Heir Apparent: A Nigerian Story.

XXXII

Third Person POV.

"He looks familiar but I don't really know where I've seen him" Hafiz says staring at the man tied to a chair.

He was still unconscious.
"Yeah he does but where?" Suleiman asks.

"Did you find him with anything?" Amjad enquires.
"Just a flash drive"

Hafiz looks at me "Can I see it?"
Suleiman hands it over to him.
"What's on this?"

"How am I supposed to know?"
"It was in your house, was it not?" Amjad asks.

"Yes it was in my house but I don't use that study, Sadiya is the one who uses it. It's her stuff that's in there".

Amjad turns to Hafiz "Is it okay to keep him here in your shed? What if your wife sees him?"
"Raudah won't do anything I tell her not to. And she doesn't come in here, there are just wood and other pointless stuff. He's okay here"

Suleiman huffs when they lock the door. "Why are we keeping him in there though? Shouldn't we report him? To my dad?"

Hafiz shakes his head "No we can't, if anyone finds out Uncle Awwal has something to do with it, it will put him in a difficult situation".
"And it won't be a problem with us?"

He rests his hand on his shoulder "Suleiman, my brother you don't think outside the box. He tried to rob your house so you were only doing what you could to protect yourself and your wife".

"Why don't we all go home, we can meet up later. He'll probably be awake then" Hafiz suggests.
"Keep an eye on him" Amjad reminds him.

They were both thankful that Suleiman had forgotten about the flash drive, they know he'll eventually bring it up but before he does they'd have to see what's on it.

::

Raudah met Huda while she was taking a walk.
"Hudayya" she smiles. She really was excited to see her. She feels like she's the only person she has left and she was tired of pushing people away and then losing them, that had already happened with Najib and Masoud.

Huda smiles "You take walks too?"
She frowns "Oddly Hafiz has been home all day so I was feeling suffocated".

She nods "I get the gist"
"Bella would kill you if she heard you".

There was silence.
Najib was always the one quick to remind them when they did something contrary to their training although he was always the one who did it infront of her.

Since the death of Najib the two didn't meet to talk about it.
"Do you want to come by?" Raudah asks.

She nods.

They sat in the backyard, sipping their drinks and talking.
"I miss the way everything was back then and I regret everything too"

Huda raises her eyebrows questioningly "Regret?"

She nods "I was always the distant one, I was always trying to different, better than you all that I missed out on really having a legit family who sincerely cares about me".
"We all cared about you, it didn't matter how hard you shoved us aside".

"Really?"
Huda shakes her head laughing "Honestly, there were times Najib and I got really angry, we'd keep telling Masoud to just forget about you. It was difficult to see him always trying and doing his best but you never acknowledge him".

She nods "I regret those times too. And when I came here even when I tried to get close Firdausi always reminded me about it being a competition and how much I'd make my mother realize I was better than her".

Huda stares at her "Firdausi? Masoud told me not to trust Hasna back then, that someone probably sent her to spy on us and persuade us. Amjad warned me too".

Raudah nods "I only realized that when I caught her speaking to Muhibba in secret".
"Muhibba? Why?"

"I'm not—" A sound coming from the shed cuts her off.
"What was that?" Huda asks terrified.

Raudah stands on her feet "Hafiz told me not to go in because there are mice"

Sounds kept coming from inside the shed.
"That doesn't sound like mice" Huda concludes.

Raudah nods.
The windows were covered from the inside and the door was locked.

"What's in there?" Raudah asks before she sprints in.
She comes back later with a bunch of keys. "There's an extra one here"

After a while and she finally finds it and opens the door.
They turn on the lights and sneak in.

They gasp when they see a man tied to a chair.
"Wtf!" Raudah curses.

"Who is there?" The man asks, his face was covered with a hood.
"Should we see who it is?"

They just stare at each other for a while.
"Where is Hafiz?" Huda asks.
"He was taking a bath"

Raudah takes in a deep breath walks closer and takes off the hoodie.
"What are you—"

"—Raudah!" Hafiz's voice cut her off.

Turning around they find Suleiman, Hafiz and Amjad staring at them.
Huda looks at Amjad confusedly "What are you doing here?"

He stares at her shocked "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
"So you came to rescue him?" Suleiman asks with a smirk on his face "You want to release him before we question him?"

Both girls look at him confused and unimpressed "We heard sounds coming from the shed" Raudah looks at Hafiz "And they didn't sound like mice".

He huffs "Let's talk about this inside the house".
Huda looks at the man and then back at them "I thought he was missing? He's been with you all along?"

"You know him?" Amjad asks walking forward.

"Yes" both girls reply "He's Najib's right hand".

::