Two days have passed and Veronica had met again with Charles in the office. When she stepped in she discovered she was greeted humbly by those she held on high esteem. She felt something was wrong somewhere. One of the ladies who worked under her, Sarah held hand with both hands and said, "Congrats boss" Veronica didn't want to appear foolish and so she nodded and forced a smile.
"Everybody in the office is talking about you big lady" said Emeka who walked behind him. Emeka had been on her heels all these while she had been working in the company but she just didn't like him and she didn't know why she didn't like him. She forced a smile again when he approached her. Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes, indicating that the one that loves her boss has come. Sarah excused herself and Emeka congratulated her on her new appointment.
"I'm proud of you" he said.
"Thank you Emeka" she said and looked around. "Where is the boss?" she asked.
"Inside his office" said Emeka and when she wanted to walk away he stopped her and added, "I'm not a fool Veronica; the boss promotes you just like that; what is going on with you and him?"
"Emeka, don't be silly" she said and walked out on him.
When she knocked on the door she was ushered in by a clerk who smiled at her when she opened the door. Charles looked up and dismissed the clerk and then asked Veronica to sit and she did.
"Good day Sir" she said, looking at him in the eyes.
"You are welcome my dear" Charles stood as he continued, "You see, there has been changes in the office and I needed to adjust some things. It came about that your position needed someone with lesser experience and a bigger position deserving of your talents. This brings me to the point where I say congrats on your promotion as the head of department" When he said this Veronica frowned but immediately smiled in order not to send a wrong impression. She wondered how Charles was able to lead a double life; in the office he was a business man, a gentle business man but in the basement she saw in him a beast that could never be tamed. She collected the envelope from him and stood to thank him.
"I'm grateful for this Sir and I promise to continue to do my best in this office...but Sir, I would like to ask you of something"
"No, Veronica, we will not talk about it here. We will talk about it after work" he said and sat down. He frowned and she noticed it and asked what the problem was.
"Anita" he said.
"Who?" asked Veronica.
"Anita, she is in a deep shit" he said.
"My friend?" she asked.
"Yeah" he answered.
"Is she not in your possession, in your custody?" she asked.
"No, she was never in my custody" he said and stood up again having sat down a while ago. Veronica could not understand. She wondered what he was up to. "You have been promoted to oversee the running of this company. You should take care of things down here. I will be somewhere shortly" he moved out of the office and Veronica stood there confused with her letter of promotion in her hands.
******
Jude led a team to the house of Anita but did not find anyone there. He stepped out and dailed Charles's number.
"The house is empty. I think they moved her already" said Jude.
"Fall back to base" ordered Charles.
Shortly after Jude was standing before Charles who was seated with a pistol on the table infront of him.
"They moved her boss" said Jude.
"I knew he would. Golden is smart enough but he can't hide from me. Tell the rest to go back to their duty. I have so much to do" Charles said and stood up. When he did Jude bowed and left. When he was gone Charles sighed and looked about him. Just then Ken called him and as he watched the phone ring he shook his head. He stepped out and drove off.
On getting to his house he saw that Ken's car was already packed. His men led him inside the house and he met Ken seated and waiting for him. When Ken saw him enter he stood up at once.
"Ken" he said and he greeted him.
"I thought you should be resting by now" said Charles.
"I couldn't Sir. Felt you had something to have me do and here I am" Said Ken. Charles stared at him for a while and said, "You should go home Ken and rest"
That night Charles stood up from the bed and began to dress up. He equipped himself with high level ammunition and grenades. He had daggers and pistols. When he had put these things in the boot of his car he turned and saw someone coming to the garage and he held his pistol. It was Ken.
"What are you doing here Ken?" he asked.
"I knew you would be going for Anita and here I am to go with you" said Ken.
"Why would you want to endanger your life. I do it better when I do it alone" said Charles.
"I don't know Sir but I care about you and I would want to stick by your side to ensure the mission goes well" said Ken. Charles paused for a while and with a sigh asked him to enter the car. They zoomed off into the darkness of the night.
After they had left and inside the bedroom of Charles his phone was ringing and it was Veronica.
******
Jude returned to his house and made love with shanty through the night. In the morning he got dressed and saw that Shanty was still asleep.
"Is this how you are going to work with me and for my boss?" he chuckled and just then Shanty opened her eyes and seeing he already got dressed sat up.
"Where are you off to?" she asked.
"There is a job I need to finish" said Jude.
"What is your position in the organization?" asked Shanty.
"You ask too much. Be careful so you won't know too much" warned Jude. He saw she was still waiting for an answer.
"I'm called The Finisher" he revealed.
"What do you finish?" she asked.
"You want to see what I finish? Then come with me and I will show you"He said and she got off the bed and got dressed. Just as they were about to step out through the door he turned to her and said, "You should be careful with your words after today. Listen, whatever you see you must not speak to anyone who is not in the circle of whom I have not asked you to speak to. Do you understand me?" Shanty nodded. Even though Jude wasn't convinced she understood what he said he felt it would be a gradual process before she will be brought to the full understanding of what he was into and the rules and regulations guiding the organization. They both stepped out.
Charles was back in his house and he was just seeing the text message that Veronica sent him having dailed his number and received no response. He read through the text before dropping the phone on his bed. He hit his hand so angrily on the bed.
*****
Veronica was on her way to the village and she had alot to think about. As she drove these thoughts filled her mind; "I have to tell myself the truth; I can't be part of this; this is not what I wanted, this is not what it should be"
******
Jude arrived the basement and was approached by Ken.
"Where have you been?" Jude was asking.
"I should ask you Sir" said Ken.
"You should ask me?" Jude was mad at him and so slapped him across the face. Shanty saw this. "Get out of my sight" Said Jude and Ken walked away. Jude then removed his jacket and handed it over to Shanty, then folded the edge of his sleeves and walked into the torture chamber where Mr Golden was seated on the torture seat. When Golden looked up and saw Jude he smiled weakly. Shanty recognised him to be her client once.
"You are his whore now?" Said Mr Golden before he chuckled. Jude stared at Shanty and Shanty didn't say a word. "You should be careful of that one" Mr Golden was speaking to Jude.
"Let me worry about that. I have come to do my job and I think we should focus on that" said Jude.
"You will regret me killing me today" said Golden.
"I have had alot of things to regret Mr Golden but killing you is not going to be one of them. I want you to know this" he then began to bring out the torture tools from the torture box. Shanty watched him do this and when he had selected the ones to use he approached Mr Golden.
"I was there when your boss called you on the phone and asked you to come over and do your job. He was specific "kill him" why torture me?" Mr Golden asked.
"I did not know you could be scared, this scared but it is going to be a long day"
***
When they stepped out of the torture chamber Shanty was asking, "That was brutal; it was personal"
"Was it?" he didn't look at her, washed his hands and collected his jacket from her. When Ken stepped into the torture chamber he saw that Mr Golden was still seated there but he had no head. His head was on the floor.
*******
Edu was back home with his mother who finally received treatment by the doctor, who discharged them and asked them to look for the money and pay.
"I know you did what you did for my sake but now that we have gone and come back from the hospital what are we going to do in order to pay the hospital bills?" asked the mother.
"Your getting better is my utmost priority. God will bring us a helper. Same God that made the doctor discharge us and let us go without collecting his payment at that moment is going to bring us a helper" Edu was still speaking when suddenly a car pulled up to the compound and he stood up to know who it was. To his shock the person that got out of the car was his childhood lover Veronica. He did not move for he wasn't sure if she was the one. She was looking too expensive for a person that just left for the city few months back. When Veronica reached where he was standing without a word she embraced him and Edu held her too without saying a word. When they had disengaged from each other Veronica bent down to speak with Edu's mother. They hugged too and the woman said, "Are you this?" Veronica nodded with tears of joy in her eyes. "You look different now, so different. What happened?"
"Mama it's a long story. Can we go inside please?" she asked and they both helped the woman inside the house.
Having eaten what was brought them by Veronica Edu who was still not sure if Veronica was still the same person she was before she left asked, "Who bought a car for you?" Veronica stared at him and she could see doubts in his eyes.
"I bought it" she just said and continued eating.
"That car out there is over twenty five million naira. Don't forget I was once a mechanic in the city and I can tell the worths of cars. How did you come about such amount of money to buy it?" Edu was still asking. Veronica didn't like his expression and she knew she had to explain fast else he would get upset.