“What happened?”
They stumbled along the path as they spoke. Wind and light rain rattled the bush around them, often causing Tabitha to jump, but she pressed forward at the front. The hand holding the flashlight shook.
“I picked up the packet waiting at the office gate for me and drove to Satara with no problems. Curiosity overcame me and I looked at what was in the packet before I left the truck.” Daniel tried to give an apologetic shrug, but flinched. “It was certificates of some kind. I didn’t look at them all. Something about ivory on the one I saw. So at first I’m thinking this has to do with the sales of the ivory stockpiles. This is legitimate work for Mhlongo to be involved with. But then, I am wondering if he is smuggling some on his own and forging the certificates. So I take one out of the envelope and stash it in my pocket.”
“Do you still have it?” Tabitha asked.
He gingerly reached to his front right trouser leg and shook his head. “No, it’s gone.” He paused to lean against the trunk of a shrubby tree, breathing heavily. Tabitha wished she had some water to offer him. With the blood loss, he must be badly dehydrated. Sounds in the bush made them look up. Was it the wind or a predator? They listened intently, but couldn’t distinguish the sound again. Tabitha could just make out the light and shadows from the truck lights ahead. Long strange shadows.
“We’re just beyond that boulder up there,” Tabitha said. “Can you make it?”
“Yes, yes.” He pushed off the little shrub and pulled himself up to his full height, towering a foot or more over Tabitha. “I will make it.”
His dignity under adversity inspired her. She didn’t know if she had that much grace in her. Complaining and crying over her wounds would be more like it.
“Did you see Mhlongo at Satara?”
“No. I was driving back. The package was to be left for pickup at the reservation desk by someone named Johanne. I was driving and thinking what to do with this paper in my pocket. Do I take it to my superiors, or perhaps show it to you?” He gestured with his head to Tabitha. “I was more than halfway back when someone in a park vehicle waved me down. I saw it was Mhlongo and got out of the bakkie.”
“You weren’t suspicious, after the certificates?”
“No, Mhlongo and I have known each other many years. He is hard to get on with, but I’ve never thought of him as a danger. I didn’t think he’d know yet about the one certificate.” He brushed sand from his short crop of hair. “Suddenly he has me pushed against the car, and he talks about me thinking I am so smart because I’m a college boy. The next thing I remember is waking up here in the bush, but I have a nasty bump on my head.” He probed it. “I am thankful I don’t remember.”
They reached the rock, each one squeezing around the edge through the brush. The thorny branches scratched them in turn. Tabitha dabbed spit on a scratch on her arm. The bakkie sat diagonally, abandoned on the dirt track. A crack of thunder warned of the intensifying storm. Tabitha hustled Daniel into the truck. As she climbed in beside him, the dark silhouette of a lioness slid by. Tabitha swallowed and put the truck in gear.
The truck’s tires slid on the muddy sand of the road, and Tabitha took a deep breath and slowly let off the clutch again. This time she inched forward and got a foothold. Soon the tar road appeared, a wet black snake in the bush leading back to camp. Tabitha glanced at Daniel’s arms and he seemed to read her mind.
“They have an infirmary at Skukuza. They will be able to take care of me there.”
“Yes, but Mhlongo could find you there. Perhaps I should take you into a city.”
“No, no, no. The infirmary will be fine. Mhlongo need never know I was even there.”
“He can’t go unpunished.”
“No, but it is not my place to punish him.” Daniel closed his eyes.
“But we have to do something. This is my fault.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you wouldn’t have run the errand for him if I hadn’t been trying to talk to him.”
Daniel gave a gentle chuckle. “You don’t know Mhlongo. He has a way of coercing help from his colleagues whether they intend to give it or not.”
“I’ll go find Mr. Mpande after I get you settled at the infirmary, and tell him what has happened.”
He nodded his agreement to this plan.
Daniel’s head drooped down to his chest and Tabitha panicked. Then she watched the even movements of his chest as he breathed. He was okay, just exhausted. The gloom of the rainstorm made seeing a challenge. She ticked off the kilometers, anxious to get him some medical attention. The rain let up as they came up to Skukuza. The windshield wipers screeched against the window and Tabitha rushed to shut them off. Daniel stirred in his seat. She climbed out and pushed the gate open. It was still open, so no one had discovered she’d left it unlocked.
“I’m taking you over to the infirmary first thing,” Tabitha said, returning to the bakkie.
Daniel roused himself and gave her directions to the infirmary. No cars were parked nearby. It was yet another yellow cement block building. Tabitha rushed around to open Daniel’s door for him. He slid out of the truck, stumbled, then got his feet under him. Tabitha reached out a steadying hand to guide him inside.
“Don’t fret, Miss,” Daniel said, patting her hand with his large cool one.
Tabitha wondered silently how much blood loss he had suffered, and if they had any on hand. Maybe she should donate some, if it were appropriate. The dim lighting inside told of a generator somewhere in the building pumping out a little electricity to fight off the darkness. An orderly atmosphere smelling of antiseptics eased Tabitha’s worry. A nurse inside took charge of Daniel and shooed Tabitha’s offer of blood away.
“No, Miss. We are prepared for this type of work. I assure you, he will be fine here. Please go.” Another worker came and escorted Daniel through a set of doors.
Back outside the clinic, Tabitha took stock of what she knew to tell Mpande. It wasn’t much. Mhlongo had tried to kill Daniel. It sounded like tattle-tale. Had the park investigation indicated anything like attempted murder? Somehow she didn’t think that’s what they suspected him of.
A security truck pulled up behind her and a man got out. He shone a flashlight in her face. She flinched and rolled the window down a crack.
“What are you doing here? This area is for workers only.”
“One of your workers was injured. I brought him here. Now, I need to find Mr. Mpande to tell him what happened.” Tabitha squinted at the frowning guard. “I think he’s at the administration building.”
“Mm. I will follow you there.”
Now Tabitha played the suspect role. Great. She put the truck in gear and moved ahead of the guard’s vehicle.
Tabitha pulled up to the office compound and in spite of the late hour, flashlights still shone in the building. Apparently the generator was still not working. The guard watched as she walked into the building.
Inside, an African security officer in a red beret, gray slacks and white dress shirt stopped her in the hall. She explained she needed to see Mpande.
“It’s rather urgent. Is he still here?”
“I believe so, ma’am. We are struggling with getting the generators on line for the offices, and still awaiting reports on the fire.”
He offered his flashlight to Tabitha, but she waved the one she’d borrowed earlier from Mpande and clicked it on. Feet scurried in the hallways and lights occasionally flashed her way along with questions.
She found Mpande near the radio room.
“We need to talk,” Tabitha said.
“Ms. Cranz, I thought you’d gone to bed. We’ll have an early day tomorrow, if you’re going out with the search party.”
“You can call off the search party.”
“What?” He turned a light toward her to see her better.
She squinted back. “I found Daniel all cut up on the same sand road where you found my uncle—at least, I think it was the sam
e road. I went and looked for him.”
“You left camp? By yourself? This is very dangerous at night.”
“I know, but I found him. He’s over at the infirmary now.” Was it exhaustion or anger making her shake? She wasn’t sure.
Mpande rubbed a hand over his forehead, massaging his right temple. “Is he badly hurt?”
“Mhlongo ripped up his arms and legs with a knife. I don’t know if they’ll be able to stitch him or what.” Tabitha reported this matter-of-factly, though in her heart she longed to howl the news at Mr. Mpande.
A deep crease furrowed Mpande’s brow.
Tabitha’s impatience erupted in a stream. “Perhaps it would have been better for the park if he had died. You wouldn’t want any bad publicity out of him. Maybe that’s why you were delaying until morning.”
His mouth hung open at her outburst. He said, “We’ve just had a late report of a skeleton in the fire north of here, and I was worried. I assure you, each of our employees has value to me, and I regret that anything has happened to Daniel. I’m relieved that it wasn’t him in the fire. I’m trying to be realistic, as the director’s surrogate at this time.” He paced in the semi-lighting of the flashlight beams. “Without any way to get in touch with the other camps, or my staff here, I don’t have a way to get my people on the lookout for Mhlongo.”
“He’s dangerous. He needs to be locked up.”
“As soon as our system is working, I assure you we’ll be looking for him vigorously.”
“What about the police?”
“We have no way to reach the police right now.”
“What is this body in the bush fire?”
“We won’t know more until there is an exam. It’s too soon to have details.”
“And the police?”
“Yes, they will be brought in on it as soon as we can. Please, Ms. Cranz, it’s late. Go get some rest. We’ll take care of it from here.”
Tabitha felt anything but reassured. Exhaustion competed with her frustration. She went back to the infirmary, but the nurse wouldn’t let her in to see how Daniel was doing. She hoped they were as capable as Daniel believed.
She parked outside her cabin and used her key to open the door. She looked back at the yellow bakkie standing like a beacon in front of her abode. She dressed for bed but her nerves jangled. She moved the single chair from the desk over and jammed it under the doorknob. Perhaps that would be enough to keep someone out. Keep Mhlongo out.
Chapter 53
The darkness made a good shield. Mhlongo crept through the gate into the Skukuza camp. That American woman was here somewhere. He’d gotten rid of Daniel and now he would deal with the meddling American. It would clear the way. Pieter had said to take care of it. Mhlongo would more than take care of it. He would start his own operation and cut Pieter out of it.
He stood in the shadows to see if any of the security guards stirred. When he was satisfied, he started moving across the camp toward the rondavels. He clung to the shadows and walked on the grass to keep quiet.
He walked the first row of round guest quarters. No yellow bakkie. He ducked onto the porch of one and lay flat on the pavement as a security officer passed. He listened to the steps crunch, crunch on the pebbles. Fool. Danger is in your camp and you do not even know.
When the steps were gone, Mhlongo helped himself to a bottle of water on the rondavel porch. The coolness in his throat helped calm him. He could think better now.
He would have to silence the woman, but he would have to do it quietly. No one would ever know he’d been here.
He spotted the bakkie on the second row. His steps were stifled by the grass and the soft leather of his shoes. He stepped onto the path with only a slight stirring of the small stones under his foot. Mhlongo leapt the two steps into the shadows of the thatched overhang and slipped into the darkness there.
Pressing his weight slowly against the door, he turned the handle. It did not turn under his hand. That would have been too easy. He pulled his identification card out of his pocket and slid it cautiously into the crack where the door met the jamb. The lock popped metal against metal. He listened for a moment. The silence of the night sounds would easily be shattered by the screams of a woman. He must be cautious. The door did not give. Mhlongo leaned more weight into the door. Still no movement. He cursed under his breath. Would the noise of crashing in the door be too much?
Lights flashed from a security patrol. This time in a vehicle. It slowed as it approached the rondavel. Mhlongo cursed again and crept over the lip of the porch and into the darkness.
Chapter 54
Tabitha lay in the dark, listening to the night sounds. She couldn’t help but think of Phillip’s last moments. The images of Daniel’s bloody state popped into her head, like a horrific photo shoot. It had been a bullet that had killed Phillip. She wiped away a tear, part anger, part sadness for Uncle Phillip. He didn’t deserve that kind of end. The dangers of the bush took on more significance to her. Mhlongo must have been behind Phillip’s death as well as the attack on Daniel. But why? A lone American wasn’t much of a threat. Could it be the photos she’d discovered, or was the truth buried in some lagoon with the rest of Phillip’s film?
Phillip would not hesitate to take a picture, even if he had to argue for permission after the fact. Maybe the answer was in the slide that Mpande and Mhlongo had kept. Tabitha sat up, realizing that the investigation into Mhlongo put the slide in a different light now. Perhaps his antagonism toward her resulted from Uncle Phillip’s strange slide. She shivered. If Phillip had caught Mhlongo and company taking a black market carcass, maybe that was enough to get him killed as others had said at the beginning?
The more haunting slide was the blurry faces of people. No possible legal explanation existed for those photos, and besides that, Phillip was never very interested in human photos unless the subject was assigned by a magazine. The terrified eyes loomed in Tabitha’s mind’s eye. Would Phillip have acted the hero and tried a rescue? That could certainly get him killed.
She looked over at the ornate urn sitting on the table. Weird to think that’s all that remained of a vital active man like Phillip. The shadows in the room pressed in on her as she thought about the vision Daniel’s mother had.
<><><>
Tabitha awoke with a start. Her subconscious had roused her with a shout. She’d forgotten to call Rian last night to let him know Daniel was okay. He was okay, wasn’t he? Tabitha knew immediately that she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. It was pre-dawn but the night was nearly gone.
She went to the window and saw a slim hint of light in the blue-black sky on the eastern horizon. No one stirred. Would it be safe to go out alone? She felt as if she could choke Mhlongo with one hand if he were to accost her. Daniel did not deserve what had happened to him. But feeling like she could fight someone and actually doing it were two different things.
She dressed then looked out again. Nothing looked threatening. Tabitha stoked her inner courage and hiked over to the infirmary. She was relieved to go through the doors and see staff members. A new shift of people was on duty and didn’t pay attention to her. The vaguely medicinal smell of a clinic hung in the air, but it was a clean smell. Through the swinging doors, Tabitha discovered a big dormitory-style room that housed a number of beds. Only a couple of beds were occupied, and she spotted Daniel right away.
His eyes were closed and he breathed evenly and shallowly. She was wondering if she should call someone to check on him when he opened his eyes.
“Ahhh, Miss Tabitha.” His deep baritone voice was undamaged by his trauma.
“Are you badly hurt?”
“No. Thanks to your quick thinking and finding me, I’m going to be all right.”
“No, if you’d never tried to help me this wouldn’t have happened,” Tabitha said.
“You are mistaken. I knew Mhlongo before you came to this country, and that I could not change.” He shrugged and winced.
“How lon
g will you stay here?”
“I think they will release me this afternoon, but I must rest, then stay on light office duties for some time to come, and take medicines.”
“I guess you won’t have to tote around people like me for a while, then. What a relief, huh?” She grinned and so did he.
“My mother’s prayers guided you and protected me.”
“Did she have me in place of you in her vision? How could that be?”
“No. I got involved in your business voluntarily, and became entangled in this, this…” he waved a bandaged arm, “wicked melange.”
“Maybe we should call your mom and see if she thinks it’s over now.”
“It is impossible. She does not have a telephone.”
“Oh.” Tabitha realized her concept of quality of life was framed in an entirely American context. Daniel wasn’t ashamed to admit the lack of a telephone. It was simply a fact of life. The idea of his mother praying fervently in a tiny abode humbled her.
“Your mom seems like a neat woman,” Tabitha said.
“Ah, yes. She is very earnest and she can move heaven with her prayers.” He grinned.
They both looked out a nearby window. Tabitha thought of what could have happened to Daniel in the night, and wondered if his mother had felt prompted to pray for her son. Today held other problems, though.
Daniel spoke what she was thinking. “Have you spoken with anyone this morning?”
“Not yet. Maybe the rangers have found Mhlongo and we’ll be safe now.”
“Yes, I am hoping so.”
“Oh, they found a body in the brush fire yesterday. I don’t suppose that could be Mhlongo?” Hope made her voice rise.
“Not likely, I am afraid. I heard the news of the fire on my staff radio before Mhlongo confronted me. I pray it was not a staff member.”
“Surely Mpande would have known if they had someone missing besides you after the fire? I think he was afraid it was you.”
Tabitha arranged to come back later and drive Daniel around to his quarters when they released him from the clinic.
Killed in Kruger Page 22
