Across the roof of the car, Ellie looked at Nick. Beside him stood De Bruin, Gaba and Hendriks. Behind them were three officers she didn’t know. It was hard to see from this distance. It was still raining softly.
Besides Sally and the two men who were holding Ellie and Clara, there were six more. Everyone was armed. It was a massacre in the making.
Nick stepped out from behind the car and raised his hand holding the pistol. “I’m coming over there. Clara needs immediate medical attention.”
“Who are you to tell me what you’re going to do?”
“I’m Nick Malherbe. I work for Enzio Allegretti. I can tell you now, if you let anything happen to her tonight, you won’t see the sun come up again. You don’t fuck with that man. But if you make sure nothing happens to Clara and we can get her to a doctor as soon as possible, he may just be so grateful that he’ll be prepared to reward you for your trouble.”
“You’re talking shit.”
Ellie felt herself tremble and she realised it wasn’t from the cold. She couldn’t even count the number of pistols that were levelled at Nick.
“Sally!” he called out. “From what I’ve heard, you’re smart, so you should know how this kind of situation usually ends. Do the smart thing and put away the guns.”
“Where’s the Italian? Call him and tell him to come here. I want my money tonight.”
“He’s in Joburg. His parents died and he’s making funeral arrangements.”
Ellie wondered whether Sally and her troops noticed that Nick was imperceptibly moving closer all the time. She looked at where Gaba and the others were standing. Was she imagining it, or were Gaba and De Bruin no longer there? She was tempted to look over her shoulder, but she knew it could be fatal, so she kept her eyes on Nick. She wished he would look at her. She wanted to signal to him to move back. Sally was on some kind of drug that was making her totally unpredictable. The rest of her group was probably on something similar.
Then she saw Nick’s gaze move briefly to her, just enough not to lose sight of Sally. She thought she saw him blink and she instinctively knew what he wanted. Slowly she dropped into a crouch, pulling Clara down with her. The two men beside them tried to hold them up, but they were too intent upon the scene unfolding in front of them and released their grip.
The moment Ellie felt the pavement underneath her, all hell broke loose over their heads. She felt hands pulling them up and dragging them backwards. She tried to see who had been hit, but everything was happening too fast.
“Get down!” De Bruin warned.
“Nick?”
“We’ll go back and take a look. Let’s get you into a car first.”
Crouching, they made a run for the car Nick had been driving. Gaba bundled them into the back seat.
“Stay down.”
Ellie heard voices call out to each other. She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see or hear anything more. Then she heard another vehicle draw up and more voices. Somebody started shouting orders.
CHAPTER 33
Ellie was sitting beside Clara’s hospital bed. She wondered if the girl was ever going to stop crying. Her throat had to hurt by now, and the tears were probably burning her injured eye.
She didn’t know how to comfort her. Everything she thought of saying, the things one usually said, seemed meaningless. No matter what Sally Veldman had done, she had still been Clara’s mother.
The door opened and Calvin and a younger version of himself walked in. He stopped when he saw Ellie. She got up and made room for them next to the bed.
“This is my brother, Quentin,” Calvin introduced the boy. They shook hands. Quentin bent over his sister.
“Clara …”
Ellie heard the sob in his voice and she walked out of the room. She couldn’t face any more grief today.
She stood at a window in the passage. The rain had stopped but the sky was still grey. She took out her phone and saw that she had missed a call from her mom.
The door opened behind her. When she turned around, Calvin came walking out. He joined her at the window.
“I’m sorry about what my mom did. I don’t know why I told her about Clara and the Italian. I thought she’d be glad to know that Clara was being taken care of. I realise now I never really understood what was going on in my mom’s head.”
Ellie nodded. “Maybe families bring out the crazy in each other.”
“Are you okay, Miss?” He pointed at the livid bruise on her cheek where Sally had punched her.
“Call me Ellie. Yes, thanks. The doctor says nothing is broken.”
“I can’t believe Reggie is dead.”
“He was a complicated person.”
“He was more than complicated. I feel sorry for Uncle. He was his nephew. On the other hand, I wonder if he’s not just a little relieved. I don’t think he knew what to do with Reggie any more.”
“Are you relieved?”
Calvin’s dark brown eyes looked at Ellie and she recognised something of herself in him.
“Maybe that’s a question you should rather not ask.”
“Yes, some questions are like that.” Ellie looked at the young face and was tempted to ask him if there was another job he could do instead. She thought of the five people killed last night, whose blood had flowed into the potholes in the tarred street. She saw the Allegrettis leaning against each other in the back of the Range Rover. The driver in the front seat, slumped over the steering wheel.
“Do you know what you’re going to do?”
“It will be hard to go back. There was a lot of bad blood between my mother and Uncle. The guys won’t want me there. And my most important job is to see that Quentin passes matric. Uncle said we could maybe live with him. He’ll arrange with a local school to have Quentin transferred.”
“And the house where you lived?”
“It belongs to Uncle.”
“Where will you bury your mother?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know how you bury someone you never really knew. Clara may not even want to go to the funeral.”
“She’ll go.”
“I don’t know if she’s ever going to be okay again.”
“Give her a chance,” said Ellie. “She’s young and she has a good support system.”
“Do you think the Italian will want her back?”
Ellie looked through the window. How could she explain to him what lay ahead for Enzio Allegretti and the role Clara would have to play in that story?
“I don’t know. I presume the two of them will talk when he’s back from his parents’ funeral. It may not be easy, no matter what they feel for each other.”
The door opened again and Quentin came out. “The nurse says we can come back later but she has to rest now.”
Ellie nodded at the two guards on duty and left the hospital with the two brothers. They said goodbye at her car and she saw Calvin put his arm around Quentin’s shoulders as they walked away.
She got in, leaned forward on the steering wheel and burst into tears.
CHAPTER 34
Nick looked at the crowd of people outside the church. He took Allegretti’s arm and steered him in the direction of the adjacent hall, where tea would be served.
He could imagine what the old man would have said about being buried with tea. Nick couldn’t wait for the day to be over. He hadn’t slept since they’d arrived in Joburg yesterday. He and Monica had gone over the security measures for today with the Interpol team until the early hours of the morning. Every detail was examined and pulled apart.
Nick wondered whether the mourners would still be tucking into the refreshments the way they were if they knew about the large police presence. He tried to look around. The person he actually wanted to keep his eye on was Ken Visser. The man had kicked up a hell of a fuss when he was refused access to the house.
Gabriella was wearing a black coat. Her hair was fixed in a tight bun. She was wearing very little make-up, but her lips were a dramatic red. S
he was no longer crying. Nick suspected she had fortified herself medicinally earlier in the morning.
Last night they had decided to arrest her as well. If Allegretti refused to cooperate, Gabriella was a second option. Nick had considered warning them that they would have their hands full with her, but hadn’t had the energy.
The events of the past few days had been a nightmare from which he’d still not woken.
When the bullets had started flying that morning, he’d been convinced it was the end. His shoulder still ached from diving for cover behind a vehicle. A shot had glanced off his bulletproof vest and almost made him lose his balance. It might have saved his life.
He still found it incredible that they had all come out of the battle unscathed. One of the men had sustained a shoulder wound, but the doctor was satisfied that he would regain full use of his arm.
He looked at his watch yet again. Their seats were booked on the last flight back to Cape Town. He’d had to make up a story to convince Gabriella to wait until this evening before going back.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He hesitated when he saw it was McKenna. He had to talk to her but he didn’t want to do it now. A moment later he answered.
“Are you busy, or can I talk to you?” she asked.
“We’re still at the funeral. Is it urgent?”
“Quite.”
“Shoot.”
“I think I found the connection between Visser and the Allegrettis’ assassination.”
Nick’s gaze went to Ken Visser, who was standing beside Gabriella like a caring husband. “Do you think so, or did you actually find it? I can’t get excited about nothing.”
“Call me as soon as you can.”
“Okay. Give me an hour or so.”
Nick felt his body relax a little. May the universe and all his mother’s guardian angels be merciful to him tonight. If they could just get away from this crowd. Even with him standing right next to Allegretti there was no guarantee that someone wouldn’t try to pull something. There was no way to screen mourners.
Ellie stood next to Clive in Brigadier Ahmed’s office. The room was full of people. There was a team from Interpol, as well as members of the Serious Economic Offences Unit. Albert stood on her other side.
“What are you doing tonight?” Albert asked under his breath.
“I presume I’ll be at the roadblock.”
“And afterwards?”
“I’ll be going to bed.”
“I’ll get something to eat. Come over to my place when we’ve finished.”
“Not tonight.”
“Don’t be like that. It’s my way of saying thank you for what you did. I don’t have a hidden agenda.”
“I’m really too tired.”
Ahmed asked for quiet and began to outline his plan.
Ellie listened but realised that she was unable to focus. She knew she felt sad, but she didn’t have the slightest idea why. She was too tired to try to analyse the emotion. All she wanted to think about now was going home. A picture of the house on the hill popped into her head. She needed a place where she could breathe.
Nick called Ellie from the airport.
“Please give me some good news,” he said.
“I went through all the reports and statements again. Do you remember Visser saying he’d had meetings with exporters that afternoon? Andrew and Dewald. Everyone assumed they were from the same company, but actually they’re from two separate companies. I took a look at the CCTV footage in the neighbourhood again. Just after two thirty a car like Visser’s stopped at the filling station near the airport. Someone got out and got into a black Hummer. Fifteen minutes later the Hummer stopped there again. On that footage you can clearly see Visser getting out and going back to his own vehicle. Five minutes later he arrived at his second meeting.”
“Why didn’t anyone else notice it?”
“They focused on the cameras at the roadside and the place where the first meeting happened.”
“How sure are you you’re not mistaken?”
“I’m not mistaken,” Ellie said firmly.
“Well, tell Ahmed to arrest him.”
“Don’t you want to see for yourself?”
“You’re always telling me to trust you,” he said.
“Okay.”
“How do you feel?”
“The doctor says I’ll live.”
“We need to board. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“All the best for tonight,” she said.
When he sank down in his seat, he took out his phone and sent a message.
Thanks. I owe you.
Ellie’s reply came immediately. Maybe I’ll claim my reward one day.
Nick leaned back. When the plane took to the air he closed his eyes. He would have liked his thoughts to go straight to the day after tomorrow. To next week and the week after. But the last time he did that he unleashed a storm that had nearly cost him his job and his life. So instead he stopped himself from having any thoughts at all. He had two hours to catch some shuteye.
The plane was full of Interpol officials flying under all kinds of pretexts and using all kinds of aliases. He was sure they could steer the ship for a while.
Nick settled himself behind the Land Cruiser’s wheel. Allegretti and Gabriella got into the back seat and Visser sat beside him in the passenger’s seat.
They were about five kilometres from the airport when Nick saw flashing lights in the road ahead. He slowed down.
“What are you doing?” asked Ken Visser.
“Roadblock.”
“Shit.” Visser wound down his window and threw out a bag.
“Enzio, do you have anything on you?” Nick asked.
“No.”
“Gabi?”
“No.”
Nick could hardly believe it, though it probably didn’t matter any more.
Two officers approached and signalled with their flashlights that they should pull over. When Nick switched off the engine, six armed men appeared from behind a tent and surrounded the vehicle. They gestured for Nick to unlock the doors.
“What the fuck are you doing? Drive!” Visser shouted beside him.
But Nick had already unlocked the doors and hands were pulling them roughly from the vehicle.
Ellie watched as Nick and the other three were dragged out of the Land Cruiser. Gabriella talked ceaselessly and Visser couldn’t stop swearing. Allegretti didn’t seem to understand what was happening.
From where Ellie was sitting, she saw Albert manhandling Nick before turning him around and snapping the handcuffs around his wrists. She heard Nick swear.
He raised his head and for a moment their eyes met. He gave a slight nod and Ellie felt her throat constrict. She wondered if he would have taken the case had he known beforehand what it would require of him. Had it been worth the sacrifices? The stress?
She wondered the same thing about herself.
CHAPTER 35
When Ellie woke up, her heart was beating fast and panic gripped her throat. Then she heard the rhythmic hum and felt the pain. Everything became a little clearer and she breathed more easily.
The room was not the same. The pain was different. No one was frowning at her. She dozed off again.
The next time she woke up, the doctor was next to her bed, examining the drainage tube.
“Hello, how do you feel?”
“I’ve felt better.”
“The procedure went very well. You’ll soon be back in your bikini.”
“Do … do they both look the same?”
He laughed. “The temptation is always there, of course. But I did exactly as you asked. You won’t know the difference.”
“Thank you.”
“The pleasure is mine.” He touched her shoulder. “I’m very glad you decided to go ahead with it.”
Later, alone in the room, she carefully touched her chest. This is what hope feels like, she’d decided sometime during the night. Hope for something normal. Wha
tever normal may mean. She didn’t want to put a face to it. She didn’t want to think she’d had it done for someone. It had to be her gift to herself. She didn’t want sympathy either. That was why no one knew she was here. Not even Melissa. This belonged to her alone.
Nick called the number for the umpteenth time. The result was the same: The subscriber you have called is not available at present. Please try again later.
He checked when last she’d been on WhatsApp – a week ago.
He phoned Brenda’s number.
“Colonel! Do you miss me?”
“Incredibly.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for McKenna.”
“I don’t know where she is.”
“Have you seen her again?”
“Yes, she came to say goodbye.” When he didn’t speak, she asked: “Can I give her a message when I speak to her again?”
“No, thanks.”
“Fine.”
Nick ended the call, threw his bag into the bakkie and switched on the engine.
Holiday. Would he still know what to do? He could have flown, but he’d decided to drive. There was something symbolic about the departure. Mozambique was far away, but it didn’t really matter how long the drive would be. He suspected that this holiday had no real destination. Maybe he himself was the real destination.
At Laingsburg he bought some water and a packet of chips. He drove on, listening to Greg Laswell on the radio.
I’m not gonna try and make it even, you’re way ahead by now. I’m not gonna try and make it all even, even though I know how …
At the chorus, he joined in: “And everyone thinks I dodged a bullet, but I think I shot the gun …”
Ellie switched on her phone. She needed to call Melissa to tell her she was fine, but first she had to phone Clive.
“The next time you switch off that flippin’ phone of yours I’m going to lock you up,” he answered.
“On what charge?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll find something,” he grumbled.
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