Vaults of Secrets - Chapter 3

Read Chapter 2 here and Chapter 4 here

“Any update on the whereabouts of your whore?” Omolade asked looking at her husband with barely concealed disdain.

Chief Bankole shook his head in response. “Nothing major, my men have been to her house, but there was no sign of her, and according to her neighbours, they have not seen her for a few weeks now”

He had not been surprised by the reports of his men. He knew Sharon is a smart girl, and knowing her, she would have gone into hiding from the first day she stole those files.  She is very calculating, that girl, he thought, walking to the sitting area of his large office. He sat on his favourite couch and stretched his legs on the centre table between him and the couch his wife sat.

“So, what’s next?” Omolade asked breaking into his thought. “You do realise that we have to find that girl before she causes irreparable damage?”

“My men are on it, Omolade” He responded with irritation. “One of her neighbours let it slip that she has a friend who works with Barnes Insurance. I hear the neighbour is quite chatty, and was only too eager to help, so she gave them the name of this friend. They will track her down, and get some information about Sharon. So, don’t worry”

“I wouldn’t be so worried if you had done your duty” Omolade muttered.

“Don’t even start with that crap again Omolade!” He snapped.

“What crap, Aderogba? What crap?” She started, her eyes blazing,

“Is it the one I have taken with your constant philandering? I have long accepted that you can't keep it in your pants, but to jeopardise our business, our lives in this manner? That, I can neither accept nor forgive.”

She took a deep breath, and adjusted her suit jacket “And now, as usual, I have to clean up the mess you’ve made,” She said more calmly.

“But I just said my men are…”

“Yes, I know, your men are on it” She interrupted. “But I won’t sit down and twiddle my fingers while I depend on your men to fix the problem their leader caused,”

Sighing, Chief Bankole raised his hands in complete surrender, “So, what do you suggest?”

“It's obvious that your little tramp has gone into hiding, so, while your men try to find her, we have to do something to push her out of hiding”

“Are you saying we use the police? Or distribute her pictures to the media?” Chief Bankole asked with wide eyes.

“And give her the attention of the media on a platter? Stop thinking like a damn fool, Aderogba, and just listen!”

She waited for a few minutes to see if she had his attention and then continued, “This is what we will do. We inform her closest allies in this office that she stole a huge amount of money and ran. We will then threaten to arrest them if they don’t give us her possible whereabouts. If she has spoken to any of them since she left, we will know.”

“So, who are her friends in this office?” She asked, looking at her husband intently

“I don’t know any” He responded.

“I see,” She said in disappointment. “No time to talk during your romp in the sack then” She added, her words dripping in sarcasm.

“This means we have to address the whole office then, and hopefully, we can get some information.”

“Let’s go.” She said standing up   “And I will be doing the talking” She added as she reached for the doorknob.

The phone rang, just as Chief Bankole stood to follow her out. “Wait, that could be my men” He called out, as he picked up the phone.

“Okay, good job guys. Let me know” He said after listening to the voice on the other side of the phone. “Yes, I will send some money for your flight,” he added ending the call.

“Yes?” Omolade asked impatiently.

“My men were able to get some information from Sharon’s friend, the one her neighbour told them about. Sharon called her four days ago that she would be travelling to Benin on official duty.”

“Hmmm, that was easy,” Omolade said, raising her brows. “Looks like your whore needs to change her friends; first a chatty neighbour and now, a chatty friend.”

“Well, her loss is our gain” Chief Bankole shrugged.

“Looks like we won’t need to address the staff for now,” He said, as he took his seat, grinning for the first time in weeks.

*Originally published 8 September 2020