can do without having permission from you to use your data’
‘Yes’ Sylvester smiled. ‘We’ll give you everything you need to work with. We need to fix the problem as soon as possible to avoid more blames from the police’
‘I’ll work with the best of my abilities as long as you provide every necessary data for me’ Henry licked his lips as he replied, he felt uneasy.
He wasn’t being honest. In fact, he wasn’t so sure if there was any more data to get from them as he had already hacked into their systems to derive information for his personal investigation.
When the news of the security failure first hit the news the last year, Henry had launched his personal investigation immediately, being curious to know the expert that was good and bold enough to hold the nation’s security in captive for hours.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t make much progress like he thought he would. Every link to trace the person behind the work was completely blocked. He even tried to locate the server from where the Health Minister’s compromise video was uploaded from but the result he got was an incorrect proxy and IP address. Since then, he had concluded that his failure to locate the source was due to lack of complete data. But the data he needed was sure not from this organization he had been invited to work for, he accepted the invitation with the hope that their influence would get him the data from other organizations. He was ready to break record.
‘Here sir’ Sylvester courteously handed a file to Henry. ‘In it is all our codes and data that you need, please we’ll like you to start work on it as soon as possible’
Henry stood to take the file from the man, smiling as he marveled at the man’s great show of respect for him. The man was a married man who was far older than him in age and authority, so Henry felt greatly honored by his attitude.
‘I’ll begin my work immediately’ Henry said as they exchange a parting handshake.
++++++
11/01/2031
Their Bus got to Kubwa, Abuja at exactly five minutes past nine in the evening and they drove into their lodge by fifteen minutes past nine. Their arrival attracted a lot of attention from people around the house. The house had been abandoned for over two years.
‘Hey! Wetin I dey find for hia?’ A Mallam walked in after them as they drove in through the old rusted gate.
Tarasha was the first to come out of the Bus and walk back to the gate to attend to the man, but she was helpless as she couldn’t understand the man’s pidgin language until Benny came around
‘Wetin I dey find for hia?’ The man asked again.
‘We came on a short business trip’ Benny answered him. ‘This property has been sold to us’
‘Who sell am for me?’
‘Where are the house and land documents?’ Benny turned to Tarasha to ask.
‘Is that all he’s saying?’ Tarasha commented as she walked back to the car to get the documents.
She returned a minute later and handed it over to Benny who displayed it to the man and spoke in low tones to the man. The man walked away silently after nodding his head in agreement several times to Benny.
‘He’s one of the security guards in the town’ Benny informed Tarasha as they walked back to the bus to join the others offload the loads in the bus.
+++++
13/01/2031
‘This bug is not a common one’ Henry said to Sylvester as he examined a small black device held up in his hands. ‘It is customized, I believe the user manufactured it by him or herself’
‘So can nothing be done with this?’ Sylvester asked in a pessimistic manner.
‘Of course, something can be done with it’ Henry answered with a mischievous smile.
‘What do you mean?’ Sylvester asked, confused by the look on Henry’s face.
‘Is it not this device the police headquarters sent from Lagos this morning?’ Henry dropped the device on the table and sat in front of a computer set.
‘Yes’
‘It might take us a little time before we come up with anything useful to us about this bug. I don’t want us to rush’ Henry said, typing in the label on the bug into the Google search engine.
‘Ha! I don’t want us to spend too much time on this issue, we’ve gone about six days already without making a headway’
Henry paused and turned to Sylvester, he stared into his face for a moment before speaking out. ‘Mr Sylvester’ he called. ‘Do you know the history surrounding this bug?’ He raised a brow as he asked.
‘Ermm… I know. You know, it’s just that the government is putting a lot of pressure on us’ Sylvester stammered as he tried to convince Henry.
‘Well, if they really want a quick job’ Henry turned back to the desktop as he spoke, ‘let them come and do the job themselves. I won’t get myself killed stupidly’
‘I’m not saying we should work stupidly, I just think we should work a little more faster’
‘I won’t work faster than this, I assure you’ Henry said boldly without turning to the man, he was beginning to get pissed with the man but tried to remain calm. ‘I won’t work like Robin Kahn who was impatient and ran into the waiting hands of the assassins, I’m wiser’
Sylvester did not reply anymore as he began to reason with Henry, he remained quiet and allowed Henry to continue his searching.
Henry silently read each of the search results before clicking on the best option. He read for few minutes and jotted some codes into his notepad before getting up.
‘I have to get to a computer accessories shop now’ He said as he picked up his bag and hung it on his shoulder.
‘Ehen, Okay’ Sylvester got up too and set out to leave the computer room.
** Twenty minutes later **
‘Seginet Computers’ Henry read aloud to himself as he parked his car in the parking lot of the company. He took a deep breath before proceeding to the main building.
The company’s main building had four doors, two for entry and the other two for exit. Henry smiled as his Android device beeped. He took it out from his bag, a red light pointed out from the screen, slanting in an upward direction. He took care not to look in the direction of the light as he understood the message. His properly designed app was just locating the positions of the neatly hidden surveillance camera at the door.
The door opened, allowing him to enter after been scanned by the security system. He switched off the device to avoid attracting attention to himself as it would in no time begin to make numerous beeps on locating the cameras inside the building.
Computer accessories and softwares of different kinds and uses were neatly arranged in shelves at the different sections. Henry quickly located the camera section and proceeded towards the stand.
‘Henry’ he heard someone call. He turned back to see the caller but found out that he wasn’t the Henry being called. He hissed and turned again carelessly to collide into someone.
‘Oh! Sorry’ he apologized as he bent to pick the fallen contents of the fallen nylon bag. The lady watched him in disgust as he picked up the gadgets and returned them into the nylon bag.
‘I’m so sorry’ he apologized again as he handed over the bag back to the lady. She gave him a searching look before collecting it from him.
There was something familiar about the lady, Henry thought as they both stood for thirty seconds without moving. It wasn’t her face that looked familiar, rather it was an atmosphere around her, the scent of her perfume. He had felt that atmosphere sometime before but he couldn’t tell where and when it was.
He was also held spellbound by her beauty, her charm was irresistible. Her face was neat with no acne or pimple, her eyes were attractive and too radiant to look at for long without falling in worship. He had only one description for her, a perfect African goddess.
He felt his body shiver as he ran his eyes through her clean sexy legs. Her figure eight was clearly displayed in the tight mini gown which revealed her thigh down to her foot. His heartbeat suddenly increased without him knowing.
‘Be careful next time’ she said and walked away from his presence, leaving him to stand overwhelmed in the midst of other moving people.
He stood transfixed for some more seconds, but his brain was working perfectly well and quick also. He had heard that voice somewhere before but couldn’t remember where it was.
He turned back to see her just going out through the exit and quickly followed after her, abandoning his primary assignment.
She was already entering into her car when he got out, he quickly ran towards her but she started the car engine and began to drive towards the gate before he got to her. He tried to call out to her but there was no response.
Without thinking twice, he jumped into his car and drove out of the gate, pursuing after her. After minutes of trying to get her attention through the side mirror, she finally stopped near an army checkpoint and came out of the car. The soldiers approached her immediately as it was wrong to park at that place.
He drove closer to them and was still arguing with himself whether to park also or just drive forward when he realized what was going on, but it was late already.
The lady had just finished explaining something to the soldiers and two were signaling for him to park with whips in their hands.
+++++++
**LASPOTECH, Lagos **
‘Aisha Temitope Bello was a student of this school truly’ the secretary began her well prepared explanation to the officers. ‘She was admitted in 2023 and she finished her national diploma program in 2025, since then she has not returned to collect her ND result nor take the Higher national diploma form’
‘Is that all you have for us?’ James stared at her awkwardly as he asked.
‘That’s all I think you may need’ the secretary replied.
James tried his best not to let out a hiss, but he was obviously pissed off by the lady as she could only dig out such little information after delaying their investigation for more than a week. ‘Tell or show us all you’ve got, let us be the ones to pick what we need’
‘Okay, no problem’ the secretary said and looked into a paper. She cleared her throat before she began to mention out points.
‘She was a student of the business administration department, her matriculation number was ND/23/FT/BA/35. She finished the ND program with a distinction grade. She was also involved in school politics and sports. She contested for the post of the “Sports Director 2” and won, she ruled for one year with the other sport director and they won several trophies for the school during their tenure. Aisha herself participated in the Ladies football team and captained the team, they came out second place in the Nigeria Polytechnics Cup 2024. She…’
‘It’s okay’ James stopped her after communicating something with his eyes to Sandra who was seated opposite him. ‘Did any of her friends come back for HND?’
‘I don’t know any of her friends’ the secretary replied bluntly.
‘Can’t you help us find out?’ James inquired.
‘I can but you have to come back some other time’
‘What?? Come back again?’ James couldn’t believe his ears, maybe it would take the lady a month now to help them find who Aisha’s likely friends were and if they returned for the HND program .
‘Yes, there’s nothing I can do now’ the secretary replied lazily.
‘Well, I think I know what’s happening here’ James spoke angrily. ‘You know this Aisha and you’re only trying to cover up for her’
‘No o’ the naive secretary seemed terrified by James’ prank.
‘Then why are you hiding her and taking so long to give us information about her?’ James asked, wondering how she quickly fell for his threat. He had expected her to respond boldly back to him, he decided to take advantage of the situation.
‘Okay, I will find out and tell you when you come back by tomorrow’
‘No, now!’ James barked. ‘Do something now’
‘Excuse me’ an elderly man who was the Head of the business administration department came out of his office. ‘You can’t be shouting at here like that, what’s the matter?’
‘Tell your secretary to stop aiding criminals and give us the information we need’ James answered him.
‘Yes, what’s the matter?’ The Head of department turned to his secretary.
‘Sir, they’ve come to gather information about Aishat Bello, the assassination suspect who was a student of this school seven years ago’
‘So?’
‘They want me to find out about her friends’ she added.
‘And she told us to come back again’ James quickly put in. ‘We need to conclude our investigation this week for God sake. We are giving the suspect enough time to escape by delaying the matter’
The man turned back to his secretary, he let out a deep breath and shook his head sideways before talking. ‘How are you planning to know who her friends were?’
‘I don’t know yet’
‘You were not monitoring her, were you? What you can do is to fish out all available information about those with close matriculation numbers to hers, they should know more about her’
+++++++++++
**Kubwa, Abuja**
‘Welcome Boss’ Cole greeted as Tarasha walked in.
‘Weldone’ she responded without taking a look at him. She dragged the centre table with her and sank into a sofa adjacent to Cole’s. She emptied the contents of the bag on the table.
‘Any useful information now?’ She asked Cole before getting up.
‘No, no other information’ he replied as he picked up the laptop from the sofa and placed it on his lap. ‘But I’ve gathered enough information about his son’
‘I’ll be right back’ Tarasha excused herself and walked away from the common room. She returned three minutes later in a blue sleeveless top and pair of comfortable Jean trousers with a black leather bag in her hands. She returned where she was previously seated and removed some of the tools from the bag.
‘So what option do we have?’ She asked as she hit a small hammer on a computer gadget.
‘Huh?’ Cole couldn’t hear as a result of the noise from Tarasha’s work.
‘What’s our option?’ Tarasha repeated. She began to pick out some chips from the destroyed gadget.
‘His first son is the only way we can get close to him’ Cole answered. ‘The man has been kind of surreptitious of recent’
Tarasha was quiet for a moment, the man’s recent secrecy was a known fact to her. Jubril Lawal, as if anticipating something evil had not been seen in public places recently. His visits to government officials and public figures had always been in secrets.
‘Dare Lawal is a terrible womanizer and he frequents nightclubs in the city’ Cole began, looking straight into Tarasha eyes. ‘He visits Oriental Club every third Friday of the month’
‘Friday is too far, we can’t wait till then’
‘Maybe we should trace him from work then’ Cole said, he got up from the seat and adjusted his belt properly. ‘He is the CEO of his Dad’s retailing firm here in Abuja but he doesn’t really do anything. He closes by 4pm everyday and most of the times chill out with friends before heading home’
‘Going somewhere’ Tarasha responded to his movement. ‘Does he live with his father?’
‘No, he does not but he visits his father’s house almost every week’ Cole moved away the table blocking his way. ‘Please excuse me, I need to ease myself’
‘It’s okay’ Tarasha permitted. An alert note sounded in her brain as she watched him walk away, she was allowing him handle too much already. She needed to confirm the information he had given her before working with it, so as not to run into error.
‘I brought this for you’ Aisha’s voice sounded softly as she served Tarasha wine in a Champagne glass. She made a little groan as she bent to hand over the cup to Tarasha, her belly wound had not healed completely yet.
Tarasha took the cup from her silently, she properly scrutinized the drink first, she took another look at Aisha’s face as if to ask if she could trust her.
Aisha quickly looked away from those eyes staring at her. Tarasha had the same look on her face that day she was given a death scare. She remember vividly how she vibrated when Benny cocked the gun, hot urine escaped down the bed immediately.
**Flashback **
Benny closed his eyes as he pulled the trigger. Aisha heard the gunshot sound. Then her body was being carried away by unknown forces, to heaven, she thought. Not until the bed she was laying on hit the wall, then she realized that her bed had been rolled away before the bullet was released and the bullet had penetrated into somewhere else.
Cole and Benny who were surprised turned to look at Tarasha’s face immediately, they met a smile which made them more confused . They could not tell the reason Tarasha acted that script.
One of the legs of Aisha’s bed which had tyres for easy movement had been tied with a long rope to stop its movement. Tarasha cut the rope when she was sure that the trigger was going to be pulled.
Benny was about to barg out of the lab when Tarasha spoke, he paused. ‘You would have died if you didn’t obey, I wouldn’t have let you live one more second’
He looked at her face for some seconds before proceeding out of the lab, Cole followed suit.
‘You’ll remain as a cook with us but you’ll not be able to go out as you used to do’ Tarasha said to Aisha before leaving the lab.
Unknown to them, Tarasha had other plans. To her, if Benny could attempt to kill Aisha on her order, then he would do the job when she asks him for the head of Don, his former boss.
Tarasha walked back to the living room to get the medicines she got for Aisha. She wondered how Benny and Cole really thought she wanted Aisha to be killed. She wouldn’t have gotten the drugs if she wanted the girl dead, she already knew Aisha was wanted by the police before she set out to get the drugs. Well, if Aisha was killed or not, her lifespan had been cut short by the bullets already.
** Present **
‘Thank you’ she said with a smile and took a sip of the wine. Aisha walked away.
Benny came in few minutes later, he was sweating and looked dusty, the harmattan breeze had not been nice on him.
‘Good day Boss’ he greeted as he dropped a bag carefully in front of Tarasha, beside the table where she had her gadgets.
‘What do we have here?’ Tarasha bent to open the bag.
‘I got all you requested for except the “Walther PPK” revolver’ Benny answered.
Tarasha hissed. ‘I still have one with me I can use though’ she closed the bag. ‘You can take it in’
Cole walked back into the common room and met Benny, he tapped him on the shoulder. ‘How far?’
‘I’m cool’ Benny replied as he dragged the bag away.
‘What’s this Boss?’ Cole expressed surprise on a look at the table where Tarasha was working on. He was amazed at the speed she used to convert the bought devices to her own manufactured ones.
‘This, is a tracking device that can be implanted under the skin’ she displayed a very tiny pill-like material to him. She raised up another one that looked like a gun, ‘we use this to implant it’
++++++++
‘I’ll make sure they pay for it’ Sylvester cursed loudly. He sat on a stool beside the hospital bed where Henry was sitting, a bandage was wrapped round Henry’s arm.
Henry hissed. ‘It’s okay, thank God you came at the right time, it would have been worse’
‘What did you do to them?’ Sylvester asked again, a question Henry was not willing to answer.
Henry had made up his mind for a thanksgiving service in church the next Sunday. He who had heard several stories about the brutality of soldiers on civilians on several occasions had only partly believed the story. He had a friend with a gentle nature who was also in the force, his friend didn’t look like a brutal person. Henry concluded that only the wicked ones amongst them were brutal to ordinary people.
The ones he had met that day were more than wicked, they gave him only a little room for explanation before they began to use the whips on him. What had aggravated the matter was Henry’s identity card that was nowhere to be found, he could have gotten away by proving that he was working for a security agency.
The two soldiers that addressed him wasted no time in landing the whips six times on his body as he delayed obeying their order to kneel down.
‘You wan go rape am?’ One of the mean looking huge soldiers had accused him of attempted rape.
‘No , I saw something suspicious with her and was only trying to investigate’ Henry had lied to save himself, but there was no ID card to support his claim.
He received a total of six whips, three slaps and had done frog jump for about fifteen minutes when Sylvester came to his rescue. Sylvester had coincidentally seen the event through the surveillance camera’s transmission.
‘Take this two tablets, twice a day. This, one tablet thrice a day. And this, three tablets every six hours’ a Doctor explained how to use the drugs to Henry.
‘Don’t bother, I’ll read the instructions myself’ Henry snatched the drugs jacket from the Doctor impatiently, he wondered why so much drugs should be administered to him for just something little. ‘Is that all? Can I leave now?’
‘Yes that’s all, you can leave’
‘Thank you’ Henry got up and left with Sylvester immediately.
‘You still haven’t told me what happened with you and the soldiers’ Sylvester troubled him again as they settled into the car. ‘I want to know what action to take’
‘Thank you for saving me sir, I don’t think it’s necessary to take any action. I’ll tell you what happened later’ Henry hesitatingly answered. ‘We need to go back to the office now to check for my ID card. I have my MasterCard too in the pack’
‘I’m not sure you forgot it in the office, I saw you put it in the front pocket of your shirt’
‘Then where could it be?’ Henry searched his pockets again. His phone rang out, interrupting him, he didn’t know where it was.
‘Here’ Sylvester handed over the phone to him from the back seat. He started the car engine.
‘Hello, are you Henry George Ekene’ A voice asked.
‘Who’s this please?’ Henry replied with a question.
‘We found a pack containing some cards in our company, Seginet Computer International, your phone number was on it’
‘Huh?’ Realization hit Henry, it must have dropped when he almost collided into the strange lady. He frantically searched through his pocket for the bug, it wasn’t there.
**4.15pm **
'That girl is damn wild!' Dare laughed loudly as he got into the driver's side of the car. 'I had to beg her to stop because she wouldn't get tired, she just kept on riding without pity' He cleaned his face with a white handkerchief as he paused to listen. He loosened his tie and took it off his neck, opening the two top buttons of his collared shirt. His eyes met with the scar on his forehead through the front mirror as he relaxed back in the seat. He had gotten the scar two months ago when he got himself drunk to stupor on his birthday. He had attempted to pull the shirt of one of his friend's invitees to the party and she responded by pushing him violently away, not minding that he was the celebrant of the day. He hit his head on a table beside them. Since then, his face had been disfigured with the black scar. 'OK, I agree I'm not strong' he began with another round of laughter. 'Just get me someone better this Friday night' He rounded up the call in few seconds and started the car engine, he wasted some more seconds to fasten his seat belt before proceeding to drive out of the company's gate. He received salutations from other employees as he drove out and face the main road. He had driven for only one minute when his eyes met something attractive. He smacked his lips and took a deep breath as he fixed his eyes on the sexy legs walking up the road. 'Hello Pretty, where are you going to?' He pulled up close to her. 'Sir?' She pretended not to hear as she bent down to look into the car. 'What way are you going to?' He took another deep breath as he viewed her breast neatly packaged in the cleavage showing dress. 'Bello road' she answered and stared at him in anticipation. 'I'm going to Bello road too' he lied with a big smile on his face. 'Let me help you' 'Thanks' Tarasha replied and opened the door quickly. 'You're welcome' he responded. Tarasha heaved a sigh of relief as she sat in. She was already tired of waiting for him outside the gate. She has tried to trap him also the day before and waited at that same point for him, only for him to drive happily by without taking any look at her side, it seemed his mind was disturbed the other day. This was the only trick that Tarasha could play this time as going to his office could revealed her identity after the operation. The company had been studied and it was found to have several security measures that could keep records of her visit. Trying to break and corrupt their security devices would only waste more time, so Tarasha opted for the option of getting him to notice her on the road. 'Can we go sir?' She said to the stunned Dare who waa still feeding his eyes on her thighs sheepishly. 'Oh sure' he replied like he was caught unawares and started the driving. 'Thank you' Tarasha said again. 'No thanks. God would have gotten angry with me if I had refused to help an Angel. I did it for myself' he replied, putting a smile on her face. 'So where were you heading to in Bello road?' 'Lorita restaurant' she answered. 'For lunch, I guess?' He took a quick glance at his wristwatch. 'Yea, kind of' 'Wow!' He exclaimed. 'So who's this lucky guy who's opportuned to take you out for lunch?' 'No one, I'm going alone' 'Alone?' His eyes widened in disbelief. 'Yes, alone' she replied firmly. 'Okay, your boyfriend is coming to meet you there ' he voiced out his assumption. 'No, I'm going alone' she repeated. 'I'm new in Abuja and I've got no friends yet, I came to do business' 'Are you kidding me?' He talked with so much excitement. 'I hope you won't mind if I join you' 'Of course, you're welcome' 'Wow! ' he smiled happily. ................. 'Why didn't I even check here?' Henry laughed at himself as he tossed the bug on the table. He remembered arguing about itbwith the attendants at the computer company when he had gone for his ID card. He insisted that they would have found it the same way they found the card and that one of the workers had taken it for himself because it was seen as a special type of bug. He totally forgot that he went to the company with a bag. He picked up the bug and brought it close to his eyes to scrutinize again. He sighed and shook his head in a negative manner. He had to dismantle the device and check the components before making any reasonable conclusion. What he planned to do was to learn the working techniques of the device, that would help him avoid getting into a trap like Robin Kahn did. Then he would be able to trace the real address from whatever trap was set. .................. 'The last time I saw Daniel was last year's December, here in Oshodi, in this street' the plumpy girl explained to the two officers seated in front of her. 'He was with a girl I know to be called Franca' 'Okay, did you guys talk when you saw?' James asked. ' No, he acted like he didn't see me' Bose replied. 'We didn't use to really greet in school, our matriculation numbers were just close because we registered at almost the same time' 'And Aisha registered at the same time with you too?' 'Yes, she registered after Daniel' 'Okay, are you sure he saw you?' James inquired 'Yes, he did' she gave a quick reply. James paused for a moment, he scanned through all he noted down in his tablet device. 'You said they were dating in school' 'I didn't say they were dating' Bose refuted. 'I said they were so close that people assumed that they were, Aisha said they weren't' 'I thought you said you were not close to Aisha, how did she tell you they weren't dating?' James asked with suspicion in his voice. 'You see' she began her explanation. 'Aisha was a sportswoman, she was loved by everyone. The only reason some people stayed far from her was get association with Daniel. Daniel was a rough guy, believed to be a deadly cultist but that assertion wasn't proven. So everyone except teammates maintained a distance from Aisha, they could only speak with her briefly when she wasn't around Daniel or his friends' 'So he was already dreaded in year two?' James raised a brow. 'Yes, as a matter of fact, there were rumors that he was already a committed member of the cult before he gained admission' 'Hmm, serious' James nodded his head slowly and took a glance at Sandra. 'Do you know where we can find this Daniel?' 'No, I don't have any idea' she replied. 'What about the girl you saw him with?' 'She lives down the street, I can show you to her house' ............ 'So Evelyn, what part of Nigeria are you from?' Dare asked as he took a bite of the chicken. They were seated opposite each other in the restaurant on a table for two. 'Rivers State' she answered, 'my parents are from Orogbum' 'Orogbum' Dare corrected her pronunciation, he gave her a suspicious look. 'You don't even know how to pronounce the name of your town?' Evelyn quickly put up a bright smile, 'I wasn't born or brought up here so you can't blame me' 'I see. I've been to Orogbum before for a friend's mother burial' he paused and stared at her face. 'What part of Canada did you stay?' 'Ontario' she took a sip of the fruit juice and rested back in the chair. 'Hmm, cool. So what brought you back to Nigeria? ' 'I told you earlier that I came to do business' 'Business?' He started stared at her in disbelief. 'Yes, business. To invest in the many opportunities here' He gave a broad smile, 'I like that, it's very rare to see young girls talking business in this part of the world' She replied with a chuckle. She took another sip from the glass cup. 'Ain't you eating again?' He stared at the remnant of the food in front of her. 'I'm full' she smiled. 'Come on' he cleaned his oily lips with a tissue paper. 'You've not even taken up to five bites' 'I'm full' she insisted 'Or you want something else?' 'No, thanks' she took a glance at the wristwatch and exclaimed. 'Oh! I have to leave now' she said and hurriedly grabbed her bag. 'Why?' He asked 'I have an appointment with my Dad online in forty minutes time' 'I see...' 'Yeah' 'Let me drive you home' he offered, getting up from his seat. 'No, thanks. Don't bother, I've troubled you a lot already' 'You don't have a choice' he said mockingly. 'Do you know how to get back home?' 'Of course' she laughed heartily. 'How do you think I know this restaurant? I've been briefed about this city and I also have the map' she displayed something on her phone's screen to him. He smiled. 'Well, I insist on taking you home' 'Alright, I agree' she eyed him playfully and took the lead. He licked his lips and rubbed his palms together as he had a view of her behind once again. He caught up with her and they walked silently to the car. He opened the door for her to sit first before entering into the driver's side. 'So where are you staying exactly? Where's your house?' He asked before starting the car engine. She smiled. 'I don't have a house yet, I'm planning to pay for a property next week, I'm in a hotel for now' 'What?? That means you don't have somewhere to stay?' He glanced at her as he began to drive. 'I just told you I stay in a hotel' 'And you're comfortable there?' 'What? Why not?' She wiped her hair backwards. 'I'm not staying there for too long' 'I can help you get your own property this week, a very good one' he said 'No thanks. My Dad specified what he wants me to get' 'We can get something of the same kind' he persisted. 'OK, let's see what you can offer' she gave in. 'Tell me about this weather' she changed the topic of discussion. 'It's harmattan. It was harsher than this two days ago, it's gradually subsiding' he grinned. 'Hope it has not been bad on you' 'Not at all. I'm putting on a sleeveless short gown, it doesn't seem cold to me. I only hate the dust' He smiled. 'You hate the dust?' 'Yeah'. She looked at him funnily. 'You're lucky that everywhere is tarred in this city. If you get to the rough side of the country, your whole body would be covered by dust already' 'Wow! Is it that bad?' 'We don't see it as bad anymore, it's just one of our seasons' 'What season does cotton grow here?' She suddenly changed the topic again. 'Hmm...' He scratched his beards. 'I don't really know but I can find out for you. Why do you ask?' 'I'm into the cotton business and I hear the industry here is big. I'm looking for a good company to partner with' Evelyn explained. 'You're into the cotton business?' His eyes widened as he asked. 'Yes, do you anybody who is also involved in it? Or any company?' 'Yes, I know' he started joyfully. 'My father has the largest cotton firm in the whole nation. Julal Limited' 'Your father is Jubril Lawal?' Her eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed. 'Yes, he's my father' he stated proudly.
................... 'Who do you say you were looking for?' A middle aged woman walked into the living room with her teenage son who went to call her. 'Is Franca your daughter?' James asked. 'Yes, she is' the woman put on a serious look as she placed a hand on her chest. 'We need to see her concerning one of her friends' James continued. 'We are from the police headquarters' 'Eh! ' the woman began an unforeseen wailing, adjusting her head tie as she sniffed. 'Calm down madam, let's hear you well' James urged, as he couldn't hear what she was saying amidst tears. 'My daughter has left this house since the thirty first day of December and has not returned since then' she repeated. 'Where did she say she was going to?' James enquired. 'She only said she was going to see her friend' 'Which of her friends?' 'She did not specify, she said she wasn't going to stay long' 'Has this been reported to the police?' 'Yes, it has. They've questioned all her friends that we know but no one seems to know where she is' 'Have they questioned her friend Daniel?' 'Who is Daniel ?' She asked ignorantly. 'You don't know Daniel?' 'None of her friends bear that name' James turned to look at Sandra to come in with an explanation. 'Daniel is very tall, he's dark and not too slim' The woman looked more confused at the explanation. 'He came here with her on the thirtieth of this December' Sandra put in. The Woman looked at her son standing beside her for affirmation or denial. 'I don't know if he came to the house with her but I saw them walking on the street' Sandra quickly added. 'Yes, I saw her with a stranger that day' the light skinned teenage boy joined in. 'But they did not stay together for long' 'The person was a total stranger?' James turned to the boy. He affirmed by nodding his head. 'Was he a stranger to Franca too?' 'I think he was her Face-book friend. I overheard them saying something like that' 'What's Franca's Face-book ID' James brought out his phone and began to type into it. ...............
16/01/2031 *
*7am**
Henry looked sober in his room. His head rested on his two palms that were clasped together as he mumbled some words under his breath. He had just finished listening to a salvation message by popular Nigerian televangelist , Chris Oyakhilome and had been fired up from inside. Though he was a Christian, he wasn't a committed one. Now, his mind had just been awoken again to the love of God and how why he should be passionate about God. His phone rang, disturbing his prayers. He switched it off immediately and hid it under his pillow. He picked up the bible on the stool in front of him and began to flip through the pages, he was unsure of where to stop. He turned back to the concordance and located the word "love", he began a more intensive study on it. ......... 'Make sure it is organized before this afternoon' Tarasha said, looking into the laptop screen. 'Sure, I'll get it done' the reply came in a thick Russian accent. Tarasha closed the video calls application and shut down the laptop. The land-line in the room rang aloud. 'Hello' 'Good evening Miss Evelyn, A man by the name Dare Lawal is waiting for you' a voice came through. 'Thank you, I'll be down shortly' she said and dropped the call. She cat-walked to the mirror and viewed herself one more time. She was looking perfectly okay in her blue trouser suit, more importantly she looked business minded. She picked her handbag and proceeded out of the room. She got to the reception in two minutes. 'Hi' Dare smiled and got up as he spotted her. 'Good morning' 'Good morning.' She smiled back. 'How was your night?' He extended his hand to her. 'Perfect, how about you?' 'Awesome' he said and placed a gently kiss on the back of her palm. 'I was thinking about you all night' 'Really?' 'Yeah. It's like I never met someone as beautiful as you are before' 'Oh! That's sweet' she blushed, getting her acting skills perfectly. 'Anything for an angel' he grinned. He arranged the tip of his suit properly before taking her hands in his. 'Shall we?' He smiled and ushered her forward with his other hand. 'So what part of the city are you taking me to?' Evelyn asked as they walked out of the hotel. 'Asokoro. There are lots of apartment you'll like there' 'Alright, let's see' she gave a bright smile as she stepped into the car. 'You will like it, my Dad stays there. You'll be able to see him often and partner well with him' he said before closing the door. He smiled as he turned to the driver's seat. His concern wasn't her partnership with his father. He was so focused on getting in between her thighs that he wouldn't have raised any doubt if all she had told me about herself the last night didn't sound authentic. ......... ...
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