When Cyndi opened the door, she was surprised at first to see an unfamiliar face smiling down at her. 
“Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me?” O’Brian said, trying to push past her.
“Oh, it’s you again? Why are you here? I hope you are not in trouble again?”
“Exactly, baby, I’m in deep shit,” he told her carelessly, stepping into the room as if they share it together.
“And you think my place is a safe haven for you?”
“Where else do you expect me to run to? You are the only one I have.”
“Oh spare me that bullshit,” she snarled angrily. “How many times do I have to tell you it’s over between us?”
“Calm down, baby,” he tried to pacify her. “We need each other; you know we can’t do without each other.”
“But seriously speaking, do you think my place is a safe heaven? Don’t you know this is the first place they’ll come looking for you? Don’t you know they will know you will keep in touch with me? And that makes me number one suspect too.”
“You are wrong. This is the last place they will ever think of. Besides, they wouldn’t think of me as a woman, would they?”
She looked at him with scorn. “How many times have I told you to turn a new leaf and to amend your ways?”
“Hey, hey don’t start now. This is definitely the wrong time for that,” he hushed her up. “Right now, the only thing I need is food and water to bath.”
“There’s no food in this house and there is no water either,” she snapped and turned to leave the room. 
O’Brian grabbed her hand and spun her round to face him. “Look baby, if you want it rough, I am ready to give it to you but if you want it soft and easy, I’m ready to play ball. You have a choice, which one do you want?” he asked, tightening the grip.
“Let go of me, you brute,” she cried painfully as his grip tightened.
“Answer me,” he barked menacingly, increasing the pressure.
“Okay, Okay,” she cried.
“It had better be,” he said, releasing the pressure a bit. “From this moment on, I am the boss. My say so is final, do you understand?”
“Yes. Pl…please, let me go. You are hurting me.”
“Good,” he said, releasing her. “Now sit down,” he commanded. 
She sat down.
“Chief is after me. I will spare you the details because the less you know about this, the better for the two of us. If the police comes here looking for me, tell them I am your sister and that I am deaf and dumb.”
“Police? Come here? Oh my God!” she cried, “I should lie? I…I should tell them you are deaf and dumb?” 
He could see the fear in her eyes. “Yes, the police are after me. If you betray me, I’ll go down with you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now, go get my food.”
***
Chief was in the bath when his phone rang. It was from Uduak, his Chief Security Officer. 
“Chief,” he said the moment the line was connected. “We are in trouble.”
“What is the problem?” Chief had asked unperturbedly. “Have you found the girl?”
“No sir, but  ...but there is …there is…”
“You have not found her? Then why are you calling me?”
“Chief, the lid is blown off. They’ve got Danny and his boys.”
“What do you mean by they have got Danny and his boys, which boys?”
“I mean, I don’t know what happened or how to explain this, but as I speak to you, Danny and the rest of his gang, except O’Brian  who was detailed to wait in the car, are in police custody, singing.”
“Oh my God!” Chief cried. “That’s impossible, what happened?”
“I don’t know what happened exactly. The details are still blurry but all I know is we have to act fast. Already, they have indicted you and they are threatening to come after you.”
“To come after me? They can’t prove anything.”
“Oh yeah, to hell they will. Your daughter identified one of the suspects. Besides, they made a confessional statement indicting you.”
“They still can’t prove anything.”
“I wish they can’t but I doubt it,” Mr. Uduak said, wishing it could be true. “What are we going to do?”
“We? I don’t think that should be my worry. It’s your responsibility. After all, why am I paying you? You go sort it out.” He cut the phone and without thinking, he went into his bathroom and jumped into the bath and lay brooding, desperately battling to keep his head above the water. He could hardly believe Danny would blow up the job or that he could be suffering a third consecutive loss in Frankie’s hands and he vowed to get even. 
For a while, he stood pacing the floor, wracking his brains and thinking of what to do. Finally, he picked up the phone and put a call to the Commissioner of Police.
“Gbenga, your boys got my boys.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” the police commissioner told him casually. “What’s the rap this time?”
“I don’t think it’s something we can discuss over the phone,” Chief hedged. “Can we meet at the usual place? Say in an hour’s time?”
“I have quite a schedule this morning but I think I can squeeze out a minute or two, ok?”
An hour or so later, Senator Nnamani and the Commissioner of Police were rubbing minds together.
“I don’t want those boys to testify against me in court, can you guarantee that?” Chief asked the commissioner as soon as they sat down.
“It’s not impossible as long as there is money, anything can be done.”
“I don’t care how much it costs. Am interested in results.”
“You should trust me, Chief.” 
“Money is not a problem. I’ll write a check for 20 million naira for you now and another 30millon naira when it is done, okay?”
Meanwhile, the pastor put pressure on the police to take the matter to court. The police contacted the Director for Public Prosecutions, who in turn, contacted the Attorney General of the Federation to see whether Frankie has no legal right to keep her baby if she wanted. Two days later, the Attorney General obtained an ex parte injunction from the high court restraining Frankie’s parents from arranging an abortion until the matter was heard in court.
However, the pastor realizing how desperate Senator Nnamani was to hush up the matter and the consequences of the issue at hand issued a press conference and alerted the public of the hidden agenda and the activities of the culture of death. He urged people and other pro-life groups to come out en mass and give Frankie the needed support. He posted it on facebook, on his twitter account and on instagram. Overnight, it became a trending topic and went viral in a couple of days.
For days prior to the commencement of the hearing, the country was agog with excitement. Expectations ran high too. Although Senator Nnamani was greatly feared and dreaded, but the country knew the combination of one of the most radical and revered human rights activists, Barrister Nwokedi Nwaka and former abortionist turned pastor and founder of one of the biggest Pentecostal churches in Africa, Pastor Stanley Okechukwu, would be more than a match for not only Senator Nnamani but also the condom company, its surrogates and the AIDS establishment.
***
The telephone brought the Chief of Police, Sam Uhuru out of a light doze. He was sitting on his desk, his head in his hands. He sat up and stiffened to attention, instinctively looking at the wall clock, it said a little past 2:00 am. Uhuru lifted the receiver, “Hello, yes, Uhuru here speaking.”
“Boss, this is Tom. I’m calling from Onyerubi airport,” a tough, stern cop voice said. Detective Tom Onyemaechi is one of the best and toughest police officers of the national security branch. A born again Christian who refuses to compromise his Christian beliefs despite the profession he found himself in. And in a country where nine out of every ten policeman is corrupt, and where gaff was the order of the day, Tom, however chose to be the very antithesis of his trade. “Fair bird about to take off. We’ve checked thoroughly. During the past six hours, around a thousand youths have traveled. Must have been one of them,” he reported. “I’m going over to the sea port right away. S. S Anderson about to set sail.”
“Good work, detective, just be thorough and call me as soon as something turns up.”
“I will, sir. Bye,” he said and hung up.
For what seemed like eternity, the police boss kept starring at the telephone blindly. He couldn’t understand how O’Brian could possibly disappear into the thin air, without a trace. Then an idea occurred to him. Why don’t you go over to O’Brian’s house and search it thoroughly again? He picked up the phone, Obi could do it, he thought, dialing Obi’s number. After a steady burr, burr, a sleepy voice demanded who was calling. Uhuru explained what he wanted done.
“This is top priority, Obi. I must have a list of all his girlfriends, friends and relatives. Go over there and tear the place into pieces.” 
The man at the end of the line was alert now. “You can count on me, sir,” he said and hung up. 
An hour or so later, Sgt. Obi was on the phone talking to Uhuru again. 
“No luck, sir,” Obi said across the line. “I really took the apartment to pieces, but I didn’t turn up any thing. He doesn’t keep records there if he ever keeps one at all.” 
Uhuru made an impatient movement with his hand. Time was fast running out on him. He must find O’Brian before anyone else does if he must protect Senator Nnamani or keep him from going under. The Commissioner of Police had greased his palms so well that he can comfortably retire now without qualms but all depends on the outcome of this case. If he is smart enough, he could establish himself by being the first to turn up concrete evidence that will endear him to the CP and Senator Nnamani. He knew there were so many people interested in the case and thus involved in the investigation and that he has to beat them to it.
“Alright, Obi, thanks for the effort.” 
“Don’t mention, sir. It’s my pleasure.”
For days the police hunt for O’Brian proved abortive and as the hours turned into days and with no visible prospect of catching O’Brian, the public began to panic and their confidence in the police began to wane. A lot of mouth watering rewards, including a N5m cash reward were made by the government to anyone with useful information as to O’Brian’s whereabouts. Even the police man or team that nails O’Brian was not left out in the deal.