The Crocodile's Last Embrace

by Arruda, Suzanne

  “Liar!” she shouted.

  “Please, I don’t want to die.” He put his head in his hands and began to sob hysterically.

  “He’s no good,” said Avery. “I say we turn him over to Finch.”

  Jade took Avery aside and whispered, “And perhaps get ourselves arrested in the bargain for this charade? If Lilith really has taken one of the Girl Guides, she might kill her. Plus, how will we explain Sam?” She paced back and forth briefly. “We either need to keep Holly locked away or turn him loose and hope he leads us to Lilith.”

  “I hope you’re planning how to get rid of this bloody dingo’s body once I’ve shot him,” said Sam loudly enough for Holly to hear. “The likes of this one’s not worth keeping about.”

  Avery shook his head. “We won’t be able to follow him, Jade. We couldn’t even find him when we wanted him. But you’re correct that we can’t turn him over to Finch without everyone finding out about Sam.”

  “But if Holly goes off tonight we may never find him again,” Jade argued.

  “Then we’d better take him prisoner,” said Avery. He went to Sam and whispered to him for a moment.

  Sam nodded and sighted down his revolver barrel. “Happy to oblige, mate,” he said. “Since you won’t talk to us, you’re about as much use as a pouch on a male roo.”

  It was all the incentive Holly needed. He rolled to the side as Sam fired into the right front tire. “Don’t kill me,” he screamed. “I’ll say whatever you want; just don’t kill me.”

  “That’s a right clever choice, mate. Now, you’ve just had a nasty puncture and got yourself stranded. Lucky for you that I’m a Good Samaritan come to help you out. You’re coming with me. I’ll keep you nice and safe and in return for all your bloomin’ gratitude, you’re going to tell us everything you know.”

  Holly stood still, his hands in the air and his legs shaking. “I swear, I don’t know anything.” He looked pleadingly at Jade. “You’ve got to help me, Jade. Lord Dunbury, don’t let this man kill me.”

  Avery stepped up to Holly and clapped him on the back before grabbing hold of his shirt collar. “Mr. Fairley wouldn’t kill you, Mr. Holly. Why, he’s worked for me for an entire day and I’d swear to his even temper. Now you just come with us and we’ll keep you all nice and safe locked in one of my sheds. No one will get to you there.”

  Sam pushed Holly into the rear of Avery’s truck and sat beside him as Avery drove them back to Parklands. Jade emptied out the stone building that was used as a darkroom and shoved Holly inside with a lantern, a mat, and a bucket of water.

  “I can’t stay in here under these conditions,” Holly wailed.

  Sam cracked his knuckles and growled, “I can put you in there under different conditions, mate.”

  “Be a good lad,” said Avery, “and I won’t let him hurt you. But you know the Australians; they’re a rather hot-tempered lot.”

  “I’ve told you everything,” cried Holly with a whimper. “I swear. I didn’t know what was in the box.”

  Jade used the cloth to hold up the ear and thrust it under Holly’s nose. “Someone cut off a native’s ear and now is threatening to take one of the girls. Maybe has already. If any of them are hurt and I find out that you had anything to do with it, a crazy Australian is going to be the least of your worries, because, so help me, I’ll shoot you myself and toss you to the crocodile.”

  Holly gasped and looked to Avery for help. Avery simply shrugged and pulled a pipe from his pocket along with a pouch of tobacco. “Don’t look at me, Mr. Holly. I have no control over Miss Jade. Barely have control over my own wife, and none at all over my hired hand here. I suggest you cooperate with us and enjoy our protection rather than our wrath.” Sam took a step forward to emphasize the point.

  “Surely you don’t think I’d hurt a girl,” Holly wailed. “I did hope to get my money back just now and I like to chase a pretty skirt or two, but I’m not a kidnapper.” He looked at the barrette again and winced.

  “You know who it belongs to, don’t you,” said Jade. “Is it Mary’s? Did you help someone take your own niece, you low-down piece of hyena dung?”

  “It is Mary’s. I admit it. I told you on safari that I’d been given a parcel message telling me to give up my share of the mine. And there was an ear in it, too. A white ear.” He jiggled on his seat. “Oh, I was also told to take something of Mary’s to use as a joke on someone. I didn’t know what this person had planned. I just knew I’d be hurt or worse if I didn’t comply. I took the barrettes and the badge when we were on safari and left them in a post-office box.” He stumbled backwards against the far wall and started sobbing.

  “What box number?” demanded Jade.

  “One forty-six.”

  “Do we believe him?” asked Avery as he lit his pipe and took a puff.

  “He’s telling the truth,” said Sam, dropping his accent. “At least in part. He’s too spineless to lie when he’s that terrified. But I think he’s still holding back.”

  Suddenly Holly looked up and ran forward. “You’re not an Australian. I know who you are now. You’re that American pilot, Featherstone, aren’t you?”

  Sam launched a solid right jab to Holly’s jaw, knocking him back into the wall. Holly hit with a thud and fell to the floor. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Holly,” he said, rubbing his knuckles. He looked at Avery. “Keep that trash locked up and don’t let him out for anything.”

  Avery put some food in the darkroom, locked the door, and pocketed the key. Then, after alerting Beverly, they all went to the stables for a private council.

  “Should we turn him over to Finch?” asked Avery. “If we turn him loose, he may lead us to Lilith.”

  “No,” said Sam. “We can’t let it out that I’m back yet. He has to stay locked up here. Besides, Holly’s a dead end. Lilith has used him, and if she’s got half the brains that we give her credit for, she won’t show up anywhere near his hotel again.” He took Jade’s hand and squeezed it. “Do you think she really took this girl Mary?”

  “That’s the implication with that pin and barrette. We should know quickly enough. Beverly is ringing up Mary’s mother now,” said Jade. “But whose ear was that? Mutahi was missing an ear. Could it have been his?”

  Before anyone could answer, Beverly joined them. “I spoke with Mrs. Postlewaithe. She said that Mary is staying the night with Helen at the school. Helen boards there. I rang up the school but the headmistress was not willing to rouse any of the girls in their rooms just to see if one was missing. She didn’t seem to believe me when I said this was serious.” She sniffed. “As if I’d telephone anyone in the middle of the night for something frivolous. We’ll have to get the police to find out for us.”

  “Did the headmistress at least verify that Mary was sleeping over?” asked Jade.

  “She didn’t seem to know one way or another,” said Beverly. “It appears that she was away today. The school was left in the care of another teacher who has gone for the night.”

  “That ass Holly is really Mary’s uncle?” asked Sam. The others nodded.

  “Her mother is widowed,” said Beverly. “Mary’s father passed on last October. That’s why she looks to her uncle so much. Quite tragic.”

  Sam took the box and stared at the contents, his lips in a taut line.

  “Sam?” asked Beverly. “What is it?”

  “It’s too easy,” he said.

  “What is?” asked Avery.

  “Finding out if Mary was abducted. We telephone her mother, telephone her school.”

  “But we still don’t know for certain,” said Jade.

  “A ruse,” murmured Avery.

  “It could be,” said Sam. “To get Jade to go off to that farmhouse and rescue Mary.”

  “That’s my reputation, isn’t it,” said Jade, keeping her head bowed. “To go harrowing off like that.” She felt Sam’s eyes boring into her soul and blushed for the times she’d argued with him about her escapades.

  “Makin
g it very easy to capture you,” said Sam. “You thought the drugged tea and packages were part of a plan to get you to leave the safety of your friends. Holly was probably ordered to lead you to Harry’s for that very reason.”

  “We must ring up Finch,” said Avery. “He could go out to that farmhouse now and possibly capture Lilith. If he uses Jade’s motorcycle, Lilith might think it’s Jade. Then Finch would have an element of surprise. He can also convince the headmistress to look in on the girls, too. We won’t rest easy until we know that Mary is safe.”

  “There’s another possibility,” said Jade. “Lilith’s plan to get me away could be another, more serious attempt to actually abduct one of you for revenge.”

  “The children,” whispered Beverly, her hand to her mouth. “We sent Cyril back home with Madeline.”

  “The Thompsons won’t let him out of their sight that easily,” said Avery. “But I would feel much better if we removed the baby and you, my love, to safety along with Madeline and Cyril.”

  “Avery,” pleaded Beverly, “how can you ask me to leave you and Jade to that fiend? You must all come with me then.”

  “Bev,” said Jade, “my running off with you won’t help. She’ll only pursue me.”

  Beverly took a deep breath. “You and Avery are right, of course. But where can we go that’s safe? We decided before that Lilith might see us board a train or follow our Hupmobile.”

  “I think I know a place,” said Jade.

  “Where?” asked Sam.

  “St. Austin’s, the French Catholic mission in Ngong. I know the fathers there very well. They could put you all in the convent. We just tell Finch and everyone else that you’re going north instead.”

  “It is a good spot,” agreed Avery. “But how do we get them there without anyone knowing? As my wife said, our movements may be watched.”

  “We take a convoluted route,” said Sam. “I have an idea there, but this only postpones the final situation. Lilith may not have Mary or any of us now, but she is not going to stop until she has what she really wants, and that’s Jade, dead or alive!”

  “So what do you propose, Sam?” asked Avery.

  Sam stroked his beard, his gaze never leaving Jade’s face. “I have a thought on that as well. It came to me when I first learned of Lilith’s escape. Do you trust me?”

  “Sam!” exclaimed Jade. “I always have. You know that has never been the issue.” She ducked her head. “It’s always been me that’s the problem.”

  “No,” Sam said. “No. I realize that now. And you’ll have to trust me on that as well.”

  THAT FINCH WAS NOT HAPPY about being rousted out of bed at two in the morning was an understatement. That he was surprised by the reason was another. And while he hated to disturb the citizens, he agreed that it was imperative to ascertain whether Mary had been abducted. He also felt they should see to the other girls in case this threat was yet another deception.

  Many hours and several distraught parents and a grumpy head schoolmistress later, they learned that all the girls were where they should be and, as Mary’s mother had said, that meant she was spending the night with Helen at the school. The headmistress herself tiptoed into the dormitory and found an extra head beside Helen’s on her pillow.

  A search of Steven Holly’s rooms in the Victoria ensued. They found no trace of any other communications that could connect him with a kidnapping plot. Jade and Avery insisted on going along with Finch while Sam stayed hidden behind to guard Beverly and Alice.

  “If it weren’t for that ear,” said Finch, “I’d say that Holly made up the entire threat. I’ve known him for several years. He hasn’t got it in him to cut off a man’s ear. A shame he ran off.” He studied Jade’s face. “I’d have expected you to have shot him before you’d let that happen.”

  Jade maintained her best poker face and said nothing about Holly’s presence in the darkroom. “Is there any way to tell if that was Mutahi’s ear?”

  Finch shook his head. “Mutahi’s in the ground.”

  Jade pointed to the drawing of a moon eclipsing the sun on the note. “That’s Lilith’s trademark. I saw it often enough in Morocco to recognize it. How would Holly know that?”

  Finch frowned. “Perhaps he read it in one of Mrs. Thompson’s fictional accounts of your adventures. Wasn’t her latest book, The Kahina’s Hand, set in Morocco?” He pocketed the note without waiting for a reply. “So what do you plan to do?” Finch asked Jade and Avery.

  “Now that I know Mary is unharmed,” said Jade, “I’m going to fly Lady Dunbury and the baby to safety in the north, and then come back and take Mrs. Thompson and her son out next. They should be safe at the hotel at Naivasha with all of the people around.”

  “And you, Lord Dunbury?”

  “I intend to drive with you to that house at Longonot and capture this woman. I can’t have her threatening anyone else.”

  “Out of the question, Lord Dunbury,” said Finch. “If she is there, she won’t be alone. I cannot put a civilian in harm’s way.”

  Jade scoffed, remembering when she’d been nearly killed while investigating for Finch.

  Avery persisted. “I know more about this woman than you do, Inspector. And I’m not going to sit passively and wait for someone else to do the job of keeping my family safe. I’ll go with or without your permission.”

  “Very well,” agreed Finch. “But Miss del Cameron, you must remain at Naivasha with the other women and children.”

  “The hell I will,” said Jade. “If I’m Lilith Worthy’s target, then my proximity to them will only put them in danger again.”

  “Then stay at the Thompsons’ coffee farm. By tomorrow this time, we should have this woman recaptured and all will be safe.”

  AVERY HAD RISEN EARLY and sent word to a neighbor saying he had to leave for several days and to please see to his horses. Then he took Jade, Beverly, and Alice in his truck to Sam’s hangar before joining Finch in town. Sam had already left on Jade’s motorcycle, going first into town, then to the hangar, where he was waiting for them. He cautioned Avery to make certain that people saw him leave with Finch.

  “There must be no doubt as to who is flying the plane,” Sam had said.

  It was now time for Jade to go into action. Neville drove out to the hangar shortly after seven, bringing Maddy, Cyril, and Biscuit. Cyril wore a little cap tied under his chin, and both Maddy and Bev carried blankets to swaddle their children.

  Sam had just finished the preflight inspection but he continued to test the wires and check the wings. His own Indian motorcycle stood by the hangar with several bundles tied onto the back. It had been repainted from the scratched army drab to a flat black just before Sam had left. It was a fortuitous decision, as motorcycles were common, but Mr. Fairley could hardly have been seen on Mr. Featherstone’s machine. Neville delayed long enough to kiss his wife and son good-bye, then loaded a reluctant Biscuit into the old box-bodied car along with Jade’s Winchester, Beverly’s and Madeline’s valises, and satchels of baby clothing, bottles, and diapers. He drove northwest towards their proposed landing strip. Madeline had held on to Cyril’s hand when he’d tried to run after his father.

  Jade pointed to the bundles on Sam’s cycle. “What’s in there?”

  “Supplies,” he said. “Madeline, do you and Cyril want to go first?”

  Jade knew that her question was being evaded, but she stifled a retort, mentally scolding herself for questioning Sam. Instead, she retrieved the leather aviator’s caps and goggles from the rear cockpit and handed one set to Madeline.

  Madeline pushed them away. “Let Beverly go first with the baby. I hate to see them wait out here in the sun very long.”

  Jade helped Bev don the goggles as Sam gave the plane one final check.

  “I’ll leave on my motorcycle as soon as you take off on your second run,” Sam said. “Remember, we want people to see you, just like we want people to see Avery. Fly west first and get close to Nairobi. Then act like you have t
o follow the railroad to find your way north. There’s a good spot to land near Kinangop just east of Naivasha. Neville will meet you there.” He took hold of her by the shoulders. “Can you do this?”

  Jade nodded. “Yes.” She slipped a leather helmet over her black curls and tightened the strap below her chin.

  “Then let’s move the children.”

  Sam helped Beverly up onto the wing walk and into the front cockpit. When she was settled and had pulled down the goggles, he handed up Alice Merrywether, bundled in a blanket against the wind and the engine’s oil spray.

  Jade stepped up onto the recessed stirrup and climbed into the rear cockpit. She pulled down her own goggles from atop her head, retarded the magneto switch, and primed the engine. Next she turned on the switch and cracked the throttle.

  “Contact!” she shouted.

  Sam swung the propeller, moving quickly aside as the engine caught and purred. As she opened up the throttle, the plane raced down the makeshift runway, gaining speed. At fourteen hundred rpms, Jade pulled back on the stick and let the Jenny have her head. She felt the seat press into her spine, making her one with the machine as the plane sped forward. Then the rough jostling gave way to a smooth glide and the slight sensation of floating that came when she first leveled off.

  As she peered over the side at the neat rows of coffee trees and the Thika River, Jade couldn’t believe that so much danger lurked in the landscape. Only this time it wasn’t a crocodile or a hungry lion; it was a human. If one can consider Lilith a human.

  Jade had soloed only once before, and that time another human had interfered and nearly cost Jade her life and Sam his beloved plane. She pushed those memories to the recesses of her mind and focused on the task at hand. She turned west, the still-rising sun to her back, and flew in low over the Muthaiga and Parklands estates before heading northwest along the railroad.

  Below her, many people stopped and looked up, pointing at the yellow Jenny. I’ve been seen, Sam. Sam! He was actually back. She still couldn’t believe it. Wait until he’s shaved off that hideous beard and his hair has returned to normal.