The day I decided to trail my cheating wife, to catch her in her adulterous act, was the day my world turned upside down.
I had been suspecting her of adultery for a while now. With her frequent unexplained travels, late night trips, secret calls, deleting of texts... The list went on and on. And when I tried to talk about it with her, she reassured me there was no one else. She said I'm the only man in her life. But how can I be reassured when these acts keep repeating themselves?
Eventually, I gave into the urge and I decided to follow her without her knowledge. She had told me she was going to a business seminar, organized specially for women, and it was to take place in Victoria Island, Lagos. She even showed me a ticket she had purchased.
I didn't believe her.
Without telling her, I took my long overdue leave from work and decided to follow her to this 'business seminar'.
That day, knowing she was to fly Economy, I decided to fly Business. I didn't want us seeing each other by mistake. The flight left Abuja right on schedule and our plane landed at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Ikeja.
The First Class passengers were the first to disembark, followed by Business before Economy class. This gave me time to hide before she got down from the plane.
She made a beeline for the nearest taxi, sashaying her way across as her handbag swung across her wrist. I watched her speak to the Driver, they got to an agreement, then she got onboard. I signalled another just as they pulled out of the park, hurling my own backpack by the strap.
"Follow that car." I told the driver.
"Sure sir." He replied, not surprised at all. Apparently, this was not the first time he had to do such.
We followed my wife's taxi out of the airport and soon, I realized she wasn't going towards the Third Mainland Bridge that would have led to Victoria Island. I knew, I've been there before. But now, I didn't know where she was heading to.
"Driver, do you know where they're going?" I finally asked.
"Yes sir. Isolo."
"What?" I gasped. Isolo was a popular part of Lagos Mainland. What would she be doing here? Who does she even know here?"
Obviously, the driver had no answer to that. I was not even asking him. Matter of fact, I didn't even know I had spoken out loud.
Our journey continued till we left the major roads and got to the streets. These streets were tarred and neat, the drainage systems good. As it was in the middle of the day, there were few people about.
"They are gone." My Driver said suddenly.
"What? How did you lose them?"
"I tried my best, they are probably--- see them!" The taxi we were trailing was exiting a junction up ahead. And it turned towards us.
"Oh boy." I muttered as the car approached us.
"What should I do?" My driver asked, his hand already on the gearstick.
"Wait." I hissed as the car sped towards us. I lowered my head to hide my face, but kept my eyes on the car. I watched it barrel past us.
My wife was not in it.
"No." I cursed, unlocking the door of the taxi. My wife had gotten off.
"My fare." The driver reminded me.
"How much?"
"Ten thousand naira."
"Ten what?"
"That's the price sir." He said, completely at ease. I knew he had hiked up the fare just because he knew I was in a hurry, and didn't have time for arguments. In anger, at my wife not him, I counted the notes and gave them to him.
I jogged to the junction and turned into it, I saw my wife walking hurriedly down the road before turning into an alley.
I followed her.
The houses here were upscale and rich looking, which meant the man she was cheating on me with had to hold a lot of money.
I slowed down as I got to the alley, situated between two buildings. I walked in.
She was nowhere to be found.
I walked further down the alley, looking left and right, for a clue... For anything...
There was a blur of movement to my left, I turned. Too late. I felt a huge weight slam into my chest, shoving me hard against the wall. Then I felt the sharp edge of a dagger against my throat.
"Who the... Stanley?" My wife's voice hitched on my name, her face plastered in shock.
"Oh my God." I gasped in terror, my eyes on the blade.
"Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else." She removed the dagger, and raising her gown by the slit, slid it into it's sheath around her thigh. "Why did you follow me?"
I couldn't speak. I couldn't think. I could only look at her. She looked like a different person. She must have applied serious make-up on the flight over because she had no resemblance to my wife. But it was her alright, I would know that voice anywhere.
"Hey, don't black out on me." She slapped me on the cheek. I could see she was reining in on her temper. "Why on earth would you follow me? All the way from Abuja?"
"I came here to catch you with your lover." I told her, not bothering to mince words. I felt the anger I had brought with me from Abuja bubble up to the surface once more. "Obviously I was wrong."
"Stanley..."
"You don't come to see a man with a dagger in your thigh. Why are you here?" I grabbed her handbag suddenly, she resisted, upsetting it's contents. I watched as a pistol plopped out and clattered to the ground. She whisked it up immediately and returned it into the bag.
"Jesus Christ!" I cried, "what are you doing with a g---" she slapped her palm over my mouth, silencing me at once.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to kill yourself?" She rasped angrily, shoving me against the wall once more.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her back, ignoring her question. "And with a gun? Who are you?"
There was a moment of silence as we stared into each other's eyes. I thought she would ignore my questions, I was prepared to ask them again. But she released me, the fire leaving her eyes as stepped back. Away from me.
"I'm here to kill someone, Stanley." She told me, "the gun is my professional tool. Yes, I'm a killer-for-hire."
This story is based on the Inkwell
prompt "a man discovers his wife
is a killer for hire".
Do well to try it out.
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STOPA great story. A wonderful interpretation of the prompt. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in Nigeria! The reader is ready for all kinds of possibilities, but not this one. Not a professional killer. You build suspense as the narrative progresses. Your internal dialogue is convincing. Even your interaction with the driver is realistic.
Well done! Thank you for submitting this entertaining story to the Ink Well.
I'm really happy you enjoyed the story, thank you very much.
Hello @bruno-kema,
What an idea! All kinds of things ran through my head as the chase continued. A killer for hire. Just wonderful. This suspicion certainly cost the gentleman a lot of money. Business class. An unscrupulous taxi driver. Perhaps the title, "The Cheat", refers to him :)).
Well constructed, believable and entertaining. Thank you for submitting this story to the Ink Well.
Thank you @agmoore, I'm glad I submitted it to the community
This is great. We wonder what Stanley will discover. And then, she's a contract killer! That is a really strong ending. And the suspense leading up to it was also really good.
Thank you very much @pokerm, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Really enjoyed your story, @bruno-kema! The suspense is terrific. And your writing style is beautifully paced, with excellent dialog. I love what you did with the prompt!
One small note for you: please be sure to choose images from creative commons and license free sites like Pixabay, Pexels and Unsplash - or your own, of course. Images you find on Google and other websites are copyright protected and shouldn't be used. Thanks!
Thank you for reading @jayna, really happy you find it interesting.
And for the images, I'll take note of your advice.
Thank you.
You create such an interesting story, I read it and it's like glimpsing a movie. You have a talent for describing events.
Regards
Thank you very much @ricardo993, i feel there's still space for improvement though.
I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
Yes, absolutely right @dwixer, even I can only imagine how life will be for them now.