Tarasha 45 Mallam Jeff

reasons. Firstly, she was sure that Afo and his

guys weren't after them. The second reason

was that she wasn't with her phone, it had

been seized by Afo's men, so she had no GPS

to find the right way home. The third and

most important reason was Henry's

unconsciousness, she could not hit the main

road that way without confrontation from the

police or other security officials.

Tarasha began to notice a bike trailing slowly

behind them. Could it be one of Afo's men

who was following them? She thought. Or was

it just a coincidence.

Henry sneezed twice. Tarasha's heart was

gladdened and she quickly brought the car to a

halt at front of a Catholic cathedral.

'What… happened?' Henry managed to ask as

he sat up. He placed a palm on his forehead as

he was suffering from a serious headache.

'Some pa.s.sersby came to our aid' Tarasha lied.

'Pa.s.sersby? What about the police?' Henry

asked, joining her at the front seat. He didn't

wait for a reply before he continued. 'Did they

do anything to you?' He asked taking Tarasha's

palms in his.

'No' she replied with a smile.

'I'm sorry I couldn't protect you' Henry

apologized with a sorry face but then, he

noticed that Tarasha's attention was divided.

She was looking into the front mirror. 'What's

that?' Henry peeped to see what she was

checking.

'Nothing' she covered up with a smile.

'Are they still following us?' Henry asked,

undeceived by the smile.

Tarasha was not listening to him again, her

eyes was on someone who was walking into

the church compound beside them.

'Can you give me just a minute?' She said and

opened the door. She stepped out in a hurry

and followed into the cathedral's gate.

Tarasha opened the gate slowly and walked in.

Her eyes did the searching work, she could

see several Reverend sisters walking in and

out of the church. She spotted the man who

dropped from the bike previously trailing

their car. Somewhere by the right side, the

man was on the floor with his face buried in

his knees. The statue of a mother carrying a

baby was right in front of him. She could hear

him sobbing as she got closer.

Jefa could feel her approaching, he could hear

the silent footsteps in his mind. He knew she

would come, his spirit told him so. He turned

back to face her with tears in his eyes, their

eyes met.

Tarasha could not understand what she felt as

their eyes met. The man's eyes communicated

so much longing, it seemed that he had just

seen something he had been searching for

ages. Tarasha's closed her eyes and shook her

head to wave off the feeling, it could just be a

tactic of the enemy. She dipped her hand into

her pocket and it touched the knife as she

moved closer. A hand touched her shoulder.

'Evelyn, what are you doing?' Henry asked,

staring at the man weeping few metres in

front of her.

'Nothing' she turned back to face him, wiggling

her hair backwards.

'Let's go please' he took her hands in his and

led her back.

'Are we going back to Elymax?' She asked.

'No' he gave her a surprised look. 'We'll go to

the police station, then likely to the camera's

security corps house'

Tarasha sighed and followed him reluctantly. 'I

have a business deal to seal tomorrow'

**

Jefa sniffed in severally as he stared at them

walking out. 'Do they work in Elymax?' He

asked himself, as that was the only thing he

got from their conversation. He got up from

his knees slowly and followed after them

outside the gate, ignoring the Reverend sister

who was approaching him.

+++++

'How come you found no one there?' Sylvester

barked at the officers. 'The signal leads us

directly to this place'

'Maybe you should check again, the location

may have changed' an officer suggested

calmly.

'Or call the number' another officer offered.

'The number was not going through the last

time I tried to call it' Sylvester said,

attempting to dial the number again.

'Then you have to locate them again'

'It's connecting now' Sylvester announced,

hushing everyone. He brought out another

phone which he could use to determine the

location immediately the call was answered.

'Mr Henry' Sylvester's eyes shone brightly as

the call was answered. 'Where are you?'

Sylvester asked, confirming the location on his

second phone also. 'Just find somewhere safe

and wait there, we'll meet you in ten minutes'

++++++

9pm

Mallam Jefa was still in his sober state when

he returned to his store. His eyes were still

full of tears as he walked in through the back

door. Jefa noticed that there was no one in

the store as he entered. All his goods were

still intact except for some cups and plates

that were displaced and found on the floor.

That was unusual. He turned his gaze to the

sitting area, it was sure from the look of things

that his customers had left the place in

commotion and panic. There were bottles of

unfinished beer on the floor, unfinished food

on the table, and packets of untouched

cigarettes. Maybe a fight occurred, he thought.

No, it couldn't be a fight. Some people would

have stayed back after settling the fight.

Whatever it was, Jefa was less concerned now.

He had just found his long lost sister.

He let out a deep sigh as he sank into one of

the visitors seat and thronged his head

backwards. Omotara had not only maintained

the same face she had when she was young,

she also maintained the same manner of

walking and voice. Only that everything now

looked and sounded mature.

*** FLASHBACK ***

May 17, 2014

10pm

Jeffery watched in tears as their house razed

in flames, the remains of his parents and two

younger brothers burning in it. He and the

remnant of his family were put in a large bus

with several other kids in it, most of them

weeping uncontrollably for the loss of their

families too. The bus had no seats except for

the driver's, so the kids were made to sit and

lie on the ground.

Jeffery eyes met with his younger brother's

where the boy was kept in the same section

with his age mates. The lad, who was next

after Omotara had no tears in his eyes like the

other kids, he just stood still with his arms

folded, mouth pouted and a mean face.

Jeffery, as the oldest son felt the need to

protect the remaining two left of his younger

ones, but how he will do that was a mystery to

him. With the mean looking men in the bus

with them, he wasn't even sure of where they

were been taken to or what they were going

to be used for.

Jeffery's eyes kept wandering around and he

found Tara, seated on the floor and soaked in

her tears. The blood stains on her clothes

were visible and thick enough to make one

throw up at the sight.

The bus entered a pothole and shook, some of

the kids who were standing fell heavily to the

floor. Soon, a rhythmic cry soon begun from

the set of younger ones. The terrorists had no

problem with the noise, the bus was sound

proof.

Jerry was still standing, he didn't fall like the

others, only a few staggers and he was back on

his feet. Neither did he learn any lesson and

decide to sit even when Jeffery was making

signals for him to sit.

Jeffery got up and peeped through the

window, a knock landed on his head, sending

him back immediately. He held his head and

winced in pain as he sat back on the floor. He

glanced at one of his age mates who sat by his

side and was pinching him. The look on the

boys face was a question of what Jeffery saw

outside.

'They've taken us out of town already' Jeffery

whispered. 'But I don't know where they're

taking us to'

After some minutes, the bus came to a halt

and the door was opened. Two of the men

standing in the bus with them stepped out.

Soon, Jeffery could hear the men speaking to

some others in Hausa language which he

couldn't understand then.

The men returned into the bus after two

minutes and began to usher out some of the

kids. Jerry was one of the kids taken out of the

bus. Jeffery stood up in panic and peeped

through the window. The kids were being

ushered into another bus, a smaller one.

'Kai' was all he heard as his head was. .h.i.t by the

b.u.t.t of a gun. He began to see stars as he fell

slowly to the floor, his eyes met with

Omotara's eyes and then he blacked out. That

was the last time he saw his siblings.

He woke up several hours later to find himself

laying on the floor in a room with other

teenagers like himself. He struggled to sit up

and glanced at their faces one after the other.

He refrained from asking questions, it was

obvious that they were all captives of the

same terrorist group.

**PRESENT**

'Are you crazy?' A policeman stood at Jefa's

front shouting.

Jefa looked up and found himself surrounded

by six officers. 'What?' He asked.

'Are you Mallam Jefa, the owner of this store?'

'Yes'

'Your attention is needed at our station' the

officer said as he brought the handcuffs

forward

.

++++++

8am, next morning

Henry stretched and yawned like a new born

baby on the bed. The event of the day before

had weakened him so much that he had slept

for almost twelve hours, something he had

not done in years. He sat up and pressed the

b.u.t.ton beside the bed and the room was

brightened by the white bulb. Henry's mouth

opened in surprise as he looked around the

large room. He had been too tired to notice

how large and beautiful the room was when

he was ushered in the last night. He never

imagined that there was such a well furnished

room in the corporation's quarters.

A phone rang on the stool beside the bed. He

picked it up and checked the caller. It was an

unsaved number. Who owned the phone and

why was it by his side? He wondered. Maybe it

was placed there for his use, he thought as he

finally answered the call.

'Good morning Mr Henry' Sylvester's voice

came through.

'Good morning sir' Henry replied.

'How was your night? Hope you're feeling

better right now?'

'Yes, thanks. I'm feeling quite better'

'Alright, I called to inform you that some

officers would come and pick you guys for

medical check up in twenty minutes time and

they'll likely ask you some questions about

yesterday too'

'But… How will they come pick us for check up

in thirty minutes time? I'm just waking up and

I'm feeling very hungry now'

'Your bath water and breakfast has been

prepared already. Go and inform your

girlfriend about all I've said so that she can

prepare too'

His girlfriend? Henry wondered as he got up

from the bed. He knew that Sylvester was

referring to Evelyn as his girlfriend and he

smiled at the thought that people were

already taking them to be lovers. He put on a

shirt and a short and walked out of his room

to the next room where Evelyn slept. He

waved at the maids moving around as he faced

the entrance of the room.

He let out a deep sigh before he rapped on

the door and waited for a response. He

knocked again after getting no response at the

expected time, he leaned on the door and

placed his ear to the door to listen if there

was any movement in the room. He knocked

again, this time louder. Could it be that

Tarasha was still deeply asleep?

He placed his hand on the door k.n.o.b and

noticed that it was loose, a sign that the door

was not locked. He turned it and opened the

door slowly, poking his head in to peep. The

room was neat and well kept but no one was

in it. He walked further inside and closed the

door behind. 'Evelyn' he called as he

proceeded towards the bed. He checked the

floor beside the bed, there was no sign of

Evelyn. 'Evelyn, are you in?' He called again as

he approached the restroom. He opened and

entered into it, Evelyn was nowhere to be

found. His heart began to beat faster as he

proceeded out of the room.

'Has anyone seen Evelyn this morning?' He

asked the maid cleaning up the living room.

'The lady you came in with last night?' The

maid asked to be sure. Henry nodded. 'She

should be in her room. She just woke up when

I was mopping the pa.s.sage'

'When was that?' Henry asked.

'About one hour ago, I saw her peeping

outside through the door and I approached

her to ask if she needed anything. She asked

me to make her a cup of hot tea'

'Is that all?'

'Yes, I've not seen her since I made her tea.'

The maid paused and placed a hand on her

waist. 'Is she not in the room?' She asked with

a raised eyebrow.

'Yes' Henry replied as he dialed a number on

the phone with him. 'Join me check if she's

around the house'

++++++

Tarasha adjusted her skirt properly in front of

the mirror and brushed her hair backwards

before putting on the suit jacket. She sat on

the bed to put on the heeled shoes and got up

to check the mirror again. She was looking

smart and ready for the meeting.

Her plan was simple. Strike a deal with the

man and make him take her to his cotton farm

which she had already sent Benny and Cole to

survey and fix several possible escape routes

for her. She had made her investigation and

found out that the only place Jubril Lawal went

without his bodyguard and thugs was his

farms. That was the best place to end the

man's life without any struggle.

Tarasha sat back in the bed and placed her

laptop on her lap, she opened it up and

pressed the boot b.u.t.ton. After the laptop

came on, she opened her contact book and

searched for Jubril's number dialing it on the

phone she had taken from the maid's pocket

in the camera's corporation house.

'Good morning Mr Jubril' she said as soon as

the call was answered.

'Good morning Miss Evelyn' Jubril recognised

her voice immediately. 'What happened to

your line? I've been trying to reach you'

'I lost the phone, I had to borrow someone's

phone to call you'

'Oh! Sorry about that'

'Thank you sir' Tarasha said, clearing her

throat. 'I'll be on my way for our meeting in

few minutes time, I just want to…'

'Humm…' Jubril interrupted. 'That's one of the

reasons I've been trying to reach you. The

meeting would no longer hold this morning'

Tarasha sighed loudly.

'I'm sorry but I sent something to your email

since I couldn't reach you on phone. My

birthday is tomorrow and I'm organizing a

banquet in the evening. Let's meet there,

maybe we can finalize our discussion

immediately after the celebration'

'Okay' Tarasha seemed less enthusiastic. 'How

do I attend?'

'Just check your email inbox, I've instructed

my PA to forward every detail to you. I even

asked him to organize a personal car that

would bring you from your location to the

venue'

'Oh! Thanks. I'll check my mailbox' Tarasha said

and ended the call. She flung the phone on the

bed and bent to take off her shoes. Then she

fell back into the bed, thinking. Jubril Lawal's

case had tarried for long, the banquet was

going to be a perfect opportunity for her. She

began to draw up plans in her mind. She

wouldn't accept his transport plans, No. She

would hire a car by herself and Cole would be

the driver.