Black River

The dimly lit room at Olumide’s safe house was filled with tension, the kind that made even the bravest of men cautious with their words and movements. The walls of the room were lined with high-end security systems, a testament to Olumide's paranoia, built over years of climbing to the top of Lagos' black market. Yet even within these fortified walls, there was no real sense of safety today. Not after Femi’s murder.

Olumide sat at the head of the long table, his eyes scanning the faces of his closest lieutenants. Jide was flipping through a thick file of papers, while Bode paced the room, clearly unnerved. Olumide's face remained stoic, a mask of control that he had perfected over the years. But inside, rage bubbled. Femi, his closest confidant, the man who had stood by him since they were nothing but street rats stealing to survive, was dead. Brutally murdered, with a symbol carved into his chest that Olumide didn't recognize. The betrayal stung deeper than anything he had felt before.

“Bode,” Olumide's voice cut through the thick silence, low and controlled. “What have we found out?”

Bode paused mid-step and turned, his brow furrowed. “We’ve got people on the streets asking questions, boss. But no one’s talking. Femi’s death... it’s put the fear of God into them. Whatever this is, it’s bigger than the usual gangs. Even Lanre’s boys are laying low.”

Olumide clenched his jaw. “What about Taiwo? I’m hearing his name again. That bastard was supposed to be dead.”

Jide looked up from his documents, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “We thought he was dead. But someone’s definitely pulling strings, boss. Femi was looking into some transactions, transfers that didn’t make sense. They were small at first, scattered between shell companies. But in the last few weeks, Femi found that the money was funneling into a single account—an account linked to someone calling themselves Taiwo.”

Olumide's hands clenched into fists. Taiwo. That name carried the weight of a past Olumide had tried to bury, a ghost from their days as small-time thieves. Taiwo had been one of them, back when the crew was small and reckless. But greed and betrayal had torn them apart, and Olumide had assumed Taiwo had met his end when they crossed the wrong people. Apparently, he had been wrong.

"Why didn’t Femi tell me?" Olumide growled, the anger evident in his voice now.

“He was going to,” Jide said quickly, nervously adjusting his collar. “He didn’t want to come to you without more evidence. He was close to connecting the dots, but… well, you know what happened.”

A heavy silence fell over the room as Olumide processed this new information. Femi had been digging into something dangerous—something involving Taiwo. And now, Femi was dead, his life brutally cut short before he could expose the truth. Taiwo was back, and from the looks of things, he wasn’t just targeting Femi. He was coming for Olumide’s empire.

Bode, always the most hot-headed of the group, slammed his fist into the table, causing a ripple through the quiet. “Boss, we can’t sit around waiting for this Taiwo guy to make his next move. We need to hit the streets hard. Put the word out that anyone who talks gets paid, and anyone who keeps their mouth shut gets buried. If Taiwo wants a war, we’ll give him one.”

Olumide didn’t respond immediately. His mind was racing, replaying memories of Taiwo, of their old crew, of how things had ended so violently between them. Taiwo had always been smart, too smart for his own good. If he had resurfaced now, it wasn’t just for revenge. He had a plan. But what was it?

“Offer a reward,” Olumide said finally, his voice steady. “Five million naira to anyone who can bring me Taiwo's location. And Bode, make sure the streets know that anyone hiding Taiwo or working with him will meet the same fate as Femi.”

Bode nodded, already reaching for his phone. Jide remained quiet, his eyes flicking nervously between the two men.

Olumide stood, the weight of leadership heavy on his shoulders. “I want every single rat in Lagos running scared. Taiwo thinks he can outsmart me, but he doesn’t know who he’s messing with. We built this city, Femi and I. He’s not going to take it from me.”

Just as Olumide turned to leave the room, Bode’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and his expression changed from anger to confusion. “Boss, you need to see this.”

Bode held out his phone to Olumide, who snatched it from his hand. The screen displayed a message, a video file with no sender information. With a deep breath, Olumide pressed play.

The video was grainy, as though recorded on a low-quality camera, but the image was clear enough. It showed a dimly lit room, with a figure sitting in the shadows. The figure leaned forward, revealing a face that Olumide hadn’t seen in years. A face he thought he’d never see again.

“Hello, old friend,” the voice in the video drawled, a smirk on his lips. “Miss me?”

Olumide’s blood turned cold. It was Taiwo. Older, harder, but unmistakable. The screen flickered, and for a split second, the same symbol that had been carved into Femi’s chest appeared on the screen. Then the video ended, leaving nothing but the reflection of Olumide’s wide, furious eyes staring back at him.

He threw the phone against the wall, the device shattering on impact. “He’s playing games with me,” Olumide snarled. “But I’ll find him. And when I do, I’ll bury him myself.”

Jide and Bode exchanged a nervous glance, but neither spoke. They knew better than to interrupt Olumide when he was like this.

Olumide took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm raging inside him. This wasn’t just about revenge anymore. Taiwo was making his move, and Olumide had to be smarter than him. He had to anticipate his every step, outthink him at every turn. And that started now.

As he left the safe house, Olumide’s mind raced with possibilities. Taiwo wanted him to panic, to make mistakes. But Olumide hadn’t survived this long by being careless. Femi’s murder was just the beginning, but Olumide would make sure it ended with Taiwo’s blood staining the streets of Lagos.