The Chain

In the past couple of weeks, I have been reminded how abuse is a ripple effect, a chain that reaches in both directions in time.

I came across this flier that finally brought the toll of life’s bell signalling I brought this story forth.

This story is based on true events. I have tried as much as possible to stick with the facts while protecting the identity of those involved.

Thank you.

==============================

Where do I begin? At 6 or 26?

It was only in retrospect that I understood what had happened that day.

I was in High School, picked up most of my vices, very much among my crew, being one of the big boys in my year, before I realised what had happened to me when I was 6 years old had happened to a lot of other boys.

We were on holiday and I had gone to visit two brothers in their home. There wasn’t an adult anywhere, we had planned well. We had alcohol and porn and hours to burn. Thankfully, we didn’t have a lot of money.

Somehow the discussion had veered towards sex. The brothers began to share how one of the numerous helps their mom had brought to the house had introduced them to sex. She was a teenager, a beautifully sculptured one, and they were primary school kids.

The big night had been one when their folks had gone for a vigil. At this time, the boys were in Junior High. Before now, they had been sneaking around to have sex with the maid, but on this night, the living room was ground zero.

My friends took turns enjoying every inch of the maid’s body, she a willing participant, very likely proud of what the boys and her had become over the years. This was the story they told with so much glee and pump when it all came rushing back to me.

I do not remember now if I shared my story that day, I doubt it very much, for it was pale compared to the kind of fantasy my friends had just described. But till this day I remember it clearly. I was a little kid and she was a teenager. I was placed in her care by my mom.

“I want to weewee.” I said.

“Weewee inside.” She replied.

It was odd, even to my little mind. And it did feel odd, but I did as I was told.

I do not think this was the first time our maid had asked me to lie down on top of her and put my penis inside her vagina and I do not think it was the last either. But that incident – being pressed and asked to ease myself inside something that was not my Potty or a toilet bowl marked my mind. Forever.

We had a number of maids, growing up. My parents were at work 9AM to 5PM without fail, every week day. My sister who much way older was away in boarding house. I had to live with all sorts of maids all those years. I don’t remember much about most of them, but I haven’t been able to forget this one.

I had been abused as a child. And till this day, I tell anyone who cares to listen that I’d rather stay home with my kids than have anyone provide unsupervised care to them. Each time I recall the experience, I feel a terrible form of hopelessness deep in my soul.

I and my friends, were sexually active long before we left secondary school. Yes, we were exposed to sex much earlier, but by that I mean we had now become hunters in our own rights, we didn’t need the maids to feed us anymore, we went seeking out willing partners.

And I wish it had stopped at that.

Fast forward many years.

I was done with University and was in another city for my one year of Youth Service staying with my mom’s relatives. I liked it there, it was a high brow estate. Quiet roads with even more quiet streets running off them on both sides. The neighbours mostly minded their business.

“Baba D, did you see any money?” One of the kids in the family asked me. They often called “Baba D” when they didn’t feel like using “Uncle” like they knew to. It didn’t matter to me one way or another. They might as well have called me “Douglas”.

“Money?” I replied.

“I forgot my offering on the dining table on Sunday and I can’t find it again.” She said.

I replied that I hadn’t seen “any money” and dismissed her. She left my room.

That was the first time I got reports of missing money. A number of times after, I heard or was asked about missing money. They were always small sums, nothing serious, but it made me quite uncomfortable for a couple of reasons. One, I was the “stranger” and likely a prime suspect, though everyone knew I was making money, but people could be stupid.

Two, I often had money in the house, hundreds of thousands sometimes. If someone was pilfering 500, 1000, 200, it was only a matter of time before s/he would upgrade and put me and a handful of other people in some serious misery.

I was part of a small examination ring for kids (and their parents) who could not by themselves pass their WAEC, NECO or UME exams, couldn’t be bothered, or in rare cases, just scared shitless. I was the man whom they paid to and I often kept a good portion of my share in the house. I had my reasons.

I was rarely at home during the day, after all I was a busy “Corper”, teaching Physics in University Staff School. I also avoided staying home so I didn’t look like a drain on the family’s resources – eating, watching TV, playing games and sleeping. They believed I earned too little to contribute, anyways.

One day I was the last to leave the house, I had locked the door, hid the keys as usual and headed for the bus stop. At the gate of our close, I realised I had forgotten something in the house and had gone back for it. I met the door unlocked, with the keys I had just hidden in the lock. I called out for the kids, but no one was there.

I thought nothing of it at the time, I simply got what I came for, locked the door again, replaced the keys and left in a hurry as I was running late for my CDS. I asked when I got back but none of them had come home around the time I described. Worrisome.

Eventually, we (without the parents) had a meeting and we came to a conclusion that the thief wasn’t among us. The #1 suspect was a friend of the eldest daughter. She lived a few houses down the close and knew where we kept the keys. I agreed with this possibility too.

So, a few days later, as everyone went about their business, I elected to stay home. I asked to be locked in the house and that the key should be put in its usual place. I had had enough and was going to get to the bottom of the mystery. I lay in bed and listened as the neighbourhood quieted down even more. People had left for work or school.

About 2 hours into my wait, I heard the front door unlock, then swing open. Very distinctly. I froze, adrenalin pumped into my blood. I moved as quietly as I could to a vantage position, hidden in the darkness of the corridor that led to my room, I peeked from behind the curtain then I saw her.

I remember when I first noticed her, I knew I was upstairs pressing a shirt for the head of the house. I heard the pedestrian gate open with a screech – loose gravel often got wedged between the gate and the ground. I looked and I saw her. My brain registered that she was a 7 over 10.

She had a pretty face, hot body and moved in a certain way that flaunted it. She was a younger sister to the woman who lived across the hall from us. Our families didn’t relate much, but from the little I gleaned through the kids on my side of the hall, she was seeking admission into an Institution of higher learning.

We would sometimes meet in the premises, on the stairs or on the roads within the estate, exchange the barest of greetings and keep it moving. “This is not why you are here”, I kept telling myself. And at the time, I was asking out this fellow Youth Corp member who was a batch ahead of me. I literally had bigger fish to fry.

The fine girl from across the hall was the thief? I couldn’t believe it.

I stood there watching her open the tins of cocoa and milk. Satisfied that there was enough (for? I’m not sure) she picked up two eggs from the crate and left, leaving the door ajar. She was bold. In a few seconds, she was back with her mug to scoop the beverage. I watched her as she scooped, my blood was boiling.

I estimated the distance of each side of our triangle – myself, herself at the dinning and the front door. I had to get to the door before her and move in a manner that I’d intercept any attempted escape. I tightened my belt, this was no time to sag.

“KRRRAAAAAAA!”

The sound of a slipper sliding across the floor rent the silence. I had tried to move when my foot had struck a slipper someone had left in the way. She heard the sound and looked in my direction. She could not see me behind the curtains, but she began to approach. I stepped out and asked her what she was doing here.

“Uncle D! You are home?” She asked. Shock and fear written all over her person.

“What are you doing here?” I repeat. My voice is low and sinister. I am barely reining in my anger.

She stutters, I slap her across the face, take the mug from her hands, lock the door and put the keys in my pocket.

“Please…” she begins to beg.

I slap her a few more times, take off my belt, roll the buckle end once around my fist and raise my hand. I’m about to strike her with it. She’s on her knees begging, not that I don’t hurt her but that I don’t tell anyone else that she’s the thief.

I still do not understand what happened next or why I did it, but I took her to my room and had sex with her. She tried to talk me out of it, she begged, but I didn’t, couldn’t stop. It was like an out of body experience.

I looked down upon myself, from where I stood at the door, I looked on helpless as I – on the mattress placed on the floor violated the thief. I had known guys who did that to “punish” erring girls, and I always condemned it.

I said and still say it is a deplorable act. I once almost got into a fight with a guy who was talking shit about a girl because some guys he knew had slept with her. I had called him a lowlife who thought sex was an achievement.

But here I was, taken over by something I couldn’t describe. I couldn’t help myself, I couldn’t stop until I was done and then It was over. We were both in shock, both ashamed, both embarrassed.

I let her go and never spoke about it till I left for Lagos.

Somehow, I had manifested the very thing I loathed. Somehow the abused had become an abuser himself.

The Chain one link longer.

In The Shadows 24 (Finale)

Here’s the finale of the series In The Shadows.

It has been such an interesting journey and I must thank you all for the love and support through it all. During the dark days and long nights, I’d often read your comments over and over, they mean so much to me. God Bless you all.

I want to particularly thank Martha for all the hard work on proof-reading, legal guidance and edits. Oge, for the love and encouragement as well as taking out time to come see me. God Bless you both.

All of my crew who never had one convo (talk/calls/texts) with me without asking “when is the next episode coming out”, I love you all. Thank you for the motivation.

For all of the feedback, they were absolutely overwhelming, thank you all! *screaming* LOL!

I am so happy.

Enjoy the Finale of In The Shadows

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At the reception, the men of the FCID introduced themselves and stated their mission.

“Alright. Shall we?”

“We’ll have to put these on, Sir” one of the two men said.

“It’s formality, Sir, we apologise” the other said, as the first man made to snap the cuffs on Zach’s wrists.

“Just a moment, I am going to take my jacket off. I’d like it draped over the cuffs” Zach said.

Both men stepped back, alert as Zach slowly took his jacket off, placed it on a couch then stretched out his hands.

The officer applied the handcuffs, then helped Zach drape his jacket over them.

The last time he had been cuffed, he thought, was when he had willingly surrendered, like now, for Zaneta’s sake.

“We must warn you, there’s a lot of press outside” the first office spoke again.

“Gentlemen, I understand” Zach said.

Outside, the questions were fired en masse:

“Why did you kidnap the VP’s daughter?”

“Who do you work for?”

“Were you both dating?”

“Did you both plan it?”

Zach zoned out till he was put behind the unmarked police car and whisked away.

Whatever happened they would keep each other’s secrets. She would not tell about his involvement in the kidnap and he would not tell she was responsible for Henry’s death. They both would not tell Henry, hired by Tunji, had killed Mike nor about his involvement with Matilda and Mike while Tunji made sure all this went away.

He sighed

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

“I love Zan, I’d never do anything thing to hurt her or put her in harms way” Zach said to the first question after the formality of introductions. Beside him was the lawyer Zaneta had brought to Sweden with her. He had walked them through their version of the events, coached them, drilled them on the flight back, till he was satisfied they were ready.

“So, what happened?” the investigating police officer asked.

“We were in Port Harcourt for a weekend, celebrating my third year work anniversary at my job”

“What job?”

“Facility Manager, Skybridge Inc.”

The IPO took notes, “Go on, Sir” she said. Zach hoped she wouldn’t look too deep into the ownership of the company.

“While there, I reached out to a friend whom I knew stayed sometimes in PH when he was in the country, Mike. He said he was in town. I let him know I was leaving the next day and couldn’t make time to come see him -“

“Why did you reach out if you had no plans to visit?” she interrupted

“Courtesy. If I knew he was so far away, I wouldn’t have bothered”

“But, even after you realised he was far, you went still”

“Yes, he was insistent and he offered a chopper ride to bring us for free”

“A chopper ride?”

“Yes, a helicopter ride to where he was staying”

“So?”

“You see, Zan had never been on a chopper before, so I thought it would make for some romantic memories. When I mentioned it to her, she was excited. I couldn’t refuse her” he said using “Zan” a pet name he had practised for this interrogation. Barrister Ronel had advised it would convey endearment for Zaneta.

“I see. And when you arrived?”

“He was nice to us, he and Zan got along well. Even slightly flirty, I must confess I was a little jealous” he said with a shy smile.

The IPO looked at him for a whole minute, his expression didn’t change. She took more notes. “Go on”

“While Zan was asleep, the second night we arrived at Mike’s holiday home -“

“Second night? Weren’t you supposed to be back by Sunday night or Monday morning at the most? You did say it was a weekend get away”

“Well, we had such a good time, we both decided to extend the trip for a few days”

“How many days? The extension”

“Two. We decided to return Tuesday evening”

“So, this day was which?”

“Monday”

“Ok. So, Monday night…?”

“Yeah. I and Mike were gaming and having some drinks. Next thing I know, I woke up locked up, bound and gagged”

“Really?”

“Yes. I was shocked because Mike and I had no issue whatsoever. In fact my first thought was about Zan. I was concerned, like maybe he was going to rape her or something, never even realised it was politically inclined”

“You didn’t think it could have been? Mr. Zach?”

“No. Never crossed my mind. How could it?”

“How do you mean ‘How could it’?”

“Yeah! I didn’t even know who she was”

“You lost me there, Sir”

“Let me help you, Miss. My client was unaware of whose daughter Zaneta was at the time” Barr. Ronel put in.

“Is that so?” the IPO asked Zach.

He shook his head wryly. “I know right? How could I not have known, yeah?”

“I’m curious” the IPO put in genuinely.

“If you know Zan, you’d know she is very private about that. Her co-workers, even her employers never knew. Aside a few trusted friends. Go through all of her social media accounts, zilch. She never mentions her connection to the VP”

The IPO scribbled some more. “When did you find out?”

“When Mike came to check on me. He mentioned it, that was when I knew what he was up to. To be honest, I was surprised, and that’s putting it lightly” he said with a shy smile.

“No one else came to the house throughout your stay?”

“Not that I know off”

“So, Mike was operating alone?”

“I wish we could ask him” Zach replied after a shrug and a pause.

“Permit me to take you back a bit, Mr. Zach”

“Sure” he said, sipping some water.

“You said only a few trusted people knew who she really was. What does that say about you?”

He shrugged. “What can I say? I guess like the average woman out there, she has doubts about the sincerity of any man who proclaims love to her. I don’t blame her”

“Ok?”

“But, if you ask her now, I am sure she doesn’t feel any such inhibitions any more”

“And you know this how?” the IPO asked cynically.

“Because, I put my life on the line to get her out of there”

“Really? Please, tell me how you did that”

“After a while, I can’t be sure how long, you see, I was locked up and my watch was taken, so was my phone, so I had no idea how long. Mike came to ask me to help him get Zan to cooperate as she had refused to make a proper ransom call.

“I feigned anger at Zan for keeping me in the dark as to who she was, my surprise was genuine and Mike knew that, so he believed my anger too. I got a chance to get out of captivity and to see Zan. I can not tell you how relieved I was to find her in good health and spirit. I then proceeded to put up a little act to scare her without letting her know my own past ordeal and present predicament. But I was able to wink at her, she got the message and played along.

“That night, I jumped Mike, he had a gun and we got in a fight. I was able to disarm him, but not before these” he said pointing to the scars on his face “Here’s the surprise, though – two shots rang out and Mike died right before my eyes” Zach explained.

“He was shot? By who?”

“He just said he didn’t know” Barr. Ronel interjected.

“So what did you do?” the IPO asked, ignoring the lawyer’s statement.

“I ran like hell. Grabbed Zan, got in Mike’s car and drove off”

“What is the address of this place? Mike’s house”

“I don’t know. Like I said he sent me descriptions to a heliport from where we were lifted to the home”

“Then how did you find your way out?”

“Google maps”

She scribbled.

“You have a military background, do you not?” she asked without looking up.

“Yes, I do. 7 years. UN Peace Keeping tour in Sudan and a handful of classified Ops I am not at liberty to disclose” he said, mentioning the highlights.

She looked up at him.

“Why did you leave?”

“Sealed Military records. I can’t discuss that either”

“When?”

“5 years ago”

“So why didn’t you turn up on the night she turned up?”

“Oh! I had a barrage of reasons. This was something I and Zan discussed after she reached her folks and they had sent a jet for her. To be honest, we argued over it before parting ways that night. Finally she agreed to go to the airport alone while I went to seek medical help”

“Would it be too much to ask for specifics, Mr. Zach?” the IPO asked sarcastically.

“One, I had lied at work about my location. Two, I was quite shaken up by the presence of the shooter. I needed to reach my contacts to find out if they knew why anyone would be shooting at Mike and/or myself. Three, the VP would be quite livid and I could only imagine what he thought or still thinks of me. I couldn’t just waltz into his home. Four, because of numbers two and three, I had to go into hiding for a bit. Five, I didn’t want anything that would become politicised, deepen rivalry and animosity and likely destabilise the nation”

“Quite patriotic, I see” she threw at him.

“That’s why I joined the army” he shot back.

“Why did you decide to surface now? Records show you came in from Sweden”

“Got tired of running, and truthfully, I missed Zan” he replied with a smile.

“We will have to keep you for a few days while we verify the information you have given us” she said, for the first time, acknowledging the presence of the other policemen in the room.

She took down more notes and asked that Zach be processed for detention pending the outcome of the investigation.

“You’ll also have to leave your passport with us.You are not permitted to travel without informing us”

Zach pulled out his passport and placed it on the table. “Believe me, I came for her, I have no plans of leaving”

“Are you familiar with the Stockholm Syndrome, Mr. Zach?” she asked rising and packing up her stuff.

“Yes, I am. Why do you ask?” he said getting to his feet and starring down at her across the table with a level look.

“Never mind” she said and hurried out of the room.

As Zach was being processed, Barr. Ronel’s phone rang. He took it, looked over at Zach confused and handed it to him.

Zach took it, one look at the number and he knew who it was though it was a foreign one. “Hello” he said.

“Good job, man” Malik’s voice came over the line.

“Thank you” Zach said, not completely surprised Malik had heard what was just discussed with the IPO in private. He looked at the two officers who had been in the room with them. One or both of them was an informant. He walked away from the group.

“You gave nothing away” Malik said, sounding quite impressed. “That’s a beautiful story you just reeled out. Oscar material”

“What do you need, man?”

“What exactly happened with Mike, though? The truth”

“He turned, tried to leverage for some cash. An AlphaTrag hitman cut him down” Zach explained lowering his voice.

“Good riddance”

“I guess”

“Have a good life, man. Stay out of trouble” Malik said and rung off.

With an expressionless face, Zach returned and handed the phone back to Barr. Ronel.

“Who was that? And how did he get my number or know you were with me?” he asked.

“Trust me, you are better off not knowing” Zach said, and walked deeper into the heart of the facility led by the officer who’d processed him.

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

The IPO looked through the window as Zach and Zaneta held each other in a loving embrace.

“Please, don’t kiss” she whispered, in hopes.

The couple, who were downstairs at the car park and couldn’t hear her anyway, went ahead and kissed deep and long.

She sighed.

“She corroborated his story, yeah?” her boss who had just walked into her office and seen what she was looking at asked her.

She turned, threw her boss a quick salute before returning to watch Zach pull open the passenger door of a red Mercedes Benz CLA 2015, help Zaneta in, walk around it and get in the driver’s seat.

“Every fucking detail, hey!” she said, frustrated.

“Why are you feeling all worked up by this? The victim and the suspect have just proven to you there was no crime. Less work for you, you should be glad” he said.

“Not beyond reasonable doubt, Sir” she said defiant.

“Let it go, Tolu. You have a long career ahead, the next 8 years of it will very likely be under that lady’s father, and he and the President are in that office, to a large extent, because of what happened to her and how she handled it. Be smart” he said and walked away.

She looked out the window in time to catch the plate number of the red Mercedes as it exited the gates – “Zaneta“

“Heeeeeeeeyyyy” she said under her breath.

What her boss didn’t tell her and never will was that she had been chosen for the job by him and he had just gotten off the phone with the Vice President who had thanked him for handling the case excellently.

A lot of things were yet above Tolu’s pay-grade.

END.

In Memory of Dayo Ajose

A Fellow Warrior

In The Shadows 23

Let me thank you all for your patience with me so far.

To pay for my evil ways, I am releasing the final two episodes of this series at once.

I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

God Bless you all.

Here’s Episode 23.

For all episodes go here – In The Shadows

======================================

Zach lay back in bed as the nurse, an elderly woman with a friendly smile, packed up her stuff and made to leave the room.

“Please, turn that up” he said, referring to the TV.

She did as he requested, waved the remote in the air with a small “Hallelujah” and left.

Zaneta was on the screen being led from a private jet to a an SUV by Tunji. He was looking all stern while making sure to be seen supporting her. The press were present in full force and a human wall of security agents were struggling to keep the frenzy at bay.

Zach clapped for him mentally; he had just scored top points both with his boss and for his Party. All they had to do now was keep up the tempo, in a few weeks it would be E-Day and the electorate would sweep out the incumbent.

That was all good for them, but “Where does that leave me?” Zach thought. His whole operation, something he had carefully worked on for over 9 months had simply unravelled. From within and without. He still wondered what sort of demon had possessed Mike to make him pull a double-cross on the team, on the General, on the Party. He wasn’t a politician, he was an operative. But really, maybe it wasn’t a demon, maybe he could read the tides better and he saw it was a futile mission after all.

Here he was, like a kite in the wind, cut loose from its grounding post. He was at the mercy of the forces at play. He knew soon, he had to make a clear choice and then face the music of the other side.

He’ll wait for the elections.

He turned on Henry’s phone and called Bizi. The place Bizi had directed him to turned out to be a serviced apartment with connections to the underground. He would lay low here till he was strong enough to make his next move.

“I need a SIM card and access to my accounts” he said.

*

Zaneta stepped out of the bathroom. She was bone tired and her neck still hurt from the whiplash of the collision. She thought about Henry, the way he had been moaning in pain and confusion. She wondered about his welfare. Then she thought about Zach.

A knock on the door made her jump.

“Yes” she said, wrapping her towel tighter around her.

“Alice and Bode are here to see you” Tunji said, peeking around the door.

“Wow! At this time?” Zaneta said with one glance at the wall clock. “I’ll be out in a minute”

Quickly, she threw on a sweat shirt and a pair of joggers, tied up her hair in a scarf and headed downstairs.

“Guys! It’s past 3 in the morning! You should both be in bed!” she protested the moment she arrived the living room where the couple waited.

The whole house was alive with people moving around like it was day time.

“Babe, I am so sorry” Alice said, rushing to hug Zaneta. “I never for once stopped praying for you”.

“Thanks, Alice” Zaneta said, then “Good morning, Sir” to Bode.

“Zan! I’m so glad you are back. My wife’s been worried out of her mind. And I have done a poor job trying to calm her down, I was scared myself” Bode said, hugging Zaneta.

“We came the moment we heard the news” Alice said.

“How did you hear?” Zaneta asked them.

“Febi called me. I’m sure she’d have gotten here first, but she’s away in the US for her elder brother’s wedding”

“Oh! Cool” Zaneta said.

“You are fine?” Alice said looking her over.

“Yeah. I am fine” Zaneta said. She recalled the instructions Uncle Tunji had given her on the ride home. She was to talk to no one about the events leading up to her kidnap, the kidnap, nor the rescue. This was fine with her because she was also unwilling to talk about what she had finally done. It was best this way. She could trust Zach to keep her secret, provided Henry was dead. She had never truly wished anyone dead till this morning.

“Now, we have seen you, we may now rest and keep thanking God” Bode said into the silence.

“Yeah, you both need go home and do whatever married folks do then get set for work” Zaneta said making them laugh.

“I’m set for work. I’ll just drop her at home and head out” Bode said. It was then Zeneta noticed all he was missing was a tie and jacket. The investment banker was often at work before the sun contemplated rising.

“You are the true heroes”

“You forgot to add ‘Unsung'” Bode replied.

“Biko! Biko!! Oga, don’t go there. Unsung as how? All your armed robber salaries!” Zaneta replied making them laugh. “Hey! How about you go on ahead to work and leave my friend with me here?” she suggested “I could use some company”

“Sure. Why not?” Bode replied.

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

It was about past 10 in the morning, Alice was asleep upstairs in Zaneta’s bed. She had taken the day off on Zaneta’s account and it had been immediately granted. Everyone at work had called on Alice’s phone to welcome her.

The press were still camped outside the gates, hoping for a story. Her dad was due back soon from Abuja.

She strolled into the study and found Uncle Tunji, just as she had suspected.

“Are you going to wait on me all day?” She teased, “I assume you have more important things at hand”.

“I’m waiting for your Dad actually” Tunji said, putting down the paper he was reading. On the front page was a picture of them at the airport earlier in the day with the headline “Moloku’s Daughter Returns!”

“I wonder what the polls look like now” she said taking a seat opposite him.

“I have no faith in those” Tunji said looking closely at Zaneta. “Does your neck hurt?” he asked.

“Yeah, a little. Bad sleeping position, I guess” she lied.

“We will get every one of those bastards, I assure you”

“Who is Matilda?”

“Matilda?”

“Yes. She has to be one of the staff. Either yours or the campaign office”

“Name doesn’t ring a bell, but I will ask. Definitely not one of my lawyers” he said, then asked “Why?”

“I thought someone mentioned that name while I was there. Were you negotiating through her?” she asked. She remembered clearly what Mike had said to Matilda over the phone but she wasn’t sure she could trust Uncle Tunji.

“We didn’t negotiate. Your Dad left no doubts about that. We had other plans and we pulled it off. Here you are” he said with a grin.

She had to bite her tongue to keep from asking about Zach again. She also couldn’t bring herself to ask after Henry, though she was dying to know his state.

“I’ll be in my room” she said rising.

“Ok. Your Dad will be here any minute now, they already landed at the airport”

“Ok” she said and left the study.

*

While she was upstairs in her room ordering a new phone online, Tunji placed a call.

“She knows. Leave immediately. Get on the first available flight you can. Call me when you settle in” he said when it was answered.

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

The weeks flew by for Zaneta.

She had resigned her job and had been hired by the Danbazau-Moloku campaign team as the head of Digital Media and Engagement. She had immediately hired Alice, with her slight baby bump, as her team lead (with a salary that was twice what she was earning at their former employment) and they had both set up a small war-room in a building next door to the Moloku residence fully funded by the Campaign Organization. She never went anywhere, never saw anyone except her team and family. She was mostly too busy to do any other thing anyway.

Edith had tried several times, but she had refused to see her.

She had refused to answer every and any question about the kidnapping and had abandoned all of her social media accounts. If it wasn’t work-related, she wasn’t touching it.

Mrs. Moloku had also arrived to lend her support.

With each poll, the ticket had come out a few more points ahead than the last.

Finally, it was the end of E-Day. She, Alice, Bode (who had brought Alice in that day and stayed on) and 3 staff members were in the small office following and measuring every shred of stats they could find.

The victory was sweeping and resounding. The National Electoral body had confirmed what they already knew.

“I need to go congratulate my Dad” she said rising to her feet. Everyone around her was aglow – they had done it! “Shut down the office. We are done. You all are fired. Go home” she said as she picked up her MacBook and exited.

As she was escorted by a security operative in dark suit and shades, to the house through a side gate that she had installed so she didn’t have to get on the street, her phone buzzed. It was a new line that had come with her phone and she had decided not to retrieve her old line. Less than 10 people had the number.

She tapped on the SMS;

“Congratulations!

I miss you so much, Sweets“

Her heart did a little jiggle and she smiled.

“How did he find my number?” she thought. Though it was the first time she had received a message from him. He had kept in touch by using her ATM card.

Every 2 days, he’d ‘check in’ by using the card. Each night she would check the email linked to that account, and every other night, without fail, she would find a debit alert for N1000. With that, she had kept track of his location as he moved. The last one, which was yesterday had been from the same ATM for a week now. It was somewhere near the Kogi State University, Ankpa Road, Anyigba, Lokoja. She had looked it up on Google maps.

“Not as much as I have, dear.

I have gist for you“

She fired back.

*

Zach smiled, got on his used Haojue DA135S and rode into the post-election traffic, easily blending in.

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

“Good afternoon, Sir. Your guest has arrived” the receptionist said in heavily accented English.

“Send her right up” Tunji replied and replaced the receiver.

He was in a small but cozy hotel in Vaud on Lake Geneva, Switzerland. He was Chief of Staff of the President’s Administration now. For all his handwork and vital contributions in bringing home the victory, he had asked for time off to come relax in Europe and also catch the Austrian Grand Prix.

“15 working days only” the President had said with a smile, while the VP had asked “Tell me, Tunji, are you getting married secretly?” making everyone laugh.

He was the only single man in the cabinet, but it was well known how much power he wielded. He knew for a fact that the party had chosen Moloku to run the country. Danbazau had only been the foothold to get him in. Danbazau was from the North and was a seasoned politician who had just finished a 2nd term as a senator. It was likely a record that one that young had served 8 years in the Federal Senate.

Tunji made a mental note to check that as he looked himself over in the mirror.

Moloku had been relatively unknown until he had blasted onto the scene – A firebrand, hard talking man with results to show. He was also squeaky clean with a zero tolerance for corruption and shoddy politics – exactly what the nation needed. Then all the drama with Zaneta had happened and the sympathy votes had gone through the roof.

Tunji was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Though Henry had been traced to a hospital in a coma and later declared brain-dead and Zach had disappeared, Zaneta had come out stronger, taking charge of the digital media end of things for the campaign. She was also his colleague now at the Villa, being the Special Adviser to the Villa on Digital Media and Communications. She led a very quiet life and did an excellent job. He was fine with the outcome.

He opened the door just as she knocked on it.

“Tunji” she said, throwing her hands around his neck.

“Matilda” he said, before kissing her.

“I thought you’d abandoned me. You know? Chief Of Staff and all” she said.

“I no fit” he said, leading her to the couch where they both sat.

“Tell me, how did that happen? Becoming CoS” she asked as he poured them some wine.

“I swear, na God! I didn’t see that one coming. I was just doing my bit for the campaign, you know? The greater good”

“To you, The Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” she said as they clinked glasses amid laughter.

“You look real good, Matilda”

“Barrister Olatunji Fadipe!”

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

His work here was done.

He’d sleep the rest of the night and be off to his hotel in Styria, Austria for the Grand Prix. He had a 9 hour road trip, at least, ahead of him. He needed the rest. He had just parted with $50,000.

He shut the door behind him as he saw the taxi take Matilda out of the premises.

The TV suddenly came on and he saw himself gisting with Matilda on the couch.

“Yeah, I know we lost some good money, but you must agree it made sense to have a double edged plan” he was saying to Matilda who kept repeating the words “$5 million” with so much pain it was comical.

“The moment that guy called you, Mike or what’s his name – your boyfriend, -” he was saying “We never dated!” Matilda cried, “Ok, Ok Your Ex-FWB?” he went on “The fact that you came to me immediately was a smart move. It was an unexpected event that could have gone in our favour too…”

The video went on. How they he had planned to get Mike shot the moment he delivered Zaneta and then share the ransom with Matilda. How sad it was that Henry found and killed him first. And how Matilda didn’t have to worry, because the next 8 years, at the minimum, was going to be a money tsunami for them both.

Tunji stood transfixed. By now he sensed someone behind him, but he was too scared to turn around. He could already tell who it was.

The video paused as he and Matilda began to kiss and undress on the couch.

“The rest is for mature viewership” a voice said behind him. “Have a seat, Barrister Fadipe” it added.

Tunji walked to the sofa and sat. For the first time, he saw Zach in person. He looked more impressive than in the photos, plus he was pointing a shiny pistol with a screwed on silencer in his direction.

“Please, don’t kill me” Tunji begged. If this was the guy who put Henry in a coma, he had every reason to be afraid.

“You already did that yourself. I’m sure the VP would like to know how you tried to wring $5million from him by using his only daughter as a pawn AFTER knowingly putting said daughter in harm’s way” Zach shook his head, “You are a piece of work”

“You won’t understand”

“Of course not. I do not have disloyalty and greed coursing through my veins”

“Let me explain -” he was saying, but the ripping of the throw pillow beside him by a bullet shut him up.

“Save that for Dr. Moloku. I have a question for you. If you give me bullshit, I will kill you. Understood?”

Tunji nodded rapidly. “Why am I so pressed?” he thought.

“What was on that HDD in the Professor’s safe?”

“You don’t have it?”

“Oh! The other guy died before he could tell you that. I fragged it. What was on it?”

“Dirt. Leverage and screws on certain influential and crucial people. It would help us bring the Academic and Non-Academic Unions of Universities in line. It was the Professor’s bargaining chip to get the helm of ASUU but that seat was to go to someone the General had chosen whose name was also on it”

“In line with your agenda, yeah?”

“For the greater good”

“I’m quite tempted to kill you. You actually believe that crap you say? How does your mouth taste after saying it?”

Tunji rose to his feet. He had to take charge of this situation. He thought “If he was here to kill me I’d be dead by now“

“Listen, Zach” he began, tearing his eyes from the pistol and fixing them on Zach’s “Why don’t you tell me why you are really here? It’s a long trip from home, you know? So can we get down to meeting your needs?” he said in most steady voice he could muster.

“You have your office at the Villa, get off my tail. I want my freedom back. I see one AlphaTrag guy 100 miles from me, I will rain down hard on you, after I kill him. You see, killing is what I am trained to do. I hunt and I kill”

“Understood” Tunji croaked.

“Great. Is there something I can do for you?”

“The video” Tunji said, slightly emboldened.

“Let’s call that insurance” Zach said, putting the pistol away in its holster.

“Ok, then” Tunji said stretching out his right hand for a shake.

In one deft move, Zach grabbed him by the wrist, pulled him forward, spun him around and locked him in a choke hold.

The grip was vice-like, Tunji’s eyes bulged and he began to trash as an acute lack of air set in.

“Listen, Tunji, I am not one of your puppets. I could snap your neck right now, I could sustain this long enough and gift you with permanent brain damage, you see? You do not want to fuck with me ever again. I will kill you, man, believe me”.

The trashing slowed down and Zach released the grip a bit. A little longer then he let him slide down to the floor unconscious. Zach looked down at him. He took a long breath, glad that it was over.

When Zaneta had mentioned to him the week after the elections that Mike had been on a call to a certain Matilda whom she suspected was on the inside, he had gotten Bizi to run a check. Interestingly, a certain Matilda who was a campaign staff had left to Europe on the day Zaneta had returned. They decided to keep track of her movements. When she had not returned after the elections, and Tunji had announced his trip to go rest and see the Grand Prix, Zaneta had told Zach who then pre-empted their connection and had travelled a day before him. The rest had been easy.

He’d checked into the same hotel as Tunji, bugged his room then gotten the video to his phone from which he had cast his phone’s screen to the smart TV’s on which he had shown Tunji his “insurance”. Already Zaneta had a copy of the video but she was not to act like she knew what went down.

There was no way one man could win against the COS. He needed something and Zaneta had given it to him.

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

“Dad, I’m not asking Presidential pardon! Everything that happened is still sealed. None of us in this room has talked about it” Zaneta said.

She sat before her Dad in his office across the hall from the President’s who was away on a 6 Nation African Tour, beside her stood Tunji.

“What about the press? You know more than I do how many conspiracy theories are out there about your disappearance and return. Some have alluded to it being staged! I don’t want to taint this administration’s image. The work to be done is hard enough as it is”

“This is an opportunity to put all that to rest, Dad. I beg you” Zaneta said, coming around and getting on her knees.

“Oge….” The Vice President sighed. He looked up at Tunji for help.

“She does have a good point, Sir” Tunji said after clearing his throat.

“Really?” Dr. Moloku was lost.

“Here’s what I think. If he gets to tell his story, the way we want it, we get the press to not only drop the theories, but give us extra points for handling it well. In addition, he is quite resourceful, from what Zaneta told us, he was instrumental in keeping her alive before and during the shoot-out. He at least, deserves a chance”

“A chance?” The Vice President asked

“Yes, he wants to work for you, Dad” Zaneta said, still on her knees.

“I see you both have discussed this. What are the legal implications?” he asked, looking again at Tunji.

“We could get him a reduced sentence of sorts. A fine, some community service for his valiant efforts”

“He took a bullet for me, Dad!” Zaneta cried.

“Get up, my love” Dr. Moloku said to her, then to Tunji, “Take care of this. If it will put our work here in jeopardy, I’ll rather he stays away. The past 6 months have been rocky in here but we are beginning to make progress, I don’t want us to lose that momentum. Very crucial”

“Yes, Sir. I’ll arrange it right away”

“If he comes back, this office will not intervene. He will be charged to court and will be at the mercy of the judge. It’s up to him” the VP said with finality.

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

“There’s no way you won’t do jail time” Zaneta said.

She was in bed, on the phone with Zach like she had done every night since the elections.

“If it means I will be with you after, I’ll take the deal” he said.

“I’m worried”

“I’ll be fine. When is it happening?”

“Uncle Tunji will call you in the morning”

“Ok. Can’t wait to see you, Z”

“You know you could just stay there and marry a Swede, raise a nice family and live happily ever after. You really don’t have to come back here and go through all that”

“Yu know you can be an annoying fish when you want to be?” he replied making her laugh.

“How you can joke through this, I will never understand”

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

Zaneta had never seen him look so dashing.

“Hello, Zach. Sweden does suit you finely” she said as they shook hands and sat down

“Thank you” he replied.

They sat across from each other over cups of coffee while the jet was being refuelled. Around them were government security personnel, discrete with their presence and attention, but Zach could tell.

“Do you feel like walking away right now? ‘cos I do” Zaneta said.

“Yeah, I could, but I won’t” he replied with a smile.

She looked at the scars on his face, scars that were not there before that night from hell. She wanted to touch them but restrained herself.

“No assurances from pops, yeah?”

“None” she replied, “I have a plan, though. Let’s discuss that on the flight back”

They sat quietly, each pondering on the best way to approach the future that awaited them back in Nigeria.

In another half hour, they were called upon to board the jet for the flight back home.

“I believe this is yours” Zach said, handing Zaneta her ATM card with a smile.

“Thank you” she said, taking it and slipping it into her purse. The red one he’d gotten her.

“Any luggage, Sir?” the officials asked Zach.

“No” he said, attracting curious looks.

“Anything to declare?”

“No” he said again and was cleared through.

They settled down next to each other on opposite sides of the isle.

As the bird leapt into the air, Zaneta reached out and held Zach’s hand. He looked at her, “It’s our word against theirs. Let’s work on our story”

“I love you, Zaneta” he replied.

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

“It is time” Zach said rising to his feet, from the edge of the bed on which he and Zaneta had more or less spent the last 3 days. It was another serviced apartment in the heart of the FCT.

“Barrister Ronel will meet you there, we got this” Zaneta said sitting up.

Zach had just gotten a call from reception that some men from the FCID were here to see him. They had expected this for over 24 hours now. Someone had anonymously tipped off the police that Zach was in Abuja. Being the last person who Zaneta was seen with before her disappearance, naturally, he was suspect number 1.

“I have you, I have all I ever wanted” he said as he walked out of the bedroom and shut the door.

Zaneta wept silently into her pillow, “Lord, please, let nothing go wrong” she prayed.

 

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

Click here for the Finale

In The Shadows 22

First, let me apologise for my inconsistency so far with this series. I wish I could sit down with each and everyone and explain why, but as they say “excuses are not bankable”. Still, I am grateful for the love and the words and the messages. I appreciate it all.

God Bless you all.

Here’s Episode 22 of In The Shadows

======================================

“Get in the car! Driver’s seat!” Mike ordered as he shoved Zaneta with his pistol while remotely unlocking the same BMW she and Zach had come in. The brand was marred for life in her perception.

“Put both hands where I can see them” Mike said.

His phone began to ring as Zaneta sat behind the wheel. As Mike took out his phone to take the call, she placed a call of her own and quickly placed the phone face-down on her laps before putting both hands on the steering wheel.

“Matilda…. Yes, I have the girl….No jokes….Are your papers ready? ……. There’s no going back now. See you soon” He said and hung up.

*

Zack was at the foot of the stairs when his phone rang. He took one look, silenced it and put it back in his pocket. He moved swiftly to the door which Mike had left ajar. He took one quick peek. He didn’t have a clear shot, could not possibly have one without stepping into sight himself.

In one flick, he turned on the flood lights and turned off the lights in the hall and living room.

Mike responded immediately, dragging Zaneta out of the car and standing her up in front of him while shoving his pistol painfully in her side making her scream as her phone fell to the gravel.

The main door swung wide open.

“Don’t be silly, Mike” Zach shouted from inside the house. He’d kicked the door open.

“No, dawg! You do NOT be unfortunate” Mike shouted back.

“You are not smart enough to pull this off, man. Give it up!”

“No, man. There’s no going back. Don’t piss me off!”

“You pissed me off already by trying to drug me. But we can settle this quietly and that is why I haven’t called Malik or the General. It’s just me and you, man”

“Listen to yourself! You gave up a life with the next VP’s daughter to be an overpaid errand boy to some have-been. Get a life, dawg!” Mike said laughing.

“Maybe I don’t have one, Mike, but if you do this, you will lose yours”

“You were smart enough to know I drugged your drink, I see that now. I believe you are smart enough to see I have the advantage here. I have the girl” he said digging the pistol into Zaneta’s side again making her yell. Now she was crying.

“Mike, can we just cool?” Zach said, he could not take the screams and crying anymore. Mike had a point, he had the advantage.

“Come out and lay down your weapon then we can talk”

Zach thought about it a bit then said “Ok, I’m coming out”. He stepped out with his hands up, pistol hanging on his right thumb, safety on, facing downwards.

Mike moved his pistol to Zaneta’s temple. “No tricks, bro. I swear I’ll kill her” he said, firmly using Zaneta as a human shield.

“No tricks” Zach replied, letting his pistol drop to the lawn.

“Now kick it away” Mike ordered.

Zach’s kick sent the pistol spinning into the flower bed.

“Good. So this is how this is going to go down. I’m going to lock the lovely Zaneta here in the trunk to wait while you and I would go back inside to allow you administer some good old downer to yourself and sleep off this terrible episode of your miserable life

“Only because, I’m nice, dawg, I’m going to let you live and you claim I drugged you by the time your puppet masters hear about this.”

Zach made no response, but his eyes never left Mike and Zaneta.

Mike remotely unlocked the trunk of the 5 Series, it came up with a smooth mechanical purr.

“Ok, Princess, let’s get you settled in. If your boyfriend makes it snappy, I will be back for you soon and we will be on our way to freedom in no time, I promise” Mike said, pushing Zaneta towards the back of the vehicle with his gun now trained on Zack.

At the trunk, Zaneta made eye contact with Zach, he nodded at her almost imperceptibly, it was enough to renew her hope. She climbed into the trunk, and curled up, fighting to keep calm. She was glad she was not claustrophobic, but being locked in the trunk of a car by an armed mad-man, though quite spacious and clean, was still very unpleasant.

The trunk shut above her and darkness enveloped her. She cussed as she realised she had lost her phone in the commotion. Luckily, she had her Apple watch on.

*

“Ok, Zach. It’s just you and I now, like you wanted” he said walking towards Zach, pistol in both hands for a solid shot at Zach’s chest.

“Why are you doing this?” Zach asked, letting his hands fall slowly to his side, in a bid to douse the tension.

“Money! $5 million” he said stopping a few feet away from Zach.

Zach’s eyes widened.

Mike laughed, “A tidy little sum, yeah? While you were busy taking orders, I found someone on the inside who set this up for me. She works with Moloku, I knew her from back in the day. If you weren’t so -” he was saying when his blood suddenly burst forth, splashing all over Zach.

It took a whole second for Zach to compute what had just happened, quickly he hit the ground as Mike growled then turned in the direction from which he had been hit.

Zach dove swiftly for the flower bed when Mike took another shot to the chest; he fired two futile rounds into the night air as he crumbled to his knees, gagging on his own blood.

Zach knew the general direction of the sniper that had taken the shots, but was not about to go up against him. He stayed low amidst the flowers, found his pistol, took the safety off and cocked it.

“This whole operation just went to hell” he thought “How the hell did a sniper come into this? How the hell did he find us?“

He peered into the darkness beyond the premises. He saw nothing. Now he regretted turning on the flood lights. He wondered if he could wait it out, but then, what would happen at the end of the wait? Daylight didn’t guarantee the position of the sniper would be revealed, he was surely smarter than that. Another issue was Zaneta – she was locked in the trunk. He had to get her out.

“But first” he said, pulled out his phone and dialled Malik’s number making sure to reduce his screen brightness to the minimum and keeping the phone as close to the ground as possible.

“Yes?” Malik answered

“We have a sniper outside the perimeter. Mike is dead” he said, taking a look at Mike’s body now sprawled on the lawn.

“You are kidding, right?”

“I wish I was”

“Zach, I advise you get the hell out of there. Leave the girl. Go! Now!” Malik said and was gone.

Zach could not believe he had been left out to dry just like that.

He looked at Mike’s lifeless body and spotted the BMW’s key beside it. Quickly, he pulled up his media player, selected Bob Marley’s ‘Could You Be Loved’, pushed the music to the highest volume, threw the screen brightness to maximum and flung the phone into another flower bed by the fence. He heard two bullets rip into the flowers sending petals and leaves into the air.

Before things settled down, he dashed out of the flower bed, slid to the floor beside Mike, swooping up the car key then made quick rolls to the car. He heard 2 bullets hit the lawn and gravel along the path to the car. Panting, he leaned against the car.

He knew he had to get in and drive off somehow without getting shot. Beside him on the ground, he spotted Zaneta’s phone. It was broken and pretty much done in, definitely trampled upon in the earlier stand-off.

Zach wondered who his opponent was. He was pretty good, not perfect with rifle, but he was doing a good job controlling the terrain. And since he hadn’t fired until Zaneta was ‘safely’ in the trunk, Zach had come to the conclusion this was likely another AlphaTrag operative. The fact that he hadn’t shot at the car for the past minute that Zach had leaned against it lent Zach’s theory more credibility in his mind.

“He doesn’t want to hurt Zaneta, he won’t shoot the car…..I hope” Zach whispered to himself, grabbed the driver’s door handle, yanked the door open, slid to a spot beside the open door, reached in and started the car. He paused and listened. Nothing happened. With a little more hope than he’d begun with, he slid into the driver’s seat. Keeping his head down, he engaged the gear and gunned the engine. He could hear Zaneta scream and trash around in the trunk as the tyres squealed and shot gravel in every direction.

Zach kept the car on track – in the direction of the gates. In less than a minute he spotted the wooden country-side type gate the premises had. They had high tech perimeter fencing that did the real work. Zach was thankful it was not a solid metal gate as he blasted through it, yanked the steering right and tore up the dusty road to town.

Not too far up the road, Zach slammed the brakes as he came upon a red Accord coupe parked across the road.

“Fucking hell!” he swore as the BMW skid to a stop on the dirt road.

The strategy at play was more than Zach had expected. The particular spot where the Accord was parked was the only spot along the road where he could not have driven around it. One side of the road seemed to have given way in a recent flood.

A second inspection revealed the car was empty.

“Could the keys be in?” he thought, then almost laughed at himself for the naive optimism he had just shown. “Time to get off the road” he said, grabbed his pistol and was about getting off when his window suddenly shattered and a rifle butt grazed his head.

He retaliated by kicking the door out sending the assailant a few feet backward. Seeing his advantage, he made to dash out of the car, pistol first but saw the man raise his rifle in preparation to fire, Zach pulled the door shut and tried to scramble away as a rain of bullets hit the side of car.

On his back, across both front seats, he fired 3 successive shots, hoping to hit the man or discourage him from coming closer, then opened the front passenger door rolled to the ground and fired 2 shots across the undercarriage. One struck the man in the leg making him howl in pain. In a flash, Zach was in front of the BMW trying to get in a kill shot, but the guy, even with an injured leg was fast and had ducked behind the trunk.

Zach leaned against the front of the BMW, its engine still running, now quite warm from the short journey. He looked at the Honda across the road and wondered why he hadn’t tried to ram it. Zaneta would have been fine in the trunk. He looked at his arm, it was bleeding. His face was on fire from the glass shards. He knew he had got the guy too – in the leg, but the guy still had the bigger gun and could cut him to pieces if he as much as made one wrong move.

Zach looked under the car once more, hoping to get in another leg shot when he realised the guy was not there. As he pushed away from the car, he felt it bounce before he heard the guy’s feet on the roof. Zach’s reaction was a fraction too slow, by the time he stood up to counter the guy’s move, he found himself staring into the nozzle of the guy’s rifle.

“Drop it!” the man said in a tone that told Zach to do just that.

For the second time in one awful night, Zach dropped his pistol, this time, on the hood of the BMW.

The tall man stepped down onto the hood and kicked the pistol on the road side.

“Turn around” he said.

Zach took a deep breath, looked the man in the eyes and said “Fuck you!”, grabbed the man’s legs and brought him smashing down into the windscreen of the car, then down to the front of the hood before punching his jaw.

The move had come as a surprise to the man who had lost his grip of the rifle when the air had been knocked out of him by his fall on the windscreen. The punch to his jaw, though solid, woke something up in him as he rose his feet and planted them squarely on Zach’s already bloodied cheek.

The pain was blinding making Zach stagger backwards a few steps. It felt like the fire on his face had just been refuelled. The shards in his cheek had been driven deeper. He was trying to regain his composure for the fight when he heard a gunshot.

“One more stupid move and I’ll blow your head off” the man said.

Zach could see the man with a pistol pointed at him. He suddenly realised he was tired of people pointing guns at him. This man had come for Zaneta, let him have her and be gone. No one else had to die. He surrendered.

The man limped forward and tossed a pair of handcuffs at Zach, “Put those on” he said.

Zach snapped on the cuffs and waited.

Satisfied, the man reached into the car, tuned it off and took the key, then went to the truck and opened it. Zaneta lunged at him with the wheel spanner she had picked up and held in anticipation.

The man saw the spanner coming and grabbed Zaneta’s arm in mid-air. “Hey, tiger! I’m on your side” he said but Zaneta was still trashing.

“Zaneta! Calm down, your Dad’s people sent him” Zaneta heard Zach say. She looked around shocked and relieved. She let the man help her out of the trunk as he threw the spanner back in.

Zach stepped towards the back of the car slowly, the man was still armed and he didn’t want to spook him. “Are you alright?” he asked Zaneta.

She looked at him and nodded then rushed to the side of the road and threw up, soiling her dress. Both men drew closer.

“We need to get her back to the house, she needs water” Zach said. The man threw him a funny look but accented.

“Let’s go” he said, pointing his pistol at Zach.

He marched Zach to the Accord, which Zach was not certain was Zaneta’s, and asked he got in the trunk.

“Really now? My hands are cuffed” Zach protested.

“Shut up and get in buddy” he snapped.

Zach obeyed as Zaneta approached. The man shut Zach in, then turned to Zaneta. “Let’s get you freshened up and you can be on your way. I’ll call to have a plane ready for you at the airport”

“Thank you, Sir. And what about him?” Zaneta asked nodding at the shut trunk of her Accord.

“My orders are to bring him in” he replied, helping her into the passenger seat of the Accord.

They drove in silence back to the mansion. Zaneta went straight to the guest room where she had been held and got in the shower while the man stood guard at the main door. He had asked her to hurry up, reinforcements may be on the way.

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

“How did you find me?” Zaneta asked as she walked towards Zach’s XC60

The man, who had introduced himself as Henry had given her keys to the SUV, instructing that she drive closely behind him till they got back to the city where they would part ways – she to the airport, he to someplace he could not disclose.

“It was easier than I expected” he said without emotion, “I came to the last known place you were sighted and waited for a chopper. Once a chopper landed, I found the Pilot and he sang like a parrot. His information led me here. I set up outside the grounds and waited for my opportunity. That one gave it to me” he said pointing at Mike’s body which he had moved to a wall and covered with some tarp.

“Thank you, Henry” Zaneta said, climbed into the SUV and switched it on. “Your leg” She added, looking at Henry’s blood soaked trousers just above the ankle.

“Flea bite” Henry said dismissively. It was a graze and he’d bound it up earlier while Zaneta prepared.

As Henry turned, his phone rang and he pulled it out. He spoke into it for a bit, turned around and handed it to Zaneta.

“He wants to speak with you”

Zaneta took the phone, “Hello” she said.

“Zaneta!” it was Tunji.

“Uncle Tunji” Zaneta said.

“I’m glad you are fine. I have sent a Jet for you. Do as Henry tells you and you will be here in no time” he said.

“How’s my dad?” she asked.

“In an interview. He will call you once he gets out and we will both be at the airport waiting for you”

“Ok”

“See you soon” Tunji said

“Wait, what happens to Zach?” she asked, her eyes going to the trunk of her Accord.

“I don’t know, dear. Really, I don’t. Just come back home” Tunji said and was gone.

Zaneta handed the phone back to Henry.

“Shall we?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you” she replied.

Henry walked, limping slightly to the Accord and drove off. Zaneta followed.

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

At a lonely spot on the highway, Henry pulled off to the shoulder and Zaneta followed suit.

Henry got off and walked towards her.

“So, you take the fork to the left, straight to a set of traffic lights, take a right and the airport will be on your left after a few kilometres. At the airport ask for the Blue Pacific hangar. Your crew is waiting”

“Left, right then look to my left”

“That’s right. But you’ll have to go turn around after the airport to get on the correct side of the freeway”

“Thank you, Henry. How about you?” she asked.

“I await my orders. Have a safe flight” he said and walked back to the car.

Zaneta indicated and got on her way.

She knew in her heart that Tunji had lied to her earlier.

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

Henry was listening to Tunji and Lanre on the phone. Both men were together on speaker phone doing a debrief of the operation.

“Basically, what I need to get out of him is the content of the disc he found in the Professor’s safe?”

“Yes. I know he’s got a copy. I need it” Tunji said.

Henry nodded in the comfortable coolness of the Accord’s leather interior. He had reclined his seat some, seatbelt on with the engine and AC running.

The hood of the blue XC60 was a few feet away by the time Henry noticed it, the headlamps were off, it was the parking lamps and colour that gave it away. Reflexively he dropped the phone and put his hands over his head just in time for the collision.

The noise was deafening.

The XC60 struck the Accord’s side at over 60km/hr completely smashing in the driver’s side. It had about 700lbs in weight over the Honda Accord Coupe 2014, it was a clear case of no-contest. The Honda was thrown further off the road and into the vegetation.

It took about half a minute for Zaneta to regain her composure. She had taken quite a while to make up her mind and plan her move, but once it was made up, she knew exactly what to do.

She had turned around and headed back to the point where she had left Henry in her car. She remembered Zach saying the Volvo SUV was built like a tank, she decided the vehicle was her best chance at a weapon that would deliver in a flash. She had decided on a collision.

Though she had braced for it, turning off her lamps on the final stretch, she had still felt the impact of the collision. As quickly as she could manage, she backed up the Volvo and parked it properly on the road shoulder, shielding the Honda from view of any passer-by on the road.

She got off, hurried to the Accord. Her head was pounding and her lips were cold and shivering but she knew it would pass. She went around to the passenger door and pulled at the handle. It was locked.

“Shit” she cussed.

She looked around for a rock, found one and hauled it with all her strength at the passenger door window. It came down in a rain of glass. She moved up to it and opened the door from the inside and got in.

Henry was moaning, barely conscious.

“I’m so sorry, Henry” she said, trying not to panic. The fact that he was alive was a relief to her. She had purposely kept her collision speed at 60km/hr so as not to kill the occupant of the car on impact. She’d once seen something like that in a movie.

She turned off the ignition and withdrew the key, exited, ran to the trunk and opened it.

Zach was still, curled up in a ball. She wasn’t sure he was breathing. He could have suffocated or been mortally injured in the crash. She noticed blood on his shirt and in the trunk.

“Zach!” she said, touching him tentatively.

No response of any sort.

“Zach!” she called again, this time shaking him vigorously.

He moaned, turned and blinked at the light from the trunk lamp.

“Zach! Please, get up, we have to go”

“Shit, Zaneta!” he exclaimed. “What happened?” he asked.

“Just get out, Ok?” she pled.

He crawled out of the trunk and lost his footing, crashing into her, she couldn’t support his weight and they both fell to the ground.

“Crap!” Zach moaned. “I need the keys for these” he said, showing her his cuffed wrists.

“Ok” Zaneta said, rose and went back into the car. She didn’t like having to search Henry who was still moaning, but she did and came up with what looked like the right key.

She hurried back to Zach and handed it to him where he sat leaning against the rear bumper of the Accord. He took the key and undid the cuffs, tossed them away and rose to his feet slowly.

“Let’s go” she said yet again.

“To where?” Zach asked.

“We need to get away from here at least” Zaneta said, arms flailing.

He could tell she was freaking out. “Get his phone” he said, as he walked towards the SUV.

“Not again” she said, about having to search Henry again.

It took her a while to find the phone. She would not have found it if it hadn’t rung from under the driver’s seat. She finally reached it, looked at the screen and recognised the caller; “Uncle Tunji” she muttered, then ran back to the XC60 and got in the driver’s seat. Zach was seated in the front passenger seat.

“Relax, Zaneta. I will let you know when to freak out” he said with a steady look at her. She nodded then handed him the phone. He pulled her close and kissed her. “Thank you” he said.

“Where to?” she asked, catching her breath as she moved the vehicle off.

“Keep heading straight. Let me make a quick phone call” Zach said.

He called Bizi.

“Hello” Bizi said, clearly woken from sleep by the call.

“Zach?”

“Thanks for the tip. The heat came and it came down hard. I’m a little beat up. I need to get off the grid”

“Where are you?”

“Still in PH”

“I’ll push you an address, but it will cost you”

“Send to this phone”

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

“Has to be here” Zach said as they pulled up before a nice looking building with a black gate.

With Zaneta’s card they had withdrawn some cash at an ATM since Bizi had said he would need cash and he had none on him. His stuff was still at the mansion.

“Get to the airport, babe, I’ll be safe here for a while”

“Tell me again why you don’t want me to go with you” she protested. They had argued about going off the grid together. Zach was not having it.

“Your dad won’t stop coming for you, and you know it. Go be with him. When the heat cools, I will find you, I promise” he said.

“Ok. Keep this” she said, handing him her ATM card, “4765” she added.

“Why are you doing all this for me, Z?”

“I don’t know, Zach. I hope I’m not making a mistake”

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

About half an hour later, Zaneta was welcomed by her private crew and led aboard a Jet.

“We were worried about you for a while, ma’am” the pilot said.

“I’m sorry, I lost my way and I don’t have a phone on me” she said.

“Glad to have you on board” the handsome young man said.

“Let my dad know we are on our way” she said as she settled into her seat.

In The Shadows 21

Hi there!

This is Episode 21 of In The Shadows. If you missed any of the previous episodes, kindly catch up here ———-> In The Shadows.

========================

He had woken up at 6:20am, drenched in night sweats. He immediately went out to his SUV and had his driver take him to his house where he took a shower and changed into fresh clothes for the day. A quick call confirmed that the VP candidate had meetings all morning at a Party office on the mainland, so he headed there.

It had been the most torturous journey of his life, nothing else had ever felt like this. He wanted to get there quickly – before the guys who had Zaneta called Dr. Moloku, and at the same time, he needed the journey to take a while, so he could think and prepare to face his friend and break the bad news of how his ineptitude had allowed Zaneta be snared by dangerous men. Lanky had said it would come to him, it hadn’t.

He had simply resigned his fate to the hands of his driver and Lagos traffic.

As the vehicle pulled up in the car lot of the Party Office, Tunji knew he had to save the day somehow. He needed to look beyond the messy challenge to the opportunity that the situation presented – the “Chopportunity” as he had read in a book. All along, he had had eyes on the office of Chief-Of-Staff, and what better way to cement his position than to diffuse this situation? He wasn’t about to fold. Yes, he had freaked out and had nightmares and woken up shivering, but the battle wasn’t lost yet. Not even close.

He picked up his phone and called Lanre.

“Hello, Tunji” Lanre said on answering.

“I just arrived Japheth’s, any updates?”

“Do you know if he has been contacted?”

“I haven’t met him, I’m out in the car”

“Ok. Go in there and break the news. It‘s best he is ready before their call comes in”

“Ok. And your man?” Tunji said, immediately climbing out of the 2012 Lexus GX460.

“He’ll be here before COB. Let’s all meet at the Moloku house tonight”

“OK” Tunji said and rung off.

Fresh wind in his sails, he took the flight of stairs up to the room he knew Dr. Moloku would be in.

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

Zach stood just outside the closed door, but couldn’t bring himself to walk away.

He knew he could go upstairs and watch via the surveillance system they had set up in the room while Zaneta was in her drug-induced sleep, but he decided it was best he stayed with her through this. After all, he was her handler.

He opened the door and stepped back in. Both Zaneta and Malik ignored him.

“I will say this one last time: Call your Dad and tell him to step down immediately” Malik said taking one step closer to Zaneta who was backed up against the bed.

Zaneta made eye contact with Zach. Zach held her gaze and pleaded with her silently, mouthing the words “Please, do it” from behind Malik.

She seemed to get the message as she unlocked the phone and hit her uncle’s speed dial.

Zach watched her closely, she was avoiding looking directly at him. A quick glance at Malik showed he was in a prepared stance, he didn’t trust Zaneta to follow instructions.

Zaneta put the phone to her ear and locked eyes with Malik.

“Hello, Dad” she said when he picked up.

“Oge! You had me worried. Been trying to reach you. Was going to send someone to your office to check or get me your friend’s number. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, Sir. I’m sorry I got you worried”

At this point, Malik threw Zach a “Will she just get on with it?” look.

“Daddy, I need to tell you something” Zaneta said.

“Yes?” his voice came over the line, concern laden.

“Some people have me” she dropped the bomb.

“WHAT?!!!!!”

“I’m sorry, Dad, I have been kidnapped”

“Jesus My Saviour!” Dr. Moloku exclaimed.

“I don’t want you to worry. They want you to drop out of the race”

“The Vice Presidential race?” Dr. Moluku asked surprised.

“Yes, Dad. But I beg of you, do not do it!” she said.

She didn’t get to hear what her uncle’s response was as the force of the back of Malik’s right hand landing on the right side of her jaw sent her falling onto the bed and rolling off to the floor at it’s foot. Her phone clattered to the floor, screen up.

*

“Hello! Oge! Oge!!” Dr. Moloku shouted into the phone as he jack-knifed out of his seat.

“Drop out of the race, Sir. You have 48 hours” a cold voice said into his ear and the line went dead. He had heard his baby sobbing in the background.

Dr. Moloku was staring at his phone when Tunji walked in.

*

Malik tossed Zaneta’s phone at Zach who almost didn’t catch it. Then he squatted beside Zaneta on the floor and said “You try something fancy like that with me again, I’ll break your face”, got up then walked up to Zach.

“Listen. I don’t have time for this” he said pointing at Zaneta’s frame on the floor “handle it!” he added and left the room.

Zach walked up to her, bent and tried to help her off, but she firmly pushed his hands away as she continued sobbing. He waited. He needed to see her face to access the damage.

“Zaneta, please, let me see your face” he said.

“Get away from me, you devil!” she screamed.

Zach stood up and left the room quietly.

*

“What is it?” Tunji asked trying to be causal.

“Someone’s kidnapped Zaneta!” Dr. Moloku said with an ashen look. “I need the number of the CP” he added, picking up the intercom.

“That won’t be necessary, Japheth” Tunji said, taking a seat before his worried friend. He had to steady his nerves.

“Are you out of your mind, Tunji?” Dr. Moloku roared.

Tunji sighed, then said, “Japheth, why do you think I am here?”

It was then it dawned on Dr. Moloku that he and Tunji had no prior appointment and he had not directly intimated Tunji he would be here this morning. He replaced the intercom.

“Please, sit down, Japheth” Tunji said.

Dr. Moloku did as he was told.

“I got the intel that she was kidnapped yesterday afternoon. And I immediately swung into action. I was with our security contractors all night, in fact, I have only been home for a change of clothes. I came here in anticipation of their ransom call, and if I am right this is not about money”

“You are. They asked me to-” Dr. Moloku was saying but Tunji finished up for him

“Drop out of the race?“

“Yes”

“Good. We anticipated that. As we speak, Japheth, forces are already in motion to ensure Zaneta is returned safely to us” Tunji said, conveniently leaving out his previous surveillance  of Zach and contacts the men he hired had had with him. That would make him look quite inept.

Dr. Moloku stared straight into Tunji’s eyes without a word.

“What are you going to do? I have told you what I am doing”

“I don’t want to take chances with Zaneta’s life”

“You can not drop out either. I can’t let you do that” Tunji said, striking the desk with his fist.

Dr. Moloku thought about Tunji’s words, then recalled Zaneta’s similar plea. “Only belief” he thought, “could make them say these things. They believe in me“

“Listen, Chief. These people are cowards. Do not let them see you sweat”

“They gave me 48 hours”

“Plenty of time” Tunji declared, though he feared in his heart that he was terribly wrong.

Just then, someone rapped on the door and a secretary’s head popped in, “We are ready for you, Sir”

“Thank you, Matilda” Dr. Moloku said. The door shut.

“Go have your meeting. Go about your usual business. I’m sure they’ll be watching, let them see their threats will not stop what God has ordained will happen” Tunji said, slipping in some God-factor as he rose to his feet. He’d learned a little talk about the Supreme Being could take you a long way when dealing with folks around here.

“Thank you, Tunji”

“Come off it, Japheth! I promised to have your back all the way. Nothing has changed”

“I am grateful” Dr. Moloku said, rising to his feet.

“Share this with no one. Not even the Senator. At least, not yet. Let us handle this in-house”

“Ok. I trust you”.

“We’ll meet at the house tonight” Tunji said as Dr. Moloku left the office.

Tunji sighed and collapsed in the chair the moment the door shut again.

He pulled out his phone and called Lanre updating him with fresh information, particularly the 48 hour deadline.

He got more reassurances from Lanre, ended the call and hauled his tired body back to his vehicle, asked to be taken to his house and immediately fell asleep in the back seat.

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

Zaneta was sitting on the bed. She had a raging headache that had come on since Malik had hit her. She had also hit her head when she involuntarily rolled off the bed. She had been fortunate enough and had not gotten her skin broken, but the jaw did hurt badly.

She held her head in her hands, not just because of the pain she felt in her body, but for the situation she had talked and walked herself into. It saddened her so much that, though she knew they had put in a lot of work and planning, she had willingly walked into captivity.

She began to think back to all the times she had had an urge to walk away from it all, walk away from the relationship with Zach, but had chosen to stay. She recalled the dreams Edith had told her about and the warnings. She recalled the uneasy feeling she had had severally, the most recent one being in the house on the day they had arrived Port Harcourt.

Her choices had brought her here. Here on this bed in a head–in–hands situation. She had ignored the check in her spirit, ignored the warning signs. She had even deceived her dad and security people to be with a man who had turned out to be a mercenary. She had gotten Alice to promise to lie and cover for her. She felt so ashamed.

“Lord” she prayed, “forgive me for my folly and have mercy on me. Let this only be a lesson to me and not my end. Please, have mercy, Lord” she began to cry as she lay down on the bed, continuously repeating the words “have mercy, Lord”.

*

She didn’t know how long it had been before the door opened and Zach walked in with a tray of food.

She sat up slowly, after wiping her eyes. They would not break her spirit. She needed her wits fully about her.

“Here’s some food for you” he said placing the tray at the foot of the bed.

“Thank you” she said, as the aroma of fried rice, dodo and chicken filled the room.

“What would you like for dinner?” Zach asked standing by the bed, looking down at her. He noticed her jaw was slightly swollen, but otherwise she looked okay.

“Some cereal and apples will do” she replied, not making a move for the food, though her tommy growled.

“Go ahead, eat” he urged.

“I need a pain killer” she said, ignoring his last statement.

“I’ll bring you some” Zach said, then added “I’m sorry he hit you”

She looked up at him and said “Don’t be”

He thought for a few seconds for something appropriate to say, when he could find none, he turned around and left.

*

Zach went upstairs where he found Mike and Malik laughing.

“Lover boy, she wants pain killers” Malik said.

“She hasn’t been introduced to pain” Mike replied.

Zach looked from the screen where he could see Zaneta eating her food to Mike’s face, then asked “Where can I get some pain meds?”

“In the kitchen” Mike replied, then as Zach headed for the stairs, he asked “How do you reckon this is going to end, Zach?”

“I’m sure her Uncle can wait four years, Mike. What do you think?” Zach threw over his shoulder as he descended the stairs.

Zach found some Panadol Extra and took a strip to Zaneta. He stood watching for a minute as she laboured to chew her food.

“Use some of that and let me know if the pain gets better” Zach said and left.

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

It was 7:51pm when Lanre walked into Dr. Moloku’s living room in company of a tall man who wore a suit. In the living room, awaiting their arrival were Dr. Moloku, and Tunji, who now looked much better after resting all day.

“My apologies for our lateness. Henry here just flew in from Cairo and we had to take care of certain things before heading here”

“Thank you for coming” Dr. Moloku said.

“We are at your service” Lanre said, taking a seat. Henry remained standing without saying a word.

“So, where are we on this?” Tunji took charge of the meeting.

“From intelligence we have, we know she is being held somewhere on the outskirts of the city”

“Port Harcourt?” Dr. Moloku asked.

“Yes, Sir. A house or facility with sufficient grounds to have a helipad of sorts. Somewhere secure and secluded. And we know she is safe, at least for the next day or so. However, we need to buy more time and find a way to force their hand as well” Lanre said.

“How do you propose we do that?” Tunji asked.

“I was hoping you would tell us, Sir” Lanre said, looking over at Dr. Moloku. “You spoke with her, did she say anything helpful?” he asked.

“Nothing really. She sounded calm and defiant. That was why the bastard hit her. She told me not to yield to their demands” He explained.

“Sounds just like Zaneta” Tunji said, shaking his head.

“Henry here is an expert at tracking down scumbags like these. He’s also very good at finding people who do not want be found, in the event that is what this is” Lanre said, directing his last line at Dr. Moloku.

Dr. Moloku’s jaw dropped. It had not crossed his mind that Zaneta could ever have a direct hand in the situation.

“Are you suggesting Zaneta is involved in this somehow?” Tunji asked.

“Until we are certain, we will assume the worst” Lanre said.

“Are you seriously considering she did this to me?” Dr. Moloku asked, flabbergasted.

“I’d like to see her room” Henry spoke for the first time. His voice was quiet but authoritative. The kind of voice you would rather not argue with.

“Sure” Tunji said rising to his feet and leading Henry to Zaneta’s room.

Tunji stood at the door while Henry looked around, picking up items and replacing them properly, checking under the bed, in the bath, closet and going through her clothes one after the other. This took almost 45 minutes. Finally Henry turned off the lights and walked past Tunji without a word.

Back in the living room they met Lanre giving Dr. Moloku an instance of a girl who had run away with a lover with whom she had extorted her businessman dad, a diamond miner, of over $2million before Henry had found them in a little house on the coast in Gabon. She was pregnant and living with her lover and his brother in opulence.

“That doesn’t sound like Zaneta, Lanky, trust me. But we will not in anyway impede your work. Let us know what you need to get this started right away” Tunji said when Lanre had finished his narration.

Lanre looked over at Henry who was standing by a window looking out. All eyes followed suit.

“I want her car. The red Coupe” Henry said.

Dr. Moloku and Tunji exchanged glances. Lanre smiled at them.

“Sure. But why, if I may ask?” Dr. Moloku asked.

“When I find her, I need her to know where I came from” Henry said and left the room.

Lanre rose, “Ok, Sirs. I’ll take my leave now. I will be in touch. You also know how to reach me. If anything comes up, call me immediately. I also need you to record all calls from her” he said as Dr. Moloku and Tunji followed him out.

Henry was leaning against Zaneta’s car when Dr. Moloku got to him with the keys which he had retrieved from the driver who had washed it that morning.

“Sir, I need you to make it clear to everyone that you are not going to drop out of the race. Put out a press statement if you will” Henry said taking the keys and unlocking the car.

“Tonight?” Tunji, who’d also arrived asked.

“Once I am in place. I will let you know” Henry said, got in the car and drove to the gate.

Tunji signalled the confused guard to open the gate.

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

“You should not be doing that” Zach said.

He had just walked into the upstairs living room where Zaneta was on the screen taking a bath.

“Dude! Cut me some slack” Mike replied.

“You could give her some privacy, it wouldn’t kill you, you know?”

“She is a hostage, bro. Not a house guest. What if she tried to kill herself in the bath? Drink down the shampoo or something?”

“She won’t” Zach said, standing his ground, though he knew it was a weak one.

“And you know this how?” Mike asked, he was clearly testing Zach’s will.

“Guys!” they heard Malik’s voice from downstairs.

Quickly they both rushed down the stairs. The news was showing.

“The newscaster was reading the news when she suddenly stopped and said she’d been told the VP candidate for the opposition was in the news room and would be coming on air” Malik explained.

Just then Dr. Moloku came on set and sat next to the newscaster.

“Holy Shit!” Mike swore.

“Don’t do this” Zach thought.

Malik turned up the volume.

“Good morning, Sir”

“Good morning, Emma. I won’t take too much of your time. I wish I didn’t have to be here this morning. This is not about the polls. This is about my daughter who was abducted two days ago by yet unknown individuals. Their singular demand? That I drop out of the Vice Presidential race. I need them and their masters, whoever they are, to understand this day, that the Lord has made, that that will NOT happen. My daughter is the most precious thing to me, make no mistakes about that, but if you want to stop me, if you want to stop my party, if you want to stop this change, you will have to do it the proper way – AT THE POLLS! Scare tactics won’t work. I am here to let the Nigerian people know that their faith in me and the presidential candidate – Senator Danbazau – is not misplaced. Come April the 15th” he rose from his seat “your voices shall be heard across the world! God Bless you, God Bless our nation Nigeria!” And with that, he left the set.

Emma struggled to regain her compose as the camera focused on her.

“Sweet baby Jesus! This guy is a lunatic!” Mike said.

Malik’s phone began to ring. It was the Retired General.

Zach quietly left to the gym, set up the punching bag and began to punch. His mind was in a haze. Dr. Moloku had done the one thing they had not prepared for.

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

“How are you holding up?” Tunji asked as he walked into Dr. Moloku’s bedroom.

The Vice Presidential candidate was preparing for a trip to go join Senator Danbazau for a meeting in Kano. He was pulling on a jacket absent-mindedly when Tunji walked in.

“I’m worried, Tunji. Scared even. I seriously hope this plan works” he said.

Tunji helped him tug on his jacket then patted his shoulder, “It will, Japheth. I trust that Lanre is totally on top of this. He’ll smoke them out. And you must understand that we have the advantage now”

“And they have my baby”

“We’ll get her back, man. Have faith, keep to the plan” Tunji said then handed Dr. Moloku his phone “The IGP is on hold for you” he said.

Dr. Moloku took the phone, with a frown, “What does he want?”

Tunji shrugged, then said “Maybe he wants to congratulate you on single-handedly putting 25% between us and his bosses at the Villa in the latest opinion polls” with a wink.

After the last VP Candidates debate, opinion polls had stood at about 17.5% in their favour, reflecting about 7.3% rise that period. It had grown by another 10.3% after Dr. Moloku’s strong statement on live television two days ago. The whole Nation was agog with the news of Zaneta’s abduction and Dr. Moloku’s non-negotiation stance. And clearly, many of the electorate had rallied behind him.

Social Media was afire with all manner of hastags: #FreeZaneta , #StandWithMoloku , etc.

The sitting President had come out to condemn the act and stated that neither he nor his office were aware until Moloku’s announcement. He urged for peace and promised security operatives would find the abductors and bring them to book while rescuing the “innocent girl”.

The police had however not gotten in touch with Dr. Moloku till now.

Dr. Moloku smiled before answering the phone. “Hello?” he said

“Good morning, Sir. First I’d like to empathise with you about the situation with your daughter”

“Thank you” Dr. Moloku said, coldly.

“Sir, I am dispatching the best hands from my office to come down to Lagos and begin an investigation and I can assure you -” he was saying before Dr. Moloku cut in.

“Thank you, IG. That’s very kind of you. But all of that won’t be necessary at this time. I’ll let you know when I need your help”

“But, Sir -“

“Kindly respect my wishes, Chudi” Dr. Moloku said, calling the IGP by name. Tunji arched an eyebrow in surprise.

“Ok, Sir, I am here for you and your family as the IGP; and as Chudi Mgbe, I’d like you to know that I am completely behind you”

“Very well, I’ll take your word for it. Good day” Dr. Moloku said and hung up.

He handed the phone back to Tunji who said “I think he’s a good man in a very corrupt setup, if you ask me”

“If so, how’s he been able to sit at the helm this long?” Dr. Moloku asked and walked out of the room.

“Well, when you put it like that….” Tunji said to an empty room.

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

“I’m leaving” Malik said leaning against the door. “The General needs me” he added, as Zach looked up at him from the book he’d been reading.

“Ok. What’s his instruction about this?” Zach asked concerning the situation with Zaneta.

“We hold our ground. Soon, Moloku will realise we are not kidding. The girl must be kept here and safe for now” Malik explained.

“Ok. Called the chopper?” Zach said, not liking the uncertainty about Zaneta’s safety.

“It‘s waiting”

“Let me drive you out”

“Alright”

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

Zach was on his way back in his Volvo XC60 from dropping off Malik when his phone rang. It was Bizi.

“Bizi” Zach said, picking up.

“Who have you gone up against, bro?”

“Are they sacred yet?” Zach asked, not in a hurry to give anything away.

“Some serious heat is coming your way, bro”

“Tell me about it” Zach said, slowing down.

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

Later that night, upstairs, Zach and Mike had placed another TV beside the one that ran Zaneta’s surveillance cameras and were playing Soccer on Mike’s PS4. They could see Zaneta in bed reading a book Mike had given her earlier when she had requested for something to read.

“Dude, you should know not to play against me with such a weak team!” Mike said victoriously as he put down his pad and rose. He had just beaten Zach 3 – 1. “Change your team, bro. And let’s have another go. The night is young”

“I’m rusty is all. I’m confident I can beat you with my team” Zach said confidently.

“Restart then” Mike said and left.

Zach got to setting up his team afresh for another game.

Mike returned a few minutes later with two glasses, handed one to Zach and settled down with the other. “You know its poor players like you that take so long setting formation, yeah?” he said taking a drink from his glass.

“Shut up and pick up your pad” Zach said, hitting the start button, then rose. Let me microwave something.

“I’d love some too” Mike called after him as he made for the stairs.

Zach returned, picked up his pad, took a sip from his drink and they started the game. At half time, he asked Mike to help bring up the food. The scoreline was 1 – 0 in Zach’s favour, a mostly lucky goal from a corner kick.

“Come on, man! Let’s finish the game”

“Stop gripping man, I am leading here” Zach grinned at Mike who put down his pad and rose reluctantly.

“You want to enjoy your lead, yeah? I’d suggest you kiss it goodbye too, cos when I get back you are toast” Mike said on his way ried rice, handed Zach one and resumed his position before the screen.

“I should ask you to help refill my glass too” Zach said, picking up his pad and dropping his now empty glass on the side stool.

“Joker, cos of a halftime 1 – 0 lead, yeah? Halftime oh! No issues, when this game is over, I’m sure you’ll be on laundry duty for a week”

“Play, dude” Zach said, hitting the play button.

The game had ended 1 – 0 in Zach‘s favour. They had then eaten amidst endless jabs from Zach about Mike’s loss.

“Do the dishes, son. Then take the first watch, I’m sleepy from that resounding victory” Zach said, laughing at Mike as he left to his room. He shut the door, lay across the bed fully clothed and shut his eyes.

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

“Get up!” Zaneta heard Mike’s harsh whisper.

“What’s happening?” Zaneta asked, shocked out of her sleep. She‘d dozed off reading the book Mike had brought her.

“Not one sound!” Mike said, putting a pistol to her face.

Zaneta nodded in accent, wide eyed in fright.

Mike shoved her towards the door, maintaining a vice-like grip on her arm. “Put your shoes on” he ordered. Zaneta did as she was told.

As they walked down the hall, Mike pulled out her phone and said “Here’s your phone, unlock it. It’s time to talk to Daddy about some money” handing it to her while pressing the nozzle of his pistol into her back.

Zaneta was terrified as she took the phone with trembling hands.

“Where is Zach?” she ventured as they stepped outside the house.

“Your sweet boyfriend is sleeping it off. Now, shut up and walk!” Mike barked.

*

Upstairs, Zach opened his eyes.

In The Shadows 20

Hi, there.

This is Episode 20 of In The Shadows. If you missed previous episodes, kindly catch up here ———-> In The Shadows.

Cheers!

=====================

As the helicopter rose steadily from the earth, Zach looked around the grounds and access roads to the helipad while he ignored Zaneta who was busy taking pictures. He spotted two vehicles he had noticed at different times on their way here. They were parked together and he could make out men standing around, one of them was on the phone frantically making a call.

He had kept a steady pace after they had departed the house, watching his back and sides at every junction. He knew if they had caught wind of his destination, they’d have tried to stop him. The helipad had apparently been a surprise to them, and for that, he was grateful. That had told him something – even at this critical stage, his team had not shown any sign of breaking ranks, no mole, no leaks. Every leak, so far, had been traced back to Zaneta.

He had carried the bag of weapons from the car. When Zaneta had asked what they were, he said they were stuff Malik had asked him to help take to Mike’s. Mike was the friend who had sent the chopper. Zaneta had asked if he knew what was in it and he’d said he didn’t.

“Daddy Raiden, look here” Zaneta’s voice broke into his reverie.

He looked in her direction, she took a picture of them. He took the phone from her to take a look at the picture she had taken it was nice. Both of them in Aviator glasses, headphones and all.

“For the ‘Gram” she said.

He shook his head. “May I?” he asked, taking permission to scroll through her recent images.

She consented with a nod, but kept her eyes on what he did.

He scrolled through the pictures. She did have a knack for taking nice photographs. He smiled and handed the phone back to her.

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

“FIND OUT WHERE THAT CHOPPER WENT!” Tunji screamed. He was beside himself with rage.

He was in his office in Lagos. Three Junior Associates were with him bringing him up to speed on a matter while he drank some wine when the call came in. He had smacked the glass down on the table spilling wine over some documents. One of the female Junior Associates had jumped to rescue the documents when Tunji had yelled into the phone making the girl jump back.

“So? Call someone at Air Traffic Control or something” he said.

then “They won’t talk to you?”

and “I have a bad feeling about this, Tega, a very bad one”

and finally “I DON’T CARE. FIND THEM, TEGA! JUST FUCKING FIND THEM!” he yelled again, tossed his phone on the desk before him, then screamed “BASTARD!” picked up the half empty wine glass and threw it at the Weatherman’s face on the 40 inch LED TV that hung on the left side of the room. The glass shattered on impact, breaking the TV screen and shutting it off. The Junior Associates shrieked, with one immediately fleeing from the office.

He rose from his seat, and marched past the other two who stood there trembling.

What was he to tell Japheth?

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

The helicopter touched down with a soft thud, they thanked the pilot and got out into the sunshine.

“That was a blast!” Zaneta shouted, refusing to be silenced by the gust and noise from the helicopter blades.

“I was worried you’d be afraid or get sick or something” Zach replied as they walked towards a Silver BMW 520i 2014 parked in a port.

“Me?” she laughed, “you don’t know me oh! Its like you forget I’m a proper Delta babe. Having mind is in our DNA”

Zach laughed, pulling out a key from his pocket. He pushed a button, popping the trunk of the car.

“There’s no one in it?”

“No. I guess Malik left it here last time he was in town” Zach said as he put the bag in the trunk.

“These your friends though! Who parks a car like this out here and just leaves it like that?” she asked as they got in.

“But it is safe here. This is private property”

“Oh! Ok” she said looking out the window as the Zach drove down a small road.

In a few minutes, after a few turns, a house appeared before them. Zach drove up to the house and pulled into a similar car port to the one at the helipad.

“Here we are!” he announced.

“Nice”

They got off and walked hand-in-hand to the door. Zach rang the bell and they waited. Zaneta could not help but notice how Zach visually scanned the area. She couldn’t see his  eyes, but the way he methodically moved his head around gave his actions away.

“We forgot the bag” Zaneta said, making to return to the car to get the bag Zach had put in the trunk

“He’ll get his shit” Zach said, tightening his grip on her hand.

“What sort of half-hearted favour did you now do him?” she asked looking up at him.

Just then the door opened and there stood a handsome looking man in a jersey, shorts and slippers smiling down at her. He was considerably taller than her and a head above Zach.

“You must be Zaneta” Mike said

“Yes, and you must be Mike” she replied taking his outstretched hand.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you” Mike said, then to Zach “‘sup, chief?”

“I’m okay” Zach replied as they shook and hugged.

“Been a long minute, no?” Mike said letting them in.

“Your stuff’s in the trunk” Zach said, uncomfortable with the fact that his pistol and other weapons were so far away.

“I told him to let me bring it in for you, oh!” Zaneta chimed

“Oh! Yes, let me get them” he said, then added “Zaneta, please, make yourself at home, pay no mind to this uncultured brute that brought you” he said.

Zaneta stuck her tongue out at Zach as Mike walked out.

“Do not let him work his charm on you”

Zaneta laughed “I can’t help it, he’s a fine specimen of a man”

“Say the word. I’d gladly call for the chopper and leave you two to it” Zach said taking a seat in the tastefully furnished living room. He looked around, it had been a few years he’d been in this house. It surely had taken a new look since then.

“Are you jealous, Zach?” Zaneta asked giggling.

He ignored her, turning the TV volume up a bit.

The house and lands, according to what he’d learned, had been payment from a former Governor who had been faced with a messy impeachment attempt that Rtd. Gen. Aliu had swiftly quelled. Since then, it had been an outpost of sorts for operations and a get away place for operatives.

He’d only met Mike a few times at the Rtd. General’s. They had never worked together, but he knew the guy had been in private security in the US for a few years after his degree before having to return home. Why he came back to the country, 4 years ago, Zach did not know. He did know however that he had been in the Organisation since then.

He heard the back door open and shut. He knew Mike had gotten the gear in.

“Excuse me” Zach said rising. He needed his weapon.

“Can I switch from watching wildlife though?” Zaneta asked.

“Didn’t he say make yourself at home?” Zach threw over his shoulder as he exited the living room.

“Ok! Zach, you are jealous” she shot back.

Zach found Mike in the kitchen where he was unpacking the bag.

“Where’s mine?” Zach asked.

Mike pointed at a drawer. Zach pulled it open and took out his pistol, and an extra clip.

“I have been briefed, but let me run my understanding by you, as the operative in charge” Mike said.

“Sure” Zach said, leaning against the sink, looking out the window.

“You can relax, bro. We have perimeter fencing. Hi-tech shit. I’ll know if there’s a breach” Mike said.

“Land and air?” Zach asked.

“Land. We’ll have to listen for air”

“Ok. This is the last pre-determined stage of this arm of Operation Stephen. Are you familiar with the Mission?”

“Yes. OS is basically to silence all voices that prove detrimental to the incumbent under our watch”

“Basically. You know who she is?” Zach asked nodding in the direction of the living room. They could hear a music video on the TV.

“Yes, and I understand why she is here”

“Good” Zach said, pushing away from the sink and heading back to the living room.

“I follow your lead” Mike said.

*

Zaneta was laughing so hard. Her tommy had begun to ache a while back, but she couldn’t help it. Mike was a damn good storyteller and jester in her opinion.

He had asked Zaneta a few questions about growing up and her job. She had given him her scripted replies – the stuff she told almost everyone else, aside those who were really close to her – An only child, she had been born and had grown up in Ilupeju, Lagos before the family had moved to G.R.A. about 3 years ago. She studied History, but had picked up Digital Tech skills while in school. She was an Online Community Manager.

Then he had began telling about experiences he had had on his many travels.

“But, I like it here” Mike said “Nigeria is home and this house affords me all the peace and quiet I so desire” Mike said.

“Tell him about how you lied to me the first day we met” Zach said rubbing her arm fondly.

“Ah! Don’t make me look bad naa” she said laughing.

“Oh! You did that? Pray, do tell” Mike said, looking genuinely interested. Zach rose, picked up his and Zaneta’s glass and left for the kitchen.

“He gave me a ride from the mall; a total stranger, was I just to take him home?” she said in her defence.

“Ok? So what did you do?” Mike asked laughing.

“I got off like two streets before mine, discharged him and walked the rest of the way home”

“Smart, I must say”

“Before I will goan show a stalker my house” she said laughing

“But he knows your house now, no?”

“Of course he does” she said smiling.

“I’m happy for you both” Mike said.

They were silent for a minute, letting another new Nigerian sound fill the room before Zach walked back in with both glasses refilled.

“Here you go” he said handing her a glass, then sitting down beside her and immediately drinking from his.

She placed her glass on the stool beside her, “Thanks, dear” she said.

“You are welcome” he said, then “I’m just sitting here sipping my drink and wondering how many other lies she had told me” to Mike who immediately started laughing.

“Haaaaaaaaa! Zach! Its not fair o!” Zaneta protested with a punch to Zach’s arm.

“Well, that is a legitimate concern. I completely understand” Mike jested.

“You guys!” Zaneta shot at them, then she faced Zach, “It is not your fault nah, shebi if I had given you a wrong number you won’t be here now shading me”

Both men laughed.

“I’d have looked for you till I found you. There was no way I was missing out on having you in my life, babe” Zach said looking into Zaneta’s eyes, “Trust me, I’d have found you” he added, holding her hand.

“Awwww! You two look so cute right now. I have a guest room just down the hall, feel free to make use of it” Mike said sarcastically. 

They paid Mike no mind as they kissed briefly.

“When you say these things, what am I to say or think?” Zaneta said, holding Zach’s gaze.

Zach noticed Mike rise and leave the living room.

“I don’t say them to illicit responses, I say them because they are true” he replied, running a thumb over her lips.

She looked away.

“I am not a man that gets easily tempted, but Mike’s offer is super tempting at this minute”

She smiled at him. “You know he was being sarcastic, yeah?”

He rose, glass in one hand, taking her by the hand with the other, she rose too.

“He’s silly. Don’t forget your drink” he said, reminding her about the drink she hadn’t touched since he’d brought it.

She lifted the glass to her lips and sipped from it, then followed Zach down the hall to the guest bedroom.

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

Zaneta stirred. The room was cool. She inched into the covers some more then moved her leg to the side of the bed Zach had lain in after they had made love, but it was empty. Slowly she sat up and looked around, it was the same room – the guest room at Mike’s.

“Zach?” she called, thinking he was in the bathroom, but silence was all there was. It seemed the whole house was still.

She swung her feet to the floor quietly, pulling the duvet over her naked body. Across from her in an open wardrobe were her gown and underwear.

She rose, hugging the duvet to her body, tip-toed to the wardrobe as if afraid of breaking the silence that presently reigned, got her stuff and dashed into the bathroom, abandoning the duvet on the floor by the bed.

“Zaneta! You have a plane to catch” she scolded herself. Apparently Zach had not wanted to disturb her sleep and was surely out there dressed waiting for Sleeping Beauty to awake and then they could be on their way.

As she pulled on her clothes, she noticed it was dark outside! Confused, she looked at her wristwatch for the first time since she woke up. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

“It must be broken” she thought, dismissing the 1:19am her Apple Watch had indicated.

She dashed back into the bedroom, slamming the bathroom door, without a care about the noise it made. She found her shoes, slipped them on and was in search of her phone when the door opened and Zach walked in looking completely unperturbed.

“Hey” he said, shutting the door and leaning against it.

“What time is it?” she asked. “I hope there’s warranty on this thing, it says 1 something” she said raising her left arm.

“Its right. Its past 1 am, Zaneta” he said.

There was something off about his voice, it sounded like it had come from a total stranger. A stranger that pronounced words like Zach, but a stranger still.

“What the actual hell?” she cussed. She tapped the watch and squinted at it “I slept for 11 hours?” she almost screamed. “OMG! I’m so sorry, Zach. We missed the flight? Why didn’t you wake me? Shit! I’m so sorry” she added walking up to him and throwing her arms around him.

He said nothing. He just stood there and let her hold him.

“Are you mad at me, hon?” she asked looking up at him.

“No” he said.

“Did you reschedule the flight at least?” she asked.

“There was no booking” he said flatly.

“No booking?” she asked surprised. “So, how are we leaving?” she added.

“No one’s leaving the premises anytime soon” he said, taking her hands off him as he walked to the bedside, picked up the duvet and placed it on the bed.

“Is there a problem, Zach? You are acting odd” she said.

He made no reply as he stood there avoiding eye contact.

“Please, do you have  my phone?” she asked. If he was going to act odd, talking nonsense about not leaving, she was going to book a flight and be out of here at first light.

“I do”

“Can I have it, please?” she asked stepping forward.

He locked eyes with her then said “I’m sorry, I can’t let you have that”

“Why?” she asked, now beginning to get really irritated.

He made no reply but looked away.

Zaneta hissed long and loud and exited the room, slamming the door on her way out – this time, on purpose. She marched down the hall to the living room where she found Mike watching a movie.

“Good morning, Mike” she said.

“Hello, princess” he replied.

“Please, can I use your phone for a minute?”

“Sorry, love, no phones for you. At least, not yet” he said flatly without taking his eyes off the TV screen.

“Were these men high on something?” she thought as she scanned beside Mike for his phone, which, she had noticed earlier, was never far from him. It was then her eyes caught something beside him on the couch. It was a gun! She inhaled sharply.

Mike looked up at her and said coldly “Please, go back to your room”.

She ran all the way to the guest bedroom where she found Zach sitting on the bed.

“What is going on, Zach? Why does Mike have a fucking gun?” she shouted as she locked the door behind her. She was a few degrees away from freaking out. It felt like she was trapped in terrible nightmare, only that this was real.

“Can’t talk about that now” he said

“How do you mean? This is kind of a big deal right now, Zach” she protested, barely keeping from yelling.

“As big a deal as you think this is, it is nothing compared to the things that could happen if you don’t listen to me”

“You are kidding, right?” Zaneta said, feeling quite disoriented. She needed him to burst out laughing with a “Got ya!” telling her this was all some silly prank, but he didn’t.

“Listen to me, Zaneta. You’ll be here by yourself for the rest of the night, sometime later today, all of this will become clearer. For now, relax and use that bell over there if you need anything” Zach said pointing at a switch by the bed. With that, he exited the room, took the key with him and locked her in!

Zaneta had never been more stunned speechless in her entire life.

“No, was that Zach?” she asked after a full minute staring at the locked door mouth agape with incredulity.

Her mind went in a million directions. She could not fathom what was going on. She didn’t understand why her lover and his friend were suddenly cold towards her. Nothing made any sense.

A quick inspection of the doors and windows revealed that there was no way she could get out without someone opening the door with the key. Accepting her fate, she sat on the bed and tried to think through the situation. Only then did the reality begin to dawn.

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

Tunji sat across the AlphaTrag Field Commander in an office somewhere in Lekki. The sun was almost up and Tunji was tired. He’d been running on adrenaline since he got the news of Zaneta’s disappearance with Rtd. Gen. Aliu’s Operative – no food, no sleep.

“Listen Tunji, you and I go way back, I’m surprised you didn’t mention all of this to me. The way you explained when you brought us in, it was a simple exercise of keeping tabs on this fellow and then retrieving information from him. No indication that he was in company of a high value asset or that they might want to use the said asset as a chip. All of this is why I put those men on it. I should have handled it myself with a very different tact and set of personnel” Lanre explained, looking so put together you’d think it was 9am and not the 4:29am it was.

“I am sorry, Lanky, I didn’t know who this guy was until a few hours ago. I didn’t know about his skills and all”

“He is a highly skilled assassin with a superb hang on social engineering. I’m sure your girl will likely laugh and dine with him, hell, even sleep with him till the last minute and then when she realises what he is, it will be too late”

“No, no, no, no! Lanky, it must not get to that stage. I need to arrest this situation pronto!” Tunji said rising to his feet and looking out the window of Lanre’s office. Downstairs he spotted Lanre’s G550 2015, one of many Mercedes he owned. The guy had done well for himself. They had met while in Law School and had become fast friends. They had lost contact after Law School until one day in the UK, while Tunji was running his Masters Program, he had come home to find his TV on showing a live match of the Super Eagles.

He had thought maybe he had left it on until he found 2 beer cans and a pizza on the table. He lived alone and no one but his landlord who stayed across town had his spare keys. He was going to run out of the room when Lanre had appeared from the bathroom smiling. That was the day Lanre had told him he was now a private security expert and had spotted him at a train station days before, tailed him and learned where he stayed and then decided to pay him a visit on the day of the match..

“Now that we have a clearer view on things, we shall act accordingly. Speaking of arrest, I hope you have not reported to the police? These guys catch one whiff of a cop, and they will be halfway across the world in 24 hours, we will be lucky to find her corpse which we might have to even pay a ransom for. And anyway, the political nature of it all is sure to have the police tied up in endless red tape as to make them ineffective in the matter“

“Bro, you make it sound so terrible” Tunji said returning to his seat across from Lanre.

“I am not making it sound terrible. These guys are extreme. Sitting here I can count 5-6 high profile killings in the past year that I have traced directly to this crowd. And there are likely more”

“What do we do?”

“Number 1, do not piss them off. Agree to whatever they demand when they contact you. Since her number is unavailable, they have taken over her phone. If this is for leverage as we suspect, they will contact someone soon”

“And what are you going to do?” Tunji asked. He was far from reassured.

Lanre smiled “I have recalled the team in Port Harcourt. Their replacement is on his way into the country as we speak”

“One man?” Tunji asked, now irritated.

“More than enough” Lanre said, rose and made for the door. “Get some rest. Mabel will show you to a room in the BQ. I mean it, Tunji, rest and let the experts earn their billing.”

“What do I tell her uncle?”

“It will come to you” Lanre replied shutting the door with a soft click.

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

“Good morning, Zaneta. We haven’t met. My name is Malik”

Zaneta stood up from the bed, her eyes felt sore. She looked at the man before her, truly she had never seen him. But beside him stood her lover looking as disinterested as a stranger on a bus, in his right hand was her phone. She looked away from him and back at Malik without a word.

She regretted not reading the book her uncle had given her, but she had scanned through once and knew a key to survival was staying calm. Since it all started, she had channelled all her energy to staying calm.

“I’ll get right to it” Malik said when he realised she wasn’t about to speak, “Zach is going to hand you your phone, you are going to make one phone call to your uncle – Dr. Moloku, you are going to tell him to pull out of the race on whatever grounds he can come think up, because only then will he ever see you again. Are we clear?” he explained.

“Yes” she said as the reason for her captivity dawned on her – Power, not money like she had thought. “This was about my uncle’s race for VP. Has always been. Zach had been in my life all these months for this very reason. I have been such a fool” she thought.

She stepped forward as Zach held the phone to her. “So, I was a pawn in your game, yeah? I always knew you were too good to be true” she said with a bitter smile and a few claps of her hands.

“Just do what you are told and everything will be fine” Zach said as she stood before him. He saw her eyes begin to tear up.

The slap that followed was resounding, sending Zach’s head in a slight bob to the right. He blinked at the sting. From the corner of his eye he could see Malik smiling as Zaneta snatched the phone from his still outstretched hand.

“Tell him to tell Tunji to get his dogs off my back too while you are at it” Zach said and left the room.

In The Shadows 19

Hi there!

This is Episode 19 of In The Shadows. If you missed any of the previous episodes, kindly catch up here ———-> In The Shadows.

========================

“Malik is our host. We’ll be staying at his place in PH. One of his places actually. I served with him in the Army and we still work together now managing properties”

“PH?!!!!” You are kidding me. Zaneta screamed, as she sped past a tanker.

“Yes, Port Harcourt” Zach affirmed.

“I have never been to Port Harcourt”

“Exactly why we are going there”

“Are you kidding me? And we are going to drive out there?”

“Yup!” Zach said “It will be fun” he added with a wink.

“Lord! Zach, we are going to spend all day on the road and arrive exhausted. We should have flown!” she wailed.

“Live a little, darling” Zach said with a smile.

Zaneta groaned.

“Pull over at the first chance you get”

“Why?” she asked.

“We are not going fast enough”

“What? I’m doing 120!” She pointed out.

He only smiled and pointed at a place up ahead to stop.

Zaneta pulled over, scooted out of the driver’s seat and into the front passenger seat Zach had occupied as he walked around the SUV and got behind the wheel.

“Zach, do not kill me on this trip, eh-hen!”

He laughed as he set off.

“Nothing must happen to me o!”

“Yes, ma’am” Zach said as he floored the gas pedal, taking the speedometer past 120km/hr.

“See me just looking at you” she said after some silence.

He looked over at her and smiled, a knot was beginning to form around his chest as they made progress. It was the final phase of the mission and for the first time since his early days in Sudan, it was looking and feeling unreal. He clenched the steering wheel tighter and smiled at her as he sped up even more.

“It will end well. She will be fine. Moloku would do the smart thing” he assured himself.

Few times they were stopped by Highway patrol and Customs, there hadn’t been any problems with licence and registration and they had been let go. They stopped twice too. Once to eat and once for Zaneta to pee. It was a fun journey with lots of gists and laughs and she was really enjoying it.

“Welcome to Port Harcourt” Zach said at about 2:15pm.

“Yaaayyyy” Zaneta said in mild excitement.

“Did it take us the whole day now? And we would have been here earlier if we hadn’t made all those stops”

“Oga, don’t think I didn’t notice – you were flying!”

“Na you know that one” Zach replied laughing.

“Awwwww. Your pidgin is so cute. Where did you grow up?”

“Early childhood was in Agbor. We all moved to Ibadan later, pops got a job at a Bottling Company” Zach said navigating the busy streets, taking them to the house they were to stay for the weekend.

“Then you got your HND, then you joined the Army”

“Yup”

“You know you are telling me all about that this weekend. No more excuses!” she declared.

“Yes, ma’am” he simply said.

They arrived at a house and Zach got out to unlock the gates which were padlocked. As he threw the gates open, Zaneta got behind the wheel and drove in. She parked, turned off the engine and got out as Zach walked towards her after locking the gates.

“So, why are we in Malik’s house and not a hotel?” she asked looking around. They were alone, it was a quiet neighbourhood with really nice houses and this one they were in was just as nice.

“Because we can use our hotel money for more fun and stuff?”

“So, why is Malik not here or his family?”

Zach giggled, then said “Malik is in Lagos, he doesn’t have family in the sense you mean and this is one of his houses – I told you that earlier”

“So we are all alone here” she said walking to the pool side.

“More or less. Cleaning folks will come and go. Cook resumes tomorrow”

“Daddy Raiden the romantic. So, I’m supposed to just sit and be looking at you all weekend?”

“More or less” he said with a wink as he got their stuff out of the trunk.

“I have a question” she said as they entered the house.

“Shoot”

“So this is your work anniversary weekend?”

“Yep” he said, leading the way to the masters’ bedroom.

“And you decided to go out of town and celebrate”

“That’s also correct”

“But why me?” she asked as she put her bag on the king sized bed.

“That’s not a difficult question” he said moving to stand before her.

“Then answer it” she said looking into his eyes.

“Because I chose you” he said then kissed her lips. She kissed him back.

*

“Why didn’t you tell me there was a pool? I didn’t bring my swimsuit” Zaneta said standing beside Zach by the pool later that evening. They had ordered in food earlier and were taking a walk around the grounds now.

“Use your birthday suit”

“Shut up! Ashewo!” she screamed punching his tommy, which she didn’t fail to notice was well toned.

“Watch me” he said, beginning to take his T-shirt off.

“No! He is joking!” Zaneta laughed as Zach stripped to his briefs and dove into the water.

“Come on in. The water is the perfect temperature, I promise”

She sat on the edge of the pool and put her feet in. She scowled at Zach playfully, “perfect temperature indeed”

She was about getting up and heading for a poolside cane chair when Zach broke the surface at her feet and pulled her into the water. Her scream was deafening.

She kicked and trashed and he let go and swam far from her.

“I will kill you Zach! I swear!”

Zach leaned against a wall across from her, laughing.

“No swimming in street clothes! Out! Out!!” Zach shouted at her.

“Ya sick!” she said, climbed out of the pool and walked away.

She stormed into the house and headed for the master bedroom where she grabbed her towel and got to taking off the wet clothes.

She didn’t know why but she wished he’d just ‘accidentally’ walk in on her in her semi-naked state. “Silly girl” she thought, laughing at herself as images of Zach’s well toned body in the pool flooded her mind. But she could hear him splashing around in the pool, she knew he wasn’t coming.

She checked her phone, neither Uncle Tunji nor her Dad had called back. Both men had been unreachable, assistants had picked up and told her she would get a call back when she had tried reaching them on her arrival here.

Alice had not picked up earlier either, but had apparently called back – there was one missed call from a number she recognised as one of the office lines. She called Alice again.

“Hey, dear. I called you earlier”

“Some of us have to work” Alice replied.

Zaneta laughed “Yeye. After the longest honeymoon ever, abi?”

“Una don land, shey?”

“Land sha! We didn’t fly. Crazy dude said he changed his mind at the last minute. We drove”

“Say what?” Alice screamed.

“I was exactly like you when he told me too. But in the end it was fun”

“So, it was a good decision? Where are you guys?”

“Yeah. PH o!”

“Nice. Which hotel?”

“Hotel ke? His friend’s house o. You know those kind of houses you’ll find on Naija music videos with big booty girls crawling all over the place and dudes with funny hairdos popping champagne? That’s the sort of place we are”

Alice laughed “So apt. You do have a big booty and Mr. Z’s got the cash for endless bottles”

“Behave!” Zaneta snapped, keeping from laughing herself.

“Pool, I guess?”

“Yup. Gym too. And a cook resumes tomorrow”

“Niiiiiceeeee! Where is he?”

“In the pool”

“And you are here? My friend report to the pool immediately!”

“I came to take my wet clothes off. He dunked me in the pool already. I’m going back to strangle him”

“Ose! Assassin Love” Alice said as they rung off.

For some reason Zaneta could not fathom, a cold shiver ran down her spine. She stood for a minute and looked around. When she couldn’t place a finger on why, she shook it off, wrapped her towel around her underwear-clad body and headed back out to the pool.

*

Zach looked up in time to see her take the towel off. Instinctively, he ran a palm over his wet face for a clearer view.

“She”s hot!” his mind screamed.

He smiled up at her.

“Don’t smile at me o! I hope you have written a will” she said and dove into the water.

The speed with which she crossed the pool to him amazed him. She was a good swimmer after all. She tried to garb him by the arm but he pulled away just in time to get away from her.

*

Later, they sat in the evening sun by the pool sipping iced drinks Zach had made them. They’d had fun chasing each other around the pool and racing across it. Now they were exhausted.

“You are a real strong swimmer. I’m impressed” he said,eyeing her as she sipped her drink.

“Thank you. What’s this? I like it” Zaneta asked after a few sips.

“Dates, Coconut and Tiger nuts” Zach said.

“Oh, wow! Where did you get it?”

“In the fridge. I made a request to have it stocked”

“I really like it”

“I know right. FitFam things” he said with a knowing smile.

“Are you calling me fat?”

Zach laughed, almost spilling his drink.

“Thank you” Zaneta said, got up and walked away, “I’m getting cold. Going inside” she threw over her shoulder at him. He was still laughing.

Once in the bedroom, she headed straight for the shower, achieved the perfect water temperature, then got in.

After a long shower, she exited the bath with her towel wrapped around her and checked her phone. This time she had two missed calls from Uncle Tunji. She called him back.

“Hello, Uncle Tunji” she said when he picked up.

“How are you, Zaneta?”

“I’m well, Sir. You?”

“I’m fine. Heading to another meeting. How was your flight?”

“Fine, Sir” she said not bothering to explain that she hadn’t flown down here.

“Where are you guys?”

“Port Harcourt”

“Ok. Good, good. I have to go now. Make sure you call your dad and wish him well in the debate tomorrow”

“Ok, Sir. Take care”

“Send me the address of your hotel. We all will feel more comfortable with that information” he chipped in.

“We are at a holiday home, Sir. But I will ask and send it”

“Ok. Have fun” he said and rung off.

*

Tunji placed a call as soon as Zaneta was off the line.

“Port Harcourt. I’ll send the address once I have it. Don’t lose them this time”

“Mr. Tunji. Casualties are climbing. This guy is a pro. We’d rather not kid with him any longer”

“And who’s to blame for the lack of depth on the part of your men? Anyway, do what you must, but get me the information I need first. And not a hair on her head should be hurt” he barked.

“My men do not lack depth, we have only been holding back” the other man explained.

“I have said my piece” Tunji said and rung off.

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

“Good night, Sir” Zach said.

It was the next day after their arrival in Port Harcourt. The cook had resumed and made them two meals as requested by Zaneta. They had spent the whole day indoors aside Zach’s visit to the gym where he could hardly concentrate on his counts.

They had watched the Vice Presidential debate together and Dr. Moloku had done an excellent job. If every voter had seen the debate and was to vote based on how it went, the incumbent would lose woefully. It was that clear. And through it all, Zaneta had not given away that she knew the man personally, that she lived with him, that he had been her father for the last 16 years.

Zach found a new level of awe of her. She had been so cool only nodding or clapping whenever Moloku made solid points. Of course her political leaning was clear but she had shown zero signs of personal pride.

“She’s playing you” his head concluded.

It had taken a lot of will-power on his part not to bring it up. His only hope was that this all ended squarely, for now he couldn’t deny he was deeply into her.

He’d come to the kitchen, thrown some fruits in the juicer and then placed a call to Retired General Aliu updating him on the mission while Zaneta was cuddled up under the covers in the master bedroom catching up on some series on her MacBook.

His boss was happy with the progress so far and had hinted at how much the whole party machinery depended on Zach’s mission, particularly in light of the woeful performance of the sitting VP last night.. Zach had assured him he would come through before bidding him a good night.

He poured the juice in a glass jug, emptied a tray of ice cubes into it, picked up two glasses along with the jug and went back to the room.

“s there alcohol in that?” Zaneta asked.

“Nope”

“What is happening? You quit drinking and did not tell me?” she teased.

“I apologise, madam” he said, placed the items on the side table and left. He returned a moment later with a bottle of vodka.

“Now, you are talking” she said with a grin, put aside her MacBook and got out of the covers.

He poured her an almost full glass of juice and topped it off with vodka. Then made another for himself with more vodka.

“What shall we drink to?” she asked, picking up her glass.

“The weekend?”

“Cheers to the freaking weekend” she said and they clinked glasses.

He got in bed beside her and they adjusted postures until both were comfortable, They ended up with her between his legs, head on his chest while her computer was back on her lap on top of the duvet that covered her to the chest.

“You know I like your hair?”

“Nope, I didn’t know that”

“I do”

“Well, now I know” she said, turning her head to throw him a glance.

“You somehow choose styles that do it justice and I really like how it smells”

“My short hair”

“At least say thank you first” he said shaking his head.

“Thank you, Sir” she said sniggering.

He played with her hair for a bit while she tried to maintain focus on her series – it was hard.

He slipped his right hand into her top, running a finger over a nipple.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you”

“Why?” he asked, now holding a nipple between his thumb and fore-finger while his left hand still played with her hair.

“You know why”

“Tell me”

“Do you want a baby?”

He laughed a little, “Maybe”

“Well, I don’t. At least not yet” she managed, holding back from moaning.

“Ever heard of condoms?”

“I see you have this all planned out” she said, wriggling free of his touch and getting her computer out of the way.

“‘Be prepared’ – Boy scout motto. Only thing I learned from that period of my life” he said closing the distance she had placed between them and kissing her.

“Why do you want this now?”

“I have always wanted to, babe. And I know you do too. I see it in your eyes” he said kissing her some more. Her resistance was more than he’d bargained for.

“Yes, Zach. I do, but why today?”

“You never know what tomorrow holds” he said and his mind actually did go to tomorrow. It almost made him sick.

“I get. But this always changes things. I like what we have and I’d rather take things slow”

“I agree” he said desire ebbing out of him. Not because of what she had said but because of what his mind had gone to.

“Let‘s just talk”

“Sure. What would you like to talk about?” he said sitting up.

“Your time in the army” she said sitting next to him.

“Ok?”

“Did you kill people?” she was grasping, anything to shatter the sexual tension

He laughed. “Are you funning me?”

“Ok, Ok, that’s a given” she said, glad that he had laughed. “What was the toughest part of it?”

“My Sudan tour” he answered immediately.

“Why?” she pressed watching his eyes.

“It was a messed up place. There was absolutely no reason why they could not live in peace. But all sorts of agendas kept them at each other’s throats. But that’s not even why it was annoying for me personally” he paused.

“Go on, please”

“After spending all day getting shot at, seeing your people back home complaining about the long fuel queues or stuff, the president or fast food workers on Facebook would just invoke a level of fury few other human beings will ever experience”

“Wow” she said. She tried to wrap her mind around it.

“In the end, I chose to join the Army yeah? So I was to live with it”

“I guess. When was this?”

“Five years ago. Well, we got back, lost a few friends out there. I find I am under-utilised. I tried commissioning elsewhere. It didn’t come through. I hear BH-posting rumours and decided I wasn’t going to be in that – I’d had enough. I was then referred to some ex-military types who were now in business and might need men with an education that they could trust. That’s how I ended up with my job”

“Wow! But how exactly did you leave?” she pressed.

“Dishonourably” he said with a grin

“Details?” she wasn’t about to let go.

“That stuff is sealed military records, you know. But lets say I’m a free man today cos some folks pulled strings on my behalf” he said. In truth, it had been Retired General Aliu who had saved him from jail time.

“Were you ever shot?”

“Luckily every bullet, but one, that came in my direction missed me. But I had a hundred different injuries from a dozen different other things. Lots of things kill soldiers, not just bullets”

“Where did that one hit you?”

“My head”

“My God!” she screamed.

He smiled, reached for his drink and drank some.

“Isn’t that supposed to kill you? A head shot?” Zaneta asked wide-eyed.

“Yes, in most cases”

“So….?” she asked, eyes roaming all over his head.

“My helmet stopped it. It was likely a ricochet. But it stopped me dead in my tracks. We had been in an ambush but were successfully fighting our way out of it when I suddenly heard and felt it. It took everything in me not to freak out” he said laughing.

“Shit! Your life must have flashed before your eyes”

“Many times” he said pulling up a picture of his bullet-dented helmet on his phone. “I kept this over the years”

She took the phone from him and examined the image. It wasn’t of great quality but it was enough to tell the story “Oh, Lord!” she said, her hand shaking slightly as she handed the phone back.

He scrolled to another picture of 5 men. “This guy” he said, pointing at someone who stood beside a younger and less buff Zach, “died that day. The next day was his birthday”

“Oh, my God! That’s so sad”

“I learnt everyday is a gift. I promised myself to do all I could to maximise my days and stay alive against all odds”

She reached out and held his hand. She couldn’t fathom why anyone would chose that life, but at the same time, she had more respect for him and his kind everywhere. Her eyes were moist as she tried not to look at him, she might just cry.

“I’m hungry. You?”

“Yeah. Kinda”

“Ok, let me get the food” he said getting up.

“Thanks boo” she said, as he got off the bed and left the room.

*

“War is so not how it looks in most movies. All the glamour and glory and heroism” he said as he walked back in the room carrying a tray laden with their dinner.

She didn’t respond, but he could see her there, beneath the duvet.

“Hey are you ok?” he said sitting on the bed and holding her shoulder.

“Yes, I’m alright” she said with a smile, “come here” she pulled him in for kiss.

“The food will get cold” he said in weak protest.

“I know how to work a microwave” she said as they kissed some more.

“That among other things” he said, running his hand over her back and realising then that her top was gone.

“Where’s that condom you spoke about, soldier?” she managed as his lips found her left nipple.

“Is this for my exceptional service or for bravery under fire?” he teased.

“Shut up, Zach” she whispered.

He threw a salute and did as he was told.

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

“Hi, Dad” Zaneta said when Dr, Moloku picked up.

She was alone in the room, with Zach out in the gym. She had woken up to the sounds of his workout.

“How’s your holiday going?” Dr. Moloku asked.

“Fine, Dad. You were on fire yesterday o! Ah!” she said, steering the convo where she wanted it.

“Thank you, Ogechi. The polls have swung seriously in our favour. Danbazau and the whole party are beside themselves in glee” he said laughing. He was on a high.

Zaneta could sense the man was tired beyond his excitement and joy. “Are you eating and sleeping enough, though? Campaign trails are usually gruelling” she said, truly worried.

“You sound just like your mother” he said, calming down some.

Zaneta smiled.

“When are you back?”

“Later today, Sir”

“Okay. I have to go now. A fine gentleman is here from CNN”

“Oh, great!” Zaneta said, truly excited for him.

“Goodbye, be safe”

“Yes, Sir. All the best. I love you dad”

“I love you too, little girl” he said and hung up. She could hear greetings in the background as the line went dead.

“Little girl” she murmured. It had been ages since he called her that. She thought back to the period when the moniker was born. A time when she never wanted to leave her uncle or his house. Today, things were different. Anytime she was away from home, she felt somewhat better, she had failed at getting him to agree to getting her own place, but she wasn’t about to give up on that yet.

She hoped he’d win, move to Abuja and the Villa then she would insist on keeping her job and staying in Lagos. Simple.

She was getting lazily out of bed when Zach walked in.

“Good morning, gorgeous” Zach said.

She turned to face him “Good morning, dear. It seems you need the shower more than I do right now” she said noting the sweat all over him.

“Let’s save the planet. Share a shower”

“Na so” she said, laughing but didn’t resist as he led her into the bath.

*

“AlphaTrag’s crawling all over the place” Malik said.

“She must have sent the address” Zach surmised.

“Let’s blame that on the guy who told her, shall we?”

“No way I can drive out to you?” Zach asked, ignoring Malik’s jab while looking to make sure Zaneta was busy with the cook.

“No. Plan B is active”

“Where is the helipad?”

“I’ll have the pilot push the location to you now over secure IM”

“Do that. After breakfast, we move”

“We expect you. Make sure nothing goes wrong. Kill if you have to, but get her here” Malik said and rung off.

Zach walked back to the master bedroom, locked the door and pulled out his travel bag. Quickly he inspected his pistols and ammo. Then he checked in a hidden compartment in the wardrobe for an assault rifle that he had been told was there; it was. Content, he went back to the kitchen where breakfast was being served.

His phone vibrated as he perched on a kitchen stool. He looked at the message that had just come in. It was the location of the helipad he was to use.

“Ever been on a chopper, babe?” he asked as he looked up to find her smiling at him.

“A helicopter?” Zaneta asked surprised.

“Yup”

“No, I haven’t” she replied.

“Then today is your lucky day”

“Are you serious? A helicopter ride back to Lagos?” she screamed.

He laughed. “No. A short trip to a friend’s within the state, come back and then we drive to the airport and catch the last flight to Lagos”

“This trip is sudden nah. And I have nothing to wear. Why do you keep springing stuff up on someone?” she complained bringing him his breakfast of toast, baked beans, sausages and cheese.

“I’m sorry. Was not planning to see him, his place is quite far, but he insisted and offered the chopper, I knew you’d be mad at me if I turned that down. He wants to meet you” he lied as he began to eat.

“I see your point sha” she said, sitting across from him with her own plate, “so, you’ll leave your car at the airport?”

“Arranged for someone to bring that to Lag tomorrow” he lied again.

“Okay. Now I’m really excited” she said clapping like a kid.

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

It was not yet an hour since his call with Malik, Zach was set and at the car loading the weapons on in discrete cases. Zaneta was inside getting dressed.

“On our way in 5“

he sent to Malik.

In another minute, Zaneta stepped out into the morning sun looking dashing in a green flowery gown that hugged every curve of her body. She was smiling at him as she approached.

Zaneta couldn’t see the look in Zach’s eyes through the sunglasses he had on. There was no way for her to see the deep sadness they held as they set upon her.

In The Shadows 18

Hi there!

This is Episode 18 of In The Shadows. If you missed any of the previous episodes, kindly catch up here ———-> In The Shadows.

========================

“I’m all ears, babe” Zach said. Instinctively, he activated his call recorder app. Something told him this was important. “Just trust me, Z” he thought.

“Yes, Daddy?” he heard her over the line, then “I’ll call you back” to him, and she was gone.

He lay back on the recliner and waited.

*

Zaneta sat still on her bed, phone in hand. Her Uncle hadn’t called her. She had simply chickened out on her decision to tell Zach whose daughter she was.

“Shit! Shit!! Shit!!! Zaneta, don’t jinx this” she murmured. “What if he finds out some other way? Social Media, Newspapers, Magazine? Oh, Lord!”

“I think it’s best he hears it from me. But what if he changes?” She wondered. A thought passed through her mind – “maybe he even already knows and I’m just here stressing” she chuckled at that but dismissed it. “If he knew, he’d have mentioned it” she declared.

“I will tell him face to face” she decided, put the phone away and headed for the bath.

*

Zach rose from the recliner, he was done waiting for her call back. His instincts told him she didn’t want to call back, because she really didn’t want to tell him whatever it was she had wanted to him anymore. He knew it could only be one thing – her relationship to Dr. Moloku the VP Candidate.

“She’s playing you” he said to himself as he walked into the apartment.

He wondered why she would not just open up to him. But then it was also funny because if she really knew who he was and worked for, she’d not come within a thousand miles of him.

She was street-smart, ‘open-eyed’, he needed to quit worrying about her and focus on what he had to do.

He lay in bed and thought about the stuff on his plate. His mind rested on Dorah. He picked up his phone and called Idris.

“Hello, Sir” Idris picked up

“How’s the lady?”

“Fine. Things are quiet”

“Where is she?”

“At home, I have someone outside her house”

“Ok” Zach said and hung up.

Then he dialled Dorah

“Hello” she said

“This is Zach” he introduced himself.

“Ah! I have been trying to reach you. Sent several mails to that address but got a mailer daemon response”

“Yes, that would happen if I wasn’t expecting an email from you. What’s up? You have something for me?”

“Yes. Some documents I found”

“I’ll have the mail activated. You may send in another half hour. Cash will be transferred in a bit too. Thank you”

“Thank you” She replied and rung off.

“She’s quite eager” he thought.

He called Malik and asked him to expect an email and also prepare payment for Dorah. They would send her the same amount as the last time.

Malik immediately approved.

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

Zach picked up his phone, about to reply Zaneta’s IM when it rang.

It was a number he wasn’t familiar with so he let it ring out twice. Almost immediately after the second call he refused to take, it rang again, this time it was a number he knew.

He picked up, “Hello”

“Boss, good evening, Sir” it was Max-Tee

“Were you the one calling me just now?” Zach asked.

“Yes, I was the one” Max-Tee replied.

“Ok” Zach simply said.

“I was wondering what you were doing this Friday night, Chief”

“Why?”

“I’m having a little something at OutRave, boss. Thought I could get the pleasure of your presence”

“Day after tomorrow?” Zach asked eyeing a calendar on his desk.

“Yes. Day after tomorrow. Do I send you a ticket?”

“Let me call you back” he said and hung up.

He typed a response to Zaneta’s message then typed:

“Max-Tee. OutRave. This Friday. Are you game?“

Her response was almost immediate:

“Hell yeah!“

“Make that two tickets” Zach said when he called Max-Tee back.

*

Zach had called her the next morning after her aborted phone call stunt asking what had happened and why she hadn’t called back. She had lied that her dad had called her and she had to go help him with stuff and didn’t finish till late. So far he seemed to be taking it well. She’d never met anyone that understanding.

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

“This your door, though. So damn heavy!” Zaneta complained as she tried to climb out of Zach’s XC60.

“I told you to let me get it for you” Zach said, getting out of the vehicle.

They had VIP access and hence VIP parking on the other side of the club grounds.

Zach had picked up Zaneta from work and they had driven to the event she had heard so much about on social media. A few regular tickets had been given away by Max-Tee’s Social Media/PR people to those who had answered some trivia about the artiste or had the highest number of retweets of quotes they made up for the event.

“What exactly is he doing? It’s not his birthday, is it?” Zaneta said as they approached the entrance

“Since when is an excuse needed to throw a party?” Zach said smiling at her.

He flashed their invites once again at the door and they were ushered to their table. As they got settled in, a bottle of complementary champagne arrived in an ice bucket.

“Courtesy of your host” the waitress said as she placed it on their table with much fanfare.

“Oh! Thank you” Zaneta said.

“May I?” the waitress asked to un-cock and pour their drink.

“By all means, darling” Zaneta gave her the go ahead.

Zach was looking sufficiently bored and uninterested through the ladies’ exchange and Zaneta didn’t fail to notice.

“Would you have come if I wasn’t with you?” she asked him when the waitress had left.

“No. I’d be with you wherever you chose to be” was his reply

“Hmmm” she said, then “assume I was not in town. Would you be here?”

“Alone?”

“Alone or otherwise”

“No, I would not be here”

“I knew it”

“You do?” he mocked.

“But you don’t have to show it so much, dear”

“Show what?”

“Show that you’d rather be elsewhere?”

“Why?” he asked. He knew how big a deal this was for her, but the fact was that if it weren’t for her he’d not be here. Max-Tee knew better than to waste his time.

“Be nice, Zach!” Zaneta said, lifted her glass to her lips and sipped

“Yes, ma’am!” he said, picked up his glass of bubbly, clinked it with hers and drank too.

The fine taste of the champagne was lost on him as he noticed someone from across the room, in regular, watching them. Instincts told him it was someone from Zaneta’s security detail. They were becoming a thorn in his side. How was he supposed to go on this trip with her with these guys in tow?

He called the attention of a waiter and spoke in her ear, “Get me Shedrach” he said to her.

In two minutes a huge guy in a football jersey and dreadlocks showed up. He was in charge of OutRave’s security.

“Boss” he said, bowing his head in greetings to Zach. Zaneta almost choked on her drink.

“How’s it going?” Zach asked signalling the guy to come in closer for some talk.

Shedrach squatted beside Zach and Zack spoke in his ear for a bit. The big guy nodded a few times and left.

“How do you know that guy?” Zaneta asked.

“Here” Zach said to her with a smile as a slight commotion started across from them in the regular section.

Zach smiled as the security dude was being physically removed from the venue. He was smart, he wasn’t protesting, he just kept insisting no one touched him. Zach had half a mind to go outside and have him knocked senseless, but he decided against it. It wasn’t personal after all, dude was just trying to catch a paycheque like everyone else. He had asked Shadrach to find out how the guy had gotten a ticket. He was curious about that since it was by invitation only.

A few minutes later, he got up, told Zaneta he needed to take a leak then went to the back of the club to meet Shadrach and a few other guys.

“How did he get in?”

“Must have bought or stolen a ticket off someone at the entrance” Shadrach replied.

“He didn’t say?”

“No, he kept mum. Just kept insisting we don’t touch him” Shadrach said with a shrug.

“Who he be sef? All that grammar he dey speak just dey vex my soul” one of Shadrach’s guys said.

Zach looked the guy over but said nothing. Then he turned back to Shadrach and said “Stay woke” and with a pat of his shoulder, he returned inside.

*

It was almost 1am when Zach pulled up at Zaneta’s residence.

“I hope you had fun” he asked. They had had to leave, though the event was still ragging when they did.

“Wait, Zach. How do you know these people?” Zaneta asked. She had seen lots of guys come say “hello” to Zach. People she had heard or read about. Many champagne bottles had been sent their way courtesy of the same folks. She had taken 2 bottles with her and snapped numerous photos with Max-Tee and other celebrities in attendance – the VIP privilege. 

He laughed and shrugged. “In the line of duty” he said.

“Explain joooor” she pressed. She was quite tipsy.

“When you manage property in certain places, you are bound to meet certain people and they can often be down to earth and friendly. Many times they become nice to you or in your debt” he said smiling.

“Ok. Now I understand how that can be. But what did Max-Tee mean when he thanked you for his new jam?”

Zach thought about that for a minute. The song had been about loyalty, love and lies. He knew exactly what Max-Tee was singing about – the last issue he had had with Rashidat and her lawyer boyfriend.

“Who knows what Max is smoking?” He said with a short laugh, then added “He’s like a kid bro to me, he’s friends with my CEO’s kid and all that. Sometimes we all get to sit together and talk and we speak freely” he said, keeping as close to the truth as he could without giving much away.

“Ose, Big Brother Lagos” Zaneta teased.

They kissed, then he got out to get the door for her.

“There you go, before you complain again about the weight of the door”

“You too, you know its heavy. Like uncharacteristically heavy for a car door”

“It’s a Volvo SUV, ma. It’s built like a tank”

“I know. I love the ride” she said smiling up at him.

“I’ll will it to you. Now, please, go inside before I kiss you out here and someone shoots me dead”

She laughed, shook her head and walked away. The gate opened before she knocked.

Zach drove away windows down. He smiled at the security vehicle that had followed them from the club back here as he drove past it. He knew they were really pissed at him for orchestrating the exit of the dude who had made it into OutRave tonight. Hopefully, they’d make a bad mistake soon enough.

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

Zaneta rapped slightly on the door

“Come in!” Febi said looking up.

She was really impressed with Zach. Impressed enough to be here now to work out the modalities of her absence for the weekend trip.

“I’ll be needing a few days off” she said as she approached Febi’s super-organised desk.

“Okay?”

Zaneta sat and pointed at her dates on the calendar that sat on the desk “Starting Friday” she added.

“You wanna say what for?”

“I need a retreat. Recalibrate my faculties”

“So, I take it you are going out of town?”

“Yes. Somewhere I can be alone to think and read”

Febi had a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“What?”

“Shaaaattap, my friend!”

“What naa?”

“Save your stories for the forms. Me and you both know it’s Mr. Z’s you are going to”

Zaneta laughed.

“Sha co-habit well. And let me know which you want first – Honeymoon or Mat leave”

“How naa? Are those even interchangeable?”

“For you, I could make an exception”

“Na so” Zaneta said, rose and left Febi’s office. She needed to get back to refreshing her IG page. It had not been the same since she posted the pictures she had from Max-Tee’s event at OutRave.

By the time she got back to her phone which was charging at her desk, she had an IG DM from Edith:

“He seems to bring u more 4n than u can handle. Again, have u prayed about him?“

She didn’t waste any time in replying:

“Thank you, Edith. Did you pray about me before u & I started dating, though?“

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

“So, you know you are my alibi?” Zaneta said as she folded a scarf into her bag.

It was the Thursday before her departure and they were in Zaneta’s room. The plan was to pack and go stay at Alice’s till the morning when they’d both head for the airport.

“Better pay me well” Alice said admiring one of Zaneta’s watches, “Never seen this on you”.

“I never find an occasion to rock it”

Alice strapped it on.

“Consider yourself paid” Zaneta said.

“Thank you kindly” Alice said glad to have gotten the watch.

“Help me grab those, please” Zaneta said pointing at some clothes on the bed.

“Madam, it’s just a weekend” Alice said, yet doing as she was told.

“Kuku send me naked naa” Zaneta shot back.

“That would be even nicer” Alice replied.

“Shaking my head for you. You need a chilled glass of bleach”

“For someone who was seriously dragging feet before, you are really rearing to go”

“Well….” she left off.

About half an hour later, both ladies were in a cab riding to Alice’s. They didn’t notice a dark sedan that tailed them discretely,

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

Zach sat at a bar, a few houses down the road from Alice’s place. He saw the  ladies arrive in a cab, saw Zaneta get her stuff from the trunk and saw as well, the tail that drove past, made a U-Turn and found a spot to park across from the bar he was at.

The two guys alighted after the ladies had disappeared behind the gates. One lit a cigarette as they crossed the road to the bar. Zach recognised the smoker from his early days with Zaneta. The guy from the club wasn’t here.

He watched from a corner as they ordered two bowls of pepper soup and bottles of big stout. When they had become engrossed in savouring and surviving the hot broth, Zach slipped out, walked to his car which was further down the road, got in and drove off. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

When he got home, he called Zaneta. She picked on the first ring.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” he asked.

“Like I have been asleep at this hour since you have known me, Sir”

“You know we are leaving early, yeah?”

“Where are going, Zach? Stop being such a mystery man. I at least need to tell my friend where I am going” Zaneta protested.

“Don’t jinx it. Once we arrive, you can send her your location. You just be at the airport for 6. Our flight is 7:10am”

Zaneta sighed “I’m tired of you. Local or international?”

Zach laughed, “Local” he said, then added “now, get some sleep. See you in the morning”

“Aii” she said and hung up.

*

By 6am the next morning Zaneta and Alice were at the airport. The cab was to drop Zaneta off then take Alice to work.

“Have a blast, Hon” Alice said giving Zaneta a big hug as the cabbie got her stuff out of the trunk.

“I will. Don’t miss me too much” Zaneta said.

As she walked into the departure hall, bags slung over her shoulders, she placed a call to Tunji.

“Good morning, Sir”

“Good morning, Zaneta. Leaving already?” he asked.

“Yes”

“When is your flight?” he asked

“7:40am” she lied. She had looked up a departure time to Calabar. The cover story had morphed into just she and Alice going to the Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross River State.

“Call once you arrive in Calabar” he said

“I will, Sir” she replied rolling her eyes.

“You are sure you don’t want me to call ahead for you?”

“No, Sir, that won’t be necessary, thank you”

“Try and watch the debate, your father would love to know you are watching”

“I won’t miss it for the world” she said, rolling her eyes some more.

*

Zach watched her from one of stores as she walked into the departure hall. He looked around and before long he spotted her tail. It was the smoker from the night before, the one he had named ‘Smokey’.

The moment he was sure she had gotten off the phone, he called her.

“Hey” he said when she picked up.

“Oga, where are you?” she asked.

“Upstairs, getting a few things. I can see you, sending someone now to come get you. Stay put”

“Okay” she said looking upstairs as she hung up.

Zach noticed the security dude immediately head for the escalator, he must have noticed Zaneta’s upward glance and clearly wanted to be in position by the time Zaneta made the ascent, but Zach had banked on that.

“Shitty move, bro” Zach said as he made his own move.

*

Zaneta was still standing where she had been when she had taken the call from Zach when an airport staff approached her. The lady smiled then said “You must be Zaneta”

“Yes, I am. Good morning” she replied with a smile.

“Good morning. I have your ticket, come with me” she said, then reaching out for one of Zaneta’s bags, added “Let me help you with that”

“Thank you” Zaneta said as she followed the lady who led her into a service elevator and pushed a button for a floor upstairs.

*

Zach watched the guy who seemed confused. He was getting out his phone; likely to call in some more legs and eyes.

He knew why they were here. They needed to know what flight Zaneta would get on. But he had a surprise for them all.

*

“This way, ma” the lady said, leading Zaneta towards an overhead walkway.

“Excuse me” Zaneta said after a minute, “Shouldn’t we be heading in the other direction?” she asked pointing back towards the terminal. It seemed they were heading in the direction of the garage.

“No, ma. He asked me to bring you here” she said pointing at a blue 2010 Volvo XC60.

“This is Zach’s car” Zaneta said, pulling out her phone and stepping away from the lady.

Zach picked up on the first ring.

“What’s going on? Didn’t you say-” she was saying, quite confused and irritated, when he cut in

“I know. Just trust me, Z. Take the keys from her, I’ll meet you at the exit”

“Now?”

“Take the keys now, get in the car. I will call you when I’m at the exit” Zach said firmly leaving no room for argument.

“Ok” she said, “this your style of planning, though” she added and hung up.

She took the keys from the lady, thanked her and got in the driver’s seat of his car for the first time.

*

Now, Zach had to make it to the garage without being spotted or followed.

He exited the shop he was in and walked briskly in the opposite direction from Smokey. As he made a bend heading for a flight of stairs he saw the one from OutRave, he’d named him ‘Skodo’ because of his bald head, downstairs looking up.

Skodo spotted him and immediately headed for the same flight of stairs from the bottom.

On the next landing on his descent, Zach docked into the gents went to the sink and began to wash his hands. Almost immediately, he heard the door open. He turned around to find Skodo standing there.

“Hello” Zach said with a friendly smile, rolled off some paper towel and got drying off his hands. “I remember you from OutRave. What a night that was!” he teased.

“Where is she?” Skodo spoke, blocking Zach’s path as Zach made to leave.

“Who?” Zach asked

“The girl, stupid” Skodo barked.

“What girl?” Zach said, doing all he could to appear defenceless.

“Don’t act dumb with me” Skodo barked, letting a B sound go at the end of his sentence.

“It’s dumb, bro. The B is silent” Zach said still smiling.

“What?”

Zach threw the wad of paper towel he held at Skodo’s face who knocked it away but didn’t see Zach’s left feet come up.

The toe of Zach’s left shoe caught Skodo in the crotch with a sickening sound, Skodo immediately bent over catching a solid blow to the ear from Zach’s right hand. He fell to the floor as Zach followed with a kick to the side of the head with his right leg. Skodo passed out.

Zach quickly dragged him into one of the toilet stalls and sat him on the bowl. Done, he exited the toilet before anyone else could come in.

As he walked down the rest of the stairs, he called Zaneta.

“Meet me at the exit now” he said when she picked up.

He exited the terminal building and briskly he crossed the road towards the garage. At the vehicle exit, he stepped in to stay out of sight from the terminal building.

*

Zaneta rolled down the ramp towards the exit, she was about to hit the accelerator when he spotted Zach walking up the ramp. She stopped and let him in.

“Good morning, beautiful” he said with a grin.

“Zach!” she shot back.

“Yes, darling?” he said still ginning.

“What’s this now? Where are we going?” she asked frustrated.

“I’ll tell you, just step on it, please, we are running late” he said.

“Which way?” she asked as she exited onto the main road.

“Left” he said, “we are going out of town”

“Is this a road trip?” she asked looking down at the fuel gauge that showed ‘Full’.

“Yup!” he replied, reclining his seat.

“And you are making me drive?”

“Let me know when you are tired, I’ll take over”

“I hate you so much right now, Zach” she wailed.

He chuckled, said “No you don’t”, then typed an SMS on his phone.

“We are off“

The recipient caught her eye as he hit ‘Send’.

“Who is Malik?” she asked.

The Other Me – Coming Soon!!!

Tommyslav Island

Hi everybody,

It’s been a while since our last piece… Please hang in there.

In the meanwhile, there’s goodnews on the way…

BlueHouse films did a short film cantered on Autism titled “The Other Me”.

The Other Me (Short Film)

Synopsis:
Olamide, an autistic young man prepares for the biggest day of his life; a date with the love of his life, Sharon. Due to his condition, what seemingly should be his most exciting day becomes a nightmare.

Written and directed by Tomi Adesina, The Other Me is a compelling short film on Autism which raises awareness on the condition and speaks against discriminating people living with it. It was produced by Tomi Adesina and Michael Tayo Babalola’s BlueHouse Films in association with Omobolaji Opakunbi’s Phalanx Pictures.
The film stars Taiwo Adeboboye and Adebukola Oladipupo, among others.
On World Autism Day, April 2nd, 2016 awareness would be raised by various…

View original post 136 more words

In The Shadows 17

Hi there!

This is Episode 17 of In The Shadows. If you missed any of the previous episodes, kindly catch up here ———-> In The Shadows.

========================

“Hey” Zaneta heard Alice’s voice.

She looked up to find her friend smiling knowingly at her from the door.

“Thought you left immediately” Zaneta said.

“I did, came back for my slippers. Can’t do an extra minute in these heels” Alice replied.

“Pele” Zaneta said, not laughing like Alice had expected.

“Saw Zach driving out” Alice said

Zaneta said nothing.

“You guys resolved?”

Again Zaneta didn’t reply.

Alice sighed, walked into the office and took a seat.

“Pray, tell me, why are you so mad at him?”

“I don’t know, Alice” she said, rubbing her temples.

“Babe, you need to manage your expectations. Has this ever happened? I mean, according to you he has always been available when he said he would. Believe me, in today’s world, that’s a lot” Alice said trying to reason with her younger friend.

“Yeah” Zaneta replied.

“I think I know what’s wrong”

“What?” Zaneta asked smiling.

“You have fallen in love with him” Alice announced.

There was some silence as it sunk in. It had always been there lurking in the recesses of her mind – the thought of the possibility – but she had never confronted it. But Alice had now hit her with it like a Mack truck and it sucked the breath out of her.

“As much as I’d love to deny that, I think it’s true. And it’s annoying”, she sighed.

“Annoying?”

“Yes. I sorta feel it’s not right. He’s not right. No one is that right”

“Are you psychotic? Or some kinda girl that’s been so hurt by deceit that she just can’t see the good in anyone? Or you don’t believe you deserve better than your last?” Alice said, knowing she was on thin ice. But she had to be honest with her friend.

Zaneta sighed. “It feels right and wrong all at once. I’m confused. And I hate myself for being such a mess”

Alice rose and went around the desk to hug Zaneta.

“See, don’t over-think this. Just take it one day at a time. You guys are already off to a great start. I might be wrong but isn’t this the first time he’s done wrong?”

“It is” Zaneta replied.

Alice withdrew, picked up her bag, made it all the way to the door before saying “Wouldn’t you like to be given a second chance?”

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

The next day, Zaneta made an effort to round up work. She left the office for 5:25pm and headed straight for the Island.

She arrived at his office and hoped she would meet him at work. If he was really how he portrayed himself to be – work engrossed, he would still be at work now. This was pretty awkward for her – coming here to broach a truce, but she had admitted to herself that she had overstepped with her treatment of him the day before. Since he had left her office yesterday, she had not heard a word from him. Of course she had expected that. She only just hoped it was not too late to make up.

She had come prepared.

At the reception, she smiled her most charming smile at Clarisa who greeted her equally warmly.

“Is Zach in?” she asked.

“Yes, ma” Clarisa replied reaching for the intercom, “I’ll just buzz to let him know you are here” she added.

“Oh! No, please, that won’t be necessary. Help me preserve my surprise” she pleaded with a wink.

“Of course, ma” Clarisa said with a knowing smile. She replaced the intercom.

“Thank you, darling. And this is for you” Zaneta said, slipping a buffet voucher she had gotten at work across the table to Clarisa.

“Thank you, ma” Clarisa said with a bright smile as she deftly slipped the voucher into her bag. “You can find your way, no?” she asked, rising to her feet.

“Sure. Thank you” Zaneta said and headed for the elevators.

Clarisa watched the elevator doors shut Zaneta in as it prepared to whisk her to the appropriate floor, then she pushed a button underneath her desk.

*

Zach heard the buzzer and sat up. He had been on a call with Malik. Malik had found someone in Senator Danbazau’s camp, a staff in his campaign office, they could likely lean on for information, especially information of the financial nature.

Zack punched a few keys on his computer and pulled up the camera feeds from the elevators. He found what Clarisa was warning him about without needing a closer look. One more keystroke and the screen returned to his desktop.

“This is good” Zach said to Malik on the phone.

“Yes. If we can hurt the money, we can really hurt them” Malik said.

Zach understood what they would go after was a list of campaign fund contributors. Then comb the list for people they can flip or decommission. It was almost impossible to win an election in such a huge and diverse nation without an almost limitless campaign fund. It was a game of numbers.

“True” he replied. But his mind had now shifted of its own accord to an ascending elevator and its occupant.

“I’ll let you know when I make contact” Malik said.

“Standing by” Zach said and rung off.

He rose, put the phone down and crossed the room in quick strides. He unlocked the door and went back to his seat at his desk, picked up the day’s newspaper and put his feet up.

A few seconds later, he heard a slight rap on the door.

“Yeah? It’s open” he called out from behind the newspaper.

He heard the door open and shut. Then he smelt her perfume. A knot formed in his chest. He wasn’t mad at her, he was half sad, half glad she had come.

He really liked her now, he knew that. But what was coming her way was going to be quite unpalatable and he would be its conduit. He really wished she stayed away from him, he would be glad to report, for the first time, that he had failed his mission. Yes, he liked her that much. In the same vein, he was glad she hadn’t left his world for good.

“Hey, Boss” she said standing before his desk.

Slowly he put the paper down. He was torn between saying “You really should have stayed away” and “I’m so glad you are here”. He instead went for a safe “Hey, you” with a small smile.

“You don’t look surprised” she said, still standing. Usually, by now, she’d have plunked herself in the sofa and he would be on his way to join her.

“Your perfume” he quickly said before she could think about it.

“Yeah. But aren’t you surprised you smelt it at all in the first place?” she pressed.

He rose. “Please, sit down, Zaneta” he said.

She felt a twinge of guilt as she sat. He resumed his seat after she was seated.

“See, I’m sorry about my outburst and how I treated you yesterday. I really am” she said.

“That’s all gone now, I’m just mighty pleased to see you. Maybe I’m not surprised because I have been willing it all day” he said with a smile. The knot in his chest was still there.

“Why are you being so gracious?” she asked, meeting his gaze directly for the first time since she arrived unannounced.

“Because some things are worth putting my hurt and pride aside for” he replied still smiling.

“Thank you” she said, almost ashamed of herself but glad she had resolved this and he had not made it hard for her one bit.

“Thank you too. Hungry?” he asked.

“Not yet. And let me not lie, I came for your pasta” she said making him laugh.

“In that case, we must leave” he said rising to his feet and picking up his jacket. “Mission resumed!” he thought.

She smiled and rose too. She almost said “I love you”. She bit on her tongue and stopped herself. A friend back in University had told her “You either tell him or show him, never both!” She would rather just show him.

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

They had eaten and drank and were lying together in silence on the rug in Zach’s living room when he suddenly spoke.

“Why were you so mad, though?” he asked.

“I dunno” she shrugged.

“Sure?” he pressed.

“Maybe because the last time a man started with the work excuses for disappearing and unavailability, was the beginning of the end of the relationship”

“OK” was his quiet reply. “I’ll never take you for granted. I need you to understand that”

She nodded and snuggled closer.

“And I also need you to know there’s no ‘She’ out there” he said kissing her.

“Sure?” she asked, being naughty.

“No, I’m not sure” he said, tickling her and making her scream.

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

“I didn’t even gist you” Zaneta said as she and Alice had lunch in Alice’s office.

It had been about a week since she reconciled with Zack and things had been ok. He was out of town again for work but she had made her peace with that.

“Yeah?” Alice replied then sipped from her mug.

“Kunle called me a while back”

“Ok?” Alice asked, interested.

“He went on and on about how one person can think another is out of his league then perspectives change and blah blah”

“Yeah?”

“Bottom line, he is considering” she stressed the ‘considering’, “proposing to Jade on her birthday”

“Huh? Which Jade?”

“Which other Jade?” Zaneta fired back laughing.

“O ma gaa o” Alice said, making Zaneta laugh some more.

“Abeg, don’t make me spill my food” Zaneta managed. “Wait, so you guys don’t know?”

“I don’t. Maybe his padi does”

“Ah! Cos he expressly mentioned you and Bode being there”

“He did?”

“Then guess the icing on the cake”

“Mba! I won’t even try. I can’t get on his wavelength” Alice gave up. Zaneta could not stop laughing.

“He wants me to bring Max-Tee along for it” Zaneta finally announced.

“Choi! I haff die!” Alice shouted.

Both ladies burst out in uncontrollable laughter. They didn’t notice the door open. 

“What are you guys laughing so hard about?” they suddenly heard Febi speak from the door. Beside her was the IT guy, Mr. Benson.

“Girl talk” Alice said, shutting down.

Zaneta smiled. She knew Alice had an issue with Mr. Benson.

“Zaneta, you good?” Febi asked.

Zaneta nodded. She had noticed Febi had gone just a little softer on her since the revelation of how she was related to Dr. Moloku.

“Mr. Benson is here to take a look at the printer” Febi announced.

“Finally” Alice said sarcastically. Got up, packed her partly eaten meal and left the room.

“Excuse me” Zaneta said with a smile, did the same and left.

When they finally settled in Zaneta’s office, Alice asked, “So, will you bring Max-Tee?”

“No be only Max-Tee, na Banky” Zaneta said with a hiss.

“Na wah”

“In other news, Zach and I are planning a getaway”

“Hmm….. Nice one”

“He wants a whole week, I can only do a weekend, And that sef has to be with plenty planning ahead”

“A whole week? Abi he sef wan propose?” Alice said, laughing.

“I doubt it. I know he likes me a lot, but to propose? Maybe much later if he is still around”

“You sound quite pessimistic, I must say”

“I don’t know why” she said, “maybe Edith’s stupid dreams?” she thought.

Alice sighed. “You need to let go of your past, babe” Alice admonished.

“I’m trying. But this feels more like something else” she said, contemplating whether to tell Alice about Edith’s dreams when there was a knock on the door.

“You have a delivery” Gladys said, peeking into the office.

“Bring it” Zaneta said flatly.

“OK” Gladys said and disappeared.

She reappeared a moment later with a box and a sheet for her to sign.

Zaneta signed and handed the sheet back. She didn’t touch the box until Gladys had left the room.

“From him?” Alice asked.

“I guess” Zaneta said and began to open the parcel. “Wow!” she said as took the wrapper off.

“What is it?” Alice asked.

“An Apple watch” she said. Just then her phone beeped.

It was a message from Zach:

“Choose any weekend next month.

I really want this.

I hope you like your gift“

“How did he know-” she left off as the answer to her question struck her.

“Know what?” Alice asked.

“I was going to ask how he knew I had received the gift” she said, getting back to unboxing her present.

“Delivery notification” Alice said.

“Yup” Zaenta agreed, picking up the watch itself. It was a beautiful white piece.

“This is really nice” Alice said, “and here you are forming reluctant”.

“We are going. He has accepted to do a weekend”

“Oh? Great. When?”

“Next month”

Alice smiled.

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

Zach sat across from the lady as she scribbled out an account number. She was a single mother and used to be an auditor in one of the most prestigious accounting firms on the continent. But she had gotten pregnant for one of her bosses – a married man, shit had hit the fan and the guy had thrown her under the bus. She had been dismissed while he stayed on to become a Managing Partner. For a while she had been out of work and had later volunteered to work on Senator Danbazau’s campaign team almost 5 years ago.

They had realised she was an asset and soon she became a full time staff and then a staff on the Senator’s team when he assumed office after a landslide victory.

Today, she sat across from Zach because she had plans of her own. They had looked into her and learned a few things. She would be very useful.

“I need to know why” Zach said as he took the piece of paper containing the account number from her.

“Why what?” she asked. She had only agreed to meet him here in a hotel room after repeated assurances that she would be protected.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Why do you ask?”

“It is important I know why so we can adequately ensure it is taken care of” he said. He knew Malik and the Abuja team were listening in the next room.

“My son” she said after a long time contemplating.

“Ok?” Zach said, realising it wasn’t political. “Much better” he thought. 

“That sick bastard wants to take my son from me. After all he has done to me. I need the money to fight back” she said.

“We know all about Mr. Odebode and the relationship between you two” Zach said with a smile that said “Trust me”.

She looked closely at him, but said nothing.

“Henry has the best mother he could ever hope for. And now that you have chosen to work with us, he will remain exactly where the love is – with you, his mum”

“How-” she was saying.

“Dorah, relax. Going forward, we are on your side in this fight. No one will take Henry from you”

“Thank you” she said, looking away, then “promise me we will be safe. I have no interest in politics, in fact it disgusts me. I only work there because I need to take care of my son”

“I understand this is nothing personal for you. Just for the money, right?” Zach asked.

“That’s it” she said, suddenly letting some strength show.

“Great. You and your son will be kept safe” Zach said and rose.

“I’ll take my leave now” she said rising too.

“When do I expect the list?”

“24 hours after the first instalment”

“Tomorrow night” Zach said, then added “Check your account when you get home”

“I will. Thank you, Zach”

“A pleasure” Zach said opening the door for Dorah’s exit.

The moment he shut the door, he called the next room. “Keep an eye on her. Round the clock” he said when he heard someone pick up.

*

“Do you believe her?” Malik asked.

They were sitting together in Zach’s hotel room discussing their progress.

“The facts are facts. I can’t say I really know her motives, she might not be totally sure herself. But if she won’t dump us at the slightest sign of resistance is a different matter” Zach analysed.

“Or give us away” Malik added.

“We’ll take our chances, won’t we?” Zach said.

“How about Zaneta?”

“Going well. We leave in 3 weeks”

“Second week of the new month?” Malik asked.

“Second weekend” Zach clarified, “she accepted today”

“What did that cost you?” Malik said, laughing.

“It’s not always about money, bro” Zach said.

Malik nodded. He didn’t like that angle one bit.

“Let’s stick around till we get the list tomorrow night” Zach said, going back to Dorah.

“That’s better” Malik agreed.

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

 Malik and Zach poured over print outs of the list of campaign funders for the Danbazau/Moloku ticket.

Dorah had come through and they had sent her the rest of her money.

As they both looked through their copies, often one person or the other will call out a name. Mostly names they recognised but were surprised to find on the list. The others were either expected to be on it or unknowns. This was not the list the public will ever find. This went way deeper. Over 60% of the names on this list would not want word to get out as to what they were doing. A good number too were also funding the Incumbent ticket.

“Two-Timers” Zach thought shaking his head. “More like insurance, though” he accepted.

They were still going through it when Malik got a call. He spoke for a minute and Zach could tell who it was on the line – Retired General Aliu.

“He says we get on a bird and bring the list. He’s assembling a team to do the leg work. We are also to highlight the ones we think we can flip or neutralise” Malik said after the call ended.

“Yup. Expected that” Zach said, pulling on his shoes and beginning to pack up his stuff.

“It’s going to be a long night” Malik said, exiting the room.

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

It was another 36 hours before Zach left for his own home.

They had flown back, that night, to Lagos, been whisked to meet Aliu and 4 other guys and they had worked on strategy going forward.

Aliu had sought Zach’s opinion on a few issues, one being if they should leave Dorah alone.

“She gave me her word and I gave her mine. And we might need her for more stuff. I think if we press her some more there could be something juicier to find. Anyways, I’m having her watched” he had said.

7 names had been identified to be contacted by the team. They were to either make them stop the funding of the Opposition ticket or be taken out. That was the first phase.

But Zach had been exempted from the mission, he was to focus on Zaneta. For this he was glad, but had not shown it.

He sent a text to her before he hit the bath saying he was finally home and had missed her.

She texted back that she would swing by after work.

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

“Hello, Dad” Zaneta greeted Dr. Moloku. It had been a while she had meet him in the house.

“How are you, Ogechi? How was work today?”

“Fine Dad. How’s the campaign trail?” she asked taking a seat beside him.

“God has been faithful” he said with a satisfied smile.

“I’m happy for you” she said hugging him.

“I should be preparing for the ANTV sponsored VP debate on the 13th” he said, “but I need a few days to rest first” he said.

“13th? I guess I’ll be watching it with Alice”

“Alice?” he asked.

“Yes, naa. My friend that recently got married”

“Oh! Where will you both be watching from?” he asked, knowing this was leading somewhere.

“We are going on a road trip”

“To?” he asked

“We were planning on visiting a tourist destination. Still trying to decide on which will be the most fun and least stress” she lied glibly. There was no way she was telling her uncle she was going away for the weekend with a man.

“Is her husband going with you?” he asked.

“That’s the plan, Sir” another lie rolled off her lips.

“Whatever you people decide, keep Tunji in the loop. I don’t want you girls wandering off without someone at least looking out for you”

“Dadddddddd! We are adults o! Alice is a married woman o!”

“Do you watch the news, Ogechi?”

Zaneta made no reply. She knew what he was talking about – the rising cases of kidnapping and election incised violence breaking out across the country.

“The polity is really heated, no thanks to the present leaders who do not want to relinquish power even in the face of their own abject failure and the clamour for change from the electorate”

“I understand, Dad”

“As yet, the best I can do is doing whatever it takes to keep me and mine safe. By the grace of God in a few months, we will be in office and we can begin to correct the rot. So, please, don’t think I’m trying to spoil your fun. Just do as I have told you or stay here”

“Yes, Dad. I know it is because you love me”

“I’m happy you know”

“When is mum coming home?”

“Why don’t you ask her, Ogechi?”

“Ok, Dad, I will”

Dr. Moloku shook his head as Zaneta left his side. He would never be able to make the two most important women in his life truly live as one.

*

Zaneta sat on her bed. “It is time” she surmised.

She picked up her phone with a sigh and hit Zach’s number, it was never too far down on her call log. She checked the time on her wrist watch as the phone rang, she was wearing the white Apple Watch he had gotten her like she had done most days since she got it.

“Hello” his voice came over the line.

“Hi” she said.

“What’s up?”

“There’s something I need to tell you, Zach” she said.