Tarasha 2 Chapter 7 Part 5 – Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel
‘Make sure you try your best to stop her but try as much as possible to hurt other motorists and pedestrians,’ Dakolo added in a encouraging tone. He got a response from the officer before ending the call. He was still seated in the car at the driver’s side but they had driven into the compound of the NSCC and the car wasn’t in motion.
‘Let’s find out who that victim is,’ Dakolo said to the men with him in the car as he opened the door to his side. They followed his lead and all stepped onto the interlocked floor of the park.
Dakolo took the lead towards the security building and his men followed closely behind.
‘Good afternoon Agent Dakolo,’ one of the security men greeted as he approached them, a middle-aged man.
‘Good afternoon sir,’ Dakolo greeted back. He recognized the man as one who he had had a previous encounter with at the NSCC office. ‘We need to make an enquiry and get quick answers ,’ Agent Dakolo said, bringing out his device. ‘There’s this man who was kidnapped along this road today, we noticed he came out from this place.’ Dakolo added, busy with his device as he tried to display the screenshot.
The security man’s eyebrows gathered together, he didn’t reply yet but waited patiently for Dakolo to show him whatever it was on the device.
‘Here,’ Dakolo finally said, swiping up the gallery as the security man looked at the pictures.
‘This man?’ the security man frowned, placing a finger where Steve’s image was in the particular photo. ‘He arrived here very early in the morning, he spent some hours in the main building and left around noon time,’ he began to explain as Dakolo turned off his device’s screen and returned it to his pocket. ‘He was a private security agent, I personally checked his ID card and allowed him in but I think he did something inside because two security men had to escort him out of the building on orders of the chairman.’
‘The Chairman? That’s Mr Sylvester right?’ Dakolo put in.
‘Yes.’
‘Okay, I think I’ll just find out more from Mr Sylvester himself. Thank you,’ Dakolo said and offered the man a handshake.
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The roads became less jammed and the vehicles began to move faster. Even though it wasn’t up to the usual freedom, it was far better than it was some minutes before.
Rex turned on the screen of the device on his laps which had gone off. He zoomed the road map and observed the point which the tracked object was being located. A thick frown formed on his face. He reduced his speed and looked back through the rearview glass, he could see the road still covered with several vehicles behind him who were trying to chance each other and take advantage of the new speed at which they could be driven.
There was a new problem for him with what he saw on the map. But it wasn’t a big problem, it was only going to change some of the things in his plan. Tarasha had taken an easier road to his direction than the same place he had taken. The road wasn’t shorter, it was longer but she, being more used to the Abuja road than he was had been able to detect that there would be traffic on the route where Rex took. Now she was going to join the traffic somewhere at the front before the Mogadishu flyover where Rex was heading towards.
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The police officers were being careful in using their guns , Tarasha knew this and was taking advantage of it, and she was going take more advantage of it. Their bullets had once hit another vehicle behind and they stopped shooting since then. She reached for the device and turned on the screen again, she was very close to them – Rex and Henry. She only had a U-turn to make and then turn into a one-carriageway road which will lead her to the back of the Mogadishu area through which she’ll turn into the road leading to the flyover. According to her calculations, the vehicle she was tracking should have gotten to the flyover by the time she gets out to the road leading to it and they’ll only be about twenty metres apart. All that would happen if she experienced no delay.
As she approached the U-turn to the other carriageway, she began to hear the sounds of more police vehicles and she could tell that they were coming far behind from the carriageway she was about to turn into. The police vehicle following behind her was now more than fifteen metres behind which was due to their avoidance of colliding with other vehicles Tarasha set them up with.
She was sure they weren’t expecting her to make a turn and decided to use it as a trap to get them off her trail totally. She reduced the speed of the car to a very low extent as she moved to the slow lane preparing to turn, giving the police vehicle time to level up with her. Her car was five metres to the U-turn, there was a bus there in front of her turning but no car behind her or by her side made the signal of wanting to turn.
The police’s vehicle was about six metres behind hers now and she could hear the sound of the megaphone again. She noticed from the side mirror that the policemen on seeing her vehicle barely moving began to slow down also, then she looked towards the carriageway she was about to turn into, there was only a car forthcoming. She cocked her gun as she changed the gear and raced to the U-turn, swerving into the road sharply that the car almost lost it’s balance.
She didn’t loose her balance but the coming vehicle did instead. The driver pushed the brakes hard and swerved to avoid colliding with her car which was successful but then the police officers fell for her bait by following with a high speed to the U-turn which made them hit the rear of the vehicle on which brakes had been applied, scraping off the vehicle’s taillights carrier with it.
The door to the driver’s side of Tarasha’s car opened slightly while the car came to a quick halt, she raised out her body supporting herself as she rested her back with one hand against the backdoor and the other pointing the gun towards the police car which was trying to gain it’s balance. Her seatbelt was still around her body, providing her a firm support and holding her to the car.
She released several bullets to the police car, which pierced through and shattered the glasses, also entering into the bodies of the officers seated in. The police vehicle ran straight without control into the drainage, almost tumbling. She also released some shots to the tyres of the vehicle which had stopped after passing halfway the space for the U-turn.
She entered back into the car and closed the door, then she continued driving, leaving the road blocked; the car with the deflated tyres partly slanted at one side and the police vehicle which had hit it had the front tyres in the drainage and the back slightly lifted upwards with the tyres still rolling fast and the whole vehicle smoking. The space left between the motionless vehicles was only enough for a motorcycle to pass through. Both no cycler will dare it, seeing the cause of the occurrence.
She sped on crazily. She had lost another one minutes and thirty seconds and Rex’s vehicle would now be about forty two metres ahead of her when she turns into the road leading to the flyover, and that was if he didn’t increase or reduce his speed.
Another thought struck her mind. To avoid another police vehicle showing up from nowhere, she had to change her car somewhere she’ll ensure did not get full coverage by the security cameras. That would take some more time but it was the best thing to do if she really wanted to stop the police from disturbing her.
Her eyes met with a car she could change to as she approached the curve into the road which would lead her to the flyover. The driver had put on the trafficator and was also taking the same route. She had to act fast.
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‘The guy came in to get some data from us,’ Mr Sylvester explained to Dakolo as he stared at Steve’s image in the device. ‘He was from a private investigation firm and he had the seal on his ID card. We allowed him access the information he needed and he was here for more than four hours.’
‘What information did he come to get?’ Dakolo asked.
‘The footage of a crime scene which happened some years ago,’ Mr Sylvester answered briefly.
‘And did you see to it that it was the only thing he did?’
‘Yes, I even had one of the staffs with him. This one,’ he said, pointing to Dayo who was standing behind with his back against the wall very close to the door. Dakolo was partially seated on the arm of Mr Sylvester’s visitor’s seat, holding his device for Mr Sylvester who was also standing, leaning against his table to see what was being shown to him. The other two officers were standing a few distance away from Dakolo.
Dakolo and the other officers turned to see Dayo who Mr Sylvester was pointing at. ‘Did you watch him closely at all times?’Dakolo asked Dayo.
‘Yes sir, I was in the room with him…’ Dayo began but stopped in fear as he remembered that they could find out later that he left the room at some point. ‘I left for sometime to make him think he’s got some space while I monitored him from my office.’
Dakolo turned to Mr Sylvester and gave him a questioning look, as if to ask if Dayo was making sense; if it was really possible for Dayo to monitor from his office. Mr Sylvester understanding the look, nodded in agreement.
‘But did you notice anything about him?’ Dakolo asked Dayo.
‘Not really sir, except for the fact that he’s loaded with uncommon softwares and applications.’ Dayo replied.
‘Did you?’ Dakolo turned to Mr Sylvester.
‘Ermm… Notice anything like what?’
‘Anything strange, did he act like he had another motive or aim here?’
‘Nothing but he desperately tried to sell me some softwares I wasn’t interested in buying, that is however a common trait of most hungry developers, there was nothing else.’ Mr Sylvester answered.
‘So you think he’s an hungry developer?’
‘He behaved like one.’
‘Why did you have him escorted out of the facility by your security men?’ Dakolo asked.
‘He was too desperate to sell his works and was causing a nuisance already.’
‘Okay,’ Dakolo said and paused for a brief moment. He stared at the screenshot again and then swiped to one which showed the kidnapper’s face again. ‘Please check again, are you sure you’ve never seen this person before?’ he said, showing the shot to the NSCC chairman again.
Mr Sylvester stared for about ten seconds and shook his head in negative. ‘I don’t recall ever seeing him anywhere.’
‘It’s obvious that this person knew that the private investigator was coming here because according to the footages your department in our headquarters have shown us, the kidnapper’s vehicle have been waiting for him outside. And it is also looks like he was also expecting an attack because he didn’t return to the place he parked his own car.’
There was silence for a brief moment.
‘Ermm…’ Mr Sylvester wanted to say something but stopped and hissed. He squinted and shook his head in hesitation, as if considering what he wanted to say again.
‘Did you just remember something, Mr Sylvester?’ Dakolo asked, raising his eyebrows and gesturing in a way to encourage him talk.
‘Yes, but I’m not really sure if it makes sense.’ Mr Sylvester said and hissed under his breath again.
‘Just say it out first,’ Dakolo urged.
‘Well, at a particular point in time before he started acting like an hungry developer, he sounded like Henry E.G,’ Mr Sylvester paused to see the reaction on Dakolo’s face. Dakolo had also squinted, focusing his eyes on his face with full concentration. Mr Sylvester continued, satisfied that Dakolo was showing interest. ‘His voice sounded alike and his choice of words were similar to Henry E.G’s but they do not look alike in anyway. I just think that Steve could have learnt somethings from Henry.’ Mr Sylvester said.
There was another brief silence. Then Dakolo turned back to Dayo who was also looking thoughtful. ‘What about you, did he sound like Henry E.G to you?’
‘I really did not pay close attention to his voice, but playing back now, I can say his mannerisms and the way he worked was similar to Mr Henry’s. He had the keyboard placed on his laps when he wanted to type something much and even bent the screen to himself when he was reading for long.’ Dayo gave his reply.
‘Oh!’ Dakolo nodded thoughtfully, trying to connect what the two NSCC men had said. ‘But it wasn’t Henry right?’ he asked. Both men nodded ‘No’.
‘But did you observe if he was makeup or not? Was the colour of his fingers different from his face?’ Dakolo added, directing his questions to both men.
Both looked lost for a minute, trying to get a reply to Dakolo’s questions from their minds.
‘I don’t think there was any makeup,’ Mr Sylvester said and Dayo nodded slowly in agreement. ‘It was his colour, I think they just possess a lot of things in common, I will definitely not miss Henry whenever I see him.’
‘So you’re saying it’s not Henry?’
‘I don’t think he is,’ Mr Sylvester replied.
Dakolo turned to one of the junior officers behind him, ‘I want you to check on that private investigation firm for me, find out about any of their staffs called Steve who was sent to the NSCC today.’ he said to the officer who saluted and sprung to action immediately. ‘Be fast about it,’ Dakolo added as he watched the Officer take the name of the firm in a piece of paper.
Dakolo turned back to Mr Sylvester and sat properly on the seat, he waited for Mr Sylvester to also take his seat. He was about to say something when his phone rang. ‘Excuse me please,’ he said before answering the call. ‘Officer AB, what’s the progress?’
‘Sir, this is officer Tracy.’ a female’s voice sounded instead of AB. ‘Officer AB has been shot. We lost the car and we’re waiting for directions from the office, we’ve also requested for an helicopter to enhance our search.’
‘Who shot officer AB?’
‘The lady in the car,’ the female voice replied. ‘She’s more dangerous than we thought.’
‘Damn it!’ Dakolo cursed, clenching his fists. ‘I can read your location from my device and I’ll be with you very shortly,’ Dakolo said and ended the call. He sprung up to his feet and adjusted his shirt and belt.
‘If that Steve happens to be Henry E.G or connected to Henry E.G, then that lady we’re pursuing after must be Samantha Osman or connected to her.’ he said aloud, although speaking to no one but himself. He offered a quick handshake to Mr Sylvester who had also gotten up from his seat. ‘Thank you sir, please do not hesitate to reach us with more information.’ he said and hurriedly made his way out.
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Rex felt some excitement as he got on the flyover, in very few minutes, he’ll have the chance to deal with Tarasha. He glanced at the device again, he had gain some more distance and was going to gain more because the road was now clear. Now that he had gotten more gap from her, he began to think of the nearest place where he could lead Tarasha and finish her up appropriately. After searching and searching in his mind, the only place he could think of was the office of the Vice President, the same place Tarasha had threatened to attack him sometime ago.
‘Stainless,’ he spoke into his phone.
‘Boss,’ stainless replied in low tones.
‘Meet me at the Vice President’s office in as soon as possible, all other instructions would be sent to you in text before you get there.’ Rex said and ended the call without giving Stainless an opportunity to reply.
He pondered for some seconds about his decision of fighting Tarasha at the Vice President’s office again, it might not be too favourable to the Vice President but he had no option, he was already going in that direction. The only alternative would be if somewhere close to the office was provided to him.
He dialed another number and placed the phone to his ear. ‘Where are you Vice President Elvis?’ he spoke into the phone.
The reply was delayed for almost a minute, Rex could tell that Chief Elvis was trying to move away from the listening ears of other people.
‘Rex, what do you need my location for?’ the reply came in a muffled tone.
‘I’ll be in your office in very few minutes,’ Rex stated.
‘Why?’ the man sounded alarmed. ‘I’ve told you that you can’t come to meet me there. Right now I’m not even at the office.’
‘I’m not coming to meet you there, Samantha Osman is coming to meet me and I don’t know any other spacious place where I could receive her.’
‘Rex, how can you think that my office is the right place to receive Samantha Osman?’
‘Can you provide me with somewhere close to that area where I can receive her?’
‘Why should you receive her anywhere close to my office?’ the Vice President asked angrily.
‘Calm down man, all I require is a good place to meet with her and ki*ll her which is the assignment you gave me.’
‘But why must you meet her somewhere close to my office?’ the man asked stubbornly.
‘She’s already on my trail and would catch up with me soon, I have to lure her into somewhere I would get her easily. I just need a facility, a spacious one with few buildings will do.’
‘Where are you now?’
‘Running down Modagishu flyover.’
‘You can’t lure her to my office and I don’t have any other facility you could use there but there’s an old computer village there whose renovation is supposed to begin next week…’
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Thirty minutes later.
Tarasha reduced her speed as she drove down the flyover. Looking at her device’s screen, the tracked object wasn’t in motion anymore and she was very close to it.
She got into the road leading to the Vice President’s office and finally located the exact point where the object was. It was close to the far end of the road several metres away from the Vice President’s company’s block.
4 minutes later
She stopped her car after driving some metres away from the gate. As she wind up the window glasses, she took a glance at Cole who was still unconscious and now at the backseat of the car, she left the window at his side slightly opened at the top. She picked up her bag and stepped out. She strapped on the bag. She was fully loaded, her pockets were full of loaded guns and body full of weapons. Her device was placed behind, held below the bag to her back firmly with the belt of her trouser. She began to walk back towards the gate of the computer village which had been proposed for renovation.
She stopped at the gate and stared for a minute at the high signboard placed at the gate and read the information. ‘Renovation of the Computer Village 2032 by President Emeka’s administration.’
She took out her device and checked the tracker map again to confirm the location and it had not changed. She returned the device. She took another minute to take another look at the moving vehicles on the road at both sides and the few pedestrians passing by who paid very little attention to her. Then she proceeded towards the gate, not knowing what to expect from the strange man called Rex.
She looked around the place as she entered in through the gate. The whole floor of the place was tarred, though it looked rough because of the work going on there. There were four large old storey buildings at the four edges of the large rectangular space. The roofs and windows of the building had been taken off and some parts were being demolished gradually. The spaces in between the buildings formed a large cross sign which would be hundreds of thousands square metres if measured.
She placed her palm slightly above her eyes to shade it from the sun as she looked around. She could see a few construction vehicles around and some construction materials like gravels, sand and crushed stones, the removed roofs and window materials were also at one side. Then she spotted a car at the large space between the buildings at the rear edges. She took out her device again and turned on the screen. She clicked twice on the green point on the map and a set of options displayed, she selected the option ‘compass’. It loaded and displayed in less than ten seconds, the arrow pointed straight to the direction of the car she could sight from afar. That affirmed to her that Henry was in the car and Rex who brought him there was also somewhere around. She knew Rex must have seen her, there was no way he would miss the radiation of her all white costume.
She looked around again to see the possible places he could be hiding, she couldn’t see any one or notice any movement around. She stretched her hand backwards to reach for the zip of her bag and was about pulling it open to take out her telescope when she saw a male figure appeared, the figure looked little because of the far distance she was looking from. The man had just gotten out of the driver’s side of the car. He pulled out a bag from the car and placed it on the bonnet. He took out something which was later found to be a mask from the bag and put it on. He seemed to be oblivious of her presence but she was sure he had seen her. He strapped the bag to his back just like she had hers. Then looked straight to her direction for the first time after coming out.
Tarasha also reached for her mask from the outer pocket of her bag and put it on. By the time she looked up, she couldn’t see him anymore.
She felt a bit troubled as she wondered where he disappeared to in just few seconds she wasn’t looking but then he appeared again, from behind a huge heap of gravel some few metres away from the car. He stepped back to the front of the car and looked in her direction, he adjusted his mask and began to walk straight forward.
Tarasha looked around briefly again before she began to march forward towards him. She didn’t know who he was or what his real mission was, but she was determined to ki*ll him to save Henry. Even with her determination, there was this fear in her heart; not the fear of losing her own life but the fear of failing to ki*ll Rex which will mean Henry would also die.
Tarasha and Rex battles in the next episode. Will there be a winner? Who will be the winner?
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