Tarasha 31 The Showdown

read out the name from the computer. ' She's a

student of Lagos state Polytechnic'

'A student?' James echoed.

'A student…' The computer operator paused

and read some words under his breath. ' the

data here does not show her graduating date,

she's been a student since 2023'

'That's over seven years already'

'Yes it is'

' Find her location, that's what we need now.

Inspector Robin might be in great danger' the

embattled Greg put in. 'The location is more

important than who she is '

'The search for the location is on already, we

should get it before the next five minutes' the

operator replied, taking a quick glance at Greg.

An awkward silence took over as the three

stared into the computer. The software

revealed the location in lesser time than the

operator speculated. James quickly scribbled it

on a sheet of paper.

'Can we access the security cameras there?

Let's see what's happening around' James

enquired.

'Sir…' The operator began as he rolled the

swivel to another computer set. 'The cameras

have not been transmitting for about two hours

now, I think somebody is playing with our

systems again'

'Wasn't that the same thing that happened

during the health minister's a.s.sa.s.sination?'

James asked, raising a brow.

'Yes, it…'

'We gotta go now' James said to Greg. He

tightened his fist as he turned once more to

the operator. 'Please inform us immediately

there's any change in location' he said to the

operator before hurrying out of the room with

Greg.

+++++++++

After watching them do the task on their own

for more than an hour, Tarasha decided that it

was time to step in. Things were already

getting out of their control, they had used a

wrong dose of the sedative on Robin and that

couldn't keep Robin as long as they needed.

That wasn't even her main concern, there was

very little that Robin could do. Her main

concern was their location that had been gotten

by the police server, she had a monitor over the

operating devices of Cole, Benny and Aisha's

phones, so she knew when something was up

with their devices.

She started the car engine and wind up the

windows. She began loading her guns, sticking

them one after the other into her kevlar made

costume. She stuck two revolvers at the side of

her boots, two in the square pockets of her

tight trousers and one in her top.

+++++++++

Aisha let out a scream as she staggered

backwards in pain and hit her head against the

left wall side of the ambulance. Robin had

rolled off the stretcher to escape a quick shot

from Cole. He pushed out a small first aid box

with his right leg which hit Benny on the knee.

Luckily for Robin, he still had a revolver in the

inner pocket of his jacket. He released two

shots out towards Cole and Benny who quickly

dodged and hid from his eyesight.

Robin could not do much with his injured leg, he

only had the other leg to stand on and he

wasn't sure he would be able to take out the

two guys. But even if he had to die, he wouldn't

give up without a fight.

He dragged himself up on the right leg and

pointed a gun at Aisha who was just recovering

from the impact of the blow. He hopped closer

and placed the gun on her head motioning her

to lift up her hands.

Benny appeared at the entrance again, pointing

a gun at Robin. The man gave a smirk and spat

out through the entrance not minding that

Benny was there. The look on his eyes was that

of a dying man who was ready to take several

others with him.

'Do I look like someone who cares if you shoor

her?' Aisha's body trembled in disappointment

as Benny spoke.

'Oh well! I don't want to know if you care but

I'm killing all of you and not just her alone'

Robin replied as he c.o.c.ked the gun.

Benny felt afraid as he heard the gun c--k, he

was alone trying to sound confident to Robin

not that he didn't care if Aisha was shot. He

braced up and still continued, 'you won't kill

anyone here'

Robin smiled, he knew he had got Benny, he

was a professional so he recognized the look in

Benny's eyes, 'I'll…' Aisha tried to move as

Robin began but he pulled her back to himself,

sending in a bullet to her left foot.

Benny tried to use the opportunity to send a

bullet into Robin's body but Robin was fast, he

swerved quickly to the other side before the

gun was shot and released a quick bullet which

pierced through Benny's arm. Benny winced in

pain as he hid away from the entrance.

++++++++

'D--n' James cursed as the driver of his car

blared the car horn. A red Range Rover was

blocking the road just a few metres before their

destination.

The car had made a careless u-turn and almost

caused an accident, they expected that it would

drive off as soon as it turns but the driver

halted in the middle of the road, obstructing

cars from pa.s.sing on the lanes. What had

saved her from the wrath of the police was a

"L" tag behind the car.

'How can someone park a car on the road like

that?' Greg barked angrily. 'Are there no road

safety officials in this estate?'

'There are' James answered him, 'but they stay

at specific points and moreover the driver is a

learner'

'A learner should not hit a busy road' Greg

barked on.

'This place is not a busy road, we are in an

estate, there's only one car beside us' James

said staring at the Lexus Jeep beside them.

The driver was a middle aged man dressed in

Yoruba native attire, Agbada.

Two uniformed officers jumped down from the

police van which followed the car and hurried

forward to clear the road.

The officers. .h.i.t their guns on the car to get the

attention of the driver, the windows were all

winded up, two road safety officials in their

yellow and black uniforms also came to join

them.

The driver was bowed down, her head was on

her laps. One of the police officers tried to

force open the door to the driver's seat but it

was hard and not opening. The driver made no

movement still.

'Get out of the way' Greg surged towards them

angrily. He tried to force open the door but

couldn't so s.h.i.+fted backwards and stood in a

parallel line to the door. He aimed at the door

lock carefully and shot at it, the door gave way

finally. He rushed towards the driver with an

intention of pulling her out and driving the car

out of the way.

The sole of the shoe on the lady's right leg hit

his face as he moved to touch her, Greg fell to

the floor with his face bleeding. She removed

two guns from the both sides as she came out

of the car, her face was covered with a mask.

+++++++++

The bullet which had missed Robin's body got

into Aisha's stomach, she was bleeding and

losing strength rapidly. Robin only noticed it

when she began to slowly drop from his hands.

He tried to pick her up but her legs couldn't

stand anymore, he began to lose hope

gradually, his plan of escape to use her as an

hostage was failing already. His legs were also

becoming weaker, he had to place his right

knee on the ground.

He ran out of luck when Cole finally appeared

at the entrance, pointing a gun at him. Cole did

not waste time in releasing two bullets, one

which entered into his chest and the other into

his head. He fell flat and rolled out of the

ambulance with a thud.

Cole quickly rushed towards Aisha and picked

her up, he carried her and dropped her on the

ground, close to the car. He brought out a s.h.i.+rt

from the car and tore it into pieces , trying to

use the pieces to hold Aisha's wound from

bleeding.

'She's going to die if we don't get out of here

quickly' Cole shouted at Benny who was

dragging himself towards them.

Benny rushed to open the gate quickly and Cole

drove the car out of the compound.

'Where are we going to get treatment now? We

can't go to the hospital' Benny commented as

he joined Aisha at the back seat of the car.

'If we can't go to the hospital, a doctor can

come to us' Cole answered him, he took a

glance at the clock in the car. 'The street

cameras would be alive in one minute'

Sounds of several gunshots from the back

startled them. Cole and Benny stared

backwards to see a lady in gun battle with the

police.

++++++++++++++

A bullet entered into Greg's head, keeping him

on the floor permanently. Bullets were also sent

into the bodies of other officers who were at

that side of the car.

Tarasha bent to escape the bullets coming from

the back. She entered back into the car and

pulled it back, she didn't need to start the

engine again because it was never switched

off.

She took a quick turn and rushed in direction of

the police cars, sending out bullets to them

from the front mirror.

Inspector James was out of the car already, he

was hiding behind and sending bullets to the

attacker. He watched as bullets were sprayed

out from the range Rover as it approached

them, eighty percent of his men, most of those

who came out of the police van were down

already.

He jumped and landed on the car's boot before

the range Rover hit the car, he had a clear view

of the lady and quickly sent two bullets her

way.

She rolled out of the car before the bullet was

delivered. James moved forward, climbing the

top of the car as he released more bullets from

the gun. The lady was out of sight already.

Tarasha rolled carefully but with speed under

the Hyundai sonata police vehicle and came out

from behind, she first dealt with the remnant of

the officers that came out of the police van

before turning to the officer who was on the

car. A bullet hit her back as she turned.

+++++++

'More backup is needed at Gravl estate' Sandra

relayed James' request to the superintendent.

'Handle that' the man replied her in a gruff

voice without bothering to take a look at her.

He had too many problems of his own and

wasn't ready to be troubled this afternoon by

any state problem. Moreover, he had decided to

wash his hands off this "Samantha's case",

since the country did not trust him enough to

handle it and had to allow a foreigner do the

job.

'Thank you sir' she said as she walked out of

his office. She almost b.u.mped into the

computer operator who was about to enter the

superintendent's office.

'Sorry' the operator apologized with a brief

smile.

'It's okay' she said and made her way to leave.

'Are you going to join inspector James?' He

asked

'Yes' she answered and turned back impatiently,

wanting to hear if he had any information that

may be useful.

'The cameras are up already, I think you need

to see something before leaving' He said and

pushed her arm gently, trying to motion her

towards the computer room.

'No' she refused, 'Inspector James wants the

backup immediately and I'm going there now'

'I've given commands for more backup already

and they are on their way' the operator

continued. 'I need someone working on this

case with the inspector to monitor with me

because the cameras are not working fine yet'

'You can communicate with me if there's

anything I need to know' she said as she

walked away hurriedly. 'I'm going there now'

'Okay, good luck' he said as he watched her

leave. The cameras were not working properly

yet and he wasn't sure that the videos would

be stored in their database, that was why he

wanted her to monitor with him.

'Sir, the location has changed' his Junior's voice

startled him.

'Huh? For how long?' He questioned.

'About ten minutes ago'

'Ten minutes ago?'

'Yes sir'

'Are you crazy? Why are you just reporting

now?' He blasted as he followed behind the

junior.

++++++++

Another bullet hit Tarasha's back as she made

her way to enter the police van. She threw a

grenade in James' direction to distract him

before starting the engine.

The van was driven off as James jumped down

from the sonata and it blazed off in flames.

He felt as if his legs were broken as he landed

in pains, he still managed to turn back to see

the direction that Tarasha was taking. He laid

flat on the floor as sounds of police sirens drew

closer. His phone rang.

'The direction has changed, they're on the way

to Lekki' a voice came through.

James was to weak to respond, he closed his

eyes and turned his head to the left to spit out

first. He opened his eyes a minute later to find

Sandra standing by his side.

'Are you okay sir?' She asked with concern in

her voice.

'Yes' he said, only audible to himself. Other

officers came down from their vehicles to

check the injured ones. A call ordering for

ambulances was made to the headquarters.

'That way, she went that way' James managed

to say, pointing in the direction Tarasha took.

'Call the fire service' Sandra ordered a junior

officer, as she stared at two cars in flames.

The driver of the car that was beside the police

vehicles had fled when he heard the first

gunshot and he couldn't reverse the car

because of other cars who were coming to join

them. His Lexus was also affected by the

explosion from the grenade.

Sandra walked back into the car and led the

police vans in pursuit of Tarasha after making

sure that James was being taken care of. She

maintained contact with the computer operators

and they gave her directions to where Aisha

Bello was.

+++++++

Cole's phone rang just when they were few

centimetres away from the gate of the house.

He glanced at the screen and saw the caller ID.

He quickly parked at one side and answered

the call.

'Boss'

'Where are you?' Tarasha's voice came through

'At home, we're about driving in' Cole replied.

'Don't drive in, meet me at Obalende. I'll give

you more directions later'

'Boss' Cole said in a pleading manner. 'I'm not

sure we can get there, Benny has a bullet in his

arm and Aisha is also badly injured. We'll get

into trouble with the police'

'Okay' Tarasha said after letting out an audible

sigh, 'Just keep driving, drive to anywhere you

think is safe. I'll meet you there, don't just stay

at the house'

'Okay Boss'

'And one more thing' Tarasha said in a sudden

manner, 'throw away Aisha's phone. Now.'

'Okay' Cole responded, his eyes widened as he

nodded his head in agreement.

'Take out Aisha's phone' He said to Benny who

was already waiting for him to relay the details

of the call.

Benny obeyed without any argument, he

searched through Aisha's bleeding body and

brought out the phone. 'Throw it outside the

car' Cole said to him.

Benny flung it out at once without asking the

questions in his mind. Cole drove off from that

point and continued in a forward direction,

Benny was forced to speak up now.

'Where are we going to?' Benny asked in a loud

voice.

'Boss says we should not stop here' Cole

answered

'Why?'

'I don't know, but I think she sees danger

coming'

'Does she know I'm injured and that Aisha

needs treatment immediately?' Benny

questioned furiously, he was feeling great pains

in his arms. He took a glance at Aisha who was

unconscious already and spoke again. 'I don't

think Aisha is going to make it'

Cole looked back to check Aisha too, 'there's

still hope' he says.

'I don't just understand all these' Benny

complained bitterly.

'You don't understand what? Don't you know

that Boss might be saving us from great

danger?'

'What great danger? Ain't we done with the task

already? What we need now is treatment' benny

argued.

'Benny' Cole mentioned softly.

'Yes' He replied in a harsh tone.

'Did you see the gun battle with the police

immediately we drove out of the compound in

Gravl estate?'

'Yeeess?' he stressed the word in a questioning

manner.

'Who do you think that lady was?' Cole asked

and paused, he glanced back at Benny who

couldn't give a reply. 'That was Boss saving our

a.s.ses from the police'

'How are you sure it was her?' Benny

questioned, his voice was softer now.

'Don't you recognize her structure? Didn't you

see the lady?'

'I'm injured, I didn't take a good look'

'I think Robin had a tracker on him and the

police was already on our trail before the Boss

distracted them on the way' Cole continued.

'We need to follow her instructions, I think we'll

be safer that way'

++++++++++

***Twenty Minutes later ***

'Yes, you are at the right place' the voice

answered Sandra's question.

Sandra looked around the place, there was

nothing suspicious there. She came out of the

car and ordered the officers in the other two

vans to come out.

'Check around here, the criminal is around here'

she spoke aloud.

There were three houses close to where their

vehicles were parked. The officers splited into

three groups and invaded the houses.

'Yeah?' Sandra said as she answered her call.

'We just some videos of that place now, they

left already. They're not there anymore'

'What?'

'Yes, they left but dropped the phone we were

using to track them. I think they realized that

we were on their trail, we must have one of

their informant in the force'

'Who the h.e.l.l could the informant be?'

'I don't know but I'm sure someone must have

informed them that we were tracking them with

the phone. They paused a little at that point

before throwing the phone outside'

'Where are they now?'

'We are still trying to track them'

'You have to be careful with your men

henceforth, don't let any more information

spread to anybody except the both of us'

'When would I get a response on their location?'

'In few minutes ma'

'Please hurry up before they get away'

'Okay ma. I…' the caller stammered for some

seconds.

'You …?'

'I think they're a group' he finally said. 'Part of

the group disguised as doctors and abducted

Agent Robin while another one who I think is

the Boss stopped Inspector James and his men

from pa.s.sing through'

'Yes, of course they're working together' Sandra

mumbled.

'I don't know how many of them were in the car

because the windows were winded up but it's a

blue corex 2027. I believe that they still have

Inspector Robin with them in the car'

'Then hurry up and give us the information we

need' Sandra spoke in a rather harsh manner.

'Once you get their locations, do make sure you

also get in touch with the station in the district'

'Okay, I'll get back to you as soon as possible'

the call was ended

Sandra's phone rang again before she could

keep it.

'Have you caught her?' James asked

immediately she answered.

'No, she's out of sight totally'

'D--n! She couldn't have gone that far' James

started in an angry tone, he paused and

continued when he got no response. 'I shot her

twice at the back so she would still be lurking

somewhere around. I wonder how she was able

to even drive the car'

'We'll wor…' Sandra stuttered

'I'm going after her myself' James said and cut

the call