Read An Evening With Eva (Story) Episode 13

Episode 13

Ahmed stayed up in his yoga posture for
about 50 minutes. He sat deep in thought and
seriously meditating. He thought about the
trend of events that had happened to him
lately. He had been hospitalized, there was the
death of his protégé Agent Mercy, there was
the attack and theft at the office, and now his
dogs had been killed. The first conclusion that
came to him was that the incidences were
related, most probably carried out by the same
group of people. He marveled at the organized
way in which the actions were perpetrated.

What did his dogs do to deserve their fate? He
decided it was time for action. No more lying
down and taking hits. He needed to be a step
closer. He opened his eyes. His usually white
clear eyes were now red and blood shot. He
was angry. Very angry. He got up and went
into his room. He searched his drawer and got
out a torch and a plier. He took them with
him to the front of his compound where his
electricity meter was connected. He pulled
down the lever on the meter to shut out the
current. All electricity in his compound went
off. With his torch, he carefully traced the
cables that supplied current from the meter
into the main house. He found them and cut
them with the plier. He turned the lever on the
meter back on. The security lights around his
compound came on. His house was dark. He
had a feeling that whoever had been causing
him all this trouble somehow had access to
his home.

With his torch switched on, he found his way
to his bed, sitting at the edge. He looked
round his room, pointing his torch at every
corner, and studying every nook and cranny
for anything suspicious. When he was
satisfied, he picked his phone and dialed the
number of the only person he trusted; his
uncle, Retired Colonel Giwa Haruna.

Colonel Giwa Haruna was the younger brother
to Ahmed’s father. He took care of Ahmed
when he lost his father at age 4. He took care
of Ahmed up until military school. They had
only seen each other twice in the past three
years. The Colonel was the complete detective
during his active days. Complete in every
sense of the word. He was physically well
built. He was 6ft.5inches tall, had broad
shoulders, bulging muscles, and a handsome
face. He was vast in English, Igbo and Yoruba.

He also spoke French and German at an above
average level. He was the smartest man on
the force. His ability to decipher codes,
retrieve destroyed evidence, and sift clues from
debris made him the most respected agent in
the field. He had a reputation for hard work
and never left any stone unturned in his bid to
solve a case. He was famous for his famous
bust of the Marine Mafia and Drug Cartel
which had been terrorizing and killing police
officers for over 8 years. He went undercover
and infiltrated the Cartel. He was put to
various tests. He faked the deaths of police
officers and transportation of guns and hard
drugs to rise to the level of Trusted Knight.

There were only two people who had this
position and they protected the King of the
cartel. For years no one heard about the
Colonel until one day he brought the Cartel to
the cleaners. He single handedly destroyed the
organization.

He retired seven months after the operation at
the age of 45. No one knew what he looked
like after undergoing facial reconstruction. He
had many dark organizations on his tail. He
retired into a deep village in Ibadan and had
been living peacefully since.

He had made many enemies. He had to cool
off. Two years had passed without incidence.

Only six people had his number. The person
calling him had to be family. The Colonel
picked Ahmed’s call at the second ring.

“Hello.” A hoarse voice spoke from the
background
“Uncle, it’s me.” Ahmed replied.

“Son! It’s been a while. How are you?” The
colonel asked

“Hello Uncle. There is something going on I do
not understand.” Ahmed replied.

“What is the matter son? You sound very
worried.” The colonel replied.

Ahmed could visualize the frown on the
colonel’s face as he spoke the words.

“Uncle, you know that I only call you when
situations are out of hand. I am sure you can
vouch for me that there is hardly a situation I
cannot handle. However, this is beyond me.

Believe me when I say you would be very
interested.” Ahmed replied.

There was a pause at the other end of the line.

“Hmmm. You have my attention. What do you
need?” The Colonel said.

“I need your help Uncle. I know you are retired
but this is beyond me. And I think it started
when you were in office.” Ahmed said
“What started? How do you need my help?

Come out with it son.” The colonel said
hurriedly and impatiently.

“Uncle, we need to talk about this. Face to
face. I can be at the villa in 3hours.” Ahmed
said.

“No. Don’t come. I will. I haven’t been out of this place in three weeks. I need the journey.

I will be with you in two hours son.” The Colonel replied.

“Thank you Uncle. Please be careful.” Ahmed
said.

“I may be retired son, but I am still an agent.

Old soldier never die!”

They both laughed at his joke. After
exchanging pleasantries and asking about
loved ones, the colonel was about to hang up
when Ahmed said

“One more thing Uncle. Mercy is dead.”

He could feel the tension. He imagined his
Uncle’s stony face all soft at hearing the
news. Ahmed had never seen him shed a tear.

He always held it back. After a few seconds,
the Colonel replied:

“I will see you in 2 hours son.”

He hung up.

Directly to the right of Ahmed’s compound,
there was a brown painted bungalow which
had just recently been completed. Bruno and
Marshal sat opposite each other in the living
room by the door, with a wooden table in
between them. There were earphones in
Bruno’s ears. He was listening in on the
phone call Ahmed was making. There were
various boxes scattered on the floor, some
were open while the rest were locked. The only
other piece of furniture was a huge mattress
which was placed on the ground in the middle
of the room. Marshal was cleaning his gun
and settling it into a briefcase. He left Bruno
on the chair and carried a small gallon
containing the remaining goat blood he had
used to write the inscriptions on the huge
white papers. He poured the contents in the
toilet, flushed and covered the gallon. He
dropped it on the floor and resumed his
position opposite Bruno, awaiting his orders.

A few days earlier, Detective Ahmed was in his
office trying to decipher the status of Agent
Mercy, when Bruno and Marshal entered his
compound. They had gotten a copy of his keys
and entered the house with ease. Bruno
marked the spots while Marshal planted the
bugs. Tiny powerful micro cameras, which
were the size of a Coke bottle cork. They were
designed lemon green, the same color with
which the rooms were painted. There were two
in his bedroom, four in his sitting room, and
one each in his bathroom, toilet, kitchen and
store. After assessing the work and confirming
the stealth settings, they exited his house. It
did not take 20 minutes.

The Ghosts Corporation had previously bought and renovated the bungalow beside the detective’s compound.

They were only waiting for the right time to move in.

Bruno brought out the keys and entered the
bungalow, with Marshal following just behind.

There was just a bed and a table with two
chairs. That was all they would need. They set
up the devices and Bruno left Marshal in the
bungalow. Marshal was to watch Ahmed for
two days before they made their move. He
could take care of himself.

At 6pm on the night of the scare, Bruno took
a taxi into the detective’s estate while Ahmed
was at work. He brought the guns and the
blood that would be used for the job. Marshal
woke up when the door opened and went
immediately back to sleep when he saw it was
Bruno.

10pm.

Bruno woke Marshal. Marshal carried his
heavy frame out of the bed and sat on the free
chair opposite Bruno. Bruno had already set
up the small palm top screen which had four
different views. The bedroom, sitting room,
bathroom and toilet. They went over how the
operation was to be done for the third time,
covering all possibilities and loop holes.

Bruno gave Marshal the artillery, while he took
the huge white paper and spread it on the
floor. He scribbled a message on three of the
papers.

At 12:17am they played cards over a light
bottle of Vodka. Bruno was letting Marshal
win the games and the bets were getting
heavy. That was his strategy. Marshal always
performed excellently when he was in a
fantastic mood. Bruno increased the bet to
5000 naira per game. Bruno lost the next four
games. Deliberately. Marshal did not suspect
a thing. All the while they were watching
Ahmed sleep in the palm top monitor on the
table.

At 3am, Marshal made his move. He sneaked
to the front of Ahmed’s gate and watched for
any movement within the premises. There was
nothing. He threw his knapsack over the gate
into the compound and jumped over the short
gate. Gun in hand he moved slowly and
stealthily towards the front door. He got to
the door, kept his gun inside his belt and
entered with his spare key, shutting the door
behind him noiselessly. He checked the
countdown timer on his left wrist. He had four
minutes and fifteen seconds more. He was
already behind schedule. He opened his bag in
the sitting room and pulled out one of the
huge papers. There was a small white earpiece
hanging in his ear. Bruno was watching him
from the bungalow and directing him. He was
done in 90 seconds, hanging the two papers
in the sitting room. The tricky part was the
bedroom where Ahmed was lying down,
asleep. Bruno had watched him for close to an
hour. He decided that they could enter.

Marshal tip toed into the bedroom and opened
the door slightly, just enough for him to
sq££ze through. As he was about to go in,
Bruno spoke into his ears

“Hold on. Don’t go in yet. He is stirring.”

Ahmed turned in his bed and changed his
position. He was now sleeping with his back
to the door. After 26 seconds, Bruno said,
“Go in now. And please, hurry!”

Marshal entered the room and pasted the
white paper with the inscription on the door.

He was done in less than 20 seconds. He
didn’t bother to lock the bedroom door behind
him. He checked his wrist. 1min 59ecs left. He
picked his knapsack and zipped it as he
walked out of the sitting room. He closed the
door shut and was locking the door when he
heard the wicked snarls of two huge
Rottweilers. He was taken aback. He left the
door and backed up on it as the bigger of the
two dogs came towards it. They were angry
and snarling, saliva dripping from their
mouths.

“I have a situation here Bruno. Two dogs.

What do I do?” Marshal said through clenched
teeth. His hand was going to his gun.

“I can see. Take them out. Use your silencer…”

Bruno was saying but did not finish.

Marshal was trying to locate his silencer from
the knapsack when the huge dog came at him.

He turned just in time and shot the dog
squarely in the face. There was a loud bang. It
fell to the ground. The other dog began to
bark as loud as it could. Marshal had gotten
his silencer now. He shot the second dog.

There was no sound.

“Shiiiittt! He is awake. Get out of there,
now!!!!” Bruno said.

Marshal ran to the gate and escaped just in
time. He took a back entrance to the
bungalow and sat on the bed panting. His
hands were bleeding. He went to the
bathroom, washed off the blood and came to
sit with Bruno. Bruno looked at him and
nodded. Marshal nodded back. They both sat
down to watch as Ahmed paced, sat beside
his dogs and after a long time went to his
room. They saw him get some items from his
drawer and go to his electric meter.

A few seconds later, they could not see anything anymore.

The screen went blank.

Bruno was pissed.

“Shiitt!!!” He cursed.

He buried his heads in his hands. Suddenly an
idea occurred to him.

He brought out a small device, turned it on
and adjusted a knob by the side. After a while
he got the correct frequency and smiled.

Voices came on from the device. One of the
voices was Ahmed’s. He was making a call.

He quickly called Tawo.

“Hello” Tawo answered with a very alert voice.

Music was playing softly in the background.

“Trace Ahmed’s call. It’s a code 11” Bruno said.

Bruno, Marshal and Tawo listened to Ahmed’s
conversation with the Colonel till the very end.