The Oracle (Fargo Adventures #11) - Clive Cussler Page 0,27
tensing and kneeled down in front of her. “Why did you come?”
She stole a glance at the dead man on the passenger’s side and looked at Sam, her dark eyes welling with tears. “Bako wanted to smash my fingers because I . . . I tried to hide the money that Mrs. Fargo gave me.”
Had the man not already been dead, Sam would have killed him right then and there. He stood, trying to reconcile what had happened with what little he’d learned from her. “You think they called some friends to help them?”
“No,” she whispered.
“The men in the white truck. You’re sure you’ve never seen them before?”
She shook her head. “I’ve only ever heard of Scarface. The Kalus work alone. They have no friends.”
Sam gave her shoulder a gentle pat. “No more questions. Why don’t you wait in the car. You’ll be much cooler in there.”
Nasha shook her head again. “I don’t like that man.”
“Hank?” Remi asked. “Why?”
“Because he doesn’t like me.”
“To be fair, you did steal his keys.”
“He was easy.” Nasha glanced toward Amal. “What’s wrong with your friend?”
Remi saw Amal’s distant gaze. She was either in the middle of one of her seizures or about to have one. “She’ll be okay. Do you think you can hold her hand and get her to the car?”
Nasha, no doubt anxious to get away, nodded, then hurried toward her.
Remi joined Sam by the Kalus’ vehicle. “Amal had another seizure.”
“All things considered, it’s not surprising. If she’s not better by tomorrow, we’ll bring her back.”
“What about Nasha?”
“There is no way in hell that I’m taking her back to Jalingo. You heard what she said he was planning to do to her.”
Remi looked at the dead man. “I suppose it would be a total waste of ammunition to put another bullet in him.”
“Definitely. More importantly, Nasha said the Kalu brothers worked alone. So who is this Makao that the Kalu brothers seemed to know?”
“You have to admit that the two groups meeting here in the middle of nowhere is an interesting twist of fate.”
Sam was a firm believer that twists of fate were a very rare occurrence. “Whoever this other group was, it had nothing to do with the street thieves from Jalingo.”
“Agreed.” Remi nodded toward the guns she’d collected in the back of the supply truck. “We’ve got enough firepower. I say we go find these guys.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings.
– SUDANESE PROVERB –
Easy does it, Annie Oakley,” Sam said, noting the fire in his wife’s green eyes. “We’re not turning vigilante with a kid in the car.”
“We can send her ahead with Hank and Amal. You and I can—”
“Remi.”
“Fine,” she said. “We call the police. But what about Nasha? All that’s going to do is involve her and us in a lengthy investigation. What if they try to take her back? You heard what she said. There’s a third Kalu brother waiting for her.”
“We skip the part that says any of us were involved.”
“Until they realize that the bullets in half of the bad guys don’t match the bullets in the other half.”
Sam took a good look around, trying to make sure there was nothing that could tie them to the scene. “Considering that we’re taking all the guns with us, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. This is what the cops back home call no human involved.”
“And what if they start investigating?”
“Somehow, I doubt the two that got away are going to give us up.”
“Good point.” They walked back toward the cars and Remi nodded to the tack strip farther up the road. “What about that?”
“Take it with us. I’d hate to see someone else run over it.”
* * *
—
They gathered the road spikes, then left as soon as Sam called the police to report what looked like a shoot-out between two groups on the road. Once again, he had Hank join him in the supply truck. If they were attacked again, Remi was armed and could protect the women.
Hank didn’t argue with Sam’s decision. In fact, he didn’t say much at all. Sam glanced over at him about twenty minutes into their trip, noting the still-pale pallor of his face. “You okay?”
“A bit shaken, is all,” Hank said. “I . . . I had no idea . . .”
“No idea what?” Sam asked, turning his attention back to the road.