Hyena Dawn (28 page)

‘
And if I’ve got some foul disease from you, I’ll make sure you pay dearly for it. Don’t think I’m going to keep quiet about this, either. I’m speaking to the papers tomorrow, you bastard.’

Deon got into the car and drove. He had no idea how long he went on driving but at last he pulled into a small park and got out in the darkness. Then he walked over to some trees and was violently sick. He lay against one of them, crying like a child. Never in his life had he felt closer to suicide. He reached for his pistol, but before his hand even touched it he thought of his father and he left the pistol in its holster. That was just what Muller would have wanted, too. Then he would become the lying cop who took his own life - the perfect scapegoat on whom to hang a string of further lies and falsehoods. Well, Muller was going to learn that he might have won this round but he hadn’t won the fight. Deon still couldn’t quite believe that the General had done this to him, it was so cold-blooded.

A moment later Deon strode out from the trees and onto the grassy area beyond. Once he had found a comfortable place, he lay down and stared up at the night sky.

He had been unforgivably naive. The story of the dead prisoner was explosive, and naturally Muller would have received full authority from the highest level not to pull his punches. He had moved with the speed of a striking snake. Deon knew that if he hoped to stand any chance of defeating such a powerful adversary, he too would have to move very fast indeed.

He went to see Sonja Seyton-Waugh the very next day. He had spent the night in a hotel, trying to persuade himself that Teresa would come to her senses. He couldn’t quite credit the fact that she had believed Muller. Of course, he had been a fool, he should have come home the previous evening, but then she had always trusted him.

He knocked on the door of Sonja’s house with some trepidation. He was scared that she might not be in, and even if she was, perhaps she wouldn’t want to see him.

She opened the door and greeted him with a warm smile. ‘Deon . . . ! Please, come in.’

To his surprise, she touched his hand as he came through the door, and he felt electricity surge through his body. He turned and found himself staring into her eyes, transfixed.

‘
I read the paper. I know what you must be going through.’ She embraced him, feeling the pain that was in his body. She understood.

They drew apart after a few minutes and went through to the lounge. Sonja gestured for Deon to sit down next to her on one of the large leather couches. He looked into her eyes. Her lips were slightly parted and he sensed the need within her, matching his own. It was his loyalty, his love for Teresa, that had never let him fully admit what he was feeling now. But now he felt himself drawn to her by an irresistible force. His lips touched hers, and they kissed.

Her body felt strange and inviting. He’d never known a woman like this. Suddenly the pangs of guilt swept over him. He thought of the vow he’d made, never to let Teresa down. Then he thought of how she’d believed Muller’s lies.

The kiss became more and more passionate. He could feel Sonja’s heart beating. The smell of her excited his senses, made his body shudder with excitement. His hands were exploring her body, out of control. He tried to fight the surge of passion that took hold of him but was powerless against it.

She led him upstairs and slowly undressed him. He came to her softly, removing her clothes carefully, conscious of the hurt she had suffered so many years before. She was like a young girl; and though her naked skin was like a flame to his passion, he forced himself to be sensitive to her every need, wanting this experience to be as good for her as it was for him. Only when she began to cry out for him did he penetrate her and feel the waves of excitement consume his body.

Inside her he felt a fulfilment that he had never experienced with Teresa. The guilt was gone. This thing between him and Sonja was beyond his control. He held her tightly in his arms and sank into a deep sleep.

He awoke later, immediately conscious of the darkness outside. She was sleeping, curled up under his arm - this woman who controlled giant corporations and made men such as himself tremble.

Sonja’s eyes opened and he could see she was watching him carefully, trying to sense his mood. She pulled herself from beneath his arm and knelt on the bed covers.

‘
What’s wrong?’

‘
My life, Sonja.’

‘
I don’t feel guilty. I love you, Deon.’

He turned over and kissed her again, then drew away. ‘I was in love with you from the very first time I saw you, but I wouldn’t admit it to myself. It was only when Teresa refused to accept that what I had done was correct, that I realised you were the only person in the world who would understand.’

She pulled him close to her. ‘Deon, I’m never going to let you

go.’

Much later, over breakfast, Sonja told him about the trouble she was having in getting information out of Helen. The good news was that she was making an excellent recovery; because Helen had not been a conscious addict, the job of the Warwickshire clinic had been that much easier, but the mental problems that accompanied the withdrawal were hard to deal with. Sonja wanted to keep Helen in England, beyond the reach of Goldcorp’s tentacles. In the long term, her only hope of evading them would be to assume a new identity. Meanwhile, locked in Helen’s mind somewhere, was the information Sonja needed on Bernard and Jay.

‘
I’m going over in a week’s time. I’m going to try again. I’m the only person who can do it because I’ve been through the same experience myself.’

‘
You could never take her into the courtroom, Sonja, they’d tear her to pieces. I’ve seen it enough times to know it can be almost as bad as the experience itself.’

‘
This business will never be sorted out in a court of law - they wouldn’t be so stupid as to let it get to that stage. They’ll start to close in on us as we begin to find out more, and then we’ll have to strike them where it really hurts. I want them to suffer the way they made me suffer.

‘
They must be worried already about what’s happened to Helen. I just have to keep on working at establishing a bond with Helen. She still doesn’t trust me, or anyone else for that matter. By the way, do you think you could provide me with a complete file on her - friends, education, the whole thing?’

‘
Sonja, if I start checking up on Helen, General Muller will get to know about it and he’ll put two and two together with Bernard Aschaar.’

‘
But there has to be a way.’

‘
There is. There’s the man who led me to you, Abe Solomon. He could investigate her background.’

Everything about it attracted his journalist’s instincts. All the ingredients were there for a perfect story, the story of a lifetime.

He’d never thought Deon would fight back against evil within the police force itself. He realised that as the members of the force closed ranks to protect themselves, Deon’s career would be on the rocks.

Abe drove cheerfully along the sunny Johannesburg highways in his battered Alfa convertible. He changed down to third, and the sound of the well-aspirated, two-litre, double-overhead- camshaft engine sounded good to his ears. The shadows of the trees cast dappled reflections on the red paintwork and chrome surrounds of the Alfa as he zipped easily round the bends of the long crawling snake of a road that was Jan Smuts Avenue, and he grinned with satisfaction as he whipped past a big, ponderous saloon and saw the look of anger on the driver’s face. That was Johannesburg all over - bursting with the kind of aggression that pushed everyone to succeed. Whether it was driving your car to church or walking to a bus queue, you still had to win. Most of Abe’s friends were making a lot more money than he was, but what the hell, he enjoyed what he did.

He pulled into the drive of Sonja Seyton-Waugh’s house - ‘palace’, he called it - and felt the predictable sting of jealousy. Ordinary houses, however big, never had this effect on him, but this one was something special, just what he would have liked himself. And he knew that behind the garage doors were machines he would have given his eye-teeth to own.

The man in uniform who opened the large front door seemed somehow different from his friend of old. He appeared taller than ever, and the lines of concentration scoring his forehead had become deeper, giving him a more powerful appearance. Not for the first time, Abe felt physically intimidated by Deon. But the grip, as they shook hands, was unmistakable, and he relaxed, seeing the familiar smile come to Deon’s face. They went through to the lounge together, where Sonja was waiting.

Abe looked at Sonja. She had an overpowering sexual attractiveness enhanced by an air of vulnerability. He’d seen her before at a distance and then she’d never had this effect on him; perhaps she had changed. Now he positively ached when he looked at her. God, how did any red-blooded businessman stand a chance against her in a meeting? One glance, and all the traditional defences would be down. He realised he’d been looking at her a little too long and turned back to Deon.

‘
Hell, Deon, why don’t you take on Goldcorp as well, and throw in the South African army for good measure. Naturally, I’ll do everything I can to put your case across. You’re already something of a hero in the foreign press, but the reaction here is likely to be a
little
more guarded.’

Deon’s reply shocked him. ‘Forget it, Abe. Of course I’ll give you my exclusive story. I know you’ll make the best of it, I wouldn’t expect anything less with your reputation. But that’s not the reason I called you here.’

‘
You mean you
have
decided to take on Goldcorp!’

‘
In a manner of speaking, yes. You know that secretary who disappeared?’

‘
Yes. But, Deon, to be quite honest I think you’d be better off fighting your own battle now.’

‘
There’s no point. A lot of people outside the force have offered me their support, but it’s only a matter of time before I’ll be forced to resign. Dr Ken Dube died because of police interrogation, and hopefully my expose of that will make sure it doesn’t happen again. But the fact is, I’ve got another, far more important thing to sort out.’

As Deon spoke he turned to meet Sonja’s eyes. It was a look that threw Abe totally. He knew how devoted Deon was to his wife and family - yet in that look there was a whole world of feeling.

General Muller was a very worried man. The last thing the South African government wanted was an international scandal, and it looked as if he had just presented them with one on a plate. Why, he was asked, had a young doctor with suspect political beliefs been allowed to examine the dead detainee, Ken Dube? Why had Major-General Deon de Wet become involved in the matter, since he had nothing to do with the interrogation of political suspects? Why hadn’t Dr Odendal immediately condemned the younger doctor’s findings? Surely it was against medical principles for one doctor, especially a junior, to check out another doctor’s work?

General Muller knew he would have to get Dr Odendal on the witness stand, but he wasn’t sure if Jerry Odendal could handle the strain. The man should never have broken down in the first place.

Anyway, at least he had made a good start with Deon de Wet. He thought back to the burglary at Aschaar’s house. He should have guessed a lot earlier that the safe in the room had been opened. That was how de Wet must have got hold of the photographs.

Well, it wouldn’t take him long to put a stop to whatever it was de Wet and Miss Seyton-Waugh were working on against Aschaar. She’d probably lose interest in de Wet when she realised his career in the police force was in jeopardy. He knew from experience that the last thing the powerful and wealthy liked was a lame dog.

At first she thought it was Deon coming back, but then realised he had taken her Mercedes and not his police one. Who was this in her drive now?

A sharp knock indicated that she was not to be kept in doubt for long, and she opened the door to see a toad-like man of average height staring at her from the step. He was in police uniform and had an ugly half-smile on his face. Her reaction was instantaneous - strong dislike. However, like the hardened businesswoman she was, she showed none of this on her face. Instead a pleasant smile rose to her lips.