Shades Of Romance đ«
Episode 35 & 36
Yea I know Jeniferâs abduction looks like an exaggeration to boost up the story. In fact to me it equally sounded very strange and unbelievable when i got the news as well. Now letâs go back to how it all happened.
On that fateful day, i left my house by 6:00am in order to supervise a delivery which arrived very late the previous night in one of my gas stations. However i first headed to Joeâs house with the intention of picking him up to accompany me, because i was still scared of the unknown.
But as Joe got into my car on getting to his house, i got a very shocking phone call from a friendly neighbour.
âOga Emeka i saw you drive out minutes ago, please stay low where ever you are. Some hoodlums just got to your compound five minutes ago and they are shooting sporadically. Please stay away. Iâm seeing everything from my houseâ he informed me nervously while i gasped. My mind instantly ran to Jenifer.
âoh Godâ i breathed.
âplease can you see their car, please i need more informationâ i begged desperately.
âyea they came with a red tinted Camry car. I donât know how many of them are in the car or in your compoundâ he answered.
âsâtâ i screamed, hung up and dialled D.S.P Makuâs phone number, equally reversing my car at the same time as if i was James Bond, while Joe stared at me curiously.
I told officer Maku of the latest development, and he assured me that his men will be at my house within minutes. I hung up and drove furiously, heading to my house as if i had nine lives.
âwhere are we going?, not your house of courseâ Joe asked with fear after listening to my conversation with Maku.
âyes and donât try to stop meâ i replied seriously.
âthis is madness, you arenât thinking straight. Your house is the last place you should be right nowâ he begged, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. My mind was only on Jeniferâs safety.
However as we got to the junction leading to my street. I got another phone call from one of the guys guarding my house.
âmadam oo, madam oo. They took madamâ he cried over the Phone, confirming my fears.
Just instantly, a red tinted Camry which fitted the description of the hoodlums car, came up at the junction and headed towards the opposite direction with eye catching speed. I quickly followed them without any care for my safety, though i kept a safe distance behind. The light morning traffic equally worsened the situation by giving the hoodlums enough space to speed dangerously.
In no time we got to Delta/Onitsha highway, without encountering a single police check point.
âi donât understand what you are trying to doâ Joe protested seriously.
âwe have a good chance of finding their hideout and solving all these mysteries once and for all by following them. This is the time to prove yourself to meâ i grinned coldly.
âwe also have a good chance of losing our lives in the process. This is madnessâ he lamented bitterly. I scoffed and drove on without another word.
The speeding Camry definitely held the answers i badly needed. I couldnât afford losing it.
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Episode 36
It really was a very scary adventure with high risk of ending badly. I threw caution to the wind and followed the kidnappers, ignoring pleas from Joe to stop and make a better plan.
The red Camry soon got to a junction some kilometers into Asaba and took a sharp turn, heading right with great speed. I followed without care, increasing my speed a bit and trying hard not to lose the escaping car which really was driven by a very skilled driver.
âmy problem with you is that you find it hard to take any advice from me. How do you think we will follow them all the way from Benin without being noticed??. We are heading to an unknown territory. They might be leading us to a trapâ Joe protested desperately, but i still was unmoved by his cries.
Unfortunately, he was right. I failed to realise that just as i was good with following the speeding Camry without much stress, the occupants of the car equally werenât foolish not to notice a car following them all the way from Benin city.
In a couple of minutes we got to a very lonely road typical of most Nigerian villages. The Camry increased its speed forcing me to increase mine, but it was a very silly mistake that almost cost me everything.
Not being familiar with road, i failed to notice a sharp bend and bump ahead, which forced me to step on my brakes as i almost lost control of my car on getting to the spot with full speed.
Just that same moment, I saw the red Camry, turn and head towards us. I had no time to control my car, stop, reverse and flea. All i did was gasp desperately as the Camry car closed in on us.
The lonely road was very clear and empty, a very good place to commit a crime without being undetected.
I saw death before my very eyes.
âoh nooooâ Joe screamed, opened the door by his side and dived into the nearby bush, surprisingly leaving me to my fate. I nervously tried to do a skillful maneuver but it yielded no positive result.
The Camry, quickly blocked me while its occupants jumped out with guns ready to shoot.
âget outâ three voices screamed at me. I quickly switched off my car, climbed out and surrendered by raising up my hands, my heart p******g furiously.
âWelcome to your death, foolish manâ one of the thugs said to me. I instantly felt hot water run down my trouser. I never knew when i urinated on myself.
Joe was nowhere to save my a-s. Of course he warned me and by the look of things wasnât ready to die with a foolish man like me.
To be continued.
© Valentine Nkemjika
