Dictator

79

Brianna Latrelle looked wrecked. She was clearly exhausted, physically and emotionally shattered. Her face was bare of makeup, her hair scraped back in a carelessly tied ponytail, and her usually immaculate designer clothes had been replaced by a battered old pair of Levis and a plain silk blouse. The effect, however, was to make her seem more human, more vulnerable and to Carver’s eyes infinitely more attractive than the painted doll who’d been on display throughout that weekend in Suffolk.

He was about to offer his condolences, one of those standard ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ platitudes, but she beat him to it.

‘I told you,’ she said. ‘I told you there was something wrong.’

‘I know… So who do you think it was?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe it was you. I get the feeling you could do a thing like this.’

‘I was on the other side of the world. I didn’t get into Jo’burg till seven-fifteen this morning. But if you’re talking about the other people who met at Campden Hall, Zalika was with me and Patrick Tshonga was busy running for his life.’

Parkes butted in: ‘Patrick Tshonga – what the hell are you talking about, Carver? And Moses Mabeki, the first person you mentioned when you got here. Why was that?’

‘Because he has to be the person behind this attack,’ said Carver. ‘See, Klerk and Tshonga met in England earlier this month to finalize plans for a bloodless coup in Malemba – the same coup that went so spectacularly wrong yesterday. The deal was that Klerk would help Tshonga gain power and in return he’d get a big mining concession. Klerk admitted he was just in it for the money. He reckoned he was going to make billions.’

‘And your role in all this?’ asked Parkes.

‘No comment. But I’ll tell you this much. I knew yesterday morning that Mabeki had found out about Klerk and Tshonga’s plan. He knew exactly what was going to happen. He was one step ahead of me all the way in Hong Kong and his people were ahead of Tshonga and Klerk here, too. The only thing I haven’t worked out is whether he did a deal with one of those two guys and then double-crossed them, or the plan was leaked by someone else. I’d thought it might be you, Parkes. That’s why I dropped Mabeki’s name earlier. I wanted to see how you’d react. It could have been you, too, Brianna.’

‘But it wasn’t.’

‘So let’s concentrate on Mabeki. He’s always going to stick to the shadows. He’s not exactly got a face for presidential politics. But if you want to grab and keep power in Malemba, he’s a good man to have on your side. So Patrick Tshonga, for example, might decide that this was a perfect time to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. That would also remove the embarrassing possibility of people finding out that he owed his power to a deal with a white man. That wouldn’t play too well on the African street.’

‘But none of this could happen without killing Gushungo,’ said Parkes. ‘I suppose that was your department?’

‘As I said, no comment.’

‘For fuck’s sake,’ snapped Parkes. ‘I can’t believe I’m wasting my time talking to you. I’m calling the authorities. They can sort it out.’

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ said Carver matter-of-factly.

‘Why not?’

‘Well, in the first place, if I had killed anyone – hypothetically – I couldn’t let you call the cops, could I?’

‘I’d like to see you stop me.’

‘And in the second,’ said Carver, ignoring him, ‘if you have any regard at all for the memory of Wendell Klerk and his family, then you won’t go public with this. The scandal would destroy his reputation and wreck everything he ever worked for. But most importantly, you don’t want to do it because any delay is going to make it more likely that Mabeki harms or even kills Zalika Stratten, if he hasn’t done so already.’

Parkes frowned. ‘Miss Stratten? What’s she got to do with it?’

‘Mabeki abducted her yesterday morning, while we were in Hong Kong. I tried to stop him, but he’d obviously got the whole thing planned while I was still blundering around like the proverbial one-legged man in an arse-kicking contest. I’m counting on the fact that he’s brought her back to Malemba, and I’m hoping you’re both going to help me get her back. Look, I know you and Zalika weren’t exactly best friends for ever, Brianna…’

‘You don’t know anything about…’ She seemed to run out of energy halfway through the sentence.

‘About what?’ Carver asked.

‘Oh, forget it. I guess I’m just sick of all this. Why was Wendell trying to bring down governments just for some stupid mine, when he already had enough money to last him a hundred lifetimes? That’s what he could never understand about me. I didn’t love him for the money. I loved him despite the money. But look what the money’s done to him… and to Zalika.’

‘None of this is her fault.’

‘You don’t think so? Well, she was there at all your meetings, as I recall, looking down her nose at me while Wendell told me to go fix the chef’s souffles. She was right up to her pretty neck in it, so it’s hard for me to feel too sorry for her now.’ Brianna grimaced. ‘Listen to me, I sound like a total bitch. Just let me pack and I’ll get out of here.’

Parkes put a consoling hand on her shoulder. ‘We’ll leave you to it, Miss Latrelle. Come on, Carver, let’s give the lady some peace.’

They went back outside, and Parkes sat down on the end of one of the upholstered sun loungers arrayed beside the pool.

‘Pull up a seat,’ he said, pointing at the other loungers. He took a packet of cigarettes from the chest pocket of his shirt. ‘Smoke?’

‘No thanks.’

‘Suit yourself. So, tell me what you want to do.’

‘Let’s start with Mabeki. I don’t think he’s going to kill Zalika Stratten. Not yet. But she might wish she were dead, the things he’s going to do to her.’

‘I’ve worked with Zalika Stratten. It’s not a nice thought, a girl like her with a sick bastard like Mabeki.’

‘No, it’s not. And I feel about it the same way you do about Klerk. She was taken on my watch. It’s down to me to get her back.’

Parkes blew a long stream of smoke into the clear morning air. ‘Ja, that I understand.’

‘So then the question is: where’s he keeping her? I can’t believe he’d have her in Sindele. It’s too risky. He doesn’t want the outside world knowing he’s got a kidnapped woman. But there is somewhere that makes perfect sense: the place where they both grew up, where Mabeki nursed his hatred and which he believes should belong to him by rights anyway – the Stratten Reserve.’

Parkes took a long drag on his cigarette. ‘It’s a helluva long shot, Carver. Malemba’s a bloody big country. She could be anywhere.’

‘She could, yes. But I’m certain it’s the reserve. Hell, it’s not just the Strattens that kept Mabeki from owning the land, Gushungo did, too. Mabeki killed the Strattens, then just when he was ready to claim his kingdom, his boss took it away from him. I know this bastard, the way he nurses his grudges. He wants that land. And if he can imprison Zalika Stratten, of all people, there, that’ll just make taking it, and her, all the sweeter.’

‘Let’s suppose you’re right. What do you plan to do about it?’

‘Go there, free her, get her across the border. Then I’m going back for Mabeki.’

Parkes laughed. ‘Sounds like you’re planning a busy day. What are you going to do tomorrow, cure cancer? Bring peace to the Middle East?’

‘No, that’s not my job. Getting Zalika is. Sorting Mabeki is. So, you going to help me or not?’

Parkes stubbed out his cigarette on the paving, threw it into the nearest shrubbery, and immediately pulled another cigarette from the box. He took his time lighting it, then took another long drag, holding the smoke in his lungs before blowing it out equally slowly. At last he glanced across at Carver and said, ‘Ja, I’m in. My men, too.’

‘How well do you know the Stratten Reserve?’

‘Can’t help you there, brother. Never been there in my life.’

‘Well that’s a problem, then, because I haven’t either,’ Carver admitted. ‘But I know a man who has. You happen to know what Justus Iluko is doing today?’

‘Ja, I do, as it happens. He’s got a court date this afternoon, his kids too. The lawyer’s managed to combine all their cases into one. She wants to establish them all as victims of the same conspiracy. So now they’ve got a bail hearing. Not that they’ll be offered any, of course.’

‘How far is the court from the jail?’

‘Dunno, man. But we can easily get a streetmap of Buweku and find out.’

‘And they’ll be taken there by car or truck?’

‘I guess.’

‘Then that’s when we’ll grab them. How soon can you get us to Buweku?’

Parkes almost gagged on the smoke as he burst out laughing. ‘I’ll say one thing for you, Carver,’ he gasped. ‘You don’t fucking hang about, do you?’