Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) (24 page)

‘Ok Gem, now
listen carefully. I need a clear shot at him. When he opens the
boot, you sit up immediately and move to your side of the car. Do
you understand love?’

‘Yes, I will
try. I don’t want to die, please God.’

‘Courage
sweetheart, wait until I tell you, all I will say is, go!’

‘My head hurts
so bad,’ she said.

‘Yes baby,’ he
soothed. The car slowed and then stopped.

‘Ok, honey this
is it,’ he hissed, ‘wait for my word.’

Loda turned off
the engine and got out of the car. He stretched in luxuriant
expectation, looking around him to make sure they were in a
secluded spot. Satisfied, he walked round to the back of the car.
His gun in one hand, car keys in the other, he slid the key into
the lock and turned it.

Doug shouted.
‘Go!’ The boot lid flew open and Gem sat up. Loda instinctively
stepped back, but not far enough. Doug shot twice in quick
succession at his silhouette. Loda staggered and fell backwards.
Doug shouted again. ‘Up, quick baby.’ Gem stood up freeing his
legs.

Loda lying on
his back, loosed off a shot that hit the boot lid, just missing
Gem. Doug was over the side in a flash, arm outstretched as he
dived full-length on top of the killer. The pistol on Loda’s neck.
Doug pulled the trigger.

The bullet
passed upward under his jaw and through his skull, killing him
instantly. Doug, adrenaline pumping, grabbed Loda’s gun and
scrambled to his feet, ready to shoot again. His head wound had
started bleeding again and he looked a dreadful sight. Gem
screamed, thinking he had been shot.

‘I’m ok,’ he
shouted, ‘he’s dead!’ Pointing at Loda’s body.

She sat down on
the grass and started to cry. ‘What’s happening to us, why are
these people trying to kill us, who are they?’

‘I don’t know,
it’s something to do with Brian. We can’t stay here, hold this,’ he
handed her the other gun, ripped off his blood soaked T-shirt and
tore it into strips. ‘We have to go now. Can you see the car keys
anywhere?’

Gem roused
herself and looked for them. Doug tied a strip round his head as a
bandage, next he bent over the body and went through the pockets of
Loda’s jeans, finding a wallet and a mobile phone. He switched the
mobile off and threw it into the bush. Gem found the keys still in
the boot lid and handed them to Doug.

‘Come on,’ he
said, ‘let’s go.’ They were soon speeding back down the dirt
track.

‘That cut on
your head needs stitches,’ Gem said.

‘Yes I know,
but well done sweetie, thank God we got out of that one. How’s your
head?’ He asked.

Gem felt around
her scalp. ‘I have a small cut here,’ she felt with her fingers,
‘and there’s a lump. It’s very sore. Oh look, our stuff is in the
back,’ she exclaimed. ‘Stop, we need to clean ourselves up.’

Doug pulled
over near the highway. ‘Is there any water in the car?’ he asked.
‘I’m so thirsty.’

Gem handed him
a bottle of water she had found, and took out a fresh shirt for
Doug and a box of tissues. Doug took a swig of the water and looked
at his face in the rear view mirror. It was covered in drying
blood, no wonder Gem had screamed. Up-ending the bottle onto the
tissues, he cleaned off as much blood as he could.

‘We need to get
hold of Brian as soon as possible. I can get cleaned up better at
the service station.’

‘Brian! Who the
hell is Brian? What if “they” are waiting for us at the station and
how do we know Brian is not involved,’ Gem asked, working herself
up.

‘They are after
him as well. I heard them talking while you were knocked out,’ Doug
told her.

‘I don’t care
about him, I think it’s better we get you to a hospital, there must
be an clinic in Voi and don’t you think we should go to the
police?’

Doug opened
Loda’s wallet and looked through it. He found an ID card. Loda was
attached to the special crimes division of CID. He showed it to
Gem. ‘No police love, we are on our own,’ he said wearily. ‘What
the hell has that bloody
mzungu
been up to!’ He slipped on
the new T-shirt. ‘Ok let’s go.’ They were only a few miles from Voi
town. Doug skirted the service station. ‘See if you can see my
bike,’ he told Gem, as he turned into a side road.

‘Yes I can see
it!’ She said, ‘it’s parked by the restaurant.’

‘Good, now
let’s look for a doctor,’ Doug said, as they entered the town. He
pulled over in the town centre and asked a passing cyclist for the
nearest Doctor or Clinic. The man helpfully explained how to get
there - it wasn’t far.

Doug located
the clinic and left Gem there while he drove a little way into
town, and then down a side street before parking the car. He
quickly looked through the vehicle for any further clues to the
identity of the killers - he found nothing. Leaving the car
unlocked and the car keys on the floor, he picked up his tools, put
Loda’s gun in the bag and walked back to the clinic. Gem had
managed to convince the receptionist of the urgency of Doug’s
condition. She clucked in sympathy at his appearance and obvious
painful condition and ushered him straight in to see the
doctor.

The doctor
unwound the t-shirt and cleaned up the wound.

‘Going to need
stitches,’ he told Doug. ‘What happened?’

‘Hit and run,
car ran into us, my wife also hit her head.’

Gem smiled at
being described as Doug’s wife. ‘Yes, it hurts, but fix my husband
up first,’ she smiled sweetly.

Doug said. ‘We
need to report the other driver right away. Is there a police
station near here?’

‘All in good
time,’ said the doctor kindly. He put a swab of cotton wool over
the wound. ‘Hold on to that will you, don’t press too hard, we need
to stem the bleeding.’

Turning his
attention to Gem, he examined her head. ‘I’m afraid I will have to
snip a little hair away, to get a good look at the cut.’

She wanted to
argue and then shrugged in resignation.

Patched and
bandaged up, they left the clinic thanking the doctor and walked in
the opposite direction from where he had told them the police
station was. ‘Where to now?’ Gem asked.

‘We need to get
off the streets and contact Brian. I left my mobile in the rover,
and don’t have his number. Look, there is a small hotel,’ Doug
pointed, ‘let’s go in there.’

They sat at a
table in the restaurant and Doug said. ‘One of us has to go and get
hold of Brian. ’

‘I will go.’
Gem offered. ‘That bandage on your head draws too much
attention.’

Doug was too
weary to argue. ‘Ok, take a taxi, but don’t get out of it. Find
Brian, and ask someone to call him over to the cab. Do not get
out,’ he repeated. ‘Just tell him we have had an accident, and he
needs to follow you and come straight back here.’

Gem went off.
He ordered water from the curious waiter and bought a knitted
balaclava from a passing hawker, which almost concealed the
bandage. After a while, Doug heard the familiar sound of his bike.
Relieved, he saw Brian park, remove his helmet and with a worried
look on his face, follow Gem into the hotel.

Doug on the
lookout for anyone following had his hand wrapped around the gun in
his tool bag.

Brian was
obviously relieved to see him. ‘What the hell has happened, where
is the car?’ Staring at Doug’s new hat. ‘Gem said you have had some
sort of accident?’

Doug, unsmiling
said. ‘Sit down, it’s a long story.’ Brian hesitated, and then
pulled up a chair.

‘We were car
jacked by those two Africans in the white saloon you pointed out in
Mtito. They were not looking for us - they were looking for you.
What are you involved in that we don’t know about?’ Doug
demanded.

Brian looked
shocked. ‘Me involved? I have no idea what you mean - shouldn’t we
go to the police? Where is my car?’

Doug slid
Loda’s ID over the table. ‘This is the man who was after you. Do
you know who he is?’

Brian studied
the photo on the ID. ‘No is he a policeman?’

‘Yes. He is
also dead. He was going to kill Gem and me and then go after
you.’

‘I have no idea
what this is about,’ Brian said wide-eyed, pushing the ID back.
‘What do you mean this man is dead?’

‘I shot him,’
said Doug simply. Brian’s mouth fell open, his eyes searching
Doug’s face. ‘He put us in the boot of the saloon and was going to
kill us, luckily, I got him first. The other hi-jacker took your
range rover.’

‘So they wanted
the car? They stole the car?’

‘Yes, but they
were looking for you, and still are. I heard them talking on a
mobile. They are sending someone else after you. Why? You had
better come clean, we are in a load of shit here, there’s something
you’re not telling us.’

Brian slumped
in his seat and took a deep breath. ‘Listen, some strange things
happened to me while I was in Malindi.’ He proceeded to outline the
events, while Doug and Gem listened. ‘I can only conclude that
there is some fraud going on in the bank, and they - whoever is
involved - are trying to get me out of the way.’

Doug nodded.
‘Yep, that’s the Kenyan style of business.’

‘I don’t know
what to do,’ said Brian, ’I no longer know who to trust,’ he said
helplessly.

Doug said. ‘The
first thing we need to do, is get out of here.

The police will
be looking for me now as well.’

‘You think they
are involved in this?’ asked Brian.

Doug tapped the
ID on the table. ‘Always, the cops are involved in every dirty
deal. Your experience in Malindi proves their involvement. Read the
newspapers every day, they’re full of “suspected gangsters shot
dead”, cops are just licensed killers for hire.

‘So what do I
do? Go to the British embassy?’

‘No I wouldn’t
do that, not yet at least. We need time to think and a place where
we can be safe. Listen Gem, I think it’s best we separate. You can
catch a bus from here and go out to your parent’s farm. You will be
safe there.’

Gem frowned
angrily. ‘What do you mean leaving me on my own, this is not our
problem it’s his,’ pointing at Brian.

‘Baby,’ Doug
soothed earnestly, ‘the man I killed is a cop, and you’re safer off
on your own. Brian and I will continue on the bike to the coast.
Let’s get new sim cards for our phones and only use the new numbers
to call each other. Gem, go and book a ticket on the bus to Nairobi
and get two sim cards will you? The booking office is just down the
street,’ he pointed. ‘We have to hurry.’

‘Why don’t I
just buy another phone?’ Gem asked.

Doug paused
looking thoughtful. ‘Good idea,’ he said, taking out Loda’s wallet
and removing some money. ‘Get three, the late detective Loda can
pay for them. Brian go and get the bike topped up with fuel,’ he
instructed, ‘and then come back here. We need to hurry they will be
searching for us by now.’

They re-grouped
with the new phones and exchanged numbers.

‘You had better
ride,’ Doug told Brian, ‘my head is too sore. When we get closer to
Mombasa, I will take over. I know some back roads we can use.’
Giving Gem a hug and a promise to call tonight, they sped off on
the bike while Gem waited for her bus departure. She sat in the
hotel still in shock, feeling lost and alone

TEN

Titus raced
back to the Manyani Gate in Brian’s Range rover. At the park
entrance he paid for his ticket in the office. He chatted with the
ranger on the gate, keeping him occupied at the front of the
vehicle as he drove through. Reaching a bend in the track, he
stopped and changed the number-plate back, forcing the saloon plate
down an empty ant bear hole a few yards from the road. He then
called his boss.

‘You should
have waited,’ Rubia admonished. ‘Now things are messed up and we
still have to look for the
mzungu
.’

‘I’m sorry
sir,’ said Titus, and he was. ‘We could have dealt with the
mzungu
much earlier,’ he offered.

‘Are you
running this operation, or am I? Do exactly as I say this time.
Take the road that follows the river. Two cops in a police
Landrover are waiting for you, do what they tell you. I want no
more fuck-ups, do you understand?’

Titus drove on
and found the police land rover. The two cops were from Malindi, he
did not know either of them. The taller cop walked over and slapped
the bonnet of the range rover with his swagger stick. ‘We have been
waiting a long time,’ he complained, he climbed into the passenger
seat and said, ‘Let’s go.’

Titus said. ‘Go
where? My job was only to deliver the car.’

‘Your boss said
you are to drive the car to Lugard’s falls. From there you will
accompany us to Malindi.’

‘Malindi, what
the hell do I want to go to Malindi for?’

The cop just
shrugged. ‘Those are our instructions, let’s go,’ pointing with his
baton. ‘Follow the Landrover.’

They drove in
silence, Titus seething. He had planned to spend the evening with
one of his girlfriends. That bloody man Loda. He swore a silent
oath that he would never work with him again.

After an hour
the cop ahead slowed down and turned into side road. As Titus
caught up, he saw a signboard pointing the way to Lugard’s falls.
His companion said unnecessarily. ‘This is Lugard’s falls,’ and
pointed beyond where the other car had stopped. Titus could only
see a small body of water in front of them surrounded by huge
rocks. ‘Park by the other car,’ he was instructed. As he switched
off the engine, he heard the roar of rushing water.

The senior cop
got out. ‘Ok,’ he said to Titus, ‘check the rover and take out any
stuff that is not the
mzungu
s.’ Titus grunted an assent, but
then helped himself to a soda from the cool box. The cop saw him do
this. ‘And your friends, they don’t drink?’