Chapter 21

wednesday, november 18, 8:56 a.m. near the village of dzakan

“Natalie?” The boat shuttered again, causing both Chad and Natalie to momentarily lose their balance. Natalie slammed into a wooden crate. And then Chad was pulling her behind a stack of barrels, widening the barrier between them and the thugs and the weapons they now held in plain sight.

Blood seeped from a nasty gash down her left arm.

“What happened?”

Natalie glanced at her shoulder. “I gouged it on something, but I’m okay. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Chad took her right hand and pulled her through the crowd. Dodging goats and chickens through the overcrowded vessel suddenly seemed trivial compared to the possibility of dodging bullets. Surely only a complete idiot would fire shots with hundreds of people milling around.

He groaned, knowing their options were few. And the two men were closing in behind them. He surveyed their surroundings. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the boat had edged its way to the shore and was in the process of docking. This must be Dzakan, the one major village between Kasili and Bogama. Already a crowd waited to board the boat at the bottom of the ramp, while others stood poised to disembark. The sight of weapons had added a layer of confusion to the chaotic scene, but that and the surge of passengers could work to their advantage.

They’d just been given their one way out.

Chad shouted to Joseph, who was maneuvering though the thick wall of people ahead of them. If they could get off, they might have a chance to lose the thugs. Pushing their way around a 4x4 jeep being transported down the river, Chad tightened his grip on Natalie’s hand. He glanced back as they pressed their way down the wooden ramp. One of the men was trapped somewhere in a sea of people, but the second had managed to jump the railing and now scurried down the edge of the ramp less than twenty feet behind them.

Chad quickened his pace, praying Natalie could keep up. He heard her labored breathing beside him as Joseph’s head bobbed ahead of them. A busy marketplace spread out fifty feet from the shore. The boy had the right idea—the market would be the best place to hide. While not as big as either Kasili or Bogama, it was crowded with dozens of small wooden stalls and packed with people.

Chad and Natalie followed Joseph as the boy wound his way down narrow dirt paths deep into the heart of the market, past fish vendors, vegetable sellers, and piles of used car parts. The stench from the trash pit along the edge of the market filled his nostrils, but his only concern was for Natalie.

They finally stopped to catch their breath behind a merchant selling shoes, hopeful they’d lost their pursuers. Natalie let go of his hand and grasped her shoulder below the wound. Blood smeared down her arm and across her left hand.

He had her sit on a stump, then examined the wound. For now he needed to concentrate on stopping the bleeding. He’d clean it properly once they found somewhere safe to stop. He glanced at the six-inch ruffle at the bottom of her skirt. He was going to have to make do with what they had. “Do you mind? We’ve got to stop the bleeding.”

She shook her head, and he bent down to rip off the piece along the seam.

Natalie eyed the backpack he’d set behind him. “Do you think those guy are after the photos?”

“That and a guarantee we don’t leak anything before the election.” He ripped the center of the strip with his teeth, then tore it into a thinner band, saving the other piece in his back pocket in case he needed it later. It should be enough to stop the bleeding. “They’re not getting us or the photos.”

Natalie flinched as he wrapped the wound. “But this isn’t just about Stephen and Patrick anymore. If they can find us in the middle of nowhere so quickly, that means their communications are beyond normal civilian communication of this country.”

Chad tied off the ends, not liking the obvious conclusion. “Which points to some kind of government involvement.”

“And which also means we’ve got to find another way to the capital before they find us again.”

Joseph stood hunched over, the palms of his hands resting against his thighs. “We could hire a smaller boat and to outrun them.”

Chad nodded. “That’s a good option.”

And from the looks of things at the moment, their only option.

The boat Joseph hired was nothing more than a hollowed-out log, barely three feet wide. With the imposing walls of the jungle on either side of the rapidly moving water, their two pilots paddled the pirogue in unison down the Congo. Gurgles and yowls echoed from the massive trees looming along the banks of the river. Chad glanced back. As far as he could tell, they hadn’t been followed.

For the first time, he was able to focus his attention on Natalie. The bruise on her head had turned a bright blue, and the purple makeshift bandage on her arm was caked with dried blood. “How are you feeling?”

“Happy to be alive.” She shot him a weak smile. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I had no idea—”

He pressed his finger against her lips. “If you remember correctly, I volunteered.”

“Then you obviously didn’t know what you were getting into.”

“Neither of us did.” He shrugged. “Look at it this way. We’re all alive.”

“True.”

“And we have the photos.”

She nodded.

“Then let’s just count our blessings.” He eyed the covered wound again. “Do you have a first-aid kit in your bag?”

She grabbed the bag from the floor of the boat, unzipped it, then pulled out a smaller, clear bag. Perfect. It contained latex gloves, disinfectant, bandages, and a few other miscellaneous supplies he could use.

Gingerly, he tugged off the bandage, then poured on some antiseptic. “We could almost set up our own roving clinic between this and the pirogue.”

She winced at his touch. “Sorry, but I’ve had enough of boats for a long time.”

“Does it hurt bad?”

“Burns like it’s on fire.”

He tossed her a packet of painkillers from the bag. “Why don’t you take these as well? It will at least help to ease the pain.”

She swallowed the pills with a swig of water and turned back to him. “What if Patrick has something to do with this. He’s the only person I know of that has both the connections and the resources.”

“From what you’ve said, I guess I thought of him as more of a nuisance than a viable threat.” He put on a layer of antibiotic cream. “Of course, maybe I’m wrong. Someone obviously doesn’t want us getting to the capital with these photos.”

Natalie shook her head. “But even if he is involved, I can’t see him trying to kidnap us.”

Chad ripped off a piece of adhesive to secure the gauze in place. “People aren’t always what they appear to be on the outside.”

He looked up at the clouds. The sky roiled in the distance, darkening by the minute. Great. The last thing they needed now was to get caught in a storm. Boat accidents along the Congo were frequent, particularly when the vessels were overloaded with passengers on the swollen river.

He closed his eyes for a moment and listened to the rhythmic sounds of the water lapping against the side of the pirogue, thankful that for now, they were safe.