Chapter Twenty-Six
Carlo leaned back in the business class seat, signaling for the flight attendant to take away the food he’d hardly touched. His flight had been delayed by a good three hours for no apparent reason, and his irritation was gnawing at him.
Ever since the flight had taken off, and he had been forced to switch off his internet connection, he had been stalked by some weird feeling. He’d forgotten to do something important, but couldn’t recall what. The notion would surface briefly, but would disappear into his subconscious as soon as he tried to put his finger on it.
Carlevaro East Africa’s precarious position had thrown everything else out of the picture, and all he could see was bloodshed as his father and uncle’s company was bulldozed to the ground. If it would have a ripple effect and spread to their Southeast Asia operations…
The flight delay had annoyed him, but had given him time to work out an action plan with Dino over the phone. He’d rung Dino as soon as the delay had been announced and they’d barked at each other for a good ten minutes. Then their mutual anxiety over the leak had given way to reason, and they’d gotten back in the same court.
He hadn’t told Dino about Simone’s part in exposing the poaching and trafficking. He had sure as hell been mad and disappointed, but the emotions had already passed. Simone didn’t have a malicious bone in her body and had acted out of her own sincere care for the company, with no other intention than to help him solve the mystery. He didn’t want her name linked to the sordid affair.
Either way, it was only a matter of time before the whole scandal came out, as it always did. And it was likely to get messy. He had no idea how big the syndicate that they were dealing with was, or how far they would go to protect their scheme. He didn’t want Simone involved anymore because he wanted to protect her and Sarah.
He also wasn’t in the mood for Angelo’s insinuating comments or disparaging remarks from Dino. If he’d known about Sarah, about the whole fuck-up of their relationship four years ago, he would never have assigned her to this investigation in the first place.
She wouldn’t have been in Dar es Salaam. She would have been in Rome. He cursed. She hadn’t replied to his last message about him going back to Rome. He didn’t expect her to be happy about it, but he hoped it would only be for a few weeks. He should have phoned her while he was still able to. Shifting in his seat, a pang of guilt shot through him. This whole thing reeked of déjà-vu. He slumped back in his seat. Not phoning her had been cowardly, an action fueled by his shock at her revelation about the leak and everything else that had kept him busy that day.
He groaned and waved the flight attendant away as she approached him with an offer of coffee. He’d phone Simone as soon as they landed at Heathrow.
He closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax. Dino and Angelo would get no sleep that night as they surveilled the second terminal. Alan Kaan and Brett Winser were no puppies, and the day ahead might be one long cockfight. It wasn’t only Carlevaro East Africa’s reputation that stood to be shredded by the poaching and trafficking allegations; every conservation shareholder had their head on the chopping block.
****
Simone stared at the mosquito net spanning the ceiling of her Zanzibar bed. Sleep was very distant as she still tried to formulate a response to Carlo’s message. It was fine for him to flee to Rome…she was sorry again…she would wait for him? In the bigger scheme of things, it didn’t matter. He had gone and whatever they’d needed to discuss could be resolved over email.
Her phone rang and she froze at the unexpected noise. Liz’s name appeared on the cracked screen and she braced herself. She didn’t have the energy to debrief the morning’s events with Liz, but Liz probably needed someone to talk to.
Could the poaching leak have reached the other managers? She braced herself to feign ignorance, in case Liz mentioned it. “Hey, Liz, are you all right?”
Liz breathed into the phone. “God, Simone, never mind this morning. I don’t know what to do. I’m spotting.”
She sat up, brushing her curls from her forehead. “What?”
“I’m bleeding.”
Her heart jerked in her chest at the implication of Liz’s words. “Oh God, is it heavy?”
“No, just a smudge or two.” Liz’s voice trembled. “I can’t help wondering if this morning…” She gulped. “This morning might have triggered something. It was too much.”
Simone wiped the image from her mind, trying to focus on her friend’s distress. “Have you phoned the doctor?” She closed her eyes. Liz was stuck in the middle of nowhere and was possibly losing her baby.
“I’m waiting for the clinic to call me back. It’s after hours, and the doctor on call is busy with another patient.”
It would be killing Liz not to be able to do anything. She glanced at her bedside clock. It was past ten at night. “Is James with you?”
“Yes, he told me to lie down.” Her voice quivered. “He hasn’t left my side since this morning. Carrying his freaking handgun.” Her voice croaked. “He hasn’t done that in years.”
What a mess. Of course, James would make sure nobody got close to Liz. But that was no way to run a lodge, never mind giving his wife some comfort. Hanging around Liz with a gun would probably have freaked her out more, making her think someone was about to jump out of the bushes to strangle her. She ignored her train of thought, focusing on the problem. “Lying down is good for a start, but you must see a doctor.”
“I know…I…” She broke down. “I don’t want to lose the baby, Simone.”
Simone swallowed. No. “Have you done a symptom search on the internet?”
“Yes,” she sobbed. “It just freaks me out. I’m so scared.”
It would freak her out too, and it wouldn’t help much either. “Tomorrow is Friday, there’s a flight from Selous to Dar es Salaam. James has the schedule and can see if there’s space on the flight. Get on the plane and go to the clinic. You can stay with me.”
“The lodge is at one hundred percent occupancy, Simone, I can’t drop everything and run.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Liz.” Simone shook her head. “Someone is threatening you. It’s enough excuse to leave mid-service. And this is your baby!” Carlo’s words returned to her in a split second. I would hate for her to risk her health and that of her baby because of work. “Carlo told me that—” She cursed under her breath. “Just trust me on this one, okay? I have it from the highest authority that you can drop everything. Just do it. I’ve nothing scheduled for tomorrow and I can take care of you. You’ll be safe in Dar.”
Liz was sobbing uncontrollably. Her too-comfy-with-the-boss glitch had gone unnoticed. “Don’t upset yourself more. Let them eat bread, Liz. You’ve got assistants. They should be able to keep the kitchen going for three or four days without blinking.” She hesitated a moment. “I think you need to get out of there, either way.”
Liz paused to blow her nose. “You’re right. They’ll have to get someone else if…if…”
Simone closed her eyes, praying that Liz wasn’t having a miscarriage.
“I’ll call you tomorrow when I’m at the clinic.” Liz blew her nose.
“I’ll come fetch you at the airport and take you there.”
“Thank you,” Liz said with a sniff.
“Lie down, put your feet up, and don’t move until you have to. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Her pulse raced as she rang off. Her fear for Liz overshadowed her own problems. She had no idea how far whoever was stalking Liz would go, but if she lost the baby… She breathed, thankful for her uneventful pregnancy with Sarah.
Minutes later her phone beeped a message. She wished it was Carlo, but there was no chance since he’d be flying.
We’re both coming tomorrow. James isn’t leaving me, bless his soul.
Yes, bless his soul. She got up and straightened the linen and plumped the pillows. If the Kings were coming she would sleep with Sarah. That way she wouldn’t have to change the linen again in the morning. It would calm her to be next to Sarah; it would probably be the only way she’d be able to sleep. She sent Ruth a short message asking her to come and take care of Sarah early enough that she could pick up Liz and James as soon as they’d landed.
Sarah was still asleep when she left for the airport the next morning. As Simone waited at a gridlocked intersection her phone rang. She picked it up but didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Simone?”
She would recognize Angelo’s voice anywhere. It had the same deep, sexy tones as Carlo’s but he had a thicker Italian accent.
“Hi, Angelo. How are you?”
“Listen,” he said, not responding to her niceties. “Dino and I are at the airport office. Can you come in for a meeting?”
She frowned. There was a strain in his voice, which unsettled her.
“I’m on my way to the airport to pick up Liz and James King. I should be there within the next thirty minutes.” She checked her watch. “With any luck.”
“Good.” He rang off without any further conversation and she dropped her phone in her lap. Why did he sound so tense? The call was unlike Angelo; he’d never been so curt with her before, almost to the point of being rude. Had James told Angelo about the killings in Liz’s kitchen? Surely it had come to the point where he should share this with executive management.
As the traffic crawled forward, foreboding settled in her stomach. What the hell had that been about?
She checked her watch as she drove into the terminal’s car park. In the bright morning sun it appeared innocent and harmless. Liz and James arrived only in half an hour so she had enough time to track down Angelo. As she got out of her air-conditioned car the heat hit her. She’d put on a mini skirt and a tank top, not anticipating a meeting with Angelo, but now she felt naked.
Screw it. She tossed her car keys into her handbag and lifted her shoulders back. If they wanted her dressed for the occasion they needed to call her in a timely fashion.
As Rebecca buzzed her into the office, people stopped talking and heads turned toward her. They weren’t used to seeing her like this—her curls wild and bouncing loose, her tanned legs bare. Everybody’s eyes traveled to the juncture where Carlo had been two days ago. Had Ross already spread his poison that she’d been sleeping with the boss?
“Mr. Carlevaro is waiting for you in the office,” Rebecca said, her usual smile absent.
Something was wrong, and it wasn’t just her dress. “What’s going on, Rebecca?”
Rebecca didn’t meet her gaze. “I’m not sure, but they’ve been here since I arrived this morning. I’m not sure they ever left last night.”
Simone walked past Rebecca’s desk to the fleet manager’s office, knocking on the closed door before going in.
Angelo and the fleet manager sat behind the desk, staring at two computer screens, whereas Dino stood by the window, hands in his pockets, his gaze on the apron and the aircraft taking off. Another man, with the logo of their security company on his breast pocket, stood behind Angelo. The men looked up as she entered and Dino turned around to face her. All four pairs of eyes shot daggers at her, and she recoiled under their scrutiny.
“It seems a perfect match,” the security man murmured to Angelo, almost absent-mindedly, as he turned to Dino.
“Hello, Simone,” Dino greeted her before turning his back on her again. He looked exhausted, almost gray in the sun that filled the room.
“Why are James and Liz King coming to Dar es Salaam?” Angelo asked.
She glanced at the fleet manager, who ignored her, typing away on his keyboard. It was such a warped situation, such a weird question; her breath stalled and she forced herself to inhale.
She had no right to divulge anything about Liz’s medical condition, but something told her the truth was important. “Liz is pregnant and I believe she might be miscarrying.”
“And?” Angelo snapped back.
He wanted more, but she didn’t know what to give him. They must know about the dead animals that had been planted in Liz’s kitchen. “A dead dik-dik was waiting in Liz’s kitchen yesterday morning. But you know about that?”
“Yes. We also know James King is a bloody fine shot and used to work as a ranger before he went into lodge management.” Angelo stared at her, the silence unbearable as he waited for her to respond.
Simone shrugged. That James had been a ranger wasn’t news. “I don’t understand.”
“I won’t be surprised if he is the one threatening his own wife to keep us all confused.”
The idea had never even entered her mind. “That’s ridiculous. Why would James even threaten Liz? To the point of triggering a miscarriage!”
“So that’s their reason for traveling here, is it? And what else?”
“What else is there?” She was unnerved by Angelo’s harsh tone. “I’m not a doctor, she’s coming to see one.”
“So you say.” Angelo voice was dry, angry. “Are you sure their little impromptu visit has nothing to do with the poaching that’s been going on, now that the cards are on the table? I mean, best get out of the country while you still can.”
She suppressed a curse. “What are you talking about?” Simone asked. “You’re going around in circles.”
“Get to the point, Angelo,” said Dino, without turning around. “Liz and James King will be considered separately. We don’t know the full backstory yet.”
Angelo stood from where he sat. “Noel Peters reported to us yesterday that the cameras they’ve installed malfunctioned on the day the tusks were flown from the Selous to Dar. How convenient. Also, they failed to follow the tracks you discovered at the plane that morning to anywhere significant.” He glared at her. “We’ve been studying the recorded footage from the security cameras in these offices. Carlo mentioned it and we thought last night that there could be footage linking the tusk delivery from Rufiji two days ago.”
Prickles rippled down her spine. “And?”
“See for yourself,” Angelo said, gesturing to her to take his seat.
She went around the desk, stepping over wiring and equipment from the security company that cluttered the floor, and dropped into the chair. The fleet manager shifted the screen slightly so it faced her. On the screen was a paused video clip.
“We made a copy of the salient part,” Angelo said. “The lighting isn’t great, but it’s good enough.”
Her heart throbbed at her temples, and she clenched her hands together to stop them from trembling.
Angelo leaned over her, brushing against her shoulder as he shifted the mouse to click on the play button. The touch shot a foreboding tremor down her spine, and she shifted in her chair to get away from him. She had no reason to be anxious, but as if Angelo sensed her agitation he straightened up and stepped away.
The video started with a noiseless, motionless, dead visual of the Carlevaro Air office’s desks. The footage was not very good, with a haziness about it, which was caused by the lack of light. The clip indicated that it was eleven o’clock at night, seconds ticking past in slow motion as nothing happened. A clang sounded first, metal against metal, a key turning in a lock. The office security gate swung open, and the back of someone’s head appeared on the screen.
A cap covered hair that was only barely restrained. Despite the black and white image there was no doubt that the person in the clip was a blonde. And had curls that escaped from the hole made by the strap at the back, and at the sides, effectively hiding the ears. The figure ambled into the room, back to the camera, revealing a tall body, the waist dipped in with a jacket of sorts that had been tied around the hips. The person wore a long-sleeved, female-cut shirt and cargo trousers that looked like Carlevaro Air’s standard issue. The dip in the waist and the curve of the hip that was covered by the jacket…made it look like a woman. Her right hand reached into the pocket of the jacket around her waist.
Simone peered closer at the screen, her eyes taking in the small details that were fuzzy to the eye. She snatched a breath and almost laughed. It was her—or at least it looked like her. Even worse, as the woman pulled something from her pocket, the footage had caught glimpses of a logo on the jacket’s arm. She didn’t need to look twice; she knew that logo by heart. “Aero Club South Africa.” It was the club where she had done her training and had completed her commercial license.
She chuckled, incredulous, trying to warm over the cold dread swamping her innards.
The woman moved to the safe, where the aircraft keys were kept, punched in the code, hung up a set of keys, and took one set out, which she pocketed. She closed the locker again and made sure it was locked by twisting the handle back and forth.
“Her hands look weird,” Simone said, her voice almost inaudible.
“We think she is wearing skin-colored surgical gloves,” the security guy said, his voice gruff.
“Why?” Simone could kick herself as the word slipped from her mouth.
“Fingerprints.” Angelo had leaned over her again and rested his hand on the back of her chair. “Which is pointless, given the footage, don’t you think?”
Simone bit her tongue as she watched the clip to the end. The woman didn’t turn to walk out, but retreated a few steps, turning her head to see if she’d left everything as she’d found it. When she reached the door, she slipped from the frame, but just in time for the video to catch the top of the cap. It was a plain cap, except for the classic Carlevaro logo embroidered on the front, the stock standard thing tourists could buy at all their hotel boutiques. Nothing gave the cap’s owner away, but inside her every cell liquefied. That cap was hers—for some reason she just knew it. The cap had been in the same drawer her old uniforms were stored in, and that drawer had been empty.
The whole clip was less than forty-five seconds long. It was quiet in the office. Her own heart pounded in her ears. Feet shuffled and she became aware of the droning of the air conditioning.
“Must we play it again?” Angelo’s voice was like a rough shake of the shoulders.
“That wasn’t me,” she said, her words falling into empty space.
“I’ll be damned,” Angelo hissed.
“Calm down, Angelo.” Dino’s voice was level but higher pitched than usual.
“That wasn’t me,” Simone repeated, wanting to say the words until they believed her. “What’s the clip supposed to prove?”
“The footage was taken two nights ago, Simone, when you came back from Seronera,” Dino said. “You were in Dar es Salaam that night. The rest we will figure out pretty quickly.”
She closed her eyes. She had the perfect alibi. Two nights ago, Carlo was thoroughly fucking her at around eleven o’clock at night. A smile crept up her throat but, at the same time, every muscle contracted with helplessness. She couldn’t blurt out that truth right now, right here.
She drew in a slow breath. They really thought it was her. They didn’t know about Sarah, they didn’t know about her and Carlo, and she was not going to be the one to tell them because that responsibility rested with Carlo. She sure as hell was not going to reveal to Angelo and Dino whom she’d been with in front of the fleet manager and some random security guy to save face. At least not without Carlo by her side, for how would that make her look? Ross’s words about trying to convince her to keep some sort of reputation intact had been haunting her, despite every effort to shrug them off. “I tell you again, it’s not me in that video.”
“What proof do you have? A trustworthy alibi, maybe?” The fleet manager, who until that moment hadn’t said a word, shook his head at her. His disappointment was almost tangible.
“None that I would like to share.” She got up, and the men stood back in unison. “Excuse me, I must find Liz and James. I’m taking them to the clinic.”
She walked to the door, but Dino called her back. “We need to complete our investigation, Simone. There will be criminal charges.”
She turned to Dino, then to Angelo. She lifted her hands in a ‘so-what’ gesture. There was no reason why she would be charged with anything. “Go for it. But please do yourself a favor and dig a little deeper before you start randomly accusing people.”
“We’re suspending you until this case is solved, Simone,” Angelo said. “We are appointing Ross O’Connor as the new fleet manager.”
She stared at him as his words sank in. In a few words Angelo had killed everything she’d worked for. Every minute she’d spent learning the ropes to manage that office had been reduced to nothing.
“It’s not only the video footage, Simone,” said the fleet manager, scrutinizing her face. “Carlo Carlevaro instructed me to take you off the candidate list.”
Carlo? Anger surged through her, hot and ready to burst. How dare he do this to her? How dare he interfere like this? She stared at the fleet manager in shock, her gaze jumping to Angelo, who stared at her blankly before looking away. Dino kept his back toward her.
She closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. There was no way that she’d ever work under Ross O’Connor. “Why bother,” she said, barely controlling the anger that wanted to spill from her mouth. “I’m resigning with immediate effect.”
“Simone—” Dino broke off with a sigh as if the fight had gone out of him.
“I’ll vacate my apartment once Liz is fit to travel back to work. They’ll only stay a couple of days with me.”
There was nothing left to say. She took her mobile out of her handbag and put it down on the table. Her locker key followed, and she shrugged as it clanged on the table. There was nothing of note in her locker. “This is all I have that belongs to the company.”
“We’ll need your resignation in writing,” the fleet manager said, without looking up from his desk, his jaw tight. “Don’t leave Tanzania without notifying us.”
By the sound of his last words she wouldn’t be able to leave at all.
“Sure.” She turned and walked out of the office, back straight and head held high. She didn’t turn to see the men’s reaction, but walked out of the office, the security door buzzing open as if by magic.