Inseparable – Chapter Thirty (Finale)

 

 

Uche rode speedily to the hospital on his Power bike, he was already dressed in his black jacket and trousers he always wore whenever he went to carry out his operation.

 

 

Who was he when Pedro Fayemi picked him up eight years ago, he was just a thug in one of the dirtiest ghettos in Etyle which was used by some Big men to disrupt events and occasions, he had to live the rough way since his struggling parents were both killed in a bus robbery attack in the first year he gained admission into the university.

 

Although he was intelligent, he had to drop out of school for lack of fund and inability of other family members to help. He started with menial jobs to gather and save enough money for him to return to school but things did not work out. He was cheated several times after working so hard. Several touts in the streets also robbed him daily of the little he had. He had no option than to become rough like the streets taught him to be.

 

He was picked up one day when Chief Pedro came to his domain for a political campaign. The first job given to him by the man was to attack some of the Chief’s opponents and disrupt their campaign procedure.

 

After several other jobs like that, he was given his first job to ki*ll someone. He did it with fear and little confidence for the first time but after several times of practice, he became a master in the act.

 

After sometime, the Chief helped him work his way into the force, planting him there to work with other top police officials who worked for the Chief already.

 

Since Uche had been in the force, no crime or election violence had been traced to the Chief. Uche’s intelligence also made his progress quick, he helped solved other top cases which mostly involved the Chief’s opponents. With this, he gained the trust and confidence of top officials in the police force and was readily promoted.

 

One error he made with this case was not eliminating the gateman like he always did to anyone who provided him with information because he believed they could become a threat later on.

 

Chief Pedro had asked him to eliminate Frank to allow Ken and Bola continue their relationship and get married. The Chief didn’t do it because he loved Ken, no. The Chief loved nobody, he did everything for himself. Three years ago he had also paid Uche handsomely for the neat job of eliminating his wife when she began to mingle with the wives of some of his opponents.

 

Chief Pedro had had Uche carry out many political killing for him, he had killed more than the late Chief Olatunbosun. It only happened that he was always on the same team with Chief Olatunbosun and people had always suspected Chief Olatunbosun because he was one of the strongest leaders.

 

Uche got to the hospital in no time, he had no problems with the security guards, they didn’t find any weapon on his body. He studied the security guards carefully making sure that they didn’t see him as he rode his bike and parked in a prohibited area where he could quickly escape.

 

He hurried up to the ward carefully, making sure no one could recognize him. He was surprised when he got to the ward and couldn’t find policeman, but was more surprised to find out he just killed the junior officer after strangling the patient who was supposed to be Bode.

 

He knew at once that Dennis must have helped Bode out of the hospital, he believed Bode must have recognized him and told Dennis about it. He hurried out of the hospital and headed for Dennis’ house.

 

 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

It was almost 7pm already when Uche rode into the station. Helen saw him from where she was seated in the reception as he drove in through the compound, she had already given up hope of him returning that day so she was only waiting for report from the officers sent to arrest Dennis.

 

As she watched Uche park his bike at the parking space, her phone rang. She brought out the phone and saw the caller, she was surprised that it was from the hospital, she wasn’t expecting a new development so quick.

 

“Hello Doc” she answered the call.

 

“Hello Inspector” the Doctor voice sounded serious, “there’s a big problem here”

 

“Huh? Big problem?” She was shocked and afraid that something bad had happened to Bode. “What’s it?”

 

“Someone broke into the hospital and killed him” the Doctor said.

 

“Huh? Killed who?” Helen shouted unbelievably, almost fainting from the news.

 

“They killed the police officer here?”

 

“The police officer?” She asked, panicking. “What about Bode?”

 

“He’s nowhere to be found”

 

“What do you mean by nowhere to be found?”

 

“He’s not here Inspector and we found the officer dead on the bed”

 

“How did it happen?”

 

“We…”

 

“Don’t bother, we’ll get there now” she said and dropped the call, still panicking.

 

She looked around her, some junior officers were already around as she drew attention with the way she reacted to the call, it was then she realized she had been too emotional.

 

She tried to calm down before Uche got into the office, as he was already approaching the building, walking slowly. She reminded herself that she had to compose herself and keep her head cool if she wanted to be successful in dealing with this case that has already taken a new turn.

 

“Uche, we have to go out straightaway, Bode has disappeared from the hospital” she said to Uche as he entered, forgetting her previous anger with him.

 

“There’s nothing we have to go and do there, he must have taken him far away, it happened just some minutes after we left there” Uche replied without thinking.

 

“Huh?” Helen looked at him strictly and suspiciously, “what do you mean? The hospital authorities just found out now, how come you know that it happened few minutes after we left”

 

“Ermmm… Ermmm…” Uche stammered, realizing that he just said too much.

 

“And where have you been since when we have a critical case to solve?”

 

“I went to the bank quickly to transfer some funds to my Grandma, you know I do that every two weeks”

 

“And you couldn’t take excuse before you left?”

 

“Time had gone already, I had to rush before the banks close”

 

‘Well we’ll come back to that later. Now tell me how you knew that Bode was abducted few minutes after we left?”

 

“That Doctor, that Doctor you thought his walking steps was familiar”

 

“Huh? The Doctor! ” Helen exclaimed. “How stupid was I, we should have been more suspicious. But why didn’t you talk then?”

 

“I didn’t know too, I just realize now that the Doctor was Dennis, he walked like Dennis” Uche intelligently manufactured lies, not sure himself if the Doctor was Dennis.

 

“We have to…” Helen stopped abruptly as the officers she sent to Dennis’ house walked into the building and saluted.

 

“Where is he?” She demanded.

 

“Ma, we didn’t find him at home. There was nobody in the house except for this gateman who was blindfolded and tied to a chair” one officer replied as they brought the gateman forward.

 

“Where is your Oga?” Helen inquired from the gateman.

 

“I don’t know where he is. He left this afternoon after his mum left hurriedly”

 

“Take him away, make sure he tells you where his Oga is” Helen ordered the junior officers and walked out with Uche.

 

 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

*** The Next Day ***

 

Thoughts of a new kind of life raced through Ini’s mind that afternoon, she thought of a best way to forget all the recent events; she had been thinking of how to put behind the past since the last week but the harder she tried, the more memories of the events that came back to her.

 

She concluded that the best thing to do was to change her environment, she even had no choice. Her father already called to inform her that morning that he will be sending her to join her mother in the US the next day. The man left her with no choice, he made it compulsory. And she had no reason to object it since she already longed for a change in environment.

 

The only thing she argued about with her father was that she wasn’t given enough time to prepare nor resign from her job but the man argued that he already spoke with the chairman of the company which was his friend and told him about her departure so she wouldn’t cause any setback for them.

 

She almost didn’t remember that she was in an elevator when she got to the floor which she was headed for until someone in the elevator who noticed she was lost in thoughts tapped her. She thanked the man who she was just seeing for the first time in the company, he probably worked in a department or held a post that had no relationship with hers.

 

She walked out hurriedly and headed for the Chairman’s office to submit some final reports which were more like handover notes.

 

“Good morning sir” she greeted as she walked into the office.

 

“Good morning Miss” the man replied with a smile. “So you’re leaving us so suddenly?”

 

“It’s not my fault sir, My father would not …”

 

“Don’t bother explaining” the man cut in pleasantly, “he told me about some weeks ago. I tried to convince him but he wouldn’t listen, so I was hoping that he would listen to someone else but it seems as if his mind is made up already”

 

“I’m sorry Sir”

 

“It’s Okay, it’s just so unfortunate that we are loosing some of our competent workers at this time we are supposed to do a lot of investments. Dennis had to go on leave because I sensed that he needed to have sometime to rest and become himself again. I just hope he’s not in trouble because I heard that the police came looking for him here today”

 

“For what?”

 

“I don’t know, but they were told that he was on leave. Well, let’s talk about you for now, you know I would have done the same if I was your father, I do think you really need to join your mother, you’ve been going through a lot recently and it has been affecting your work” he said and took the file from her. “I hope you have everything properly briefed and well documented here”

 

“Yes Sir”

 

“Okay, you can take your leave now. I was about to leave the office too”

 

“Thank you sir” she curtsied and left the office.

 

As she walked back to her office, she tried to remember all that she needed to do before leaving. The first thing that came to her mind was Amarachi’s parents. She already paid the money needed to carry out the operation for Mr. Kolawole and even given the family money for their upkeep but she planned on giving the man an extra sum of money to set up a small business to take care of his family when he fully recovers.

She decided that she would visit and talk with them that evening after which she’ll transfer a sum of nine hundred thousand which was seventy percent of her savings to any account given to her by the family.

 

 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

**3pm**

 

“Hello Mr. Dennis” Helen spoke eagerly on the phone. “Where are you?”

 

“I’m somewhere”

 

“Where? We’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday, we went to your house yesterday and to your office today”

 

“Yeah, I know. Were you the one that scattered my house yesterday or was it he?”

 

“He? Who are you talking about?”

 

“Don’t bother, you’ll know soon”

 

“Dennis, listen we know you have Bode with you. Don’t do him any harm, just tell us where you are and we’ll come and get him, then everyone can go in peace”

 

“Hahahaha” Dennis laughed uncontrollably. “Bode is safe here with me, you want to take him away so that the murderer can ki*ll him?”

 

“No, Bode will be safe here with us”

 

“No, you won’t see Bode anymore until we get the criminal who has been behind all this”

 

“No, don’t do that”

 

“I call you in twenty minutes and tell you where to meet me if you really want Bode”

 

“Where?”

 

“I said I’ll tell you twenty minutes time”

 

“How can I trust your word”

 

“You have no other choice”

 

“Okay, twenty minutes”

 

“Good, make sure you come with enough backup. Lets say about seven to ten men, the murderer would also be in the meeting with us and he’s very dangerous”

 

“Okay then, twenty minutes” Helen replied and ended the call.

 

“Trace the call immediately” Helen ordered the officer who was seated in front of the computer who got into action immediately

 

Uche was thinking deeply about the phone call as he watched the officer work on the computer, he overheard a little of the conversation and he believed that Dennis knew he was the killer. He thought of something to do quickly.

 

“The number is switched off ma” the officer replied Helen in a few seconds, “I can’t trace it for now”

 

“Okay, once he calls again make sure you trace him” Helen said. “I believe that guy is dangerous and he may be playing tricks on us”

 

“Yes, we need to act fast before he does something to Bode that’s if he hasn’t already”

 

“I hope Bode is alright, even if he doesn’t do anything to Bode, taking him away from the hospital alone would have done a lot of damage. I just hope nothing happens or I’ll skin that Dennis alive” Helen said angrily.

 

*****

 

Dennis ended the call and turned back to speak with the Doctor which he employed to treat Bode.

 

“How is he doing now?”

 

“Not better yet, his condition got worsened when the drip was removed from his hands. Now he needs a lot of time to recover his strength, It will be better if you bring him to our hospital” the female doctor replied.

 

“No, I can’t do that. Not for now, just make sure he gets well here, I’ll pay any amount you want”

 

“It’s okay, I’ll be back. I want to use the toilet” she said and left the room briefly.

 

Dennis switched on his phone and dialed a number after it booted successfully “Emmanuel, take some money from that wallet I gave you and meet me at Bovi Garden”

 

He ended the call and dialed Helen’s number again.

 

“Meet me at Bovi Garden in one hour, fifteen minutes” he said and ended the call.

 

*****

 

“He’s at 5/6, Flora Street, Main city” the officer announced as he traced the call easily.

 

“Oh! Good” Helen sounded delighted.

“What’s the plan now?” She faced Uche.

 

“Let’s meet him in Bovi Garden, if he plays any trick we know where he’s hiding now and we’ll invade the place”

 

“Good, prepare fifteen heavily armed men and let’s leave immediately”

 

 

 

 

****************

**6pm

 

Dennis smiled to himself as he watched from afar in his car with Emmanuel seated by his side, the police had surrounded the garden heavily and positioned themselves at strategic places. He saw Helen and Bode in the garden pacing around the place, impatiently waiting for him.

 

He removed the pistol from his pocket and stepped out of the car, he put on his dark shades and headed to the garden. He didn’t leave without instructing Emmanuel.

 

“Immediately I enter the garden, you come out of the car and come to the garden too. Don’t act like you know me, just join other people around, I’ll be talking to some people there. Once you see that man that came to ask about your Oga’s boyfriend that day, you come back here and sit gently in the car” Dennis instructed strictly. “If those people seize me, just get out of the car and go back to the hotel alone”

 

Dennis walked speedily to the garden, he stopped at a far distance to Helen and Uche and stared at them, he used that to give enough time for Emmanuel to get to the garden too.

 

He continued to walk closer to them as they spotted him. He smiled as he saw more policemen hiding at different sides.

 

Three policemen rushed out suddenly and grabbed him, they searched his body for weapons and after finding none, they dragged him and dropped him at Helen’s feet.

 

“Good evening Inspectors” Dennis greeted with a smile, standing up and dusting his body. He extended his hand to Helen for an handshake.

 

“Where is Bode?” Helen asked without taking his handshake.

 

“Calm down inspector, Bode is safe with me. What you should ask is where is the murderer?” He smiled with a mocking smile as he glanced at Uche.

 

Uche replied with a devilish grin, “stop playing pranks with us and tell us where you kept Bode”

 

“You’re asking me?” Dennis smiled, he placed his hand on Uche’s shoulder as he spotted Emmanuel some distance behind them watching.

 

Uche flung his hand away angrily and threatened, “don’t let us go the hard way, tell us where you kept Bode”

 

“Oh! The hard way? Well, maybe you guys should tell me first why someone shot Bode and still tried to ki*ll him in the hospital” Dennis replied, pacing around and staring at each policeman playfully.

 

Dennis got no response and was about to speak again when he heard someone shout.

 

“Heyyyy! Na this Oga o, na him I kollect Ogs husband address from me eeh!” Emmanuel shouted, pointing at Uche as he approached them.

 

“Na him ki*ll my Oga husband and see that shoe” the mallam continued, pointing to Uche’s shoes. “Na him wear am ki*ll my pa”

 

“No Emmanuel, you shouldn’t come here” Dennis shouted, disappointed and angry that the gateman did not follow his plan.

 

All eyes turned to Uche as he couldn’t deny the accusation. He brought out his gun and was about to drag Dennis closer but Helen acted quickly and hit a rod on his hand. Three other officers overpowered and handcuffed him immediately.

 

Helen landed a blow on Uche’s cheek and forced him to kneel. “What are you trying to do? So you’re the murderer?”

 

“Shut the hell up mam” Uche shouted at her, “you gonna arrest me?”

 

“Idiot! Carry him to the van” She ordered the officers. She was confused about what was happening, she wouldn’t have believed that Uche had anything to do with the murder if not for the way he reacted to the gateman’s accusation.

 

As they made attempt to drag Uche to the van, three unknown gunmen appeared at their front, stopping them. The other policemen which hid at the back came out of their hiding place and the three gunmen were surrounded.

 

Uche laughed aloud devilishly, surprising those around except the three gunmen.

 

“Before you take him away, you need to see something that might interest you” One of the gunmen spoke, moving closer to Helen and the policemen surrounding Uche. By this time, everybody else who was around the garden had been ordered by the policemen to leave the place

 

He brought out an Ipad and showed a picture of Bode lying on a bed with armed men around him, there was something around his neck.

 

“Look, there’s a bomb tied to his neck. Once I pushed this button, the bomb goes off” the man explained with a devilish look, holding the bomb igniting device up for them to see. “Just take off your handcuff and release Uche to us”

 

Uche glanced at Helen and Dennis, he gave a smile of victory and confidence.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Dennis, Helen police watched Uche and the other guys drove away in a car. None of the officers could go after them because the guys threatened to blow up Bode if they found out that they were been followed.

 

Helen stood there dumbfounded, for a moment her thinking faculty died, she was totally unsure of the next step to take.

 

She started to wonder how Uche’s men got to Bode and managed to plant a bomb on his body. She then realized that Uche must have sent information to his men when they discovered Dennis’ hideout.

 

“Where did you leave Bode?” She asked to confirm.

 

“I left him at my house in Main City, no one else knows about the place, not even my Mum” Dennis replied, deeply saddened about the situation.

 

“We know about the place” Helen stated, she brought out her phone. “5/6 Flora street, is that not the address?”

 

“Yes, how do you know that?”

 

“We traced you when you called” she replied as she dialed a number on her phone. “Hello Inspector, please monitor Inspector Uche’s phone number. Converse with his network bearer, we need a recording of all his phone calls henceforth and also try to trace every phone number associated with his name”

 

She turned back to Dennis, “I need your car”

 

“Okay” Dennis handed the keys to her, “but I need to take something there first”

 

Àaaaqq1àaHe picked something in a dark nylon behind the car seat and gave way for Helen.

 

“I’ll trace Uche with two other non uniformed officers, you should go back to that your house with some of the boys and inform me about whatever is going on”

 

She gave orders to some of her subordinates before leaving with two others, she took the opposite direction Uche and his men took. Her strategy was simple, it was past 7 already and the route Uche took was one which woukd experience a lot of traffic jam at that time. If she was lucky enough, she would get to a major roundabout before them and follow them wherever they went.

 

She got to the roundabout with the other men in fifteen minutes time and luckily for them she found Uche’s car just escaping from the traffic.

 

She quickly tried to follow them but unluckily, the link to the road Uche and his men took was blocked by several cars and it took over a minute before they could pass by. By the time they got through, no trace of the car was seen.

 

“I guess they’re on their way to the Island or maybe they’ll just pass through” Helen said as she brought the car to a halt.

 

“Yes ma, I …” An officer was saying when the car was suddenly invaded by bullets from different directions

 

Helen quickly bent her head as the rains of bullet continued. She managed to start the car and drove away speedily, bullets still hit the car’s booth as she escaped. She looked back to find the officer at the back dead already, the one by her side also had a bullet in his side and was already gasping for breath.

 

She tried to increase her speed, but not too long after she began to feel pains on her left arm. She looked at her arm and she was bleeding, she had been hit too.

 

****

 

“I don’t know who they were, I don’t know how they came in” the doctor explained as the officers removed what was used to cover her mouth and untied her from the chair.

 

“Do you have an idea where they took him to?” Dennis asked

 

“No, I don’t. They just took him away while he was asleep”

 

“He should be awake now”

 

“No, I gave him a drug that would make him sleep for long”

 

“Wow, so no clues to where he was taken” Dennis stamped his feet on the ground, frustrated. He regretted the actions he had taken, he should have secured Bode more.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

 

* *Wednesday morning * *

 

 

 

 

Ini arranged a few of her clothes into her bag carefully, she was careful enough not to pack too much load as her Dad had told her not to. He already assured that she would have enough clothes waiting for her when she arrived at the states and if she didn’t like the clothes she got or if the clothes were not enough, she could go out the next day to get more.

 

The excitement that she had when her Dad told her about traveling diminished as she prepared to leave the house. She suddenly began to feel as if she was leaving something very important behind.

 

Memories of time spent with Kelvin raced through her mind, during those times she had thought she already found the person with whom she’ll spend the rest of her life with but the dream suddenly ended. The dream gradually began to end when she started to listen to Bola and it finally ended when she met Sandra. Little did she know that Bola and Sandra were friends.

 

She picked up her phone and searched for Kelvin’s phone number, she dialed it but ended it before it could go through. She laid back on the bed again, deep in thoughts, she felt like asking her Dad for more time but she discarded the thought and stood up hesitatingly.

 

She carried the bag and walked slowly out of her room, right in front of her was the door to the room she assigned to Amarachi, her childhood friend who she loved dearly. From loving her friend she had gradually progressed to detesting her, was it caused by Bola alone? No, Amarachi too didn’t love her enough or why would she try to implicate her if she did, why woukd she have the police arrest her if she did.

 

“Has my Dad called you?” Ini asked the driver sent to pick her up by her Dad as she approached her sitting room.

 

“Yes, but he can’t see you now. He’s gone for a meeting and would be joining you in the states from there”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Okay, let’s go” she ordered the driver, who stood up immediately and grabbed the car keys.

 

She looked back once again as she approached the main door, she felt uneasy, one of her legs was outside the door and one of in.

 

“Madam, we’ll miss our flight this way”

 

“Okay” she answered and turned forward, a sudden breeze of dizziness blew on her as she took one more step.

 

She didn’t take more than four steps when she collapsed.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Bode opened his eyes to find himself on the floor in a very dark room, he could see anything in the room, the only trace of light was from the door hole. He sat up properly and rested his back on the wall, he felt more strength in his bones and his body now. He could move without too much struggle anymore.

 

He tried to figure out where he was, the last thing he remembered was the Doctor administering some drugs to him. After some minutes of listening carefully without hearing voices around him, he began to hear some low voices approach the room where he was kept.

 

He crawled close to the door and peeped through the door hole, he saw two well built men approaching slowly They stopped at the middle, some distance to the room where he was and continued their discussion.

 

“We will all vacate this place by tomorrow evening and we might not use this place for sometime, make sure we moved every of our tools from here” the first man gave orders.

 

“Okay, and what should we do with him?” The other one asked, looking towards the room where Bode was kept.

 

“He’s useless to us once Uchman is out of the country. After Uchman does final assignment for Chief today at the airport by dropping that minister of information, he’ll travel at once to Russia and won’t be back for a long time” the man explained. “Once Uchman’s plane takes off, we can dispose this guy off to the lagoon”

 

Fear surged through Bode’s body as he heard them mention lagoon, it suddenly dawned on him that he had been captured by the enemy and he was in great danger.

 

A shadow blocked the door hole obstructing Bode’s view, he heard footsteps approaching the room. He hurriedly crawled back to his former position and laid back without making any noise.

 

The door opened and the one of the men stepped in.

 

“He’s still unconscious” the man informed the one outside.

 

They walked away without closing the door properly. Bode sat up and deliberated on what to do. After few minutes of silence, he stood up and walked to the door. He was about to open the door when he heard some footsteps approaching, he quickly tiptoed backwards and laid back.

 

One of the two men returned alone this time, he opened the door widely which allowed light into the room. He sat on a chair and started typing something on it, whistling as he did.

 

Bode watched him carefully, there was a gun in his left pocket and a rod under the chair. Bode carefully stretched his hand to picked the rod.

 

The guy turned backwards immediately on hearing a sound but Bode was fast, he landed the rod on his enemy’s head continued the attack until the guy stopped moving.

 

He took the gun and the phone and walked carefully out of the room. Luckily for him, no one was in the other rooms he passed to get out of the house, it only remained how to pass through the gate which was guarded by two other men.

 

He hid inside the house for a moment thinking of what to do, an idea came to him. He walked back to the room he was in previously and dragged out the body. He placed the body on the verandah and shot in the air. He carefully hid himself in the house and watched through the front window as one of the men approached the house.

 

The man examined the body carefully before making his way into the house; he was taken down silently immediately he got into the house.

 

After few minutes of waiting, the man remaining at the gate anxiously left his post after. He padlocked the gate without removing the keys, he walked hurriedly but carefully as he got closer to the house, his suspicions grew when he called out to his friend several times without getting any reply. The body laying on the veranda confirmed that someone as attacking them inside the house. He brought out his gun and slowed down his steps as he walked inside, looking carefully at all sides.

 

Bode spotted him coming closer and thought of gunning him down but he discarded the thought; he needed to get more information from the man, he needed to know the airport that Uche planned to use and also the time of departure.

 

He held the gun in his hands and waited for the man to come into the house and attacked the man. The first thing he did was to kick away the gun held by the man; he left the man sprawling on the floor and took his gun.

 

“Move like this” He directed the man who had not yet recovered from the kick.

 

“Where are the others?” Bode questioned him, pointing his gun at him.

 

“Who the hell are you?” The man shouted

 

“Answer me or?” Bode threatened with his gun.

 

“bas***d” the man cursed, he made an attempt to bring out something from his pocket but Bode was fast in sending a bullet into his arm.

 

“Answer me fool” Bode slammed, dipping his hand into the man’s pocket to bring out the gun.

 

“Damn! I’m the only on left, you killed the others already” The man replied, wincing in pain

 

“What about Uchman? When is he leaving the country?”

 

The man stared at Bode, not willing to answer until Bode pointed the gun at him again. “He will be at the airport by 11am to carry out an assignment before his flight which is by 11.30am”

 

“His assignment to ki*ll the minister right?”

 

“Yes” he answered hesitatingly.

 

 

“How does Uchman intend to go close to the minister or won’t there be guards around the minister?”

 

“I don’t know, he has his way of doing it”

 

“You don’t know?” Bode queried.

 

“Yes, I don’t …” he didn’t complete his statement as Bode sent a bullet right into his left leg.

 

“Awwwww!” the man cried in pain. “He’s going to carry out the assignment in the airport, that’s all I know. I swear”

 

“Which airport is that?”

 

“Beng International”

 

“Okay, and where are we now? Where is this place?”

 

“GRA”

 

“Wow, GRA? That’s fifty minutes’ drive from here” Bode replied, he looked at the time on the phone, “this is 10am already. Tell me, who is the real Boss here”

 

“Ermmm…” the guy stammered, frowning his face greatly until Bode pointed his gun to his chest this time around.

 

“Don’t lie to me”

 

“Chief Pedro Fayemi”

 

“Hmmm…” Bode nodded his head slowly, trying to take in the information. “Where is the minister travelling to?”

 

“London”

 

Bode took a quick look outside of the house through the window and turned back to the man, “Where is the key to the car outside?”

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

“Any news yet?”

 

“No, none yet” the junior officer replied Helen, feeling pity for her as he saw the bandage on her hand and round her neck. “We’ve not been able to trace him”

 

“That means he hasn’t made or receive any call yet?”

 

“Yes ma” he replied.

 

“Okay, just make sure you monitor him and give me any information as soon as you get it” she said and turned to leave.

 

“Ma, sorry about your arm and the other two officers” he consoled his boss.

 

“Oh thank you” she turned back, trying to put on a smile.

 

“I hope your arm doesn’t hurt much?”

 

“Not really, the bullet has been removed”

 

“Okay ma”he continued. “I think we should keep more information to ourselves, there might be more people working with us who are our enemies right now”

 

“Yes, that’s true. Who would have thought that Uche was a murderer?” She agreed.

 

After more investigations, they had got to find out that Uche swapped the Knife used for the murder with thee one found in Amarachi’s room before he took it to Dele for the test. What she was still trying to figure out was why Uche would be a murderer or do the job of an assassin

 

She walked out of the office and walked to the reception, she met the junior officers carrying out her order; handing over seized items to Amarachi and Kelvin.

 

“You guys need a lot of rest” She said to Ama and Kelvin, trying to console them.

 

“We are sorry for any inconvenience that we’ve caused you people; just make sure you learn from this”

 

Kelvin looked glanced at her as he switched on his phone for the first time in weeks, he didn’t know what to say to Helen; he believed that she was the one supposed to learn from the situation. He felt like insulting or pouncing back on her for all the torture she had put them through for the past few weeks.

 

Helen’s phone rang and she walked away.

 

“Bode just called now” Dennis’ voice came through.

 

“He just called now?” She replied the caller.

 

“Yes, he did and he’s on his way to the Beng airport”

 

“Beng airport to do what?”

 

“That’s where Uche is, he’s trying to leave the country after killing the minister of information who also has a flight today”

 

“Okay, thank you. The police would take control of the matter immediately” she said and dropped the call.

 

She dialed another number, “ Hello… Get in touch with the authorities at Beng International Airport and make sure they stop any flight that has Uche Okafor’s name on the passenger’s list@

 

She dialed another number, after ending the call. She dialed another number. “The minister of information is in danger right now, get some men to secure him, he has a flight in your airport this morning”

 

 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

 

*** 10:58 am ***

 

Bode got out of the car just as he parked properly, he looked around first to check for signs of any police officer. He saw none and proceeded to the with a dark eyes glasses he found in the car.

 

He searched for the minister carefully among those waiting for the plane to London but didn’t see anyone like him. He looked carefully again and saw the Yoruba minister carefully disguised in an Hausa traditional attire without any one guarding him. That made Bode realize that the minister was also trying to sneak out of the country.

 

Bode took his seat and waited patiently for Uche to show up. He wondered if Dennis had been able to inform the police about the development since it took him several minutes to correctly guess the phone number with easily memorisable digits.

 

It was 11.07 when Bode saw an airport attendant come close to the minister, the attendant looked left around suspiciously first before he whispered something into the minister’s ears. The minister stood up and followed him.

 

Bode recognized Uche as the airport attendant immediately. He dipped his hand into his pocket to make sure his guns were still intact before he followed them carefully. The phone rang.

 

“Where are you Bode? I’m at the airport with the police” Dennis spoke.

 

“I’m following Uche and the minister; I think they are heading towards the departure lounge”

 

“Okay, please be careful. The police will join you now”

 

“Okay” Bode ended the call, he couldn’t find Uche and the minister again when he looked up.

 

 

 

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Kelvin was trying to call Bode and inform him of the release when an officer told him of how Bode was abducted and had not been found. He was saddened by the news as he walked out, he met Amarachi making a call outside the building. His phone rang while he waited for her to end the call.

 

The call was from Ini, he answered the call with great amazement not sure of what to expect.

 

“Hello Sir, it’s your friend Ini’s driver” an unrecognized voice spoke. “She’s at the hospital right now and the doctor is demanding some money immediately”

 

“What’s wrong with her?”

 

“She collapsed this morning when we wanted to leave the house”

 

“Which hospital is she?” he asked.

 

“Good City Hospital”

 

“Okay, I’ll be there in few minutes” Kelvin ended the call. He brought out his wallet that was just returned to him by the police and was glad to find his ATM card still in it.

 

He turned back to see Amarachi crying silently, she already ended her call.

 

“What’s the problem?” He asked

 

“I am the problem” She replied, seeming angry with herself.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I always make things go wrong for Ini always”

 

“What do you mean? Everything that happened is not your fault”

 

“No, it’s mine. She was a very happy person before I came to join her, I’ve caused her lots of headaches and problems while all she did was to show me love” Ama argued. “I caused the rift between both of you, i made Bola become enemies with her, I caused everything and I still went ahead to accuse her of killing Frank”

 

“No you didn’t, it was meant to be so” Kelvin tried to console.

 

“Yes, I did. All these would have never happened if I didn’t come into her life again. But with all I did to her, she still helped my family. I was just told that my Dad could have died if she didn’t come to his rescue”

 

“It’s not time to argue or discuss right now, Ini is in the hospital and she needs our help”

 

“Huh?” Amarachi wiped her face with her hand.

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Bode was accosted by the security guards as he wandered around the area searching for Uche and the minister. He was already walking away when he saw Uche at a opposite distance walk out of a room hurriedly, removing black hand gloves from his hands and going to the toilet direction. Bode concluded that Uche would have carried out his assignment on the minister silently.

 

He brought out the phone and called again before following Uche. “I’m still there, heading to the toilet now”

 

“Okay, enough men would get there now. Do you know if there’s any one of his gang around anywhere?” Helen demanded

 

“I’m not sure, Uche is supposed to travel immediately after this assassination. What I know is that Chief Pedro Fayemi is the Boss, he funds the whole gang”

 

“Okay, that means we’ll send men to get him immediately too. We’ll be with you there in a few seconds. I would prefer you don’t go near him, just keep an eye on him till we come. We’ll get him”

 

“Okay” the call ended.

 

He felt weak in his body as he walked towards the toilet, ignoring Helen’s advice not to go near him. He opened the door carefully first and peeped before entering. He saw Uche in front of one of the Urinals already dressed in a different wear. He brought out his gun carefully and approached him.

 

Uche saw him approaching from far already from a small broken glass which served as a mirror to him. He brought out his gun carefully, not allowing Bode see it and loaded it with bullets.

 

 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

***11:25pm***

 

“I just paid the money and they’re treating her already” Dennis explained to Amarachi and the driver.

 

“Oh! Thank God and thank you so much for responding” the driver said with gratefulness.

 

“It’s okay, but why was it me you called?”

 

“I tried to call her father but he wasn’t answering, I believe he was in a meeting”

 

“Okay, how did you get my number?”

 

“I checked the call log on her phone, your number was the last she dialed”

 

“My number?”

 

“Yes”

 

“Oh! That’s amazing” Kelvin said to himself before talking aloud again. “Well, I’m hungry and I want to get something to eat”

 

“Okay”

 

“I’m sure you’re hungry too” Kelvin asked Amarachi.

 

“Yes, I am” she replied, standing up from where she sat. “I think I should go with you”

 

They walked out together and returned about thirty minutes later, they saw the driver approaching the reception seat as they sat down.

 

“Welcome back” he greeted, seating next to Kelvin. He continued before they replied, “Her Dad’s representative just called me and I’ve related the news to him”

 

“Oh! Good, but have you seen Ini? Is she okay now?”

 

“The doctor says she needs someone to donate blood to her”

 

“Ermm… Lets go see him together”

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

*** 11:50pm***

 

Luckily for Bode, an alarm was raised by someone who saw Uche load the gun while using another urinal.

 

Bode was quick to kick to kick open a door and dodge behind one of the walls demarcating the six WCs in a roll. He brought out his gun and got ready to attack as other men scampered out of the toilet in fear.

 

His tried to stand up and peep but his strength had waned and he began to feel weak. He struggled to peep and saw Uche walking closer carefully.

 

Uche saw his head pop out and shot at him but he quickly dodged. Uche dodged behind another wall too, and they shot monitored and shot at each other at the slightest chance they had.

 

It was not too long when other police men began to show up. Uche gunned down the first three that came in as he caught them unawares.

 

Bode carefully waited for the best opportunity, he heard Uche making a call.

 

“Come get me out of this place, the police are here already”

 

Uche killed more and more as the police tried to attack, Bode heard another sound apart from gunshots, it was one of shattered glass.

 

He struggled to get up and peep, he saw Uche trying to escape through the window which was already broken, he shot severally at Uche but missed, he returned to his hiding position sure that he had somehow restricted Uche from passing through the window easily.

 

His bones felt weaker and unable to support him but he still struggled to stay strong. He relieved himself a little by leaving his squatting position and sitting not minding that he was in a toilet.

 

The place was silent for some seconds except from sounds getting in from outside the toilet.

 

“I’m at the toilet, bring enough guys” Bode overheard Uche discussing on phone. He tried to get up again but his strength could not carry him, he began to hear occasional sounds of movements from Uche’s direction. He was embittered that he couldn’t check what was going on.

 

The situation was the same for a few more seconds until some rolled into toilet and hid behind the next partition wall.

 

Bode was happy to see Helen, she looked prepared for the job.

 

“How are you doing?” She called out in whispers to him before carefully moving to his side from the wall where she hid. “Are you hurt”

 

“No, I’m weak” he replied with a smile.

 

“Okay, try to be strong, we’ll get out of here soon” she encouraged him.

 

“Okay”

 

“Try to move backwards a little and give me some space at the front”

 

Bode smiled and tried to move but his strength would not take him. He was still smiling as Helen carefully supported him to shift backwards with her stronger hand but his smile turned into a frown when he saw Uche at their front already, pointing a gun at him, Helen did not see him quickly as she was backing the door.

 

Uche wasted no time in releasing two bullets to Bode but it didn’t get to him as Helen shielded him quickly, receiving the bullet into her body.

 

She felt weak immediately but still struggled to turn as she laid her back on Bode’s legs, she tried to pull the trigger but her gun fell from her hand.

 

Uche gave a wicked smile; one of victory. He stared at Helen and Bode for some seconds, enjoying the helpless look on their faces.

 

“Say hi to them in hell for me” Uche said and was about to pull the trigger again but was hit by two bullets from the back.

 

He fell to his knees slowly, he mustered strength to raise his arm again but was not given the chance to sh00t as Dennis released several more bullets into his body. He fell helplessly and gave up the ghost immediately.

Bode’s eyes was filled with tears as he watched Uche fall down. Dennis started to walk towards Bode and Helen.

 

Bode painfully lifted Helen’s body closer to his, he looked straight into her eyes and more tears flowed down. His mouth met hers and they kissed passionately before her eyes finally closed.

 

 

READ THE EPILOGUE HERE