(Season 2): DEEP. Episode 1

To read the previous episode, click Season 1: Episode 10

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“I wonder why Asante never planned to poison us to death.” Popoola spoke after preventing Adebiyi from inflicting more injuries on himself. He took the first aid box and helped him to clean and dress the wounds on his hands.

“We were never his targets.” Adebiyi said. “Watching us eat his food pleasured him. Sick bastard! He must have been laughing at us behind our backs. I can’t wait to get my hands on him! I will crush him with my bare hands!” 

He wore some clothes and wanted to drive his car and search for Tiwa when Donald and Mimi returned. They asked what the matter was and received no reply. Popoola stopped Adebiyi from leaving, and explained searching anywhere was of no use.

“You have to inform her parents." He told him. "They deserve to know what is going on.”

“How do I break such news?” Adebiyi asked in a worried tone. He was destabilized and restless. “Her mother is sick!”

“Then tell her father,” Popoola said. “We need all the necessary help we can get to locate where he must have taken her to. We should even inform the police in charge of the case too. They might have something that can help us.”

“If the police had something, they would have caught him.”

“So what do we do now? He has taken her.”

“Who took who?” Mimi had to ask. She knew Tiwa was not at home and the way her boss looked, something drastic had occurred. 

Popoola briefly narrated it to them. Mimi was tongue-tied! Her lips stumbled as she tried to speak.

Adebiyi eyes were on Donald to watch his reaction. Donald did not act surprise to hear Asante was the heart-taker but he was shocked when he heard he abducted Tiwa. He pointed at him. “You knew? You knew Asante was the serial killer?”

“I…I…..” Donald stammered. 

“Speak! You better tell me what you know!” 

“I didn’t know he was going to take her. I suspected him some weeks ago when he came home and I noticed some blood on his shirt. I asked him if he injured, he told me it was the meat he bought from the market that had stained his cloth. I knew it was a lie when he did not serve us meat but snail that day. I followed him one day, although I lost track of him but a week later, a body was found dead. That was when I began to suspect him and when agent Tiwa came, I knew it was because of the killing of those girls.”

“And you couldn’t tell me?!” Adebiyi shouted and raised his hand on him. Popoola held him.

“I am sorry sir!” Donald began to shed tears. Mimi stared at him speechless. “I confronted Asante but he threatened to kill Mimi and you if I said a word. I was afraid. My plan was if I was able to get Mimi out of this house, I would spill the truth!” He fell on his knees and bowed down his head. “I am ready to do anything just to bring back Aunty Tiwa. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”

“But something bad has happened!”

“I am begging you to have mercy on me sir. I am truly sorry. Mimi is pregnant and I don’t want to lose her and the baby.”

Adebiyi was furious; nothing or anyone could change how he felt at that moment. He was angry, distressed and confused. “We have few hours to get her back. Asante no longer kills on the seventh day. He is likely to kill her and dump her body tomorrow evening close to my house!” He started to pace around. He was totally restless.

“He will not be foolish to do such a thing.” Popoola said. “Asante knows all eyes will be on the lookout for him. The only thing we should do is pray for Tiwa’s safety.”

Mimi was already crying. Donald stood up and asked for forgiveness. 

“You didn’t take her,” Adebiyi said. “It’s not your fault. I don’t need to forgive you. I am only disappointed. Is there any other thing that you noticed about Asante that can help?”

He thought and shook his head. He sighed and spoke. “One thing I knew was that, after he threatened me, he became secretive, he rarely spoke on the phone in my presence.”

“You mean there’s someone that is aware of what he does?”

“I don’t know sir but whenever he wants to leave for the market, he receives a call.”

“He has a partner! Someone might be helping him to track the whereabouts of those girls! He could not have been doing it alone!”

“What about the three guys that normally helps him with the food at the party?” Popoola asked.

“I doubt. He never wanted those boys around him during the get together with the models. I am sure working here in this house slowed him down so he had to get extra hands to help with the food. An insider in that party should've been helping him. I have to call Joyce and DJ Newton.”

“What about Tiwa’s father? Don’t keep him in the dark, please. He has to know.”

Adebiyi inhaled loudly and dumped himself on a single sofa. “I don’t know what I will do if I lose Tiwa.”

Popoola looked at him with sad eyes. This was not what he wanted for his friend. He told Donald and Mimi to leave them alone. He sat close to him. “Did anything happen between both of you before he took her?”

He gazed at him and tears rushed down his face without stress. 

He gasped and went closer to hold his friend. “I am so sorry! You’re in love with her!”

“I told Tiwa and I promised to protect her. You told me not to bring her here. You said I might regret it. I…”

“Say no more. I understand what you are passing through. Oh God, what are we going to do now?”

Adebiyi released himself, sniffed his nose and called Mr. Banks. He explained what happened.

If Tiwa’s father wasn’t a very strong man, he would have had a heart attack. He stayed quiet for some seconds before he spoke. ”Promise me you would get her back. This is not for me but for her mother. She is getting worse.”

“Please, don’t tell her.”

He shut his eyes. “If I do, she would die. I can’t and I won’t. I know my child is tough but we can’t rely on that. He might find a way to break her down.”

“I will do everything I can to save Tiwa.”

“Get her before he does.”

“Before who does?” Adebiyi asked in a puzzled tone.

“Damon. We are unable to locate him and I think he might be watching or even knows where the heart-taker took her.”

Fear gripped Adebiyi hard like a bomb.

He continued, “You have to do anything possible. I cannot lose her. She will be the only one left if my wife…”

“I will do everything possible sir.”

“Please do.” Mr. Bankole said, with tears coming out from his left eye. He quickly cleaned his face and snuffled. “The next time you call, tell me you have my daughter and she is alive, please.”

“I promise.” He shut his eyes and thought of the torture Tiwa would be passing through.

“Don’t promise and fail.” He ended the call and shut his eyes trying not to cry.

“I have to go to Asante’s house to see his mother.” Adebiyi said after the call.

“It’s midnight and I don’t think he will leave his mother in that house he lives.” Popoola suggested.

“I will go there and find out!”

“I will follow you.”

“Me too,” Mimi and Donald said at the same time. The men looked at their direction and were surprised to see them.

Adebiyi drove there and found the place locked. It appeared no one was living there anymore. He called Joyce's phone number but she did not answer. DJ Newton's number was unreachable. They drove around the city, looking for her. Adebiyi decided to inform the police and drove to the station. He wanted them involved.

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Asante came back into the deserted and filthy room. Tiwa was still awake. Her frightened eyes were opened and she begged for the night to be over but it seems it was taking long for that to happen. He went to the direction of the right side of the bed and stared at her face. She turned away and kept her gaze at her left. She didn’t want him to notice the fear in her. She was tempted to beg for her freedom.

He lifted his hand close to her face so she could see what he was holding. It was a cup filled with water.

“I’m not tasty.” Tiwa lied. Her throat was as dry as an empty well.

He grinned and walked towards the other side to look at her eyeball to eyeball. “Are you scared to die?”

Tiwatope refused to answer him, instead she swallowed the fear in her and fixed her eyes on him.

Asante added, “You think I poisoned the water.” He drank from the cup, pushed the cup towards her mouth and raised her head for her to sip. She had no choice. She wanted water and drank the whole content.

“Good girl.” He said and patted her head like a dog after she finished drinking.

“Why haven’t you killed me?” Tiwa asked.

“You mean rip out your heart from your chest?”

She swallowed. “Yes.”

“I want you to die a more painful death.” He motioned closer to her ear. Her heartbeat was booming and she feared he might hear the sound. “I will cut your chest little by little, watch you bleed out while you cry and I will take out your heart slowly."

“I know how you were able to lure those girls.” She said trying to make a long conversation and buy some time. She tried rubbing the rope on her right hand against the handle to see if it could tear gradually. It did not. 

“Tell me.” He said and brought a chair to her side and sat down. He crossed his arms. “I’m listening.”'

“You appeared nice to the models, served them well because you are the chef. You ask them questions about them playfully, they become friendly and you used that opportunity to make them trust you. I wonder why the agent didn’t do a background check on you.”

“What about your lover? Instead, he offered me money and mocked my eyes.”

She never thought about that until now. “I heard he met your mother…. by the way is she really sick or you…. never mind, I am sure she was never sick. You used that period to monitor those girls. How would your mother feel when she finds out her son is nothing but a brutal killer.”

“Don’t you dare call my mother into this!”

“She won’t be proud of what you have become.”

He stood up and pointed a finger at her face. “I am warning you!”

“Your mother will be…..”

He hit her hard on the face, blood spilled out from her mouth. She spat on the floor.  Tiwa received pain from her head, down to her body. She needed a long sleep.

“Those girls were very easy for me to kill but you…. you are different. You and Adebiyi really tried, you were getting very close to the truth. I had to change my plans after you started asking for the contacts of the bodyguards, DJ and myself.”
 

“But we did not have your number.”

“Sooner or later, you would have gotten it if I didn’t capture you.”

“I knew it had to be the chef. When DJ Newton told us you were quite close to the models but didn’t see any big deal in it, I knew it was a motive to lure them closer.”

He laughed and within the blink of an eye, he frowned. "Newton have a loud mouth." He took his phone, and dialed a number. 

“Who are you calling?” she asked eagerly.

He bluffed her, left for few minutes to speak on the phone and came back to tell her goodnight.

“Are you leaving me here alone?”

“Do you think I will sleep here? See you tomorrow.” He said.

 

“What if I want to urinate?”

“I don’t care.”

“Who did you speak with on the phone?” 

“That’s none of your business.” 

“Are you working with someone? Do you have a partner?”

All Asante did was laugh and walked out on her.

Tiwa was all alone. She was petrified of the dark. She wasn’t going to cry anymore but search for a way to free herself from the bondage. She continued to rub the rope against the handle, perhaps, before the cockcrows, she might be able to release herself and escape. She hoped and prayed for a miracle.

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 To be continued on Thursday.