The Deathlike Mission - Episode 24

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The dagger went straight towards Kari but stuck itself to the back rest of her chair through the space between her arm and her ribs, just an inch away from her belly. Kari opened her eyes after a moment when she did not feel any pain or piercing, but gasped in fear as she considered the proximity of the dagger to her stomach. If she were fatter than she was, the dagger would probably be stuck inside her by now . He never meant to kill her but just to scare her.

"Oh dear!" Paul's taunting voice broke her thoughts. How you feared death Kari. Sorry I scared you that much. I can't be stupid enough to make your death this easy."

At Paul's words Jide made to lunge at him again in his anger, he could have lost Kari, but the chains held firmly preventing him to his utmost frustration.

Paul gave a long laugh. "How pathetic. Until now you can't accept how helpless you are Jide. You fight well, but it isn't everyday you get to be the hero. Sometimes the hero himself needs to be saved." He stood up from his chair and walked towards them.

"Paul please I beg you again, let her go."

"What makes you think you have capacity to give me orders?" He leaned close to Kari.

"It isn't an order, it's an appeal."

"I'm afraid, I am in no position to grant appeals." He replied leaning close to Kari, removing the dagger from her chair. "But you can make it known to the major Ali Mudu, my father, perhaps he might be merciful."

"Ali Mudu is your father?" Kari asked, talking for the first time, shooting him a bewildered glance.

"Is this a joke or what?" Jide was no less surprised.

"No it isn't

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. He is truly my father. And we operate a large underground organization carrying out terrorism activities, illegal drug dealings and even money laundry. He replied victoriously walking away.

"So your father is the Kingpin we have been chasing all the while, he wouldn't even be restructured after his dismissal from the military. Oh Paul you are so rotten, simply a chip off the old block." Jide sounded disgusted.

"I saw the resemblance, I should have known. And your name, Paul Ali M. Up till now I never got to know the name bearing that last initial." She said.

"Yes Kari, but it's no use now, you are dying anyways."

"Paul," Kari called him in a very soft voice that made him turn to her. "What happened to you, how did you become like this, we use to be friends, you use to be a good guy, our own man. What went wrong, what happened?"

"He fooled you the whole time. He's always been like this, a heartless criminal. His friendship with you has been a facade to conceal his real personality." Jide said with so much spite.

"He's right." He agreed returning to his seat. " I didn't join the SIB for conventional reasons like everyone did. I was there to keep an eye on our operations because we were being harassed often."

"But you were a good officer,"

"Maybe, but that was additional to my course. Under the cover of the SIB, I have perpetrated so many evils unbeknownst to the authorities. Malik's case was mine, but I had an important assignment to carry out for my father in Switzerland, hence my leave. I couldn't risk the case getting out of hand so I nominated you to Chief Ajayi to take over hoping you would be too soft for a criminal like Malik. That was my mistake Kari. I knew you were good but to the extent of ruffling someone as tough as Malik, I didn't expect that."

"So you had to kill him, seeing my success." Kari said in a downcast tone.

"Yes. That explains the mystery of how I got in undetected and had the keys to his cell."

"How stupid of me not to have suspected all along, and to think I told you everything and you turned around to use it against my case."

"You did and I'm sorry, but that was how I followed every progress you made and scattered all evidences before you. When you were put off the case I was sort of relieved that I won't have to harm you if things get uncontrollable, but then Jide came along prying here and there. I didn't know what his mission was until I did my findings. A suspended SIB officer, working undercover I'm my organization."

"Don't rely on that too much, Kari already knows who I am. Little wonder you were never comfortable with my presence in her life. One would think you were only jealous but it was far from that."

"About that, I was jealous in a way but it was negligible. I really liked you Kari, perhaps if you had given us a chance we wouldn't be here."

"And my father?" Kari asked coldly, ignoring his statement.

"Your father's death was accidental to my mission and inasmuch as I hate to regret it, I very much do." He stood up picking up a pistol from the table. "Remember, you had told me you got the files containing information about Ali Mudu and his likeable cohorts. It would have been risky if it got into wrong hands and you wouldn't hand it to me peacefully."

"But she was never in possession of the files, I had them. You should have come to me instead." Jide interrupted, while Kari shook her head in bitterness.

"How was I to know that?" Paul asked. "Thinking you had them, I had to get it myself from your house, but your father got in my way thinking I was a burglar. He tried to fight me off and unveil my mask, so I stabbed him."

"You killed my father? Didn't it for one moment occur to you what that would do to me? A man who wasn't armed and never stood a chance against you, you are heartless!" She barked in tears.

"Hey! take it easy there." He commanded in a strange tough voice. "I am only granting you the privilege of letting you in on some secrets as a dying wish, you ordinarily have no right to know the truth. But if you want to be vengeful, then your deaths will be quickened."

"You are an animal Paul. You killed her father, her only family. The least you can do now is to feel guilty about it."

"Guilt? I have no luxury of that sort in the line of my operations. Besides I have done worst things that you don't want to know about."

"He was all I had, you shouldn't have touched him." She continued unperturbed in a soft tone that moved Jide to pity.

"That's all in the past now," said Paul carelessly. "Anyways, after I killed him, I noticed a newly received letter from the name Inika."

"The empty envelope," Jide said to Kari.

"I knew whatever the contents may be, it will be important so I searched the drawer and got two other letters from the same lady. Truly, content of the letters was my father's answered prayer. For your information, there is a side to the story about your biological father and mine you do not know. During the tussle years ago,  his investigations led him to a tank filled with several explosives, the W78 thermonuclear warhead and the RDS-220 hydrogen bomb inclusive. These were all hoarded from the military weaponry. He regained custody of them and transferred all of it to a new location where only he knew about, waiting to return them to the military. This angered most of his colleagues against him, my father inclusive and he was framed for the disappearance of the same weapons by my father's ring, and killed in his cell before he could defend himself. His death was a blessing because no one was going to put an eye anymore. It was also a curse because the stolen weapons couldn't be found. It's been like that for the past twenty three years, though the weapons weren't forgotten but there was nothing anyone of them could do, little did they know that before your father was killed in custody, his maid knew everything about the location because he told her. In all the letters your father received, the lady Inika kept expressing her displeasure at his muteness so far and how she feared the location of the bombs might be detected before it is being handed over to the rightful owners, the military. That was how I got interested. I kidnapped and tortured her to dying point that she had to painfully tell me everything and where the bombs were kept. We located the bombs in an underground tunnel, where the present day children's play day castle stands."

"So what are you going to do now that you have all the explosives in your possession, return them to the military or do with them what you know best?" Jide asked.

"I will tell you, it doesn't matter, you are dying anyways. Part of it has been carried away to be shipped to Libya where my father wants to sell them off, while we kept some back to test its efficiency in an explosion right were it was found, you know it's been there a long time."

"What? That would be too much destruction, the building would come to ruins," Kari exclaimed.

"Not just the building Kari, today is Saturday, the last of the month and kids would be having their fun fair there."

"Exactly Jide. A perfect opportunity to test the destructive capacity, it's been so long I witnessed such a destruction. So at exactly 6pm, the bombs starts detonating."

"You are horrible Paul, and so is whoever you represent. Thousands of people would die, mostly children how well would you live knowing you have brought so many young dreams to a cruel end?" Kari kept on.

"People die everyday in more numbers, this would just be one of those. Besides, it would be forgotten sooner than you think."

"Those are innocent people - children, you do not have to do this." Jide begged even though he knew it was useless.

"That shouldn't be your worry. If I were you, I would concentrate more on your deaths because it isn't going to be different from theirs."

"How do you mean?" asked Jide.

"Can you lean forward to take a look at the legs of your chairs?"

They both did at once and exclaimed. There was a bomb attached to both their chairs.

"When that detonates, you won't be different from the children and their parents whom you plead for."

"Paul you do not want to do this," Kari said breathing heavily out of fear.

"I'm sorry friends, I have superiors to answer to." he replied as he picked up his weapons.

"You cannot do this to me, we go way back. Whatever it is I am sorry, we can fix it." She persisted, Jide didn't even bother.

"By now you ought to know that whatever we shared is long dead to me, it doesn't matter anymore. As for this, he held the files he got from Kari to them. "It will better be left here to be destroyed with you like you never saw it." He clicked a button from a control he was holding. "The detonation time is set for fifteen minutes, I hope it's enough to say your goodbyes to each other. Die well my friends."

He picked up his dagger and tucked it into his boots and was beginning to leave.

"Paul no, paul! Not even for the sake of our friendship?"

He stopped and replied without looking back. "Not even for the sake that I had once loved you. Good bye Kari, and Jide."

Paul and his men left the place in a swift moment, leaving Jide and Kari to their fate.

Everywhere went as quiet as dead. Only Kari's sobs and the ticking of the clock could be heard. Jide's heart was heavy, it was because of him Kari's was trapped here. Paul was right, she had allowed her feelings for him lead her instead of her head. And now both of them are going to die miserably.

"You shouldn't have come here Kari" He managed to bring himself to say out of his heavy heart seeing her tears.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't bear the thought of him killing you when I could do something to help." She sobbed.

"Help? In what way? You should have known coming here on your own would do no better than putting you in danger."

"I know - "

"You ought to have preconceived his evil intentions in asking you to come with our only evidence, it was a trap."

"Of course I knew, but I couldn't help it. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, stop crying. Is anyone from the SIB aware of this?"

"Only Imoh," She sobbed. And I already asked him not to make it known to the Chief yet."

"So are we counting on him?"

"I'm afraid not, I didn't trust he would keep mute about it so I did not give out the location I was taken. He only knows what I'm up to with Paul but doesn't know where I am."

"What? Oh no!"

"The truth is, I thought I could come talk with Paul in the nicest way possible reminding him of our friendship. I didn't want the authorities to be involved with the matter about my dad just yet."

"Paul from what I see isn't human, no amount of coercion can get to him. You shouldn't have made the move."

"It's still hard for me to believe."

"Don't worry, we will get out of here I assure you."

"But how? There is no way can't you see? We are tied up here waiting to explode with the bomb. It's sad to say but we cannot help ourselves this time."

Jide inhaled deeply realizing she was right. So they were going to die. This would be the first time he would be in a situation without a way out.

Ten minutes to detonation.

"I'm sorry," he said softly

"Please don't be." She sniffed.

"If I had listened to your warning last night, we wouldn't be here."

"What? No, you did what was right. You had a mission and you had to fulfill it, it wasn't right for me to have stopped you."

"I know, but why did you come for me Kari?"

"How do you mean?"

"You could have sent rescue,"

"You could have been killed. Paul already weighed all of these."

"It doesn't sound like enough reason for you to have risked your life this much for my sake."

"The truth is, you are more than a friend and you would do more than come for me if the tables were turned. I would die if anything ever happened to you, I can't bear it." The last sentence escaped her mouth before she could think, and she was a little embarrassed.

"Really?"

"Yes really." She tried to affirm.

"About the other day at the hospital, the conversation between you and Laura about me. I heard everything."

"Huh! You did? Never mind that, I was just - "

"Is that why you risked yourself all the way here to save me?" He interrupted her.

"Like I said you are more than a friend, for that sake, I would do anything." What was the essence of being ashamed she chided herself, it's better to let him know how you feel to get it off your chest before you die.

Seven minutes to detonation.

"Then I am honored, so honored and if there's anything I wish for, it's the chance to pay back what you have done for me." Jide expressed his deep feelings.

"Pay back? It is I who should be saying that not you. When I met you, I never knew our friendship would get this far. Knowing you has been a blessing."

"You have been so wonderful to me too Kari, you won't understand how much. All my life, I never met a soul so beautiful as you. I only wish we had a little more time to fulfill our unspoken desires."

"Me too. I want you to know that whatever happens I don't regret meeting you and bringing myself down here to save you,"

"You mean bringing yourself down here to die with me?"

They both laughed with tears in their eyes as they fixed their gazes on each other, adoring every features they bore. Jide secretly wished he could kiss her and she in turn wished she could be held in those strong arms of his even for the last time, but that was impossible because their deaths loomed closer with each passing second.

It was four minutes to detonation time.