CHAPTER FIFTEEN: “Loose Ends
458 Words
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: “Loose Ends”
POV: Inspector Tunde Alabi
The hallway outside the suite was full of noise—officers talking, radio static, footsteps rushing up the stairs—but inside the dressing room, Alabi’s mind went silent.
He stared at the folder Ify had handed him.
Every line on every page pointed somewhere dark. Government contracts. Offshore accounts. Fake NGOs. All linked back to the same name:
Senator Farouk Lawal.
A man too rich to question. Too powerful to touch.
Until now.
---
He paced the room as Ify sat on the sofa, hugging her knees.
“She knew,” he said. “Your sister knew all of this. She collected evidence that not even the anti-corruption unit had. And she hid it in plain sight.”
“She didn’t trust anyone,” Ify whispered. “Not even me.”
“She trusted you enough to leave the clue behind.”
---
A knock.
One of the junior officers poked his head in.
“Sir. Akin Olumide is in the hospital. Bad shape. Burn marks. But he’s conscious.”
“Did he say who attacked him?”
“He only managed to say ‘Lawal’ before passing out again.”
Alabi’s jaw tightened.
That confirmed it.
It wasn’t just about family secrets anymore.
This was national.
---
He made a decision.
“Get Ify to protective custody. Tonight. No press. No noise.”
“What about my dad?” she asked.
Alabi paused. “For now, let’s say he’s a witness.”
He didn’t add yet.
---
Later that night, in a quiet underground holding room, Alabi plugged in the silver USB stick from Adanna’s wardrobe.
One file auto-played.
A video. High-quality.
Not a confession.
Not a threat.
A conversation.
Secretly recorded.
Adanna and Senator Lawal.
---
> “You think you can threaten me with your little folder?” Lawal said, laughing.
> “I’m not threatening you, Senator. I’m promising you. One more lie, and I’ll expose you to every newspaper in Lagos.”
> “You’re bluffing.”
> “You sure about that?”
Lawal leaned in, voice cold.
> “If you go through with this… you won’t make it to the altar.”
Adanna stared him down.
> “That’s fine. I already wrote my vows. And I named names.”
The video ended.
---
Alabi closed the laptop slowly.
This was no longer a case of murder.
It was a cover-up gone wrong.
And the only person who had outsmarted them all... was already in the ground.
---
He stood up, picked up the file, and called his deputy.
“Call Abuja,” he said.
“Tell them the body count’s just beginning.”
---
End of Chapter 15.
- Writer
