The Oracle (Fargo Adventures #11) - Clive Cussler Page 0,76
gust of wind rattled his front window, drawing his attention. Parting the blinds, he saw Kambili Kalu getting out of a car parked out front.
“Jimi . . .” He kicked Jimi’s foot. And those of the two men sleeping on the floor. “Get up,” he said as Kambili stormed toward the apartment. “All of you.”
Makao drew his gun, intending to shoot the man in his tracks. But as he reached for the front door knob, the door burst open, splinters flying from its shattered frame. Startled, Makao jumped back, tripped over one of the still-sleeping men. Before he could right himself, Kambili rushed in, aiming his semiauto at Makao’s head.
“Kamb—”
“Drop your gun,” Kambili ordered, “or I’ll kill you right here.”
Makao slowly lowered his weapon to the ground, surprised to see Kambili’s left eye swollen nearly shut. “What’s this about?”
Kambili towered over Makao, glaring. “You killed my brothers.”
“No,” he said. “It wasn’t me, I swear. Where’d you hear that?”
“You see my face? Yesterday, the man who did this told me.”
Makao shot a look over to Jimi, who seemed as shocked as he was by the revelation that Kambili knew what had happened. The rest of his crew who hit the Fargo caravan were dead, which meant there was only one way Kambili had learned of this.
It had to be from Fargo himself.
What Makao couldn’t figure out was how Fargo could possibly have known who the Kalu brothers were. “I assure you that whoever told you this was lying. There has to be some reason this man would want to blame me. What’d he tell you?”
“He came to my home, looking for one of my boys.”
“For what reason?”
“He wanted to know what village he’d come from.”
Makao, seeing Jimi slowly move his hand to his holstered gun, was torn between letting him kill Kambili and wanting to know what Fargo was up to. From everything he could tell, Fargo was a straight shooter, his business dealings above board. Why, then, would a man like that purposefully seek out a man like Kambili just to find out about one of his thieves?
It didn’t make sense—until he caught sight of Jimi’s injured arm. He looked down at his own bandaged hand, recalling how that girl had jabbed them both with the road spike as she raced out the door. Suddenly he wondered if Jimi had been mistaken about losing those keys. “One of your pickpockets?”
“My best one.”
“Where is this kid?”
Kambili seemed taken aback by the simple question. “Ran away. Two days ago, after he got caught trying to steal a Land Rover.”
“The man who killed your brothers was driving a Land Rover,” Makao said. “Isn’t that right, Jimi?”
He nodded in agreement.
“Why would this man kill my brothers?”
“To pin it on me and start a war between us.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Why would I lie to you? We have an agreement, you and I. But I know how we can get back at him.”
“How?”
Makao smiled when Kambili lowered the gun. “Jimi, take the boys to lunch. And find someone to fix that door,” he said as rain splashed its threshold. “Mr. Kalu and I have some business to discuss.”
* * *
—
“What business?” Kambili asked after the other men left. He had, thankfully, put his gun away.
“About your pickpocket.” The cut on Makao’s hand started to throb with the memory of how she’d clawed him with that tire spike. “Tiny thing, darts around like a gazelle fleeing a cheetah?”
“Nash? He’s my best pickpocket.”
Which explained how she got the keys from Jimi. “That pickpocket was definitely a girl.”
Kambili stared a moment. “You sure we’re talking about the same boy?”
“Why else would the Fargos have taken her to a school for girls?”
“A girl . . . Always thought he was small. What about him—her?”
“Tell me everything you know about the kid.”
“Comes from a village up north. His—her uncle paid for her and some other boys to come here because of Boko Haram.”
“How do I find her uncle?”
“One of my boys, Chuk, came from the same village. They were friends.”
“Good. We’ll need him to get to the Fargos. Here’s my plan . . .”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.
– AFRICAN PROVERB –
Remi left Amal and the girls to search for better shelter. Eventually, she found a deeper overhang where they could ride out the storm without worrying about being seen by the kidnappers from the trail above. The climb to the top of the cliffs from there would be