"Please, sir, I don't like it when people cuss even though I myself do a lot of that."
To say the commissioner was beginning to get irritated would be putting it mildly.
"I don't care to know who you are or what you like and don't like. Tell me how you got my number and your reason for calling me."
"You see, this is why I like you so much, Mr. Commissioner. And I believe I'm going to have a long-term relationship with you."
The commissioner scoffed loudly. "I don't broker with the devil, my friend."
Savior cackled. "Unless you are friends with the devil, sir, if not, how do you use your English?"
"I know you called me for a reason, so why don't you say it out as I'm sure neither of us have time to make social calls right now."
"Yes, yes, yes. Once again, this is why I like you so much, sir, and I know we shall be good friends and best business partners in years to come."
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Savior cleared his throat and the commissioner thought that with any sliver of chance, he might be able to capture and recognize the voice of the mysterious caller, but when the husky voice resumed talking, Abubakar knew that at that moment, any strategy he wanted to use to identify the voice of the other caller would be futile.
"I want to make a proposal to the Nigerian Police Force."
"What proposal is that?" The commissioner asked, sitting straight.
"I know how you've been struggling yet largely unable to destroy Alpha Shadows. I know that they are like a cancerous tumor that must be removed, a menace to society and the Nigerian Police Force.
"Mr. Commissioner, I know how desperate you are to clamp down hard on these people especially because Rivers State is their basic place of operation."
Abubakar didn't reply audibly but he nodded his head in agreement with what the mysterious caller was saying.
"The reason I'm calling you is because I want to work with the Nigerian police."
Seriously? The commissioner was livid.
"Mr Man, do I look like a recruitment officer to you? When the recruitment form comes out, go and get it from the nearest office to your location or get it on our website and let's see if you would be considered after going through all the necessary procedures."
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"I'm not interested in being recruited by the police. I said I want to work 'with' not work 'for' you and the Nigerian police. I didn't say I want to do it as a police officer. Not in your life, sir. It is the furthest thing from my mind. I must compel you to listen to me now."
"Are you threatening me or what?" The commissioner's eyes narrowed.
"Why do the rich, famous and public figures like you easily feel threatened by ordinary people like me who are in society?"
"Not in my opinion. You can hardly pass for an ordinary person in society."
Savior guffawed. "You see, this is why I like you sir, and if I wasn't sure before, I now know this with so much conviction in my heart that you are my kind of person and we shall have a long-term relationship."
Here he was again with those words. "What's with you and liking people a lot?"
"This is to show you that I'm just a human being like you, sir."
"This conversation has lasted for over five minutes and all this while, you and I have yet to establish the reason you called. So why don't we stop beating about the bush?"
"I think you are wrong, sir." Savior corrected.
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Abubakar was puzzled. "Ehn-ehn? How so?"
"Thank you so much, sir, for asking this brilliant question. I like it a lot when people ask questions when they don't understand instead of pretending that they do. I hate pretenders and evil doers."
"Is that the objective you've established?" The commissioner smirked, despite knowing that the anonymous caller couldn't see him.
"Even though I just did that now, it wasn't my first established objective. I think I've been able to establish the fact that I like you a lot, sir, and you and I are going to have a long-term relationship, as good friends and colleagues."
Okay. It was either this guy was a psychopath, Abubakar thought, or he was messing with his brain. If it was the latter, then Abubakar knew that the caller was definitely good at mentally and emotionally manipulating people.
No one had ever kept him on a long call like this without establishing any meaningful thing. He was beginning to fall prey to the mysterious caller and he'd better take control of the situation before the caller finally got into his head.
"You have sixty seconds to tell me why you called," the commissioner growled into the phone.
"I know you admire the Kano State Police Commissioner a lot for her good works, and you also want so much to carry out the same good performance in Rivers State."
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"Fifty seconds remaining."
"I can help you discover the hideout of Alpha Shadows and even go as far as helping you capture its leader."
The commissioner's curiosity was honestly piqued but he'd continue to act tough. If this guy was really who he was claiming to be, sixty seconds should definitely be enough to unravel him.
"Forty-two seconds remaining."
"An armed robbery attack will be taking place in a week's time at Destiny Estate and I want you to send your most trusted and capable men to lay an ambush for them on the west side of the estate from 2:00 a.m."
The commissioner was beginning to get perturbed but he'd try more to keep up with his strong bravado and extract more information.
"Thirty-one seconds remaining."
"Your men will see six hooded figures coming out from that west side of the estate. Tell your men that when they do, they should pursue after them and start shooting and telling them to surrender."
"Twenty seconds remaining."
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"As you already know, just as it is with every armed robber, these guys will hightail it. Even though the police won't be able to capture all of them, two of them will be dead that day."
"Fifteen seconds remaining."
"Sir, you and your men must do as I have told you. Let me tell you that if you try to outsmart this intelligence I've given to you by sending your men to the estate before the said time or leak out this information to the estate management, it will backfire and your men are not going to return alive."
"Three seconds remaining."
"I'm going to call you back after the operation."
With all the strength he could muster, the commissioner forced his finger down to end the call. The line went dead.
Abubakar Abdulrahman sat down in his office, visibly shaken by the information he'd just received from a mysterious caller.
When the sixty seconds elapsed, he knew he didn't want to disconnect the call. He wanted to ask questions to verify if this person was saying the truth, but he knew that if the anonymous caller was who he said he truly was, then there was no doubt in the commissioner's mind that he had done the right thing by disconnecting the call.
The game was now being played on his terms, and with these developments, he knew he had been able to seize control of everything.
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----
Savior was surprised.
He had known that the commissioner was smart, but it had come as a surprise to him the way the commissioner quickly figured out his game and began doing a sixty-second countdown for him to spill out his guts. He wasn't expecting the commissioner to catch up with his game as quickly as he did.
Even when he'd given him some important information, Abubakar went on to disconnect the call just as he said he'd do after sixty seconds. A lot of people in the man's shoes might have done it differently for the sake of extracting more information. But they didn't know that it would never work like that.
Savior liked games, and he was ecstatic to find a competitor. He hated it when it was one-way.
He hated people who would easily bow in the face of challenges. He hated people who would not put up a fight before accepting defeat. He hated people who wouldn't go down with a struggle. And he even hated girls who would accept him the first time he asked them out on a date.
So, when he noticed that things were different with Abubakar, he was so thrilled that he had gotten a new partner.
"You see, this is why I like you, sir, and I know we shall both have a long-term relationship as friends and competitors." He snickered.
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Since this game had shifted a little to the side of Abubakar and the weight was now balanced on both sides, just as he had told Abubakar, Savior would not also call the commissioner again until after the operation had been carried out.
Savior knew that breaking his word by calling Abubakar prior to the said time would discredit his words, his personality and the impression he wanted to make in the commissioner's mind. If he and Abubakar would be long-term friends as he had predicted, then he would have to keep his cool and he must not mess this up.
Besides, anything contrary could produce ruinous and pernicious results and Savior would certainly not like that.
If the commissioner called his bluff, it might ruin a lot for Savior.
But Savior couldn't allow that. As the chess master that he was, he would play the game with dexterity. Play he did.
He took a quick glance around his environment. Everything was in place as he wanted it. "All is well," he said.
"All is well indeed."
With a smile of satisfaction, he leaned back into his chair.
---
Commissioner Abubakar AbdulRahman, remained seated in his office as he pondered for the umpteenth time that day about the mysterious caller and what he had said.
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Who was the caller? If he was indeed correct, how did he manage to get such information? The information he gave was succinct and the caller spoke so confidently like a prophet who had in fact seen the future.
Could it be that the incognito caller was one of his enemies who were waiting for him to make a mistake so that they could use it to bury him in the media? Could it be a fellow police officer, a senior, junior colleague or his fellow counterparts? Could it be a prank? No, it couldn't be, because a prank couldn't go as far as calling his private line.
It meant that this anonymous personality knew something. Abubakar wished he could capture the mysterious person and make him prattle like a parrot.
Whoever the man was, he really struck a nerve with Abubakar. The commissioner had disconnected the call as he told the caller that he'd do after sixty seconds, but he did so, hoping against hope that the mysterious caller would not keep to his word and call him back, but it had been over nine hours and there has been no other mysterious call to his private phone number. Abubakar knew for certain that he wouldn't be getting any cal from the informant anytime soon.
These were not just common words of an unfortunate madman, but of someone who had vital information that was very important to Rivers State police.
Exhausted and worn out from the depressing thoughts, Abubakar finally concluded that he might be left with no choice than to carry out his own side of this crazy action no matter how illogical it sounded.
Maybe, just maybe, he'd give the anonymous caller the benefit of doubt and send his most trusted agents to carry out the operation.
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