“What are you going to do?” Jasper asked. “You will have to find a way to pay him or convince him that you would pay after the restriction is lifted from the account.”We had gotten back to the house and mom had gone to see her friend in the neighborhood.“I am doing nothing of such,” I said.“What would you do?” he asked.“I don’t know yet,” I said. “But I am not going to give him one third of my money. No one is going to get a dime from me.”Jasper was silent.I thought about how get out of the judge’s trap, but nothing seemed to lead to a positive end. I know if I don’t do what he wants, he will really mess me up; but what was I to do?I know I don’t want him to get a dime from that money—and he is not going to get a dime—but what do I have to do to get out of the trap?I considered making it public, but I knew at the end it would be his word against mine, just the way he had said it.“The problem is that he wants the money now. He is not even giving me the chance to get the money

I went home heart broken. I had moved into a three-bedroom apartment in Rayfield that I had bought the previous day.What was I going to do with Esther? I thought. She was my world; I will gladly give all my money so I be with her and so she can marry me.I thought of calling her to convince her, but I knew that she wouldn’t pick my calls. She said we should give her time to think…which was okay. But what if she changed her mind about us and decide to go back to Ken? What was I going to do?The thought alone sends jitters all over my body. I didn’t like what was going on, but I knew interfering with Esther now might lead to my losing her.So, I waited. And it was like waiting to hear a medical report of whether one has a cancer or not. I stayed throughout the day watching the screen of my phone and waiting and hoping that the phone was going to ring.The phone rang in the evening and I jumped up from the settee, looking at the screen.It wasn’t Esther, and the screen read, Private Num

This was my chance to make things go my way. I was sure Esther’s parents were disappointed with the way Kennedy reacted to the rescuing effort I was putting in place to bring back Esther. He could he love her and not go to rescue her; I know that’s what would be on their minds.So, if I am able to rescue her without any incident, and without them knowing she was kidnapped because of me, then I will be the hero and they may give me their blessings to marry their daughter.The thing about life, I thought, is that people are ready to forgive your evil if you turn out to be do more than they expected. And I will do more than expected. I will not only rescue their daughter; I will marry her.I got the dollars that evening and then I came back to the house with Isaac by my side. I looked around but Kennedy was not there.I asked Dorothy where he was and she told me that he was going back to the UK.“Coward,” she added. “And he said he loved my sister.”I chuckled. “He never thought he would

They dragged me with my hands and legs bound into a dark room, and they quickly closed the door behind us. Then they searched me and removed the packet of dollars I had kept in my pocket as soon as I had come into the dark corridor. “I found the money, boss,” one of the men who dragged into the room said. I heard footsteps coming toward us. “It is complete?” Dangin asked. “I don’t know,” the person said. “It better be,” Dangin said. “Or I will kill him.” “Relax,” I said. “It’s complete. Everything you asked for its in there.” “Relax?” Dangin asked. “Who are you to tell a police officer to relax? Who do you think you are?” “See,” I said. “You have gotten your money. Just let me and Esther go. I don’t want any trouble. You asked for money and I have given it to you; what else do you want?” Dangin laughed. “So, you thought I was going to let you go after giving me the money? Was that what you were thinking? I am sorry, that’s not possible. Remember you cut off one of my toes, and

“Let me go back,” Isaac said. “I will find the key and return immediately.”“No; I have to come with you. You can’t go there alone. What if they wake up and you find three of them? what are you going to do?”He brough out the gun. “I have this; I will make sure none of them lives to tell what happened to them if they attack me.”“All the same,” I said. “I will still go with you. We have to do this together.” I turned to Esther. “Please, wait in the car. We will come back soon.”“I want to come with you,” Esther said. “I don’t want them to come and meet me alone. I want to come with you.”“You are safer here,” I said. “Lock yourself in the car and then you will be safe. We will come back now. I promise you we will be back soon.”She looked at me doubtfully.“I promise,” I said again. “Just wait in the car. No one would be able to get to you.”“Okay,” she said, and she walked back to the car. She looked lean and tired. She sat in the car and closed the door.“Let’s go,” I said to Isaac