Chasing Halima – Chapter 7

The vow hung in the air, a silent echo in Amina’s studio.

“My next move is to bring her home.
And if Alhaji Nuradeen stands in my way, he’ll have to go through me.”

Amina didn’t flinch. Her intelligent eyes, usually alight with analytical curiosity, now held a flicker of something deeper – respect, perhaps, or a shared sense of purpose.

She knew the gravity of Kelechi’s words, the sheer audacity of challenging a man like Alhaji Nuradeen.

“Good,” she said, her voice calm, cutting through the lingering tension.
“Because ‘going through him’ requires more than just courage, Kelechi.
It requires a plan. A very, very good plan.”

She turned back to her monitors, her fingers already dancing across the keyboard.

“The estate is a fortress. We can’t just walk in. We need to understand its pulse, its weaknesses. And for that, we need eyes and ears where we can’t be.”

Kelechi watched her, a renewed sense of purpose steadying his hands. “Drones?”

Amina nodded, pulling up schematics of various unmanned aerial vehicles.

“Yes. My modified stealth drones.
They’re quiet, long-range, and equipped with thermal and night vision. We can map the entire compound, identify patrol routes, blind spots, shift changes. Everything.”

She pointed to a sleek, almost bird-like drone on the screen. “This one. Perfect for urban surveillance. Minimal acoustic signature. We can launch it from a safe distance, well outside the estate’s immediate vicinity.”

“And then?” Kelechi asked, his mind already racing ahead.

“Then, we analyze the data. We look for weaknesses. Every system has one.
A blind spot in the camera network, a patrol that’s too predictable, a gate that’s rarely used. We find the crack, and then we exploit it.”

Kelechi felt a surge of hope, quickly tempered by the immense risk.

“What about the ‘wealth’ she’s involved with? What could it be?”

Amina leaned back, her purple braids swaying. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? ‘Wealth chased me here.’ It could be anything. Rare artifacts, sensitive information, even something as abstract as a unique skill or knowledge. Given Alhaji Nuradeen’s reputation, it’s likely something he wants to control, something that gives him power.”

She paused, her gaze distant. “There are whispers, you know. About Alhaji Nuradeen’s ‘special projects.’ Things that happen behind closed doors. People who disappear. It’s all very hush-hush, but the rumors persist.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“Experiments. Research. Things that push boundaries. But that’s just speculation.
For now, we focus on what we know: Halima is connected to this place, and Alhaji Nuradeen is involved. And he knows you’re looking for her.”

Amina pulled up a map of the area surrounding the estate.

“The best launch point for the drone would be from here,” she said, pointing to a dense patch of bushland about a kilometer away.

“It’s elevated, offers good cover, and is far enough from any main roads to avoid suspicion.”

“When do we go?” Kelechi asked, his resolve hardening.

“Tonight,” Amina said, her eyes gleaming with a mix of professional curiosity and a hint of thrill. “The cover of darkness is our best friend. We’ll need to be careful.
Very careful. If Alhaji Nuradeen’s people spot anything unusual, they won’t hesitate.”

As the day progressed, Amina meticulously prepared her equipment.

Kelechi, meanwhile, tried to calm his racing thoughts. He reviewed the TikTok videos again, searching for any new detail, any hidden message. He looked at the polaroid, the faint smirk on Halima’s face.

Was it a challenge? A plea? Or a warning that he was walking into a trap?
The thought of I.B. still stung, a reminder of how easily he could be manipulated.

He had to be smarter, more cautious.

_
As dusk settled, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple, Kelechi and Amina packed their gear.

The air grew heavy, not just with the approaching night, but with the weight of their mission.

“Ready, detective?” Amina asked, her voice low.

Kelechi nodded, a grim determination settling over him.

He was no detective, just a man chasing a ghost, but he wouldn’t stop until he found the truth, no matter how dangerous it proved to be.

They slipped out into the night, two shadows moving towards a fortress of secrets, unaware that their every move was already being watched.

They reached the designated launch point, a thicket of overgrown bushes providing ample cover. Amina set up her portable command center, a small laptop glowing faintly in the darkness.

Kelechi scanned the perimeter, his senses heightened, every rustle of leaves, every distant sound, a potential threat.
He thought of I.B., wondering if he was still being watched, if Alhaji Nuradeen’s network already knew their location.

The thought made his skin crawl, but he pushed it down. There was no turning back now.

“Okay,” Amina whispered, her fingers flying across the keyboard. “Drone’s up. Going silent.”.

A faint whirring sound, barely audible, faded into the night as the drone ascended.

On the laptop screen, a grainy, thermal image of the estate began to appear, slowly revealing its secrets.
Guards moved like heat signatures, patrolling the fences, their patterns becoming clear.

“There,” Amina pointed, her voice hushed. “A blind spot. For about thirty seconds every hour, the camera on the north wall is obscured by that large mango tree. And the patrol guard takes a smoke break right around that time, just out of sight.”

Kelechi felt a surge of adrenaline.
A window. A tiny, dangerous window.

“But getting past the main gate, or even the outer perimeter, is still suicide,” Amina continued, her brow furrowed.

“The security is too tight. We need an inside man. Someone who knows the estate’s true layout, the hidden passages, the old service tunnels.”

She paused, her eyes narrowing in thought. “There’s a name that comes to mind. An old-timer. Used to be Alhaji Nuradeen’s head of security, years ago. Before he disappeared. Rumor has it, he knows where all the bodies are buried, literally and figuratively.”

Just as Amina was about to elaborate, when Kelechi’s phone buzzed.

It was a message from Zara.

He frowned. She hadn’t contacted him since he left her guesthouse.

“It’s Zara,” he murmured, opening the message.

His eyes widened as he read it.
It was a single line of text, followed by a series of seemingly random emojis

“Kelechi, I just remembered something about Halima’s old art supplies.
She always kept a special charcoal pencil. It had a tiny, almost invisible mark on the end. Like a bird’s footprint.”

Kelechi looked up, confused.
“What’s this about a charcoal pencil?”

Amina leaned over, her eyes scanning the message. Her brow furrowed.

“A bird’s footprint? That’s… specific. And why now?”

“She said she just remembered,”
Kelechi replied, though even to his own ears, it sounded weak.

Amina’s fingers flew across her laptop.

She pulled up the @iseeu TikTok videos again, zooming in on every frame, every subtle detail.

“The ‘I see you’ account.
The ‘wealth chased me here’ caption.
The song ‘Kajẹ wa o.’
And now a bird’s footprint.”

She paused, her gaze fixed on the screen, then back at Zara’s message.

“Kelechi, this isn’t random. Halima’s sketchbook, the polaroid, the TikToks… they’re all part of a pattern. A language. And Zara’s message just added another symbol to the cipher.”

“What are you saying?” Kelechi asked, a cold dread creeping into his stomach.

“I’m saying,” Amina said slowly, her voice barely above a whisper,

“that Zara’s message isn’t just a memory. It’s a response. A confirmation. And it suggests that Halima isn’t just a victim trapped in a cage. She’s a player. And Zara… Zara might be her accomplice.”

Kelechi felt a jolt, a sudden shift in the ground beneath his feet.

Halima, a player?

The thought was both exhilarating and terrifying. It meant she had agency, a plan.

But it also meant he might not fully understand the game he was in.

The image of her laughing in the polaroid, the faint smirk, suddenly took on a new, unsettling meaning. Was that a smirk of defiance, or one of cunning?

“If Zara is working with Halima,” Kelechi said, his voice strained, “then what does this ‘bird’s footprint’ mean? And why send it now?”

Amina zoomed in on the thermal image of Alhaji Nuradeen’s estate.

“The bird’s footprint… it could be a symbol. A code. And the timing… it’s almost as if Zara is confirming that our presence here, our drone, has been noted. That Halima knows we’re close.”

She paused, her eyes narrowing in thought. “This changes things.
If Halima is actively communicating, actively orchestrating, then the ‘wealth’ Alhaji Nuradeen is after might be something she possesses, something she’s trying to protect, or even leverage. And her ‘breadcrumbs’ might not just be pleas for rescue, but instructions for a larger game.”

Kelechi stared at the screen, the ominous estate now seeming even more complex, more layered.

The simple narrative of rescuing a damsel in distress had shattered.

He remembered the memory of her arguing passionately about pepper placement in asun, her maddening brilliance, which now seemed less endearing and more… calculated.

“We still need an inside man,” Amina said, her voice cutting through his thoughts.

“Someone who knows the estate’s true layout, the hidden passages, the old service tunnels. Someone who can help us decipher this new layer of complexity.”

“Who?” Kelechi pressed, his heart pounding with a new kind of uncertainty.

He thought of Fatima, and how she’d mentioned Alhaji Nuradeen’s reputation, the people who disappeared.

This new character might hold the key to all of it, but now, even the allies felt like potential unknowns.

“Baba Segun,” Amina said, her voice barely a whisper.

“He was dismissed under mysterious circumstances. Some say he tried to expose something. Others say he just got too old. But if anyone knows the true secrets of that estate, it’s him. And if he’s still alive, he’d have a score to settle with Alhaji Nuradeen.”

Kelechi felt a new wave of hope, tinged with the familiar dread of the unknown, and now, a profound sense of bewilderment.

Baba Segun.

Another thread in this tangled web. Another risk.

But if he was the key to unlocking Halima’s cage, and understanding her game, Kelechi would find him.

“Where do we find him?” Kelechi asked

Amina looked at him, a grim determination mirroring his own.

“That, Kelechi, is our next breadcrumb. And this time, we need to be even more careful about whose trail we’re following.”

NEWLY ADDED CHARACTERS

1. Baba Segun

✨ Why This Chapter Won!

• Continuity (Excellent): Directly follows Chapter 6’s cliffhanger of Kelechi vowing to confront Alhaji Nuradeen.
• Linkage (Strong): Seamlessly connects all key elements – Halima’s “wealth” mystery, Alhaji’s estate security, and Zara’s sudden message.
• Character Consistency (Outstanding): Kelechi’s transformation from desperate pursuer to determined rebel feels authentic and earned.
• Thematic Resonance: Deepens the core theme of “chasing ghosts” by revealing Halima may be orchestrating events.
• Pacing: Perfect balance of tense action (drone surveillance) and shocking revelations (Zara’s possible betrayal).
• Originality: Introduces brilliant new layers to the mystery (“bird’s footprint” clue) while expanding established lore.
• Setup for Future Chapters: Baba Segun’s introduction creates immediate anticipation for Chapter 8’s developments.