Death in the Congo: Book 5 in the Dan Stone series

by David Nees

Santu sat and watched the exchange. Dan could see him processing the information. Santu was an opportunist, he would catch the nuances. Dan knew he had already figured out they were not anything like normal mining company employees.

  “She did have some extra information,” Roland said. “This Dieu Merci Bakasa, you know who he is?” He looked at Santu, who nodded. “Yvette thinks he’s corrupt. In bed with the mining interests, probably Zhang’s company. She blames him for allowing the encroachment of miners into the Maiko National Park.”

  Santu spoke up. “They cut the trees, kill the gorillas, sell the babies, if they catch them alive. The rest of the wildlife moves…farther into the forest, while the miners strip the soil and cloud the streams.”

  “What he said.” Roland nodded towards Santu. “Yvette says there aren’t enough resources to fight it. No enforcement of the park’s borders. Apparently Bakasa could put pressure on to stop or slow this down. People back in Kinshasa aren’t paying attention—”

  “Or are bought off by the large companies,” Dan said. “He could end his career by inserting himself in the situation.”

  “So, he goes along? Collects his part of the bribes? Fattens his wallet?”

  “Something like that,” Dan said.

  Dan opened his laptop and pulled up Jane’s encrypted message. It had a description of where the plantation was located along with a map pinpointing Warren’s best guess as to the location. Marcus looked over his shoulder.

  “About two, three hour’s drive?”

  “Yeah. Looks like a couple of small villages along the way. Perfect place to get stopped by some rebel group.”

  Roland joined them looking at the map. Santu sat at the table watching the men.

  “Dan,” he said, “you have paid me well each day. I may become a rich man if I work for you for a while longer. But I am thinking I may be getting into some danger. I don’t want to make money at the expense of living. Money’s no good to the dead.”

  Dan and the others looked up at him.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” he asked.

  “You don’t seem like mining employees. I listened to Roland’s story. He is a military man. You all are. I have watched you for many days, have lived with you. I begin to understand you. You are fighters. I don’t know why you’re here. I don’t know what you want with this Mr. Zhang. But I do know that you don’t go about trying to contact him in any normal way.”

  He paused and looked at his coffee cup.

  “I don’t think I want to know why you’re here and why you want to see Mr. Zhang. I don’t think that would be healthy for me. Perhaps you should pay me for yesterday and I will just go. I helped you get here, but I don’t think you need my help anymore.”

  “Don’t be like that, Little Buddy,” Roland said. “I’m your partner. I’d never let anything happen to you.”

  Santu just looked at the big man.

  “You’re right about one thing,” Dan said. “We’re not normal executives. At least I’m not. These two ruffians have never been. They’re ex-military, you got that correct. But they’re bodyguards of sorts. They’re here to help me.”

  “And that is what worries me. Why you are here. I don’t think I want to be a part of it.”

  “I didn’t invite you to come along. You asked for the job. Remember?”

  Santu nodded. “But now I’m not so sure.”

  “I am,” Dan said. “I have a strong sense that I’m going to need you. That you are going to play an important part in what comes next.”

  Santu put his hands to his ears. “I don’t want to hear. It will only be dangerous for me.”

  “What comes next is going to help my company. It will also help your country. Many will not see that right away, but they will eventually.”

  “In the meantime, I will be jailed, or worse, while you go back to where ever you came from.” He pointed to his chest. “I remain here to suffer the consequences.”

  “We can help with that, if it is what you want to do.”

  “What?” Santu asked.

  “Not be left behind.”

  “Don’t you understand? I love my country, even with its faults. Sure, I would love to go to the West, to study, earn a lot of money, send some home to my family. But I think you talk about leaving and never coming back.” He shook his head.

  Roland came over and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll make sure you’re safe. Comrades do that for each other. I’ll defend you with my life. How’s that?”

  Santu looked over at Dan.

  “Are you going to do something illegal?”

  Dan laughed. “You ask that? In Goma? With everyone afraid of the police? With rebel groups all around? And smugglers staying in their favorite hotel?”

  “You’re not going to kill anyone, are you?”

  Dan gave him a steady look, his face impassive. Santu lowered his gaze.

  “Zhang?” he asked in a whisper.

  “We are going to stop a travesty from taking place. One that would be bad for your country.”

  “Does my government support you?”

  Again, Dan just stared back at Santu.

  Finally, he spoke. “I can promise you we will act with restraint. People who should be stopped from doing what they are trying to do will be stopped. Later, your government will understand. I can also promise you that you won’t be exposed.”

  He leaned forward, putting his face close to Santu.

  “But you are part of the plan. You have been since you signed on. You don’t desert the plan part of the way through. Understand?”

  Santu slowly met his eyes and slowly nodded his head.

  Chapter 22

  ___________________________________

  T he planning went on throughout the morning. They ordered pizza again from Il Rasentino. The discussion left out any details that would spook Santu. Dan declared that he and Marcus should travel out to the countryside to locate the plantation. Everyone understood that it would be a recon trip to evaluate the security and scout a shooting position and escape route. Roland and Santu would locate Dieu Merci Bakasa, where he worked and lived. No discussion took place about what they would do about the man, but Dan wanted him identified and located. If he needed to grab him, he didn’t want to take time to scout out the best place. Roland would determine that without Santu realizing what was going on.

  By mid-afternoon Roland was getting edgy. He stepped out onto the balcony and called Yvette.

  “I thought you would never call,” she said after answering.

  “I’ve been in meetings all morning.”

  “Will I see you?”

  “I’m going to get away soon. How about an early dinner and then we can have the evening together?”

  “That sounds good to me. Let’s meet at the New Salt and Pepper Restaurant. It’s a block off Rond-Point Mamadou-Ndala. How about four o’clock?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  He hung up and went back into the room and the ongoing discussion.

  By three-thirty, Roland stood up.

  “I’m going out. Got a hot date this afternoon. As much as I like you guys, you aren’t as enticing as Yvette.”

  “Roland in love. Sounds like the makings of a romance movie,” Marcus said.

  “It might be. Too bad you can’t star in one. Someday I’ll teach you my techniques.” He got his cap and headed for the door.

  “Try to stay out of trouble tonight,” Marcus called after him.

  “Goes for you three as well,” Roland said.

  Fifteen minutes later he got out of a taxi in front of the restaurant. Five minutes later a car pulled up and Yvette jumped out. Inside, the other NGO workers from Maiko National Park all waved at Roland and drove off.

  He felt a moment of uncertainty about how to greet Yvette as she walked up to him. She removed any doubt by walking straight into his arms and giving him a big hug and kisses on each cheek.

  “I’m glad we can get together,” Roland said.


  “Me as well,” Yvette replied.

  “Did you tell your friends about last night?”

  “Of course. You were the hero of the story. They were amazed at how you handled things. They also said they’d never go to that bar, unless you came along.”

  Roland laughed. “Looks like I could have another career, escorting nervous NGO employees into dangerous bars.”

  They went inside for a drink. After one round, Yvette suggested they take a walk. Roland was happy to go outside, having been inside for most of the day. Yvette slipped her arm through his as they walked up to the circle.

  “Who’s the statue of?” Roland asked.

  “It’s odd,” Yvette said. “It’s a statue of Mamadou-Ndala. He was the rebel colonel who led the troops in North Kivu. He brought much misery on Goma and was killed by the government forces. But they make a statue of him here.”

  “And the people like it?”

  “Many do. He’s seen as a hero by many, even though he committed many atrocities both here in Goma and throughout the region.”

  “It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Much in Africa doesn’t make sense to the Western mind.”

  She grabbed his arm harder and held him close to her.

  “I’ve seen some of the Congolese we work with, trained men in forestry and zoology, when they go into the forest the old fears come out.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We came across an abandoned village site once. All cleared with the remains of huts set in a large circle. I wanted to camp there, since the ground was already cleared, but they would have none of it. I pressed them to tell me why. They were embarrassed, but finally told me that the village was cursed and anyone spending the night there would either go insane or die quickly. The spirits of the villagers were not at rest and would pass the curse on to anyone daring to sleep on their ground.”

  “They believed that?”

  Yvette nodded. “To the point of refusing to spend a minute longer there than they had to.” She looked up at Roland. “These are educated men.”

  Roland shook his head.

  “Many carry fetishes,” Yvette continued.

  “What are those?”

  “Stuffed animals or carvings one keeps on you—in a pocket or around your neck like an amulet. It protects you against evil spirits. Some of them are shy about it, and some just say it doesn’t hurt to be sure.”

  They kept walking beyond the circle.

  “Some of them don’t want to slip back into that magical thinking. They want to be rational Western-thinking scientists. But you can see the pull of that older way of thinking. Some seem to be actively afraid of getting anywhere near a fetish. Maybe they fear it will drag them back into how their parents and grandparents thought.”

  “That shows it still has power…this magical thinking,” Roland said.

  Around six, they headed back to the restaurant and ate a leisurely dinner complete with wine and other drinks.

  “So, are your friends going out tonight?”

  Yvette nodded.

  “You want to catch up with them?”

  She shook her head. “They’ll just go to one of the ‘safe’ places and drink and talk even though it’s too loud to talk. I’d rather spend the evening with you.”

  “I approve that sentiment. Where do you want to go?”

  Yvette gave him a long, steady look. “Let’s go back to my room.”

  “What about your roommate?”

  “She’s going to bunk in with some of the others tonight.” Yvette smiled at him. “We can take our time. We’ll have all night.”

  Roland’s face broke out into a huge grin. He felt the surge of arousal but couldn’t help it. “Let’s go.”

  They got a taxi and stopped at a store and bought two bottles of wine, then headed back to Hotel Linda. It was a block off of the lake. It had three stories with rooms arranged around a courtyard that contained a pool. The rooms were bland but clean, and there was a tub and shower. Roland noticed the rooms were only fifty dollars a night, not the two hundred dollars or more they were paying. He figured NGOs had to be more careful how they spent their money.

  Inside, Yvette put on some dance music and poured two glasses of wine. “Here’s to new adventures,” she said, raising her glass.

  Roland clinked his glass with hers and drank it down. You don’t know how right you are, he thought. Tomorrow was going to bring the start of the next phase of their adventure. A phase with increasing unknowns and increasing risk. But tonight…tonight there was Yvette.

  They danced with Yvette moving even more sensuously than she had the night before. She slowly stripped down to her bra and panties. When there was a break in the music, she told Roland to stay put and ducked into the bathroom. In a minute she came out with a wrap around her waist and a scarf over her breasts, having shed her underwear.

  She reached up and took Roland’s shirt off of him and he danced barefoot with just his jeans on. She moved ever more suggestively, thrusting her hips like the African girls they had observed. Finally, he could stand it no longer and took her in his arms. They kissed long and hard. He ran his hand under her wrap and found she was naked underneath. He tried to maneuver her to the bed, and they wound up falling onto it.

  “I was wondering when you were going to stop letting me tease you,” she said when they paused in their embrace.

  “One can take only so much.”

  “You can take more…more of me,” she said in a low voice.

  She reached down to unbuckle his jeans and help him shove them off along with his underwear. Then she lay back as Roland bent over her. His kisses teased her breasts and belly, sending waves of pleasure flowing down into her pelvis. Her hips started moving in response to his hand. Finally, she pulled him onto her.

  “Go slowly. I’m a strong girl, but you are so big.”

  “Remember the blues line. ‘I take my time’. I’m also gentle.”

  They moved together, synchronizing their rhythms, slowly increasing the power of their thrusts against each other as their passion built. There was a bursting from Roland as he released. Yvette cried out as she followed him over the edge.

  When it was over, they lay together in that blissful relaxation, spent from their passion.

  “Yvette. I don’t know how to say this, but as much as I joke about it, one-night stands are not that satisfying for me.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, putting her arm under her head to look over at him.

  “I’m trying to say, I’d like to see more of you. A lot more. I’ve never met anyone like you before.”

  “I don’t imagine you have. You don’t meet many gorilla protectors outside of Africa.”

  “Not just that…what you do. But who you are. Last night, in the alley. You controlled your fear. Not many can do that. I had full faith that you would use that car key exactly the way I told you.”

  “I knew you understood how to make a defense. I trusted what you told me. So, you think I’m special because I have courage?”

  “More than that. Everything about you is different from all the other girls I’ve known.”

  She traced her finger around his nipple. “And you have known many girls? I am another of your conquests?”

  He turned and kissed her. “I think I am one of your conquests. I don’t just want to be another statistic, a notch in your belt.”

  Now she looked puzzled.

  “An American saying, from the old west. Gunfighters would notch their guns or belts with each kill.”

  “I don’t want to kill you,” she said.

  “Or each victory. It’s just an expression.”

  She took his face in her hands. “You are a special man. That is why I invite you to my room. I don’t let others in like this. This is very special for me as well.”

  She got up and poured them some more wine. From the refrigerator she took out a plate of cheeses and fruit and brought them over to the bed.


  “You had this all planned out.”

  Yvette nodded. “We need to keep our strength up for this special night.”

  “I’m your man,” Roland said as he sampled the food.

  They enjoyed one another more that night, each time with a different pace and feeling, but each time with fulfillment. At the end, both of them sank into a deep sleep in each other’s arms.

  When the light cracked through the window at seven, Roland roused himself. He stood up and looked down on Yvette. The sheet covered her body, but her firm breasts pushed up against the cloth. He resisted the urge to let his hand trace lines across her body and went into the bathroom to attempt a shower with no curtain.

  When he had finished, Yvette was standing there looking at him. She had a smile on her face. She stepped to him and kissed him.

  “Bonjour.”

  Then she stepped back and gave him a critical look.

  “You’ve been wounded. I see scars on your side and shoulder.”

  “It comes with the work.”

  She gave him with a stern look. “Have you ever killed someone?”

  Roland stopped drying himself and looked her in the eye. “That’s quite a question for a man just getting out of the shower.”

  Yvette shook her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to quiz you. I was just caught off guard by your wounds.”

  “Maybe later I can tell you all about them. Right now, I’m starving. Let’s get some breakfast.”

  “First, I wash up as well.”

  Chapter 23

  ___________________________________

  T hat same morning, Dan and the others got up and went down to the restaurant for the breakfast buffet.

  “Where’s Roland?” Marcus asked.

  “With his lady,” Dan said.

  “Hope he has enough sense to realize that we have work to do today.”

  “He’ll be along.”

  While they were still eating, Roland walked in. He had a big smile on his face and Dan noticed a spring in his step.

  “What’s up, pukes? Still lounging around the breakfast bar?”