UNTAMED

Part Forty Two

{Man as such is smoke, woman as such, mirage. Put them together, they’re nothing; two times nothing is nothing.}
             That must be one of his longest nights. Even when he had carried her to her room, he still could not sleep and he had to leave the house to the boxing ring. But something good had just happened. Halima had given him the evidence to take down Chief, yet he could not concentrate. He had forgotten about her when he inserted the flash drive to the laptop, and he did not know she would react that way, but he was relieved she did not watch when Chief shot the woman and the kids.
“This is the woman I talked about, the unsolved kidnapping and murder case” Jason said after Chief had shot the woman.
Before shooting her, he had made the woman know how things would change, how he would console her husband. Her two kids were shot after her. It was a terrible thing to watch but they had to watch everything. Jason removed the flash drive and inserted another one from the table. He could not watch it after few seconds. It was Halima tied to a nail by the wall, her back was facing the camera and she was being whipped as she screamed and begged.
“Take that thing off” he shouted at Jason and same time, he stood up.
“Tamed calm down, we have to check the contents of the remaining two” Jason said putting the third flash drive.
It was still Halima, she was half naked and lying on the bed. Jason pulled it out before he could fling the system away.
“Don’t” he said as Jason tried putting the fourth file.
His fury was already at its peak. Jason looked at him for some seconds and listened to him.
“You reaction is eighty percent personal” Jason said.
It made him pause. Was Jason right?
Jason brought out a cord that had the phone mouth and inserted it to the flash drive, then his phone. He did that to all the flash drives.
“I’m sending them to the app” Jason said.
He was too angry to talk, he just moved round the parlor, he needed to punch something. His phone vibrated in his pocket, they had started responding.
‘What the heck is this and how did it come?’ Wild asked.
‘It had been with us all this while. Halima gave it to me from the pocket of the gown I had made her wear the day of the rescue. She had called it Chief’s special artifacts. She said Chief never allowed her to wear it except occasionally. So Chief right now has no idea they were not destroyed by the fire because he is very sure Halima had obeyed him’ he wrote.
‘This is a miracle Tamed. There is no logical explanation to it. You had to choose that gown of all her gowns and that was because you had met her naked’ Jason wrote.
‘I’m still stunned, but this is too much to watch’ Mark wrote.
‘Suddenly the table has turned’ Ghost wrote.
‘Unbelievable, Chief is really not normal’ Major wrote.
‘We can get the IG and make an arrest, with that, we can stop Chief from his plans’ Fast wrote.
‘What plans?’ he asked.
‘Chief plans on destroying us live. With the aid of his comrades he wants me to brief the whole world on why I’m keeping a criminal and the president has made it an open meeting with the press. I was thinking of how to announce this to you’ Major wrote.
‘But why would the president do that?’ Doc asked.
‘He was cornered and he was also shocked that I had not reported about Chief becoming one of our mission’s target. He said even UK, US and others are interested in the case and he trusts us to come with a good evidence otherwise we are on our own. The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at the villa. It will be broadcasted life because Chief wants transparency. My plans had been for me to truthfully give chronological details of everything that have transpired and the little video evidences we have, including Halima’s reactions when she was rescued and her reactions yesterday morning then let the president decide whether to hand Halima over to a neutral party while suspending us until further investigations, but this has changed everything. I will meet with the president immediately with these evidences’ Major wrote.
‘No Major, let things unfold as it is supposed to. Do everything you planned to do, just let these evidence be the last. You are the one to speak first before Chief brings his evidence of Onos, then his impotence, that would cancel your speech and put you in the spotlight, then you can project the videos after that. Jason will help us blur Halima’s face. Ghost I need you to visit the family of that woman, get their permission to display the video’ Wild wrote.
‘Roger that’ Ghost responded.
‘Don’t you think that is not relevant’ Major wrote.
‘Does anyone go with Major?’ Wild wrote.
‘No’ Mark wrote.
‘No’ Ghost wrote.
‘No’ Fast wrote.
‘No’ Even Doc wrote.
‘No’ Jason wrote.
‘No’ he wrote
‘Major you lost’ Wild wrote.
‘I still don't agree with you Wild. I want Chief dead. He is going to be arrested and tried’ he wrote.
‘Tamed, for some people, there are things worse than death. Trust me, Chief will prefer to be killed to what I have in mind. I’m not through Tamed’ Wild wrote.
‘What again?’ Major asked.
‘I had a chat with Jason on the delivery of the weapons. Now that we are having the king let’s give Chief a checkmate’ Wild wrote.
‘How?’ he asked.
‘Major will be okay on his own, he will go with a tinted van with the false impression Halima is with him. I will contact Stud and few others to stand guard round it. Major will inform the president personally on the new development. We need his help for the final game. That will enable Mark set up the projector and our other tools which will be connected to Major’s phone. I will assign everyone for their missions. Let me put down my plans first’ Wild wrote.
He knew Wild enough to know what he was planning to do and thinking about it pacified him. He was right, there were things worse than death and Chief was about to receive doses of them.
‘When are you coming for debriefing?’ he asked.
“Any news?” Wild asked.
At first he thought he was asking about the kiss but on a second thought, he remembered what Wild had earlier said.
“Nightmares?” he asked.
‘Okay. I will take over from you tomorrow morning, because you won’t be around. I will be coming with Doc. Just prepare her, she has seen us before’ Wild wrote.
‘I don’t even know what to feel about this. This is really a miracle’ Mark wrote.
‘At the dying minute’ Doc wrote.
‘You will get your orders later. I have some preparations to make’ Wild wrote.
He left the app but his phone kept vibrating. He was still standing. Jason stood up.
“Please take those flash drives with you. I don’t want to see them” he said.
“You will need to upgrade your weapons” Jason said packing the flash drives.
“Why”
“I thought you must have gotten a hint of what Wild wants to do.”
It was now very clear and he was becoming excited. He nodded at Jason.
“Have any for me?”
“You bet” Jason answered walking to the door.
He followed him outside. Halima was running and screaming on the treadmill while Cindy cheered. He had some solemn for some time but seeing her resurrected the feelings he did not want to have. How come she was so easily pleased? She was even handling everything better than him, and that kiss.
He shook his head.
“Beast I’m running” Halima shouted just when he had passed them.
“Beast?” he asked.
“Oops” she said.
Cindy was laughing, even Jason which was rare. He walked towards her.
“I did not know what to call you then. You were acting like a beast” she said coming down from the treadmill as soon as he got closer.
“You’ve ever seen a beast before?” he asked with a stern voice but she laughed.
She was really no longer afraid of him.
“I like it” Jason said pulling Cindy to him and kissing her forehead.
“Jason you are not helping. I think I prefer you not talking” he said.
“Are you not tired?” Jason asked Cindy ignoring him.
“I’m fine Jason” Cindy said.
“Halima, from now on, call me Obinna. Jason I thought you have something to show me?”
“Do fast and come” Jason said to Cindy giving her a kiss.
Jason started walking towards his house and he followed.
“Obinna, I don’t like it, it does not fit you. I prefer Beast. Obinna cannot protect me from Chief but Beast will” she shouted behind them.
Jason and Cindy started laughing. He turned to give her a warning stare but she was not even looking at them, she was already trying to climb the bike. He felt like going to shake her a little. She needed to start fearing him again, even if it was a little fear.
“Beast, the weapons” Jason said.
He responded instantly by throwing a punch at Jason but he dodged and continued walking.
Jason did not enter through the door he knew, there was another door behind the house which led to a room full of weapons.
“Time for shopping” he said picking a desert eagle pistol close to him.
They boycotted his pickup and the rescue van and chose Jason’s jeep. They were not supposed to be spotted. Just after putting all the weapons they needed in the jeep, his phone vibrated. It was exactly as he thought, Wild had distributed their task, and it was game on.
He stayed back for some boxing with the punching bags before going inside. Their laughter was what he first heard as soon as he entered the house. He went to the kitchen to see what they were doing. It looked like they were going to prepare fried rice.
“So you will come to church with me next tomorrow” Cindy said.
“That will be Sunday right?” Halima asked.
“Very correct”
“I get to see Pastor Sam?” She asked.
“Yes, he will be happy to meet you”
Did Jason not tell Cindy she will not be around on Sunday?
“I feel like I have done this before” Halima said as he walked to his room.
Her voice was disturbing him on a high level, he could not even understand why she had such effect on him. There was pretty nothing much to do after taking his bath. His phone started ringing as soon as he sat down on his bed. It was Wild.
“What happened?” Wild asked in Yoruba.
“If you want to hear that I kissed her, then yes and that’s all. Don’t you dare ask another question” he said cutting the call but he received a message from Wild.
‘But how was it?’ Wild wrote.
He deleted the message and threw the phone farther down the bed. He was even feeling sleepy as a result of his all night boxing because of Halima.
“Hey Beast, wake up, food is ready”
He had felt her presence even before she spoke. He stood up and left the room to the dinning without looking at her. There was no need correcting her, she wouldn't listen. He needed help very fast before he did something stupid.