Tarasha 2 Chapter 7 Part 4 – Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel
Tarasha finally took a glance at the policeman trying to get her attention. He stopped knocking on seeing that she looked towards his direction. He tried to say something to her but she looked away again, this time, she turned and stared straight forward with a narrow look. The policeman began to knock again and another one appeared at the window of the driver’s side
Tarasha took a briefer look at both policemen, her eyes met with the eyes of the policeman at the driver’s side. Then she looked towards the road. She accelerated all of a sudden and turned into the road, causing panic to both policemen who fled immediately and a motorist coming from behind.
She continued on a medium speed for the first one minute, taking time to place her device in a place she could easily see the map to track the movement of the vehicle in which Henry was. The sound of police vehicle’ siren could now be heard from behind but she was sure the vehicle wasn’t moving yet. After sticking the tab to a place on the car dashboard with the aid of the magnet behind the device’s case, she increased to a very high speed and began to overtake the vehicles in front of her.
She took a glance towards the gate of the NSCC as she drove past and spotted the car which Henry had driven there still parked where it was, there was only one car close to it now, the one behind. She cursed under her breath as a powerbike nearly hit her car as as she tried to overtake another vehicle. She then put on the trafficator and placed her hand on the car horn, overtaking more vehicles and causing panic on the road.
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Rex was getting irritated by the traffic jam. There was a long queue of cars at his front and on the other lane, even the return carriageway was also jam-packed. Henry was in his vehicles’s booth and was going to be sleeping for a long time, Rex had injected him with a sleeping liquid.
Rex’s eyebrows raised in hope as the vehicle before him began to move, he placed his hand on the steering wheel and also joined in the movement but the vehicle stopped after covering less than a distance of six metres. He hissed and cursed under his breath again, slamming his fists against the wheels at the same time.
He wouldn’t like for Tarasha to meet him on the way, he would like for her to meet him at the place he was leading her to, where he could properly finish her up and also have her body in his custody to later present it as a trophy to Chief Elvis. He wasn’t scared of having to fight her on the road, he had his face disguised with makeups and there was no fear of being recognized or having his real image documented later by the security operatives. But the possible interference of the police or other security agencies if Tarasha met him on the way was what bothered him most, it would not allow him deal with her the way he wanted, they will cause him to be in a hurry and give her a less painful death.
He popped his head out through the window again to see what was happening but he couldn’t see anything at the front. He withdrew and bounced his back against the rest angrily. Just then, a bike manoeuvred through the little space left between his car and a bus. He hissed and cursed at the impossiblity of snatching the bike, he couldn’t leave Henry who he had in the boot. At the same time, another thought struck his mind, Tarasha could appear by his side at any moment with a bike.
He pulled a bag from the backseat of his car and placed it on the passenger’s side at the front. He removed a pistol from it and placed it under the bag, then he took out two long knife-like metals which had tiny ropes attached to them. He placed them under the bag too.
The vehicle at his front made signs of movement again and the vehicles by his side also moved but he paused to see how far they would go before he joined them. He hissed on seeing that they didn’t move more than two metres ahead each.
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‘Sir, we were at the reported kidnap scene some minutes ago but we’re now pursuing a car we met there,’ a gruff voice sounded through Inspector Dakolo’s phone.
‘You met a car at the kidnap scene?’
‘Yes, but the witnesses of the kidnap said the car just arrived there about two minutes before us.’
‘Then why are you on the trail of the car since it just arrived?’ Dakolo asked.
‘We actually thought the new motorist was innocent and only wanted to tell her to move forward to allow us check the scene but then she just raced off and has been driving with a crazy speed since then.’
‘The driver is a woman?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you think she’s a part of the kidnap?’
‘I’m not really sure sir but we don’t just want to take any chances but however there’s a higher possibility that she’s just an unlucky driver who thought we had come to arrest her for breaking traffic laws but now she’s breaking more traffic laws with the speed she’s on and she really needs to be arrested and made to face the penalty.’
Dakolo chuckled at the sound of the officer’s last words. ‘Face the penalty’ by the officer could just mean that she’ll have to pay a bribe. ‘Do you still have her car in sight?’ he questioned.
‘Not at all sir, she’s far ahead of us but we’ve called for reinforcement and our cars would soon stop her from the front.’
‘Good but how come a young lady is driving at such a high speed that has our vehicle left far behind?’
‘I wonder too sir.’
‘Maybe she’s not just running from the penalty from disobeying traffic laws, she could have done something criminal also, she might also be a part of the kidnap plan or on the party of the person who was kidnapped.’
‘It could be any of that sir. Well, I’ve just reported to you based on the director’s directive, it looks like you’re taking up the kidnap case.’
‘Yes, he informed me already.’ Dakolo replied. ‘I’ll be at the kidnap scene in few minutes time. Inform me once you get that lady, okay?’
‘Yes sir.’
‘Thank you officer,’ Dakolo said and ended the call.
‘Can you put a call through to the Security cameras department for me?’ Dakolo said, turning to the lady who had her table close to his in the office for three.
‘Just a minute Inspector,’ the policewoman replied, trying to round up something she was typing on her laptop.
Dakolo busied himself with the report file on his table while he waited for the woman to connect to the security cameras section.
‘Sir, they’re online now.’ the policewoman said, getting up from her table to give Inspector Dakolo a phone.
‘Good afternoon, a kidnap of an unidentified man took place along the NSCC road about an hour ago, it was reported by the street officers and onlookers less than thirty minutes ago. Please search and provide footages received for me, I’ll be in your department block in ten minutes time.’
‘Did you say NSCC Headquarters road sir?’
‘Yes, NSCC road.’
‘Okay, we’ll get that right away.’ the call ended.
‘Thank you officer,’ Dakolo said as he returned the phone to the lady standing close to his table. He looked into the report file again. The kidnap was reported to have taken place unexpectedly. The victim was walking down the road and a vehicle drove towards him forcing him to enter the trapezoidal drainage instead of jumping into the red sand at the other side the drainage. The kidnapper was reported to have dealt the victim some blows and pierced the victim with something in the shoulder after which the victim was thrown into the backseat of the car. The kidnapper sped off before any of the street police officers could interfere.
‘I don’t know if I’ll be returning to the office soon,’ Dakolo spoke aloud to his office mates as he rose up from the seat. He took his car keys and proceeded towards the door.
Soon enough, Dakolo was in the security cameras section, in an open office which was shared by not less than ten people. He stood behind a desk where he watched as the computer operator searched for the footages he had requested for.
‘I think this is it sir,’ the female computer operator said, playing a particular clip which showed how Steve was being kidnapped but only from the backview.
‘Can I get any footage captured from the front?’
‘Yes, it wouldn’t take me so much time to find it.’ the lady replied.
‘Please do that right now,’ Dakolo said and stood upright. Bending for over five minutes had begun to have an effect on his body. He pulled a chair from another table to himself, he had been previously offered the seat but had refused because he thought he wouldn’t need it. ‘And I also need to trace where the victim was coming from and the kidnappers too.’
‘That would take a longer time sir, you can’t get it before you leave, probably you would in the next one or two hours.’ the lady replied without looking at him.
‘I know I can’t get it before leaving, I just want it to be ready before I return.’
‘Well, it depends on when you return sir.’
‘Okay, you know what? Just put a call through to me immediately you finish.’
‘Okay sir,’ she said and a silence of about two minutes followed. ‘We’ll have the footage front view in 3,2…’ the video player window popped open before she completed her countdown.
It began to play from the point where the backdoor of the car opened. Now they could see the faces of the victim of kidnap and the kidnapper.
‘Please pause and zoom,’ Dakolo said to the lady and she obeyed. ‘Take a screenshot,’ he added and she responded. ‘I think you should delegate the assignment of finding out who they are to someone else, I’ll need that too,’ he said, rising up to his feet. ‘This might just be more than a kidnap,’ he added thoughtfully after a minute of standing, still watching the video and replaying some parts occasionally. ‘I think the kidnapper and victim are not strangers to each other, it is evident from the body language of the victim.’
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Tarasha could see the three vehicles far in front of her before the roundabout slowing down, two on the left side, one behind another and the third one on the same lane she was. The traffic light had just changed to red.
She wondered what the reason was for the traffic light which turned red, there were no much cars coming from the other sides of the roundabout neither was there any work been done on the road. She slowed down several metres behind the car in front of her and took some seconds to study the space beside the road. There were small stalls made of temporary wooden structures and then a newspaper vendor’s shelf at the edge of the straight road close to the roundabout. Some people, mostly men were at the vendor stand, purchasing and discussing. She moved the car bit to the edge and studied the space between the car in front and the vendor. She made sure she maintained a space of more than three metres behind the car in front.
Vehicles from behind began to level up with her, a school bus driver behind her was pushing the horn in desperation to make her cover the space she left in front but she ignored.
Tarasha was still wondering what the cause of the halt was and was undecided about what to do when she began to hear faint sounds of sirens. She knew at once that the traffic marshalls have been ordered to cause the stop because they were still on her trail for parking at the wrong space, not knowing that she was also been suspected for kidnap.
In a twinkle of an eye, she pushed the car horn to alert the people at the vendor stand as she swerved off the road with one side of the vehicle down and the other still on the pavement. She moved with a speed that allowed for the men at the vendor stand to flee, but some stubborn ones remained there, believing that it was impossible for her to want to pass the place.
She increased the speed of the car and crashed into the stand, not minding what would become of the men. She swerved to avoid a car as she drove into the roundabout but she was unable to avoid it completely. She hit the tip of the car and sent it crashing into a powerbike rider while she turned rightwards with the other cars going the same direction.
She adjusted the gear after entering into the new carriageway and continued on a high speed. The sounds of the sirens increased from different directions and became louder. She realized that more police cars were now on her trail.
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At last, the vehicles finally began to move at a constant but slow speed. Rex remained alert and observant. He wiped off a drop of sweat away from his chin, his hand touched his collar in the process and he remembered that he still had the sound piece connected to Cole’s recorded on his body. He had switched it off after he observed that Tarasha had done something to Cole. He wasn’t sure whether she killed or hypnotized him but he chose to believe the former. But then he began to consider the latter option again, it was very possible that she had him in her car with him alive, maybe hypnotized or temporarily paralyzed in her boot. He brought forward his tablet from behind and placed it on his lap. He turned on the screen and selected the tracker app for the purpose of tracking to know the location of Cole’s dead or live body.
Something sounded from the sound piece on Rex’s collar, it was the sound of the horn of a high duty vehicle and this confirmed to Rex that Cole was on the road with Tarasha, either dead or alive, conscious or unconscious and now he could track her location by tracking Cole’s.
___
The chase was getting hotter and messier. Tarasha could sense the presence of more police cars following her now and she began to wonder why they had to be so much pursuing her just because she parked at the wrong space. Or could it be that someone who was watching her movement had reported to the police? She asked herself. She realized now that Rex had said the truth when he said that she had not been patient enough with Cole. She should have been more patient to have allowed him talk more, maybe he would have told her that there were others outside watching her.
She pushed the horn desperately as a car whose trafficator was on tried to get in her way. It had just gotten into the road from a narrow way which led into the major road. Tarasha narrowly missed the car but not without taking off the side mirror with her car, it must have been driven by a learner for the car to be moved into the road at that time, seeing the speed at which she was coming with.
Another police vehicle surfaced behind her, from the narrow road the car she had scrapped the front mirror came from. It followed closely on her trail.
‘Young woman, it is in your best interest to surrender and stop this pursuit. Police vehicles have been dispatched all around town to stop you and there’s no way you’ll escape us.’ she had a voice from a loud speaker behind. She looked at the side mirror and noticed the new police vehicle, just about eight metres behind her. A car was in between them but the police vehicle overtook the car in a matter of seconds.
‘Young lady, Stop!’ the voice sounded again. She took a glance at the side mirror and saw an officer with his head slightly out through the window and his gun pointed at her car. Luckily for her, the road was scanty due to the lack of many road users at that time of the day. She took a glance at the tablet device hung to the dashboard stretched her hand to turn on the screen.
The green dot on the map had made some visible progress compared to what she saw the last time she checked but she could tell that she wasn’t far from Rex and Henry anymore.
She had used thirty five minutes out of the one hour Rex had given her, she was sure that she would catch up with them before that time if she didn’t encounter traffic jam and as far as they continued with the slow speed. But with the police vehicles unrelentlessly trailing her, she wondered how she was going to catch up.
‘Young lady, you have the last opportunity to stop. Do that now,’ the voice from the loud megaphone sounded again.
Tarasha took a glance at the side mirror, two more police cars were behind her and they were convertibles which allowed for officers to stand in them and point their guns to her car. She reached out for her guns and placed them on her laps.
She picked one of the guns as she swerved to drive past another car. She leveled up her car with the car and raised her gun to the driver who stared back at her in fear. She took two shots at the steering wheel and then lowered the gun and shot at the front tyre before driving past the car, wishing the driver good luck with the accident that was about to happen.
She swerved to the lane on which the car which she had shot at was and stared at the mirror. The police vehicle right behind her had escaped the accident but the second one behind collided with the car.
She began to hear the sounds of gunshots following her. A bullet hit the back of her car while one narrowly missed the driver’s side mirror. She picked the gun again and took some shots back at the police vehicle without aiming.
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‘Good afternoon Inspector,’ Dakolo could hear the salutation in unison from the two officers he met at the kidnap scene.
He threw a salute to them in reply and smiled briefly. ‘What have you got here?’ he asked, stretching forth his hand to collect the notepad which one of the Inspectors was writing on.
‘Some data we got from those around,’ the officer replied and handed the notepad to Dakolo. ‘They said they’ve never seen the kidnapper or the victim around here before neither had they seen the car.’
‘Did you get any description of the victim or the kidnapper,’ Dakolo asked, just for clarity sake. He had several screenshot photos of the kidnapper and the victim already in his device.
‘No sir, the victim and the suspect did not relate with anyone around but some said they saw the victim come out of the NSCC Headquarters.’ the officer replied.
‘The NSCC Headquarters?’ Dakolo mentioned, looking towards the far end where the NSCC building was. ‘Let’s go there,’ he said, shaking his car keys in his hand as he proceeded towards the car.
The policemen got into the car and Dakolo began the drive to the NSCC office. His phone rang three minutes into the journey.
‘Help me check who that is,’ he said to the younger officer sitting with him at the front.
‘Officer AB,’ the officer replied.
‘Abraham,’ Dakolo muttered under his breath and nodded in signal for the officer to drop the phone. Maybe Abraham had gotten the girl they chased after, he thought. He would call him back after they got to the NSCC Headquarters which was less than two more minutes drive.
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Three minutes later
‘Sir, she’s got a gun.’ officer Abraham announced into the cellphone.
‘She’s got a gun?’ a surprised voice replied her.
‘Yes, she just shot at an innocent driver and that has caused an accident here involving one of our cars. The third car is also stuck behind them.’
‘How did you level up with her?’
‘We were able to trace her with the plate number and took a short route to meet her.’
‘Well, then I think we’ve got one of the kidnappers and not just an ordinary girl. Make sure you stop her.’
