Chapter 29

GBOYEGA

The next few days became hectic at work.

It didn't help that Elza and the kids were around. I mean I love my wife and children, granted, but whenever I get home after a hard day's job, I just wanted to rest.

Francis is mini - me. He's a split image of me at 11. He liked to play pranks. He hides the Tv remote at exactly the time when all I want to do is put my feet up and watch football.

Stacey is like her mum. At just seven years of age, she likes to cook.

I know what you're wondering. How can a seven year old know how to cook?

Well my daughter Stacey is a whiz at cooking jollof rice.

No jokes. Of course she's always supervised by her mum.

As soon as I walked into the house, Stacey threw herself at me, almost knocking the breath out of me. She forgot she was not a baby anymore. She was almost as tall as Francis and he was almost as tall as me, and I was quite tall at 6 feet.

No surprise where they got their genes from.

Elza on the other hand was petite, at 5'3.

Stacey still clung to my neck like a life line and dragged my body and her's backwards in order to close the door. Francis walked into the living room, remote in hand. This boy's hands were always glued to the remote.

"Hi dad!" He flung at me, and plopped into the leather chair.

He got that smile on his face. That meant he was up to one of his tricks again.

I swung my attention from him back to Stacey.

She let go of my neck, thankfully, and began walking backwards and talking at the same time. She did this all the time and I'd given up on correcting her. The fall was inevitable.

"Dad, I'm making jollof Rice." She grins at me widely.

Oh God! I think died and went to food heaven.

I was the one who tripped, as Francis put his foot out. I noticed this too late and I sprawled ungainly, right into his laps.

He giggled gleefully.

"Glad I could make you laugh."
I said, from my perch on his laps.

I hefted myself up just in time to see Stacey giggling uncontrollably as she walked to the kitchen. I looked back at Francis who was still giggling. Their laughter was highly infectious and I found myself shaking with laughter.

No! My children would definitely not be the death of me.

Francis was watching football, so I plopped down beside him. Goodie! Awesome combination coming up --- Jollof rice and football.

Elza came out of the kitchen and I bent my neck for her to plant a kiss on my cheeks, but she went for my lips instead. Someone was in a good mood, I just might get lucky tonight.

"Hi, honey!" She beamed, and sat down beside me.

We made small talk as Stacey waltzed in, juggling three plates in her hands. She handed one to each of us and skipped back to the kitchen to get her's. We all dug into our spicy jollof rice and chicken and it was even better than I remembered.

Little wonder she wanted to become a chef.

I would definitely support her all the way.

Hours later, I showered and changed into something more comfortable and settled back on the couch to watch football. It was my most favourite spot in the world, if I might add. My feet were on the table and Elza's head was on my lap, she was taking a snooze. The children were in their rooms playing video games and squealing as someone got the upper hand.

My phone vibrated on the table and I leaned over to pick it up. It was Red. I immediately snapped to attention, gently removed Elza's head from my laps and walked to my study, phone in hand.

When I was safely behind doors, I picked the call.

"Boss!" His deep voice flooded my ears.

"Red, what's going on? My friend complained to me you did not have any information for him. What's up with that?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm calling. I've been getting scrambled calls from an unknown number. The person warned me not to divulge any information to your friend, otherwise my whole family and I would be killed."

I lifted an eyebrow at this news.

I'd forgotten I was on the phone and he couldn't see me. I sighed in exasperation. "Red, that kind of prank should not deter you from doing your job. You know as well as I do, these threats usually don't hold water. You've faced much worse, remember?" Red wasn't a newbie in this business, he got these kind of threats all the time.

"Boss!" Came his agitated voice over the phone. "My daughter was beaten into a coma, a week ago."

I fell silent at his admission.

I knew he was trying to hold it together and be a man at this point in time and not act cowardly, but when it involved your child, how much could you do that?

Red was a retired army veteran. He developed severe bronchitis while on duty and was deemed unsuitable to continue. He was honourably discharged and thereafter, decided to pursue a career as a private investigator. We met, and he helped me advance in my career with his special skills. Together, we shot to hell, a lot of my enemies.

"My wife found a note in our daughter's school bag saying I should let sleeping dogs lie and not wake the sleeping lion. As if that was not enough, the note went further ahead to say that what happened with my daughter could result in her death, if I tried to look for any information to give Mr. Eyare, your friend."

His voice sounded strangled, like he was trying hard not to cry.

This shit was getting too nasty for my liking. Whoever did that to his daughter definitely knew Eyare, and if he knew him, then he obviously knew Eyare and I were friends.

Did it have anything to do with the text messages I had been getting?

I had totally ignored them, I mean, what was the point?

Eyare and I were friends now and nothing was going to change that. I was going to have to wade into this situation, and fast too. Clearly, Red was shaken up about this whole thing and that meant the people weren't playing around, because he never got shaken up about any job.

I felt like a giant web was being knit around all of us, tying us in. But I'd be damned if I got dragged into it. I needed to help Eyare uncover this whole mystery. There was a much bigger plot behind the scenes, I was so sure of it

But what, exactly?

I snapped out of my reverie.
"Red, calm down. This is what is going to happen."

I told him about a safe house his family could stay at, till further notice. Not even Elza, my wife knew about it. His daughter could recuperate there, nicely and in peace. It was a good, clean environment, but most importantly, they would be free from further hassles and assaults.

When I was done talking and giving him the location, he grudgingly agreed. We had done this severally, though, but not to the point of his whole family taking a hiatus. He was retiring next year, and I needed him to make this job one of his last assignments.

I know this whole thing with Eyare and the texts started out as a a joke, but now I just wanted it to be over so we could all get back to our normal lives.

A thought came to my mind.

Was it possible that my family could be in danger too?

I needed to send them back to Canada within the week.

I knew Elza would put up some form of resistance. She'd been clamouring for us to stay together as a family. Now there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Problem was, bills needed to be paid for, the children needed to go to school and be looked after.

For now, we agreed she shouldn't work till the children were a little older and able to take care of themselves to a large extent. That put the whole responsibility on me, unfortunately. This galvanised me into action as I left the study and made my way back to the sitting room.

She was not on the couch where I left her.

Strange! She seemed to be deep in sleep earlier on.

I checked the kitchen, but she wasn't there, so I went to our room and saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, head down, fingers clenching the duvet tightly.

I sat down beside her gingerly and took her hand in mine.

"Is it about that time of the month?" She was probably hormonal because of her period. She always got that way when it started.

She snatched her hand away from mine and looked up. Her eyes were red as she looked at me accusingly.

"I'm not going anywhere." Her lower lip trembled and I knew she was trying to reign in the tears. This meant only one thing. She eavesdropped on my conversation with Red.

"Are you kidding me right now?" I was getting angry. "Don't you know eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves?" I knew I sounded plain stupid, but she shouldn't have listened in on me. That was not right.

"How can we leave you in harm's way?" She had that pouty thing going on with her mouth. My anger fizzled away.

"I'm so sorry, Elza, but you and the children need to go. I can't have anything happening to any of you. You guys are my life."

She bursted into tears at my admission and I took her in my arms. When she had finished crying, I made her face me and spoke to her reassuringly. I told her everything, starting with the text messages, and also about how I met Eyare and his wife, and finally about the diary and it's contents.

She never interrupted me once, but when I was finished, she looked at me sternly and told me she wouldn't put up any further force, because she knew how stubborn I was. She would do what I wanted, but I should promise her I would join them in Canada for a long holiday after the whole thing was over.

I agreed, naturally.

*

The next day, I took my time in going to work.

I made sure I ate breakfast and had some bonding time with the family before heading off.

As I walked into my office, my secretary told me I had a visitor waiting for me. I was livid she allowed a total stranger inside my office. I stalked off towards it. As I got in, the person turned round and I was face to face with a lady. She was beautiful, that is, if you go for the hard type of beauty.

She got up and walked towards me and I noticed she had on sky high heels. Without them, she would have been short. She extended her hand for a shake and I briefly noticed her blood red nails before my hand met her's.

She smiled coyly. I knew that look. I'd seen it on many women that were ready to bend the will of men by their seductive skills. I had experience, thankfully, so I was immune. I smiled leisurely and wove her to a chair. I made a mental note to have a harsh word with my secretary later for allowing a stranger, or anyone at all, wait for me in my office.

"How can I help you miss ---"

"Oh, just call me Onari." That coy smile again. I nodded, matched her smile with one of mine, and looked at her pointedly, waiting for her to continue.

We sat down face to face. She with her legs crossed, displaying a well - toned thigh, and I with a fake smile smeared on my face. My jaw had already begun to ache me from the stress of it.

Luckily she opened her mouth to speak. "We have a certain friend in common." She looked at me, expecting me to ask her who she was talking about, but I didn't even blink. I stared at her unwaveringly. "Oh, come now, don't play dumb. You know exactly who I'm talking about. He and his wife are presently separated, due to unforeseen circumstances. His name is Eyare." She smiled very smugly and I resisted the urge to knock her teeth out of her mouth with a resounding slap.

I got up and strolled to my mini bar, poured myself a glass of scotch and threw it down my throat, then I turned round to face her. It was my turn to speak. "So . . . you're the bitch who wants to break up his marriage?"

The smile bled from her face, replaced immediately with a true mask of hatred. She looked like a viper at that moment. I was happy I was able to unmask her true face.

Finally, I smiled genuinely. This time my jaw didn't hurt, not even a twinge. I was still smiling as I sat down. I unbuttoned my jacket, threw one hand behind my chair and leaned back to contemplate her.

She got up and began to pace my office, and then she stopped abruptly. "I want you to seduce Osagiede. She's very vulnerable, now that her husband is in his home town. I want her crushed." Her palms were splayed out on my desk and she was leaning forward.

I threw my head back and laugh. This was the most hilarious thing I'd heard, yet. I wiped the tears from the corner of my eyes when she came to stand beside me. She sat on my desk and leaned towards me.

I knew what she was trying to do.

It was not going to work.

I said in the most polite voice I could muster. "Madam, kindly step away and go sit down, or get out of my office."

She said nothing, but leaned even closer to my ears and whispered. "I can make it worth your while."

My restraint broke.

Honestly, I'd been itching to get my hands around her, and definitely not for a hug.

I stood up abruptly, grabbed her by the hand, yanked her bag up from the table and pushed her outside of my office. Before I could throw her bag in her face, she said in a quiet voice.

"You will regret this, I promise you."

"Don't ever come back here again." I slammed the door in her face before she could make any more stupid threats.

I walked back to my mini bar, took some more shots of whiskey and brought out my phone to call Eyare.

A/N: I always have fun when writing about Gboyega.

He is a go - getter and quite courageous too.

Are there any real men out there like him? lol.

Please tell me what you think of this chapter and kindly vote too.

Mucho love! 💞💕💞