Vendetta, page 20
‘Can I join you?’ he asked.
‘Sure.’
He had changed into a pair of tailored shorts and sandals.
‘I hope you realise you’re seeing me in both my outfits today. The one thing about living on the south coast with no money is that no one notices if you spend every day in rugby shorts or swimming trunks and slops.’
She laughed. ‘So I’ve seen, though I’ve been spending half my spare time in Toti buying beach gear.’
He gestured to the view. ‘Plenty of sand, but no surf here.’
‘Do you feel out of the water here?’ she asked. ‘Literally?’
‘Yes and no. The desert reminds me of the sea. Wild, empty, almost never-ending. I like both.’
‘I certainly feel like we’ve got away from it all,’ she said, then checked herself, realising what she’d just said. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to gloss over or make light of the reason why you’re here.’
‘Don’t be sorry. Luiz was a warrior, hardened and fierce, but he loved to laugh and play jokes on the other San. He tied a piece of fishing line around his brother Roberto’s ankle one night when Roberto was asleep in the bush and attached a chop bone to the other end. When a hyena grabbed the bait and started tugging you could hear Roberto’s scream a kilometre away. I thought Roberto was going to kill him.’
‘Quite a character, hey?’
‘Very much so. But most of the time he seemed deep in thought. He was hard to read, but a consummate professional. Every platoon and section wanted Luiz as their guide. We loved the San, but him in particular.’
They walked on in silence until they were close to the main part of the lodge. Sannie saw a game viewer that had not been there earlier parked at the entrance. She hoped it was Mia.
Adam stopped. ‘What is it?’ Sannie asked.
‘I suppose Ferri will be back.’
‘I’m hoping Mia will be as well. Is there a problem, Adam? What’s he like?’
Adam was silent for a few moments and Sannie was torn between her impatience to see her friend and mild annoyance at Adam’s moodiness. She started to walk, but stopped and looked back when she realised he wasn’t coming. ‘What is it?’
‘I don’t know if I can be in the same room as that man,’ Adam said.
Sannie put her hands on her hips. ‘Why, Adam?’
‘I haven’t seen him since 1987, since Angola.’
‘Are you going to tell me what happened there, all those years ago?’
He drew a deep breath. ‘I don’t know if I can.’
*
Adam turned and headed back to his accommodation. Inside he sat down and picked up the phone. He called housekeeping.
‘Howzit, it’s Adam Kruger here in tent three. Can you do room service for lunch, please?’
‘Of course, sir.’
The operator went through the menu and Adam ordered a club sandwich and a Coke.
‘No problem, sir, we’ll have your meal brought to you in about fifteen minutes.’
‘Thank you. Actually, can I change that Coke to a double brandy and Coke, please?’
‘Of course, sir.’
Adam exhaled. He was not afraid of Ferri, but rather of what he might say or do when he saw him. He had known, since the war, that try as he might to avoid it, the day would eventually come when he would have to confront the former officer. He hated that his first reaction had been to turn to some Dutch courage, strong liquor. He tried to process his feelings and what was going on here.
Evan and the politician were clearly friends and Adam knew both of them had looked for him off and on over the years, supposedly to reach out to him, to see how he was doing, and, probably, to try to make amends for what had happened.
Adam realised he had been running from them, and from Angola, ever since he’d left the army. Frank had wanted to escape the past by drinking it away, but in the end, it had been too much for him. The memories had overtaken him and they had killed him. Adam was sure of it.
An increasing proportion of the voting population of South Africa saw Tony Ferri as the solution to their woes.
Ferri had actively courted the African vote. He had famously lived in his domestic’s house in Diepsloot, in Johannesburg, while she and her two children lived in his home for six months, so he could get a true feeling for how the country’s majority lived. His experiment, initially treated with disdain or outright hostility by many, had eventually won him millions of hearts and minds around the country.
Was he, Adam wondered as he sat on his stoep, trying to atone for what had happened in Angola?
His meal arrived, and so did Sannie.
‘I thought you were catching up with Mia,’ Adam said.
She held a hand to her brow, to shade her eyes from the midday sun. ‘She couldn’t stay after she dropped Tony Ferri off. She had to go to Askham – something about relocating a rescued pangolin and she had to pick up some stuff for the funeral service.’
‘Did you have lunch?’
‘No, but the waitress in the lodge told me my “friend” was having room service, so I told her I’d join him.’
On cue, a room service porter walked up the pathway and carried a second tray into Adam’s room.
‘We even ordered the same thing to eat, though there’s no brandy in my Coke.’
‘You’re checking my drinks bill as well?’ Adam asked. He was pleased to see her, but he felt a little as though she was pushing herself into his life.
‘I could smell it wafting on the breeze. What is that, a triple?’
‘Double.’
They thanked the porter, who left.
‘Are you going to invite me in, or must I eat my sandwich out here in the desert?’ Sannie asked.
He stood and motioned for her to come up the stairs. ‘After you.’
Adam went to the table where the food had been laid out and picked up his drink. He took it through the suite to the bathroom and tipped it down the sink.
When he turned back to Sannie, she was open-mouthed. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to criticise or be judgemental.’
Adam set the empty glass down. ‘Please sit. Let’s enjoy the food. I have had a problem with alcohol in the past, which is why I limit myself to one or two beers per day now. Also, it’s all I can afford. I wanted a stiff drink just now because of the way I was feeling, and I know that’s not a good sign.’
She took her glass, reached over and poured some of her cola into his glass. ‘OK. Peace offering. Now, are you going to tell me what’s troubling you, about Ferri, and what this is all about?’
His initial thought, when she’d first asked, had been that he wanted to spare her the horrors of what he had been through, but as she herself had said, she had seen the worst of life and humankind in her job as a police officer. So he sat down opposite her and nodded.
‘Ferri’s hiding something, and whatever it is cost the lives of some good men.’
Chapter 18
Tony started with a cold gazpacho soup. It was delicious. He savoured the cool, crisp tang and he thought about what it might be like to kiss Mia Greenaway.
‘What are you thinking?’ Lisa asked him. ‘You look like the cat that got the cream.’
He smiled. ‘Nothing. It was just great to be out in the wilds for a few hours with no one else around.’
‘Hmm . . . no one except a pretty twenty-something safari guide who probably thinks you’re the hope of the nation, and drop-dead handsome.’
‘How rude of me not to mention Mia.’
Lisa shook her head. ‘Just be careful, Tony. You’ve already bared your soul to her; I don’t want to be reading in the Daily Maverick how you’ve been sexting her selfies.’
‘I’d never do something that silly,’ he said. ‘But yes, she’s a lovely young woman and it was good spending time with her. She’s a good listener.’
‘And I’m not?’
‘You’re a good teller, Lisa, an excellent adviser. It’s why I hired you.’
She lowered her voice. ‘I thought it was the way I give head.’
He coughed, almost choking on his soup.
‘Honestly,’ Lisa picked at her prawn entree, ‘do you like her?’
‘Where’s Evan, by the way?’
Lisa pointed at him with her fork. ‘Don’t try and change the subject. I saw him when I left my suite; he was on the stoep talking on his phone. Sounded like he was on one of his marathon business calls. Do you like her?’
He put down his spoon and wiped his lips with a linen serviette. ‘You said yourself you wanted to keep it causal between you and me, and you don’t want to be the next Mevrou Ferri, not even after the election.’
‘I did, and I don’t. But it’s a woman’s prerogative to be jealous, especially of those nice legs of hers in those short shorts.’
‘She’s smart – like you.’
‘Nice save,’ Lisa said. ‘For goodness’ sake, Tony, just be bloody careful. We’ve come too far for you to throw everything away on a schoolgirl.’
‘Mia’s in her late twenties, Lisa.’
‘Whatever. Where’s your other old army boet, Adam? I met him. Now he would be worth me leaving you for. He’s gorgeous. I thought you two would have been hugging and telling war stories by now. In fact, maybe I could have invited you both back to my room tonight.’ She laughed.
Tony didn’t. He pushed his plate away and thanked the waitress who took it. When she was gone, he lowered his voice. ‘No, on all counts. Adam hates me, but I’ve been trying to get in touch with him for years.’
‘Why, if he hates you? Do you want to kiss and make up? And why exactly does he hate you?’
‘I had him and his buddy, Frank Greenaway, charged with cowardice in the face of the enemy over an incident that happened in Angola. I haven’t told Mia that, and I don’t want her to know. It’s bad enough that her father killed himself, but I think his alcoholism might have been related to that shameful day. It’s better she remembers him as the troubled hero rather than a mutinous coward.’
‘And it won’t help your chances of bedding her if you shatter her girlhood illusions.’
‘That is not what I meant,’ Tony said.
‘Right.’
The waitress brought their mains and Lisa ordered white wine. Tony asked for a Windhoek Lager.
‘So what happened to make you charge Adam and Frank?’
Tony started on his ostrich burger. ‘We were on a mission to locate a South African aircraft, a light plane with two men on board. We found the wreck; it had been shot down. The pilot was dead, but the passenger was gone. We got into a gunfight.’ Tony paused to swallow a mouthful of his burger. ‘Then we pulled back and went looking for the missing guy. It was hectic. The Angolans knew we were in the area and started mortaring us. Luiz and Roberto, our San guys, found the tracks of the missing crew member and then we caught up with him. He was wounded, shot in the torso, and Erasmus – our medic – and I gave him first aid.’
Tony took another bite of his food and stared out over the desert. He could hear the dull crump of mortar bombs leaving their tubes and feel the earth-shaking effect of howitzer rounds.
‘Tony?’
He chewed slowly, trying to calm himself. ‘Our patrol was split in two – partly my fault, for being young and too keen for my own good, and partly because Frank Greenaway was obstinate to the point of being insubordinate. No sooner were we all reunited than Greenaway said we should retreat, back to the border, on foot.’
‘I would have thought that was a good idea?’ Lisa ventured.
‘We were in contact with the enemy, fighting for our lives and Greenaway and Kruger turned tail, leaving the rest of us plugging away at a wave of Cubans and Angolans.’
‘Sheesh, Tony. What happened? How did you all get out?’
‘We didn’t all get out. Roberto Siboa, Luiz’s brother, was killed by a direct hit from an artillery shell. Even if we’d had time to try and collect his remains there wouldn’t have been enough to fill half a garbage bag. I’d never seen anything quite so shocking, not before nor since. Duarte – that was the air force guy we rescued – died of his wounds. I called in our artillery, by radio, on our own position. We were surrounded by the time Greenaway and Kruger had left us. It was hell, Lisa.’
She was staring at him. ‘My God.’
‘We were clawing at the dirt with our bare hands, Evan and I huddled together next to the trunk of a big tree that had been blown over. Evan kept firing, all through the bombardment.’
‘It’s a miracle the rest of you survived.’
‘We didn’t. Rossouw, the radioman, was shot and killed. The Cubans and Angolans eventually pulled back, thanks to the artillery. I filed a report with the sector commander when I got back. Greenaway and Kruger were charged and went before a court martial. Evan didn’t directly accuse Frank or Adam of cowardice, but nor did he speak definitively in their defence. I’m sure he was just protecting his friends, but he just kept saying that he couldn’t hear what they were saying because he was too busy engaging the enemy.’
‘Evan and Adam seemed to get on OK.’
Tony shrugged. ‘Evan is the peacemaker of the group. He went out of his way to reach out to Frank and Adam after the war and to tell them he forgave them for what they did. I nominated Evan for an Honoris Crux, one of our highest medals for bravery, but he received a lesser commendation. I think the high command was worried that if there was too much of a spotlight on the action we were involved with, and Rossouw and Roberto’s death, news of Adam and Frank’s cowardice would also come out.’
‘That was good of you, anyway,’ Lisa said.
‘It was the least I could do. But that’s why Evan and I have had this unshakeable bond ever since. I don’t like talking publicly about my military service because it won’t win me any African votes, but I think you can also now understand why I don’t try and talk it up generally.’
Lisa nodded. ‘Understood. I’m sorry for prying.’
He held up a hand. ‘No need to apologise. It actually does feel good being able to talk about this stuff, and it was the same with Mia, even though I didn’t tell her everything about her father.’
‘Well, your secrets are safe with me, as I’m sure you know.’
He smiled at her. She was beautiful, and they had enjoyed each other, physically. However, he knew there was a far greater risk of a nosey reporter uncovering his relationship with Lisa, whom he was with most days and nights while campaigning, than if, say, a pretty young safari guide fell into his arms for a night or two. He finished his burger.
‘I think I’ll go back to my room for a nap.’
‘Alone?’
He forced a smile. ‘Yes, alone.’
‘You sure I can’t join you?’
‘I’m sure, Lisa. Like I said last night, we need to cool it. Anyway, I’ve revealed far too much to everyone today – I don’t need to strip any more of me off in front of someone else. I just need some quiet time. I need to think about what I’m going to say to Adam. I can’t avoid him forever.’
‘Take care, Tony. See you for the afternoon game drive?’
‘I’ll be there.’ He got up, thanked the wait staff, then left the dining area for the sandy pathway to his accommodation.
*
‘What do you mean when you say Ferri’s actions cost the lives of good men?’ Sannie asked Adam as they sat opposite each other in Adam’s tent.
‘His arrogance and stupidity on the battlefield cost us casualties, but there’s something else, more a gut feeling I have,’ he said.
She slouched in her chair and threw her hands up in the air. ‘I’m a police detective, Adam. We deal in evidence, facts, motives.’
‘You’re telling me you’ve never followed a hunch?’
‘No, I’m not saying that. Tell me what happened with you and him in Angola.’
‘It’s a long story.’
Sannie checked her watch. ‘Mia’s due back at the lodge in two hours’ time. You’ve got 120 minutes.’
‘OK.’ Adam began to tell Sannie the story of the patrol.
Angola, 1987
Erasmus, his medical pack bouncing on his back, ran through the bush. Adam saw Frank lower his rifle as soon as he recognised Rassie.
‘What the fuck is happening?’ Frank said.
Rassie was breathing hard. ‘Sheesh, Sarge, Ferri . . . He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He sent me to get you.’
‘Why do I have to go to him? Why hasn’t he pulled back?’
Rassie shrugged.
‘Stay here, Rassie, watch our rear,’ Frank said. ‘Adam, come.’
Adam got up, hefted his machine gun and they moved forward. They came to the others. Frank looked around, and at the man on the ground. ‘And him? The air force guy?’
‘Duarte,’ Ferri said. ‘DOW.’
Died of wounds, Adam thought. Duarte’s torso was bandaged, and he was lying on his left side, motionless.
Frank shook his head. ‘All right. Adam, Evan, pick up the dead guy.’ He turned to the signaller. ‘Rossouw, call in the casualty report.’
‘Yes, Sarge,’ the signaller said.
‘Come,’ Frank said to Adam and Evan, ‘get the body and let’s get out of here, back towards the border.’
Adam started to walk to the airman. Evan hovered next to Lieutenant Ferri.
‘No,’ Ferri said. ‘We stay here and I will call the sector commander to send a chopper to come get us.’
‘Are you fucking kidding?’ Any residual trace of respect disappeared from Frank’s voice. ‘We’re completely surrounded. We go immediately, before we get overrun. As it is, we can’t get a chopper in here, so we have to walk – run – for the border, now, at least to a safe place where they can pick us up. Where are the trackers?’
