Cross Country Part 3

Chapter 59.

"THIS GONNA HURT real bad. You gonna scream like baby girl. Starting now!"They pulled my arm out straighter and held it tight so I couldn't move. Either they were getting stronger, or I was starting to lose it. I had never been closer to panic in my life."At the joint, Azi. Less bone," said Rocketman in the coolest, calmest tone.The blade touched the crook of my arm softly once. Then the machete was raised high. They boy called Azi grinned down at me, enjoying this like the psychopath that he was.No way. No way. Not going to happen, I told myself.I wrenched my arm free and rolled hard to one side. The machete whiffed and the pistol fired, ringing sharply.But at least I wasn't hit. Not yet, anyway.I wasn't done. Or even started. I entwined my arm with the shooter's and snapped his wrist. I heard it break, and the gun fell from his hand.The first one to get to it was me!Everything was shadows and noisy chaos after that. The punks were all over me again, which was lucky in a way. I think it kept the machete blade away long enough for me to get off a warning shot.Then I scrambled up, my back to the door. "Get over there!"I shouted, motioning with the gun. I had them covered, but it was dark, and the layout of the building was a complete mystery to me. They would figure that out soon.Sure enough, Rockets barked an order."Go! Outside!"Two of the gang whipped away in opposite directions. One of them vaulted out an empty window frame. I didn't see where the other one went."What you gonna do, man?" Rockets said with a shrug."Can't kill us all.""I can kill you," I told him.The others were doubling around behind me, I knew. I was either going to have to start shooting these boys-or run like h.e.l.l.I ran!

Chapter 60.

I HAD ENOUGH of a head start and enough cover from the darkness to get out of sight fast. Suddenly I could smell a combination of things-burning, rotting, and growing-all at the same time. I flew down a couple of dirt streets and around a corner and eventually saw the light of a fire in a vacant lot.Moses? I was in the vicinity of where he'd said he'd be.I threw myself down in a stand of high weeds and waited for the thugs to run past. They shouted as they went, one small group to another, splitting up and looking for their prey-me.It was difficult to accept that boys this young could be hardened killers, but they were.I'd seen it in their eyes, especially Rockets's. That boy had definitely killed before.I waited several minutes. Then, keeping low, I cut around behind the fire until I was close enough to call out quietly.Thank G.o.d Moses was there! He and his friends were eating crumbly rice and homemade peanut b.u.t.ter. He was tentative at first, until he saw who it was skulking in the tall brush."Come with me, sah," he told me in hushed tones. "It's not safe for you to be here now. Boys lookin' for you. Bad boys everywhere.""Tell me about it." I wiped a stream of blood from my face with the back of my arm, forgetting how much it was going to hurt it."s.h.i.+t!""It's not much, ya'll be okay," said Moses."Easy for you to say." I forced a grin.I followed him through the back of the lot and up the next road to a narrow side street. We were in a shabby tenement neighborhood, one long row of mud-brick hovels. Several huts had people in front, cooking and tending fires, socializing at this late hour."In here, sah. This way, please. Hurry."I kept my head down and followed Moses through an open doorway into one of the huts. He lit a kerosene lamp and asked me to sit down."My home," he said.The place was just one room with a single window cut into the back wall. There was a thin mattress on the floor, and a jumble of cookware, some clothing, and caved-in cardboard boxes stacked in the corners.Moses deftly tossed a dirty cloth onto two hooks over the open doorway and said he'd be right back. Then he was gone again. I had no idea where he'd gone-or even if I could trust him.But what choice did I have right now? I was hiding out for my life.

Chapter 61.

IT TOOK A minute for me to catch my breath, and to check out the handgun I'd grabbed from the gang of boys. It was a subcompact Beretta, not a cheap piece. The magazine had the capacity for only seven rounds, and five were gone. With luck, I wouldn't need the other two to get through tonight. Make that-with a lot of luck.I was sweating profusely and I was scared. No way around it. I'd almost lost an arm back there. Things could easily have gone the other way. Talk about close calls.I heard a noise outside and raised the Beretta. Who was there? Now what was happening?"Don' shoot me, sah." It was Moses, and he had a small pot of water. He gave me a rag to clean my face."What do you do now?" he asked me.It was a good question. My instincts told me Houston Rockets hadn't lied; the Tiger was already gone. Most likely he was on his way to Nigeria with his diamonds. I'd missed him again. The killer and gang leader was no fool."I guess I need to see about a flight out of here in the morning," I said to Moses."The airport is small, sah. They can easily find you there. The boys, or maybe police."He was right about that. It wasn't even an airport; it was just an airstrip with no cover anywhere that I could remember.For that matter, I still didn't know who had arranged my little "Welcome to Lagos" party the first time around. If the Tiger knew where I was-and I had to a.s.sume he did now-I could be setting myself up for another round of the same hospitality, maybe with a worse ending.Suddenly shouting rose up outside. Young men's voices. It was hard to tell how many-at least half a dozen, I was sure.Moses ducked his head out the open doorway, then came back in and blew out the lantern."They are here," he said. "You should go. You must go, sah."I had to agree, if for no other reason than to keep Moses out of this terrible mess."Tell me when it's clear."He hung in the door sideways, watching. I stood opposite, ready to bolt at his signal."Now!" He motioned me out to the left. "Go now! Go quickly."I darted across a narrow road and straight up another dirt alley. The next street I came to was wider, but completely deserted. I turned left and kept going that way.It wasn't until then that I realized Moses was still with me."This way." He pointed straight into the dark. "I know where you can buy a truck."

Chapter 62.

I FOLLOWED THE brittle-looking, one-armed man to an old stone house on the outskirts of the village, back toward Running Recovery. It was at least eleven o'clock by now, but the house lights were still on. I wondered if Moses was an anomaly, or if many people around here would help a stranger, even an American. From what I'd heard, most of the people in Sierra Leone and Nigeria were good, just victims of circ.u.mstances and greed.A salt-and-pepper-haired man answered the door. "What do you want?" he asked.A brood of kids was cl.u.s.tered behind him, trying to see who had come to the house in the middle of the night."The American wants to buy a vehicle," Moses said simply. "He has cash for it."I hung back at first, at Moses' advice. Before I offered any money, we needed to see exactly what our options were."You're lucky," the man at the door said and smiled thinly."We stay open late."The best of the old wrecks he had out back was an ancient Mazda Drifter, with a tattered canopy over the bed and an empty s.p.a.ce in the dash where the odometer used to be.But the engine turned over, gingerly, on the first try. And the price was right-five hundred in leones.Plus, he didn't mind our spending the night right there in the truck.I told Moses he had done more than enough and that he should go home, but he wouldn't hear of it. He stayed with me until morning and then went out to secure the few things he said I'd need for my safe journey, including a police clearance sheet to leave the country.While I waited, the gravity of this trip back started to sink in. I had to cover more than a thousand miles of unfamiliar countryside to Lagos, over multiple borders, with no more guidance than the maps that Moses only hoped he'd be able to find for me.So when he came back, I had a proposition for him."Make this trip with me and you can keep the truck," I said. "As a fair trade for your services."I expected a conversation, or at least a pause, but there was none.He hoisted a goatskin bag of provisions from his shoulder into the truck, then handed me back the money he hadn't spent."Yes," he said simply. "I will do it."

Chapter 63.

"SAMPSON?""Yeah?""This sucks big-time, you know that? I hate you.""Should have called tails, Bree."The house on Eighteenth Street was quiet now, not the nasty hive of activity it had been on the night of the murders. Today, this morning, Bree and Sampson had it to themselves. Not that either one of them wanted to be here at the crime scene.That was why they'd tossed a coin on the front stoop.Sampson got the master suite.Bree got the children's bedroom.She blew into a latex glove, put it on, and unlocked the door, letting it swing to a stop before she stepped inside. Then she put her head down and hurried upstairs."I hate you, John," she called out.The kids' bodies were gone, of course, but there was the residue of printing powder everywhere. Otherwise, the murder scene looked the same: matching yellow comforters soaked through with blood; wide spatter pattern on the bunk bed, rug, walls, and ceiling; two small desks on the opposite wall, undisturbed, as if nothing unspeakable had happened here.Ayana Abboud had been ten. Her brother, Peter, seven.The hit on their father, Basel Abboud, was a h.e.l.l of a lot easier for Bree to comprehend. His columns in the Was.h.i.+ngton Times had been an early and insistent voice for US military intervention in Darfur, with or without UN Security Council buy-in. He wrote of widespread bribes and corruption both in Africa and Was.h.i.+ngton. By definition, the man had enemies on at least two continents.The kind of enemies who go after your wife and kids while they're at it? It sure looked that way. All four of them had been slaughtered in their house.Bree turned a slow three-sixty, trying to see it all for the first time again. What jumped out at her now? What had they missed before? What would Alex see if he were here instead of in Africa?Africa! For the first time, it made some sense to her for him to be there. This kind of violence-Africa was where it came from. This warning could only be fully understood in the context of Lagos, Sierra Leone, Darfur.Certainly, the killers made no pretense of covering their tracks or hiding anything. Patent prints were visible everywhere that there was blood. Hundreds of latents had turned up as well, all over the house - the walls, the beds, the bodies of the dead.Food had been hastily consumed in the kitchen: the remains of a pork chop dinner, Neapolitan ice cream scooped from a tub, soda pop, and liquor.Imagine the level of stupidity, or the indifference to being caught, tried, and sentenced to lifetime in prison for these unspeakable murders.Bree didn't need results to know that none of these prints would flag in the FBI's fingerprint ID system. Her best guess was that the killers were young African nationals with no priors in the US and, most likely, no record of having entered the country either. Some of them would probably match prints taken at Eleanor c.o.x's home, some would not. They were savage ghosts whom someone older could use to do his dirty work, she thought. Very efficient. And very much f.u.c.ked up in their heads. G.o.d, she hated him-whoever was behind this!She came full circle and was staring at the children's beds again when a soft tap-tap sounded at the dormer window behind her.Bree wheeled around and nearly cried out in surprise. She had always had a fear of getting shot in the back.A young boy, small and wide-eyed, hung on to the fixed burglar bars outside, and he was looking in at her. When their eyes met he let go of the bars with one arm and beckoned her over."I saw the bad murders. I saw every thing," he said in a quiet voice meant only for her. "I know who the killers are."

Chapter 64.

"PLEASE? I CAN tell you what happened in the house. Everything." The boy's small voice came muted through the gla.s.s. Bree was thinking that he couldn't be more than eleven or twelve.He was either scared or a good little actor-or maybe he was both.Sampson was in the bedroom behind her now. Neither of them drew a weapon; not that they trusted the boy for a second.Bree had a hand on her piece."Tell me what you know about this," she said.She and Sampson approached the window from opposite angles. Bree moved in first. She had to duck her head to get inside the dormer alcove.From here, she could see that the boy had his feet on a lip of decorative brickwork outside.Beneath that was the roof of the back porch, and a small, November-dead garden maybe ten feet below."No further," the boy warned, "or I run away. I can run very fast. You never catch me.""Okay. Let me get this out of the way, though."The old rope-and-pulley window sash took some coaxing, but finally Bree forced it up about six inches."What are you doing out there?" she asked."I know how it happened. They kill the girl and boy in dis very room. The others down de hall."His accent was African. Nigerian was Bree's guess."How do you know so much?" she asked. "Why should I believe you?""I am the lookout, but soon they will make me go with them to kill others." He looked past Bree and Sampson to the scene inside. "I do not want to do dis. Please-I am Cat'lie.""It's all right," Bree told him, "You don't have to hurt anyone. I'm Catholic too. Why don't you come down from there, and we can-""No" He took a hand off again, threatening to jump and run. "Don't try nah tricks on me!""Okay, okay." Bree held up her hands, palms out. Then she knelt down a little closer. "Just talk to me. Tell me more. What's your name?""Benjamin.""Benjamin, do you know anything about a man they call the Tiger? Was he here?" Alex had told her about the Tiger during their phone call. Supposedly the killer was in Africa now, but maybe Alex's information was wrong.The boy nodded slowly. "I know, yes." Then he said, "More than one, though. Not just one Tiger."That certainly stunned Bree-and she a.s.sumed it would surprise the h.e.l.l out of Alex too."Many men are called the Tiger?" she asked. "You're sure about that?"Another nod from the boy."Here in Was.h.i.+ngton?""Yes. Maybe two or three.""And in Nigeria?""Yes.""How many Tigers, Benjamin? Do you know?" "They do not tell me, but there are many. Bosses of gangs are all Tigers."Bree looked over her shoulder at Sampson, then back again at the boy. "Benjamin, do you want to hear a secret?"The question seemed to confuse him. His eyes went from side to side; he looked down again, checking his escape route.And when he did that, Bree moved. Fast! Much faster than Benjamin thought she could.

Chapter 65.

SHE REACHED IN through the bars and got her hand around the lookout's skinny wrist."Sampson, go!""Let go of me!" the boy yelled at her.He tried to step away, and his weight wrenched her arm against the bar. There was no leverage from this angle. She could only try to ignore the pain, and hold on until Sampson got to the boy from below. Hurry, John, I'm losing him!"Benjamin, we can keep you safe. You need to come with us."He screamed at her. "No, f.u.c.kin' b.i.t.c.h! You lied to me!"His transformation was startling. The scared eyes had gone fierce. He clawed at her hand and drew blood. Had he lied to her? Was he one of the killers?Finally, Bree could hear Sampson's feet pounding somewhere outside. Faster, John!Just when she thought her arm might break-the kid twisted free. He dropped to the porch roof and all but bounced another eight feet to the ground.Two quick strides and then he was scrambling up a small ash tree, barely big enough to support his weight, much less an adult's.Just as Sampson came running around the back, the boy flipped sideways over the top of a high cedar fence into a service alley beyond.Seconds later, Bree came out the front door.There was no gate to the alley. They had to sprint back through the house, out another door, and around the block, Just to find out what they already knew: The boy named Benjamin was long gone.The so-called lookout for the murders had gotten away from them.Five minutes later, they had an APB out, but Bree wasn't holding her breath. Her thoughts had already turned to Alex, and how to reach out to him."He needs to know about this. Like, last week. Only I don't know how to reach him. I don't even know where he is now."

Chapter 66.

THIS PART OF Africa wasn't recommended for backpacking or camera safaris. The yowl of hyenas was a constant reminder of where I was now. So were the road signs that said things like warning-lions-crocodiles!!Getting out of Sierra Leone and back to Nigeria was proving to be even more complicated than I had expected. And dangerous too, treacherous at almost any curve.Like right now. Two military-issue jeeps sat nose-to-nose across the road, blocking our way. This was no ordinary border crossing, though. We were less than an hour outside Koidu."Are these guys actually government?" I asked Moses. "Any way to tell?"He shrugged and s.h.i.+fted uncomfortably on the seat of the Drifter. "Could be RUF."There were six of them by my count, all wearing a mix of fatigues and street clothes and the familiar flip-flops. All of them were armed, including a mounted gunner in the back of one of the jeeps.A lanky guy in a maroon beret came striding over to my window. His eyes were bloodshot, like he might have been stoned. He raised his rifle with one arm and held out the Other hand."Papers."I played it cool for now and showed him the police clear-ance and my pa.s.sport.He barely looked at them. "Fifty dollars. To pay for your visa."Whether these men were government officers or not, I knew right then that this was grift, pure and simple. A holdup.I raised my gaze and looked into his red eyes. "I just spoke with the US emba.s.sy in Freetown this morning. Deputy Amba.s.sador Sa.s.si a.s.sured me himself that my papers were in good order. So what's the problem here?"He stared back hard at me, but I didn't flinch. Two of the other guards started over from the side of the road, but he held up a palm to save them the trouble."Still, it is ten for the pa.s.senger. Twenty, if it's in leones."Somehow, we both knew I'd pay that one. I didn't want to push my luck. I gave him two American fives and we were on our way-to the next roadblock anyway.We hit four of them before the actual border crossing. Each rite of pa.s.sage went about the same. It got easier as we went, cheaper anyway, and by the time we finally crossed at Bo Waterside to Liberia, I'd paid out only another fifteen bucks or so.The precious thing we did lose was time.We didn't get into Monrovia until after dark, and with no guarantee of supplies east of there, we had to spend the night.I worried through the night and didn't sleep very well.We were safe so far, but the speed we were traveling was no Tiger's pace.He was getting away again.

Chapter 67.

WE DROVE ALL the next day and into the second night, alternating at the wheel, trying to make up time. As we traveled, Moses told me that he was representative of most people here-not the RUF, and certainly not the Tiger and his murderous gang."There are many good people in Africa, sah, and no one to help them fight back against the devils," he said.Less than half an hour east of Monrovia, we pa.s.sed the last billboard and radio tower and entered dense rain forest that went on for hours.Sometimes it opened up into clear-cut fields, with stumps like grave markers for miles in every direction.Mostly, though, the road was a tunnel of bamboo, palm, mahogany, and vine-choked trees such as I'd never seen before-with leaves and low scrub slapping and slathering the sides of the truck as we pushed through.Late in the afternoon, we were near the coast, driving through tidal flats and then wide swaths of open gra.s.sland that were the ant.i.thesis of the jungle we'd just left.I saw a huge colony of flamingos around sunset, thousands and thousands of stunningly beautiful birds, an incongruous sea of pink in the orangish light.Finally we had to stop for the evening. We were both too tired to drive. As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered how many fathers got to tell their kids they'd spent a night in a real African jungle.

Chapter 68.

I WOKE UP some hours later. Moses was already laying out breakfast on the tailgate of the Drifter.Canned sausages, a couple of bruised tomatoes, and a two-liter jug of water to sip from."Looks good," I said. "Thank you, Moses.""There is a river. Over there if you wish to wash up." he pointed with his chin to the opposite side of the road. I noticed his s.h.i.+rt was soaking wet. "It is not far."I bushwhacked with my arms, skirting a huge knot of th.o.r.n.y scrub the way Moses had obviously done before me.About twenty-five yards in, the brush opened up and I came out onto a mud-and-gravel bank.The river itself was a wide, murky green piece of gla.s.s. I could barely tell it was moving. I took a step toward the water and sank up to my ankle mud.When I pulled back, the mud sucked the shoe right off my foot. s.h.i.+t. I'd wanted to clean myself up, not get filthier.I looked up and down the bank, wondering where Moses had gone to wash.First, I needed my shoe back, though. I reached down into the guck and felt around. It was actually nice and cool down there.Suddenly the water in front of me boiled up. Some thing rough, like a huge log, came to the surface very, very quickly.And then I saw that it was a full-blown, honest-to-G.o.d crocodile. Its black eyes were set on me. Breakfast was on the table.s.h.i.+t. s.h.i.+t. s.h.i.+t. Good-bye shoe. Good-bye leg or arm?I stepped back ever so slowly. So far, the croc showed just a layer of tiled skin at the water's surface. I could see the bulge of its snout. The great beast's eyes didn't leave me for a second.Never taking a breath, I kept inching backward.On the next step though, my foot turned in the mud. I fell! Like it had received a cue, the crocodile sprang forward.Nine, ten, maybe as much as twelve feet long, it surged out of the water, slas.h.i.+ng in and out of an S-shape as it leapt straight at me.I tried to pull in my legs, if only to postpone the inevitable savage bite. How could this have happened? Everyone had been right- I shouldn't have come to Africa.Suddenly a shot exploded behind me!Then a second shot!The huge croc let out a strange, high-pitched noise that was part scream, part gasp. It reared up off its front legs, then smacked back down into the mud. I could see a red ooze on the side of its head. It thrashed once more, then rapidly backed away into the river and disappeared.I turned to see Moses standing behind me. He was holding the Beretta."I am so sorry, sah. I meant to say that you should take this with you. Just in case."

Chapter 69.

AFRICA! WAS THERE anywhere in the world like it? I didn't think so.We reached Porto Novo the next day and decided it would be best if I took the bus from there to Lagos. A man stood outside the public toilet at the bus station. He tried to get me to pay to enter, until I told him I would pee on his shoes first. He laughed and stepped away.Then Moses and I parted, and he drove off proudly in his truck. I never found out whether he was a good Samaritan or an opportunist, though my nature favored the former. I will always think of Moses as my first friend in Africa.Back at the hotel in Lagos, I showered off three days' worth of dust, sweat, and blood. I looked at my crooked nose in the bathroom mirror. Alex, you are a piece of work. Finally, I plopped down on the bed to call home.I started with a call to Bree's cell this time. It was good just to hear her voice again, but the warm h.e.l.los between us were quick.She had news that couldn't wait-about a new murder, on Eighteenth Street, and about the young boy she'd found there and what he'd said: There was more than one Tiger. Flaherty had told me the same thing, but I was pretty sure I was looking for one killer-I could feel it in my gut.Bree countered, "If this boy is for real, it's the closest thing we've got to inside information. He was in the gang, Alex. You could be doing just as much damage control in DC, maybe more. Come home.""Bree, you're talking about a phantom witness back there. A young boy. I know that the man who killed Ellie and her family is here right now. He's in Lagos." At least my instincts told me he was. Who knows now?"I'll see what else I can find out, specifically about him." Her voice was tight. We'd never really fought before, but this conversation was feeling pretty close."Listen, Bree," I said. "I swear, I'm not going to stay here any longer than necessary.""I think we have very different definitions of what that means, Alex.""You could be right about that."I might have kept that to myself, but the only thing I could offer Bree right now was the truth."I miss you like crazy," I finally said, telling Bree another kind of truth, while trying to change the subject. "What are you wearing?" I joked.She knew I was kidding and laughed. "Where do you think I am? I've got Ugly Fred looking at me across my desk"-I heard a shout of protest in the background-"and half the Major Case Squad's in the room with me. You want me to keep going?"I took a rain check and we said our good-byes. Then, before I could dial home to Fifth Street, I heard a rattle at my door."h.e.l.lo?" I called. "Who's there?"The door swung open so fast I didn't have time to get off the bed to look. I recognized the front-desk manager.But not the two dark suits with white s.h.i.+rts standing in the hall behind him."What are you doing in my room?" I asked the desk man. "What is this all about? Who are they?"He didn't say a word to me. He just held the door open for the other two and then closed it from the outside as they moved across the room toward me.I jumped up off the bed and set my feet on the floor. "What's going on here?" I said. "What's happening now?"

Chapter 70.

"SSS!" ONE OF them shouted at the top of his voice. I had heard the initials before. State Security Service, if that's who these two men really were.They went right at me, totally unafraid of any consequences. One of them bear-hugged my arms and shoulders; the other scooped my legs out from under me.Now what was happening? Were they really State Security? Who had sent them for me? And why?I struggled, but both of them were freaks sizewise, incredibly powerful men, quick and athletic too. They had my body twisted in a corkscrew and it was impossible to break free.We crossed the room like that, with me tangled and helpless in their arms. Then I heard a window slide open, and I felt the rush of humidity on my skin.My whole body tensed and I started to yell for help-as loudly as I possibly could to anyone who might hear me.There was a blur of sky and earth and swimming pool and then my back slammed hard into the hotel wall.I was suddenly outside-and hanging upside downl"What do you want?" I screamed up at the one holding my legs. He had a very round face, flat nose, kind of a Mike-Tyson squint. It was a struggle to keep still and not fight him, but I sure didn't want him to lose his grip.The SSS man, or whoever he was, grinned down at me over the curve of my knees."You been here long enough, Cross. Time to cross you off." He laughed over his shoulder, sharing the joke with his partner.Even if the swimming pool had been directly below me, which it wasn't, I figured I was too high to survive any fall. My blood coursed through me. I could feel it everywhere, especially in the growing pressure in my head.But then my body was moving again. Inside!My spine sc.r.a.ped hard against the aluminum window track, and I came down on the floor of my hotel room.

Chapter 71.

I JUMPED UP and went at the nearest SSS man, until the other pressed his gun into my ribs."Easy," he said. "You don't want to get shot now, do you?"I saw that my duffel was out on the bed.And packed."Pick up the bag.""Who sent you?" I asked them. "Who are you working for? This is insane!"He didn't answer me. Instead, they grabbed me and moved me out into the hall. Freak One shut the door behind us and pocketed the key.Then they both just turned and walked away."Go home, Detective Cross. You're not wanted here. Last warning."There was a bizarre half minute or so while they waited for the elevator, talking low to each other. Then they calmly got on and left me standing in the hallway.Clueless.And keyless.Obviously they'd taken this as far as it was going for now. Whoever they were, police or not, and whatever connection they might have to the Tiger, they didn't kill for him.They hadn't even tried to put me on a plane.But why not?What was going on in this crazy country of theirs?

Chapter 72.

IT WAS HARD to fathom or predict, but my situation in Lagos actually got worse over the next hour or so. The front-desk people at the Superior insisted that I had "checked out" and that no rooms were available, something I knew to be untrue.I tried half a dozen hotels on the phone and got the same story everywhere-credit card denied. It was looking more and more like the two strong men who had evicted me from the Superior were indeed representatives of the state, whatever in h.e.l.l that meant here in Lagos.I tried Ian Flaherty several times and left a voice mail twice, but I didn't hear back from the CIA man.So I did the next thing I could think of. I got a driver and asked him to take me to Oshodi Market. If I couldn't get hold of Flaherty, I'd go back to his valued informant. I was quickly running out of options.I knew I was in the middle of something bad-but what was it? Why did everybody seem to want me out of the country? What did it have to do with the murder of Ellie c.o.x?It took over an hour to get to the market and another fifty minutes of wandering and asking around to find the rug stall I was looking for.A middle-aged man with one dead eye, not Tokunbo, was working today. His English was poor. He nodded at Tokunbo's name-I was in the right place-but then shooed me off for a customer.I couldn't afford to just hang around hoping for a miracle, so I cut my losses and found my way back to the car. The only Plan C I could think of was to go to the US consulate.But then, crawling through more traffic on the way to Victoria Island, I thought of something else. Plan D."Can you pull over, please?"The driver stopped on the shoulder behind a burned-out old Ford Ranger. I asked him to pop the trunk, then went around and got my duffel.I dug inside, looking for the pants I'd worn on that first day. I'd already trashed the s.h.i.+rt, but I was pretty sure-Yes, here were the trousers, smelly and bloodstained from my time in jail.I looked in the front pockets, but both were empty.When I checked the back, I found what I was looking for, the one thing they'd missed when they took just about everything else at Kirikiri: Father Bombata's card.I turned to the driver, who was waiting impatiently for me, half in, half out of the car."How much to use your cell phone?" I asked.

Chapter 73.

TWO HOURS LATER, I was dining in style with Father Bombata in his office at the Redeemed Church of Christ, a sprawling complex right in the heart of Lagos."Thank you for seeing me," I said. "And for all of this. I was hungry."We were sharing a meal of kudu, squash, salad, and a South African Zinfandel over the expansive desk in his office. The priest's tiny body was all the more dwarfed by a high-backed chair and the floor-to-ceiling windows looming behind him. Heavy red drapes kept out all but two slits of fading evening light."What happened to your face?" he asked me and actually seemed concerned. "Or should I ask, 'What happened to the other man?'"I'd almost forgotten how I looked. The nose had stopped hurting somewhere around Ghana."Shaving accident," I told him and forced a crooked smile.I didn't want to give one more person a reason to think I should go home on the next available plane. What I needed were allies, not more advice."Father, I've gotten some disturbing information about a killer called the Tiger. Do you think it's possible that there is more than one Tiger? Maybe operating in different locations? Like here and in the US?""All things are possible, of course," he said with a kind smile. "But that is not your real question, is it? Still, I suppose I would have to say yes, it is possible, especially if the government is involved. Or big business. There are a number of employers of killers for hire. It is a common practice.""Why the government? Or a corporation?"The priest rolled his eyes, but then he gave me a straight answer."They have the means for controlling information that others might not. And for controlling misinformation as well.""Any idea why they would want to do that? Be involved, I mean."He stood to pour me some more wine. "I can imagine any number of reasons. But it would be irresponsible of me to suggest that I actually think it's happening. Because, truthfully, I have no idea. The name is symbolism-the Tiger. You realize that there aren't any tigers in Africa. Maybe in a zoo someplace.""I know that. In any case, I'm chasing at least one real man here," I said. "I need to find out where he's gone. He killed my friend and her family. Other families were murdered too."If l may?" He looked at a mahogany clock facing him on the desk. "From what you've told me, your more immediate need is for somewhere to sleep."" I wasn't going to ask.""You don't have to, Detective Cross. I can't offer you anything here. It's a risk I would take for myself but not for my congregation. However, I can take you to our men's shelter. There's a five-night maximum, and it's no hotel-""I'll take it. Thank you," I told the priest."As for your mysterious Tiger, I'm in less of a position to help.""I understand." I was sorely disappointed but tried not to show it.Father Bombata held up a hand. "You think quickly, don't you? Maybe sometimes your mind works too fast. What I was going to say was that I can't help you there. But I do know someone who might."My cousin, actually. She's the most beautiful woman in Nigeria. But of course I'm biased. You be your own judge."

Chapter 74.

HER NAME WAS Adanne Tansi, and, as promised by the priest, she was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen in person. She was also a reporter with the Guardian, Lagos's biggest newspaper.Her office was maybe 6 x 8, if that. As I entered, I only hoped that I didn't smell like I'd just spent the night in a crowded homeless shelter.Over the next hour, Adanne told me that she had been covering the original Tiger and his gang for two years, but he was still something of a shadow figure."I am not certain there is more than one Tiger. But I have heard the rumor too. This could be gangster myth. Who knows, maybe he spreads it himself. Anyway, who can tell what a man like that could do to the newspaper if he wanted to.""Or to a reporter?" I asked.She shrugged. "Some things are worth more than a life. You're here, aren't you? You're taking chances with your life?"I smiled. "I guess I am."I found that I couldn't take my eyes away from Adanne Tansi, though I tried not to be rude. She was stunning in the manner of some actresses, and it was impossible not to notice her high cheekbones and her dark doelike eyes but also the way she carried herself. She seemed unafraid, and I wondered why that was so. She had much to lose but carried it lightly.She picked up a pen. It had escaped me that she had a pad at hand among the mess of other papers at her work area."No notes," I said. "This isn't an interview. I'm just a tourist here. That's been made very clear to me."Adanne immediately put the pen down, smiling as though she had had to at least give it a try.I went on. "Do you have any sense of where the Tiger is now? Or any idea how I could find out?""No to the first," she said. "And I believe so to the second."

Chapter 75.

I WAITED BUT she left it at that. After a few seconds, I realized that in Lagos even a newspaper office was a marketplace."In exchange for what?" I finally asked her.Adanne smiled again. She was very coy-and clever. "A good story about an American detective looking for a criminal and murderer like the Tiger-that would be hard not to print."I put my hands on the arms of my chair, ready to go."No."Suddenly her eyes were locked onto mine. "Detective Cross, do you realize how much good could come from a story like this? This human monster is responsible for hundreds of deaths, maybe more.""I know," I said, working hard to keep my voice in check. "One of them was a friend of mine.""And one was my brother," said Adanne. "So you can see why I want to write this story."Her words resonated in the small room. She wasn't angry, just measured, and, within that, pa.s.sionate."Ms Tansi-""Please call me Adanne. Everyone does.""Adanne. You obviously care a great deal about this, but I don't know you. I wish I could trust you,but I can't."Her stare told me I hadn't lost her yet. "But I hope you'll help me anyway. I'm Alex, by the way. Everyone calls me that."She thought about what I had said, and I could see she was conflicted. It was unusual to see this in a journalist, at least the ones I knew back in Was.h.i.+ngton-this kind of transparency.Finally she stood. "All right," she said. "I'll see what I can do for you. I'm in." She picked up her pen again, a silver-topped onyx roller, the kind people give as gifts. "Where can I reach you? Alex?"At the Redeemed Church of Christ men's shelter-that's where I live now.I don't know if she noticed my pause. Whether or not it was wise, I found that I wanted to impress Adanne Tansi."I'll call you," I said. "First thing tomorrow. I promise."She nodded, and then she smiled. "I believe you, Detective Cross. So far, anyway. Don't disappoint me, please."How could I even think of it, Adanne?

Chapter 76.

A BUSINESSMAN WITH rumored connections named Mohammed Shol stood like an expensively framed portrait of himself in the open double doors of his enormous home. The main building was twenty thousand square feet, and the guesthouse was another eight thousand. He was among South Darfur's wealthiest men and never missed an opportunity to show it off.The gated compound with its high walls and attached citrus greenhouse made its own statement: Who but the devil lives like a king in the middle of h.e.l.l?Not that the Tiger minded dealing with devils; he did it all the time. This was his business, and if he had carried a card, a black devil might have been the logo.Shol smiled broadly as he shook hands to elbows with the large and quite handsome fixer and murderer. "Welcome, my friend! Your team will wait out here, of course.""Of course.""They will be fed.""They are always hungry."The Tiger left Rocket in charge of the others and knew he would maintain discipline. The boys waited by the front gate, across the yard from Shol's two plainclothes guards, who watched the younger ones with unconcealed amus.e.m.e.nt. The guards at the estate had come up from the streets themselves.Let them be c.o.c.ky and sure of themselves, the Tiger thought as he eyed the older watchdogs. Underestimation had always worked in his favor.He followed Mohammed Shol through the estimable front hallway and across an interior courtyard. Cooking smells, cardamom and beef, came from one side of the house. Boys' voices came from the other-reciting in Arabic, which further defined Shol's politics.They came to a gla.s.s door at the far end of the courtyard.An enclosed grove of exotic fruit trees showed on the other side. Shol stopped."We'll meet in here. Can I offer you tea? Or perhaps grapefruit juice?" The latter was a boast, since such juice was a delicacy here."Nothing," the Tiger said. "Only what I came for. Then I will be gone."Shol dismissed his houseboy with a quick flick of the wrist, then used a key from his jallabiya pocket to let them inside.It was pleasant in the greenhouse, temperature controlled with a waft of humidity lacing the air. The tiled floor was shaded under a low canopy of green. Above was the geometric pattern of a gla.s.s-and-steel ceiling.Shol gestured for the Tiger to enter a small dining area in the back.Four rattan chairs surrounded a luminescent bai wood table. Shol moved aside a potted sapling. Then he ran the combination on a floor safe hidden behind the tree.Inside the safe was a paper envelope, stuffed thick. Shol took it out and placed it on the table between them."I think you'll find it's all there."Once the Tiger had checked the contents, he set the package on the floor and sat back. Shol smiled."You've done much here," the Tiger said, gesturing around the room. "It's impressive."Shol smiled, puffed up by the compliment. "I've been blessed many times.""Not just blessed. You've been busy. You are clever, I can tell.""It's true. Between the legislature and my businesses, there's little time for other things.""Travel," the Tiger said. "Meetings day and night? And your family, of course."Shol nodded, clearly enjoying that the subject was him, "Yes, yes. On most days.""Saying things you shouldn't. Putting your loved ones at risk."The nodding stopped. Shol seemed to forget that he was afraid of looking the Tiger in the eye, and did it now. "No," he said. "Truly. I've not talked about my business dealings with you, or anyone else.""Yes," said the Tiger, without moving. "Truly. You have.You know a reporter-a woman? Adanne Tansi?" He reached with one finger and tipped open his collar an inch. He spoke into a microphone."Rock da house! Now, Rocket. Spare no one. Make an example of them."

Chapter 77.

A FEW SECONDS later, the entire greenhouse reverberated with a half dozen or more gun blasts coming from outside. And then bursts of machine-gun clatter.Mohammed Shol tried to get up, but the Tiger was fast and agile and already had his hands around the man's throat and was choking him. He slammed Shol into the far wall and a spider web pattern blossomed in the gla.s.s."Do you hear that?" the Tiger shouted at the top of his voice. "You hear it? All your fault!"There was more gunfire. Then screams-women first, followed quickly by boys, their voices high and pitiful."That," the Tiger told him, "is the sound of your mistakes, your greed, your stupidity."Shol grappled with both hands at the Tiger's huge and unmovable wrists. His eyes reddened and veins appeared ready to burst at his temples. The Tiger watched, fascinated.It was possible, he'd learned, to bring a man to the edge of death, and then keep him there for as long as he liked. He liked this because he despised Shol and his kind.The greenhouse door shattered as two bodyguards arrived to rescue their employer. "Come in!" shouted the Tiger. In one motion, he spun Mohammed Shol around and pulled a pistol from the paddle holster at his ankle. He charged forward, Shol in front as a s.h.i.+eld, firing as he came!One bodyguard went down with a nine-millimeter hole in the throat. The other sent a bullet through his employer's outstretched hand, then into his shoulder.Shol screamed, even as the Tiger launched him the last several feet across the floor, where he crashed into the guard. Both men went down. Then the Tiger shot the second bodyguard in the face."Oga!" Rocket said as he appeared in the empty doorway. Oga meant "chief" in Lagos street parlance. The Tiger liked the designation, and it came naturally to his young soldiers.The screaming had all but stopped in the house, but there were still sounds of breakage and gunfire as his boys let off the last of their venom and steam."There was a tutor. Children being taught.""Taken care of," said Rocket."Good." The Tiger watched as Shol struggled to stand. He fired once into his leg. "You'll need a tourniquet or you'll die," he said to the businessman.Then he turned to Rocket. "Tie Mr. Shol up. Then put this in his mouth. Or up his a.s.s, if you like.""This" was an M67-a grenade."Pull the pin before you leave."

Chapter 78.

EVERYTHING CONTINUED TO feel unreal and fantasylike to me.All the doors at the church shelter for men were locked after nine o'clock. No one could get in or out. With traffic being what it is in Lagos, I barely made it back there in time.My cot was at the far end of one of three lodges, long high-ceilinged dorms off the main corridor where breakfast would be served in the morning.Alex Cross, I thought. What have you come to? What have you done this time?The guy in the next bed was the same guy as the night before, a Jamaican man by the name of Oscar. He didn't talk much, but the strained look in his eyes and half-healed track marks told his story.He lay on his side and watched me while I rooted around for a toothbrush."Hey, mon," he said in a whisper. "Dey is some shorty man o' G.o.d lookin' your way. He dere now."Father Bombata was standing at the door. When I saw him, he beckoned with a finger, then walked back out of the dormitory.I followed him outside and into a hall packed with last-minute arrivals. I pushed upstream toward the front doors, until 1 caught up with the priest."Father?"I saw then that he was dialing a cell phone and wondered who he was calling. Was it good news or bad that I was supposed to hear?"Ms. Tansi wishes to speak with you," he said and handed over the phone to me.Adanne had news! An a.s.sa.s.sination in South Darfur had occurred that day. One of the representatives to the Sudanese Council of States was dead-and his family had been slaughtered."Any connection to Basel Abboud in DC?" I asked her."I don't know yet, but I can tell you that the Tiger does frequent business in Sudan.""Weapons? Heroin?" I asked her. "What kind of business, Adanne?""Boys. His loyal soldiers. He recruits at the Darfur refugee camps."I took a breath. "You might have told me about this earlier.""I'll make it up to you. I can have us on an air freighter to Nyala first thing in the morning."I blinked."You said 'us'?""I did. Or you can fly commercial to Al Fasher and see about ground transport from there. I leave it to you."Any other time I never would have considered it. But then, I'd never been five thousand miles from home without a lead and sleeping in a men's homeless shelter before.I put my hand over the phone. "Father, can I trust this woman?" With my life?"Yes, she is a good person," he said without hesitation. And I told you, she is my cousin. Tall and beautiful, just like me. You can trust her, Detective."I was back on the line. "Nothing goes into print until we both say so? Do we have a deal on that?""Agreed. I'll meet you at the Ikeja Cantonment, at the main entrance by five. And Alex, you should prepare your-self emotionally. Darfur is truly a horrible place.""I've seen a few horrors," I said. "More than a few.""Perhaps you have, but not like this. Nothing like this, believe me, Alex."