TARASHA Episode 15 Pt 5 – Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel
Don stared around the large living room in awe, astonished at the excellency of interior decor. His eyes met with the President’s picture on the wall and the Vice President’s beside it. The Vice President looked a little bit younger in the picture but not as young as when Don had first met him. That was over ten years ago. Don was still under training then. He remembered how surprised he felt when he saw Elvis who was then the Inspector General of Police, notable for his harshness against all sorts of crime, come to patronize his boss. Since then, Don had stopped trusting anyone, no matter the level of innocence displayed by them to the public.
Don kept on wondering what job the man had for him that was so urgent that an order for his immediate return from Cameroon had to be made. A question arose in his heart. How did the man get his contact? He asked himself. Even when he had tried his possible best to cut off all connections with Nigeria for the short time he was planning to stay in Cameroon. He discarded the question with a brief smile. He remembered that Elvis Richards used to be a crook who had contacts with several other crooks. Once a crook, always a crook.
One thing he admired about the man was his ability to keep people so faithful to himself, no one had ever come out to mention his name or implicate him in a crime. Don thought he had not been so lucky in that aspect; he felt betrayed by Cole, Aisha and Benny.
Don stood up in respect as Elvis Richards walked into the living room. He was dressed casually, in a blue shirt and black shorts which stopped above the knee, a pair of black leather sandals on his foot.
‘Don’ Elvis gave a crooked smile, noticing the great change in Don’s look, it wasn’t the same Don he knew.
Don smiled back. ‘Your excellency’ he hailed in a coarse voice and bowed. ‘Good afternoon sir’
‘Good afternoon, thanks for honouring my call.’ Elvis offered him an handshake.
‘Anything for your Excellency ‘ Don replied as he received the warm handshake.
‘Please have your seat’ Elvis said and sat on the couch close to Don.
‘Thank you sir’ Don replied and took his seat.
‘Don’ the Vice President called as he began the main discussion. Don fixed his eyes on the man’s face at the sound of his name. ‘What have we done to you?’ Elvis added.
Don couldn’t hide his surprise at the question. He narrowed his gaze and held his breath.
‘Why have you decided to punish some of us?’ The Vice President continued. ‘Or is there anyone who has requested that you disturb us so much like this? You know I can pay you double if you reverse the attacks’
Don looked more confused, wondering what the man was talking about. ‘I don’t understand sir,’ he spoke softly.
‘You do’ Elvis said and relaxed back. He folded his arms. ‘You went to rest in Cameroon while you sent your guys to do the jobs here’
‘What job are you talking about sir?’ Don asked.
‘The three recent assassinations that the whole country is still talking about. I don’t know of anyone else who is powerful enough to carry out those attacks except you.’ Elvis answered.
Don stayed quiet for a while, realizing that he was being credited with Tarasha’s job.
‘The police is putting much effort into that case now and I’m telling you that very soon, they’ll catch up with you. That’s why I’ve called you personally to know the reason behind these assassinations, so that you can seize the attacks before the police gets you.’ Elvis stopped and waited for Don’s reply.
Don stared silently for a moment. He licked his lips slowly and exhaled before he began to talk. ‘Are you talking about the killing of the Minister of Health, Rivers State Governor and the former minister of defence?’ He asked a question with an already known answer.
‘Yes’ Elvis answered briefly.
‘I wasn’t involved in any of these jobs, neither do I know how they were carried out’ Don stared calmly.
‘Huh?’ Elvis stared at Don in surprise. ‘You don’t know about the assassinations?’
‘Then who could be the one behind it? You gang was the only one I can think of. I don’t believe that there’s another gang that is capable enough to break through all the security systems we have in place right now’
‘My gang isn’t involved in it’ Don insisted.
‘Are you sure that none of your trained boys are taking these jobs behind you?’
‘No, none of my boys can handle those kind of jobs.’ Don said the truth in his heart but refrained from saying it out. He tried to come up with a suitable answer for the VP’s question. ‘None of my boys would dare do that’ he finally said with a threatening chuckle.
‘Are you sure of what you’re saying?’
‘Yes, they wouldn’t dare do a job without my permission’ Don insisted.
‘Then who the hell could be behind these Samantha Osman’s attacks?’ Elvis burst out loudly, a confused look appearing on his face.
‘She is’ Don said in a calmer voice, staring at the floor and rubbing his palms together.
‘Who is?’ Elvis looked up hurriedly and asked impatiently.
‘She is’ Don said calmly again, unmoved by the man’s countenance.
‘Who is she?’ Elvis held his breath, mentioning each of his words slowly, one after the other.
‘Samantha Osman, she is behind the attacks’
‘Samantha Osman? Is she real?’
‘But the police have tried to search for her records but found no perfect match’
‘How did that try to find her records? Was her fingerprint gotten?’
‘No, that would have solved the issue’
‘I don’t think she’s a Nigerian, the police would not still find her in our records but we can then trace it to other countries’
‘Is it possible that she’s really a part of the suspected world assassination gang? The same that has been terrorizing the US and some other countries?’
‘She’s likely a part. While I was in Cameroon, I found a lot of similarities between her operations and the other assassins in the other countries. The seem to have a central gang’
Elvis paused and inhaled a deep breath. He brushed his lowly cut hair backwards with his bare hands. ‘But the good news now is that you know her’ he stated.
‘Know her?’ His face turned expressionless.
‘Don’t you know her? You just told me some things about her’
‘I know her name and some other things about her. I’ve never seen her face and I’ve never worked with her or spoken with her’
‘Do you know who she is working for and why she’s killing those people?’
Don had to think for some seconds before answering. He was sure that the Vice President had called him for a job. Spilling every information he had now could make the man change his mind and not commit to him the job anymore.
‘I don’t know why she’s killing anyone, I guess she’s just doing the job she has been sent’ Don finally said.
‘You don’t think she’s on a personal mission?’
‘No, I don’t think so. She’s a trained killer like me and she drops anyone she has been paid to’
‘Then who is paying her?’
‘Ermm… I don’t know.’ Don lied, for personal reasons. The first reason was that he may not be taken serious if he mentions Chief Gab as her sponsor because the man was just a newly freed prisoner who was trying to gain his stability, no one would believe that he had enough money to sponsor the assassinations. Even Don himself does not know the source of Chief Gab’s funds. Another reason was that he could lose the job he was expecting from the Vice President. The man may decide to go through other ways in dealing with Chief Gab and not involve him anymore. The third and most strong reason was that letting out the identity of his client as an assassin was against his job. He was supposed to protect his client’s identity, no matter what may be; even if the client had stopped working with him, as far as the client hadn’t turned to his enemy. Letting out the identity could also cause danger for himself in the future.
‘Do you think it can be someone outside the country since she isn’t from Nigeria herself?’
‘I don’t know who it may be and I’ve not had any reason to investigate since she has not crossed my path.’ He lied again.
‘Now that I’ve brought her to your path, can you find out for me?’ Elvis asked and got up to his feet. ‘The reason I’m really getting myself involved in this is because her operations have taken out two of my close friends already. I don’t know who her next target is, my life could be in danger’
‘Yes, I can find out for you sir’ Don answered confidently. ‘But she’s very dangerous and not easy to deal with, I would require a lot of money’
Elvis turned to stare at Don’s face, he gave him an expressionless look. ‘Come on, you know money is not an issue. I’m ready to pay any amount it would require as far as you’ll find out the reason for the killings’
‘That’s a simple job sir’ Don assured.
‘Consider it done.’
The Vice president sniffed and turned back. He took out a pill from the pocket of his shorts and threw it into his mouth. He turned back to Don after crushing the pill with his teeth and swallowing it.
‘Can you ki*ll her?’ He threw an unexpected question to Don.
‘You said?’ Don shivered a bit at the question but tried to conceal his fear.
‘Can you ki*ll her for me? After you find out the reason for what she has done airway l already’
‘That won’t be an easy task sir, but it’s possible’ Don remarked. The task had been made a weightier but he wasn’t planning to back out.
‘Are you capable of doing this job?’ Elvis asked, for the first time doubting Don’s ability.
‘Yes sir’ Don replied, trying to show more confidence. ‘Like I said earlier, she’s also a specialist like myself, so it won’t be easy to drop her like any other small assassin. But it can be more easier for me now.’ He added a mischievous smile.
Elvis narrowed his gaze at him with an expression to ask what Don meant by the last statement.
‘Now, I have the federal might; I have you at my back’ Don began to explain. ‘I’m also aware that you are working closely with all the security bodies to ensure they nab this assassin. I’ll have access to the police data and investigation on her through you’
Elvis nodded slowly in agreement with Don’s proposal. ‘I’ll make sure you get everything you need. Just get this girl for me’ he said in a determined tone. ‘I want you to start the job immediat…’ He stopped abruptly as a thought struck his mind. ‘I want you to start immediately’ he continued, with his face squeezed. ‘But I want to know something’
‘What’s that sir?’ Don fixed his gaze on the man’s face.
‘You said that you don’t know about her apart from her name. You’ve not seen her before, is that?’
‘I actually know more than her name sir, I know more about her and members of her gang. As at the time they dropped the Governor of Rivers State, they were only three people working with her. Those three, I know them. They are younger assassins, but well trained and developed.’ He expatiated, consciously omitting his role played in supplying the members to her.
‘Just three?’ The man’s face showed surprise.
‘Yes, but I don’t know if they’ve increased or decreased in number now’
‘But they are led by Samantha Osman? Or she’s just the major hitman?’
‘She’s the Boss, she leads them’
Elvis nodded slowly and thoughtfully, impressed by the confidence displayed by Don in answering his questions. Even the police weren’t so sure as this about the results of their investigations. He decided to push further with more questions.
‘Is Samantha Osman the same person as that girl whose records were found?’ Elvis asked, tapping his head as he tried to remember the girl’s name.
‘Aisha Bello?’ Don suggested.
‘Exactly, Aisha Bello.’ Elvis affirmed.
‘Aisha Bello works for her, she’s not the same person with Tara…’ He stopped and cleared his throat. ‘Sorry, Samantha’
‘Okay.’ Elvis turned and dipped his hand into his pocket to take out another pill. ‘When would the estimate of your requirement be ready?’
‘Alright, get it to me as soon as possible.’
‘Okay, the boys would take you back to your hotel now.’ With that, Elvis walked away from the living room.
Like a huge construction project, an estimate bill for an assassination project like this also had to be done. Unlike other petty jobs where they’ll just name the price to the client immediately, several other considerations have to be made in this and then something similar to a bill of quantity is presented to the client.
Don rose up immediately the man walked out of sight. Though he was sure this new job would not be an easy one as he already knew Tarasha’s capabilities, he was still had a personal determination to ensure that Tarasha’s reign come to an end. He had already developed a rivalry between himself and Tarasha when she came in between his association with Chief Gab and even outsmarted him after he tried to deliver her team to the police through Aisha’s flaw. That was part of the reasons he fled to Cameroon to stay with his friend and plot his comeback.
His plotting was still going on when Chief Elvis had called for him to return to Nigeria urgently, only for him to find out that the person troubling the Vice President was the same person who sent him out of the country. He was therefore going to make use of this opportunity and make sure that Tarasha regrets coming to Nigeria.
