by Susan Bohnet
Mohammed came out of the hut and stopped in front of the boys. Again he said something Kai didn’t understand and then moved away, heading off into the jungle, back the way he had come. Roger motioned for Kai and the others to wait as the boys resettled back into their chairs, relaxing again, their guns resting across bent knees, close at hand. Angus sighed and Kai glanced at him. A single tear ran down Angus’ coffee brown cheek, glistening in the sunlight. Angus looked at Kai but made no move to wipe away the tear. Kai had the sinking feeling he was about to witness some very disturbing things before his mission was finished and he swallowed, wishing suddenly that he was anywhere but where he was.
Chapter Forty
“Come with me,” whispered Angus. He led them back into the jungle and opened a satchel slung over his back. He passed out beef jerky and bottles of water for each of them. Lincoln caught Kai’s eye. Gratitude shone in his features. Kai was impressed with Angus’ endurance. Not only had he led the way, trailblazing foliage of prehistoric proportions, but he had done it with a pack that included large water bottles for four men.
“Should we wait for night?” asked Lincoln.
“He has to be able to see my eyes. We have to make contact for…”
“It to work,” finished Roger.
Kai nodded. “And I faint afterward.”
“We’ll be there. We’ll get you to safety,” promised Lincoln.
“Let’s get this done and get out of here,” said Kai. “The longer we hang around the more chance we have of dying.” He turned to Lincoln. “You and me, especially. We don’t blend.”
“Where did Mohammed go?” said Lincoln.
“This way,” said Angus. He led them through the jungle. “He has three areas.” Ten minutes later, Angus motioned for them to be quiet and they approached a clearing. There were two huts. A goat wandered as far as its tethered rope would allow. Sitting in front of the hut were two men.
“Is that him?” said Lincoln.
“The one on the right.”
“Does he ever put that gun down?” Kai mused. If even the young boys had their guns across their knees when not expecting danger, they probably learned it from a teacher like Mohammed. The man beside the leader also held his gun with one hand. This was going to be impossible.
I’ll need to wait until he’s alone, Kai thought. And he’d have to put his gun down for a few seconds. How quickly could he do it? He tried to remember the time frame at the dogfight. He didn’t have any idea. He’d been staring at that man, trying to turn his mind for some time. Once he made eye contact and the tingling had begun, then how long had it taken? He stepped back from the others and motioned for Lincoln to follow. Then he posed the question of time to Lincoln. He had been present at both events.
“A few seconds,” he said.
“How many is a few?”
“I don’t know? Three, maybe.”
Kai swallowed and shook his head. Three seconds sounded like an eternity when you were dealing with a man never more that a moment from shooting a bullet through your heart.
“We’ll wait for him to set his gun down,” said Lincoln. “Then you’ll have to attract his attention and catch his eye.”
“And if he turns back to his gun before I complete the mission?”
Suddenly, Angus appeared. He pulled a pistol from the waistband of his shorts. “What are you doing with that?” asked Lincoln.
“They don’t know I can’t shoot the thing. But if I point it at him, it may give Kai the moment he needs to finish.”
A quote flitted through Kai’s mind. “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.” Did it hold true for guns? Even if you held a gun you didn’t know how to aim? Kai wiped sweat from his brow before it ran into his eyes. The humidity was intense.
Lincoln said. “That leaves me and Roger to carry Kai after the deed is done.”
“Now we need the opportunity,” said Kai. They went back to the point of their stakeout. It was a long two hours of watching the men drink from flasks and doze in the heat.
“He’s never going to put down his gun,” hissed Lincoln.
Kai’s eyebrows rose. “His bladder will be full sometime.” Yes. That would be their chance. Even if he took his gun with him, chances were good he’d go off by himself and have a moment of vulnerability.
The soldiers were in loud conversation now, drawing something in the dirt for a visual. Kai looked at Roger. “Probably the next village they want to destroy,” Roger offered.
Forty-five minutes later, the sun beginning to lose some of its intensity, Mohammed rose and headed into the jungle on the right. The other man didn’t follow. “Now,” said Kai. He could be traveling to another hut, but as they approached, Kai felt his good fortune; nature prevailed.
Mohammed had leaned his gun against a tree and was in the process of unzipping his pants. Wordlessly, Kai indicated he would get on the other side so the man would look away from the gun to see him. Angus pulled out his gun, held it like he knew what he was doing, and looked prepared to intervene if necessary. Kai turned away and rolled his eyes. If only he felt safer with a gun for backup. In the hands of a Trebladore, it was as likely to get Mohammed to shoot him faster as deter him. Lincoln and Roger followed Kai.
Mid-stream, Kai made a noise between a grunt and a call. Mohammed looked up. Their eyes met. The force of the evil within startled Kai. He wasn’t here to look for a salvageable soul, he quickly reminded himself, but without even trying he had affirmed what the rebels had discovered. This man was pure hate; the stench of his soul reeked. Kai let his anger rise. It was shimmying up his spine with anticipation.
Without turning away, Mohammed reached for the gun beside him. Angus stepped out from the jungle with his gun, but Mohammed didn’t see him.
The moment of triumph exploded in Kai and he felt the sharp sting run along his spine. His body grew weak. He knew he had done something good here, even if on the surface he looked evil. He couldn’t change the past, but he could change the future. The girls he saved from rape and torture. The boys he saved from trauma and hate. The world was truly a better place. It was a willful act and one he should perhaps be ashamed of, but he felt no shame, only exhilaration.
As he felt his knees buckle, Kai noticed four hands grab at his arms before he completely blacked out.
Chapter Forty-one
Kai felt the trickle of sweat as it slid down between his shoulder blades. It was warm and it tickled. He wanted nothing more than to reach back and wipe it away, but he knew he didn’t have time. They had been hiking through the underbrush for over an hour now. Roger was leading this time, his tall, lean frame slipping in and out of sight. Kai could hear Lincoln’s heavy breathing behind him and he licked his lips, making the conscious effort to close his mouth. Kai did not want anyone who was not a Trebladore to come stumbling upon them, alerted by his gasps for air.
As they rounded the next copse of close-knit trees, Kai almost gave a whoop of joy. They had reached the small, square hut that was to be their safe house while they watched Mohammed’s soldiers, and Kai was thankful the long hike was over. He had regained consciousness shortly after they left Mohammed lying dead beside his gun. Kai shuddered at the thought of what he had seen in that man’s eyes. There had been very little compassion there, just a harshness that made Kai want to cry when he thought of it. He didn’t want to see or feel those things ever again.
And yet … he knew that was something he was going to have to do every time.
“Okay,” said Angus, entering the hut and glancing back over his shoulder at the three men who followed him. “That went well. We just have to sit back a bit and watch what happens. If we are lucky, all those children get to put down their guns and go home. If we aren’t lucky we get to do what we did today all over again.” He turned and looked pointedly at Kai. “You need to know that when one leader is killed in these resistanc
e armies it is usually only a short time before someone else steps up to take his place. It won’t be one of the children. It will be an adult, one of those who helped start the group maybe. Usually the brother, uncle, or cousin of the dead leader.
“Sometimes there is a little discussion about the take over and it usually ends up with someone dead,” added Roger.
“When will we know?” It was Lincoln, his brows raised and his hand still holding the door latch. He had been the last to enter the hut and his form filled the doorframe. It was getting a little crowded in here and Kai wondered where everyone was going to sleep. He glanced around and saw that there were several sleeping pallets placed around the room, each one pushed up against the outside walls. He moved over to one and settled himself onto it.
“What you need to do now is rest,” Angus told Kai. “We will know by tomorrow if they have a new leader.” Kai nodded and then laid his head on the pillow. He was exhausted both from what he had done to Mohammed and hiking in the heat. The sun was setting and he needed more than rest … he needed sleep. Kai closed his eyes and let his mind drift as the others carried on a murmured conversation.
The next few days brought bad news. The second in command, a man called Ismael, quickly and ruthlessly stepped into Mohammed’s empty seat and with equal fervor Kai dispatched him as well. It wasn’t always easy to isolate the leaders so Kai could do his job. They had to be not only alone, but also vulnerable and unable to reach for their guns. Kai managed to surprise Ismael in the kitchen. The new leader had left his rifle in the hands of a young boy with instructions to clean it. When he entered the hut to get food, Kai was waiting for him inside. Ismael took one startled look at the very white Kai and jumped back, a frown on his face. When his eyes met Kai’s he dropped soundlessly to the dirt floor, and Roger caught Kai, pulling him out the back entrance of the hut and into the jungle where the others could help carry him away.
The third man to step up to take command died like the first, relieving himself one night outside his tiny hut. Black eyes met green in the gathering darkness and Kai felt the familiar sharp shiver ripple down his spine just before he fainted, his Trebladore friends standing close, ready to catch him on the way down.
It was after the third leader had been summarily dispatched that the others in the militia chose to put down their weapons and slide silently into the surrounding jungle. First it was just a few of the younger boys, gathered together in a bunch for support and protection. They slipped away in the night, abandoning their posts with a determination that Kai had to respect. He knew how far away from any kind of help these children were and he knew that it could be weeks before they managed to walk into any kind of place that could offer them assistance. It wasn’t long before others followed their example and most of the gang was gone. Only three of the older soldiers remained now and Angus cursed them, saying they had the militia mentality.
“We need to remove those men, too,” Angus argued. “They will just wait around until another force comes this way and then join them, going out to hunt down innocent men, woman and children.”
Kai looked at Angus and shook his head. “I’m not killing anyone who doesn’t step up to be the leader. Remember? I’m here to cut off the serpent’s head, not chop his entire body into tiny pieces.”
Angus eyed Kai, his gaze hard and stubborn. Kai didn’t back down, though. He knew he had to decide on and follow a code that he could live with. It was the only way he could continue to do this. Those he killed had to deserve it and they had to be the kind of lost causes that were so far gone that there really was no help for them. These children themselves were not beyond help. Kai had read too many stories of young boys who had been through the hell of recruitment, abuse, brainwashing, and forced murder, and who came out the other side with a degree of compassion for their fellow human beings that had stunned the world. They were savable and he would not kill any of them.
Chapter Forty-two
The jungle bounded by outside the jeep. Kai turned away from Angus who looked at him as though he was shirking a responsibility. They had argued until Kai finally said, “I’m finished here. Take us to the airport.” Roger was driving, which gave Angus plenty of opportunity to look at Kai and Lincoln in the back seat and make comments. Kai clenched his fists. He’d had about all he could take.
“It’s like doing half a job,” said Angus. “I’m telling you, if I had your power, I’d be getting rid of every one of those guys. They rape and murder without the slightest remorse. How can you let them live?”
“It’s possible to change,” said Kai, slowly.
Angus shook his head. “Can you talk sense into him?” he said to Lincoln.
“We are careful to track only the worst of humanity,” said Lincoln.
“To be worthy of death,” said Kai. He let his words trail off as his thoughts jittered down half a dozen avenues. What was the criterion? He had to get it straight in his mind. Angus would have been happy if he killed at least three more people. But they didn’t take over the leadership of this terrible band. They didn’t have the drive and perhaps the same degree of evil that Mohammed or his two successors had had. “In order to be worthy of death, the person must truly deserve it. There must be no hope for him.”
“That’s pretty vague,” said Angus. “Is it the number of people he kills that puts him in your kill-worthy category? Is it the brutality of his attacks? Does he have to be a leader?”
“That’s enough!” Kai glared at Angus, and the tension in the jeep increased a discernible degree along with the mid-day temperature. “I’m the one who decides who dies.” Angus shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as if suddenly remembering the lethal abilities the other man could tap into, and then turned to face the front of the jeep.
Lincoln rubbed the stubble on his chin, thoughtfully. “It’s not up to you or me to force him to do something he doesn’t believe in.”
Kai felt his shoulders lower a couple of inches. He hadn’t realized how tense the discussion was making him. He gave Lincoln a small smile and glanced at Angus still turned in his seat. He swallowed. There was a bead of sweat creasing the other man’s forehead. It suddenly struck Kai that Angus was afraid of him.
They got to the airport eventually and Rodger parked the jeep. They had no luggage, as the small duffel bag Kai had packed for the trip had been left in a different hut than the one they ended up in. Lincoln’s was gone as well. What Kai wouldn’t give for a shower and a clean shirt, right now.
“I’ll see about the tickets,” said Lincoln. Angus went with him.
“Are you going back to the States?” Kai asked Roger, as they waited.
“No. This is our home. We were lucky to hear about the rebel faction and we joined and presented Mohammed for their consideration.”
“How were they going to do it?”
“Without you?” They settled into seats in the waiting area. “There was talk of training Trebladore rebels to be the assassins. I don’t think it got that far, it was just talk. Once Lincoln found you, plans changed. You are the ultimate secret weapon.” Roger’s dark brown eyes were mesmerizing, the gold fleck glinting in the sun. “I’m not sure you realize your power, my friend.”
“I’ve seen it work several times.”
“No, not that power. I’m talking about the power you have in the rebel group. You’re not just the secret weapon; you’re the only weapon. We’ve witnessed the atrocities in Africa, and wanted so badly to eliminate these monsters.” He patted Kai’s hand. “Thank you for coming to the Congo.”
Kai nodded. He knew eliminating Mohammed and the others was for the greater good, but he couldn’t accept thanks for killing.
Lincoln and Angus walked toward them.
“How do you do it, Kai?” asked Roger quickly, as though he could get the secret before the others arrived.
“I don’t know,” Kai admitted. “The first two times I
did it, it was an accident.”
“Next flight out is in an hour and a half,” said Lincoln. He shook hands with Angus and Roger. “Thank you for all you do in the cause,” said Lincoln.
Kai feigned exhaustion while they waited to check in. He closed his eyes and thought of Beth. He ached to hear her voice. He wished he could tell her what happened. Her wonderful logical mind would help him make sense of this power, this gift.
“They’re boarding soon,” said Lincoln elbowing him in the ribs. Kai rubbed eyes that burned. Perhaps the tiredness wasn’t faked, after all.
To say it wasn’t a direct flight was an understatement. Lincoln wanted to get out of Africa as quickly as possible, though, and they accomplished that. Kai leaned his head against the seat in their fourth flight. He wore a T-shirt that said ‘Frankfurt’ he had bought at the last layover. With a total of five stops and forty hours of travel time, they arrived back in the city near their home. They would take a car from there.
The moment they touched ground in the States, Kai made plans to call Beth. He found a phone in the airport and dialed her number. At the sound of her “Hello,” Kai felt his throat tighten. He missed her more than he could possibly express. He was so busy feeling the tone of her voice, he hardly heard her words. She was having a wonderful time in Paris. She was learning so much working with Paul. She was excited about everything and everybody. Kai wanted to smile but his heart ached.
“Why are you calling from this number?” she asked.
“I lost my phone. I’ll get a new one soon and hopefully keep my old number.”
“I miss you,” she said.