Timi, seeing a ramp upfront, few feet to the truck realised
that all hope was not lost just yet. As he sped up, the man with the rocket
launcher finally locked in on Timi's car and fired. The superfast moving
missile darted forward straight at Timi's car. Bolade was already screaming at
the top of his voice, preparing to be blown to smithereens. But just as the
rocket reached them, Timi pulled a daring stunt, slamming on the breaks
suddenly and steering left at the same time, resulting in the right side of the
car shooting up...and the missile just barely missed the car, scraping its
underneath and blowing up as it hit the ground behind Timi's barraged car. Timi
dropped the car on all fours again, further increasing speed. The man with the
rocket launcher began targeting again, and just as it seemed he had finally
locked in on his target, Timi charged up the ramp he had seen, catapulting into
the air and flying in style over the truck before impacting the ground again
with a loud thud. The force from the impact threw him and Bolade, who had been
closing his eyes all the while, against their seats. The hostiles in the truck
and the van were left stupefied at Timi's escape. They could hardly believe
what they had seen. They tried to re-organize themselves to start chasing after
Timi again, but Timi's Dodge Charger had already disappeared in the distance. Slowly, a terrified Bolade opened his eyes,
expecting to find himself in the world beyond. He looked behind the Dodge
Charger and found that no car was chasing them any longer, and asked in an
incredibly surprised tone, "We got away?" Timi smiled. "What did
you expect?" At that moment, the Dodge Charger started jolting and then began
slowing down. "What's happening?" A fretful Bolade questioned. "I...I don't know," an equally
confused Timi replied. Without further warning, the car stopped in its tracks.
Bolade's eyes darted to the side view mirror, expecting to see their pursuers
emerging any moment now. "This isn't good," Bolade said fearfully.
Timi tried to jumpstart the car. The engine revved, but didn't start. Timi gave it another try, and then another.
Now he was getting worried too.
"Get us out of here Timi!" Bolade said, his voice rising.
"I'm trying!" Timi shouted back. Seconds later, still stuck where
they were, Timi spotted the Van some distances behind them. With no luck on
getting the car started, Timi suggested to Bolade that they get out and make a
run for it. But just as they opened the door, the van reached beside them, with
two hostiles pointing assault rifles at them. Timi and Bolade instinctively put
their hands up and the hostiles forced them into the van. *** ***
About fifteen minutes later, the van stopped outside a safe
house in an obscured location. Timi and Bolade were shoved out of the van.
There were a total of two armed men came out after them and soon the driver of
the van followed suit. The three goons walked behind Timi and Bolade as they
marched into the safe house. The structure was quite big. It was made of wood
and scraps of metal. There were two people carrying guns standing guard by the
each side of the entrance. Once inside, Timi stared hard at the piles wooden
cases littered around. He wondered what the cases contained. The floor was
cemented and one good look at the roof showed Timi the holes that cluttered the
roof. God forbid it rained here, else, everyone and everything would be
drenched wet, Timi thought. Ahead of them were a sofa and two old arm chairs.
Behind the furniture was a black curtain. Timi tried to peer through but wasn't
able to see anything. "Stop! Stay here," one of the three goons who
had brought them ordered. The goon walked forward and disappeared behind the
curtain. A little while later, the goon emerged again, along with a short,
stout, somewhat ugly looking man whom Timi immediately recognised. It was Mba
Oke. Timi recalled he had seen the man in the Governor's house in Lagos. He was
on his way to see the Governor when he passed by Mba who had just finished a
meeting with the Governor. Whatever had transpired between Mba and Governor
Abejide had left the good Governor troubled. That was when Governor Abejide
informed Timi that his daughter's life was in danger and that he wanted Timi to
drive her to the airport the very next day. Now Timi was staring right at this
same man. Mba Oke took his seat on the sofa and gave a wide grin as he looked
up at Timi and Bolade. "Senator
Bolade Akanji...I told it was futile to try to escape," Mba said, still
grinning widely. The Senator gave no reply. Mba countenance suddenly changed.
"Have we met before?" Mba asked, glaring keenly at Timi. "No...no,
I don't think so. I wouldn't forget an ugly face like yours," Timi
replied, eliciting a chuckle from Mba's goons. "Oh,
so you think this is a joke," Mba said in a very deadly voice. "I
assure you stranger, by the time I'm done with you, you would beg to cry."
Timi scoffed. "You know, you should
smile more often, might help make you look less hideous. Then again I'm not
sure smiles are going to cut it, maybe plastic surgery," Timi said,
ignoring Mba's threat. He only seemed to annoy Mba the more. "I don't have
time for you yet." "Senator," Mba continued. "You know why
you are here. You're fighting a lost cause, your resistance is futile. Join us
and your life might yet be spared." "Join
you? You mean join your cabal and become a pawn of the Senate President. I
would never!" Senator Bolade replied. "You
know, I'd like to know exactly what this is about, that's, if you don't
mind," Timi put in. "Shut up
you!" Mba ordered. "This does not concern you." "Okay,
you mind," Timi muttered on hearing Mba's reply. Facing the Senator once more, Mba
said. "Tread carefully Senator, it's your life on the line here." "No,"
Bolade replied. "It's my soul. You're asking me to become someone I've
vowed not to be." "Very
well then," Mba answered. "You have made your decision."
"Take them out back...make it painful," Mba said to his goons,
ordering them to kill Timi and Bolade. Bolade and Timi were led out through a
different entrance from the one they had walked in. Out back, one of the three
goons pulled out a pistol from under his belt, the other two still clutching
tightly to their rifles. He ordered Timi to face him, and placed the mouth of
the gun on Timi's chest. "Boss said we should make it slow and
painful," the goon said. He got ready to pull the trigger.
TO
BE CONTINUED
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