My trust is for sale

Out of the shell

Present

“What do you know about Mrs Remmy?” Hacks asked and Dora noticed the unusual swagger in his voice and pose. “She was killed today and we know nothing or little about her now. Our men are unto her but we need to hear from you.”

“She was a business tycoon. I don’t know much about her personal life. I got to know her through Engineer Hassan.”

“Okay, let us start with Engineer. Hassan is his name, right?”

“Yes.” Zina said. “ He is Engineer Hassan Hassan. He is popularly known as H-Square.”

“You said you worked with him. Where was that?”

“The refinery. I had my IT there.”

“What course did you study?”

“Chemical Engineering. I just graduated. I was there in my third year.”

“You called us to say you know he was involved in the murder of Mrs Remmy. From what we have heard, your information turned out to be correct. We have strong evidence to consider him a suspect. How did you know this?”

“Like I said in retrospect, I had my IT in the refinery and he is a member of staff there. He liked me and we became closer. He wanted to have an affair with me but I declined. I called him Uncle Hassan. I have a steady boyfriend. It was at that time he told me that he would soon get very rich. He asked if I was interested in getting very rich and I said yes. As you can see, I lost my father at a very stage and grew up with a struggling single mother. She had being taken care of my education with  lots of difficulties. He revealed his plans to me. He seemed to be obsessed with me. We used to visit Mrs Remmy who was an independent marketer with a number of filling stations.  He said she was just a client of his but I found out that she was his sugar mummy.

One day, he showed me a will. She had put him in her will to inherit her oil wing. He began to pray for her death. This became scary so I began to withdraw. He started making his plans clandestine. Then I heard him contact David. I was not sure but I suspected that they planned to harm her. Fortunately, she travelled out of the country. That was a year ago.

She had just returned a month ago and they killed her. Immediately I heard of the murder, I knew it was him. I was shocked and angry I called him and reproached him. It was then I realized the mistake I had made. I called the Police.”

“You made a great mistake indeed.” Dora said.

Zina’s phone rang.

“Excuse me.” She said and picked the call.

“You talked to the police.” A thick voice said. “I will get you. For the records, it is your word against mine. There is no prove against me.”

“No! No, I did not talk to the police.” Fear splashed on her face. “Uncle Hassan, Uncle Hassan…”

Hassan switched off the phone.

“He is going to kill me.” She said and began to cry.

“Don’t worry.” Hacks said.

“I am scared of him!”

“We will guarantee your safety.” Hacks said.

“You should not have involved yourself Zina.” Nana said agitating . “You should have let it be.”

“Don’t worry, Zina.” Dora said. “we will apprehend him. Just tell us where he lives and all you know about him.”

Hacks felt happy that he did not know that they had recorded their conversation. Hassan felt he had cleaned his mess by killing David. Zina talked for a few minutes and the officers left. When they got into their car, Hacks said, “she needs an immediate Police Protection. That guy is virulent.

Dora took in a deep breath. She fixed her seatbelt.

“I have an idea. We should handle her protection. She should be under your custody.”

“That is a bright idea.” He said before he noticed the sarcasm. “No, I don’t buy the idea. I will call the boss. We must have men here in twenty minutes. She is not safe.”

“Make the call. This should be ASAP. We can’t tell where they are. We would wait for them before we leave.”

He noticed a wave of jealousy in  her . But why? She had refused to go out him. Plus, he did not even plan to ask Zina out. He was just mesmerized by her beauty.

“I think going to look for him in  his house is a waste of time. If he is suspicious, he would have gone.” She said.

“He may still be around. He thinks there is no evidence against him. He has enough money to drag a case. We have to look for that swine!”

A few minutes after, three armed mobile policemen were brought to protect Zina, they left and arrived at Hassan’s residence.

They sat in the car and watched the house. Hacks lit a cigarette .

“Please wind down the glass before I suffocate.” She said as she wound down the glass. “There is something called passive smoking.”

He wound down the glass.

“sorry for having a partner who smokes.”

“It’s my bad luck.”

“I know you will be glad if you have a change of partner because there are a lot of things you dislike about me.”

“Yes. Smoking is a one but womanizing is a another.”

“I am not a Casanova.”

‘Tell that to the birds. I have worked with for three years.”

“Count the number of girls you have seen me with.”

“I know you play your cards well but you never let a girl pass without  piercing your eyes into her, especially ladies with big butts.”

“I am a cop. I am only giving them a cop glance.”

“Yeah, it seems the crime is concealed in their behind and all girls with flat behinds are innocent because you don’t give them the cop glance.”

He giggled.

“Okay, that is my weakness: staring but it ends there.”

“That is a lie. You made moves for me..”

“Okay, let us go and see our man.” He cut in. he knew where she was heading. He remembered that incident and the slap that followed.

They both snuck to the building. They pushed the gate opened and walked to the front door. Dora moved to the side and got her gun ready while Hacks tried to unlock the door. They found themselves in the living-room.

“Oh my God!” Dora exclaimed, removed her gun. They heard sounds of steps. Someone was running away. Dora went after the person.

Hacks looked at Hassan’s fresh dead body. Someone just put a slug into his head!

Sharon sat on a sofa, her soft palm on her cheeks while she waited for Layla. She looked round the room and admired the expensive electronic gadgets and furniture. These girls made her realize that she was lagging behind. She met Layla last month after a basketball training session. That was her favorite game. She was above sis feet tall, slim but sturdy and athletic. On court, she was a tomboy: aggressive, fast and fearless. After the training, a beautiful girl dressed in a thick woolen jacket with hood appeared to her. She had produced a roguish smile.

“I like the way you roll on the court.” She said, “if a day passes by without me watching your game, then that is considered a boring day. I am a big fan.”

“Awwn,thank you for the compliment. I am not used to such comments.”

“You are welcome. I see you in MBA in the future.”

“Amen.”

“I am Layla.” She extended her hand.

“Sharon.” She shook the hand.

“You are perspiring. I think we could do with some chilled drinks and please don’t say no.”

She would never had said no. She needed the drinks and had hoped Tobi was going to buy her drinks but instead, she saw him and his friends going into an eatery.

“Thank you for the gesture.” Sharon had said and they went into the snack bar. Layla ordered for crème brulee merinque, cheese, ice-creams, chicken, meat pie and profiteroles.

Sharon tried to hide her astonishment. Who was this girl who was spending this much at a sitting?

“What do you do with this exceptional talent of yours?” Layla said as they ate and drank.

“It’s tough. I have tried to get into clubs and play professionally but to no avail. It’s not just about skills. You have to be some strong person’s protégé : nepotism.”

“That is prevalent my dear. It happens in all aspects of life today.”

“and that is my desideratum: a godfather.”

“I used to be a very good gymnast. My story does not differ much from yours. I quit.”

“That is destruction of dreams and talents.”

“They don’t give a hoot.” Layla said and took a scoop of ice-cream. “Come on, baby, we got got a lot on the table. Don’t let them destroy our appetites. Enjoy.”

“I need this game. I need money. I need a club. This is ll I have got. It is about the only thing I know I am very good at.”

“I understand. A woman need protection and making money is one.”

“And my boyfriend is not helping matters. He has been trying but he is beginning to complain. I need new trainers, creams. I heard there is a new set of phones called Android phones. I have never seen one though but I love it already.”

Layla chuckled.

“Did you just talk about boyfriend? Not me. They can be as**oles. They pose their big noses and listen to your complains, and then take advantage and shred you into pieces on bed just to meet your needs. I hate being depended on a guy.”

“It is difficult to be independent.”

“ That is a negative pre-conditioned mindset. I don’t need any fuc**ing man to survive or live as I wish. Woman power dear. Find it and exploit it.”

“You are lucky then.”

They bate in silence for a while.

“Don’t you think it’s high time you became independent too?”

“I really want to but how?”

“You have all it takes to be independent. I have been watching you for a month. You have strength, stamina and guts. All you need is to put them to use.”

Layla kept talking until she finally said, “would you like to earn one million naira?”

Sharon had given her a sharp glance and she became full of disbelieve.

“One what? Did you just mention a million naira?”

Layla smiled.

“It’s more actually. You may not believe if I tell you the real figure.”

Sharon had spent days thinking about it. Layla did not tell her how that could be achieved but it sounded sticky.

Now as she sat in her living-room, she felt her heart thumbing. She was in need of mobey. She had always been in need of money. She saw how large Layla lived and she now believed it was achievable but how?

Layla came out of the inner room dressed in  white jeans and red T-shirt.

“I am sorry for keeping you waiting.”

“It’s okay. I was enjoying the musical video.”

Another girl came into the living-room. She was short, plumpy and swarthy. She wore bunches, and covered her eyes with dark spider glasses. She looked tough and mean.

“Sharon, meet Rabi.” Layla said. “Rabi, this is Sharon. I told you about her.”

Rabi forced a smile and shook Sharon’s hand.

“I and Rabi have been friends since secondary school. As we wait for the incipience of this historical meeting, it is imperative we know ourselves better. I must underline the fact that we must ne loyal, truthful and have love for each other. No double-crossing, backbiting, or acrimony. This union is all about positivity. Girls must be independent. None of us must divulge a scintilla of what we do to an outsider. Outsider here means anyone who is not part of us. That could be your boyfriend, mother, father, or whatever. We had done something like this in the past and one the girls tried to give us away. She died like a chicken. If Rabi tries it, she would die like a chicken,” Layla looked at Sharon, “if you, Sharon try it, you would die like a chicken. If we keep our heads up, we would be rolling in millions of naira within the next one month. I mean become the biggest girls in town.”

Sharon flinched. What did she get herself into? These girls were criminals. There was no legal deal that warranted such talks. Was it too late to quit? But they just mentioned millions of naira. Could she resist that?

They heard the sound of a car. Rabi went and peeped and flinched. She saw a wagon parked with three armed mobile police men sitting in the car.

“Police!” Rabi exclaimed.

Sharon felt her intestines shivering. She knew it. This was not good. These girls were criminals and she just got herself into trouble.

Layla sprang up, rushed to the window and saw for herself. She crinkled her face. What was going on? What did they want?

At that moment, the door opened and a very beautiful girl came in. She wore black jeans and black T-shirt.

Layla gave her a sharp glance.

“Police!” She said in perturbation.

The beautiful girl said nothing. She shut the door behind her and sat down comfortably.

“Don’t bother about them.” She said and looked at Sharon. “She must be Sharon.”

“Yes.” Layla said but still worried.

“My name is Zina. I know you have never heard about me.” She said. “ As for the dumba** policemen you guys see down there, they are my bodyguards. They are protecting this innocent, vulnerable good Samaritan who exposed Hassan. Now let’s begin.”

“ What a devil!” Layla said and chuckled.