"Okay, now I have a prisoner with me and I'm already through with messing her up. I need to be sure I can trust you, William," Eliza said as he pulled
out a gun from his trousers pocket and threw it to me. "Kill her and put an end to her misery; this would convince me that I can actually trust you" The smirk on Eliza's face was irritating.

"How can I kill an innocent lady just to prove myself to him? This was the height of wickedness," l muttered to myself. "Seriously! How do you expect me to murder an innocent lady in cold blood? I'm not a murderer; I'm better off dead than commit such evil," I thundered.
"You have done worse, William; you just have to accept who you really are because of this path which you have chosen. If you don't do this, you are on your own, and l mean it. Also, you wouldn't be able to get revenge on the man who killed your father without me," James said sternly.
"But James... " I stammered.
Just do this and get it over with, or I won't be able to help you anymore. The Capon had made
himself clear; I don't need to speak further, James concluded.

"Is that all you have got, William? James, I don't need this kind of a product," Eliza said
disappointedly.

My heart pounded so fast as I looked at the
innocent lady before me. My palms became sweaty and I could feel every bone in me trembling with fear and anger. I picked up the gun slowly with my gaze still at the young lady. I had thought about what James had said and it was clear that I had no one else to turn to; besides, I was already declared wanted
by the police. It meant nothing to me any longer, I thought, and I really had no other choice, as I
pointed the gun angrily at her.

The lady screamed fearfully, her eyes were flooded with tears and my spirit was broken.
"James, I don't need this guy, he is woman.

Women are not involved in this dangerous game we are playing. Your boy is weak and l can't contend with that, Eliza's voice rose notches higher than before.

"Please! Please! I beg you; l dont want to die yet. My only son is just three years old; how would he survive without me, dear? Please, don't laill me,"
the lady wept bitterly as she pleaded with me.
"Shoot this thing, William. If you dont, she would still be killed anyway, so, why pity her when her fate has already been decided? James said.
Tears forced their way from my eye and l gazed at the young lady who already had a son. But then l considered Jame's words and there was nothing l could do about it. The gunshot had first sounded
like a banger, and I had hoped there wasn't a real bullet in the gun which I had just fired. I was right as I heard Eliza clap cheerfully as I pulled the
trigger.'The young lady suddenly burst out laughing loudly in such an obnoxious way that had reminded me of the scary dream I had dreamt about Mama.
This was a test, a total fake, I watched as the lady stood up, wiping her crocodile tears which had already vanished from her eyes. "You think this is a joke? How can you laugh over something this serious? l roared furiously, as I hadn't recovered from the shock of pulling the trigger. I didn't lknow how
felt at that point because a part of me felt relieved that I didn't actually kill the lady, but, at the same time, I felt so angry because they had toyed with my
emotions.

"Well done, you didn't actually pass the test, but you gave me a reason for you to stay. Now, Vanessa, go in and take a shower; sorry about the bruises," Eliza said after he had finished clapping.

I couldn't stop yelling in my mind. How easy it was for them to neglect human feelings!

"Eliza, now you trust him, what is the next line of acthion? James asked as he sat dowm slowly.
He wore a serious expression on his face as he asked that question. Perhaps, he knew that the whole set up to test me was fake.
l sat down causiously on the stool beside James. I hadn't recovered completely from the shock; it still seemed to me like one of the nightmares I was fond of having.
"James, the multi-million dollar operation I told you about is our real deal here. I want to leave this country soon enough and so do you. That means
We should take extra precautions in this job," Eliza said.

I took my time to reflect on the statement Eliza had just made about taking extra precautions and it matched exactly the same words Oga Martin had said to us the previous day. This made me
Wonder if actually this was a coincidence or a real warning against something bad that was about to happen. "How do we go about Mr Alex? put in Just abruptly.

Arusi, calm down; I told you that we need to keep our heads down for the time being," James
replied
"The police has declared you wanted and your top priority is what? To kill your Uncle. You forget how powerful he is and, probably, he was the one who had put the police on your trail. So, let's get this one time operation over with before that," Eliza cautioned.

"When is the d-day?" James continued.
"Just tomorrow;I can't wait to feel the money,"
Vanessa cut in as she walked into the living room.

She had freshened up and now looked appealing, better than the previous look she had on her. She winked at me and sat on a seat beside Eliza, kissing him lightly.
"That is on point. But where is the robbery going to take place, my Capon, James enquired further, and more seriously.

"We have information about the transaction that is going to take place between Chief Miquel....
I think you remember him?"