It's 8:30pm, Ashanté, Indigo's friend was seen writing something on her notepad. Seated on a wooden chair, a plastic table, with a curved rechargeable lamp, two notebooks and a textbook; the simple Ashanté's study corner. Something related to the matters of the heart has been troubling her for a while. Something that she has to get off her chest, something she has to say once and for all.
She wrote every words with a gentle stroke like any more pressure would ruin the whole art she's pouring out. She wrote like she was watering lilies.
After minutes of crossing and deliberations, she decided to write one final piece.
"I hope this letter meets you in the right place and time, a good state of mind and open heart". Ashanté sighed. She wrapped the letter in an envelope, added a sticker and seal. A dispatch rider was seen collecting the letter from her with instructions to deliver it the next day.
'Whrr-whrr-whrr'. The alarm beside Sergeant Chase buzzed. It's 6:30am, Saturday, another day to be a Sergeant. He sat on his bed, stretched, stood up and went down to do his habitual push ups.
'Rings..' His phone rang.
"Hello, this is Chase on the line, Nolwazi".
"Hello Chase, I got an investigative job for you from the DPO, to check out a plate number CA 98..."
"Yo! Man. I have a job to complete today regarding Cape Town murder case, I'll have to get the package from Mrs. Lace myself, so if you can have another person do the job".
"Huh! Okay, I think I'll fill in for that then".
"Yeah, thanks man. I owe you one".
Line went dead.
CAPE TOWN SPECIALIST HOSPITAL
The nurse on weekend duty this morning was seen checking Mr Rodrygo's Vitals, gauging his I.V. fluids and lines, adjusting his bed, positioning, input and output charts, and documenting. It's been 4 days since the Cape Town High school incident. It's been a day ago since the shooting at Cape Town specialist hospital. One could observe the heavy security presence in the premise, four military vehicles and vans with at least 12 armed forces men on ground. Mr Rodrygo room was changed to a private room on the top most floor. It has been identified that Mr Rodrygo was the target in the last assault. No parents has come out to identify the kids running on the 3rd floor in the hospital since the broadcast.
The nurse was done and about to leave, Rodrygo's finger moved. She stopped, looked back. Nothing. Door clicked.
PREVIOUS DAY
Phone Rang...
"Hello, this is Mrs Cinderella Lace on the line, who am I speaking with"?
"Good evening, My name is Sergeant Chase, from the police headquarters".
"Okay, Sir Chase, how may I help you?". Cinderella spoke with hesitation. Beside her was Orion, listening intently as if he was waiting for a ticker bomb. Indigo was still in Orion's room, still digesting what she just did with Orion, flushed and flustered that his mom saw them do it too.
"Ma'am, I've been informed to get the forensic reports from you tomorrow, so I'm calling to make sure you're aware".
"Uhm....." clears throat. "Okay, I...I will deliver it to you tomorrow". Cinderella stuttered.
"Are you okay, ma'am?"... "I don't mind picking it myself tomorrow if you wouldn't be available".
"There's no need to bother, I'll drop by to deliver it. Thank you". Call ended.
Cinderella blew out a breath of relief, looked at Orion who was squarely looking at her. Orion knew that look but he wasn't going to go down that lane, not now when they had a package to find. Cinderella was about to speak when Jonathan, Orion's dad zoomed into the compound.
Jonathan walked in, he was greeted with a hug from Cinderella, while Orion collected his bags and went inside.
"Welcome home..."
"Thank you Mntase(Sweetheart)".
"Go freshen up, let me make us dinner". Cinderella said.
"How're you though, you looked stressed".
"Yeah, I brought a package from the office and left it on the table here, and I couldn't find it".
"Huh, are you sure?... Well, if that's the case, you can go to the office early tomorrow to get the soft copy from your boss PC before she resumes".
"Wow! That's why I love you, you're always a step ahead.." Cinderella cheeked and perked Jonathan. Relieved that she would be able to get a soft copy, still worried about how the first one got missing, she joyfully went to the kitchen to prepare Jollof rice and meat.
At 00:00 am, Saturday morning. Orion was seen seated on the bed with Indigo wishing her happy birthday. Indigo just got off call with her mom when Orion sang...
"Happy Birthday to you, Indigo. The only South African Snow" Orion said.
They both laughed.
"What do you want me to gift you for your birthday?". Orion asked.
Indigo looked at Orion, looked down at her feet, raised her head back up and moved to kiss Orion. She went over him, withdrew her lips, bent towards his ears and said in a raspy voice "This is what I want".
Orion could hear her heartbeat hard against her chest. He could hear her breathing hard against her lungs. He watched as she slowly unbuttoned her shirt, one by one, till she was done. He helped her pull off the shirt in one efficient pull. She leaned on Orion to kiss him. Orion could feel her bare chest on him and this sparked his arousal. Indigo could feel the hard throbbing in between Orion's legs, and it made her moan softly.
Orion wrapped himself around Indigo and....The Town's light was interrupted.
At 7:15am, Cinderella was at the Laboratory trying to use her boss PC to retrieve the report's soft copy, print it and deliver it to Sergeant Chase.
Detective Nolwazi had started working on getting the plate number owner's identity. He opened his PC, logged in the Federal Road Safety website with the police headquarters passkey. He punched in a few keys and typed 988-475 CA on an empty column on the screen. In few seconds, the bio-data of the owner displayed.
"What!". Nolwazi exclaimed.
Ring. Ring..
"Hello, Chase, where are you right now?".
"I'm driving at the moment towards the Forensic Laboratory.. Nolwazi".
"Are you familiar with plate number 988-475 CA?".
"Not anything I can remember, what's up?". Chase queried.
"Wait, I'll call you back the DPO is calling".
Phone beeped.
Cinderella was seen guessing her boss password for the 3rd time. She had tried to unlock the PC twice but it displayed 'Incorrect password...3 attempts left'. Her phone rang. Frustrated, she glanced at her phone screen and saw the call name, 'Sergeant Chase...calling...'.
"Hello Sir, Good morning".
"Good morning Ma'am, I'm already on my way to get the reports. Where should I meet you?" Chase asked.
"Oh, the reports, yeah, meet me in my uhm, huh, office. At the laboratory, I'll be there waiting".
"Okay ma'am".
Call ended.
Cinderella continued, frantically this time to guess the password right, else the PC is going to automatically format itself.
Sergeant Chase phone rang. He glanced at his phone and saw 'DPO calling'. He parked to the side of the road to pick the call.
"Hello, Good morning Sir!". Chase greeted.
"Sergeant Chase, MEET ME IN MY OFFICE NOW!". The DPO said in a baritone voice.
The call ended. Sergeant Chase wondering what could have happened took a swerve and faced the Police headquarters.
INDIGO'S HOUSE
Just eight blocks away from Orion's house, Indigo opened the door to her parent's house and entered. She went straight to the kitchen and saw her mother cooking. The aroma of the cooking filled the whole house, Indigo knew it wasn't just a normal day cooking. It was for her birthday.
She greeted her mom, and went towards the food basket to pick a fried crispy chicken to munch. Her mom responded to her greetings and wished her Happy birthday.
"I'm making your favourite for your birthday today, I'll make the best for you, my princess".
"Thank you mom". Grinning... "Where is Papa, so I can greet him?".
"Your dad is out to get the cake, lest I forget, you have a letter, got delivered this morning by a dispatch. It's in your room".
Indigo went for the letter in her room and shut the door. She saw the letter, enveloped and sealed. Curious on who it might be and what it might contain, she hastily opened the letter and read the contents.
"Happy Birthday Indigo Snow, My lovely friend".
"Long life and prosperity, wishing you the best in everything you do".
"Happy Big 18". Ashanté wrote.
7:48am, Cinderella was seen giving a last try of luck with the PC password. With 1 attempt left to go, She was already sulking, drenched in her sweat, she gesticulated, one trial to freedom or doom.
She faced the computer screen like a soldier preparing for the last fight of his life, moved the mouse to the password column and typed RODRYGO. The PC screen went blank. Cinderella could hear her heartbeat. She was about to explode when the PC came on and displayed 'Welcome'.
Gasping, Cinderella rushed to search for the report file and sent it to her flash. She picked her bag and ran to the door to waved down a Cab. While in the cab, she took a long deep breath, a sign of relief and saw her boss' car driving past them. Still in the mood of thanks, Cinderella pondered on why her boss would have used RODRYGO as her office password in the first place. But that's for the later, "For now, let me get these reports submitted". She said to herself.
POLICE HEADQUARTERS
Still the same climaxed atmosphere as usual, telecoms buzzing, officers moving about with files and documents, keyboards being punched at high frequency. The only unusual thing today was the baritone voice of the DPO ringing through the walls from his office.
Cinderella was seated in the police visitor's room, waiting to be attended to with the reports in her hands. She heard the DPO raising his voice on someone, so she paid attention to listen.
"Sergeant Chase, this plate number 988-475 CA belongs to you, can you explain this?".
"DPO Sir, I sincerely can't explain it, I am as confused as a chicken".
"That's not possible, how many cars do you have?".
"Two at the moment, I sold one as scrap few years back".
"Sergeant Chase, it seems you'll be held in the police custody for questioning".
Cinderella was stunned by what she just heard. "Sergeant Chase?? Nah! I don't think so".
Still in her thoughts, the TV displayed a breaking news....
"It's 8:00am, breaking news...The kidnappers at Stellenbosch who were involved in the kidnap of 8 individuals have been arrested by Cape Town police squad. Their information and their den was exposed by a FBI agent from United States, who came to Cape Town, South Africa for a covert mission...It has been confirmed this morning that Mr. Rodrygo has recovered from his unconscious state, though still recuperating and undergoing thorough treatments, he is said to suffer some form of memory loss. The doctors assured that with time, Mr Rodrygo will bounce back fully, both in health and mind...This is Cape Town Broadcast TV reporting".
Cinderella sighed to the breaking news, "At least both the health professionals and police are doing a great job..". Detective Nolwazi came out of the DPO office to collect the report from her, and she left for her office.
ORION'S HOUSE
It was 8:45pm, Orion was just coming back from Indigo's house for the birthday, so he opened the fax box in front of their compound and found a letter enveloped and sealed with a sticker.
He took out the letter and opened it with curiosity...A love letter ?
'Ashanté wrote me a love letter....' He thought.
Orion was at the doorstep when he heard two voices conversing. He could easily recognise one as his mom, but he couldn't decipher whom the second voice belonged to.
"You said you wanted to see my husband, Jonathan...Is there any issue?".
"There's actually no issue too big, I just wanted to see him for a few questioning".
"Questioning? My husband? Why? What's going on, Sir?".
"Don't bother yourself ma'am, I'll like to take my leave now, Once your husband arrives, please inform him I came to find him, give him this parcel alongside".
"Who are you, I don't even know you".
"I'm a FBI Agent, My name is Akomolafe Jayden".