Chapter 45
Jemimah’s contact in the Black Scorpion Gang laughed her to scorn when she told him what Dare had asked her to say. In his words, Jemimah must be mad to think that she could buy back a captive that had been transported to their headquarters.
“You know the drill,” he’d said. “If she’s still alive by now, then she’s most likely among the new batch of girls traveling to the Benin Republic tonight, and that means she already has a new passport and travel documents. That also means the team in Italy having informed of the specific number of girls coming to them. You can’t pull out a girl at this stage of the journey, it’s impossible.”
That bit of information dampened Dare’s morale but fortunately for him, his security friend and his team had been able to successfully trace the phone call, although they didn’t entirely trust it because a gang with such a high level of experience with disappearing into thin air wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake of not hiding their location. However, it was a possible lead and they decided to follow it just in case it leads them closer to where Tiara was being held. Meanwhile, by unspoken agreement, they decided not to involve the police because they might bungle the entire operation with their uninspiring protocols.
After Jemimah hastily got dressed, and her two male companions were sent off after being sworn to secrecy, everyone marched out of the hotel and took their places in the waiting SUVs. Greg, Jemimah, Dare, his driver, and his friend, rode in one while the rest of the team shared the remaining vehicles. The GPS tracking led into the forest region of Epe, the outskirts of Lagos which was nearly a two-hour drive from Lekki. They followed the unmarked path that eventually led them to a hideout in the middle of the forest. The house was an uncompleted building that appeared to be abandoned at the moment.
Following his friend’s order, Dare and the others remained in the vehicle, while the combatant team approached the building with their loaded weapons drawn and ready to fire as they began their search. Five minutes later, they returned to break the sad news to Dare.
“The place is empty,” his friend told him. “This place is a dead end.”
“Damn it!” Dare spat in frustration. “What now?”
“Ask the woman if she has any idea where else we can go to find these guys.”
Dare turned around to ask Jemimah in the back seat, “So? You heard the man. Where else do you think those criminals might be hiding.”
“Honestly, I don’t know. This was where I was brought to yesterday and Tiara was being held in one of the rooms. Are you sure these guys checked the place thoroughly? They need to check those rooms with locked doors.”
“There are no locked doors in there,” Dare’s friend responded to her. “The place is empty.”
“I swear Dare, I don’t know any other place they hide. Yesterday was my first time coming here and I was blindfolded throughout the trip until we arrived. I don’t know anything else,” Jemimah said.
“Perhaps we should leave you here then with a phone, so that if they show up again you can call us to notify us,” Dare said with unconcealed fury.
“Oh no, please don’t do that,” she pleaded. “Greg, say something. Didn’t you hear what he just said?”
“Did you listen when I warned you to leave Tiara alone? Did you?” Greg shot back.
“I said I am sorry,” she apologized to nobody in particular. “I was blinded by my anger; I wasn’t thinking straight. Please forgive me.”
“Get out of my car,” Dare said quietly. He was so furious; he could kill her right now with his bare hands if he heard one more word of apology from her mouth.
Jemimah got down from the vehicle and Greg followed her. He could understand how Dare was feeling and he knew that the young billionaire needed a moment to himself to process the dire situation that they were all in, especially Tiara.
“Let’s get out of here,” Dare’s friend told him. “There’s nothing else we can do but to wait and see how things play out. Who knows, the kidnappers might have a change of heart and agree to set her free at a price. Or we could call the middleman again and speak to him man to man. What do you think?”
Dare sighed. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know.”
He was exhausted, emotionally strung out and severely heartbroken. The longer they wait, the more unlikely it was that Tiara would ever be found. With mounting frustration, Dare slammed his fist on the dashboard and cussed when his knuckles made a cracking sound on impact.
“Let’s get out of here,” his friend said. “We need to return to civilization and re-strategize. Come on, let’s go.”