My Nigerian Gf

The Devil You Know.

The black Range Rover cut through the rain like a blade, its headlights slicing across the deserted Lagos streets.

Inside, no one spoke.

The only sounds were the steady rhythm of rain hitting the roof and the low hum of the powerful engine.

Ada sat stiffly against the passenger door, hugging her handbag to her chest as though it were the only thing keeping her safe.

Her breathing was still uneven.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw it again.

The old man's terrified face.

The flash of the gun.

The loud crack that echoed through the alley.

Then...

Blood.

Her stomach churned.

She pressed a trembling hand over her mouth, fighting the urge to throw up.

James noticed through the rear-view mirror.

"Sir..."

Liam looked at Ada.

Without saying a word, he reached into the small refrigerator built into the center console and brought out a bottle of water.

He unscrewed the cap before holding it toward her.

"Drink."

Ada stared at the bottle suspiciously.

"What is it?"

"Water." He said.

"How do I know you didn't put something inside it?" She asked back

James sighed dramatically.

"Miss, unless my boss has suddenly become a magician, I don't think he had enough time to poison a sealed bottle."

Ada ignored him.

She turned the bottle around several times, inspecting the seal.

Only after she was satisfied did she cautiously open it.

She took a tiny sip.

Then another.

Only then did she realize how thirsty she was.

Within seconds, she had emptied half the bottle.

James smiled faintly.

"I guess it wasn't poisoned after all."

Ada wiped her lips.

"I never said it wasn't."

James blinked.

"You just drank half of it."

"Poison doesn't always work immediately, beside I didn't want to be looked at as wasteful."she answered

James glanced at Liam.

"Sir..."

Liam didn't even look up.

"I know."

"I'm beginning to think she's impossible."

"I heard that," Ada shot back.

"I wanted you to." He said

For the first time since the nightmare began, the tension inside the vehicle eased ever so slightly.

But only for a moment.

Ada suddenly remembered something.

"My phone."

She froze.

"My phone!"

She searched frantically through her handbag.

Wallet.

Lip balm.

Staff ID.

A small notebook.

No phone.

"No..."

Her breathing quickened.

"No, no, no..."

Liam watched quietly.

"I dropped it."

Her voice cracked.

"I dropped it while running."

She buried both hands in her hair.

"Oh, God..."

James frowned.

"Was it important?"

Ada turned to him as though he had asked the most ridiculous question imaginable.

"My mother!"

Silence filled the car.

"She's in Lagos University Teaching Hospital."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"She'll call me."

Nobody answered.

"The nurses will think I abandoned her."

Her voice trembled more with every word.

"She'll be waiting..."

She looked at Liam.

"I have to go to the hospital."

"No."

The answer came instantly.

Ada stared at him.

"What do you mean, no?"

"It's too dangerous." He said

"My mother is sick!" She replied angrily.

"I know."he said calmly

"You don't know anything!"

Her voice rose.

"You don't know what it's like watching someone you love die because you don't have money!"

James tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

Liam remained silent.

Ada laughed bitterly.

"They need five million naira before tomorrow morning."

She shook her head.

"Five million..."

"I don't even have five thousand."

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

"And now my phone is gone."

She looked out the rain-covered window.

"I can't even tell my mother I'm alive."

For the first time since meeting her...

Liam's expression softened.

"You'll speak to her."

Ada looked at him hopefully.

"You'll take me there?"

"No."

The hope vanished.

"I'll arrange it."he said

She stared at him.

"Arrange it?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I'll handle it."

Ada let out a humorless laugh.

"That's all you keep saying."

"I'll handle it."

"It's safe."

"Trust me."

She pointed a finger at him.

"Exactly!"

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly what?"

"I don't trust people who keep saying 'trust me.'"

James couldn't stop himself.

He burst into laughter.

"Sir... she's unbelievable."

Liam finally allowed himself the faintest smile.

"You've said that twice tonight."

"I'm keeping count."

Ada folded her arms.

"Are both of you always like this?"

James grinned.

"Only on exciting days."

"This is exciting to you?"she asked confused

"Compared to Lagos traffic?"

Liam cleared his throat.

"James."

"Sorry, sir."

Ada leaned back against the seat, still unconvinced.

She looked through the rain-speckled window as the Range Rover left the busy streets behind.

The buildings became fewer.

The roads grew wider.

Streetlights stood farther apart.

Something wasn't right.

She turned back to Liam.

"Where exactly are you taking me?"

Liam looked out the windshield.

"Somewhere no one will find you."

Ada's heart skipped.

She tightened her grip on her handbag.

That wasn't the answer she wanted.

Ada's fingers tightened around the strap of her handbag until her knuckles turned white.

"Somewhere no one will find me?" she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

Liam nodded once.

"Yes."

She stared at him for a long moment before letting out a nervous laugh.

"That sounds less like protection and more like the beginning of a crime documentary."

James couldn't help smiling.

"Miss Ada, if we wanted to hurt you, we had plenty of chances already."

She shot him a sharp look.

"That's exactly what people in documentaries say before viewers start shouting at the television."

James sighed.

"I don't even know how to answer that."

"You don't have to."

Ada turned back to Liam.

"I appreciate that you saved my life, wait a moment how did you know my name is Ada?"

Her voice trembled.

"... I don't know you."

"And right now, I'm trapped in a car with two strange men."

"I don't know where you're taking me."

"I don't know why those killers were chasing that old man."

"I don't even know why you were there."

The questions came one after another until the car fell silent again.

Liam rested one arm on the door.

"You've asked many questions tonight."

"And you've answered almost none of them."

"Because the fewer things you know..."

He paused.

"...the safer you'll be."

Ada scoffed.

"People always say that in movies."

"This isn't a movie."

"Maybe not."

She folded her arms.

"But it certainly feels like one."

Outside, the rain continued to pour.

Water splashed beneath the tires as the Range Rover crossed a bridge overlooking the dark lagoon.

The city lights shimmered on the water like thousands of tiny stars.

Normally, Ada would have admired the view.

Tonight she barely noticed it.

Her thoughts kept returning to the hospital.

She imagined her mother lying awake in the dimly lit ward.

Listening for footsteps.

Waiting for her daughter to arrive.

Ada's chest tightened.

She reached into her handbag again, searching for her phone even though she already knew it wasn't there.

Nothing.

She emptied the contents onto her lap.

A small purse.

Her employee identity card.

A packet of tissues.

The prescription the doctor had written that morning.

She unfolded it slowly.

The ink had blurred from the rain.

Her eyes landed on the doctor's handwriting.

Urgent. Surgery cannot be delayed.

Her vision became cloudy.

She quickly wiped away the tears before anyone noticed.

Too late.

Liam had noticed.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

She held up the damp prescription.

"My mother has been in the hospital for three weeks."

Neither Liam nor James interrupted.

"They said if I don't pay..."

Her voice broke.

"...they won't be able to perform the surgery."

She looked down at the paper.

"They need five million naira before tomorrow morning."

A bitter smile touched her lips.

"I've been working double shifts."

"I skipped meals."

"I even sold my jewelry."

She laughed softly, though there was no joy in it.

"And I still couldn't raise enough."

Silence settled over the car once more.

James's cheerful expression faded.

Even he didn't know what to say.

Liam looked out of the window, his jaw tightening almost imperceptibly.

"What kind of surgery?" he asked.

Ada hesitated.

"The doctors said it's complicated."

"They explained everything, but..." She shook her head. "All I heard was that without the operation..."

She couldn't finish the sentence.

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

She quickly wiped it away.

"I can't lose her."

For several seconds, no one spoke.

Then Liam said quietly,

"You won't."

Ada looked at him.

His tone was calm.

Confident.

As if he had just stated a fact.

She wanted to believe him.

She really did.

But hope had disappointed her too many times.

"You don't know that," she whispered.

"I've spent weeks begging people for help."

"My relatives stopped answering my calls."

"My landlord says he'll throw me out if I don't pay my rent."

"My boss already gave me an advance on my salary."

She laughed bitterly.

"I've run out of people to ask."

James looked away, pretending to concentrate on the road.

The weight of her words filled the vehicle.

Liam remained silent.

But inside, something shifted.

He had met many people who lied for money.

Many who exaggerated their suffering.

Ada wasn't one of them.

Her pain wasn't rehearsed.

It was real.

He glanced at the folded prescription still clutched in her hand.

For the first time that night, his attention wasn't on the killers hunting them.

It was on the frightened young woman sitting beside him, carrying a burden no one her age should have to bear.

Without saying another word, he slipped his phone from his pocket.

He typed a short message.

Find out everything about Ada Nwosu's mother. Contact Lagos University Teaching Hospital immediately. Do it quietly.

He pressed send before locking the screen.

Ada never noticed.

She was still staring out of the rain-covered window...

Wondering if she would ever see her mother again.

Meanwhile.

Outside, hidden beneath the shadows of a nearby flyover, another black SUV rolled quietly into the road.

Its headlights remained off.

Inside, one of the masked men stared at the disappearing Range Rover.

"They're heading north."

The man in the passenger seat picked up a satellite phone.

"We lost visual."

A cold voice answered from the other end.

"You weren't supposed to lose them."

"We'll find the girl."

"You'd better." The cold voice said

There was a brief pause before the voice spoke again.

"She saw too much."

The call ended.

The masked man slowly smiled beneath his mask.

"It doesn't matter where they hide her."

"We'll find her , we always do ." He said smirking

"And when we do..."

He loaded another magazine into his rifle.

"She won't escape a second time."