Shot in the Dark

by Tracy Solheim

  Ngoni nodded.

  “Me, too.” Adam leaned a hip on one of the stools. “Who’s your favorite player?”

  “Steph Curry,” the boy said without hesitation.

  “Wise choice. He’s a great baller and an even better person.”

  “Our teacher saw him play once. He is from the American Peace Corps,” Ngoni explained. “If we are quiet and get our school work done, he shows us videos on his tablet.”

  “That’s my kind of teacher.”

  “I’m going to be a basketball player like Steph Curry one day.” The boy lifted his shoulders to his ears presumably to appear taller.

  Adam stifled a grin. “You don’t say?”

  “Mr. Trevor was going to help me come to America to practice if I told him the names of the men in my tribe who work for the poachers.”

  Leave it to Trevor to fill the kid’s head with false promises in pursuit of information.

  The boy’s face fell. “But then Mr. Trevor got shot.”

  There was only one way Ngoni could know that. “You were there.”

  Guilt made the boy look away. “I want to go back to my room now.”

  Despite his frustration, Adam had no choice but to lead Ngoni back to the usher’s office.

  Before the boy and the usher disappeared up the stairs, however, Adam made one last-ditch effort to get more information out of him. “You said Mandla was protecting Miss Josslyn. It’s my job to protect her, too. Can you tell me who he was protecting her from?”

  “The tall man,” Ngoni said matter-of-factly.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The smell of coffee roused Adam from sleep. A scrap of paper stuck to his cheek when he lifted his head.

  “Your desk is a mess,” Adam complained as he swiped the offending note off his face.

  Ben stood in the doorway of his domain, the cyber lab at the Secret Service headquarters building on H Street. His ever-present computer bag was slung over his shoulder and he held a super-sized coffee in his hand.

  “It’s not a mess to me,” Ben said. “I know where everything is. At least I did until you messed it up with your big ol’ Neanderthal noggin. What are you doing in my office, Adam? Tell me you didn’t sleep here.”

  Adam glanced at the clock. Seven twenty. “Only for the last ninety minutes. I’ll give you fifty bucks for that coffee.”

  “You don’t have fifty bucks.” Ben placed the coffee down on the desk. “You gave it to your dad remember?”

  Shit. Adam pulled up the banking app on his phone. His father still hadn’t cashed the check.

  “Take it.” Ben edged the cup over to Adam. “You look like you need it more than me. I repeat my earlier question. What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for the tall man.” Adam took a long pull from the coffee.

  One of the things Adam most appreciated about Ben was his friend’s ability to comprehend something even with the slightest clue. The trait was what made Ben so incredible at his job.

  “I’ve gone through that video a million times and I haven’t been able to identify any of them with existing facial recognition software,” Ben insisted, deftly picking up Adam’s shift in conversation. “I even tried the program I’m developing, but I didn’t get a hit on the tall guy or any of the others. Instead, I’ve been trying to identify them through the dark web. If I can figure out which faction Shaw was egging on to take over the Nimba tribe’s poaching gig, maybe we can find the link to Tseng, Sumner’s wife, and whoever killed Shaw.”

  “What if the tall man is right out in the open?” Adam turned the computer monitor, so it was facing Ben.

  His jaw dropped when he glanced at the screen. “The Twin Towers. Damn.”

  “Double damn,” Adam joked. The lack of sleep these past few days was making him punchy.

  Ben took over the keyboard and began punching the keys. “We know where the one brother was when the video was shot. But how about the other?”

  “From what I dug up, the pharmaceutical company their family owns also dabbles in a lot of homeopathic herbs and such.”

  “A lot of animals are poached for their medicinal properties. Definitely a reasonable connection.” Ben blew out a breath. “Bingo.”

  “He was in Zimbabwe that day?”

  “At least his passport was.”

  Adam scrubbed a hand down his face. “This whole case is coming together in dribs and drabs.”

  “This piece of the puzzle helps. It gives me a jumping-off point,” Ben said. “By the way, this guy is currently in the US. He arrived five days ago.”

  “You wouldn’t happen to know if he owns a motorcycle?”

  Ben tapped the keyboard. “Four of them.”

  *

  After spending an hour sending out frantic emails to GWC operatives alerting them of Tseng’s threats, Josslyn tried to relax watching Ngoni shovel down another waffle. “We have to find Mandla,” he said around a mouthful of food. “I promised him I wouldn’t leave that house. I don’t want him to be mad at me.”

  “He won’t be mad at you,” Josslyn tried to reassure him.

  “Mandla doesn’t want the tall man to find me. Or you.”

  “The tall man?”

  Ngoni nodded.

  Josslyn rubbed her temple. “I’m afraid I don’t know who the tall man is.”

  “That’s okay because I do.” Adam walked into the family dining room looking as if he’d slept on a park bench.

  Josslyn arched an eyebrow when Adam high-fived Ngoni.

  “No cookies for breakfast?” Adam teased the boy.

  “I didn’t realize you two had formally met,” Josslyn said.

  Mischief shined in Adam’s tired eyes when he finally looked over at her.

  “We might have raided the pastry kitchen last night,” he admitted as he slid into one of the dining chairs. “But don’t tell Marin.”

  Her chest constricted at the matching sly smiles on both their faces. It was nice to finally see the playful side of the man. She loved how happy Adam looked. She loved everything about him.

  She loved him.

  The realization slammed into her like a runaway elephant, knocking the air from her lungs. Try as she might, she’d gone and fallen for the man. A man who was her polar opposite. Except he wasn’t. Not really. And if last night had shown her anything, he could love her back. At least she hoped so.

  “Joss?”

  She refocused her attention on Adam and Ngoni, both of whom were looking at her funny.

  “I thought you were going to get some sleep,” she reprimanded him.

  His expression softened. “Later. Right now, I want to talk to Ngoni about the tall man.” He turned to the boy. “He’s trying to take over the poaching from your tribe, isn’t he?”

  Ngoni solemnly nodded at Adam. “He said he will give the men work.”

  “But there are people who don’t want the tall man and his gang to take over.”

  Ngoni nodded again. “Mandla says the tall man will take our money.”

  “That day in the bush, when the tall man shot Trevor, what else did you see?”

  Josslyn knotted her fingers in her lap trying not to convey her shock that Ngoni was in fact at the watering hole that day.

  “He killed Adjoa.” Tears welled in the boy’s eyes.

  “Mandla’s wife?!” Josslyn sprang from her chair and rushed around the table to comfort Ngoni.

  “Why?” Adam asked.

  Josslyn shot him a look that indicated he should stop probing.

  Adam ignored it. “Tell me,” he urged.

  Ngoni gulped a sob. “Mandla and some others want the poaching to stay with the man with the fuzzy eyes. He argued with the tall man. The tall man hit him with his gun. Adjoa swung her broom at the tall man. That’s when he shot her.”

  Adam swore violently as he bowed his head.

  Josslyn was concentrating on something else Ngoni had said, though. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the photos. “The man with
the fuzzy eyes, did he look like this?” She showed him a picture of Tseng.

  Ngoni nodded. Josslyn exchanged a look with Adam. Tseng wasn’t lying last night. He had abdicated his stake in the trafficking ring.

  “Then what happened?” Adam continued to coax Ngoni’s tale out of him.

  “The tall man and his friends went to the bush to get some tusks.”

  “You were supposed to meet Trevor and me,” Josslyn added.

  “I wasn’t going to come because I didn’t want to give you and Mr. Trevor names of the men from our tribe. I knew it would be betraying Mandla,” Ngoni admitted quietly.

  She patted his back. “It’s okay. You should always stick up for family.”

  “But Mr. Trevor promised he’d bring you to the United States to play basketball if you did give him the names,” Adam prompted.

  Josslyn’s hand stilled on the boy’s back. Trevor had conveniently left out that part of the story.

  Ngoni glanced up at her, his eyes shining with tears. “I knew you’d be in the bush. I didn’t want him to shoot you like he killed Adjoa. So I followed them. You shouldn’t have yelled at the tall man. He didn’t like it.”

  She wrapped her arms around Ngoni to comfort him. Adam shot her a look over the boy’s head as if he hadn’t already figured out she was the guilty party in the bush that day.

  “Not now,” she mouthed.

  He swore under his breath before continuing his interrogation of Ngoni. “What happened after Trevor was shot?”

  “I yelled, too. I was angry they shot my friend. I told them you were very important in the United States and you would make him pay for what he did to Adjoa and Mr. Trevor. The tall man got mad. He chased me, but I am a fast runner and I know my way around the bush. He does not.”

  “Oh, Ngoni,” Josslyn said. “I never mentioned my last name to anyone. How did you know who I was?”

  “Google,” Ngoni explained. “Our teacher has a computer.”

  Adam bit back a smile. “Then what happened?”

  “I was too scared to go back to my village, so I hid in the bush. Mandla taught me places to hide when I was just a boy.”

  Her heart melted. As mature as Ngoni believed himself to be, he was still a boy. One who was caught up in a nasty adult game.

  “When the stars came out,” Ngoni continued. “Mandla came and got me. He said we could never return to our village because the tall man would find me there. Mandla said he was taking me to the United States.”

  “I don’t understand.” Adam shook his head. “It’s not possible to get a visa that quickly. And a last-minute plane ticket is expensive. You arrived the day after Josslyn. How did Mandla work that out?”

  “Mr. Shaw.”

  Josslyn rocked back on her heels. Adam’s eyebrows shot to his hairline.

  “Shaw?” they both asked at the same time.

  Ngoni bobbed his chin up and down earnestly. “Our teacher.”

  She exchanged a surprised look with Adam. “Wow.”

  “Sometimes his father comes to our village,” Ngoni continued. “He gives us candy. Mandla said Mr. Shaw’s father wanted to start trouble with the poachers. He wanted the names of the men Mandla and our people sell the ivory to. After the tall man shot Adjoa, Mandla said he’d give Mr. Shaw’s father all the names.”

  “That’s where the task force was getting its inside information. From their Peace Corps teacher.” Adam shook his head in awe. “Pretty ingenious.”

  “Yes, but the other day, Shaw still believed Tseng was funding the poachers,” Josslyn remarked. “If he had the information from Mandla, why did he want me to meet with Tseng?”

  They both looked at the boy.

  “Did Mandla talk to Shaw’s father?” she asked.

  Ngoni shook his head. “Mandla said he double-crossed us. When we got to the airport in the United States, the tall man was there. Mandla got very angry and yelled at him for killing Abjoa. The tall man pretended he didn’t know who Mandla was. He had big men with him. One of them punched Mandla.” Ngoni’s breath hitched. “The taxi driver saved us. He had a gun. He drove us from the airport. Mandla took me to our cousin’s house. He told me to stay there until he came back.” Ngoni grinned at Josslyn. “But you came instead.”

  “I’m so glad I did.” She gave him another hug. “Finish your breakfast and we’ll go see that basketball court.”

  Adam was already dialing his phone when Josslyn caught up to him in the small vestibule off the dining room. The room served as the beauty shop for the president and his family.

  “Ben, I need video from the taxi stands outside Dulles the day Mandla and his brother arrived. Look for the other Twin Tower. And a taxi driver with a gun.”

  “The other Twin Tower?” Josslyn asked once he’d hung up with Ben.

  “Yeah, the Huang brothers. Very tall Taiwanese twins.”

  She sighed heavily. “More players? Just exactly how do they fit into this?”

  “Brace yourself. Their cousin, Ting-Wei, is Mrs. Christian Sumner.”

  Josslyn strolled to the small window in the room. “Everywhere we turn, she keeps popping up.”

  She stared out at the North Lawn. Adam came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Leaning back into his embrace, she covered his hands with hers and tilted her head to the side to give his lips better access to her neck.

  “I have to tell him Mandla is dead,” she whispered. “Do you think the tall man killed him?”

  “Most likely,” he murmured against her skin. “Shaw, too.”

  “If I hadn’t yelled that day . . .”

  “Hush,” he commanded. “You know these people are a bloodthirsty bunch. Ben believes Shaw was inciting the two groups against one another, which would have led to even more bloodshed. At least now we have an idea of who the task force should be investigating.”

  “Mandla knew the tall man would look for me to find Ngoni.”

  “Mmm. He did what he could to protect you. And to protect his brother. Too bad the information died with him.”

  “And Ngoni is left with no one.”

  “The most important thing now is that he’s safe.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “And the most important thing for me is that you are safe.”

  “Which means you can get some sleep.” She turned in his arms and cupped his jaw. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look terrible.”

  Stretching up on her toes, she pressed her lips to the dark smudges beneath his eyes. Adam threaded his fingers through her hair and repositioned her mouth, so it locked with his. She moaned her pleasure when his tongue swept over hers.

  “No, Fergus! You can’t have that!”

  Ngoni’s cries had Josslyn reluctantly pulling away from Adam’s kiss.

  “I should go see what that’s about,” she whispered. “Go get some rest. Or I’ll tell Director Worcester you skipped physical therapy this morning.”

  With a quick kiss, she headed back into the dining room where Fergus was having a tug-of-war with Ngoni over the boy’s backpack.

  “Let go!” Tears were streaming down the boy’s cheeks.

  “Fergus!” Josslyn grabbed the wee beastie by the collar. “Drop it.”

  The dog’s tail was wagging furiously. He was enjoying the game. But the more Fergus pulled, the harder Ngoni cried.

  Josslyn reached in and grabbed the dog’s snout. “Drop it,” she repeated with more force this time.

  Ngoni was sobbing uncontrollably by the time Fergus let go of the backpack. Unfazed, the dog barked playfully as he circled the dining room. Josslyn was unaware Adam had followed her into the dining room until he crouched beside the boy’s chair.

  “What is it, Ngoni?” he asked. “What’s in the bag, sport?”

  “Mandla said not to show it to anyone,” Ngoni said through his tears. “I’m supposed to hold it until he comes back to get me.”

  Josslyn’s heart pounded painfully in her chest. She needed to tell him his brother wasn’t comin
g back. And she needed to do it now.

  “I’ll do it,” Adam mouthed to her.

  She shook her head. It would be better coming from her.

  “Sweetheart,” she began.

  “Mandla is dead,” Ngoni interrupted her. “Isn’t he?”

  Adam had the boy in his lap before the big gulping sobs resumed. The three of them sat on the floor of the family dining room in the White House with their arms around one another. Even Fergus seemed overcome with emotion because he lay down on the floor beside them, nose on his paws, quietly whimpering along with Ngoni.

  “He was protecting Miss Josslyn,” Adam told him once the heaviest of tears subsided. “And you.”

  “Adam and I won’t let anything happen to you.” Josslyn squeezed Ngoni’s hand. “You’re safe here with us. For as long as you have to stay.”

  Ngoni wiped his nose with his shirt sleeve. He picked up the forgotten backpack and slowly unzipped it. After digging around in the meager contents, he pulled out an expensive-looking men’s wallet. Made of crocodile leather, no less.

  “Here.” He handed it to Josslyn.

  Despite her curiosity, she opened it carefully. Her entire body began to vibrate when she got a look at what was inside.

  “This belongs to the tall man, doesn’t it?” she asked breathlessly.

  “He dropped it in the bush when he was chasing me.” Guilt tinged the boy’s voice. “Mandla was going to give it to Shaw.”

  With a shaky hand, she gave the wallet to Adam. He whistled when he thumbed through the contents.

  “There’s a little notebook with names and dates of purchases here,” Adam said. “This guy has his fingers in multiple poaching organizations. From the looks of it, he’s trying to corner the market on animal trafficking.”

  Definitely worth killing for. She said a silent prayer for Mandla, his wife, and Agent Shaw.

  “You know what you’ve done here, Ngoni.” Adam wrapped an arm around the boy again. “You’ve solved the case. The task force will be able to stop the tall man with this. Your teacher will be so proud of you. Mandla is proud of you. I’m proud of you. You’re a hero.”

  The corners of Ngoni’s mouth turned up in a shy smile. Josslyn rubbed a hand over the top of his head.