Alter Me

3

After a brief meeting with her subordinates at the office, she heads out to attend a press conference at Adis hotels. It was scheduled to begin in 10 minutes time. She walks into the vehicle and orders the chauffeur to speed up as she doesn't want to be late for her first press conference since her husband's demise.

She gets there just in time and walks straight through the sea of heads at the conference hall. Turns out that a lot of reporters, bloggers, paparazzi and virtually every media personality in the city are interested in hearing what she has to say.

She finally gets to the podium and adjusts the microphone to her mouth level. She takes a deep breath and blinks a couple of times before finally letting out a strong 'Hello'.

"I am Layole Gold, the wife of late Mr Sameer Akintunde Gold and by privilege the new CEO of Golden Enterprises...", she continues. Her voice is bold and strong and sounds like she's in charge. She truly is.

After her well rendered speech, the audience the audience applaud her and and it's now time for the press to question her on certain topics they need her to shed more light on.

"What was the cause of your husband's death?" the first reporter asks. The hall goes silent as all eyes are on her.

"According to the autopsy report gotten from hospital, Mr Sameer Gold was poisoned but medical report had it that the poison wasn't the cause of his death as it was recovered at the scene of the crime and proven to be a slow poison which hadn't done it's work in his body yet. Also there were some knife marks on his body and his left arm and right leg had been chopped off prior to the arrival of the ambulance.

It is speculated to be an act of mercy killing as the deceased was supposedly tortured before ingesting the poison".

She paused to look up at the audience who are clinging on to her every word.

"Other cuts and bruises were visible on his body but the major ones were two bullets found in his body. One at his groin while the other was shot as his forehead barely missing his brain. By the time he was found and rushed to the hospital, it was too late as he had lost a lot of blood already".

She sniffles and takes out a tissue to wipe her eyes and nose before going on.

"The doctors tried their best to get the bullet out of his head on time, but they were too late and he had already given up the ghost before they could get it out".

At this point, Layole can't hold back her tears anymore, they gush out of her eyes unrestricted. They flow freely down her face to her neck and to the collar of her shirt.

Her personal assistant comes up stage and leads her out of the hall amidst shouts of incessant questions being thrown at her by the audience. She enters her car and takes some more tissues to clean her face.

Suddenly, she cuddles herself and begins to cry loudly like a baby. She pulls and throws punches at the air and anyone trying to stop her. Her security men quickly alert her P.A who quickly gets in the car to try coaxing her to stop crying.

Slowly, her breathing steadies down and her cries are reduced to loud sobs, which become gentler and eventually silence down to short sniffles. She reaches for a mirror in her bag and briefly looks at her face.

"Take me home please", she says. Her voice is only but a whisper but her P.A hears her and nods in agreement. She steps out to give a few orders and round things up before returning. The driver zooms off followed by three black vehicles with security personnels.

           * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                somewhere in the city of Abuja
Loud music filled the atmosphere as a group of people were dancing and talking loudly in the bubbly night club. A particular group of elite men were seated around the corner talking in hushed tones. Some men dressed in black with dark sunglasses and ear pods to match were scattered around them, almost unnoticeable.

The elite men laughed loudly and seemed like they were having a fun conversation and just then, a tall and rather lanky odd-looking man ran to them with a black bag slung across his shoulders.

"Tuale boss", he greets with his fingers spread out and his arms lifted above his head as a sign of respect.

"How are you Jasper?", asked one of the elite men.

"Fine sir", he replied as he handed them each a copy of The Guardian newspaper. Their eyes widened in shock as they read the headline.

   Police set to begin investigation on the murder of late Mr Sameer Akintunde Gold.

They whispered amongst themselves and looked over their shoulders every now and then to prevent being overheard.

They thrust a bundle of five hundred naira notes into Jasper's hands and whispered something in his ears. He nodded in response and left.

They then left the club one after the other and the men in black also followed some minutes later to avoid any suspicion.

  
               
                               * * *

                  Author's Note

Phew 😌😅 done with yet another chapter. Who else is curious about Sameer's brutal killer? You can leave a vote and comment behind to stay on track 🙃.