Make It Rain

THIRTY

"I don't understand, this is so..."

"Sudden?... I know." Shola said, looking down to hide her blush.

He walked closer to her and knelt to meet her height, "Look at me Shola," Seun placed his hand on her chin and raised her head. "Are you doing this because of your father's death?"

"No." She lied, but her shaking eyes were enough for Seun to see through her lie.

"Let's think about this together Shola." Even though this was all he wanted and every path he took was so he could achieve this goal, he had to play it cool and put on a good act. "I mean, I can see your hands shiver and you can't even look at me in the eyes."

Getting off the chair and taking two steps away, Shola locked her hands in front of her, "I have thought about it already."

"Shola..."

"Isn't this what you once wanted? To have me to yourself?" She turned around, trying to play his emotions.

Little did she know that he relied on this moment and loved that she was coming around much quicker than he had expected. If Shola was the one to make the proposal, there was no way she could suspect anything.

With a gentle sigh, Seun approached her, placing her hands in his palms "It is Shola... I was just a little surprised and scared, that's all."

"I really need this, please." Allowing him to hold her as she went in with a hug. "Soon."

It was literally a dream come true for Seun. One could only imagine how many times he had played this moment in his head, even he couldn't tell how many.

"Hmm... how soon?"

"Three weeks, maybe two."

"Two weeks then."

The hard part was finally over for Seun. All he had left now was to begin preparations for his wedding. For the past few months, every step, every action, every word he spoke were for just one moment, the moment when he finally got to have Shola for himself and him alone.

For a man that always got everything he wanted and never felt any form of excitement, this was something new for him. He had to fight hard for Shola and she was finally with him now. This was his victory.

But was it the end?

After fully understanding what Mrs. Akande wanted from him, Ezekiel accepted the letter and read through it. For the first time, there was someone that could see the things Mrs. Akande felt and was willing to help her.

"So why exactly didn't she report this to us?" Funmilayo examined the note, trying to find things that could possibly help the investigation.

Funmilayo was an old friend of Ezekiel's and also a police officer. Though she was of the lowest rank, she was the only person Ezekiel could turn to for some help at the moment.

"She was too scared to."

"From the contents of the message it's very clear that the killer was interested in Shola, but still it doesn't prove it's who you claim it to be."

"Seun."

Striding from the dining room with a glass of juice in her hand, Funmilayo gave off a strange sense. Something Ezekiel quickly noticed.

"What is it?"

"I was thinking... what if the person who killed that boy had nothing to do with Junmi's death?" She said handing him the glass, "What would you do?"

There was a twinge in his heart from hearing the question, "He has to be the one." he replied, "But if not, I don't know what I would do."

All this while Ezekiel remained very positive that Junmi was murdered by someone without considering the possibilities of her death being an accident.

"So what now?" Funmilayo asked.

Ezekiel shrugged his shoulders with a gesture as if to say he should be asking her.

"There was something you mentioned that had me thinking a little."

"Yes?..." Ezekiel raised a brow.

"That this wasn't the first time Shola was involved in a case similar to this."

"Yes, those were Mrs. Akande's words, what about it?" Ezekiel's curiosity grew.

Pulling out her computer from her bag and opening it, she said. "Remember I worked a little with the investigation unit during my training, two years back?"

"Yes..."

"I still have access to some of the servers and I have never come across her name anywhere, or anyone related to her."

With his brows puckered Ezekiel pondered. 'So where did she get that information from?'

"And she couldn't have made that up." Ezekiel returned his gaze at Funmilayo.

"Exactly!" She said, "So I suspect someone told her that with the intention of misleading her or to cover the trails. Just think about it for a minute, it's a perfect plan to make a grieving mother look crazy in the eyes of people."

"Hmm..."

"That way, no one will take seriously what she says about Shola's ex-boyfriend being behind this, even though that bit of the story is yet to be proven."

Funmilayo was a very quick witted lady and that's exactly why Ezekiel trusted her to help him out with the case.

"So now we know the boys death was the first time Shola had any relations with a murder case like this."

"Yes," she replied, "And we are yet to prove if the killer was her boyfriend or not."

"Yeah... we are yet to 'prove' it." Making an air quote with his fingers.

"Hahaha... you know I can't go around pointing fingers without anything solid."

"I know. But..."

"What?"

"If the person that lied to Mrs. Akande was trying to mislead her, then that person should have something to do with the whole thing, right?"

Funmilayo nodded her head in agreement. "So who told her?"

Ezekiel shook his head with his shoulders shrugged.

***

Sitting inside Mrs. Akande's car, just by the cemetery again were Ezekiel and Mrs. Akande.

"So that man lied to me?"

"Yes ma, we were able to conclude that he must have been working with the man who wanted to murder your son. But that brought us to the next question, do you remember the details of that day?"

"Yes." She answered, looking very determined.

"So will you be able to tell me who told you that Shola was involved in this kind of case before?" Looking into her eyes as his heartbeat became a little faster, hoping for a positive answer.

"I... I... Yes!!"