Chapter 77

CHAPTER 77

I CHECKED MY rifle and made sure there was a round in the chamber. I crouched low and crept as quietly as I could back toward the Land Rover.

When I was ten feet away, I pulled up short. Two scrawny Black teenagers were standing on the far side of the vehicle. They had machetes stuck through their belts and automatic rifles by their sides. One had two lengths of ivory over his shoulders. The other guy was holding my cutlass.

I stepped out of the grass with my gun up. I thought my guests would turn and run, but they didn't. The guy with the ivory held out one of the tusks. "Trade!" he called out.

I shook my head. "No trade." I said it three times. But I wasn't getting through. The guy with the ivory held one of the tusks at its thickest point and tossed over the truck toward me, making his offer. The tusk spun in the air and landed in the grass at my feet. It was about five feet long, bloody on the thick end and pointed at the tip.

The other guy was busy rummaging through my bag. He pulled out a wad of bills and held it up. His eyes widened. His buddy dropped the second piece of ivory. The two of them started pulling on the bag, bickering in Swahili. I only knew a few words, and they were talking too fast for me to catch the drift.

I was out of patience anyway.

I cocked the gun. At the sound of the bolt, they both shut up. I waved the barrel back and forth between them. I didn't want to shoot anybody in cold blood, but I didn't come all this way to be robbed by two skinny poachers.

"Nenda!" I shouted. "Go!"

I saw them both blink. Then I felt something hard against my temple. A hand reached around and yanked the rifle away. A white hand.

"No trades." His voice was in my ear. French accent. "We'll take it all. The sword, the cash, and the truck." He barked some orders in Swahili to the other two. "And the Mauser." He tossed my rifle toward the Land Rover, way out of my reach.

I knew the pressure against my skull was from a pistol barrel. I could feel the guy's bulk behind me. He wasn't tall, but he was thick. I wondered how fast the other two were with their rifles. Then I remembered one of Kira's lessons. Act weak, finish strong.

I sank to my knees. "Please!" I moaned. "You can't leave me alone out here!" I felt the gun barrel slide off my head.

"Don't worry," said the guy behind me. He leaned around, far enough for me to see his ruddy face in my peripheral vision. "You're on the savanna, and it's about to be dark. You'll have company soon enough."

I dropped my head and felt for the tusk in the grass. I grabbed it with both hands. Then I whipped around with every ounce of strength I had. I heard a sound like an axe splitting a watermelon. When I looked up, the tusk was rammed through the guy's mouth and poking out the back of his skull. I grabbed his pistol as it dropped.

The Black guys started to pull their rifles off their shoulders. Way too slow. I stepped forward and made a couple quick downward jerks with the pistol. They got the idea. Both of them dropped their rifles on the ground, then their machete scabbards, then their hunting knives. My cutlass and the open bag of money were lying on the hood of the Land Rover.

I used my basic Swahili again. "Nenda!" This time, they took the hint. They both turned around and started running, knees high, until they disappeared into the tall grass. The humane part of me hoped that they'd get back to their camp or their truck before dark. But when I thought about what they'd done to that poor elephant, I didn't hope quite as hard.

I tucked the pistol into my pocket and tossed the Mauser back into the truck. I grabbed both automatic rifles and slung a machete scabbard over one shoulder. I tried to imagine what my students back in Chicago would think if they saw me right now. They'd probably assume I was a big-game hunter or a homicidal maniac—or maybe a live-action role player from some video game.

The truth is, I looked exactly like Doc Savage. The OG. And I was afraid that I was starting to turn into him. I'd just killed a man with an elephant tusk.

But if that's what it took to get Kira back, I'd do it again.