Deadly as trust

Two: Jide

I sipped some coffee from the coffee mug on my work desk as I tried to put things together.

I just needed a little evidence to finally put the person I was investigating on behind the bars for money laundering and the case in my file of finished cases. I puffed out some air and wiped the sweat that had formed on my forehead with a handkerchief. I could tell I looked tired.

I took the telephone eventually and called one of the junior officers who showed up in front of my desk in thirty minutes.

"Sir!", he saluted.

I nodded in reply.

"Sit down officer", I added, "I wanted to ask how surveillance on our prime suspect is going"

"Very well sir but there's no evidence so far."

Shit.

"How long has the surveillance been going?"

"A month sir."

So one god-damned month of nothing. He had to be hiding something. I was definitely sure he was behind everything, the entire crime. I just needed proof, a snapshot or video of any transaction would have done the trick.

"Alright then. You're dismissed, don't make any surveillance this night and give me information on his movements and places he has been"

I was going to do it myself.

"Alright sir, I'll send it right away.", he saluted once again and left.

~~~

I laid my back on my bed holding up a spiral bound book containing the whereabouts of the prime suspect, Dave Ovunda. He made routinely visits to two places at least four nights in a week. The first was a guesthouse and the second was a night club.

I began to wonder what exactly would've been his motives on each of those nights and why the people I put on surveillance did not report them in the book.

Maybe that was the gap. Maybe he met up with people in those places. From the report he was a married man so besides his wife, he only related to a few other people.

Just how shady was this man?

My first pick was the guesthouse. He would be there at six in the evening and I had to be there twenty minutes before the time to see him go in and follow him.

"Jide"

I almost jumped at the sound of my name. I looked at the door to find it open and Jamilah in front of it.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, I just wanted to inform you that your food was ready."

I smiled. Jamilah oh Jamilah.

"It's okay, thank you."

I stood, left the book on my bed and moved towards the door where she stood.

"You seem worried Jide, how is work going?"

I sighed in reply and massaged the bridge of my nose while looking upwards with my other hand on my hip.

"Jamilah, to be honest I don't know when this case is going to end."

Her face that had a hijab around it showed concern and before I knew what happened next her arms were around me. I returned the hug, feeling that I really needed it. She stroked my back and assured me that I would end the case successfully soon. I wish it would be sooner.

She eventually pulled away and reminded me of my food. I didn't even realize I was hungry until she mentioned it.

I thanked her and moved to the dinning room with her following closely behind.

~~~

The parking arena was dimly lit. It was almost hard to make out the cars coming in but I could manage. I knew his car plate number and how the car looked like, I could tell it apart from the other cars.

The guesthouse didn't seem to have so many people coming in this night. I took a sip from the bottle of juice I was nursing and kept watching.

After about two hours of waiting, I still didn't see any sign of him or his vehicle. Frustration nipped at me terribly. I ran my hand over my face and all over my hair in a failed attempt to calm myself.

I walked over to the door, opened it and got in as calmly as I could. I analyzed the place.

It didn't seem like anything people would spend their millions on without thinking twice. It was just normal, very average infact but not tacky. The choice of design was also nice, it had a delicate touch to it. I walked up to the front desk since I was at the lobby.

"Good evening sir, do you need a room?", the lobby attendant began nicely.

"No, not today."

She looked at me suspiciously.

"Then how may I help you?"

"My name is Yusuf Umar, I have some things to discuss with Mr. Dave Ovunda. He said he would be here tonight."

The suspicion in her eyes cleared and she seemed to believe what I was saying.

"Oh, you mean the good sir?"

I smiled, better.

"Yes, is that what he's called?"

"Well, around here, yes. He is one of our biggest patrons. Although I didn't think he would ask any of his friends or business associates to see him here. He normally comes here with his girls, or any girl at all that he catches."

So he was a womanizer.

"I was surprised myself. We would have easily met at my place, that old crook."

I laughed, trying to play along.

"So, I think I'm late, can I get access to him? I'm sure he would be waiting for me"

"Actually Mr. Yusuf, he's not in today. Are you sure he gave you the right address?"

Shit.

It was either she saw through my lie and decided to cover up for him or he actually wasn't there. I thought about it for awhile, deciding on what next to do.

I looked at the lady behind the desk, trying to read her. She seemed chatty and convinced with my lie, she could have been telling the truth but I couldn't be too sure. There was no way I could get anything out if her.

"Sir?", her voice reminded me that she was still there.

"I'm sorry, I zoned out a little bit."

"Do you know any other place where he would be?", I tried again.

"None that I know of but I'll tell him you came around when next I see him."

"Yes, thank you.", I all but muttered.

What a waste of my time.

I knew where my next stop would be, so I just got into my car and drove straight to the night club that he frequented.