I have tried her number severally but it is out
of reach. Please, may I speak with her now?’
It was Ife’s turn to wonder why Iman wore such
a frightened expression.
‘She isn’t around at the moment but I’ll tell her
you called’ she replied.
‘Thanks. Tell her Mrs. Arinze called’ the woman
broke the call.
‘Ife…’ Iman drew a deep breath as she sank
into a chair.
‘What is it?’ He asked.
‘I think Narissa may be in trouble’ she
swallowed.
‘Trouble? How? What happened?’ He was
confused.
‘She told me her boss had texted her, asking
for a meeting at the hospital; the same boss
just called me asking for Narissa. Isn’t that
weird? Plus that text message you received,
what if it isn’t Narissa? I am so scared’ Iman
paced the room.
‘Maybe we should call her parents’ he suggested.
‘No, no, I don’t want to raise their blood
pressure’ Iman differed.
‘So what do we do?’ Ife asked.
‘We need to go to the police but first, you must
reply that text. Don’t call her, just reply and
tell her you would be at Daisywheel in twenty
minutes. That should buy us enough time’ Iman
advised.
‘Okay. Okay,’ he fetched his phone and did as
he was told. If Narissa was in trouble and
something bad happened to her, he’d never
forgive himself.
Tears rolled her eyes as she scanned the
darkness; where was she? All she remembered
was a text from her boss who had asked for
them to meet at Daisywheel hospital so she
could see Jason.
On arriving the texted address, a black car
pulled up close to her and some men dragged
her in but not without first taking her phone.
Was Ife behind this? She had been kidnapped
obviously. How will her poor father live the rest
of his life knowing his daughter had been
killed?
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought of
possible suspects; only Ife came to mind.
But why would he kidnap her? Did he have any
dark side that made him think this was
romantic?
He had claimed to be in love with her but this
was not the way to treat the person you loved;
you don’t drag them into a dark room, you
didn’t leave them there to rot.
‘Lord help me out of this’ her lips moved.
The men that had taken her where armed and
masked, there was no way she could recognize
any of them; she was lost in a sea of bleakness,
a sea of darkness and there was no one to save
her.
The men had snatched her phone from her
hands. Were they going to ask for ransom?
Suddenly, the door creaked and a flood of
sunshine filled the room where she was being
held captive.
‘Hello beauty’ a masked man stepped into the
room.
’Please don’t hurt me, don’t kill me. I promise
to do whatever you say. If you want money, I
can give you lots of it’ she begged.
‘I want something else’ he murmured then took
off his mask.
‘What do you want?’ Fear gripped her as she
stared into his lust-filled eyes.
‘Take off your clothes, I like it rough’ he
ordered.
‘Are you sure we shouldn’t tell her parents?
They deserve to know what’s happening’ Ife
suggested as they both arrived the police
station.
‘No, we can handle this ourselves’ Iman stepped
out of the car before he could dissuade her.
Ife was a man of great influence, it didn’t
take them minutes to file their case; special
men were assigned to help them out.
‘Please sir, I promise my men are the best and
they would work very hard so your lover would
be found in no time’ the D.P.O said to him.
‘Good. Thank you’ Ife nodded and joined the
men outside.
‘So why do you think it’s a case of kidnapping?
What if it’s just a mix of events or your fear
speaking to you?’ One of the men asked.
‘Mr Dokubo, this is not fear or coincidence. She
left this morning and promised to be back for
lunch, it’s evening now. The said boss she had
left to meet called me hours ago asking to
speak with her. Is that fear?’ Iman was
irritated they would disbelieve her.
‘It’s not fear, detective Dokubo, she even
texted me an address and when I tried calling
her; the number was switched off. She has been
abducted’ Ife replied.
‘Ok. But if these people kidnapped her, why
would they want you to come to the same
location? If truly they were kidnappers, they’d
be asking for ransom and not your presence’ Mr
Dokubo carefully stated out the facts.
‘That’s true, I never thought of that’ Ife
rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
‘What’s your relationship with Ms. Narissa?’ He
asked.
‘She is…she was my girlfriend’ he stammered.
‘Was? What happened?’ Mr Dokubo asked.
‘Is that really necessary?’ Ife felt
uncomfortable talking to the police about his
relationship.
‘Yes. Tell us everything, we are very professional
and whatever you say here remains with us; we
understand that you and Ms Narissa are public
figures so we must act professionally’ the
detective replied.
‘Okay. We dated for some time and I broke up
with her. I wasn’t in love with her then but now
I am and I want her back. Our parents even
wanted us to get married’ he paused as his
phone buzzed again.
‘Okay. So, do you have any enemies? Who would
want to kidnap her?’ Mr Dokubo asked.
‘I think I know who’ his heart raced as he read
the text message from Lavender.
I am going to get your bitch. You’ll regret ever
meeting me. Lavvy pussy.
‘Lavender? Who is she to you? An ex
girlfriend?’ The detective asked.
‘No, a stupid mistake I made’ he replied and
went on to explain what had transpired between
himself and Lavender.
‘So this woman, who gave you strategies on how
to win Narissa back but now has feelings for
you, shows up at your house and texts to
threaten you? She is very desperate, you know?’
Mr Dokubo clicked his tongue.
‘Of course she is. You need to arrest her
immediately’ Ife urged them.
‘I don’t think she is the one behind this’ Mr
Dokubo rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
‘Why would you think that? Isn’t it obvious?’
Iman cut in impatiently.
‘You see, crime is very complicated. The one you
thought did it most times turns out to be
innocent’ Mr Dokubo explained.
‘Then find out who did it. We don’t know where
my friend is, we have to find her, what if those
people rape her or kill her?’ Iman swallowed at
the thought of it.
Ife shut his eyes and prayed his Narissa
wouldn’t get hurt.
‘I’ve sent my men, they are working on it’ Mr
Dokubo replied.
Minutes later, one of them returned with a file
and presented it to him.
‘It does seem like this Lavvy woman is a lot of
trouble. A case had been opened about a man
found dead at Sunshine Spring Media; I have
seen statements by all workers there except
Narissa and Lavender, something fishy is going
on here’ he shut the file and rose to his feet.
‘I told you, that girl is crazy’ Ife said.
‘Do you know how to shoot a gun?’ Detective
Dokubo asked Ife.
‘Yes. I learned how to a long time ago. Why do
you ask?’
‘You will be given a gun and you would go to
Daisywheel hospital, my men will hide somewhere
and watch, just in case’ he started then
paused as Iman interrupted him.
‘And how about Lavender, does she go scot
free? She is obviously behind this’ Iman pointed
out.
‘That’s where we’re all headed; we’ll go find
her before going to Daisywheel’ Mr Dokubo
replied.
To be Continued….
