CATRINA’S AFRICAN ADVENTURE ( Catrina Series Part II )

by J. Willbanks, Susan

  “It’s Robert. He’s not answering his secure line, he’s not answering his page, and he missed picking us up at the airport. I’m about to call Reed in his suite now to see if Robert is with him and that’s why he hasn’t been answering. It’s so unlike him to just forget us. I don’t feel good about this at all, Cat, not at all.”

  Picking up the phone and dialing Reed’s suite, Patrick gets a horrible sinking feeling that something has happened to his brother. The r

  inging continues for several seconds before the phone is answered.

  “Robert, finally,” Reed says. “Where the hell are you? I’ve been waiting for your call all morning.”

  “Reed, it’s not Robert, it’s Patrick. And from your statement, I assume that my brother is not with you either. I’m in the hotel lobby with my wife and a friend. May we come up so we can talk there?”

  “Patrick, hi. Sorry, I thought you were Robert. No, don’t come here. Meet me in Robert’s suite, it’s just down the hall from mine, and we’ll see what is going on. The suite number is 2237, second floor end of the hall. I’m on my way now. See you there.”

  “Great. On our way, Reed.”

  Patrick grabs Cat by the hand and motions to Barnaby to head toward the elevators.

  As the three of them approach Robert’s room, Patrick has that sinking feeling all over again and he knows that something has happened to Robert and it’s not good. When they reach to open door, they find Reed just standing there, staring into the room and the rubble that was once Robert’s things. It looks like a tornado has gone through the place with everything in total disarray. Patrick moves forward and places his hand on Reed’s shoulder.

  “Reed? he says quietly.

  Reed turns toward Patrick with a look of total disbelief on his face. “

  Hello, Patrick. It’s good to see you again. I had hoped that Robert would be here for this reunion as well, but as you can see something has gone wrong and he’s not here.”

  “Well then, Reed, it’s going to be up to all of us to find him and get him back here safely. You’re going to have to bring Barnaby, Cat, and me up to speed on what you two were working on before he disappeared. Let’s all sit down and you can tell us all you know.”

  “Gladly, Patrick. Cat, you must be Patrick’s new bride. It’s a pleasure to meet you even under these circumstances. And Barnaby, is it? If Patrick trusts you then so do I, welcome to the DRC. Patrick, have you checked your rooms yet? Robert may have left some clue there for you as to what he was working on here. I only can tell you what he and I have been discussing and what I know of his interests and movements. He told me he had reserved your rooms, and I would start there.”

  “No, Reed, we haven’t been to our suite. I’ll have the concierge bring our luggage up now, and we can all go there have a drink and see what the next move should be. You have a key to Robert’s rooms? I assume that’s how you got in here just now?”

  “Yes, I do have a key. Robert gave it to me last night when I left him here with a lovely woman, Lorelei, at around midnight last night. They were having a drink and I excused myself to leave them alone.”

  “Lorelei? Reed, was this Lorelei Domani, Italian Syndicate boss Carlo Domani’s daughter?”

  “I have no idea, Patrick. I’ve never seen her before and Robert didn’t give me her last name. He just introduced her as Lorelei. But I do know she was staying here at the hotel. She told us when she knocked on his door that she couldn’t sleep and came here to see if Robert as still awake and wanted a nightcap and some conversation. She was a beautiful woman and she seemed a bit too sophisticated for this part of the world to be her home or even a vacation spot. But I don’t know anything about her. Last night was the first time I have ever seen her.”

  “Okay, thank you, Reed. We’ll all go and meet in our suite in fifteen minutes. You check here in Robert’s rooms and see if you can find any clues or if anything appears to be missing from what you know, then go back to your rooms and do the same thing there. Check to make sure that nothing has been gone through or is missing. Barnaby, go down to the front desk and see if a Miss Lorelei Domani is checked in here, and if she is get her suite number. Cat and I will go to our suite and see if there are any messages or clues there that Robert may have left, and I’ll put in a call to Antonio and see if he can come here and assist us with the disappearance of Patrick. All right, everyone, meet back in our suite in fifteen to twenty minutes. The longer he is missing, the less chance we have to get him home safely. Let’s get going.”

  Chapter Five

  Groggily opening his eyes, Robert tries to look around the area he’s in. He realizes he’s in some sort of cavernous and damp place but is still unable to focus his mind and make sense of what has happened to him. The last cognitive memory he has is of walking Lorelei to her room early in the morning, but he has no idea if this is even the same day.

  Trying hard to get his wits about him, Robert notices a dim light in what appears to be a long tunnel leading from the room he is in. He can also hear faint voices coming from the same direction. Looking up, he discovers he’s in a cave-like room that appears to be an old mine shaft of some sort. Still trying to focus and clear his head, he can also see a table and a few chairs across the room from him.

  Robert tries to stand, but whatever drug he was given has made him very unsteady and completely disoriented. He then realizes he’s handcuffed to an iron railroad tie on the floor of the room. Again, he tries to make out the voices at the end of the hall. One of them sounds very familiar. It’s a voice he has heard recently at the hotel in Kisangani, so he listens more closely.

  “No, he’s not even awake yet. I couldn’t find the emerald in his room anywhere, but I’m sure he could be persuaded to tell us where it is. It was unfortunate that Reed wasn’t in his room or we would have them both here. I had to wait for Lorelei to leave the room. I couldn’t risk Carlo’s wrath by taking her as well.”

  “I don’t want to involve anyone from the cartel in this, do you understand? Avoid her at all costs. She is not what we are after. We want the emerald, and Robert appears to have been the last one to see it. We know that much from the surveillance tape from the bug in his room and the one in Reed’s. I knew he was up to something when he went to the dig site without me very early in the morning. He had no idea I watched him leave after my meeting with UPI.”

  “Well, Sam, you better be right. UPI wants this emerald and they expect us to get it for them no matter who we have to take out to do it.”

  “I know. I heard what they said. Reed doesn’t know you so we are okay there, and Robert has only met me once with Reed at the hotel, so I’m sure he won’t recognize me and even if he does he doesn’t know who I am.”

  “Who is this Robert guy anyway?”

  “Well, I guess he’s just one of Reed’s acquaintances. I’ve never seen him here before and he had no ID on him when he walked Lorelei back to her room and I drugged him on his way back out her door.”

  “The only thing that bothers me is what is his affiliation with Lorelei Domani? I mean, we could be involving the cartel if he is affiliated with Carlo in some way, and that would not be good for us on any level.”

  “Okay, Sam, but how are we going to check him out? We have no way to fingerprint him or find him in a computer database. We don’t even have a last name, for God’s sake.”

  “We don’t need all that, just the information about the emerald, and then we can just get rid of him like all the others we have for UPI. I’m going to get outta here and find us some food and drinks. He should still be out like a light for the next few hours. I’ll bring you back some coffee too. Keep your ears open in case he wakes a little early, though, Marty. We don’t want no surprises, if you catch my meaning.”

  Robert hears Sam’s footfalls approaching his direction and doesn’t move, pretending to still be out cold. His training in the FBI would pay off here for him, as these thugs have no idea who he is, but how could he get a message to Pa
trick and Cat so they could help him? That is what’s on his mind as Sam’s footsteps take a turn to the right of where he’s sitting. He knows if he could get the handcuffs off he could sneak out before the other guy down the hall would notice he’s missing.

  Looking around the area as soon as he feels that Sam is well out of earshot, he can see something shiny on the table. He can just barely reach it with his foot and doesn’t want to make noise to bring in Marty from the other room. Looking more closely, he finds that the iron rail ties go in a semi-circular direction around the room. If he can get over to the other side by sliding the cuffs, he could reach the table and see what’s on it. He has no idea how long Sam will be gone, but he knows he needs to move quickly if he wants to have time to get out of there before Sam returns.

  Robert begins to move the cuffs around the room. He is lucky that this is an older mine and it doesn’t have the rail ties riveted to the floor like a more modern operation. He is able to easily move them to the other side. When he gets there, he finds the keys to the cuffs and a few coins as well as a map of the tunnel system.

  Trying to reach the keys, he finds they are just beyond his grasp. The cuffs are preventing him from fully extending his arms. He lies down on the floor near the table and slowly inches his feet in the direction of the legs, then when he feels them he tries to grasp them to drag the table slowly over to him close enough to reach the top of it. Just about the time he thinks he can get to the keys, he hears more footsteps outside the room. They stop just beyond the door and for a moment he’s sure he’ll be discovered. He quickly moves back over to the side of the wall, hoping that whoever it is either doesn’t enter or doesn’t notice he is on the wrong side of the room. The door slowly creaks and then shuts again. He hears the footfalls receding back to the other room and guesses the person was just checking to see if Robert was awake. Lucky for him, they didn’t fully enter the room. He goes back to getting the table a little closer to him,

  and reaching on top, he retrieves the keys and the map. He quietly unlocks the cuffs, and knowing that the door creaks when it’s opened, he makes sure he’s ready to leave in a hurry should he be heard so he studies the map for a few minutes before he attempts to open the door.

  Slowly and quietly, he turns the handle of the door, inching it back toward him just enough for him to fit through, first his right arm and leg then his torso. He is finally going to get his left side through when the creaking sound comes, and in a rush he darts to the right into the darkness of the tunnels, clutching the map in his hand.

  A few minutes later, Sam returns to the tunnel with sandwiches and coffee. No sooner has he put them down on the table does he realize the door at the end of the hall is open.

  “Hey, Marty, you hear any noises from the other room while I was gone?” he asks.

  “Nope, not a thing. Even went down once and checked to see if he was still out. He was right on the floor cuffed to the rail tie where we left him, out like a light.”

  “Well, you must have left the door open when you checked then, ’cause it’s still open now.” Sam sets the food and coffee on the table in front of Marty.

  “No way. I made sure I closed it again when I left, Sam, and I’m sure he was still out, sitting right on the floor a few feet away from the table where we left him.”

  “Marty, we didn’t leave him near the table! He was across the room from it. Where are the keys to the car and the cuffs I gave you?”

  “I put them on the table to get him cuffed to the railroad tie when we got him here, why?”

  “Because, you idiot, the door is open.”

  Both men take off simultaneously to go see if their prisoner is still located where they left him. Reaching the open door cautiously, they enter the room only to find that Robert has escaped the cuffs, which lay open on the floor.

  “Well, at least he won’t know how to get out of the tunnels. You have the map in your pocket, right, Marty?”

  “Actually, Sam, it was on the table with the keys, and it looks like it’s gone as well.”

  “Marty, UPI will have our heads for this! We better get him back and fast, before they realize we screwed up, or there won’t be much of us left to even worry about. Come on, let’s get out of here and try to find Robert and Reed. I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without having new problems. I’ve a good mind to just kill you myself and be done with it.”

  “No, Sam! You don’t want to do that. I’ll be more careful, really I will. I’ll get them back for us. I will, you’ll see. Let’s just get going before he has the cover of the night to hide in. At least in the daylight we can still see where he goes.”

  “Fine, Marty, but just one more screw up and we are finished, you understand? I’m not taking the heat for your messes again. You had better find both of them and get that emerald with me to UPI before the end of the week. You hear me, Marty?”

  “Yes, Sam, I hear you loud and clear. Let’s go,” Marty says with a bit of trepidation in his voice and a little unsure of what Sam might do to him should they not find the two men and get the emerald for UPI.

  Chapter Six

  At the front desk, Barnaby is checking into finding Lorelei Domani, who is indeed registered at the hotel, and he finds that her room is only a few doors down from Robert’s. Barnaby calls Patrick and alerts him to her suite number and then goes to the lounge to contact Antonio Barbieri, his contact at Interpol who also happens to be engaged to Cat’s best friend, Sarah.

  Lorelei is getting ready for her lunch date with Robert when there is a knock at her door.

  “Just a moment, Robert. I’ll be right there.” She glances one last time in her mirror to see that all is perfect. She has not been so nervous about meeting a man in ages and is looking forward to seeing Robert again. But when she opens the door, she finds that Robert is not on the other side.

  “Hello, Lorelei. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not Robert. I am, however, his brother Patrick. May I come in for a moment please?”

  “Good afternoon, Patrick. But where is Robert? He and I have a lunch date here at the hotel in about ten minutes. I simply thought he was a bit early.”

  “Lorelei, I’m sure that Robert intended to be here himself. Can we sit down? I’ll explain everything I know to you after I ask you if you have any idea who might want to harm my brother?”

  “What? Where is Robert? Harm him? Why, no, I have no idea who that might be. We’re just getting to know one another, and I don’t know that much about him actually. Why are you asking me this and where is he, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “No, I don’t mind at all. But that was a question I was going to ask you. He seems to be missing. His room has been gone through, and I have no idea who would have taken him or even why. Is there anything you can tell me that might be of help? Is your father involved here in the DRC in any way? Have you seen anything you would consider suspicious while the two of you were getting to know each other over the last few days?”

  “Patrick, I don’t think I like your implications here. My father has nothing to do with my being here in the DRC. A gentleman called my jewel broker and advised him that an emerald of size was to be auctioned here in the DRC and invited me to that auction as I am a collector of rare and interesting gemstones. I happened to meet Robert at the bar several days ago. We shared drinks and struck up a conversation. We were to have lunch here this afternoon. That’s all I can tell you. Oh, but there was a gentleman in his suite last night when I came by. What was his name? It was Reed. Yes, that’s it, Reed . . . but Robert never mentioned his last name. He left shortly after I arrived at Robert’s room, said he was a long-time friend and would see Robert later today when you arrived with your new wife. Congratulations, by the way.”

  Just then, Patrick’s private cell rings. It’s Cat.

  “I need to take this. Can you excuse me for a moment?” Patrick walks out on to the terrace and answers the call. “Hi, Cat, what’s up? I’m in the middle of a conversation
with Lorelei Domani.”

  “Patrick, you need to come back to the room right away. I found something in the back closet of our suite when I was checking for listening devices. It’s a large rock with a dark green center. Interesting, but I think you need to come here and look at this. There’s also a note from Robert to you, sealed.”

  “Thanks, baby. I’ll be right there with Lorelei. Keep that out of site and the doors locked till I get back there. I’m just down the hall.” He hangs up and walks back into the main room of Lorelei’s suite.

  “Lorelei, will you please accompany me to my suite at the end of the hall? I need you to look at something for me and I’ll introduce you to my wife, Catrina. She is waiting for us there. It’s rather important or I wouldn’t be asking you.”

  “I suppose that would be all right, Patrick. I’d like to find Robert. Whatever I’m able to do to assist you, I’ll do, and that includes calling in my father’s resources as well if the need should arise.”