episode 2
“Be careful, Christopher is armed and dangerous,” came the
warning from the mobile phone, “He can kill you all without
blinking an eye. Approach him with utmost caution. Take
any careless action and you will become corpses in an
instant.” The phone was put on speakers as the three men
listened to the instructions.
“How do we identify him? We don’t even know what he
looks like. Why don’t you send a picture of him to this phone
so that we can know exactly who we are after.”
“No one really knows what he looks like, not even me or The
Boss. All you have to rely on for now is the information you
have been given about him. I’ll call you later.”
About an hour later, the call came in again.
“Where are you guys?” The voice sounded more urgent.
“We are still at the entrance of Tafawa Balewa Square, we
are searching for the bearded man in the red cap. We’ve not
seen anyone who fits the description so far.”
“Forget about TBS, he’s no more there; and stop searching
for just a bearded man. A new intel just got to me; Chris is
not only bearded. He is now spotted in Shoprite at Ikeja. Go
there now! Call back when you get there, one of our
operatives will be watching him until you arrive.”
The three men rushed back into the Hilux with a tinted glass
and drove away.
Five minutes later, a bearded man in a red cap came out of ***************************************************************
They arrived at Shoprite about another hour later; luckily for
them, the Lagos traffic was at the barest minimum at this
time. The men placed a call and informed their instructor
that they were at the location.
“Good,” said the voice from the other end, “You arrived right
on time. In about ten minutes, Christopher and an elderly
man will come out. Christopher is the bearded one dressed
in a blue pair of jeans, a customised T-shirt bearing a
picture of Mr Incredible. His hair is tainted brown and he’s
wearing dark glasses.”
“What about the old man? How is he dressed?”
“He’s dressed casually in a simple shirt and a pair of
trousers. Don’t concern yourselves with the elderly man;
your job is more concerned with Christopher. You have to
know that Christopher is reputed to be a great deceiver.
He’s a master of disguise. Grab him immediately and make
sure you disarm him if he has a weapon; and like I already
said, be very careful around him. Don’t you believe anything
that comes out of his mouth. Remember, his birth name is
also Emeka, don’t be deceived. Bring him to the address
given to you as soon as you have him.”
“What should we do about the elderly man?”
“The odd variable,” observed the instructor from the other
end, “I should tell you to leave and not bother yourselves
about him because our major goal is to apprehend
Christopher, but we don’t know who he is to Christopher or
what he knows. Take him but don’t hurt him. Bring both of
them in; we’ll question the elderly man to know what he
knows. Good luck to you. Call me only when you get to the
destination.” The call was cancelled.
The men waited for another ten minutes before they spotted
the targets as they came out of the big gate. Two of the
waiting men came out of the Hilux, drew out their pistols
and walked casually towards the approaching men. No one
paid them any attention because they had expertly
concealed the guns within them, for they well aware of the
chaos the knowledge of their pistols might cause, and that
might lead to the escape of the target once again. This was
a mission they could not afford to get foiled due to their own
crass stupidity, or carelessness. The capture of Christopher
was more important than their own lives. Now that the
location of this very elusive man had been offered them on
a platter of gold, all they had to do was take him to the
location alive and they would become very rich. A huge sum
of money was waiting for them at the delivery site.
The armed men casually walked past their targets on either
sides and still casually turned, following them behind.
The elderly man and his partner froze as the men jammed
their guns against their backs.
“See that black car there?” the man behind the major target
said, speaking loud enough for the hearing of elderly man
with a white moustache and a mountain of greying hair.
“Nod your heads if you see the car I’m talking about.”
The hostages nodded.
“Good,” said the one behind the elderly man, “You’ll both
walk towards the car. If any one of you tries to walk away,
you shall be shot in the spine. Just walk obediently to the
car and you will be okay.”
They were easily escorted into the waiting car. The door
was closed and the man behind the wheel started the
engine; a dumb thing for a professional kidnapper to do. He
should have kept the engine running. The hostages were
relieved of their mobile phones and tied up with ropes as
soon as they were taken inside.
“Hello Christopher,” the driver greeted, staring at the
hostage through the rear-view mirror. He was looking at the
hostage as if he had seen a live idol.
“What do you want from me? The tinted-hair asked
nervously.
“Who are you people? Why did you take me? Where are you
taking me? What did I do wrong?” The man asked.
“Shut up, old man!” one of the men thundered, aiming his
gun forward.
“Why don’t we call Rough-88 and inform him that we have
them?”
The elderly man put his hands in his pockets, watching the
drama.
“Didn’t you hear him when he said we should call him only
when we get to the destination?” The other abductor replied.
“We can just let him know we are on the way.”
“Knock yourself out,” replied the partner as he threw the
phone to him.
The man collected the phone and dialled Rough-88’s
number. It was picked almost immediately
“We have them,” he said, “We’re on our way,” The call was
terminated.
“Who are you people?” The elderly man asked, detaching his
hands from his pocket, “Where are you taking us?”
“Say one more word, old man, and I will beat the living
daylight out of you.”
“Who is Christopher?” The younger hostage suddenly asked.
The abductors stared at him for a moment and suddenly
burst into laughter.
“Good one,” said the driver, “We’ve already been told that
you would play smart, Christopher. It’s normal for you to
pull the denial trick.”
“Wait,” said the hostage, “you must have had me confused
with someone else. I don’t know any Christopher.”
“Yeah right,” another abductor said in a bored disposition,
“Who is the old man, Christopher?”
“I don’t know him,” said the elderly man, “We only met at
the mall. See, I don’t want to be a part of whatever you guys
have against each other. Just let me go, I beg of you. I am
an old man with grandchildren.”
“How did you two meet?”
“He’s a good Samaritan,” said the old man, “I can’t believe
you boys are accusing him of being someone else. Anyway,
that is none of my business. All I know is that this young
man held me when I lost my footing at the staircase. I
would probably have fallen and broken my neck if he hadn’t
come to my rescue.”
“I don’t believe you. The way you were both discussing
shows that you have known each other for long.”
“The man wasn’t lying,” the younger hostage replied, “I only
met him today.”
“What were both of you discussing before we grabbed you?”
“He was thanking me for rescuing him at the staircase.”
“No one told us Christopher could be kind-hearted,” one of
the men joked and the others laughed.
“I already told you my name is not Christopher. You must
have had me confused with another person.”
“Okay, let us assume – for a moment – that you are not the
Christopher we were searching for, what’s your name?”
“My name is Emeka.”
The men glanced at each other and smiled knowingly.
“All right, Emeka, what were you doing in Shoprite?”
“The same thing others were doing – having a nice time.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be shopping in Shoprite? We can’t
seem to find your shopping bag. The same thing goes for
you, grandpa.”
“Like I said, I went there to have a nice time. I don’t go there
to shop.”
“What ‘nice time’ exactly did you have?”
“I wined and dined.”
“What do you do for a living, Emeka?”
“I am a musician.”
“What kind of music?”
“Hip-hop. I’m actually a rapper.”
“Do you have a stage name?”
“Yes.”
“What’s it?”
“Emeka.”
“You’re trying to be funny, aren’t you?”
“I’m rapper, not a comedian. You asked me a question and I
answered.”
“None. I’ve released just two singles.”
The abductor turned to his mates and asked, “Has either
one of you heard any song sung by an artiste called
Emeka?”
“Nope,” they answered, smiling, pretending to play along.
They evidently didn’t believe any word the young man was
saying.
“Why is it that none of us in this car has heard your song
before?”
“That’s because I’m an upcoming rapper. Someday, I will be
as famous as rapper M.I.”
The interrogator shook his head, “You are so full of lies,
Christopher.”
“I’m telling you, my name is not Christopher. My name is
Emeka.”
“Where are your parents, Emeka?”
The young man stared at the abductor whose gun was
posed directly at his chest. The abductor’s eyes were cold,
as if he was ready to pull the trigger at any slight
misjudgement by the young hostage.
“Where are your parents?” the question came again.
“My parents are dead,” Emeka replied grimly.
The man stared at him for a moment before he grinned
widely. “You are not a great liar after all.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are taking you to your father.”
The driver turned to face them and said, “We are about ten
minutes away from our destination.”
Then a truck suddenly appeared before them.
“Look out!” The passengers screamed as the approaching
truck gave a loud horn.
In a split-second, the driver turned the steering wheel
sharply, swerving the car off the tarred road to the sideway.
The car lost control and smashed hard into a giant pole.
The last thing Emeka saw before he lost consciousness was
the blood that covered the shattered windscreen.
**************************************
TBS.
