Two weeks later

"Surprise!" a masculine voice yelled. Ebun had mastered every detail about that voice more than she'd ever cared to memorize the formulas in her chemistry textbook. It was her favorite voice in the entire world.

Thus, with equal enthusiasm as the owner of the voice, Ebun turned to see Sean standing patiently by the entrance of her office, looking immaculate and macho as his navy blue polythene shirt helped in gracefully curving out his muscle-padded shoulders. His cheeky smile made the completing mark to his already impeccable outlook.

Without delay, Ebun flung her stethoscope away from around her neck and ran towards Sean. Once she covered the distance between them, she clasped her hands tightly around the nape of his neck and went on to kiss every part of his face.

"Did you miss me that much?" Sean asked with piqued interest once he patiently let Ebun shower him with all her affection.

"You have no idea! It's been two crazy weeks without you!" Ebun rolled her eyes.

"Likewise, babe. Likewise. I had to find some way to see you. I need energy and motivation for the work ahead, you know," Sean said.

Sean wrapped his hands around Ebun's waist and walked her over to her desk. While she sat on the desk, she didn't, for a second, remove her hand from the back of his neck. While they kissed fervently, Ebun couldn't help but think of the casual encryption behind their conversation.

No one would think that they'd just spoken of a series of cold-blooded murders and summarized it as work in just a few sentences like it was nothing. Frankly, though, it really was nothing. She and Sean had come such a long way. They'd grown together – helped each other through their mistakes and flaws in almost every aspect of their lives.

Here she was now, living the life, tasting from her beloved's sugar-sweet lips. It still seemed like a dream — that Sean was hers. It still felt like yesterday when she used to be so sensitive to Sean's criticisms, and he too wouldn't stop giving mean remarks. They'd always bicker about every little thing, constantly being at loggerheads and yet still sticking together because they were a team.

It was a growth that was beautiful to reflect on — mainly because they'd done the work required to win each other's hearts. The occurrence of those fights was necessary to paint the complete beautiful picture.

"I've missed this. I've missed you so much. I love you so much, Ebun," Sean said after separating his lips from hers, trying to catch his breath as he cupped her face gently.

"I love you too, Sean," Ebun looked into his eyes as his irises darted from one end to the other. She studied his countenance beyond the affection that reflected in his voice. "Why do you look so crestfallen all of a sudden?"

Ebun gently removed his hand from her face and clasped it in her hands, patting his palm affectionately.

"Look, you don't have to feel sorry that your job demands for you to be apart from me. I completely understand. We do the same job and it's demanding for me as well.

There are too many men in this country who won't keep their balls tightly tucked beneath their boxer briefs and what's a cute little assassin like me supposed to do? Besides, I know you won't cheat on me or forget me while you are away. So don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Sean," Ebun nodded, patting his hair.

"I can't wait to have you by my side. I wish we could wrap up this rape case as soon as possible. I wish we could find those men right away, fire bullets in their skulls, and put an end to it," He groaned.

"Err... About that," Ebun cleared her throat. "I do have an important matter to discuss with you, Sean."

"Oh, what about it?"

"My older sister in Nigeria sent me a text message two weeks ago. She asked me to come home, and she gave me a befitting reason why my return home would be worth it. She has been able to find two of my rapists. Before that, she'd already found two of the other men from that day. One of the men she recently caught is her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

She says I get the chance to do whatever I want with my niece's ex if I come home. That's very appealing. Still, I'm hesitant to go back to Nigeria. I'm afraid of getting tricked. Besides, I don't think I'd be able to handle another disappointment or negative surprise."

Ebun had left her sister's last text without replying to it because she was conflicted. In times when she couldn't trust her ability to make a good decision, she preferred to wait on Sean — to know what he had to say.

"First off, I'm sorry once again for putting you through that stress the first time. You are afraid of having a similar situation reoccur, and I understand your fear. Which is why I don't think you should go home. If you do, you won't be able to do anything with your niece's ex.

Don't be quick to forget all the stress your sister put you through in the first few weeks of your stay in Moscow. Remember all of the extreme things she did to tie you down here in Russia. Think of all the times when I had to come to Hostel Pavlov disguised as a school bus driver. Those silly, fake excursion photos we had to take to convince your hostel mistress. Remember that night when we got spotted by one of her spies who was the driver from the park.

All those implicating situations would not have happened if it wasn't for your sister's controlling actions. Don't think that things will be different now because you are much older. She will still control you if you go back to Nigeria, but she'll do it more subtly.

Come to think of it, how true is it that this rapist of yours dated your sister's daughter? How on earth could that have happened beneath the nostrils of a control freak like your sister? Your sister is a lawyer and a detective. She can easily spot a criminal. Hence, it doesn't make any sense that your rapist dated her daughter for all this while, and she didn't have an idea. You can't even be too sure that she's telling you the truth. It might just be the perfect bait to lure you to go home."

Ebun sighed. She had never thought of the last few words he'd said. Could her sister really have gone that far? Ebun asked the question repeatedly, and the answer she got reappeared as much as she continually asked for it: maybe. Yemisi was obsessed with having everything in perfect control. It could be possible that Yemisi was still actively seeking for ways to tame Ebun — even though seven years had passed.

Still, though, Ebun thought of the previous rapists that her sister had caught. Yemisi had given her the chance to see those men in their prison cells. They'd really been the ones. So it didn't feel too real that Yemisi would tell such a lie just to get her to come. Her real fear was seeing her rapists but not getting the chance to stifle the life out of their throats.

"I thought of these things too, Sean. I know my sister is obsessed with control. I've been skeptical too. I still am. But you see, I've been in Russia for about eight years now, and I've not laid my eyes on any of the six men from my past. I'm not happy about that.

Although, I was fully aware of what I was getting myself into when I agreed to follow you to Russia. I knew that finding any of them here was a thin probability. Still, I was so hopeful, and along the line, I'd forgotten that Russia might not be the place where I'd find these men. I got carried away by the adventure. Now that I've realized it, I feel like if I go back to Nigeria, I might get some clues as to where the rest of my rapists are."

Sean breathed heavily. Then he shook his head with unease. He still wasn't comfortable with her reasoning.

"Stay back, Ebun," he took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly in a non-verbal plea. "I promise that your decision to follow a stranger like me to this strange country will yield satisfactory results. One of your rapists will show up very soon. Take my word for it. You didn't come this far for nothing."

Ebun nodded slowly, her facial expression morphing into something else each time she bobbed her head — from absorbing to reasoning, then realization, and then motivation.

She concluded that he was correct. What else would have spurred her to trust a man she didn't know from anywhere, follow him to Russia, believing that she'd find at least one of the men from her past and slaughter them? The drive was beyond her thirst for vengeance. It must have been an expression of her faith in Sean.

Hopefully, god or whichever being was up there in the skies would reward her faith. Faith, after all, was a religious activity.

***

Nurse Zoya was Ebun's favorite nurse and employee at Khovrino Hospital, and the reason for her favoritism wasn't far-fetched. Zoya did not only have immaculate fingers that could stifle a life faster than a weapon, but this petite nurse also had a very sharp eye.

She could tell if someone was a criminal from a first glance, and never for once had her judgment been wrong. Every single time that a rapist walked into Khovrino Hospital, no one was quick enough to recognize it like Nurse Zoya did — not even Ebun, the badass assassin herself. It was as though there was a program in her brain specifically meant for accurate criminal detection.

Hence why Nurse Zoya was the only employee that Ebun allowed to walk into her office at any time of the day — even when she asked the other nurses to stay away during her busiest hours.

Now, As Ebun had her face buried deep in her diary, ticking off the names of the sex offenders she'd murdered so far in the year, the door of her office burst open, and hasty steps came into her hearing. Filled with lividness at the noisy interruption of her perfect tranquility, Ebun raised her head, ready to hurl insults at whosoever it was except if it was Nurse Zoya.

And it was.

Hence, Ebun's face dropped, and the creased lines of anger on her forehead straightened to normalcy. With a small smile, she addressed the nurse.

"What brings you to my office in such a hurry?"

Nurse Zoya panted heavily before she opened her mouth to speak.

"E man just valked into ze reception ahnd I saw heem as I vas pessing by. He sed he has e tooth problem. But I know, his tooth problem eez from e fight or something. He looks like a herden'd repist — one zat has been defiling young vomen ahnd geerls for meny years. I cen't even describe ze chills he gives me vith zose tick hends of his. You need to come ahnd see zeez for yourself, ma'am."

"Hmm," Ebun chewed at the tip of her pen casually. She had to think of a way to kill whosoever it was before meeting him because there were currently no lethal syringes available. As she drummed her fingers against the desk, she thought deeply. After a while, she asked, "Okay, is polar bear liver still available?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nurse Zoya responded, slightly confused.

"What about fugu?"

"It's also available, ma'am."

"Okay, get them ready. I need to see the patient first to determine which of the meals he will eat."

The liver of a polar bear and fugu (pufferfish) are meals that are sure to kill you when you eat them. But one of these two meals has a more intense, excruciatingly painful before-death effect than the other. While the polar bear liver caused hypervitaminosis A because of its excessive amount of vitamin A, it was nothing compared to the hell that the pufferfish would put your body system through if you consumed it.

As Ebun got up from her desk and headed for the door, she smiled, turned to Nurse Zoya, and said;

"Let's see what the fate of this patient beholds."

When Ebun got to the reception and saw the patient that Nurse Zoya had talked about, she froze so deeply like a giant ice cube that she probably would have cracked open if someone had hit her with a hammer.

Lo and behold, the man who was sitting on the lounge and groaning in pain with his hand on his cheek was the sallow-faced, short, bastard from her past.

Gilbert.

The first guy who'd defiled her. The person she thought she'd seen on the alleyway in Novosibirsk two weeks ago. The person that Sean thought he'd seen.

Here he was! Live and direct in Russia, Sitting at the reception in her office, depending on her services as a dentist for his survival and recovery. She didn't have to look for him. He'd walked into her arms of his own volition, making it a million times easier for her to do a spiffing job.

Ebun could not believe her blessing. Sean had been right. It was barely three days ago when he walked into her office and convinced her to stay back in Russia. Who would have known that three days later, she would meet one of her rapists from thirteen years ago? Who would have thought that the reward for her faith had been so close after all these years?

Ebun unfroze and suddenly began to laugh. She laughed for so many reasons — for the answer to her prayers, for the doom of her oppressor, and the mere sake of villainy. But the hilarious thing to her was the fact that she already knew which meal to feed him and could already imagine him writhing in great pain.

Can you take a wild guess as to which meal it will be?