Читать книгу The Mercenary: The Savage Seven - Katherine Garbera - Страница 6

AUGUST 1, CULLINAN, SOUTH AFRICA

Olivia had called her mother last night, when her parents were in port on their cruise. Olivia needed some advice about marriage and her fears, but her mother simply said that Ray was a good catch. Audrey Pontuf thought her daughter needed time to adjust to living in South Africa. “Give your new life a chance before you run back home,” her mom had said.

Olivia was determined to do just that.

One of Olivia’s school friends, Anna Sterling, had just gotten married. Anna was someone who always adjusted well to any situation. Without thinking twice about it, Olivia picked up her mobile phone and dialed Anna’s number.

“Sterling here.”

“Anna, hello. It’s Olivia.”

“Hi, Ola. What’s up? Do you have another spy-girl question for me?” Anna asked.

“Um, not exactly. You helped me immensely with that plot glitch I had for Krissie. Do you have a few minutes to talk about something personal?” The problem with her plot had been fixed, but she was still stuck in chapter four.

Olivia could hear the sounds of loud music blaring in the background. Anna must be working on her computer.

“Sure thing,” Anna said. “What’s on your mind?”

“Marriage.”

“I’m hardly an expert.”

“Well, you’re the only one I can talk to about this. I tried speaking to my mother, but that was a lost cause.”

“I am only just married. Jack and I aren’t exactly a conventional couple.”

Anna was married to a mercenary—a gun for hire. While Olivia knew she’d never be comfortable with that kind of man, he was perfect for her friend. Olivia needed a certain level of sophistication and refinement from her men, which Ray delivered nicely. Anna worked in the shadowy world of spies and agents and having Jack for a husband made a lot of sense.

“You know more about marriage than I do.”

“Okay, what do you want to know?”

“Um…I’m not sure if it’s simply living here in Jo’burg or if Ray has changed.”

“Do you like South Africa?” Anna asked.

Sometimes she liked it. Despite the poverty and unrest left by the end of apartheid, Olivia was safe enough in her insular world. She knew that. It was simply that she was tired of always having someone by her side. She knew that she had to have guards, because many of her acquaintances here did, but enough was enough.

“It is one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever lived, but it’s hard to balance the constant threat of violence with the beauty. I’m not sure if I like it.”

“You might think about joining one of those meet-up groups. There are plenty of expats there.”

“I have thought about it, but Ray likes me to stay close to home or take a bodyguard with me.”

Anna said nothing.

“I sound like I’ve lost my backbone, don’t I?”

“Yes, you do.”

Olivia had relied on Ray for much of her support during the last month. Their engagement wasn’t really a love match, but they were fond of each other. Her mother had always said that was enough to make a good marriage last.

“I guess I’ve answered my own question.”

“What was the question? You sound lost, Ola, and that’s not like you.”

“I’m thirty, Anna. You know what that means?”

“That you aren’t young and impulsive anymore,” Anna said.

“Exactly. I’m ready for my life to begin.”

“Don’t discount the years you’ve already had. Your life has been pretty exciting.”

“I’m not, but I want a husband who cherishes me and a family of my own,” Olivia said. The drive to the mines outside of Cullinan made her feel a bit more normal. Getting away from the guards in Sandton, the suburb where she lived, was what she needed. She liked her new life, she thought.

Really, she did.

“I never felt that way,” Anna said quietly.

Anna had been kidnapped as a child, something that Olivia realized had shaped her friend into the woman she was today—a woman who didn’t really trust in the future. It made sense that Anna wouldn’t have been thinking about kids before her marriage.

“Even now?” Olivia asked.

“It’s worse now. The work I’m doing with Jack’s group…it makes me realize how very vulnerable we all are.”

“You know, that’s part of what I’m feeling here in South Africa. There is a definite feeling that I’m never really safe.”

“Can you live with that? You’ve always had your father and brothers. You seemed very secure in your life.”

Olivia laughed. “Not really secure. I guess I picked up my mother’s acting skills.”

Anna laughed too. “Probably.”

She felt a hundred percent better having talked to her friend. “Thank you.”

“I don’t think I did anything, but you’re welcome.”

“You distracted me on my drive to the mines.”

“Why are you going to the mines?”

“Ray needed a file he’d left at home,” Olivia said.

“Do you do that often?”

“Not really, in fact he’s never invited me out before. I’ve been begging for a tour,” she said.

She’d thought that the diamond mine would make an excellent setting for one of her spy-girl books. But so far Ray didn’t want to discuss his job and he had been pretty adamant that the diamond cartel would have to approve any idea she had. Her cousin was married to an executive with the diamond consortium, so Olivia figured she could use that inside track to get her book idea approved. Besides, things always worked out for her.

“I’m almost there…hang on a sec.” Olivia couldn’t be certain, but she thought she saw Ray’s Mercedes off to the side of the road. She slowed her car as she saw his car on the other side of the road. There was a barrier in the middle of the road, so she pulled off on her own side.

“Sure—is anything wrong?”

“I’m not certain. Ray’s Mercedes is on the side of the road,” she said, straining to see over to the other side. “Well, I think his car is. Let me call you back.”

“Okay. Be careful, Olivia.”

“I will be. There’s no one out here.”

“But if his car is on the side of the road, then someone may have forced him to stop. Don’t hang up. Stay on the phone with me.”

“What can you do from D.C.?”

“I’m in London.”

“Still hours away,” Olivia said.

“Jack has men closer. If you need help, I will send someone.”

“Thanks, Anna. I’m getting out of the car now.”

Olivia checked to make sure there was no other traffic and there wasn’t. Since the two-lane highway only led to the mine entrance, there wasn’t a lot of traffic on it. She opened her door and walked across the single lane to the barrier in the middle.

“Is it Ray’s car?” Anna asked.

“Definitely,” she said. She recognized his signature key ring dangling in the ignition. “I’m going to climb over the barrier and see if I can find him.”

“Be careful.”

“You already said that,” Olivia said. She was worried. Maybe leaving Burati at home hadn’t been her smartest decision. So much for having to prove she was independent. She held her phone loosely in her left hand and carefully sat down on the barrier and then swung her legs over to get to the other side.

She approached Ray’s car and noticed that the engine was still idling. That didn’t seem like a good sign. Where was Ray?

“He left the car running,” she said into the phone.

“That’s odd. Is there anyone else around?” Anna asked.

Olivia looked out in the distance to the mountains and thought she saw the figures of two people, though at this distance she couldn’t be sure.

“I don’t know.”

A shot rang out and one of the figures fell to the ground.

“Was that a gunshot?” Anna asked.

“Yes. Someone was shot. What should I do?” Olivia asked.

“Get out of there. Get back in your car,” Anna said.

Olivia ran back across the street and climbed the barrier with little care for her pantsuit this time. She got behind the wheel of her vehicle and locked the doors. She just sat there shaking. What if Ray had been shot? Oh my God. What was she going to do?

“Olivia?”

“Sorry, yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“No. I’m worried about Ray…I don’t know what to do.”

“You need to get out of there and call the Cullinan authorities.”

“Okay, I’ll call you back.”

“No, don’t do that. I will call the authorities. You just stay on the other line.”

Olivia put the car in drive and continued up the road to the turnabout and then sat there watching from a distance. The shooter was moving.

“I think the shooter is coming back toward Ray’s car. Should I get closer and try to identify him?”

“Yes,” Anna said. “Jack is on the line with the authorities. Are you on the property of Onyx Diamonds?”

“Yes,” Olivia said.

“She is,” Anna said to Jack. “Try and get closer to the shooter. Does your cell phone have a camera in it?”

“Yes, of course. Should I take a photo of him?”

“Definitely, and then send it to me. We have an extensive network and I will be able to tell you who it is.”

“Thanks, Anna.”

“No problem. Be careful.”

“I’m in my car. What could happen?” Olivia said.

“He has a gun. Is your car bulletproof?”

“Yes, of course. Most cars here are because of the violence. Oh my God, can you believe I live in a place like this?”

“It’s okay, you are safe. Just take the photo and then get out of there.”

She drove slowly toward Ray’s car. She was fairly certain the shooter had seen her. It would be impossible for him not to, with the lack of traffic out here. But she was determined to get a photo of the man. This man might have killed Ray.

She saw the man get to the car and sped up. She slowed as she approached. The man raised his gun and she raised her phone, not really thinking about anything except pushing the shutter button so that she’d have a picture of the man.

Her foot slid off the gas as she realized she was looking into the eyes of a cold-blooded killer. And then her heart stopped as she recognized her fiancé as the man holding the gun.

“Oh my God!”

She heard Anna’s voice coming loudly over the phone, which she had dropped, but she couldn’t pick up the phone. All she could do was stare at Ray until he lifted the gun toward her and she snapped out of her fog. She found the gas and stomped on the pedal, speeding away.

Oh. My. God.

Ray Lambert, her darling fiancé and the man everyone said was a total catch, was a murderer and he was going to kill her, she thought.

She’d seen it in his eyes. She couldn’t think of anything but getting as far away from him as possible, but then panic set in and she started to worry.

What was she going to do?

Where would she go?

She had given up her life in London and her parents were currently on a world cruise. Finding them and getting back her old life would be nearly impossible.

She felt shattered and lost. She was shaking so hard she couldn’t keep on driving, so she pulled off the road once she reached the busy highway that would lead her back to her home.

She sat there for a minute, breathing deeply and trying to figure out what she could do next.