by D C Macey
Smuts faced forward and fired up the engine. ‘Now, man, it’s been nice talking with you. I’m thinking we might work together, but first, I’ll need to do a little more checking, a runway’s a valuable commodity.’
Sam stayed calm. ‘As you wish. But be under no illusions, you’re not my only iron in the fire.’
‘No problem, we all have to be careful. But I tell you, I’ve got a thing going with the local headman - big game, big guns, no questions. For you, it would be sweet, man. Come right down on to my runway in that beautiful little exec plane you’ve got sitting at Arusha. I’ll sort your hunting - lion, buffalo, elephant, whatever you want. Then fly right back out again, man, perfect, we’ll make a real team.’
‘It all sounds good. But look, my assistant’s looking off colour; I’d like to head back to the lodge now please. We can talk as we go.’
Helen nodded an acknowledgement.
Smuts pushed the accelerator and selected a course that offered the shortest route back to the only way in and out of the crater. ‘No problem, man. We’re on our way. You got to keep the little lady sweet, hey?’
‘You’re right, Mr Smuts, I have.’ Sam leant forward again. ‘But, for the avoidance of doubt, Mr Smuts, I don’t play team games. If we go ahead, you will work for me, not with me, and so kindly drop the man. It’s sir to my staff, understand?’
Smuts shrugged, flashed his yellows at Sam in the rear-view mirror and feigned calm acceptance, but he couldn’t hide how his eyes burned with anger. ‘No problem, sir it is.’
Helen turned to look out of the side window, smiled to herself, just a tiny bit of the anger she felt dissipating when she heard Smuts being pulled into line.
‘Ha! That safari truck’s still following us. Well, they got a real treat with the hyena kill at lunch, but they’re wasting their time now, we’re heading straight out. Some of these drivers aren’t worth their lunch, much less their fee.’
• • •
Sam held the hotel room door open for Helen and followed her in; taking care to make sure the door was securely locked behind them. He walked past Helen and dropped their shoulder bag on the floor beside the occasional table. ‘Well, that was interesting …’
Helen pushed him in the back, and as he turned to face her, she punched his arm, hard. ‘Don’t interesting me, Sam Cameron.’ She punched his arm again. ‘And don’t ever do that to me again, right?’
‘Whoa, hold on, we were just setting the scene, luring him in. He’s that sort of man.’
‘Set any scene you like, but see these?’ Helen stretched her hands down below her shorts and gripped her thighs. ‘These are not lures to get some sleazebag on board, right?’ She punched Sam’s arm again. ‘Never. Now, fix me a drink please. I’m going to shower.’ She disappeared into the bathroom. As the sound of water spraying emerged into the bedroom, Sam gave a resigned shrug and headed for the fridge to pour Helen’s drink.
23.
Wednesday, 30th October - Evening
Mauwled sat on the low wall that ran beside the driveway. Half in shadow, he waved his beer bottle in salute as Helen and Sam approached.
‘Mauwled, good to see you,’ said Helen, as she sat on the wall beside him. ‘Why won’t you come into the lodge for a drink?’
Sam handed him a fresh bottle of beer. Mauwled quickly finished off his original bottle and placed it at his feet. He clinked the replacement against Sam’s bottle and Sam sat on the wall too.
‘Thank you. The lodge doesn’t like the drivers to come into the guest areas, so it’s easier out here. Did you have a nice safari with Smuts?’ Mauwled sounded sceptical.
‘It was very useful,’ said Sam.
‘But we had to cut it short. You were right; he’s not a nice man. There’s stuff we need to ask you, Mauwled.’
‘Sure, how can I help you?’
Helen fixed Mauwled’s gaze. ‘It’s about your past, when you were off the rails. Sam’s keen to understand what you used to do, it’s important.’
‘See, Mauwled, I’m trying to track down something that can’t be driven across the border. Well, not officially.’
Mauwled’s eyes widened and he half laughed in disbelief. ‘Are you trying to smuggle, Sam?’
Sam gave a little grin. ‘No, that’s not my bag. Somebody’s trying to smuggle something out of the country and I want to stop them.’
‘I can’t break any laws, Sam, if I do, I’ll go straight to prison.’
Helen rested her hand on Mauwled’s forearm for a moment. ‘We know that Mauwled, don’t worry. The thing is, one of Sam’s friends has been snatched …’
‘By Smuts?’
‘Well, we think by friends of his.’
‘Smuts doesn’t have friends. Only money and enemies.’
‘I can understand that,’ said Sam, ‘but he told me he had a private runway, to fly things in or out without any questions. A proper runway, not a landing strip.’
‘No there are no runways here. Not private anyway. There’s the tourist strip for light planes to land.’
‘No, that won’t be it. The place I’m looking for has to be remote, abandoned, and built for big aircraft. Linked to a disused mine.’
Mauwled shook his head. ‘Nothing like that here.’
Sam sat quiet for a minute, thinking carefully as they drank their beers.
‘There’s the illegal hunting, Sam,’ said Helen.
‘That’s right, Mauwled, apparently he could arrange private hunting in the district around the runway.’
Mauwled shook his head again. ‘No, Sam. Here at Ngorongoro, it’s too protected for illegal hunting, same for the Serengeti and Tarangirie too. You need bush away from the national parks.’
‘Is there much of that?’
Mauwled nodded and stretched his hands out. ‘Plenty, but not here.’
‘Hell, where can it be? You can’t just hide a runway.’
‘There’s a lot of empty land, Sam,’ said Mauwled with another quite solemn nod.
‘What was that stuff he said they were trying to mine, could that be a clue?’ said Helen.
‘Tanzanite. It’s a gemstone mineral that is found only in Tanzania,’ said Sam. Even in the shadows, she could see the expression on his face lifting. ‘It’s found in very limited areas. I know Smuts said the mine struck out, but surely, it would have to be in one of the recognised prospecting areas. The company that built it would never have been able to raise its initial funding otherwise. Helen, I think you might just have cracked it. Mauwled, do you know about Tanzanite?’
‘Yes, but it’s not found around here.’
‘Where is it found, is it far?’
‘I know of some areas. Way over, south of Arusha. Deep in the bush, very lonely places.’
‘Right, do you know the areas well?’
Reluctantly, Mauwled nodded. It was a time and place in his life he didn’t want to revisit. ‘There are some mines over there, but you can travel for days and not see one. I don’t know them, but there is illegal hunting there for sure.’ He looked down at the ground. ‘I know that.’
‘Okay, good. Now, Mauwled, think, did you ever see a runway for airplanes when you were there?’
After a long moment, Mauwled nodded, cautiously. ‘Maybe. I didn’t see it, but I remember some talk of it when I was there once. A rich man was coming in and my friend was to collect him and drive for him. I had thought he was making it up, to make me jealous - for the tips. I didn’t get to do the fancy jobs. I did the long-distance ferrying. But I remember where, I think.’
‘Brilliant, where exactly was all this happening?’
‘Simanjiro District. It’s wild land. I think it was near a place called Moypo.’
‘What’s there? Can we go there?’
‘It’s a long drive. I think more than a day, maybe.’
Sam stood, took a couple of steps from the little wall and turned to face Helen and Mauwled. ‘I’ve got some phone calls to make. Mauwled, would you plan a route? We�
��re in a hurry, but I don’t want to risk a night drive; actually getting there is the most important thing. So, we’ll need to break our journey overnight.’
‘We could go through Tarangire, stop there in a lodge or campsite; you’d need to book though. Then travel on next morning. I think we could be in Simanjiro by the middle of the next day.’
‘Okay, let’s do it. Mauwled, can you recommend a lodge in Tarangire to Helen? Helen, would you contact Elaine? Have her book an overnight stop with the lodge; at least we will be maintaining our innocent tourist façade.
‘Mauwled, we will want to get away before dawn. Can you get the Land Rover ready and pick us up from reception without causing a disruption?’ Sam waited for Mauwled’s response. He was mindful of the vehicle that had been following them. This seemed like a good moment to shake off their tail.
24.
Thursday, 31st October - AM
The sun was just coming over the horizon when a silhouetted man ran across the drivers’ compound beside the Ngorongoro lodge. He pushed open a dormitory door and shouted. It took the other three occupants only moments to jump up and hurry to the door.
All four men stepped out into the car park and looked around anxiously. Then their leader barked orders. One man sprinted for the lodge reception, another hurried to the crater’s rim to peer down and check for any traffic descending into the crater. The third man opened up his vehicle and started doing the essential pre-drive checks that ensured vehicles didn’t become stranded in the bush. Park Jae-In, the leader, went back into the cabin to prepare himself for what he felt was going to be a very big day.
News came quickly. First, the man who went to check the crater edge reported back. He could see a vehicle heading down towards the crater floor. It was Smuts’. There were no other vehicles on the way down.
A couple of minutes later, the other runner returned; Cameron and the woman had already checked out, they had left well before sunrise in their orange Land Rover, not with Smuts.
It was a big country; there would be time to catch up with Cameron. First though, Smuts was close, and Park knew it was important to find out what the two men had talked about the previous day.
• • •
Park Jae-In sat in the front passenger seat and berated his driver. From time to time, his angry shouts would spill over into violence and he would strike the driver on the side of the head or lean round and use the strap of a binocular case to slap the legs of the men standing behind him, their heads and shoulders protruding through the skylight.
To Park, it seemed that his boss Ro Soo-Ann had been right not to place too much trust in the South African. The previous evening, there had been no opportunity to get Smuts alone in the dormitories, and now he had slipped off ahead of them.
All morning, frustration had been building. His team had driven quickly down into the crater to question Smuts, but he had vanished. Now the sun was almost at its height, the heat was intolerable, and still, Smuts was missing. The crater was so large, it was almost impossible to find an individual vehicle.
Park’s mind flicked back to the previous day. He thought of Smuts taking Cameron on that long drive around the crater floor. Why stop for lunch in that isolated spot? What had they talked about? Had Smuts betrayed them? What did he say? Had he told Cameron about Ro? Was it a double-cross? Park shouted out in fury and slapped his driver’s head. ‘Find him! Find Smuts now!’
This morning Cameron was gone. Given a head start, he could be anywhere by now. So, he had to focus on Smuts; his location was known. There were enough questions to put to him, and not least would be - where had Cameron gone? Park’s problem now was Smuts had vanished too.
He shouted at his lookouts, whipped their legs again, then turned to bang his fist on the dashboard.
‘Hell,’ he shouted, ‘where is he?’
The driver braced himself for another blow but just as they came over a little ridge in the rolling grasslands that covered this part of the crater, he shouted out in glee. Park looked in the direction his driver was pointing and saw Smuts’ vehicle drawn into the shade of a solitary tree. Here, in the remotest, most isolated part of the crater floor, they had found him. They had their man.
A watercourse trailed down from the crater wall. Fed by the high-altitude microclimate at the top of the cone it kept a trickle of water flowing even in the driest of times. The stream passed behind Smuts’ 4 x 4, rounded the solitary tree and spilled into the adjacent reed bed, which it sustained throughout the year. The dark green of the reed bed providing a cool sanctuary for its residents.
Park could see Smuts regaling his customers with some story or other. An older woman and, what was probably, her adult daughter, the two women were about to eat lunch while politely listening to their guide.
Park pointed at Smuts’ vehicle and shouted an order. His driver executed the instruction to perfection, bringing his vehicle alongside Smuts’ and turning his front end in before he stopped so the bonnets almost touched, forming a V-shaped space between the two vehicles.
Smuts looked across in surprise and was about to shout an insult at the careless driver when he noticed they were Korean. ‘Hey, what’s up? What brings you out here?’
Park did not answer, just maintained a blank stare as he made a hand signal to his guards to get out. They jumped down into the V-shaped space between the vehicles and pulled open the driver’s door on Smuts’ vehicle. Smuts began to shout an objection, then he reached down beside his seat for the rifle he kept there. His action was too late; he was already half out of the seat and falling towards the ground.
Smuts grunted as he hit the earth. ‘What the hell are you doing, man?’ he said. Then his voice changed into a furious snarl as a man’s boot pressed down hard on the side of his face. He felt the boot turn and tilt as the heel was worked under his chin and pressed in against his windpipe. He fell silent.
In the rear of Smuts’ vehicle, the two passengers were crying, holding onto each other in fear. They gasped as the door was pulled open then shrank back in fear.
Park appeared at the open door. ‘Silence!’ He thrust his pistol towards the women. ‘Silence now or you die.’ Silence fell immediately. He smiled. ‘Good. Now listen carefully, women. You are nothing to me. Live or die, it doesn’t matter. Understand?’
Two very frightened ladies nodded back at him.
‘Women, give me your phones now. Give me your water bottles.’ He thrust his hand out and the women scrabbled to comply.
Park put the phones in his pocket and emptied the water bottles over the parched earth. Then he stepped over the prostrate Smuts to climb into the driver’s seat. There he took the ignition keys then rummaged around, found Smuts’ phone and pocketed it. He bent down to gather up the rifle, looking at it approvingly. Pulling open the bolt, he saw the magazine was full. Finally, he got out and, standing by the open driver’s door, raised the rifle and fired a single shot. The women screamed again; he turned cold eyes on them and they fell silent. The radio fitted to Smuts’ dashboard seemed wrecked. To be sure, he grabbed the microphone tethered on its coiled lead and ripped it out.
Park gave an order and watched as his men hoisted Smuts to his feet and pushed him into the back of their 4 x 4 where he was held at gunpoint.
Pushing the doors to Smuts’ vehicle shut again, Park raised the rifle. The women ducked down in terror as he shot out the side windows, shattering them. He put shots through the front and rear screens too then stepped back as his second man hurried to smash the screens in, clearing all the frames.
Park leant in through the open window frame. ‘Women, be quiet.’ The frightened crying subsided, and the women watched in silent and growing terror as Park got into his 4 x 4 and it drove off, leaving them alone in the bush.
25.
Thursday, 31st October - PM
As they bounced along the dirt track, Smuts remained firmly held between the two guards on the rear passenger seat. He had undergone a thorough interrogation. His face w
as bloodied but his confidence had not wavered.
‘I’m telling you, man, he was just a safari customer, some high roller from the UK. Nothing more. Now come on, I’m on your side, for God’s sake.’
Park wiped blood from his skinned knuckles, examined the damaged skin carefully, annoyed to see little beads of his own blood seeping out. He should have worn gloves.
‘So you keep saying, but Mr Ro will be concerned. I was watching you, why did I see Cameron give you this money? It’s a lot. You must have given him something in return.’ Park allowed Smuts’ wad of cash to flick through his fingers.
‘No, I’m telling you, it was a deposit for some big game hunting I’m going to arrange for him. That’s all.’
‘We are very anxious that you have not betrayed our situation.’
‘Why would I do that? Ro’s paying me a stack of money to get you guys out of Tanzania. I wouldn’t risk that, would I?’
‘Mr Ro doesn’t know what you’d risk for money. He will want to know exactly what you told Cameron.’
‘I’ve told you what was agreed. Now let’s call it quits, hey? I’ve still got those tourists to take out of the crater.’
The vehicle came to a halt and Smuts looked out of the window. Puzzled.
‘Ah, good, we’ve arrived,’ said Park. He barked an order to the driver who reached under his seat and produced a machete.
Smuts flinched; very quickly, concern was turning to fear.
‘What’s this man? Steady on now …’ his words trailed off into relieved silence when the driver hurried away. Smuts looked again at the location. They were on the lakeside beach where he had stopped with Cameron the day before. It was quiet here, it always was. ‘Why are we here?’
‘Because I don’t think you’ve told me everything, and I want you to do it now. In fact, I’m going to make you. You had your chance.’ The sound of chopping coming from a thicket of young trees distracted Smuts; he craned his neck to see what the driver was doing.
‘Look, get Ro on the phone. You’ve gone right overboard, let him decide.’
