Chapter 6

After three matches, Gentrix was convinced that there was something off about tonight. Half an hour ago she had woken up with phlegm stuck in her throat which she rushed to the bathroom to spit out.

The sleep was long gone so she decided to play FIFA on her PlayStation 4 console. Of which she’s been losing to Madrid woefully. Ball possession was not in her favor. Not only had Madrid smashed her with four goals, but they had also taken a 65% ball possession.

Gentrix dropped her gamepad in frustration and groaned.

Just as she rested her head on both her palms, her phone came to life.

It was a specific alarm, different from her normal iPhone ringtone.

Jaden Smith’s “U” rang to life, and that tone was assigned to only one contact.

Only him.

Gentrix picked up the phone and stared at the screen.

3 NEW UNREAD MESSAGES.

She unlocked her iPhone to check who the message was from.

Him.

She tapped on the message head to reveal the messages.

I’M BEING FOLLOWED.

COME 2 ROYAL BOAT HOTEL.

BRING THE EVIL SPIRIT.

Gentrix dropped her phone, rushed to the bedroom, wore her slick leather jumpsuit and black Nike Airs, got the keys, and started for the door.

Outside her semi-detached home, Gentrix jogged to the car park where a Sienna, a Hilux, and a Honda Accord rested. She went for the Accord. The engine roared like a wounded yet aggressive lion. The automated gates opened and she guided the car out into the road.

Buckling up her seatbelts, she marched the throttle into the night.

Praying.

***

Lagos nightlife is always filled with beautiful lights emanating from houses, cars, skylines, and shops.

But this night was different.

She took the next turn at Adekunle Street and noticed a familiar figure and another slender figure hurrying down the sidewalk.

“Wale?” she called.

The familiar figure stopped on its tracks.

Wale recognized the car and knew instantly who was behind the wheel.

“Quick,” he told a panting Seven, “Get into the car.”

They both got into the vehicle.

“You saw my call, thank God.” Wale said as he took the passenger seat, fastening his seatbelt.

Gentrix wanted to tell him about the energy she was sensing but she waved it off. Wale was not going to listen anyway.

“We are being followed. Can you drive?”

“Where to? And who is this kid?”

“I’ll explain later. Step on it! They are right behi –”

Wale’s passenger’s mirror was blown off as bullets flew from the inconceivable darkness.

There was a blackout.

C4’s smile when the smoke came out of the gun’s nozzle.

“Shit.” Wale cussed as he put his head down. “Get down, boy!”

Seven’s head went on the seats with no questions asked.

Am I about to die?

“Drive, Trix. Drive!”

She stumped on the accelerator and the car sped out of the street, into the main road.

The Hilux followed calmly behind them with no further fire from them.

“Check, how many are they inside there?” Wale asked.

Gentrix studied the Hilux through her side mirror.

“Just two. Suited. How do you plan on stopping them?”

“No way. They either came to know David’s whereabouts.” Wale paused. “Or to kill me.”

The Hilux tailed them from Lagos Islands to the Mainland, ensuring that they never got a chance to outwit them.

Seven gathered the courage to sit upright. It was 10:02PM.

“Uhm, I don’t think they want to kill us.”

“Yeah. I’m sure they fired their GUN at us as a symbol of friendship.” Wale barked.

“No really.” Seven was sure. “If they wanted us dead, they would have gunned us down back then.”

“That’s not how it works, kid.” Wale gestured to Gentrix to take the next turn. “These people want David, and I don’t even have a clue where he is. When they find out I don’t have an idea of his whereabouts, they’ll dispose of me.”

Of us.

“Then we better take that chance, because I’m not about to die because of something I have no clue about. Please, slow down.”

“No, kid. Don’t talk. – Trix, take this sharp corner.”

Seven knew very well what could happen next, he has watched a lot of car chases and he knew what this meant. Their constant resistance is a nuisance to the unknown men who were assigned to kill them all. The stubborn relative to the David guy is determined to keep up the chase until the pursuers get tired or lose them in the process.

None of this was going to happen.

The Hilux disappeared into a corner and for the single moment, Wale and Trix were relieved that they had stopped tracking them.

“You see?” He could see Wale beam through the rearview mirror. “I told you they’ll lo –d”

Smashing into the driver’s side of the vehicle, the Hilux crashed into the Honda, making it spin twice till it left the road and hit the sidewalk.

They were on a lonely road.

“NO!” Wale watched Trix lie unconscious with her head on the steering.

Seven managed to swallow his panic. He became surprisingly calm. Enough to analyze the situation.

The moon beamed at them outside the car. The two men had stepped out and were approaching them. Their footfalls were thunderous on the lonely road. It was getting to 11:00PM and the neighborhood was as silent as death.

Which was the last thing on Seven’s mind. He was not going to get caught up in the doings of someone that caused him great harm.

“PLEASE DO NOT KILL US!!!”

The unknown voice’s desperate plea made C4 and C1 exchange looks.

“That sounds like a child. A girl.” C4 said aloud.

“It’s a boy. Didn’t you see them run the other time?”

“No, I’m talking about the person that drove the car.” Both men moved closer, opened the dented driver’s seat, and heaved Trix’s body out of the vehicle.

“She’s unconscious. So who was talking just now… was it you, Wale?”

Seven was at the backseat, using his mouth to muffle his breathing, protected by fallen shadows. But he saw Wale’s face.

He stared at the suited men without fear or terror. He was rather…

Pissed.

Apart from his shocking composure, Seven wondered why the men had not pulled out a gun.

C1 stretched a hand out to Wale. “We won’t kill you.”

“You tried to kill me; you lie.”

“See this man here,” C1 gestured to C4. He had tossed Trix into the back of the Hilux and adjusted his suit. “He’s never missed a target. Never. He deliberately missed that shot to destabilize you guys.

“Besides. Bringing you back to my boss isn’t something we enjoy, not since after that stunt you pulled. But rules are rules.”

Attempting an escape now would not only be futile but deadly, Wale thought less of that and more about facing his former associate with good reasons for his actions. He knew that the young boy was hiding behind the seats.

“Also,” C1 added. “Tell that kid to cooperate with us or he’s gonna have a concussion if he tries to make a run for it – who is he anyway?”

Leaving the kid behind was not part of the deal anymore.

“He’s a friend, nothing to do with any of this,” Wale said.

“Too late for any of that, Wale. You should have thought about that before you made him run with you, out of the hotel, down that street. Now even if he had no idea what any of this is all about, who would believe you?”

C1 has always been meticulous with his dealings which is why Olalekan always put him in charge of setting scores. Underneath that six-feet, 150 pounds of shredded muscles, were keen senses, quick reflexes, and an impressively high IQ.

C1 ordered his impulsively rash partner to hurl Wale into the car. He objected and walked instead.

“Bro, you’re not that invisible. We can see your entire body. Everywhere is bright.”

Seven had closed his eyes to shut out the blinding light forgetting that, the people behind the light could see him quite well. He felt stupid.

Quietly, he opened the car door, brought his feet out, stood, and gave the big guy a look.

“Please, get into the car. Nobody is going to hurt you. We’re only going to ask you a series of questions and once we’re done, we’ll let you go.”

Not a single bit convinced, Seven entered the Hilux. He found Wale staring at his damaged Honda.

At a time like this, he mused. Is that all he could think about?

***

Throughout the ride, Wale did not speak to Seven; he stared at a distance through the tinted window. C1 had attempted to make small talks to lighten the mood. As if he had not tried to kill them some minutes back; as if the girl was not inside the boot, gripped by the coldness of the vehicle.

They drove from the island, down Third Mainland Bridge to the suburbs of Ikorodu.

“I’d need you to put these on.”

C4 tossed them a pair of black blindfolds.

“We smashed your phone back in the hotel room. So don’t think anyone is going to look for you.”

Seven had forgotten his phone in the Hotel room.

He knew nobody was going to call him.

Seven wondered if there was a form of tracking device on Wale.

His shabby vintage shirt and his jeans did not look like they were meant to be used for fighting or running – or maybe they were. Wale looked like he was prepared to be on the run from these people for years.

One thing was certain to seven, these guys were not the government. The government is not as learned and as skilled as this. These people seemed to have undergone vigorous training; they knew what they were doing.

As the car climbed the bridge, Wale put his blindfolds on. Seven followed suit.

The Hilux entered the Estate that was overseeing a wide mass off land, half the size of a standard Stadium. There was a forest, a path that led to the sea, still undeveloped. The security men let the Hilux pass through the moment they spotted C1’s expressionless face, and they gave a salute.

Reeking of modernity and smartness, the Verizon Estate's main entrance stood powerful amidst trees, a water fountain at the front, every inch of the house down to the garden and the swimming pool was like a festival of lights at night. Just like other times, the entire art-piece breathes extravagance and simplicity. Automated everything.

C1 made the white monster crawl into the parking space directly in front of the mansion.

The entire estate was littered with guards. But it is not always like this. Most days, it is exceptionally quiet. Tonight seems to be of great importance.

“Where’s he?” The chief security officer asked one of the guards.

“He’s taking a swim at the pool, C1.”

“Get what’s in the car.”

Newly recruited Officer D3 was skeptical. With just three weeks into the job, he’s on the verge of proving himself. So he marched towards the car and saw the dreadful Officer C4 bring out two blindfolded captives.

“Get them to the Questionary,” C4 ordered grinning widely.

D3 wanted to tell him that it’s called the Interrogation Room but he refrained from getting his head shoved up his butt. Holding both prisoners firmly at their forearms, he guided both of them into the house.

C4 walked to the swimming area, stood at the edge of the pool, beside C1. They watched a figure float effortlessly on the water with the water running through the man’s hairy chest.

“Sir.” C1 cleared his throat.

Lana Del Rey’s soothing voice played faintly from the speakers that were placed in a distance.

The floating figure turned to the direction of the voice.

“What’s the report?” The figure asked.

“We found him. He’s in the room as we speak.”

On hearing this while he left the pool to dry off, he smiled.

“Very good.”

“But, we brought his accomplices.”

Drying his hair with a towel. “Was that necessary? Why didn’t you kill them?”

C1 produced a piece of paper from his suit. “You said,” He dictated. “Capture him alive, we need him and all his belongings intact to trace that douchebag.”

“When he sensed our presence, he tried to make a run for it with this a kid. He tried to protect the kid. The other person is a girl he must have contacted. So we decided to bring them –“

“You’ve done well.”

Usually, there would be a little cuss and tantrums thrown at C1 for making such personalized decisions. None were coming this time.

“Sir?” C1 watched his boss quietly wear his robe and handled his glass of champagne.

Oladele Olalekan turned to face his two best men with a sense of momentary glory tickling his bowels.

“I trust your judgment. I’ll take it from here. Great job, you two.”

Watching his boss waltz away from the pool area, he couldn’t help but feel deeply interested in this his boss’ particular deal which made the man super calm.

I’ll find out what it is.