Zara - S01 E07 (Story Episode)

4 years ago

Zara - S01 E07 (Story Episode)

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 7

In the safety of his apartment, he quickly
examined the spoils of his evening walk.

The
excitement cooled as his invisible partner
reminded him again of the unpalatable
consequences of his actions.

Imagine! You! Frank Odo, CEO of the nation’s
leading movie making studio. Distinguished,
elite, a man of unmatched class…

I know. You don’t have to remind me.

Oh! But it looks like I have to. Your private
house tucked away in a quiet area doesn’t
mean you won’t be caught one day.

He stood up and walked out of the vault. It
was true. His house was private.

Thus was
where he came whenever, he wanted to be
alone. It had been willed to him by his best
friend’s father.

After some remodeling to the
main building which housed four apartments,
he had added the cute apartment at the back
with its own private entrance that was remote
controlled. Being conscientious man, he
required little help in maintaining the
apartment.

Why did they have to move into his building?

It was against his policy to handle the rental
process by himself which was why they were
there. They had come in through the property
firm he used.

Turning, he locked the vault and watched as
the façade fell into place. He truly did love
the place.

A wistful smile spread across his
face as he held up the soft lacy fabric to his
nose. Taking a moment, he inhaled deeply
and as he did this, tears dropped quietly from
his eyes. The voice was right as it usually
was. He knew he had to stop but he missed
his Ella so much and the owner of the fabric
he held was the closest he would probably
ever get to bring near her again.

Still, he had to stop and soon too. That his
tenant who had met only once smelled like
his late daughter wasn’t a reason that would
be tenable in court. Sighing, he walked slowly
to the kitchen. It was time for dinner.
…
In the two days that had passed since Zara’s
disappearance, Iyke’s world seemed to have
stopped, come to an abrupt halt.

After
speaking with the COO, a long-time friend of
his, he commenced a two week leave.

His
prayer was that before the two weeks elapsed,
his Zara would have been found.

Already, he had Zara’s parents and Ima’s
mum working together amidst motherly tears.

While they were still not sure the ladies had
been abducted by the same people, one thing
was sure, both girls were missing and a
coincidence couldn’t explain that.

So far, no ransom note had been received by
either of the parents.

This was leading them
to believe that perhaps they had been taken
for reasons other than money which if correct
would be a much worse scenario.

Zara’s uncle was due back in the country in
two days. In his absence not much could be
done. The matter was already reported to the
police but so far there were no leads.

Iyke parked his car and alighted. He was soul
weary, scared and really worried. If the
kidnappers didn’t want money, what did they
want? A shiver crawled up his spine as the
answer came to him.

Inside his apartment, he crashed on the sofa
in the living room and lay there quietly. It
was hard to believe that someone could
disappear without a trace. It was almost like
she was dead- only she wasn’t or maybe they
just had no way of knowing yet.
Pray. Breathe. Pray again.

Those were Stacey’s words. In obedience to
his cousin who was always in his business
and thankfully so, he closed his and with a
very heavy heart cried out to God to save the
love of his life because while he was aware
that life would go on without her, he wanted
no part of that sort of life. A life without
Zara’s warm smile wasn’t something he would
ever contemplate.
…
Their chance meeting at the pub, not too far
from the prison, had been timely. Else he
wouldn’t be a happy man today. That meeting
had made a way for his dreams to materialize.

Dreams that had been forcefully suffocated by
a woman he loathed.

He parked the car and took a deep breath in
order to contain his excitement. His
wristwatch read some minutes to midnight.

Under the cover of the night and with his
special license plate, he hadn’t been stopped
on his way to his friend’s house.

Turning in his seat, he spared the lady, bound
on the floor just behind him, a glance.

“She is asleep. That’s good. Getting her out of
the car shouldn’t be a problem.” Within
seconds, the ignition was turned off and he
stepped out of the car. He had to go inside
and see if the necessary arrangements had
been made. He did feel a bit sad for the
young lady. He wasn’t sure what her fate
would be but she wasn’t too great a price to
pay for what was rightfully his.
…
If she wasn’t so sure that she had hit her
head sometime in the past 15 or so hours, she
would have sworn, sworn to her last blood
that she knew that voice but she had hit her
head and it still hurt a lot. If the voice that
had spoken some minutes ago reminded her
of someone she knew, then, she couldn’t be
surer of a possible concussion because there
was no way, absolutely none at all it was who
she thought it was.

It definitely wasn’t the voice that had called
her on the phone.
…
There were moving. That she was sure of.

Why? She couldn’t tell. The voice hadn’t said
anything to her. He had just lifted her and
carried her to a car whose engine was already
on. His moves seemed frantic and yet
calculated almost like he had planned for this
but hadn’t intended to move.
Minutes later after, she was placed in the car,
he entered and drove off. The stillness of air
and absence of car sounds informed her that
it was night.

After what seemed like hours or maybe just a
lot of minutes, the car came to a halt.

He
carried her and for some minutes walked. The
smell that permeated her immediate
surroundings wasn’t good at all. She felt like
throwing up.

Fortunately, he dropped her on a soft carpeted
floor and closed the door behind him.

Something was definitely up. What was it? As
she did whenever afraid or unsettled, she
recited Psalms 91. Even with the fear that
terrorized her heart, the scripture never
failed to calm her heart.
…
It irked him that he would have to travel
another almost two hours but the reason was
understood. It was for their safety.

Zara waited for him to speak again. She
didn’t dare open her eyes for fear that he
would know she was awake. He didn’t speak.

All through the ride he remained silent.

Dear Lord, please help me. Please.
…
With a start, Iyke jumped up from his bed.

The meeting with Zara’s uncle had proved to
be a good motivation.

Mr. Okonkwo (Snr.) still
commanded respect within the force, having
risen to the position of an Assistant Inspector
General. Iyke had also gotten the feeling that
many improvements had taken place during
his tenure.

An idea was slowly forming in his head, a
good one. Quickly, he placed a call directly to
Mr. Okonkwo (Snr.).

Hopefully, it would be the break in the case.