“You witch!” the old woman shrieked as she pushed Wura to the ground.

Nine years old Wura stumbled to the floor, thereby twisting her left ankle in the process.

Through blurry eyes, she glanced at the old woman in disbelief. “Grandma,” her voice was quiet, “my leg.”

“Shut up your dirty mouth.” Her grandmother barked at her, eyes glaring with hatred. “That is how you killed your mother, you this evil child. Your mother died because of you, and now want to kill me eh?”

Young Wura was speechless but she didn’t know which pain cut deeper; her twisted ankle or her grandmother saying she killed her mother.

“You should have died with her. You and that foolish woman.”

Wura hands began to shake, her lips quivered and her shoulders quaked.

Her grandmother moved toward her and stretched her right index finger towards her. “You-you this dense child.” she poked her head with her finger, causing Wura’s head to tilt backward.

That was enough to break Wura into tears as she wailed uncontrollably attracting her brother’s attention from wherever he was.

“What’s going on here?”

Even at fourteen, Kola had spoken so clearly and boldly, like a grownup. She was proud of him.

“Grandma what did you do to my sister?” he demanded, that even for a few seconds their grandma was too stunned to speak.

Quickly, he dashed over to his sister’s side and petted her, wiping away her tears with his palm.

“She wants to kill me.” her grandmother shrieked, “and now you’re taking her side? Eh Kola?”

“She’s just a child!” Kola yelled at her, “why do you hate Diwura so much? Can you treat our other cousins this way? You are a heartless person Grandma.”

Their grandmother had lifted her right arm, in attempt to lash a slap across Kola’s cheek, but he stopped it midway and threw back her hand.

“You, daddy and his step wife treats us like dirt in this house. If you want us to run away, then we will.”

And they did run away from Ibadan state to Lagos city where they met their aunt Caro who took care of them like her own.

The dream shifted to a familiar one.

Wura was falling in an abyss, and when she opened her eyes, she met a familiar face of despair of staring at her.

“Why did you kill me?”

“I didn’t kill you.” the words came out as a whisper.

“I didn’t kill you.” This time it was audible.

“I didn’t kill you Kola, it wasn’t me.” She yelled into reality and sat up with a gasp.

Wura stayed on her bed for a couple of minutes until she had fully regained herself. It was the same dream, but a different pattern of ending this time.

She confronted the voice. She spoke back to the voice. She…defended herself and damn did it make her feel good.

After getting off her bed, she did a few light exercise and stretches, why? Because she had a figure to maintain and as an agent, it was necessary to keep fit.

Her breakfast consisted of leftover over jollof rice from the previous day, fried fish, and her usual fruited smoothie.

Rhyme’s consisted of the usual- sardine mixed with cat food and plenty of water.

As she sat in the living room, fingers massaging Rhyme’s belly- she couldn’t help but reflect on the previous day events.

Dahlia had tried to kill Leri and Alhaji Maikasuwa, a running governorship candidate was the master mind and an ex lover of Dahlia who….

Everything suddenly clicked.

The papers, the documents she found on Peace’s phone, the pictures. Everything was beginning to make sense.

A momentary thrill flooded through her. They would be able to get Dahlia soon and end this whole mess.

Her phone rang, which she picked up almost immediately after glancing at the caller ID.

“What’s up?”

“I’m going for the governorship debate,” Astrid said over the line, “I found a way to get in.”

Wura shut her eyes briefly and sighed. How on earth was that supposed to help their mission?

“Why aren’t you bloody saying anything?” Astrid demanded.

“Because I have nothing to say,” Wura told her truthfully, “you know going there is like a waste of time right?”

“Well, my dear Wuwu, never say never.”

Wuwu?

“Good luck then,” Wura rolled her eyes at her, “may you find whatever it is you’re searching for.”

“Whatever,” Astrid hissed, “also, if you can check up on Leri, that’ll be great. She needs friends around her at this point.”

Friends. One word she never thought would associate her relationship with Leri.

“I’ll call her.” Wura said and hanged up the call.

As she dialed Leri’s number, she couldn’t help but wonder how she was feeling-especially after the last discussion they had when after she had regained consciousness.

“The number you’re trying to call is switched off. Please try again later.” the automated female voice sang out.

Wura switched to call Tomiwa instead, and thankfully, after three rings, he picked up the call.

‘I’ve been trying to reach your girlfriend but her phone is switched off. How is she?”

“Girlfriend?” was all Tomiwa said.

“I know that’s the only part you’ll hear,” Wura chuckled, “if you like keep on denying it.”

“She’s…” Tomiwa sighed, “I don’t know.”

“How?”

“I stayed at base all night with her- she locked the door,” Tomiwa began to explain, “then when she opened it this morning, I couldn’t read her emotions. I don’t know if she’s pissed, sad or afraid.”

Wura sighed. “It’s the second time she almost met death. The poor girl is exhausted Tomiwa, she’s worn out.”

“I don’t like seeing her that way and I would do anything to make her feel better.”

“Well look at you, lover boy.” Wura smiled, but he couldn’t see it. “Just stay by her side. She needs you now more than ever.”

“Okay, I will.” Tomiwa replied, “Aminat is already in Lagos, and the meeting is scheduled for 7pm today- don’t be late. Bye.”

Wura collapsed on her sofa once more and sighed when Rhyme hopped on her laps. The cat snuggled against her bare skin while meowing in delight.

Wura caught sight of the remote, stretched to pick it and switched the TV on. Once in a while she enjoyed watching the huge screen.

“-such a shame that after everything Lydia Oke did for Dahlia, she had the audacity to have an affair with her husband.”

Well, that certainly got Wura’s attention as she sat up and focused on the talk show.

“Welcome once again to today’s episode of Teatime with Tina, and I am your lovely host Tina.” the hostess smiled, brandishing her pearly white teeth that matched her flawless makeup.

“We all remember that several days ago, Dahlia Kagabel was exposed for her secret affair with Tijani Oke- actress’s Lydia Oke’s husband and up until this day, both parties have remained mute.” Tina smirked, “but surprisingly, Lydia Oke posted on her twitter page a picture of her and dahlia’s shares at Dahlin footwears company, and it turns out that she has more shares than even the supposed CEO of the company.”

The news amazed Wura. Lydia bought more shares than Dahlia? As an act of revenge?

“In order words, Dahlia has been overthrown from her throne.” Tina laughed in a senile manner, “and another hot tea is that Lydia Oke posted the picture with a cryptic caption of ‘life is all about give and take.’”
Wura’s shoulder shook in mirth as she burst into laughter.

“So, can we say that Lydia finally had the last laugh?,” she clasped her hands together before she went on speaking, “even though Lydia Oke was the first person to invest in Dahlin footwears two years ago.”

Wura nodded at the fact.

“I wonder how Dahlia will react to this, or perhaps she wishes to just sit in the comfort of her mansion and watch everything she built crumble to pieces.” Tina shook her head sympathetically, “such a pity.”

“Which stupid pity?” Wura hissed, “she deserved it jare. Useless girl.”

Wura’s phone rang and its ring tone drowned the enthusiastic voice of Tina who went on to another celebrity gossip.

It was an unknown number, which made her extremely cautious.

She picked the second time and heard a very familiar voice.

“Hello Mermaid, its Aquaman.”

“Nonso.” she breathed out with undiluted relief.

“Missed me?”

“Err…is this a new number? Shall I save it?” she said instead, ignoring the hurricane of butterflies in her chest.

“Cleverly ignoring my question abi?” he chuckled, “anyways, how was your night? Hope you slept well?”

“Yes, I did,” she said the partial truth, “how about you?”

Every since that night where she had seen the vulnerable part of him, she’s felt a deeper tenderness towards him.

“It was..manageable.” he simply said.

“So, is there a reason why you called?”

What was she expecting?

“Yes.” Nonso responded, “i was on my way to work but decided to stop by at your place because I’m hungry.”

“At my place?” Wura repeated, “you’re hungry?”

“Can you please make some sandwiches for me, the ones I had that night?”

Wura bit her inner lips as she recalled what had happened.

After they left the beach, Wura made him her famous chicken sandwich to cheer him up on his way home.

“Nonso I’m not your wife.” she told him, “its not my-”

“Yet.” he interrupted her. “you’re not my wife yet, and besides, I brought payment.”

Wura inhaled deeply before asking her next question. “Where exactly are you?” she edged to the window to peep outside.

Nonso chuckled, “you never actually told me which apartment was yours, so I’m outside the compound.”

A honk resonated in Wura’s ear causing her to grimace. Who was making that noise this early morning?

“I’ll keep pressing his horn until you come out.” Nonso threatened, then pushed the car horn again, disrupting the silence of the quiet environment.

“My neighbors will throw you out.” Wura said through gritted teeth, “stop that.”

“I want sandwich nau.” Nonso whimpered over the phone, “please.”

“Fine. Give me ten minutes, and if I hear another noise from that car, the deal is off.”

Within ten minutes, Wura had whipped up four pieces of chicken sandwiches. Thankfully, she had refrigerated fried chicken in the fridge she had ordered few days ago.

She saw Nonso’s white camry car just outside the compound, so she knocked on the window to get his attention.

Nonso was looking deliciously good looking in a pair of dark sun shades over a colorful shirt tucked into a cream trouser.

She avoided paying attention to his bare chest that peeked from the opening of his shirt. Why would he do that? Was it to get ladies attention or…?

“This smells heavenly,” Nonso inhaled happily, after he collected the food box from her.

Wura rolled her eyes. “After disturbing the entire estate.”

Nonso laughed as he handed her a black box which she accepted skeptically. “I hope you like it.”

“What’s this?” she asked curiously as she lifted the opening. “Is this-” she choked on her next words as she stared at the nude colored Fenty sunshades.

Wura LOVED sunshades. It was the perfect gift.

“You’re smiling,” Nonso noticed, “which means you like it?”

Of course she did. How could she not? She was finally going to add a fenty sunshades to her collection.

She looked up at Nonso and blushed. “Thank you. I love it.”

“Thank goodness,” Nonso heaved a sigh of relief, “if you didn’t, then there would be a problem.”

Wura giggled and looked away.

“This is the first time I’m seeing you on shorts,” Nonso’s eyes swept through her legs appreciatively, “you have really cute legs.”

Wura cleared her throat, pretending that his words had no effect on her, but her heart was dancing leg-work in her chest.

“I’ll be going to the police station to follow up on the case,” Nonso said, “its the last thing I can do to honour my cousin. I must find out who did that to her.”

Wura nodded. It tore her heart to see Nonso that way, but she couldn’t tell him the truth. She couldn’t tell him that it was Dahlia Kagabel.

Instead, she nodded and managed a small smile. “That is a good thing to do.”

The sad look on Nonso was quickly replaced by his signature smile. “Well, I better be on my way. At least I got to see your pretty face today. My day is going to go great.”

The next words that came out of Wura’s mouth could not be justified by her. Why she said it, she had no idea.

“Will it be okay if I accompanied you to the police station?” she nervously asked, “I was quite close to Peace for a while, so I-”

“Yes.” Nonso didn’t even let her finish. “I would love that.”

“Great. Just call me when you’re ready to go,” Wura was relived, “have a nice day then.” she stepped back and watched him drive away.

It was after he had completely disappeared, realization hit her like a pile of heavy rocks.

She was mixing pleasure with work. She also had planned to go to the police station for the sole purpose of her mission, but going with Nonso? Was she mad?

Wura collapsed on the bed and screamed away her frustration into her pillow.

What was Nonso doing to her?

“What do you mean by the case is closed?” it was the first time Wura heard Nonso yell, and she was thankful it wasn’t directed at her.

At 2pm, Nonso had picked her up from her house with an uber and they had arrived at the police station an hour later-thanks to Lagos traffic.

The Chief investigator wasn’t on seat so they had met the head sergeant instead.

Wura had switched up her look to a bob blonde wig and even complimented it with makeup should in case someone recognize her.

She eyed the sergeant with controlled fury in her. Why was the case closed?

“I demand an explanation at once!” Nonso banged his desk with his fist, causing some papers to shift from their previous position. “Someone died, and instead of you to find out why, you closed the investigation? What the actual hell??”

“We’re sorry but the orders came from above,” the head sergeant said while gesticulating with his hands, “moreover, we have no leads, no clues, we have nothing and this is a futile case.”

Nonso was about to talk but Wura placed her hand on his knee.

“You see, this is why people don’t rate the Nigerian police force,” Wura told him unblinkingly, “are you not supposed to use all means possible to find out what and who caused her death?”

The head sergeant sighed in defeat. “I’m sorry but my hands are tied. It was just an unfortunate experience which can happen to anyone.”

“The whole world will hear about this.” Nonso threatened, “that Peace died and the Nigerian police closed the case without proper investigation. I will teach you all a lesson.”

“Madam please, talk to your husband and let him understand that its not our fault, or were we the ones who killed her?” the head sergeant said again, much to Wura’s annoyance.

She wanted to yell at him to arrest Dahlia. She wanted to tell them everything, but she couldn’t.

“Oga, Oga,” a police office yelled as he barged into the office, “we saw…there was…” he was breathing unevenly. But what caught Wura attention was nylon in his hand. She wondered what it was.

“Johnny calm down jare,” the head sergeant snapped at him, “now what is it?”

“A bike man delivered this,” he rushed his words as he removed the content from the nylon bag and placed them on the table.

The head sergeant picked up one of the pictures and a handwritten note. His eyes intently ran through the hand written note and he inhaled deeply.

Nonso picked up one of the picture and showed Wura. It contained a picture of Peace and two young ladies, all dressed in identical blue and white uniforms.

“What is this?” Nonso murmured, “what are they wearing?”

But Wura knew what it was. It was a picture of Peace and her fellow maids at Dahlia’s house.

Wura shut her eyes briefly. Whoever delivered this must have been scared because she didn’t want to end up like Peace.

Nonso had snatched the letter as soon as the head sergeant dropped and read it out loud.

“I cannot tell you who I am because I like my life. Peace was very good friend to me. She make me laugh. I miss her. She was maid like me in Dahlia big house. She die there. There is something in that house. Something bad. I run from there after Peace die. Please help Peace so that her spirit can rest.”

“This is a strong lead and evidence.” Nonso said with hope in his voice, “you have to continue the investigation,” his voice broke, “please.”

The head sergeant sighed for the umpteenth time. “My hands are tied. This may be a trap or it may even be fabricated. These pictures may be photo shopped.”

Nonso banged the desk, jolting up in the process. He pointed at the head sergeant, his face was contoured into one of frustration diluted in rage. “You..” he paused, “when can I see the DPO or chief investigator? Set up a meeting with them for me, or else, I’m taking this case public or worse- I’ll report this station to the NAPN.”

The head sergeant swallowed nervously, beads of sweat were beginning to form of protruded forehead.

“Give m-me your number,” he stammered pushing a piece of paper and biro to Nonso, “I’ll get back to you.”

Once they stepped into the sunlight and out of the unhelpful police station, Wura couldn’t help but notice how drained and tired Nonso looked.

Nonso who was always so full of life was now quiet and sullen. She hated it.

“Let’s wait here for a taxi,” Nonso murmured as he watched the road, “I’ll drop you off at home, then I’ll go home myself.”

Wura took out his right palm and squeezed it affectionately. “Everything is going to be okay Nonso. Don’t mind that annoying head sergeant, and please, I like you better when you smile.”

A huge grin grew on Nonso’s face as he stared at her, his eyes sparkling with his usual mischief. “Did you just confess your feelings for me? Omo, I’m blushing.”

Wura rolled her eyes at him and immediately, a taxi stopped before them, and they got in.

“I really appreciate your company with me here,” Nonso said when they were in the car, “thank you.” his tone was genuine.

Wura shifted her gaze to the window and she wondered, why was she doing all of this for him?

When was the last time she felt emotionally attached to a guy since that incident? Why was it now?

She inhaled deeply and turned to Nonso again. But that was when her eyes caught something odd.

The driver, his fore arm had a tattoo, one of a cow’s head.

Her eyes widened in realization and her stomach dropped to her stomach in growing fear.

They had sent to driver to perhaps kidnap Nonso, and she was unfortunate enough to go along with him.

The driver wore a black face cap, hiding his face from them. But Wura didn’t care about that, she needed to escape immediately with Nonso.

She opened her clutch purse, took out her lipgloss taser weapon and her phone before closing the purse.

She picked her phone and furiously tapped on the screen before showing it to Nonso.

“Do you trust me? Nod or shake your head to answer.”

Nonso stared at her skeptically, wondering what was going on, but he nodded and in that moment when their both eyes locked, Wura realized she could do anything just to constantly see his smile.

She would move mountains if she had to and she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if another person’s death was added to her
guilt collection-especially his.

Her eyes flickered to his lips, and she leaned in slowly and placed a light kiss on his lips. It was the only way she could communicate her feelings to him without speaking.

To her surprise, he deepened the kiss- and all she could think about was the euphoric feeling she usually had whenever she was painting.

Kissing him was like taking a happiness pill- it was like freedom.

She managed to break off from the kiss and shyly glance at him. Did she do it right? Did he enjoy it?

Wura, focus! She reminded herself and picked up her phone again.

“Play along and I promise, I’ll explain everything afterwards. Tell the driver to stop the car. Trust me Nonso. You are not safe now.”

Nonso’s face was filled with questions but he nodded slowly.

Wura began to breathe unevenly-as if she was about to have a panic attack.

“Stop Oga,” Nonso told the driver with panic in his voice, “stop o, she has to catch her breathe.”

As soon as the driver turned off the ignition key, Wura pressed the lipgloss taser against the bare skin of his neck, causing him to vibrate into unconsciousness.

Nonso’s eyes widened in shook. “What-”

Follow me, and hurry.” Wura’s tone had urgency in it. “we have to go now.”

“Wait,” Nonso pulled her back and whispered, “one quick kiss for the road.”

My apologies for the slow update,but who's happy that this ship is already sailing??🥳🥳

It's starting to get really intense in the following chapters, so stay tuned❤️

Don't forget to vote, comment and share ❤️❤️😤