Death in Paradise.

Death in Paradise.

Jarvis spotted his target the moment he stepped into the lodge, Afterall it wasn't so much of a

task to locate an old man residing in the same lodge with University students. Even if he wasn't

sure, the round "Awolowo " spectacles resting gracefully on the nose of his target was

unmistakable from the picture the Chief had sent him.

The instruction from the Chief had been quite simple over the phone,

"Find your target and exterminate him... 1.5 million Naira will be yours".

Even if he had questions, the thought of the numerous problems the money wouldn't solve for

him quickly shut him up. He glanced once more at the picture of his target . His name was

David Okafor, a 66 year old freelance journalist working with Sun Newspapers.

Recently, his article on the murder of a popular Journalist , Remi Balogun suspectedly by a

prominent politician had been published and from the ongoing story, it appeared he knew too

much and he wasn't ready to keep quiet.

Apparently, some big shots including the Chief wanted him dead before he wrote them into

trouble.

Jarvis silently slipped through the passage of the Block A part of the lodge ,eventually

reappearing at the end of the passage, settling under the overhead tank.. 400 meters from his

target

* * *

David Okafor had brought out his seat outside his apartment to relax and enjoy the cool breeze.

 Gently but firmly, he sucked the orange he was holding like a new born baby.

The wireless bluetooth speaker he had brought outside with him was sharing sadness to the whole

neighborhood in musical form, Mozart's classic latin masterpiece "Lacrimosa" was playing.

although he didnt understand the Latin lyrics of the song, From his Seminary days, he knew that

"lacrima" meant tears. He had not yet figured out what attracted him to the song , maybe because it always kept him in the mood of reflection or because of its solemnity .    The legendary Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had written the masterpiece on his  death bed and had died before it was completed, little wonder, most people called it "the death song".

He reflected on his controversial article and remembered the opening lines..

 JOURNALISTS UNDER FIRE

Journalists in Africa have had more than their fair share of repression.

In 1994 alone, more than 80 journalists were murdered. More than all the media people killed

throughout the world during the second world war. In other countries................

The sharp sound of his phone ringtone brought him back to reality.

"Hello", he muttered

The familiar voice of Sam Nwokike, his Editor greeted him as he answered the call. He noticed

his voice was unusually tense.

He didn't mince words

" Please Sir, you're in danger, stay put in your house. I'm sending Gbenga to come an pick you in

30 minutes.

The call was already over before he could say anything.

"I'm in danger"? He thought, soaking up the message once more.

He picked up the wireless bluetooth speaker and switched it off. Then the sharp sound of his ringtone pierced the thin air again. This time around, the number was unknown.

"Hello", he answered with a fear laden voice.

The voice this time was ice cold

"Go into hiding Dave, your house isn't safe, the street has been talking and you know the street seldom talks"

And the cold voice ended the cold call.

David was confused, two different calls, two different instructions.

He stood up, grabbed the plastic chair and the wireless speaker and started walking to his room.

He noticed that the young man with a red top under the overhead tank had started making a

phonecall and he was walking down too ...he knew something was up.

In a haste, he put on his shoes and headed up towards Yahoo junction.

He immidietly flagged down the Mitsubishi  L-300 bus that was passing and occupied the empty front seat.

As the bus was about to move, he froze when he saw the same young man who was under the

overhead tank, flag down the bus to enter too.. The same bus he was in.

Whether the guy had ran, walked or used an okada was something he couldn't explain.

Balls of sweat starting forming on his face,

Wahala!!

In the moving bus, Dave tried to calm himself down.

"Don't be paranoid Dave" he told himself

"Maybe its a prank" he thought once more, recalling the numerous ZFANCY TV prank videos

his younger colleagues showed him at work.

As the bus rolled into Kwata junction, David made his decision.

*********

"Driver ko opuo" David whispered as he came down and hurriedly paid his fare extremely relieved

that the young man didn't come down too.

40 seconds later, he realized how wrong he was.

The young man came down too and smiled when their eyes met.

There was something odd about that smile

The young man placed a phone call again.

At that moment, David didn't know whether he was walking, running or doing both.

When he ran out of breath he placed his hands on his laps in desperation and looked back.

Thankfully, there was no sign of his attacker .

"For your mind na"  

Jarvis chuckled as he ducked away just in time behind a parked car along the road. He double

checked the syringe in his pocket to confirm it was still there.

He brought out his phone, logged in into the encrypted app he had been given for his mission, it contained a map of Awka with all the important places  .. the devil's version of google maps .

Opening the app, he confirmed that the red dot he was following had not gone far. Tracking the

red dot with the aid of the  map, he realized his target had entered Prince Paradise hotels

across the street and it was a Friday!!

* * *

David Okafor was a loner. For 20 years, he had lived alone. He chosen to take refuge in

Prince Paradise hotels because he practically had nowhere else to go.   The Newspaper Company he worked for as a freelance journalist always held their annual end of year party there so it was basically a case of eating rice when rice was the only food on the menu and besides, his bladder was about to burst.

Already exhausted from the deadly hide and seek the evening had turned into, he sauntered into

the hotel, trying as much as he could to look normal.

Like an empty-headed student checking again and again for the eagle eyes of his lecturer in the

exam hall, he kept on looking back again and again to ensure that his attacker was no longer in sight.

Entering the secluded part of the hotel mostly used for parties, he thankfully noticed that there

was a mixup of ages so no one was going to look at him like a primary school pupil that brought

fufu for lunch.

10 minutes later, Jarvis made his entry. He wasn't really perturbed....... .. The red dot he was

tracking wasn't far.. The poor journalist had left his location on!!

* * *

The famous open roof bar in Prince Paradise hotel is something you don't see everyday , A bar

lying on the top of a building with space for over a hundred people. David dashed to the open roof bar

immediately he was close enough , He often blamed the hotel management for not lighting up the

bar properly under the guise of how romantic it looked. But tonight , the poor lighting of roofless

bar was his only hope.

Leaning on the rails of the roofless bar, David surveyed the arena like a 16th century King

observing his guests from the stairs looking for the slightest sign of the young man.

Jarvis trailed the red dot all the way to the arena . From the app, he noticed he was directly beside

the dot but it wasn't corresponding with reality .

Scanning the area for indoor spaces, he peered into the bar in the ground floor without success.

He came out again and realized his mistake , then he looked up to the roofless bar and saw him

on the rails - he was certain he saw him too.

-Jarvis grinned,

 David froze.

The roofless bar had two entry points, the one at the front of the building which Dave had entered from and another at the extreme which he was dashing to at the moment.

Jarvis was already pushing everyone who stood between him and his target out of the way.

The second entrypoint David had disappeared from led out to another part of the hotel which

contained a block of outdoor bathrooms and toilets , carparks and stores.

Since he was pressed and also in a bid to outwit his attacker, he made for the bathrooms.

Unfortunately, with every step he took, the red dot Jarvis was tracking moved too - with mind

blowing  accuracy!

"Abeg where I fit gas?"

He managed to ask a teenager who was smoking up by the corner. He pointed and David ran.

-The red dot ran too.

The stinking smell of the toilet greeted his nose as he entered but he didn't care , he moved past

the first three rooms just in case.

He found found that one of the rooms was occupied by a man who was leaving as he was

entering--- he was alone!!

He stepped inside one of the toilets and dialed Inspector Deji's private number with sweaty palms.

"Hello Deji" he began as soon as the call was picked ,not allowing the usual exchange of

pleasantries,

"Someone is trying to kill me "

What...wherr ?? Deji replied incomprehensibly

By the time he heard the rapid opening and closing of the doors one after the other, he knew his

assailant had found him out and he ended the call.

His call had worsened matters , his attacker heard him.

For Jarvis, this was it . Aiming for the bolts , he connected his muscular arms and shoulder with

the wooden door and the weak bolts gave way and the door crashed open.

 David was terrified.

For the first time since the deadly game of hide and seek began ,he was face to face with his

attacker.

" Who se -sent you"? He asked, trembling

"Doesn't matter" Jarvis replied

The old man suddenly began to gasp,his eyes seeming to pop out as he reached up and seized

his own chest with his two hands .

Really? Jarvis chuckled, he's having a heart attack.

On the stinking bathroom floor, the old man writhed and choked for life, his eyes pleading for

mercy as he grabbed at his own chest.

Finally, he collapsed on the stinking tiles as a pool of urine materialized ..he had wet himself.

Jarvis bent down towards the old man.

"I guess my job is done" he whispered as he listened for a heartbeat and eventually left.

After a few seconds, David yearned for air, he had just delivered an Oscar deserving performance.

He stayed put ,waiting for his attacker's footsteps to grow distant.

The adjoining door opened and closed......

He still forced himself to wait another couple of seconds to confirm.

He eventually stood up, even the stinking toilet smelled like oven fresh Roban bread.

But as he stepped out for his long walk to freedom, he realized how wrong he was..

The young man never left! 

Before he could recover from his shock, Jarvis drove the injection to his neck and pushed down

the plunger with force.

Fire ran through his veins, he couldn't even open his mouth. The combination of Pancuronium

bromide and potassium chloride in the injection  was just too much and the old man slumped with paralysis

which was the first stage in the 3 stages process of death by lethal injection. Respiratory

arrest and stopping of heartbeat and death would soon follow

As life slowly left him , he realized Jesus never lied

"Today, you'll be with me in Paradise!"

©Ren... March 2020