Chapter 28: The Mechanic's EyesThe smell of burnt engine oil and wet sawdust hung heavily inside the Ebute-Metta sawmill. It was 2:00 AM, but nobody was sleeping. The upcoming election was just forty-eight hours away, and the atmosphere on the streets was completely suffocating.Adekunle lay on a wooden bench, using his jacket as a pillow. He was pretending to sleep, but his eyes were slightly open, watching the shadows.Near the lead black SUV, a small figure was crawling around on the floor with a rechargeable torchlight. It was Kazeem, Sledge's sixteen-year-old younger brother. Kazeem was a local roadside mechanic apprentice, a boy whose eyes could spot a loose bolt from a mile away."Sledge," Kazeem whispered, pulling his head out from under the car's front bumper. He wiped grease off his forehead. "Come look this thing. Something dey look strange for this engine block."Sledge, who was sitting nearby sharpening a rusty cutlass on a whetstone, paused. He frowned and walked over, his heavy footsteps echoing in the quiet night. "Wetin happen? The motor get fault?"Adekunle's muscles instantly locked. He stopped breathing, his ears straining to catch every whisper."No be fault o," Kazeem muttered, pointing his torchlight deep into the engine compartment, right behind the alternator. "Look this wire. E no connect to the battery, and e no connect to the radiator. Look the casing. This na military grade audio transmitter. Na microphone, Brother. Someone dey listen to us live."The whetstone slipped from Sledge's hand, crashing onto the concrete floor with a loud CLANG.The noise woke up the other five street boys sleeping in the corner. They scrambled up, grabbing their weapons, sensing immediate trouble. Sledge's face transformed from a relaxed expression into pure, murderous rage. He reached inside the engine bay and violently ripped out the small, black metal box, staring at it under the torchlight."A wire... a wire tapping bug," Sledge growled, his voice trembling with anger. He crushed the small device under his heavy boot.He slowly turned his head toward the wooden bench where Adekunle was lying. The entire warehouse went dead silent. The street boys surrounded the bench, their cutlasses and local pistols glinting under the dim bulbs."Chief pikin," Sledge said, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly low whisper. "Stand up."Adekunle slowly opened his eyes, acting like he just woke up. He sat up, looking at the angry faces around him. "Sledge, wetin dey sup? Why everybody dey look me like this?"Sledge walked closer, lifting his cutlass and resting the cold, sharp tip right against Adekunle's throat. A thin line of blood immediately trickled down Adekunle's neck."We check under the dashboard two days ago, you say na auto-lock light," Sledge hissed, his eyes bloodshot. "Tonight, my brother find backup military microphone deep inside the engine block. The thing dey transmit our voice comot. Adekunle... who you dey work for? Your papa dey listen to us?"The street boys clicked their pistols. Kazeem stood in the back, holding the torchlight directly on Adekunle's face to catch any sign of guilt.Adekunle felt the cold steel of the cutlass pressing harder into his skin. His tracking device was gone, his father's soldiers were miles away, and
