Green pushed the stew around with his fork for a while.
The real problem, he thought, is going to be the money. It should be easy enough to find Bloom. Where could he hide in a country like this? Right now, the Fat Man didn´t care about the money, except to know that no-one who stole from him lived long enough to spend it, but Green had seen the numbers now. It was a lot of cash even if Bloom had blown a slice of it already. He´d been serious when he said he wouldn´t keep it all. People who loved money as much as the Fat Man changed their minds about what was fair once they started to think about a lowly soldier like Green getting hold of a wad of it. Green would make sure that he was well paid for the job and leave it at that.
But suppose that somehow the money was gone? Green wasn´t fool enough to rely on the Fat Man’s hint that he would be looked after whatever became of the cash. That offer was like one of those insurance policies that ended up costing you more if you made a claim than if you took a deep breath and stood the loss yourself. If he even mentioned that conversation again all he’d get would be a dirty look. This job was an eat what you kill, no win no fee kind of deal; and worse than that, if he did come back empty handed people would be watching after to see if he was behaving like someone who’d come into money.
In the world of crime that Green worked in, everything fell apart when someone like Bloom stopped being honest. Everything depended on relationships of trust, even though you could only trust anyone up to a point.
Judging from this town and this food, Green concluded that there wasn´t much that you could blow a fortune on here. The money wasn´t being spent just now; at least not in Africa. On the other hand, it was never likely that Bloom would have arrived in Africa with a backpack stuffed full of cash. Maybe he was here to turn the money into something else: could diamonds be a possibility? There was information that would need to be extracted from him and the extraction would be complicated and probably unpleasant. Thinking about that aspect of the work didn’t help Green´s digestion.
He called the girl over and asked her to take his plate and bring the bill.
But you haven´t touched it. Don´t you like?
I´m sure it´s wonderful, Green lied. I just decided that it wasn´t really what I wanted after all. There´s no problem about the bill. It´s fine.
He went back to the hotel and enjoyed a rare steak and most of a decent bottle of red. Green would have agreed with Julian Bowen that the finer things in life were important. Food and drink were too pleasurable not to have the best that was available. A difference between them was that in Green´s view, such pleasures were best enjoyed in moderation.
Chapter Six - Day Five
The next morning, Green went to visit the waterfalls. They were pretty enough but he wasn’t really a man for scenery. By the time he was done, it was lunch time and he thought that maybe he’d try to find a bar that wasn´t filled with tourists; somewhere he might have a chance to discover something useful. There was a place at the edge of the park next to the camp ground that served beers in the open air once you walked through to the back via the bar that was shady but still too hot for daytime.
The beer was cheap and refreshing, but there weren´t many people around. There was bass heavy music coming out of a homemade sound system and a big screen television that was showing soccer from the English league, with the commentary off. Green sipped from his bottle and watched the game for a while. A skinny young black approached him to ask for a light.
Sorry, I don´t smoke.
The youth nodded and trotted across to the hatch that served the customers on the patio. When he´d got a light for his smoke, he returned to Green´s place.
Good music, yeah?
I suppose.
You need to be here in the night, man. The drinks are cheap. The music. White girls on holiday and looking for a good time. Beautiful girls: well some of them.
You like it here?
Oh yeah. And you know, I´m lucky. Because I´m handsome, they´re all fighting to be with me. I have to be careful not to break their hearts, but I´m a good person, you see. One day I´m going to choose one of them to be my special woman, but hey, you see me. I´m too young for that just now.
It sounds like you have a good time.
I have a great time. Hey, you have a good time as well. Stick with me; maybe buy me a few beers that cost nothing for you; and I make sure of it. I´ll tell you a secret. This place is okay and it´s cheap but there are better places. I can take you, show you. Girls come to me, like I said, I don´t have to chase them. It´s easy for you to start a conversation with one of them if you´re with me. Know what I mean? The place I´m thinking of has the best girls, the very best.
I´m looking for something else, Green interrupted him. A friend of mine is out here and I promised to look him up. He´s with this company, see the brochure? – Wilderness Tours. I need to find the office. You see the address at the bottom there.
The youth took the paper doubtfully and stared at it for a moment. Green wondered if he could read.
This place looks like shit, he told Green. You should tell your friend don´t go with a company like this. If you want a proper safari, I know the best. I can take you; get you a good rate.
I don´t want a safari. I want to find this place. Do you know where it is or not?
Again the boy looked doubtful.
Yes, yes. I know where it is, I think. Just let me be certain. Maybe we have another beer and I will think about it.
By the time Green returned from the bar, the boy was positive that he knew where the tour company had its offices. He could take Green there right away, but maybe it would be better to check with his friend Mason first. Mason knew where everything and everybody was. He was out of town just at that moment but he´d be back later on. By evening he´d be back for sure and then they would find the place in no time. Green thanked him, drained the last of his beer and stood up to leave.
I´ll see you at seven, no later, the boy called after him. My name is Precious, remember, everybody knows, Precious.
Green raised an arm in acknowledgement as he walked away, but he didn´t look back.
He tried some other places, but he was having no luck that day. It was just possible, he´d started to think, that the whole going off on safari story was a put up job; a diversion. Maybe Bloom had never come to Victoria Falls at all. It would have been easy to buy a new ticket in Johannesburg. He could be in Switzerland turning the money into something more negotiable right now. Perhaps Wilderness Tours didn´t exist either.
Green hadn´t been back to the hotel and it was a hot day. He was still wearing the same loose fitting sports shirt and khaki slacks. Green drew a line at shorts, seeing no reason to make himself appear ridiculous just because he was in a different country. He wasn´t naturally sweaty, but by now he did feel slightly wilted. It was time for a shower and to freshen up and then he could think about what should be his next move. In any case there wasn´t much daylight left and he´d nothing to show for a wasted day.
Hey man, good to see you.
It was the kid from the bar, with the elaborate hair and big eyes.
Precious. You remember me, the kid insisted.
Green started to walk on, but the boy turned and fell in step with him.
I spoke to my man Mason. Sure enough we can take you to that place you need to find. Mason knows that place well. Don´t even need a cab, we can walk from here.
It sounded unlikely, but Green had tried everything else.
Let´s go then.
Good. That´s good. But first we have to meet Mason. I know the bar where he´s at.
Precious led them out of town on a road that served a residential area. There seemed no danger of getting lost although the light was fading fast. The streets were broad and straight, though without footpaths or lights. Before too long they crossed a junction and Green saw that they were walking alongside the wall of a compound. At the end of the lane, Precious took a shar
p left and Green realized that they were standing at the front entrance of a bar, bigger than the others he had seen.
The gates were closed and topped with razor wire, but there was a separate little door set into one of them that was being held open by someone offering to let them in: whether he was a doorman, or just someone hoping to collect tips by hanging around in the doorway, was impossible to say.
Inside the compound there was a long bar with a block like building behind it. Along the edge of the broad surfaced area that fronted the bar was an open kitchen, with some tables and beyond that a grassy area of open space. Green supposed that later in the night, drinkers would be crowded into the space between the kitchen and the bar, but for now the whole place was quiet.
Mason was waiting for them in a place that the bright lighting in the compound did not illuminate, under the shadow of a large tree that was growing close to the outer wall. He was older than Precious and not so excitable. He looked at Green carefully before he spoke.
My associate, he said, nodding towards Precious, tells me that you have someone you want to find.
It´s not a big investigation. I only need the address of an office.
But still, Mason continued in the same slow, confident tone, you need our help. I suppose it must be worth something to you. Twenty dollars maybe?
Twenty US to tell me where a street is?
I hope you weren´t expecting to pay in Zim dollars.
I´ll give you ten when we see the place.
Okay, but first you buy us a drink. Cheap enough here for you rich people. After that we go.
Green sat patiently for half an hour as Mason sipped his beer and Precious gave Green more details about all the European women who threw themselves on him every night. When their bottles were finally emptied and Mason suggested gravely that they should have one more drink for the road, Green only said quietly that it was time to be moving if they were not just wasting his time.
Back in the street, away from the lights and loud music, the night seemed very dark. Mason walked on ahead and Precious stayed closer to Green. They had to stay in single file to avoid the intermittent traffic that passed by in both directions. Where they were headed did not have the look of a commercial area, but then it seemed that Green’s standard expectations of geography didn´t apply in this place.
The houses of the neighborhood were well set back from the road even though they were modest dwellings, without walls or fences for the most part. There was plenty of land to build on. The tarmac was bounded by a grassy open area on either side that was treacherous to walk on and made the road even more isolated from the houses that were the only source of light. The whole experience had felt like a wild goose chase from the beginning and now they were coming to the point where there were no more houses.
Here, Mason stopped. They were at the top of a small rise. Below them, the road continued through an area that was even darker than the path they had already travelled. Green couldn’t make out anything of what might be ahead. The road surface under his feet was crumbling away and there was nothing here that would indicate the presence of a holiday company´s offices or any other form of enterprise.
The place you want is just down there, Mason told Green. The road winds round to the right and then on your right you´ll see the sign. Now pay us.
I said ten dollars when you show me the place. So far you´ve shown me nothing.
The price is twenty dollars. We´ve come a long way and twenty is nothing to you. No need for us to go any further with you. Unless you want us to walk you home. That will cost you extra.
Ten dollars when I see the sign, Green insisted.
Mason sighed.
Now I´m thinking that the price is going to go up some more.
How much do you have in your wallet? Precious demanded.
He was trying to make his voice sound tough.
None of your business. Do either of you know where the place is or is all of this bollocks?
Now you are insulting us, little guy, Mason told him. You hurt our feelings. The price goes up for sure.
Precious stepped in closer to Green. He was a head taller, and he leaned over to put his face close to Green´s in a way that was supposed to be menacing.
Don´t be stupid man. We got friends in that bush only waiting on in case Mason whistles. They come out of the dark, then you have real trouble.
Yes; friends, it’s true, Mason agreed; and they all need to be paid, so give us what you have now.
The kid was leaning in way too close, inviting the punch that Green planted hard into his stomach. As Precious started to double over, Green put both hands behind the boy´s head and pulled it down onto his upraised knee. Precious wouldn´t be as pretty in the morning, but mostly he’d be stunned for a while rather than badly hurt.
Mason stepped towards him and Green was a little concerned that the heavier man might be hiding a blade, so he grabbed the wrist of the man´s outstretched hand and yanked it towards him, turning the wrist over and bringing his free hand round to press firmly into the triceps muscle of Mason´s trapped arm, as the momentum of the bigger man carried his body forward with its full weight. Mason screamed and Green guessed that the arm was probably broken, but the idiot didn´t go down, obliging Green to treat him to an old fashioned kick in the balls for good measure. That took the air and any fight out of him for the moment. They´d both live at any rate.
Green took two ten dollar notes out of his wallet and let one of them flutter to the ground beside each of the groaning bodies. Then he set off in the direction Mason had pointed, on the off chance that there might be anything to see out there but bush.
Chapter Seven - Day Six
Green had been surprised to find that Mason wasn’t lying about knowing the whereabouts of Wilderness Tours. It made him feel a tiny pang of guilt for arguing over the money, but a deal was a deal. Where the road straightened out, there were three industrial units that were little more than huts; shabby even in the glow of his pocket torch. All the units were surrounded by chain link fencing that he hadn´t want to tackle at night, but the weathered signs assured him that the first unit was used by a builder, the second by a satellite dish provider, and the third was the tour firm.
In the yard in front of the office he’d made out the shapes of some smaller huts and an old micro bus that looked as if it might be rotted past use. Also lying around were remains of an old four by four that was definitely not going anywhere since the wheels were gone and the engine was blocked up on bricks just by the fence.
Green didn´t stay longer than the time it took to make a quick check that he was in the right place, just in case Mason really did have friends who weren´t too far away. He went back to the hotel, cleaned up and enjoyed a good night’s sleep.
The three industrial units looked even more desolate in the still cool light of the next morning. No one was around. There was a decent padlock on the gate at Wilderness Tours, but as far as pedestrians were concerned it was made redundant by a gap in the fencing down the far side that was big and well trodden enough to be the alternative entry for pedestrians.
Inside the yard, the main building was shuttered and locked and Green couldn´t tell much from the outside of it, except that if Wilderness Tours had a sales and marketing department, they didn´t come by this place very often. Behind the main hut there was a fuel tank supported on bricks over a concrete base, and an old car with panels of various shades and a passenger side door that was barely attached.
There was also a back door that yielded easily to Green´s efforts to force it.
There was a lot of dust inside the unit. Someone had left without bothering to wash the used mugs that were dotted about, but from the general condition of the place it would be unwise to conclude that this meant they´d left in a hurry. There was a lot of equipment in racks; more of it strewn over the floor. Green didn´t waste time trying to work out what any of it was for.
He came across a
lightweight table with a single folding chair in front of it and a few battered maps piled on the grimy surface. One of them was spread half open on the table and a route had been traced out on it in marker pen. Green folded up the map and put it in his jacket pocket. He couldn´t be sure that it marked out the path of the current tour, but if he needed to go after Bloom, this looked like being his best guide. It looked as if the whisky bottle that had been used to weight down the map had been emptied recently. The ring left on the map was not quite dry.
Why a supposed big hitter like Bloom would hook up with an operation like this was a mystery that might have some bearing on where he could be found; but for now at least Green could conclude that the company did exists even if the proprietor was in the habit of sleeping at the premises. There was an unrolled sleeping bag on the floor and a sticky patch on the wood next to it where something had spilled from an upended glass tumbler.
There was also a computer; and when he checked the mains power it was connected. Green thought it unlikely that Wilderness would have any administrative personnel who might turn up at work if the field staff were out in the wilds. In any case, the padlock and gate would ensure he’d have enough notice if anyone did show. Green settled down to see what he could learn from whatever was stored on the computer.
***
After the first nights of camping in the wild, Kriegman told the travellers that for this evening only, they were going to enjoy luxury. His idea of luxury turned out to be a proper campsite with rudimentary toilets and showers; even a bar. That night they would eat in the occasional restaurant next to the bar terrace which opened when enough guests were interested to dine there. After this night, he warned them, they would mostly eat whatever Michael could put together from what they carried or were able to pick up along the way.
They were a little quicker putting up the two man tents by now, but by the time each pair had unpacked their kit and taken their turn in the shower the light was already fading.
Julian was grateful that at least there was alcohol, even if he’d have considered the wine that was on offer here as fit only for cooking with had he been back at home. As it was, he refilled his mug with Cape red often enough. The others didn’t seem to be interested in drink. Even Kriegman barely touched a drop, so far as Julian could see. Must be a secret drinker then, given the ruin of his broken-veined face; or maybe a recovering alcoholic. The food was simple but plentiful and it was clear that heat and travelling had not affected anybody’s appetite.
the Disappearance of Jonathan Bloom Page 6