Chapter Four: The Game Beneath the Game
1290 Words
The early morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting narrow beams across the floor of Zara’s flat. She sat motionless on the edge of her bed, clutching a cup of tea that had long gone cold. The knowledge that someone had broken into her home and rummaged through her work wasn’t just unsettling—it was a declaration.
Someone was watching her. Someone with access. Someone with power.
She spent the next two hours backing up every file, photo, and document onto a hidden cloud drive. Then she packed a bag. If she was being tracked, she couldn’t afford to be predictable. She booked a hotel in Lekki under a different name and called Iffy.
“I’m off-grid for the next two days,” she said. “If I go silent for more than 24 hours—release the folder.”
Iffy paused at the other end. “You think it’s that serious?”
“I don’t know yet. But I’d rather be paranoid than buried.”
She checked out of her flat within an hour. Before leaving, she installed a small motion sensor camera aimed at the window. Let them come again—this time, she’d be ready.
At the Brier Circle headquarters, Leonel was in the middle of reviewing a proposal when his assistant, Toke, entered.
“Sir, the security logs picked up a late-night anomaly. One of our subcontractors accessed the lower wing without clearance.”
Leonel’s head snapped up. “Who?”
“Emeka Ogundele. Facilities maintenance. Says he was fixing an electrical fault.”
Leonel’s jaw tightened. Pull the footage. And get his supervisor in here. Now.”
As Toke left, Leonel turned to the secure screen behind his desk and keyed in his credentials. A facial recognition panel popped up. He leaned forward.
Access granted.
Behind the digital interface was a stream of internal camera feeds. He tapped into the lower wing.
The footage showed Emeka moving with nervous precision, avoiding camera blind spots. He wasn’t fixing anything.
Leonel exhaled through his nose.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
“Activate protocol shadow. And Zara followed—discreetly.”
Zara checked into the Lekki hotel under the name Ada Nwoke. The front desk attendant barely glanced up from her register. Good.
Inside the room, she booted up a burner laptop and connected to a VPN. Her first call was to a journalist friend from her investigative days—Temitope Aderemi.
Temi was bold, brash, and had a network of informants that reached into the underbelly of Lagos.
“What do you need, Z?” Temi asked, her voice laced with concern. “You’re not calling to catch up.”
“Everything you can find on Futura Global. And a list of everyone who’s donated to Brier Circle anonymously in the last two years. Discreetly.”
Temi whistled. “Going straight for the jugular, huh?”
“This isn’t just about Leonel anymore. Someone broke into my home. They left no trace—except rearranged files.”
“Damn. Alright. Give me a day. And Zara? Be careful. You poke this kind of bear, it bites.”
“I’m counting on it.”
That afternoon, Leonel called a press briefing at the Brier Circle complex. Cameras lined the perimeter, journalists scrambling for prime positioning. A major philanthropic announcement, they said. Something to shift the public gaze.
Zara watched from her hotel room as Leonel took the podium.
He wore navy blue—calculated calm. His voice was steady, charming.
Today, Brier Circle is proud to announce a new scholarship initiative. One thousand fully-funded university slots for underprivileged Nigerian students, both at home and abroad. This is our investment in the future.”
Applause erupted.
But Zara’s focus was elsewhere. Behind Leonel stood a woman she hadn’t seen before. Mid-forties. Stern. Watching the crowd instead of the cameras. Security, maybe—but not just that. She had the sharp eyes of someone used to reading lies.
Zara took a screenshot and ran a quick facial recognition search.
Match: Miriam Adigwe. Former National Intelligence Agency analyst.
Why was Leonel working with a former spy?
Her stomach turned.
Late in the evening, Zara received a message from Temi.
Temi: "Call me. Urgent."
Zara: “What did you find?”
Temi’s voice was low and fast. “You were right. Futura Global is a laundering front. Registered in the British Virgin Islands, owned by a shell company that traces back to Chuka. But here’s the kicker—they’ve been funneling money into Brier Circle as ‘logistics consulting.’ Over three hundred million naira.
Zara’s mouth went dry.
“Do you have documents?”
“Sending now. But there’s more. Someone’s been buying silence. Two ex-employees of Brier Circle received large sums through crypto accounts. One of them tried to reach out to a blogger last year. A week later, he was in a car accident. Didn’t survive.”
Zara’s heart thundered. “Are you saying Leonel had someone killed?”
“I’m saying the timing stinks. And you, my friend, are sitting on a landmine.”
Zara ended the call and stared at the documents Temi sent. The paper trail was clear—and damning.
She knew what she had to do.
Leonel sat alone in his home theater room, the screen dark, the silence heavy. He hadn’t heard from Zara all day. Not since their last tense meeting.
He knew she was investigating. He admired her tenacity, even feared it.
But what he hadn’t told her—the real reason he’d disappeared—still loomed like a storm cloud.
He pulled out the envelope again. Her name is written in his cursive.
Inside, not just a confession. But the truth about why he left.
And the man he’d had to betray to keep her alive.
The next day, Zara made a bold move. She called Leonel.
“I need to talk. Alone. No handlers. No cameras.”
He sounded surprised. “Where?”
“There’s a chapel in the old district. Noon.”
He agreed.
The chapel was empty when he arrived, sunlight cutting across the pews in slanted lines. Zara waited near the altar.
“I know about Futura,” she said without preamble. And Chuka’s money. And your ex-staff member who died after trying to speak out.”
Leonel didn’t flinch. “I figured you would.”
“So? What do you have to say to yourself?”
“I’m not denying any of it. But the truth is more complicated than you think.”
“Try me.”
He stepped closer. “After Chuka tried to erase everything, I made a deal with Miriam. She worked in intelligence. I turned over all Chuka’s dealings, names, accounts, files—everything. In return, I got protection. For me. And for you. That’s why I left. Not because I was hiding from the law, but because the people I exposed were hunting me.”
Zara was stunned.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid you’d try to help. And that would’ve gotten you killed.”
She looked at him, trying to decipher the cracks in his composure.
“What about the money? The crypto accounts? The silenced employees?”
Leonel’s face darkened. “Not me. But someone was inside. Someone uses Brier Circle as a shield. I’m still trying to root them out.”
Zara exhaled. “You need to give me full access. I can help. But if you lie to me again—”
“I won’t,” he said, voice low. “Not anymore.”
They stood in silence, a fragile truce forming between them.
Outside, the sun dipped lower.
Inside, a war was about to begin.
- Writer
