John was the brother I never had. He was one of those sincere friends who stayed true all along. My dogs were barking. It was beyond normal. They were barking with all of their might. Aunty Raina used to tell us about dogs and their ability to detect whether a person was evil or not. Their barking got me really concerned. They couldn't be hungry. They had broken hard bones and were satisfied. They were facing the gate, wishing it could tear open from them to deal with the intruders. Trina, Thunder and Pain were out. I was all alone at home. I opened the gate to check who it was but I couldn't see anybody. The dogs were still barking and it was resounding in my ears. I began to feel very uneasy with myself. I raced towards the second street to see if a burglar had broken in. But the street was as empty as the brain of a dunce. I felt like someone was playing a game with me. But this was a dangerous game. I returned home and I was in no panic at all. As I tried to detect what was wron

I hugged Pain like I was never going to see him again. That nostalgic feeling aroused in me anew. I would miss him so much. I was pained that I had to say farewell at the police station. I wish I could rewrite the story. But God is the Almighty not me. One of the officers at the station, Mr. Edward, started to ring the bell. It meant that visiting time was over. They had to get going. Pain ran to me as they almost reached the gates to hugged me again. He got me so emotional. Trina and Thunder looked at us in admiration from a distance. They chuckled. The cell was definitely on the list of places I will never wish to visit in my life again. The place was extremely terrible. Cat was trying to make me his friend. But I didn't just like him and I wasn't interested in his friendship. He could keep it to himself. "My name is Cat. Cat Willy" He said. "May I know your name?" He said again. I looked at him with a bad eye. But, he didn't care. He kept on asking the same question. "And wha

I was overwhelmed by my thoughts. "John? No, he can't be!" Trina was trying to think. She wanted Thunder and I to see it from two or three angles. That's one of the things we learnt during our training. Our kind of job was like art. It must be seen from different sides to make sense out of it. Maggie did not stop trying to make investigations herself. But she wasn't gathering any fact at all. I began to consider Trina's opinion. We needed to think outside the Lotus Group. But I couldn't think straight. It was difficult to know who I could point fingers at. Only Charlie was in my head. "Tony, has anyone threatened or confroned you recently?" Trina asked. "Err... No one at all. " I said. "The only person I know may detest me right now is Uloma and the rest of her family. But... John told me they wanted my forgiveness." I said. "Hmm... How are we sure they really meant to seek your forgiveness?" Trina asked. "Exactly! It may only be their strategy to avoid suspicion" Thunder added.

Lizzy dropped her phone and turned to Uloma swiftly. "Huh? What is it? Tell me about it" Lizzy said. She sounded really interested. But Uloma was still unsure about it."Say something, Uloma. What is it that can fetch us good money?" Lizzy asked. In her eyes was desire, flashing it's light to Uloma. Lizzy was really desperate to make money and get out of her family's house. She was tired of her mother's complaints and insults. She just wanted to explore and live the kind of life she had always wanted to live. So she was ready to grab any opportunity to live that dream. Faced with the promise of good money and fortune, she could only but to be filled with anxiety and eagerness to do the needful for money. Uloma hesitated. She started by begging Lizzy to keep it away from Mama no matter what. "Promise me you will not tell Mama about it" Uloma said looking quite serious. "Now you are making me a bit scared. What have you done again this time?" She said. "Lizzy, I have done nothing.

Allen and Emeka made it so obvious that they had some personal issues. They walked past each other without exchanging pleasantries as usual. They didn't even want to see themselves anywhere. But they had no choice as they worked in the same office. The love and respect they had for each other was no longer there. Their relationship was more like that of a cat and dog. "But what is wrong with both of them? I mean, they have been acting really awkward for some time now." Queen, a fellow worker said. "Maybe they had a quarrel" Gift, another colleague of theirs said. Uloma and Lizzy had contacted all the ladies she needed to contact. They contacted the relatives of Cynthia and they had booked an appointment with all of them. They needed some money to make a fake identity card and sew a police uniform. "Mama has some money in her cupboard. I saw it there yesterday. We can just take it to sort all of this" Lizzy said. Mama's bedroom is the biggest of all rooms in the house. It was usua