The Fallen (21 page)

Ten minutes later, relieved of her weapon and certain that her pursuers now knew exactly where she was, Jade climbed back into Elsabe’s car.

She was furious, with herself and with the policeman. The black cop had taken her gun and told her she was lucky not to be arrested. Then he’d asked her to wait again, and he’d just disappeared.

For all Jade knew, he was only going to let her drive off once he was certain he was delivering her directly into the hands of her hunters. She wasn’t prepared to stick around for that. Not when the lady cop had finished searching her car, found nothing, and was now busy checking another motorist’s licence.

And not when it was starting to get dark. She didn’t have much time left before rush hour, such as it was, was over, and the roads became quieter.

Jade started the engine and pulled out into the road. As she passed the mobile office, she half expected the black cop to jump out of the doorway, hand held out, and stop her again. Or to hear the sirens of one of the backup vehicles as they pulled onto the road in pursuit.

But nothing happened. She drove until the orange cones and lights marking the roadblock had disappeared into the distance.

Her sense of relief was interrupted by the ringing of David’s cellphone. Looking at the screen, Jade saw the caller was Captain Moloi, who had been in David’s team when he had worked for the serious and violent crimes division.

Moloi did not like Jade. Jade didn’t know whether this was because she had been romantically involved with David, a married man, or whether it was because he knew about some of the
criminal acts she had committed. Or whether it was a mixture of both, with a dash of personal feeling thrown into the mix as well.

When she answered, it was clear Moloi’s negative opinion hadn’t changed.

‘Jade? Where’s David?’ he barked.

She could hear the subtext, or thought she could. Why are you answering David’s phone? Why are you interfering in his life when his wife is pregnant?

Perhaps she was being over-sensitive. Moloi might not even know Naisha was pregnant. Perhaps David had waited and told her first.

‘David’s been rushed to hospital. If he made it there alive, he’s either in the operating theatre or
ICU
,’ she said quietly.

Now Moloi sounded concerned. ‘Why? How?’

‘He was shot in the chest while driving. I was with him. He was pulled over by a criminal impersonating a policeman.’

‘My God. Do you know what the prognosis is?’

Jade was surprised to find her own voice unsteady. ‘I don’t know yet.’

‘Was it an attempted hijacking?’

‘No. Trust me, it wasn’t. It was an attempted hit.’

‘But—but he’s not even in Johannesburg at the moment. He told me he was going down to the coast somewhere. St Lucia, I think.’

‘Richards Bay.’

‘So how …?’

‘There was a murder at the resort where we are staying. He’s helping with the investigation.’

‘Oh.’ Moloi paused. Then, clearly assuming that Jade was also up to speed on the investigation, he continued. ‘Has this got anything to do with that address in Yeoville he asked me to check out?’

‘It might, although I think the Yeoville angle is a long shot.’

‘Well, I haven’t had a chance to go out that way yet. I was phoning to tell him I’ll be able to get there later on.’ He paused, then said in a softer tone, ‘Does his wife know this has happened?’

‘I don’t think anyone’s contacted her yet.’

‘Where is he?’

‘Richards Bay General Hospital.’

‘I’ll phone Naisha now.’

‘Thanks.’

Moloi disconnected and Jade drove on, regularly glancing in her rear-view mirror to check and recheck the line of headlights behind her and wondering who, if anybody, was following.

Jade had been a hunter herself more than once in the past. Empty roads and darkness were a killer’s friend. Fortunately, the highway heading into town was fairly busy. The lights of the cars nearest her were clear and bright, the others blurred into smudges in the mist that had started to form.

If the mist got any thicker, it would present a new danger, especially later on. Richards Bay was a small town and it would get quieter as the evening progressed.

She had two choices.

The first was to flee. To leave this humid town behind. Just drive off, turn her back on whatever was going on here.

If it had been her decision alone, she’d have no problem doing it.

But she couldn’t, because David was involved and she had to protect him.

If she was fast and cunning enough, her would-be killers wouldn’t have a clue where she had gone, but they would know exactly where to look for him. If he survived the surgery, he’d be in danger as soon as he came out of the operating theatre. She had no idea what security measures were in place in an
ICU
, but a hospital was one of the hardest places to keep people safe. That much she did know.

By staying in the area, she’d be the one commanding the criminals’ attention and resources, reducing the threat to David.

In fact, she could go one better.

She could make herself an obvious quarry and lead them into a trap of her own design.

‘I’ve got her!’ Leaning forward in the passenger seat of the souped-up Mazda that they were now using, because Bradley had said putting the truck on the road again would be unwise, Kobus frowned at the worsening fog.

He didn’t know whether visibility was worse on the inside of the car or the outside. The windscreen demister was fighting a losing battle with the mist that kept creeping over both sides of the glass. The interior certainly smelled as if a previous owner might have had a bad incontinence problem. Perhaps that would explain it.

‘Where?’ Johan, the gate guard from the harbour, was in the driver’s seat. He hadn’t yet spotted the number plate that one of the Metro cops from the roadblock had called in just a half-hour ago.

‘There.’ Kobus pointed. ‘Keep her in sight,
OK
? And watch out for that robot up ahead. It’s about to turn red.’

‘Can’t jump it,’ the weathered-looking man replied. ‘I’ll have to stop. Watch if she turns.’

Waiting at the red light, the car filled with tense silence. Then, with a squeal of rubber, the Mazda shot forward as soon as the light turned green.

‘She’s up ahead somewhere. Go slow now. We don’t want to … hey, wait. Look at that. It’s her. The car’s pulling off the road. She’s goddamn parking it.’

‘That’s lucky.’

‘Slow down.’

‘We can’t get her now. Not while she’s stopped at a shopping centre. We’ll have to wait till she gets going again.’

‘You think she’s seen us?’

‘No way. Look—she’s getting out. She’s going into the Internet café.’

‘Well, she can’t stay in there for long. It closes at eight.’

‘And by then this traffic will be gone. Hey, are we lucky fish or what?’

‘Huh?’ The Mazda’s indicator ticked loudly as Johan pulled over and parked further down the road.

‘Lucky fish. Don’t know why I said that. It’s an old saying. The last time anyone called me that was in school.’ Kobus laughed. He suddenly felt high on adrenaline. Perhaps it was the painkillers. At any rate, he liked the feeling. It took his mind off the dull throbbing in his arm and the brownish-looking blood that had already oozed through the bandage.

‘In school, hey?’

‘Haven’t heard it since. Might be because I don’t stay in touch with my school friends.’ He was the only one who’d ended up in prison. The only one that he knew of, anyway.

‘Might be because you stopped being lucky,’ Johan said.

Kobus laughed again. ‘Not this time.’

Using his left hand, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Bradley.

Bradley answered after four rings. He sounded distracted and his voice thrummed with tension. He was busy now—too busy to help with the hunt, which was why Kobus had enlisted Johan’s help. The operation was going ahead. The deadline, Kobus knew, was looming. Only a few hours left to go.

He relayed the good news and hung up.

‘So now we wait,’ he said.

‘Ja,’ Johan said. ‘Let’s sit tight here.’

The car following Jade was a clapped-out, white, bottom-of-the-range Mazda. A generation older than the cars supplied by the company that Jade used.

It was an unlikely looking tail, and the driver was good, staying a few cars behind her when there was traffic around. The only reason she picked him up was that she was expecting to be
followed. The car never got close enough to allow her to see who was driving, or how many people were inside.

She could put her plan into action now. But first she needed to stop for water. Where would be safe?

She drove past a bar, but it looked just about empty and the parking area outside was shadowy and unfenced. She suspected that her pursuers wouldn’t think twice about following her inside and doing the job there.

She was nearly out of town and she certainly didn’t want to start driving in circles, because that would alert her tail to the fact she’d spotted him.

And then Jade saw where she could go.

The small shopping centre where David had picked her up that very morning was brightly lit and the street outside was lined with parked cars. The fast-food outlet looked busy and the Internet café was swarming with teenagers.

It was the ideal place for a quick stop.

She parked as close as she could to the Internet café and made her way into the takeaway next door. Trying to look as casual as possible, she ordered a can of Coke and a toasted cheese sandwich. The fizzy drink provided a welcome sugar hit, but her stomach was too knotted for her to take more than a few bites of her sandwich. Still, knowing she would need the energy later, she forced the food down.

She drained the last of her Coke and tossed the remains of her meal into the dustbin. Then she wiped her hands with a paper napkin and walked over to the Internet café, where a sternly worded notice on the inter-leading glass door informed her that no food or drink was welcome inside.

The machines were occupied by a number of teenage boys, each immersed in their own online world. The air was thick with testosterone. Jade paid the goateed man at the desk for half an hour’s Internet usage and took a seat at the only available computer. Her neighbour was playing an online game that involved butchering a monster with an axe. Sheets of virtual blood flew through the air and Jade found herself turning away from the sight.

Focusing her attention on the screen in front of her, she clicked
on Google, hoping that in this limited time she’d be able to find answers there.

Something was going on at the harbour. Jade was convinced of it. She and David had arrived there early that morning to ask questions, and the attempted hit had taken place on their way back.

She remembered the way the uniformed guard had called her away from the screened-off area. What
was
behind it?

An Internet search informed Jade that the Richards Bay harbour, today the country’s biggest and northernmost port, had got off to an inauspicious start when Commissioner Henry Cloete, surveying the estuary in 1843, declared that it had little or no potential as a future harbour.

Despite this discouraging verdict, the harbour had been built in 1976 for the purpose of exporting coal, and had since expanded to deal with other bulk cargo, mainly exports. Twenty-one berths were currently in service, and an additional coal berth was under construction. Jade couldn’t find any information on the tanker berth that the gate guard had mentioned.

She did, however, learn that the port was a popular stopping point for international cruise ships, because of its proximity to the local game parks and the St Lucia World Heritage Site.

The article on the harbour linked to a news report on the environmental assessment that Craig had mentioned. According to its author, there was a strong possibility that dune mining in the park would go ahead. It was only the ongoing protests of the environmentalists that were keeping the bulldozers and drills at bay.

‘If it pays, it stays. That is our motto,’ the
CEO
of a company called Richards Mining had told the journalist. ‘It is untrue that the coastal environment north of the park is being adversely affected by our current mining operations. Expansion of our operations into the park itself will create 150 additional jobs, which are sorely needed by the local population and which ecotourism, despite its promises, has failed to deliver.’

Smoke and mirrors, or the truth?

Reading on, her heart skipped a beat as she found the writer had sourced a comment from none other than Craig Hitchens himself,
local ecologist and a member of the conservation team that was now in the process of reassessing the park’s environment.

‘The Richards Mining operation has already exceeded the northernmost limits that were agreed on prior to the start of the dunes being strip mined. They are also re-mining previously mined dunes that were supposed to have been fully rehabilitated by now. While we believe that any mining that takes place in the park will have disastrous consequences for the ecosystem surrounding the dunes, and we will oppose all such activities, we also believe that Richards Mining has acted in breach of contract and should have their existing licence revoked.’

Below the quote, which ended the article, were head shots of the two men, taken separately but pictured side by side, as if they were having their argument in person.

Looking down at the bottom right-hand corner of the computer screen, Jade checked the time. It was still a little early, but she could try.

Mustering some courage, she called the Richards Bay General Hospital and asked to be put through to
ICU
.

‘I’m phoning to find out about David Patel,’ she said, having introduced herself as his wife.

‘We don’t have a Patel in this ward.’ The nurse who answered sounded confused and, for a dreadful moment, Jade thought David hadn’t made it as far as the hospital; that he had died in the ambulance. Then the woman said, ‘Hold on.’ Jade could hear her speaking to somebody else in muffled tones, as if she’d covered the phone’s mouthpiece with her hand.