TARASHA CHAPTER 11 .....PART 13

This episode has not been proofread at all, please forgive for any error'

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The officers moved in one after the other carefully, welcomed into the cameras control room by three different dead bodies. Two half unclad ones and a fully clothed one. One of them bent to examine the bodies while the others spread around the room with their guns raised high in readiness for any attack.

Ken carefully examined the lady's body, there was a bullet hole in her forehead. She must have been shot by a professional because the hole was drilled right in the middle of the forehead and she had no other wound in any part of her body. It wasn't a close distance shot, he noticed as he observed the head with his gloved hands. He stared at the rest of the body, it was only clad in underwear, someone must have taken off the clothes. The male dead body beside her too was only clad in briefs, only the third, which was a man's body was fully clothed.

'These are our staffs, they work in this department' the security man pointing to the two half unclad bodies knelt beside Ken to explain. 'The other man is an external official'

'But I think I heard some noises here before we came in' Ken said, getting up to look around.

'I heard it too, it sounded like there were some movements' the security man joined, getting up too.

The other four men paused to listen, all standing alert with their guns. Ken continued to pace around checking behind and under each computer system.

'There is a secret exit in this room, only the senior security staffs and those who work here knows the place' The security man said as he picked a book from the shelf. He opened it and flipped. 'It should be here in the navigation map'

Ken joined him as they checked through the book together and discovered the secret route behind the shelf.

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Tarasha used her phone's flashlight to brighten up the way as they rushed down the stairs of the dark escape route. The door was fastened behind by a simple metal lock which easily gave way.

A policeman almost bumped into Tarasha as she walked out of the escape.  'Sorry, did you guys see anything yet?' The unsuspecting officer asked.

'No' Tarasha answered briefly.

'You saw anything?' The policeman stopped and directed the question to Benny again, breathing heavily and wiping sweat off his face.

Tarasha moved forward, and pressed the Bluetooth device against her ear to reduce the noise entering as she called Cole's name softly. There was no response, Cole must have disconnected. Tarasha gave up trying after several attempts.

From the look of things, they had come out to left side of the events centre, just few centimetres to the backyard. She moved backwards to check, she could see the cleaners and chefs hurriedly packing up things. She saw a staff toilet there too. She took a quick look into the nylon bag in her hand, her cloth was still there; she heaved a sigh of relief.
'Hey' Tarasha gestured at Benny, 'let's check the toilet'. Benny quickly used the opportunity to escape from the policeman and followed Tarasha.
'Hey' a familiar voice called to them from the back. It was Cole, dressed in a police  uniform. Tarasha and Benny turned back and headed straight towards him. The officer who had accosted them at the escape entrance looked at Cole in suspicion.

'We gotta leave quickly, you guys should enter through the back' Cole quickly whispered to them, pointing at a Ambulance parked far away at the front. A nurse was opening the back door to the part meant for patients.

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It was five minutes to ten when Henry got to his personal apartment. He had chosen it instead of the cameras security commission quarters because of it's closeness to the event centre from where he escaped from.

The effect of the tear gas that has been dispelled by the police outside the event centre did not allow him wait outside the compound. He hurriedly left the environment and joined a cab which was going in direction of his home.

Henry didn't like the smell that welcomed him into his living room, not that it was bad, but it made it obvious that no one had been in the house for days. He switched on the bulb and searched for his air freshener, he quickly sprayed it before turning on the air conditioner. He finally sat down and took out his phone. His first move was to track his smaller phone to know the location of the Range rover in which he and Evelyn was driven to the event. But on a second thought, he opened the dial pad first and dialed Evelyn's phone number again. This time, it rang.

'Evelyn' Henry called anxiously as the call was answered.

'Henry' she called back, softly.

'Where are you? Are you safe?' Henry asked, happy that he finally heard her voice.

'I'm fine, what about you?'

'Fine too, I was worried about you'

'I'm safe, thanks'

Henry heaved a sigh of relief before he continued. 'Where are you now?'

'I don't really know this place but I'm in good hands'

'Just wait there, I'll come pick you up'

'No need, don't bother' She rejected with a strong tone.

'Evelyn' Henry called softly, in surprise of her refusal. 'I'm coming to get you' he insisted with a stronger tone. The line went off.

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Tarasha ended the call and switched off the phone immediately. She was seated on a chair opposite Benny who was seated on the patients bed.

Tarasha took off the back cover of the phone and then took out the sim card. She destroyed the sim card by scratching the surface, then she broke it into two and dropped it on the floor.

Cole who was now putting on a lab coat over his police uniform was smiling and stealing glances at his boss through the front mirror as he drove with Aisha seated by his side, dressed in a nurse's uniform. The operation had been the most exciting for Cole and he was feeling so fulfilled.

Working according to his plan with the boss two days before the main day, he had driven out the Range rover after the security man had accosted him in the park and returned the car to where it was rented from. After that, he went to hire the ambulance and lab coat from the gang he had contacted the day before. Their choice of an ambulance was for the reason that they could easily escape with it and also disobey traffic signals.

They've had a successful operation, everyone had played their parts excellently and the team had come out victoriously. But something was wrong with the look on the Boss's face, Cole observed.

'Boss' Cole called, knocking the transparent glass in the middle of the partition.

Tarasha did not speak but stared at him in response. The look on her face had the message for him to say what he wanted to.

'Did we miss out anything?' Cole asked, taking another quick glance at her.

'No' Tarasha replied briefly. 'We did well' she added when Cole continued to look at her for more explanation. She continued with fixing back her phone.

'Okay, you don't look like you think we did well' Cole continued.

'True' Benny joined in the conversation. 'I wanted to say...'

Tarasha looked up with a frown. A frown which warned Benny not to speak further, he refrained quickly.

'You wanted to say?' Cole who didn't see the frown continued.

'Would you shut the hell up and face the road' Tarasha slammed at him.

A deep sudden silence enveloped the vehicle as a strange kind of tension gripped their hearts.

Even Tarasha herself could not understand. What kept coming to her mind was Henry. The kisses which were supposed to be a part of her job and long forgotten immediately after the operation began to play back into her mind the moment they left the premises of the operation. Her several attempts to wave off the thoughts proved futile and the pictures kept coming back to her head, stronger and clearer.

In her mind, she could see him again, standing speechless in front of his room as she turned to face him. His face shine brightly like the sun, emanating a kind of glow that brought a strange smile to her lips and happiness to her heart.

He fed his eyes on her body and then paused to stare into her yes, the flame in his eyes was strange to her, revealing a kind of passion she had not seen for a long period of time. What it was, she couldn't still explain. Then, he moved closer to her and mumbled some words. He placed his hand around her waist and continued to stare into her eyes. She placed her hands on his shoulder, returning his stare. Their lips met. She broke away shortly, the mission was not yet accomplished then, she couldn't let the strange passion consume her.

The mind drifted to their journey to the events centre, in the Range rover. The silence. How Henry was trying to avoid speaking with her. How his body shook when she rested a hand on his knee. He tried to explain but she covered his mouth with hers. Her hormones rushed through her body as she felt the soft touch of his lips again.

'Boss, Boss...' Cole broke into her thoughts, knocking and looking through the partition window. 'What's next?'

'Huh?' Tarasha's body vibrated, feeling embarrassed as all eyes were on her. The bus had been stopped right in the compound of their initial lodge when they landed in Abuja and they were asking her a question which she didn't hear because she was lost in thoughts.

'Boss, you said we're not going to stay here tonight, that we'll only get here to pick something' Cole said.

Tarasha who was still lost eyed both Benny and Cole who were staring at her wickedly and hissed. She didn't know what to say or do as she couldn't remember again her earlier plan.

'Who said we're not staying here tonight? 'She said with an intimidating voice as she opened the backdoor and dropped off the bus.

Benny was staring at her strangely as he stepped out too. He didn't understand what was going on.

'We are staying here for tonight' Tarasha said and walked straight towards the house. Now she was wishing that moment she had with Benny never ended. She wished she could go back to play the Evelyn role again but the mission was over, she had to return to her default assassin settings.

Aisha who had been silent all through the journey stepped out from the front seat and followed immediately after the boss to open the door because she had the keys with her.

Cole stepped out after switching off the inner lights of the vehicle. He was smiling as he joined Benny at the back of the ambulance. Benny gave him a cold stare. 'What? Why are you laughing? Do you know what's wrong with the boss?'

'Yes, I think I do' Cole whispered back. 'She feeling sad because she's going to miss someone here in Abuja'

'Going to miss someone in Abuja? Who?'

'Someone I saw her kissing passionately today' Cole replied, taking off his doctor's coat.

'Oh!' Benny's eyes since brightly in the dark, his interest arising more. 'Who was that?'

'Never mind' Cole managed to say while he flung away the coat. He dipped his hands into his pockets to pick out what was there. 'We will all know when the time comes' he said as he walked away, leaving Benny to stand alone in the dark.

Cole hissed as he brought out an handkerchief and a small Nokia phone from his pocket while walking away. The Nokia phone was the one he picked from the backseat of the Range rover before returning it to the owners.