The End of a Lie (The Amy Mohr Chronicles Book 1)

by M A Moore

  Amy shrugged, and stopped rocking for a moment. “I am a physicist, Robert. Mathematics is the language of my profession.”

  “I thought you retired?” Robert asked casually.

  “I have from the university,” Amy replied. “But physics is more an attitude, a way of observing the world, and I haven’t stopped doing that yet.”

  Robert said nothing to this, but Amy could tell he considered her a little odd. By most standard models for women, she was.

  Robert continued where he had left off.

  “This operation will only be more profitable if this new technology becomes available. We have good reason to believe that agents from this mining company are trying to steal it rather than pay for it. We also have jurisdiction problems. The hectorite deposit covers the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Who owns the mineral rights is going to be an issue.”

  Amy stopped rocking again. “I get the picture, Robert. But why haven’t you called your mother in three months?”

  Robert sat back in the chair and sighed. “I have spent most of the last three months playing hide and seek with the governments of Zimbabwe and South Africa. I am sure I don’t have to tell you that corruption is prevalent in this region of the world. Scruples are often ignored when so much money is on the line.”

  “Not only here,“ Amy added.

  Robert nodded. “I am sure they monitored Mother’s phone calls to try and track me down. It was just too dangerous -for both of us.”

  The only sound was the creaking rocking chair. Amy sat without speaking for a few seconds. “What can I tell her?”

  “Not much I am afraid -at least nothing resembling the truth.” Robert smiled broadly this time showing off his very perfect white teeth. “Tell her I have found a woman and I've fallen in love.”

  “I can tell her that.” Amy laughed, “She might faint, but I am sure she won’t believe me. Since when have you shown that kind of interest in any woman? You in love?" Amy shook her head. "She may be getting a bit forgetful, but she isn’t stupid, Robert.”

  “You were always the imaginative one in the family. I am sure you can come up with a better idea. I also need you to do something else for me.”

  “What’s that?”

  Pulling a plastic container the size of a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, Robert handed it to Amy. “This is a sample from the Zimbabwe Craton deposit of hectorite. I need you to get it assayed so I can find out if they are telling the truth about the high concentration of lithium.”

  “I assume your law firm wants to know that as well. Is that the information they intended me to bring back?”

  Robert nodded.

  “I don’t have a lab here, Robert. And if you recall I am a physicist, not an analytic chemist.”

  “You can find a place to get it analyzed in either Johannesburg or Cape Town. They don’t know I have this sample and I would prefer them not to even suspect I have one. Use that very active imagination of yours.”

  Amy tucked the package in her backpack. “Anything else I can do for you?”

  Robert shook his head. “Please stay out of trouble. My associates here will drive you back to your lodge.”

  “Just get me close to the Chobe Park gate. I am sure I can hitch a ride back from there with a lot fewer questions.”

  Amy stood up to leave. Robert did too and gave her a hug. “It was good to see you, Amy. Thanks for watching out for Mother.”

  “Take care of yourself,” she replied. “How am I supposed to get the lab results back to you?”

  “I’ll contact you when I can. I don’t expect them within a few days. I hope that by the next time we meet this will be over. At least I should know who and what I am dealing with.”

  “Please, no more self-destructing cell phones.”

  It was Robert’s turn to laugh. “I can’t promise you that. But you have my word that there will be no more secret 'marches to Pretoria'.”

  Amy got back into the SUV and Robert watched as they returned to the main road. When the vehicle was out of sight, the door to the cabin opened. The white man who had picked him up at Kasane’s airport stepped out on the porch.

  “Do you think she suspects anything?” he asked Robert.

  Robert replied after only a moment’s thought. “Not yet at least, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

  Amy felt relief that she had seen Robert, and was certain there was more going on than he told her. The adrenalin that had fueled her for the last two hours had depleted her energies, and she slumped against the window. She suspected that even if she could find her way back to the cabin, her cousin and his associates would be long gone.

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  Mike and Andrew drove around like madmen looking for a black SUV. The only one they found contained a couple from the UK on holiday. They didn’t take it kindly when Mike forced them off the road to check for Amy, especially with Andrew sitting in the jeep holding a rifle on them. As the sun set and darkness fell, day visitors exited the park. Mike headed toward the gate at a loss as to what to do next. His cell phone battery was almost depleted. It was too weak to call the authorities, and he was not in big hurry to contact them anyway. Government officials were always suspect in this part of the world. If it was a kidnapping, a ransom demand should follow soon. Tourism supplied a lot of income around here, and messing with tourists was not good for business. What made a retired professor a target was something he had trouble fathoming.

  Andrew and Mike approached the gate, both shrouded in dust and exhausted after their fruitless hunt. They found Amy sitting on a large rock by the guard station. Her whole visage looked gray because of the dimming light and the fine powdered sand that coated her hair and clothes. With her eyes closed, Mike didn’t think she saw him.

  “How long has that woman been here?“ he asked the uniformed officer in charge of the gate, pointing over at Amy.

  “Less than an hour. She walked up maybe forty-five minutes ago.”

  Mike felt himself start to lose control. He was hungry and tired and furious and relieved all at the same time. He had driven like a maniac for the last three hours. He harassed a couple of innocent tourists who he hoped would not report him to the authorities. His patience was approaching zero, and here she was sitting, waiting for a ride.

  He walked up to her and tried not to yell, not quite succeeding. “Where have you been?”

  She lifted her head and opened her eyes. She could tell he was angry. She looked him in the face and said, “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?” he repeated, barely containing his temper.

  Amy decided the best defense was a strong offense. She didn’t raise her voice. In fact she lowered it to a whisper, but she enunciated each word.

  “Don’t yell at me! I don’t know. It wasn’t my fault.”

  The implied vehemence of her reply stopped him. He realized that bellowing at her wouldn’t improve the situation, but he just couldn’t help himself. He made a conscious effort to calm down, and failed miserably. “So what happened?” He compromised by clenching his teeth.

  The words rushed out of her in an unbroken stream. “Two men grabbed me in the parking lot and forced me into their car. We drove around, they kept asking questions. I had no idea what they were talking about. They spoke to someone on the phone in a language I didn’t understand. After a while they said I wasn’t the one they wanted. They dropped me off a half mile down the road and I walked here.”

  “And you have no idea who they were?”

  “Two white guys in a black SUV. They didn’t give me their names,” she blurted out on the edge of hysteria. Mike couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or if she was trying not to cry. He hoped it was the first because he wasn’t good with tears.

  “Their questions didn’t make any sense to me, and when they were satisfied I was telling the truth, they let me go." The faster she spoke the higher pitched her voice became.

  "They threaten
ed to leave me out there on my own, but after another phone call, they dropped me off just down the road.”

  Mike’s anger wasn’t ebbing, but he realized that further questions would get him nowhere. “Let’s go back to the lodge.”

  He picked up her backpack from the ground next to where she sat and threw it behind the front seat of the jeep. Andrew had decided he was driving now, and Mike didn’t question the decision. Mike loaded her into the vehicle between him and Andrew. It was a tight fit. With the sun already set, the air temperature had dropped. In the short drive back to the lodge he could feel her trembling. He wasn’t sure if it was the cold or the experience that was causing it. No one spoke on the way back. He would question her further once she calmed down. Once he calmed down, too.

  Chapter 12

  Chobe Adventure Lodge is situated in Kasane on the banks of the Chobe River and shares a border with Chobe National Park. Right on our doorstep is the meeting of four African countries: Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Chobe Adventure Lodge therefore offers an excellent getaway location to Chobe, Victoria Falls or Caprivi. –Chobe Lodge official website.

  It was dark except for the moon just rising above the eastern horizon. Mike could see the other members of their group sitting near the fire pit on the terrace that overlooked the river. They passed around a bottle of wine and spoke in low tones. Rumors were running wild about Amy and what had occurred that morning. He had to try and allay their fears, or at least tell them what had happened. He wasn’t sure he knew himself. Amy had gone to her room when they got back, and he hadn’t seen her since. He was giving her some space and a bit of time before he questioned her again.

  The air had cooled, but there was no wind and the gibbous moon left eerie shadows on the deck. The heat of the day just radiated back into the atmosphere during the dry season. The humidity was too low to hold it in. The fire was more than just a means to keep the guests warm, it kept the larger predators away from the lodge and the compound surrounding it.

  Amy hadn’t joined the group.

  Was she all right? Mike wondered. She had insisted she was earlier, but he needed to be sure. She was his responsibility as a member of his tour group. If the central office found out one of their travelers had been abducted, even by mistake, it would not go well. Prospective clients had a way of finding these things out and going elsewhere.

  He wandered in the direction opposite to the fire pit, listening to the vervet monkeys rustling the leaves of the fig trees looking for ripe fruit. They'd disappear as darkness deepened seeking a safe haven to spend the night. The hippos grunted, still in the river beyond the reeds. They fed on the long grass along the banks while others slept. The elevated decks of the lodge and the fences near the shore were enough of a deterrent to neutralize their threat to any guest wandering out there after dark.

  Mike strolled down the terrace by the river away from the other members of the group. He found her sitting cross-legged on a low table in a quiet corner of the deck. She sat up straight, shoulders back and relaxed, hands folded in her lap, and eyes closed. She looked calm, even peaceful. A small vervet monkey walked atop the railing and stopped at a nearby table. Mike considered chasing it away, but it did not seem aggressive, just curious. He decided to watch for the moment.

  To Mike’s utter amazement the monkey sat on its haunches next to Amy without physically touching her. It rested its hands on its knees and closed its eyes seeming to gaze out at a distant unseen horizon. The creature was mimicking her. After only a minute, the monkey opened its eyes and spotted Mike lurking in the shadows. It jumped gracefully onto the railing and without disturbing her, moved off to climb into a fever tree beyond the dock.

  Mike stepped closer, not wishing to startle her, but he needed to know what she was doing. Finding out what had actually happened that afternoon was his first priority. She was a mystery to him. Unlike the other members of this travel group, she wasn’t paired up with anyone. Most brought a spouse or a friend on a vacation. She had come alone. She was young compared to the majority of them, but still several years older than he was. He knew that from looking in her passport. He was tour manager after all, and knowing his clients and what made them happy would mean better tips at the end of the trip. She didn’t act like the rest. She was friendly enough. She could make the others laugh at her rather wry observations and people liked having her share their table at meals or sit with them on safari drives. He knew he appreciated her company.

  She walked around with a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck and was always finding something to look at. He found himself holding her hand a little longer than necessary when helping her climb out of the jeep or bus. She could do it on her own, but she never seemed in a hurry to let go. Her eyes were sapphire blue and an impish gleam sparkled in them most of the time. He couldn’t tell if she was flirting with him or not.

  The closer he got to her, the less sure he was of his intentions. He wasn’t angry anymore, at least not much -just concerned. He watched her for a few minutes. Her breathing was not quite normal. She regulated it with full inhalations and slow exhalations. She repeated the pattern over and over. He waited for her to complete several breaths then came closer.

  He sat down next to her on the edge of the table near where the monkey had been. He just watched her chest rise and fall for a while. She didn’t seem to even notice his presence. Hesitantly he reached out a finger to touch her left shoulder. Just before he made contact, she opened her eyelids and turned her head to look at him. Deep blue stared unblinkingly into his pale grey eyes. He didn’t know what to ask.

  “I’m all right, Mike. I just need to let the adrenaline run its course,” she whispered to him. He nodded once, and dropped his eyes to her hands that sat folded in her lap. He thought he saw a tremor in her fingers. It was as if she had drunk too much coffee and the caffeine was making her jittery, or maybe it was just the experience of the afternoon catching up to her.

  “Sit with me for a little while?” she asked in the same soft voice. He moved back on the table, so she could look him full in the face without turning her head so far. He put his feet up, arms folded across his knees. His position was near enough to her that he brushed her bent leg with his forearm. He could feel the slight tremble in her limb. She smiled, at least he thought it was one, closed her eyes and began the regulated breathing process again.

  The slow rhythm hypnotized him, and his mind wandered in the companionable silence. What had happened that afternoon? He hadn’t witnessed the event. Those who had didn’t agree on the details. He held his head up, chin in his hands and listened as her breaths became longer and slower. Night sounds surrounded them. The monkeys were silent, but the hippos grunted loudly announcing their location in the river. The distant roar of a large cat did not bode well for some animal on tonight’s menu. This spot was relatively safe, but he kept an ear open for any unusual noises. Her tremor lessened, and he found his own breathing slowing down in rhythm with hers. He closed his eyes for just a moment, and drifted off with his forehead resting on his folded forearms.

  He awoke with a start. The moon had moved almost overhead. Looking at his watch he realized twenty minutes had passed. She was still sitting next to him.

  “Nice nap?” she asked, eyes smiling to match her lips. She stretched her legs out in front of her.

  He unfolded himself and yawned.

  “Thank you.” she said and gave his arm a small squeeze.

  “Pleasure” he replied, sincerely meaning it. They stood up facing each other on opposite sides of the table. He watched as she disappeared in the darkness, heading back to her room. He half wished he could follow her there to make sure she arrived without incident.

  Better not, he concluded almost immediately. Things got complicated enough without adding to them. He headed in another direction, towards his own lonely bed. He needed to check his email for Francoise’s daily picture of the baby. Time to re-confirm the bus for tomorrow's trip into Zimbabwe - a to
ur manager’s job is rarely done. Then it dawned on him, Amy had eluded his questioning -again. And for some reason, this made him laugh out loud.

  Chapter 13

  Across the border from Livingston, Zambia, and near Botswana lies the town of Victoria Falls. Officially in the country of Zimbabwe, the town lies immediately next to the falls. They are the major attraction and economic source of the place, but this popular tourist destination offers both adventure seekers and sightseers plenty of opportunities for bungie jumping and running the rapids. -Zimbabwe tourist bureau.

  When the group gathered for dinner that night, no one but Mike had seen Amy since the incident at the rest stop. He wasn't surprised that they wanted to know details. Details, Mike thought to himself, were exactly what was missing.

  “She’s fine,” he assured them all as they gathered around him at the dining table. “She’s a little shaken, but essentially unharmed. The authorities know about the episode and are on the lookout for a black SUV.”

  “Do they have any idea who took her?” James asked with concern.

  Mike shook his head. “I don’t expect much to come of it. There’s not enough information to identify the vehicle, and Amy didn’t give much detail about her abductors.”

  He looked at them one by one to make sure each was listening. “Please remember this is Africa. The wellbeing of each of you is a high priority for me, but it is never a good idea to go off on your own for any reason.”

  They looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They all took his warning to heart, but the person who needed to hear his little safety lecture most didn’t come to dinner that night.

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  The group made sure that Amy joined them at breakfast the next morning. James and Paul, the only men on their tour besides Mike, had decided to make it their mission to insure she was not hauled off again. Amy blushed when they told her their intentions. Looking at their sincere faces, and their sizable girth, she realized what a challenging job that could be.