LIFE IMPRISONMENT 17
WRITTEN BY: GRACE OLAYEMI
Mr Emmanuel got to work the following morning smiling from ear to ear. He had the most elegant and relaxing demeanour that morning to the amazement of his subordinates. The station had been hot and everyone on their toes since the case of the 50 children that were killed. The pressure from the government and even the citizens pushed all of them to the edge and they wore the frustration on their faces.
“Get fifty officers ready, we are going somewhere by 2pm,” Mr Emmanuel said to his assistant.
“Sir, we have gotten more information that can help us nail Danger. Someone said he saw someone that looks like him from the portrait we sent out and there is enough information on how to get him,” the assistant said excitedly as he knew that that was the news the SP wanted to hear.
“Okay, go and do what I said immediately. You are dismissed.”
The assistant was surprised and he stood transfixed on a spot for a while wondering what had made the SP so excited and less concerned about Danger’s case which was the major pain in their necks at the moment.
Mr Emmanuel smiled again as he checked through the progress report on Danger’s case before him. He had gotten a great lead that was greater than any lead that any human could give him.
After the prayer with his wife the previous night, he went to bed and just after few minutes of sleeping, someone tapped him and he wondered why his wife would disturb his sleep when she knew so well that he needed that sleep.
“What is it?” He said sleepily without opening his eyes.
“Stand up!”
He heard a male’s voice and was startled. He jumped to his feet and was surprised to see a calm looking strange man seated by his bedside.
“Who are you? What do you want from me? How did you get in here?” He asked many questions out of fear and looked over to his side where his wife slept peacefully.
“You are looking for Olwarantimi Adel and I am here to take you to where he is,” the strange man said and Mr Emmanuel became confused.
“I’m sorry, sir. You have the wrong address. I don’t know anyone by the name you have mentioned and I have nothing to do with such person.”
“Hahaha!” The strange man laughed gently, revealing his beautiful dentition and the laughter sent calmness to Mr Emmanuel and he relaxed his tensed nerves.
“You are looking for Danger?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Mr Emmanuel responded and the strange man laughed again.
“You are looking for Oluwarantimi Adel and not Danger. You were busy praying with your wife to show you where Danger is hiding. I pray you won’t see danger in Jesus Name,” the strange man said and Mr Emmanuel was surprised, confused, perplexed and lost. He wondered how the strange man knew about the prayer he prayed in the closet with his wife but he was more concerned with what the man said.
“We were praying to God to reveal the location of the criminal called Danger that has been terrorizing this city,” he tried to explain.
“Relax, Officer. I was only pulling your legs. It’s time to be serious,” he said and adjusted his flawless looking radiant wear that looked nothing like what Mr Emmanuel had seen before.
“I’m here to take you to where he is as an answer to your prayers.”
“Thank you,” Mr Emmanuel said as he got on his feet to follow the strange man.
He showed Mr Emmanuel a lot of things about Danger. How he operated, what led him to it, where his houses were, the number of his guys, his secret covenant and so on.
Mr Emmanuel woke up and shot to his seat. He tried to write down all he saw about Danger but somehow he could not remember anything. Tears flowed from his eyes as he tried to rack his brain but his memory was fizzled and nothing made sense. He gave up and said a word of prayer after which ‘Pricey Plaza, VIP lounge, 2pm’ came to his mind and he wrote it down.
He told his wife about the dream he had and also what came to his mind after praying to remember the dream. She wished him luck and promised to pray along. She knew catching Danger was the beginning and not the end and she was ready to support her husband through prayers and encouragement.
Mr Emmanuel knew how foolish he would look if he told his assistant that they were moving out to catch ‘the mighty Danger’ based on the dream he had. He was not ready to face the ridicule of his subordinates should in case the dream was not real and Danger was nowhere to be found. He had been trying to rebuke the thought that had been nudging at his heart all through the drive from the house to the station that the dream might be false and not something that was concrete enough for him to act upon.
* * * * * *
“I want all of you to put on your casual wear,” Mr Emmanuel instructed his guys and they all went in to put on wears that would not in anyway identify them as policemen.
“We are going to be going with these vans,” he said and pointed to the private vans he had hired.
“We are going to ambush Danger and his guys and we must return to this station with Danger in handcuffs.”
The question on the heart of the other officers had been answered finally and they were surprised and some happy to hear the news that Danger would soon be behind bars. They had been wondering what was up with the boss since the moment he walked in in the morning and the strange instructions he was dishing out. Even the excessive parade that morning made them wonder what was happening.
They all moved in to the vans while Mr Emmanuel and his assistant took his private car. The officers had been briefed on all they needed to do once they got to their destination and how they would position themselves to avoid raising any suspicion as they knew that any mistake might lead to them losing Danger.
“How are we going to catch someone we can’t recognize?” His assistant asked after a few minutes of silence.
“I can recognize him,” Mr Emmanuel responded to the amazement of his subordinate. His memory of the dream had been coming together in bits and pieces after he prayed and he noted each detail with uttermost importance.
“How, Sir? Since when?”
“You ask too many questions. How did we even get to this point? Shouldn’t you be the subordinate?”
“I’m sorry, sir!”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
Silence rented the air after that and Mr Emmanuel used that moment to pray that God would make the mission successful. His heart was afraid and he kept praying that God should help his unbelief and make his faith stronger than his fear. He checked the warrant of arrest with him and also the camera he had been instructed in the dream to take along and he sighed when he saw that everything was intact.
To be continued…
I knew Danger will be Oluwarantimi Adel from the start