‘What was that about the vases back there, Tom?’ Maddie shouted from the back seat over the noisy engine of the white Toyota, which she’d become oddly fond of, as it picked up speed on a surprisingly accessible part of the road.
Cooper gazed out of the window, watching but not really seeing the passing countryside. He sighed. Yawned. Sighed some more. ‘I don’t know yet, though I…’
‘Oh hell,’ said Rosedale. ‘Looks like we’ve got company… Look.’
Three cream Land Rovers were parked and spread across the entire width of the road. Cooper leant forward, staring intently at the men sitting in the vehicles. ‘Holy crap, I think they’re armed!’
Rosedale crunched the Toyota into reverse, spinning it round in a spray of mud as Cooper scrabbled over to the back passenger seat and Maddie rummaged in the bottom of one of the large canvas bags, pulling out two Colt M4 Carbines, one of which she passed to Cooper. The car weaved and snaked and threw them around and across the seat as it went at speed over the rough terrain.
Hammering the vehicle with his foot fully down on the gas, Rosedale yelled. ‘How close Maddie?’
‘Fifty foot and closing!’
A smell of burning tyres and engine fumes billowed into the open windows of the Toyota.
‘Hold on, guys!’ Rosedale span the wheel and a tight turn sent the car off the road, his expert driving crashing them through the thick vegetation. Careering and swaying and dipping and hurtling them along into the dense undergrowth.
Directly in front of them there was a line of trees and for a split second Cooper thought Rosedale was going to hit them straight on, but the brakes slammed, throwing Maddie to the floor.
She scrabbled back up as Rosedale wheelspun the Toyota and cranked it into a speeding reverse, sending mud flying everywhere. Covering the windows. Partially blocking the view.
Cooper shouted. ‘They’re shooting!’
Flicking the safety catch off the M4, Maddie ducked down as the back window exploded. Shattering and sending tiny fragments of glass ricocheting around the inside of the car. And the bullets continued to fly with Rosedale swerving along at speed. Faster and furious and driving through.
Leaning out of the window, hanging onto the grab handle, Maddie could see Rosedale was trying to head back to the road. She started to shoot. Felt the kickback from the gun pummelling her shoulder as Cooper fired shots out of the other window.
With no warning the Toyota violently jolted, nearly sending Cooper flying out of the window as the tyre struck something hard, making the SUV come to a stop.
With the tyre spinning round, Maddie and Cooper jumped out either side, shielding themselves with the doors.
Suddenly, Cooper shouted ‘My gun’s jammed…! Maddie!’
‘Get back in the car, I’ll cover you… Go!’
As Cooper raced for the car, Maddie continued to pump out bullets at the approaching cars, whilst Rosedale banged his foot on the gas, pushing the gears back and forth and willing the Toyota to move.
Covered and soaking wet from the shower of mud coming from the tyres, Maddie sprayed one of the oncoming Land Rovers with a round of bullets. The front tyres blew, sending it out of control. It veered off course and hit a low, twisted tree, which flung it high in the air where it twisted round and came down in an explosion of flames.
‘Maddie! Get in…! Maddie!’
Rosedale leant out of the window, gesturing to her as the car became unstuck from the rocky hole.
And running backwards, Maddie fired at the other Land Rovers coming into view. She ran faster, shouting at Rosedale. ‘Go! Go! Go!’
Maddie scrabbled and stumbled before jumping onto the car’s running board and throwing herself in as Rosedale accelerated, driving through the twisted trunks of the banana trees to put them back onto the road.
Meanwhile Cooper had exchanged the jammed Colt for a Barrett 82A1 shoulder fired semi-automatic .50 calibre rifle, which he pointed out of the window, expecting any minute to see the Land Rovers coming into view. Holding tight. Holding tense. Scanning the bushes.
After a minute, he said, ‘I guess we’ve lost them! Way to go, Rosedale… Way to go, Maddie. Sorry, guys, my gun totally screwed up… You okay, Maddie?’
Maddie sat clutching the top of her shoulder. Calmly she said, ‘Yeah, I think I may have been hit.’
‘Is she okay? Is she okay? Have a look… Thomas! Have a look!’ Unusually, Rosedale sounded as if he’d lost his cool as he tried to drive and turn and look round.
‘Okay, Rosedale! Keep your eyes on the road. I’m looking!’
Cooper quickly tore at the top of Maddie’s shirt to get to the wound. Seeing that it was just a superficial one, he smiled. Surprised at how relived he felt. ‘Yeah, she’s okay. She’ll live. It’s not a bullet. It’s from the back window.’
Very gently but firmly, Cooper pulled out a large splintered piece of glass which was deeply imbedded into Maddie’s shoulder. She gritted her teeth and tried not to wince at the sharp pain and looked at him with a smile, wide eyed. Made him feel bad at the way he’d been treating her. He pushed that thought away.
‘Who do you think they were? Local Militia?’
Cooper shook his head. ‘No, they were definitely something to do with Bemba, I saw Lumumba.’
‘Who?’
‘The guy with the suit. The one from the church. He was in one of the Land Rovers. I also have a real hunch this was something to do with Charles.’
‘You think so?’
‘I know so. There’s no way it’s just a coincidence that on the day we go and put a little pressure on him, twenty minutes after we leave we have Bemba’s men out in force.’
‘Are you sure it was Lumumba? Because it’s not altogether safe for travelers here. East DRC is pretty precarious. We’ve been lucky until now. But let’s be honest, it isn’t Santa Monica.’
‘My aunt got mugged in Santa Monica. Walking on Ocean Avenue. Took everything, even her cat.’
‘Her cat?’
‘Yeah, she had it in her bag.’
‘Shut up Rosedale,’ snapped Maddie. ‘You know what I mean.’
Rosedale looked at her in the driver’s mirror. ‘Just saying it can happen anywhere.’
‘Being mugged?’
Rosedale looked at her solemnly. ‘No, a cat in a bag.’
‘Seriously. Shut up.’
‘Whatever you say. Although I hate to admit it, Maddison, but on this, I reckon Thomas is finally talking sense. I also reckon our Mr. Templin-Wright is neck deep in whatever’s going on.’