Tessa pulled out her flashlight club and took a swing at him as she continued to bounce.
Chase appeared, wearing an expression of exasperation, she’d seen many times—not the reaction she’d sought. His jaw clenched over and over. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Tessa?” he growled.
“Umm. I’m trying to cause a distraction so he can take out Dage,” she said, pointing her flashlight at something behind them.
Dage swung around to meet the hammer-like fist of Handsome against his jaw, dropping him limp to the ground.
Handsome stared down at Dage then gave Tessa a thumbs-up. “Thanks. I needed that.”
Tessa’s feet remained about two feet off the ground when suddenly the rubber bands gave way and she dropped in an undignified pile.
Carrying Dage over his shoulder, Handsome led the way to his small quarters at the other end of the camp with Chase and Tessa bringing up the rear. By the time he dropped Dage down on the cot, the man had moaned his way to consciousness. Tessa soaked a thin washcloth in some tepid water and folded it twice before laying it on his forehead. He bolted upright at her touch and swung his legs off the cot.
Chase pulled Tessa back before stepping up and leveling Dage’s weapon at his head. “Some bodyguard you are,” he quipped. “We have a saying in the States. You can’t hoot with owls and expect to soar with the eagles.”
Dage’s lip curled up. “What does that mean?”
“Yeah. That is the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.” Handsome glared at Chase. “Is that some of your Cherokee mumbo-jumbo?”
“I think it means,” Tessa tried to speak softly, “Dage was out all night doing the president’s bidding. He couldn’t do his job so well in the day.” She tapped her cheek. “That swollen jaw indicates you never even knew when Handsome came up behind you.”
Looking more like a hungry pit bull than chief of security, Dage dragged the cloth across his face then lobbed it at Handsome, who let it fall to the floor.
“That was rude,” he commented drily.
“I’ll be leaving now.” Dage stood without so much as a wobble.
“Before you leave, I want to continue our conversation about you burning down the clinic and taking Dr. Girard to what I hope is a safe place.” Chase pointed down at the cot. “Sit down.”
He cocked his head and let the news sink into Handsome. The expression on Handsome’s face reminded him of things that go bump in the night; not something you really want to confront or discover that there really are monsters. The pinched forehead and wide eyes of Dage as he tried to slide further away from Handsome indicated the same thought might have crossed his mind.
“No,” Tessa yelled trying to pull Handsome back. Chase waved her aside and smiled.
After several of Handsome’s blows to Dage’s gut, Chase stepped forward. “Ya know, Handsome, if you kill him, we’re not going to get any information about Dr. Girard.”
He dropped the bodyguard onto the cot again, clenching his fists over and over. “Where is the doctor? Tell me or I’ll take you out into the deep water and let the hippos have your worthless body.”
Dage managed to sit up enough to rub his midsection. Blood trickled out of his mouth and seeped through his shirt. “If you kill me you’ll never find where he is.”
“Then he is alive?” Tessa tried to pull Handsome around to face her, without success. She grabbed the cloth and wet it again. When she offered it to Dage, he snatched it from her hand.
“Yes. I think he has a concussion, but—”
Handsome grabbed him up by his shirt and shook him violently. Tessa covered her mouth, preventing a scream from escaping.
Chase handed her the gun and stepped forward to deliver a punch to Handsome’s side. With an oof, he dropped the bodyguard to the floor and stepped back. The expression of violence still flamed in his eyes.
“We need him,” Chase chided in a mild tone. “You’ve done enough. I think he gets the point you’re bigger and badder than him.” He pointed to the other side of the room. “Get over there. Better yet, don’t you have something to do, like learn how to cook a decent breakfast? Gee, that stunk this morning.”
“He didn’t mean that, Handsome.” She approached him carefully. “Let Chase talk to him. Please.”
His breathing slowed, and his round eyes stopped bulging as they shifted to her.
She laid a hand on his forearm. “For Dr. Girard.” She still carried the gun in her other hand and decided to hand it off to Chase, realizing Handsome could easily relieve her of it.
“I most certainly did mean it,” Chase growled. “I paid good money to stay here, and you fed me crap this morning.”
“Can we focus on the problem here?” Dage moaned removing the bloody washcloth from his face. “The doctor took a fall down the clinic steps when he discovered the soldiers there. He hit his head pretty hard on a rock at the bottom.”
“So Baboloki is behind this?” Chase asked, cutting his eyes over at the mountain who had begun pacing.
“Yes. We went there yesterday. Baboloki received some information before we left that the Kifaru had returned to Botswana. Many people, these people, believe whoever possess it can rule the land or at least show the way to who should. It is nonsense for the president to use this legend to retain power. He is terrified of losing the election this time.”
“Those rumors have always existed. Why is he afraid now?” Handsome snapped.
“The woman, Keeya, he keeps, gave birth to a son.”
“The day Baboloki’s men slaughtered most of those in the village where the clinic is located,” Chase added.
Dage nodded as Tessa handed him a cup of water. “He kept Keeya all these years, in fear the child survived. He planned to use her as leverage.” Dage rubbed his hand across his face.
“Who broke into Tessa’s room in Gaborone? What were you looking for?” Chase kept stealing a glance at Handsome to make sure he continued to behave himself. Tessa stood near him, aware her presence had a calming effect on the man.
“I sent one of the guards. Your woman asked a lot of questions that day in the garden and brought up the Kifaru and the legend. She mentioned writing a book on some new information about the day of the massacre.”
“And you stole the laptop and downloaded the information.”
“Yes. Or someone did. I only delivered it. Whatever you wrote”—he glanced at Tessa— “disturbed him enough to insist Keeya come here with him. Now she’s gone, and he is more dangerous than ever.”
“Why burn down the clinic?” Handsome asked, stepping closer. Chase noted he focused on his father and his achievements rather than the woman Keeya.
“Dr. Girard made him angry. No other reason. He didn’t want to hear that the black child held in his wife’s arms was not Keeya’s son. It is a loose end he wanted tied.” Dage conveyed the story he’d witnessed the doctor tell Baboloki. “He tried to make him admit to being here the day thirty-seven years ago when life changed in the Okavango.” Dage bowed his head. “But the doctor never wavered in his story, even after—”
“You hurt him.” Chase’s voice sounded flat, void of emotion.
It seemed the information about Keeya had sunk into Handsome’s thick head. He stood rigid, his gaze slowly moving from Dage, to Chase and back again. His brow pinched and his thick lips parted as if he tried to speak then squeezed them together so tight they became a straight line.
“That came later. What broke his heart was to watch the clinic go up in flames. Baboloki gave orders for the doctor to be taken away and interrogated. After seeing the president returned back here safely, he sent me to Maun to check on the doctor.”
“And then what?”
“I sent the soldiers away and hid him in a safe place.”
“Why?” Handsome asked in a bewildered voice.
“Insurance. Baboloki’s time will soon end.”
“And you want to secure a place on the winning side.” Chase moved closer, worried Handsom
e might lose control again.
“At first. The doctor is a good man. I told the president, burning down the clinic would only cause suspicion and distrust among the delta people. He removed the indigenous San people from their lands not so many years ago. They were denied access to water from their properties and faced arrest if they hunted. This was how they fed their families.”
Handsome continued the story. “If I remember right, the land lies in the middle of the world’s richest diamond field.”
“The government has always denied that there was any link to mining. The president insisted the world know the relocation was to preserve the wildlife and ecosystem. It didn’t matter the San people had lived in this area for a thousand years.” Dage turned to Chase. “Your own country did this many times to native people, did they not? Baboloki moved them to reservations where they couldn’t find work, and they turned to drugs and alcohol.”
“Why should he worry? Nothing happened to him then or ever when he took the law into his own hands,” Handsome complained, cocking his head as if to size up the man. “He wanted to send a warning.”
“Yes. I believe he did. I also think he wanted to draw out whoever had the Kifaru or…” He stood up to stare Handsome in the eyes. “Are you that child?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
President Baboloki stormed onto the dining platform, followed by two of his guards. He paced for a few seconds before pouring himself a cup of coffee from the bottom of the breakfast pot. With a deep intake of breath, he moved to the railing and gazed over the beauty of the Okavango Delta. A saddle-billed stork moved along the edge of the water, dunking its red head beneath the surface to search for his next meal.
“Find Dage for me,” he ordered a guard. “I have more things I need to have him do today.”
The young man snapped to attention and ran off.
“I think he has already gone, Mr. President.” Tessa walked up the steps ahead of Chase who bent his head over a brochure on local wildlife.
“Already?” Baboloki tensed in anger at not being told Dage was leaving.
“Handsome already had everything taken care of, coolers packed and a lunch if you want it. We’ll be back by then, I think. Don’t you think?” Tessa laid a hand on Chase’s arm.
“Mr. President, I have everything right here.” Handsome came from behind the partition separating the food prep area from the tables. “One of our people is headed to Maun. I told him I’d give you everything. Apparently, Dage already put one of your other people in charge while he is away. I can still call him back if you like. We needed supplies, and the plane couldn’t return today. I’m taking the other two Americans downriver to meet someone who can take them closer to catching a plane. I’m afraid I insisted he hurry. Forgive me. It is my fault.”
Baboloki took the outstretched itinerary from Handsome then stared at it for a few seconds.
“No. That won’t be necessary.” Baboloki waved him off like a pesky fly then turned his back to him and added, “Any news of Keeya?”
“No, sir.” Handsome escaped behind the partition again.
“How did the interview go?” the American woman queried.
Even though he found the woman lovely, he also found her a little too inquisitive for his taste. He guessed that might be the case with Americans. Women, especially beautiful ones, should be seen and not heard.
“Well enough.” He watched her over the rim of his cup. “I believe it is to be an ongoing process. The reporters will go with us today. Just a photo safari for me.”
“No big game?” Chase prodded.
Baboloki set his cup on the bar. “I’d rather watch than shoot. I go on the hunts, but other than fish, I’d rather leave the beasts alone. Besides, tracking them is more sport than killing something which can’t defend itself.”
Chase took out his phone and scrolled through some pictures until he came to the ones of the poachers from the day before. “Ever see these guys? They were poaching and claimed you’d given them your blessing.”
Baboloki took the phone to examine the pictures. “I did no such thing. These are some of my men, for sure, though.” He handed the phone back to Chase then snapped his fingers at a nearby guard. Barking some heated orders as to what needed to be done with the poachers once found, the president tried to form an expression of disgust. “I assure you, this will be resolved by nightfall.”
“They scared the hell out of the ladies. Now, our friends are leaving. The snake in our tent was the last straw.”
“Very unfortunate. That kind of behavior affects the economic stability of the whole region.” Baboloki offered a thin smile. “Africa is a dangerous place, Captain Hunter. It is best to remember when you look under a rock here, something might strike out. Some things don’t like to be disturbed.”
Chase returned a cynical expression. “I appreciate the warning. Good thing I’m a cautious guy.”
“There is an African proverb we use here, ‘Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the head when it is chopped off.’”
“We have a saying, too,” Chase sneered. “Two heads are better than one.” He shrugged. “Or something like that.”
Irritation flared up inside the president so quickly he decided to end the conversation. He pivoted on his heels. “Yes,” the president said through gritted teeth, smoothing the front of his tan camo jacket before puffing out his chest. “You’ll excuse me. I believe my guide is waving us over.” He took his leave, followed by his guards.
“Are you trying to get another black mamba to pay us a visit?” Tessa mumbled to Chase. “He is really steamed.”
“Good. People who make decisions when they’re angry make mistakes.”
“Another African proverb?” Tessa quizzed.
Chase was pleased with himself. “No. Experience. From what Dage says, we can expect that each day Keeya is gone and the diamond missing, the president will get a little more rattled. Things are out of his control. You can bet Keeya is a priority, and his people are searching for her.”
Carter and Sam brought their luggage up onto the deck during the last of the conversation.
“You do understand you can’t keep her hidden forever. Someone will make the mistake of saying too much. She’s got to be moved.” Sam put her hands on her hips and glanced over her shoulder.
Chase nodded. “We’ll take care of Keeya. Carter, I need you to handle the Dr. Girard end of things.”
“We’ll take care of everything.”
They filled the two departing agents in on the new information from Dage.
“He was vague about the location. I’m hoping some backtracking, security cameras, etc. can give us a strong lead. Dage is smart but may have made mistakes in his rush to secure the doctor.” Chase scanned the area casually.
“I wish we could take him with us,” Sam offered.
“Me, too. Not sure how you could explain his sudden presence, not to mention his colorful bruises Handsome gave him.” Chase couldn’t resist a grin.
“It’s worth a try. From what you’ve said, he isn’t a big fan of the dictator,” Carter reasoned.
“Handsome has him secured in his quarters,” Chase continued. “Carter is right. It’s too risky leaving him here. Peter or even the secretary might stumble upon him. He might even escape, and I don’t want to risk that.”
“Can’t we take him with us, Chase?” Tessa suggested. “Between you and Handsome, I doubt he’d give us much trouble. We will need to cause a diversion when we move him to the boat. The secretary is such a busybody, and Peter is always moving about, attending to the staff.”
Vernon meandered up onto the deck to grab the cooler the guide had neglected to haul down to the Land Rover. After listening to a short version of Dage’s story, he pulled out his phone. “I can’t get everything you need to locate the kind of information you need right now, but I have someone who can. She’s almost as good as me.” He talked into the phone after a few seconds then clicked off. “Check your phon
es in a couple of hours. I woke her up. Middle of the night in California.” He addressed Carter and Sam. “She knows the protocol for a secure call out here. No worries.” With a salute to Chase, he grabbed the cooler and headed to catch his ride.
“You guys be careful. Baboloki is running on adrenaline and not the good kind. He’s dangerous.” Chase nodded to his two agents. “Make the doc your priority. We’ll keep you informed about Keeya.”
After he gave them some final instructions, Sam and Carter left Chase and Tessa alone.
When he rubbed the general area where he’d been shot, Tessa pulled his hand away. “Let me look at that,” she insisted, trying to raise the tee shirt.
He sucked in his abdomen. “Do your hands ever get warm?”
She ignored him as she stared at the covered wound.
“See, I told you I’m good.” He pulled down the tee shirt. “But thanks for the concern.”
He could feel himself drawn to her mouth, parted in a mischievous tease that always managed to make his chest hurt. The way she gazed up at him forced him to gently pull her against him. When his arms circled her waist, he savored her blue eyes widened with anticipation. A hint of impending rejection of his admiration would soon follow. Her fingers lay flat against his chest and applied pressure to push him away. Casting his moral compass to the wind, he lowered his mouth to touch hers.
“Please tell me I’m interrupting something.” Handsome lumbered out onto the deck with a backpack thrown across one shoulder. Tessa jumped back as if she’d been bee stung.
“No. No, of course not. I was checking on Chase’s wound.” Tessa rubbed her hands up and down the outside of her jean shorts. A blush touched her cheeks.
“Humph. Did he get shot in the nose because it looked to me—”
“Handsome, mind your own business,” Chase growled. “You made your point.”
Handsome glared at Tessa. “What are your kids up to while you’re away? I don’t think you said.”
Black Mamba Page 22