Page 65 of Murder Island
“Not soon enough,” said Tagaloa.
“Whaddya think Gurney’s makin’?” asked Fenwick. “For standin’ around talkin’ through his toy bullhorn?”
“You mean the guy we’re being paid to protect?” said Harper. He leaned over and spit onto the floor. “Poncy boarding-school prick.”
Tagaloa leaned back on his elbows and stretched his long brown legs out. “You know who was arealprick?” he said. “Leo’s ancestor. Old King Leopold. I looked him up. He ran the whole Congo like it was his own private plantation for twenty-odd years. And you know what happened when the workers didn’t produce? He had their goddamn hands chopped off.”
“Hey!” Fenwick contorted his fingers to imitate Leo’s twisted claw. “Whaddya think? Leo’s hand. Maybe it’s some kind of karmic payback.”
Harper stretched out to his full six-ten length on the cot. His blond ponytail dangled off the end. “You guys ever think we’re working for the wrong side here?”
Marley stood up, his bald head brushing the ceiling of the tent. He let out a loud and aromatic beer belch. “Since when did you grow a conscience?”
Harper swatted at something buzzing around his ear. “Dunno,” he said. “Maybe it’s the bugs.”
CHAPTER 80
The Arabian Sea, 10 p.m.
ALONE IN HIS quarters aboard thePrizrak, Cal Savage was in a fury. He pressed the Rewind button and watched the report from a Rwanda TV station for the third time.
“… and so far, authorities have no answer regarding the disappearance of Security Minister Joseph Kabera. His empty floatplane was found at the southern edge of Lake Tanganyika, but there was no trace of the official. His security guards are reportedly being questioned in Goma. More when we know it…”
Still no trace of Kabera! And where the hell was Lial? Savage hadn’t heard from her since her chopper set down at the airport. It wasn’t unusual for her to go dark during an operation, but what happened out there? Was Kabera a confirmed kill or not? Did somebody else kill them both? It wasn’t a plane crash, that’s for sure. From the TV images, the floatplane looked pristine.
An intercom buzzed. “Captain. I have them here.”
“Have who?”
“The two poachers.”
Savage stood up. He needed something to go right tonight. Maybe this was it.
“Bring them.”
He turned off the video as the cabin door opened. One of the ship’s Kenyan security guards had his hands on a pair of skinny Black men. They looked like they had just been pulled out of the bush. From what Savage had been told already, the young men had no ivory for him tonight, but they did have information.
“Tell the captain,” said the guard, shoving the men forward. They both looked confused.“Nitatafsiri,”said the guard, pointing at his own lips. “I translate.”
Both men started to babble at once in rapid-fire Swahili. Savage waved his hand impatiently as if trying to clear the air. “Stop! What are they saying?”
The Kenyan guard stepped forward. “They’re talking about a giant white man with a red truck—on the trail toward Kolwezi. Southern Congo.” The guard let the young men babble on for a few more sentences, then picked up the translation again. “They say he killed their tracker, then stole their weapons and left them on the savanna to die.”
Savage felt his stomach drop. He stared at the young men, first one, then the other. “Tell them they got lucky,” said Savage. “And tell them next time, they’d better bring ivory. Lots of it. That’s what I hired them for.”
The guard put Savage’s words into Swahili, then pulledthe two men around and shoved them back out through the cabin door. Savage called out to the guard. “And tell them I’ll find them a new tracker!”
The captain sat down heavily in his padded chair. Damnit. It was Doc Savage for sure. He was alive. Somehow, he had figured out where Kira Sunlight was operating, and now he was on his way to find her.
Cal Savage was not about to let that happen. Separately, those two might be manageable, even useful. Together, they were a potent force. The combination was just too dangerous—for him, and for his plans. As long as they were both breathing, they were a significant threat.
Lial would be his natural choice for the job. She never turned down wet work. But she was currently missing in action. Maybe dead herself.
Hold on…
In a flash, the captain realized exactly who he needed. He grabbed the sat phone and placed a call to the mainland. He thought it over for a moment while the call went through. The solution might be overkill for just two targets.
But if anybody needed overkilling, it was Doc Savage and Kira Sunlight.