11. 08 am

Henry drove quietly, in a solemn manner, listening to

songs from the new alb.u.m of veteran artiste, Asa. Her

genre of music was the perfect one for his mood right

now.

He had not remained himself since the day of the event.

Several things had played down his memory in the last

two days; including the pictures of the a.s.sa.s.sin and how

he walked up to Jubril Lawal and murdered the man. But

the strongest of the pictures were of Evelyn's face. He

kept seeing her in everything he did, even when he closed

his eyes.

He tried to figure out what really happened between

them, the pa.s.sion he felt when she placed her head

against his chest and when they kissed. Was it love or just

l.u.s.t was feeling? Maybe both. At the point they kissed, he

had the l.u.s.t for her whole body, he could already see her

wrapped around himself, both of them unclad, he

squeezing her b.o.o.bs in his hands. No, it had to stop if it

was l.u.s.t, he had determined in his heart, knowing that

nothing borne out of l.u.s.t would last. But he also felt

something more in his heart, in his spirit. The desire to

see her well even if he couldn't have her body, the desire

to see her happy. There was something in her eyes when

he stared into it, something that showed him that she

wasn't happy although she always performed well in her

bid to hide it.

Where she was now, he had no idea. Her line had been

switched off since the last time he tried it, so all his

attempts to track it were futile. He also tried again to get

the customer's information of her sim by hacking into

the database of the network provider but there was still

no information there. It had either been deleted or the

information never existed. He couldn't conclude yet.

Oh! And the Canadian number he was supposed to

investigate. He finally concluded the investigation, though

the client was no longer interested nor did was there any

call to ask for it. The Canadian number was cloned, it had

not even been issued out to any customer by the

network provider in Canada. Henry found out that the

user was in Africa because on tracking the last

conversations restored from the backup of the network

provider of his client's line, he could deduce the

maximum possible distance of the Canadian number,

which was a distance within Africa.

All these discoveries were confirming Henry's fear but he

still refused to admit it. Evelyn claimed to be from

Canada and was doing business with the late Jubril Lawal,

it must have definitely been her number the man was

investigating. Or how else could he explain that Evelyn

only began to insist that he followed her to the party

after she saw the number in his jotter? And what else was

the explanation for her unregistered and now

unreachable Nigerian line? It meant she must have

destroyed the line since her mission had ended.

But with all these proofs, Henry still choose to believe

that he was mistaken, he didn't want to see her that way.

He couldn't get himself to think of her as a criminal. To

him, she was someone who was in need of great help and

he believed he could give her that help.

He remembered her outburst the first time he called the

name "G.o.d" and attributed G.o.d to be a loving person

while conversing with her . The pain he saw in her eyes

that day was too much for a young woman like her to

bear. She needed someone to show her love; real love

and not one of s.e.xual attraction.

Then he recalled her sharing the story of her family's

death with him. Going through such an horrible

experience would most definitely affect one's future and

even control it if one finds no help.

She needed help, she needed love. That was all Henry

could think, regardless of every other thing he had found

out about her.

Henry finally got to his destination by twenty minutes

past eleven. The security men searched his car before

allowing him to pa.s.s in through the huge gates of Elymax

hotel.

++++

The cabman zoomed off immediately after the new

pa.s.senger entered. He cleared his throat and continued

his conversation with Dakolo. 'So what kind of company

do you work in? What's the name?' He asked, looking into

the top mirror.

'Hmm…' Dakolo paused and licked his lips as he thought

of the best answer to give the man. 'I'm a contractor who

works per time for different companies, one of the firms

I partner with has this urgent big building project here.

That's why I had to rush down'

'Oh! Building contractor?' The cab asked to affirm.

'Yes' Dakolo answered.

'Cool…' The man said with a short laugh. 'When I was

young I wanted to be a civil engineer but there was no

money to further my studies after college, so I had to go

through vocational training'

'Oh! And what vocation were you trained for?' Dakolo

asked.

'Carpentry' the man answered with a smile. 'I'm a

carpenter'

'Nice, but are you practising it?'

'I was, I had to stop for some reasons. But I'm planning

to go back to it once I raise enough money for capital'

'Better, carpentry is a lucrative job. Do you make

furnitures or you do roofing?'

'I do both and I'm very good at it'

'Wonderful, maybe I could even get you some jobs when

you start'

'Really?'

'Sure, I can. But you'll have to prove first that you're

really good at it'

'Oh! That's not a problem. Thank you sir, I'll make sure I

get your telephone number before I drop you off'

'Okay' Dakolo said. There was silence for some seconds.

'What did you say sir?' The cab man suddenly put in.

'I only said okay' Dakolo quickly answered.

'Oh! Not you sir' the cab man quickly corrected. He was

facing the new pa.s.senger seated with him at the front.

'Me?' Jefa asked with a surprised tone.

'Yes, I thought you were saying something to me' the cab

man replied.

'No no' Jefa denied strongly.

'Okay. But hope there's no problem sir. I noticed your

mood since you entered' the cab man spoke in a low

voice.

'Nothing, I was just thinking about a small issue'

'Well, okay' the cabman shrugged.

++++

'Good morning miss' Henry greeted as he approached

the reception.

'Good morning, you're welcome to Elymax hotels. What

can I do for you?'

'I'm Henry George, from the NSCC' Henry displayed his

ID card.

'Nigeria security cameras corporation' the lady read

aloud.

'Yes'

'Okay, what may I do for you?'

'We're investigating a particular case and I need

information about one of your guests. I don't know if

she's still here'

'Humm… I think I have to refer you to someone else. I

can't handle your request'

'Alright, please do that quickly' Henry replied and paused.

He turned to stare around the place while the lady was

making a call with the landline.

'Please come with me' the lady dropped the call and

walked out from behind the wall. She led him towards a

corridor in the right direction.

They got to an office after walking a few metres and

Henry was ushered in. A middle aged man on a black suit

was seated in the office. The receptionist introduced

Henry and left.

'May I see your ID card again?' The man asked after

offering Henry a seat.

'Here' Henry took it out to show him.

'So who's this guest you're investigating and what's her

crime really?'

'No, she has not been accused or found guilty of any

crime yet' Henry corrected quickly. 'We only need to get

some of her personal details'

'So you want to meet her and talk to her?' The man

raised a brow. 'We do respect the privacy of our guests

here and we won't like to give out any information

without proper verification of who needs it'

'I don't understand'

'You've not showed us any licence yet or letter that

proves that the NSCC sent you to get this information'

the man explained further.

'Oh! I can get one now' Henry said, bringing out his

phone. 'Via email' he added. He dialed Sylvester's

number.

'Wait, we can help you meet with the person if you want

to'

Henry cut the call first. 'I doubt if she's still in your hotel'

'Let's find out, what's her name?'

'Evelyn… Evelyn Alexander'

'Okay' the man began to type into his computer system

while Henry continued with his call.

'h.e.l.lo sir, could you please forward a permit for Elymax

to my mailbox now? I need it in urgently' Henry said into

the phone. He inhaled lightly after getting a positive

response and ended the call.

'Evelyn Alexander was here truly, she paid for three

weeks' the man began. 'But she has been gone for days

without any word to us, we tried contacting her through

our customer's service but the number she dropped was

unreachable'

'Exactly… That's why I need you to give me every

information she supplied to your hotel'

'Have you gotten the permit?'

++++

11.47am

The forty minutes journey finally came to an end as they

drove into Elymax hotels. The cab man, being someone

who knew his way around the hotel needed no security

man to direct him to the right place to park. He quickly

located the best available s.p.a.ce and drove his car there.

'Here is my card sir' The cab man handed over his card

to Dakolo after he turned off the car engine. 'You can

reach me if you need to cab to take you around town'

'Sure' Dakolo collected it cheerfully. 'And make sure you

do contact me with the number I gave you'

'I will' the cab man replied, counting the Naira notes

given to him by Jefa. 'It's complete' he said to dismiss

Jefa and stepped out of the car afterwards. He walked to

the back to open the boot. Jefa stepped out too and

stared around the big building, not knowing the next

place to go, he stood still.

Dakolo also stepped out and walked to the booth. The

cab man handed over his small luggage to Dakolo and

returned to his car after exchanging some few more

words with him.

Dakolo turned and stared at the big hotel building where

he was going to stay until the next day evening when he's

officially welcomed. He took two steps away from the

cab as he heard the sound of the car's ignition. He turned

around to look at his surroundings and then he saw a

familiar face.

'You…' He mumbled with a smile as he huried towards

the young man trying to enter his car. Henry looked up.

'Henry George' Dakolo finally remembered the name.

'Oh! Special agent…' Henry tapped his nose continuously

with a finger as he struggled to remember the name.

'Agent Dakolo' Dakolo quickly put in.

'Wow!' Henry closed back the car door and walked

towards Dakolo, full of smiles. 'It's nice to see you again'

Henry said as they shook hands warmly.

'Yeah, after so many years. How have you been?'

'Fine sir, how about you?'

'I'm fine.' Dakolo said and stared warmly into his eyes.

'Thank you for making me proud of you. My joy knew no

bounds when I saw the news of your exploits on the TV

and in the newspapers'

'Thank you sir' Henry smiled.

'Thank G.o.d you didn't allow that tragic occurrence affect

your life. See what you've made of yourself now'

'Thank you sir' Henry's face continued to beam with

smiles. 'Well, I had to let that go and focus on my future.

You see, bad people get their rewards, even if it comes

late'

'Yes, you're right. Just look at the way he and his father

died, both on the same day. What a sorry life! '

'Yea, although I heard the father was a generous man

before his death and did many charity works " Henry put

in.

'No matter the quant.i.ty of pure water added to dirty

water, it can never make the dirty water pure. In his own

case, the quant.i.ty of dirty water far exceeds the pure. The

man already had so much blood in his hands. We

couldn't just get him because he was clever enough to

eliminate all possible proofs'

'Hmm… Well, what brings you here?' Henry asked.

'My job' Dakolo smiled. 'I was transferred here to handle

some cases.' He glanced at his wrist.w.a.tch.

'But why did you have to take a cab? Was there no

provision to come pick you?'

'There should be' Dakolo said. 'I was actually supposed to

arrive tomorrow but I had to come today for some

reasons'

'Okay, so what state were you transferred from?'

'Rivers state'

'Oh! Well…' Henry was cut short abruptly by the sight of

someone walking by, the person paused and faced

Henry. Dakolo turned to see the person at his back. It was

the same man who was in the cab with him.

'I gotta go now' Dakolo said, handing a card to Henry.

'Please give me a call tonight' Dakolo said before walking

away.

'Alright sir' Henry dipped the card into his pocket and

turned up to faced Jefa. He walked slowly towards Jefa

who stood still with a kind of timid look. 'You again'

Henry said, recalling him as the man from the police

interrogation and the one Evelyn was facing in the

Catholic Church premises.

'I…' Jefa stuttered for a while. 'I have come to see my

sister'

'Your sister?' Henry asked in uttermost disbelief.

'Yes, that lady is my sister' Jefa said shakily.