For Blood And Country

February 25, 2014 - EVANS

I felt somewhat refreshed as I walked out through the doors of the Murtala Mohammed Airport. I was able to nap for about an hour it took to get to Lagos from Abuja. I never had problem with sleeping, once I close my eyes, I tune out everything and I'm gone. It was better than worrying, anyway, or reading lousy magazines or watching whatever was showing on the TV. I walked a short distance out and saw a cab with the driver sitting on the cab's hood. He waved at me as I approached and I nodded. As I entered and sat down, another man also entered through the other door. I guess he didn't see me enter because he was focused on his phone. And then he saw me.

"Oh sorry, I thought it was empty."

The driver asked where I was going and I told him Oceanview Hotel.

"I'm going to Lekki as well." The man said. "Do you mind if we share?"

"No, it's okay." I said.

"Thank you. I'm sort of in a hurry and I can't wait for another taxi to get here."

I smiled, looking at him. He looked vaguely familiar. "I think I saw you on the plane when I boarded in Abuja. You sat in the third row, if I remembered correctly."

"Yes, that should be me."

"I'm Evans." I said, extending my hand.

"Babatunde," he shook my hand. "And thanks again, Evans."

"Oh, it's no problem. I could use the company. It's actually my first day in Lagos." I said.

"Really? On business?"

"Sort of." I didn't want to talk about it but he wouldn't drop it.

"What line of business are you into?" He asked.

"Tech stuffs. It would bore you, really." I said with a wave of the hand. "What about you?" I said before he could ask another question.

"I'm a lawyer."

"You are? That's nice. I was a lawyer in my past life, you know." I joked.

Babatunde smiled. "Of course you were."

"And you are based in Abuja?"

"No, I'm based here in Lagos. I was only in Abuja for a meeting."

I nodded. We were both quiet for a while as the cab headed towards Lekki until Babatunde's phone rang.

"Hello. Honey, I'm almost home." He listened for a moment. "I know, just hold on a while longer for daddy. Yes, yes, I know. Okay see you soon, dear." He said and ended the call.

"My daughter," he said to me.

"Oh."

"She's just four but talks like she's older." He said with pride. "And fierce like her mother, that one." I didn't know what to say so I just smiled at him. "Are you married?" He asked.

"Uhm. I was, once upon a time."

"I'm sorry," Tunde said.

"Yea, me too." I said. I felt a longing for Emily I buried a long time ago and looked out the window, away from Babatunde.

"So how long were you been in Abuja?" He asked changing the topic.

"Just a week." I said.

"And how was it?"

"Well, it was…different."

He laughed. "Lagos is a lot more different than Abuja, you'll see."

"I'm beginning to see." I said, looking out the window again as we passed a bus stop. He laughed again.

We reached the hotel first and the car pulled up by the roadside.

"It was nice meeting you, Babatunde." I said.

"You too." He said and we shook hands. As I got down he fished for a business card from his wallet. "Here, have this. Have a nice time in Lagos and give me a call if I could help you in any way."

"Thanks." I said as I paid my fare and the car pulled out.

***********

After parting ways with Babatunde, I checked into the Oceanview hotel and then slumped into the king-sized bed in my room on the fifth floor. This is a kind of mission that requires a partner; not that I wasn't good enough or confident in my abilities because I damn well was. There were just certain missions that were more two-man operation than going solo. It was on days like this I missed my former partner, Joe Phillips more. Joe was good – hell he was better than me in many ways and I had learned a lot as a young agent from the man back in the day… Back before he got shot, damaging his spinal cord and confined to a wheelchair. Although the bastard that popped him was arrested, the damage was already done. I had visited him every day in the hospital for a whole month before he was discharged, and then cut it back to weekends when Joe got back home. Until finally, before putting in for a transfer, I barely visited him in over three months – it had been too hard seeing him in the chair. I was assigned new partners after that but they didn't last long before requesting for transfer. But at this point, I was beginning to feel like he could use a partner.

I closed my eyes as I laid on the bed. I was not planning to sleep, just rest my eyes for a few minutes and then get to work. If this was the hotel the car was last seen the same night Al-Hassan came into the country, then he might be here. I had to go through the surveillance feed then tap into the hotel's feed with the help of Jerry's set up, that once I connected to the hotel's wireless network, I just needed to run a program and then I would be able to access the hotel's feed.

It turned out that the nap on the plane wasn't enough to renew my strength because when I opened my eyes I had slept for over an hour and my phone was vibrating in my pocket. I checked and saw an unknown number calling.

"Hello."

"Hey, is this Evans?"

"Yeah, who is this?" I replied groggily. No one had my number except those at the embassy and they wouldn't be asking if it was Evans.

"It's Khalid." I sat up. "Are you there?" Khalid asked impatiently.

"Yes, yes Khalid, I'm here." I said. I almost forgot all about him since the lead on Al-Hassan.

"Good, you know who I am?"

"Yes, the deputy director briefed me. Where are you?" I asked fully awake now.

"I'm still in Borno, just left the camp few hours ago and thought to check in."

"Is this your number?"

"No, I'm calling from a 'call centre'. I have a phone given to me from the camp but I don’t think it's safe to call with it, for now."

"Good. So what do you have for me?"

"Nothing yet. The jagaba asked to see me in about two weeks, though." He said.

"The jaga-who?"

"The jaga- never mind, the leader of the camp. I think he took a liking to me, and told me to come back, that he's got some things to show me, after hearing the outcome of a meeting."

"Wait, what meeting? Did he say where and when the meeting will hold?" I could feel my heart pounding.

"No, nothing about it. Just that the outcome was crucial to moving forward with the plan, whatever that was. Why?"

"Because there is a man who has been on our radar for quite some time for organizing and financing upcoming terrorist cells in and around Africa, and he came into Nigeria recently. We don't know what for or if he is still in Nigeria. But if there is a meeting like you said then it must be related."

"Oh."

It meant he had to go back before the two weeks because it was likely the meeting would hold within that time.

"Okay, sure," he said when I told him. "Listen, I have to go now. I'll get in touch when I have something." He said and disconnected the line.

That was good news and a ray of light on what seemed like a blind operation all along. It seemed like everything was connected after all, Al-Hassan coming to Nigeria and the sect. Of course they were connected, what was I thinking?

I remembered that hunch I had again.