Cross Country Part 4

Part Three

CAMP

Chapter 79.

SO FAR, ADANNE'S connections were very good, and I was impressed by how quickly and efficiently she got things done.It took her only one brief conversation on the tarmac, and then one radio call, before the African Union sergeant in charge allowed us to board the C-130 freighter the following morning.We were in the air by six, the only civilian pa.s.sengers on a plane carrying millet, sorghum, and cooking oil to Darfur.The murder investigation continued, and now it was airborne and seemed to have more purpose than ever.I borrowed a situation map from one of the flight crew and saw that Darfur was about the size of Texas. If I was going to get anywhere, I had to run with a few a.s.sumptions-one, that the Tiger had been in Nyala at the time of the ma.s.sacre of the Shol family, and two, that Adanne's information was correct, and he might still be culling boys from camps for displaced persons in the area.Given all of that, how far would he have gotten in the past eighteen hours? That was the next question that had to be answered.During the flight, Adanne patiently told me much about Darfur and Sudan, and though she spoke in a low-key manner, there was no disguising the horrors-especially against women and children, thousands of whom were raped, then branded to increase their humiliation."Rape has become such a cruel weapon in this civil war. Americans have no idea, Alex. They couldn't possibly."Sometimes the Janjaweed will break a woman's legs first so she can't possibly escape and will be an invalid for the rest of her life. They like to flog victims; to break fingers one by one; to pull out fingernails," Adanne said in a voice that barely got above a whisper."Even some of the 'peacekeepers' are guilty of rape, and of using the refugees as prost.i.tutes. What's worse, the government of Sudan is behind much of it. You won't believe what you will see here, Alex.""I want to see it," I told her. "I made a promise to a man in Sierra Leone that I would tell Americans what was happening here."

Chapter 80.

"THIS IS KALMA." She pointed at a yellow triangle on the map. "It's one of the largest camps in Darfur. I'd wager that the Tiger knows it well. Everyone around here does.""What are the other colors?" I asked.There were more than a hundred camps in all, Adanne explained. Green meant inaccessible during rainy season, and blue was closed to nonmilitary aid organizations, based on current fighting conditions. Raima's yellow meant open.That's where we would start our Tiger hunt."And these?" I ran a finger over a line of red flame icons. There were dozens of them.Adanne sighed before answering my question."Red is for villages that are confirmed destroyed. The Janjaweed burn everything they can-food stores, livestock. They put human and animal carca.s.ses down the wells, too.Anything to ensure that no one comes back. In Arabic, Janjaweed means 'man with a gun on horseback! "These were the Arab militias, widely believed to be supported by the current government in a vicious campaign to make life as unsafe as possible for black Africans in the region. An unthinkable two million people had already fled their homes and more than two hundred thousand had died. Two hundred thousand that we knew of.It was Rwanda all over again. In fact, it was worse. This time the whole world was watching and doing almost nothing to help.I looked out my porthole window at the Sahel landscape twelve thousand feet below.It was actually quite beautiful from up here-no civil war, no genocide, no corruption. Just an endless, peaceful stretch of tan, sculpted earth.Which was a lie, of course.A beautiful, very diabolical lie.Because we were about to land in h.e.l.l.

Chapter 81.

AT THE BASE in Nyala, we secured a ride out to the Kalma Camp with a five-truck convoy carrying sacks of grain and crates of F75 and F100 baby formula. Adanne seemed to know everyone here, and I found it interesting to watch her work. Her gracious smile, not her attractiveness, seemed to be her secret. I saw it succeed again and again with people who were overworked and stressed to their limits.Camp seemed like the wrong word once I actually saw Kalma.Yes, there were tents and lean-tos and stick-straw huts, but they stretched for miles and miles. One hundred and fifty thousand people lived here. That's a city. And one that was overflowing with unbearable suffering and heartbreak and death by everything from Janjaweed attacks, to dysentery, to childbirth without drugs, and usually without a doctor or midwife.Around the camp's center were some signs of permanence, at least. A small open-air school was in session, and there were a few walled buildings with corrugated tin roofs, where limited food supplies were still available.Adanne knew exactly where we should go first. She took me to the United Nations' Commission on Refugees tent, where a young soldier agreed to do some translating for us, although many of the refugees knew bits of English.The soldier's name was Emmanuel, and he had the same kind of sinewy height, dark skin, and deep-set eyes I'd seen on many of the so-called Lost Boys who had emigrated to DC over the years. Emmanuel spoke English, Arabic, and d.i.n.ka."Most of the people here are Fur," he told us as we started down a long dirt avenue. "And eighty percent are abused women."Most of their men are dead, or looking for work, or for resettlement," added Adanne. "This is the most vulnerable city in the world, Alex. No exception. You will find out for yourself."It was easy to see what Adanne and Emmanuel were talking about. Most of the people we found to speak with were women who were working outside their shelters. They reminded me of Moses and his friends, because of how eager they were to share their terrible stories with someone from the outside.One woman, Madina, cried as she wove a straw mat and told us about coming to Kalma. The Janjaweed had destroyed her village and killed and mutilated her husband, her mother, and father. Most of her neighbors and friends were burned alive in their huts.Madina had arrived with three children and literally nothing else. Tragically, all three of her children had died at the camp.The sleeping mats she made were in demand because of dooda worms, which came out of the ground at night and burrowed into the refugees' skin. Whatever she earned went toward onions and grain, though she hoped to have enough to buy a patch of cloth one day. She'd been wearing the same toab since she'd gotten here."When was that?" Adanne asked."Three years ago" was Madina's sad answer. "One for each of my children."

Chapter 82.

"I HAVEN'T LOST sight of your Tiger," Adanne said as we trudged along. "He recruits boys here. It's easy for him.""You were right about the horror, Adanne," I told her.I was eager to speak with people in as many sectors of the camp as possible, but when we came to one of the few medical tents, I had to stop again. 1 had never seen such a bewildering sight in my entire life.The tent was overflowing with sick and dying patients, two and more to a cot. Bodies were jigsaw-puzzled into every available s.p.a.ce. To make matters worse, long lines extended outside, at least three hundred very sick women and children waiting for treatment, or for a better place to die."Sadly, there's little to be done to stop their suffering," Adanne told me. "Medication is scarce, much of it stolen before it can get here. There is starvation, pneumonia, malaria. Even diarrhea can be fatal-and with the water and sanitation problems, there is no end to it."I saw one doctor and two volunteer nurses. That was it. The entire hospital staff for thousands of very sick people."This is what they call the 'second phase' of the crisis," Adanne went on. "More people dying inside the camps than outside. Thousands. Every single day, Alex. I told you that it was horrifying.""You understated," I said. "This is unimaginable. All these people. The children."1 knelt down by a little girl in one of the few beds. Her eyes were clouded and looked unreal. I brushed away a buzzing cl.u.s.ter of black flies gathered at her ear."How do you say 'G.o.d be with you'?" I asked Emmanuel."Allah ma'ak," he told me.I said it to the tiny girl, though I don't know if she heard me."Allah ma'ak."Somewhere along the way today, I'd stepped away from a terrible, terrible murder investigation and into an unbelievable holocaust. How was this possible in our world? Thousands dying like this every day?Adanne put a hand on my shoulder. "Alex? Are you ready to go? We should move on. You are here for the Tiger, not for this. There's nothing you can do about this."I could hear in her voice that she'd seen all this before, many times probably."Not yet," I said. "What needs doing around here? Anything?"Emmanuel's quick answer was not what I expected."That depends. Can either of you handle a rifle?"

Chapter 83.

FOR THE NEXT few minutes, Adanne explained what should have been obvious to me-that the simple act of gathering firewood was one of the most dangerous parts of life at Kalma.Janjaweed patrols were always present in the desert, and not far from the camp. Anyone venturing out took the risk of being raped, shot to death, or both. The wood gatherers, desperate women and their children, depended on AU escorts when they could get them; mostly, though, they were forced to take their chances alone. No firewood meant no way to feed your family.Emmanuel secured me an older model M16, which had been retrofitted with a decent scope."Don't hesitate to fire," he told me. "Because, I promise you, the Janjaweed will not. They are skilled fighters, even while riding on horses or camels.""I won't hesitate," I promised, and I felt Adanne grab hold of my elbow, then let go."You're sure about this, Alex?" she asked. "You want to get involved?""I'm sure."An hour or so later, we set out with an intrepid group of two dozen women wood gatherers.Several had swaddled babies on their backs. One had brought a donkey with an old fork-shaped cart for carrying wood.I needed to do this, to help in some way if I could. I knew this about myself: It was my nature. Adanne came too because, she said, "I feel responsible for you now. I brought you here, didn't I?"

Chapter 84.

YEARS OF WOOD foraging, moving farther and farther from the camp, had turned this into a long and scary walk.I used the time to talk with as many of the women as possible. Only one, it turned out, had any information about the missing boys and possibly the Tiger."She says there is a hut in her sector," Emmanuel told me."Three boys were sharing it. But now they are gone.""I thought that wasn't unusual," I said."Yes, except they left their things behind. She says a large man in fatigues was sighted in the camp. She was told he was the Tiger.""Did any of the missing boys have parents in the camp?" I asked."No parents.""And did anyone see the boys leave?" "They left with the enormous man."After two hours of walking, we finally came to a long line of low, skeletal brush. The women spread gathering cloths on the ground and set to breaking down the brush. Adanne and I pitched in while Emmanuel kept watch for Janjaweed patrols on the horizon.Without translation, we were mostly reduced to eye contact and gestures as we worked side by side with the gatherers. The women seemed oblivious to the scratches that appeared up and down their arms. They easily outpaced us newcomers and tried not to laugh at our clumsiness.One young mother and I fell into a kind of unspoken communication, making faces at each other like little kids. She stuck out her blue-tattooed lip. I held up two sticks like antlers. That one got a real laugh out of her. She put her hand up to her mouth, not quite hiding a brilliant white smile.But then the mother stopped short.Her hand came down slowly as her eyes fixed on something in the distance.I turned around-but all I could see was a far-off dust cloud.And then Emmanuel started shouting for everyone to run!"Go quickly! Now! Get out of here! Go back to camp!"

Chapter 85.

JANJAWEED!I could see them now. Maybe a dozen armed killers were riding toward us on horseback.There was a vapor, a kind of mirage that made it hard to tell the exact number. Either way, their pace didn't leave much to the imagination. They were coming for us-fast.Two of the women, one with a child fiercely holding on to her blouse, were still unhitching the communal donkey."Get them out of here!" I shouted at Adanne. "You go with them. Please, Adanne.""Is there another weapon?" she yelled back."No," Emmanuel answered. "Distance is your weapon right now. Go! For G.o.d's sake, go! Take them back to camp."Emmanuel and I had to make a stand.We took up a position behind the abandoned donkey cart. I was using it as a brace for the rifle more than as cover.Our best hope was that we were on the ground-while they would be firing from horseback.I could see them through my scope now, eleven killers, bearded males in baggy fatigues, waving Kalashnikov rifles.Just coming into range.The first shots came from them.Sand kicked up on either side of us. They rode a little wide of the mark, but still too close. They weren't amateurs. They were already yelling threats at us, confident about the final result. Why not? They outnumbered us eleven to two."Now?" I finally said to Emmanuel."Now!" he shouted.We fired back four shots, and two were hits. The killers slumped on their horses-like someone had dropped their puppet strings -then fell to the ground. One of them was trampled under his own horse. It looked like his neck had snapped.Even as I pulled the trigger again, it registered with me:Everything changes now. First kill in Africa.I heard a scream behind me, and my gut seized. One of the fleeing women had been hit, either by a stray shot or on purpose.Not Adanne, I saw with a quick check over my shoulder.She was keeping low, trying to get to the wounded woman, who was writhing on the ground. She'd only been shot in the arm. Only.When I turned toward the Janjaweed again, two of the riders had stopped. They were jumping down off their horses, not to help their brothers but to get off a better shot at us.The others kept coming fast. They were maybe fifty to sixty yards away now.Emmanuel and I had the same instinct. We fired on the lead riders, quick shot after shot. Then at the two who were on flat ground. Three more of the Janjaweed went down in the next half minute or so.Then Emmanuel screamed, dropped, and began twisting in pain on the ground.And the rest of the Janjaweed were on us.

Chapter 86.

DUST WAS KICKED up everywhere. That was probably a good thing. They had to fire blindly-but so did I. The gunfire from all the rifles was deafening at this range.One of the riders tore through the dust cloud and swept right past me. On instinct, I grabbed at his leg and held on. The momentum took me off my feet. I got dragged along for a second or two, and then the rider spun off his horse and crashed heavily to the ground.I grabbed his rifle and kept it at my feet. I fired and wounded another of the riders. And then another, in the stomach. They had been c.o.c.ky-because the wood gatherers usually couldn't fight back-but they weren't well trained, and not many men can fire accurately from horseback, despite what Emmanuel had said.I saw three of the riders break ranks and retreat. It gave me some hope-not a lot, but some.I rushed to the fallen rider I'd pulled from his horse. I pushed his head down into the ground, then got off a hard punch that struck the hollow of his throat."Don't move!" I yelled. He didn't need English to know what I was saying. He stayed very still where he was."Alex!"A voice came from behind me.It was Adanne.She and another woman stood swinging pieces of firewood at the last rider's horse to keep him away. Several of the women were on the ground, hands over their heads. I'm sure they still thought they were going to die.Adanne swung again, and the horse reared up onto its hind legs. The rider lost his grip and fell."Alex, go!"I looked and saw Emmanuel had propped himself up. He was covering the Janjaweed from his place on the ground.I took off at a sprint.The downed rider near the women was just getting up again. I yanked my rifle around as I came up on him. He looked at me in time to take the stock in the face. His nose exploded."Adanne, take his gun. Are you all right?" I asked her."I will be."Emmanuel was calling to me, screaming. "Let them go, Alex! Let them go!"I didn't hold back. "What are you talking about? We have to bring them in."Even as I spoke, the truth of the situation settled over me. Same game, different rules."No use arresting the Janjaweed," Adanne said. "They know the government. The government knows them. It only brings more trouble to the camps. The UN can't help. No one canI kept the Janjaweed's rifle, but motioned for him to get on his horse.And then the strangest thing happened. He laughed at me. He rode away laughing.

Chapter 87.

THE UN CAN'T help. No one can. This was what the refugees in the camp at Kalma believed, what they knew to be true, and now I knew it too.But the survivors at the camp also knew how to be thankful for small favors and good intentions.That night, several of the women used their precious firewood to make a meal for the three of us, as thanks for helping them. I couldn't imagine taking food from these people, but Emmanuel told me it was the only proper response.He shocked me by showing up for the supper, bandaged and smiling, with a bag of onions he'd nicked for the occasion.Then we all shared kisra and vegetable stew around the cookfire, eating right-handed only from a common bowl. It felt like the right thing to do, almost like a religious experience, special in so many ways.These were good people, caught in a terrible situation not of their making.And yet, even they talked freely of frontier justice, the violent kind. A woman proudly told us how criminals were dealt with by the people in her village. They would all rush forward, stab the offending person, put a tire filled with gasoline around his neck, and then light it. No trials, no DNA testing, apparently no guilt from the vigilantes either.Adanne and I were treated like guests of honor at dinner. There was a steady stream of visitors and a lot of laying on of hands.When Emmanuel wasn't around to translate, I got the gist of the d.i.n.ka or Arabic from the warmth in the voices and the body language.Several times, I heard something that sounded like Ali in the middle of sentences. Adanne picked up on it too.She leaned near me at one point and said, "They think you look like Muhammad Ali.""That's what they're saying?""It's true, Alex. You do look like him, when he was world champion. He's still very well loved here, you know." She nodded with her chin and smiled at a group of younger women hovering nearby. "1 think you've made a few girlfriends in the bargain.""Does that make you jealous?" I asked, grinning, happier and more relaxed than I'd been in many days.A little girl crawled uninvited onto her lap and curled up."The word's not in my vocabulary," she said. Then she smiled."Maybe a little bit. For tonight anyway."I was finding that I liked Adanne very much. She was courageous and resourceful, and Father Bombata was right about her: She was a good person. I had seen her risk her life for the wood gatherers today, and maybe because she felt responsible for me.We stayed late into the evening, as the crowd got steadily bigger. Actually, the adults came and went, but the kids pooled all around us. It was an audience I couldn't resist, and neither could Adanne. She was very free and easy around children.With Emmanuel's help, I got up and told an improvised version of one of my own kids' favorite bedtime stories.It was about a little boy who wanted nothing more than to learn to whistle. This time, I named him Deng."And Deng tried-" I puffed out my cheeks and blew, and the kids rolled all over one another as though it were the funniest thing they had ever heard. They probably liked that I could be silly and laugh at myself."And he tried-" I bugged my eyes and blew right in their faces, and when they continued to laugh, it was more than a little gratifying, like an oasis in the middle of everything that had gone on since I'd come to Africa."You like children, don't you?" Adanne asked after I'd finished the story and come back to sit beside her. She had tears in her eyes from the laughing."I do. Do you have children, Adanne?"She shook her head and stared into my eyes. Finally she spoke. "I can't have children, Alex. I was...when I was very young... I was raped. They used the handle of a shovel. It's not important. Not to me, not anymore." Adanne smiled then. "I can still enjoy children, though. I love the way you were with them."

Chapter 88.

THE NEXT MINUTE or so seemed like they couldn't be happening. Not that night. Not any night.The Janjaweed had come back. They seemed to appear out of nowhere, like ghosts out of the darkness. The ambush was brazen and sudden; they had come right into the camp.It was hard to tell their number, but there must have been a couple of dozen of them. I thought I recognized one, the man I had released, the one who'd laughed at me.These Janjaweed were on foot-they had no horses or camels. They had guns and also knives and camel whips; a couple of them wielded spears.One man waved the flag of Sudan as if they were here on the state's business, and possibly they were. Another carried a flag with a white fierce horseman on a dark blue background, the symbol of the Janjaweed.The women and children of the camp, who had been laughing and playing just a minute before, were screaming and trying to scatter out of harm's way now.The attack was satanic in its viciousness; it was pure evil, like the murder scenes I'd visited in Washington..Grown men slashed away at defenseless refugees or shot them down. The thatched roofs of huts were set on fire not twenty feet away from me. An elderly man was lit on fire.Then more Janjaweed arrived, with camels, horses, and two Land Cruisers mounted with machine guns. There was nothing but killing, cutting, slashing, screaming to heaven-no other purpose to this attack.I fought off a few of the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, but there wasn't anything I could do to stop so many. I understood the way the people of this camp, of this country, understand: No one can help us.But that night someone did. Finally, Sudanese regulars and a few UN troops arrived in jeeps and vans. The Janjaweed began to leave. They took a few women and animals with them.Their last senseless and vengeful act: They burned down a grain shed used for storing millet.I finally found Adanne, and she was cradling a child who had watched her mother die.Then everything was strangely quiet except for the people's sobbing and the low winds of the harmattan.

Chapter 89.

IT WAS GETTING close to morning when I finally laid myself down in a tent with a straw mat on the floor. It had been provided to me by the Red Cross workers, and I was too tired to argue that I didn't need a roof over my head.The flap of the tent opened suddenly and I got up on one elbow to see who it was."It's me, Alex. Adanne. May I come in?""Of course you can." My heart pumped in my chest.She stepped inside and sat down beside me on the mat."Terrible day," I said in a hoa.r.s.e whisper."It's not always this bad," she said. "But it can be worse.The Sudanese soldiers knew a reporter was in the camp. And an American. That's why they came to chase away the Janjaweed. They don't want bad press if they can possibly avoid it."I shook my head and started to smile. So did Adanne.They weren't happy smiles. I knew that what she had said was true, but it was also ridiculous and absurd."We're supposed to share the tent, Alex," Adanne finally said. "Do you mind?""Share a tent with you? No, I think I can handle that. I'll do my best."Adanne stretched herself out on the mat. She reached out and patted my hand. Then I took her hand in mine."You have someone-back in America?" she asked."I do. Her name is Bree. She's a detective too.""She's your wife?""No, we're not married. I was-once. My first wife was killed. It was a long time ago, Adanne.""I'm sorry to ask so many questions, Alex. We should sleep now."Yes, we should sleep.We held hands until we drifted off. Only that- hand-holding.

Chapter 90.

THE FOLLOWING DAY, we left the camp at Kalma. Nine refugees had died during the nighttime attack; another four were still missing. If this had happened in Washington, the entire city would be in an uproar now.Emmanuel was one of the dead, and they had cut off his head, probably because of his partic.i.p.ation when we'd fought back earlier.A mutual hunch took Adanne and me to the Abu Shouk camp, the next-largest settlement in the region. The reception there was more ambivalent than we'd gotten at Kalma.A big fire the night before had made personnel scarce, and we were told to wait at the main administrative tent until we could be processed."Let's go," I said to Adanne after we'd waited nearly an hour and a half.She had to run to catch up with me. I was already headed up a row of what looked like shelters. Abu Shouk was much more uniform and dismal than Kalma. Nearly all of the buildings were of the same mud-brick construction."Go where?" Adanne said when she came up even with me."Where the people are.""All right, Alex. I'll be a detective with you today."Three hours later, Adanne and I had managed half a dozen almost completely unproductive conversations, with Adanne attempting to serve as translator. The residents were at first as friendly as those in Kalma, but as soon as I mentioned the Tiger, they shut down or just walked away from us. He had been here before, but that was all the people would tell us.We finally came to an edge of the camp, where the sand plain continued on toward a range of low tan mountains in the distance, and probably bands of Janjaweed."Alex, we need to go back," Adanne said. She had the tone of a person putting her foot down. "Unfortunately, this has been unproductive, don't you think? We're nearly dehydrated, and we don't even know where we're sleeping tonight. We'll be lucky to get a ride into town"-she stopped and looked around-"if we can even find our way back to the admin tent before dark."The place was like an impossible maze, with rows of identical huts wherever we looked. And so many displaced people, thousands and thousands, many of them sick and dying.I took a deep breath, fighting off the day's frustration. "All right. Let's go. You're right."We started picking our way back and had just come around a corner, when I stopped again. I put a hand out to keep Adanne from taking another step. "Hold up. Don't move," 1 said quietly.I had spotted a large man ducking out of one of the shelters. He was wearing what I'd call street clothes anywhere else. Here, they marked him as an outsider.He was huge, both tall and broad, with dark trousers, a long white dashiki, and sungla.s.ses under a heavy brow and shaved head.I took a step back, just out of sight.It was him. I was sure it was the same b.a.s.t.a.r.d I'd seen at Chantilly. The Tiger-the one I was chasing."Alex-""Shh. That's him, Adanne.""Oh, my G.o.d, you're right!"The man gestured to someone out of sight, and then two young boys walked out of the shelter behind him. One was n.o.body to me. The other wore a red-and-white Houston Rockets jersey. I recognized him instantly from Sierra Leone.Adanne gripped my arm tightly and she whispered,"What are you going to do?"They were walking away but were still in plain sight."I want you to wait five minutes and then find your way back. I'll meet you.""Alex!" She opened her mouth to say more but stopped.It was probably my eyes that told her how serious I was. Because I had realized that everything I'd been told was true. The rules I knew just didn't apply here.There was no taking him in-no transporting him back to Washington.I was going to have to kill the Tiger, possibly right here in the Abu Shouk camp.I had few qualms about it either. The Tiger was a murderer.And I had finally caught up with him.

Chapter 91.

I HUNG BACK, following the killer at a distance. It sure wasn't hard to keep him in sight. I had no specific plan. Not yet.Then I saw a shovel sitting unattended outside somebody's hut. I took it and kept moving.It was just past sunset, a time when everything looked tinted with blue, and sound carried. Maybe he heard me, because he turned around. I ducked out of sight, or at least I hoped so.The huts along the footpath were packed in tightly. I wedged myself into a foot-wide gap between two of them. The walls on either side were crude mud-brick. They grated on my arms as I tried to push my way through and get the Tiger back in sight.I had made it about halfway, when one of his young thugs stepped out into the alley.He didn't move. He just shouted something in Yoruban.When I looked over my shoulder, Houston Rockets was at the other end of the alley. I could see the white of his grin but not his eyes in the dim half-light."It's him," he called out in a high-pitched voice, almost a giggle. "The American cop!"Something slammed hard into the wall inside the hut. The entire hut buckled, and large chunks of dried mud fell into the alley."Again!" Houston Rockets yelled.I realized what was happening-they meant to crush me in the narrow pa.s.sageway.The whole wall exploded then. Bricks and debris and dirt poured down on my head and shoulders.I waded forward, took a hard swing, and struck the nearest punk with my shovel.And then-I found myself face-to-face with the Tiger.

Chapter 92.

"NOW YOU WILL die," he said to me matter-of-factly, as if the deed were a foregone conclusion.I didn't doubt that he was telling the truth.He looked incredibly calm, his eyes barely registering emotion as he reached forward and grabbed me by the arm and throat. My only thought was to hold on to the shovel, and to swing it if I got the chance.He threw me back down the alley as easily as if I were a child. No, a child's doll. I landed hard on splintering wood and plaster. Something sharp sliced into my back.I registered Houston Rockets blocking the other escape route. There was nowhere for me to run.The Tiger came charging at me. So I swung the shovel as hard as I could, going for the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's knees.The shovel head connected-not a home run, but maybe a double. The Tiger buckled, but he didn't go down. Unbelievable. I'd hit him in the kneecaps and there he stood, glowering at me."That's all you have?" he said.It was as though he didn't feel anything at all. So I raised the shovel again and struck his left arm. He must have been hurt, but he didn't show it, his face revealing no more emotion than a wall of slate."Now-my turn," he said. "Can you take a punch?"Suddenly a floodlight hit my eyes. There were voices behind it. Who was there?"Ne bouge pas!"I heard footsteps scuffing on the dirt and the metallic rustle of guns. Suddenly, green-helmeted AU soldiers were in the alley with us, three of them."Laisse la tomber!" one of the soldiers yelled.It took a second to realize I was just as much a suspect here as the Tiger. Or, worse - maybe I was the only suspect.I dropped the shovel and didn't wait for any more questions. "This man is wanted in the United States and Nigeria for murder. I'm a policeman.""Tais-toi!" One of the soldiers said and put his rifle right in my face. Jesus! The last thing I wanted was to have my nose broken again."Listen to me! Ecoutez-moi!" This was a Senegalese platoon, and my French wasn't the greatest. The scene was getting more insane and out of control by the second. "He's got two accomplices. Deux garcons, vous comprenez? They are all murderers!"That last remark got me a punch in the gut. I doubled over, trying to catch my breath while the Tiger just stood there, mute, uttering not a word of protest.Perfectly calm. Smarter than I was.And in control? I wondered.

Chapter 93.

THEY BROUGHT US both out of the alley at gunpoint and made us kneel in the dirt. A crowd had gathered, maybe a couple hundred people already.There were only five AU troops on the scene, barely enough to cover us and keep everyone else back a few yards. Several people were pointing-at the Tiger. Because he was so large? Or because they knew who he was? Or maybe how dangerous?"Alex? Alex?" I heard Adanne's voice, and nothing could have sounded more welcome to me.Then I saw her push through the crowd to the front. Her eyes went wide when she spotted the Tiger kneeling a few feet away from me. He saw her too."Let me through! I'm with the Guardian." She took an ID out of her pocket, but a soldier shoved her back.She called out to me again, and she kept yelling, risking her own safety. "Alex! Tell them that the Guardian is doing your story! Tell them the Guardian is here. I will write their story."But then my ears took in something else-'the high-pitched whine of a vehicle traveling in reverse!Was that right? Was I hearing it correctly? Who was coming now?The crowd on one side started to stir, from the rear at first. Then people were scattering wildly, screaming or cursing.Everything was turning to chaos, even worse than it had been.I could see a black pickup truck now, backing toward us at high speed. It weaved recklessly along the very narrow street, taking out several shade canopies as it came. There were gunshots too, possibly coming from the truck.The AU team scrambled back first. Then the truck stopped twenty yards away.Houston Rockets was in the back, shielding himself with a young girl. She was maybe twelve or thirteen. He had one arm around her throat. His other hand-held high over his head-was holding a grenade for everyone to see.The Tiger wasted no time. He jumped up and ran for the truck. The pa.s.senger door opened for him and he disappeared inside.I saw his huge hand come out and slap the roof hard.As the pickup raced away, the young girl was thrown from the back. Thank G.o.d for that anyway.But as we watched in shock, she clawed the air with both arms and hit the ground with her head. Then she exploded!Houston Rockets must have shoved the grenade into the girl's clothing. They had no reason to kill her. The murder was just for show-or maybe for my eyes.Or Adanne's?

Chapter 94.

THE NEXT MORNING, we returned to Lagos, exhausted and with heavy hearts. Clearly, this kind of insanity happened often here. How could the people bear it?Adanne insisted that her family put me up for a day or so."Whatever you need, Alex. I want to get this killer as badly as you do. I've written about him enough."She had her own apartment in the city, but we drove to her parents' house on a part of Victoria Island-to a side of this fascinating megacity that I hadn't seen before.The streets here were wide and clean, with no buildings taller than two stories. Most of the homes sat behind yellow or pink stucco walls. Still, there was a familiar smell of fruit and flowers decaying in the air.Adanne pulled up to a gate and punched in a code."Alex," she said before we got out of her car, "I prefer to save my parents the stress and worry. I told them we've been in Abuja. They're worried about civil war.""Okay," I agreed. "Abuja it is.""Thank you. You're very kind," she whispered up close to my ear. "Oh, here they are. They'll think you're a new boyfriend. But I'll clear that up, don't worry."Everyone was coming out through the carport to the parking pad as we pulled in. I was still pondering the idea of Adanne's new boyfriend.Two boys, adorable, smiling twins in school uniforms and undone neckties, appeared. They were elbowing each other to be the first to open Adanne's door.There were hugs all around for Adanne and then introductions for me. I was a policeman from America who was helping her with an important story. I was not a new boyfriend. Adanne had everyone laughing about that absurdity within seconds. Ha, ha, what a comedienne she was.

Chapter 95.

I MET HER mother, Somadina, her father, Uchenna, her sister-in-law, Nkiru, and the nephews, James and Calvin. They couldn't have been warmer or nicer people. It seemed utterly natural to them that a complete stranger should come stay in their home for an unspecified amount of time.The house was a modest one-story but with lots of windows and interesting views. From the foyer, I saw a walled backyard with tamarind trees and flower gardens. I could smell the hibiscus, even from inside.Adanne showed me to her father's office. The walls in here, like in Adanne's office at the Guardian, were covered with framed news stories.I noticed that a couple of them dealt with a gang of killer boys, and the man who led them. The name Tiger wasn't used, however."Are these all yours?" I asked, looking around. "You've been a busy girl, haven't you?"She was a little sheepish now, the first embarra.s.sment I bad seen from her."Let's say I've never had to wonder if my father is proud of me. My mother as well."I also noticed a framed military portrait on the desk-a young soldier with Adanne's features and her eyes."Your brother?""Kalu, yes." She went over and picked it up. Instantly there was sadness in her eyes."He was with the Engineering Corps. My big brother. I adored him, Alex. You would have liked him."I wanted to ask what had happened to him, but I didn't."I'll tell you, Alex. Two years ago, he went to Niku-for a meeting at the Ministry of Urban Development. There was a dinner that night. A private function at a popular restaurant. No one knows exactly what happened, but all fifteen people there were found dead. They were ma.s.sacred with guns and machetes."The Tiger? I wondered. And his killer hoys? Was that why she had written about him? And maybe why I was here now? Was everything finally coming together?Adanne set the picture down with a sigh. Then she absently ran her fingers through her braids. Once again, I couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was. Stunning, really. There was no getting around it."That was the first time I ever heard of the Tiger. Only because I did my own digging. The 'official' investigation by the police went nowhere. As usual.""And you're still digging?" I asked.She nodded. "Maybe someday I can tell my parents that Kalu's murder is solved. That would be the greatest thing, 'make my career,' as they say. In the meantime, we don't talk about it here, you understand?""I understand. And I'm sorry.""No need for that, Alex. I'm working on a story that's larger and more important than any particular killer. It's about the people who hire them, the ones who want to control our country. Honestly, the story scares even me."For a few seconds, neither of us said anything, which was unusual for us. We looked at each other, and there was a sudden but undeniable charge in the silence.Like most of the men she met, no doubt, I wanted to kiss Adanne, but I held myself back. I didn't want to insult her or dishonor her parents, or, more important, Bree.She smiled at me. "You are a good man, Alex. I wasn't expecting that-in an American."

Chapter 96.

I EXCUSED MYSELF for a few minutes and borrowed Adanne's mobile to make a call. I didn't think Ian Flaherty would pick up, but I wanted to at least try and reestablish contact with the CIA.So I was surprised when Flaherty answered on the second ring, and then shocked when he knew it was me calling."Cross?""Flaherty? How did you do that?""Caller ID, ever heard of it?""But-""Tansi. Your girlfriend's name is on the AU flight record along with yours. I've been looking everywhere for you. Both of you-she's a celebrity too. Writes controversial articles, one after the other. She's a big deal down here. We need to talk. Seriously. You finally have my interest. And so does your killer, the Tiger.""Hang on a second. Slow down I'd forgotten how quickly Flaherty could p.i.s.s me off. "You've been looking for me? Since when? I only tried you about sixteen times.""Since I learned something you want to know.""What do you mean?"He didn't answer right away "I mean, I found out something you want to know."It was suddenly obvious to me that he didn't trust the phone line. I stopped to regroup for a second and picked up a pen from the desk."Where can I meet you?""Let's say tomorrow, same time as before, at the place on that card I gave you. You know what I'm talking about, Detective Cross?"He meant the bank on Broad Street but didn't want to name it, obviously. It was a Victoria Island location, so it was perfect for me."Got it. I'll see you then.""And dress nice, Detective. Wear a tie or something.""A tie?" I said. "What are you talking about?"But he'd already hung up on me.The p.r.i.c.k.

Chapter 97.

EVERYONE WAS WAITING for me on the patio after my call-with palm wine and kola nuts untouched until I got there.First though, Adanne's father, Uchenna, blessed the nuts in the Yoruban custom, and the boys, James and Calvin, pa.s.sed them around.Adanne seemed to be finding my visit either very joyful or amusing, and she was smiling all the time. I could tell she was happy to be home.Then the boys got me into a little backyard soccer. The twins were either polite or genuinely impressed that I could juggle the ball a little, even as they schooled me up and down the yard. But it felt good to be running around with the kids. Nice boys. Not killers.Dinner was a chicken stew called egusi-and fufu, which is pounded yam for dipping in the broth. There were also fried plaintains, served with a spiced tomato sauce that could have taken the paint off a car. The family setting seemed familiar to me, yet different at the same time, and I ate easily the best meal I'd had in Africa.Uchenna's favorite topic clearly seemed to be his daughter, Adanne. I learned more about her in those few hours than in all the time she and I had spent together before coming back to Lagos. Adanne jumped in to tell her own version of a few of her father's stories, but when Somadina dragged out the baby pictures, she surrendered and went off to the kitchen to clean up.While she was gone, the conversation got more serious, and her father spoke of the tragic murders of Christians in northern Nigeria, and then of the reprisals by Christians in the east. He told me the story of a Christian schoolteacher who was recently beaten to death by her Muslim students.Finally, Uchenna talked about the provocative newspaper articles his daughter wrote on a weekly basis and said how dangerous they were.But mainly there was laughter in the house that night. Already I felt at home. This was a good family, like so many families here in Lagos.After Nkiru took the boys to bed and Adanne rejoined the group, the conversation turned to politics and grownup talk again. There had been four bombings in Bayelsa State that week, down in the Delta region near the oil fields. The pressure for Nigeria to split into independent states was growing along with the violence all around the country."It is all about bad men. All of it, always has been," Adanne said. "It's time that the world was run by women. We want to create, not destroy. Yes, I'm serious, Daddy. No, I haven't had too much wine.""It was the beer," her father said.