"So what do you have for me?" Emeka and Alex were in Alex' car.
"Quite a lot" Alex replied as he stretched his hand to the back and picked up a file.
"And who's your source?"
"You know I can't tell you that" Alex replied, handing the file to Emeka. Emeka opened the file and began to scan through the pictures.
"Who are these people?"
"Apparently Mr Femi runs a chain of businesses, kinda like a cartel; drugs, prostitution, underground gambling casinos around the world, a private militia, you name it, and these guys are in charge of his businesses all around the world"
"So how come nobody knows about this?" Emeka asked, taking a careful look at the pictures.
"Well that's because he has spent quite a fortune to appear legit. He forces the hand of companies into selling to him e.g vidacomm, and then uses them as a front for his money laundering operations."
"This guy" Emeka points at a picture of a man with a scar across his face. "I know him"
"Yeah that's lawal." Alex continued. "He's the engine room of Mr femi's illegal operations. Everybody in this file reports to him"
"Do you have any info on him?" Emeka asked.
"Unfortunately there isn't"
"What do you mean by there isn't?"
"The guy is a fucking ghost man! There's no record of parents, an address, email, phone number, nothing! He is only known as lawal. Word on the street is that he has no heart and bullets don't penetrate his body."
"And these?" Emeka asked, almost cringing from the grotesque images of mutilated bodies of both men and women.
"Yeah that's just a friendly reminder of how ruthless Mr Femi is. Some of them tried to betray him, doublecross him or challenge him. Others just wanted to escape from under his control. Long story short; you end up on the wrong side, you pay with your life!"
"Jesus Christ man! How does he get to get away with all of these?" Emeka distraughtly exclaimed.
"Its simple, Mr Femi is untouchable. He's above the law. Every person that matters in this nation is on his payroll, and we're talking about a payroll that runs into hundreds of millions of naira. From the legislature to the judiciary, the police, the military. Everybody turns a blind eye to his atrocities and the ones who refuse to associate with him are too handicapped to do anything about it. He's worth about five hundred million naira on paper but off the books, he's worth over a hundred billion dollars! That's a Juggernaut of an empire. It would be suicide to want to go against him."
"There has to be somebody who can stop him" Emeka could already feel a pit growing in his stomach.
"There is actually"
"I'm listening"
"He is part of a much larger syndicate, more like a cult. They are much more organized, precise and deadly. Even he dares not go against them"
"OK so who are they.... What are they called....?"
"Nobody knows who they are, but they go by a name that cannot be mentioned"
"You play around too much Alex__"
"No I kid you not!" Alex interrupted him before he could finish. "My sources tell me that whoever mentions their name dies in their sleep. And whether it is true or not....," he spoke more hushedly and looked around as if to check if someone was watching... "I don't want to find out"
Emeka was astounded, not so much by the information of the existence of a secret superior cult but by the fact that Alex really believed in his last sentence.
"I can write the name out for you if you like".... Emeka was still staring at him in disbelief. He pulled out a piece of paper regardless from his pigeonhole and scribbled on it the word Ajé. He handed it to Emeka who couldn't still believe his ears.
"OK let's say I believe what you're saying, how do you get to them?"
"You don't get to them" Alex replied as a matter of fact... "They come to you. They are attracted by your thirst for blood and power"
Emeka relaxed into his chair and soaked it all in. Vancouver inc wasn't so big after all. Mr Femi was virtually unstoppable and the Ajé seemed to be the only way. But he couldn't even bring himself to kill a chicken, how can he even think of killing a full human being. He had to save his company one way or the other.
"So......" Alex jerked him out of his reverie. "Why did you ask me to dig into Mr Femi. And this lawal guy, you said you know him?"
"Yeah... He's been following me around for the past two weeks so I thought I should dig into him, see what I can find."
"But what would Mr Femi want with you?" Alex asked, bemused.."its not like you own a multi million naira company or something"
"On the contrary I do" Emeka replied much to Alex' astonishment. "I'm going to tell you something and I need you to swear to me that it stays between us."
"Come on man you know___"
"Just swear!" Emeka interrupted him.
"OK I swear... Jeez!"
"Listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you... It would change your life forever"
"Just say it already!"
