Nairobi Spy

Jannelle slowed down, then drove past the restaurant for the fifth time. "Damn, Sorry!" She yelled as the driver behind her angrily hooted at her. She stuck her hand up and out of her window in a contrite wave as she pressed on the accelerator and picked up speed on the surprisingly busy feeder road off Kindaruma road. She sighed heavily as she came to the corner and took a left turn, knowing full well that she would take two more lefts, circling the block and ending up past the same elegant restaurant gates. "Just get it together girl," she breathed, admonishing herself in the rearview mirror. "This is not nearly as hard as you are making it out to be. "Just, go in, park, and go inside." She drove along, trying to remember the calming exercises she had just learned from her friend Ceru who had recently started going to therapy and seemed to work it into every other conversation nowadays. There was the one about 3, 2,1 .... something. Five things you see, four things you smell, or was it things you hear? She couldn't remember. Either way, she thought between the afternoon city traffic on the busy main road she had joined, and her old Toyota Vitz there was nothing calming to hear or smell around her. At least she didn't have to sit in traffic too long, as her left turn came up and she left the long line of cars. Two minutes later she was back approaching the restaurant gates. "You've got this" She growled with determination, and this time slowed and turned into the Sizzle restaurant driveway. Two askaris standing behind the metal barrier lazily inspected her car lifted the barrier, and waved her in. The parking lot was half empty thankfully, and Jannelle turned into a shady spot underneath a large tree. She looked around, and noted the restaurant entrance, but hesitated as she again caught sight of herself in the rearview mirror. Was she really going to go into the restaurant and do this? Outside, she looked the part of an international traveler. She had shoulder-length locs with brown and blonde highlights and accent beads. Cute soft glam makeup for serious vibes but set off with gold eyeliner to show her creative side. Her outfit was a good mix between classic and boho, her long olive green linen wide-leg pants complimenting her cream-colored bodysuit. Her clear dark brown skin was contoured and camera ready and she'd practiced what she was going to say a million times. But the idea of doing this alone and in public still made her scared. "Okay - you know what I really need?" Jannelle asked herself, turning her phone screen on with a swipe. "I need some hype music. I need some car karaoke". She swiped and tapped, scrolling through a Spotify playlist named "Best of Neo Soul", and tapped on one of her favorites. She started bobbing her head to the familiar opening bass notes and felt herself relax a little. The singer's deep voice and awesome runs were just as great as she always remembered, and she started smiling and shimmying a little more. This won't be that bad, she thought. And if it is I can just walk away, I don't have to stick around. She turned up her phone volume as the chorus came on. Her hands went up into the air and she belted out the well-known lyrics alongside the singer. Across the restaurant, a man inside a black SUV watched the small purple Toyota Vitz as it entered Sizzler restaurant and parked to the left, partially out of his sight. He raised his walkie-talkie, pressed the talk button, and spoke. "Target has entered the restaurant compound. I repeat, target has entered the compound. Request active follow." The radio buzzed as he let go of the talk button and awaited a reply. His hands gripped the receiver just a little bit tighter than necessary. He was nervous, yes, but also excited. He had watched the purple car, circle the restaurant five times. Five. Each time slowing down as they approached the gate, no doubt surveilling the compound and attempting to observe inside. He had called it in on turn three, not willing to risk the chance that this is what they had been waiting for the whole week. Central Command had ordered him to continue observation and he had read them the vehicle's number plate and car make and model. They had started doing tracing on that information, but who knew how long that would take. Now that the target had actually gone inside, things were moving much faster than he had anticipated. He had to stay close to the target and not let them out of his sight. But he needed to get Central Command's say so to actively follow the target and risk being discovered. His eyes had been glued to the car as the askaris did their perfunctory check. Security is a joke, he thought. Just public theater at this point. You absolutely never know who you are letting into your property. He had observed a woman in the passenger seat as the askaris worked - her face hadn't rung any bells, but he made a keen effort to observe her carefully so as to be able to accurately describe her features in his report. She was youngish and good-looking - sounds about right for this type of operation. Now he watched and waited as the car parked and turned off. His knee was beginning to tap up and down in impatience as he waited for word from Central command. What was she waiting for - why didn't she get out of the vehicle? "I repeat, request active follow." the man repeated through the crackling radio. To his surprise, the woman began moving around in the driver's seat. She was nodding and her hands were gesticulating wildly. Was she on the phone? Was she talking to someone? Oh no - was someone else in the car, who was hidden for some reason and escaped detection at the restaurant gate. "Screw this," the man declared, tossing the radio to his passenger seat, unlocking the driver's door, and bounding out of the large black vehicle. With a quick glance to the left and the right, he crossed the road as fast as he could while still seeming normal. He walked straight through to the right of the barrier, heading for the purple car while taking in the number of potential witnesses in the area. Other than the askaris, who had already turned away and assumed their languid hip-c****d stance, there was no one else in the parking lot. He approached the car carefully while trying to peer into the back seat window and see if the target was indeed not alone. She, on the other hand, seemed even more animated and agitated than before, and her head and hands were swinging around in what must be obvious signs of distress. What the heck was happening? He got close to the driver's side door without the target noticing and rapped loudly on the window. The target gave a visible start and whipped around, her eyes widening sharply as she took him in, and no doubt recognizing his intimidating posture and height and the official way he stood, shoulders back, left arm held out slightly in what may have implied an under-jacket holster. Hopefully, this would make her cooperate with him. He made a quick hand rolling down the window gesture and pointed at her, mouthing - open the window. She just stared frozen at him. At least it was clear from his new position that there was no one else in the vehicle, so the target neither had an accomplice nor was holding anyone hostage. He repeated the hand rolling down the window gesture, then it occurred to him that maybe younger people don't recognize that sign and switched to and hand flat, push down gesture, repeating for her to open the window. Her eyes met his and he saw a mixture of guilt and defiance in her expressive dark brown eyes. Now that the man saw her up close, there was no doubt that he'd always recall every last of her features - easily. He tensed and resisted the urge to take a step backward as she made a sudden move in the driver's seat. He relaxed slightly as he saw her hand reach for the car door and the window began rolling down but kept a sharp watch on his target.