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“You planned that whole disaster, didn’t you?” I said.
Kira wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the crowd. She had a big smile on her face.
“Wave to the nice people,” she said.
CHAPTER 64
Gaborone, Botswana
THE OFFICE OF private investigator Jaco Devos was small and cluttered. It was also sweltering. The only moving air came from an anemic desk fan pointed mostly in his direction. Jamelle Maina sat across from the sweaty PI, an Afrikaner with a grayish complexion. The smoke from his cigarette spun in the vortex created by the fan blades. Jamelle’s thin cotton dress stuck to the back of her metal chair. Devos flipped through the thin file in front of him on his desk, pretending to study it intently.
“Can you help me?” Jamelle asked, her voice soft and pleading.
“I have the police report right here,” said Devos, cigarette ashes dropping onto the papers. “Your babysitter’s credentials were impressive forgeries. No surveillance footage. No forensics. Not a single hair. In terms of a conventional investigation, this woman does not exist.”
“She took mybaby!” said Jamelle, tears brimming in her eyes.
Devos closed the file and squinted at his prospective client. “There are no reliable witnesses, other than yourself. Nothing else to go on.” He paused and looked up, as if searching the heavens for a solution. “But…”
Jamelle leaned forward. “Yes?What?”
“Remind me,” said Devos. “Who referred you?”
“My friend Luanna. Luanna Phiri.”
Davos reflected for a second.
“Yes! The other runner,” he said. “I remember. Boyfriend issue. Nasty man.”
“Can you help me?” Jamelle asked again, her hands stretched out toward him on the desk.
“Miss Maina,” said Devos. “Let me be clear. The authorities have done all they can. They will keep your case open and say reassuring things. But frankly, after a month or two, they will lose interest and move on. I will not. I have connections in places they don’t. The people I talk to are people who will not talk to the police. That is my value to you.”
“Yes!” said Jamelle. “Anything you think might work!Anything!”
Here Devos took another pause. Another salesman’s trick. He sighed. “I’ll have expenses, of course,” he said. His voice conveyed resignation, even regret.
Jamelle nodded quickly. “I understand. I do.”
Luanna had told her to bring cash. She reached under her chair and pulled up a nylon gym bag. She unzipped it and dumped a pile of money on the desk. It was all the money she had in the world. She would pay anything—doanything—to get her baby back.
Devos began stacking the bills and gave Jamelle a tight smile through a haze of smoke.
“Right,” he said. “Good for a start.”
CHAPTER 65
Chicago
I WAS STILL pissed off at Kira for almost killing us. Putting me in mortal danger was getting to be a pattern with her. I didn’t appreciate being treated like a guinea pig—or like some kind of new-and-improved version of my ancestor. But our near miss didn’t seem to bother Kira in the least. As soon as we got back to the loft and dried off, she took me back into the Doc Savage archive for more research. I held my tongue. I was afraid of what I might say if I let loose.
“All right,” said Kira, clapping her hands together. “Time to get serious.”
That did it. Was she kidding? I grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. I shook her.
“Serious??”I said. “A flameout over Lake Michigan wasn’t serious enough?? Kira, we almostdiedout there!”
“Those were toys,” she replied calmly. “We need protection.”
