What We don’t See

Part 2

8:00pm

A Land Rover Discovery 4 pulls up at the gates of the University of Eldoret. It's July and the cold doesn't joke. The Darkness and the trees make the place eldritch. The lights flicker and I move towards the car. The driver's window is rolled down and it’s Jess. I’m excited. I enter her car and instantly feel the warmth of the vehicle. Oooh! the seat warmers… my rump feels warm.

- My people buy good cars, seat warmers don’t come cheap!

We have an awkward hug. I’m taken aback. I ask,

‘Is this yours? the car’

Jess: Yes, I bought it from my last job. I want to get the jaguar F-type once I finish this gig. Lazima tu flex!

I look at her puzzled, she chuckles,

Jess: usishtuke sana, It’s all clean business nothing you can’t handle.

We drive off to her next mission.

8:45 pm

We stop at Iten View Point. We get out of the car.

Jess: Don’t you just love the cold air here, it’s one of those places where you can clear you can mind and relax. We should meet here when free.

I smile and say yes.

she takes a deep breath. Her Demeanor is relaxed and ready for the night. We stand there admiring the night light down at Kerio-Valley.

Jess: We are going to hunt tonight. Get into phones and snoop on people that are of interest to those who can afford me.

10:00 pm

We head back to the car, the back seat this time. She removes her laptop from the cabin. She moves closer and looks at me. I can feel her warmth. We share a fervid look. She grabs her laptop, opens it, and gets into the hack application. She has prepared her tools for tonight. I get a chance to look at how the program works. Jess creates one of those ads-gift links that are shared in groups for cash rewards and prices from blue-chip companies. You can’t miss them in any WhatsApp or telegram group.

Those ads prey on your gullibility and take advantage of peoples’ limited knowledge on personal privacy.

Jess sends this link to a telegram and WhatsApp group.

After an hour one of her targets- lets call him Tag 1-, clicks on the link and just like that we have access.

Jess starts to narrate how the malicious link works and what is collected.

1:30 am

Jess: With the right equipment I learn who you are as a person.

She says this with a certain finality that signals power over what you own.

She turns on the microphone and camera of Tag 1. The target is in a well-lit room with a few people. We listen to the conversation.

The conversation was ghastly. I could now grasp the worth of the information she collected. The front camera on the phone identifies the person she looking for.

You could see how she felt accomplished, in the low-lit backseat and laptop light I could see her pupils dilate with the completion of her mission as though it gave her a sort of high… Maybe it did, who knows but she…

2:30

It’s a long stakeout. We converse on how she got into this line of work.

Jess: I’ve always had an interest in knowing. Having information on who is who and what games people play in this wretched world. My curiosity brought me here. Nothing else.

The car is cold, she turns the ignition key on and the aircon is pushed to medium heat. I ask, do you ever get scared you might get caught by the people you collect info on?

Well, it’s fear I face every day. In this line of work, you make friends and enemies. Both are important to your success. The friends you make keep you safe and shielded. The enemies you make keep you alert to the threats that might come. They keep your axe sharpened, and as long as I am alive I am going to pursue what excites me.

She confirms the dilation.

We sit in silence for a minute. She peeks at her computer. Her second target is caught.

She looks uneasy.

3:00

The Mic is on. She can’t access his phone camera. We hear two other people in the area. The Target speaks demanding to know where an individual named Joka is …. ‘Wapi Joka!’. He speaks some gibberish. You could feel the commanding intensity in his voice. He is a kingpin of some sort, she says….

Something breaks. Joka arrives with someone else. The Target commands Joka to untie something and move it to another room. The words being used in the conversation are coded. It’s as if he knew someone was listening in.

Jess: I’ve been hunting this person for more than 6 months and I haven’t got anything substantial. She frowns for a bit then sighs.

We hear shots…..,rushed movement….. then static.

We look at each other. She quickly disconnects her software from Target’s phone. In a panic, she shutdowns her laptop removes the battery, and throws it at the back of the disco.

We stare at each other clueless about what to do next. We hear sirens…