TAITAI STORIES – PART 8* Ten seconds. Femi’s smile on the screen didn’t move. Mama’s eyes were closed, tears cutting through the dirt on her face. The door behind us shook again. One more kick and it would give. I looked at Adebayo. Sweat mixed with blood on his jaw. He wasn’t looking at the screen. He was looking at me. “Whatever you choose,” he said, “I’ll make sure you walk out of here.” “Lies!” Femi snapped on the laptop. “Five seconds, Tolani.” My hands shook around the laptop I was holding. The one with all the files. The reason they’d chased me through Lagos since last night. If I gave it to Femi, Mama lived. But I’d be handing him proof to destroy Adebayo. And maybe me too. If I kept it, Mama might get hurt. But I’d keep the only leverage we had. Don’t trust Adebayo. Mama’s words echoed. But her voice was wrong. Too flat. Like she was reading. I made the choice in my gut, not my head. I slammed the laptop onto the table, opened it, and turned the screen toward Femi’s camera. “Here,” I said. “Take it. But if you touch her—” Femi’s eyes lit up. He reached forward on his end, his fingers dancing over his keyboard. Files started transferring. Fast. Adebayo stepped back like I’d slapped him. “Tola—” “Shut up!” I hissed. “Let me finish.” The transfer hit 87%. 88%. Then I yanked the power cable from the wall. The screen went black. Femi’s voice cut off mid-sentence. Silence. For two seconds, no one breathed. Then the door burst open. The masked men rushed in, guns up. But they stopped when they saw Adebayo standing in front of me, and me standing in front of the dead laptop. “Where is it?” the tallest one growled. “It’s gone,” I said. Femi’s voice came through the room’s speaker instead. Cold, distorted. “You stupid girl. You think unplugging it stops anything? I already got what I needed.” My stomach dropped. “No,” Adebayo said quietly. “He didn’t.” He pulled out his phone. On the screen was a loading bar. 89%. “You didn’t give him the files,” I whispered. “I gave him a copy,” Adebayo said. “A copy with a virus. One that wipes every drive it touches. Including his.” Femi’s laugh crackled through the speaker, but it sounded forced now. “You’ll regret this, brother.” “Regret is my middle name,” Adebayo said. The masked men looked between us, confused. The tallest one raised his gun at me. “Boss said bring the girl. Alive.” Before I could blink, Adebayo moved. He slammed into the man, knocking the gun aside. A shot rang out. Pain exploded in my shoulder. I hit the ground, hot and wet spreading down my arm. Adebayo was on top of me a second later, shielding me with his body. “Stay down,” he whispered. From the floor, I saw Femi’s face flash on the wall screen for half a second. His smile was gone. TO BE CONTINUED…
