The Oracle (Fargo Adventures #11) - Clive Cussler Page 0,15

red as the road.

Makao leaned against the side of the truck, lighting up a cigarette, waiting for the men to finish tossing grass and leaves over everything to hide the hazard. “Not too high,” he said. “We don’t want them driving around it.”

If they did, his men would shoot out the tires, the plan of last resort. In his opinion, these things always worked best when no shots were fired.

A few minutes later, he took a final drag of his cigarette, then blew out a plume of smoke, eyeing their work. They’d done a fairly good job camouflaging the spikes. He dropped his cigarette into the dirt and stomped it out with his boot heel. “Let’s go.”

The men jumped back into the Toyota and he drove around the hidden spikes, following the bend past the trees, searching for an area wide enough in the forest’s edge to park the truck where it wasn’t visible from the road.

His vehicle hidden, they found a spot beneath the trees and settled in for the long wait. Makao checked the message from Tarek on his phone, looking at the pictures of the Fargos and their Land Rover, smiling to himself.

This was going to be easy money, no doubt about it.

CHAPTER TEN

If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

– AFRICAN PROVERB –

After breakfast, Sam, Remi, Amal, and Hank stopped to pick up the new supply truck, with its canvas cargo cover, that Selma had purchased for the school. The sight of the Mercedes Zetros 4×4, meant to handle the rough mountain roads, seemed to make Amal nervous. Perhaps, Remi thought, it was a reminder that they’d be miles away from anywhere should she have one of her attacks. The moment Sam took possession of the keys, Amal turned a worried glance Remi’s way. “I hope you won’t be upset, but I’m just not sure about going. I can stay with Dr. LaBelle until she’s better.”

“Of course I’m not upset,” Remi said. “Disappointed, yes, because I know the girls will love you. But you have to do what’s right for you.”

Sam walked up a moment later. “We’re ready to go.”

“Amal’s changed her mind. We need to take her back to the hotel.”

“Honestly,” Amal said. “I’d be glad to take a taxi.”

Hank, overhearing Amal, looked up from his phone. “Remember how you worried about the conference? That turned out okay. And in a couple of days, Dr. LaBelle will be joining us.”

Remi gave her an encouraging smile. “He’s right. We’ll have fun. And if, for some reason, you feel as if you need to come back, we’ll bring you home.”

The moment she nodded in agreement, Sam held out the Land Rover key fob to Hank. “Any chance I can have you drive the car to the surplus store? It’ll give me a chance to go over the truck controls with Remi. Just in case.”

“Absolutely,” Hank replied.

Remi climbed into the truck, then turned a shrewd glance toward her husband. “You didn’t seem terribly broken up when you thought Amal wasn’t coming.”

“Let’s just say I was being pragmatic. If she didn’t come, Hank wouldn’t come. We’d probably get a lot more work done without entertaining a couple of outsiders.”

“Spoilsport. A slight inconvenience to us, but worth the trouble. Think how much those girls would benefit talking to a young university student like Amal.” She gave an exasperated sigh as she buckled her seat belt. “Not that I intend on driving this thing unless I absolutely have to, show me what I need to know.”

After a quick lesson, Sam headed into the central part of town, eventually reaching a crowded street filled with vendors selling goods beneath large umbrellas, their bright colors faded from the sun.

Pedestrians and motorbikes weaved in and out of the slow-moving traffic. Horns beeped, music blared, and the cacophony of bartering between shoppers and sellers filtered in through Sam’s open window as he navigated his way down the street at a snail’s pace.

“There it is,” Remi said, pointing to a storefront farther down the block.

Sam stopped in front of the building to let Remi out, motioning for Hank to pull up alongside him. “Find somewhere to park and come back here.”

Hank nodded, started to idle forward, stopped to let Amal out of the car before taking off again.

“Watch out for pickpockets,” Sam called out. Remi waved to him as he drove to the back of the store, parking the truck in front of the loading dock. By the