Chapter Eight

Jane was on a push-up, dressed in Timi's boxers and a small vest, with Timi watching her from the bed. Evans burst into the room, visibly furious, taking four steps inside.

"Who among you is the COVID-19 patient?" Evans demanded.

Timi quickly sat up, feigning ignorance. "COVID-19?" he asked, as if hearing the term for the first time.

"Don't play games with me!" Evans shouted at him.

Jane had stopped her push-ups when Evans entered. She sat on the floor, sweating profusely.

"No one," Jane said.

"Why were you with the medical team my boys kidnapped you with?" Evans asked, looking at Jane.

"Because she…" Timi began to answer but was cut off by Evans.

"Let her talk," Evans yelled at Timi again.

"When I lodged at the hotel, I started to have symptoms of cold and fever. So, Timi took me to the hospital. When we got there, the doctor conducted a test and said I had malaria and flu. But he said, because the government had given the directive that anyone with flu, cough, and cold should be tested for COVID-19, he called the medical team, and we were being taken to the place where the test would be conducted when you intercepted us. I only had malaria and flu, but now I am alright," Jane carefully spun her fabricated story in a clever way.

"And what do you have to say?" Evans asked, turning to Timi.

"She has said it all. That was what happened," Timi replied.

Evans returned his gaze to Jane. He watched her on the floor, soaked in sweat. She looked every inch a healthy person, and she looked sexy too, Evans thought as he stared at her.

"I met you working out. You look healthy, and your story seems convincing. If only your father could pay the ransom tomorrow, we would release you tomorrow. Let's see how it goes," Evans said, and took his leave. He closed and locked the door, his footsteps echoing in the corridor as he walked away. He knew he lied about Jane's release, planning to terminate her life after her ransom was collected, according to the agreement he had with the individuals who gave him the kidnap job in Japan.

"That was awesome," Timi praised Jane and gave her a high five.

"You'd make a good actress," he added and smiled.

"I wonder who the best liar is between us," Timi gazed at Jane.

"You are!" said Jane.

"No! You are!" Timi said.

"On a more serious note, I need to talk to Daddy; this whole thing is becoming more scary," Jane said.

"You'll do that tonight," Timi replied and lay back on the bed.

"Seriously, I wish this nightmare ends right now. The whole shit is truly becoming scary," Timi admitted as he watched Jane leave for the bathroom to take a shower.

Abdul had packed the plates in the plastic bag that the food was brought in. But he took the metal spoon away from it and hid it under the rug at the extreme end of the room. Almost 30 minutes after eating, he heard a tap on the door, and it was Monster-J who came in to collect the plates and also to check on him. He walked in, holding a pistol, looked at him for a while, picked up the plastic bag, and then walked out. Everyone was aware that there was something strange about Abdul, but what exactly it was, they could not tell.

Abdul stood up after Monster-J left the room to pick the spoon where it was kept and came back to his usual spot where he often sat.

Evans' attack continued to replay in his mind, and he could not wait to exact his own pound of flesh. "A life for a life, an eye for an eye" is the rule of the game, and he promised himself not to leave the building without taking revenge.

Shortly after, he left for the bathroom to relieve himself. And as he urinated, nothing came across his mind but how to break away from captivity. His mind was made up already.

It was night, and there would be no dinner. The only meals available in their abductors' abode were breakfast and lunch. But being held hostage in the VIP room came with the opportunity of having fruits and drinks in the fridge at one's disposal, unlike being held hostage in the other room where Abdul was locked up.

Timi was taking a shower, and Jane, on the other hand, was waiting for him to finish before she would do the same. She was eating a banana.

"Jane, come closer," Timi said and thrust his head out from the slightly opened door.

He managed to open his eyes despite having soap foam on his face. Jane walked up to him, and he whispered, "Don't forget to call your dad like you promised."

"Oh! That's right, thanks for reminding me," Jane thanked him and walked back to pick up the earphones.

"Jane! In the wardrobe," Timi whispered again.

"Okay, I understand," Jane replied.

She understood that it would be dangerous if she was overheard by any of the guys. So, she picked up the earphone from where it was kept, and entered the most spacious part of the wardrobe and closed it. Her dad's phone rang for a couple of seconds, and he picked it up. The number was strange, and he came online with all eagerness.

"Hello, Papa," Jane said, almost whispering.

"I am making a secret call, so I have to make it snappy. How far about the ransom?" she quickly added.

"I was able to give them 500,000 dollars, and I will be giving their agent the balance latest in two days," Peter Elichi Cho said.

He was glad to hear his daughter's voice.

"I hope you were not injured by them," he asked.

"No, Papa, I am good. We are taken care of. Talk to you later," Jane replied and hung up.

When his daughter hung up, Peter Elichi Cho started to wonder why she used "we" instead of "I." How many of them? he wondered.

Timi was already in the room when Jane came out of the wardrobe. And he could read from her countenance that all was well.

"Any good news?" he asked.

"He has given them half already and will give them the balance latest in two days," Jane said, and raised the mattress up to hide the earphone.

"Wow! Good news. In a nutshell, we will be freed in three days," Timi said, sounding relieved and elated.

"Let's hope so," Jane looked pleased too, and it all showed on her.

With all joy, she entered the bathroom while Timi was preparing to sleep.

Abdul had been filing the device he made out of the metal spoon since morning, and the edge was now sharp. He made a weapon out of it by cutting off the scooping part and turning the area where the handle joined the scooping area into a sharp edge. The concrete floor underneath the carpet was his file. He was ready to fight for his life and set himself free or die trying. Expecting a 15million naira ransom, an equivalent of 450,000 dollars, from his father, whose salary a month was less than 500 dollars, was like daydreaming. Setting himself free was the only option available.

Evans and his boys were tired after the strenuous activities throughout the day; therefore, they were sound asleep, each in their separate rooms. But a call came in for Evans, and he woke up. He checked the screen of his cellphone, and it was Fumihiro, his Japanese contact.

"Hello, the man has fulfilled the first part of his promise this afternoon, and he has promised to balance up latest the day after tomorrow. All looking good," Fumihiro said and laughed.

"Yeah, all looking good, and how much has he paid?" Evans asked.

"Five hundred thousand US dollars," Fumihiro replied.

"That's good! All looking good truly," Evans said, sounding happy.

Abdul stood up from his sitting position and decided it was time for action. He announced to himself.

"Red Eagle, no mercy for the enemy. Red Eagle, no mercy for the enemy," he kept mumbling, and as he chanted it quietly, his spirit was charged, and he could feel it. He was ready to save his lif. A coward was the last thing he wanted to be, and Shakespeare's words wouldn't play out on him: "Cowards die many times before their death." He repeated his chant again: "No mercy for the enemy, no mercy for the enemy."

Jane had finished from the bathroom, and on stepping out, she saw Timi on the floor sleeping.

"You are not sleeping there tonight. If you are, expect me by your side," she said. She walked up to him and could see he was already asleep. She was wearing her panties and bra, and she looked as sexy as ever.

Timi opened his eyes and saw her figure standing over him. He was woken up by the tap on the shoulder. Jane held his hands and tried to pull him up.

"Stop sleeping on the floor; you make me feel uncomfortable," she said.

He withdrew his hand from her and used it to help himself up. He then walked with her to the bed and sat down at the edge of the bed. It was already the time Evans or any of the guys were no longer expected to intrude, so Jane climbed up on the bed. She slid under the bedsheet, and Timi too followed suit. But as his back touched the bed, there was a sound at the door.

Something fell from someone's hand, and he quickly sat up and dropped his legs on the floor. And within seconds, the door opened, and Evans came in.

"You guys have not slept yet," he said.

"Good evening, sir," Timi greeted, and Jane sat up too, the bedsheet covering her bust.

"Well, I have brought you good news; your father has fulfilled a part of his promise, and if he fulfills it totally as he promised, you will be released soon," Evans said, rubbing his pistol in his right hand with his left hand.

He looked happy, and it was written all over him. The happy expression remained on his face on his way out.

"Good night, guys," he said again, and the door closed behind him.

Jane and Timi looked at each other and smiled. It was funny to them because Evans did not know that they had received the news before he came into the room from the one who paid them.

"Did you see why I always insist you cover your body always?" Timi asked.

"He could come in at any time without knocking," he added. And like an obedient child, Jane nodded and accepted that she needed to be more careful about her nudity.

Abdul had quickly refrained from his plan of escape when he heard the sound of a falling object some minutes ago, and the opening and closing of a door in the corridor also made him have a change of heart. He was wrong after all to have believed that all of the kidnappers had gone to sleep. He sat back at his usual spot and decided to wait until the middle of the night when everyone must be sleeping soundly.

There was no wristwatch or wall clock to tell him the time, so he really was not aware what time it was.

Jane crawled on the bed towards Timi and laid her head on his chest. She hugged him, and her voluptuous chest pressed against him tightly. He used his right hand to cuddle her and his left hand to stroke her hair.

Her heart longed for him. And she cared less what her father would say about him. After all, he was the one who told her how her mother married him against her parents' wish. She was ready to stay with Timi as long as she remained loved and protected by him. Relaxed and confident in his arms, her hand played with the hair on his chest, pulling and releasing it. It wandered up and down, while she closed her eyes, imagining things.

"Timi, do you have a woman in your life?" she asked, still with her eyes closed as her hand continued to wander about on the contours of his chest.

"Yes, of course," he answered, caressing her hair.

Jane heard him, raised her head suddenly, and a tone of disappointment could be detected in her voice: "But, you never said it!" she said sadly.

"Yes! I never said it because you never asked me. I'm sorry," he replied, and at that point, he noticed her hand had stopped its soothing movement on his chest.

"May I know her name?" she asked coldly.

"When I was small, I called her Mummy, but now I call her Mama," Timi replied with a chuckle. And before he could finish his statement, Jane slapped him on the chest.

"You got me!" she said, sounding relieved.

"I used to have a girlfriend, though, but since we broke up, it's been me, my job, and Mama. It's a long story," he said and kissed her head.

"What about you, do you have a boyfriend?" Timi looked into her eyes when she looked up at him.

With her hand back on duty, roaming about and wandering on his muscled chest, she replied, "We broke up some months ago. And he's still bitter about it to date, but I don't care. The breakup was one of the reasons I accepted the modeling offer that brought me to Africa."

As if there were secrets in their love lives that were not good to be mentioned at the moment, they postponed their breakup stories until another day as they lay on the bed in each other's arms before they fell asleep.

Abdul lay in wait for the right time to carry out his escape plan, but unfortunately, he fell asleep and woke up late when he needed to use the bathroom. He was not sure what time it was; therefore, he decided to wait until the following night to carry out his plan.

It was 7 AM when the door of his room opened, and Evans came in. He gave him a kick, and he woke up.

"Tomorrow is the last day given to your father, and we have not heard anything from the bastard. We keep feeding you without any returns, so at the expiration of the time given, consider yourself dead," Evans said, looking at the boy who had sat up after he was kicked.

Abdul kept his eyes low and stared at the floor. He could feel a terrible anger in him as the thought of Evans' threats ran through his mind. His mind kept telling him that in a one-on-one physical battle, the man holding a pistol in front of him could not bring him down. His stern countenance remained unbothered by the threat, and he uttered not a word.

Evans looked at him for a while and walked out of the room. He locked the door and left for the VIP room. He did not allow him to speak with his father anymore like he had promised.

He got to the VIP room and opened its door. With a step in the room, he met Jane in a pair of boxers and a round-neck T-shirt, working out on the floor. It was glaring it was Timi's boxers she had on, and he wondered how close they had eventually become.

"Good morning, sir," she stopped working out and remained seated on the floor.

She had been taught how adding "Sir" to sentences when addressing the criminals could make them feel honoured, and she was ready to play along.

"Good morning, just checking on you," Evans replied, took a step backward, and closed the door.

Timi rolled and turned when he heard Evans' voice, and before he could open his eyes, he had heard the door close and lock.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"Checking on us," Jane replied and stood up to go and have a shower.

"Hello," Evans said on the phone as he walked past Monster-J, who was going to give food to Abdul.

Remembering he had not collected the key to gain access to Abdul's cell from Evans, MJ walked back and tapped Evans on the back.

"Boss, the keys please," he said.

Evans stopped walking, turned around, and handed the bunch of keys over to him.

"We are yet to make duplicates of the keys, boss," Monster-J said as he turned on his heels to approach the house.

"We will. The next time we go to town for leisure, remind me," Evans replied to Monster-J, taking a break from the phone conversation.

The bunch of keys Monster-J collected from Evans was the only one left with the gang. Evans had lost the other one during one of their kidnapping operations, and ever since then, he had been nonchalant about the replacement. All the rooms in the house were left with one key each in the bunch.

Abdul was lying on the floor when Monster-J came in. Monster-J saw him holding his stomach and groaning, which was unlike him. So, Monster-J moved closer to him to know what was wrong.

"Are you alright?" Monster-J asked, having already dropped the paper bag containing food on the floor. He had a pistol in his right hand, so with his left hand, he held Abdul on his shoulder.

"No! I have a serious pain in the stomach," Abdul replied, breathing heavily.

"I will be back," MJ replied, and walked out. Thereafter, he went straight to Evans, who was still on the phone talking to his contact in Japan.

He held his tobacco pipe and smoked it once in a while in between the call. Monster-J stood and watched him talk. He needed to wait for him to finish his discussion. But seeing Monster-J stand beside him, Evans could tell he had urgent information to give him.

"I will call you back," Evans excused himself from the phone conversation and faced Monster-J.

"What is the matter?" he asked.

"That boy is very sick," Monster-J replied.

"Which boy?" Evans asked, spat, and took a drag of smoke from the pipe again.

"The stubborn boy," Monster-J replied, almost getting angry with his boss. "Why must he ask, 'which boy?' How many boys remained in hostage within the facility?" he pondered in anger as he awaited Evans' response. Evans could be very annoying at times, and he would never admit it.

"Although I will end up sniffing life out of him if his ransom is not paid, but for now, go with the nurse at the VIP room," Evans responded and went back on the phone.

Monster-J walked away and left Evans alone. He could hear the gate being banged as he walked and Bolt barking at the gate vigorously, but he continued to walk, pretending he was not aware of the banging. In the event of this, Evans walked up to attend to the gate-bangers, for he knew it was no one but Roja and Luke-the-Dude.

Monster-J and Timi entered the room where Abdul was and met him on the floor, still wriggling and groaning. Timi quickly knelt down beside him and held him. He touched Abdul's stomach, and Abdul cried out loud.

He looked terrible, Timi thought. Then, he turned to Monster-J and said, "Is there antibiotics and milk of magnesia?"

"Yes, there are antibiotics, but I doubt if the milk of magnesia is available," Monster-J replied.

"Can I have them please?" Timi responded and went back to his examination of the sick boy.

Monster-J quickly excused himself, exited the room, and locked its door before he left for Evans' room where the drugs were kept.

Immediately it was Abdul and Timi alone in the room, Abdul stopped the groaning and wriggling.

"You are a hostage here too, right?" Abdul asked. He needed to be sure Timi was an abductee like him before going with what he wanted to say.

"Yes, not me alone. A Japanese girl and I," Timi answered, and was more than surprised to see Abdul acting alright in a split second.

"Which of the rooms are you in, and how many of you are there?" Abdul asked.

"The VIP room. The last room by the right when going out of the building opposite the kidnap boss' room, and we are two, it's just me and the lady. Why did you ask?" Timi was more than curious.

"Okay, anything can happen between now and tomorrow morning, and we might need each other," Abdul said.

"What exactly do you mean?" Timi asked.

"Don't worry. You will know later. How far is this place to town?" Abdul asked, still lying on the floor.

"I really don't know. We were blindfolded into this place. Maybe 20 or 30 minutes drive," Timi said, and couldn't help but wonder why he acted sick. But connecting all the dots together through these questions, he could suspect what Abdul was up to.

As they talked, there was the sound of a key entering the keyhole on the door, and Abdul at once switched back to his groaning and wriggling mode.

Monster-J came in with a bottle of water and a sachet of capsules.

"How is he?" he asked, and Timi played along with Abdul by replying, "The same, but if he takes the capsules he should be better."

"There is no milk of magnesia. Do you think he will be fine still?" Monster-J asked.

"I am sure he will be fine," Timi assured him.

After all, he was already aware that all the wriggling and groaning was all a prank.

Timi urged Abdul to sit up and take the capsules, and he did, and immediately went back to his lying position.

"Eat your food when you gain the strength to eat," Timi told him, still acting along.

Abdul nodded and opened his eyes faintly to take a quick look at Monster-J. He was in jeans as always, holding a pistol in his right hand, and a bunch of keys in his left hand.

After a couple of minutes, Timi and Monster-J left Abdul. He was locked up again, and Timi was taken back into the VIP room.

Monster-J walked out of the house, and when he got out, he could hear Evans talking tough on the phone. He stood at the main entrance of the house, watching Roja and Luke-the-Dude sit beside Evans. Roja beckoned to him, and he walked up to him.

"What is the matter?" Monster-J asked curiously.

"Betrayal by the guys in Japan," Luke-the-Dude informed him.

"What the fuck!" Monster-J snapped in.

"I will deal with you guys. Never ever step your feet on the shores of this country because if you fucking do, I'm gonna fall you one after the other. I repeat, I'm gonna fall you. Trust me. I ain't joking with you. Fur-fu-fuck you! I say fuck you!" Evans threatened and stammered. He was vibrating as he talked, his eyes as wild as those of a hyena. He breathed heavily like he had just finished climbing a mountain.

"We did all the job, took all the risks, and you guys did this to me? Giving me this kind of shit? Damn! You all gonna regret this," he yelled again and cursed.

Turning to his boys, he said, "The father of the girl has paid the balance of the ransom, but these dogs are keeping part of our money, asking me to renegotiate with the man. Can you just imagine that!? They have 700,000 dollars while they sent just 300,000 dollars to us," he informed his men who were all watching the drama.

"We agreed on a 50/50, despite the fact that we are the ones doing the whole job. All they did was to provide the information. I'm gonna kill these idiots someday," Evans fumed.

"Now, what do we do, release the guy, and kill the girl as planned, since the man has fulfilled his part of the deal?" Roja asked.

"No! No! We ain't killing the poor girl no more. I don't know what the beautiful girl did wrong to these stupid guys that they want her dead. But for swindling us our money, I won't kill her anymore. That is one price they'd pay for not keeping to terms. We are not releasing them yet either. It's unfortunate the man kept to his promise, and we are still gonna hold his daughter as a hostage. But it ain't our fault, man!" Evans replied.

Luke-the-Dude and Monster-J looked on without uttering a word anymore. They knew when Evans yelled in his bad American English and stuttered, he could kill a whole town. That was always a sign of the peak of his anger.

Abdul kept on filing his improvised weapon on the concrete floor beneath the rug in his cell, and it had become as sharp as a surgical knife. He kept it under the rug every time he heard footsteps close to the door. He had eaten, and he was set for the action to begin.