Red Earth

by Tony Park

  ‘Official cover up, by the sound of it,’ Mike said.

  ‘It doesn’t sit well with me, either,’ Jed said.

  ‘Was Suzanne ever really working for the CIA?’ Mike asked.

  Jed shrugged. ‘The operation to stop the extremists getting a suitcase nuke was sanctioned. Franklin turned her, but at some point for the three of them, Franklin, Chris and Suzanne, it became all about the money. Chris had worked in Syria as well, prior to taking over in Africa. The word behind the scenes is that Chris had a gambling problem and big debts he was able to hide from the Company. Suzanne and Franklin were made for each other. Franklin’s psych evaluations showed he was screwed up by the Middle East and some of the things he’d done there while undercover. They probably never intended to share the money with Chris. Phone records showed that Franklin was feeding information to Suzanne all the way through the chase, which is how she managed to stay a step ahead. She was going to use Paulsen and his guys to get her out of South Africa, but she was always going to waste all of them at some point to cover her tracks from the bad guys.’

  ‘We thought the police or the CIA were tracing our phones,’ Mike said.

  Jed shook his head. ‘Say, Nia, I guess you never remembered what happened to all that money, did you?’

  Nia smiled. ‘Like I said, Jed, the account was empty.’

  Jed raised his eyebrows. ‘Not like the piggy bank of the Endangered Species Organisation. They’ve been busy in this part of the world lately. A new helicopter for the company you’re now a partner in; a university scholarship with all fees and accommodation covered for Themba and twenty other local kids who want to study environmental-related subjects.’

  ‘They’re a very generous organisation,’ Mike said.

  ‘Very,’ Jed agreed. ‘Even set you up with a vulture and birds of prey rehabilitation and education centre near Hluhluwe. You enjoying being the boss there?’

  Mike adjusted his hat. ‘Well, I do miss all the field work, but we’re doing good work in the reserves and, more importantly, in the local schools and communities, educating people. That all costs money, and I have to keep an eye on the books.’

  ‘I bet. I’ve been doing some more asking around and I see that your colleague, John Buttenshaw, Nia, has all the special care and wheelchair modifications that he needed for his home after being filled full of lead and left for dead by Suzanne and co.’

  ‘What are you getting at, Jed?’ Nia asked.

  ‘Oh, nothing. We could have used that money for good, too, you know.’

  ‘What’s better, do you think, fighting wars or protecting the environment for the kids of tomorrow?’ Nia asked.

  ‘Well, as a father of two I think you can guess my answer. I just wanted to let you two know it’s all over. You won’t hear from me again.’

  Mike reached out a hand again and Jed took it. ‘Thanks, but we’ll stay in touch, Jed. I need to send you an invitation to another wedding soon.’

  Jed looked to Nia, who beamed back at him.

  Mike stood, along with the rest of the guests. ‘Here comes the bride.’

  He looked up at the clear blue sky and far off he picked out the telltale swirl of specks. Inqe. It was a good sign.

  Acknowledgements

  With so many wildlife species in peril it’s easy to overlook some of the smaller and less glamorous creatures (at least in some people’s eyes) that are staring down the barrel of extinction.

  I’m especially grateful to real-life ‘vulture man’ Andre Botha, manager of South Africa’s Endangered Wildlife Trust Birds of Prey Programme, for suggesting I write a book which touched on the plight of vultures. The senseless killing of these magnificent birds, as described in this book, is happening now. It’s a tragedy not just for the birds themselves, but for the wider natural environment which depends on them to keep the landscape healthy and habitable. Andre assisted with my early research and read and corrected the finished manuscript.

  As always I’m indebted to many people who gave their time and knowledge to help me with researching and reviewing this story. I’ll try not to forget anyone.

  Annelien Oberholzer did an excellent job yet again of correcting not only my Afrikaans and other South Africanisms, but also several other errors. Sydney psychotherapist Charlotte Stapf provided valuable feedback on the motivations of my characters and other aspects of the story. I’m grateful to former South African Defence Force sniper Fritz Rabe for his help with firearms matters; to Mike Reid for his time and his comments on helicopter flying; and Mike Furner and Tyler van der Merwe from JNC Helicopters, Virginia Airport, Durban, for information on car tracking.

  My friends Peter and Alison Nairn showed me the sights of Durban several times; Warrant Officer Bobby Freeman, Regimental Sergeant Major of the Natal Mounted Rifles, gave me a tour of the regiment’s impressive base (and even more impressive mess); Tema Matsebula provided valuable feedback on the manuscript; and Section Ranger Dennis Kelly from Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park answered my many questions about poaching and the trade in illegal wildlife products. Thank you, all.

  As with many of my previous books I’ve handed over the surprisingly tricky job of thinking up character names to a number of worthy charities and causes. The following people made donations to have names assigned to the cast of Red Earth: Mike Dunn, Chris Mitchell, Nicholas Duncan (on behalf of Nia Carras) and Suzanne Fessey, contributed to Painted Dog Conservation Inc.; Annie Nolan (on behalf of Boyd Qualtrough), and Yvonne Buttenshaw (on behalf of John Buttenshaw) donated to Breaking the Brand (an Australian NGO focusing on the reduction of demand for rhino horn in Vietnam); and my former boss, Nick Greiner AM (on behalf of his grandson Angus ‘Banger’ Greiner), and Lisa Paulsen (on behalf of Egil Paulsen and Tracy Zietsch) made donations to causes close to their hearts. Jordan and Tim Penquitt are the sons of my friend Roger, who kept my morale up when we both served in Afghanistan.

  Thirteen novels on my wonderful team of unpaid editors – my wife Nicola, mother Kathy, and mother-in-law Sheila – once again did an excellent job helping me to iron out timelines, correct inconsistencies and improve my characters. Thanks, too, to my other ‘family’ at Pan Macmillan Australia – Publishing Director Cate Paterson, Production Editor Danielle Walker, and copy editor Brianne Collins for their hard work, wise counsel, and their faith in me. Thanks, too, go to my agent, Isobel Dixon, and Pan Macmillan’s affiliates in the United Kingdom and South Africa. I’m grateful to all of you for helping me live my dream.

  I often use social media, not just to waste time, but to kick around ideas and get feedback from readers and friends. If you’d care to look for me on Facebook or Twitter you can find me as Tony Park Author, or via my website, www.tonypark.net. I’d love to hear from you.

  Lastly, if you’re still reading this, thank you. I couldn’t do this without you.

  About Tony Park

  Tony Park was born in 1964 and grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney. He has worked as a reporter, a press secretary, a PR consultant and a freelance writer. He is also a major in the Australian Army Reserve and served as a public affairs officer in Afghanistan in 2002. He and his wife, Nicola, divide their time equally between Australia and southern Africa. He is the author of twelve other novels.

  Also by Tony Park

  Far Horizon

  Zambezi

  African Sky

  Safari

  Silent Predator

  Ivory

  The Delta

  African Dawn

  Dark Heart

  The Prey

  The Hunter

  An Empty Coast

  Part of the Pride, with Kevin Richardson

  War Dogs, with Shane Bryant

  The Grey Man, with John Curtis

  The Lost Battlefield of Kokoda, with Brian Freeman

  Walking Wounded, with Brian Freeman

 
MORE BESTSELLING FICTION FROM TONY PARK

  An Empty Coast

  A body. A cover-up. A buried secret.

  Sonja Kurtz – former soldier, supposedly retired mercenary – is in Vietnam carrying out a personal revenge mission when her daughter sends a call for help. Emma, a student archaeologist on a dig at the edge of Namibia’s Etosha National Park, has discovered a body dating back to the country’s liberation war of the 1980s.

  The remains of the airman, identified as former CIA agent Hudson Brand, are a key piece of a puzzle that will reveal the location of a modern-day buried treasure – a find people will kill for.

  But Hudson Brand is very much alive, and he is on a quest to solve a decades-old mystery whose clues are entombed in an empty corner of the desert.

  ‘Park writes with vigour and the story unfolds … with plenty of action … fascinating characters, interesting history and a real love of the country’ canberra times

  ‘Gripping action thrillers … never disappoints as a storyteller’ daily telegraph

  The Hunter

  Safari guide and private investigator Hudson Brand hunts people, not animals. He’s on the trail of Linley Brown who’s been named as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

  Linley’s friend, Kate, supposedly died in a fiery car accident in Zimbabwe, but Kate’s sister wants to believe it is an elaborate fraud.

  South African detective Sannie van Rensburg is also looking for Linley, as well as a serial killer who has been murdering prostitutes on Sannie’s watch. Top of her list of suspects is Hudson Brand.

  Sannie and Hudson cross paths and swords as they track the elusive Linley from South Africa and Zimbabwe to the wilds of Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve.

  Tony Park’s trademark storytelling prowess turns this hunt into a thrilling – and deadly – escapade through some of the most dangerous, yet beautiful, places on earth.

  ‘Australian author Park, who spends much of his time living in South Africa, writes in the vein of Wilbur Smith and Bryce Courtenay, with a deep love for the African bush and wildlife.’

  sunday age

  The Prey

  Deep underground in the Eureka mine, South Africa’s zama zamas illegally hunt for gold. King of this brutal underworld is Wellington Shumba – a man who rules his pirate miners through fear of torture and death.

  Running Eureka’s legitimate operation is former recce commando Cameron McMurtrie. When one of his engineers is taken hostage, Cameron does not hesitate to mastermind a dramatic rescue – and finish it off with a manhunt for Wellington. That is until corporate interference from the mine’s Australia head office, in the shape of ambitious high-flyer Kylie Hamilton, gets in his way.

  Doctor Hamilton is visiting South Africa supposedly to finalise a new mine on the border of the famed Kruger National Park, but instead she and Cameron are forced into a partnership to fend off an environmental war above ground, and a deadly battle with a ruthless killer below.

  Cameron and Kylie have become Wellington’s prey.

  They must unite – their lives depend on it.

  Dark Heart

  Atrocities from the past rise to the surface in this thrilling race to the death across Southern Africa.

  Lawyer Mike Ioannou is dead after a hit and run in Thailand. A home invasion threatens the life of medico Richard Dunlop. In Johannesburg, a car jacker nearly kills photo journalist Liesl Nel.

  Australian war crimes prosecutor Carmel Shang realises that all three victims are linked by a photograph that was clutched in the hand of a dying man in Rwanda nearly twenty years ago …

  African Dawn

  Three families share a history as complex and bloody as Zimbabwe itself.

  Dedicated conservationists Paul and Philippa Bryant clash with the corrupt government minister, Emmerson Ngwenya. Twin brothers, ex-soldier Braedan and environmentalist Tate join the fight.

  But when the brothers fall in love with the same woman, Natalie Bryant, their rivalry threatens to put the lives of all involved at risk.

  The Delta

  After a failed assassination attempt on the president of Zimbabwe, ex-soldier turned mercenary Sonja Kurtz is on the run and heads for her only place of refuge, the Okavango Delta in the heart of Botswana. She’s looking to rekindle a romance with her childhood sweetheart, safari camp manager Stirling Smith, and desperately wants a fresh start and to leave her perilous warrior lifestyle behind.

  But Sonja discovers her beloved Delta is on the brink of destruction. She is recruited as an ‘eco-commando’ in a bid to halt a project that will destroy forever the Delta’s fragile network of swamps and waterways.

  Soon Sonja finds herself caught in a deadly web of intrigue involving Stirling, the handsome Martin Steele – her mercenary commander – and TV heart-throb and wildlife documentary presenter ‘Coyote’ Sam Chapman who blunders out of the bush in a reality show gone wrong.

  Instead of escaping her violent past, Sonja is now surrounded by men who are relying on her killer instincts to save the day. Where she came to find peace, she finds war … and it is not just the survival of the Delta that is at stake.

  Ivory

  Alex Tremain is a pirate in trouble.

  The two women in his life – one of them his financial adviser, the other his diesel mechanic – have left him. He’s facing a mounting tide of debts and his crew of modern-day buccaneers, a multi-national band of ex-military cut-throats, is getting restless.

  They don’t all share his dream of going legit, but what Alex really wants is to re-open the five-star resort hotel which once belonged to his Portuguese mother and English father on the Island of Dreams, off the coast of Mozambique.

  A chance raid on a wildlife smuggling ship sets the Chinese triads after him and, to add to his woes, corporate lawyer Jane Humphries lands, literally, in his lap. Another woman is the last thing Captain Tremain needs right now – especially one whose lover is a ruthless shipping magnate backed up by a deadly bunch of contract killers.

  Meanwhile Jane finds herself torn between the crooked but charming pirate and her coolly calculating millionaire boss, George Penfold. Both are passionate, and both are dangerous. What Alex really needs is one last big heist – something valuable enough to fulfil his dreams and set him and his men up for life.

  Silent Predator

  In a luxury safari lodge in Kruger National Park, Detective Sergeant Tom Furey has just woken to a protection officer’s worst nightmare. The government minister in his charge has been abducted.

  Furey, and his local counterpart, Inspector Sannie van Rensburg, go against official orders and track the kidnappers to the coastal waters of Mozambique, and then north to the shores of Lake Malawi. Sannie can’t resist becoming involved in Tom’s mission, even risking her job to help him.

  Africa is a land of danger as well as beauty, and soon lives are at risk. The hunt spirals into a fight to the death, and involves a crime beyond anyone’s worst imaginings …

  Safari

  A volatile Zimbabwe and the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo are the battlefields for a deadly game of cat and mouse in Africa’s wildlife wars.

  Canadian researcher Michelle Parker jumps at the chance to visit the famed mountain gorillas, but she is wary of the man giving her this opportunity – professional big-game hunter Fletcher Reynolds.

  Fletcher represents all Michelle has fought against – the slaughter of animals for material gain – but she finds herself increasingly drawn to his power and is reassured by his apparent support for the stamping out of poaching.

  Into this mix steps ex-SAS officer Shane Castle. He has been recruited by Fletcher to spearhead the anti-poaching campaign. Shane is a man who has seen what bullets can do – to both human and animal – and he makes Michelle start to doubt the choices she has made …

  African Sky


  Paul Bryant hasn’t been able to get back in a plane since a fatal bombing mission over Germany. So, instead, the Squadron Leader is flying a desk at a pilot training school at Kumalo air base, Rhodesia.

  Pip Lovejoy, a volunteer policewoman, is also trying to suppress painful memories. When Felicity Langham, a high-profile WAAF from the air base, is found raped and murdered, Pip and Bryant’s paths cross.

  Pip unearths a link between the Squadron Leader, the controversial heiress Catherine De Beers and the dead woman. What Pip thinks is a singular crime of passion soon escalates into a crisis that could change the course of the war.

  First published 2016 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd

  1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

  Copyright © Tony Park 2016

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

  This ebook may not include illustrations and/or photographs that may have been in the print edition.

  Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available

  from the National Library of Australia

  http://catalogue.nla.gov.au

  EPUB format: 9781925483796

  Typeset by Post Pre-press Group

  Cover design © www.blacksheep-uk.com

  Helicopter © Susan & Allan Parker/Alamy Stock Photo