Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle)

THINGS GET REAL

Chapter 18

FUOYO

Jessy tried to assure him, "it doesn't mean they traced it or

"no...no...no...it's been over a week since Kenekelis died and they must have been putting serious surveilance since then...I can guess the moment they realized the enevelope was missing they'd printed Fuoyo's face and sent copies here ahead to frame you for whatever happened....because they knew we're coming for the treasure......I need to call my family....." He scratched his head....

"okay here bro, is Barakat on whatsapp?" I asked

"yes....."

"okay....my whatsapp line is a U.S number, works with vpn so its untracable....try call her on WhatsApp"

We huddled round him and watched him dial the number with trembling hands and the network went from calling to ringing.

"if it's  ringing then she's online, thank God" I announced hopefully

We all gave a sigh of relief and hurdled even closer around him, not minding we still stood at the lonely crossroad.

Finally she picked up and Kanaku broke into a smile. "Hello....Barakat.....Barakat how are you....how's Ruki? I'm coming back home, I love you all so much.... I was so scared I could lose my family and it made me realize you're all the treasure I need....I'll be in Lagos next tomorrow and we're going too get marri- -...hello? Barakat...why are you not responding?"

There was still silence, then we saw the notification light up the screen. [i](....wants to switch call to video)[/i]

He swiped up immediately, accepting the video switch and we all squinted at the screen, unsure of what we were seeing. I could see the couch I had squeezed myself in few nights ago, which meant the phone was on the tv stand opposite it. Barakat sat in the sofa and her eyes were swollen like she had been crying. Her sister sat on the handle of the chair, with her arm over her shoulder in a supportive stance.

"What's happened?"

At that point the phone shfted and the ceiling came intio view before dropping down to the face of a masked man. He glared at the camera. "Hold on a second, the boss is about to join this reunion."

A third party was attempting to join the video call and we all watched as the screen divided into 3 parts, The bottom half was dark, apart from 3 pairs of shining white eyes....; Kanaku, Jessy and me...the first half on the left showed the masked man, this time he held the phone up like a selfie, so Barakat was still in the frame, sitting on the sofa behind him. The second half showed a loading sign for about 20 seconds then suddenly we were staring at a white handsome middle aged man.

He smiled at us and his teeth were impecabbly white. He was dressed in a white spotless suit with white tie and his hair was white...too loud to be grey and sleeked back, whether from old age or artificial dye, I had no idea. But there was something powerful about him....and strange but it made me uneasy immediately. Despite his good and elegant looks, there was some kind of hardness and lack of empathy in his cold hard white eyes as he stared straight at us.

"What have you done to my family? where's Ruki?" Kanaku shouted.

"well well well....so these is the trio i've heard so much about...where in God's name are you....it's  dark and you look terrible..."

"I'm not going to repeat myself,,,if you harm my-"

he cut of Kanaku at once...."You'll do what? They could kill your wife right this moment before your eyes with just a snap of my finger...its up to you...if you wanna still save your unborn child and daughter"

"where is-"

"Shhh...you talk too much. Remain where you are....a Ford jeep would be pulling by any moment now to  pick you up soon and bring you back to the same hotel you left in such a haste today...if you want to save your family cooperate and when you get here I'll make you my offer?"

"what do you want from us...we don't have anything" Jessy cried out..

"On the contrary...you have what belongs to me....and for your sake I hope you bring my diary with you or else this is all for nothing and you'll regret it"

"Your Diary...?"

"yes you barbaric coons, My diary...the time has come to reclaim what was mine...,"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.... "Are you a descendant of the Gene-"

"shh...there comes your ride....hey you Kanayo thug remember, any wrong move, your family dies tonight.." with this last threat to Kanaku he disconnected the line.

Kanaku quickly turned his attention to the other half screen. "Hey please give my wife the phone...lemme talk to her....Barakat its gonna be okay I promi-"

The line also disconnected.

"Fuck!"

Kanaku and I exclaimed

Just that moment a set of headlights approached us and I squinted, thinking it was another lorry from the farm we could follow to the town. But the vehicle stopped beside us and I noticed it wasn't a Lorry but a van. The door slid open and half a dozen flashlights glared into our faces. It wasn't blinding enough to obscure the view that the white lights were extensions, attached to some scary looking rifles.
"Get in"

The instruction was followed by the unmistakable cocking of loaded weapons and both Kanaku, Jessy and I raised our hands and got into the van slowly. Each of us thinking of the unthinkable danger we had foolishly entered because of the quest for adventure and legend.