Tarasha - Season 1 - Episode 39

5 years ago

Tarasha - Season 1 - Episode 39

☆☆
**PRESENT**

Tarasha wiped her face with her handkerchief as
she relayed her story to him. Henry moved closer
and drew her body nearer to his. He engaged
her in a tight hug as tears dropped off his eyes
too.

‘You had such a bad past, I’m sorry for bringing back those memories’ he said as placed a hand on her back. ‘But God can help you forgot those memories and focus on the future’

Evelyn moved her head from his chest and
stared into his eyes angrily. She gradually
removed herself from his grip and got up in a
hurry.

‘I’m sorry, but I was just saying the truth.’ He stood up, watching as she put on her shoes
hurriedly. ‘Look, you can’t blame God for what
some evil men did’

She proceeded towards the door without paying
attention to him anymore. He followed after her
and held her bag to stop her. She turned to look
into his face.

‘I don’t know how you feel Evelyn, but I know
you must feel very bad’ Henry said in a calm
tone. ‘But God didn’t send those men to your
family’

‘Then why didn’t he save my family from them?’

Evelyn screamed as she dragged her bag from
him. ‘Why didn’t he save us from them?’
Henry stood speechless for a moment and
watched as she barged out of the house and
hurried away.

‘Let me drive you home’ he shouted and followed after her again when he regained himself. She has walked away into the darkness already.

8am, next morning
Jubril Lawal had just walked into his office with
his personal assistant when his phone began to
ring. His P.A handed the phone to him. The call
was from an international number.

Jubril settled into the swivel before answering
the call. ‘Hello’

‘Hello Mr. Jubril’ a mixed kind of accent was used to answer him. ‘How are you doing today sir?’

‘I’m fine. May I know who’s on the line ….’
‘Oh! Pardon me. I thought you were expecting
my call. I’m Alexander Amaechi, director, AA Ltd
Canada’ the voice came bolder.

‘Oh! Good morning Mr Alex’ Jubril spoke
cheerfully. ‘I wasn’t expecting the call so early’

‘Oh! I prefer to do it early if it’s business’ the
caller said a chuckle. ‘My daughter told me
about your discussion with her and I showed
interest in speaking with you directly, she gave
me your mobile number’

‘Yes, she told me that I should expect a call from you’

‘Good. I started a little research about you from
the day she told me about your company’ the
man continued in his baritone voice. ‘I’m a
Nigerian myself’ there was a pause.

‘But I was a little bit disturbed when she told me
about coming to Nigeria for the cotton business.
It’s not easy to do business with Nigerians
nowadays especially when it’s a Young person. I didn’t want her to fall into wrong hands’
‘I understand’ Jubril replied with a smile. ‘I had a little research about you too, I wanted to be sure of what I’m getting into’

‘Well… I believe you’re the right man. I’ll be
speaking to her from time to time. The monies
needed for any transaction would be transferred
from the AA account at any time’
‘Okay, you agreed to fund her deal’
‘No, the monies we’re dealing with is for her, she saved it up’

‘Oh! I see’
‘Yeah’
‘I must commend you. You really did a great job
in bringing her up, she’s a very focused young
lady’

‘Hmm, Thank you. I’m always very proud of her’

‘Good!’
‘Well, I’ll talk to you later ‘
‘It’s okay’ Jubril said and dropped his phone. He made a signal to his P.A who motioned forward.

‘Trace that number for me, find out who owns it.’

He handed the phone to the P.A.
The P.A gave him a puzzled look. ‘Find an expert
who can do that, I didn’t mean you should do it
yourself’ Chief Jubril fired at him.
‘Okay’ the P.A replied timidly after which Jubril
dismissed him with a wave of the hand.

………
8am
‘How far?’ Benny asked as Cole ended the call.
‘Good, went as planned’ Cole answered standing to his feet. ‘No true caller application can detect where and who the call was from’ he boasted as he walked towards the TV to switch it on.

‘I trust you but I don’t trust that voice disguiser,

I almost recognised your voice when we tested
it’ Benny said.

‘We tested it at a close range, it could
misbehave. But you still said my voice sounded
more like an older man’

‘True’
‘That’s enough for us, the man doesn’t know me before so he can’t even detect any resemblance to anyone’s voice.’ Cole returned to the sofa.

‘I believe so’ Benny gave a light smile. ‘Has the boss called you still?’

‘No, she hasn’t’ Cole answered with a frown. He picked his phone from the stool. ‘It’s strange of
her not to pick her calls, since yesterday
evening’

‘Hope everything is fine with her’
‘Sure, nothing can be wrong’ Cole sniffed as he dialed her number again. He stared at Benny.
‘It’s switched off now’

‘Switched off? I hope nothing has gone wrong’
Benny frowned.

‘I’m sure she’ll call us soon, don’t bother your mind.’ Cole concluded. He smacked his lips and rubbed his palms together as Aisha walked into the living room, he was expecting an
announcement about breakfast
Aisha stared at both of them curiously,
wondering why they stopped talking when she
appeared. ‘What are you guys hiding?’
Cole and Benny laughed in unison. ‘Hiding
what?’ Benny asked. ‘Please is breakfast ready?’

………..
9.15 am
Henry dialed Evelyn’s phone number for the
thirtieth time that morning, it was still switched
off. He rested his back into the office seat and
loosened his tie.

His mind had been unsettled since the last night
when she left his apartment. He had driven after
her in a bid to catch up with her on the street
and drive her home but she wasn’t found, she
just disappeared into thin air. He began to feel
guilty and wasn’t going to forgive himself if
anything happened to her.

He stared at his phone, confused about what to
do. He thought of going back to the hotel to ask
about her but he had only little information
about her. The only thing he knew was her first
name.

He got up and took off his suit jacket and hung it
on the rack by the wall after which he began to
pace around the office. The landline on his table
rang.

‘Hello.’ He answered the call.

‘Hello Mr Henry’ Sylvester’s voice came through.

‘I’m sending someone to you office right now, he has a job for us and I think only you can handle it well’

‘Okay… Send him in’ Henry replied after a brief moment of hesitation.
‘Right away’ the went off.

Henry put another call through to his secretary
after putting back on his jacket and knotting his
tie. ‘Hello, someone is coming from Mr Sylvester
now, please send him as soon as he gets there’
Someone pressed the bell two minutes later.
‘You may come in’ Henry answered.
A tall dark man in a black suit walked in smiling.
He looked like someone in his early forties. Henry
rose to greet him.

‘Good morning sir’ Henry stretched his hand to shake him.

‘Good morning Mr Henry, I’m Debo Ola’ the Man introduced himself as he took the handshake.

‘I’m pleased to meet you sir, please have your
seat’ Henry motioned him.
‘Thank you’ the man settled down.
‘Yeah, Mr Sylvester said you have a job for us’
‘Yes’ the man replied, pushing a paper forward on the table. ‘Here is it’
Henry picked it up to look at it. ‘This is a mobile
number. Canadian right?’
‘Yes, Canadian. It has the Canadian code but
we’re doubting the authenticity. That’s why I’ve come to you’ Debo replied.
‘What’s the reason for the doubt?’ Henry asked and began to scribble the number into a
notepad. ‘I mean it looks authentic to me’
‘It’s the number of one of our invisible business partners’ Debo explained. ‘We need to verify if we’re discussing with the right person or someone is just playing tricks with us’
Henry gave him a stern look. ‘But do you know
that this is illegal? You’re asking for confidential
details of someone which shouldn’t be released’

The man dipped his hand into his suit inner
pocket and brought out his ID card. ‘I’m a
private investigator approved by the
government’ he displayed the card to Henry.
‘Okay then, just a minute.’ Henry turned to his
computer after confirming the man’s identity.
After seven minutes, he turned back to the man.
‘The number is really Canadian but I’ve not been able to verify the owner’
‘Okay. But is it possible?’
‘Yes, it is. I only need to get data from the
network bearer in Canada. It may take us
sometime and cost us some money’
‘How long will it take?’ The man enquired.
‘Three days should be okay’ Henry replied with so much positivity. ‘As far as the authorities cooperate and provide us what we request for’

‘Okay, how much will it cost?’
‘Five hundred thousand naira should do’
‘Five hundred thousand?’ Debo looked surprised.

‘Yes’ Henry replied unperturbed. ‘We would be charged by any of their authorities we pass
through’

‘But it’s kind of much’
‘It’s okay’ The man said, dipping his hand into his bag. He brought out his cheque book and
began to write in it.

‘I should write it payable to who?’ The man asked after signing.

‘Ermm… I think Mr Sylvester would handle that’

‘Alright.’ Debo returned the cheque book and
pen into his bag.

‘Is there any other thing left?’ Henry asked.
‘Nothing, I only want to be assured that we’ll get the report in three days’

‘You will, I assure you’
‘Okay.’ Debo rose to his feet. ‘I have to go now’

‘Alright’ Henry rose too and shook hands with
the man again.

‘Thank you Mr Henry’
‘You’re welcome.’ With that Debo walked out of the office.

Henry sat back into his chair and stared at the
number on his notepad for a while. He wanted to
begin work on it but he felt restless. His
thoughts immediately drifted back to Evelyn.
Without much thinking again, he grabbed his
car key and proceeded out of the office.

…………
9.20am
A police Hyundai sonata parked right beside the
cameras security office. A young officer came
out of the car thirty seconds later and proceeded
to the gate. He met the security man in charge.
‘Good morning sir’ the young officer greeted.
‘Good morning officer’ the security man
answered.

‘I’m Officer Paul from Division A’ he said,
displaying his ID card. ‘I want to know if there’s any Henry working in this organization’

‘I’m sorry Inspector, I don’t have the right to
release such information’

The young officer laughed. He dipped his hand
into his pocket and brought out a card. ‘Why are
you hiding a criminal? We found his national ID
card in a crime scene yesterday’ he displayed
the card to him.

The security man opened his mind in shock.
‘Yes, we have one and that’s him. He’s inside’

‘No, we don’t want to arrest him now. We want to trace him to his accomplices’ the young
officer tucked in the card into his pocket. ‘What
kind of car does he use?’

‘He has different cars but he brought a blue
Honda accord today’

‘When does he close from work?’
‘Four O’clock’
‘Okay, here’s our number’ the officer handed a card to the security man. ‘Please call us anytime he’s leaving this premises’
‘No problem, I will’
‘We’re watching you, don’t try to aid his escape.’

The young officer warned with a crooked smile
before he turned and returned to the car. He
was satisfied that he could put fear in the older
man’s heart. He got into the back seat where Afo was also sitting down, dressed in the police
uniform also.

‘How did it go?’ Afo asked.

‘Fine, the man’s gonna call us. He says Henry
uses a blue Honda’

‘Did he notice anything about the fake national
identity card and was the picture correct?’
‘He couldn’t have noticed anything and the
picture is the right one. I sent it to Dare for
confirmation after I downloaded it from
Facebook’

‘Good’ Afo applauded after which he picked up his phone and dialed a number.
‘Hello… Has the girl come out of the hotel at all?’

……..
9.20am
Evelyn finally got up from the bed after what
seemed like the longest night she had had in
several years. She stood up and stretched, she
felt a little at peace than she did the last night.

The only thing that still kept the event still fresh
in her brain was a sharp headache she felt. She
clenched her teeth as she walked to the window
and opened the blind.

A strange anger against herself was welling up
as her head continued to bang. It was wrong for
her to feel headaches. It had been ten years ago
she had one, at least not one that made her feel
as terrible as this. She was sure that it was a
result of the emotional stress she went through
the last night. But how did the emotions return,
she thought they had died long ago?

She couldn’t describe what she felt when Henry
spoke with her. Her mind raced back to the
feeling she had when she stared into his eyes as
he narrated his story. She had tried to deny the
feeling before but she felt it again now as she
remembered the faint glow in his eyes.

She rebuked herself and turned away from the
window, she was not supposed to be thinking of
him, a total who was only going to be used in
the course of her operation. The only right thing
for her to think about was the operation.

She suddenly remembered her phone as she sat
back on the bed. She quickly looked for the bag
she went out with the last night and picked it
out. It was switched off.

‘D--n!’ She cursed. It was supposed to be
always on as she was expecting a call from Jubril
Lawal.

The first three messages that entered when the
phone came on were from MTN, her network
bearer. The fourth message was from Henry. She
closed her eyes and dropped the phone as she
saw his name. His face popped up in her mind
again.

Wait! Did she tell him the story of her family’s
massacre? How did he get her to do so?
She clenched her fists and opened her eyes, it
was bloodshot. Her phone call distracted her.
…