14

UNDERCOVER

‘We have to go back to the clinic,’ said Li. ‘Bina’s friendship bracelet was in the bin outside, and yet they’re denying they’ve seen her. Paulo and I have already been there, so it’ll have to be one of you guys.’

They sat in a large formal garden – Alex’s original RV point. Behind them a big domed building gleamed like a white meringue in the sun.

Paulo was lying on his back, eyes closed. He looked as if he was asleep, but he was thinking as hard as anyone else. ‘We need to get further than reception. There’s nothing there. We need to really search the place; go where Mootama went.’

‘They’ve got those bars on the windows,’ said Alex. ‘That’s going to make a covert approach tricky.’

‘And I bet there are alarms too,’ added Hex. He was lying on his side, looking at the manicured grass and picking out stray long bits the mower had missed.

‘Why don’t we take the bull by the horns?’ said Amber. ‘Ask if we can see someone about selling a kidney? They might show us around.’

‘Whoa, whoa.’ Hex put his hands up to stop the runaway thought before it became too bizarre. ‘Reality check: only poor villagers sell kidneys. None of us look remotely like one of those.’

‘Good point,’ said Alex. ‘No matter what we do we’ll look like tourists. Although there are quite a lot of those around.’

‘I’ve got it!’ said Amber. ‘Backpackers. They’re all over the place. We could be backpackers in trouble – run out of money or something.’

Alex nodded slowly. ‘That sounds good.’

‘Better if it’s just one backpacker on their own,’ said Hex. ‘Stranded or robbed after months of travelling. And therefore desperate.’

The others murmured in agreement.

Paulo spoke without even opening his eyes. ‘So which of us will make the most convincing backpacker?’

Li prodded him. ‘Now who might pass for a lazy oaf who fell asleep and lost his wallet? If it wasn’t for the fact we’ve already been identified, I’d say it had to be you.’

Paulo grinned. He started to croon the old Frank Sinatra song, echoing her words back to her.

The others put their hands over their ears and groaned loudly.

‘Eek, stop!’ protested Amber.

Paulo opened his eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I was singing in my sleep.’

‘I vote we send him to donate his organs,’ said Li. ‘All of them.’

Amber leaned down and unzipped what looked like a pocket in the thigh of her black trousers. The whole leg came off, turning them into shorts. She had been wearing long trousers out of respect for the villagers and to keep mosquitoes away, but the backpackers they had seen wore shorts and T-shirts. ‘Voilà,’ said Amber. ‘And since I’m American the clinic won’t connect me with you and Li.’ She unzipped the other leg, then folded both of them into a pocket in the back of the trousers.

‘What about the backpack?’ said Li.

Hex took off the small rucksack he’d brought their tracers in and held it out. ‘A backpack.’

‘That’s not big enough.’ Amber curled her lip. ‘It’s supposed to carry all my worldly goods. That wouldn’t even carry my make-up.’

‘Say your main one is in the left luggage at the station,’ said Hex. ‘This is your shopping gear.’

‘Or better still,’ said Alex, ‘you left it there and it’s been stolen. You’ve lost everything and that’s why you need to sell a kidney.’

Amber slipped the backpack onto her shoulders.

Paulo sat up. He looked at her critically. ‘It still isn’t enough. You need more gear. You should look like a beast of burden.’

She put her hand on her insulin kit. ‘I’ve got this too.’

He unclipped his toolkit from his belt and handed it to her. ‘You can’t have too many bits and pieces. That should look like a money belt.’

‘She’s not supposed to have any money,’ said Hex.

‘Well, act like it hasn’t got money in it,’ said Alex. ‘Put it on, Amber.’

Amber took her belt off, threaded the toolkit onto it and fastened it again.

The others nodded. ‘Yeah, that looks better,’ said Li.

Amber knew how much the kit meant to Paulo. He had made many of the tools himself. ‘Thanks, Paulo,’ she said. ‘I’ll take good care of it.’ She eyed Hex’s palmtop in its belt-mounted carrying case and a big grin spread across her face. ‘Perhaps I need another—’

Hex’s hand immediately flew to his most treasured possession. ‘Forget it!’ he said firmly. ‘You’re not having that.’

Amber hit him gently on the shoulder. ‘Keep your hair on. I was only asking.’

‘See if they can give you a personality transplant while you’re in there,’ rejoined Hex.

Meanwhile, Alex had been working out a plan. ‘Amber, you go in, have a good look around the clinic and the safe house behind it. That’s your priority. I’ll be your backup. I’ll wait outside, across the road. Check in every half hour. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll get Hex to dial up your tracer and we’ll come looking. OK?’

Amber nodded.

Hex grinned at her. ‘Of course, they might surgically remove it.’

‘Gee,’ said Amber, ‘you really know how to keep up morale in a nasty situation.’