Shades of Romance
Episode 36
Yea I know Jenifer’s abduction looks like an exaggeration to boost up the story. In fact to me it equally sounded very strange and unbelievable when i got the news as well. Now let’s go back to how it all happened.
On that fateful day, i left my house by 6:00am in order to supervise a delivery which arrived very late the previous night in one of my gas stations. However i first headed to Joe’s house with the intention of picking him up to accompany me, because i was still scared of the unknown.
But as Joe got into my car on getting to his house, i got a very shocking phone call from a friendly neighbour.
“Oga Emeka i saw you drive out minutes ago, please stay low where ever you are. Some hoodlums just got to your compound five minutes ago and they are shooting sporadically. Please stay away. I’m seeing everything from my house” he informed me nervously while i gasped. My mind instantly ran to Jenifer.
“oh God” i breathed.
“please can you see their car, please i need more information” i begged desperately.
“yea they came with a red tinted Camry car. I don’t know how many of them are in the car or in your compound” he answered.
“s–t” i screamed, hung up and dialled D.S.P Maku’s phone number, equally reversing my car at the same time as if i was James Bond, while Joe stared at me curiously.
I told officer Maku of the latest development, and he assured me that his men will be at my house within minutes. I hung up and drove furiously, heading to my house as if i had nine lives.
“where are we going?, not your house of course” Joe asked with fear after listening to my conversation with Maku.
“yes and don’t try to stop me” i replied seriously.
“this is madness, you aren’t thinking straight. Your house is the last place you should be right now” he begged, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. My mind was only on Jenifer’s safety.
However as we got to the junction leading to my street. I got another phone call from one of the guys guarding my house.
“madam oo, madam oo. They took madam” he cried over the Phone, confirming my fears.
Just instantly, a red tinted Camry which fitted the description of the hoodlums car, came up at the junction and headed towards the opposite direction with eye catching speed. I quickly followed them without any care for my safety, though i kept a safe distance behind. The light morning traffic equally worsened the situation by giving the hoodlums enough space to speed dangerously.
In no time we got to Delta/Onitsha highway, without encountering a single police check point.
“i don’t understand what you are trying to do” Joe protested seriously.
“we have a good chance of finding their hideout and solving all these mysteries once and for all by following them. This is the time to prove yourself to me” i grinned coldly.
“we also have a good chance of losing our lives in the process. This is madness” he lamented bitterly. I scoffed and drove on without another word.
The speeding Camry definitely held the answers i badly needed. I couldn’t afford losing it. A very risky decision.
Episode 37
It really was a very scary adventure with high risk of ending badly. I threw caution to the wind and followed the kidnappers, ignoring pleas from Joe to stop and make a better plan.
The red Camry soon got to a junction some kilometers into Asaba and took a sharp turn, heading right with great speed. I followed without care, increasing my speed a bit and trying hard not to lose the escaping car which really was driven by a very skilled driver.
“my problem with you is that you find it hard to take any advice from me. How do you think we will follow them all the way from Benin without being noticed??. We are heading to an unknown territory. They might be leading us to a trap” Joe protested desperately, but i still was unmoved by his cries.
Unfortunately, he was right. I failed to realise that just as i was good with following the speeding Camry without much stress, the occupants of the car equally weren’t foolish not to notice a car following them all the way from Benin city.
In a couple of minutes we got to a very lonely road typical of most Nigerian villages. The Camry increased its speed forcing me to increase mine, but it was a very silly mistake that almost cost me everything.
Not being familiar with road, i failed to notice a sharp bend and bump ahead, which forced me to step on my brakes as i almost lost control of my car on getting to the spot with full speed.
Just that same moment, I saw the red Camry, turn and head towards us. I had no time to control my car, stop, reverse and flea. All i did was gasp desperately as the Camry car closed in on us.
The lonely road was very clear and empty, a very good place to commit a crime without being undetected.
I saw death before my very eyes.
“oh noooo” Joe screamed, opened the door by his side and dived into the nearby bush, surprisingly leaving me to my fate. I nervously tried to do a skillful maneuver but it yielded no positive result.
The Camry, quickly blocked me while its occupants jumped out with guns ready to shoot.
“get out” three voices screamed at me. I quickly switched off my car, climbed out and surrendered by raising up my hands, my heart pounding furiously.
“Welcome to your death, foolish man” one of the thugs said to me. I instantly felt hot water run down my trouser. I never knew when i urinated on myself.
Joe was nowhere to save my a-s. Of course he warned me and by the look of things wasn’t ready to die with a foolish man like me.
Episode 38
I was expertly sent on my knees by a nasty kick from the thug who earlier called me a fool. I shivered and looked on, so scared to even breathe. It just looked as if i was facing a firing squad.
Another thug quickly came forward with something which looked like a perfume, spit on me and sprayed the chemical over my face. I quickly became unconscious, waking hours later to find myself inside a large room built with mud….
The mud house was exactly like the type seen in old native films or in some villages yet to move on with development. However it had good ventilation and cracks through which sunlight came in, making the place less scary. But the surprising part of it all was seeing Jenifer, Chief Manuel and Tony inside the same room as i slowly opened my eyes.
It all looked like a dream, i couldn’t believe myself.
“thank God you are awake” Jenifer murmured with excitement and quickly helped me sit up. I stared at Chief Manuel and Tony who sat together at the far end of the room as if they were ghosts
“how many of us are in this room?” i weakly asked Jenifer. She nervously smiled, throwing a look at them.
“your kidnapped uncle, Tony and I are in here with you” she answered softly. I quickly broke free from her, headed to the locked door and tried to break it with the little strength i had left.
“that’s a very silly thing to do. We are in the heart of a forest, probably near a creek. Don’t try using up your last strength, believe me you will need it. A guy is also outside watching us, he won’t hesitate sending you back to sleep with their nasty chemical. Better relax” Chief Manuel said to me, chilling my heart with the painful revelation. I swallowed hard, turned and stared at Jenifer who nodded with tears.
I threw another look at Tony, not knowing what to make of the things happening to all of us. I truly was astonished seeing him held in the same room, but couldn’t say anything to him since he felt like ignoring me.
I drew close and hugged Jenifer.
Have you ever been in a life threatening situation with the people you care about?. If yes, then you surely will understand how i felt that moment.
Who the hell kidnapped all of us???
Episode 39
“don’t tell me you won’t speak to Tony even in this situation” Jenifer asked me with a smile, desperately trying to make peace between us.
I breathed deeply, forced out a smile and stared at Tony who quickly looked away.
“seriously i’m amazed to see you right here. I thought you were the guy plotting everything?” i asked him curiously. Chief Manuel scoffed and shook his head while Tony ignored me by saying nothing.
“Since you are not the person behind this drama, who then could it be??, moreover how did you get here. I thought only Chief Manuel was kidnapped?” i asked him curiously.
“just shut up and keep quiet. I don’t have your time” he finally responded coldly.
“Tony was brought in here hours before you guys came in. So save your breathe young man. I eat only once in a day and i don’t know if your own fate will be worst. Mind you they are not holding us for ransom. Something big is going down” Chief Manuel advised seriously. I swallowed hard and gently sat on the floor, extremely scared and nervous.
“do you think they are going to kill us?” i asked fearfully.
“I think so, since we weren’t kidnapped for ransom. Moreover the guy watching us doesn’t bother to hide his identity or cover his face” the chief answered weakly.
“i have been here for many days and i can tell you it’s terrible. I haven’t poured water on my body since i got here. To urinate, you have to shout and shout until the silly boy outside decides to open the door” he concluded sadly.
“this is ridiculous, we have to do something, we can’t just sit and wait for death. After all we aren’t tied” i said desperately.
“do you think our captors are silly to leave us untied?. We are in the middle of nowhere, surrendered by forest and swamps” Tony cut in a raised tone.
“I admire your courage, but i’m too weak to join in such adventure. I have already said my last prayers” Chief Manuel added with resignation, while tears freely fell from Jenifer’s eyes.
“we are all dying together” she cried sorrowfully, and of course she was very right. We all might be dying together but i was certain of one thing.
I knew the person behind the whole drama would reveal himself before executing us….
Episode 40
Nightfall slowly approached, drawing more fear into my heart as darkness gradually filled up everywhere. We all sat on the bare floor, so tired, hungry and hopeless. We weren’t given even a cup of water all through that fateful day.
“i think the end has come. They failed bringing even a cup of water for me” Chief Manuel said to himself, while i caressed Jenifer’s hand with tension.
But before darkness could totally cover up the whole room, our prison door opened, revealing the man behind everything to us. His name was Chuk Noris.
We all gasped with shock on seeing him. He no other person but a member of our community, though not related to any of us but well known.. He was a very popular rascal who terrorized our community some years back when i was still a student, but was among the group of men who left the country with Tony to hustle abroad. Unfortunately things didn’t go well for him over there and nobody heard from him again till that very moment we saw him walk into the room.
We never for a moment suspected he was back in the country, moreover he failed to show up at his father’s burial late last year. His father was my late dad’s friend and died after struggling to manage diabetics which ate up one of his legs. He died after unsuccessfully struggling to raise money for surgery. It really was a painful and long story.
Chief Manuel was the first to jump up with fear on seeing him. The look on his face clearly showed that they had some unresolved issues, likewise Tony who froze with fear on seeing him. But what i couldn’t figure out was my business with him that warranted kidnapping Jenifer. We weren’t age mates, nor friends, neither did we do any business together.
“chuck Norris, what’s the meaning of this?” Chief Manuel asked with fear.
“relax, we have enough time. You will all hear your sins. My sojourn in Europe taught me a lot. It taught me never to fail getting back on anyone that hurt me. This is a revenge mission. Relax” he smiled coldly and licked his lips…….
Chuck really had a bad heart, there wasn’t any doubt he was going to kill us but i just couldn’t wait to ask what i did to him nor allow him to hurt Jenifer without a fight.
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