Tarasha The Brutal Assassin Story PART 2 Episode 4

 

**Saturday; after several uneventful days **

~~Abuja, Nigeria ~~

11am

The shock and grief that came with the news of Jubril Lawal’s assassination was still very fresh in the African atmosphere. The streets were flooded with people rushing the newspaper vendors to get their copies so as update themselves on the latest discoveries surrounding the death.

Journalists also flooded the street to get the farewell speeches from the citizens whose lives have been affected in one way or the other by Jubril Lawal. Everyone had something good to say about Jubril, from his charity works to his service and commitment to the nation’s growth, they all had felt his impact in one way or the other. None except for a middle aged man expressed doubts in the man’s integrity and commitment. The middle aged man after praising Jubril for his visible works, paused before talking about the likely cause of his death.

‘It is possible that the man had an evil secret hidden with some people and they had to come and demand for his life. And it is also possible that the murderers are just enemies of the country and they killed Jubril because he refused to agree with a selfish plan of theirs’ the man had said while being interviewed by a journalist from the national TV station.

‘I really don’t have much to say anymore, all I know is that he was a good man’ Mallam Jefa said into the mic with a sad face.

‘All right, thanks for speaking with us’ the reporter said and left Jefa’s presence to face the camera alone.

~~

Dakolo glanced at the beautiful buildings as they drove through the streets of Abuja. The cab man took his time to tell Dakolo the names of every street and what they did in every magnificent building that they passed by. The cab man was never silent, no wonder he didn’t put on the radio in the car, he himself was doing the job of a radio.

‘Sir, so why have you come to Abuja? Business? Pleasure? Both? Or none?’ The cab man asked as he took a glance at Dakolo seated at the back.

‘I’m relocating’ Dakolo replied him, enjoying the man’s jolly nature.

‘Relocating?’ The man stared at him. ‘What about your family? Where are they?’

‘My wife and kids are in port harcourt, they would join me after the school session ends’

‘Wow! That’s a long time, why didn’t you wait for them to finish the session?’ The cab man adjusted the front top mirror so that he can see Dakolo’s face from there.

‘I couldn’t wait, I was transferred at my place of work’

‘Oh! I see…’

‘Yeah. So what about your wife and kids?’

‘They’re all here in Abuja. My wife runs a mini restaurant and my two kids are in college’

‘Good’ Dakolo said with a chuckle.

~~

Jefa turned back to the road, he picked out the piece of paper from his chest pocket again. ‘Tara works in Elymax hotel’ he read out the words which he had written down after the first day he had the encounter with his younger sister.

Several days had gone by and Jefa had made the decision to meet her and explain things to her. What delayed him was his lack of proof. The Omotara he saw had now developed into a big girl, she looked highly educated too and he believed that she would not just accept his stories if he had nothing to show as proof. Now, he was bringing a picture and a diary with him. A picture which contained the whole family’s image as at that time in it. The diary was their mum’s. He had taken the diary from his mother’s room and hid it behind in his trousers, planning to read it after the celebration of Omotara’s birthday that night, but he never had the chance to read it on that day. His parents were killed and he and his remaining younger ones were abducted on the same day. He later found the picture in the middle of the diary on the day he opened it.

He hoped that Omotara would be able to recall by seeing the picture and even the diary, which their mum had always warned them not to touch anytime she brought it out.

Deep down inside, he wished that Omotara would be a person of influence in the country; perhaps an influential lawyer or a friend to one who would be able to fight their cause for them. He was still hungry for revenge, he was tired of seeing the faces of the perpetrators of the evil that was done several years ago to him and his family and several thousands of other Nigerian families and kids, now in government offices parading themselves as saints and nice people.

He waved down a taxi and bent over to look inside. A man was already sitting comfortably at the back. ‘Elymax hotel’

‘Elymax? That’s where we’re going to’ The taxi man replied, giving him a surprised look.

‘May I join you?’ Jefa replied indifferently, already trying to open the front door.

‘Okay, if you can pay five  thousand naira’

‘What? For what? I’ll pay you two thousand’

‘No, I can’t take anything less than three thousand’

‘I’ll pay you two thousand five’ Jefa said and entered into the cab without waiting for a reply.

++++

~~ Lagos, Nigeria ~~

11am

Laughter filled the room as the two friends joked and chatted happily. Chief Gab was in his casual native wear seated on the sofa in the middle of his large living room while Chief Nonso was seated on the sofa opposite to him, in a more official wear; his black trouser was matched with a black waist coat on a blue shirt.

‘You know I’ve been really thinking of something new’ Chief Gab interrupted the laughter, taking a sip of wine from the glass cup in front of him.

‘What’s that?’ Chief Nonso wiped off the tear formed in his eyes as a result of the heavy laughter and paused to listen.

‘I’m thinking we are being too harsh in judging some of these people’

Chief Nonso cleared his throat. ‘Why do you say so?’

‘We could just make Tarasha leave them alive after decapitating them; in a way that they’ll be able to see our success after we finish our plans while they are suffering’

‘Hmm… That sounds like a good idea’ Chief Nonso heaved a sigh and gave Chief Gab a stare. ‘Chief’ he called calmly.

‘Yes’ Chief Gab who was busy with his iPad looked up to see the serious look on Chief Nonso’s face. He narrowed his gaze as if to ask Chief Nonso what the matter was.

‘You’ve not still told me the reason we have some people on our list. I don’t understand why we are punishing some of them yet’

‘I think we talked about this before’ Chief Gab replied, standing up from his seat. He took the wine bottle and proceeded to the bar to take another wine bottle.

‘Yes, Chief Onwuli said before his death that you’ll explain to before we begin but when I asked you, you said you’ll tell me soon. I’m wondering why the “soon” is not yet here’

Chief Gab walked back to his seat with a bottle of wine, he dropped it on the stool and walked to the flat screen TV to switch it on. He turned back to the sofa and returned to his former seating position without hurrying, not minding Chief Nonso’s eyes which was escorting him all about, awaiting his response.

‘If we don’t take care of these people, they’ll come back for us when we rise again’ Chief Gab finally said, looking straight in his friend’s eyes. Chief Nonso was already getting pissed off.

‘Several years ago, Seven of us were involved in a certain illegal businesses. Five of us were politicians. At that time, we were all successful, but we wanted more ; we wanted to lay up riches for our kids, we didn’t want them to suffer like we did’ Chief Gab paused his story to pour wine from the bottle into the glass cup.

‘We were friends; secret friends, nobody knew our association. Four of us were in the ruling party, ADP as at the time we started working together. One was in the strongest opposition party, PCP while the remaining two including the minister of health who was dropped recently were not involved in politics then . Two deflected from the ruling party to the strongest opposition party before the next election on seeing that there were little chances of victory for the ruling party at the polls. The remaining two of us remained faithful to the ruling party. The election year came and we were defeated at the polls. The new government came in and began to investigate corrupt deals of the past government. Although, ours was not really a political crime; meaning it didn’t involve stealing or mismanagement of country’s fund kept in our trust, the crimes commission began to look into the personal lives of some politicians. This got us scared and the seven of us held an urgent secret meeting, we concluded that we would stop all illegal deals after we concluded the hanging fake drugs consignment and do our best to cover up our track. But unknowingly to I and Onwuli, my friend who was in my party, our counterparts in the new ruling party and the other two non-politicians had other plans. The only one out of the them who didn’t agree to their plans was found dead mysteriously several days after the meeting; I didn’t know it was connected to our meeting then’

Chief Gab took another pause and took a sip of the wine. He put back the cup on the stool and refilled it. ‘Unluckily for me, I was the one in charge of the execution of the last fake drugs consignment. Some of our secret documents were released to the police. The late minister of health was the NAFDAC chairman then, he didn’t show me pity at all. Jubril Lawal was the head of the law enforcement agency that handled my case; neither he showed any pity. I  was indicted, found guilty in court and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for a crime that we all committed. Onwuli and his whole family were murdered when he tried to speak out for me’

Chief Gab paused and stood up, taking the cup of wine with him. ‘The last time I went to Onwuli’s family grave, I swore that I was going to repay everyone of them even if it was going to take my last breath’

Chief Nonso heaved a deep sigh as he stood up and stared straight at Chief Gab. He now understood why Chief Gab was bent on seeing the death of everyone on the list. Chief Onwuli’s family’s murder was a very gruesome one. Onwuli was made to see the bodies of each member of his family including the young ones chopped into pieces by the murderers and himself was given a poison that killed him slowly. Onwuli was a saviour to Nonso, being the one who helped Nonso survive a life threatening disease and also brought Nonso’s family out of pain and distress.

Chief Nonso let out another deep breath as he remembered the promise he made to Chief Onwuli seconds before the man gave up the ghost. Chief Onwuli had made him promise to stand by his friend, Gabriel in prison and also help him when he comes out. He also made the promise to assist Gabriel in whatever he does to take revenge for Chief Onwuli’s death.

‘So you see, we are delivering judgement to those who deserves it’ Chief Gab added, smacking his lips as he took in another sip.

‘None of them deserves to be left alive, they should all die’ Nonso said, giving a determined stare at Chief Gab. ‘I think we should even increase their pain, make their death as horrible as Chief Onwuli’s’

‘Yes’ Chief Gab agreed. He took another sip from the cup before speaking again. ‘And I’ve been thinking of something else’

‘What’s that?’

‘How to get rid of Tarasha after we finish all the enemies. She seems to be very powerful and fearless, she might become a threat to us in the future’

‘So, what’s your plan?’

‘I don’t have any yet. I fear her myself’

Chief Nonso smiled. He gave Chief Gab an awkward look. ‘So you mean that with all the wisdom you’ve used to organise the big men’s destruction, you’re afraid of a little girl?’

Chief Gab hissed in reply first before thinking deeply on Nonso’s statement. He spoke again after a some seconds of horrible silence. ‘You’re right, no matter how powerful she seems to be, she is a small girl and she does not have the wisdom we have’

‘Exactly… She will just fall into a little trap set for her, we only need to be very wise’

+++++

11. 08 am

Henry drove quietly, in a solemn manner, listening to songs from the new album of veteran artiste, Asa. Her genre of music was the perfect one for his mood right now.

He had not remained himself since the day of the event. Several things had played down his memory in the last two days; including the pictures of the assassin and how he walked up to Jubril Lawal and murdered the man. But the strongest of the pictures were of Evelyn’s face. He kept seeing her in everything he did, even when he closed his eyes.

He tried to figure out what really happened between them, the passion he felt when she placed her head against his chest and when they kissed. Was it love or just lust was feeling? Maybe both. At the point they kissed, he had the lust for her whole body, he could already see her wrapped around himself, both of them unclad, he squeezing her boobs in his hands. No, it had to stop if it was lust, he had determined in his heart, knowing that nothing borne out of lust would last. But he also felt something more in his heart, in his spirit. The desire to see her well even if he couldn’t have her body, the desire to see her happy. There was something in her eyes when he stared into it, something that showed him that she wasn’t happy  although she always performed well in her bid to hide it.

Where she was now, he had no idea. Her line had been switched off since the last time he tried it, so all his attempts to track it were futile. He also tried again to get the customer’s information of her sim by hacking into the database of the network provider but there was still no information there. It had either been deleted or the information never existed. He couldn’t conclude yet.

Oh! And the Canadian number he was supposed to investigate. He finally concluded the investigation, though the client was no longer interested nor did  was there any call to ask for it. The Canadian number was cloned, it had not even been issued out to any customer by the network provider in Canada. Henry found out that the user was in Africa because on tracking the last conversations restored from the backup of the network provider of his client’s line, he could deduce the maximum possible distance of the Canadian number, which was a distance within Africa. 

All these discoveries were confirming Henry’s fear but he still refused to admit it. Evelyn claimed to be from Canada and was doing business with the late Jubril Lawal, it must have definitely been her number the man was investigating. Or how else could he explain that Evelyn only began to insist that he followed her to the party after she saw the number in his jotter? And what else was the explanation for her  unregistered and now unreachable Nigerian line? It meant she must have destroyed the line since her mission had ended.

But with all these proofs, Henry still choose to believe that he was mistaken, he didn’t want to see her that way. He couldn’t get himself to think of her as a criminal. To him, she was someone who was in need of great help and he believed he could give her that help.

He remembered her outburst the first time he called the name “God” and attributed God to be a loving person while conversing with her . The pain he saw in her eyes that day was too much for a young woman like her to bear. She needed someone to show her love; real love and not one of sexual attraction.

Then he recalled her sharing the story of her family’s death with him. Going through such an horrible experience would most definitely affect one’s future and even control it if one finds no help.

She needed help, she needed love. That was all Henry could think, regardless of every other thing he had found out about her.

Henry finally got to his destination by twenty minutes past eleven. The security men searched his car before allowing him to pass in through the huge gates of Elymax hotel.

++++

The cabman zoomed off immediately after the new passenger entered. He cleared his throat and continued his conversation with Dakolo. ‘So what kind of company do you work in? What’s the name?’ He asked, looking into the top mirror.

‘Hmm…’ Dakolo paused and licked his lips as he thought of the best answer to give the man. ‘I’m a contractor who works per time for different companies, one of the firms I partner with has this urgent big building project here. That’s why I had to rush down’

‘Oh! Building contractor?’ The cab asked to affirm.

‘Yes’ Dakolo answered.

‘Cool…’ The man said with a short laugh. ‘When I was young I wanted to be a civil engineer but there was no money to further my studies after college, so I had to go through vocational training’

‘Oh! And what vocation were you trained for?’ Dakolo asked.

‘Carpentry’ the man answered with a smile. ‘I’m a carpenter’

‘Nice, but are you practising it?’

‘I was,  I had to stop for some reasons. But I’m planning to go back to it once I raise enough money for capital’

‘Better, carpentry is a lucrative job. Do you make furnitures or you do roofing?’

‘I do both and I’m very good at it’

‘Wonderful, maybe I could even get you some jobs when you start’

‘Really?’

‘Sure, I can. But you’ll have to prove first that you’re really good at it’

‘Oh! That’s not a problem. Thank you sir, I’ll make sure I get your telephone number before I drop you off’

‘Okay’ Dakolo said. There was silence for some seconds.

‘What did you say sir?’ The cab man suddenly put in.

‘I only said okay’ Dakolo quickly answered.

‘Oh! Not you sir’ the cab man quickly corrected. He was facing the new passenger seated with him at the front.

‘Me?’ Jefa asked with a surprised tone.

‘Yes, I thought you were saying something to me’ the cab man replied.

‘No no’ Jefa denied strongly.

‘Okay. But hope there’s no problem sir. I noticed your mood since you entered’ the cab man spoke in a low voice.

‘Nothing, I was just thinking about a small issue’

‘Well, okay’ the cabman shrugged.

++++

‘Good morning miss’ Henry greeted as he approached the reception.

‘Good morning, you’re welcome to Elymax hotels. What can I do for you?’

‘I’m Henry George, from the NSCC’ Henry displayed his ID card.

‘Nigeria security cameras corporation’ the lady read aloud.

‘Yes’

‘Okay, what may I do for you?’

‘We’re investigating a particular case and I need information about one of your guests. I don’t know if she’s still here’

‘Humm… I think I have to refer you to someone else. I can’t handle your request’

‘Alright, please do that quickly’ Henry replied and paused. He turned to stare around the place while the lady was making a call with the landline.

‘Please come with me’ the lady dropped the call and walked out from behind the wall. She led him towards a corridor in the right direction.

They got to an office after walking a few metres and Henry was ushered in. A middle aged man on a black suit was seated in the office. The receptionist introduced Henry and left.

‘May I see your ID card again?’ The man asked after offering Henry a seat.

‘Here’ Henry took it out to show him.

‘So who’s this guest you’re investigating and what’s her crime really?’

‘No, she has not been accused or found guilty of any crime yet’ Henry corrected quickly. ‘We only need to get some of her personal details’

‘So you want to meet her and talk to her?’ The man raised a brow. ‘We do respect the privacy of our guests here and we won’t like to give out any information without proper verification of who needs it’

‘I don’t understand’

‘You’ve not showed us any licence yet or letter that proves that the NSCC sent you to get this information’ the man explained further.

‘Oh! I can get one now’ Henry said, bringing out his phone. ‘Via email’ he added. He dialed Sylvester’s number.

‘Wait, we can help you meet with the person if you want to’

Henry cut the call first. ‘I doubt if she’s still in your hotel’

‘Let’s find out, what’s her name?’

‘Evelyn… Evelyn Alexander’

‘Okay’ the man began to type into his computer system while Henry continued with his call.

‘Hello sir, could you please forward a permit for Elymax to my mailbox now? I need it in urgently’ Henry said into the phone. He inhaled lightly after getting a positive response and ended the call.

‘Evelyn Alexander was here truly, she paid for three weeks’ the man began. ‘But she has been gone for days without any word to us, we tried contacting her through our customer’s service but the number she dropped was unreachable’

‘Exactly… That’s why I need you to give me every information she supplied to your hotel’

‘Have you gotten the permit?’

++++

11.47am

The forty minutes journey finally came to an end as they drove into Elymax hotels. The cab man, being someone who knew his way around the hotel needed no security man to direct him to the right place to park. He quickly located the best available space and drove his car there.

‘Here is my card sir’ The cab man handed over his card to Dakolo after he turned off the car engine. ‘You can reach me if you need to cab to take you around town’

‘Sure’ Dakolo collected it cheerfully. ‘And make sure you do contact me with the number I gave you’

‘I will’ the cab man replied, counting the Naira notes given to him by Jefa. ‘It’s complete’ he said to dismiss Jefa and stepped out of the car afterwards. He walked to the back to open the boot. Jefa stepped out too and stared around the big building, not knowing the next place to go, he stood still.

Dakolo also stepped out and walked to the booth. The cab man handed over his small luggage to Dakolo and returned to his car after exchanging some few more words with him.

Dakolo turned and stared at the big hotel building where he was going to stay until the next day evening when he’s officially welcomed. He took two steps away from the cab as he heard the sound of the car’s ignition. He turned around to look at his surroundings and then he saw a familiar face.

‘You…’ He mumbled with a smile as he huried towards the young man trying to enter his car. Henry looked up. ‘Henry George’ Dakolo finally remembered the name.

‘Oh! Special agent…’ Henry tapped his nose continuously with a finger as he struggled to remember the name.

‘Agent Dakolo’ Dakolo quickly put in.

‘Wow!’ Henry closed back the car door and walked towards Dakolo, full of smiles. ‘It’s nice to see you again’ Henry said as they shook hands warmly.

‘Yeah, after so many years. How have you been?’

‘Fine sir, how about you?’

‘I’m fine.’ Dakolo said and stared warmly into his eyes. ‘Thank you for making me proud of you. My joy knew no bounds when I saw the news of your exploits on the TV and in the newspapers’

‘Thank you sir’ Henry smiled.

‘Thank God you didn’t allow that tragic occurrence affect your life. See what you’ve made of yourself now’

‘Thank you sir’ Henry’s face continued to beam with smiles. ‘Well, I had to let that go and focus on my future. You see, bad people get their rewards, even if it comes late’

‘Yes, you’re right. Just look at the way he and his father died, both on the same day. What a sorry life! ‘

‘Yea, although I heard the father was a generous man before his death and did many charity works ” Henry put in.

‘No matter the quantity of pure water added to dirty water, it can never make the dirty water pure. In his own case, the quantity of dirty water far exceeds the pure. The man already had so much blood in his hands. We couldn’t just get him because he was clever enough to eliminate all possible proofs’

‘Hmm… Well, what brings you here?’ Henry asked.

‘My job’ Dakolo smiled. ‘I was transferred here to handle some cases.’ He glanced at his wristwatch.

‘But why did you have to take a cab? Was there no provision to come pick you?’

‘There should be’ Dakolo said. ‘I was actually supposed to arrive tomorrow but I had to come today for some reasons’

‘Okay, so what state were you transferred from?’

‘Rivers state’

‘Oh! Well…’ Henry was cut short abruptly by the sight of someone walking by, the person paused and faced Henry. Dakolo turned to see the person at his back. It was the same man who was in the cab with him.

‘I gotta go now’ Dakolo said, handing a card to Henry. ‘Please give me a call tonight’ Dakolo said before walking away.

‘Alright sir’ Henry dipped the card into his pocket and turned up to faced Jefa. He walked slowly towards Jefa who stood still with a kind of timid look. ‘You again’ Henry said, recalling him as the man from the police interrogation and the one Evelyn was facing in the Catholic Church premises.

‘I…’ Jefa stuttered for a while. ‘I have come to see my sister’

‘Your sister?’ Henry asked in uttermost disbelief.

‘Yes, that lady is my sister’ Jefa said shakily.

~~~

Tarasha laid on the three seater sofa in the living room having a nap while Benny, Cole and Aisha engaged themselves with the ludo game at the balcony. Some flies could be seen in the living room as all the windows which had torn nets were opened because of the unbearable heat. But Tarasha was undisturbed, she was having a sound sleep.

Several circumstances had kept them behind after the operation. They couldn’t leave immediately because the security in the capital was still very stiff. After much thinking and putting of heads together, they finally planned to leave the following Monday; that is the day after the next day.

‘Ooh!’ Benny exclaimed as Aisha kicked back in the last of his eight tokens the third time. He was seated on a stool, with his shirt hanging around his neck. Aisha was seated on another stool directly facing Benny and they had the ludo board placed on two six inches blocks.

Cole was seated on another block, watching and making comments. He had already gone on several rounds of the game with Aisha and they ended up with a tie in scores.

The particular game between Aisha and Benny was even now, they both had one token each left and in the players yard. The first person to get a six would get the token out to begin the race to the finishing point. Aisha and Cole laughed at Benny as he heaved a sigh of frustration.

‘Homey, if you’re not careful, this will be the fifth time you’ll be beaten by a lady today’ Cole jested.

‘And that means I’ll actually spell his name’ Aisha added with a chuckle. ‘ 5 – 0, B-e-n-n-y’

‘Just watch and see, I’ll win this game’ Benny replied with a determined tone as he poured out the dice from the dice cup.  He had four and five come up, he picked the dice into the cup and handed it over to Aisha for her own roll.

Aisha stared at his jestingly as she shook the dice cup. ‘Come on, play’ Benny said, getting impatient.

‘Two sixs’ Aisha said, laughing hilariously. She rolled again after shaking vigorously. ‘Six, two’ she rolled out the extra turn earned by reason of the two sixs

Benny took the dice cup from her in frustration, he avoided looking at Cole who was already making funny faces at him. He shook the cup from side to side in the same manner as Aisha, watching carefully as Aisha  placed her token after counting.

Aisha and Cole stared at Benny’s face in suspense as he continued to shake the cup. He kept a smile on his face as if he was sure of the outcome of his new roll.

Kpaa… He landed the cup with so much force on the board and removed it. Aisha and Cole burst into heavy laughter as two ones stared at them from the surface of the dice.

‘Come on, play’ Benny hurried Aisha again, forcing himself not to give up.

Aisha took the cup and out she rolled again. Two sixs. Another round of heavy laughter came from Cole. Benny finally gave up, he got up from the stool with a smile of defeat.

‘I’m not playing again’ he announced as he walked into the house, ignoring Cole’s uncontrollable laughter. ‘Please, come and play one more now’ he could hear Cole calling to him jestingly as he proceeded into the room. He paused and stared at Tarasha who was asleep on the couch. He wished she could always look exactly the way she was looking now; gentle, peaceful and harmless. She should really be at peace with herself after such a successful operation.

‘Oooh’ Benny’s body trembled as Tarasha eyes popped open. She caught him feeding his eyes on her face. The gentle and peaceful face Benny was seeing seconds ago had changed into the normal Tarasha’s face. He quickly hastened his steps and rushed out of her sight.

Tarasha wiped off the sweat on her face and sat up, she glanced at the wall clock, it was just twelve pm. She couldn’t wait to get out of the Abuja and begin her new task. She was also now in a hurry to conclude all Chief Gab’s tasks and leave the country.

And Henry’s issue? She had settled it in her heart already. As far as she was concerned now , he was her greatest enemy that needs to be either taken out of her sight forever or out of the planet earth. That was her training, anything that returns emotion into her heart should not be allowed to live. People who have emotions are weak people; and weak people can’t live the right kind of life. So if Henry was stirring up emotions in her, he had to be moved out of her sight forever or killed before he succeeds in making her weak. Her final resolve was to kill him when next he comes into her life. 

++++

‘Your sister?’ Henry asked again to be sure of what he heard.

‘Yes, Omotara Danjuma is my kid sister’ Jefa replied.

‘Hahaha’ Henry suddenly burst into sudden laughter. Jefa who was startled by the outburst stared at him in confusion. ‘Omotara what again?’ Henry asked, trying to calm himself.

‘Omotara Danjuma’ Jefa answered him again, with so much conviction in his voice.

‘Okay, pardon me… I actually thought you were talking about somebody else. I’m sorry, I don’t know Omotara Danjuma.’ Henry said, cleaning his eyes as he spoke. ‘Does your sister work around here?’

‘I don’t know’ Jefa shook his head in negative. He took out the piece of paper from his front pocket.

‘Then why are you looking for her here? Did she get lost?’

Jefa read the contents of the paper to himself again. ‘I heard you guys mention Elymax that day’.

‘What day?’

‘The day you escaped from the kidnappers. After she came to me in the cathedral premises’

Henry made a quick flashback. Evelyn was standing before the man while he knelt by the statue of virgin Mary. But he didn’t hear them talk to each other. All that happened was a silent stare.

‘Evelyn?’

‘No, I don’t know Evelyn’ Jefa shook his head. ‘That girl you came to meet in the catholic church, the one you I saw you with in the police office is my sister’

‘Unbelievable!’ Henry exclaimed under his breath. ‘But you said Omotara Danjuma’ Cole asked again, aloud, this time with a serious tone.

‘Yes, that’s her name not Evelyn’

‘Omotara is a Yoruba name, I don’t think she’s Yoruba, she doesn’t look nor sound like one’ Henry retorted.

‘Yes, she didn’t grow up in …’

‘Hello Sirs’ someone interrupted, a security official. ‘You have to proceed into the main building please, you can stand here and have a discussion’

‘Okay’ Henry answered with a slow nod. He stared at Jefa’s face for some seconds thoughtfully. ‘Let’s go in for a discussion’ he said and turned back to the car to shut the door.

++++

‘Thank you’ Dakolo smiled as the attendant who helped him get his load to the room left. He sank into the bed and started to unbutton his shirt, also murmuring some words of prayers.

He sat up and took off the shirt completely. He flung it on the bed and laid back. His mind drifted back to his encounter with Henry several years ago. He was a junior agent in the force then and was not yet in the anti-asassination squad. He was at the office reception when Henry had rushed with a friend in tears, to report a gang of three guys who molested his sister to death. Dakolo took special interest in the case and did all he could do to get justice for Henry. But lack of funds and the culprit’s father’s influence did not let him go far in his fight for Henry. The culprit, Dare Lawal, was later acquitted and discharged by the court of law.

He remembered advising Henry then, to continue with his studies and not allow what happened affect his future. Now, the same Henry was known widely in the world for his exploits on the internet and for helping his country solve a severe security attack. His enemies too had been paid by nemesis in its own way.

Dakolo’s phone rang. His wife. He exhaled deeply before answering. ‘Hello dear… I just got to the hotel room… Thanks, I’ll call you later… I love you’ the call ended.

He got up from the bed to get his traveling bag. He opened the bag and took out a suitcase. He punched in the lock code and it opened. He brought out some documents and closed back the suitcase. He began to read through.

Before his arrival in Abuja, he had already began to receive messages on what he was going there to do. The new case of Jubril Lawal’s assassination also came up. He was going to be working with Officer Ken on that.

Jubril Lawal’s assassination was quite different from the recent past ones. Eyewitnesses had it that it was carried out by a man and he wasn’t accompanied by anybody. Officer Ken had also written in his report that it was highly possible that the crime was carried out by one of the security officials of the event centres as the escape routes used were only places known to them. Several of the security officials had been arrested and kept in the police custody for interrogation. Several sessions of torture and torments had occurred within the last two days but there was still no confession to show for it’

Dakolo’s phone rang again. Officer James was the one calling. ‘Hello officer’ Dakolo spoke cheerfully.

‘Good afternoon sir’ James greeted. ‘How was your trip?’

‘It was fine, thanks’

‘Alright, thank God. Yesterday, I received my letter of transfer also’

‘Transfer ?’ Dakolo replied, surprised.

‘Yes sir, coupled with the long overdue promotion’

‘Wow! Congratulations’ Dakolo rejoiced with him. The promotion had been long overdue truly. After several cases solved by James, the force still retained him as a special officer for so long, denying him the promotion and several other benefits.

‘Thank you sir’ James said without much excitement.

‘What’s wrong?’ Dakolo asked, noticing the unhappy voice.

‘Nothing sir, I’m really happy about the promotion part but I think the reason it’s happening is because of my inability to solve this Samantha Osman’s case. I overheard the IG saying that the minister wants more younger and zealous officers who are very hungry for promotion to handle the case’

‘Don’t think like that’ Dakolo said after heaving a sigh. ‘We’ve done our best based on the evidence gotten. Even the NSCC has a part to play in all these. If they’ve not been able to recover the lost footages or discover who interrupted the transmission of the security cameras, what are we supposed to use for our investigation. I believe we don’t have enough data to work with’

‘Sir, several years ago. Assassination cases were solved by the police without the use of the technology we use now. Why can’t we…’

‘Officer James’ Dakolo cut in. ‘Several years ago, Assassins do not use the kind of technology they use now. Several years ago, most top assassination cases like these spans for more than fifteen years, some even exceed thirty years without getting an headway. So you shouldn’t compare, the police force is better now’

James was quiet.

‘Don’t blame yourself, we’ll keep trying our best but be sure of this one thing’ Dakolo paused for a brief moment. ‘Good always prevail over evil’

‘Thank you sir’ James replied after another brief moment of silence, in a very low voice.

‘So where have you been sent to?’

‘Ilorin, Kwara State. I’m going to be working as a special agent in the anti-assasination squad also’

‘Sounds cool… Congratulations, just keep doing your best. We’ll prevail’

‘Thank you sir’

After few other talks, the call ended. Dakolo returned to his work, he continued reading through the documents. He paused as he saw something.

‘No recordings or videos footages found in the cameras security database. It has not been ascertained if there was any capturing or not’ he read. ‘Except for one photographer that is currently being interrogated, no journalist or member of the press was allowed into the event hall. Footages from the street cameras leading to and out of the event centres were also not found’ he read aloud to himself.

He just found a similarity between the new assassination case to the two others, there was no video capture of the Assassination process nor the escape. Could it be that the assassin works in or has an ally in the NSCC?

‘Oh sh*t!’ Dakolo cursed as Henry’s picture flashed back to his mind. He should have been the one to take Henry’s card, what if Henry forgets to call him.  Henry might be greatly needed now to help in these cases.

++++

A great intensity of heat welcomed Benny as he walked into the room. He changed his direction and headed straight for the wardrobe. His previous plan was to come in and lay on the bed after he couldn’t stand the much beatings he got in the game from Aisha. Due to the unbearable heat in the room, he had changed his mind and decided to only change his trouser to shorts.

One of Cole’s trousers dropped to the ground as Benny opened the wardrobe. He bent to pick it up. A phone fell out of the phone. He picked up the phone and checked it, it was specially customised for a user. He opened the back to check the battery and closed it back. He switched on the phone.

Tears began to form in Henry’s eyes as he listened to Jefa’s narration of the Danjuma’s family disaster and how he got separated from the rest of his siblings. There was no difference between Jefa’s account from Evelyn’s. Henry could also see the same pain and torment that he saw in Evelyn’s eyes . But apart from the pain in Jefa’s eyes, there was something else that Henry couldn’t understand. It was the thirst for revenge.

‘So you think Evelyn does not recognize you?’ Henry cleared his throat and began after listening in silence for a long while.

‘Omotara’ Jefa corrected.

‘Sorry, Omotara’ Henry smiled softly.

‘I don’t think she knows who I am but I believe she felt a connection when she saw me’ Jefa answered.

‘Why didn’t you speak out then? You didn’t say anything, you could have called her by her real name, Omotara’

‘I didn’t know what to do’ Jefa sniffed in, more tears began to fall off his face. ‘I was so overwhelmed with the shock of seeing her, I didn’t know if I was ready to come back into her life. I was afraid to speak, I didn’t know how she would feel about me now, I couldn’t protect them as their eldest brother, I failed’ Jefa began to sob.

‘Wipe your face please’ Henry said and stretched out his hand to hold Jefa’s palm. He waited for Jefa to comply before he continued. ‘So what do you intend to do now?’ Henry asked.

‘I want to see her’ Jefa stated clearly, still wiping his face.

Henry paused for a while and closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply. He opened his eyes and stared into Jefa’s. ‘I don’t know where she is now’ he said. ‘She doesn’t work here in Elymax, she only came to stay here for a while. I don’t have any idea of her whereabouts’

‘No, no, no’ Jefa’s body vibrated in fear, the fear of not seeing his sister again. He couldn’t stand the regrets that would follow him all his life when he remembers that he didn’t take the opportunity immediately when he saw her.

‘I came here to look for her also and I’ve not gotten any clue yet’ Henry added. He took out a folded paper from his pocket, he opened it up and stared into it. That was Evelyn’s details which she provided to the hotel. It was all fake. She claimed to be  a visitor from Canada, including a fake house and Street address. Henry felt no hope of seeing her again.

‘I must find her’ Jefa said to himself, loud enough for Henry to hear.

‘We can find her’ Henry joined excitedly suddenly remembering something, he took out his Android phone. He unlocked the phone by drawing the security pattern. He clicked on an application which began to process.

‘I can get access to everybody’s database in the country as far as I’ve got their real names’ Henry boasted with a reassuring look to Jefa. ‘I once worked in the National Citizens Affairs and we have the details of every citizen who is above the age of eighteen’

Henry could really gain access, illegal access though. He would have to hack into the country’s online database.

The application was taking time to load. ‘So where have you been all these years?’ Henry asked, trying to while away time.

‘It’s a long story…’ Jefa was about to begin.

‘Okay, okay’ Henry interrupted, the application had finished booting. ‘What did you call her full name again?’

‘Omotara Danjuma’ Jefa answered.

Henry typed in the name and clicked a command which began to process. Several options began to appear, in thirty seconds, there were over twenty options with middle names and it was still loading.

‘Humm… Could you tell her middle name so I can narrow down my search’

‘Omotara Cindy Danjuma’

Henry cleared the search and added the third name, the search process began again. This time only four options appeared. Henry clicked on the first option and it began to load. After sometime, it showed an error page. Jefa stared into the phone intently, though he didn’t understand what Henry was doing.

‘Oops! Inaccessible’ Henry read aloud to himself. That means that he couldn’t access the details from his IP address even if he could access the site. He smiled to himself. Other Nigerian developers were growing fast too, they have been able to add more security to the database. But it wasn’t something that could stop Henry permanently, he only needed more time.

A phone call from Sylvester interrupted. ‘Please, I have to answer this’ he said to Jefa before answering. ‘Hello sir’

‘Mr Henry, where are you at?’ Sylvester’s voice came hastily from the other end.

‘Somewhere around town’ Henry answered, surprised at the question.

‘Please, we need you in the office right away. We have some urgent questions to answer’ Sylvester said. Henry could have refused but Sylvester’s tone sounded really urgent.

‘Okay, I’ll be there in few minutes time’ Henry replied.

‘We’ll be waiting for you please’ Sylvester said and the call ended.

‘I have to go now’ Henry said to Jefa who was already staring at him expectantly. He stood up immediately.

Jefa stared at Henry with a pity face, looking like his last object of hope was about to disappear.

‘Can I get your phone number too?’ Henry asked after handing Jefa his business card.

Jefa called out the digits for him and Henry stored it in his phone. ‘Where are you going? Maybe I could drop you off the way’ Henry offered, taking out his car key from his pocket.

Henry’s phone beeped again. His device locator had a notification, one of his tracked devices had just been located. Henry ignored the notification temporarily and walked out of the building with Jefa.

~~

The phone booted with a medium volume power tone. Benny waited patiently for it to boot so he could see the features in it but he was disappointed when it finally booted, it was protected with a password. He flung the phone back into the wardrobe and picked out his shorts. He quickly changed into his shorts and left the room.

Tarasha was seated upright when he passed the living room, he avoided looking at her and walked out straight to join Cole and Aisha.

‘You’re back again for more?’ Cole taunted. Cole and Aisha were already in the middle of a round. Cole had taken Benny’s former seating position which was opposite Aisha so Benny opted for the available space which Cole used before.

‘I’m not ready for you today’ Benny replied Cole. ‘I’ll deal with you both some other time’

‘Okay, let’s hope so’ Cole said with a short laugh.

‘Who’s got that phone you have inside?’ Benny asked Cole.

‘Which one?’

‘It doesn’t have a label. It dropped from one of your trousers’

Cole hissed. ‘I don’t really know who has it, I picked it from the car we rented for the last operation and I’ve been expecting for the Boss to ask if it’s hers. I think it’s for the guy that was in the car with us’

‘Okay, but you better ask the boss. It’s useless to you anyway’

‘Useless? Because it’s passworded?’ Cole questioned. ‘I could flash it if I have need of it’

‘Just speak to the boss about it’

‘It’s not hers jare’ Cole sounded convinced.

‘Then why are you keeping it?’

Cole paused to stare at him. ‘Don’t you see it’s not an ordinary kind of phone. It may be useful for something’

Benny shook his head at Cole’s stubbornness. ‘It’s okay, as you wish’

~~

‘Hello Chief Gab’ Tarasha spoke into the phone in a pleasant voice.

‘Tarasha, how are you?’ Chief Gab sounded cool and happy.

‘Fine Chief, thanks’

‘Okay, how soon are we going to see again?’

‘See again? Who says we’re going to see again?’

‘I mean about the next job’

‘How many of our targets do we still have left?’ Tarasha drifted a bit and asked a question which kept Chief Gab mute for seconds.

‘Two’ he finally said. ‘Two main targets but more enemies may come up along the line’

‘Send me details of the two and let’s see how we can take them out together at a time’

‘Do you think it would be possible that way?’

‘I have to get their details first to be able to analyze that. We have no options than to try it that way. Things are getting more complicated and the country is tightening up their security’

‘Alright, I’ll mail them to you now but do you know our deal does not end with the death of the targets?’

‘What ends the deal?’

‘It’s a two year deal’

‘So you’re gonna keep me even if there’s no job to do?’

‘There’ll always be a job to do’ Chief Gab sounded confident.

Tarasha paused and took in a deep breath. ‘Send me the details as soon as possible’ she said before ending the call.

~~

Dakolo’s job had began already, he was already in the NSCC’s head office for questioning. Part of the reason he had come to Abuja before his official arriving date was to make some secret personal investigation.

He had just seen Mr Sylvester, the head of operation in the corporation and asked him about the steps the corporation was taking to stop the recent security breaks.

‘While we are not assuring you of finding the source of the previous disruptions, we are doing our best to ensure that none of it happens again’ Mr Sylvester had answered.

‘But what about the one which happened recently here in your backyard?’ Dakolo had replied him.

Sylvester replied with a shocking look. ‘What do you mean? Which one happened here?’

‘Oh! You’re not aware that there was no transmission from the street cameras all close to the location of the recent assassination during the time of assassination and two hours after it’

‘Which one are you talking about?’ Sylvester still looked ignorant.

‘Chief Jubril Lawal’s assassination on his birthday’ Dakolo stated.

‘No, nothing like that has been reported. There was no failure from our systems that day’ Sylvester refuted.

Dakolo gave a mock chuckle. ‘Okay, can I see all footages from the street that day?’ Dakolo then requested.

‘Of course, I can get that for you now’ Sylvester began to punch commands hastily into his computer system. After minutes of searching and not finding anything, Dakolo’s allegation began to seem true to him. He put a call to the NSCC official in charge of the assassination area to report and waited some minutes for reply. The official couldn’t find any record too. Dakolo had no other choice than to call on Henry. Things were getting out of hand already and he was scared that he could lose his job if it was mentioned in the public that even he as the chairman of the corporation had no knowledge of their recent system failure. He silently thanked God that the police had not released information about it to the press.

Henry arrived some few minutes later and went into a secret room where Sylvester was waiting for him.

‘Mr Henry’ Sylvester got up from his seat as Henry walked in. ‘Here’ Sylvester handed a document he just printed to Henry after offering him a handshake. He ushered Henry to a seat behind the computer.

‘There was a breach on Thursday?’ Henry asked with a flabbergasted tone.

‘Yes, I didn’t believe it too when I was told ‘ Sylvester joined in. ‘And to think that the incompetent fools in charge of the area did not notice anything nor did they make any report’

Henry remained silent for some minutes and focused his attention on the computer. ‘But why was there no alert? Or alarm raised by the system?’

‘Sir, there have always been no alarm raised since the security breaks started’

‘And does that also mean that…’ Sylvester’s phone rang aloud interrupting their conversation.

‘The agent’ Sylvester whispered before answering the call. ‘Hello… I’m coming with him already’

‘Do we have to go now?’ Henry whispered back.

‘Yes, I’ll be there with him in some few minutes’ Sylvester concluded with his call before answering Henry. ‘Let’s go explain things to this man. He’s a top security agent, his report about us could cost me my job’

Henry had no choice than to smile at the sound of the word “job” from Sylvester again. The man was always scared of losing his job. ‘Okay, let’s go’ Henry got up from the seat.

Few minutes later, they walked into the room where Dakolo was seated. Dakolo who was facing front turned back his swivel at their entrance.

‘Oh! Henry’ Dakolo was first to notice.

‘Officer Dakolo’ Henry was surprised too.

‘Agent Dakolo’ he corrected.

‘Sorry, agent Dakolo’ Henry said with a smile.

There was an handshake between them again. ‘Are you by any chance the person I’ve been waiting for?’ Dakolo asked.

‘I guess so’ Henry replied, turning around the table to seat behind the computer.

‘So you’ve been working with NSCC?’ Dakolo asked.

‘I’ve actually come to help for a short time. I joined few weeks ago’ Henry answered.

Sylvester was smiling sheepishly as he watched the two talk like people who have been friends for a long while. He believed that things would work out easier now and the Agent wouldn’t be too mad at the corporation, and his “job” would be secured

‘Thank God I have you here, I was already thinking of calling you in. Well, I’m here in respect of the recent breaks in streets cameras transmission’

‘I’m aware sir, I’ve actually been working on a program that would stop the breaks permanently, although it may not guarantee us the real locations of those who try to break it’

‘So, can you try locate those who did the recent one? How come you guys were not even aware?’

‘Truly, the guys monitoring the place were not vigilant enough’ Henry replied.

‘Damn! They were too careless’ Dakolo said. ‘Has anyone of them been queried?’ Dakolo asked. He received no answer from Henry who had turned his full focus to what he was doing on the computer. Dakolo turned to Sylvester for an answer. Sylvester shook in fear, not knowing what to say, he stared at Henry, hoping he’ll come to his aid.

‘Wow!’ Henry exclaimed and exhaled through his mouth. ‘These guys are intelligent!’

‘Which guys?’ Dakolo asked. Sylvester also seemed very interested.

‘The guys involved in this crime’ Henry said, relaxing back into the swivel. ‘What they actually do is to deceive those monitoring the transmission and footages. They stop the cameras from transmitting and send signals of repeat transmission of previous days to the monitors . So the supervisors would not notice there was anything until they are asked to provide the tapes’

‘Interesting! So you mean there was something playing on the screens of those monitoring it while the real transmission had already stopped?’

‘Yes, the only places that would not receive the fake signals is here in the headquarters, in the Lagos head office and head police cameras division. These places have the direct servers while the others don’t’

‘Then why wasn’t it noticed here?’ Dakolo asked.

‘There’s no way we can monitor everywhere at the same time. That’s why branches were set up’

‘So, what are we going do now?’

‘We’ve only just found out the mode of the failure, we can be able to find a solution now’ Henry said softly. ‘But as for finding the source of the failure, we have less than 1% probability. The hacker who did this is smart and would definitely lead one into a trap if we’re desperately trying to follow his already covered tracks. He’ll just create another track leading to his trap . That explains what happened to Robin Kahn and his men’

The email containing the details of the remaining targets came in few minutes after Tarasha’s conversation with Chief Gab. She began her research immediately and was already gathering vital information about the targets. But Chief Chief Gab also sent her a summary of their profiles.

Nasiru Attahiru, the next on the list, according to Chief Gab’s plan was formerly one of Chief Gab’s close associates before the take over of a new government after the elections in the year 2016. Then, he was just a politician, in the same party as Chief Gab until 2015, a year before the election year when he switched to the strongest opposition party after it seemed to be growing stronger than the ruling party. He also vied for the position of a senator in the Kaduna state house of assembly in the same year. He was successful and remained in the office for eight years. In the year 2024, he attempted to run for the governor’s seat but failed woefully in his party’s primaries because most of his party members were still finding it hard to trust him, majorly for his undefined reason for switching parties. But that didn’t deter him from contesting for other positions. As a business tycoon, he had enough money to keep buying the forms and to carry out massive campaigns. He only needed to put on better strategies.

He used the next three years before another election to move closer to and buy the trust of the party heads and most of its members. When 2028 came, he didn’t contest for the governorship position again but waited until both the presidential and governorship elections were over. He was actually interested in the seat of the Senate President. He won the seat without stress and had since then been the number three citizen of the nation.

Elvis Richards, the last on the list, was the current vice President of the nation. He had been serving in the government for more than sixteen years. During the time of his association with Chief Gab and the rest six, he was the Deputy governor of Lagos state. He was a part of the major heads that came together to form the strong opposition party before the year 2016 and ousted the seating government. During his tenure as the Deputy governor, he and his head looted the state treasury but did it in such a way that the masses believed they were actually working for them.

Before his service as the Deputy governor, he was the commissioner of police for the state. Ruthless and cruel he was to criminals, the crime rate of the state reduced to the lowest minimum while he was there. But he was also vicious himself, while he punished other criminals ruthlessly, he was always an hardened criminal, sponsoring several criminal acts secretly. Elvis Richards during his eight years tenure as the deputy governor was the mastermind and pioneer of the coalition between the seven friends including himself, Chief Gabriel, Chief Onwuli, Chief Jubril, Chief Nnamdi, Chief Nasiru and Chief Rufai. Four out of the seven were dead already; two were killed recently by an unknown assassin for  reasons unknown. Elvis Richards spearheaded the group activities and introduced them to the major illegal business deals. He also supervised the gruesome murders of Chief Onwuli and Chief Rufai.

After the new government came resumed in 2016, Chief Elvis was called to service again. He was to take charge of the Nation’s security. He did his job faithfully and worked tirelessly to curb all crimes and ensure safety, finally putting a stop to his own criminal activities, mainly because he thought of his children’s future and didn’t want them to be in trouble because of him. It was during these eight years that better security measures like the use of security cameras and other forensic innovations were put to place. After, he took a four years break from 2024 to 2027. In 2027, he was appointed by his party to contest alongside the seating President. That’s how Elvis Richards rose to be the number two citizen of the nation.

The next two jobs would be tougher than the last three put together, Tarasha could envisage. But it would be done, she was sure, she only needed to get close to the targets and plan very well.

Tarasha rose up from her sofa and stretched her body. She shifted the centre table away and began to do some acrobatics to exercise herself. She stopped after some minutes and picked up a face towel hung on the backrest of the sofa to wipe the sweat on her body. She then proceeded outside to the balcony where the others were playing the ludo game. 

There was a pause when she opened the curtains and stood by the door. The three gamers turned to look at her, they turned back to their game when she didn’t say anything. She stepped away from the balcony and walked into the compound. She got to the side where about fifty six inches building blocks were neatly arranged. She picked one and carried it back to the balcony. She erected it beside Benny to sit.

‘Come sit here boss’ Cole offered, trying to show some respect.

‘No, thanks’ she calmly refused.

Cole turned back to his game but couldn’t concentrate anymore, he was stealing glances at the boss’s face. Aisha was not fully concentrating too. It seemed they all had the same thing in mind. It was strange for the boss to sit with them and watch them play. The expression showing on her face even revealed that she was enjoying watching them play and that surprised them further. Benny and Aisha were happy about it, they thought it would be nice if she could only be as friendly as she was now at all times but Cole was still indifferent.

Except for Cole who had a clue, none of them had really come to understand their boss; none knew that she controlled the expressions on her face. She could keep a happy smile on even if she was greatly infuriated. She was trained not to have emotions, so how could she express what she didn’t have. The only emotions she was permitted to express sometimes were anger and hate. But she was trained specially to use her facial expressions to manipulate people and use them for her purposes.

‘I’ll be playing the next game with you, let’s make it a four man game’ Tarasha surprised them further, surprising Cole more 

‘So you can play boss?’ Cole teased happily. It seemed to him now that she was expressing real emotions.

‘I’ve learnt it’ Tarasha replied.

‘Just now?’ Cole asked again.

‘Yes, how long does it take to learn it?’ She asked.

‘It depends on individuals’ Cole replied. ‘But I’m sure this is not the first time you watched someone play it’

‘I’ve seen something like this called Mandavoshka, and I also saw you play this yesterday’

‘Just yesterday?’ Cole asked.  She nodded in affirmation.

‘Hehe’ Cole replied with a chuckle. ‘It’s time to teach the boss some lessons’ he said in his mind.

The time came for the four man game. Tarasha began well with the basics, she knew the number needed to leave the players home and could count very well. But out of inexperience, she took out all the tokens at a time and Aisha who was the gamer before her took the advantage and began to send all her tokens back in.

Tarasha came last in all four rounds they played, but except for Cole who mocked a little with chuckles and smiles, the two others couldn’t make fun of her openly like they would of themselves.

‘We may not be leaving Abuja for now’ Tarasha announced as Cole shook the dice cup to make his roll.

He paused and looked up. Benny and Aisha also fixed their eyes on her. ‘We have two new targets and they live in Abuja’ she explained further.

‘We need to start work as soon as possible, these two jobs are going to require a lot from us; we have to make a lot of research and take a lot of risks’ she paused and smiled on seeing the expression on their faces. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be paid handsomely’

‘Play’ she said to Cole who was still shaking the dice cup. Three of them still fixed their eyes on her, they were expecting one last thing.

‘The Senate President and Vice President are our next targets’ she announced. They were dumbstruck. The eagerness to continue with the game left them at once.

+++++
5pm

‘Mallam Jefa!’ Someone hailed as he walked into the shop. Jefa replied him by raising his two hands in the air. His customers had already filled the shop like every normal evening and he was very busy. About fifteen guys and two ladies were in the shop.

‘Oga Jefa, where you go since all these days na?’ The customer asked of his whereabouts in pidgin English.

‘I’ve been busy with some personal issues’ Jefa answered, less enthusiastically.

‘Hope you’re back now?’

‘I hope so. I might get busy again soon’

‘Please, don’t get busy o’ the guy pleaded with a serious tone. ‘These last two days that you didn’t open, I went to sleep without having dinner ‘

Jefa smiled. ‘Iko, what do you want?’

‘Get me some… ‘ he was saying when they heard a disturbing sound.

‘Are you crazy? Who the hell do you think you are?’ Two of Jefa’s customers had begun a fight. From the look of things especially the fighters’ demeanours, it was obvious that they had both had some portion of weed before coming to eat.

Before Jefa could make any move, one of the fighters had bent down to break a bottle but the second guy smashed a stool on his head before he tried to look up. Things were getting out of control already. The other customers, instead of separating the fighters began to take sides with the one they know. Soon, chairs, bottles and plates were flying everywhere.

~~
**9.30pm**

Henry let out a deep breath as he killed the engine. He turned off the headlights but remained in the car. His Saturday had been unusually hectic, unlike other weekends when he had the whole day to himself.

He made a quick flashback of all he had done that day. From his visit to Elymax and the incidental meeting with Dakolo, his meeting with Jefa also. Jefa didn’t let him go that until he confirmed that Henry had given him his real phone number and address. Then his work in the office; Dakolo’s appearance had caused so many things to be revealed, so many flaws in the NSCC system and need to improve.

He took out his phone from his pocket, he hadn’t touched it for a while. He had five unseen notifications; one from his device locator, two text messages and two from social networks. He clicked on the device locator notification.

After some processing, the app displayed the text “HGE device located” and read it out at the same time. Henry’s eyes widened in disbelief. He clicked on “more details” immediately.  It displayed a map, a green dot was specifying the exact location of the device found.

‘Gwagalada’ Henry muttered to himself. He zoomed the exact location on the map, read out the street and house address to himself.

~~~

**The next day**

6am

As usual, Tarasha was the first to get up from bed. She walked out to take a cup of water and returned into her room to change into her workout clothes. After about an hour of workout, she returned into the house. Aisha was also up already and was busy in the kitchen.

Tarasha picked up her tablet device and switched it on. She laid back on the bed and waited for it to boot. After three minutes, she picked it up again. She drew the security pattern. Her eyes met something and she looked suddenly alarmed, a warning alert popped up. She sat up quickly and placed it on her laps. She began to type in commands speedily using the keyboard. Her fears were confirmed, someone from the same building was sending out location signals. There was a traitor amongst them.

She got up hurriedly and dashed out of her room, shouting Cole and Benny’s names. Without waiting for them to respond, she proceeded to their room and kicked the door open. Cole and Benny had been woken by her voice already and was hurrying to put on their clothes.

‘Where are your phones?’ Tarasha barked at the guys who were still in their underwear. They seemed perplexed and gave no answer, staring at each other’s faces.

‘Bring out all your devices and join me in the living room now’ she said before slamming the door.

‘Aisha’ she called out too. Aisha quickly walked out of the kitchen. ‘Leave whatever you are doing, go and bring your phone and every other device you have with you.’ Aisha replied with a nod and hurried up to her room.

In less than two minutes, Benny, Cole and Aisha had assembled into the living room with all their phones and devices, waiting. They stood in front of the three seater sofa side by side on a straight line. Tarasha wasn’t there, only her tablet could be seen on one of the sofas.

She came out a minute later, loading bullets into a short gun while a long gun was hung around her arm.

‘Who is the traitor here?’ She said as she finished loading the gun. The whole building was silent, fear gripped their hearts as they watched their boss threaten, she looked like one who was really ready to kill them.

‘Where are your devices?’ Tarasha asked, pointing for them to drop all the devices on the centre table. They complied. ‘Switch on everything’ Tarasha ordered. Cole and Aisha returned to the table to power on theirs and returned to the line. There was a total of seven devices on the table. Cole had four due to the nature of his job. Aisha had two while Benny owned the remaining one.

Tarasha moved closer to the table, staring at their faces carefully. She pocketed the small gun and picked up her tablet device from the sofa. She moved it over the devices for a period of one minute, scanning to know which device was connecting with the outsider. She had to find the device quickly to know the location of the outsider.

She stepped back and stared at their faces, shaking her head in pity for them. ‘These are not all the devices in this house’ she said as she tossed back her own device to the sofa. She took out gun pointed it at them.

Benny raised up his hand, ‘there’s one more’ he said with fear in his voice, but he kept a straight face trying to act like a strong man who wasn’t scared to die.

‘Where’s it?’

Benny pointed towards their room, Tarasha signaled for him to go get it. He left and returned a minute later with the phone that fell off from Cole’s pocket. ‘Let me have it’ Tarasha said and Benny handed it over. Her device began to beep loud as she brought them closer. That was what she was looking for.

‘Who owns this?’ She asked after scrutinizing it.

There was no answer.

‘Who owns it?’ Tarasha repeated again. They all kept quiet. Benny felt the urge to say that it was Cole’s but he remained quiet, not wanting to betray a brother.

Tarasha cocked the gun. Aisha began to tremble visibly while the men remained as they were physically, but already dead on the inside.

‘I brought it in’ Cole finally said.

Tarasha stared at him in disbelief for some seconds. ‘How much were you paid for this?’ She focused her gun to his forehead.

Her finger was about to touch the trigger when she began to hear footsteps approaching the doorpost. She turned her head back towards the door. The footsteps seized for a while.

‘I don’t own it, I took it from the car we …’ Cole wanted to explain.

She turned back in anger to shoot but her hands dropped as a knock sounded on the door.

Tarasha dropped the gun slowly and took a glance at the door and back at Cole. She turned and walked to the door, holding the gun in alertness. She peeped through the door hole and saw the person knocking, she clenched her left fist and gave an evil chuckle as she tightened her grip against the door. Part of her felt like opening the door and gunning him down immediately, the other part felt like opening the door to embrace him. She stood back and paused for a while.

‘Answer the door, you should know how to handle him. Return his phone to him. If he asks’ she said to Cole as she hurried back into her room. ‘Come with me’ she motioned Benny to follow pack the rest of the devices and follow her, leaving only Henry’s phone.

Cole heaved a heavy sigh of relief. He made a sign of the cross as he walked slowly to the door, whoever was at the door was his saviour. He peeped through the door hole but didn’t recognize the person at first. He opened halfway and tucked out his head.

‘Hello’ Henry said with a smile, trying to peep into the house.

‘Yes, what can I do for you?’ Cole answered. He searched the guy from head to toe with his eyes, then Henry’s face came into his remembrance. He stepped out.

Henry scrutinized Cole’s face for a while and remembered him clearly as the driver who drove them to the birthday party.

Henry cleared his throat and began. ‘Good morning, I’ve come to see Evelyn’

‘Evelyn?’ Cole pretended as if he didn’t hear properly. He would have loved to say, ‘please come in, she really needs you, that day she felt like dying after you left her.’ But he couldn’t try it, majorly because of the tensed atmosphere that the device he had taken in carelessly just caused and he was also sure that the Boss wouldn’t want to see Henry.

‘Yes, where is Evelyn? The lady I accompanied to that party’

‘What party?’ Cole feigned ignorance.

‘Come on, you drove us in a Rover to late Chief Jubril’s party and disappeared when the party ended in a disaster’ Henry defended himself in a strong tone.

‘That was business, she was my client and only hired me for that evening’ Cole answered back.

‘She’s only your client?’ Henry asked.
Cole shook his head in affirmation.
‘I need to see her’ Henry added immediately, unshaken.

‘I don’t know where she lives or where she is now. It was her first time of hiring me, so I don’t have much details about her’

Henry paused for a while and stared straight into Cole’s eyes. ‘You’re not saying the truth’ he slammed. ‘Just tell me where she is, I need to see her for something important’

Henry paused as someone opened the door and poked out her head. She looked to Cole and then to Henry’s face and back to Cole, her eyes expression asking for who Henry was.

‘I want to see Evelyn’ Henry quickly said. Aisha feigned ignorance and gave him a strange look. ‘Or you may know her as Tara’ Henry quickly added.

There was an expression of shock on both Aisha and Cole’s faces. They mistook the Tara he called to be a short form for Tarasha. But Cole could recognize that Henry’s intonation was different and the way he called it made it sound like a Yoruba name.

‘Tara or Evelyn, she doesn’t know her’ Cole replied, arguing for Aisha.

Henry shook his head in disbelief. He had caught the shocked expression on the faces and was more convinced now that they were lying. ‘Why are you guys hiding her? I need to see her for something important’, he repeated.

‘Mister, we don’t know her. I told you already that she only hired me for the party and that’s all’ Cole slammed. Aisha sighed and entered back into the house.

Henry shook his head and licked his lips, thinking of what else to say.  ‘Okay, I’ve been on the road trying to locate this place  for some hours now, can I at least come in to have a drink? Maybe a cup of water’ Henry pleaded.

‘I don’t allow strangers into my house’ Cole replied.

Henry gave a smile. ‘I’m not a stranger’ he retorted. ‘You know, I could be your client too and a very regular one at that’

‘Sorry sire,  I’ve really got some other things to do’ Cole attempted to turn back.

‘Okay, can I have my property?’ Henry said, perceiving that Cole was going to remain adamant.

‘What property?’

‘My phone, the one I forgot in your car’ Henry asserted. Cole kept mute. ‘Don’t try to feign ignorance with that’ Henry warned. ‘It led me here and I know that it’s in this house’

Cole stared at him awkwardly for a while. He turned back and walked into the house locking the door immediately.

Henry quickly took out a bug from his pocket and attached to the top edge of one of the pillars in the balcony.

Cole returned a minute later with the phone, not noticing anything, he handed it over to Henry immediately.

‘Thanks’ Henry stared at his phone with a smile. ‘You work with her right?’ He asked another question that kept Cole dumbfounded for some seconds.

‘I think its time to leave sire, you’re taking too much time here’ Cole said with a serious tone.

‘It’s okay, I’ll leave’ Henry said, tossing his phone from one palm to another. ‘Tell her, I only came to pick her up for service today. I’ll be back some other time, we still have loads of stuffs to discuss’ Henry said and turned to take his leave.

‘Don’t return here else I’ll do something terrible to you’ Henry could hear Cole threaten as he approached the old weak gate. He paused and stared at the compound. The place was neat but it looked very old, like a deserted place that was being renovated. There was a blue car in the compound and a mini van. There were also very old building bricks arranged in one corner. Henry wondered what a modern looking guy like Cole was doing in such an environment. Henry cleared his throat and walked on.

He got into his car which was parked by the road beside the house and settled in the driver’s seat, leaving the door opened. He took his tablet device from the back seat and unlocked it. He opened up an application to monitor the bug he just planted. After some loading, the streaming began, he could see Cole just turning back into the house. He dropped the tablet on the right seat and closed the door. He wasn’t sure Evelyn was in the house but he was sure that the driver and his wife or girlfriend knew her. But the bug he just placed there would help him confirm that.

He took in a deep breath and remained in silence for a while. He could hear some singing from around the corner, a church was having the Sunday service.

His previous plan was to pick Evelyn and convince her to follow him to his own church’s service but since he didn’t get to see her, he decided to attend a church nearby while he monitored the bug. He closed the door and started the engine.

~~

After waiting for sometime after Henry walked out of the gate, Cole opened the door slowly and entered back into the house. Tarasha was seated on the arm rest of the three seater sofa, her short gun was still in her hands, she stared straight at him. There was an awkward silence of over five minutes. Cole couldn’t move and Tarasha kept an undecided look on him.

‘Why did you take the phone?’ Tarasha finally asked.

Cole felt stupid. He knew he shouldn’t have taken the phone at all or he should have told her about it when she didn’t ask. But the reason he was so interested in it was the special technical qualities the phone seemed to have. Little did he know that the owner of the device was also a technical guru who was capable of delivering them to the police by just that simple mistake. Cole could not answer the question, words refused to come out of his mouth.

Tarasha narrowed his gaze at him sternly. But Cole still felt little bit relieved. At least, she wasn’t looking like she was still going to still kill him.

Tarasha stared back to the gun in her hand. She felt like punishing Cole for what he had done. A bullet into his right arm wouldn’t have been too cruel for his punishment but she considered the new tasks ahead and the fact that she might still be the one to treat the bullet wound. She offloaded the gun and dropped it on the chair, one of the two bullets rolled to the ground.

‘So it was Henry right?’

‘Yes’ Cole answered. Tarasha let out a breath and her shoulders fell. Henry could interpret the look on her face as a wish that she could see him. He felt the temptation to smile, but rebuked himself and stayed calm.

‘Can you check if he’s still anywhere around?’ She said to Cole as she got up and walked to the front window. Cole opened the door and walked into the compound. He stared around the compound for a little while before proceeding to the gate, he opened the unlockable gate and peeped outside. Except for some building workers walking around, he could only see tyre marks on the sand. He closed the gate and returned into the house.

‘He’s gone’ he said to Tarasha who had already come out to the balcony. She was searching everywhere with her eyes. ‘Where did he stand?’ She asked.

‘Here’ Cole answered, standing on the same spot Henry stood.

‘That guy is a crazy technician and developer, his knowledge of this place could mean danger for us. We need to leave here soon’

Tarasha kept looking around. She saw something at the top edge of balcony pillar, it was hidden behind the cobwebs. She felt stupid as she stared straight into the bug before discovering what it was. She detached it from the wall and dropped it on the floor, crushing it with her foot.

‘sh*t! He has seen my face’ she cursed. ‘Didn’t you see this?’ She barked angrily at Cole.

Cole stepped back in fear and gave way for her to walk back inside through the door. He followed after her. ‘We need to leave here immediately’ she said, walking hurriedly. ‘I don’t know how much time we have left’ she picked the gun and the bullet on the sofa. Cole was standing still, he didn’t understand why they had to leave but he couldn’t summon courage to ask like he would have done normally. As far as he was concerned, Henry was there only for her. They had covered all tracks on their last operation, so there was no way it could be traced to them. Henry had come to discuss his love issue with her and that was all.

‘Why are you standing there?’ Tarasha returned back and stared at him. She had taken off her top and had only her bra and pant on.

‘That guy’ Cole began, moving closer to her slowly, carefully choosing his words in his brain first so as not to infuriate her again. ‘He said he came to pick you for church service’

Tarasha stared at him awkwardly. Her anger was beginning to arise again.

‘He knows your name’ Cole quickly added.

‘What do you mean?’ She narrowed her gaze at him.

‘He called you Tara’

‘What??’ She exclaimed, more like a whisper, looking shocked. ‘Where the hell did he get that from?’

Cole stared at her in surprise, surprised that she was surprised. He thought she was the one who told him the name since he assumed they had begun a love affair.

‘Whatever, we need to leave here now’ Tarasha said and moved closer to the sofa, she picked the bullet on the floor.

‘I think you’re in love with him’  Cole mustered enough courage to say as she turned back. He held his breath anticipating what could befall him.

‘What??’ Tarasha turned back angrily, it was as if Cole just stirred the devil in her. Cole could see her anger in her eyes and he began to tremble immediately. He began to step back slowly as she proceeded towards him. There was no gun in her hands and the door was still opened for Cole to run outside but he knew his attempt would be fruitless. So he knelt down in an attempt to plead.

A knock sounded on the door.

‘Evelyn, come on, I know you are in there’  Henry’s voice rang in.

Dakolo posed in front of the mirror to check his dressing and make sure that nothing was out of place. His well fitted black suit made him look smart as usual, he was wearing a white shirt under and a dark blue tie. He took a small comb from his box which he had already arranged and combed his medium height hair forward. He returned the comb and straightened up his jacket, he looked into the mirror once more before picking up his box and phone. His phone rang just in time.

‘Agent Dakolo, are you at the Rivers’ airport already?’ Officer Ken’s voice came through.

‘No officer’ Dakolo smiled, ‘I’m already in Abuja, I’ll be in the headquarters in few minutes time’

‘In Abuja already?’ Officer Ken exclaimed in a surprise tone. ‘Are you at the Abuja airport then?’

‘No, I’m not. Don’t bother about me’ Dakolo smiled. ‘I know my way around, I’ll meet you in the office. Is the IG there already?’

‘No, he isn’t but he’ll be with us in few minutes also’ Officer Ken answered.

‘Okay, until we see then’ Dakolo ended the call and opened the dial pad for a new call. He dialed the cabman, Clement’s number.

‘Where are you now?’ He asked.

‘I just drove in’ Clement answered.

~~Twenty five minutes later ~~

Dakolo and the cab man drove into the large compound of the police headquarters after thorough searching at the gate. Dakolo was seated in front with him and they chatted all through the journey like friends until they got to their destination.

The cab man who was surprised when Dakolo asked him to turn into the police headquarters was more surprised on seeing several high ranked police officials stop to greet Dakolo as they drove into the gate. It was his first time of entering the place but his surprise robbed him of the chance to notice the other beautiful sites in the compound. He began to stare at Dakolo’s face suspiciously.

Dakolo smiled on seeing his confused look. ‘Sorry, I didn’t tell you I’m a member of the police force’

The cab man glanced at him, the look on his face expressed his demand for more explanation.

‘My younger brother is the contractor really, it was his business card I gave you’ Dakolo explained further. ‘My promise to get jobs for you when you go back to your carpentry work is still on. I’ll ensure that my brother works with you’

The cab man stared at him more awkwardly without saying any word. He drove as he was being directed by a police officer into the garage. After about two minutes, they finally parked the car.

‘Thanks’ Dakolo said, bringing out his wallet from his jacket’s inner pocket. He began to count. ‘Since you know everywhere around, I’ll be calling you often, hope you’ll be available’

‘I’ll try’ Clement answered less enthusiastically. His focus was more on the cash Dakolo was counting. Dakolo finally counted triple of the fare and handed it over to him.

‘Oh! Thanks’ Clement received the money joyfully. ‘Just call me anytime, I’ll be available to take you anywhere’ he said.

Dakolo smiled and got out of the car. A crowd of highly ranked officers had come to welcome him, the IG was also there. A junior officer took out his box from the back seat.

‘Agent Dakolo’ the IG saluted on seeing him. Dakolo saluted back and received the man’s handshake with his two hands to show curtsy. ‘Welcome’

‘Thank you sir’ Dakolo replied with a smile, also responding to the greetings from other officers.

The Inspector General, Rikau Waziri was dressed in dark suit too, he also had a white shirt under but was without a tie. Aged 51, Rikau was of average height and a very dark complexion. He had a bald head, his face had scars on it, a result of several fights he had engaged in when he was younger. The rest of the officers were dressed in their uniforms.

‘Why didn’t you tell us the exact time you were coming? We were making arrangements to come for you at the airport’

‘I had to come earlier to do something sir’ Dakolo said briefly. He took a back glance at the cab man who was just driving off and smiled.

‘It’s okay’ the IG said and they began to proceed into the main building. ‘Hope your journey wasn’t stressful’

‘Not at all sir, it was stress free’

‘Good’ the IG smiled as they climbed up the short stairs into the building. Dakolo looked around, surprised at the number of officers who were present at the office on a Sunday morning. Officer Ken noticed his surprise.

‘They all have to be here because of the security issues we’re having right now’ Ken explained with a smile.

Dakolo nodded and smiled. The crowd of officers began to decrease gradually as they walked past the several offices and sections. They finally got to a room with the tag “H 4”. Ken brought out an access card and opened the door. It was a room where top officials held their meetings. The remaining three officers and the IG entered the room with Dakolo.

The room which was painted white all through was not too large but conducive enough for a meeting. There was a rectangular table in the middle and ten chairs were round the table. Light refreshments had been served on the table already. The IG took the seat at the front corner which was the short side of the table while the four others took two seats each at the left and the right. Inspector Ken and Agent Dakolo took the seats closer to the IG. The meeting began.

‘So what’s the way forward now?’ The IG asked after a short recap of the situation.

‘I’m thinking we need the help of some agents’ Dakolo said. Everyone stared at him for more explanation. ‘I mean a secret agent’ Dakolo stated further.

‘Does that mean you think you can’t handle it?’ The IG asked. ‘Cos that’s the reason we brought you here’

‘I’m not saying I can’t handle it, in fact I would have loved to but we need someone who wouldn’t need much struggle to disguise as an assassin ‘ Dakolo explained more but his listeners still did not understand except for Ken who was shaking his head thoughtfully.

‘I think I get his point’ Ken put in, redirecting all stares to himself. ‘Agent Dakolo’s face is already known in the country for nabbing top criminals and assassins, it would require extra work and would need a lot of disguise techniques for him to act as a secret agent, his face is known already’

The IG shook his head slowly and thoughtfully in agreement. ‘So what do you think we should do now? I really wish Dakolo is still  a young man we could send as an undercover like  we used to do’ he said smiling at Dakolo. Dakolo smiled back. ‘Well, we have some of our officers we could still send’

Dakolo gave a slight hiss which expressed his disagreement, ‘our boys have not been trained enough to handle this kind of cases. They’ll definitely cause more troubles for us. Even myself wouldn’t have been able to carry out this kind of job if it had come when I was still a secret agent. I have more experience now, both on the field and technically’

‘So what do you suggest now?’ The IG asked. ‘Can Ken?’ The IG turned to look at Ken. ‘Or any of these two?’

Ken shook his head slightly in disagreement. ‘Do you think it would work like that?’

‘Why not?’ Dakolo and the IG asked in unison.

‘We’ve been actively involved in this assassination case. I mean the three of us’ he said looking at the other two seated. ‘We’ve been involved in the chasing and interrogations, do you think it can still work with us?’ Ken said in a bold voice, dismissing every perception that he was afraid to take the task.

‘You’ve spoken the truth’ Dakolo said after thoughtfully considering his reply. ‘This assassin group members are intelligent and dangerous. I’m sure they’ll just play along even if they recognize anyone sent as the undercover and it would turn out as a disaster for us’

‘So we don’t have enough strong and trained men in the force that can handle this?’ The IG joined, getting irritated that they were making the matter sound so big.

‘Sir, it’s not about being strong here’ Dakolo said calmly. ‘Of course, strength is important but what we really need is an intelligent personnel. Very intelligent one who would match the intelligence of this assassin group. You know I can’t really talk about the manpower of the group but I know they are intelligent. Most of their strategies have been technical; they disrupt all our technical security facilities, keep us in darkness and then carry our their assassination, that’s what they’ve been doing’

There was silence for a while. ‘So you think that the assassin group is not really tough in physical strength?’ The IG broke the silence.

‘Yes but I may be wrong. But one thing I’m sure of is that their technical and developing abilities and intelligence is where they’re stronger’

‘No’ Ken disagreed gently. ‘Except the assassin group that killed Chief Jubril USA different from the one who that carried out the other two but if we are saying they might be the same, which is really likely, it would be wrong to say they are weak physically’

Dakolo turned and stared at Ken, so did everyone else.

‘Yes sir, he’s right’ one of the two other officers finally broke his silence. ‘The group that carried out Chief Jubril’s assassination was definitely not weak physically. Their knowledge of the usage and control of guns is mind blowing, this is evident in the number of security officials and police officers found dead in the events centre’

‘Thank you’ Ken supported. ‘None of their bullets were wasted’ Ken added, looking at the two officers faces for support. ‘Their bullets got into their targets at delicate parts of the body and most of the victims did not receive more than one bullet. This shows that the group is a specially trained one and they’ve mastered the art of the use of guns. I believe only intelligence wouldn’t fight them, they’re complete, we need to be complete more than that to defeat them’

There was another awkward silence. Dakolo now remembered James telling him about his gun battle with the suspected lady who had blocked them on the road while they were on their way to save Robin Kahn.

‘You’re right’ Dakolo began again in low tones. ‘How could I have even thought that they had no physical strength, considering how they finished off Robin Kahn and his men?’ Dakolo paused and swallowed. ‘I also visited the warehouse where Robin and his men were misled to when I was in Lagos. You need to see the way their apparatuses were set up professionally’

‘You see, those guys are experts’ Ken put in briefly.

‘James also told me of how a single lady of the group also engaged he and the rest of the rescue team on their way to help Robin. She took out almost all the men and even escaped with their own vehicle’

‘So that means we need a stronger and complete team to match them else we would just be going round in circles and keep losing our men’ Ken added.

‘No matter what it is, we have no option than to stop the group’ the IG said in a determined voice. ‘And it would be nice if we capture their boss alive’

‘Yesss’ Dakolo stressed the word, as it he had just remembered something. ‘Talking about the boss. It is widely believed that the group is headed by a lady named Aisha Bello who disguises as  Samantha Osman but with the latest assassination, the report says a man carried out the job’ Dakolo paused to look at their faces

Inspector Ken coughed and joined. ‘As far as I’m concerned, this assassin group we are dealing with is a large one, I believe they should have up to twenty or thirty in the group. It’s surely a large cooperation. So we can’t be sure that Samantha Osman is the boss, she might just be one of their major hitmen. The real boss could be in their headquarters and just be giving the orders from there’

Everyone paused to reason with Ken. Dakolo took in a breath and shook his head. ‘I agree that Samantha Osman might not be the real boss but I don’t think the group is a large one. We should have able to get one or two of them if the group was so large’

‘Now, we need concrete details’ the IG said in a tone which expressed his dissatisfaction with the way the meeting was going. ‘All what we’ve been talking about since are our opinions about them, no one has concrete details’

‘And Agent Dakolo’ The IG faced Dakolo squarely. ‘You said we need secret agents and undercovers, does that mean that you have suspects in mind already’

‘N…no…’ Dakolo stammered as he tried to answer. ‘There’s no group or real person we suspect yet’

‘Then why do we need an undercover if there’s no suspect?’ The IG slammed.

‘We might locate a suspect group very soon’

‘Then we should be focused first on locating the suspected group, then we can come back to finding a secret agent to do the work’

‘We are working on that already. There’s a NSCC agent who’s tracking them already. I’m also thinking that we could recruit him as a secret agent’

The IG gave a chuckle. ‘How do even you think that would work?’

‘The agent is extra intelligent and we’re also going to provide strong backups for him’

‘Who’s this person?’

‘Same guru we all know. Henry Ekene George’

‘Evelyn’ Henry called again when he got no response the first time. He placed his own palm against the door and noticed it was slightly opened. He pushed it gently and poked in his head first before stepping in.

Cole was still standing, not knowing if he should run or still continue to plead or if there was no need for the both anymore. Tarasha was standing also, she was mute, the bullet she picked on the floor was still held loosely. It was until she caught Henry’s eyes searching round her body that she covered the bullet in her palm.

‘I’m sorry for intruding’  Henry broke the silence apologetically on seeing Evelyn half unclad, ‘I’ll just wait outside for you’

‘You can wait inside’ Tarasha said with a stern voice. ‘Sit here’ she pointed at the sofa by the wall side and turned to walk into her room.

Henry and Cole stared at each other for some seconds. Cole let out a breath and made a strange eye movement at Cole before walking away, following the same direction Tarasha took. Henry moved forward and took the seat, staring around the house.

Tarasha inserted back the bullet into the gun and tapped her nose with it. She was undecided yet as to what to do with Henry, it was either she killed him that moment or fall for the strange feeling that she was having again. The feeling that returned that moment he entered and she saw his eyes again. There was this calmness that drove out from her heart it’s previous occupier, anger.

She finally dropped the gun on the bed and turned to the wardrobe. She took out a jacket from the hanger and remove two short knives from it.

**Few minutes later**

The silence between the duo was really awkward as Henry drove them in his car to the church. They drove into the church garage and parked. The Pastor’s message was already on and could be heard from the speakers placed outside for the security and Marshalls. Henry got out of the car first and turned to the other side to open the door for Evelyn.  She didn’t come out immediately but was staring at the whole place. She stopped and stared at Henry’s face, he gave her a reassuring look and she stepped out slowly, in her shredded blue Jean trousers and black top.

++++

‘Henry Ekene George’ the IG shook his head thoughtfully. ‘The chap is an intelligent one really, but I don’t think he can do this’

‘I believe he can’ Dakolo insisted. ‘He’s determined to nab this assassin group, it shows in the way he’s been dedicated to stopping their manipulation of the camera system’

‘Well, I think we should have a concrete detail of the assassin gang first before we can continue with the undercover plan’ the IG said, waving his hand to signal that the undercover case was closed for the time being. He placed his arms on the table and rested his chin on his palms. ‘We would have a meeting with the President this coming Friday and we have to be ready to give him detailed plans. So we just have two days to fix the game plan, so we’ll be meeting again tomorrow. Let’s go back now and work, think and make researches and personal investigations, tomorrow we would return to pour out our ideas and fix the plan’ he said in conclusion.

****

Jefa stretched and turned to his left side on the bed, forgetting the injury he had sustained on his belly that side. He winced in pain and scowled, he sat up in the bed  After yawning several times, his eyes was opened enough to see. The pounding headache brought to his remembrance the fight that occurred the last night. It was so violent that nobody in his shop including himself escaped unhurt.

He closed his eyes and groaned as he stood up, he walked to the cotton and rolled it up thereby allowing the entrance is sunlight into the room. He scratched his bare back and returned to sit in the bed. His spoilt phone was on the stool in front of him. He picked it from the stool and tried to power it on but his attempt was fruitless. He dropped it back; his promise to call Henry that morning had failed. The business card given to him was also lost in the struggle, which meant that the only way he could see Henry now was to go to his house.

~~~~

10.45am

Henry started the car engine and began to drove out of the church premises. He glanced at Evelyn’s face but she didn’t glance back, she had been mute all through the service,even when they were being attended to  as first timers by the church officials. Henry had answered almost every question for her, making her look like a deaf and dumb person. She didn’t even stretch her hand to take the Bible gift they handed to her, Henry collected it for her.

Henry was not too surprised by  her reaction to the activities in church, knowing that she wasn’t someone who believed in God nor wanted to hear the name mentioned.

‘Did you learn anything new today?’ Henry finally broke the silence after driving out of the church’s gate.

‘I’ve never heard such hogwash in my life’ she replied bluntly.

Henry felt bad at her reply but he smiled. ‘Thats no hogwash but reality’ he said.

Evelyn remained quiet. ‘Those things you heard were real, though they may sound impossible to the natural ears’ Henry added.

Tarasha glanced at him. ‘So you believed a god died for you?’ She asked, smacking her lips together.

‘Yes, I believe’

‘Do we still have st*pid people who could die for someone else?’ She asked mockingly

‘Come on, don’t talk like that’ he scolded her.

‘Hehe’ she made a brief laugh. ‘It’s pathetic that intelligent people could believe such tales by moonlight. When we were kids, we were forced to believe those stories but now everyone should be less stupid. I used to think people get wiser as they progress in age’

‘Evelyn!’ Henry called, she kept quiet. ‘Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is not a tale, it happened for real, on this earth were you live’

‘Yes, haha’ she scoffed. ‘The stubborn Jewish Messiah was killed by his people for disturbing their peace, that’s what we should do to those men we see on those platforms now who wants their followers to live by what somebody else wrote thousands of years ago’

Henry shook his head, struggling in his mind to figure out what to say. ‘For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish fooli…’ He tried to quote a scripture but she interrupted.

‘Foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. First Corinthians one verse eighteen’ she completed the verse for him.

Henry was dazed, he stared at her with his mouth agape. ‘Where did you learn that from?’ He asked in amazement. ‘I’m sure you didn’t learn it when you were still a kid.’

She gave no answer. ‘That means you must have left Christianity not too long ago, for you to quote a “not so popular” verse’ Henry added.

She still gave no response. If only he knew the amount of Bible, Qur’an and other religious books scriptures she had in her head, he would keep quiet and stop talking about God to her. She thought. Studying religion and religious patterns were also part of what she learnt during her training in the Nefary Clan.

‘Why did you leave God? Did you feel frustrated about a particular situation and you thought he could not help you out?’

Tarasha chuckled. Henry was sounding more like a joker to her now. ‘God loves you and fee always wants the best for you’ he continued.

‘Oh! Shut up’ she burst out angrily. ‘I guess that’s why he also kills those who do not serve him. And he even sends his servants to murder the ones who still serve him faithfully anytime he’s really blood thirsty’

‘God is not a murderer’

‘But I’ve seen him murder a lot of people and he’s still good at killing today.’

‘No Evelyn, God does not kill. You didn’t see him murder anyone; he didn’t kill your parents’

‘Oh Yes, he didn’t murder them himself. He sent his faithful followers to do it’

‘Those people lied, God did not send them. He loves us so much and wants the best for us’  Henry was talking with so much passion that he almost ran down a pedestrian crossing the narrow untarred road. He quickly recovered and they continued the journey in silence. Now few metres away from Tarasha’s Lodge.

‘Why did you come to look for me?’ Tarasha asked and stared into Henry’s face. The look on her eyes was cruel, immediately the atmosphere changed.

‘Can we stop to talk somewhere or do you think we can talk in your house?’ Henry replied calmly.

‘That’s not the answer to my question’ Tarasha slammed.

‘Yes, I’ll tell you. Let’s just go somewhere and talk’

‘We don’t have anything to discuss about’

‘We have a lot to talk about’ Henry retorted. He parked beside the gate of the house. ‘We have to talk about you’

Tarasha who had been feeling irritated by his discussion of God during the ride was getting more impatient. She began to prepare in her heart slowly to use the knives tied round her legs under the shredded Jean. Her heart began to beat faster, something that had not happened in years even when she had to kill tougher people. But she had to end it all that day, else Henry would be her downfall, what she wanted now was to get some information from him.

‘How did you get to know that my name is also Tara?’ She enquired, expecting a simple answer. She was thinking that he had seen it somewhere around her when they stayed in the NSCC house together.

‘I’ll come to that’ Henry answered.

She crossed her legs and rubbed her palm on the left foot, her fingers touched the two knives hidden in an inner pocket under the shredded Jean. ‘Let’s drive into the compound please’ she said to Henry. He agreed and started the engine. Her plan was to lure him inside and force out truths from him since she was anticipating that he may be stubborn.

‘There’s no gateman here and the gate does not open automatically’ Tarasha said to Henry when be began to push the horn for someone to open the gate.

Henry got out of car and went to open the gate. Tarasha felt like bringing out her knives, in readiness to inflict pains on him but her mood changed again as he returned to the car and stared at her face for some seconds, there was this fire in his eyes that always seemed to calm her down.

He drove the car into the compound and stopped it beside the van.

‘Why did you come to see me?’ Tarasha asked again.

‘Calm down Evelyn, I’ve been searching for you since we parted last week’

‘I know’ Tarasha cut in impatiently. ‘So go straight to the point, why have you been searching for me?’

Henry took off the seat belt with a frown on his face, he didn’t like the way the conversation was going. ‘I was worried about you. I did not know if you were in safe hands’

‘Alright, I guess you can now see that I’m in safe hands’ she said and opened the door. Henry held her arm.

‘I love you Evelyn’ he said, looking straight into her eyes. She took her eyes off immediately, trying to avoid sparking off more emotions. Her heartbeat was increasing. That moment was the best to strike him dead according to the training she had got but she couldn’t just get herself to do it.

‘Thanks for loving me’ she said and tried to step out again. Henry gripped her more firmly.

‘Evelyn, we need to talk about you, us, your future and mine’

‘You don’t know me Henry, you want to plan my future for me?’

‘I know you’

‘You don’t, if you do you’ll leave here right now before I change my mind and do something bad to you’

‘I know what you can do. I saw that bullet in your hand, so I was expecting that you may come out with a gun’ Henry said without fear in his voice.

She paused and stared at the floor, thinking of what to do. ‘Get out of here immediately’ she stepped out of the car forcefully and began to walk towards the building.

Henry opened the door by his side and placed a leg outside, he stood from his seat and rested his arm on the top of the car. ‘I know you well Tara, I know who you are and what you do’

She paused at the balcony and turned to stare at him. ‘Who is Tara?’ She asked, trying to pretend.

‘You are’ he insisted.

It was getting out of hand now and she was getting more infuriated. It seemed he wasn’t going to leave. She bent and took out the knives from her trouser. She turned and began to proceed towards him, she was going to drain out every drop of liquid in his body.

‘Omotara Danjuma’ he called softly making her freeze in shock, the knife in her left hand cut through the skin on her palm.

Her eyes widened, she was convinced now that he was sure of his claims.

‘I met your elder brother, Jeffrey’ he added.

~~~

Jefa walked back into his two room apartment after visiting the phone repairer’s shop. He took off his sandals and dusted his feet on the foot mat at the door before proceeding to sit down. His living room was not too large and beautifully decorated but it was arranged in a neat manner despite the old furniture used. The TV was also a very old one, it was neat too and free from dust even though Jefa rarely used it. His eyes met with something as it wandered around, the diary and the photo on the centre table. He got up and went to pick it up.

He stared at the photo for a while, a brief smile formed on his face. He wiped off the small particles of dust on the photo and dropped it back on the table. He took the diary and returned to his seat. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, he was about doing something that he had never done. Their mum had told them during her lifetime that the diary contains secrets that they were not matured enough to handle. He flipped it open.

Tarasha stood transfixed, temporarily unable to utter any word or move from the spot. The knife in her left hand fell off and blood began to drip down to the floor.

‘Omotara’ Henry called softly as he proceeded forward. ‘We need to talk’

His phone rang out, disrupting the moment. He quickly took it out and silenced it without checking the caller’s ID.

‘Jeffery’ Tarasha’s lips moved repeatedly. The colours in her eyes were changing, it looked like she wanted to cry but there was no tears formed in the eyes. ‘Where did you see him?’ Tarasha asked calmly. She released the knife in her right hand to the ground.

Henry’s gaze moved away from her. He took a quick glance at the window at the balcony of the house, someone was opening the curtain to peep. ‘Let’s sit somewhere and talk’

Tarasha inhaled deeply and walked back to the car , she entered back into the front seat she was before. Henry followed her slowly. His phone rang again, he checked the screen this time, it was Agent Dakolo calling. He silenced it again and dipped it into his pocket. He entered and sat in the driver’s seat.

He looked at Tarasha’s face, she seemed not to have noticed that he was now in the car with her. Her face had turned pale, her body was right there with him but her mind had journeyed far.

~~FLASHBACK~~

** May 27, 2014 **

Omotara sat on the floor of the bus which was covered with a dirty rug. Still crying, she was feeling so uneasy and dirty in her blood stained clothes. She wiped the tears off her face from time to time but it was still uncontrollable, it kept flowing down like a river.  No one could have imagined that such a calamity could befall a happy family like hers, especially on her day of joy. Her parents and two of brothers were brutally murdered, her virginity was stolen in the most gruesome way and now she and the rest of her siblings were being carried to an unknown place, only God knew where they were taking them to and what they wanted to use them for.

The bus vibrated on getting to a rough side of the road after which the motion was slowed down and finally brought to a stop. Some of their captors went out of the bus and returned two minutes later. They began to lead the youngest group of which Jerry was among, outside. It was very dark, so Omotara could not see where they were being led to.

‘Ahhh!’ She heard a loud groan which she recognized. Her elder brother, Jeffery had fallen to the floor where he was in the bus, a man who was holding a gun was standing over him and looking at him with mean eyes. It seemed as if Jeffery had tried to peep through the window and the man had hit him on the head with the butt of the gun. Her eyes met with her brother’s own , his lips were vibrating, he was trying to say something to her but he was inaudible. His eyes closed slowly and gradually. Omotara’s cry increased, she couldn’t tell if he died or fainted.

‘When we get out of this bus, I’ll make sure his head is cut off’ the man who hit Jeffery said in a warning tone to others. Omotara he felt like getting up to do something like hitting the man furiously until he kills her too but she couldn’t, her bones were so weak that she couldn’t even lift her legs without vibrating. It wasn’t easy to be forced on several sex rounds with the evil man whose body weight was four times hers.

The main aim of the rapist was actually to molest her till death, but she somehow survived. He had to give up after he had gone several rounds with the innocent girl and she wasn’t showing any signs of dying soon.

Jeffery was still laying down unconsciously when the bus stopped again, that was after another hour of traveling. Some of their captors went out again and returned few minutes later to transfer another group of kids to another bus. Omotara was part of the new group to be transferred. Her peers began to get up and follow the directions given by the men to move out of the bus. Omotara was too weak to get up, she tried to, but her legs failed her. She was still there with her back rested on the bus wall as she struggled to get up, she noticed a pair of boots stop in front of her, she looked up to see the person. It was the same man who led the group into her house and molested her, she could recognise his mask and color of clothes. He took off his mask gradually, revealing his mean face. He snarled and stared at her wickedly.

‘Didn’t you see your mates going out?’ He barked and landed a thunderous slap on her face. She rolled on the floor with crying aloud. The intensity of her headache increased, her vision was becoming blur. She stared into his face, still weeping before she blacked out.

It was until the next morning she opened her eyes, very hungry she was. She found herself in a forest, laying on grass, clad only in her pant. Her stomach grumbled as she tried to sit up, she could see her peers passing by her side and carrying several logs of wood on their heads, all dressed only in pants also.

Something landed on her head softly, a loaf of bread. She picked it up hurriedly and started devouring it like an hungry lion without trying to find the source. A man came to stand in front of her, she looked up at his face. He didn’t look like a Nigerian, but he was African.

‘Eat quickly. You can get water at the river over there’ the man said, pointing in direction of the river. His intonation and pronunciation further confirmed his non Nigerian citizenship. ‘Join your mates immediately you finish, there’s lot of work to do’ he concluded and walked away.

She paused a little while and turned around to look, it seemed that the work had begun a long time, all the girls were sweating heavily. Her headache began again.

~~PRESENT~~

‘Omotara’ Henry called. She blinked her eyes and turned slowly to him, her eyes looked heavy but there was still no tears in it.

‘Jeffery is dead. How do you claim to have seen him?’ She asked in a threatening voice.

‘He’s not dead, I saw him, he came to me and we spoke. He told me exactly the same story of how your parents were killed, his account was in no way different from yours…’ Henry’s phone interrupted again. He took it out and silenced it after taking a look at the screen, Mr Sylvester was the one calling now. He silenced it permanently and returned it into his pocket.

‘Where did you see him?’ Tarasha asked.

‘He came to look for you and found me’ Henry answered.

Tarasha blinked her eyes, she was doubting his answer.

‘You’ve also seen him before’ he quickly added. ‘The man who I saw you with in the Catholic Church premises’

Tarasha paused to think. Jefa’s picture flashed back into her mind. She tried to connect his face with Jeffery’s but she couldn’t find any connection. The man was way older than Jeffery should be. She shook her head in disagreement, mumbling some words to herself. 

‘He told me your story, your full name and even showed me one of your childhood pictures.

Tarasha shook her head in disbelief, she opened the door and stepped out. She couldn’t take all what he was saying, it couldn’t be true. Jeffery was dead, the man who hit him with the butt of the gun had promised to take off his head.

Henry stepped out of the car and turned to join her at the other side.

‘Where is he now?’ She asked him.

‘He’s in town, I have his phone number’ Henry said excitedly, he took out his phone and began to search through his contact details. He dialed Jeffrey immediately he saw it. Unfortunately, the line was switched off.

‘His phone is switched off now’ Henry announced, looking disappointed.

‘Henry, please leave’ Tarasha said with a strict tone and began to walk into the building without looking back.

‘Tara, we still need to talk’ Henry pleaded for her to wait stop but to no avail. She was done with him already.

~~~

Jefa continued to flip through the pages of the diary. The writings on each day increased as he progressed. He realised that the events of older days were actually recopied into the diary, they were transferred from the previous ones and compiled into that one, it could be seen from the writing and ink of pen used. Their mother must have summarised and removed somethings she considered irrelevances from the older ones because she had about five to ten older days on a page while she had the days which were closer to her death more detailed. Precisely, two months before May 27, 2014 more detailed; each days within that period took at least half a page. But the ones were before that period were very brief, the most brief ones were the ones of the early 2000s, each day contained only a line or even half a line.

His mother could not have recopied it alll by herself, she must have paid someone to do it for her. The detailed ones were the only ones written by her, it was evident from the handwriting and neatness of pages. The total writings ended at the third quarter of the book. He finally stopped at some pages after the middle page.  March 27, 2014. He began to read.

“Today, my family finally moved from our comfortable duplex in Victoria Island, Lagos state to an hideout in Gwaskara, Borno state. That was the only place we could think of running to since my husband is an indigene of the state. The conspiracy and threats of our enemies had become more serious and it looked like the police could do nothing about it. Even the Inspector’s advice was for us to hide for the main time until they were less angry with us. The house is not that bad, it just doesn’t look as comfortable as our home is. It also needs thorough cleaning and washing. Thank God schools have not resumed yet, I would do the cleaning together with my kids tomorrow.”

Jefa placed a finger on the page and closed the diary. He raised up his head, deep in thoughts. He remembered that Sunday several years ago, a mini van had arrived into their compound as early as 3am, their parents woke them up and asked them to start arranging their clothes and books into bags. Jeffery did not understand what was going on then, all his efforts to get an explanation from his parents failed as they gave him no response. His mother even shouted at him angrily to shut him up, only for her to apologize two days later in the new house and promise to tell him the reason for the movement when he comes of age. He never got that explanation till his parents were sent forcefully out of the land of the living.

Who could those enemies be? He thought. Who were those who sent his family out of Lagos to a place of unrest and unsettled security .

Except for an instance where he saw his parents discussing with so much tension, he had never heard, seen or suspected that his parents had enemies. He used to think they were loved by everybody due to their generous attitude and their selflessness in carrying out their medical profession.

He opened the diary again and began to flip backwards, scanning through each page briefly. He stopped at February 24, 2014

“Today, the threats against us increased. The Chief once again asked Danjuma to approve the deal but Danjuma refused. The Chief went ahead to give us a deadline of one month to consider it. He promised to take our lives if we do not comply and sign the deal. I’ve never been so confused in my life. My husband is confused too.

We’ve reported the situation to the police but no step has been taken to act on our case, I strongly believe that these Chiefs have a very strong backup in the force. May God help us and save us from this terrible thing that is about to befall us”

Jefa closed the diary again, he was more determined now to find out who the Chiefs were. He opened and began to flip backwards. A knock sounded on his door. He paused, looked up and kept quiet to listen well. The knock came again. He quickly got up and returned the diary to its former position. He straightened his clothes and went to the door. The police had come for him as expected, he had explanations to make about the trouble that ensued in his store the last night.

~~~~~

Tarasha walked into the house without taking another look at Henry. No one was in the living room when she stepped in, she knew that they were all peeping before and had all run into their rooms when they saw her coming. She saw the widow curtain which was slightly opened. She walked closer to the window and peeped from it. Henry was still standing and bfacing the house, he saw her peeping. She rolled down curtains immediately after their eyes met and turned back to lock the entrance door carefully. She began to proceeded to the rooms section.

‘Cole, Benny, Aisha’ she called in a loud but gentle voice as she stopped in front of Aisha’s room. One after the other, they all came out to meet her.

‘Start packing everything that’s important, we are leaving here in the next one hour’

‘Cole’ she called and turned to him. ‘Hack into the security cameras system and stop all transmissions from this area and several kilometres surrounding it. I believe we are being monitored, so we have to be careful’ she said and began to proceed into her own room. She stopped at the entrance and turned back. Cole, Aisha and Benny were still standing on the same spots they were, staring at her in awe. They wondered if what you said about them being monitored was true. Then that means that their Waterloo was near.

She walked past them to the living room again and went to the window to check. Henry had just opened the gate and was returning to his car. He stopped before entering the driver’s seat and glanced around the house again. Tarasha quickly closed the curtain to hide herself. He fixed his gaze on the window for a second, he knew someone was looking at him through the window but he couldn’t tell who it was. He opened the door and entered into the car. He kicked off the engine and reversed out of the compound. He came out of his car again to close back the gate before driving off.

Tarasha left the window and walked back to her room. Benny and the others had already entered their rooms. She got inside her room and locked the door. She sat on the bed, buried her face on her palms and let out a deep breath. She had underestimated the Nigerian police, she began to think. She thought that all her tracks had been covered, not knowing that someone, Henry was on her trail. She was sure in her heart that he was an undercover cop sent to bring her down. That was the reason for all he had been doing.

She thought of how he bumped into her at the computer shop when she first came into Abuja, it all began to make sense to her now. She had been too careless to note that his constant running into her was not by mistake but was planned. She was being monitored.

Ahe now understood his romance tactics with her, it was very common for undercover cops to have a romantic relationship with their targets, it always worked for them. Now the common saying “Feelings are for fools” taught to them by the Nefary clan was making complete sense. The day an assassin begins to have affections is the day the assassin’s death warrant is signed.

How did Henry find out all he did about her? Her real name, the name of her brother and what she did. Of course, he hadn’t seen her brother Jeffrey, he died a long time ago. Or how could her brother even have recognised her after so many years? Henry was an expert agent, she was very sure.

She came up with a clue of how her bloodline was traced and how Henry found out that the name of her brother, Jeffrey. Henry must have taken something from her during their time of staying together, likely a strand of her hair when she foolishly agreed to stay in the cameras commission house with him. They must have gotten the strand from her comb when she went out. With that they would have been able to trace her background and find out all about her origin in Nigeria.

She got up from the bed and flung open the wardrobe. She began to take out her guns and ammunitions first, she arranged them into their bags neatly.

~~

Henry had driven for thirty minutes before he remembered to check his phone. He had just left the village where he went to visit Tarasha and had gotten into town. He pulled up close to the area where commercial cabs were parked. He took out his phone and drew the security pattern, he clicked on the call logs icon. He dialed Sylvester’s number first.

‘Hello sir’ he spoke immediately the call was answered.

‘Hello, Mr Henry. We’ve been trying to reach you for a long time. What happened? Were you in church?’ Sylvester’s voice came through impatiently.

‘Yes, I was in church today and my phone was on silence mode’ Henry gave the expected excuse.

‘Oh! I never knew you were a religious type’ Sylvester exclaimed.

‘I’m not religious, I’m a Christian’ Henry corrected.

‘Anyways, have you spoken with Agent Dakolo? He’s the one who urgently needs to reach you.’

‘No, but I’ll call him right away’

‘Please do’

‘Okay’ Henry ended the call and dialed Dakolo immediately.

‘Good afternoon sir’ Henry greeted first.

‘Good afternoon Henry, how are you doing?’

‘Fine sir, what about you?’

‘I’m good. We need to see urgently’

‘Where do you want us to meet sir?’ Henry asked.

‘We can meet in your house or any place of your choice’ Dakolo said.

‘In my house?’ Henry sounded uncomfortable with the idea.

‘Anywhere you want. In a restaurant or wherever but not in the office’

‘I think I should come and meet you in Elymax, we can discuss in the restaurant there’ 

‘Okay, I’ll be expecting you in the next thirty minutes’

‘Yeah sure’ Henry ended the call.

He threw his phone to the backseat and let out a deep breath as rested his head. He closed his eyes and his thoughts once again drifted back to Omotara. He wondered what the best way to help her was. Now that she wasn’t acting like someone who was going to easily cooperate with him. The picture of the bullet which he saw with her flashed back into his mind, he also remembered the knife which cut her hand. He wasn’t surprised because he expected that her work as a fraudster would also require her to keep weapons and guns.

A thought flashed through his mind, scaring him to death. Could Omotara be Samantha Osman, the mastermind of the assassinations? He shook his head in disagreement with himself, the thought of the possibility alone frightened him extremely. He chose to believe otherwise, Omotara was just an unlucky girl who had found her way to be a fraudster. She couldn’t be the dangerous assassin. He kicked off the engine and drove away to meet Dakolo.

**35 minutes later**

Henry had no issues spotting Dakolo where he was seated immediately he walked into the restaurant. Dakolo was seated close to the entrance. Several other customers were eating and discussing in the restaurant.

‘Good afternoon sir’ Henry greeted as he approached the table.

‘Good afternoon’ Dakolo stood up to shake hands with him before sitting down. There were soft drinks on the table already which had been ordered by Dakolo.

‘You can change your drink if you don’t like it’ Dakolo said on seeing the way Henry stared at the table.

‘No, it’s okay’ Henry smiled. ‘I was just wondering what the reason could be for the urgent meeting’

‘Nothing new’ Dakolo adjusted his seating position. ‘Still the same case, just that we’ve been mandated to take more drastic steps. We need to make an headway on the case this week. I’ll be having a meeting with the president this week and also some of the top security ministers and we need substantial progress reports’

‘Okay’ Henry fixed his gaze on Dakolo, listening attentively.

‘You told me yesterday when we discussed that we can’t trace the source of the past cameras disruption, we can only wait till there’s another attempt on it’

‘Yes, I did. Any attempt to trace it now may lead us to a trap’ Henry reconfirmed.

‘Okay, but what happens if Chief Jubril’s assassination was the last of the attacks?’

Henry narrowed his eyes thoughtfully without saying any word. ‘Does it mean that they go scot-free with what they’ve done already?’ Dakolo continued. ‘The way it looks now, we are helpless and with little or no clue to lead us to this assassin group. Only the picture of the suspected lady Samantha Osman is what we have’

Henry’s heart skipped a beat as he remembered his suspicion of Omotara being the Samantha again. ‘Can I see the picture please?’

‘Of course sure, you may have seen the person somewhere before’ Dakolo bent to pick a small briefcase which was in between the legs of his chair. He placed it on his lap and opened it. He brought out an iPad, closed back the briefcase and returned it to the former position. He turned on the iPad and waited patiently for it to boot. After some seconds of searching, he handed the iPad to Henry. ‘That’s her passport, it’s not recent one though. According to our investigations, her real name is Aisha Bello. We believe she’s the one who disguises herself as Samantha Osman. All our efforts to trace her has proved futile’

Henry stared at the passport keenly. His mind was greatly relieved as the person in it did not in anyway look like Omotara. He heaved a sigh of relief and handed the iPad back to Dakolo. ‘I’ve not seen that face anywhere before’

‘Do you want to see more of her recent pictures?’ Dakolo asked as he took back the iPad, opening a picture which showed the grown Aisha.

‘No’ Henry refused politely. ‘I don’t know that person, I’ve never seen her before’

‘Okay’ Dakolo switched off the iPad and returned it into the briefcase. ‘So, we need to work. We can’t wait and hope until there’s another attempt made’

‘Sir, I think the NSCC has done what needs to be done already. The footages which were never stored with us cannot be recovered in any way. We’ve done what we can do to prevent a reoccurrence’

Dakolo bent forward and stared into Henry’s eyes. ‘I know, but the police needs your help now more than ever before. We need you to work with us’

‘How?’ Henry asked, he frowned slightly. 

Dakolo rested back into his chair again, he folded his arms. ‘First, you were here when the last attack happened and it even happened in this same state’

‘Yes sir’ Henry answered. A thought came into his mind. He hope that Dakolo would not ask him questions that would reveal that he was also an attendee at the party.

‘Is there any group or individual to suspect personally?’

‘Huh?’ Henry was visibly shaken by the question.

‘Do you have anyone you suspect?’ Dakolo asked again, this time in a calmer tone. He stared into Henry’s eyes as he waited for an answer.

~~~~

Cole was seated on the three seater sofa, already dressed up in a black top and black Jean trouser while the others were still in the rooms, gathering their loads. He opened his bag which was on the sofa and brought out his laptop. He placed it on his lap and opened it up to boot. After a minute, the computer was on. He began the assignment given to him to hack the cameras system.

After some minutes of following normal procedure, strange commands and notifications began to pop up on the laptop screen. The one which got him more worried was a pop-up window which displayed, “Real Address to be revealed, continue? Yes/No”

He closed the whole process and started from the scratch again, taking extra care in following each step. At the end of the whole process, he received the same pop-up window. He clicked on No and the process was aborted. He frowned and thought for a while, something was definitely wrong.

He cleared the software cache and history and even restored it back to the default settings. He now had to log in again and make some settings which would require a longer time to complete.

‘Have you stopped the transmission?’ Tarasha asked as she appeared behind him, trying to wear a bag to her back. She was dressed in the same manner as Cole, the same color of clothes but she had black gloves on which Cole didn’t. She was dragging a traveling box along.

‘No’ Cole looked up as Tarasha got to his front.

‘What’s delaying it?’ She asked and sat on the one seater sofa by the Cole’s left.

‘There’s a strange pop-up showing at the end of the process’ Cole answered with a frown.

‘What pop-up?’

‘I’m almost there. I’ll show you if it comes up again’  Cole replied. After two minutes of continuous typing and clicking, Cole heaved a sigh of frustration. ‘It’s here again’ he said and sank back into the sofa like he had given up.

Tarasha got up and sat beside him. She squinted on seeing the message of the pop-up window.

‘Should I click yes?’ Cole asked, looking into Tarasha’s face. She replied him with a warning look and he kept mute.

‘If you click yes, they won’t only be able to find this location but would also be able to recover the stream’ she said as she got up, she bit her lips and stared into the air for some seconds.

~~~

‘Yesss’ Henry replied, stressing the word. He knew better than to say no because he was sure that Dakolo would catch him easily especially when he had not been able to hide his shock at the question.

‘ I’m thinking that we could have an in-house member of the gang in the NSCC, I’m suspecting those working in the headquarters especially’ Henry quickly added a well thought up lie.

‘Does this include Mr Sylvester?’ Dakolo asked.

‘Hum… Not really. Mr Sylvester seems to naive to be involved in that. But still, everyone is a suspect’

‘Including you?’ Dakolo suggested with a smile.

‘Yes, including me’ Henry replied with a brief laugh.

‘Then, how do we go about this? How do we investigate your office?’ Dakolo asked, putting back on his serious look.

Henry’s phone beeped. A warning notification alarm rang out. His call ringing tone began to sound at the same time. He brought out the phone and checked the caller.

‘Mr Sylvester’ he whispered to Dakolo.

‘Go ahead, answer, hear what he has to say’

Henry answered the call. ‘Mr Henry, the whole office is ringing with the alarms, someone is trying to hack our systems again’

‘Huh?’

‘Yes, I can see it on my computer here’

‘Okay, just wait for me. I’ll be in the office in few minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on it , record every change in direction that occurs’ Henry said and ended the call. He confirmed the Sylvester’s report by the alarm on his phone.

From the look on Henry’s face, Dakolo could perceive that something bad was happening. ‘The gang is trying to disrupt our system again’ Henry said to Dakolo’s waiting ears.

‘Wow’

Henry got up quickly and picked his car keys from the table. ‘I have to go now’

‘Yes sure’ Dakolo permitted. He got up also and took out his phone. He dialed the headquarters as Henry left him and walked away.

‘Send enough men to every entry and exit to the major roads in town. There seem to be another security breach right now, something dangerous may happen’ he said into the phone.

 ~~~~~~~~~
Tarasha removed the bag on her back and returned to the sofa. She took out her own laptop and turned it on. She looked into Cole’s laptop again as she waited for hers to complete the booting process. She smiled lightly. Whoever had helped tightened the cameras security system had done a good job but still had more work to do.  Her laptop was on, she clicked on the start button and selected the “run” process. The “run window” came up. She typed in a code. “Nef-Tar-diag-falc.” After some seconds of loading, the whole computer system display changed and another window popped up, requesting for a password. She typed in the password and the window closed. In just few minutes, she had swapped from the windows operating system to a personal operating system created by herself.
‘Go get the rest of the team, get the bags into the car’ Tarasha said to Cole who was staring into the screen in awe. Cole closed his laptop and got up immediately. ‘You guys should also get your guns ready, we’ll take out anyone that tries to stop or monitor us, even if it’s someone we only suspect’ she added before Cole began to move.
‘That includes Henry’ she added again. Cole paused and turned to look at her. ‘Kill him if he ever comes your way again’ she stared into his eyes and reiterated. Cole turned and proceeded to the rooms.
Tarasha continued with her work on the laptop. In two minutes time, Aisha and Benny came out with their luggages. Cole also followed behind, he picked the Boss’ box and carried it with him outside the building.
~~~
Henry walked in hurriedly into the NSCC head office, he headed straight for Mr Sylvester’s office without waiting to greet or respond to anybody’s greeting. He entered the office without knocking. Sylvester was looking into the a computer with another technician. Henry sat on the visitors seat and turned the second computer which was on Mr Sylvester’s table to himself. He clicked open the software to check the status.
‘Let’s go to the control room’ he said and got up from the seat. Sylvester and the other technician followed him. They proceeded out of the office and headed for the control room.
‘When exactly was the attempt made?’ Henry asked as he opened the door to the control room. The control room was brightened up with yellow bulbs, there were twelve desktops neatly arranged on three rows. An operator sat on the third row behind the main control system, he got up on sighting Henry and Sylvester coming towards him.
‘The first attempt was by 12.46pm, three other attempts have been made after that’ Sylvester replied. Henry gave Sylvester an eye signal to send out the two our technicians.
‘You can wait outside’ Sylvester said to the technicians and they left reluctantly.
Henry sat behind the main system and began to type on the keyboard hurriedly. ‘So what locations were spotted?’ Henry asked. Sylvester stood by his side with a hand placed on the table as he looked into the screen.
‘No location was spotted’ Sylvester replied. ‘It didn’t not show any point, direction or even distance’
Henry looked into his face, surprised. ‘What do you mean?’ He questioned with a frown and turned back to the screen slowly. Sylvester gave no reply since Henry was almost finding out himself.
‘No, this can’t be’ Henry shook his head in disbelief and frustration. He was disappointed with the result displayed by the software. ‘This can’t be’
‘What?’ Sylvester asked softly.
‘Who else apart from the both of us is aware of this new software?’
‘None, except for Agent Dakolo’
Henry hurriedly brought out his phone. Dakolo’s call was coming in at the right time. ‘Hello sir’
‘Hello Henry, have you been able to determine the location and source?’ Dakolo questioned.
‘No’ Henry said flatly. ‘There was an attempt but they did not break in.’ Dakolo gave no response, his intake of breath from the other side was heard by Henry.
‘Sir, did you tell anyone about the new software I made yesterday?’ Henry added another question.
‘No, why?’
‘They didn’t fall into the trap. It’s like the person behind the security attack somehow knew that his location would be revealed and did not complete the last step’
‘But you guys got the alarm?’
‘Yes. Sir’
‘So what do you think it is?’
‘I…’ The warning alarm tone began to ring out again from all the computer systems in the room. ‘sh*t! I’ll call you back sir’
‘I’m coming over’ Dakolo said before Henry ended the call.
A new attempt had been made again. Sylvester turned to silence the alarms on the other computers while Henry got himself busy with the tracking. Sylvester returned three minutes later to meet Henry staring into the computer in an agitated manner.
‘What’s wrong?’ Sylvester asked. ‘Did we get their location’
Henry looked up into his face and shook his head in a pitiful manner. ‘This time, not only the transmission to the branch and regional offices was stopped, the transmission to this head office and the country’s main control point has been redirected.
Sylvester became dumb instantly, his legs began to shake, he dragged a seat from the front of another computer and sat on it before his legs failed him. His lips began to tremble. Henry could perceive from his lips movement that the man was complaining about his job. Henry hissed and got up from his seat. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath through his mouth, he stared up to the ceiling.
His mind began to wander around as he sympathised with himself for his failure, the first major failure he would encounter in his job as a software technician and hacker. He wondered who could be brainbox in the assassin team, pictures of his friends and top colleagues in the same job began to roll into his mind, every of them was now a suspect.
‘What do we do now? I don’t want to lose my job’ Sylvester manager m lamented, looking up at Henry.
Henry hissed and returned back to the seat behind the computer, Sylvester’s eyes following him around. ‘Do you think of anything else other than your job?’ Henry slammed. ‘I mean, someone is in danger of being killed now and you’re complaining about your job’
Sylvester took his gaze away shamefully. He got up slowly and began to pace around. Henry picked his phone from the table and dialed Dakolo.
~~~
‘Henry, I’m on my way to your office’ Dakolo said into the phone as he hurried out of the police office building.
‘Sir, we couldn’t get the location or source and we lost transmission too. The assassins must be on their way to carry out their job’
‘Damn!’ Dakolo exclaimed, stamping his feet on the ground. He turned back and climbed back the stairs into the building. ‘You mean, even your head office has no signal from the street cameras?’
‘No’ Henry replied in a very low tone.
‘Thanks’ Dakolo was about to cut the call.
‘Sir, I didn’t tell you before… ‘ Henry’s voice came up suddenly again.
‘What?’ Dakolo said, heading for the computer room in the building.
‘We don’t know if the attempt was made from Abuja, there’s ninety five percent possibility that it could be in another state’
‘sh*t!’ Dakolo cursed as he opened the door to a large open office, he stopped at the entrance. ‘And what do we do now?’
‘Sir, I’ll get back to you when I get a solution’
Dakolo ended the call and walked in, closing the transparent glass door behind. The open office which serves over ten police officials had only two people in it now, Ken and a computer operator. Majority did not come to the office on Sunday and the few ones that came had gone out to man the major entries and exits of the town. Ken’s eyes followed Dakolo from the doorway until he got close to them.
‘You’re not going again?’ Ken asked.
Dakolo shook his head in negative. He got to the table and picked up a phone which he dropped before leaving.
‘Officer, call more officers from their homes to join you, even the ones on leave and make sure that every team is led by a senior officer. Let no sergeants or recruits head a team’ Dakolo said into the phone.
‘We still have no signal from the NSCC’ Ken said to Dakolo after the call was ended.
‘Forget that’ Dakolo dismissed it with a wave of the hand. ‘Even their head offices have no signal not clue of what is happening on the streets’/
Dakolo dialed the IG’s number. ‘Sir… Yes sir, we are on it’ he replied to a question.
‘Sir, we need to give directives for officials to be deployed in other states like we’ve done here, there’s no assurance that the assassin group is attacking someone in Abuja’ Dakolo said, he kept quiet for some seconds to listen to the reply before he continued. ‘There’s also need for announcement to be made on all media platforms. We should warn the public, so that they can report anything suspicious immediately. Thank you sir’
Dakolo detached the gun from his belt side where it was. ‘We have to join the team now’ he said to Ken who nodded in agreement.
‘Make a warning post on Twitter and Facebook’ Dakolo said to the computer operator before walking away with Ken.
+++++
‘Boss, where are we heading for?’ Cole asked for the fifth time after receiving no answers to his previous attempts. He was driving with Tarasha in the blue Toyota Camry while Benny and Aisha were in the other vehicle, the mini van.
‘Pull over’ Tarasha said calmly in somewhat like a baritone voice. He obeyed and halted the car after driving away from the tarred portion to the untarred area which was close to the bush. Benny and Aisha joined and halted the van few centimetres behind them.
Tarasha came out of the car after the engine was turned off. The bright sunlight made her squint as she looked around the area, she placed her palm above her eyes to reduce the sun rays getting into it. After a brief eye survey of the place, she bent to look inside the car. ‘Where are we?’ She asked Cole.
‘Ermm… Let me check’ he replied and took out his phone, he released the seat belt and opened the door.
Tarasha continued her eye survey of the place. The heavy breeze made her unzipped black hip-hop jacket and air fly backwards. The sun intensity reduced as a brief cloud covered it. Tarasha turned back to car and climbed the bonnet to look over the thick bushes, she could see a village hidden behind it. She came down and took out her phone from her skinny black jeans. She dialed Chief Gab’s number.
‘Good afternoon Chief’ she greeted.
‘Good afternoon’ Chief Gab answered, his voice sounded like he had just woken up from sleep.
‘Chief, we need new accommodation urgently’ she broke the news straight away.
‘Okay’ he said with a loud yawn. ‘I’ll call you back tomorrow morning’
‘No Chief…’ She was saying when the call was cut. She called back. ‘Chief, it’s urgent. We need the new accommodation arranged in a matter of minutes’ she said, half-shouting into the phone.
‘But why are you just telling me now?’
‘It’s urgent, we need the new accommodation urgently’
‘Where are you now?’ The Chief asked, sounding readier to help.
‘Where are we?’ She took the phone off her ear and whispered to Cole who was outside the car now and leaning on the bonnet.
‘We are close to Baske village’ Cole replied.
‘Baske village’ Tarasha said into the phone.
‘Humm… Give me sometime, let me check what I can do’ Chief Gab replied. His tone reflected very little hope.
‘What next boss?’ Benny asked approaching them from the back. Tarasha looked at him but replied with silence.
‘We can’t go any further, I’m sure we’ll soon come by a police post if we continue’ she finally said after some minutes of silence. Cole and Benny were already standing in front of her where she sat on the boot.
Vehicles and fuel tankers drove by the road occasionally as they waited in silence. Tarasha was still seated on the boot, Aisha remained in the passenger’s seat of the van while Cole and Benny walked around the place, sightseeing and discussing among themselves. Tarasha’s phone rang after seven minutes.
‘Did you drop anyone today?’ Chief Gab’s voice rang in impatiently.
‘No, why?’ Tarasha was taken aback by the question.
‘The police are on the lookout for an assassin gang that’s disrupted the cameras security system’ he replied.
‘I know, that’s why we need a new accommodation urgently’
‘I’ll call you back’ the call ended again.
Tarasha came down from the boot. Cole and Benny had come closer to hear the result of the conversation. ‘We can’t sit idly like this, we’re going to be suspected soon’ she said to them
‘Yes, we were about to also tell you that. Travellers have been staring at us and we don’t think that it is safe especially as you said that we’re being monitored’
‘Why don’t you bring out some tools and act like we are repairing the car’ Tarasha suggested, tapping the boot. Benny and Cole nodded in agreement. Cole walked to the driver’s side of the car to take the Boot’s key.
He returned with a slight frown on his face. ‘This method ain’t gonna work for long, it would be suspicious if people still see us here after several minutes’ he said before opening the boot.
Tarasha nodded in agreement with him. ‘Just take out the tools and start working’ she said. Her phone rang again.
‘Chief Gab’
‘Tarasha, the only place close to you where I have another house is Asokoro’ Chief Gab said.
‘We’ll encounter the police if we are to drive back there’ she complained. Chief Gab was silent.
‘Okay’ Tarasha finally gave up. ‘Send the address and how you want us to get into the house’ she ended the call.
She walked to Cole and Benny who were about to take out a tyre. ‘Guys, we’re going to Asokoro’ she called, they looked up. ‘You’ll remove the tyre and fix it back immediately. That would give me enough time to prepare
‘I and Aisha would leave here in this car while two of you would take the van. Before you follow us, you’ll get to the village at the back of this bush and fill the space in the van’s boot with firewood, that will hide our bags. There’ll be a tracker on the car that’ll lead you to us’ she gave the order and left them to continue working. She went to the boot of the van and pulled out a bag, she took out some makeup kits from the bag and entered into the driver’s seat of the van.
Aisha was seated by the passenger’s side, sweating as a result of the heat. ‘Dry your face and neck, you need to disguise now’ she said to Aisha who was staring at her anxiously.
Minutes later, Aisha face had changed into someone else’s. Tarasha also added makeups, they took out female handbags from the boot and they both looked like they were coming from a party.
Tarasha and Aisha entered into the car after the men were done fixing the tyre. They drove off and left the men to carry their own cross.

~~~~~~~

5pm, same day

Dakolo, Henry and Sylvester stood in a large room, staring into a screen on the wall in silence. Except for their three chairs which they had abandoned behind to stand closer to the screen,  the white painted room was empty of any other materials or furniture.

The large screen of 100cm by 150cm was inbuilt into the wall, it was displaying a DVD selection menu of fifty options, each showing the captured sections and parts of the streets. From time to time, Sylvester would swipe up the screen, revealing another different DVD selection menu and they would look into it again. Occasionally, they would see a violent or deadly scene as a part of the options and select it, only for them to find out that the police were already aware and in charge of such situations.

They were beginning to get fed up but they remained quiet in hope that they would find something useful. After twenty five minutes of constant swiping and changing, Henry was first to express his dissatisfaction.

He gave a slight hiss and returned to his seat, Sylvester and Dakolo took a glance at him and turned back to face the screen.

‘Don’t you think it’s a waste of time?’ Henry finally spoke, making them turn their gazes at him. ‘There are still hundreds of thousands options to see. How do you think we won’t get weary watching all of them? Is it even possible to watch all? It’s not! We can’t watch up to a quarter of it.’

Dakolo moved back and sat on the seat beside Henry, still looking at the screen.

‘They took off the signals for three hours and returned it on their own will, it means that they must have finished whatever they wanted to do’ Henry continued, he took out an handkerchief and cleaned the water formed in his eyes as a result of tiredness and several yawnings.

The day had been a bad one for Henry, it was the first time he would experience such failure and defeat. Well, it wasn’t really a failure, the program be created did not fail, it had done the job he built it for only that those he wanted to trap with it used an higher method.

‘I think you’re right’ Sylvester joined in, turning back against the screen. ‘It’s better we leave it for the regional, city and streets offices to monitor’

Sylvester faced the screen again and turned it off, he picked a white board from the floor and covered the screen with it, concealing it in a way that someone else wouldn’t know that there was a screen there. He turned and joined Dakolo and Henry, he sat on the third seat.

After some minutes of silence, Dakolo’s phone rang. He answered the call and spoke with the caller for about two minutes.

‘Another murder case has been reported, this time in Benue state’ Dakolo said as he returned the phone into his pocket. ‘But none of these murders have involves a top profile person. Samantha Osman’s group always goes for top citizens’

Henry and Sylvester listened without giving any response. Dakolo turned his chair to face the both of them and looked to their faces one after the other. ‘Tell me’ he finally said, staring at Henry calmly. ‘What happened today? I thought we had it in control already’

Henry wiped his face with his hand and licked his lips heaving a sigh. He began to speak reluctantly, ‘we thought we had it in control but they outsmarted us’

‘How?’ Dakolo asked, squeezing his face.

‘The ware I developed was meant to locate them when they intercept our transmission again and to be able to retrieve the transmission’ Henry began to explain. ‘But they did not intercept our transmission this time, they stopped at trying and did something else’

Dakolo narrowed his gaze. ‘What did they do?’

‘They halted the whole system operations’ Henry stated. ‘Previously, they would only redirect the transmission of the area under attack from our server but what they did today was different. They crashed the whole process. All the street security cameras in the nation did not work for three hours’

Dakolo’s mouth was left agape as he let out a deep breath and shook his head. ‘Unbelievable, an assassin group is terrorizing a whole nation’ he exclaimed.

‘We underestimated the technical power of this assassin group. They are very intelligent and always ready. I believe they have several alternatives, so when we block a way, another way is opened immediately’ Henry lamented.

‘I didn’t underestimate them’ Dakolo spoke slowly after some brief seconds of silence. ‘I always knew they were technical giants. I once asserted in a meeting that their technical ability was far greater than their physical abilities and artillery. But nevertheless, something has to be done to stop this deadly group.

‘We still need to do more work. And I mean more serious work. The assassin group is far ahead of our team’

Dakolo narrowed his gaze at Henry. He didn’t believe that there could be someone who was ahead of Henry in respect to hacking and software engineering in Nigeria. He smiled briefly. ‘So you mean someone can be ahead of you in hacking?’

Henry stared at him for a while. ‘Yes, there are lots of people that could be ahead of me, they’ve not just been given a voice like I’ve been. They’ve not been discovered. And by the way, I just started work in the NSCC few weeks ago’

‘It’s okay’ Dakolo cleaned his face with an handkerchief.  ‘So what’s the way forward now? The NSCC plays a major role in the nation’s security’

‘What we need to do is to be ahead of the group. We need to block all their possible ways’

‘How do you intend to do that?’

‘We need more hands’ Henry stated.

‘More hands?’

‘Yes, we need more programmers to join us. More ideas from experts are needed. I believe a combination of several expert ethical hackers and programmers would form a formidable team against the assassin group’ Henry expatiated.

‘Huh?’ Sylvester who had been listening in silence joined in.

‘Yes Mr Sylvester. The NSCC needs to hire more hands.’

‘But…’Sylvester stammered. ‘We hired you because of this, we are expected to have produced results’

‘We’ve produced results sir’ Henry retorted, turning his focus to Sylvester, it was Dakolo’s turn to be silent now. ‘We’ve produced results, but the assassin group’s result seems to be far greater than ours’

‘Damn! There’s no way we can hire more people now, the government is not releasing enough funds to us’

‘Then you have to convince them to release more to you because we need more hands to make this work’ Henry continued with confidence. ‘You can’t employ me as one man and expect me to tackle a group, an expert assassin group at that. And furthermore, we need to be on the attacking side and not defence. We need to develop bugs to attack their operations. If all we do is keep making ways to defend their attacks, they’ll keep changing their mode of attack.’

Sylvester’s phone interrupted with its loud  ring tone. He took out his phone hurriedly to end the call but had to calm down when he saw the caller’s ID.

‘It’s Sir Rikau’ he whispered to Henry and Dakolo, gasping lightly. He stood up from his seat and walked closer to the door to answer the call. He returned to the seat a minute later. His countenance had changed.

‘So who are those you want us to hire? Can you give us names of experts? We need to contact them by tomorrow’ Sylvester cut into their discussion.

Henry and Dakolo were surprised at his sudden change of heart. It looked like the phone call had done a miracle.

‘You want to get in touch with them as soon as tomorrow?’ Henry asked again to be sure of what he heard.

‘Yes, is that not what you suggested?’ Sylvester answered with a rhetorical question. ‘See, the IG just called now and he told me that I’ll be having a meeting with the President and other security staffs this Friday. I need to present tangible results, else I may lose my job’

Henry could not hold his laughter at Sylvester’s mention of ‘job’ again. ‘So it’s about losing your job again?’

‘No o, we just have to find a solution to this problem’

Henry shook his head, unconvinced by Sylvester’s words. He began to think of expert hackers who could be called on immediately, those who were creative enough. His mind suddenly drifted to Omotara again, he remembered how she cloned the Canadian number; that was something that he himself could not do perfectly, that means she or the person who did it for her was a sort of a good hacker, although unethical.

He hoped that it was Omotara who cloned the number by herself, that would also give him the opportunity to help her get her decent job and make her be of more use to the nation.

~~~

8pm

There was nothing much to do in the new Lodge in Asokoro. Although it was a flat with three rooms like the previous one, it was moderner, finer, more comfortable and neater. It hadn’t been deserted for long also, the rooms were also larger and air conditioned. All they did was to remove the cobwebs from the walls, sweep and mop the tiled floors, Tarasha and Aisha took care of the cleaning while Benny and Cole went to dispose off the firewoods they had bought to escape.

After all was done, Tarasha sat in the living room on the three seater black leather sofa, her both legs placed on the chair while her back rested on the right armrest. Her laptop was on her laps, she was gathering information about their new targets. 

....to be continued.