Chapter 47
The ride back to his place was an agonizing one for Dare. How was he going to face Tiara’s parents and tell them that his search for their daughter had been fruitless? Or that he had no clue where she was and how to find her? He’d simply spent hours running back and forth with no positive results to show for it. How disappointing!
Greg and Jemimah had been told to return to their place and wait for further instructions, while Dare’s friend and his team returned to base with hopes that the kidnappers would reach out to them soon.
When he got home, his butler informed him that the Egbusons had retired to the guest room they were offered but had rejected all offers of food or drink. Meanwhile, Chichi was said to be in the visitor’s sitting room watching TV. When Dare got there, he found her asleep on the same couch where he’d left her earlier in the day. A children’s show was playing on TV with the volume turned down. He quietly made his way out of the room and strode straight to the elevator that would take him upstairs to his quarters. Immediately he got into his bedroom, he walked purposefully to the wardrobe and threw the door open to Tiara’s section. He grabbed a handful of her clothes and buried his face in them.
“Please, come back home, Tiara,” he groaned. “Please, come back. I can’t live without you. I can’t continue to exist in this world without you beside me. Please, come back home, my love.”
All the emotions from yesterday and today’s disappointing search came crashing down on him and he began to cry. Dare couldn’t remember the last time he cried, not even when his only surviving relative, his aunt, died about a decade ago. Not the hardship of life before he made it financially, ever got to him to this extent, but the thought of never seeing Tiara again destroyed him. He never even got a chance to tell her that he loved her. He’d been waiting for the right time to say it, but the right time never came, and now it may never come again. He’d missed his chance to start his life afresh and live meaningfully with the only woman who had brought warmth and joy into his heart.
As he continued to cry in front of the wardrobe, his phone rang inside his suit pocket. He immediately dropped the dresses he held to his face and dug out the ringing phone from his inner pocket. It was Jemimah calling.
“They’re ready to let her go!” She screamed immediately he answered the call. “She’s alive, Dare. Tiara is still alive!”
Dare was speechless. He blinked and moved his lips, but words did not come out of his mouth.
“Are you there?” Jemimah asked from the other end. “Dare, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” he breathed. “Yes, I can hear you. What’s the arrangement? Where do we pick her? How much do they want?”
“As for where to pick her, I don’t know that yet. But as for the money, they said they want 50 million naira.”
“Done,” Dare said without hesitation. “Tell them they’ll have it by tonight.”
“Are you sure? Aren’t you going to try and negotiate for a lesser amount?”
“Jemimah, I said tell them they’ll get the 50 million naira tonight. Call them now and tell them. I need to make some calls to get that money ready as soon as possible.”
“Wow,” Jemimah said, sounding completely awestruck. “How nice it would be for a man to love me this much. Ok, I’ll call them now.”
After she hung up, Dare walked over to the bed and sat down on it heavily. He was still dazed by the news he had just received. Tiara was alive and she would be coming back home! He almost couldn’t believe it.
My Tiara is coming back, he thought joyously. The love of my life is coming back home to me!
He jumped to his feet with newfound energy and dialed some numbers on his phone. “Irvin, I need some cash,” he said once the call was answered on the other end. “I need a lot of cash right now.”
“What for?” Irvin his accountant asked. “And how much are we talking about here?”
“Fifty million naira. Cash.”
“Fifty million? What for?”
“Don’t worry about what it’s for,” he dismissed the question. “Get in touch with your person at the bank and make it happen ASAP. I’m on my way to your office now. Hurry, Irvin. This is a matter of life or death, please.”
His accountant must have heard the fear and desperation in his voice because he didn’t argue or ask any more questions. “Consider it done, Dare. I’ll call you back in a couple of minutes.”
“Thank you,” he said, relieved. He hung up and exhaled slowly. “I’ll bring you back home, Tiara. I promise I will bring you back home.”