Tarasha 37 Evelyn Alexander

Dare and Evelyn drove into Julal Ltd by exactly

7.30am on Monday morning. Dare was

unusually silent throughout the journey, he kept

stealing glances at Evelyn who seemed

surprised by his behaviour. He kept avoiding

discussions anytime she tried to start one.

Several had been floating through his mind

since he had the conversation with his Dad on

phone. The man had suggested that Evelyn

could be a fraudster, but he didn't think so. She

appeared so calm and sincere to him, lovable

too. She has been the only person who had

been able to break the chain of clubbing every

Friday night for him, since the three years it

started.

Could she really be a fraudster? He stole

another quick glance at her face as he turned

off the car engine. 'Here we are' he said to her.

She made a sign of the cross and smiled to

herself, wondering where she learnt it from, she

had never been religious. Well, she was taught

how to act very well.

'You seem nervous' he said with a smile.

'I am nervous' she said and turned to look at

his face. 'I'm meeting with the chairman of one

of the biggest cotton companies in Africa'

'Well' he gave a chuckle. 'He's my father and I

can a.s.sure you that he's not hard to deal with'

She stared at his face. He gave a nod and smile

to rea.s.sure her.

'What are we waiting ? You should get going'.

He opened the door at his side. 'I have some

other things to do here too'

'Okay'she smiled and arranged her suit jacket

properly, waiting as he turned to open the door

for her. 'Thank you.' She stepped out.

'Hey! Dare' someone called, making Dare turn

back.

'You should go now. Beep me when you're

done' he said and gave her a pat on the cheek

before turning to face his caller.

'You'll have a nice time with my Dad. That's if

you're not a fraudster.' He frowned and bit his

lips as she left his present.

'Dare , what did you say?' His friend asked.

'Not you' he smiled and shook his hands with

the friend. The walked away.

**8.10**

'Welcome Miss Evelyn Alex.' Jubril Lawal stared

at her intently.

'Thank you sir' she said and adjusted her sitting

position.

He sat into the swivel and turned his desktop

screen to himself. 'Just a minute' he pleaded

as he focused on the computer.

The dark complexioned man was dressed in a

black suit and blue shirt with a white tie to

complement it. He looked too active and strong

for his age. Except for his face and his belly

which slightly protruded out, one could mistake

him him for a few young businessman.

'Alexander Amaechi' he murmured to himself as

he read through something on the screen.

Tarasha seized the moment to study the

physical appearance of her target very well.

She also studied the office and figured out the

position of the camera. The window was also

large enough to escape through after killing the

man but the barrier was the burglary proof

metals.

'I heard you only arrived in Nigeria few days

ago, hope you didn't have issues locating this

place?'

'Dare helped me, he brought me here' she

answered.

'Your Dad is a very good businessman. I wonder

why I've never heard of him before.'

Evelyn smiled back. 'He's kind of based in

Canada and doesn't really do business outside

of North America'

'I see… So what attracted him to us here?'

Jubril asked.

'I' she replied. 'I had a business idea and shared

it with him and he liked it. I told him I'll like to

travel to Nigeria and he agreed'

'He agreed? You look too young to handle a big

business idea '

Evelyn smiled. 'I might be young but when it

comes to business and investments. I'm a very

mature lady'

'Hmm…I see' Jubril paused for a while and

tapped his pen on the table before he

continued. 'So does that mean we're dealing

with you directly?'

'Something like that, but I'm still working under

the cover of my Dad's company so he's gonna

be involved too'

'I want to get it right' the man said as he

adjusted on the seat. 'Are working with you as

another firm or with AA Ltd, your father's firm?'

Evelyn smiled, she was impressed by the man's

quick action in gathering information about her

supposed father, Alexander Amaechi and the

company. Vladislav, the Russian had done the

great job of organizing the trick after the last

video chat she had with him.

'My father's firm'. She blinked. 'Let's just say

I'm their representative'

'Why don't you just do it with your own name?'

The man relaxed in the swivel as he asked. 'I

believe you are planning to develop your own

brand, don't you think it will be nice if your

brand is first to market our kind of cotton in

Canada?'

'Hmm…' Evelyn stared thoughtfully.

'I think it will give the new brand a quick image

boost' Jubril quickly added.

'I already thought about something like this sir'.

Evelyn began, mentioning each word slowly.

'But the challenge I may have now is getting a

license to import into Canada. The laws there

are kind if strict on new firms'

'That's where your Dad comes in' Jubril leaned

forward. 'You can register under his umbrella

for now and pull out when you're strong enough'

Evelyn heaved a sigh and rested back into her

seat, considering the man's suggestion. After

some seconds she sat up again.

'I'll discuss it with my father' she said with a

smile, in a concluding manner. 'Let's discuss

the real deal now'

'Oh yea, sure' Jubril obliged

......…..

'Mr Henry' Sylvester called as he walked into

his office. Henry was already seated on the

visitors seat, waiting for him.

'Good morning Mr Sylvester.' Henry stood up

and extended his hand to the man.

'Good morning Mr Henry, how are you doing

today?' Sylvester replied, taking Henry's hand in

his.

'Fine, thanks' Henry answered as Sylvester

walked to his seat.

'So, whats new?' Sylvester questioned as he sat

down.

'Nothing is new'. Henry said bluntly.

Sylvester looked up and stared at his face. 'We

can't locate the bug manufacturer' Henry

continued. 'But the manufacturer can locate us'

'What do you mean?' Sylvester placed his hands

on the table.

'Every connection has been caught off by the

manufacturers already, we can only trace it to

them if the manufacturer decides to reconnect'

Henry explained.

Sylvester shook his head in frustration, unable

to let out any word as his mouth opened and

closed again.

'I'm afraid they would not connect again. I

mean why should they? They no longer need

the bug for anything, I'm sure they have several

of it'

'So are you saying there's nothing we can do?'

Sylvester asked, vibrating.

'Yes, except the manufacturer decides to

connect back to it' Henry continued boldly. 'And

when we sense any connection… ' Henry

paused and stared at the man's face.

'When we sense any connection?' Sylvester

asked eagerly.

'It would be a trap, the a.s.sa.s.sins would trap us

the same way Robin was trapped' Henry stated.

Sylvester breathed heavily. He placed his hand

on his head in a sorrowful manner, murmuring

words to himself.

'Is anything the problem?' Henry asked with a

note of concern in his voice.

'Everything is.' Sylvester answered. 'My job is at

stake here'

Henry laughed. 'Come on sir, stop being a

"sisi" ,don't let the government push you around

like a toy'

Sylvester looked up to his face as if to ask for

more explanation. 'Yeah' Henry continued. 'I

thought you work was to make sure the

surveillance cameras security are not hacked

again?'

'Yes, but how do we do it if we can't locate the

source'

'Sir?? Henry stared into his face. 'Do you know

that other countries, including America have

related cases too? No other country has made

so much progress like we've done in the

investigation of this case, so the government

cannot do anything to you, they should be

thanking you for your efforts'

Sylvester remained silent and kept his eyes on

Henry.

'See what I've got here.' Henry dipped his hand

into his pocket and brought out a tiny metal

chip. 'This is the material used to send audio

and video signals to the manufacturer's server'

Sylvester watched keenly and listened with rapt

attention. He stretched his hand to receive the

chip and it was placed in the middle of his

palms. 'This looks strange' he said.

'It's not Nigerian, I'm sure it was made outside

Nigeria' Henry added.

'Or could it have been made in Nigeria here by

a foreigner' Sylvester suggested.

'Yes, that's another likely possibility'

'I think the perpetrator of these crimes are not

Nigerians. For the fact that it's even happening

in other countries' Sylvester said.

'True.' Henry nodded as he reasoned Sylvester's

suggestion. 'There has to be a connection'

'Well, that's the police's job' Sylvester quickly

added. 'Let's find a way to stop the breaks in

the camera transmission that has been

occurring'

**

Henry heaved a relief sigh as he got into the

driver's seat. His meeting with Mr Sylvester

finally ended on a good note. He picked up his

phone to check the time, it was one o'clock

noon. His mind drifted slowly to Evelyn. He

stretched to pick his laptop from the back seat

and placed it on his lap as he pressed the boot

b.u.t.ton. After about three minutes, he dialed

Evelyn's phone number.

'h.e.l.lo' Evelyn's voice came up.

'Hi Evelyn, how are you?' Henry began excitedly,

punching some keys on the laptop keyboard.

'Fine' she answered dryly.

'Where are you now?' Henry asked.

'I'm in my house'

'Are… you… sure?' He p.r.o.nounced one after

the other as he got her location on the laptop.

"Ely Max Hotel" was the location spotted, it was

just fifteen minutes drive from where Henry

was.

'Yes… Why are you asking?'

'Nothing really'

'Okay'

'Yea… I'll be waiting for you outside the hotel in

twenty minutes time, would you let us meet?'

'What hotel?'

'The one you're in, ElyMax, I know you're not at

home'

'Oh… How did you know where I was?' She

asked with a chuckle.

'Never mind for now. I may tell you if you agree

to meet with me'

'Okay, but let's meet in the hotel, I don't want

to go out, we can stay in the restaurant and

talk' Evelyn suggested.

'Hmm… Nigeria girls, she wants to eat so she

asks for a date in the restaurant' Henry smiled

as he murmured to himself. 'No problem' he

said aloud.