“Okay, you’ve had your fun,” Morris said. “Now let’s get this over with. Finish him off.”

Hazar threw Morris an irritated look, then took a deep breath and stepped back a few paces. He raised his rifle, tucking it against his shoulder, and aimed it at the back of the president’s head.

I couldn’t bear to look. I didn’t want to see them kill him. But I stopped myself from closing my eyes or looking away, because I knew I had to do something. It was now or never. A few more seconds and Hazar would pull the trigger and the president would be as dead as Patu.

No.

I took a deep breath, ready to shout at the top of my lungs.

No.

I didn’t have much of a plan other than to distract them, maybe make them chase me into the forest. If they thought there was a witness, maybe they wouldn’t kill the president. Maybe they would wait until they had caught me first — which they wouldn’t. I would be too fast and too clever for them. One word was all I had to shout.

No.

When I opened my mouth, though, the word already forming, someone else said it for me.

“No.” Hazar lowered his rifle and shook his head. “Not like this.”

“What?” Morris looked at him in disbelief. “Just get on with it. Let’s do this and leave.”

“I have a better idea.”

“A better idea? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I don’t want him dead. Not yet. I want him fresh.”

“Fresh?” Morris was confused. “What the hell does that mean?”

Hazar put his rifle over his shoulder and took his phone from his pocket. “Thank goodness for satellite phones.” He used his thumbs to type a message as he spoke. “This one will work anywhere on earth; just like yours. I contacted my taxidermist about some of the logistics of dealing with a human cadaver.”

“What?” Morris looked like he couldn’t believe his ears.

“Well, apparently if I’m going to stuff him and mount him, it’s best that the body is as fresh as possible.” Hazar continued to type, eyes fixed on the small screen.

“My God, you’re going to stuff him?”

“What else should one do with a hunting trophy?”

“You’re insane.”

“And you, my friend, are a very rich man.” Hazar put his phone back into his pocket and looked up at Morris. “I have just transferred ten million dollars into the agreed bank account. It was a good hunt, thank you.” He turned to the man with the camera. “That freezer chest is a gift I can’t ignore. Let’s get the president inside, and then we’ll be on our way.”

The man nodded, folded the tripod, and hurried back to the helicopter. He stored it inside and returned with two other men, going straight to the president. They hauled him to his feet and marched him over to Dad’s freezer chest.

“What? No!” The president struggled against them.

“Damn it.” Morris was growing more and more angry. “Why don’t you just bring him in the helicopter with us?”

“There’s not enough room,” Hazar said. “This will have to do.”

“I already shot one of your men. There’s enough room.”

“A place which you will now occupy.” Hazar raised his weapon to point at Morris. “Unless you want to give it up for the president?”

Morris gritted his teeth and glared at Hazar. “Just get a move on. It won’t be long before this place is crawling with Navy SEALs.” He took his phone from his pocket and held it up to Hazar, the screen glowing. “Everything we can see, they can see. Look!”

“I don’t care about that,” Hazar said, glancing over at his men. They had removed the buck’s head and were struggling to lift the president into the freezer chest.

“Well, you should, because the longer we stay here, the less chance we have of getting away.”

“Please,” the president managed to call. He looked over at Hazar. “Please don’t …”

“Oh, my apologies, Mr. President,” Hazar shouted back. “First class is full.” He smiled at his own joke as his men forced the president down.

I stared in disbelief as my friend disappeared from view, but as he did, he looked across the hunting ground, right past Hazar and Morris, and I was sure he saw me. I don’t know how, I was so well hidden, but our eyes seemed to meet and hold for a few seconds. We were locked together like that, linked because it was what the wilderness wanted. I understood now that our lives were bound together like the threads of a rope, and that I would not lose him. He was mine; I just had to fight for him.

Then he was gone, pushed right down into the chest, and the men closed the lid on him. They locked the latch, wrapped green cargo straps around the white box, and fastened them together to keep the lid shut.

Hazar watched as the men spooled a thick wire from the underside of the helicopter and ran it through the cargo straps holding the freezer chest shut, then he smiled at Morris and said, “See. That didn’t take long.”

“With that weight underneath, it’ll slow us down,” Morris replied.

“Relax; we just bagged the biggest prize on the planet. Try to enjoy it.” Hazar raised a hand and made a circling motion before heading back to the helicopter.

“I would have enjoyed it more if you’d just killed him,” Morris grumbled.

As the men climbed aboard, the engine started and the rotors began to turn.