The Last Call
*The Last Call*
Detective Kola hadn’t answered a call from an unknown number in 8 years. Not since the case that broke him.
But at 2:17am, his phone lit up. Unknown. He almost ignored it. Then it buzzed again. And again.
He picked up. “Who is this?”
Heavy breathing. Then a boy’s voice, maybe 10 years old. “Uncle, she said you’d help. She said if anything happens, call the man who never forgot.”
“Who? Slow down. Where are you?”
“A freezer. ShopRite Ikeja. I’m hiding inside. The men with guns came for Mummy. She pushed me in here before...” The boy started crying. “It’s so cold, uncle.”
Kola’s blood went cold too. 8 years ago, a woman had begged him to protect her son during a drug cartel case. He failed. The boy died. The mother disappeared. He quit the force.
“Listen to me. What’s your name?”
“David. Mummy’s name is Aisha. She said you’re Detective Kola.”
Aisha. She was alive. And now her son was trapped in a freezer.
Kola was already running to his car. “David, keep talking to me. Are you still there?”
“Uncle, I’m sleepy...”
“NO! You stay awake. Tell me about school. What’s your best subject?”
“Maths. Mummy says I’m smart like... like my daddy.”
Kola screeched into ShopRite’s parking lot at 2:31am. Police. Security. He kicked the freezer door open.
Empty. Ice. Blood on the floor.
Then his phone buzzed. A text. From Aisha.
_“Thank you for coming. Again. You were 14 minutes this time. 8 years ago, you took 22 minutes. He was already gone. Tonight, David is safe. I needed to know if you’d still run. You did. Now I can forgive you. And myself. - A”_
Kola sank to the floor. In the freezer’s corner was a small tape recorder. The boy’s voice. Recorded.
David had died 8 years ago. Tonight was his mother’s final test.
Some freezers don’t hold food. They hold guilt. And sometimes, closure.
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