Treachery in the Yard (16 page)

“What a crusader you are. What about Femi?”

“I was sorry about Femi, but I was left with only one choice. I have not personally killed anyone for a long time. I've been able to leave that to others.” He sighed, and finally looked away from me. “It won't work with you, will it?”

“No.”

I opened my suit jacket, to show him the mike and tape recorder. “We're done,” I said loudly, over my shoulder. Behind me, I heard Captain Akpan and his men walk in from the hallway, where they had been waiting.

“It's over, Chief.”

“Is this what I taught you?”

“Yes.”

“I was like your father.”

“You were grooming me. Eventually you would have wanted me to kill for you.”

“I was grooming you, Tammy, yes. But you killing anyone was never part of the plan.” He smiled with no humor, and in his eyes, for the first time, I saw a deeper hurt than I had ever seen in anyone before. “I had other people for that.”