A Touch of Betrayal (15 page)

“‘I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!”’” Mama Hannah murmured as Alexandra cradled her. Her words gradually began to stumble and slur. “‘My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those . . . from those who hunt me down . . .’”

“Mama Hannah?” Alexandra said, hearing the panic in her own voice.

“I need to rest,
toto
.”

“Please try to stay awake. You’ve lost a lot of blood.” She fought back tears. “This is terrible!”

“Do you blame yourself for the work of an evil man?”

“Shh, don’t try to talk. Are you in pain?”

“Yes, very much. I think it would be good to sing.” She hummed for a moment. “Let us go to heaven.”

“Heaven?” The word sent a chill of terror racing through Alexandra. “Mama Hannah, please don’t die!”

“Relax,” Grant said calmly, coming back into the tent. “‘Let us go to heaven’ is an African way of introducing a song. You’re not going to die on us, are you, Mama Hannah?”

“Sing to me,
toto
. Sing to your mama.”

Alexandra could see Grant struggling to maintain his composure as he lifted away the bloody shirt and pressed a clean bandage to the old woman’s head. “I don’t know any songs,” he muttered. “You’re bleeding here, and I can’t . . . can’t . . .”

“‘Jesus loves me, this I know,’” Mama Hannah sang in a wavering voice. “Sing to me,
toto
.”

“‘Jesus loves me, this I know,’” Grant sang, his voice rough-edged. “‘For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak . . . but . . . but . . .’”

“‘They are weak,’” Alexandra finished, “‘but he is strong.’”

“Mombasa.” The manager of Kilanguni Lodge eyed the injured woman lying on a pallet of blankets in the back of Grant’s Land Rover. “We have a small airplane leaving our runway for the coast in fifteen minutes. The plane is only half-full, and I think I can hold it for you. But you’ll have to hurry.”

Grant considered a moment. “I’d rather take her to Nairobi. The hospital there is bigger and better equipped.”

“We won’t have a plane going to Nairobi until tomorrow evening. It is your choice.”

Grant shook his head. There was no choice.

Mama Hannah had faded during the overland trip from the campsite to the lodge at Tsavo West National Park. Even now, Alexandra huddled over her in the backseat, trying to keep her alert and encouraging her to take small sips of water. Every time Grant thought about the brutal beast who had attacked a helpless old woman, fury surged through his veins like wildfire.

“Hold that plane for us,” he told the manager. “And radio ahead to the hospital. I want the best doctors they’ve got. Have them standing by.”

“Yes, Dr. Thornton. Of course.” He hesitated a moment. “I think it would be appropriate to bring the police into this matter. The disappearance of the tourist from Amboseli Lodge several days ago created quite a disturbance. The news of the search for her has been in all the papers. Now this attack on your camp. Such things are very bad for tourism.”

“The woman who disappeared from Amboseli is sitting right there in the backseat,” Grant said, cocking a thumb at Alexandra. “Look, I want you to put Miss Prescott on that plane to Nairobi tomorrow. And watch her closely. The man who wounded Hannah Wambua is the same one who attacked Miss Prescott.”

“The same man? Do you have a name?”

“Nick Jones. Tourist from New York. If the police don’t track down that guy, I will.” Grant opened the back door. “Alexandra, there’s a plane to Nairobi tomorrow evening. You can stay here at the lodge until then. You’ll be safe.”

“Yes, madam, I will assign a guard to you immediately,” the manager said as he hurried toward his office.

Alexandra tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m not leaving,” she said firmly. “I’m going with Mama Hannah, Grant.”

“In ten minutes I’m putting her on a plane to Mombasa. That’s three hundred miles from Nairobi. If you want out of this trouble—and out of this country—now’s your chance.”

She looked into his eyes. “I’m not leaving her, Grant. I can’t.”

“Why? Because you blame yourself for what Jones did?”

“Because I care about her.”

“I care about her, too, and I’ll see that she gets safely to the hospital. You get back to the States, where you belong.”

“You’re the one who should stay here. Attend the Maasai ceremony that’s so important to you, and I’ll go to the coast with Mama Hannah. I’ve got a forty-five-day visa. I can stay with her until you come.”

Grant hesitated. He hadn’t given the
Eunoto
ceremony much thought in the urgent hours of driving to the lodge. Missing the elder initiation would be a blow. It could hamper his research by years. His financial backers were expecting a report on the rite. They were also expecting regular articles and a book. Without the account of the
Eunoto
, he could lose his funding—and his job.

Torn, Grant looked down at Mama Hannah. Her head on Alexandra’s lap, she was clearly struggling to contain the pain she felt. She had squeezed her eyes shut, and her rigid lips were clenched in agony. In one hand she clutched her little Bible. In the other she gripped Alexandra’s fingers.

“I’m taking Mama Hannah to the hospital,” Grant said.

Alexandra’s blue eyes softened. “Then let’s go.”

The tiny plane thumped and bounced over pockets of air until Alexandra felt like she was riding a bucking bronco. She couldn’t imagine the depth of misery Mama Hannah must be feeling as she lay on a stretcher in the narrow aisle. Grant sat grim-faced, holding the old woman’s hand and staring blankly at the back of the seat in front of him. Beside him, Alexandra rested her head on the tiny oval window and prayed for Mama Hannah.

What was the Scripture the old woman had quoted when the Maasai had carried Alexandra into Grant’s camp?
“Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my body is in agony.”

As she prayed, Alexandra let her eyes wander. Thin clouds like swaths of cotton batting from a torn quilt drifted past the window. Below them, vast waves of golden grass swept in an unending sea. To the south, Mount Kilimanjaro’s snowcapped peak glowed like a ruby in the sunrise as the airplane gradually left it behind. Barely visible on the ground, herds of wildlife grazed—antelope, zebras, elephants, and gazelles. It was going to be another beautiful day in Kenya.

Alexandra shut her eyes. She was so tired. The night attack had brought back memories of Nick Jones and fears for her own safety. She couldn’t imagine how he had tracked her to the tiny campsite. What if he found her again? What if she had endangered Grant and Mama Hannah all over again by insisting on going with them to the coast? Alexandra had the terrible feeling that if the plane didn’t stop jolting she might be ill. But she had to keep her thoughts focused—focused on Mama Hannah.
Pray, Alexandra, pray.

“Dear Father,” she murmured. “Please guard us. Please protect us.”

“Huh?” Grant turned to her, bleary-eyed. “What did you say?”

“I’m praying.”

“You’re wasting your breath. This is going to take a doctor.”

Alexandra swallowed at the harshness in his voice. “You don’t believe in God’s power to heal?”

“I don’t believe in God. Period.” He scratched his unshaven chin. “How did you fall into the religion thing anyway? Parents?”

“In the beginning. But as the years went by, my faith became my own. I believe in Christ because I see the effects of his presence in my life.”

“I hate to mention this, but your life includes a maniac killer.”

Alexandra sobered. “Terrible things happen to people all the time, Grant. Cancer, abuse, freak accidents. God doesn’t promise us a life free of problems. But I knew he was with me in the bush when Nick Jones attacked me. God led me toward Sambeke’s
kraal
. He sent Mayani to protect me from the wild dogs. Even if I had died out there, God’s presence would have given me strength to the end. And hope. How can you exist without hope?”

“Hope of an afterlife, you mean? Come on, Alexandra. Do you have any evidence of heaven?”

“I don’t need evidence. I have faith.”

“Yeah, well, I need proof. I’m a scientist, remember?”

“You needed faith to get on this airplane.”

“I happen to understand aerodynamics. Besides, I don’t have a lot of faith in this airplane. I’m wagering that if it hits one more bump, the whole thing’s going to come apart.”

Alexandra leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. She had never been any good at explaining her faith in Jesus to other people. Through prayer, Bible reading, the church, and the circumstances of her life, she had experienced God’s powerful presence. But to make Dr. Grant Thornton understand the fullness of life in Christ? Impossible. If Mama Hannah’s genuine and unpretentious faith hadn’t been able to convince him, Alexandra Prescott certainly couldn’t.

“Look, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Grant said. “I really appreciate what you did for Mama Hannah—going to her in the tent last night even though you knew Jones was after you. You even put out a fire.”

Alexandra opened her eyes. “Just call me Wonder Woman.”

Grant searched her face, his head resting on the seat just inches away. “So, what’s going to happen to you?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to hope the police catch Jones before he finds me again.”

“You’re going to need a lot of faith. He’s pretty determined. Strong and sneaky, too.”

“He’s obviously no slouch at tracking, either. If I knew why he had chosen me it would help.”

“Maybe he’s attracted to beautiful women.”

“Ha.” Alexandra instinctively touched her peeling nose. She wished she could take Grant’s comment as a compliment, but she knew she was a mess. “I think it’s the money.”

“How is killing you going to get Jones any money? If he’s after money, he ought to kidnap you and demand a ransom, right?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know, and I’m too tired to think it all through. I just can’t believe what he did to Mama Hannah. I have no doubt he would have killed her if we hadn’t walked up when we did.”

“He’s got you running scared, hasn’t he?”

“Scared, yes. But I’m also angry. Every time I think about him threatening her—and cutting her—I get furious.”

He nodded. “If I could get my hands on that guy, I’d make sure he never hurt either of you again.”

Alexandra looked into his gray blue eyes. A spark of something unexpected flickered to life inside her. “Do you mean that, Grant?”

“Of course I mean it. Mama Hannah is my mother. And you’re . . . well, you’re beginning to seem . . . hard to ignore.”

“Such a compliment.”

“Okay, I’ll admit it,” he said. “I kind of like having you around.”

Alexandra smiled, but her expression quickly turned serious. “Grant, I’ve always believed that the greatest love a person can have is to lay down her life for people she cares about. After what happened to Mama Hannah, I believe Nick Jones is capable of
anything
. He’s not going to stop, and he’s not going to care who gets in his way. I think you and I both know what I have to do.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“We’ve got to trap him,” she said. “And I have to be the bait.”