Episode16
Ahmed was happy to see his Uncle after quite
a while even though he was hoping it were
under ‘prettier’ circumstances. He opened the
gate and tried to hug him. The Colonel backed
away, shaking his head slowly. Ahmed
understood and stepped aside for his Uncle to
come in. They walked into his house making
sure that there was a wide gap between them.
He opened the door allowing his Uncle to
enter the house first. He followed soon after.
As soon as The Colonel was in the house, he
saw the white paper with the inscriptions in
bl0*d on the two opposite walls of the sitting
room. He walked up to one of them and
smelled the ink.
“Blood. Probably from a cow or a goat” he
thought to himself.
He motioned Ahmed to come close to him. He
hugged him tightly and whispered into his
ears,
“Is there a room you hardly ever use?”
Ahmed nodded and led the way into a small
corridor. There were two rooms at the end of
the small corridor. He opened the one to his
left and flashed a torch. A rat ran across the
floor. There were a few cobwebs on the ceiling
and the room was dusty and dirty. It didn’t
look like anyone had been here in months. The
Colonel took off his disguise clothes to reveal
the sparkling white linen he had earlier worn
from home. He spread the large t-shirt he just
removed on one of the stools he found and sat
on it.
“This room is perfect.” The colonel said.
“It is so good to see you Uncle.” Ahmed said
rushing to his uncle and hugging him.
“Sometimes, I wish I lived a normal life Uncle.
Being a cop is a difficult life. I keep looking
over my shoulder. I wake up every day not
knowing which of my enemies is close to
taking me out. It freaks me out sometimes
and there is always no one to talk to.” Ahmed
said looking at his Uncle.
“Son, our profession is a dangerous one. Till
we die, we are always going to be wanted by
the bad guys. You know that. And if you say
you are scared, what should spies, double
agents and people like me say? Each day you
wake up is another opportunity you have.
Look at the bright side. You are better than
the average man on the street. Your senses
are sharper, you have strong instincts, you are
trained in hand to hand combat, martial arts,
and you have excellent skills in weaponry. You
cannot be taken down by just anybody. So
son, use this amazing skill set you have to
make a difference in the lives of the people
you have sworn to protect.” The Colonel
finished.
“Always Uncle, always.” Ahmed said.
Typical Colonel. He never misses an
opportunity to give his ‘son’ a lecture. Ahmed
was used to it now. They caught up on old
times, telling each other about what has been
happening in the past few years. The Colonel
loved to play video games just like Ahmed.
They talked about what games they were
currently playing and the stages. The Colonel
said he just stumbled on HITMAN SUICIDE
MISSIONS. Ahmed was going to try it out.
Recently a lot had been happening around
him. He had not had time for himself let alone
video games.
“So what brings me here son? Let’s hear it.”
The colonel said.
Ahmed cleared his throat and began to narrate
the story. He started with waking up in a
hospital, and losing his memory of the past
few weeks. Doctors said he had slight amnesia
and may recall the things he could not
remember over time. He also talked about how
he found out about the death of Mercy, how
his office was burgled and the guards were
killed. The Colonel raised up a hand to stop
Ahmed.
“Your office was burgled? What was stolen?
What really happened? Describe every detail.”
He questioned Ahmed.
“I had just left the office and was about to
drive into the Estate when I got a call from
Sheila that I should come back immediately…”
Ahmed said.
“Sheila still heads the Combat Department?”
The Colonel asked, interrupting him.
“No Uncle. She is now the Head of the
NIGHANA Intelligence Operations department.”
Ahmed said
“Hmmm. Go on son.” The Colonel said.
“So I got to the office and found an
ambulance, a few coroners and Sheila. Sheila
said that there were two guards dead, a
corrupt file system on our database and a
missing hard drive. Mine. The alarm from the
disrupted servers sent a signal to the local
police and they were here in 6 minutes. They
did not see anyone as they came in. The
guards’ necks were twisted from behind. There
was no trace. There were no clues”
“Any fingerprints, hair strands, bl0*d, bullet
casings?” The Colonel asked.
“None. The only bullet casing was from the
gun of one of the dead guards. His finger
prints are the only ones all over it.” Ahmed
finished.
The Colonel sighed. He was rubbing his
temples. Ahmed had seen this a lot of times.
Whenever he did this he was getting some
ideas and thinking seriously.
“These guys must be professionals. And they
must have been watching you. What have you
been doing on your computer during the days
before the hard drive was stolen?” The Colonel
asked
“Just monitoring Agent Mercy. Following up
on her leads, and matching finger prints. When
I got a message on my phone that she was
just buried, I rushed to the office to confirm. It
was true as her file had been deactivated. I
could not continue with it so I left the office.
Barely an hour later was the theft discovered.”
Ahmed finished.
“What agency was she infiltrating?” The
Colonel asked.
“Something about a ghost organization. She
was still a rookie in their ranks so she was not
really privy to any confidential stuff.” Ahmed
finished.
The Colonel bowed his head. He should not
have resigned. He closed his eyes. Everything
began to make sense. The stealth, the
perfection, the absence of clues. No mistakes.
That was their style. Now he understood why
Ahmed had called him. The Colonel had been
doing preliminary tracking of the Ghosts after
his time with The Marine Cartel but dropped it
after the General’s warning. He could sense
Ahmed watching him. This was too much for
Ahmed to handle. Sheila was a fool. She
should not have sent Agent Mercy in. What
was she thinking? Just because Mercy was an
excellent spy did not automatically translate
to invincibility. She still had a lot to learn
physically and psychologically. Mercy did not
have the slightest idea about the Ghosts. The
name alone said it all. They were invisible.
And only someone who could be invisible
could undertake such an infiltration. Ahmed
was a fantastic detective. The perfect cop. But
he was a terrible spy. He always allowed his
emotions get in the way. He did not know how
to mask feelings. That was the number one
criteria for a double agent.
“Are you okay Uncle?” Ahmed asked.
“I am fine son. Tell me what happened in this
house. I saw the banners.” The Colonel
replied.
Ahmed narrated how he wasn’t comfortable
that night. His instincts told him to get up but
he felt reluctant to. He was tired from a busy
day. A loud gunshot woke him and he got up
to see one of the banners on his bedroom
door. He got to the sitting room and saw
another two banners. He opened the door to
the house to find his two dogs dead. His
instincts told him he was being watched. His
doors were not tampered with. They were
opened from outside, which meant that the
criminal had access to his home. He
immediately cut the electricity to the house
and has been in darkness since. He did not
know what else to do so he called.
“I think I have an idea what is going on. But
first we need to do some work. You will get
out of the house now. Go to any mobile phone
store. Get a new phone and a new sim card,
preferably a very low tech phone. The cheapest
Nokia phone or China phone would be perfect.
Do not register the sim card. If the attendant
gives you trouble, get it somewhere else. You
would be followed right from the time you step
out of this house. I think you are being
watched. Do not take your car. Enter a
commercial bus. Do not head straight to your
destination. The nearest shop is 15 minutes
from here. Get there in one hour. Zig zag your
way across town. Come down at any random
bus stop then start walking. Turn back after 2
minutes of walking and start jogging. Look for
shops with mirrors and stand in front of them
abruptly while walking. Look behind you
through the mirror. You should see the agents
tailing you trying to catch up. Since they are
following you, it’s going to take a while to
shake them off. It is not going to be easy but
try and enjoy yourself while at it. Be sure to
have them lost before you get the items.
Repeat the same thing on your way back to
the house. The whole journey should normally
take you about 30 minutes. Make sure you use
over two hours. When you come back to the
estate there will be agents already around the
gate watching you enter. You won’t see them
but believe me they are there. Not to worry.
They don’t know where you were and what you
got. You will have them guessing at where you
have been. These guys hate guessing. So they
would be tighter next time. But that’s not a
problem, son. I know what to do.” The Colonel
said.
“d–n it. Uncle, this is what I have to do
every day?” Ahmed asked.
“Yes Ahmed. This is just the beginning. If
these people are who I think they are then we
still have a lot to do.” The Colonel said
getting up.
“Who are these people Uncle?” Ahmed asked.
“Son,” The Colonel said, putting a hand on
Ahmed’s shoulder
“Just do as I say for now. You would know in
due time.” He finished.
They walked towards the door of the dirty
room. As Ahmed stepped out into the corridor,
the Colonel held him by the collar and drew
him back inside. He shut the door.
“What the hell is wrong with you son!!??” The
Colonel barked through clenched teeth.
“This is no longer your house. I am sure this
place is bugged! Until we get out all the
devices that have been planted here, you
behave as if there are land mines at every
step! You have to calculate every step, be very
alert and always be patient!!!” The Colonel
finished.
“Noted sir.” Ahmed replied. He was scared.
“Let’s go to your bedroom.” The Colonel said.
They moved to his bedroom very quickly
without saying a word. The Colonel pulled
Ahmed close and asked him for a DVD disc.
Ahmed rummaged through a drawer and found
one. He handed it to the Colonel. The Colonel
took a chair from the sitting room and stood
on it. Carefully, he placed the disk on the top
left edge of the bedroom wall and began to
scrape. He was scraping gently and moving
slowly sideways. He was almost half way when
a small cork sized object fell to the ground.
Ahmed bent to pick it.
“Don’t!” The Colonel stopped him.
The Colonel got down from the chair and bent
to examine the object. He took a pencil and
flicked the object over a few times.
“This is a very high tech digital surveillance
camera for enclosed spaced usually installed
in pairs, called ‘screw and knot’. You can
install one called the ‘bolt’ which works well,
but is not as efficient as the pair. After
installation and boot up, these devices must
never be handled with bare hands. They have
been designed to be sensitive to the touch of
the skin and would immediately inject the skin
surface with a deadly toxin that would
paralyze the handler if handled for more than
two seconds. If you had touched it, you would
have become a ‘vegetable’.” The colonel said,
turning the device around with the pencil.
“Oh my God! Who the hell are these people?”
Ahmed said putting both hands on his head.
The Colonel looked up at Ahmed from his
crouching position. He pitied the poor boy. He
had not even seen anything yet.
“Get a plier, a small plastic bag and another
DVD disc. This is a ‘screw’. The ‘knot’ should
be opposite this wall, beside your bed. The
Colonel climbed the bed and began scraping
the wall gently with the disc in his hand. He
was scraping gently and moving slowly. He
was almost at the center of the wall when
another object fell to the ground beside the
bed, similar to the one before. Ahmed picked it
up with the plier in his hand and added it to
the one that fell initially.
“Now, your bedroom is clear. I have to do the
other rooms. Go and get the items I told you
to. I expect you in not less than two hours.
Let’s synchronize our watches. Stop watch
timer should be set to 2hrs and 5minutes.
One. Two. Now!” The Colonel said.
They synchronized their watches as Ahmed
got out of the house and the Colonel moved
to the sitting room with a chair in one hand
and a disc in the other.
It was home cleaning time.
After breakfast, Sophia asked Eva to wait
behind. She beckoned her to the huge 4-
seater leather sofa in the sitting area of the
big parlor. After getting drinks from the bar,
she came to Eva sitting opposite her in a
small reclining chair. Eva took the offered
glass of red wine.
“I know you must be wondering why you are
here Eva. You really want to be with your
loved ones. Your mum and your fiancé. That
has been arranged. We have huge, huge plans
for you sweetheart. Believe me, with time you
would be glad with what we want to do with
you. Meanwhile, you are seeing your mother
tonight. I am giving you an extra day to be
with her. We have made plans for Kunle to
spend three days in the country. He is coming
in tomorrow. In your own interests, utilize the
time well and do not raise suspicion. Out of
the goodness of my heart, I am going to let
you be with Kunle till he travels back. I am
usually not this nice. You will see him off to
the airport. When he has boarded, someone
will pick you from the airport. If I smell any
foul play I will kill every single person that
matters to you. Every single person.”
Sophia was talking and smiling so pleasantly
at the same time. Eva used to have a Boss
like that who was so deadly, so she knew
Sophia was not bluffing. Eva simply nodded
and gulped her drink. The threats suddenly
made her throat dry. She swallowed.
“Oh, silly me. I forgot to introduce myself. My
name is Sophia. Just call me S. Few people
do.” Sophia finished.
“When can I leave for my mum’s please?” Eva
asked meekly.
“Your escort would be ready for you at 3pm.
Be ready then.” Sophia finished
Although she did not feel comfortable around
Sophia, Eva was in love with her finesse. She
had class, and looked like a runway model.
She loved Sophia’s light use of make-up, her
beautiful way of combining colors and the way
she carried herself. She was lost in admiration
of the physical qualities of this powerful
stranger.
Sophia’s laugh brought her back to the
present.
“Do you do girls?” Sophia asked. Sophia
already knew the answer to this question.
“I used to. But I stopped since I started
working. I haven’t felt the touch of a woman
in a long time now.” Eva replied.
“Would you like to have a taste of me, Eva?”
Sophia asked batting her eyelids and giving a
s#xy smile.
Her dimples went even deeper and she bit her
lower lip. Eva blushed. She did not know if it
was the alcohol or her secret admiration of
the woman before her but she felt herself
tingle down below.
“Ermm…Ermm… I really don’t know.” Eva said
looking down at her glass. She was holding
the glass with two hands now, her heart
beating fast.
Sophia dropped her glass on the table beside
her and walked to where Eva sat, taking
calculated, sensual steps. She sat beside Eva,
took the glass from her hands and dropped it
on the floor. Sophia stroked Eva’s fine natural
hair with her hands, slowly and passionately.
Eva’s legs shook. Sophia bent to kiss her ear,
flicking her tongue in Eva’s ear in quick fast
succession. Eva closed her eyes and her body
shook with lust. Eva licked her lips.
Sophia held Eva’s hand in hers. Eva opened
her eyes.
“Let’s go inside. Follow me.” Sophia said
PREVIOUSLY ON “AN EVENING WITH EVA”:
“Do I have a choice?” – Sean.
“There is actually a choice. You can walk out
that door and call the police. You will not be
alive to finish the call. And they will never find
your body” – Sophia
“I know I am supposed to be scared right now.
But the funny thing is, I am not.” – Sean
“Thomas.” – Sophia
In one very quick motion, she pulled her pants
(Trousers) up at the ankles and brought out a
small gold embroidered pistol. From her
sitting position, five meters from where he
stood she pointed the gun at Thomas and
pulled the trigger. Blood splattered on the
wall behind him as he fell down in one heap,
the tray falling from his hands. He was
breathing softly and was in pain. He groaned.
Sophia got up, walked to the body and stood
in front of Thomas, looking at him. She aimed
at his heart and shot him again. He was dead.
“Lesson number one: Be Ruthless. Be very very
ruthless. Be as gentle as a dove and as
dangerous as a shark. Stop shaking and clean
up this mess. You have two hours to scrub
this room clean and get rid of the body. Chop
it into pieces and feed it to the dogs in the
fortress. Bring the head to me. See you at
11pm.” – Sophia
“Hello Eva.” – Shina.
“Where am I? Who are you? What’s
happening?” – Eva.
“You have been here for two days. You are at
The Mansion. Breakfast is at 8am. Someone
would like to meet you.” – Shina
“I have a situation here Bruno. Two dogs.
What do I do?” – Marshal
“I can see that. Take them out” – Bruno
“Shiittt! He is awake. Get out of there, now!!!!”
– Bruno
“BE CAREFUL AHMED. YOU WILL NOT BE
WARNED AGAIN.”
– Banner with Blood.
“Hello Uncle. There is something going on I do
not understand.” – Ahmed
“I will see you in 2 hours son.” – The Colonel
“The Colonel has finally come out of hiding.
Dispatch some of your guys at Berger and I’ll
be at the other entry point to Lagos. Ready
some of your best buggers. The Colonel is
coming to town.” – Tawo
“I changed my mind. I will drive myself. You
can take the rest of the day off. I will call you
when I get back.” – The Colonel
“He decided to drive himself. I had planted the
tracker in the car he asked me to wash. He is
currently driving a black Honda Accord with
plates AA106SMK. It is a very ordinary and
plain car. His rims are alloy and gold plated.
He just left.” –James.
“Where are we?” – Tawo
“The situation is dicey sir. He is driving a very
common car and he is going to be hard to
pick out.” – Agent Ope.
“Merge the connection between Saturn –U134
and Mecury-00A. Now, bridge them and
combine their transitions. Use the WSPTA
protocol to rewrite the imagery and log into
all CCTVs, mobile phone and every fuccking
device that has a lens and is in proximity.
Launch a new search.” – Tawo.
“Zoom in on that.” – Tawo.
“The Colonel is about to pass through Mowe.
Set up your guys at the MFM area. This
should be as easy as taking a pee.” – Tawo.
“Target was not in the vehicle. He somehow
maneuvered his way and we lost him. I put a
tracker on his decoy. Trace it and have a man
on him.” – Shina.
“Don’t you recognize me son?” – The Colonel
“Are you okay Uncle?” – Ahmed
“I am fine son. Tell me what happened in this
house. I saw the banners.” – The Colonel
“Don’t!” – The Colonel.
“After installation and boot up, these devices
must never be handled with bare hands. They
have been designed to be sensitive to the
touch of the skin and would immediately inject
the skin surface with a deadly toxin that
would paralyze the handler if held for more
than two seconds. If you had touched it, you
would have become a ‘vegetable’.” – The
Colonel.
“Oh my God! Who the hell are these people?”
– Ahmed
AND NOW. . . Episode 17
Sean woke up startled. He was sweating
profusely despite the intensity at which the air
condition was blowing. He just had a
nightmare. Was it? He saw himself chopping
off a young man’s body limb by limb. Each
time the sharp machete made contact with the
dead flesh, little spurts of bl0*d were
deposited on his face. The dead man was
screaming for help and begging for pity as
Sean cut him mercilessly. Ignoring the man’s
pleas, he took the huge pieces of meat with
the bones dangling on one side and
approached the den in the Fortress. The sight
of the dogs alone brought fright to him. The
dogs were huge and menacingly wild. No one
in his complete senses dared to enter the
fortress when the dogs were not leashed or
caged. There were three Rottweilers, two
German Shepherds, one Husky, and one Wolf
dog Hybrid. Ferocious dogs that were usually
made to go very hungry before they were fed.
The last time they ate was the evening before.
And they were quite hungry, and ready to
pounce. As Sean approached they began to
bark in their den, the Rottweilers spewing
huge amounts of saliva from their mouths.
Sean stood a few meters away from the Den.
Even though the cage was locked tight, he still
did not want to risk taking any chances. He
began to throw the pieces of flesh into the
cage. Some got in. Some did not. In the
demented rush for the meat, the Wolf Dog
Hybrid forced the cage open. It came after
Sean and the remaining pieces of flesh he had
with him. Sean ran for dear life. He ran as fast
and as swift as his legs could carry him. But
Sean was not fast enough. The Wolf Dog
pursued him and caught up with him. It
pounced on him, sinking its teeth in Sean’s
right arm which he used as a shield to cover
his face. He screamed.
Sean woke up.
He was sweating. He turned on the bedside
lamp, partially illuminating the room and
casting a small shadow on the walls. He
looked up at the wall clock. 3:26am. He could
not go back to sleep. He was haunted by the
dogs. He got up from his bed and opened a
door to his left. He entered the bathroom and
saw a large brown bucket stained with a
reddish liquid. He moved closer to inspect the
bucket. He was shocked at what he saw
inside. There was a human head soaked in a
pool of bl0*d. His heart raced. So it was not a
dream after all. He suddenly wished it was all
a dream. He remembered all that happened
the evening before. He recalled how Sophia
had wasted the life of a promising young man
just to prove a point. A ridiculous point. What
in the world did they want with him anyway?
He stopped starring at the bucket and face the
small rectangular mirror on the wall by the
sink. He washed his face and looked up at his
reflection. He was looking very haggard. He
hadn’t shaved in days and looked very
unkempt. He made a mental note to ask for a
clipper in the morning.
Sean got back to his room. He switched on
the lights and looked around. He had
previously scrubbed the tiled floors clean. The
walls still had a little bl0*d stain. That could
be ignored, he told himself. He opened the
drawer attached to his bedside table, pulling
out a file. The first few pages contained a
summary of his whole life and the past 4
months were summarized in more detail. He
skipped that part and concentrated on the
second module of the file. This contained a
list of things he was supposed to do and a
timeline for the completion of the tasks. He
was expected of produce a 90% accuracy at
the least.
There was a 3 months special online course
on Cybersystems and Cyberspace. After that, 2
months of Router Hacking and Password
Decryption. He had another four days of
Wireless Systems, Radio Configuration and
Cloud Redirection. His performance after all
these would determine if they would continue
with him to the advanced stage or discharge
him. He did not like how that sounded.
‘Discharge’. He had a feeling that he would
not be let go so easily. He feared the worst.
He closed the file and thought about his
girlfriend in Canada. He had not spoken to her
in over a week. He missed her. He missed his
mother. He knew there were agents at her very
doorstep and that really worried him.
He heaved a huge sigh. He was going to get
to the bottom of this. No matter what it would
take, he was not going to give up until he got
to the end of the line.
He closed his eyes and drifted into dreamland.
Tawo was furious. He was angry at himself
and at the whole team. He was raging and
venting his anger at anyone who as much as
spoke a word to him. He sat on his swivel
chair swaying left and right, both hands on
his forehead. He was rubbing his temple and
trying to find out where everything went
wrong.
“Sir, there is…” Agent Ope started but stopped
when he saw the bl0*dy look of anger in his
superior’s eyes
“You have 15 seconds to say what you wanted
to blurt. If I am not impressed, I will have you
monitoring the CCTV at Park ‘N’ Shop by
tomorrow.” Tawo threatened.
The Agent hesitated for a few seconds. He
kept quiet. He knew that if he still did not
speak, the same fate awaited him. He decided
to say what he wanted to and hope that it
impressed his Boss.
“Sir, upon gruesome scrutiny of the playback
tapes of the bugging operation, I noticed a
blind spot. We overlooked that little glitch but
upon proper inspection, I noticed that it was
actually not a glitch.” Agent Ope said.
“You’ve got my attention. Go on.” Tawo said.
“There was a point that the target was
stationary for about 90 seconds. That was our
blind spot. I decided to check it out. I was
able to override one of the surveillance
cameras around the Redemption Camp. The
nearest camera was a CAM70-Extreme. I
zoomed in on it and adjusted the capture
area.” Ope said, getting up and moving to the
large touch screen monitor on the wall.
“This is where the target was blinking for 90
seconds,” He said touching a portion of the
map. The touched portion grew large filling
the whole screen. He continued.
“From here onwards for about 500 meters,
there was no traffic and there are no fuel
stations, restaurants, shops, fast foods or
anything to make him stop. He was constantly
on the move.” He touched a smaller portion of
the now expanded map.
“This is the most acute angle that the camera
could pick. I will rewind the footage of the
camera at this point of the map sir.” Ope said.
He pressed a button on the screen and a
video footage appeared in very slow motion, at
the exact point the mechanic came out from.
It showed the Mechanic coming out of a small
hut which served as his workshop, crossing
the road and going left. There was nothing
after that. Exactly 90 secons later, the Black
Honda zoomed past.
“Impressive Ope” Tawo asserted a smile on his
lips.
“Thank you sir. The Colonel is very smart. He
had the Mechanic come meet him at the exact
spot where he knew that he would not be
captured by the cameras. He deliberately put
this Mechanic on the spot. We have no
records against the young lad sir. I am sure
he knew that. We can’t make him talk. It
seems he is going to win with this one.” Ope
concluded.
Tawo was thinking. His fingers were playing
with small beard. As the video replayed,
something caught his eye.
“Stop that. Yes. Start the footage all over. And
pause it on 03mins:14secs” Tawo ordered.
Ope obeyed. They watched the video all over
again. From the beginning, cars were passing.
At 01mins: 16secs, the Mechanic crossed the
road and started walking left. He was not
visible anymore. At 02mins:55secs, they
watched as the Black Honda zoomed past.
Nothing happened for the next 17 seconds.
Two seconds later, Tawo half screamed,
“Pause Now!”.
There was a Danfo in the footage, pause as it
was accelerating.
“That Danfo is just accelerating. Zoom in on
the front passenger seat.” Tawo barked
Ope did that. A blurred face with a white
background.
“Now take that that image and move it to the
facial ID defragmenter. “ Tawo commanded.
Ope pressed a button on the screen, used the
tip his fingers to trace the edges of the image
and pressed another button. With his two
thumbs, he flipped the traced image in one
very swift fast motion onto the next screen by
his right.
“Image received. Scanning and
Defragmentation in progress” came a
computer voice from the screen.
They waited 12 seconds and then an image
appeared before them.
It was The Colonel in his white linen,
Tawo smiled.
“Get me that bus registration plates.” He said
to Ope.
“Yes sir.”
Ope zoomed in on the registration plates,
defragmented it and printed it out.
“Done sir.” Ope said.
“Good.” Tawo replied getting the printed sheet
from him.
He pressed a button on his table. His voice
went into loud speaker mode in another office
on the previous floor below them. There were
eight trained search agents in that room. Give
them a tiny detail (a name or a place or a
phone number) and they would search out and
deliver every single information regarding it.
They had access to any electronic device that
had access to the internet or used a database.
They were the best.
“Bee Hive. This is Super-Agent Tawo. I want
all routes taken by commercial van with
registration plates BZ739FST between the
hours of 6:30 and 7:30. You have 15
minutes.”
He pushed back his chair, put his legs on his
table one on top of the other. He put his two
hands behind his head and closed his eyes.
“I am going to nail this b—–d.” He said to
himself.
Episode 18
Ahmed shut the gate behind him as he got
out of his compound. He walked towards the
bus stop to join a bus going to Ajah. As he
was about to turn the corner that led to the
main road, someone bumped into him. The
person was a female. Tall, light in complexion,
busty and very pretty.
“I’m sorry sir. I wasn’t looking. Please.” She
said pleading and making eyes at Ahmed.
Ahmed had a weakness for fair skinned
women. He could give his right arm for such
women. He smiled at her and told her it
wasn’t a big deal. He tried to flirt with her a
little but she was in a hurry. She gave him a
fake number. He smiled as she hurried along
and left him to continue his journey. After
walking a few meters, she put her left
forefinger in her left ear and said
“Bug planted.”
As Ahmed walked towards the shade at the
bus stop, he tried her number. The number did
not exist. He smiled. He turned and got into a
mild run. He wanted the girl. He figured that
since he still had about 2hours to spend, he
might as well while out time trying to get the
girl. He turned the bend and was walking
stealthily close to the fair skinned lady when
he saw her put her finger in her ear and say
those words.
He was angry with himself for falling so
cheaply. He decided he was going to play
them at his own game. He turned and walked
back to the bus stop. The girl had hit him by
the shoulder when they collided. He checked
his collar and both sleeves. There was
nothing. His watch was on his left wrist. He
took off his wrist watch and scrutinized his
hands. Something caught his eye. There was a
very small silver dot covered by his
wristwatch. It looked very foreign. He
scratched the surface of the object. It came off
his wrist and came on to his palm. There were
two very tiny pins attached to it. The pins
were barely visible. The pins tried to fasten
themselves onto his wrist. He quickly shook it
off and stepped on it with his heavy boots. He
crushed the bug.
He entered the Ajah bound bus, sitting by the
window in the middle row. It was a 14-seater
passenger bus. The bus moved at snail pace
and picked some more people at Lekki Phase
1. They looked very smartly dressed and
smelled good. One sat behind him and
another beside him. He was not comfortable.
He suspected them. He got down at the next
bus stop. He crossed the road and took a bus
going to Obalende. He got down and began to
walk very fast. He passed the Obalende canal
and walked towards the round-about. He
stopped abruptly, acted like he forgot
something and turned quickly walking back
the same way he came. He saw someone
quickly dodge behind a parked danfo. He
grinned. He was beginning to enjoy this. He
walked towards the parked danfo, acting like
he was innocently looking for someone. His
stalker continued to back off slowly. From the
corner of his eye, Ahmed could see the agent
moving back slowly and slowly.
He turned and crossed the road to the UBA
bank. He walked along the street, stopping at
intervals to buy a bottle of water. There was a
glass panel covering a building beside him.
With one eye on the bottle and one eye on the
glass panel, he saw a man in a black mafia
suit walk past him. He was staring at Ahmed.
He did not know Ahmed saw him. Ahmed
finished gulping the water and rushed to the
bridge. He heard a bus call “Ajah, one more
chance”. He quickly got on it. He got down at
Falomo and took another bus back to
Obalende. The guys trailing him were lost.
They continued their journey to Ajah. He
circled Obalende a few times to be sure he lost
them. When he was sure he had, he saw an
umbrella shed. He sat down and got a new
sim card. The attendant insisted Ahmed had
to register the sim card before he could leave
the place. He brought out three 1000 naira
notes and handed it to the attendant. He
smiled and allowed Ahmed to leave.
Ahmed circled Obalende twice again taking a
different route this time around. He made sure
he stopped abruptly at intervals, turning and
walking back the same way he came. When he
felt someone was trailing him, he would enter
very cramped streets and crannies, going
through places he knew from his 14 years in
the area. No one could keep up. After minutes
of circling, he walked to Onikan Round-about.
He stood at the place for close to four
minutes. There was a long stretch of road on
both sides of him. There was nowhere to hide
and it was impossible for anyone to pretend
not to be trailing him. He entered the bus and
headed home.
Eva woke up to find herself in a beautiful
bedroom. The room was large and decorated
with flowery curtains. The walls were painted
pink and almost everything else was in pink.
The huge kingsize bed rested majestically in
the middle of the room. She was nak3d. She
saw her clothes littered on the ground. There
was a pink colored candy panty beside her
leg. It was not hers. She recalled the events of
the past few hours. She bit her forefinger
seductively. She had not experienced such
intimacy with anyone before. It was explosive.
She had multiple satisfactions and did not
want it to end. The alcohol played its part too
in the experience.
She got up from the bed tying just the duvet
around her body. She admired herself in the
mirror and smiled. She stilled looked good.
She had a bath, dressed up and waited for
8pm when Shina would take her to see her
mother. She was in high spirits. At exactly
8pm, there was a gentle knock on her door.
“Finally.” She said to herself.
“Come in. It’s open.” She said loud enough for
whomever it was that was at the door to hear.
She had a huge hunch it was Shina coming to
take her to her mum.
A strange face appeared at the door. He came
in, put his hands behind his back and said,
“Ma’am. There is someone here to see you.”
He said.
“Who is it?” Eva asked already worried.
“Your mother.” The man replied.
“Where is she?” Eva asked, suddenly animated
and full of life.
“She is in the waiting room.” He replied.
She got up, brushed past the man and headed
for the Visitor’s room.
Sean had not heard from Sophia. He had
called her number and left her messages. He
did not want to barge in on her in her room
but now he had no choice.
He left his room and crossed to the other side
of the huge Mansion where Sophia’s wing
was. He passed by the Fortress where the
dogs were backing crazily. He remembered
last night’s events and felt a shrill down his
spine. He half jogged to Sophia’s wing and
entered without ringing the bell. He got into
the small corridor and decided to go to the
Visitors Room first.
He stopped dead when he saw the most
beautiful girl he had ever seen. Eva looked up
as he entered the room. Their eyes locked for
seconds.
As he made to approach her, a voice called
from behind him.
“Sean! Over here.”
Sean turned momentarily.
It was the devil herself. Sophia.
Episode 19
Ahmed got home to see the Colonel sleeping
in his bedroom.
“He must be exhausted. Tired Old man.”
Ahmed said quietly to himself.
He dropped the small bag he was carrying on
the floor, turned and made to exit the
bedroom. As he opened the door, he felt a
sharp pain at his back. He looked behind him
as he turned trying to touch his back where he
was hit. He felt his back soaked. He brought
his hand to his face. There was a reddish
liquid on his hand but it was not bl0*d. It
was some form of poster color.
The Colonel who he thought had been asleep
was arched on the bed, a toy gun in his hand.
He had a raised eyebrow and the gun was
aimed at Ahmed’s chest. He fired again.
Another poster color ‘bullet’ hit Ahmed in the
center of his chest.
“Ahhh!!!!!” Ahmed shouted in pain. “What the
hell was that for?” he finished, wiping the
stain from his shirt and moving towards his
Uncle.
The Colonel sat upright and patted the free
space on the bed beside him.
“Sit, son.” The Colonel said.
Ahmed obliged him.
“Son, the fact that you need to be very very
vigilant can not be over emphasized. What if
it was the enemy, on the bed with a real gun?
We would not be having this conversation.
You have to be very very alert Ahmed.
Everybody is a suspect. Even me. Trust no one
at this point in time.” The Colonel finished.
“But Uncle, I left you in the house. I knew you
would still be here. There was no need to be
over zealous about this sir.” Ahmed replied
defensively.
“Keep quiet Ahmed!” The Colonel barked,
getting up. He was furious.
“What is wrong with you? Think boy! Think!
They got into your house, planted bugs and
you did not know. They even planted a banner
on your bedroom door while you were busy
snoring! Where is your sense of guard, boy?
You are lucky they did not want you dead!
You are being very careless and I will have
none of that boy. Just listen to yourself. You
knew I would still be here. What if I decided to
go get something outside the house and
someone else came into the house? Just look
at the way you came into the room. Totally
clueless and without any sense of guard! What
if they came in here and overpowered me? You
are a dead man. A dead man!” The Colonel
finished angrily.
He was upset and his face contorted with
rage. He had lost his son due to negligence
and saw Ahmed as a carbon copy of his
deceased son.
“Get up boy. I want fifty push-ups. Now!” The
Colonel said angrily.
Ahmed began to protest. The Colonel came in
front of him, pulled him by his collar, dragging
him to his feet. Ahmed used the back of his
right hand to hit the Colonel’s wrist
attempting to free himself from the choking
grip of the Colonel. The Colonel saw the move
coming just in time and released Ahmed.
Ahmed’s hand hit the air and he staggered
backwards. The Colonel moved closer to him.
Ahmed was angry. Why would the Colonel
hold him like he was a criminal? He was not
the least happy. He moved forwards too to
attack the Colonel. He threw his fists at the
Colonel. His right fist, then his left in a swift
one-two-jab motion. The Colonel weaved
Ahmed’s right punch and ducked the left
punch.
In his ducking position, the Colonel landed a
straight hard right hand punch into Ahmed’s
stomach, knocking the air out of him. Ahmed
moved backwards, gasping. He was out of
breath. He fell on the bed, holding his
stomach, turning and trying to catch his
breath. The Colonel towered above him.
“Have I not told you never to go into a fight
without a clear head? Always have a clear
head, you’re your anger is good but you do
not know how to channel it. I have always told
you. You should…”
The Colonel was still speaking when Ahmed
turned on the bed and kicked the Colonel with
all the strength he had. The kick landed on
the Colonel’s g—n. The Colonel grimaced but
it lasted only a few seconds.
“Impressive try Ahmed. But the mind is always
lord over the body.” The Colonel said.
Ahmed got up very quickly and tried a left
hand punch to the Colonel in the stomach. It
was meant to be just a decoy. Ahmed knew
his punch would be stopped. But he had other
plans. As the Colonel used his palm to deflect
the punch coming to his stomach, Ahmed
immediately swayed left and launched another
punch to the Colonel’s face with right hand.
The Colonel did not expect the punch but saw
it just in time. He countered the punch with
his left arm, wrapping his arm around
Ahmed’s punch and twisting the arm. Ahmed
yelped in pain. He kicked Ahmed by the feet
and swept him off the ground. He landed on
the ground with a very loud thud. Ahmed
turned and tossed groaning in pain.
The Colonel bent over him.
“You are very rusty boy! And as long as I am
here, I would have none of that. Training
commences at 04:00hrs. You’d better be
ready.” The Colonel said.
He picked the nylon bag from the floor and
left the bedroom.
Sean followed Sophia into a very small room.
He caught a glimpse of a small aluminum
caption on the room before they entered.
DEBRIEFING.
Sophia sat behind a desk and motioned Sean
to seat opposite her.’
“There are a lot of things going on that many
of our citizens are blind to. The current
government is corrupt. Its very bane is
corruption. I belong to a very strong
organization that seeks to end this corruption
and bring smiles to the faces of every
disgruntled citizen. We are raising a team to
help us with this. You have been selected to
be a part of this team. That is the major
reason you are here Sean.” Sophia said.
“What organization? What am I supposed to
do? How will you achieve this feat of ending
the corruption which permeates every fiber of
the nation?” Sean asked.
“Have you perused the file I gave you?” Sophia
asked
“Yes I have. It’s quite a lot of work.” Sean
replied.
“What you have on that file is nothing
compared to what we have in store for you.
We just want to see if you have what it takes
to be a part of this team.” Sophia answered.
Sean looked at Sophia. She was really cool
when she was not blowing up heads and
asking him to chop off limbs. She was actually
very pretty. She looked amazingly s3xy in her
short rimmed glasses and her ponytail. She
wore a bl0*d red lipstick and no earrings.
Sophia could read his mind.
“What’s going on in that slurty little head of
yours, Sean?” Sophia said removing her
glasses. She leaned back on her chair, her
bosoms heaving and her ambience relaxed.
“Nothing really. Just some progesterone stuff.
You know how it is.” Sean replied.
Sophia unlocked her Ipad and swiped a few
screens.
“The last time you had s3x was two weeks
ago. With your girlfriend who travelled to
Canada. On the average, you have s3x every 3
days. That is not acceptable. And sorry, your
charms don’t work on me.” Sophia said and
smiled.
“You are free to go.” She finished.
Sean got up and left the room.
Tawo got an email alert on his computer. It
was from Bee Hive. It contained all the routes
that the commercial van plied as he had
previously requested. He transferred the
information from his computer to the large
screens on the wall. There were four detailed
pages, showing the four different routes he
plied, how many people got off and on the
bus. He was particularly concerned about
when the Colonel got off the bus. He got off
on the third route at Oshodi bus stop. There
were timestamps to every route.
Tawo shouted at Ope.
“Access the traffic surveillance at Oshodi
intersection. Rewind the recorded footage and
get it to 7:15am. That is the point where the
bus dropped the target.”
After a few minutes of fumbling, Ope spoke.
“Sir, I cannot seem to override the access
codes for the surveillance cameras. I keep
getting blocked out.” Ope said, sweating.
“Let me see.” Tawo said.
Ope moved his chair sideways as Tawo came
closer. Tawo bent low, inspecting the screen
for a few seconds. He touched his beard. He
was thinking.
“This is a complex firewall. You have to first
mimic the algorithm, and then unlock its
psuedocodes.” Tawo said.
Tawo pressed the keys on the keyboard very
quickly, mimicking the algorithm of the
surveillance camera. He battled with it for a
while and then was prompted for a password
override. He got up and paced the room. The
password was just a one trial option. He had
to get it right the first time.
He faced Ope.
“Ash, question mark, Shift Delta, Raven,
Orange, Peter, twenty percent Gamma.” Tawo
called out.
Ope entered the password and the screen
changed. Ope smiled. Tawo kept a straight
face. He slowly retraced the video footage till
he got to the time stamp. They saw the
Colonel getting off the Bus. 6 minutes later he
boarded a taxi.
Tawo got the plates of the taxi and asked Bee
Hive to track its routes and location. Minutes
later, Bee Hive sent back its report.
Fortunately, the taxi made just one trip that
morning. The only place the taxi went to that
morning was Ahmed’s Estate.
He called Bruno.
“Target is now red hot on the radar. Get ready
to pull the trigger.”
For the first time in a long while, Tawo smiled.
A genuine contented smile.
Episode 20
The Colonel sat in the living room, scrutinizing
the sim cards that the detective had just
gotten. With his personal phone, he called
Customer Care and complained that his
number was not going through. He could not
make calls neither could he receive calls. He
was asked to call the digits of his phone
number so that they could help ascertain what
the issue was. He called the digits on the new
sim and was put on hold. After a while of
holding on, he was told that the number was
not in use. It could be a new number or an
incorrect number.
“How long have you been using this line
please?” the Call center agent asked
pleasantly.
He hung up.
He tore the sim from its pack. He was going
to insert it into Ahmed’s phone later, probably
at midnight. He relaxed on the couch and
touched his g—n, rubbing his ball5 gently.
The kick Ahmed gave him had hurt. He was
surprised himself at how he was able to fake
the absence of pain. But such sacrifices were
necessary. He needed Ahmed to be ready.
There was still a lot of work to be done. The
Colonel’s eyes moved to the small table in the
center of the room. The bugs he had taken out
of Ahmed’s bedroom and also the ones he
took out from the living room lay scattered all
over. He had forgotten about them.
The bugs were powerful high functioning
cameras. But they could only be deployed and
monitored over a 200 meter radius. The
Colonel was in deep thought. This meant that
whoever was watching Ahmed had to be close
by. Very close. He had not seen or heard any
strange sounds in the house. This meant that
the control device was not there. Ahmed
walked lazily into the sitting room, holding his
waist. He sat on another couch, a
considerable distance away from the Colonel.
He did not want another lesson so soon.
“Son, have you noticed anything strange or
out of place in the attitude of your neighbors?
Or estate residents?” The Colonel asked.
Ahmed almost asked why but thought better.
“I have not Uncle. I do not have the time to
monitor my neighbors. I don’t speak to
anyone. The Old woman who lives two houses
away says a greeting every time I drive by. I
always murmur a reply. I barely hear myself. I
am not concerned about their affairs.” Ahmed
replied.
“Detective Ahmed Haruna! Don’t just say
whatever comes to your head boy! Think! Have
you noticed anything strange lately?” The
Colonel insisted.
“If I had said the first thing that came to my
head, we would be having another fight by
now.” Ahmed thought to himself.
“Uncle, nothing strange has happened. Believe
me, I would know. Other than a new resident
moving in the next house beside us, and then
the reconstruction of the drainage system,
nothing has happened over the past 7 weeks.”
“You have a new neighbor? Since when?” The
Colonel asked suddenly very interested.
“I don’t know. A couple of days back or so. I
was coming home from work and a truck
blocked half of my gate because it was trying
to off load furniture into the new house. I
asked for the owner of the house but whoever
it was wasn’t available. I haven’t seen or
heard anything since then.” Ahmed finished.
The Colonel’s brain was at super speed. He
was thinking deep and trying to draw logical
conclusions. Patterns formed in his
subconscious. Ahmed watched his with keen
interest as the Colonel drummed his fingers
on the table.
“From the moment you heard the gunshot and
the moment you got to the veranda, how
much time do you figure had passed?” The
Colonel asked.
“About two to three minutes. I even checked
the streets. There was no sign of any one. It
seemed like they just disappeared into thin
air.” Ahmed said.
He was thinking in the same direction as the
Colonel now. The escape was too quick and
perfect. It must have been planned and
properly rehearsed. His assailants had to be
close. Perhaps, too close.
“There is only one way to find out. My guts
tell me they are the occupants of that
building. We will have to draw them out. This
is what we will do. You are going to make a
call with your old sim. Let us hope it is still
being monitored. You will call Sheila. Tell her
you were attacked. Your dogs were killed. You
went out today and you noticed suspicious
men trailing you. You shook them off. You
know where their hideout is and you will need
backup to take them out.” The Colonel said.
“How does draw them out sir?” Ahmed asked.
“These people have a zero tolerance for
failure. The only reason they are called The
Ghosts is because they do not exist. They
leave no trails, no clues, and no souvenirs. The
do not make mistakes. They are thorough and
highly trained. The best part is, they do not
respond well to threats. If they sense a threat,
it is quickly neutralized.” The Colonel said.
“And my call to Sheila is a threat they will not
be willing to let lie fallow, thus bringing them
out and then we nab them?” Ahmed asked.
“Exactly, my boy!!! The phone call to Sheila is
a threat. They will make a move after your
call. Now this is the detective I know!” The
Colonel answered happily.
“I will send a cryptic message to Sheila after
you call her, telling her not to respond to your
phone call. We are on a trip together and we
just decided to play a fast one on her. We will
laugh over it. I have already ‘photoshoped’
you into a picture I took during my visit to
Massachusetts, USA. I will send it to her as
proof to calm her.” The Colonel said.
“I still do not understand sir. When are we
doing all this?” Ahmed asked.
“You will call her two hours from now. I will
send the message immediately after. Any
moment from then, we should expect
company.” The colonel finished.
“How many agents are they likely to send?”
Ahmed asked suddenly jittery.
“They are silent assassins. They do not draw
attention. Maybe one or two. They would want
to act quickly before Sheila’s fake backup
arrives. Then, we’ll have them for dinner!” The
Colonel finished and showed his spotless
white teeth.
Ahmed did not have cause to smile. The very
thought of the assassins coming to get him
made him shudder with fear. The Colonel
noticed this.
“Suck it up boy. I did not raise a coward! Be
ready when I ask you to.” The Colonel scolded.
Ahmed could only nod.
*****************************************
Bruno was sleeping on the chair in the
bungalow when Tawo called. He acknowledged
Tawo’s orders and dropped his phone on the
table after he hung up. He had underestimated
the detective. His men had lost the detective
for over an hour and saw him later when he
approached the estate gate. Where he was
and what he went to do was a mystery. Bruno
did not like mysteries. He was still pondering
how he was going to unravel the detective’s
past hour off the radar when Tawo called
telling him to ready himself for the kill. He
woke Marshal and told him to get himself
ready to take out the detective. Marshal
grinned. He had not killed anyone in a while.
He was really happy he finally had a chance
to. When Tawo ordered for the trigger to be
readied, it did not take long before the target
was wiped out. The longest it ever took was
18 hours.
Bruno relaxed in his chair and noticed a red
indicator on his transmitting device. Ahmed
was making a call. He quickly plugged in the
earphones and listened to Ahmed’s voice.
“…found out their hideout. It is beside my
compound here. I cannot say for sure how
many they are. Send backup just in case so
we can move in tonight. 2 hours. Good. I’m
ready. Bye.” He heard Ahmed finish and hang
up.
How the heck did this happen? How did
Ahmed know? Bruno was never one to throw
blames. He now needed to act. And fast! He
checked the time. 8:14pm. Marshal was fixing
the silencer to his .45 automatic pistol. He
called Tawo. It rang for a while and there was
no response. He tried to call Shina. It was
switched off.
This was his call. If he decided to wait, the
whole operation would be blown. If he decided
to flee, he would be ‘discharged’ by the
Ghosts. He had only one option. He had to
take out the detective.
He got his gun from a hostler strapped to his
waist. He fastened a silencer to the gun and
put the gun in his trouser by his waist and
covered it with his shirt. He picked his phone
and sent a text to Tawo.
“Operation at risk. New development. Moving
to take out target.”
He waited for the message to deliver. He put
off his phone.
Marshal was so happy. He would finally get to
shoot and kill someone. He was ecstatic. He
grinned at Bruno. Bruno’s mind was racing.
This could be the end of them. It could as well
be the best move he could take. But he could
not afford to sit idly by or to flee. It was
against The Code.
“It’s going to be a clean sweep. Get in, get
out. No trace. No mistake. Copy?” Bruno
asked.
Marshal nodded.naijacard.com
They packed their bags, wore their gloves and
got out of the bungalow.
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