Page 57 of Murder Island

She turned down another trail—deeper and darker and narrower, with more overhanging branches. Dangerous. There were leopards out here. Kira had heard their sawing roars. And she knew hungry cats would hunt even in the rain.

The sound of the downpour now mixed with another kind of rush. Louder. Off to her left. Running water! Kira burst out of the bush and skidded to a stop on a small mound of mud overlooking a tumbling, foaming river—about thirty feet wide, and moving fast.

She looked back. The flashlight beams were cutting through the foliage behind her, only about twenty yards downstream. She looked at the swollen river. Insane.

She had no choice.

She tightened the strap of her backpack and jumped. She hit the water feetfirst and plunged deep. Deeper than she expected. She saw a dark shape just before itwhacked her in the temple. A thick branch, propelled by the current. It dazed her for a second. She scrambled deeper, where the current was slower. She hung there for a moment as silt and debris washed past her. Her eyes began to sting. She flexed her legs and launched herself toward the opposite shore.

Suddenly, another shape was coming toward her, at eye level. Bigger than the branch, and moving in an undulating pattern. Kira squinted through the murk. Her gut tightened.

A river croc!

She had only a second to pull her knife. She wrapped her fingers tight around the grip and pinpointed a spot just behind the reptile’s eyes. The thing was almost on her. She could see the bottom teeth protruding over the upper jaw. She raised her knife. She heard a dull pop. The croc’s head exploded. The huge body convulsed, then started to tumble with the current, trailing a crimson cloud.

Kira pushed herself toward the surface. She was back close to shore. Lights bounced off the water. She felt a sudden, stinging pain in her scalp. She was being pulled out of the river by her hair.

Her knife was kicked out of her hand. She landed hard on the muddy bank. She grabbed her side in pain as flashlight beams lit her up from head to toe.

Kira shielded her eyes with one hand and looked up. Five massive shapes loomed over her.

The Black guy leaned down out of the glare, so close that she could see his bloodshot eyes and flaring nostrils. He had a shotgun in his hands. It was still smoking.

“Hi there, Goldilocks,” he said. “You can thank me later.”

CHAPTER 68

MINISTER KABERA WAS sitting at one end of the bar with two women fawning over him. The one with thick blond bangs and a bare midriff had her hand on his shoulder. A petite Asian woman with rough-cropped black hair was tracing patterns on his thigh. He had his arm around the Asian woman’s waist, his fingers splayed down over her hip. His bodyguards sat one stool away on either side of him, drinking soda water. Or so they thought.

The second time Lial danced into Kabera’s line of sight, he slipped off his stool and made a beeline for her. His bodyguards started to follow, but they were both logy and slow. Kabera waved them back anyway, shooing them like flies.

When he got within a few feet of the dance floor, Lial turned her back on him and plunged back into the crowd, pretending to ignore him. She knew this would only stir the chase response. Men were so damn easy. They couldbe trained like circus animals. Lial shook her shoulders and allowed Kabera to catch up to her.

It was time to move things along.

Lial had been setting honeytraps since she was sixteen. She considered them cheap and unsavory. But tonight’s scam served two purposes. Cal Savage’s. And hers.

Right on cue, she felt Kabera’s sweaty hand on her shoulder. She turned toward him without breaking her rhythm. He smiled and started to move in sync with her. She smiled back. Not full wattage. Not yet.

Let him earn it.

Kabera wasn’t a bad dancer, just a little stiff on the transitions and restricted by his slim-fitting suit. Lial dumbed down her moves slightly to match his. In the crush and heat of the crowd, perspiration glistened on his face and darkened the blue collar of his shirt.

Lial let him get close. Very close. She felt his hands on her waist, his hips bumping hers. He leaned in toward her ear. “Come outside with me!” he shouted. It was the only way to be heard.

“Why?” Lial shouted back, tilting her chin up toward him.

“I want some time with you!”

This time she brushed her damp hair off her cheek and gave him the full treatment. She dipped her eyes, then raised them again. She flashed her perfect teeth in a shy smile. She gave him a little nod and mouthed, “Okay. You win.”

Lial could read his reaction. She’d seen it a hundred times.

The minister of internal security thought he’d sunk the hook.

But it was the other way around.

CHAPTER 69