Echoes In The Mist

by Rifi Strawn

  “Then we better clean up.” He unsnapped her shirt and took it off. Gazing at her, he unhooked and tossed her bra on the floor. His admiring gaze lingered on her naked body. “Damn. You’re hot.” Their dirty clothes piled by the shower door, as he turned on the shower in the all-white tiled bathroom. He smiled. “I have a feeling this will be the best shower I’ve ever had.” Kissing her neck, he gently played with her aroused breasts and kissed her nipples. Their wet bodies slid against each other as they touched and kissed.

  The glass enclosure steamed from the heat of their passion. His sighs and moans echoed in the hut and floated out the open bathroom window, as she tasted and savored his hardness. Taking turns, his kisses trailed from her mouth down to her most sensitive spot. Her body trembling from shudders of pleasure, she cried with sweet ecstasy. “Give it to me.”

  Fueled by her pleasure, he dove deep inside her. Nothing mattered. Their troubles behind them, they were only for each other.

  Aroused and tingling from the erotic shower, she wrapped herself in a large towel. After he dried himself off, he walked over to his backpack and took out something. “I have a gift for you.”

  “I’m one lucky girl.” She smiled and opened the small bag. A white gold bracelet with diamonds glittered in the lights as she slipped it on her wrist. “Wow. It’s gorgeous.”

  “You said the beaded bracelet didn’t match all your outfits. Will this one work?”

  She admired the exquisite design embedded with equally spaced diamonds in the bangle. “I love it, but it must’ve cost you a small fortune.”

  “Nothing is too expensive for my love. Each of these diamonds represents the babies we’re going to have.”

  She chuckled as she counted eight. “You’ve seen one too many lionesses give birth. I might not give you two cubs at a time.”

  “I don’t mind waiting,” he joked.

  The towel dropped as she hugged him. “What’s your mother going to think of us living together?”

  “I don’t need her permission.”

  “She’s so proper. I know she didn’t like us sharing the same bed in her house.”

  “She’ll get over this, too.” He adjusted the bracelet on her wrist. “Consider this a giant promise ring.”

  Her eyes glistened with tears of joy. “I love you.”

  He squeezed her in his embrace. “Oh, honey, you have no idea how happy I am to share my life with you.”

  Their lips locked in another deep passionate kiss. As she savored and enjoyed his sweet mouth, a tinge of guilt came over her. Would he still love her when she revealed her true identity to him?

  ~*~

  The next morning, Stanley woke before Jeremy. Unlike him, she’d dosed off during the helicopter flight back. He was sleeping like a baby. She put on her robe and tiptoed from the room. It was going to be another hard stretch at the rehab center. She’d let him rest.

  She made some coffee and spiked it with Amarula. Enjoying her hot sips, she stared at his desktop computer. After a glance at the time, she thought of e-mailing Neil. He should be up and would read it. The lack of communication back home had her a bit nervous.

  Stanley tiptoed to Jeremy’s desk and sat in the chair. Her fingers tapped the wooden tabletop as she eyed that screen. The temptation to break Aunt Zoie’s rules grew stronger each second. She paused with her finger over the power button. Was satisfying her curiosity worth losing millions?

  She startled from Jeremy’s vibrating phone on the desk. Hand on her chest, she caught her breath and looked at the number. It was the rehab center calling. Her pulse raced as she took the phone to him in bed. She prayed nothing terrible had happened to Tutu.

  After a few sweet kisses on his forehead, nose, and lips, she woke him up. He gently pulled her on top of him. “There you are.”

  Smiling, she removed herself from his tempting body and gave him the phone. “You got two calls. I hope nothing bad happened to Tutu.”

  He sat up and looked at the number. “It’s Lucky.” He returned the call. “Howzit?” His eyes grew large. “Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  Hand on her thumping chest, she followed him as he got out of bed. “Is Tutu okay?”

  “Not really. The chief is asking about her.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Okay, I’ll come with you.”

  Jeremy hurriedly dressed in his uniform. “The chief wants the elephant meat from the massacre. I think he wants to hold Tutu for ransom until I give in.”

  She dropped her robe and put on her panties and bra. Jeremy’s gaze lingered on her body.

  “Are you kidding me?” she asked.

  “I can’t help it. You easily distract me.”

  “Hurry up, babe. We need to save Tutu.” She buttoned her shirt and zipped up her pants. “How are you going to handle the chief?”

  He combed his hair with his fingers. “I’m not sure.”

  They walked outside, and she held her nose. The buzzards were hovering over the dead elephants in the distance. “I can smell them.”

  Jeremy drove them in the Rover to the rehab center. Moving in with him was risky. She’d struggled to stay away from the computer in his house. It was killing her not knowing what was happening at home and with the company. She was halfway done with her obligation, but how did she know Mr. Reed wasn’t scamming her? He was Aunt Zoie’s best friend, but she shouldn’t be so trusting of him.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lucky came running to Jeremy and Stanley in the rehab center parking lot. Out of breath, he opened the driver’s door. “The chief is very angry with you. No one makes him wait. He thinks you are being disrespectful.”

  Jeremy stepped out and slammed the door. “He can keep waiting. I’m not giving him the elephants.”

  Stanley’s pulse raced as she rushed after the two nervous men. “Stay calm, Jeremy. Don’t lead with anger.”

  Jeremy kept walking without looking back at her. “I’ll be fine.”

  Heart pounding, she noticed his puffed-out chest. “If you offend the chief, he’ll stop your village tours.” She lowered her voice. “You won’t get to play with the children and pass chicklets to them.”

  “The chief isn’t the only one who’ll lose. He’ll starve his people even more if the tourists stop coming to his village. It seems the human vultures are stalking the elephants, too.”

  Stanley looked at the chairs Lucky had arranged in a perfect circle for a memorial for the fallen elephants. Jeremy had planned the solemn ceremony to honor their decades of survival in the wild. Her teary gaze moved to the well-worn dirt path the elephants used for their daily treks to the river. She was going to miss their barks and trumpeting echoes. But if she lost Jeremy to the chief’s anger today, she’d mourn him for the rest of her life, just as Torrey mourned her husband.

  She looked at the chief standing with his head held high and blocking the rehab center’s entry door. His angry glare hovered above Jeremy.

  Stomach in knots, she squeezed and slightly tugged Jeremy’s arm.

  “I’ll be okay,” he assured her.

  The chief’s voice boomed. “You are not the man I thought you were.”

  Jeremy looked him in the eye. “Just like you, I’m doing my job to protect the elephants.”

  “They are gone.” The chief waved his hand. “My people are hungry.”

  Jeremy hesitated. “Did you or someone you know kill the elephants?”

  The chief backed away. “I have no desire to kill the elephants. I considered that herd part of my village. Every day wild elephants came by and never bothered the people.” His voice dropped. “But now they are dead, and I need their meat to feed the hungry. Don’t let the elephants die for nothing.”

  “I’m not letting you have it.”

  The chief pointed at Jeremy. “You do not love the children?”

  “I love the children that’s why I’m not giving up the elephants. I’ve taught them to love and res
pect them. They know these elephants, especially Tutu. They’ll be sad to eat their friends.” He did his best to reason with the chief. “That rotting meat is only safe for the other animals to eat.”

  The chief stomped his walking stick on the ground. “Then I will take Tutu. She’s going to die soon. She has enough meat to feed the village for a week.”

  “How can you take her? I thought you loved her?

  “She will die soon. Her meat will be good.”

  “I’m not giving you that baby elephant.”

  The chief blurted out loud in his native language and then spit in Jeremy’s face.

  Jeremy wiped his face clean with his long sleeve. “I’m not giving you any of the elephants—dead or alive.”

  “You will be very sorry.” The angry chief slammed the blunt end of his walking stick on Jeremy’s foot. “I will be back for that elephant.”

  “Son of a bitch.” Jeremy hopped and looked down at his bloody sneaker.

  Stanley ran to him. “Oh, my God, he hurt you.” She glared at the chief. “You big bully…don’t ever come back here again.”

  The chief raised his stick to strike her.

  Jeremy caught it in his firm grip and looked the chief in the eye. “No one threatens my woman—not even the chief of the world.”

  The angry chief spat on the floor and glared at Jeremy. “I will come back for the meat.”

  As the cloud of dust rose behind the departing truck, Stanley and Lucky helped Jeremy into the rehab center. They took him to an empty examining room. Lucky rushed off to get help.

  While they waited for Denise, Stanley removed his shoe. “Babe, this is going to hurt even more.” She slowly took his sock off and looked away.

  “It’s worse than I thought.” He cringed after one look. “It could’ve been my head.”

  She moved aside for Denise to inject some painkillers, and clean and disinfect his deep wound.

  “Where are your hiking boots?” Denise said. “The steel toes would’ve helped.”

  “I wasn’t thinking this morning.” He sighed from the needle Denise used to suture his big toe together. He distracted himself from his pain. “How’s Tutu?”

  The attractive local woman kept suturing him. “She drank a whole bottle of formula last night, and another one this morning. Her appetite is back.” Denise smiled. “Your TLC raised her spirits up and kept her calm.”

  “I’ll be over to check up on her,” he said.

  His assistant shook her finger at him. “You better stay off your foot today and let it heal. Now, be a good patient.” She slipped his foot into a sandal and secured it with straps.

  Denise gave Jeremy special care as she treated his foot. He seemed to like the attention when she touched him. Maybe, she’d nursed his other wounds before. There was something special going on between them. Stanley hoped it was nothing more than work.

  “I’ve never seen the chief act like this before,” Denise said, finishing her work.

  “Maybe he’s just throwing his weight around to save face and appear in control of the situation.” Jeremy leaned against the wall on the examining table. “If he wanted to hurt me, he could’ve done some serious damage to my head. I think someone is using the chief as a puppet.”

  Denise closed Jeremy’s chart after logging in her report. She gave him a pair of crutches. “Don’t put too much pressure on it, and give it a rest today.”

  “I’ll need more pills for the pain.”

  “Watch out, these tiny pills impair your judgment.” Denise gave him a full bottle. “Don’t take more than one every six hours.”

  Stanley tucked the bottle in her purse. “Don’t worry, Denise, I’ll take good care of him.”

  “Thank you.” Jeremy cringed as he put light weight on his foot.

  “What should I do if the chief comes for Tutu?” Denise asked.

  “I’m going to stay here all day to watch her,” Jeremy said.

  Denise looked at him. “And who’s going to watch over you?”

  “I guess I will.” Stanley smiled. “I can see he’s not going home.”

  “You know what happens when you don’t allow your body to heal,” Denise warned.

  “Stop worrying,” Jeremy said. “I’ll take good care of it.”

  He grabbed the crutches and stood up. Stanley stopped Lucky on the way to see Tutu. “Bring us three chairs. Two are for Jeremy to sit and rest his foot, the other one’s for me to keep watch over him.”

  Lucky smiled. “You are a good woman to take care of your man.”

  As they settled in their chairs, Tutu ambled over to see them with her big flapping ears. Her tiny wounded trunk moved over Jeremy’s face.

  He laughed. “You want some loving?” He stroked Tutu’s trunk and side until something distracted her and she walked off.

  “The chief is angry with me for protecting Tutu,” Lucky said. “Tabo is worried her father will force her to leave me for disobeying him.”

  Jeremy gave Lucky a sympathetic look. “You know, bru, I couldn’t do this without you. Tabo will never leave you. She loves you too much.”

  “I know this.” Lucky stroked Tutu’s head.

  Tutu gently stood close to Jeremy as he sat with his hurt leg propped on the other chair. She allowed him to stroke her ears and trunk without toppling him. Lucky and Stanley stood close just in case.

  Jeremy looked at his buzzing phone. “It’s the ranger.”

  After the quick call, his face turned red. Tutu pulled her ears back. She probably sensed his anger. Quickly, he softened his tone to ease the calf’s tension and informed them about the disturbing news. “The ranger is offering the chief twenty goats in exchange for the elephant meat.”

  Stanley sighed. “And?”

  “I didn’t want to negotiate. This new reward system will kill even more elephants and sacrifice goats. The ranger should’ve called me first before making the deal.”

  Lucky looked out the window, and his eyes grew large. “There’s a truck full of men driving toward the dead elephants.”

  Jeremy stood and grabbed his crutches. Breathing rapidly, he looked through his binoculars and saw butcher’s knives shining in the men’s hands.

  “They’re here for the meat.” He looked at Lucky. “Call the police, now.”

  ~*~

  Nervously, Stanly sat with Jeremy in the Rover as Lucky drove toward the massacre sight. As they got closer, the lion’s roars got louder. Jeremy fired his rifle three times in the air to scare them. The lions’ mouths were stained with blood. Stunned in their tracks from the blank bullets, the lions ran off.

  Stanley held her nose as she sat in the Rover’s backseat. The unwanted visitors drove off in a hurry. The putrid smell of rotting meat in the hot sun would’ve deterred anyone from consuming it, except animals. Nature was taking its course and supplying nourishment to the carnivores and insects of the bush.

  An hour later, police guards arrived to watch over the carnage. Jeremy supplied them with an herb to hold under their noses to mask the smell. He told them of his disapproval of the ranger’s trade with the chief.

  “I’m afraid this trade will encourage more elephant deaths and goat sacrifices. Now we’ll have two animals going extinct.” He looked at the police chief. “You have to help me take control of this situation.”

  The officer crossed his arms. “We can help you for a week or two at the most. Until then, you need to figure out a way to keep the elephants safe without our help.”

  “Help me catch the poachers, and we’ll find out who’s protecting them.”

  After his talk with the police chief, Jeremy checked on Tutu. Stanley was feeding her a bottle of formula.

  “Looks like she has her appetite back,” he said.

  She smiled. “This is her second bottle.”

  “Keep her occupied so I can take a look at her wounds.” He examined Tutu’s trunk, neck, and legs. “At least there’s no infection.”

  Stanley raised her eyebrows at him.
“Where are your crutches?”

  “I really don’t need them.”

  “You need to keep pressure off your foot. Use the damn crutches.”

  She drove Jeremy home to rest after more guards showed up to protect the elephants. He lay on the sofa dozing in and out of sleep. She cooked and washed the dirty laundry while he rested his foot.

  As she folded his clean underwear in the chair close-by, he opened his eyes.

  “Hey, honey. I can do my own laundry.”

  She folded and tossed his T-shirt in the laundry basket. “It’s no big deal throwing in your laundry with mine.”

  “I don’t want you to feel you have to clean up after me.”

  “You said to treat this place like home. This is what I’d do in my own place. I need food to eat and clean clothes to wear. Adding you to my daily chores is no problem.” She smiled. “I like taking care of you.”

  Eyes full of affection, he held his hands out. “Come here.” She sat next to him and kissed him. “I love you,” he said.

  “I love you, too.”

  After his short call with Lucky, Jeremy looked at her in confusion. “Out of the twenty goats that were delivered to the village, only four were served at the barbecue. I’d love to know what happened to the rest.”

  “Maybe the chief kept them for himself?”

  “I’m not sure. He shares everything with his people.”

  “The thugs must’ve taken them.”

  Jeremy checked the time. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I better get ready for work.”

  She lay next to him on the sofa. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re supposed to rest.”

  He smiled. “It’s my night to watch the elephants.”

  “Lucky can do it.”

  “He’s been working all day. He needs his rest, too. I’ll be fine.”

  “What about the extra guards that are out there? You and Lucky don’t need to work tonight.”

  “I don’t trust anyone with those elephants but me and Lucky. One of us needs to be there.”

  Upon Jeremy’s insistence, Stanley gave in and let him off the sofa. She followed him into the closet with the dart rifle. “I need to sedate you so you’ll heal faster.”