Trackers

by Deon Meyer

  'I... I think ... the big one with the face. Maybe he stood with his hand on the boot like this.'

  'And then?'

  'Then they said I must go. I said no, I have to get names and telephone numbers, because Mr Flint will want a report. Then that one got sort of angry, and he said ...'

  'Which one?'

  'The one sitting in front.'

  'Which side in front?'

  'Passenger side.'

  'And he said ... ?'

  'He said, I better not mess around, he said he would fix it, but I better go then. Then I said no, they don't understand, it's not that easy with the DRMP. Then he got angry, he threatened me, he would tell the big one to hit me moer toe, get in my effing bus, sorry madam, but he said eff off. Now. So I got in the bus and as I drove away, I phoned Mr Flint and told him the whole story. He said, Jerome, don't worry, if they don't want to make a case and there's nothing wrong with the bus, I know your record is clean. Then, the next afternoon, when I was finished, Mr Flint came to me and said he had watched the video, and he could see what happened, my record would stay clean. And that's the whole story, madam, on my word of honour.'

  'I know, Jerome. You have nothing to worry about.'

  'But then why are all the police here, madam?'

  104

  While Johnny October phoned Pollsmoor to arrange for them to question KD Snyders, Joubert considered what the involvement of the Resdess Ravens meant. It was they who had broken into Tanya Flint's business premises.

  The danger was greater than he had suspected.

  He asked Inspector Fizile Butshingi if the SAPS could send a police patrol vehicle to Tanya's house in Parklands. 'If they could just park down the street,' he added, not wanting to upset her more than she was already.

  Butshingi was quick on the uptake. 'Good idea.'

  Then Joubert called Margaret.

  'I'm going to be late.'

  'Is that good news?'

  'Looks like it.'

  'I'll wait up. Be careful.' A policeman's wife.

  He debated over whether to phone Tanya as well, but decided against it. There were still too many questions, too many uncertainties.

  They drove in Johnny's car to the prison at the other end of Tokai. Joubert sat in the back.

  'Sup, the bus driver...' Johnny said. 'The law clearly says, it's always the fault of the one driving behind. He was too close to the Mercedes.'

  'Flint must have seen that clearly on the video, Johnny.'

  'And he ignored the offence. Because he saw the hand in the boot. And the opportunity.'

  'And from then on it was easy. Track down Terror Baadjies with the registration number of the Mercedes. Phone the home number with your new cellphone, so they can't trace you.'

  'Blackmail,' said Butshingi.

  'But would Flint have known who he was dealing with?'

  Joubert shook his head. 'I doubt it. I think he saw the expensive car, that Mercedes costs around 700,000 rand ...'

  'And said, pay up or I'll give the video to the police.'

  'Something like that. The Ravens tracked Flint down, Johnny, he slipped up somewhere. But what bothers me is why the break-in at Tanya's workshop was so ... half-hearted. A few tables overturned, a weak message on the wall.. .You would expect more from a gang from the Cape Flats.'

  'You must see it in context, Sup. The faction war. KD Snyders, the hit man, is sitting in jail, Terror Baadjies needs all his troops, so he sends two or three foot soldiers, inexperienced, a little scared.'

  'What I can't understand,' said Butshingi. 'These guys ... I mean, why did they pay at all?'

  'What do you mean?'

  'The video. It doesn't prove much. I mean, let's say Flint called Terror Baadjies, and tried to blackmail him. So Terror torches the Benz. Or he has it chemically cleaned, or steam-cleaned, or whatever. He makes sure there's no forensic evidence in the boot, and he cooks up a story, should the police come asking questions. He can say, no, it was my niece, she drank too much, so we put her in the boot, didn't want her to throw up on my nice upholstery. And he gets his niece to corroborate ...'

  Joubert and October said nothing, because they knew the point was valid. An awkward one.

  'Is he clever enough, this Terror Baadjies?' asked Butshingi.

  'He is,' said October. 'Definitely.'

  'So why did they pay? Twice?'

  Willem 'KD' Snyders, heavily shackled hand and foot, didn't say a word. Just sat there at the steel table, staring at the wall.

  Johnny October talked politely to him. Sketched his position in detail. Said he wouldn't survive in jail, Moegamat Perkins' Ravens faction would get him. The second he was transferred out of solitary back to the general prison. Only a question of time.

  'You are a dead man walking,' said Butshingi.

  'We can help you,' said October.

  No response. The face, so terribly damaged, remained expressionless. The scar tissue deformed the lips in a permanent grimace as though he scorned the whole world.

  'Right now someone is sharpening a shiv just for you, King Kong,' Butshingi began to play his pre-planned role.

  'No, we can hide you. Witness programme. Protection. A new life, Willem. A new beginning. With a bit of help, a few thousand rand in your pocket. Anywhere in the country, just where you want.'

  But all that, they knew, was just the prelude, to get his attention.

  'Just think. Never to have to look over your shoulder again. Never.'

  KD Snyders sat as if made of stone.

  'You're wasting your time, Johnny,' said Butshingi.

  'Maybe not. Maybe Willem can see the opportunity.'

  'Judge is going to put you away for a long time, Mr Kong. Murderer like you.'

  'Slow down, partner, we can help him.'

  'Maybe he doesn't want to be helped. Maybe he's ugly and stupid.'

  'I know you're not afraid of anything, Willem. I know. But just think a moment about the alternatives. Think for a moment what it could be like . . .'

  And so they played the game, one of them his friend, offering the olive branch of peace and understanding, the other his enemy, cursing and insulting him. Snyders said nothing, did nothing. He didn't react,

  wouldn't look at them, even when Butshingi held his face only centimetres from the twisted mask, and screamed in rage. Willem 'KD' Snyders was a statue, and Joubert sat silently watching, wondering if their plan would work.

  Eventually, Johnny October said, no, Fizile, enough. Leave us. Both of you, whiteys and darkies don't understand what it means to be a coloured. I will talk to Willem.

  Butshingi and Joubert pretended to get up reluctantly, and walked out.

  In the next room they watched through the one-way mirror. They saw how October sat down beside Snyders, his expression one of compassion, his hands clasped together on the table in empathy and sympathy. Then he began to play his trump card.

  'Willem, I come from Bishop Lavis. I know what it's like. I know the hardship and I know the pain. I know, yours was much greater, with the accident. I can't even begin to think how hard it was for you. And I can't blame you, I'm telling you now, no one can blame you. You've been through hell. And as life goes on, it just gets worse ...'

  'He's good,' said Butshingi.

  'Yes,' said Joubert.

  'Willem, I know, somewhere there inside you there is still that child. Somewhere in there is someone who asks, why couldn't it be different? Why couldn't I have a good life. A normal life. Now, Willem, I'm telling you, you can. If you help us tonight, I will get the government to pay the medical expenses. We'll take you to the best place in the country, doctors who can fix anything. And we will give you your life back, Willem. Your life back.'

  Johnny October let that sink in, before he said, 'A new face, Willem. New and handsome.'

  KD Snyders didn't react immediately. It took him a while before he started to turn his head for the first time. Until he was looking right at October. The corners of his mouth moved, slow
ly, into a grin.

  Then he spat in contempt, on October's hand.

  105

  They regrouped, sent for coffee, sat in the room next to the interview room, analysing their strategy. In the background the sounds of a prison at night, now and then the dull clang of a metal door slamming, a stern order over the loudspeaker, the voices of inmates, like night animals calling to each other in the dark.

  Between the three of them, there was more than eight decades of law enforcement, and the shared knowledge that patience was the only way. Their most effective weapon was time.

  'Blind loyalty,' said Butshingi.

  October: 'That's the way they are. Unto death.'

  'And he's not scared to die.'

  'Sometimes I wonder if they want to die, my friend. Seems like they're looking for it.'

  Joubert sat with his elbows on the table, head bent, working through the information.

  'Johnny, what were they doing on that road. Near Atlantis?'

  'That's the question, Sup.'

  'Is that traditionally part of the Ravens' territory?'

  'You know how it's been the past ten years, Sup. After PAGAD and POCA. The leaders live in the white areas, recruit members in the coloured townships. And sell Tik there. Tweetybird used to live in Rondebosch, Terror and Moegamat Perkins live in Rosebank, they never showed their faces at a place like Atlantis.'

  'And yet he was there.'

  'With someone in the boot of his car ...'

  'On his way back from Atlantis?'

  'Maybe not. Maybe they were just looking for a place to get rid of the body. Far away from where they live. Or maybe they were going to shoot someone. At a place where gunshots wouldn't attract attention.'

  'Which shooting range are we talking about?' asked Joubert.

  'The army has a shooting range out there,' said October. 'It's massive. They might have been looking for it, turned back. The bus driver said the sign board isn't there any more.' 'And that's a sandy area,' said Joubert. 'Easy to dig a hole. Quick.'

  'Could be, Sup. But it's just as easy anywhere on the Flats. Sand everywhere ...'

  'So they go looking for a place far from the traditional hunting grounds to dispose of a body. Terror Baadjies, his strongman, KD Snyders, and a driver. They don't know the area very well, want to turn off somewhere away from the main road ...'

  'That's why they were driving so slowly. All three were looking out for a spot, they didn't realise the bus was on their tail. They missed the shooting range turn-off. Someone says "we should have turned off there". The driver hits the brakes.'

  'Bang! The bus rams into them.'

  'They get rid of the bus, go on and do their thing.'

  A long silence while they pondered.

  Joubert scratched his head: 'Twenty-ninth of September. Flint only opened his bank account on the fifteenth of October. Let's say he took a week or two to get hold of Terror's phone number, and to call him personally. "I've got you on video, out at Atlantis. I know what you were doing." Lies a bit, but vaguely, just enough to let Terror know the evidence is damning.'

  'And they pay up.'

  'But not straight away. They take their time. Nearly a week.'

  'While they try to find him?'

  'But why did they pay?' Johnny October asked. 'Like Fizile said, get rid of the forensic evidence in the Mercedes, make up a story. Then you don't have to worry about the police ...'

  Silence, more thinking.

  Butshingi wiped his hand over his face. Then raised it slowly. 'Maybe ...'

  The other two looked at him.

  'Maybe,' Butshingi repeated, 'that's it. Maybe they were not worried about the police.'

  'What do you mean, my friend?' October asked.

  'When did this faction fight start?'

  October rubbed his moustache. 'Our intelligence says it began last year in August already, late August. That's when Die Burger wrote about the plans of the Democratic Alliance to appoint a special prosecutor to try and get Tweetybird de la Cruz on tax evasion charges. That's just about the only thing they can prove. Then Tweetybird sent for The Accountant, Moegamat Perkins, and Perkins said this is trouble, because the Tax Man is a bulldog, where he bites, he won't let go. No matter how they cooked the books, Revenue Services would clearly see there was something fishy.'

  'So that's when it started?'

  'The story goes, that's when they decided Tweetybird should leave the country And Terror Baadjies blamed Perkins, because he's the one who does the books. Tweetybird tried to keep the peace, but if your people know you're soon leaving for Uruguay, you don't have much authority. Why do you ask?'

  'Terror Baadjies. If he wasn't worried about the police, if he could cover up. Why did he pay? Maybe because he was worried about his own people finding out.'

  'Aah,' said Johnny October.

  'I'm not sure I understand,' said Joubert.

  'Sup, where's that timeline of yours?' October was suddenly invigorated, Butshingi shifted closer.

  Joubert opened his notebook and thumbed through to the right place.

  'We focus on everything after the incident with the bus. We think this thing began on the twenty-ninth of September,' said October. 'But Terror Baadjies already knew at the end of August that trouble was brewing. There would be an opportunity to become leader of the Ravens.'

  'Yes,' said Butshingi. 'So he started planning his coup.'

  'And that's what Fizile is talking about, Sup. Terror and KD Snyders and the Mercedes. We've been thinking all along they were busy with their usual crime on the twenty-ninth of September. But maybe they were busy with the coup. Maybe the one in the boot was a Raven, a member of the rival faction ...'

  A light went on in Joubert's head. 'That's why they drove all the way to Atlantis. To get out of the Ravens' territory.'

  'Exactly,' said Butshingi.

  'And that's why they paid Flint. Not because they were afraid of the police finding out...'

  'But because they feared some of their own people would find out. Maybe the other lieutenant... the money man ...'

  'Moegamat Perkins.'

  'That's right.'

  'Or Tweetybird himself,' said Johnny October. 'If Tweetybird found out before he left the country that Terror Baadjies was planning to usurp his throne, he would have had Terror shot so fast...'

  'Because they expect blind loyalty.'

  Joubert, with suddenly insight, pressed his finger on the table. 'That is what we must use, Johnny.'

  'Sup?'

  'KD's loyalty. We have to turn it around.'

  'Now I'm not with you.'

  'What would happen if the Ravens found out that a month or so before Tweetybird fled, Terror had been murdering his own gang members in order to seize power?'

  'His own faction would turn against him.'

  'Exactly. And that's the secret KD has to keep. Terror brought KD into the Ravens. Initiated him ...'

  'That's right, Sup. Terror is like a father to KD.'

  'Exactly, Johnny. KD won't talk because he is loyal to the death to Terror.'

  'Absolutely.'

  'That's what we have to use. The one thing that KD is afraid of, is rejection of his Ravens father.'

  'Aah ...' said Johnny October.

  'Devious,' said Fizile Butshingi. 'I like it already.'

  Joubert sat right next to KD Snyders, October and Butshingi opposite them.

  He leaned in close, so that his face was only centimetres from Snyders. He bluffed in a big way. He said: 'We know everything, KD. Everything that happened over there at Atlantis. We know how Terror stabbed the Ravens in the back, we know what's lying under the sand.' He listened very carefully to Snyders' breathing, he knew the disfigured face would reveal nothing.

  He heard the man's breath stop for one second, as though his heart skipped a beat.

  That gave him courage.

  'We know about Flint and the video. We know how you got rid of him. We don't know where you put him, yet, but we'll get
there. KD, your problem is that only we three know who betrayed you. No one else. But I tell you what we're going to do: we're going to get up from here and tell the warders you sang. You sold out. You gave Terror to us, you handed us his head on a platter. Superintendent Johnny October is going to broadcast that all over the Cape Flats, that it was you who helped us get Terror. You betrayed your own blood, and Terror betrayed the Ravens ...'

  He stopped and listened. The breathing was shallow now. Rapid.

  'You stabbed Terror in the back. That's what he will believe. And he can forget about becoming the new boss ...'

  The chains joining the hand and foot shackles trembled slightly, tap-tapping against the metal edge of the steel table.

  'Then you will have nothing, KD. Nothing and nobody.'

  At last, the face twisted. Then KD Snyders lunged at Mat Joubert with a bellow of rage and despair erupting from the depths of his great body.

  Joubert jerked back, out of reach. But he knew. They had him.

  Johnny October waited for KD to calm down. Then he said, with his unshakeable courtesy. 'There's a way out KD. Terror doesn't ever have to know. But you have to help us.'

  106

  In his hoarse voice and with the speech defect that prevented the deformed lips from forming plosives, KD Snyders reluctantly answered a few questions. Curtly, with the fewest words possible, his eyes glistening with hatred and fury, his hands trembling slightly.

  Johnny October asked him: 'Who was the one driving the Mercedes when the bus bumped into you?'

  'Mannas Vinck.'

  'Terror's chauffeur.'

  KD nodded.

  'Now you must tell us where we have to dig, KD.'

  Snyders looked away.

  'You have one chance, KD.'

  'Montagu's Gift. In Philippi.'

  'The farms? Next to Mitchell's Plain?'

  He received only a nod as answer.

  'Where on the farm?'

  'Next to the Olieboom dune. On the Morgenster side.'

  October nodded, as though he knew where it was. 'And the body you buried near Atlantis?'

  'At the gate of the shooting range. In the corner. Behind the 900-metre.'