The Oracle (Fargo Adventures 11)

“I don’t know. I’m hungry.”

“Me, too,” Kambili said.

They walked to the market, ate, and asked a few more people, finding them all unhelpful. The terrorists had instilled in them a distrust of strangers.

“Wasted trip,” Kambili said as they returned to Makao’s truck.

He was about to agree when he glanced down the street and noticed a familiar-looking vehicle at the far end of the road. Not wasted at all.

The Fargos were there.

CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem.

– AKAN PROVERB –

After Sam pulled into the village, he parked alongside a bungalow, where a too-thin dog lying beside it in the shade watched them with wary interest. The dog wasn’t the only one watching. Even if Pete had not rolled in behind them with the supply truck, they might as well have installed a neon sign on the top of their vehicle announcing Virtual Strangers. The rented Land Rover was decades newer than any of the vehicles owned or driven by the local residents. The same held true for Makao’s white Toyota pickup, which Sam had noticed the second he’d driven onto the lone, dusty road.

Remi fished the binoculars from Sam’s pack, peering through them. “Makao, Kambili, and—”

“Chuk,” Nasha said from the back, leaning forward. “You were right, Mr. Fargo. Kambili brought him home.”

Not quite how Sam would’ve phrased it, but he wasn’t about to mention that to Nasha, who had yet to realize the significance of Kambili’s and Makao’s presence in her uncle’s village.

No doubt in Sam’s and Remi’s minds, though. Those men were after her uncle to get to the Fargos.

Remi passed the binoculars to Sam.

He focused on the two men who were standing

in front of the Toyota. The boy, Chuk, started backing away. Kambili grabbed him by the shoulder, then dragged the kid to the truck, opened the back door and shoved him in.

“Lazlo,” he said, keeping his focus on Kambili and Makao. “Do you remember that story I told you about the time Remi and I were in Juárez with a couple of our friends?”

“Yes … Wait. Surely you don’t mean …?”

Remi, her Sig Sauer already drawn, looked back at him. “You’re welcome to take my spot?”

“Dear heavens, no.” Lazlo gave a tepid smile and opened the Rover’s door. “Come along,” he said to Amal and Nasha. “I have yet to see a Fargo car make it through unscathed.”

“What’re you talking about?” Sam slapped the dash. “Not a mark on this thing.”

Lazlo turned a dubious expression Sam’s way as he held the door for Nasha and Amal. “I’ll call Mrs. Fargo’s phone when I’m there.”

As the professor hurried the two away, Nasha asked him, “What does unscathed mean?”

“It means you don’t want to be anywhere near their car when the fighting starts.”

Sam kept his attention on Makao as he and Kambili stood in front of their truck. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Remi said.

He called Pete, giving him a quick rundown, then let the car idle forward until they were about fifty yards away from Makao’s pickup. Not unexpectedly, Sam’s phone rang. He answered. “Can’t say I was expecting to hear from you again, Makao.”

“You have something I want. Money. I have something you want.”

“Which would be …?” Sam asked.