‘Where to, cowboy?’ Cooper winked at Rosedale as they sat in the car.
‘Well I reckon we should keep on driving along the road, see what’s there. What do you say, Miss Maddison? Fancy a ride?’
‘I’m good for it.’
‘And you Miss Zola, are you okay?’
Zola looked at Rosedale. She didn’t answer but gave a small smile.
To which Rosedale said, ‘Alright-ee, let’s go.’
Two miles down the road, Rosedale whistled as they passed a large rusting billboard of Bemba with the words, Drive Them Out, emblazed across the bottom of it. Maddie said, ‘I have to give it to him, the man knows how to pull in the crowds. Hey, look over there.’ She pointed to a low level fence which ran along a well-built track. It curved into a steep descent, prohibiting their view. ‘Shall we?’
Rosedale turned the Toyota down the long red track.
The road was smooth and well fenced. Machinery, trucks and American haulage vehicles lined up against freshly excavated mounds of earth.
Rosedale drove the Toyota slowly along, driving up near the gates at the end which were manned with uniformed guards. Cooper instinctively reached for his gun from the side door compartment. ‘What do you think? Shall we turn round?’
Rosedale, weighing up the situation, took a second to answer. ‘No, they’ve seen us now, let’s find out what’s here but stay ready just in case. And Thomas. Keep that hidden.’ He gestured to the hand gun. ‘Oh, and this time, Thomas, try to keep your head.’
Maddie leant out of her window. ‘Hi! I was wondering if you could help?’
A tall, light-skinned man who’d been overzealous on the aftershave walked up to the car. His face stern but not aggressive. With a curt British accent and holding a clipboard tightly to his body, he said, ‘Look, we’ve already had our inspection.’
Cooper frowned, puzzled. Gave them one of his biggest smile. The kind he usually kept for his elderly neighbors back in Colorado. Then, noticing how much it ached the sides of his face, he toned it down a little. ‘Excuse me?’
The over-perfumed man became irritated, blending typical British sarcasm into his words.
‘Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was speaking quietly. Let me spell it out to you: maybe if your company was more organized, you wouldn’t be troubled and I wouldn’t be bothered by your pointless trip.’
Cooper thought he must have looked bemused; he certainly felt it. ‘I can hear you real clearly, but I don’t understand you.’
‘I don’t know how much more plain I can get,’ said the man with the clipboard. ‘We had our inspection about four months ago… I take it you’re from the Bradadt Mining Inspection and Audit Company?’
Cooper nodded, letting the man continue to talk.
‘Well then you, or whoever it is that’s in charge, should’ve known that your colleague, Dr. Foster, judged this mine and the other Condor Atlantic mine as being conflict free. We’ve got our certificate already. So this unscheduled visit is entirely inappropriate and you can tell your company from me that…’
Rosedale began to reverse. Left the man with the clip board to continue the conversation by himself.
Back on the main road, Rosedale said, ‘The British are so uptight. Did you hear how that guy spoke? I thought he was going to have a coronary. We’ve already had our inspection.’
‘That’s such a bad attempt at a British accent,’ said Maddie. ‘You sound like Dick Van Dyke.’
‘Let’s hear you do better. Or better still, Thomas.’
Cooper wasn’t sure why he felt better, but he did. Perhaps it was just a case of feeling less tired than he had done that morning. Or perhaps it was the couple of Xanax as well as the OxyContin he’d taken about twenty minutes ago. He cleared his throat. Felt pretty good. ‘Okay, so here’s how a British accent should sound… Fancy a cup o’ tea? More milk, sir?’
Maddie and Rosedale both burst out laughing, but it was Rosedale who said, ‘You sound like you’ve got something stuck up your ass, Thomas, leave the accents to those that know.’
‘I take it you mean you.’
‘If the cap fits.’
Maddie said, ‘Well even if your British accents aren’t up to scratch, at least we learnt a bit and got a name. What do you think? Maybe it’d be good to speak to this Dr. Foster if we could? Maybe I’ll call Levi to do some digging. Who knows, maybe this doctor’s seen or knows something?’
‘Like what?’ asked Rosedale.
‘Well, if he’s been around these parts inspecting the area, which he’d have to do to give certification for the mines to be conflict free, then maybe he’s seen Bemba about, or perhaps seen more of this illness which Zola’s grandson had. I don’t know, it just seems like it may be good to talk to him.’
Cooper agreed. ‘I second you on that. It’s definitely worth a try. It was good to hear the mine was conflict free. But God knows how it is.’
Rosedale chipped in. ‘You mean, God knows how the militia aren’t crawling all over the mine. It’s not the usual, is it? You’d expect the militia to be guarding the gate rather than some British guy… Look, guys, are you sure you’re up for this? You know I’m all for doing what we have to do, but maybe we should start calling this a day. I mean our job from Onyx, from Granger was just to find the plane. We’ve tried, and we’ve tried hard. Nobody’s going to lose out if we go back with empty hands. Emmanuel’s bank loan can be written off against losses. I know it’s not ideal, and we pride ourselves on doing the job, but let’s face it, this isn’t the job Granger sent us to do.’
‘This is exactly it,’ said Cooper.
‘It doesn’t have to be. Not every high asset recovery firm would go to this length. They’d take the easy option and get the banks to write it off on insurance or losses.’
‘But that’s why we’re the best… You want out, Rosedale?’
‘Not yet, I’m just making sure you know what you’re doing, Thomas, because sometimes I wonder.’
‘Pull over!’ Cooper shouted, causing Rosedale to slam on the brakes.
‘Back up a bit, Rosedale. I just saw something… Right there.’
Cooper peered across the road, seeing in the distance row upon row of white tents.
‘What the hell’s that?’
Everyone turned to Zola who’d spoken quietly from the back.
Maddie said, ‘Quel camp, Zola?’
‘Ce est le camp de refugees.’
‘A refugee camp?’
‘Oui.’
They stared. Hearts all dropping as they looked at the sea of squalor. The desperate conditions the refugees were forced to live in. Even from a distance they could see the multiple piles of rubbish and raw filth piled high to rot in the scorching sun.
‘Look!’ Cooper nudged Rosedale. ‘By the entrance. Coming up. It’s the Commer truck we saw.’
‘You want me to follow it?’
‘Rosedale, I think you already know the answer to that one.’