66

Aaron heard the footsteps in the gravel and knew it was time for another round. The door slammed open, Alex whimpered, and he clenched his stomach, waiting on the blow, as had happened the last three rounds. The strike didn’t come. Instead, his hood was ripped off, and he found himself squinting in the bright light.

Lurch stood in front of him, sporting his asinine smile, but now he was followed by two other guards, both armed and also grinning. As if this was simply great fun. Behind them was General Mosebo, his face contorted in a scowl.

Lurch brought his cane over to Alex, who so far had avoided the punishment. He rubbed her naked belly, causing her to squirm and sob. He said, “You’ve proven tougher than I would have thought, Jew. But we haven’t used the salt on your wounds yet. Or our other tools.”

Aaron said nothing. Lurch lashed out in a rage, striping Aaron’s belly for the hundredth time. Aaron grunted, then panted from the pain, feeling the bamboo split his skin. General Mosebo tapped Lurch on the shoulder, and Lurch retreated.

The general leaned in so close that Aaron could smell his fetid breath. He said, “I have a very, very big night tonight. By this time tomorrow, I will own this country. The only thing standing in my way is you.”

He brought up a finger and used it to tap Aaron’s forehead hard enough to bounce it against the wall, punctuating what he was saying. “What. Do. You. Know. Of. My. Plans?”

Aaron said, “Nothing. I swear to God, nothing. You can have this place. I don’t care. I was in Johannesburg. I was nowhere near Lesotho. This has been a huge mistake.”

General Mosebo smiled and said, “Since the planning has continued without a hitch, and my friends who are helping me have actually landed, I almost believe you. But I have to be sure. And unfortunately, that won’t end well for you.”

Aaron said, “You can beat me to death. You won’t get a different answer.”

Mosebo nodded, saying, “Yes, I believe that to be true, but I’ve questioned your prison friend, Thomas, as well. Poor guy has delusions of grandeur. He thinks because he was protected before, he would always be protected—but he is dying tonight as well. Anyway, it seems you have a fondness for this thing.”

He backhanded Alex in the belly, and Aaron felt his killing instincts rise into the red. The two guards went to her and hoisted, getting her off her hook. Lurch cleared a table from the middle of the room, tossing it to the side and saying, “Put her right here. Right in front of me.”

Alexandra began fighting like a cornered tomcat, until one of the guards smacked her hard enough to render her senseless for a moment. Aaron began thrashing on his hook, screaming unintelligibly.

Mosebo said, “So, I see it’s true. You care more about her than your own life. And you can save her. Just tell me.”

“I don’t know anything! I fucking don’t know.”

Alex was put on her hands and knees, the hood still over her head. Aaron was close to losing his mind, his impotence to help splitting him apart, and then he focused. Returning to center. Returning to what he was.

He didn’t have the ability to escape before, while he was hooded. He couldn’t even see to fight. But his hood was removed precisely so he could witness the horror about to occur. All he needed was leverage. Some way to raise himself high enough to remove his hands from the hook above him.

Lurch unbuckled his pants and positioned himself behind Alex. In a low voice, Aaron said, “I’m warning you. Don’t.”

General Mosebo laughed and said, “Tell me if there’s anyone against me, and I won’t allow it.”

Aaron began thrashing like a shark on a line, screaming that there was nobody against them, doing anything to get someone near him.

Mosebo said, “Don’t let him knock himself out. I want him to see this.”

The first guard ran over to him, pinning him against the wall. Mosebo said, “You want to change your answer?”

Aaron curled his lips and said, “No. I said I would kill the lot of you. That hasn’t changed.”

Mosebo looked confused, Lurch sniggered, and Aaron raised his legs, locking them around the neck of the guard, the chains from his ankle shackles working just as efficiently as they had before. He hoisted himself using the man’s shoulders, releasing the handcuff chain from the hook, and dropped to the floor with the man’s neck in his legs. He felt it snap with the impact. He leapt up, knowing he had to stop the second guard from firing.

The guard raised his weapon, and Alex came up off the floor, head still hooded but realizing something was happening. Something that required her to fight. She whirled her cuffed arms in a circle and connected with the guard, knocking him off-balance before he could fire.

Aaron launched across the room, looping his cuffs around the armed guard’s throat, then rotating around and hoisting the guard onto his back like a bag of wheat. The guard dropped his weapon, his arms flailing ineffectually, his mouth squirting out obscene noises. Aaron bounced on the balls of his feet, using the guard’s own weight against his throat, and felt the cartilage break. He lowered, then sprang upward, flinging the guard over his shoulder.

Aaron felt the neck vertebrae separate even before the man hit the wall. He whirled back into the room, the two men with weapons out of play, and saw Lurch run like a scalded dog out the door. Alex scurried to the corner, still wearing her hood. General Mosebo backed up, saying, “You stay right there. I am in charge here. Men are coming for you.”

Aaron’s mouth slowly curled into a smile. He said, “Really? I hate to tell you this, but there’s only one thing coming here tonight. And I already told you what that was.”

He advanced forward, and Mosebo said, “Wait, wait, wait. There’s going to be a coup tonight. This could work out well for you. Lots and lots of money.”

Aaron reached him and leaned his face in just as Mosebo had done moments before. He said, “Give me your cell phone.”

Trembling, Mosebo did so, saying, “Why?”

“Because I need it to call my wife. She’s worried about me.”

Confusion flitted across Mosebo’s face, and Aaron saw Alex raise her hand to remove the hood. He said, “Alex. Leave the hood on for another couple of seconds.”

Her breath hitching, unsure of what was happening, she said, “Why? . . . Are we free? . . . Why?”

Aaron smiled at General Mosebo and said, “It’s just better this way. Trust me.”

And he snatched the man by the throat, bending him over and slowly choking the life out of him. Aaron savored the death, drawing it out, relishing it much more than he should have, the mighty general gargling and ineffectually thrashing his fists back and forth.

After the body had dropped, he turned to Alex and said, “Take the hood off. Put on General Mosebo’s clothes. We need to move.”

Alex looked at the carnage, then at the bloody ribbon of stripes on Aaron’s upper body. She said, “My God. My God. What have they done to you?”

He ripped a shirt off the guard he’d thrown into the wall and said, “Nothing I wasn’t willing to pay, but you need to harden up. We are not out of the woods yet. Get dressed. We need to go.” He began digging through the guard’s pockets, looking for the keys to their cuffs.

Seven minutes later they were slinking along the back wall, then racing to the woods at the base of the mountains. They were deep inside the military base and had just killed the head of the entire Lesotho Defence Force. Aaron had no illusions about his chances of getting out. All he had was the single AK-47 that had been left behind, with one magazine of ammunition.

He saw a stand of trees and dragged Alex toward it in the darkness, burrowing inside. She said, “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to call my wife. She’ll come get us.”

Alex started crying, rocking back and forth, saying, “What are you talking about? We aren’t finishing a movie at the mall and waiting on our mom. We’re going to die. You killed all of them. They won’t let that go. We can’t get out of here.”

Aaron grabbed her chin and said, “Two things have just happened: One, I killed the head of the Lesotho Defence Force. Two, we’re fucking free. Start thinking about the future, not the past.”

Alex drew strength from his words. She nodded, wiped her eyes, and said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t any help. I was so afraid.”

Aaron shifted his grip, now cupping her chin. He said, “Sabra, your little action in there saved us both. You did everything you were supposed to do.”

She gave a tentative smile, scrubbed her eyes again, and said, “What was that about calling your wife? Is that a joke?”

Aaron looked embarrassed, pulling out the cell phone. She said, “What?”

Aaron turned to her and said, “This is going to sound insane, but Shoshana is here. She’s looking for me.”

Trying to maintain her new positive attitude, but failing, she said, “How do you know? She’s in Israel.”

“We’re . . . connected. I don’t know how I know. But she’s here, looking for us.”

Alex shook her head and said, “This whole thing is crazy. I wouldn’t have thought you could get us out of that room. If you believe it, I’ll believe it.”

Aaron dialed a number on General Mosebo’s phone and said, “Belief’s got nothing to do with it. Trust me, this isn’t blind faith. It’s more like gravity. It exists, and she’s here. It’s time to put her in play.”