Chapter 6: Finding Celine

Back in his car, Adam sat motionless for a moment, his hands resting on the wheel.

His thoughts were restless, turning in circles as though they were chasing each other without end.

A heavy silence filled the car, only broken by the faint hum of vehicles passing outside. He reached for his phone, scrolled slowly through his contacts, and then pressed a number with hesitant fingers.

“Hello, Adam Brooks speaking,” he said, his voice calm but carrying a weight of urgency.

He waited, his ear straining to catch a response.

The line crackled, but there was no answer. Adam frowned, tapping the steering wheel impatiently.

“Hello, someone there?” he asked again, this time louder, the edge of frustration sharpening his words.

“What do you want?” The voice came suddenly, rough and full of disdain, like venom spitting through the speaker.

Adam swallowed, steadying himself. “Listen, Bashiru, I have a job for you. I—”

“And what makes you think I’m looking for a job from someone like you, stupid jerk!” Bashiru’s interruption came swift, the anger in his tone slicing cleanly through Adam’s attempt.

Bashiru Adebayo was one of Adam’s old classmates back in college. Tall like a giant, black as coal, and so fat he was often mocked as a strange creature, Bashiru’s presence rarely went unnoticed.

His ugliness was a shield people used to wound him. Students laughed, insulted, and bullied him mercilessly. Adam was among those who mocked the most, even snatching away the only girlfriend Bashiru ever had then.

That wound had never healed.

After college, rejection followed Bashiru everywhere. No employer wanted him, no matter how polished his CV was. Bitterness consumed him, and so he turned it into discipline.

He trained hard, shedding the weight, building his body, and drilling his fists into skill.

He later joined the military, fought, endured, but was discharged five years later for disobedience.

His journey brought him back to the city, where he carved a place for himself in a private investigator and security firm. With time, his name carried weight in the streets, feared and respected in equal measure.

“Bashiru, I know we’ve had our differences in the past,” Adam said carefully, lowering his tone, trying to sound sincere. “Please, let’s put that behind us. I need you.”

The call went dead.

Adam pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the screen in disbelief. He exhaled long and slow, leaning his head back on the seat.

The memories of how he and others had mocked Bashiru returned like ghosts, unsettling him. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the pain he must have caused the young man.

And yet, Adam couldn’t escape the truth - he needed him now.

Rumours of Bashiru’s brilliance in security work had reached Adam more than once over the past two years.

He knew the man had what it took to go beyond the boundaries of the law, someone who could do what policemen chained by paperwork could not.

He also knew Bashiru’s influence in the streets was unmatched. Adam had already done his homework before this call, quietly asking questions, quietly tracing the man.

His phone rang suddenly, pulling him out of thought.

His mother.

The name flashed across the screen insistently. He watched it ring until it stopped. A second later, it began again.

Adam hissed under his breath and rejected the call.

He didn’t want her voice pressing down on him right now. Not in this moment.

Taking a deep breath, he dialed back Bashiru’s number.

“Two hundred grand,” Adam said immediately as the line connected. His voice was firm this time, leaving no room for hesitation. “Two hundred grand to find my wife and bring her back to me. Hundred now, and hundred when the job is done.”

There was silence again. Heavy silence. Adam could almost hear Bashiru breathing, slow and deliberate, as if measuring his words.

“Two hundred grand?” Bashiru’s voice finally came, laced with disbelief.

“Yes,” Adam replied quickly. “Do we have a deal?”

“Wait a minute,” Bashiru said slowly. “What kind of man goes around looking for his wife all of a sudden? Was she kidnapped?”

Adam shifted uncomfortably, adjusting the phone against his ear.

His throat felt tight. “We had a misunderstanding. She took off. The next thing I heard was that she was attacked and rushed to the hospital. I came there, only to be told she was discharged before I arrived, by a man I don’t even know. Please, help me find her.”

As Adam spoke, Bashiru’s phone buzzed with a notification. He opened his banking app, his eyes widening as he saw the alert.

One hundred thousand dollars had just landed in his account.

The numbers glowed like gold, burning into his chest with the weight of their value. Another hundred thousand waited if he completed the job.

In all his years of working as an investigator, no one had ever trusted him with such an amount upfront.

This was more than a job. It was validation, proof that he had become someone worth paying dearly for.

“I hope you received the upfront I just sent?” Adam asked, his voice urgent, anxious for a reply.

Bashiru paused, his voice colder when he finally spoke. “I’m not going to do this because of your money. Get that into your head. I’ll do it because it is my job.”

“Understood,” Adam said quickly. His lips twitched in a faint smirk he couldn’t hold back. Inside, he knew Bashiru was pretending.

Nobody receives a hundred grand and claims money is not the reason.

But Adam let it pass.

He wasn’t about to argue with the man holding the thread that could lead him back to Celine.