“A sound financial plan,” Elijah said.
“So, who’s going to…never mind,” Casey said.
“Someone might want a vacation home.”
“Uh guys, think we got company.”
“What you mean?”
“Land Rover behind us. Been there for a bit. Maybe I’m just paranoid.”
“Common enough cars around here. Mwea’s a nature reserve. Folk go there all the time to spot animals. Folks in the car white?”
“Can’t tell from this far away.”
“Binoculars under your seat.”
Casey focused the binoculars on the Land Rover following them. Three white men were in the vehicle, which was rapidly gaining on them. One of the men was leaning out of the window with something in his hand…
“Might want to step on it. He’s got a…”
Elijah sped up and looked at his side mirror but saw nothing as the mirror shattered, followed a second later by the entire rear windshield.
“More toys under your seat, son,” Elijah said.
Casey rummaged under the seat and pulled out an AK-47 fitted with an under- barrel grenade launcher. He found two magazines and passed everything up to Ken and withdrew his pistol.
Hitting a moving vehicle from a moving vehicle with a pistol was long odds at best, but he raised his arm above the back seat and fired off two rounds in the hopes that he would hit something. He couldn’t tell if he hit anything because another burst from the following car sent him ducking.
Ken had better luck with the AK, firing short bursts back at the Land Rover and causing the driver to swerve wildly in an attempt to avoid the fire. He saw sparks fly from the front grill, evidence that some of the rounds had hit. Unfortunately, they hadn’t hit anything vital and the vehicle gained perceptibly. He ducked back in the car as a round hit the mirror on his side.
“Any other kind of ammo under the seat, bro? Like something for this launcher.”
Casey felt back under the seat and found some small cylindrical objects. He pulled one out and handed it to Ken.
“We’re in business now,” Ken said as he loaded the projectile and leaned out the window. The Land Rover swerved and the grenade flew by without doing any harm, exploding in the road 100 yards behind.
“Got any more of those?”
Casey found three more and handed them up to Ken. Ken was loading another grenade when there was a pop and the car swerved violently.
“Keep it steady buddy,” he said to Elijah.
“Buggers shot out a tire,” Elijah said as he struggled to control the vehicle.
Ken leaned out of the window again, ducked back in to avoid another burst of fire, and leaned out again. The Land Rover was only twenty yards behind now. He steadied the weapon and fired another grenade. It wasn’t a direct hit, but close enough. The grenade exploded near the right front tire, causing the driver to lose control. The vehicle rolled twice and came to rest on its side.
Elijah stopped the car and they all got out, leaving Tariq on the back seat. Another round missed Ken by inches and pinged off the side of the car. Apparently, someone was still alive back there. One body was lying still twenty feet away from the car, but that still left two people. What was the extent of their injuries? How much ammo did the shooter have? Casey got back in the car and searched under the seat and found a small box. Opening it, he found four RGD-5 grenades. The man behind the Land Rover was still reaching over and firing blindly, keeping them pinned down behind their own car. Casey held up one of the grenades and Ken brought his rifle up to his shoulder and nodded.
He lobbed one of the grenades and the throw was perfect, bouncing twice and coming to rest against the Land Rover but not exploding.
“Gotta pull the pin first, buddy,” Ken said.
Casey, already realizing his mistake, had another in his hand. This time he pulled the pin, waited a second, and sent it arcing in the same direction. The grenade bounced next to the car and skipped by, exploding directly behind. They waited a few seconds and there was no more firing coming from behind the car. Ken sprinted over to the Land Rover and found the shooter dead in a pool of his own blood, and another man crawling away. He ran to the crawling man and kicked him over onto his back. He was badly wounded. Ken put the barrel of his rifle at the man’s head and said, “Who are you working for?”
The man’s only reply was to spit up a little blood. Ken leaned in and repeated his question. This time the man said something. It was in a hoarse whisper and Ken couldn’t understand anything. He was about to repeat his question when the man convulsed once and breathed his last.
“Coast is clear,” he yelled, and a moment later Elijah and Casey appeared at his side. Casey looked down and said, “Looks kinda like the guy at the hotel. These guys are determined.”
“What would a bunch of white dudes want with the Pakistani Defense Minister?” Ken asked.
Casey took his phone out and snapped photos of all three assailants and sent the photos off to Ahmed.
“How do you figure they followed us?” he asked.
“Must have been another man on that boat,” Ken asked, “saw what went down there and tracked us here.”
“Nobody was following us out of Mombasa.”
“Probably had agents in Nairobi. Wonder who these guys are.”
“No identification on them at all,” said Elijah, “hired guns most likely.”
“But who hired them?”
“I sent the photos to the office. Jenny will find something out.”
“Well, let’s get going then. Wanna give me a hand changing this tire?”
16
Jenny woke up and joined Ahmed and Miriam.
“You guys got anything?”
“Nothing from Eastern Europe,” Miriam said, “Unless you want to know what Putin had for dinner last night.”
“Got a message a while back that Casey and Ken were in Nairobi. Had a bit of an adventure getting there, but they made it, and Ansari still doesn’t know they know who he is,” Ahmed said.
“I wonder how long they’ll be able to string him along. Eventually we’re going to need to see what he knows.”
“He was wounded and they have him hopped up on meds. He might be cooperative.”
“Until he figures out where they’re taking him.”
“Probably need to restrain him then…Hey…looks like something coming in from Casey. More photos.”
Ahmed flagged all three to run through facial recognition and read the message from Casey.
These guys tried to kill us north of Nairobi. Someone wants Ansari dead bad. Can’t leave yet. Plane ready tomorrow.
“Is Avi around?” Jenny asked.
“He’s asleep.”
“What time is it anyway?”
“Almost three.”
“Let him then. We should all be sleeping at this hour. What time would that put it in Kenya then?”
“Eight hours ahead. Wait…they don’t do daylight…so seven hours. Still morning then.”
“So, someone was waiting for them in Nairobi and tried to take them out when they got out of the city? This is serious.”
“If they killed the attackers in Mombasa…”
“There was someone else there, someone they didn’t see.”
“Someone who called ahead to warn another team in Nairobi. If the team in Mombasa was only there to kill Tariq, why have another one 300 miles away?”
“Maybe the other team wasn’t already in Nairobi and were moved in last minute.”
“Either way, we’re up against an extremely organized group here, and we can assume they have descriptions of our people. They know Tariq is with somebody. They might not know who. They might think someone’s helping him, but they’re determined to take him out.”
“What is that smell? Do I smell sausage?” Miriam asked.
Just then they heard a cart being wheeled and Earl showed up with heaping plates of eggs, sausage, toast, coffee, tea, and juice.
�
��Figured somethin’ was up when you didn’t come home,” Earl said, bending down to give Jenny a kiss.
“How long you been here?”
“Long enough to whip this up,” and in response to quizzical looks from Ahmed and Miriam, “Beef sausage guys. You’re good to go.”
“Thank you, Mr. Earl,” Miriam said, grabbing a plate.
“So, what’s up?”
“Complicated. Casey met Avi’s friend and they got Ansari out of Mombasa, but someone wants them dead. So far the score is 5-0 good guys.”
“Casey’s whacked five bad dudes?”
“He had help. Avi’s friend is resourceful.”
“Got a hit on facial,” Ahmed said, “Putting it on the big screen.”
The bios popped up—all former military—one US Army, one British SAS, and another Russian.
“There goes the Russian angle. So far, we have an American, a Brit, and two Russians,” Jenny said.
“Thought you said he got five.”
“Didn’t get a photo on the other one.”
“Does that mean I can stop paying attention to Russia?” Miriam asked.
“Keep it running on another computer to flag us if anything interesting shows up.”
“I thought I smelled food,” Avi said.
Jenny jumped and said, “You sure are sneaky.”
“No shoes, and lots of practice. Anything interesting?”
“Grab a plate and I’ll fill you in. Beef sausage by the way.”
Jenny brought him up to speed while he ate.
“So, you have a bunch of mercenaries after Tariq and our guys happen to be in the way, but we’re no closer to knowing who they work for.”
“Yeah, in a nutshell.”
“Doesn’t seem like we can trust anyone, not even your new friend at Langley. There is a rat somewhere and until we know where, we’re on our own. You haven’t given anyone Casey’s name, have you?”
“No, and thanks to you he’s traveling under a different name.”
“We can’t even assume that’s secure. We could throw a red herring.”
“What are you thinking?”
“You have Tariq’s new identity. Book him a flight. Book two tickets from Kenyatta to anywhere in Europe. Maybe Brussels. Use Casey’s other identity, same for Tariq.”
“And I assume they will not be taking this flight?”
“They’ll be on a flight, but not that one. Book them on the commercial flight and check them in. It might not work, but it’s worth a try.”
“So, you want me to make it look like they got on the plane?”
“Exactly. In the meantime, they’ll be on Ken’s plane on the way here, and we’re going to need that to be entirely under the radar. We need to get them here with no record, not even customs.”
“How easy will that be getting a private plane here without a record? They’ll need a flight plan.”
“And you’ll file one that will be used mostly, stops in Galway, Summerside, and ending here. He can fuel up in Ireland and Nova Scotia without any undue scrutiny. He’ll know where to stop.”
“We don’t have anything resembling an air strip, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“It’s an amphibious plane. He can put down at the lake and tie up at the bait shop.”
Casey sat on Ken’s back porch and watched the goings on at the lake shore. There were the promised gazelles, buffalo, some other deer like creatures he wasn’t sure of, and at least a couple hippos. He had his leg propped up and was sipping on a Coke when Ken walked out the back door with a tray of sandwiches and sliced mangoes.
“You hungry?” Ken asked as he offered Casey a sandwich.
“Don’t you know it. Dinner seems like forever ago.”
“Lot’s happened since then. Care to talk about it?
“Not sure. Didn’t think about it much when it was happening. I could have died last night, and again today.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Yeah, I’ve always said I wasn’t worried about dying, but it’s another thing when it almost happens. And I’ve killed three guys. Never thought I’d be doing that a month ago.”
“Why’d you sign up for this line of work?”
“Didn’t sign up for this at first. Jenny had this idea that we’d collect intel and turn it over and the right people would act on it. Seemed pretty cool. Didn’t take long to discover an attack. We gave them an airtight case and nothing was done. My sister was there when the bomb went off.”
“Man, that sucks, bro. You think you could have prevented it?”
“Dunno. Knew it was coming. Maybe could have stopped one, but there were bombs in different cities. I could have saved my sister. I tried, but I was too late. I was driving fast, trying to get there, and got pulled over. I would have been there earlier if I’d been driving slower.”
“Don’t beat yourself up kid. Million things could have still gone wrong. You get there earlier and you’re killed. Then what?”
“Then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Son, something doesn’t add up with this. You’re talking about the bus station bombings, right?”
“Yeah, we dug up good intel. It was a solid case to act on.”
“Avi filled me in. Whole thing stinks. You turn over good intel and nothing is done? Not likely. There’s a rat.”
“Well, they missed 9/11.”
“Apples and oranges, kid. You gave them this one wrapped up with a bow. It’s not like someone just missed it. Someone ignored it. That’s serious.”
“Why do you think I’m here?”
“You figured out what other groups figured out a long time ago. You need to be able to act on your intel. It's not such a clean game.”
“A game? Innocent people were killed. That’s not a game.”
“Just terms we use. Guess you’re right, kid.”
“I think about all those people every day. I wonder if I could have saved any of them. Maybe I could have gotten my sister out of there, but all those other people would have died. I don’t want that to happen again. If there’s anything I can do to prevent things like this…”
“Well kid, your heart’s in the right place. I’ll give you that.”
“I just want to protect people. If you would have seen Mama at Keisha’s funeral…”
“That why you went to Mombasa to nab Ansari?”
“Avi tell you anything about that?”
“Not much. When he asks for help, I don’t ask many questions.”
“You don’t get suspicious when a guy like that goes missing?”
“I’ve been giving it some thought. Does seem fishy, considering what he had access to.”
“More than fishy. He received a good chunk of money the day he disappeared.”
“What’s a good chunk?”
“Fifty mil.”
Ken whistled. “You think he sold one?”
“Can't ignore the possibility.”
“So, we have to sneak this guy back to your facility. Any of you guys have experience in interrogation?”
“No. It’s me and a couple computer geeks. Then there’s Avi. After what you’ve told me, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“I’ll get him there, and then we can figure the rest out.”
“You have a nice view here. You fish much in this lake?”
“Not much. Sometimes when the hippos aren’t around. Don’t want to mess with hippos.”
“Do they attack people?”
“They won’t eat you, but one will mess up your boat if you get too close. They kill more people than any other animal in Africa.”
“I would have never guessed.”
“Careless people in boats mostly. You live here, you learn which animals to leave alone. I can sit here and watch them all day. Suits me just fine.”
“So, where’d Elijah go today?”
“Nairobi. Checking on the plane. Annual maintenance.”
“When is it supposed to be done?”
> “Today or tomorrow. Your boss filed us a flight plan to Nova Scotia. Leave here, stop in western Ireland, another stop in Summerside, and then on to Indiana.”
“Indiana?”
“Well, seeing as you don’t have an air strip at your office, Avi will pick us up in Indiana.”
“Avi doesn’t have an air strip either.”
“No, but he lives near a lake.”
“How does that help?”
“Ah, speak of the devil. You hear that?”
Casey listened for a few seconds and heard a distant droning that got louder until he was able to recognize the sound for what it was, a twin turboprop cargo plane. He saw the plane a few seconds later as it descended toward the lake and splashed down, taxiing to small pier that jutted out into the lake. The plane came to a stop and a moment later Elijah Kimathi was walking across the lawn to greet them.
“She’s as good as new, boss,” Elijah said.
“Good to hear that. You brought her back here without a co-pilot?”
“Not exactly. James helped me with the pre- flight in exchange for a ride home. He lives over in Maragua. I volunteered you and Casey to drive him the rest of the way while I babysit our guest.”
“Is that the name of the plane,” Casey asked as he pointed to the stylized name painted near the nose, much in the manner of a World War II bomber, “Neye an gumi?”
“It’s not pronounced like that. It’s Nyangumi. You’re putting another vowel between the N and the Y. Americans always do that,” Ken said.
“Whatever. What’s it mean?”
“Whale.”
“Whale? That’s flattering.”
“She’s big and fat and she swims. Seems appropriate. Folk who don’t speak our language think it’s something more…I don’t know…noble. We don’t tell them any different.”
“Well, she does look kinda like a whale, but Nyangumi sounds more elegant. I like it.”
“There you go. I’ll have you speaking our language yet.”
Another man came from the plane and crossed the lawn to where Ken and Casey sat.
“You must be James,” Ken said.
“Yes, James Odongo, pleased to meet you.”
“Elijah says you need a ride home.”
“If you don’t mind.”
Wolf Trap (Casey Reddick Book 1) Page 12
