The excitement inside the speeding SUV began to cool down as they navigated the dark, pothole-riddled side streets of the mainland. The smell of smoke and adrenaline still hung heavy in the air, but the chaotic euphoria of the successful raid was slowly fading into a tense silence.Sledge was still driving, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the steering wheel. But his eyes weren't entirely on the road anymore. He kept glancing down at the dashboard console."Chief pikin," Sledge muttered, his voice losing its playful tone. "This your papa machine, e get level o. But why this small red light for under the steering wheel dey blink like this since we comot stadium?"Adekunle's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained completely deadpan. He casually leaned over, looking at the tiny, blinking red LED light hidden beneath the plastic paneling of the steering column. It was the hardware indicator for the military-grade GPS tracker and audio bug. The stupid mechanic at the barracks forgot to tape it over properly."Ah, that one?" Adekunle chuckled smoothly, leaning back into his seat. "Na the auto-lock system now. Once the motor speed pass eighty, the sensor dey activate make nobody fit trace the chassis number from outside. Modern tech, my guy."Sledge didn't laugh. He slowed the vehicle down, pulling over into a dark, abandoned alleyway beneath a flyover bridge. The other two SUVs pulled up behind them, their headlights cutting through the darkness."Hold on first," Sledge said, turning off the engine. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy, metallic wire cutter. "I look this light well. E no look like auto-lock. My brother wey dey work for clearing agent for Apapa port tell me about this thing before. This na tracker. High-frequency one."The other street boys in the back seat instantly stopped talking. The atmosphere inside the car turned cold, dangerous, and suffocating."Tracker?" one of the boys from the back growled, leaning forward, his hand resting on a concealed locally-made pistol. "Chief pikin... your papa dey trace us?"Adekunle knew that one wrong word, one second of hesitation, and his body would be dumped under this bridge before midnight. His father's military title wouldn't save him here; these boys were desperate."Are you people mad?" Adekunle barked, his voice exploding with sudden, aggressive anger. He didn't flinch. He glared directly into Sledge's eyes, using the raw arrogance he had learned to weaponize. "You think my papa is a mumu? If police stop us with three unbranded luxury SUVs after we just scatter a national rally, what do you think will happen? If the opposition thugs try to hijack these cars from us, how do we find them?"Adekunle snatched the wire cutters out of Sledge's hand, shoved his body under the dashboard, and aggressively ripped the red light out along with its wires, causing a small spark."I put the tracker there myself so we can locate the cars if anything goes wrong during the operation!" Adekunle lied smoothly, tossing the dead wires onto Sledge's lap. "But since your mind dey shake like woman, look am! The tracker don die! If you people don't have liver to do big boy operations, tell me make I take my motors go give another deck!"Sledge stared at the broken wires on his lap, then looked at Adekunle's furious face. The sheer confidence and aggressive delivery completely threw the street lord off balance.Sledge swallowed hard, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips as he started the engine again. "Ah... Chief pikin, no vex now. We just dey look out for the team. You know say election time, person eye must dey open.""Keep your eyes on the road and drive us to the safe house," Adekunle muttered coldly, turning his face toward the window.As the SUV accelerated back into the dark street, Adekunle let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. His hands were secretly trembling inside his pockets. He had managed to kill the tracker indicator, but he knew the main backup transmitter was deeply embedded inside the car's engine block—completely untouchable.The boys thought they had destroyed the snitch, but Chief Solomon's ears were still wide open, listening to every single breath they took.
