THE MONEY OR YOUR LIFE
CHAPTER 2
I quickly retreated and ran back for a few meters away. I hid behind a closed corner shop and assessed the situation. What were those guys doing at my house. They had gotten to my house even before I could make it myself. That could only mean one thing. They knew me. If they knew me, then it only made sense that one of my colleagues at the railway was involved. Now it all made sense to me. The site of the shooting, the site of the burial of the money…everything. Now, I had gotten myself involved in a bigger entanglement than I had bargained for. What was I going to do? Give back the money? No way!!
I ran back into the bushes, thought for a while, then decided to go to a hotel. My life was in danger, and so was the life of my wife and our unborn child. I was afraid for my wife, but I was sure they were not going to hurt her. The amount of money at stake was too huge. Though they were criminals, I was sure they still had the good sense to know that if they killed my wife, I would disappear with the money. If they kidnapped my wife and hold her hostage, I was going to call the police, I thought. But again, I thought to myself. Was I ready to get the police involved in this? No way, this was not a police issue.
I saw a lone okada and stopped it, and told him to drop me at Dreamland Hotel. He carried me and sped away. I kept looking behind me to see if anyone was after me. Thankfully, we got to the hotel in one piece. I booked a room on the third floor. I didn’t have enough cash with me. However, the hotel accepted Mobile Money so, I paid for two nights. As soon as I got into my room and was about to go to the bath to clean up, my phone rang. I checked and it was my wife.
“Hello baby. Hope you are ok?” I asked.
“No, babe. I am not okay. Where are you, please?”
“I am working late today, babe. What is the matter?” I asked as if I didn’t know.
“There are some guys here with guns, babe. They are threatening to kill me.” She was really scared.
“What? What do they want?” I asked.
“We want our money.” Answered one of the guys.
“And you think holding my wife hostage will bring back your money?” I asked.
“The money or your wife. Choose one.”
“If you don’t leave my wife, I will call the police.” I threatened.
“Hahahahahahahaha! You know you can’t all the police. You wouldn’t want to get the police involved in this, would you? Just bring the money or if you can’t, drop it somewhere and tell us where to get it. I promise no harm will come to you or your wife if you comply.”
I angrily dropped the call. He was right. I wouldn’t want to get the police involved. Damn!! What was I going to do. I didn’t believe giving them back the money would make them spare me. They were hardened and heartless criminals. They would kill me even if they got their money back. My wife, my beautiful wife. I hoped she was safe. Then another thought came to me. Yes, I couldn’t get the police involved. That was out of the question. However, my wife had a cousin who was a police inspector. What if I tricked him into going to my house. What if I lied to him that I was working overnight and my wife had had an emergency, just to make him go there? I smiled at the thought and checked my phone for his number.
“Hello, Inspector.”
“Is that my in law? Long time, Bro. How are you?”
“I am good, Bro. But your sister is not. Please, I am working late and she has had an emergency. Could you please go see what is happening to her?”
“Okay, bro. My friend and I are on patrol this night. I will just ask him to drive me to your neighbourhood.” The inspector said.
“Thank you, bro. I appreciate.”
“Anything for my beautiful sister.”
Back at my house, the guy who was at the Lexus Jeep, heard the sound of the police siren and went into to tell his partner that the police were on their way. The guy inside quickly got into the car, and they drove way. They couldn’t believe my guts, my effrontery. They now understood that they were dealing with a tougher adversary than they had anticipated. I knew in their minds; they were thinking of very un-nice things they would do to me when and if they finally laid their hands on me.
My inspector in law and his friend pulled up at my house, and luckily for me, my wife was indeed having a crisis. She was in too much trauma as a result, needed medical attention, and felt very relieved and thankful when her cousin showed in. *
“Thank God, Derick. Thank God you came. There were some men here. Did you see them outside? Are they still outside?” She was traumatized.
“Men?” Derick asked. “I didn’t see any men. Your husband called me to come and check on you. He said you were having a crisis.”
“My husband? Have you seen him? Is he alright?”
“Of course, your husband is alright? What are you talking about? Is everything alright? You talked of some men outside your house. Is anything the matter?”
My wife was smart enough to know that I hadn’t told her cousin anything about the armed men, probably because I didn’t want him getting involved.
“Just take me to the hospital, please. I am not feeling too well, and I need to see a doctor.” She spoke.
“Okay, if you say so. Let’s go to the hospital.” Derick spoke.
Derick and his colleague helped my wife into the police car and drove away. He called me on their way to the hospital and I was very happy that my wife was safe. I had succeeded to out maneuver the armed men. I laughed at the thought of that. I decided that I would go to the hospital to see my wife when it was daylight. It was risky but it was something I needed to do.
It was morning now. I sneaked out of the hotel to do some things for myself. I needed a change of dress, but I couldn’t dare go to my house to get any. Luckily for me, the hotel had a convenience store. I went there and got a pair of jeans, a T Shirt and a pair of sneakers. I used Mobile Money to pay. I didn’t care about expenses because I had millions with me. I stopped a passing taxi, got in and headed to the hospital. When I got off the taxi, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Parked in front of the hospital gate, was the Lexus Jeep. They had surely hidden somewhere when Derick came. They had then followed Derick slowly and realized that he was taking my wife to the hospital. Now, they were waiting, hoping correctly, that I would come to the hospital to see my wife.
I hid behind a flower hedge that was outside the hospital gate and scanned the whole area. I noticed that the guys were now four. Two were in the jeep, and the other two were standing outside, leaning on the jeep, with their thick muscular arms folded. The one with the beard was still having his dark shades on. It dawned on me now that those guys meant business and were bent on making my life miserable until I give back their money. I decided that if that was the case, then I needed to up my game too. I sneaked out of the hospital premises and went to see a friend of mine who deals in guns. I needed to protect myself and my wife. I also went to an electronic shop and got electronic trackers. It cost me a fortune, but I didn’t bother. I was in possession of millions.
I went back to the hotel and put the tracking device on my door and also on the hotel safe where I had kept the money. I couldn’t take the risk of moving around with such a huge amount of money, especially as I had bad guys who wanted my life or their money. If they had had the opportunity, they would take both. I set the tracker in such a way that it was connected to my phone through the internet. In that case, while I was away, if someone broke into my room, I would be warned via my phone and know my next move. Satisfied with the settings, I took my newly bought gun and went out of the hotel. I wanted to go to my house, now that I was sure that those guys were at the hospital, and take some personal effects I would need.
I sneaked into my neighbourhood, collected my important documents and sneaked back out. I took a bike and told the bike reader not to take the normal route to the hotel. I requested that he took a back cut. I wasn’t taking any chances. While I was on the bike, my phone beeped. I checked and realized that I was getting signals that my hotel door had been tampered with. I wondered if it could be room service. I was sure it was room service. Who else could it be? The guys who were after me didn’t know where I was living. However, the beeps increased both in sound and frequency, and I knew there was something sinister.
The bike stopped in front of the hotel and I got off. As soon as I got into the hotel lobby, pulled out my gun and went up the stairs. When I got to the floor where my room was located, I didn’t find any one. I put my gun away and opened my door. I went straight to the safe and, with my heart beating fast, I checked the money and I was relieved to see that it was still there. I closed the safe and decided to go downstairs to ask the receptionist if anyone had come looking for me.
As I was walking through the corridor, I had a strange feeling someone was behind me. I looked behind and realized that there was a dangerous looking guy coming towards me. I had never seen him before. I quickened my pace and he did too. I got to the stairs and raced down it, taking two stairs at a time. He followed in hot pursuit. I got to the hotel lobby and saw the hotel receptionist and two clerks behind the counter. However, that was not my interest. What caught my attention was that, another dangerous looking guy had just got in through the main door of the hotel. At that stage, I had no option. I had been cornered, I pulled out my gun and fired.
TO BE CONTINUED…
