Commissioner Abubakar Abdulrahman didn't close his eyes that night. He had been too on-edge to go home after his closing hours.
He sat down in his office, anxiously waiting for the report his men were about to bring to him in the early hours of the morning.
It was almost 2:30 a.m. and his men had yet to report back to him about the outcome of their operation.
Indeed, he would have gotten the information he wanted by simply listening to the police walkie talkie but he had categorically told his men that this was not an official operation and they must maintain radio silence all through the duration of their assignment. Not implicitly trusting his source, he had earlier decided not to follow formal procedures to avoid making a fool of himself if everything had turned out to be a joke after all.
Now, feeling quite edgy, he was beginning to second-guess himself.
Conflicting emotions tugged furiously on both sides of his heart, one trying to condemn and the other to applaud his course of action, and, quite frankly, he was at a loss of which to believe.
He'd followed instructions of the unknown caller to the letter. Well, almost to the letter. There was one instruction the commissioner had left out when he was briefing his men about the operation.
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He had asked them to capture the six armed robbers alive but there was one instruction that he had left out and now, that would be between him and the unknown caller. He would hold it like that secret ace card that could be a game changer.
Really, there was no reason feeling anxious or second-guess himself. What was done was already done.
The commissioner remained seated in his office waiting for the much anticipated call. His phone suddenly rang, startling him. He looked at his caller ID. Private number. Something told him that it was the unknown caller that had succeeded in turning his world upside down in this past week, but he quickly dismissed the notion. But, on a second thought, who would have the effrontery to call him at this ungodly hour but the very person who was the reason he was awake.
Tapping the answer button on his phone screen, he placed the phone on his left ear. "Rivers State commissioner of police speaking."
The commissioner wasn't surprised upon hearing the voice that replied to him. If anything, he was relieved that he hadn't simply made a fool of himself. But, it also meant that something serious was brewing and the commissioner had the premonition that he was going to have a big part to play in it.
"Hello, Mr Commissioner! I told you that I would call after the operation."
Abubakar was seriously itching to know the outcome of the operation and he wanted to ask the unknown caller, but he knew that it would give away the fact that his men had not reported back to him, so he decided that he would be calm and cool.
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"You said so indeed," the police commissioner replied coolly.
The airway was silent on both sides of the call until the unknown caller spoke up again.
"I just thought I should let you know that your men did very well tonight and the operation was successful beyond my expectation. Don't worry that they have not yet returned to give you the reports; they are just doing some routine work, albeit quietly."
Saying that Abubakar was surprised that the unknown caller knew so much would be putting it mildly.
"But how did you...?"
"I will call you again soon."
The line went dead.
Abubakar stared at his phone in shock. He couldn't believe that the unknown caller had so much knowledge about him and his designated officers.
In his line of work, he had seen a lot of strange things. But this was the creepiest thing he had experienced so far.
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How did he know? How was he getting his information? Did he have a mole? Or was the unknown caller somehow monitoring and recording his movements? Was it possible that there was a hidden camera in his office that was giving a live video feed to the anonymous caller? Was his office bugged?
First thing he would do as soon as the day broke would be to invite professionals to sweep his office for any hidden cameras or listening devices.
If Abubakar wasn't a logical man, he'd have been close to believing that this stranger had psychic powers.
It was obvious this unknown caller was miles ahead of him in the intellectual area, and Abubakar didn't like getting outsmarted.
Events were rapidly spinning out of control and some drastic measures had to be taken.
The commissioner's phone rang for the second time that early morning and he hesitated to answer the call. If it was the unknown caller, he sure wasn't ready for more shocker.
Physically and emotionally spent, he picked up his phone from his table and looked at the caller ID. Lo and behold, it was Inspector Joseph.
Anticipating a sliver of positive news, he pressed the answer button.
"Hello, Joseph, please tell me that the operation was successful," the commissioner dived in straight without any greeting or preamble.
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"I'm afraid not, sir. It was a total disaster."
The commissioner let out a burst of every profanity he knew. Only when he paused for breath did Inspector Joseph gingerly continue with his report.
"Yes, sir, I'm so sorry it took a while for us to call. We have been taking our time to carry out verification before we call you. We didn't want to bother you until we've concluded."
Of course the commissioner already knew that the operation wasn't successful as he wanted. He was just in denial. But now, the leader of the team has opened his eyes to reality.
"Tell me about it."
And so, Inspector Joseph explained everything down to the details, occasionally pausing to answer one or two questions from the commissioner.
"So, you are certain that two of those armed robbers are dead? "
"I'm afraid so, sir."
After a moment of hesitation, the commissioner asked. "Has the bullet with which the deceased criminals received the gunshot wound been verified?"
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"Yes, sir, that is what we've been trying to verify. And, sir, there is a problem."
Abubakar huffed in exasperation. "Of course there should be a problem. We will deposit them to the morgue later in the day, after identification and putting out an official statement to the media about the operation, because this is not what we can keep under wraps since there was a real armed robbery attack."
"Uhh, that's not actually what I'm talking about, sir."
The commissioner was shouting at the top of his voice now. "Say what you want to say. I don't have time for this nonsense!"
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."
Abubakar smacked his table hard. The poor thing rattled. "Sorry for yourself. Say whatever you want to say or forever hold your peace."
The inspector wanted to apologize again but thought better of it.
"We've been able to verify beyond every shadow of doubt that the fatal bullet wound was not from our submachine guns and neither was it from the AR-15 the armed robbers used. The bullets were from a 9 mm pistol."
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It took a while for Joseph's words to register in the commissioner's brain. But his blood immediately ran cold when the implications of his words hit him.
"Hello, hello, sir. Are you still there? Is everything alright?" Inspector Joseph asked after an uncanny silence.
But no, Abubakr wasn't alright, thank you very much. He suddenly realized that a suspected killer had just contacted and played him. He might have had a heart attack.
He didn't feel like himself at all, and he felt two hundred pounds heavier. He immediately started feeling nauseated. He stood up and immediately entered his restroom just in time as his stomach gave way with the food he ate the previous evening.
Something drastic had just happened. Something had just changed, a big piece of the puzzle had just clicked.
Abubakar was terrified by the implications.
Whatever it was, the commissioner knew that his life would not remain the same.
---
Successfully within the confines of his house, Savior took out the first aid kit that he had kept for occasions like this and began treating the bullet scratch on his left shoulder.
Thank goodness that there was no serious damage. If not, he'd have been thinking of how he'd lay low for a while to avoid explaining how he got a bullet wound to his friends who didn't know what he did.
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Satisfied, and with his mind riveted on his success, he barely winced at the otherwise painful treatment that he was administering on himself.
He had carried out plan A which had panned out without a hitch. Now, it was time to accelerate to plan B.
His gaze moved to his wall clock. It was almost 3 a.m.
Grimacing, he placed the band-aid over the sterilized wound with his other hand.
It was time to go to bed. He had a lot of work to do today.
Tired and exhausted, he clicked off his light and bounced on his bed. He slept off immediately his head touched his pillow.
A sweet voice was the last thing he thought of before he drifted off to La-la land.
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