Timi sat still in his car, his head resting on the steering,
thinking. He had two choices, betray his crew and get Bidget back. Or, be
faithful to his team, and not get Bridget back. It was already five PM, and the
race was going to start 22:00 hours that night. What should he do? He bashed
his head against the steering twice, almost giving himself a cut. Then he
screamed loudly into the still hair. He was in between a rock and a hard place.
He thought for some minutes longer, then made a decision. He drove into the
Skyline Motors compound, hastily pulling up in a parking space he found. He
walked into the building itself. "Timi," Aisha was about
to greet, but noticed the worried look on his face. "Is everything okay,
you look upset." "I am not okay! And I am
very upset!" Idris shot up from behind the desktop at
the left end corner of the ground floor. "What's wrong?" He asked. "Derele," Timi replied.
"It's Derele. He's got Bridget. He
kidnapped Bridget!" "I'm...I'm sorry," Aisha said, placating
Timi a little. "Why? What is it he wants
with her?" Idris asked. "It's me he wants something
from. He wants me to lose tonight's race. If I do, he'll let her go. If I
don't, he threatened to kill her."
"My God," Aisha said.
"He's even more desperate than we thought." "Yes, and I don't think he
is bluffing," Timi added. Idris shook his head. "No,
he isn't. He tried to have me killed. He's sadistic. He'll do anything to keep
himself on top." "So what do we do now?"
Aisha asked, voicing out the question on all of their minds. "We
give him what he wants. We lose tonight's race," Timi said. "No, we can't give in to
him," Idris objected. "So what then? We let
Bridget die?" Timi said, his voice a little bit raised. "No, we find her," Idris clarified. Aisha stood akimbo, shook her head
and asked. "She could be anywhere in this city; our chances of finding her
before the race starts this night are very slim. It's going to be like looking
for a very tiny needle in a giant haystack." They were all silent for the next few
minutes. The only sound in the room was the sound of their heavy breathing. No
doubt they all hated Derele before, but now, they despised him. "I
know!" Idris said, breaking the silence. "Tell me, there's one thing
Bridget always takes with her everywhere. What is it?" "I
don't know, powder?" Timi replied. "No, her com link!"
Aisha blurted out. Idris nodded. "Yes, her com link.
She always puts it in her hand bag. And I'm sure she must have been with it
when she was taken. If her captors took her hand bag, then we just might be
able to find her. All we need do is lock in on the signal from her com
link." "Good plan," Timi
agreed. "Only one problem. None of us here knows how to do that. Bridget
does, but she's the one in need of saving." "Then we ask help from
someone that does," Aisha replied. "Like?" Timi asked. "Big Jo," Idris
replied. "Then let's go, we've got no
time to waste," Timi said as he led the way out.
*** *** ***
They arrived at Big Jo's shop not long after. Timi
checked his watch, found that it was already seven 'o' clock. It was getting
really dark. He was half expecting Big Jo's shop to be locked by now but found
that it was still open. "When does he close,"
Timi asked his companions as they made their way through the door. "Big Jo offers a 24 hour
service Timi, he doesn't close," Idris replied. They found Big Jo holding
a wrench working on a car with his back faced to them. As they reached behind
him Big Jo suddenly whirled round with the wrench and would have hit Timi in
the face had the latter not ducked. "Hey,
watch were you swing that thing!" Timi bawled. "Oh,
sorry, didn't hear you guys enter," said Big Jo apologising. Idris gave his good friend a hand shake. "How would you, when your stereos are blasting rap music in their highest volumes."
"Ikenna" Big Jo shouted, calling for one of his employees. "Put off that music!" He ordered. Immediately, Ikenna pulled himself out from underneath one of the numerous cars in the shops. He raced to the stereo and put it off.
"Now gentlemen, what can I do you for?" Big Jo asked.
Timi handed Big Jo a Bridget's laptop and his own com link. They had stopped by his house to pick them up. Timi explained to Big Jo all that had happened and Big Jo agreed to help.
"Yes, I can find her," Big Jo said. "There's just one problem. It's going to take a while for me to be able to pin point her location."
"How long?" Idris asked.
"A few hours. Three, maybe four."
"Four!" Timi cried out. "We don't have four hours, the race starts 10 and it's already past 7" "I can speed it up, probably be able to get her location in three hours. But, it's the best I can do," Big Jo said.
Timi banged his fist into his palm. "That's still not fast enough." "Look, I have an idea," Idris said. "You and I go and start the race. Aisha stays here and when Big Jo finds out where she is, Aisha goes to rescue her."
"What if Derele's got guards watching her?" Timi asked. "They won't just give her up without a fight."
"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. If they want a fight, I'll give them one," Aisha said. Timi nodded, then Idris continued. "When Aisha has her safe and secured, she'll let us know. And then, we win the race."
Timi sighed. "I don't like it, but it's the only play we've got."
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