Days have passed and nobody is hearing from Veronica. The boss and his people were worried and so when they gathered Ken pointed that he had initially asked they send backup.
"I should have listened to you. Let us wait a little longer before we conclude that she has been caught or killed" said Charles and the rest nodded their heads in understanding. Charles dismissed them and retired to his house. While in his house he was not happy but was disturbed. He laid on the bed but sleep wouldn't come. He remembered the night she called him and requested that she came to her rescue having killed a cab driver and for the first time and to his own utter shock he prayed to God, asking him to help Veronica return to the city of Enugu safely.
As if his prayer had been answered his phone rang and he checked and to his shock saw that it was Veronica. He picked it and didn't say a word.
"Hello boss" a voice whispered and he waited. "Boss" the voice whispered again.
"Veronica" he called softly.
"Yes boss, I'm in a big trouble" she said and there was a sudden network issue.
"Veronica, where are you now?" he asked but the line went dead. He dialed the number but the phone was switched off.
******
"I am disappointed in the men of our team, they fail. Now I'm no longer going to depend on the men but I will depend on the females to carry out this task of ensuring that the lady does not leave this city alive. This city belongs to our boss and if someone could come inside here, kill him and go free it is a slap to our face and such things won't be allowed to repeat itself again" The second in command to Mr Gideon was speaking to the group that had gathered to hear the announcement of the passing away of their boss. One of the men sighed and said, "The killer is a lady. We all know that there can only be one person to suspect for this act of killing Mr Gideon and that person is none other person than Mr Charles"
"I don't know about that and we can't be certain about that and that's why we need to make sure that we apprehend the lady. She is the one to confess the name and the full identity of the person or persons that sent her on that mission" said the second in command whose name was Akalaka. He was a very dangerous man whose ruthlessness was discussed abroad. He was bent on finding Veronica and he had many ways, many thoughts on how he would torture her before killing her.
"Here is the thing; I will hand over this task of finding her to the females in our family. The team is to be led by Aisha and they must carry out this task with all duggedness" Akalaka spoke and Aisha stepped forward and spoke the ladies, "I tell us the truth; if I don't catch that lady that had the guts to slay our very own leader then I will have myself to blame for his death. If we fail to catch her none of us will return to this family alive, we will throw ourselves into the sea and drawn" When she said this the rest looked at one another and wondered if she meant it or she was joking with those words but the truth was thay she meant those words and she was ready to kill herself if at the end she was not able to catch Veronica.
Veronica had just crossed the road, having lost one of her footwear she had to go into the boutique and purchase one but when she entered there she discovered that she had no money on her and her credit card had been lost. She stood at the doorway if the boutique and scanned the whole area with her eyes before she entered. Shortly after she was on the street again wearing brand new set of footwear.
She entered an uncompleted building and decided to go to the park where she would board a cab. Having lost her two phones while on the run from the two guys that pursued her recently she needed a way to contact Ken or Mr Charles to inform them that mission had been accomplished. She had to discover her second sim card in her left pocket and then all she needed was a phone to insert it and call Mr Charles. She eventually did and after she was able to reach Ken instead she was now under a hot chase by the women led by Aisha. They had found her.
******
Hours had passed since Veronica called the line of Mr Charles and he had already begun to regret why he did not accept to send aid when Ken suggested that they should send one. He sank on his seat in the office and still found it hard to believe that he had not been able to sleep perfectly because of Veronica's condition. He got up and walked outside. He met Emeka and Sarah his wife as they were busy with their work. Emeka looked at him and saw that something was wrong. When Charles had looked about him and retired to his office Emeka shook his head.
"Looks like boss is disturbed?" asked his wife Sarah.
"Yes, it's written all over him that he is disturbed but I believe that whatever is troubling him shall pass and he will be alright"
"Is it just okay to believe that someone will get better from their problems if we don't help them get over it?" asked Emeka.
"So what are you suggesting?" asked Sarah.
"That we talk with him and find out what the problem is" said Emeka.
"And then what next?" asked Sarah.
"And then find a way to get him out of it. That's all" said Emeka.
"It sounds good in your ear. Well, since in this company there are few of us who are actually into the real business of Boss it is right that we ask him what is eating him up and probably find a solution to his problem" said Aisha. Both of them stood up from their desks and headed to the office of Charles. They met him with his head resting on the desk. They had entered without knocking because they felt if they did knock he would have kept quite on them. He raised his head up and seeing them he sighed, "What is the meaning of this?"
"We are sorry boss for coming in unannounced the way we just did" it was Sarah who was saying. Charles leaned on the seat and waited for them to continue and give him enough explanation on why they had to do what they did. "We just want to make sure that you are fine. We noticed that you have not been smiling the way you used to smile. I mean most times when you walk out of your office and look about you there will be this smile that flashes from your lips and brighten the face of everyone in the office. We miss that smile sir" When she said this Charles mistakenly smiled and realising he had just betrayed himself frowned all of a sudden.
"I can understand you both and I am happy that you noticed my changed mood and here you are trying to know what is wrong with your boss. Both of you should take your seats" He said and both of them were fast to take their seat. Charles cleared his throat and then told them everything.
"Boss, don't be angry with me if I ask this question" it was Sarah saying and the boss stared at her for a while before he nodded and she cleared her throat and to the shock of Charles she said, "This Veronica of a lady, do you have feelings for her?" This question made Charles stare at her for a long time before he said, "What does it have to do with what is on board right now?"
"Forgive me my boss if I have spoken out of turn" She apologized. Just then her husband came to her rescue.
"Sir, we are only concerned and we are here to help. If there is anyway we can help we are ready to help"
"I don't need help right now but to be left alone" when he said this they just knew that he was angry with the wife of Emeka for what she said, asking him if he had feelings for Veronica. When both of them stepped out of the office, having Charles bang the door behind them both of them looked at one another and Emeka blamed her for being responsible for their exit from the office.
"What do you expect me to say; I mean there were many in Veronica's shoes but boss never loosed a sleep over their predicament but now, with this girl called Veronica boss is now chill and all he wants to do is think about her well-being. What happens with "If she dies she will be honored" kind of statement. Why is boss now bent on ensuring that she returns home alive?" Sarah was saying. To avoid bigger trouble Emeka left her standing there and went back to his work.
*****
Edu then arrived Enugu and headed to the house where he had been taken to before by Veronica. When he got there he found out that the whole place was locked. She stood outside the gate and kept looking to see if someone would open the door for him but there was none. He stood there and for a while he would sit.
******
Jude had heard about what Veronica did and he was dumbfounded that she could do that. He wondered if boss lied to him about her. "Could it be she had been part of this organization long before now. Is there something I'm not understanding or am I kept in the dark?" he kept wondering while he entered the village where Shanty had entered to stay.
Ken on the other hand could see that Veronica took a bold step going to the city of Abuja and killing the one that had been on the wanted list of drug agency. He paced inside his office until he could not hold it in any longer. He knew the company had an asset and that asset was Veronica. He decided to make sure she returned safely. He left the office and headed to the house of Jude. When he got there the gate keeper informed him that Jude traveled. Ken had to go to the company where he wanted to know what was going on.
"What exactly is going on boss; where is Jude and are we not going to do anything concerning Veronica?" Ken was asking. Charles stood up and paced infront of him until he stopped, picked a pen and tossed it several times before he then sighed heavily and spoke to Ken, "I should have listened to you before now Ken. You were right. Meanwhile Jude is on a mission which he must accomplish before he answers family again. I don't need to tell you that I'm very much elated with your efforts, you see my regard for what you do already"