Delayed Diagnosis Episode 27

Delayed Diagnosis Episode 27
Written by Kingsley Olanrewaju Efughi

“So you think you can be the hero don’t you?”
‘Big mummy’ eyed me through wickedly wrinkled eyes while I fumbled for an answer, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, we had been seated round a table, a dinner table from the look of things, I couldn’t even tell what was spread out before us but I could sense from the aroma it was something delicious.
But all thoughts of food were cast aside as I could feel the coppery taste of blood in my mouth.
I looked at the old woman, at “big mummy” as she was called. Then I looked back at the knife she had stuck in my chest. Olivia was beside me, not in a wheelchair but in a dining chair also and she was crying and screaming, pulling my arm.
I kept on looking up and down, first at the knife then the woman’s face with the taste getting stronger in my mouth, suddenly her hair wasn’t so grey anymore, or should I say it was a different shade of grey. She began to laugh crazily..”hahaha…you wanted to be the hero…hahaha..!!” her face suddenly seemed to undergo a kind of transformation and true enough I was staring at the old crooner.
She stopped laughing and I could hear her sing the song I had come to dread “coat of many colours that my…”
The blood was streaming down my mouth now.. Olivia was crying and I looked around the hall. It was empty..just this single table the three of us sat with the single light from the ceiling illuminating the table alone.
“Rex!!!”
I guess there’s still a kind of consciousness even in our subconscious state because a tiny part of me(very tiny-atom size) that knew it was a dream latched on to the voice that was calling my name roughly “Rex!Rex!”
My eyes flew open.
“Haba..how could you sleep on the floor like that?” My father asked.
My heart was still racing and I couldn’t find the finish line. I struggled to steady my voice as I blinked..trying to adjust my eye sight…I was still sitting on the floor with my back on the wall “I…I must have slept off…I was reading something…”
“You should have woke me at least..I thought you went to the car!”
“What’s the time..?” I looked around for any wall clock.
“Its 4:30”
I nodded.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes..I’m fine”
“Its just..you were making some kind of noise..that was what woke me up”
“It was a bad dream”
“I’m not suprised…I’ve been having my own share lately…its as a result of all the excitement of the past few days..that’s all”
“True..true…” but this dream felt like some kind of premonition…some kind of warning..? I shook my head..God forbid! But it had felt so real….I tasted my mouth….
“Are you okay?” My dad asked me
“I’d do anything to get a toothbrush right now”
“You’d have to wait till morning…what did you dream about…what’s that you were reading?”
I got to my feet slowly, the papers spilling on the ground.
“We’d discuss in the morning..you can go back to sleep…I’m going to sleep in the car.” I bent down to pick them and return it to the folder. I haven’t even booked their flight!.. I had totally forgotten…but right now, I was feeling like I should book four flights and just abandon everything else and takeoff with them plus Olivia..the initiative was not my fight afterall.
I left the room assuring him I’d be back in the next couple of hours and I could tell he really wanted to go back to sleep.
I walked down still entertaining the thought…the initiative was not my fight..I had played my part..no matter how small..nothing more I could do…
is this how you’ll repay Fome and Mona’s deaths? the annoying voice again
Men…Bleep my conscience! I had just been stabbed in my dream….now I wasn’t superstitious but I knew that was a bad omen…and no way..I didn’t want to die. I had waltzed with death on many occasions but now I was going back to my previous lifestyle.. To run, keep on running and never have to fight another day!

I told myself this as I walked down the stairs and down the hall. Everyone was asleep now and even the TV was off.
Outside,I found myself walking towards the ford jeep.
“I guess I have my answer!” I shook my head in self pity..too bad I was a changed man..somehow I managed to develop a kind of ‘service to humanity’ mentality and I knew there was no way I could back down…even if I were to run away..I’d still run back. I couldn’t fool myself, the initiative was my fight I was in this for the real ride.
“Damn!” I banged the nearest car in frustration with my fist and it immediately began with its loud security alarm and blinking lights.
I hurried away feeling frustrated.
The frustration multiplied when I got to the the Ford’s ‘parking space’. It was empty!
Strange eyes must have gone somewhere. Probably where he could sleep on a real bed, I thought to myself. “Well too bad I can’t wait”
I brought out my phone and dialed his number.
He picked up on the first ring.
“Yo!Rex..”
“You’re not at the hospital again?”
“Actually-“
“Listen..you’re going to do as I say..if you really want to help..I need you to arrange some gadgets for me.”
“Hmmm…what kind of gadgets exactly are we talking about”
“Nothing fancy just ear pieces…the type that wouldn’t show and can’t be seen…wireless..you known the type I mean..like the movies!”
He laughed “oh..calm down Rex..its a taboo to discuss such matters over the phone….come across to the car”
“But I’m there…and the car isn’t!”
“Check again..notice the headlights”
A pair of headlights came on from the opposite end.
“That’s you?”
“You know it”

Its like I covered the short walk with a single step. I yanked open the door “why did you change position”
“I’m never in one position for long…rules of surviving” He looked at me then chuckled “I knew you wouldn’t sleep..not with that kind of explosion in your hands”
“You did a good job…but some basic information like address would have been helpful”
“The fact that it wasn’t there doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist..you don’t expect me to include such data…knowing how unstable you are known to be”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re always going with a whim..always jumping on an idea..the first idea to come to your head…now I’ve profiled you ..I’ve done my profiling and I know that even with good intentions, the outcome might he deadly because you didn’t go the right way”
I sighed wistfully.
“What is it?” He asked me
“I wish…I wish your opinion was something I could hold…something I could carry in my hands…so I could hit you over the head with it!”
He had been smiling thinking I was complementing him but he frowned.
“I once told someone something like that once upon a time and now I have a coloured eye to show for it…”
“What really happened to your eyes?” I asked him.
“What did you say you needed..earpiece?” He ignored my question.
“Fine don’t tell me I don’t want to know the silly story anyway!”
“What is wrong with you…why are you so cranky?”
I calmed down..”sorry…bad dream”.
“Oh..I understand..that’s why I wasn’t sleeping myself”
“Oh..so a dream also woke you up?”
He shook his head “Rex..when you have the kind of dreams I have..you don’t sleep at night”
“They don’t come during the day?”
“They hardly…there’s something peaceful about daylight”
“Well I just had one now and I’ll need to prevent”
“Name what you want..we’re together in this”
“First I’d need address of the four of them…I need to do a little calculation..or the three of them rather..I already know where the chief’s wife stays”
“Actually…she has been splitting her time recently between the house and a lovers apartment”
“Really….cheating on the chief? Is that wise?”
“Its not today she just started…she has experience on her side”
“But the chief..”
“Rex have you seen the chief before?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Does he strike you as someone who even has the interest of fucking his wife?”
I pictured the chief…strange eyes was right..the chief never came across as someone who was interested in a sex life anymore. I didn’t even know he had a family till Fome told me.
“You’re right…”
“Of course I’m right! I spent a year working for that man..and believe me the only time he climaxes is when he pulls off a drug deal or a weapon or human trafficking deal and has an insane amount of cash to show for it….and I mean that literally!”
I squeezed my face…”you creep..I’d need both addresses then..especially that lawyer guy…Mr Bright something..and that woman…that old woman..”
My voice trailed off.
“What about her?” Strange eyes asked then he smiled knowingly “oh..you’re having a phobia for old women right..because of the assassin…that old woman!” He shook his head and I could tell he was remembering the old crooner (may her soul rest in pieces) “very dangerous woman..you can thank my men for ending her life too..” He looked at me “I have all the address up here” he touched his head “but you need to understand this is a partnership”
“Heey…you offered your help..and now you want to take it back?”
“Of course not…what else do you need”
“I need some kind of earpiece communication device..like I said that is almost invincible and no part would show..that can work over a far distance and won’t enter static”
“Can you get that for me?”
“Earphone you mean?”
“Whatever..you know what I mean”
“There’s this ear microphone I can get you, no single coil, wireless, doesn’t irritate the ear…its a dream..but mind you its imported and at the moment the stock isn’t as much as I would like it..so no harm must come to them”
“Don’t worry..even if any harm should come to me, you would be able to retrieve it”
“Rex! Why are you talking like that? How can you say such a thing?!”
“Honestly…I don’t know…” I shook my head, trying to clear traces of the dream out.
“I’d get them later today…how many do you need?”
“Two..”
“Okay..that’s all?”
“No..I need some kind of recording device..something fancy..like cufflinks! Or a bow tie..some kind of disguised recorder that can catch any conversation and record it”
“You think this is a James Bond movie…cuff links..bow tie…”he laughed
“And you call yourself a federal agent!”
That seemed to hit home because he sobered immediately…”okay…I can get you a pen.. You just hang it on your breast pocket, one click, it starts recording…two clicks it stops..it records in a small memory card.”
“that’s cool…perfect”
“So that’s all?”
“For now..I’m still working things out…wait..one more thing!”
“I’m listening”
“I’d like you to book flights for me..two flights two benue..for tomorrow..preferably preferably late morning or early afternoon”
“Do I look like your P.A?”
“You said anything…” I reminded him
He grumbled and grumbled but I knew he would get it done.

We were quiet after that and we both watched as a security guard approached the car that had stopped its alarm long ago to inspect it. He moved kind of warily and unsure around the car, pointing his torchlight and I couldn’t blame him,two of his partners had been killed in this hospital about 72 hours ago after all.
“are you hungry?” Strange eyes asked
“You wouldn’t believe….you have anything eatable here?”
“No”
“So why’d you ask?”
“Just to be polite” I could smell sarcasm anytime, even with a blocked nose but I let it pass..
“So did you see the possibilities and probabilities I wrote?”
“Yes…I’ve been thinking of it since…everything is just stange and hard to believe”
“Yes it is…we do live in a crazy world”
“And a crazier country”
He laughed at that…but I didn’t, I couldn’t laugh..I was feeling messed up on the inside and I hoped that dream hadn’t destroyed my smile…at least not permanently.
I looked at strange eyes as he quieted down.
“You mean..on their way to Church..on their way from Church…in their houses…going to the market..hair dresser..work….they just disappeared and no one saw them again?”
“Yes..its all very strange…around the country! Not just in Lagos for that matter!”
“What kind of people are they?Clean abductions…to have kidnapped hundreds maybe thousands of women with no mistake whatsoever?”
“I tell you…its a really scary thought,although I have my own theories about that”
“Theories?”
“For lack of a better term…let’s call it a theory for now”
“Okay..I’m all ears”
“I first stumbled unto this possibility when I was researching the mysterious deaths of family members of the abducted widows…the way they were all killed. Most were classified as accidents or something unrelated…but I sensed some kind of superior force..some kind of elite force at work..all the hits were clean and even I almost didn’t raise an eyebrow..but for the fact that the victims all had one thing in common…they were related to a widow”
“So…you’re saying the initiative uses mercenaries to assassinate anyone who blows the whistle and also in the kidnapping?”
He brought out yet another stick of cigarette from his pocket. I was about to ask him just how many he had in there.
“Rex…you’re not going to like the smell of this smoke..but you’re also not going to like what I’m about to tell you”

°•°•°•°•

He stopped, touching his pockets frantically, finally he gave up and returned the cigarette back in his pocket. I could see the lighter he searched for on the dashboard but I kept quiet.
“Okay…first of all, on a not so different note…a division of our internal investigation that deals with counterintelligence pointed our attention to a group of….” He gestured with his hands, looking for a suitable word “I wouldn’t call them killers, because that’s like saying….” He trailed off again, searching for words that seemed to elude him.
I was patient, but to be frank I wasn’t liking what I was hearing, “….its like saying….like..like..saying a cheater…no no no…its like saying a Bollywood actor only acts”
I yawned tiredly(although I didn’t have any plan to sleep, not anymore)
“So you’re saying that asides from killing, this people sing and dance too?” I asked him.
“its good to see you’re recovering your careless humour but believe me, this is a discussion that you better leave it behind”
I held up both hands “They’re involved in other things, I got it”

He nodded satisfied “Anyway, there was nothing…absolutely nothing concrete…no sort of evidence..no intelligence or information about them whatsoever only the fact that they was a group…skillful, and trained and above all deadly!”

A car pulled in front of the hospital entrance and there was a flurry of activity as nurses emerged with stretchers and hastily rushed the patient who had been brought in into the hospital.
We watched in silence even after they had all rushed in and the car had gone to park, somewhere at the extreme end of the lot.

Strange eyes continued speaking. Still staring and drumming his fingers on the steering. “Four years ago, we made a breakthrough…there was a case gone wrong, an assassination attempt on the first lady of a particular state..”
“That was in Jos..I remember something like that”
“Well..what the masses didn’t know was that the perpetrator was caught weeks later by our hardworking and fearless agents”
I would have rolled my eyes if my eyelids were not so heavy. He continued…”After a series of…eh…shall we say investigations, we managed to get the name of his organisation..”
I could bet my left arm that ‘investigations’ meant series of torture…I was sure of it.
“What was it?”
“just a simple name”
“What?!”
“Sunset”
“Sunset?”
“Yes…sunset..what was more, the assassins name was shadow”
At first I was quiet…thinking about the name ‘Sunset’…where had I seen it before? then I realized he had said the assassin was called Shadow….same with the maniac I had killed, and I thought: ‘what a coincidence’…but then I remembered recent experience and beliefs didn’t permit me to believe in coincidence anymore, if there was one thing I had found out, it was that everything was connected somehow…there was hardly any coincidence…I began to get worried.
“Hmmm…shadow?..did you have the chance of “interviewing” him yourself?”
“Unfortunately I was in Egypt at the time…don’t ask me” he said when I arched my eyebrow about to ask him what he had been up to there.
“And somehow he managed to commit suicide before I got back” he continued.
“How was that possible?…In detention?”
“He somehow managed to poison himself” strange eyes mumbled weakly.
“How..how was it possible?”
“He managed to get a plant…a deadly plant”
“What plant”
“Not the plant per say…the seed…he managed to get the seeds and eat..the seed of a very dangerous plant..castor plant”
“This castor whatever, where is it gotten from..here in Nigeria?”
“No…its only indigenous to India and East Africa.”
“So you mean somehow…someone got the poisonous seeds to him to chew, when he was in supposed to be locked up…someone from within!”
“Actually Mr smart mouth…,the seed doesn’t kill immediately but within two days which makes for a very agonizing death..he exhibited the first symptoms after the first few hours he had been arrested..which would mean he probably ate it the moment he was caught.”
“Hmmm…but you still managed to get something from him”
“I tell you it wasn’t pretty..vomiting..bloody diarrhoea, everywhere! We didn’t even need to really tortu- interrogate him much we knew he was dying and he gave us the name we needed before he died”
“Hmmm….” All this was almost too much…”so.. You said he was called shadow..?”
“Yes..he had a tattoo of identification on his back with the four words: “The shadow is tallest”
“The shadow is tallest…what does that mean…?”
“Beats me..anyway we ran series of investigations but couldn’t come up with any substantial lead..its like they fell into thin air…I can’t tell you how many people I tore their shirts off, after suspicions and vigorous investigations…only to see there was no ink of what was surely their identity…”
I was listening raptly and I didn’t talk, I felt something heavy was coming.
“I got too..too involved that same year…I was reaaly attached to the case and soetime that December, I tracked some suspects to a warehouse in Edo state.. I was so sure I was on the right track…I had linked them to a group of car jackers who had been stealing cars, around the country..and more than one of the car had turned up in a further murder case..that had gotten my attenrion..I remember that night clearly…my partner and I had intercepted a frequency on the radio and we knew it to be the same sunset group that had caused us sleepless nights that was communicating over the radio..we tracked them to a garage and long story short….” He trailed off. The way he had said the ‘partner’ had convinced me that he meant more than a service partner and fellow agent.
He conrinued, “We had spread out in the garage…going according to tactics and training….the garage had seemed empty and I had moved between some cars, with my smith and Wesson in my hand and feeling really untouchable “and the next thing I knew was I couldn’t see..there was this impossible pain in my eyes….I remember shouting and shouting…” His voice trailed off again and I touched my own eyes subconsciously, trying to picture what he must have gone through.
He continued, “The stinging….I pray you never go through what I went through that day..”
I couldn’t help it I said “Amen” any thing with the eyes always made me cringe..my eyes were quite sensitive and dust alone was enough problem.
Strange eyes kept quiet…I knew he didn’t talk about this..nor at all.
“What… What happened to your eyes?” I asked him not quite expecting an answer, but he replied me.
“It was battery acid…sulphuric acid”
“What!…acid?..how come?”
“I don’t know..the only thing I remember is my partner Nancy holding my head up and shouting that we needed to go to the hospital”
“And the person who had done that?….a quick shadow he was”
“But how did you survive something like that..with your eyesight still intact?”
“I went through surgery…or surgeries..limbal cell grafting…surgical debridement…and so, so many I don’t plan to remember”
I looked at him with a questioning look.
“Believe me, when you have your entire eyes in a bandage for weeks upon weeks,
you’d want to know why”
I nodded..”sorry for such experience..I can’t even imagine..”
“And I would have lost my eyes to..but for my partner…she was a wonderful woman..according to the doctors..she irrigated both eyes with about 25 litres of water…normally it should be a saline solution…but she used water…just water…and she used it so thoroughly that it gave me a chance to see”
“You can’t remember her doing it?”
“No..not really…the pain was too much to take consciously…but I do recall hearing her voice..soothing me and urging me to be calm”
“She sounds like a wonderful person…what happened to her..where is she now?”
He looked at me and I could see pain in his eyes..the eyes that weren’t so strange anymore. “That’s the painful part…she was shot!…she was shot yet she..attended to me…she was bleeding yet she washed my eyes,helped me in the car then headed for the hospital”
My eyes were wide “you mean she drove?”
“She drove me to the hospital…but she bled to death on the way…just passed on one second and drove the car into the ramp”
He shook his head sadly. “But she had gotten to just a Stone’s throw away from the hospital.. So she saved my eye sight”
“I’m really sorry about that…sorry you lost someone that way…”
He waved it off…”so yes I do understand how you and Andy feel…and I’m very sorry and I hate myself that I played a part in making you feel what I felt four years ago…”
He continued “do you see why I must take down the initiative now?”
“I’m understanding..but I can’t really see the connection…so this sunset of a thing helps the initiative with abductions and executions as well..and they are responsible for your strange-…..peculiar eye sight and the loss of the woman you loved”
“Who mentioned anything like love?”
“You didn’t have to..the thing is I can see how badly you may want to take down the initiative now..but this sunset…what’s the connection…there has to be something concrete”
“Rex…I repeat if you’re ever in need of a job…one is open as my partner..you are good at this job..you’d make a fine agent” he had sighted his lighter finally and he happily grabbed it and proceeded to light his cigar.
“The thing is..the man you killed.. The man who shot Andy..he also belonged to this group”
“You mean the shadow?”
“Aaah…so you knew him well” he blew the smoke out the window “actually he’s not the shadow..he’s ‘a’ shadow..just like the one who commited suicide years ago…there are probably dozens of them as estimated in our last security briefing”
“So the shadow belonged to this your Sunset group too?”
“Firstly its not my group…and secondly yes..he had the tattoo with the same words..”The shadow is tallest” on his back”
“Hmmm…that’s strange”
“Exactly…I have a riddle for you…the phrase alone is a clue to their identity…as a league of shadow killers and also as a link to their cooperate body”
“They have a corporate body?”
“Yes..the answer is in the tattoo..in the words ‘The shadow is the tallest”
I scratched my jaw. “Please..if you have any info just tell me…I’m just too tired for all this”
“But its morning…look 5:37am already…you need to task your brain..its at its freshest now..trust me”
I sighed tiredly..my brain wasn’t feeling ‘fresh’ it felt abused from the dream..and tired, but still I chewed it over..”the shadow is tallest…”
I seemed to be remembering where I thought I had seen the name…but I kept missing it…finally after turning it around without any recognition, I focused on the phrase…
Taking it literally…the shadow is at its ‘shortest’ at noon, when the sun is shining directly above…or pretty close right….?
I waved the smoke that had managed to get into the car away from my face..
So…the shadow was at its tallest during sunrise/sunset…..
Bingo!…I just remembered where I had seen it…it wasn’t sunset I had noticed but the word ‘sunrise’ and if I remember correctly, the organisation was listed as one of the sponsors of the widows initiative. I had seen it on the website the day I had been breathing down Short Sam’s neck.
I looked at strange eyes then nodded..”you’re right…the corporate organisation is one secretly held by the Chief isn’t it..that way he has the perfect access to records of the widows…and he passes it from sunrise to sunset!”

Strange eyes couldn’t help himself he burst out clapping.
The hospital was getting livelier now with more cars driving in, most of them the doctors and nurses coming for the morning shift.

“So that’s my theory…and the fact that you caught on to it means its probably spot on…so this is why we need to stay together…to tackle the initiative and keep your lady friend safe at the same time..is something that planning alone can not guarantee.. We need all hands on deck, and what’s more…we need luck…the good kind!”
I scratched my head….I couldn’t imagine more of the shadow Anywhere….others just crazy and deadly like him…maybe more..”but wait…the shadow was an assassin hired to kill me who took it personal…”
“It doesn’t matter…individual contracts applies in this case too…they each probably make their personal money by employing thwir skills in contract killings…unless you think there’s another possibility”
You wouldn’t blame me if I thought of Mr X, (I didn’t even trust myself not to talk of another person)
“Can you?” Strange eyes asked me
“Can I what?”
“Think of another possibility?”
“No…not really…wait what about the nurse Ify…did she belong to?”
“Well my agents didn’t find any tattoo on her if that’s what you mean”
I nodded…I thought as much..if she had truly been a shadow I would be dead by now no doubt.
“So what’s the plan?” He asked me.
“Honestly…I’m scared…I’m scared for Olivia…I’m scared of all these shadows…”
“The important thing is safety…I have the two agents…you saw earlier….they’re really good…I can get two more…but the truth is since the explosion disaster, I’ve been on some kind of suspension…pending internal investigation, the only reason I wasn’t locked up is because the Chief probably has friends in high places and I had attended to him and his family that night!”
He shook his head bitterly.
“Look strange-….wait what’s your name?”
“Agent John”
“No…your real name”
He was silent then he said “Bami…call me Bami..”
“Hhunn..okay..look Bami…the interview is tomorrow, and I’d need the address of the lawyer Mr Bright…I’d need the earphones and the recorder we talked about and I’d need you to prepare to be a mechanic again by tomorrow…”
“A mechanic?…what do you have planned…..and what about these sunset shadows?”
“In the mean time, I need to transform myself into something else..something unrecognisable and also transform Olivia into an elderly woman(I was counting on Wendy and her brush or ‘magic wand’ as she called it)I need to do everything to make sure she gets disqualified..to make sure ahe doesnt meet the requirements for their trafficking scheme…as for the sunset shadows….(what an apt name, I thought) only…God can help us there”

Sunrise was a steel company. ‘Sunrise steel’ that was the name in full. As I viewed the short documentary on strange eyes tab, I knew immediately that this was the company Fome and Mona’s father had started up. He himself had told me just nights ago.
Strange eyes was quiet still puffing away, but I could tell he was sleepy. We were fast approaching the break of dawn and possibility of nightmares was at the barest minimum and so he was sliding further into the seat.
Me on the other hand, my eyes were glued to the screen.
Sunrise steel had taken off in the early 90s, the brilliant owner Chief Amunike had gotten the brainstorm to start up with a foundry, and began in metal casting and the production of crude steel.
I knew for a fact that the brainstorm had been by his friend at the time who had been walking home tiredly,choked by poverty then had noticed unwanted and ‘condemned’ metal being carried away to be broken in pieces.
That was where Mr X had gotten to the night we spoke before emotions and bitterness had taken him over but now I could connect it well and I also knew he had started it up wo years before Fome’s birth when Mona was still a baby and I knew for a fact it was in the late 80’s not early 90’s.

Anyway, the demand of steel was on the rise that year and it would infact increase rapidly in the next decade and so the little company began to grow and presently it is one of the biggest steel industries in Africa.
So basically from melting metals, refining and solidifying it and marketing the crude steel, the Chief made a fortune and I could see it was truly a fortune because the slides also showed his ‘official’ net worth. I blinked and counted the digits again, Of course he was into other things, there was the ammunition,(I mean the drink now) he also had a line of cologne and perfumes and other string of businesses scattered around the Country.
I gritted my teeth..businesses like drug dealing and human trafficking, once more I marveled at how he had managed to run his illegal businesses for years and get away with it.

Anyway,so the Sunrise Steel was one of the sponsors of the initiative and their major sponsor I was sure.
I wondered about the setup of it all, Could the Chief be this dangerous? It felt like a stupid question really, I mean once a person is heartless that equals danger don’t you think?
So somehow the Chief was linked to this kind of group..assassins and mercenaries that did the dirty job, but the vibe I was getting was that theirs was more of a partnership…I couldn’t say they worked for the Chief…that wouldn’t quite fit with what I could percieve…they were assassins..and the only two that had ever been killed(and given us some inkling about their existence)had been on some kind of personal contract. I was one of them recently…and thhe other was four years back…all failed operations thankfully.
Still these shadows of the sunset(if I could call them that) they were truly shadows in every sense.
I thought back to the kill strikes and abductions I had read about all were swift..and most times nobody expected anything to happen.

I had to act..I could sense something hovering on the horizon, there was the Chief on one side, there was Mr X on the other, and there was me…I could forsee some kind of clash in the nearest furure
It was some kind of triangle…I could picture the three of us in a desert, circling and sizing each other up while each of our hands itched for the gun on our hip like the last scene of the movie: ‘The good, The Bad and the Ugly’ the name was frightfully accurate and if that were the case..I planned to act exactly how Clint Eastwood had done, the way he had been two steps ahead of his two antagonists every time.
I realized I could still take it literally a step further. You see, in the western classic, Clint Eastwood, sharp as ever removes the bullets from the gun of the Ugly before hand and so when they have their showdown, he isn’t worried about him..all his focus is on the Bad, because he knows the Ugly can’t shoot him, he’s removed the bullets!
The other two on the other hand have to keep moving their eyes focusing on him and each other. And so he takes down the Bad easily, the Ugly shoots at him but realises he’s shooting breeze because no bullets in his gun and so the Good turns his own gun on him…

So same way I could apply it in my case, Mr X was planning something deadly against the chief, the ripple effects of which would affect his children Ada, I had wronged her and taken advantage of her naivety, somehow managed to dash her dreams of being a fashion stylist not to talk of dragging her to the thick of things that horrible night…and yes I couldn’t forget…I had stolen her ride too.
The very least I could do was try protect her from whatever the Ugly (Mr X) was doing then I could leave the battleground for them…the Bad and the Ugly (Chief and his Old friend) they had a score to settle, at least as long as I protected everyone else.
The protector abi…why don’t you protect yourself first..and try and survive tomorrow first

I immediately touched my chest…damn that little voice! Its official…I’m losing it…!
I rubbed my face tiredly..my beard scratching my hands…I couldn’t remember when last a blade had touched my jaw,probably when Wendy worked on the disguise…well, I’d be seeing her again today! I thought to myself..and I suddenly had something to look forward to, apart from the possibility of getting killed.
I opened the door and hopped down.
Strange eyes….no, no longer strange eyes…(but truthfully I would miss the name)his name was Bami….agent Bami. His eyes opened immediately. “Where you going?”
“I need fresher air…I’d be in my car”
“Your car…” He smiled…”That reminds me your car is in my possession right now”
“Hmmm…its been long…so all the trackers…hope their gone?” I had abandoned it in a fearful haste after my first encounter with the old crooner.
“Gone with the wind..believe me you wouldn’t recognise your car if you see it again..trust me…even the sound..the annoying noise is gone”
“Interesting…but the present car I’ve been driving..that is working out fine for me” but then I thought..the car had been taken from killers from men sent to kill Andy the night Mona had talked about the initiative.(That dreadful night) It wasn’t wise to continue driving the BMW..and then a bigger thought:…the hit men….I knew they couldn’t be part of the Shadows because I had broken his fingers(the dreaded thug)and knocked out his partner easily(with the pestle) and it had taken a heated knife dipped in red oil wielded by Andy to get him talking….he couldnt be part of the shadows…they ate the seeds of poisonous castor plants before they talked…still they were all from the other side of the fence..the Chief’s side..the ‘Bad’ side.
I didn’t want to focus on the Dr Rasheed(a.k.a Carmichael), Betran and Mr X..that was ‘The ugly’ side of the fence.
I was definitely representing the Good and as I closed the door I began to whistle the tune of the soundtrack.
“Actually….it would be a good idea to drive my car tomorrow” I told strange eyes. No need driving the car that was probably bought by the initiative to the interview..that would be foolish
“I’ll drive it here later then…wait where are you taking my iPad to?”
“Calm down..I’m going to the car just across..I haven’t finished with the slides yet”
“I have sensitive material in there…I can’t let you take it” he sounded really sleepy.
“Bami..believe me..the trouble I put my hand in is what I’m still struggling with..do you think I plan to make the same kind of mistake again?”

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
I returned his tab hours later. “What I have seen is enough for now..I need to find a store”
He checked the dashboard for the time. “Its almost 6;30..let’s go together”
“To be frank I just want to drive around alone for some minutes…I know I wouldn’t get the chance again” he seemed to understand or maybe he badly wanted to go back to sleep. I drove out the hospital and around the neighborhood till I saw a kiosk. I succeeded in waking the owner up..and I wondered how he could sleep comfortably in such a tight space…
I bought a toothbrush and soap, but then I bought extras for Olivia and another just incase an extra was needed.
I took my time and drove round, not heading directly for the hospital,chewing the plan in my mind..or to be honest chewing the half formed plan…over and over..trying to give it shape.
Damn this shadows of the sunset! Damn the old woman..big mummy or whatever she was called..that dream had succeeded in shaking me to the core and learning about this sunset of a thing and the sunrise part..two sides of the same coin they were and I was wary of the meeting tomorrow…I still needed to talk to Olivia..even though she won’t agree, I need to make her understand this latest development..the danger was very much real..the shadow had a family of shadows..maybe more ruthless and more crazy than him and she would be exposed to them..because no matter how you looked at it, the moment we went for their so called ‘interview’ as a widow she was exposed.
I headed back to the hospital and my phone rang.
It was Wendy.
“Hello…Wendy..I was going to call you but I thought it too early”
“No..I’ve been up since..look you know how we work…you specifically asked for something extra and I’ve been looking up our inventory…its going to cost you”
“No problem…bring everything you think you will need..I would pay you”
“Bring..are you not coming again?”
“You know I don’t want Jossy to see me” indeed should her boss see me, uncomfortable questions would follow, plus I know she would relay everything to my sister Cynthia. If she had forgotten to relay the previous one which was likely..considering I haven’t gotten a call from my sister asking me if Fome had said yes to my marriage proposal. Seeing me again coming for another disguise and makeover session would definitely prompt her.
Wendy was saying “so what do you want..I should come to your place?”
“Actually..it might have to be a…..a hotel”
“Hotel!….” She sounded unsure.
“Yes..actually I also have a lady friend that I need you to disguise like an old woman also..”
“Hmm…na wa o…what is the reason this time?”
“Actually, we’re going for a couples game night show..there’s a nice money prize attached to it..and the winning couple can choose any kind of wedding they want..and the organisers would foot the bill….they’d air it, I think in a fortnight.” My God..where did I get all these lies from?
“Hmmm..Rex..” She laughed and I knew she wasn’t really fooled…”if it were only you I could manage because I’ve worked on you before..I know the measurements..I know what to do and I can visualise how it would look but for someone I haven’t met…you have to come down….I can’t just pick things blindly…what of shade of hair..eyebrows…the facials…all those important things? You wouldn’t understand but unless you want me to carry the whole female shop to meet you, you’d both have to come”
“Would Jossy be around?”
“Of course…its her place”
“Okay…I’d need the disguises late into the night anyway…so maybe when she closes if you can stay back…and we’d both come over”
“Why don’t you want her to see you?” She asked
I had turned into the hospital, I waved the guard as I drove in.
“I don’t just want it right now..she’s friends with my sister and frankly I don’t want to be asked questions I can’t answer”
There was silence, then “okay..I’d give you a call when she leaves tonight”

I was surprised not to see strange eyes jeep(its going to take some time to get used to ‘Bami’) anywhere when I got back. The day was quite clear now, just few minutes before 7 and I looked round, but the jeep was no where to be found.
‘So he’s finally gone to sleep’ I thought idly to myself, ‘after sitting outside the hospital overnight’ ..and he’d said he no longer slept at night…I hoped I didn’t get to be like that.

I called him before I went in and when he picked on the first ring I glanced around the parking lot, half expecting to see him parked somewhere else like before.
“Rex..what’s the matter”
“I just wanted to remind you about the flight booking”
“I’d send you the details later this morning..I have someone working on it right now,just expect it to be this evening”
“Okay..thanks…so you disappeared again..rules of survival right?”
“In this case its basic survival .the body needs sleep to function and it has been functioning, over functioning without sleep…”

Upstairs I met a doctor in the room, my father was still sitting but I could tell he was sharp and wide awake,monitoring every movement of the doctor who it seemed was unsettled by the intense scrutiny.
He glanced as I entered, the barest of glances then returned his watchful gaze immediately to the doctor who was checking on Andy.
“Is your mother up?” He asked without looking at me.
“Oh…I didn’t check”
“Okay…stay here lemme go”
“Actually..I want to see them..lemme check on them quickly” I hurried to the door and my dad was obviously not pleased,he had been in the room for hours, since the previous evening and I knew he didn’t like being in one place for too long.
He mumbled about me passing by their room first and not stopping to branch. Actually, I was in a haste to leave the room.The doctor…I could swear he was the same doctor I had injected barely 3 nights ago,He had taken off when the shadow had began to display with the deadly mop stick, but I was sure he could recognise me if he looked at me well enough and I didn’t plan to give him the opportunity.

My phone rang outside. It was Gwen. “Obasi….I did you a favour…I helped your sorry ass and looked how you turned my house upside down!”
“Haba…not upside down…I know the fridge was almost emptied…I’m sorry about-“
“Just the fridge?what about the mattress?what about the pipe in one of the toilets? I cant see most of my gowns!You see how you spat in my eye abi?”
“Look Gwen…I’m sorry believe me..what did Ariyo say?”
“He was angry…according to him I’m sleeping with someone else!”
“But..you should…you’re not his wife…hell…you’re someone’s fiance!”
“So..what’s your point..that’s what gave you the right to rip out the PVC pipe…or to rip out the foam…I don’t just understand the type of life you’re living!” She sounded baffled.
“Will it make you feel better if I say the pipe saved my life and someone else also” we (or Andy)had used the pipe for designing the gun suppressor same thing the foam had been used for actually.
She shouted some nasty words in reply then ended the call.

My mother and Olivia where up and they must have been talking for some time. I met them both sitting on the bed and they must have been in some kind of intense conversation because Immediately they saw me, my mother said “Rex..thank God you’re here…I don’t like what I’m hearing about this interview of a thing..is the organisation legitimate?”
I glanced at Olivia “its just the interview we plan to go for….nothing else…its tomorrow actually and you don’t have anything to worry about” Actually there was plenty reason to worry..,the first being I had been having my doubts since the dream had woken me up and now learning about this shadow fiasco was another matter totally.

We talked for some minutes, maybe even half an hour..Olivia had not told my mother that the interview we were going for was with the very people responsible for the crimes we had come across recently and she thought it was just a private organisation “How come I’ve never heard about it?”
“They don’t really do press releases like that..I’m sure they’re afraid of the amount of widows that would really turn up should they really advertise” of course I knew the real reason they weren’t that popular, but there was no way I was telling her. I didn’t want her to worry and start having second thoughts about leaving, after what had happened with nurse Ify and those few painful minutes she didn’t wake up, I had known I couldn’t take it again…no way…they were safer in Benue state..away from the danger and most importantly, away from me.

I passed the time with them till I was sure the doctor would have left.
We decided that when they washed up we would look for breakfast, everyone was hungry I could tell.
I didn’t feel guilty when I rushed down to the car and handed Olivia the bag of Gwen’s clothing. She (Gwen) had every right to be angry I mean, I went as far as to remove clothes from her closet although all my mind had been on what Olivia could wear and at the time I didn’t care, the thing is if I could do it again I would.

My dad’s face was almost purple when I got back to the room. “What took you so long? You know how long I’ve been sitting here?”
“I’m sorry..the thing is I had to get something from the car”
“You spent more than 30 minutes in the car?” He got up and stretched “Anyway..Andy has been awake…he just drifted off again”
He walked to the door but I stopped him “When I left,they were about taking their bath..so now might not be a good time”
“Whatever….I must leave this room…since yesterday!”
He stomped outside and I locked the door. I couldn’t afford to leave Andy unguarded while I washed up in the bathroom.
The first thing I did was to pump almost all the toothpaste on the brush.
I stared at the mirror…trying to recall traces of the dream but it was thankfully blurred, and as I scrubbed my teeth away, it felt like washing the taste of blood away with good ol’ MacLean.

Strange eyes called me a little later. My dad had once again been the designated security to stay by Andy’s bed…but I could see he was tired of sitting in the room alone. Apparently my mom did too, because she offered that they all stay behind while I went food hunting so I assured them I would get something nice and be quick.
Currently, I was skipping down the stairs when strange eyes called me.
“Bami!”
“Please..use my alias…I’m known as agent John…don’t come and give away my identity unknowingly”
“Agent John?…I’d try my best but won’t it be better to still protect your alias..”
“Don’t call me strange eyes if that’s where you’re going”
“Okay..I won’t…so what’s up..any news?”
“The flights have been booked..4pm..first class…you should receive the details as we speak”
True enough my phone vibrated “thanks..you won’t believe how my mind just calmed down now”
“I’d have the things you requested for tonight….and you can trust me to provide security for Andy anytime you won’t be there….especially when the sun sets…”
I lowered my eyes at his choice of words, but I said nothing…instead I ended the call.

I spent a small fortune on food alone, everybody was super hungry and I didn’t hold back, it was a popular eatery I went to, and their food is known to be too expensive, coupled with the fact that I couldn’t stop my eyes from roaming everywhere in the show glass….everything I was seeing rice, porridge,plantain, salad, not to talk of the dilemma to choose between meat/fish/chicken/snail……at the end I settled for almost everything and from the amount of paper bags I held, one would think it was for at least 20 people or they were about to sell me.
The hunger must have been more serious than I thought because my father called me twice, and both times I assured him I was on my way.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
The day seemed to fly by and my parents where no longer as supportive as they had been concerning their journey back. I knew however, that I had to be firm and I maintained that they had to go. “You came to spend the weekend..its already Monday…we can’t be jumping from hospital to hotel like this..”
We bantered back and forth but I was firm. They had come to visit me..and the visitation was over. By 2pm we need to head towards the airport..they couldn’t afford to miss their flight.
It was 12:30pm currently and I was thinking about how I would drop them at the airport, drive towards the other end of Lagos to the hospital for Olivia’s checkup then drive back to Jossy’s makeup school for our makeover session.
Olivia and I were in the room with Andy. My parents were somewhere outside in the “sunlight” as my dad had put it,he had been super restless and I know he was tired of the hospital really, he said he needed a different kind of air and was taking a walk..my mother had joined him saying the antiseptic smell of hospitals always made her queasy. So currently we were alone with Andy who was still sleeping(a different doctor had come to check on him and announced that the next time he would wake..he should be strong enough to speak softly)
I decided to fill Olivia in with what I had found out in the last few hours.

For a minute I thought I had succeeded in scaring her with the horrific tales of how the widows were snatched by the shadows. One would think the shadows had supernatural powers with the way i narrated it and she must have thought so too because her eyes were wide and white.
“Its okay Olivia…we’ll find another way I’m sure..we don’t need to risk your life”
“No its not that…” She shook her head “I’m just shocked at how this people have been messing and playing with lives all along..kidnapping them…treating them like objects” her eyes had some kind of fire in them “No Rex..the time is now..we need to stop them..they feel invisible… But we need to expose them!” She was such so fired up that she got up as she was talking so she could look at me without turning her neck and I assisted her to the bed.
Chai…my plan had backfired, instead of scaring her,it had motivated her…nothing else I could do…we were in this together in every sense. So I told her the first part of my plan…or to be precise, the only part of my semi plan. The thing was the widows were formerly locked up in containers before they were shipped out, but ever since the coordinates had turned up in my hands..they had been evacuated..I could tell they had been moved in a rush, the evidence of that little baby shoe..I could imagine it falling down and getting lost in the hasty movements of frightened bodies.. I shook my head. I was sure all the other coordinates had been emptied by now… So that would mean the Chief must have another place he used as a holding facility before he ‘shipped’ them out…that’s if he didn’t also use other methods.
“So our number one priority is finding out about the widows and rescuing them first…what I understand is they have a specific number of women they need for each shipment and when they reach it, they start afresh, holding them somewhere until they reach the required number again.”
I could see my words were fanning the flames in her eyes rather than scaring her. “Just imagine what they would be going through…poor women, first to lose your husband and then to be packaged like crate minerals and just sold out…from your own country!”
For a moment her words painted a clear picture in my head, helped by the fact that I had been in one of such containers just few nights ago, It was too easy to picture the disturbing image.
“The thing is…according to the briefing I read….all indication point that the supposed number for a full shipment should be met any day now…and you saw how fast the waiting list moves on their website”
She nodded…and for a second I saw a flicker of fear. I hurriedly assured her. The fact that she wasn’t getting scared away didn’t mean she wasn’t afraid, I assured her it would be okay…and somehow I found myself comforting her then hugging her..”shhh…its going to be okay..”
We stayed that way for some while and I was just content to sit there and stroke her back comfortably.(we were both on the bed. She had left the wheelchair sometime during our discussion)
I don’t know how long we stayed like that, I could just hear my own voice over and over again “shhh…its okay..its going to be alright”
Then somehow she was looking at me with big soulful eyes and I knew what was coming…I couldn’t stop the slow descent of my head and a tiny weenie part of my brain must have been shouting ‘finally! Hallelujah!’
Just an inch from those lips..those wonderful lips… And the words carried into my ear stopping me:”Not in my room you dog” my eyes cleared and I noticed we were still in the hospital, Olivia’s eyes were still closed,and her lips for the taking, I almost wanted to plunge my head down again but I heard the whisper once more “you dog….” It was Andy!
In one word I was simply overjoyed and Olivia looked embarrassed at first, but the happiness in talking to Andy was just too much(he listened more,Just speaking few words in between). We fussed over him both of us filling him on the crazy nurse that had almost ended his life. I was in the process of making cinematic gestures and replaying everything in slow motion not to talk of amplified sound, when my parents entered.

An hour later and it seems we had talked him to sleep. He was snoring softly but we kept on talking…now to ourselves,from the shadow, then the nurse, my dad was surprised to learn that the captain hadn’t been a soldier at all, before long the topic digressed with my mother telling me about my sisters and their children..most of which she had told me previously but I listened with keen and renewed interest. And before long Olivia was talking too…about her family and her mother. How her mother didn’t yet know about the accident and that she’s a widow, how being the only child had always been and how she suspected her father went to the grave wishing he had a son. We were all quiet, listening to whoever was speaking. A quick glance at the time told me 4 o’clock was almost upon us and it seems ‘The last bonding’ was going on.
Just as it must, the discussion entered Rambo..with my father saying the ram had done him proud. He had received a call and his ram had won the finals, beating the other soundly “That ram just earned me three times what I used to buy it” my father said proudly.
I brought up the idea of barbeque..at first just having fun and enticing them with descriptive words of how I could grill the lamb perfectly with ketchup,onions and pepper over an open fire and before long I had put my father in a dilemma, still he stood his ground. Rambo was a champion not food…I could see his eyes however…and he finally added “I’d rather buy another one and you must roast it just like you described”
“Deal”
My mother added “why don’t we do it together with when Nyesom comes with her children next month…just something like a get together, family reunion. .Rex and Olivia would come and the children would be on holiday by then so I would talk to Utebo and Cynthia about coming also”
“And you would grill the ram….in the backyard..under the tree..perfect”my father added.
“Al…I can see your mind is really on the meat”
“Martha…no no….this one I’m not doing cholesterol level with you…I want to eat meat and drink ammunition in peace that day” we all laughed but somehow we had something to look forward to,that was a sign of hope!. I wondered if I should tell my dad that the drink he had come to like so well was owned by the man we had come to hate.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°••°•

We arrived at the airport few minutes before 3 and after the rushing and the frantic hugs and goodbyes, I was back in the car with Olivia…it was just the two of us now.
“They’re really gone” we stared ahead for some while then I looked at her.
It felt like a massive weight had just been lifted off my shoulders but looking at Olivia now I felt another massive weight…I placed a hand over hers, to reassure both of us.
She looked at me as I started the car “now it begins” she said.
I nodded…truly it does begin…hopefully it wasn’t the beginning of the end.

03:45pm(19 hours till the interview)

“Okay safe journey..call once you land”
“Okay dear…my regards to Olivia..”

“They’re just boarding?” Olivia asked as I returned the phone.
“Yes..she says they’ll call once they land”
She nodded then I pressed my palm down on the steering wheel, releasing the horn. Not like the car in front could move anyway, we were stuck in traffic once again, a complete stand still. I was in a haste to return to the hospital, I had called strange eyes and even though I wouldn’t say I trusted him fully I knew he would truly watch over Andy. So I had called him before we left for the airport and in the next ten minutes the same two agents had turned up. My father had sneered at the fake captain. “I cant believe you’re impersonating an officer! My son in law is a major..how dare you abuse what they stand for”
“Its my job I’m doing…and its not so different if you really look at it”
“better don’t let them hear you speak such folly” my father advice him. I had stayed behind and emphasised on Andy’s safety and they had assured me, with the other agent seeming to take offence. “That’s our job…you want to teach us our job?”
“Who’ve been doing your job for you all this while?…you’re the gala seller agent aren’t you?”
He smiled mischievously “you punch like a girl”
“That was then…don’t try me now, I’d break your face” I warned him through clenched teeth. The guy was always getting me worked up.

Now stuck in traffic and I called strange eyes again.
“Please call your agents again..they need to be extra watchful”
“Rex…fear not..I’m at the hospital already..I have the things you requested for”
“Wow..that was fast..we’d be there as soon as we escape this traffic.”

The traffic had other plans and almost an hour gone we were still inching away. I lowered the radio when my phone rang expecting to Strange Bami to be calling but it was Wendy.
“Hello…Jossy is gone for the day..its just we workers left now”
“Wow..she closed early”
“Yes..sometimes its like that, I think the earlier you come the better..you said you need it for tonight?”
“No..tomorrow.. Tomorrow morning”
“Oh..we won’t do much then..what time tomorrow?”
“Like ten o’clock”
“Okay..I’d work on most of the physicals today dressing,hair..and the rest, then tomorrow would be for the facials and makeover.
“No problem..whatever you say..I’m headed there now”

Olivia looked at me “what of the hospital?”
“We’re almost at the hospital..nothing can stop us from checking up on Andy”.

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