Chapter 36: Rendezvous

I put my foot down, racing back towards home. My mind was spinning even faster as I considered all the possible actions and consequences.

Dimitri and his henchmen had stepped firmly over the line; they had killed one of my own, and wounded another.

It took me closer to twenty minutes than thirty to get to the RV point. I pulled into the little grass picnic area slowly, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be there. The place looked deserted, which was a stroke of luck.

I stopped the Land Rover under some trees at the edge of the bush, killed the engine and got out with a curt order to "stay in the car" directed in the general direction of the occupants.

Once I was away from the Land Rover, I hauled out my hand-gun, checked that there was a round in the chamber, and then stood and waited for a few minutes. I couldn't bear to wait without knowing what was going on, and worse than that, with no cover or all-round defense.

I walked to the rear of the Land Rover and opened up, unlocked my special storage compartment and hauled out the Lee Enfield that was stashed there. As I was loading the clip into the ten round magazine, Daise climbed out and joined me.

"Let me," she said, removing the rifle from my hands. I looked at her with a raised eye-brow and saw the determined expression on her face. I just shrugged and reached back into the storage compartment and removed my 'fishing knife'. The fact is I hated fishing. That was a combat knife, but I had had to justify the expense of ordering a US Marines K-Bar from a specialist supplier somehow, so 'fishing knife' was how I had explained it to my wife.

I attached the scabbard to my belt and tied the bottom to my left leg.

I checked my watch, and only four minutes had passed. I reached back into the storage box and grabbed a box of .303 rounds which I handed to Daise.

"Get up in that big tree," I told her, "the fork over there should form a stable enough firing platform and you'll be able to provide us with top-cover from there throughout this area.

Without a word, Daise trotted off and climbed the tree. Just as I checked my watch another time, I heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. A quick glance told me it was Chris arriving. 'Damn,' I thought, 'you can always rely on the medics.'

Chris pulled up next to my Land Rover and pulled his medical bag out after him.

"They still in the bush?" he greeted me.

"Ja. Should be getting here any minute."

"We got backup?"

I gestured to the tree. Chris tracked his eyes up into the branches and did a double-take when he spotted Daise. I just smiled and nodded when he turned to look at me. He shook his head and looked around the area.

"Anyone else?" he asked finally.

"Johnny's on his way. He'll probably call Bird, Rasta, Moose and Spyker."

"The old team."

"Ja. He should be here soon too. Dunno 'bout the others."

"K."

Just then my eye caught some movement in the long grass under the trees. I turned to look at Daise, and saw she was tracking it with her rifle. Satisfied that she knew, basically anyway, what she needed to do, I dialed Cpl Maseka's cell phone.

"Ready to come in Major," he said into his phone before I could say a word.

"You in the long grass?"

"Some of us."

The phone went dead as he hung up, then the grass started moving again and within a few seconds two of the Cpl's riflemen emerged carrying the Sgt Major on a makeshift stretcher.

Chris hurried over to meet them and as he did, Cpl Maseka emerged from the bush ninety degrees further around the edge along with one of his riflemen, and three others emerged opposite him. If we'd been hostile, they would have flanked us on both sides.

I didn't say a word, just watched as the Cpl Maseka deployed his soldiers into an all-round defense using hand gestures. When he'd finished, he looked at me.

"Stopper group?" I asked.

"Yes Major, two of them in a quick ambush about two hundred meters out."

"Ok, well done Cpl. We have some reinforcements coming in and you can debrief when they arrive. I just want to know bow, did they chase you into the bush?"

Maseka's white teeth gleamed as his grin split his black face. "Yes, but we made it a little hot for them. Probably three or four won't be going anywhere ever again."

"Ok, but are the rest still on your trail?"

"Coming very slowly, yes."

"Good. Ah, here's Johnny," I said as a battered old, dirty green, Ford Cortina pulled up.

Johnny had made an absolute fortune the past seven or eight years working for a PMC company in Iraq, but almost every cent he had was invested off-shore. He was used to living a frugal life, and making money hadn't changed that at all. He had once let slip that he was making around forty thousand US$ a month, and spending next to nothing.

Johnny pulled his car around so that it was facing to the nine O'clock position, if mine was the twelve. Old habits die hard, and he was instinctively following the laager drill. I knew that he hadn't even thought about it, jus done it instinctively.

Johnny unfolded himself out of the driver's seat, and stretched out to his full 6 foot five inches. I knew that most people watching him would never have guessed that in those few seconds he had scanned the situation and his mind had processed every scrap of terrain, calculating and storing possible tactical actions and reactions.

Johnny was an instinctual tactical genius. He had no formal schooling beyond high-school, and all the army courses he had been on, he had aced the practical and failed the written theory exams. He was such an incredibly soldier though, that he had been promoted in spite of the courses, but because of the way he performed in the bush. He was an NCO, and became an officer only under great duress, and then only right at the end of the war in Angola.

"Howzit Captain," I greeted him. Using his old rank was an old way of teasing him, because he still thought of himself as an NCO with the traditional disdain for Officers. He returned my greeting with a grunt, and turned a raised eyebrow to Cpl Maseka.

With a glance at me for my permission, Cpl Maseka proceeded to go through his debrief. Johnny and I listened intently without interrupting until he finished with how he joined up with me.

"Ok, to summarize," Johnny began, "this is a bunch of criminals with AKs and hand-guns. They have a basic knowledge of tactics based on the way they fire and move, but they are not used to the bush. They are also not fit. Correct?"

"Yes Captain," Cpl Maseka replied. As usual, Johnny was able to extract the essentials.

Just then, a double-cab Nissan bakkie pulled into the picnic area, turned and stopped in the Three o'clock position, and four guys got out. Bird, Rasta, Moose and Spyker, for smallish guys with no really outstanding features. Definitely no bulging muscles. They were like Whippets, quick and lithe and could go forever. Like Johnny, the Sgt Major and I, they were in their mid forties, but physically, would put them up against any bunch twenty years younger. The fact that the seven of us had each won fifteen bronze medals in the Comrades Marathon, was just proof that some people aged like brandy; getting better with age.

Bird opened the canopy that covered the back of his bakkie, and handed out R5's to the other three, then brought two over, one each for Johnny and I. Owning his own private security firm made it both easy and legal for him to own these weapons.

I cocked mine, checking that the chamber was clear and that the working parts were all ... Well ... Working, before walking over and helping myself to a fifty round magazine in the back of the bakkie. There were six pre-loaded and a box of empty thirty round magazines. I attached the loaded magazine to my weapon, shifted the firing selector to 'R', racked back the cocking handle and released it under control, forcing the first round from the magazine into the chamber, then shifted the firing selector back to 'S' with my thumb. Once that was done, grabbed a few boxes of 5.56 rounds and started loading magazines.

I wasn't the only one, the rest of the bunch were standing around the bakkie, loading magazines quickly with deft fingers.

Cpl Maseka had followed me over. “Cpl, we’re going into the bush after them. I want you to send assign someone to drive this bakkie, and someone else to either drive or ride along in my Land Rover. Bettina might want to drive. The two guys who carried the Sgt Major can go with Chris as protection. You stay here with the rest of your guys as backup for us. Get the vehicles out of here now. Tell your guy to find a place to stop where they can wait out of sight until they’re called.”

“What about her?” he asked with a jerk of his head in Daise’s direction. Johnny looked at me expectantly, also interested to hear my answer to this.

“She’s made it clear she wants to be involved. Leave her with us.”

Cpl Maseka saluted and went walking off. Johnny just waited, not taking his eyes off me as he continued to load magazines.

“She’s earned it. She shoots that 303 like a dream and she was cool as hell the other night. I told you about that.” I answered his unspoken query.

“Ok, if you say so.” One of the nice things about Johnny is that he doesn’t do sarcasm. If he said something, then that is what he meant. Just that, no more, no less.

I checked my watch again. We’d been busy for just on eleven minutes. Cutting it fine.

“Ok, Opsaal.”

Everyone grabbed their magazines and weapons and we headed off to the edge of the grass area and formed up without any thought or signals into an extended skirmish line; Bird on point in the center, Rasta and I to his left and Moose and Spyker to his right. Johnny stood slightly behind the line in the center where he could control our movement with small tapping noises on his weapon to and hand signals.

I moved the selector on my rifle to ‘R’ for semi-automatic fire, and tucked the butt into my shoulder, then stepped off as I heard the sound of Johnny tapping his magazine twice. I looked left and right to ensure that the spacing was right, and shifted slightly until it was about fifteen meters between us.

---

This chapter is dedicated to Cpl (Acting Platoon Sgt) Johan "Vaaitjie" Schoeman. RIP.

Chapter 35: Contact, Contact. Wait. Out.

I decided to take the old road that wound up the coastline as it was more scenic, so we were right near Virginia Airport when my cell phone started playing Mike Batt’s “The Ride to Agadir”, so I knew it was the Sgt Major calling.*

“Hi Sgt Major,” I answered the call by pressing the button on my Bluetooth headset.

“Major …” I heard, then my skin started crawling as I heard the unmistakable sounds of an AK47 firing on full automatic in the background.

“Contact, Contact. Wait. Out”

I pulled over to the side of the road and shouted for everyone to “Shut the fuck up” and then focused my entire attention on the phone. I could hear the sounds of heavy breathing, and more firing then “Oh Shit” and then nothing for a while. I pounded my fist on the steering wheel in frustration. I had no idea what was going on, other than it sounded like a major fire-fight. I needed to know what was happening. I reached out to Daise and gestured for her to hand me her cell phone. Just as she passed it over, I heard Cpl Maseka’s voice on the other end.

“Major, is that you?”

“Yes Cpl. Contact Report!” I demanded impatiently. This should be second nature to them after the many times we had been through the drill. I was scared now; it didn’t seem good that Cpl Maseka had taken over the Sgt Major’s phone.

“The Sgt Major’s down. He’s been shot in the upper chest, but we think we’ve got the bleeding under control. Rifleman Zondi is dead.”

“The enemy and situation Corporal, tell me what’s happening.”

“About twelve of them. They arrived at the gate in a Toyota Hi-Ace. We thought it was just a taxi, but when Zondi asked them what they wanted; one of them just shot him in the chest with a hand-gun.”

“What’s happening now,” I asked, thinking that no matter what, we were going to practice Contact and Situation reports again when this was over. I shouldn’t have to drag this stuff out of him. “Are you still engaged?”

We got into a fire-fight with them. I think they under-estimated both our numbers and the fact that we were ready to shoot back. We’ve had to drop back to the house though, they’re in the front garden and they take pot-shots at anything that moves. We’re trying to stop them from surrounding us completely.”

“Ok. Abandon the house. Leave Zondi’s body, it’ll be picked up faster if you leave it behind. I have all the woman with me, so it’s just you guys there. You know the route down into the Kloof, go there and lose yourselves in the bush. I’m heading back now; I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

“What about the Sgt Major?”

“Make a stretcher for him and take him with. You know this; we’ve practiced it enough times. Now MOVE.”

“Yes sir. Out.”

I dialled the emergency services number, and as soon as it was answered, reported “Someone’s shooting like crazy. Please send the police to help.” And gave them the name of my road before hanging up.

Next call was to Chris. “I need a medic. Gunshot wound to the upper chest. Can you meet me?” As usual he was completely on the ball. He wasted no time with extraneous nonsense.

“Calibre?”

“7.62 AK 47”

“Who?”

“The Sgt Major. Cpl Maseka tells me they’ve stopped the bleeding, but they’re loading him on a stretcher and are bugging out under fire from my house into the bush.”

“Ok. He’s a tough bastard. Been shot before, so I think he’ll handle the shock OK. Meet you at the river in the Kloof?”

“Yes. Come armed Chris. These fuckers have attacked my home. Zondi’s dead. This has escalated beyond a game now.”

“Damn right. You gonna put out the call to some of the others?”

“Next call. Thanks Chris, see you in a few.”

I hung up and gave the girls a quick summary of what was going on. I told them that we were going to go back and collect the guys and then we would find a safe place for them to stay while I took the battle back to the bad guys. Daise got a stubborn look on her face, and I knew that there was going to be an argument from her, but decided that it could be postponed. There were more important things to take care of for now. I dialled another number on my phone.

“Johnny, you packed?” I asked when the phone was answered.

“You mean like in the old days?”

“Ja.”

“What’s the situation?”

“Twelve guys plus. Russian Mafia types. Attacked my house with AK 47’s and handguns. One rifleman is dead. Sgt Maj Dhlamini is wounded. I’ve got Chris on the way to RV at the river in the Kloof below my house. You know the spot?”

“Yes. I took my kids there on a picnic a few weeks back. You want me to call around, get some of the others?”

“Absolutely. I’ll brief you properly later. For now I have a bunch of civilians with me and I need to make pickup. I need some protection for that and some transport. After we’ve got them, we can go to that place on the Bluff.”

Johnny laughed. “Yes, JUST like the old days. Ok. RV at the river. My ETA is twenty-five mikes. I’ll call the others on the way.”

“Ok. My ETA is more like thirty mikes. Thanks Johnny.”

---

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oENOe711jM Boney M’s Version and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfkuYvR3f1Y for Mike Batt’s original with the London Philly.

Chapter 34: Moving on

I was actually very happy to have Lisa in the house. I loved kids, always had. Against many people’s expectations, I had actually spent some time baby-sitting as a teenager, and I had experienced absolutely no problems looking after my own daughters when they were growing up, right from the diaper stage. You know: when you feed them at one end and wipe it off at the other.

Sitting at the breakfast table, I looked around and found that I was happy. Having all these people in my life added something to it, it didn’t take anything away. I loved the sound of everyone talking and watching them made me feel good. I suddenly realised that no matter what else had happened, I wasn’t lonely any more.

I had been dragged along into this situation, without planning much of it at all, and that bugged me in a lot of ways, but I decided that I was far from unhappy with the results. I had no idea what was still ahead of me, and in a lot of ways that was a large part of the reason why I was unhappy. Predictability is a killer. Boring makes you old. Having young people in the house also made me feel a lot younger. Of course, the fact that most of them were young beautiful women had something to do with that.

I decided to shake things up a little though so I calmly dropped a bombshell. “We’re leaving in an hour to go shopping.”

The squeals of protest that followed my announcement just made me grin. I knew that women liked to have more time to prepare, especially if they were going out, but I knew that some sort of ultimatum on time was the only way to get everyone moving in the same direction at the same time. Herding cats? Pah! They’re simple compared to herding women and children.

---

Did I say that I knew what I was doing when it came to women? If so, someone remind me never to do that again. It wasn’t even ten minutes after my breakfast table announcement that everyone was in the Land Rover waiting for me.

I had gotten up from the breakfast table and gone straight to the shower. When I came out of the shower, I found some clothes laid out on the bed, ready for me to pull on. I could see neither hide nor hair of any of the women when I came down the stairs. Not even Nqobile.

Sgt Major Dhlamini was sitting on one of my lounge-suites and he smiled at my confusion. “They’re waiting for you,” was his laconic comment with a gesture over his should at the door to the garage.

I climbed into the Land Rover to a chorus of teasing cat-calls about how long MEN took to get ready, which I took in good spirit, and with a large smile plastered to my face.

---

Once we were moving, the interrogation started. Daise had been appointed the spokesman ... umm spokesperson … for the group, and she wanted to know where we were going, why, what we were going to do there and …. I had to interrupt her flow of questions before it got too much, so I just told her to calm down and started exmplaining.

“I thought that we could go up to Gateway Mall. It’s right the other side of Durban, to the north near Amanzintoti, and I think that it should be fairly safe, especially at this time of the morning. My gut feeling is that Dimitri and his crew are primarily night owls. I want to go there because it is a really large mall with a wide variety of shops, and there are some things that I thin we haven’t thought through properly which we can solve there.”

“What did you have in mind?” Daise asked. I glanced across at where she was curled into the passenger seat, with her legs tucked under in her in that wonderful way that girls do, and I could see the gleam in her eyes… I laughed at her, and a little at myself. She had experienced my version of shopping before, where I decided what I wanted and then went and got it, ignoring the cost completely.

“I was thinking that if the bunch of you are going to be living with me, even semi-permanently, then you will all need some clothing and female products. I also see that Nqobile has a fixed and determined look in her eye, and I am sure she intends stocking up her larder to the max!”

“Oh, OK.” Daise was happy with that, and after sharing what I had said with the rest, the whole crowd settled down a bit and I got on with driving.

Chapter 33: Expectations

I was disturbed once during the night by Alina climbing into bed with us, but she said nothing, just snuggled up to me on the opposite side to Daise, so I soon dropped off to sleep.

The morning light coming through the window woke me up again. I extracted my arm from under Daise’s head and checked the time. 05H20. It took some effort to untangle myself from the two bodies entwined with mine, but aside from some muttered complaints, I managed it without waking either of them. After a quick change into my baggies, I headed down to the pool for my morning swim.

As usual, I swimming helped me to clear my head and start focusing my thoughts. I had been too focused on Daise’s reaction to the short fight we had had the night before to spend any time doing any thinking of my own, and I needed the space to get my thoughts in order. It seemed to me that I was just reacting on instinct with the whole situation and I needed to think my situation through properly. In a few short days, I had moved from a fairly normal life on my own, with it’s associated problems of boredom and loneliness, to one where I was rapidly filling my house with assorted women and my life with all kinds of complications.

I had been quite happy with Daise coming into my life, and thought that adding Alina would add a friend for Daise. The signals that I was picking up from the two of them were a little worrying though. It felt as though they were both acting like they were my partners, with Alina’s focus moving from Daise to me. I knew that Alina had some very bad experiences with men, and I suspected that my treatment of her had started to shift her expectations. There had been some clear indications that she wouldn’t be too averse to getting sexually involved with me, at the same time that she was involved with Daise. I was fairly straight-laced in some ways, so this was an eye-opener for me. On the other hand, having two beautiful young women who wanted to be with me was enormously flattering.

On the gripping hand, I had now added both Bettina and Kate to the mix the previous evening. Bettina’s comment in the hot-tub indicated, on reflection, that she wasn’t too averse to some sort of similar arrangement. I considered that my rescue of her from the club, along with her daughter, obligated me her. The sense that I got in the hot-tub though was that she might want to extend her stay beyond just a few days. Kate was another wild card. She had been extremely effusive in her thanks the night before, with a world of implied promise delivered in her affectionate kiss.

I decided to play it by ear, and see what developed. I had long since learnt that women run a man’s life, and not the other way around. What was much more worrying to me was the situation with Dimitri and his crew. The previous night’s events had definitely thrown down the gauntlet, and I suspected that the confrontation would become a lot more immediate and personal, as what I had done would be seen as a direct challenge. Much more so than the initial arrangement with Daise, or even my ‘turning’ of Alina.

I finished my swim and towelled dry. My Labradors were hanging around the pool and I felt a little guilty that I had given them so little attention the past few days. Jaxon, the large male, was looking mournfully at me and holding his rubber ball in his mouth. I called him to me and he suddenly looked like a big puppy as he dropped the ball at my feet and ran a few meters away, waiting for me to throw it.

I walked out onto the lawn and started throwing the ball for him, which he would pounce on as if it was some rabbit he had to subdue, then return it to me to be thrown again. Holly just lay quietly and watched. Her hips were giving her problems and she seemed to be in pain again, so she didn’t chase the ball with Jaxon.

After ten minutes or so of this, I noticed that Bettina’s daughter had come out of the house and was standing and watching the game. She had an incredibly sad, yearning expression on her face.

“Hi,” I greeted her. “We didn’t have much time to introduce ourselves last night. I’m Rupert. What can I call you.”

“Lisa,” was the shy response. I paused to take a proper look at her. She was fairly tall for her age, with very long light brown hair. Looking at her, I decided that she had either gone through a growth spurt recently, or she wasn’t eating well. She was all sharp angles and long legs. There was no baby fat at all. She was wearing blue-jeans and a Hannah Montana T-Shirt.

“Hi Lisa. Would you like to meet my dogs?”

“Yes please. They won’t bite me will they?”

“No. This is Jaxon. He’s an absolute baby. He would be very upset if he thought that you were afraid of him. You aren’t afraid are you?”

“I’ve never had a dog. We’ve always lived in a flat and we weren’t allowed to have pets.”

“Ok, come over here and meet Jaxon then.”

Lisa walked over to join me where I had stopped Jaxon and was scratching his neck. She reached out very hesitantly to touch him on his back, and slowly started petting him. When I stopped scratching him, he turned to investigate this new person and to Lisa’s embarrassment, nosed her in the crotch. It was very difficult for me to suppress a laugh and I had to explain to her that it was just his way of smelling her so that he would know who she was.

It didn’t take too long before I knew that the two of them were going to be fast friends. After she had thrown the ball for him a few times I left them for a second and grabbed some dog biscuits from the pantry in the kitchen and brought them back. Lisa was very impressed with the fact that Jaxon sat and waited for her to give the biscuits to him and didn’t snatch them from her.

While Lisa played with Jaxon, I very carefully drew her out. It was quite obvious that she didn’t realise that I was doing so, but over the course of the next twenty minutes, I learnt a lot about both her and her mother. What I heard both impressed and depressed me. It was clear that everything that Bettina did was aimed at providing for Lisa’s needs, but Bettina hadn’t been able to avoid closeting Lisa in a small cycle of home and school, and Lisa was quite clearly a very bright little girl who had realised that there were some people in her mother’s life who weren’t very nice. She let slip that she had seen various bruises and contusions on her mother and that there had been a few visits to the hospital as well.

When Jaxon decided that he was tired, and disappeared into his kennel with the ball, we went back into the house. Nqobile had started on breakfast and Lisa and I sat down to eat. Lisa was very excited with the choices that she was given for breakfast and explained readily that she wasn’t given any choice normally. After much negotiation with Nqobile, she decided that fried eggs, sunny-side-up, and bacon was a wonderful treat. I decided to have the same.

While we were eating, the rest of the household slowly came awake, with first Daise and Alina joining us, then Kate and finally Bettina. Everyone was fairly quiet and subdued, except for Lisa who was bubbling to her mother about the fun she had had playing with Jaxon. This eventually culminated in a question to her mother.

“Are we going to live here now mommy?”

Bettina glanced and me, then answered her daughter, “Yes, for now. We will probably have to find a new place to live though.”

“Bettina,” I interrupted, “we haven’t really discussed it, but there is absolutely no rush. You are welcome to stay for as long as you wish.”

“Oh thank you Rupert,” Lisa gushed. Bettina just looked at me, then mouthed ‘Thank you’.

Chapter 32: Going Home

We hadn’t been driving more than ten minutes before the reaction started to set in. The first to go was Daise. I saw her start to go a little green around the gills, and her hands started shaking. When it turned into dry heaves, I shouted at her to open the window, hoping that the fresh air would sort her out. She made it, nearly. Half the vomit went out the window, the rest splattered all over the door.

“It’s alright Daise, nothing to worry about. You’re having a completely normal reaction,” I tried to reassure her.

“I’m OK,” she responded, but I could see she was far from OK.

“It’s the reaction. You were on an adrenalin high and now you’re coming down from it. Don’t worry about it, we’ll get you into a nice hot bath when we get back and you’ll be alright.”

Alina climbed over into the front seat and helped Daise clean up a bit, before holding her in her arms and comforting her. I then noticed that Bettina was sobbing quietly, but she stopped as soon as her daughter woke up. The distraction of keeping her daughter safe was sufficient stimulus for her to suppress her emotions and focus her attention. Also totally normal. The person who bothered me the most was Katerina. I could see her pale face in the mirror, and it looked as though she was wearing a mask. I would have preferred her to cry but, at first, it looked as if she was going to just suppress her emotions. I thought that was going to be very unhealthy.

“How’re you doing Katerina,” I asked her.

“I am very glad that you rescued me,” she replied, “but I am a bit worried that I will stain your seats.”

“What?” That was a complete surprise. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m bleeding worse.”

“Shit. Sorry Katerina. I completely forgot the reason you were on the way to the hospital. Are you in a lot of pain?”

“It’s OK. The pain does not bother me so much. It is just the blood.”

“Just hold on. Don’t worry about the seat. It’s you that we need to worry about.”

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out what I could do. I was reluctant to go to any of the hospitals because I didn’t have any faith in their ability to keep quiet about her injuries. Nurses were poorly paid and would be very susceptible to bribes. I couldn’t think of any doctors that I knew well enough to call on in a situation like this, but then I remembered an old friend. I figured he could help. I fired up my cell and found his number one-handed while driving.

“Hi Rupe, what’s up,” Chris answered after the third ring. He was a school headmaster now, but he had once been an Ops Medic, well trained in treating trauma, and I knew he had kept up his knowledge as part of the Occupational Health and Safety requirements for his school.

“Are you doing anything tonight Corporal?” I asked him.

There was a slight hesitation. I could almost hear the gears turning. “I haven’t been a corporal for a long time now.”

“Yes, I know. I would push your button unless I really needed you Chris.”

“Ok. How bad is it?”

“Not sure. Bleeding. Pale face. Some sweating, but that’s probably from shock not internal injuries.”

“Ok. I’ll grab my bag. Where can I meet you?”

“My place. We’re enroute now. ETA 20 Mikes”

“Cool. I should make it in about 25 to 30 Mikes. Just have to explain to the mother of my children why I have to abandon her at this time of night. Should I carry?”

“Probably a good idea. I’m pretty sure you won’t need it. We don’t have anyone in ‘hot pursuit’, but you never know.”

“Ok. SeeYa.”

The phone went dead in my ear. I turned to Katerina and told her, “I have someone on the way who will take a look at you. He’s not a doctor, but he’s the next best thing. He’ll be able to tell us what we should do at least.”

“Ok. Thank you,” Katerina replied, the effort to suppress her pain obvious in her voice.

I gave Sgt Major Dhlamini a call and he told me that he was already back at my place, and that everything looked OK. He reported that Nqobile was busy putting something together for us to eat as soon as we got back. I was happy with that. There’s nothing like a bit of an adrenalin high, then the drop back down, to get my appetite going; both for food and … other things. I glanced over at Daise a little guiltily, but saw that she seemed to have calmed down. Alina had fished some wet-wipes out of somewhere and had cleaned up her face, and was in the process of cleaning some of the mess off the car door.

****

The rest of the trip was anti-climatic, although I did keep a wary eye out for any pursuit. The road was quiet and the few other cars on the road were all content to roar past me as I deliberately kept left, in the slow lane.

As we got to my gate, I pressed the remote control and the electric gate slid open in time for me to drive in without stopping. The garage door opened on the same control, and I saw the Sgt Major waiting for me in the double garage. I pulled in and heaved a sigh of relief when the door closed behind me.

“I’ve got the guys patrolling the fence Major,” the Sgt major greeted me, “some of them are really pissed that they missed the action.”

“No doubt they’ll get their chance later. Just warn them that Chris will be arriving in a few minutes.”

“Chris who?”

“Sorry. He’s an old friend of mine. Was an Ops Medic.”

“We have some injuries you didn’t tell me about?”

“Just Katerina. She didn’t get to see the doctor at the hospital.”

“Oh, OK. I forgot about that.” His voice trailed off and I turned to see what had attracted his attention.

“Hey you horny old goat, that’s Bettina’s nanny. You leave her alone!”

“Ok,” he replied, not taking his eyes off her for a second. I just laughed at him and started helping the girls into the house. I half helped, half carried Katerina up the stairs and got her settled into a bed in the second guest bedroom, with Nqobile fussing around like an old abafazi. We had just got her settled when Chris arrived.

“Howzit man. You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” I greeted him.

“No problem. You have to tell me the what the hell is going on here. You have a house full of beautiful women and what look like soldiers patrolling the yard.”

“It’s a long story. This is Katerina. She’s the one with the problem.”

“Ok. Everyone out. Give me some room please.”

I led the way out of the room and started downstairs. Nqobile bustled past me and headed for the kitchen. I went out onto the deck and started up the Jacuzzi, turning the heat to it’s highest setting. Once it was bubbling nicely, I went back inside to get hold of some of the Boboti that Nqobile was dishing up.

“What is that stuff,” Daise asked. I was happy to see that she had changed into a clean track-suit and looked a lot better.

“It’s like a meat-loaf, just a lot more spicy. Based on a Cape Malay traditional recipe. It’s one of my favourite meals.”

“And the yellow rice?”

“That’s the result of the seasoning. Try some, I’m sure you’ll like it.” I fed her a spoonful from my plate and after the first taste, Daise’s reluctance disappeared and I surrendered to the inevitable, handing her my plate and dishing up onto another plate for myself. For the next few minutes there was silence as everyone made a valiant attempt to scrape their plates clean. As we were finishing, Chris came down the stairs, carrying his bag.

“Any of that left for me?”

“Sure, help yourself. What news on Katerina?”

“Kate will be fine,” Chris answered me quietly. “The injuries aren’t as serious as I thought they might be. I stopped the bleeding, which was the most serious. The tears should heal quickly as long as they aren’t aggravated. It seems that the problem is that she has been repeatedly raped and never got a chance to heal. I would still get her to a proper doctor as soon as possible though.”

“Ok, but she’ll be OK for tonight?”

“Yup.”

Chris sat down and I introduced him around. He polished off his food rapidly and I suggested that everyone join me in the Jacuzzi, then walked out onto the deck and just stripped before climbing into the tub and easing myself into the water, not waiting for the reaction of any of the others. It was only a short time before first Daise, then Alina joined me, their pale bodies lit beautifully by the moonlight as they climbed into the tub. Bettina followed shortly afterwards, telling me as she stripped down that her nanny had tucked her sleeping daughter into bed. Daise climbed onto my lap and snuggled into my chest and the others spread themselves out on the seats in the tub. Chris came out briefly onto the deck and excused himself.

“As nice as the scenery is,” Chris said, “I need to get back home. My son is teething and I need to do my shift so my wife can get some sleep. Don’t forget to get Kate to a doctor, OK?”

“Sure. Thanks a million for coming out tonight Chris. I owe you one.”

“And don’t you forget it,” he said with a smile before disappearing back into the house.

Sgt Major Dhlamini appeared briefly. “I’ll sleep here tonight Major, see you in the morning,” he said before vanishing. I suspected that the nanny was going to be experiencing the full force of his charm within the next few minutes and silently wished him luck.

We sat and soaked for a while in silence, content to just enjoy the warm water bubbling around us and the scenery of the deep Kloof in the moonlight. Someone had turned out the house lights, so it was dark on the deck. The faces of the others were just pale blobs, I couldn’t make out any features.

I slowly became aware of Daise moving her cheek on my chest, rubbing it against me almost like a cat, and it made me become aware of her as a naked woman in my arms. The feel of her against me changed from that of a cuddle to concentrate on the rubbery feel of two breasts pressed into me and I shifted uncomfortably as my erection pressed up under her legs. Daise suddenly shifted so that she was straddling me and before I knew what was happening, I was buried inside her as she rocked gently on my lap. I bent my head to kiss her, forgetting completely that there were other people in the tub with us.

“Oh, that is so hot,” Bettina said quietly, which startled me and brought me back to an awareness of where I was. I tried to pull away from Daise, but she just locked her arms around my neck and pulled my head back into the kiss. I decided that it was dark enough that I didn’t need to worry about being embarrassed, and lost myself again in the sensations.

We stayed like that for some unknown eternity, until it suddenly became urgent and I spent inside her. I wasn’t sure what Daise had experienced, and started to apologise to her, but she just ‘shushed’ me and kissed me again lightly. After a few more minutes, she got up and we both climbed out of the tub and headed off to bed, leaving Bettina and Alina in the tub.

Chapter 31: Another Interval

The man was sitting at the first booth on the left as people entered the strip club. He liked sitting there as it allowed him to keep an eye on who was entering or exiting the club, and to make sure that he was always aware of what was happening around him. He was focused on the documents he had on the table and seemed to be oblivious to the artificial charms of the semi-naked women who prowled the tables of the club.

He paused his reading for a few seconds, and an astute observer would have noticed the fact that his face became flushed for a few seconds, before he returned to the papers in front of him.

The man turned his head and gestured with his head for the manager of the club to join him. As the manager approached the table, he had to pause to allow a topless women to crawl out from under the table before he could take a seat.

The man, known almost universally as Dimitri, continued to read for a few minutes, keeping the club manager waiting. The manager's apprehension became markedly worse as he was forced to wait.

After some indeterminate period, Dimitri put down the papers and focused his full attention on the manager. His single raised eyebrow was the equivalent of a large dose of Truth Serum. The manager started babbling but had to stop after a few seconds as his mouth proved unable to keep up with his desire to tell everything he knew as quickly as possible.

He stopped, drew in a large breath and visibly gathered himself, before launching into his tale a second time. His second attempt proved to be more coherent, but ultimately unsatisfying as he really had no explanation for the events of the evening. He finally wound down and stopped. His eyes betrayed his state of mind, however, looking everywhere except at the man in front of him. There was no escape though, as Dimitri's glare had him pinned in place like a butterfly on a board.

"So, you are telling me that you have three men dead and have two others arrested?"

The manager could do nothing but nod to indicate that Dimitri had summarised most succinctly what he had said.

"And you have lost two women."

This time it was a flat statement, not even a rhetorical question. Again all he could do was nod.

"And the child?"

"Gone, along with the nanny."

"Who did this?"

"We don't know. Our men say that they were taken down by two black men who looked like car guards."

"Bullshit. There was a team there. They were too slick. Someone must have seen something. Find them."

Dimitri waved his hand and the manager scrambled out of the booth, frantic to get away from Dimitri and any possible retribution. As soon as he was gone, Dimitri's shadow appeared. He was a quiet man, dark hair and a flat, expressionless face. He listend carefully to the instructions that Dimitri issued in a few staccato sentences of Russian. His only response was a curt "Da" before he got up and left to follow the manager out of the club. Anyone observing his face would have recoiled from the implacable sense of purpose there.

Dimitri allowed himself a small expression of satisfaction. There would be a new manager of the club in a short while, one of his own men, while the old one met with an unfortunate accident.

He returned to his papers. There was a sense of satisfaction in seeing the figures on paper, and he knew he could rely on the paper where a computer introduced too many chances for someone to intercept the information. Everything was going well; the drug trade was firmly under control with most of the rivals eliminated, he was well on his way towards establishing control over the prostitution setup, with most of the clubs either under his direct control or paying 'protection' to him. There was very little street trade, but what there was would be controlled within a few days. The only fly in the ointment was the bitch Alina who had disappeared and now this incident tonight... As he thought about it, he suddenly wondered if the two were connected.

Chapter 30: Cleanup and Regroup

I called out to Daise to warn her that I was a friendly, then moved further round the front on the car to confirm that the threat was past. A quick glance told me all that I needed to know, and I rushed back to the driver’s seat of the Landrover. As I jumped in, I called to Daise and she sat back down, pulling her door closed behind her.

I shifted into reverse, and pulled back, wincing as the car I had crashed scraped as it pulled free of the Bull-Bar and crashed back down onto the road. Once I was clear, I shifted back into first gear and swung round to shine my head-lights onto the first car that had arrived at the hospital.

I was gratified to see that my confidence in Cpl Maseka’s ability had been fully justified. The driver of the car was face-down on the tarmac and his hands were secured behind him. Cpl Maseka’s helper was standing with one foot planted firmly in the center of his back, and his pistol pointed down aimed approximately in the direction of the back of his head. I could see two heads with long hair through the back window of the car, so I guessed that the women were still OK.

I left the Landrover with it’s engine running and jumped out. Cpl Maseka was in front of the car busy with something that I couldn’t see. When moved around to where I could see him properly, I could see that he had just finished binding the hands of a second man.

“Everything under control Cpl?” I asked

“Hundred Percent Major,” he replied, “no major injuries.”

“Major injuries?” I asked.

“A few cuts and scrapes from ducking into cover. Nothing a few plasters won’t fix.”

“The girls?”

“We just shouted at them to keep down when we pulled open the car doors. These idiots hadn’t even drawn their weapons.” His voice dripped with scorn as he gestured with his head to one side. A glance told me that he had recovered both of their fire-arms.

“Ok. We need to clean up and get out of here.”

“Two minutes. The Sgt-Major is getting the car.”

“Ok.”

I reholstered my fire-arm and moved to the passenger door of the car. As I turned around, the headlights from the Landrover must have illuminated my face sufficiently for Bettina to identify me. The door suddenly flew open and I found my arms full of a sobbing woman.

“Hi Bettina, sad to see me?” I said jokingly.

My only reward was two fists beating on my chest. I gave Bettina a big squeeze, then pushed her away from my chest so I could see her face.

“Are you OK?”

“Yes,” she answered through her tears, “but I am worried about my daughter.”

“Ok. We’ll talk about that in a few minutes. What about your friend?”

Bettina turned back to the car and crooked her finger at the girl still sitting there. “This is Katerina.”

Katerina climbed out of the car slowly. It was obvious that any movement caused her pain. Once she was standing, she took two steps towards me and then reached up, put her arms around my neck and pulled me down to kiss me. I hesitated slightly and the thought ran through my head ‘Never kiss the groupies’, but I shrugged it off and returned her kiss. I figured that this was her way of thanking me for helping her, and that it would demean her to refuse.

“Hi Katerina, nice to meet you. We need to get out of here, so we will talk a bit later.”

I walked to the Landrover, pulling the two girls with me. Once there, I handed them over to Daise with a quick introduction, and turned to look for the Sgt Major. Typically of the breed, he was standing right behind me and grinned when he saw that he had managed to startle me.

“Geez Sgt Major, don’t DO that,” I admonished him.

“Do what?” he asked with a faux innocent expression on his face. “We’re ready to rock and roll whenever you are. Roy just wants to know where the brass is from the shots that you fired at that other car. He doesn’t want to leave any obvious clues.”

“It wasn’t me who fired, it was Daise. I suspect that her doppies ejected straight into the Landrover. She was standing in the passenger door when she fired.”

“Yebo. I’ll grab the other car, load up Cpl Maseka’s crew and make my way back to your place for a debrief. Ok?”

“Perfect. What is Roy up to?”

“He’ll hang around here. Arrest those two clowns and muddy the waters as much as possible when the Police arrive. He’ll have some story worked out by the time they get here.”

“What about the CCTV cameras?”

“What do you expect? Did you REALLY think they were actually working?”

“And if they are?”

“One of the guys has gone to sort that out. We figure a hundred rand or so and the tapes from tonight will be hard to find.”

“Perfect. See you back at my place.”

I jumped back into the Landrover and pulled out of the parking lot. Once we were driving, I called to Bettina, “Where is your Daughter?”

“She’s at my flat. I have a nanny who looks after her at night.”

“Directions please?”

It only took us five minutes to get to Bettina’s flat. I went up with her and helped her gather her clothes and a few personal items. Once we had thrown those into a bag, she went to wake up her daughter. The nanny turned out to be a young Zulu girl, who showed every sign of being petrified of me, until I was able to reassure her that I was not part of the crowd that had been scaring Bettina. Speaking her language helped a lot with that. Once she knew that I was going to take Bettina and her daughter away with me to look after them, she begged me to take her with, pointing out that we would still need someone to look after the child. I decided that she had a point and told her to come with.

Ten minutes later we were all loaded up in the Landrover and on the N3 Highway back up to Kloof.