Out of Darkness by Alex Gray

Author:Alex Gray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2024-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Luther thrust the rifle deep into its place in the door of the Land Rover. He’d been trained, like all the other guides, in using the weapon, warned repeatedly not to fire unless it was absolutely necessary. And, so far, there had been no need to discharge it. Baboons would race off, screeching, if he as much as pointed it at them, behaviour that made him laugh every time it happened. He would need a real reason to fire this gun, Luther had protested, and not the one that had been suggested to him. An accident, Sibanda had said with a lightness in his voice that belied the deadly act. Say you were firing at a leopard or a jackal, he’d said. But it wasn’t as easy as that and nothing Luther could say would convince him otherwise.

He was being asked to take the lives of two innocent human beings. Two guests who were supposed to be in his care, not subjected to murder, he had argued. And, if it all went wrong, what then? He’d end up in jail, for years and years, never seeing these wide open stretches again.

But had he made a mistake, refusing to carry out the man’s orders? Luther shuddered, imagining the carnage that could follow. That policeman, Kohi, had been warned not to blow the whistle and look what had happened to him. And his family.

The smell of roasting meats from the evening’s barbecue wafted across to the guide, reminding him of the consequences of disobedience.

It was the noise of someone retching that made Lorimer turn and walk towards the treeline.

He saw a dark shape bent over before recognising the young man being very sick a few yards from the catering tent.

‘Luther! Hey, are you all right?’ He was by the guide’s side in moments, holding on to his shoulders as he tried to straighten up.

‘You … ?’ Luther looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and burst into tears, gulping in air as though he were having a fit.

‘Hey, hey, come on, lad, let’s get you cleaned up,’ Lorimer said, one arm supporting him as he headed towards the standpipe nearby. ‘Hope that isn’t something you ate, or we’ll all come down with it.’ He tried to lighten the situation. He’d handled many a drunken person back in his uniformed days, cajoling them into a semblance of sobriety, even as he’d looked carefully for any injuries. But there was no smell of alcohol here. Just the stench of vomit and a buzzing sound as night insects descended upon it

‘Go away! Don’t talk to me,’ Luther gasped, arms around his stomach as if he were in some degree of pain.

‘Can’t do that, lad. Not when you’ve been so sick.’

Lorimer turned on the tap and let the water soak into his pocket handkerchief. Then he leaned towards Luther to wipe his forehead.

‘No! Please, don’t touch me!’ the young man cried, cringing away from Lorimer, an expression in his eyes that the policeman knew only too well.

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