"People will know you killed us."
"Some will suspect, but they'll never be able to prove it. Not after the lions, scavengers, and African sun have finished with you."
"A forensic lab will be able to tell. This is the twenty-first century. It's almost impossible to cover up a murder. Look, reconsider, you could let me off at the next centre, and I'll phone Danny to pick me up. You could be across the border in no time and safe enough."
Gillery just laughed.
Laurie spoke to Hector. "Hector, you don't want to be part of this. Danny has always treated you fairly." Hector spat out of the open window, closed his eyes, and ignored her.
They traveled for nearly three hours on the main road before turning off onto a dirt trail and bouncing along at a much slower pace. Laurie held on to the door frame and dashboard to stop from being bounced against Gillery. She was dying of thirst and needed to use the bathroom. Surely they would have to stop soon, and then, perhaps, she'd have a chance to escape. She'd need the truck. This wasn't country to be out alone in with only the protection of a handgun.
Finally, Gillery drove off the path and bounced along a ridge above a wide gully. They rounded a steep outcrop of rock, and there before them in the distance was the Limpopo River. They came to a halt in a cloud of dust.
The men climbed out and started unloading the supplies from the back. Laurie undid her seat belt and went to open her door. Gillery clamped his hand around her arm. "I'm not going to tie you up. You were born in Africa, so you know you'd be lion bait if you try to escape on foot. If you're foolish enough to try anyway, we'll shoot you dead before you get fifty feet."
Laurie wouldn't give him the satisfaction of showing her fear. "I'm going behind those rocks to relieve myself. You keep your pack of jackals away from me." She pulled her arm free.
Gillery said nothing. Laurie got out and walked past the two men who were unpacking the supplies and hauling them into a cramped cave just a short distance from the vehicle. Hector stood guard with an MK 15 cradled in his arms.
Time passed. The afternoon sun burned down, and Laurie was hard-pressed to find shelter in the shade of the outcrop. It was preferable though to where she had been, sitting in the cave with the men listening to their foul talk as they played cards.
She had a canteen of water and some ostrich jerky. She had drunk and eaten as little as possible. She had a plan. It was risky,
even foolhardy, but she was damned if she was going to let Danny walk into a trap.
The sun edged towards the horizon. Off in the distance, Laurie watched three giraffe saunter on their stilt-like legs down to the Limpopo River. One stood watch while the others spread their front legs wide and leaned their long necks forward to drink. The giraffe was at its most vulnerable position when it was drinking. The animals were nervous, and their ears twitched back and forth as they drank. When they'd had their fill, they stood by watching while the third animal took its turn at the water's edge.
Hector stumbled out of the cave and squatted down beside Laurie. "Once we have Agia, he plans to let us rape and kill you. It doesn't have to be that way. I like blonde women. I could take you as mine. Perhaps 1 will, anyway."
Laurie kept her eyes on the horizon and pretended she didn't hear him. This was not the time to tell the bastard to go fuck himself. She felt the sweat trickle down her back, and Hector's body odor made her want to pull away. She forced herself not react to Hector's presence.
"Bitch," he hissed, and got up to relieve himself in some nearby bushes. It happened so quickly. Hector was standing there facing the bushes, and the next second a huge buffalo was charging at him, its head down and its massive shoulders bulging with power. Hector screamed. The animal lurched and dropped at Hector's feet as three shots cracked across the valley. A flock of great white egret squawked and took to the sky in the valley below. Hector sunk to the ground beside the deadly rack of horns that had nearly gored him. He had soiled his pants in fear.
Gillery, who had rushed out of the cave with the others, reached out and took the gun from Laurie's hand. "Nice shooting," he noted dryly. "I think I'd better keep this and your bag."
Laurie handed it over and went to sit by herself higher up on the rocks. She hadn't thought. She'd reacted and saved Hector's life. Now she'd lost the gun and the water and food she'd stored away. The cost of saving Hector's life was the realization that tomorrow morning, Danny would walk into an ambush and be killed. Tears rolled silently down her face.
The sun set, pouring crimson across the majestic landscape. The air cooled. The predators of the night stirred. Laurie slipped into the cave and settled down in a corner far away from the men. Hector, too, sat away from the others and nearer to Laurie. Neither
of his men had said anything to him, but he could see the contempt in their eyes. They had butchered the buffalo and eaten the liver and hung the shanks to be cut into strips and smoked or dried in the sun tomorrow. Then they had sat with Gillery, ignoring Hector.
Hector had changed his clothes, throwing his soiled pants away in shame and slipping into a pair of shorts. His men had believed he was the next Shaka. Instead, he had screamed like a baby and shit his pants. He was only alive because Laurie had chosen to save him, even though he had treated her so rudely. Laurie, sensing his reluctance to join the men near the fire, had brought him over some meat and a blanket.
He had failed. Failed in everything he had ever tried to do. He had trusted that the spirit of Shaka would give him greatness if only he believed. Instead, he had AIDS, like so many these days, and his honour as a warrior had been lost by his own fear as he had stood there in the bush, holding his own dick.
It was a long, dark night.
* * *
Danny was on the road before daylight. Within a few hours of dawn, she picked up Gillery's trail. He was leading her right to him. As soon as the outcrop came into view, Danny knew that would be the place. He had chosen wisely. The brush was thick on each side of the road. It would be far too dangerous to get out and track. Besides, from up there, Gillery had no doubt watched her from when she had turned off the road.
No, she would have to walk into his trap and hope she could get Laurie and her out of it alive. She stopped and picked up the ham radio mike. "Agia to police station six, over"
"We read you, Agia, over."
"I've found them. They're on an outcrop of rock some miles northwest of the Luvuvhu service road. I need backup. Over."
"We have a helicopter police patrol on its way. Stay where you are. Over."
"No can do," Danny replied and turned off the radio before she had to hear any arguments.
She dropped the jeep into low gear and headed up the ridge. She stopped beside Gillery's vehicle. Rod Gillery stood a few meters away holding a rifle on Laurie. No one else was in sight.
This was bad. If she got out, chances were that three rifles would bring her down. If she didn't get out, Gillery would kill Laurie.
"Danny! It's a trap!" Laurie yelled, rushing forward. Gillery fired, but his aim was jarred off target as Hector rushed out of the bush and tackled him. Laurie stumbled forward as she felt the pain of the bullet rip under her arm and enter her body. Her knees gave way, and her hand came away from her chest covered in blood. The world spun, and blackness closed in around her.
Danny ducked low and stepped on the accelerator, slamming into the brush and jumping out of the jeep, her rifle in hand. She took out the man in front of her before his finger had even squeezed the trigger. Then she rolled and turned to take aim at another who ran down the ridge. Danny lowered her gun. He was a boy and running away. Another shot rang out behind her, and she took cover.
"That's Hector, dead, Agia. It's just you and me now." Gillery's voice echoed around her. She kept low, staying in the shadows, trying to figure out where his voice was coming from. "Your little friend's dead, too, Agia. You couldn't save her," Gillery taunted, confident that his voice echoed off the rocks and made his location almost impossible to detect.
Danny forced herself to stay focussed. First, she had to get Gillery. She didn't let herself think past that point. She couldn't, or she would go to pieces. She moved forward, her eyes darting about, letting go of her civilized mind and thinking like a predator. He would be up in the vertical rocks. She dropped down lower into the brush, circling around, and then edging out under a lip to make her way around the ridge to the back of the outcrop.
For a split second, as she slipped from the cover of the brush over the side to cling to the rock face of the ridge, she'd had a glimpse of Hector's and Laurie's bodies lying in pools of blood on the flat rocks by the cave. Her stomach lurched and she fought back the rising bile.
She was very vulnerable to attack here. She needed both hands to work her way along the narrow ledge, and that meant slinging her rifle over her shoulder. If Gillery saw any rocks drop, he'd know where she was, and she'd be an easy target for him.
Fingers and legs aching, she edged along under the lip of the rock overhang. Now and again, Gillery called out to her, his voice carrying the tightness of fear. Good. He had no idea where she was. She edged into a crevasse filled with loose stone. Keeping her feet
braced on either side, she moved forward. She could see Gillery's back now as he looked between two rocks. All he had to do was to turn around and fire, and she'd be dead.
Sweat dripped from her face and darkened the rock as she slid farther along until there was a stable place to brace her feet. She readied her rifle, the crosshairs directly between Gillery's shoulder blades. "Drop the gun," she called out.
Gillery spun and lifted his rifle. Danny fired, and the poacher froze for a split second. Then he went limp and dropped heavily to the ground. Danny kept her gun on him as she inched closer. He didn't move. She kicked his rifle clear and bent to roll him over. He was dead. The bullet had shattered his sternum and ripped through his heart.
Danny ran to the top of the outcrop and jumped off, landing only a few meters from where Laurie lay. She was beside her in an instant. "Laurie? Laurie? Come on, damn it," Danny begged. Carefully, she rolled Laurie from her side onto her back. Laurie moaned, and Danny sobbed in relief. The bullet seemed to have grazed her right side just under her arm and exited through her breast.
Danny scrambled over to the jeep and grabbed a bottle of water and the first aid kit. Laurie's eyes were open when she returned. "Danny, are you all right?" she whispered weakly.
"I'm fine, love. Shh, you've been shot. Don't move. I'm going to try to stop the bleeding."
"I love you, Danny."
Danny leaned forward and kissed Laurie softly. "I love you, too, sweetheart." Danny worked with trembling hands to staunch the blood and to keep Laurie from going into shock.
When Danny had done all she could and Laurie had once again drifted into unconsciousness, she went to check on Hector. He lay on his back, his breathing coming in short gurgles. "Don't touch me, I have AIDS."
"Hector, I have to do something. I can't just stand by and watch you die."
Hector closed his eyes for a second, appearing to gather what strength he had left. "I will die anyway."
"You saved Laurie's life and mine," Danny said. She squatted down to hear better what he was saying.
"You tell my father I died well, not for me, but to give him peace."
"I will tell him the truth, Hector, that you died a hero saving us."
Hector smiled, but it was without happiness and the light from the effort did not reach his eyes that stared up into the blue sky. His body jerked and blood bubbled from his mouth, then it was over.
Danny stood. She heard the beat of a helicopter's blades in the distance. What was important now was getting Laurie to the hospital.
Chapter 14
Danny sat in the back seat of the helicopter and watched while the park ranger, who was trained as a paramedic, worked to stabilize Laurie's condition. Laurie's blood pressure was low, her breathing shallow, and she was cold to the touch. Danny could hear the ranger describing Laurie's symptoms to the doctor in Jo'burg. Treat for shock was the response, put her on an IV drip, if possible. It wasn't.
Danny could see small beads of sweat on Laurie's brow and heard her raspy breath echoing inside the oxygen mask the ranger had placed over her nose and mouth. Danny reached forward as far as she could in her safety harness and stroked Laurie's hair gently. She drew some comfort from the contact; she could only hope it did the same for Laurie.
The ranger continued to monitor her vitals and keep her as warm as he could. As needed, he adjusted the mix of oxygen he was administrating to her from the small canister aboard the helicopter. Danny wiped the sweat from her lip and tried not to panic.
Medical personnel were standing by when they arrived. They quickly transferred Laurie to a waiting stretcher and took her to be prepped for surgery.
"When was the last time she ate or drank?"
"I don't know."
"What medical coverage does she have?"
"I don't know that, either. She's Canadian. I think they have government coverage. Look, I'll pay. Just help her."
"Who is her next of kin?"
"Her father. He's in Canada... No, she has a hus... a son... I'm her... I'm her friend." Danny felt the heat of frustration and embarrassment. "Look, I told you, I'll cover any expense."
"You'll need to sign these forms. Edith, see if you can get the patient to sign a consent form for surgery. Where are you going?"
"I just want to see her," Danny said as she stood halfway through the door to the examining area.
"Listen, miss, you'll be doing your friend a lot more good by filling out as much of this information as you can. The doctor will need it."
Danny looked down the curtained hall of the emergency wing, wondering where Laurie was. She came back, took the clipboard from the nurse's hand, and sat down to fill out the information sheet. Once she had completed it as best she could and handed it in, she went upstairs to the recovery area waiting room. She waited for the next two hours, the longest two hours in her life. Her stomach was tied in a knot. Please be okay, Laurie, she begged over and over.
The nursing aide opened her sliding office window. "Ms. Agia?"
Danny was across the room in two strides. "Yes?"
"Laurie Allen is in recovery, and everything has gone well. As soon as she's moved up to a room and settled, I'll let you know."
"Thanks, thank you." Danny sat down again, feeling weak at the knees and with a blazing headache coming on. She'd need to find a police station and make a report, she knew, but not until she had seen Laurie.
An hour later, Danny quietly entered a two-bed ward. Awkwardly, she smiled at the woman in the first bed who sat knitting. "They only brought her in a short while ago, dear. She's on the other side of the curtain."
"Thanks." Danny hurried around the edge of the curtained partition. Laurie looked so small and white. An IV was in her hand, and a tube provided oxygen to her nose.
Danny came alongside the bed and leaned on the metal railing. "Laurie?"
Laurie's eyes fluttered, then opened with effort. "Hi," she said.
"You okay?"
"The doctor said I'll be all right. The bullet just nicked the muscle of my upper arm and missed any bone." She paused to get her breath. "Then it exited through the fatty tissue of my breast. You okay?"
"Yes. You go to sleep now."
"Danny?"
"Yes."
"Phone my dad."
"Okay. You rest now."
"1 love you, Danny," Laurie whispered, already falling back to sleep.
Danny felt the heat rising up her face. Had the woman behind the curtain heard? It was okay for people to say they loved each other. It wasn't that she was ashamed of Laurie loving her. It was just... well, she wasn't ready yet. Feeling angry with herself and suddenly completely exhausted, Danny lowered her head to the metal railing that ran around Laurie's bed and let the tears fall. Without doubt, the last few days had been some of the worst of her life.
The phone call to Laurie's dad had been long, detailed, and emotional. Danny was surprised to learn that Laurie's father had Parkinson's disease. At last, she realized why Laurie had suggested that Danny take over managing the Allen wineries. She wished to hell she hadn't been so insensitive in the way she'd said no. Drained, both emotionally and physically, Danny sat on a wooden bench waiting to talk to a police superintendent about the statement she had given. She felt like her well-ordered and stable life was falling apart at the seams. Everything she had believed in, everything she had loved, she'd lost.
"Danielle, it's good to see you." said Deputy Chief Ronald Perkins.
"Hello, Ronny. I had to come in on police business. I've just made a statement. I was involved in a shootout today. No, I guess it was yesterday."
Perkins nodded. "I read the report. Come on, Danielle; I'm going over to the Rand Club for lunch. You look completely done in. J think I need to take you under my wing."
"Thanks, but I'd rather get back to the hospital. Besides, I think that might put you in a conflict of interest. I've killed two men."
"I know. I'm the person who's going to decide if you're going to be charged or not. I need to ask you some more questions. This could be an explosive situation, and I need to be on top of things. I'm sorry, but I have to insist that you join me for lunch."
Perkins continued before Danny could object. "The parks department has searched the cave up there and found enough ivory and skins to convince them that Gillery and his men had a large and successful poaching operation." Perkins led Danny down the hall
and out into the fenced police parking lot. An unmarked police sedan was parked at the door with an officer standing by to chauffeur them. "By the way, they found the boy you were asking about. The poor kid was terrified and seemed glad to give himself up before the lions got him."
"I'm glad for that," Danny said. She was tired, depressed, and somewhat disoriented. Once settled in the back of the police car, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. Ronny Perkins had known her father. It had been Hans Agia who had recommended him for the police service years ago.
"I'm sorry about the manor, Danielle. Bloody horrible."
"Thanks, Ronny. We'll rebuild." Danny laughed bitterly. She looked out the window as they drove through Jo'burg. "Considering all that's happen recently, it's the least of my worries."
"The reporter who was shot?"
"My friend. Yes, I'm deeply concerned about her."
"I'd like to keep this as low key as possible. Naturally, the South African press is going to give it a good going over. You're well-known and from an old Boer family, and that makes it big news. Worse still, a white killing a black is always a very charged situation. I hate to say it, but it makes it easier that a white was killed too. It helps, too, that the Aliens are well known for their anti-apartheid stand."
"Having to kill either of those men wasn't easy for me," Danny responded, "and I didn't shoot Laurie."
"I know, but I have to look at the political fallout. That's part of my job. I don't want this story going international if we can help it. The government is trying to encourage tourism and business to South Africa after years of being restricted by a world trade embargo. We have to handle this one carefully."
Danny listened quietly, watching the old buildings of a past colonial glory and the new bold structures of a new order passing by the window. Crime rates in Johannesburg were high. The streets were unsafe after dark. Even during the day, attacks against whites and their property were becoming more frequent. She tried to look into the eyes of the people on the streets. To her, the black South African eyes looked dark, bitter, and angry. Those of the white population looked tense, worried, or defiant. What do people see in my eyes'?
The situation in the countryside was not much better. Farmers had their homesteads surrounded by electrified fencing, guard dogs
had become the family pet of choice, and homes were arsenals. A support system had been developed so if one farmer's property was attacked in the night, others could be instantly mobilized to come to their assistance. Whites were living in constant fear of attack. The vast majority of people lived peaceful, good lives, but the horror of the violence and hate reported by the press each day scared everyone.
Many farmers had called it quits, deserting the land that had been in their families for generations and emigrating out of Africa to start over again. It was a big and desperate decision, because money could not be taken out of South Africa. To leave meant to leave everything behind and start from scratch. Worse still, in Danny's eyes, it meant giving up your heritage, your pride in being African, your sense of self. It meant giving up on your country. Danny couldn't imagine herself ever doing that. She rubbed her throbbing temple. It was hard to stay focussed; she just wanted to get back to Laurie.
"Here we are," Perkins said as the car pulled up in front of one of the last enduring symbols of Boer colonialism. This private club, built with the profits of gold and diamonds, was a bastion of pride and a symbol of a time long since gone.
The manager of the club greeted them. "Good afternoon, Deputy Chief Perkins and Ms. Agia. How wonderful to see you again."
"Good afternoon, Hardt," Perkins said.
"Hello, Karl. You're looking well," Danny said. "How is your daughter doing?"
"She's gotten her doctorate in economics and has taken a position in Geneva with the World Bank. She's very happy and seeing a young Dutch lawyer of whom I much approve. Thank you for asking, Ms Agia," Karl Hardt answered.
"Give her my best next time you talk to her, and let her know I wish her well."
"I will, ma'am."
"We'll have lunch upstairs, Hardt, and then tea in the lounge," Perkins said.
"Cook tells me that the roast beef is a fine cut today, Sir," suggested Hardt as he took the Deputy Chiefs hat.
Perkins guided Danny by the arm and led her up the carved wooden staircase to the dining room on the second floor.
The Rand Club was a Victorian stone building. The carpets were Persian, and the deep pile muffled all sound. The walls were high and paneled in the finest woods or papered in rich brocades. Oil paintings of the stoic Boers that had led the country gave way to confident English lords, to be replaced by the quiet determined faces of the first black leaders of the new South Africa. Danny wondered what those early colonial leaders would think of having the portraits of black leaders now hanging beside their own. South Africa had come a long way, but Danny knew it still had a long way to go.
Chapter 15
Laurie was awake and feeling both sick to her stomach and in pain. Where was Danny? Mrs. Wilson, the lady in the other bed, showed Laurie the headline of the afternoon paper. "White kills Blacks!" The story headline asked: "Are Our Poacher Laws Being Abused?" It made Laurie feel even sicker. She knew Danny was going to take a lot of flack over this, and it wasn't her fault. She knew how hurt Danny would be to think that anyone would consider her a racist.
The article Mrs. Wilson read her gave a brief history of the Agias, emphasizing their wealth and power and how Agia, a park board member, often took matters into her own hands in tracking down park poachers. It gave the history of the three blacks Danny had killed and mentioned that she had also killed two whites. There was a statement from Fortune Abute to the effect that he was saddened by the death of his son, but that he did not hold Danielle Agia responsible. The article went on to suggest that Fortune was in a difficult position because both he and his surviving son worked for Danielle Agia.
The story mentioned the Allen's courageous stand against apartheid, but the article hadn't made it clear that Laurie had been shot by Gillery. Instead, it said that she had been regrettably wounded in the cross fire.
Hector's girlfriend had been interviewed. The reporter noted with sympathy that the young so-called widow lived in poverty in the Cape Town townships. "They killed him because he wanted the blacks to have the land back that has been taken from them by the whites. Hector was a hero and a champion of all black people," the girl was quoted as saying.
Laurie wanted to take action. It was important to choke this bad press as soon as possible before high feelings led to rioting in the streets and Danny found herself a political sacrifice. She had seen it happen more than once in North America, and it wasn't going to
happen to her Danny. She'd have preferred to talk it over with Danny first, but Danny hadn't shown. And Laurie wasn't prepared to wait any longer. She picked up the phone and dialed the TV station. "News Editor's desk, please."
"Linda Tambolti."
"Hello, Ms. Tambolti. This is Laurie Allen. I understand your station was trying to contact me. I'm feeling a bit better, and if you'd still like an interview for your evening telecast, I'd be willing. I think it is important to tell Hector Abute's story. He saved my life, you know."
"What? I thought Agia shot him as a poacher."
"Oh, no! Hector was working undercover for Danielle Agia. When Rod Gillery tried to shoot me and then tried to shoot Danielle, Hector dived in front of the rifle to save my life. He's a wonderful man. Danielle was brokenhearted by his death. She's very close to the Abute family. Why, Fortune Abute practically raised her."
"Ms. Allen, I have one of our city papers here in front of me, and they're saying this could be a racially-motivated shooting."
"What? Impossible. I was an eyewitness. I don't want Hector's bravery overshadowed by this sort of muckraking. I'll give you all the facts if you want to send a crew around."
* * *
Deputy Chief Perkins dropped Danny off at her hotel. She opted for a quick shower and a change of clothes before she went to the hospital. She let the warm water of the shower massage her weary muscles. She wrapped a towel around herself and went into her bedroom. Her eyes were gritty and heavy-lidded. When was the last time she's slept? Well over twenty-four hours ago. She flopped down on the bed to rest for a few minutes and fell fast asleep.
The phone woke her. "Hello," she mumbled.
"Danny?"
"Laurie! Are you all right? What time is it?"
"Seven fifteen. I just finished dinner. I've been trying to get you for hours. I've been really worried. Where have you been?"
"I had to make a statement to the police and then talk to the Deputy Chief. He took me to the Rand Club. He's worried that what happened yesterday could get the wrong publicity, internationally. It was very nicely done, but I was interrogated. I guess I fell asleep after I got back here this afternoon."
"Forget internationally! It really hit the fan today. One of the papers damn near came out and said that you were using the law on poachers to kill blacks."
"What?"
"It's okay, I think. When I couldn't get hold of you, I went ahead and made a statement to the media. I told them how Hector had been working undercover for you because you were sure that Rod Gillery was into big-time poaching. I explained how Gillery had kidnapped me to set a trap for you and how Hector dove in front of the bullet to save my life and yours." Laurie caught her breath and then continued.
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