whenever he went to carry out his operation.
Who was he when Pedro Fayemi picked him up eight years ago, he was just a thug in one of the dirtiest ghettos in Etyle which was used by some Big men to disrupt events and occasions, he had to live the rough way since his struggling parents were both killed in a bus robbery attack in the first year he gained admission into the university.
Although he was intelligent, he had to drop out of school for lack of fund and inability of other family members to help. He started with menial jobs to gather and save enough money for him to return to school but things did not work out. He was cheated several times after working so hard. Several touts in the streets also robbed him daily of the little he had. He had no option than to become rough like the streets taught him to be.
He was picked up one day when Chief Pedro came to his domain for a political campaign. The first job given to him by the man was to attack some of the Chief's opponents and disrupt their campaign procedure.
After several other jobs like that, he was given his first job to kill someone. He did it with fear and little confidence for the first time but after several times of practice, he became a master in the act.
After sometime, the Chief helped him work his way into the force, planting him there to work with other top police officials who worked for the Chief already.
Since Uche had been in the force, no crime or election violence had been traced to the Chief. Uche's intelligence also made his progress quick, he helped solved other top cases which mostly involved the Chief's opponents. With this, he gained the trust and confidence of top officials in the police force and was readily promoted.
One error he made with this case was not eliminating the gateman like he always did to anyone who provided him with information because he believed they could become a threat later on.
Chief Pedro had asked him to eliminate Frank to allow Ken and Bola continue their relationship and get married. The Chief didn't do it because he loved Ken, no. The Chief loved nobody, he did everything for himself. Three years ago he had also paid Uche handsomely for the neat job of eliminating his wife when she began to mingle with the wives of some of his opponents.
Chief Pedro had had Uche carry out many political killing for him, he had killed more than the late Chief Olatunbosun. It only happened that he was always on the same team with Chief Olatunbosun and people had always suspected Chief Olatunbosun because he was one of the strongest leaders.
Uche got to the hospital in no time, he had no problems with the security guards, they didn't find any weapon on his body. He studied the security guards carefully making sure that they didn't see him as he rode his bike and parked in a prohibited area where he could quickly escape.
He hurried up to the ward carefully, making sure no one could recognize him. He was surprised when he got to the ward and couldn't find policeman, but was more surprised to find out he just killed the junior officer after strangling the patient who was supposed to be Bode.
He knew at once that Dennis must have helped Bode out of the hospital, he believed Bode must have recognized him and told Dennis about it. He hurried out of the hospital and headed for Dennis' house.
It was almost 7pm already when Uche rode into the station. Helen saw him from where she was seated in the reception as he drove in through the compound, she had already given up hope of him returning that day so she was only waiting for report from the officers sent to arrest Dennis.
As she watched Uche park his bike at the parking space, her phone rang. She brought out the phone and saw the caller, she was surprised that it was from the hospital, she wasn't expecting a new development so quick.
"Hello Doc" she answered the call.
"Hello Inspector" the Doctor voice sounded serious, "there's a big problem here"
"Huh? Big problem?" She was shocked and afraid that something bad had happened to Bode. "What's it?"
"Someone broke into the hospital and killed him" the Doctor said.
"Huh? Killed who?" Helen shouted unbelievably, almost fainting from the news.
"They killed the police officer here?"
"The police officer?" She asked, panicking. "What about Bode?"
"He's nowhere to be found"
"What do you mean by nowhere to be found?"
"He's not here Inspector and we found the officer dead on the bed"
"How did it happen?"
"We..."
"Don't bother, we'll get there now" she said and dropped the call, still panicking.
She looked around her, some junior officers were already around as she drew attention with the way she reacted to the call, it was then she realized she had been too emotional.
She tried to calm down before Uche got into the office, as he was already approaching the building, walking slowly. She reminded herself that she had to compose herself and keep her head cool if she wanted to be successful in dealing with this case that has already taken a new turn.
"Uche, we have to go out straightaway, Bode has disappeared from the hospital" she said to Uche as he entered, forgetting her previous anger with him.
"There's nothing we have to go and do there, he must have taken him far away, it happened just some minutes after we left there" Uche replied without thinking.
"Huh?" Helen looked at him strictly and suspiciously, "what do you mean? The hospital authorities just found out now, how come you know that it happened few minutes after we left"
"Ermmm... Ermmm..." Uche stammered, realizing that he just said too much.
"And where have you been since when we have a critical case to solve?"
"I went to the bank quickly to transfer some funds to my Grandma, you know I do that every two weeks"
"And you couldn't take excuse before you left?"
"Time had gone already, I had to rush before the banks close"
'Well we'll come back to that later. Now tell me how you knew that Bode was abducted few minutes after we left?"
"That Doctor, that Doctor you thought his walking steps was familiar"
"Huh? The Doctor! " Helen exclaimed. "How silly was I, we should have been more suspicious. But why didn't you talk then?"
"I didn't know too, I just realize now that the Doctor was Dennis, he walked like Dennis" Uche intelligently manufactured lies, not sure himself if the Doctor was Dennis.
"We have to..." Helen stopped abruptly as the officers she sent to Dennis' house walked into the building and saluted.
"Where is he?" She demanded.
"Ma, we didn't find him at home. There was nobody in the house except for this gateman who was blindfolded and tied to a chair" one officer replied as they brought the gateman forward.
"Where is your Oga?" Helen inquired from the gateman.
"I don't know where he is. He left this afternoon after his mum left hurriedly"
"Take him away, make sure he tells you where his Oga is" Helen ordered the junior officers and walked out with Uche.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
*** The Next Day ***
Thoughts of a new kind of life raced through Ini's mind that afternoon, she thought of a best way to forget all the recent events; she had been thinking of how to put behind the past since the last week but the harder she tried, the more memories of the events that came back to her.
She concluded that the best thing to do was to change her environment, she even had no choice. Her father already called to inform her that morning that he will be sending her to join her mother in the US the next day. The man left her with no choice, he made it compulsory. And she had no reason to object it since she already longed for a change in environment.
The only thing she argued about with her father was that she wasn't given enough time to prepare nor resign from her job but the man argued that he already spoke with the chairman of the company which was his friend and told him about her departure so she wouldn't cause any setback for them.
She almost didn't remember that she was in an elevator when she got to the floor which she was headed for until someone in the elevator who noticed she was lost in thoughts tapped her. She thanked the man who she was just seeing for the first time in the company, he probably worked in a department or held a post that had no relationship with hers.
She walked out hurriedly and headed for the Chairman's office to submit some final reports which were more like handover notes.
"Good morning sir" she greeted as she walked into the office.
"Good morning Miss" the man replied with a smile. "So you're leaving us so suddenly?"
"It's not my fault sir, My father would not ..."
"Don't bother explaining" the man cut in pleasantly, "he told me about some weeks ago. I tried to convince him but he wouldn't listen, so I was hoping that he would listen to someone else but it seems as if his mind is made up already"
"I'm sorry Sir"
"It's Okay, it's just so unfortunate that we are loosing some of our competent workers at this time we are supposed to do a lot of investments. Dennis had to go on leave because I sensed that he needed to have sometime to rest and become himself again. I just hope he's not in trouble because I heard that the police came looking for him here today"
"For what?"
"I don't know, but they were told that he was on leave. Well, lets talk about you for now, you know I would have done the same if I was your father, I do think you really need to join your mother, you've been going through a lot recently and it has been affecting your work" he said and took the file from her. "I hope you have everything properly briefed and well documented here"
"Yes Sir"
"Okay, you can take your leave now. I was about to leave the office too"
"Thank you sir" she curtsied and left the office.
As she walked back to her office, she tried to remember all that she needed to do before leaving. The first thing that came to her mind was Amarachi's parents. She already paid the money needed to carry out the operation for Mr. Kolawole and even given the family money for their upkeep but she planned on giving the man an extra sum of money to set up a small business to take care of his family when he fully recovers.
She decided that she would visit and talk with them that evening after which she'll transfer a sum of nine hundred thousand which was seventy percent of her savings to any account given to her by the family.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3pm**
"Hello Mr. Dennis" Helen spoke eagerly on the phone. "Where are you?"
"I'm somewhere"
"Where? We've been trying to reach you since yesterday, we went to your house yesterday and to your office today"
"Yeah, I know. Were you the one that scattered my house yesterday or was it he?"
"He? Who are you talking about?"
"Don't bother, you'll know soon"
"Dennis, listen we know you have Bode with you. Don't do him any harm, just tell us where you are and we'll come and get him, then everyone can go in peace"
"Hahahaha" Dennis laughed uncontrollably. "Bode is safe here with me, you want to take him away so that the murderer can kill him?"
"No, Bode will be safe here with us"
"No, you won't see Bode anymore until we get the criminal who has been behind all this"
"No, don't do that"
"I call you in twenty minutes and tell you where to meet me if you really want Bode"
"Where?"
"I said I'll tell you twenty minutes time"
"How can I trust your word"
"You have no other choice"
"Okay, twenty minutes"
"Good, make sure you come with enough backup. Lets say about seven to ten men, the murderer would also be in the meeting with us and he's very dangerous"
"Okay then, twenty minutes" Helen replied and ended the call.
"Trace the call immediately" Helen ordered the officer who was seated in front of the computer who got into action immediately
Uche was thinking deeply about the phone call as he watched the officer work on the computer, he overheard a little of the conversation and he believed that Dennis knew he was the killer. He thought of something to do quickly.
"The number is switched off ma" the officer replied Helen in a few seconds, "I can't trace it for now"
"Okay, once he calls again make sure you trace him" Helen said. "I believe that guy is dangerous and he may be playing tricks on us"
"Yes, we need to act fast before he does something to Bode that's if he hasn't already"
"I hope Bode is alright, even if he doesn't do anything to Bode, taking him away from the hospital alone would have done a lot of damage. I just hope nothing happens or I'll skin that Dennis alive" Helen said angrily.
*****
Dennis ended the call and turned back to speak with the Doctor which he employed to treat Bode.
"How is he doing now?"
"Not better yet, his condition got worsened when the drip was removed from his hands. Now he needs a lot of time to recover his strength, It will be better if you bring him to our hospital" the female doctor replied.
"No, I can't do that. Not for now, just make sure he gets well here, I'll pay any amount you want"
"It's okay, I'll be back. I want to use the toilet" she said and left the room briefly.
Dennis switched on his phone and dialed a number after it booted successfully "Emmanuel, take some money from that wallet I gave you and meet me at Bovi Garden"
He ended the call and dialed Helen's number again.
"Meet me at Bovi Garden in one hour, fifteen minutes" he said and ended the call.
"He's at 5/6, Flora Street, Main city" the officer announced as he traced the call easily.
"Oh! Good" Helen sounded delighted.
"What's the plan now?" She faced Uche.
"Let's meet him in Bovi Garden, if he plays any trick we know where he's hiding now and we'll invade the place"
"Good, prepare fifteen heavily armed men and let's leave immediately"
****
6pm
Dennis smiled to himself as he watched from afar in his car with Emmanuel seated by his side, the police had surrounded the garden heavily and positioned themselves at strategic places. He saw Helen and Bode in the garden pacing around the place, impatiently waiting for him.
He removed the pistol from his pocket and stepped out of the car, he put on his dark shades and headed to the garden. He didn't leave without instructing Emmanuel.
"Immediately I enter the garden, you come out of the car and come to the garden too. Don't act like you know me, just join other people around, I'll be talking to some people there. Once you see that man that came to ask about your Oga's boyfriend that day, you come back here and sit gently in the car" Dennis instructed strictly. "If those people seize me, just get out of the car and go back to the hotel alone"
Dennis walked speedily to the garden, he stopped at a far distance to Helen and Uche and stared at them, he used that to give enough time for Emmanuel to get to the garden too.
He continued to walk closer to them as they spotted him. He smiled as he saw more policemen hiding at different sides.
Three policemen rushed out suddenly and grabbed him, they searched his body for weapons and after finding none, they dragged him and dropped him at Helen's feet.
"Good evening Inspectors" Dennis greeted with a smile, standing up and dusting his body. He extended his hand to Helen for an handshake.
"Where is Bode?" Helen asked without taking his handshake.
"Calm down inspector, Bode is safe with me. What you should ask is where is the murderer?" He smiled with a mocking smile as he glanced at Uche.
Uche replied with a devilish grin, "stop playing pranks with us and tell us where you kept Bode"
"You're asking me?" Dennis smiled, he placed his hand on Uche's shoulder as he spotted Emmanuel some distance behind them watching.
Uche flung his hand away angrily and threatened, "don't let us go the hard way, tell us where you kept Bode"
"Oh! The hard way? Well, maybe you guys should tell me first why someone shot Bode and still tried to kill him in the hospital" Dennis replied, pacing around and staring at each policeman playfully.
Dennis got no response and was about to speak again when he heard someone shout.
"Heyyyy! Na this Oga o, na him I kollect Ogs husband address from me eeh!" Emmanuel shouted, pointing at Uche as he approached them.
"Na him kill my Oga husband and see that shoe" the mallam continued, pointing to Uche's shoes. "Na him wear am kill my pa"
"No Emmanuel, you shouldn't come here" Dennis shouted, disappointed and angry that the gateman did not follow his plan.
All eyes turned to Uche as he couldn't deny the accusation. He brought out his gun and was about to drag Dennis closer but Helen acted quickly and hit a rod on his hand. Three other officers overpowered and handcuffed him immediately.
Helen landed a blow on Uche's cheek and forced him to kneel. "What are you trying to do? So you're the murderer?"
"Shut the hell up mam" Uche shouted at her, "you gonna arrest me?"
"Idiot! Carry him to the van" She ordered the officers. She was confused about what was happening, she wouldn't have believed that Uche had anything to do with the murder if not for the way he reacted to the gateman's accusation.
As they made attempt to drag Uche to the van, three unknown gunmen appeared at their front, stopping them. The other policemen which hid at the back came out of their hiding place and the three gunmen were surrounded.
Uche laughed aloud devilishly, surprising those around except the three gunmen.
"Before you take him away, you need to see something that might interest you" One of the gunmen spoke, moving closer to Helen and the policemen surrounding Uche. By this time, everybody else who was around the garden had been ordered by the policemen to leave the place
He brought out an Ipad and showed a picture of Bode lying on a bed with armed men around him, there was something around his neck.
"Look, there's a bomb tied to his neck. Once I pushed this button, the bomb goes off" the man explained with a devilish look, holding the bomb igniting device up for them to see. "Just take off your handcuff and release Uche to us"
Uche glanced at Helen and Dennis, he gave a smile of victory and confidence.
TBC......
