“Who else?” Niki probed.
“What? Nobody,” he said, dismissing her question.
“What are you not telling me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He continued to play dumb.
She glared at him. “Look, I’m not stupid. I know you know who those men were today. You were scared, almost pissed your pants at the sight of them.”
“No I didn’t.” Now she had made him self-conscious, which was counterproductive.
“Okay, maybe you didn’t piss your pants, but you knew they were trouble. How?”
Lord lowered his head. His countenance turned to shame, and Niki knew it. For some reason Lord looked at his hand and studied the scar.
That’s it, Niki discerned. Payne gave you that scar. That’s why you were gone at the beginning of semester. She didn’t let on that she’d figured it out; she simply waited for him to speak.
“I just know those men were bad news.”
“Yeah, we’ve established that, but how? How are they bad news?”
He raised his head and looked her in the eye. She stared straight at him, unwavering, and unwilling to let this go.
“They work for a man named Payne.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. Truth was, Niki was surprised he’d brought up his name.
“And? What do they do for this Payne guy?”
“Whatever he wants. Everyone here does.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, he runs this area, and most of West Africa. He’s funded by governments.”
“Governments? Why would governments fund a terrorist?”
“Because he gets things done for them. He sways people to vote a certain way, to rig an election and rally behind a candidate of his choosing, all to fund his operations.”
“And what types of operations does he run?”
Color left Lord’s face, as he took a step back.
Oh, hell no. She made up the difference.
“I’ve said too much. I shouldn’t be telling you this,” Lord said.
“Why not?” Niki said.
“Because you’re just a kid.”
“Bullshit.” Niki set him straight. “I may be young, but don’t confuse youth with inexperience.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Niki had painted herself into a corner but didn’t falter. “It means, I can handle it. I’m concerned about your friends, about the villagers here, about their welfare. I need to know.” She was adamant, playing on his emotion. The emotions he felt for these people.
He stepped toward her, closing the space and whispering now. “He takes people. From their homes and forces them to work.”
“Work where?” It was as if she was handing the questions over on a silver platter.
“Mines.”
“Mines?” Niki feigned confusion.
“Yes, mines. Conflict diamond mines.”
“You mean like the stuff you see in movies and read about in those spy novels? That stuff actually exists?”
“They do. And some are here.”
“Here, as in here?” Niki looked around.
“Not in this camp precisely, but close.”
“Can you show me?” Niki was bold.
Lord studied her, perhaps to see if she was serious or if she was just being curious and naive. “Are you sure you want to do that? If we’re caught by anyone outside this camp, I cannot guarantee your safety.”
“Absolutely.”
“Fine then. I’ll see what I can do.”
Niki nodded.
“But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I’d never. I know what I’m getting into.”
“No, Ms. Finley, I assure you, you do not.” Lord spun to join what was left of the dinner festivities, leaving Niki alone with her thoughts.
18
Freetown, Sierra Leone
IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT when Winter and Fox exited the motel room. Fox hadn’t set foot outside for more than a minute during the day, and when she did, she wore oversized sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat to mask her identity. But in the dark, at that hour, it was time to go to work.
When Winter went into town for the essentials, he was able to get his hands on a different vehicle. Obviously, leaving the Jeep behind was a necessity, but this time he rented a more inconspicuous means of transport, one that would be more maneuverable in a hostile situation.
Winter mounted the motorbike first, straddling it with his legs spread, rolling it off the kickstand so Fox could sit on the backseat. Winter kick-started the bike, and the engine sparked to life. He revved the throttle once, to run the gas through the carburetor. Once he let off the throttle, the engine choked and fell silent.
“That’s not promising,” Fox said over his shoulder.
“She just needs a little love.” He kicked once, then again.
“Sounds like she needs a lot of love.”
He grinned, then kicked again; this time it started, and again he revved the throttle. “See, what did I tell you? Besides, this baby gives us an advantage if we have to go off-roading again.”
“If it stays running, you mean,” Fox said.
Winter smirked, then clicked the shift lever down once into first gear, let out the clutch slowly, and spun the throttle.
Steering the bike away from the motel, Winter decided to double back following the path they had traveled the previous night, toward the river where they had exited and back up the hill they had descended. The motorcycle made their trek possible. With its knobby tires and strong engine, they could make the climb without difficulty.
As they rode, Fox held tight to Winter’s waist with her left hand, and in her right was a Beretta 93R fully automatic pistol. Their path back to the previous site was probably foolhardy, and without question guards would be standing outside, waiting for them to show up again, which is why she carried the automatic weapon. Besides, Collar had given them an order and would not accept them back if they failed. So, even if they didn’t want to make this their path, they had no choice.
Winter pulled over on the shoulder and looked toward the jungle.
“Is that where we go in?” Fox asked
Winter nodded.
“How can you be sure?” she asked.
In the dark, he pointed at a small dot of florescent paint on a nearby tree.
“I came by earlier and tagged the tree, knowing we’d be back.”
“Smart,” she said.
“You ready for this? There’s no going back.”
Winter could feel the rise and fall of her chest. “Yes,” she said.
Without delay, he steered the bike toward the trees and followed the path of the river.
Earlier he had removed a bulb in order to dim the headlight. This would allow for a heading without drawing too much attention.
Winter drove slowly but not too slowly. His speed was a fine line between upright and dumped. When Winter sprayed the dot on the tree earlier in the day, he had not backtracked their path from the other night. He had no idea how far they had run; now it seemed like forever, but it always does when someone is chasing you with an automatic rifle.
“That’s it, up there,” Fox said from behind. “I can see it. I can see the Jeep.”
Winter stopped, once again straddling the bike, and cut the engine off. He looked up, honestly expecting someone to be there, on guard at the very spot where they’d left the Jeep behind.
“Get off and stay frosty,” he said.
Fox stepped off the back of the bike and raised the barrel of her Beretta.
“We need to spread out. You got me on comms?” Winter asked.
“I do.”
“Good, you go up here.” He signaled up the hill. “I’m gonna head upstream farther. Let’s work our way around the Jeep and back toward their camp. If you see anyone, do not engage unless absolutely necessary.”
Fox nodded, but Winter wasn’t convinced she’d heard him.
&nb
sp; “I said, do not engage.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
Winter nodded and followed the stream as Fox climbed the hill.
After leaving the bike behind, he walked and stared upward, figuring it was likely the shot would come from above if anywhere. Carrying his weapon in front of his body, he climbed for quite a while before pausing. The terrain was loose, more than he remembered on the climb down. Downed branches and leaves caused him to lose his footing more than once, and the noise made from his tumbles caused enough commotion to be heard from a distance. To his surprise, no one was there to contest his climb.
He reached the precipice and glanced to his left. The shadow of the Jeep lingered in the distance. He persisted through the jungle toward the tent where Payne and his men had set up camp.
“Fox, do you copy?” he whispered.
“Loud and clear.”
“You got eyes on them yet?”
“No, not yet,” Fox answered. “I’m almost through the trees, though. I assume once we’re through, we’ll be able to see the lights from their tent.”
“Good. Keep moving. We’ll rendezvous in the field, near our site from last night.”
“Copy that, out,” Fox said.
Winter quickened his pace but kept his guard up. Again, he suspected he would’ve seen at least one member of Payne’s team by now. But so far, nothing.
A wave of fear moved over him. Are they waiting in the field? Ready to ambush us? Ready to open fire the moment they see us?
“Fox! Stand down.” He was adamant.
But there was no answer.
“Fox! Do you copy? Stand down.”
There was nothing.
“Damnit.” Winter started into a sprint, running parallel to the camp toward Fox’s position.
After ten steps he heard Fox’s voice. “Winter, you copy?”
He stopped and held his hand to his ear to catch every word. “What the hell? Where are you?”
“I’m in the field.”
Out of instinct his gaze turned to the front of the jungle, even though he couldn’t see beyond the trees. “What do you see?”
“Nothing.”
“Say again?”
“I see nothing. They’re gone, Mitch. All of them. The tents. The men. The vehicles, everything.”
“Where’d they go?” he said, mostly to himself.
“I don’t know, but they left no trace.”
Winter glanced to the sky and clenched his jaw. “Damnit.” He kicked up earth in frustration. “We let them go,” he mumbled.
“What was that?” Fox said.
“Son of a bitch.” Again he was speaking to himself, but it came through to Fox.
“What’s our next move?” Fox said.
“With no idea where Payne and his men are, we only have one move left.”
“What’s that?”
“Contact Niki to see if she has any leads, because we’re shit out of luck.”
Fox stayed silent.
“Meet back at the bike, we’re done for the night.”
OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS of Freetown, Sierra Leone
In the glow of the burning foot of his cigar, Payne stood with four of his men. Jabar on his right, the guard who recognized the girl in town on his left, and two others. They stood on an embankment away from the camp. With their vision unimpeded, they scanned for movement in the dark. At the late hour, there was none besides that of the professor. Lord ducked in and out of the hospital tent, bringing in supplies. Payne’s men stood silent awaiting instruction.
“Where’s the girl?” Payne said.
“Asleep?” Jabar suggested.
Payne glared at him. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”
“What do you suggest we do?” Jabar asked, while all the others stood at attention.
Payne sucked in a deep draw and held it in his lungs. “Tonight? Nothing, but tomorrow . . . tomorrow we will make them pay.”
“The entire village?” Jabar asked.
“Every last one of them,” Payne said.
“And what about the professor and the girl?” Jabar asked.
“Take them for me. I will deal with them in my own way.”
19
Outside the city limits of Freetown, Sierra Leone
NIKI SLEPT BETTER THAN the previous night—by maybe ten minutes. The fact that Payne’s men were known and feared around Sierra Leone had put her off. How can people who live in such fear project so much joy throughout their everyday lives?
Maybe the children are unaware of Payne and his men. No, that’s not it. He’s the product of everyone’s horror story, the proverbial boogeyman. How can I protect them? After I leave, after Lord leaves, they’re at his mercy. They’ll always be at his mercy.
Emotion struck Niki as she lay there.
What would Collar or the director say? You can’t save them all. She knew this all too well from her training. During training the previous summer in Colorado, she and the other recruits were fed pictures. Pictures made to cause discord and reaction. All taken from real-life events. Dead men, women, children, struck down at the hand of multiple terrorists, arms dealers, the real scum of the earth. And the overarching lesson to be learned was the victims were collateral damage. Death, she and the other recruits learned, would not stop.
But Niki had the gut-wrenching feeling she could stop it there, in Africa. If she could stop Payne, kill him and his men, future recruits in ZULU, the CIA, JSOC, or any other acronym would never see children from that specific village in a black-and-white photo. Which is why she needed to see firsthand what type of man she was dealing with; she knew seeing that mine would give her the strength to take him down, even if that wasn’t her mission.
She put her feet to the floor, unaware of the time. It felt early. The sound of little voices at play had yet to enter her tent. As she pushed through the curtain, she realized it was just after dawn. The glow of early morning light lingered on the horizon when Vali caught her eye as he entered the medical tent.
“Miss Niki, would you mind helping me in here for a moment?”
Without hesitation she walked over and proceeded inside the tent. “When do you sleep . . . ?” she said, but her voice trailed off at the sight of the newly injured.
“I won’t sleep until I’m dead,” Vali teased, but Niki barely heard his retort, as her focus remained on the patients.
She stepped forward and said, “What happened?”
There were three female bodies, broken, battered, and burned. She didn’t recognize any of them; they couldn’t have been from the village.
“We found them in another village close by. They were brought to me for help. I took them in, and . . . this was the dirty work of a local man . . .” He paused. “He calls himself a freedom fighter, but he’s really a fanatic.”
“Let me guess, is his name Payne?”
“You’re aware of him?” Vali was surprised.
“Professor Lord has filled me in. Especially after we saw the men at the market and the beach yesterday.”
“Ah. I see. Could you help me over here? She needs our attention most. She’s critical.”
“Sure, just tell me what to do.” Niki moved to the bedside.
“I’m going to clean this wound. She’s going to struggle, and I assure you, she will put up a fight. I need you to hold her down.”
Niki stared at Vali, wondering if he was serious, but his look of focus told the story. She walked to the head of the gurney and stood over the woman. Her eyes were dark, black in hopelessness as she stared up at Niki.
“Please, place your hands on her shoulders. The burn wounds will need my attention first.” Niki examined the woman’s lesions, and from the light hanging above, she could see that dirt had been rubbed into them, all of them.
Vali poured cool water over the first wound, which caused the woman to shutter and shake in agony, letting out a piercing scream. Vali left the woman’s bedside to gather a clean towel. When he returned, he rolled it up a
nd handed it to Niki. Niki looked at Vali, then the woman.
“I’m going to have Niki place this in your mouth.” Vali’s kind, empathetic eyes stared into hers. “It’s for the pain. Bite down as hard as you need to.”
The woman gritted her teeth and nodded, then opened her mouth. Niki lowered the rag inside, and Vali dumped more cool water over the next wound. He did so over half her body, then used soap to clean the wounds, and finally wrapped every sore. By the time he was finished, she looked like a mummy.
Vali caught Niki’s eyes afterward. From the shocked look on her face he insisted she take leave. “I can finish on my own. Thank you for your help, Miss Niki.”
Niki didn’t need to be told twice; she longed for fresh air and solitude. As she pushed through the tent flap, the emotions overwhelmed her.
He’s a bastard. I don’t care what Collar and the director want, Payne is going to pay for this. I’m going to kill him myself. I don’t need Winter or Fox. They’ll just try to talk me out of it. I can’t stop now, not after this, not after what he’s done to these people.
She saw Lord approaching. When he met her at the front of the medical tent, he could sense something was off. “What is it?” he said.
“Payne.” Niki rolled her head.
“What now?” Lord peered into the tent.
“Vali is tending to more of his victims.”
Lord stalled, considering what to say next. “Are you sure you want to go through with this, now that you’ve seen what he’s capable of?”
She stared at him with scorn.
And his face fell.
I’m going to rip his balls off and feed them to him. But she couldn’t say that, nor would he believe her if she did. “This is just proof of why we need to go.”
“But why?” Lord said. “What good will it do? What will it prove to you?”
Niki had to think fast. She couldn’t blow her cover; she couldn’t tell him anything about her background or ZULU.
“Everything.” Her words were ambiguous, but apparently strong enough to convince him.
20
DAYLIGHT WANED AND gave way to the night. Agitated, Niki had paced the grounds since four in the afternoon and didn’t stop except to eat dinner. In her tent now, she grabbed her backpack and pulled out her Glock. She would carry it as a safety net, in case they ran into trouble. She knew Lord well enough by now and realized he would be unlikely to carry any sort of weapon. Emptying more of the bag’s contents, Niki lifted a pair of night-vision goggles, a night-vision camera, and finally Payne’s photo. She studied the picture for a moment, then stuffed it back inside and wrapped the backpack around her shoulders.
Second Best: A Niki Finley Novel (A Niki Finley Thriller Book 2) Page 9