Jacob doesn't understand his language.
"Excuse me," Veronica says soothingly, and aims the flashlight at herself for a second, then at Jacob stooping next to her. "Can we talk to you for a moment?"
The man says nothing.
"Do you have a mobile phone in there?" Jacob asks, wondering if the man understands English at all.
"No. No phone. Why do you come here?" His voice is hostile. His accent is French, which makes sense, most of these refugees are from the Congo.
Veronica looks helplessly at Jacob. He hesitates, then realizes what he should have done some time ago: he puts the analyzer down on the dirt, pulls out his hiptop, opens it, and simply dials the number of the phone they seek. A second later the bundled clothes that serve as the man's pillow begin to vibrate, subtly but unmistakably.
The man's expression hardens. He rises from his seated position into a crouch, ready for action. Jacob flinches and puts his hand on Veronica's shoulder, about to pull her away.
"We're friends of Derek," Veronica says quickly. The man's expression flickers, he knows the name. "I'm Veronica, this is Jacob. What's your name?"
He answers, eventually, "Rukungu."
"Rukungu. Hi. It's nice to meet you. Can we come in and talk?"
After another long, wary moment Rukungu says, "No. I will come out."
* * *
"Where is Derek?" Rukungu asks, when they get back on the road.
He turns towards the perimeter of the camp. Veronica and Jacob follow. She tries to think of a way to break the news gently.
Jacob says, "Derek is dead."
Rukungu's pace doesn't even falter. "How?"
"He was abducted. We were too. Taken into the Congo. He was killed by Al-Qaeda and interahamwe."
"It was all over the news," Veronica says lamely. In this refugee camp the rest of the world might as well not exist.
"How did you find me?"
"I was Derek's best friend," Jacob says. Veronica winces at this avoidance of the truth.
"Derek said he told no one about me. No one."
Jacob hesitates. "He didn't. We followed your phone."
Rukungu looks at him and says nothing.
Veronica says, "We need your help. We need to know what's going on."
"I will speak only to Derek."
"You can't. I'm sorry. Derek is dead."
"Then I will speak to no one," Rukungu says flatly.
"We're trying to find out who killed him. Who was responsible," Jacob says. "I was his best friend."
"So you say," Rukungu stops and turns on Jacob, steps into his personal space, moving so suddenly that Veronica takes an alarmed step back. He looks ready for violence. "But how can I know this is the truth?"
Veronica can't think of any way to break the tense silence that follows.
Then Jacob smiles, as a light bulb visibly goes off in his mind. "I'll show you." He reaches for his hiptop. "Look."
Rukungu looks suspicious but grudgingly circles around to look as the much taller man punches buttons.
"This is us at university," Jacob says. "At a Nirvana concert, six months before Kurt Cobain killed himself. Twelve years ago now."
Veronica leans in, curious despite herself, and sees a picture of a two kids barely out of their teens; one is tall and skinny, the other shorter and pudgy, with unkempt hair and sallow skin. She recognizes both, but only barely.
"This is Derek?" Rukungu asks, and his voice echos her own amazement.
"Yep. And this is him when he got back from Bosnia." Jacob pushes keys, and then Derek appears again, still young but trim and muscular now, she can see the man he will become within his not-quite-fully-formed features. His dragon-tattooed arm is around a slender redhead. "And here's us in Thailand, a few years ago. Not my most flattering picture, but hey."
It's true: Jacob is lying on a beach, pale and pasty and rail-thin, staring up at the camera with bloodshot eyes. Derek is beside him reading a Martin Cruz Smith novel.
"I was badly hung over. His then-girlfriend took it. Then they broke up while I was there, it was awkward."
Rukungu looks at the pictures, then at Jacob, not quite convinced.
"Come on," Jacob says, exasperated. "What do you want, a notarized statement? We were best friends for twenty years. Ask me anything."
The African man asks, "Do you know Lydia?"
Jacob looks at Veronica, surprised, then back to Rukungu. "You mean the, the lady in the Hotel Sun City?"
"Yes. Yes, the Sun City. Is she still there? Is she well?"
"Sure. We saw her last week. We gave her money, I'm sure she's fine. But, I mean, you know she has… "
"Yes," Rukungu says shortly. "I know. Is she still strong?"
"Strong