I met Talatu coming back at the car park. She walked toward me with a bag in each hand.“I thought I told you not to come?” she said, her face showing her anger. “I specifically said you should not come. Now he will think you have something to do with it.”“I came to greet him and to see how he is doing,” I said. “I hope you know he is my tenant. I have to watch out for my tenants, too. Don’t you think so?”“Why are you here? Really?”“Before that, how is your dad doing?”“I haven’t seen him today. Mom had even called. I had to tell her that I would see Agaba before seeing them.”“Do you have anything I can take to them?”She hesitated.“The hospital is on my way,” I said. “I will give it to them and then you can come later. It’s no problem.”“I need to see how dad is doing,” she said.“I will tell them that you are coming. And as soon as you are done here, you can go see him.”“I guess you are right,” she said, and handed me one of the bags.It felt heavy.“What do you have here? Roc

The next day, the phone rang by seven in the morning and cut short the dream I was having. Esther was in the dream and I was happy. I picked the call with reluctance and answered.“Hello,” I said.“Isaac, here boss. Good morning.”“Good morning,” I said, making a mental note to tell him not to call me before nine in the morning again.“We found him, boss,” he said. “We found Assistant Superintendent Dangin. He is no longer an inspector.”I sat up in bed, my heart beating fast, and wondering how he was able to get to Lagos so fast.Maybe he took a night bus, I thought.“How did you find him so soon?” I asked.“I paid a policeman three hundred thousand to find him,” Isaac said. “And he did, boss. I also know where he stays. He has a house in Ajah.”“What? That’s close to Eric’s house.”“Whose is Eric, boss?”“Never mind,” I said. “So, you have the location of his house?”“Yes, boss. But I have not gone to see it yet.”“Okay. Go and see it and then rent a car and pick me up at the airpo

We picked the two guys at the Ajah Market, and Isaac drove toward the Epe Road. I was wearing a mask by this time and the two guys could not see my face. They greeted me and talked with Isaac, talking about how they would surprise and disarm S.P Dangin.“You have to be careful,” I said. “He is a policeman and he is likely to be armed. So, you have to be careful.”“Do not worry,” one of the boys said. “We will disarm him; he is not strong against us.”“We catch him quickly,” said the other boy. “Before he know what happened. We catch him fast!”And thought Isaac’s command of English was bad!We reached Ilyja Street and Isaac stopped the car.“The house is at the end of the street,” Isaac said. “I will park the car on the street and pretend I am fixing the tire. The two of you will hide in the gutters. Once he comes and is forced to stopped, I will ask him for help and once he comes down, the two of you would rush him and throw him to the ground. I will tie him up and we will take him w

I boarded a plane to Abuja the next morning, and I sent Isaac Ibadan to still cool off. If ASP Dangin decides to look for me, let him do a little work before he gets to me in Jos.I bought a Toyota Rav4 in Abuja and drove to Jos.I drove to Esther’s house as soon as I arrived. I went into the house, but she was not in the house.“She went to church,” the house maid told me.“Where?”“In Rayfield.”“Which church?”“The Excellent People’s Church.”I thank her and drove to the church. I got there and found the service was still going on. I stayed in the carpark until they came out of the church.I came out of the car and stood by, looking out for her. I called her phone but it rang through. Probably in a silence mode.People were everywhere, and I became afraid that we might miss each other.“Paul?” I heard a voice said behind me. I turned around and found Esther looking at me. “What are you doing here?”A white woman and a black man stood behind her.“Good evening, ma; good evening, sir

I called Isaac the next morning.“Come back to Jos,” I said. “The doctor is not going to make any fuse. I think we put an eternal fear in his heart. He is not likely to report us to the police.”“Alright, boss,” he said. “I will be on my way today.”“Take a flight; not a bus.”“Alright, boss. I will see you in about four hours.”“Okay. And please buy Dandion Spice for me. Buy as many as you can hold.”“Alright, boss.”I took breakfast downstairs and was on my way to see mom when Talatu’s call came.“Are you coming now?” she asked.“No. I am going to see my mom. I will come after I am done.”“Don’t stay too long,” she said.“Okay,” I said.“He called,” she said. “He called from the airport. He is on his way back to the UK. He said I was going to regret my decision. He said he wished both of us were dead, killed by some gunmen.”I made no reply, knowing that the more Talatu stayed apart from Dr. Agaba, the closer she draws to me. For the umpteenth time, I blamed myself for intervening i