The next day ..

    Amber clicked on the send button with a text attached to the pictures of a woman and her kids with Mr Nonso in the background of each of them.

"Your wife doesn't know about them does she?"
~unknown number.

  She laid on her bed as she watched Dorothy pack her overnight bag.

   "I can't believe I slept through the rest of the movie." She yawned.

   "Me neither. I was almost done when I noticed you were asleep." Amber said with a shrug.

   "The sleepover was fun though." Dorothy said and the other girl nodded. "I'll go take a shower." She took her towel and change of clothes into the bathroom. Amber checked her other phone and saw the new message.

"Who are you? What do you want from me? How did you get those pictures?"
~ Mr Nonso

"All these questions are unnecessary. My price is cheap so let's talk about that instead. Unless you want to see those pictures and more on your school website and your wife's phone. She won't be happy about it, you know."
~unknown number

    Amber wore her slippers and applied her lip gloss as she waited for Dorothy to be done in the bathroom. She checked the phone again and smiled at the quick reply.

"How much do you want then?"
~Mr Nonso

"We'll talk about that in person. For now, go to a secluded area and call this number. Make sure no one is listening in on the call. If there's any controversy, I'll be posting all of those pictures in places you won't like and I'll ruin your life, trust me."
~unknown number

    Dorothy had already dressed and carried her bag. Just then the phone vibrated and Amber looked at Dorothy and sighed in relief when the other girl didn't notice.

    "I'll meet you downstairs Dorothy." She said. Dorothy nodded as she walked out of the room. Amber waited for a while before hearing Dorothy converse with her mother. She answered the call and turned on the voice distorter.

   "What do you want from me?" She heard the slime ball whisper yell into the phone. She smiled when she realized he did as she said without alerting anybody.

   "Listen to me if you want you go scot-free." She went straight to the point because she didn't know how long Dorothy and her mother would talk, "I'll send you an address now. That's where you'll meet me in an hour. When I say an hour, I mean an hour. The fate of your reputation and family depends on how early you are. Note the address I'll send elsewhere. Once you are done with that, clear all our messages. I'll send another address in five minutes. The second one is the address you'll show the police. Give them an excuse so that no one will follow you to the first address." She said.

   "What do I tell them? I'm sure you know I'm in a situation right now. I can't just leave the house." Mr Nonso whispered fearfully.

   "That's true." Amber agreed with a smile on her face, "Use that as an excuse then. Tell them Ultio texted you an address to meet with him so they can leave while you come over to the main address." She explained.

   "Okay okay. Please don't release those pictures." He begged pathetically.

   Amber hung up the phone and sent the first address. She walked downstairs and saw her mother with an awkward smile on her face as Dorothy chatted away.

   "Dorothy let's go, I'll walk you home." She offered. Her mother let out a subtle sigh of relief as Dorothy bade her goodbye and left with Amber.

   "The construction workers blocked the other side of the road with their stupid heavy duty vehicles. Now I have to trek a long distance to go home." Dorothy complained.

   "I saw them yesterday." Amber said as she looked at her wristwatch. She sent the other address and another text that made it look like it was Ultio asking to meet up.
****
   Mr Nonso weighed his options carefully. There was a high chance that the so-called Ultio didn't even exist so why risk his secret getting exposed. He cleared the old chats with the stranger and left the new ones.

    "Okoye! Detective Okoye!" He called as he ran out of the store room where he answered the call.

   Okoye rushed towards the man whose hands shook in fake fear. Nonso showed him the new messages and Okoye tensed.

    "He is holding your wife captive? Have you called her to be sure this isn't fake?" He asked and Nonso quickly nodded. If all it costed was a small lie then he was ready to anything.

   "Stay here. The officers and I would head to the address. We'll make sure nothing happens to her." Okoye said before calling the officers around the house through the walkie-talkie. "Jamaal stay behind with him just in case." He ordered and Jamaal nodded.

    "I need to tell you something but it can wait later." Jamaal said. Okoye nodded in response as he took Mr Nonso's phone and asked an officer to quickly track the location of the number. In less than fifteen minutes the compound was empty with only Jamaal and Mr Nonso remaining. The latter quickly grabbed his car keys and rushed out of the house.

    "Where do you think you are going?" Jamaal spat holding him back. Mr Nonso snatched his arm away and ran towards the car.

   "It's really urgent. I have to go." Nonso pleaded as he entered the car. Jamaal rushed to the passenger's seat as Nonso started the car.

   "You can't be doing this Sir. I know you are worried but Okoye will get her back safely." Jamaal tried to calm the man down but he had already driven the car out of the open gates. Nonso increased his speed as he drove past every speed limit.

    "Slow down!" Jamaal yelled at the man but he didn't pay any attention. The construction vehicles came into view and Nonso stepped on the brakes before realizing it wasn't working. "Mr Nonso!!! Stop the car!" Jamaal yelled as he saw the vehicles that were parked horizontally in the middle of the road.

   "It's not working! The brakes!!" Nonso cried as he stepped on the brakes over and over again. Jamaal felt a tear slip from his eyes as he saw the smiling faces of his wife and baby girl who was barely ten months old..

    The construction workers fled the scene when they realized what was going on. The loud crash shook the entire street and beyond. Sirens were heard from a distance and the shouts and cries of people around were muted by the loud rumble from the cloud.
***
    Amber grinned happily as she walked back home. The gloomy weather contrasted her happily mood but she couldn't care less. She had already smashed the other phone and disposed it in a moving garbage truck. Her main phone vibrated and she checked the new notification from the site.

"Ultio has done it again guys!! Mr Nonso has been reported to be in a car crash five minutes ago. Although there was one unfortunate victim but sacrifices had to made.
#Ultioisright"
~@littlepreacher1
  
    Amber froze in her steps as she read the post again. She quickly checked the comment section and felt her breath quicken.

  "#Ultioisright I feel so sad for the dead officer tho."

"I heard his only child is not up to ten months old😩"

"OMG this is so sad. Why did he have to be in the car at that point?"

  Amber couldn't believe what she was reading. That was not the plan.

  "No no no" she muttered as she read more comments. Heavy rain fell soaking her clothes. She shook her head as she flung her phone across the street. "No!" She yelled gripping her hair. She shook her head again as she ran to the scene of the accident instead. She saw the paramedics carry two bodies into the different ambulances. She shakily took a step back watching people around cry not withstanding the heavy rain.

   Detective Okoye didn't want to believe what he was hearing as he rushed to the second ambulance and removed the material covering the body. The other officers held him back as he stared at his partner lying lifeless. He had found the whole ordeal suspicious but he came back too late.

   "I'm sorry." He whispered as he felt tears roll down his cheeks. The rain washed it off yet the hurt in his heart multiplied by the second. He saw the silhouette of a familiar girl in the crowd and tried not to dwell on it.

    "Jamaal?" He heard a soft voice call and he turned to see his partner's wife. The ambulance began to drive out and the lady ran after it. Okoye tried to hold her back but she fought his grip. "That can NEVER be my husband. He said he would quit today. He said he'll be around full time for us. That can't be Jamaal na." She cried. Okoye apologized repeatedly as the woman hit his chest over and over again.

    He wasn't going to let his friend die in vain as he swore to bring the killer to justice.

*****
I feel so bad for Jamaal's wife🥺

Three more chapters to go and I have a surprise for you guys. I'll tell you about it soon.

~Korisa.