The Crocodile's Last Embrace (42 page)

 

JADE HAD NO INTENTION OF WAITING for Lilith to come back, and if that witch had one consistent chink in her armor, it was that she kept underestimating Jade’s resourcefulness.
If she thinks a door bolt and a bunch of crates are going to stop me . . .

Actually, Jade had to admit that the crates had her more worried than the bolt. She was counting on Lilith’s age and smaller stature to stop the woman from moving more than Jade could lift.
All I have to do is break that bolt; then I can put my back into it.

She took a long draw from the canteen, apologizing to the unconscious Jelani at her feet. “Sorry, but right now, I need this more than you. Otherwise, neither of us will need it.” Then she took up her Winchester and aimed at the latch. The first shot hit the wooden bolt itself and Jade heard it careen off the rounded surface. The whine of the ricochet was followed by shattering glass. She’d hit one of the bottles lining the shelf. She aimed her next shot a fraction behind the first, hoping to weaken the wooden bolt so it would snap when she pushed up against it. If that failed, she intended to keep shooting around it until she made a hole.

Not a bad plan, except that she had limited ammunition.

“I only need one shot to get Lilith.”

 

HARRY TRIED DESPERATELY TO FREE HIMSELF, but his rifle was around his neck with the strap caught in the door. “Holly!” he shouted, but the cry was choked off by a mouthful of dust sprayed up by the tire. Didn’t the bastard know he was caught?

The open door swung back as Holly tried to turn. It slammed against Harry’s head, and he went down under the blow. It became all too clear that Holly
did
know that he was caught and was doing everything in his power to shake him loose in order to escape. Harry rolled, trying to keep his legs out from under the rear tires as Holly spun in the opposite direction.

The next sight Harry saw was of Emily running after the truck, trying to stop Holly. It was topped by a glimpse of three girls standing in a line like a military formation, each whirling a strip of leather in the air. As the truck twisted again, Harry saw the girls release their slings and let fly their stones. He heard a bang as one struck the truck, but two solid thunks and a curse told him that two of them had met their mark. As he struggled, he saw the girls calmly reload and fire. Emily had given up trying to grab the wheel and had taken to throwing rocks at Holly by hand.

Looking under the truck as he was dragged along, Harry spied a solid-looking tree ahead. It was getting closer by the second. The truck hit with a crunch. The rear of the truck jerked up, throwing Harry’s head against the running board just before everything went black.

 

JADE STOOD FIVE RUNGS FROM THE BOTTOM with her knees bent, her head bowed, and her back pressed against the floor. She straightened her legs and pushed as hard as she could against the door. She heard the groan of wood; then something splintered and cracked. The door gave an inch before slamming against her upper back. Whatever Lilith had put on top was heavy.

She was about to try again when she heard footsteps running above her. They stopped and a feminine voice called, “Is somebody there?”

“I’m under the floor. I’m trapped!” Jade shouted.

“Jade? Jade, is that really you?”

“Yes, it’s me. Get me out of here. My friend’s down here, too. He’s injured.” Jade heard a grunt and then the slow, scraping slide as the boxes were pushed away. “Just a moment,” Emily said. “The latch is shattered. There’s a piece wedged and—”

Jade didn’t wait. With the load off the door, she pushed using her legs again and felt the door give way. Emily grabbed hold and pulled it up.

“Here, give me your hand,” Emily said. “Oh, Jade. We thought you were dead!” She knelt on the floor and hugged Jade, who was only half out of the cellar.

“Sorry about that. It was a plan to lure the enemy out. I didn’t mean to worry you. I thought you were in Mombassa.”

“I came back early, and it’s a good thing I did, too. What is all this about?”

“I promise I’ll explain later, Emily. Can you help me lift my friend out of here?”

Emily peered into the cellar, which was dimly lit by Sam’s flashlight. “It’s a boy.”

Jade smiled ruefully. “No, not in his culture. He’s a man and a Kikuyu leader. I’ve got a rope down here. If I lift, can you pull?”

“Yes. But the girls can help me.”

“The girls?” Jade couldn’t believe her ears.

Emily beamed back at her. “Yes. This was a revenge mission at first. We followed Harry and Mr. Holly, but—”

“Harry’s here? Good. He can bring up Jelani.”

Emily shook her head. “He’s been injured. The girls are tending to him now.”

Jade could only imagine that scene.
They’ll have his shirt off for sure.
“I’ll get the rope around Jelani and bring it up to you.”

After a quarter hour of struggling and pushing, Jade and Emily managed to free Jelani and bring him outdoors. The girls immediately set to work on him, giving him water and washing a nasty head wound. Harry, Jade noted,
had
lost his shirt, but his head and most of his torso were covered in bandages. A trace of blood stained the one on his forehead. Jade stopped them before the girls could cauterize a slight leg wound with ignited black powder. The five of them manhandled Harry into the rear of his truck alongside Jelani. Both were heavily cushioned with the cot and any blankets that the shed had to offer. Steven Holly, on the other hand, was left sitting on the ground, tied to a tree.

“You can send a constable back for him,” Jade said. “The truck is drivable, but you’ll have to take it slow. Don’t try to go all the way into Nairobi. You should be able to get help at the Blue Posts Hotel in Thika.”

“Where are you going?” Emily asked.

Jade pulled down the lever on her rifle and heard the satisfying
clack-clack
as she ejected a spent cartridge and sent another round into the chamber. “I’m taking the Hup and heading after the witch who started all of this.”

 

THE MAN CHECKED HIS SPEED, lest an officer stop him. He wanted nothing to postpone this long-awaited reunion. After years of waiting for her, she was here. Years of hearing of her other men, her other schemes. Maddening years in which he’d faithfully, blindly, devotedly done her bidding. He’d followed every request, including the last, fateful trip back into the Congo to retrieve a stash of gold they’d been forced to leave behind when they’d fled. He’d been given the order when he’d visited her in prison, posing as a minister and setting in motion the events for her escape. He had tried to say no, but one look at her beautiful face, marred by a thin, red scar from her delicate nose and across her eye, and he had relented. Relented as he always did. Her will was a blaze that either cleansed the dross from you or left you as smoldering ash.

He’d given everything for her: his country, his family, his soul. It looked now as if he might even be giving his life. But he couldn’t help himself. He was a man besotted and on fire. Yet all this time that she was here, close enough to touch, he’d had to stay away from her to maintain her disguise. It had maddened him. But soon, all his patient waiting and sacrifice would end and they’d be free. The plans had already formed in his mind. They’d flee to Rio de Janeiro. He’d get treatment. They’d be safe. And he was on his way to meet her now for one final job.

If he could only survive this bloodlust of hers that threatened to ruin them both.

 

JADE GAVE HER APPROACH as much thought as she could spare in the short time available to her. Go up the mountain’s east or west side? Which way? It wasn’t just a matter of speed, but also of stealth. In the end, she opted for the west. Tire tracks went that way, and while she had no hope of overtaking her, Jade prayed that she could sneak up from behind. She left the Hupmobile a half mile back, tucked away in the shelter of the forest, and walked the rest of the way. But when she arrived at the falls, there was no sign of Lilith. Where had she gone? Only Sam’s lonely tent with its flat little silhouette of a seated man remained. In this last hour before sunset, it almost fooled her.

And where’s Sam?
Jade couldn’t very well call out for him, not if Lilith was lurking nearby.
Where’s Boguli when I need him?
That answer lay with Jelani. If he had conjured Boguli as a protective spirit, then she wasn’t likely to see or hear from him again unless Jelani regained consciousness.

The tent is the rendezvous point. Find a spot where you can look down on it and have a clear shot.
She opted to work her way upriver to the falls. She’d hide in the rocks there. Jade kept to the protective shadows for as long as she could before dropping to a crouch at the edge of the grasses where the trees were much farther apart. From there she went painstakingly from tree to tree, keeping low. At one point she was forced to half slither, half crawl through the tall grass. Finally, she reached the rocks and climbed them, grateful for the protective din of the falls. She made the summit as the sun set.

There, she spied Sam.
He’s alive and unharmed.
Her heart practically sang the thought. She considered giving him a sign, but knew that whatever he could see or hear, Lilith could, too. She was somewhere nearby, biding her time until the evening cloaked her approach.

The elephant’s bellow came from beyond the mountain.
Boguli?
Had Jelani recovered enough to request his spirit? The rational part of Jade denied such superstitions. Her Catholic, spiritual side acknowledged Father Jacquinet’s hypothesis that her guardian angel was working in whatever form it took to get her attention. In Africa, that was Boguli and elephants. Jade’s practical nature was willing to take advantage of whatever would help her catch Lilith. The animal bellowed again. Maybe it was simply a real elephant. It certainly sounded real and it sounded angry. Perhaps Lilith had disturbed it.

If that was the case, then she was on her way from the eastern side of the mountain. Jade looked that way and faced the moonrise, swollen and white. So intent was she that she didn’t hear anyone approach until an overjoyed voice called to her.

“Jade! Thank heaven you’re alive. I’d given you up for dead.”

Jade jumped to her feet as her reflexes kicked in. She recognized the speaker, but it took time for relief to overcome the heart-pounding rush of fear. Now that same reaction coupled with her intense fatigue washed over her in a wave of trembling legs. She slid to the ground, still clutching her Winchester.

“Dr. Mathews, my stars, you gave me a fright. What are you doing here?”

The doctor scrambled from boulder to boulder towards Jade. He cradled a Webley revolver, which didn’t surprise Jade. There was always a chance of meeting up with an ill-tempered buffalo around Ol Donyo Sabuk, or possibly a lion, not that a handgun had enough stopping power against either of those menaces.

“You’re alive!” Dr. Mathew’s voice was hushed and gentle, blending into the muted roar of the falls. “Did you know that everyone was looking for you yesterday? You crashed. Don’t you remember?” He reached out a gloved hand towards her arm. “You must be hurt. What are you doing all the way down here? Good heavens, you must have hit your head and wandered aimlessly all day.”

Jade slipped aside just before he could reach her and Mathews lost his balance, his right hand landing hard, palm open on a pointed chunk of black basalt. She heard the thin kid leather rip as the rock sliced through his glove, saw the fresh splotch of red. “You cut your hand! What are you doing here?”

He didn’t wince, didn’t even look at it. “I need your help. Harry Hascombe went a bit insane when he saw the plane wreck. He drove off in a fury.” Mathews stared at her, his mouth open in astonishment. “I can’t believe you’re alive. How fortunate that I found you.” He pointed to the southeast. “I . . . I was on my way to find Hascombe. You could help me look.”

A bit of movement; a faint moon shadow shifted among the trees and in the distance. She saw Sam slip out from the rocks to one of the few large trees by the river. The elephant trumpeted again. Everything about this scene felt wrong. Her brain screamed a warning, but she was looking at Mathews sideways and he was so close that she couldn’t swing her rifle around. “You should leave, Dr. Mathews.”

He trained his Webley on her. “I’m afraid, my dear, I must insist that you come with me.”

—The Traveler

“DON’T YOU FIND THAT BEARD to be terribly hot and irritating, Mr. Featherstone?”

The voice was low and breathy, like a whisper, but its coolness was far from comforting. It reminded Sam of how a corpse would sound. The speaker was small and of slender build. The loose-fitting, multipocketed hunting jacket and pressed trousers said it was a man, but the smooth, sinuous movements shouted woman.