‘Crys, I can hear automatic weapon fire,’ Søren called out. He’d gone out onto the porch.
Crys checked on Bongani and then joined him there. She also heard distant gunfire. She very much hoped it was Mabula taking down Dinh and his men.
Please, dear God, keep Michael safe. And Johannes.
As if on cue, her phone rang. It was the colonel.
‘Crys?’ he said, surprising her by using her first name. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes,’ she gasped. ‘What’s happening? Have you got Michael?’
‘We’ve stopped them at the road block,’ Mabula continued, ‘but it’s a standoff. I don’t want to risk Malan or Davidson. Update me on what’s happening there.’
‘Anton Malan’s in trouble. I don’t think he’ll last long without medical attention. Bongani Chikosi has also been shot, but is not as bad. He has a bullet in his shoulder. I think he’s lost a lot of blood. Søren and I are okay.’
‘Are you certain that there’s no threat there? That they didn’t leave anyone behind?’
‘Just the man I shot, but he’s probably dead by now. I’m sure there’s no one else.’
Mabula was silent for a moment. ‘You shot someone? How did you do that? No, never mind, I’ll find out later. There’s a civilian medivac helicopter nearly there. But I can’t let them land if there’s any danger.’
‘It’s fine. No danger. We’ve everything under control.’
‘Okay. I hope you’re right. I’ll call you back when they get there.’
Crys and Søren stood on the porch and watched the dawn spread over the sky. They didn’t say a word to each other. What was there to say?
About ten minutes later, they heard a chopper approaching. At the same moment, Crys’s phone rang.
It was Mabula again. ‘Crys. All clear?’
‘Yes. And there’s a helicopter pad here. It’s on the north side of the house.’
‘I’ll let them know.’
When she heard the chopper coming in to land, Crys realised with a shock that it’d been less than a month since she had flown in one from there into the Kruger Park.
So much had happened since then.
The chopper touched down, and two men jumped out and ran towards the house, looking from side to side. Mabula had clearly warned them to be careful.
Just as well they weren’t there an hour ago. There’d be more casualties.
‘Where’s the injured man?’ one called as they approached.
‘There are two. In the house. You’ll need a stretcher for one. I think the other can walk, if you help him.’
They followed her into the house, and they went straight upstairs to Anton. The men gasped when they saw him.
‘What happened here? Who did this to him?’
‘The men Colonel Mabula is fighting right now. Is he still alive?’
‘He is right now. But we need to check him.’
They applied a soft tourniquet above the wrist of his mutilated hand. Then checked his neck and other limbs. ‘He’s badly bruised, and he’s lost some teeth, but I think we can move him safely,’ one paramedic said. ‘But I don’t know about internal injuries. With bruising like that, it could be bad.’
The other nodded. ‘Let’s get him out of here. He needs to be in hospital.’
They started strapping him onto a stretcher.
‘Can you take all four of us?’ Crys asked.
He shook his head. ‘Not more than two. You’ll have to wait for the police.’
She followed them as they carefully manoeuvred the stretcher down the stairs, then went to look for Bongani. He wasn’t in the living room, where she’d left him.
Now what?
‘He’s in the kitchen,’ Søren said. ‘He refuses to go with them.’
She found Bongani slumped on the kitchen chair. They’d tried to bandage his shoulder with a torn-up sheet, but now it was dripping blood again.
‘I can’t go with them, Crys,’ he said. ‘They’ll say I helped the attackers. And I did. I thought they were just here for the horn. That Mr Malan would give it to them, and then they’d go. But they’re not the ones who work with my people … the poachers…’ He gasped, and his breath rasped. Maybe his injury was worse than she’d thought.
‘I couldn’t stop working for them, Crys. If I did, they’d kill my family.’
‘And if you die, your family will have nothing.’
He shook his head. ‘The head man will look after them. That’s the way it works.’
‘Bongani, you saved my life and everyone’s here. We’ll make a plan.’
He shook his head again. ‘No, Crys. This is how it is. Will you please help me? I’ll hide in the bush until I’m stronger.’
‘Don’t be an idiot, Bongani. You won’t survive without medical attention.’
‘If that is what God wills…’ He collapsed forwards in the chair. Crys had to grab him to prevent him falling.
‘Bring another stretcher,’ she screamed. ‘Hurry.’
A few moments later the medivac men ran in. They lifted Bongani onto the stretcher and strapped him down.
‘Quick,’ she cried. ‘He’s been shot. It’s worse than I thought…’
They hurried to the helicopter and secured the stretcher next to Anton’s. They put an oxygen mask over Bongani’s face. Then they put him on a drip.
‘Will they live?’ Crys asked.
‘Not if we waste time here,’ the one paramedic snapped. ‘Let’s go,’ he said to the pilot.
A few seconds later, they were airborne. She just had to hope they would both make it.
Once the helicopter left, she called Mabula.
‘They’re on their way to the hospital in Giyani,’ she said. ‘What’s happening there?’ And she held her breath, her pulse racing even though she was sitting down.
‘We’ve pinned them down and disabled their vehicle, but we can’t rush them or they’ll kill Malan and Davidson. We’ve got one of our choppers on the way, and more vehicles. Once they get here, it’ll all be over. It’s light now; they won’t be able to hide in the bush. We’ll pick them off. I have to go. Just wait there.’
As though they had any choice.
She wondered how far away Dinh’s men were, and whether they might try to get back to the house. Turning to Søren, she said, ‘Mabula says he has them pinned down, but I think they might double back. We should keep a look out. Take one of the rifles and watch for anyone coming from the front gate.’
‘But I’ve never fired a gun,’ Søren said, nervously. ‘And I don’t think I could shoot anyone.’
‘If someone’s going to shoot you, make sure you shoot first.’
‘But—’
‘Just do it, dammit. I’m going upstairs. The safe is open there, and I want to take a look before the police get here. Shout if you see anything.’
Crys headed back upstairs to the room where she’d found Anton and the safe. There was no money or horns left in it, just stacks of papers and documents. She knew she shouldn’t be going through his personal stuff, but she was past caring. She was sure Anton was to blame for this mess, and now she wanted some answers.
She pulled out the folders and flipped through them. Accounts, letters, title documents. Nothing of interest. Then she found a diary. She flipped through it. It seemed mainly blank with a few appointments filled in. She tossed it back into the safe.
But why would he keep a diary in a safe? It was inconvenient. She wondered…
Quickly she retrieved it and started looking through it more carefully. Most days were blank, but she found a couple of entries that just said ‘D’Oliviera’. Below them were two numbers. One was around twenty, the other much higher – over a million. Crys started to understand. She smoothed her hair as she thought about weight in kilograms and money in South African rands. Anton was getting nothing like the street price of rhino horn, but it was a lot of money all the same.
She flipped to the current date. There was nothing, but as she looked back over the previous week, she discovered the biggest entry so far, with a huge question mark drawn at the side of it. The transaction hadn’t taken place, but the horns had been in the safe, waiting. Somehow Dinh must have known about that.
This must be Michael’s ‘something big’.
Søren yelled from downstairs. ‘It’s Colonel Mabula on the phone. He wants to speak to you.’
‘Okay, tell him to hold on a second.’
She quickly shoved everything back in the safe. Then she hurried down the stairs and took the phone.
‘It’s okay,’ Mabula said. ‘They scattered into the bush, but we’ll find them once the helicopter arrives. We’ve moved their vehicle off the road, and we’re on our way. Don’t shoot at us!’
‘What about Johannes and Michael?’
‘Both are with us. Badly beaten up. I don’t think either is in any danger. Malan probably has some broken bones and maybe some internal injuries, but he’s walking. I don’t know about Davidson. He’s conscious, but very groggy. Malan says he was out for a long time. I hope it’s no worse than concussion.’
‘Michael’s tough. He’ll pull through,’ Crys said. But it sounded like someone else saying the words. Her head swam. She felt weak with relief.
It was over.