The Crocodile's Last Embrace (31 page)

JADE ROSE AT FOUR THIRTY Tuesday morning and slipped out to the barn, hoping to talk to Sam without the
mpishi
, Matthew, or any of the other hired help finding out. She even left Biscuit tied behind her bungalow, an act that her pet found less than desirable. He let her know it with a series of plaintive
rowr
s. Jade ignored him. Her face grew warm as she thought about seeing Sam alone.

Perhaps talking can wait?
Her hopes received a shock when she discovered Avery and Sam sitting on a bench with their heads together.

“Ah, Jade,” said Avery. “Good of you to join us.”

“Hello, Avery,” Jade said. It was not the warmest greeting she’d ever given him.

After sleeping in the barn, Sam looked even more disreputable than yesterday. His clothes smelled of horse and straw, his hair was matted, and his face was pinched. But to Jade he looked irresistible and she wished Avery would leave so she could let him know.

“We were just discussing what to do next,” said Sam.

“Hard to decide when we don’t even know if Lilith is in Kenya or not,” said Avery. He pulled a pipe from his pocket, then, as if he realized he shouldn’t smoke in the barn, frowned and stuck the stem in his mouth to chew on.

“Oh, she’s here,” said Jade. When they both looked to her for elaboration, she shrugged and plunked down on an overturned bucket. “She can’t stay in England and she’s not going to bide her time in Europe. She didn’t do that when Mother was kidnapped. She won’t now. But she will keep to her hideaway for as long as she can. She’ll be close so that she can get information and give orders.”

“With Pellyn dead, she might decide to cut her losses and leave,” suggested Avery.

“Or hole up until she can find another minion to replace him,” said Sam. “We can’t let her do either. Now we have the advantage and we need to act on it.”

“ ‘The strength of the crocodile is in the water,’ ” murmured Jade.

“Say what?” asked Sam. “You haven’t been drinking any more of that drugged tea that Avery told me about, have you?”

“No. I’m just remembering something the
mondo-mogo
told me. ‘The strength of the crocodile is in the water.’ Lilith’s strength is in her disguise, her hideaway. From there she can see and watch and orchestrate. A croc hides in plain sight, looking harmless. We need to flush her out.”

“And how do we do that?” asked Avery.

“Bait,” said Jade. “I know she was part of a gold mining labor camp in the Congo. I’ve seen a photo. It was probably shut down when Belgian rule finally changed hands. And as a fallback plan, she and Pellyn took to showing bits of gold to potential investors here, just to rake in some capital before starting some other major operation. Lilith never does anything by small turns.”

“And Pellyn was running it with Waters while Lilith was in prison?” asked Sam.

“Yes,” said Jade. “I think Waters was killed when he started acting on his own. So let’s imagine that Holly wasn’t the first dupe; there were others. Let’s lure Lilith with a notice in the dailies saying that the interested party now has the rest of the money for the mining investment. We’ll pick a place to meet. Then we’ll lie in wait for Lilith and catch her.”

“You
have
been drinking that tea again,” said Avery. “I can’t see Lilith just waltzing into a meeting. It would destroy her cover.”

“But if she does have another minion, as you termed him, waiting by her side, she might send him instead of herself. The more we can diminish her forces, the better off we are.”

Avery pointed at Jade with his pipe. “You might have something there. Especially if we make it sound as though this person had incriminating information. We can address it to Waters’ boss.”

“Good. Make it seem as if he knows something that he could use to blackmail her with,” added Sam. He ran his fingers over his beard and stroked it. “I don’t suppose we have anything to lose. If we do catch someone else, we might be able to turn him on Lilith and find out where she’s holed up.”

“I would have guessed that old farm of Roger Forster’s,” said Avery, “except that everything burned not long after he died. We flew over it and saw nothing.”

“There’s an outbuilding, but the area is overgrown and the door is blocked by trees,” said Jade.

“You’ve been there?” asked Sam. His brows furrowed.

“It was before most of this mess began,” said Jade. “Harry says it’s empty and it didn’t look as if anyone had lived there for a long time.”

“Harry,” repeated Sam flatly. He looked into her eyes and she felt the power behind those coffee brown orbs. For a moment, it gave her a taste of what others experienced when she stared them down.

“Yes, Harry,” she repeated. “His land is next door.” Then, to get Sam’s mind away from his perceived rival, she asked, “So where shall our patsy tell Waters’ boss to meet him?”

“Why not on the Limuru Bridge?” said Avery. “That in itself might sound incriminating, considering Stockton was killed there. Catch a murderer with news of the murder.”

 

IN THE END THE NOTICE READ,
I want into the mine, as Waters promised. I have the money. Meet at eleven p.m. tonight where the first investor dropped out.

Jade took it to both the
Leader
and the
Standard
to run in the Wednesday and Thursday dailies. She spent the rest of Tuesday keeping Biscuit and herself occupied by taking Avery’s truck and driving the cheetah to the Thompsons’ for a run. There she privately passed on the news concerning Dymant and Sam. Madeline’s reaction to Dymant as Pellyn and his horrific death was a grim smile. Her reaction to Lilith was renewed fear, and to Sam’s return, joy. Jade left Biscuit behind to help watch Cyril and, as she returned to Nairobi, she saw Emily leave in a taxi for the train station.

Jade longed to see Sam, and the barn was a terrible draw for her. But she knew that he was right. As long as no one knew he was back, he was an ace in the hole. Literally, she thought with amusement. A flying ace. So in order to distance herself from him and avoid temptation, she took her motorcycle and rode along the Athi, looking for Blaney Percival and Harry. She found the game warden not far from Jelani’s village, breaking camp.

“There’s no sign of that crocodile,” he said. “We can only hope that it’s gone far downriver.”

“And have you seen anyone else here? Someone possibly new to the Colony?” Jade asked.

“We have hundreds of new people in the Colony, but if you mean out here . . .” He waved his hands. “Only the usual traffic, which is to say, not much. But I must move on to other problems. The elephants near Mount Kenya are into the
shambas
and eating the sweet potatoes, so I need to sort that out.”

That made Jade think about the big bull elephant she’d seen near Harry’s land. Elephants were no strangers to Ol Donyo Sabuk, but this one had stuck in her memory, hauntingly familiar. A look at her fuel gauge told her she needed to return home soon, so she drove back to Parklands, keeping one eye open for anything out of the ordinary.

Wednesday was spent much the same way, keeping herself occupied. She stayed in the darkroom that Avery had built for her, developing photographs of Fourteen Falls. Next, she cleaned her rifle and tried to write an article on the falls for
The Traveler
. She found herself making more notes on crocodiles instead and began a second article on the huge reptiles. That evening, Beverly centered the dinner conversation around the Girl Guides and the Ladies’ Revolver Club, avoiding any mention of the new hired hand, Lilith, or Pellyn. Sam kept to the barn, and by ten o’clock Jade had paced herself to a fever pitch outside her bungalow. That was where Avery found her. He carried a Remington shotgun slung across his arm and wore a dark brown shooting jacket, the better for hiding. Jade had also opted for darker clothing, settling for a pair of deep blue dungarees and an indigo linen shirt.

“Shall we keep our appointment?” he said.

“Where’s Sam?”

Avery nodded to the road. “He’s already left for the bridge. He said it will look more authentic if he appears alone and on foot in case someone is watching. We’ll drive over the bridge and, if no one is about, hide the truck in the brush and get in position. If we see someone already there, we’ll warn Sam by laying on the horn.”

“Is Sam armed?”

Avery nodded. “He has his Colt revolver. Don’t worry. We’ll have him well covered before anyone shows.”

His calm demeanor didn’t fool Jade for one moment. She saw how he patted the shotgun and knew he wanted a chance to capture anyone involved with Lilith. The fact that she was behind at least two recent murders and possibly Mutahi’s as well paled next to her threats against Cyril Thompson.

“Remember, Avery,” Jade said, “we want this person alive so we can find out where Lilith is hiding.”

“Of course. But that’s not to say that I won’t have to fire a warning shot . . . in the leg.”

They drove past the bridge, meeting only one other vehicle, a hired taxi coming back into town with no fare. Avery pulled the car off the road, following the belt of trees that lined the river. A hundred yards farther on, he stopped and they made their way back up towards the bridge, secreting themselves in the shadows. Jade chose a thornless tree on the far bank whose leaves resembled a locust’s. It afforded sturdy enough branches to support her, but was open enough to allow her to see. She shinnied up into the lower branches and gained a clear view of the bridge from end to end. Avery crossed over to the side nearest town and slipped into the shadows by the bridge’s abutment.

Twenty minutes later, they heard footsteps. Sam strode up the road in plain sight, his left hand in his pockets. He whistled a tune, and Jade recognized “Waltzing Matilda.” He paused at the end of the bridge and surveyed the area, peering deep into the timber. Jade resisted the urge to whistle back. For all she knew, someone might be in hearing range.

She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She was fairly certain that no one had gotten to the bridge before them, but that didn’t mean that Sam wasn’t in danger. What if someone decided it was better not to even negotiate for silence? Lilith or her lackey could simply drive up to the site and shoot Sam without a thought. Or no one might rise to the bait. And while Jade didn’t relish Sam’s being in danger, she dreaded the thought of repeating this charade tomorrow night.

Another sound intruded in the night and Sam broke off his tune. From the south came the purr of a motorcar. Jade looked for a headlight and saw none even though the vehicle was close enough that lamps should appear. She heard the car chug to the opposite end of the bridge and stop, idling. Immediately, the headlamps came on, flooding the scene in an attempt to blind Sam.

Sam shot out the headlamp on the left, the one opposite the spot where Avery was hiding.

“Get out of the car, mate,” Sam shouted. He held his revolver ready. “The next thing I shoot won’t be the ruddy headlamp.”

Jade marveled at how he’d managed to capture an Australian’s accent and wondered why she’d ever thought he could be in danger. He seemed to have the situation well in hand. She raised her rifle and sighted down the barrel at the car, waiting for a driver to exit.

She heard the hand brake set before the driver’s door opened and a man stepped out. At least, Jade assumed it was a man. The form was certainly too tall to be Lilith. He looked to be unarmed at first, but when he reached back into the car, Sam ordered him to stop.

The man said something and Jade strained to catch the words. There was something naggingly familiar about the voice, but the idling automobile prevented her from hearing him clearly. Sam, who was closer to her, was more audible.

“Then bring it out slowly,” growled Sam. “Put it on the bonnet.”

As Jade watched, the man took out a leather attaché and set it on the car’s hood. Then he opened it.

But his right hand moved too quickly for someone extracting a document. He whipped out a gun and aimed for Sam. He was too slow. No sooner had the little revolver cleared the case than Sam shot it out of the man’s hand. The bullet ricocheted off the gun and into the window glass.

“Bloody hell,” yelped the man. “I hired the loan of that car.”

Now Jade recognized the voice and she shouted down to Sam and Avery, who’d come up to join Sam. “Just shoot him. It’s Steven Holly.”

“No!” yelped Holly. “Miss del Cameron?” he asked, peering into the trees. “Is that you?”

Jade scrambled down from the tree and joined Avery. She held her rifle across her chest.

“Yes, it is, Mr. Holly,” Avery said. “Now, what in the name of the king’s knickers are
you
doing here?”

“Is this a robbery?” Holly asked, looking from her to Sam and then over his shoulder to Avery. “Lord Dunbury? Is that you?” He swiveled his head around to face Sam. “Who is this?”

“A new friend,” said Jade. “Consider him to be just another one of the many that your friend Waters cheated out of his hard-earned money in that preposterous investment.” She patted her rifle stock. “But you haven’t answered
my
question. Why are you here?”

“Are you with the police?” Holly asked.

“Mr. Holly, you are sorely trying my patience,” growled Jade. As if to punctuate it, Avery stepped up and poked Holly on the thigh with his shotgun.

“Very well!” Holly exclaimed. “I came here hoping to recoup my own losses. I thought perhaps if I showed my copy of the mining partnership, I could pretend to represent the group and take the money.”

Jade watched him closely. As a poker player, she’d learned how to tell when someone was bluffing. She’d since applied that skill to ferreting out liars. Holly’s lack of eye contact when he spoke told her that he was lying and also afraid. He had good cause to be. He was surrounded by three people with loaded firearms, all of whom looked like they’d just as soon shoot as talk. But when Holly’s gaze kept shifting down to his jacket’s lower pocket, Jade knew he was afraid of something or someone else, too. Sam seemed to guess as much.