Chasing Halima – Chapter 10

The darkness was their only ally, a thick, oppressive blanket that swallowed the sounds of their hurried footsteps but also obscured their path.

Twigs snapped underfoot, leaves rustled, and every shadow seemed to shift, morphing into the shape of a pursuing guard.

Kelechi’s breath hitched in his throat, his legs burning as they pushed through the undergrowth.

“This way!” Amina whispered, her voice strained but resolute.

She moved with an almost unnatural grace, her knowledge of the local terrain proving invaluable once more.
Her small device, now a GPS tracker, glowed faintly, guiding them away from the estate and towards the distant, faint glow of city lights.

Kelechi stumbled, his mind a chaotic swirl of adrenaline and conflicting emotions. The weight of the hard drives in his hand felt immense, a tangible representation of the burden Halima had placed upon him.

He was no longer just chasing her; he was carrying her fight, her truth.

The bitterness of being used still lingered, but it was slowly being eclipsed by a fierce, protective resolve.

He had to get these drives to Mia.
For Halima. For Baba Segun. For the truth.

Behind them, the shouts grew closer,
punctuated by the occasional bark of a dog.

Nuradeen’s men were relentless.

Kelechi could feel their presence, a cold dread creeping up his spine.
He pushed harder, ignoring the burning in his lungs, the scratches on his arms.

“We need to get to the main road,” Amina panted, her voice barely audible above their ragged breathing.

The thick bush began to thin, giving way to a less dense forest, then finally, a narrow, unpaved track.

The faint glow of the city was now more distinct, a beacon of hope in the oppressive darkness. But with the clearer path came increased visibility.

A sudden, blinding beam of light cut through the trees behind them.
A shout echoed, closer this time.

“They’ve spotted us!” Kelechi yelled, his heart hammering against his ribs.

“Run, Kelechi, run!” Amina urged, pulling him forward with surprising strength.

They sprinted down the track, the beam of light dancing behind them, growing steadily brighter. The hum of an engine joined the shouts, search lights gaining on them.

They were exposed, vulnerable.

The race against time, and Nuradeen’s wrath, was far from over.

The dense bush gave way to a narrow, unpaved road, and then, finally, to the faint glow of distant streetlights.

As they both tried to catch their breath and make meaning to their surroundings, they heard the humming sound of a vehicle’s engine approaching them with little time to back away from the unpaved road.

Right in front of them the car, sleek and silent, pulled onto the track and parked.
Its passengers door swinging open, with the driver hand gesturing for them to quickly get in.

Kelechi and Amina gave each other a quick glance, unsure of trusting this stranger, as the driver’s facial identity was hidden behind a face covering and dark shades. but something else quickly cut Kelechi’s attention.

The Blue scarf

It was the same blue scarf from Halima’s video and it was knotted in the right hand of the driver.

“Halima?” Kelechi didn’t hesitate to ask with curious eyes staring back at the stranger.

***

The figure behind the wheel didn’t answer immediately. Instead, a gloved hand reached up and slowly, deliberately, pulled down the face covering.

The dark shades remained, but as the driver’s head tilted, a face became visible in the faint glow of the dashboard.

It wasn’t Halima.

It was a woman Kelechi had never seen before, her features sharp and intelligent. With a faint, almost imperceptible smirk played on her lips, mirroring the one in Halima’s polaroid.

“Not quite, Kelechi,” the woman said, her voice low and steady, a chilling contrast to the frantic escape. “But don’t worry, You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

Amina, who had been staring at the driver with a mixture of surprise and recognition, finally spoke, her voice a mix of exasperation and relief.

“Mia?”

The woman, Mia, chuckled, a dry, knowing sound. “Keeping an eye on my little sister, of course. And making sure she and her ‘detective’ friend don’t get themselves killed before the real game even begins.”

She looked at Kelechi, her eyes assessing.

Search lights twirl from a few kilometers behind them making Kelechi and Amina realize Nuradeen’s men were still on their trail and they quickly jump into the car with Mia, gliding the car smoothly through the deserted unpaved road.

Mia drove with a quiet competence, her hands steady on the wheel, her eyes constantly scanning the rearview mirror.

Amina, beside her, had already begun to re-assemble her laptop, her fingers flying across the keyboard, with intensity in her movements.

Kelechi slumped against the cold seat in the back, having a strange mix of relief and profound disorientation.

“What are you doing here Miriam?” Amina asked eyes fixed on her screen

Mia glanced at her with a faint, wry smile touching her lips. “Let’s just say I’m doing my job, by being an active contingency plan.” Her gaze hardened. “This is not your regular research Amina” Mia stated with seriousness.

Kelechi cleared his throat. “Your jammer was impressive, It bought us crucial time. They were almost on us.”

“I know,” Mia replied, her eyes flicking back “we’ve been tracking their movements, Nuradeen’s network is extensive, they rely heavily on tech.
Blind their eyes, and they stumble.”

“The scarf… that was all a trick? You knew I’d think it was Halima?”kelechi asked still reeling from the sudden shift in events

Mia’s smirk deepened. “Halima is a master strategist, Kelechi. She understands human nature, especially yours.
She knew you’d see what you wanted to see, the scarf is a nighting gale charm.
The nightingale is a symbol, yes, but it’s also a very specific call sign. One that only a select few would recognize.”

As they left the unpaved road and merged onto a more established route, Mia spoke, her voice losing some of its earlier detachment. “Amina, you need to back off from the immediate perimeter. It’s going to get very heated up very soon.”

Amina’s fingers paused on her keyboard. “Back off? Mia, I’m part of this. I’ve been part of this since Kelechi dragged me into it. I’m not just going to sit on the sidelines now.”

“You’re my sister, Amina,” Mia said, her tone firm, almost a command. “When my sister decides to go chasing ghosts in the middle of the night, I have a responsibility to ensure she doesn’t get herself killed.
My mission is to help Halima expose Nuradeen, and part of that is keeping you safe. I’m a rescue team operator, undercover in the military.
This isn’t a game for amateurs.”

Amina scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping her. “Oh, so now you’re pulling rank? And the military operator card? You always do this, Mia. Always trying to force me into your neat little boxes. Just because I don’t fit your perfect soldier mold doesn’t mean I’m useless.”

“It’s not about being useless, Amina,” Mia retorted, her voice rising slightly.
“You’re brilliant with tech, but this is about to be one full-blown combat zone.
You’ve always been the black sheep, the one with the ‘violent nature’ that Mom and Dad worried about, but you’ve never been in a real firefight.”

“Don’t you dare try to force that label on me again!” Amina snapped, her face flushing. “My violent nature was just me defending myself against bullies, something you never had to do because you were always the golden child, the perfect little soldier! You’re trying to push me away because you’re scared, not because you care!”

Kelechi sat in stunned silence in the back seat, listening to the raw, unfiltered exchange between the sisters.

He had known Amina was sharp, resourceful, but this glimpse into her past, her family dynamics, was entirely new.

He realized how little he truly knew about the woman who had become his unexpected ally. The “black sheep,” the “violent nature”—it painted a picture far more complex than he’d imagined.

Mia took a deep breath, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. “I want the best for you, Amina. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m part of this alliance to help Halima. What is at stake here is very, very, very, very critical. It’s not just about Nuradeen anymore; it’s about the future. I know you need to help build it, but I need you to be safe.”

Amina didn’t give any reply and instead continued on her laptop with an angry determined face.

The tension in the car seemed to rise with Mia’s words hung heavy in the air,
a chilling prophecy that settled deep in Kelechi’s gut.

The silence that followed was punctuated only by the hum of the engine and the frantic tapping of Amina’s fingers on her keyboard.

“Miriam” Kelechi began, his voice a little shaky, “how… How long have you known Halima? And how did you two become allies against Nuradeen?”

Mia’s eyes, sharp and focused on the road ahead, flickered to the rearview mirror, meeting Kelechi’s gaze for a brief moment.

“Nuradeen’s influence runs deep, Kelechi. He has tentacles everywhere. To bring him down, Halima knew she couldn’t do it alone. She had to make a lot of alliances.”

“My role,” Mia continued, her voice firm,
“is to back her up. To be a contingency plan in case of any emergencies.
I’ve been helping Halima for a while now, working behind the scenes, providing the support she needed to build her case.”

She paused, her grip tightening on the steering wheel. “But now… now that Halima is so close to exposing him, our lives are going to be in serious danger. Nuradeen has pulled off a lot of plots before, and made a lot of people scared. But those were just scares. This time, it’s not going to be a scare. This is going to be life-threatening.”

Amina suddenly spoke, her voice tight with urgency. “I’ve got a lock on the backup extraction team, They’re moving. But we’ve got company.”

Mia’s eyes immediately darted to the rearview mirror. In the distance, a pair of headlights, moving fast, were gaining on them. “Nuradeen’s men,” she muttered, her jaw clenching. “He’s not wasting any time.”

The car surged forward as Mia pressed the accelerator, pushing the vehicle to its limits. The landscape blurred, the trees on either side of the highway becoming streaks of green. Kelechi gripped the armrest, his knuckles white.

The hard drives, still in his lap, felt like a ticking time bomb.

“What happens now?” Kelechi asked, his voice strained over the roar of the engine

Mia’s lips thinned.”We need to get to Kira’s extraction point before sunrise,” Mia replied, her eyes fixed on the road. “And pray we don’t have to use the last resort.”

“Last resort?” Kelechi asked feeling tensed

Amina looked up from her laptop, her face pale. “The drives. If we can’t make it to the extraction, if we’re compromised… there’s a way to initiate a remote, delayed upload. It’ll get the data out, eventually. But it’s slow. And it leaves a massive digital footprint.”

“I meant firearms, you both may have to use guns to slow them down so we can reach the extraction point. That is the last resort, engaged in a gun fight.” Mia pointed out firmly

Kelechi looked from Amina’s grim face to Mia’s determined profile. The stakes had never been higher. He was no longer just chasing Halima; he was in the heart of a war, carrying the very weapon that could either free them all or condemn them to a brutal end.

With that, Mia pressed onto the accelerator with the car speeding towards the rising sun, carrying them away from the chaos, but towards an even greater storm.

The world was about to change, and Kelechi, the reluctant catalyst, was now inextricably bound to its unfolding.

NEWLY ADDED CHARACTERS

1. Mia (Amina's Older Sister)

✨ Why This Chapter Won!

• Continuity: Perfectly follows Chapter 9’s cliffhanger—Kelechi/Amina escape with drives while Halima/Baba Segun create a diversion.
• Character Consistency: Halima’s strategic brilliance shines (scarf trick); Kelechi’s desperation feels earned; Amina’s tech skills advance the plot.
• Thematic Payoff: “Wealth” = Halima’s child (Alhaji’s heir) subtly reinforced through Mia’s urgency.
• Pacing: High-tension escape → car chase → sister conflict → looming gunfight escalates stakes naturally.
• Setup: Mia as “Kira” introduces a credible ally while deepening Amina’s backstory and raising new questions (military ties, Halima’s network).