The Crocodile's Last Embrace

by Arruda, Suzanne

  TIME HALTED THE INSTANT SAM STEPPED OFF the plane and into emptiness. He closed his eyes, feeling the air buffet his clothes. He heard his plane sputter once and then go silent. When he opened his eyes, he saw his Jenny blur away from him and he fought the urge to call to her.

  Then a sudden jerk grabbed at his groin and chest. The static line reached the end of its brief tether, snapping taut. He might have heard a brief rip; he wasn’t sure with the wind and his heart in his ears. A clear whoomp reached him as his parachute silk burst forth from the open pack and unfurled. Sam felt as though he were being pulled upwards and then released to float motionless in the sky. Now all his attention was focused on his plane as she stalled and plummeted, spinning as if the entire plane were a propeller desperately trying to keep itself aloft.

  “Good-bye, my friend,” he whispered. The wind swept the words away.

  The Jenny sped downward, eager to fulfill her part of the sacrifice. She became a pale yellow blur of wings and wood, turning in a graceful pirouette, dancing with the sky. Sam watched as she struck the ground and shattered into an irreparable mess. He heard the spruce wood crack and splinter like so many bones snapping and felt the phantom pain sear into his own wooden leg. Sam noted with growing concern that the wrecked Jenny and the ground were rising to meet him faster and faster.

  How could that be? He was hovering, wasn’t he? But that illusion of floating disappeared as he approached the ground. Quickly he searched his memory for everything the Bert boys had told him.

  Don’t keep your legs stiff. Roll when you fall.

  He was pretty sure his wooden leg could take the shock, but he didn’t think he wanted the prosthetic pushed up any higher into his knee.

  The ground leaped up towards him, a green and golden blur. He flexed his legs, felt the force striking his left foot and his right knee, and quickly rolled, the chute drifting over him and swaddling him in silk.

  Sam lay still for a moment, forcing himself to breathe and waiting for his pounding pulse to slow down.

  I did it!

  His pulse quickened, but this time with exhilaration rather than fear. Did this make him a member of Irvin’s caterpillar club? Probably not, since one needed to jump from a disabled plane. Did it count if he’d disabled it himself? It didn’t matter. He was alive.

  “Whoo-hoo!” he shouted from under the silk. He pulled and tugged at the chute, crawling out from under, and stood. Another shout swelled within his chest, then died out as he beheld his beautiful plane lying in a crumpled heap not far away. The rush from the danger turned into grief for a lover. Sam gathered up the silks and walked the few hundred yards to his plane.

  He found the tail first. Farther away the nose, or what was left of it, had ended up pointing skyward after her roll and flip. Now the propeller spun with squeaking groans as though she were breathing her last. Sam pulled his sidearm, took aim at the fuselage, and fired.

  “Rest in peace.”

  Then he dropped the chute and climbed out of his harness. Sam pulled the tightly packed bundle from inside of his leather jacket and opened it. He took out a pair of Jade’s jodhpurs and her white linen shirt, each ripped and shredded. Sam arranged them inside of and under the harness and snagged one of the lines on the rudder.

  He pulled out a file and worried the rudder cable until he could snap it. That should make it look like sabotage and give a reason for Jade’s jump. Finally Sam opened his canteen and poured goat’s blood over the clothes. He tossed part of a boot complete with a knife beside the entire mess and drizzled the rest of the blood on it. He stepped back to evaluate the results.

  Wild animals rarely left much for remains, sometimes even eating the clothing. If his illusion worked, it would appear that Jade hadn’t survived the jump and that a passing lion had devoured her body. With any luck, jackals or other scavengers would soon smell the blood and finish the job, adding that last touch of verisimilitude to his scene. There was time for that. The search wouldn’t begin until tomorrow morning.

  And the scavengers may be here sooner than you’d like. Sam scanned the horizon, searching for movement. Seeing none, he holstered his revolver, took his bearings, and headed towards Thika and the Thompsons’ farm.

  CHAPTER 24

  Hunters report finding everything inside of a croc’s stomach: antelope

  horn, porcupine quills, stones, and, sadly, necklaces and bracelets.

  —The Traveler

  WHEN AVERY JOINED THEM AT THE MISSION, he had little to report. Jade met him outside the convent door with a cup of coffee, a chicken leg, and a loaf of bread that Bev had saved for him. Bev, Maddy, and the children were effectively cloistered within, away from prying eyes.

  “Finch and I found nothing at that Longonot farmhouse,” Avery said.

  Jade hardly had ears for what she’d already surmised. “I just hope Sam made it back safely,” she said.

  “I should imagine he’s fine,” Avery said after downing the coffee. “I haven’t heard to the contrary. Why would you think otherwise?” He bit into the chicken.

  “Because he crashed his plane to make it seem that I’m dead.”

  Avery nearly choked on the chicken. “Bloody hell. I should have seen that myself. And now that you’re gone Lilith has no target.”

  “Sam said that he had a plan to draw her out now. A combination of information and blackmail. We plan to flush that mongrel hyena’s whelp out of wherever she’s hiding.”

  “I take it you are not surprised that we found nothing at Longonot. Not sure she was ever there.”

  “Such an open place,” Jade said with a shrug. “She’d have a hard time escaping unnoticed and she could hardly expect that the police wouldn’t show. Do you know what Finch’s plans are?”

  Avery shook his head. “He was still searching the area when I left. I believe he was actually quite happy to see me off. I made him nervous. I did overhear him order one of his men to remain behind until he sent for him. In case Lilith did show. I doubt they’ll leave him there for long. The force is spread too thinly as it is, and there’s more trouble in the Indian district over the sanitation and plague problems. If the newspapers are correct, I expect riots any day. And if you crashed, then Finch will probably be involved in the search for your remains. Ah,” he added as he heard footsteps, “here’s Neville now. Perhaps he’s privy to Sam’s plans.”

  Neville joined them. “I’m supposed to go home tonight,” he said, “and see that Jade isn’t back. I’m to organize a search tomorrow morning at first light.”

  “And I’m supposed to stay at Naivasha as if my family were there and watch for Lilith,” said Avery.

  “I’ll join you there once I finish the search,” said Neville. “I just hope that woman comes looking for us.” He flexed an arm muscle as he clenched his fist.

  “I wonder if Lilith will be part of your search party, Neville,” said Jade.

  “I can’t imagine that,” said Avery. “But word travels fast in Nairobi, so she’ll find out soon enough. Should make the papers by Saturday.”

  “I’ll say something on the telephone,” said Neville. “The story will certainly spread then. Lilith may even be one of the hello girls,” he added, using the colony’s pet name for the telephone operators, a term left over from the war.

  Jade didn’t join in the conversation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her left hand fingering the sapphire ring on her right. Avery nudged her. “I’m certain that Sam’s fine.”

  “I wish I could say that I knew he was alive, that I could feel it, but all I can do is trust in him and God.”

  Avery pointed at Jade’s left knee. “I say, your knee there. It doesn’t pain you, does it?”

  Jade’s lips curved in the faintest smile. “No, as a matter of fact it doesn’t.”

  “Well, there you have it. Your knee always hurts when death is imminent. I should think it would have hurt when Sam took off if anything was to happen.”

  Jade didn’t have the heart t
o contradict him, possibly because she wanted desperately to believe it herself. But her knee’s gift for predicting danger didn’t always extend beyond that to herself, and even then, it gave very little warning, tending towards the imminent side of things, as Avery had put it. She only hoped it gave her enough notice when she faced Lilith.

  BY THE TIME SAM COMPLETED HIS TREK TO THE HANGAR, all traces of exhilaration from the jump had vanished. During the last mile he’d moved like an automaton, putting one foot in front of the other, flesh and wood, determined to see this through. Reaching the hangar didn’t provide any mental relief. Coming back to the vacant space within the thorn boma felt like coming home to an empty house after a funeral.

  Neville hadn’t returned yet with the motorcycle and Jade. Sam looked at the long shadows. It wouldn’t be too long now. He dropped to the ground inside the thorn barrier and took a few minutes to rest. He cleaned his Colt New Service revolver one more time. Sam had no illusions about capturing Lilith alive. His disguise wouldn’t fool her for long and then it would be his life or hers. He clicked the newly reloaded barrel into place. Sam knew he might get only one shot. He’d make sure it was lethal.

  BY SUNSET, Jade felt like a mortar shell, ready to explode at the slightest provocation. She pressed her big slouch hat firmly on her head, slipped out of the mission, and headed for Neville’s battered car. She hunkered down beside Sam’s motorcycle, and Neville adjusted the tarp to cover them both before he drove home. Next to her lay her Winchester and she drew comfort from its presence. Once they passed Thika, Neville turned off the main road and stopped. Jade crawled out from the back and brushed the dust off her hair. Neither of them spoke until after he’d bounced along the rutted path past his house and headed to the hangar.

  “Are you supposed to keep watch near Naivasha tonight?” she asked.

  “Yes, I get the watch from midnight until four. I’m going back there as soon as I leave you at the hangar. You don’t agree?”

  “It seems to me that we’re spreading our forces too thinly,” Jade said.

  “On the contrary, Jade. We’re positioning our troops. The net is tightening. Avery and I will keep watch at Naivasha. It will be difficult for Lilith to make a move without being seen by someone.”

  “Which may simply mean she won’t move. And that makes me wonder just what in tarnation Sam is planning.”

  “I don’t know,” said Neville, “but I say, Jade, this is exciting. I’ve never been part of your adventures before. I feel like one of the characters in Maddy’s books.”

  The nearly full moon hovered above the horizon, an iridescent orb that scaled the horizon and silhouetted the flat-topped acacia trees, transforming them into black parasols over the grassland. Neville deposited her near the empty hangar. The sight brought on a fresh wave of her grief and fear. She prayed that Sam had survived the jump. But even if he had, his beloved Jenny had not. The sacrifice was humbling. Jade helped Neville unload Sam’s motorcycle.

  Why did Sam do it? She knew one thing. Sam had just proven himself to be as reckless as she ever was. This stunt clearly exceeded her time spent as leopard bait or charging the young lion on her motorcycle. Well, maybe not charging the lion, but it certainly matched it.

  Now the playing field was even and it made her love him even more. It also made her want to yell at him. He crashed the Jenny! He proposed to me in that plane. If he thinks this voids his marriage proposal, he’s got another thought coming to him!

  “Where is he?” she asked Neville.

  Neville shrugged. “He may be hiding in case someone came here looking for the plane. Do you want me to wait with you?”

  Jade shook her head. “No. You’d better get back to Naivasha and rest before your watch. It’s late enough and you have a search to lead tomorrow.”

  After Neville left, Jade paced the interior of the thorn brush hangar like a caged cat while she considered her next move. Should she walk on to the house? In the rising moonlight she spied Sam’s motorcycle parked beside the gate. Where is he? He should be here. But he wasn’t.

  A cold fear gripped her stomach and her pace quickened. Maybe Sam was injured in the jump. He could be lying somewhere wounded, bleeding, waiting. Waiting for me. She had started for the gate to leave when a slender figure caught her eye.

  Sam! She resisted the urge to run to him, once again aware of the need for secrecy. She’d made herself too visible already.

  He came strolling from the east, a tall silhouette against the low moon with a faint shadow towing him forward. His softly limping stride appeared slow at first; then it quickened as he spied her.

  “I couldn’t sit and wait anymore,” he said. “I took a stroll.”

  Jade watched for only a moment before she fumbled to open the gate and ran the last forty feet to him.

  “You’re alive!” she exclaimed as she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Oh, Sam. How could you do it?”

  Sam pulled her in closer and kissed the nape of her neck. She felt his bristly beard scrape against her skin, a tangible reminder of their dangerous deception.

  “Not hard. You just jump. Static line does the rest.”

  Jade pushed him an arm’s length away, watching his features in the moonlight. The beard made it impossible to tell if he was frowning or smiling. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. You destroyed your plane. You loved that plane.”

  “It’s only an airplane, Jade.” He moved over to a rough wooden bench and sat down, motioning for her to join him. “I’m tired. I need to sit. Shouldn’t have taken that last stroll.”

  “How far away did you crash? Did you have to walk all the way back?”

  Sam waved off her questions, then put his arm around her, drawing her close. “We don’t have much time. When the sun comes up, we mustn’t be seen around here.”

  “I presume you’ve got a plan?” Jade asked. “You went to a lot of trouble getting everyone out of the way, including Neville and Avery.”

  “You noticed that, did you? The fewer people actually involved, the better. I’d have kept them all at the mission, but I knew neither Avery nor Neville would have stood for it. As it is, they’re busy but not in the line of fire.”

  “And you will be?”

  “We both will be. Jade, I’m counting on you.”

  Jade lunged at him, nearly knocking him off the bench. Her lips locked onto his, forcing their way past that dreadful bush of a beard. He tasted of grit and hay and smelled strongly of horses. Jade didn’t care. She pressed closer to him. He responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tightly against him. She felt a strong shudder run down his chest and wasn’t sure if it came from him or her.

  “You’re welcome,” Sam said when he regained his balance and breath.

  “I’d thank you some more if you didn’t have that shrub on the bottom half of your face.”

  Sam rubbed his beard. “It’s not too comfortable for me, either. It’s hot. But after another day, it shouldn’t be necessary. I left a notice in the morning’s papers challenging Lilith to meet me tomorrow night. It’s one that I hope will lure her out, especially when news of your untimely demise circulates. You see, I took credit for killing you.” One hand lightly caressed Jade’s cheek. “Neville will go into town at first light to get Finch and some others to go search for you. They should come across the wreckage easily enough. Word will spread like a wildfire.”

  “But there won’t be a body. Won’t they assume I walked away?”

  “I sawed through the rudder cable to make it look like the plane was sabotaged. And I left the chute snagged on the tail. There’s enough bloody clothing lying about to attract the usual scavengers. If they find anything, it will be a stray boot fragment and knife and a broken pair of goggles. Remember, predators and scavengers rarely leave anything behind.”

  Jade nodded. It was true enough. Animals cracked and consumed bones as well as clothing. Often when some hunter went missing, all that was ever retrieve
d was a gun.

  “And Lilith,” continued Sam, “wherever she is, will eventually see it or hear of it. It gives us one day to get ready, if that. I have a feeling she’s been under our noses for a while. How else could she manage things so well?”

  “If by ‘things’ you mean Mr. Holly, you may be right. And with her lover, Pellyn, dead, she’d have to stay closer to town to know what’s going on.”

  Sam shifted on the bench, clasping his hands in front of him. “Where the devil can she be hiding? She could be anywhere, but what I’m afraid of is that this pretense of abducting that girl, Mary, had another purpose than drawing you out west to Longonot.”

  Jade shuddered. “It was a decoy! Sam, we weren’t thinking this through. We thought that Lilith was diverting our attention so she could snatch one of the children. But as you noted before, it was too easy to find out whether Mary was taken. So why else would she have Holly give us that box?”

  “She could move around unnoticed while we were scrambling to save the children.”

  Jade shook her head. “She could’ve been planning to strike somewhere else. But who?”

  Sam sucked in his breath. “Blast and damn. That list you found in Dymant’s room. Maybe Lilith intended for you or Finch to eventually see it, just not so soon. Pellyn’s death forced her hand. Ask yourself who’s not on the list.”

  Jade ran through the list in her mind. “Harry wasn’t on the list and neither was Jelani.” She gasped. “Jelani! We need to get to his village.”

  SAM FELT JADE’S ARMS WRAPPED AROUND HIS MIDDLE, solid and warm as they sped on his motorcycle towards Jelani’s village in the cool Kenyan night. It was all he could do to keep from simply riding off with her to Fort Hall or some other safe haven and locking her away. But if he’d learned anything in his self-imposed exile back in the States, it was that you couldn’t lock away a wild animal like Jade and expect her to thrive. He’d always known it in his heart. Now he knew it in his head.