by Seeley James
The word caught Pia’s ear. Had it been Monique’s voice on the boys’ phone? French- speaking Douala was less than forty miles from Limbe. She couldn’t tell.
Monique handed out Egusi puddings wrapped in banana leaves—a spicy pumpkin seed mash with ground fish and meats, Cameroon’s version of a protein bar. The group feasted, some more willingly than others.
The Major sat on one side of Pia, Ezra on the other. They watched the coastline as they passed. Small strips of beach glowed with white sand and dark trees leaned over the water between them. They chatted about the beauty of the coastline and the birds of Cameroon. Then there was a lull, each of them thinking about the day ahead.
“Could be some gunfire today,” Ezra said. “We do everything right, the only people who will die this morning are slavers.”
Pia and the Major nodded.
Ezra said, “Major, I know you’ve had to kill in the line of duty. Not easy, but you survived, you were trained for it. However you, Ms. Sabel… well, there are company rumors. Lots of variations but all of them similar. One in particular is pretty hard to believe. So I have to ask. Have you ever killed anyone?”
Chapter 18
* * *
Niger Delta, Cameroon
26-May, 9AM
Miguel piloted their Zodiac between islands of mangrove and sand. Water, crystal clear in the shallows and stained the color of dark tea, flowed in the tangle of tidal channels. Rock and coral lay inches below the surface in some places, sand as smooth as china in others.
Following Calixthe’s suggestion, they threaded their way to the river and bypassed her village to prevent any news of their arrival reaching Boa. They went upstream from Boa, in the opposite direction from where lookouts might keep watch on the river’s mouth. Once they reached the main part of the river, they hugged the shore. They stopped when they came to an overland trail between the villages. After they dragged the Zodiac up into a spot where it wouldn’t be seen, they strapped on their gear and headed out. Pia tugged on her Kevlar vest unsure if she’d ever get used to it. Calixthe led at an easy run.
Half a kilometer in, the mangroves gave way to lush jungle. Daggers of sunlight stabbed through the canopy, flashing off Calixthe’s back like a strobe as she ran. Something bothered Pia at the back of her brain, as if she should recognize a danger but wasn’t clear about what it was. Were her nerves fraying on her first mission? She shook it off and ran.
There was more open space between the trees and bushes than Pia expected. Pillars of trees supported an arched canopy a hundred feet above them, as if she were in a gothic cathedral. Miguel and Marty kept close, occasionally checking the rear for followers. While they ran, Calixthe told them she’d sent young boys up this same path to spy on the slavers, and in twenty trips they’d encountered slavers only three times. She was confident they’d remain undetected.
As they neared Boa, packed dirt and clay turned to sand and pebbles under their feet. Lava flows formed rock walls in places. Glimpses of a cliff face loomed above them, visible from time to time through the tree branches. They climbed over a lava flow as tall and wide as a city bus and continued until the dirt and jungle suddenly stopped. A pond of hardened lava blocked the way forward, its swirls and currents permanently embedded in cold black stone.
Calixthe pointed across the flow.
“From here we can climb the cliffs or go through the jungle.”
“Open country up there.” Pia said. She looked at Miguel and Marty. “You two find some high ground, triangulate your views, let me know what you see. Calixthe and I will get in close on the ground. Keep in touch.”
She tapped the Bluetooth earbud of her comlink.
Miguel started to object, but Marty tapped his shoulder, tossed his chin at the cliff and headed out at a jog. Miguel shook his head but caught up with Marty.
Pia checked her waist pack. It held her Glock and three spare magazines. Two magazines held darts, one held hollow points. Nine shots per magazine. She slung an M4 over her shoulder with one magazine carrying thirty 9mm darts. No lead.
Calixthe looked her up and down, then disappeared into the jungle. Pia followed.
A few minutes later, Marty reported in. “In position now. I have one large clearing straight in front of you and another half a kilometer north. No movement.”
Miguel’s voice came next: “Same.”
Pia tapped Calixthe. “How close are we?”
Calixthe answered by drawing back a large leaf. Beyond it lay a wattle-and-daub hut. Beyond the hut, a clearing and a fire pit. Farther out were a couple more huts peeking between the foliage. Calixthe motioned Pia to follow and moved to the right. A hundred meters farther, she crouched and pulled back a fern. A large hut on short stilts sat across a dirt courtyard. Five smaller huts surrounded it. A twenty-meter perimeter, cleared of vegetation, gave them a view of the village.
In the center, two white men in shorts sunned themselves in rickety lawn chairs. One was short and round, his big gut visible through his open shirt; what little hair he had left fell in an unkempt halo around his ears. The other was taller and pale with a full head of dark hair and a trimmed beard. Big-gut pushed fifty while Tall-guy looked younger, maybe thirty. A large bottle of booze was on the ground between them.
Pia waved Calixthe back, deeper into the jungle. Calixthe followed, then stumbled. A bird took off. Pia crouched and watched the men with her hand on Calixthe’s back, holding her down. Pia’s heart pounded so loud in her chest she was sure the men could hear it. But the men didn’t even glance up. After a full minute, Pia started breathing again and helped Calixthe to her feet. She glanced around to find what tripped her guide but saw nothing.
Fifty meters deeper into the jungle, Calixthe pointed to a large stand of bamboo with an opening like the letter C, but big enough for several people to stand in the center somewhat hidden. Matted grass in the middle indicated an animal den of some kind.
Pia took her earbud off mute and discussed the situation with Marty and Miguel in tense whispers. They repositioned themselves on the cliff until they could see the huts and the white men. Neither saw evidence of women held against their will. In fact, they saw no women at all. Pia would have to move around the clearing to gather more information.
She and Calixthe circled the huts twice. Still no sign of the captives. The women must be held in the large central hut. They had to get a look inside.
“They are in there,” Calixthe whispered. “I told you.”
Pia silenced her with a finger and shook her head. They crept back to edge of the clearing and watched as Marty fired a conventional shot. The loud report echoed through the jungle, setting off birds and monkeys. The two men leapt to their feet. A boy wearing shorts and a faded shirt came to the doorway of a hut.
“What the bloody hell was that?” Big-gut asked.
“Hunters?” Tall-guy said.
Big-gut turned to the boy in the doorway.
“Oi, Delany. What the hell you doing there? Your watch now, yeah?”
Delany, possibly twenty, small and skittish, fled into the jungle. Pia watched him disappear. Calixthe touched her and pointed. Pia held up three fingers, meaning three targets. Calixthe shook her head and held up four. She pointed in the opposite direction from Delany’s route.
“Elgin Thomas would do a cheeky thing like that, you know,” Big-gut said. “Send a man round back to see if we’re watching both sides.” A nervous laugh. “Bugger us both for it, he would.”
Tall-guy looked down at him and frowned. Big-gut picked up the bottle and chugged three or four ounces. He offered it to Tall-guy, who shook his head and squinted into the jungle.
Pia’s panic level ratcheted up a notch. She felt an immediate danger, but what? She tugged Calixthe and they withdrew to the bamboo again to consult with Marty and Miguel.
“We think there are four of them,” Pia said.
Marty asked, “Sure enough to bet your life on it?”
Chapter 19
* * *
26-May, 10AM
Captain Whittier stepped up to Major Jonelle Jackson.
“Your friends all set, then?”
“They’re doing well.” She pointed to a ship some distance out to sea. “What kind of ship is that?”
“Deep sea trawler. A bit unusual for these waters—too shallow here, I’d think. They were approaching but stopped out there. Can’t imagine what they’d fish for here. I hailed them but they’ve not responded.”
“Do they have a radio identifier, what do you call them, MMSI?”
“They’d have to respond for us to find out.” Whittier laughed and went back to his pilothouse.
The air was so still not even the smell of salt rose from the ocean. Sunlight glinted off the small choppy waves. It forced her eye to flick and twitch. Jacob read a book, Ezra paced the deck, and Tania stared at the map still laid out on the table. The Major joined her, keeping an eye on the trawler.
“Hey, Major,” Tania said lazily. “Ever wonder why Pia Sabel looks nothing like Alan Sabel? I mean what’s up with that? Is that ’cause rich people are always marrying their cousins? I mean you know they ain’t gonna pollute their precious gene pool with the likes of you and me.”
“Don’t try dragging me into your hate-the-rich problem. Alan Sabel created twelve thousand jobs, including yours. He earned his money. What are you looking for on the map?”
“I don’t like it,” Tania said. “The layout’s wrong. The more I look at it, the more it looks like a trap.”
The Major watched her.
“Look at this.” Tania pointed to the river’s path. “Boa is a lousy place for human traffickers. Supposedly, they bring girls out of the villages and hold them here. If that’s the case, then a couple of pissed-off natives could take care of the problem in a heartbeat. There’s only one way in or out overland. You stand anywhere along this path and ambush the slavers when they come along. If you don’t want to do it on land, you’ve got the same thing on water. Only one river.”
The Major waved Monique over to join them and had Tania repeat her observations. She said, “Monique, how much background did you get in this area?”
“Slavers have been a problem in Bamusso, Mbongo, Liwenga, places like that for years. This is nothing new. The authorities can do little because usually the slavers trick them or drug them and take them to Nigeria through Mundemba or across the Niger River. When I was making inquiries, Calixthe was in Idenao and contacted me. Her story is fairly common. And if the slavers bring them down the trail to Boa, they would enlist the men in Bamusso to help them. In the jungle, human life is a commodity like copper. Not like gold.”
Monique wandered away and sat down, fanning herself with a magazine.
“I still don’t like it,” Tania said.
“Lots of things not to like around here,” Ezra said. “Like that trawler. One man in the wheelhouse but they have four Zodiacs on deck.”
“Ready to launch?” Tania asked.
“Not exactly, but not stowed either.”
“You guys finally figure out there’s something terribly wrong with this little side trip?” Jacob said from his seat across the deck.
“OK, Jacob,” the Major said. “If you’re the self-appointed genius, what do you recommend we do now?”
“The recon team finishes up and we get the hell out of here.”
The Major nodded. “Not as dumb as you look. Of course, that was Pia’s plan all along.”
She pushed her earbud in a little farther and checked the sat-phone connection.
“Recon team, this is Major Jackson. We have too many anomalies out here for comfort. Give me a sit rep.”
“Marty here, Major. Pia and Calixthe are too close to the hostiles to report but they can hear you. What anomalies?”
“Deep sea trawler standing half a klick off to one side. And Tania has some problems with the layout. We’re concerned about exit strategy.”
“Understood.” Miguel’s voice reported in. “I’ve got another concern—large clearing just off the village. Tarp covering something big. I’m thinking a large supply depot.”
“Supply depot?” Ezra chimed in. “For human traffickers? Might be more of them than we thought.”
“Hang on,” Marty said, “just got a text from Pia. She heard something. The men on the ground are waiting on someone named Elgin Thomas. Sounded like they expected him any minute.”
“Decision time,” the Major said. “Have we found what we’re looking for?”
“No women in sight,” Miguel said. “None.”
After a long silence, the Major said, “Yeah, that’s not right.”
Pia spoke up. “I’m in a bamboo shelter and can talk for a few seconds. We’re going in now. Take these guys down with darts, check the huts for the women, turn them loose and get the hell out of here. They find their own way back home and the three of us grab the Zodiac and head for the boat. Everyone good?”
Another long silence followed as each of them thought through the consequences.
“If you put them to sleep and find no one in the huts, no harm done,” Ezra said. “I like it. Let’s do it.”
“Shut up, Ezra,” Tania said. “I’m not dying in some backwater for nothing. Let’s think this—”
“I told you getting off track would screw things up,” Jacob said. “We never should have—”
“Quiet!” Pia said. “Not a discussion. We’re going in. Follow me.”
“Good timing, Ms. Sabel,” Marty said. “The lookout, Delany, is moving toward your position. Maybe he’s just on patrol, maybe he knows where you are. Looks intentional to me, though. He’s two hundred meters northwest of you and headed straight to you. You head back to the big hut, Miguel and I will intercept him. We’ll link up near your last position and go in together.”
“Let’s move,” Pia said.
The conference line went quiet. The Major looked at three anxious faces around her and put her phone on mute. She said, “Anyone know how we ended up with the most dangerous position being taken by the least experienced member of the team?”
“You mean,” Ezra said, “how the hell did we let the boss take point?”
Jacob turned back to his book, his eyes scanned the mangroves not the pages. Ezra walked to the bow and scanned the horizon with binoculars. Tania stared blankly at the map.
“What’s the big deal?” Tania asked. “She wanted her pampered little white ass out in the jungle. Guess where it is?”
Chapter 20
* * *
Boa, Cameroon
26-May, 11AM
Pia’s panic level reached a new high. Why did Big-gut mention a pirate by full name? Why did Delany change course? There was only one answer. She cursed and led the way through the undergrowth. After a few meters, she motioned for Calixthe to go ahead. As soon as the older woman slipped past, Pia pulled her Glock. She pressed the muzzle between the guide’s shoulder blades.
Calixthe froze. Pia leaned forward, her lips nearly touching Calixthe’s ear. “Hand me your gun, slowly.”
Calixthe gave it to her, hand trembling, face full of pain and shock.
“How did they get to you?” Pia asked.
Calixthe relaxed a little and shook her head.
“I’m really pissed off right now,” Pia hissed. “Tell me or I dart you here. If they win, they’ll find you and do whatever they want. If I win, I’ll come back for you and make you cough up some answers.” She paused. “And I’m going to win, Calixthe. I always win. So talk to me. You’ve got four… three…”
“They know me,” she said. “I have been coming around, threatening, begging them, anything. Two days ago they caught me drawing the layout. I wanted to offer the authorities an advantage. But the slavers came to Bekumu and took our girls.”
“How many are there?”
“Just the four.”
“Can I believe that?”
“Yes,” Calixthe said.
“Who is Elgin Thomas?”
<
br /> “Chief, boss, captain. They expect him today.”
Marty’s voice came through Pia’s earbud. He said, “Thanks for keeping your comlink open.”
“You take down Delany,” Pia said. “I’ll wait for you twenty meters short of the bamboo. I’m guessing that’s where they planned to ambush us.”
“Agreed. Great place for a crossfire.”
Pia turned to Calixthe. “Walk in front of me, that way. This time don’t trip.”
They headed back toward the bamboo circle and looked at it with different eyes. She pulled Calixthe behind a bush and shoved her Glock into the woman’s ribs. From her new vantage point, she could see half the circle. She waited until she saw Big-gut and Tall-guy sneaking between trees from opposite sides of the growth. The two men peered into the bushes, eyes and guns trained on the bamboo.
Through her earbud Pia heard two darts. Marty and Miguel had finished off Delany.
Big-gut had probably been drinking a lot, so Tall-guy was her biggest threat. She moved Calixthe to a better position, keeping twenty meters from the bad guys. Too far, considering her inaccurate darts and her lack of live-fire experience.
Nerves turned to fear. And fear began taking charge. Pia’s hands shook. Sweat dripped from her forehead. She left Calixthe where she could keep her eye on her and crept through the shadows until she was ten meters behind Tall-guy. A missed shot would cost her the element of surprise and put her in a gunfight with an experienced soldier.
She took another five silent steps. Too far away and she’d miss for sure. Too close, and he’d hear her coming.
She fired three shots. First one missed. Second hit his shoulder. Third hit his neck. Tall-guy dropped face first.
“Hey, Günter, what you doing, mate?” Big-gut shouted from the bamboo’s far side.
Either the man was a moron or he was baiting her. More likely the latter. Even drunk he wouldn’t give up his position. She tiptoed back and knelt next to a fallen mahogany tree. Her eyes scanned the shifting shadows. One down, but she’d lost track of Calixthe and Big-gut in the process. A shiver of fear crawled across her skin. A few steps away, something caught her eye. She looked at it, leading with her gun. Nothing. She moved forward a few steps, hopefully away from the ambush.
