With almost thirty hours of travelling behind them, Cooper and Rosedale finally found themselves on familiar territory. Verdant rolling hillsides, mud-red rivers, impassable roads and rain which felt it would never cease. But for Cooper, this was where he knew he needed to be. This was where he was going to finish what they’d started.
Pulling up on a mud verge with the windscreen wipers on full speed, Cooper was grateful to step out of the old green Land Rover Defender which they’d hired this time round. A leaking roof, and suspension which had all but disappeared, had made the journey from Kigali even more uncomfortable than usual. But that didn’t matter. All that did was that they were here.
‘You want to do the explaining, Thomas? The man seems to like you.’
Cooper was about to answer Rosedale, but the door to the brick hut opened and Father O’Malley stood in front of him, wearing a black sou’wester which perched on, rather than fitted over, his high afro. He wore a gray waterproof coat and a checked scarf and a look of shock on his face.
‘Sorry, Father, we didn’t mean to give you a fright. Can we have a word?’
‘Thomas…! Er, it’s good to see you, and Rosedale how are ye? I can’t talk right now, I’m sorry. Just that I’m busy. I… I… I have to go and take a service.’
Father O’Malley shrugged. ‘What can I say? The Lord never sleeps.’
Cooper nodded, weighing up what the priest was saying. ‘Right. Okay. I gotcha.’
O’Malley, who was clearly eager to get off, began to hurry away and waved his goodbyes.
‘So it’s good to see you both again. Cheerio!’
Cooper watched the priest head out into the rainy darkness. ‘That man’s one of the worst liars I’ve ever known.’
‘Oh hell yeah. What he’s hiding, I don’t know, but come on before we lose him.’
*
Cooper and Rosedale followed and with curiosity watched Father O’Malley walk through the night. The lone shadowed figure of the priest in the darkness, silhouetted by the Congolese moon, stopping and watching and looking around at every sound.
Cooper whispered as the thick vegetation soaked and wrapped round his legs, as they headed down into the forest. ‘Why do you think he’s keeping off the main roads?’
‘Seems to me our Father O’Malley is going to a lot of trouble not to be seen. And it’s just like you said, Thomas, the man’s certainly a liar. We passed the chapel he takes his services in about ten minutes ago.’
‘Come on, I think he’s heading for that clearing.’
Another three hundred yards further, Father O’Malley led them to a steep hill which took them down to a track.
‘Look where we are.’ He gestured his head towards the refugee camp, which was on the opposite side of the road.
‘Jesus, Thomas, you don’t think he’s connected with Bemba, do you?’
Cooper didn’t have time to answer before Father O’Malley disappeared behind a group of trees. Cooper followed and scrabbled down, not wanting to lose the trail of the priest. Feeling like a cobra stalking its prey he slunk along and kept his body low behind the sprawling rise of the banana plants, edging forward and past the side of a fallen tree, crawling on his hands and knees to see the priest come back into sight. He couldn’t quite make out what O’Malley was doing but there was no way he wasn’t going to find out.
Carefully, not wanting to alert the priest to their presence, Cooper crept even nearer. He was puzzled to see Father O’Malley glancing around anxiously as he approached the Commer truck, before lifting up the blue tarpaulin, looking in.
Turning to Rosedale, who was slightly behind him, Cooper nodded. Gave him the signal. ‘Now! Go!’
Scrabbling to his feet, Cooper ran down the hill. Swivelling and turning as he drew his gun out at arm’s length and charged towards the truck, throwing himself quietly against it.
Then still.
Frozen.
He listened.
Strained to hear anything other than the noise of the rain hitting down on the tarpaulin and the steel of the vehicle. He crouched down. Bent his head underneath the truck to see the priest’s legs on the other side. Checking to see no-one else had joined him.
And giving Rosedale the thumbs up, he ran round the other side. At which point he took the priest by surprise. Grabbed him by the collar of his waterproof coat and pounded him up against the truck. Gripped O’Malley’s arm and pulled it hard and twisted it behind his back, pressing him forward into the side of the truck.
He jammed his gun into the priest’s cheek, whispering dangerously.
‘Don’t say a word Father, not a sound. I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger if you try to alert anyone else.’
Father O’Malley’s body was shaking. ‘No, you don’t understand, Thomas, there is no-one else. It’s just me… it’s just me on me own.’
‘And I’m supposed to believe that, am I?’
‘It’s the truth. I swear on the good book.’
Cooper licked his lips, tasting the rain water on them. ‘But the problem we’ve got here is you told me something before, told me you were off to take a service only it turned out to be a lie.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to say.’
Cooper pushed harder against the gun. ‘Maybe the truth. That’d be a good place to start.’
‘I can’t… I can’t.’
‘I think that’s where you and I will differ. I reckon you can, and once you hear the sound of the trigger on this gun being drawn back, maybe you’ll realize how much and how quick you can.’
Rosedale leant in, pressing his face against the truck, to be in line with the priest’s. ‘I’d listen to him Father, Thomas here ain’t one to say something he don’t mean. And this boy’s mad. He’s mad as hell.’
Father O’Malley’s eyes were wide with terror. ‘Okay… okay, but please, Thomas, put that thing down.’
‘I don’t think so, Father, it serves as a nice reminder… So just tell me exactly what it is you’re doing here, and why you told us you were on your way to a church when it’s clear that’s a downright lie.’
Father O’Malley blurted out the words. ‘Bemba. It’s Bemba.’
Cooper shook his head and looked at Rosedale. ‘I knew it. But you know you had me taken in there. You had me thinking you were a good man when all along you’ve been in on Bemba and Lemon’s sick games. Abusing the people’s trust and faith. Shame on you, Father. Shame on you… So come on, O’Malley, what was in it for you?’
‘No… no, you’ve got it wrong!’
‘Have I? I don’t think so. Tell me one good reason I shouldn’t pull this trigger.’
‘Because I’m telling the truth, and I can prove it.’
‘How.’
‘Just come with me, and let me show you.’