Remi nodded. “I know he didn’t ask, but maybe we should offer to fly him back to Tunisia. It’s not like we’re going anywhere in the next week. And you have to go pick up Lazlo anyway.”
“He’d never make it through Immigration without a medical clearance.” Sam glanced behind Remi at the closed door. “More importantly, I’m not overly thrilled with the idea of putting a sick man with our crew. I’ll drive him in.”
“I’ll go with you,” Pete said.
“No. If he really did see this Makao character in the village, I’d rather you stayed to help Remi. If we have any hope of keeping on schedule, you’re better off here. Besides, I have an appointment with the last of the Kalu brothers,” he said as the dorm room door opened and several girls emerged, walking toward the mess hall.
“What sort of appointment?” Pete asked.
“The kind that works better when I’m by myself.”
Pete nodded. “I’ll go in and tell him to pack his things.” He emerged a minute later, carrying the man’s duffel bag, dropping it on the porch. “He’s washing up now. Maybe you should eat a quick breakfast while you can.”
Wendy had a plate ready for Sam the moment he and Remi walked into the mess. Remi took her cup of coffee and sat next to him as he ate. “I could always go with you.”
He shook his head. “Until we assess if that threat at the marketplace is real, Pete and Wendy n
eed you here.”
She agreed. “Let’s hope your trip back to Jalingo is less eventful than the trip here.”
Thirty minutes later, they were ready to leave. Hank, carrying a bucket, emerged from the building, his hair still damp from his shower. As Sam opened the tailgate of the Land Rover, Hank set the bucket down next to his duffel on the porch, then suddenly kneeled, riffling through the duffel. “Someone’s gone through my shave kit.” He pulled out a black toiletries bag, a look of desperation on his face as he searched through it.
Still kneeling, Hank looked around the grounds, his gaze landing on Nasha, who seemed inordinately interested in whatever he was doing. When he stood, she darted around the corner, out of sight.
“Anything missing?” Sam asked.
It was a moment before he answered, finally zipping the bag and dropping it into his duffel. “Nothing important.”
“Good. Grab your bucket. It’s a long trip.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
There are many colorful flowers on the path of life,
but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns.
– AFRICAN PROVERB –
The car just came down the hill. They’re passing the farm now.”
Makao held up his hand, signaling for his crew to stop talking so that he could hear what was being said on his cell phone. Eight men in all, they were gathered round their two vehicles parked near the road just outside of Gembu. “You’re sure it’s the same car we saw in the village? The Land Rover?”
“No doubt.”
“How many passengers?”
“Two men. The driver had yellow hair. That’s all I could tell.”
“Good. Which way did they go?”
“It looks like they’re headed back toward Jalingo.”
“Perfect.” Jalingo was a good six-hour drive, double that for the return trip. It would give him and his men plenty of time to work. “The four of you stay there. If they come back, call.” Makao smiled as he returned his phone to his pocket. “They’ve left.”
Jimi was watching him. “You think one of them is this Fargo?”
“So it seems.” It wasn’t hard to confirm the names, Sam Fargo and his wife, Remi. All the villagers in Gembu knew of the school they’d built up in the forest. It made finding them extremely easy. What hadn’t been easy was coming up with a way to get to the school without running into Sam Fargo himself. Verifying that he was actually at the wheel on the way down the hill heading toward Jalingo made Makao’s job a lot simpler. That meant that the dangerous half of the Fargos was gone. He had a feeling that Remi Fargo was like most beautiful rich women, able to wield a credit card, but beyond that not much of a threat. She’d want to protect the children, which would be her weakness.