Random Violence by Jassy Mackenzie

Author:Jassy Mackenzie [Mackenzie, Jassy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: RSA
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2010-01-18T08:00:00+00:00

Jade turned on her cell phone as soon as she got back home. She’d reluctantly agreed to let Robbie watch the old man’s movements over the next couple of days. Not that Robbie’s offer had been reluctant; he’d suggested it and practically twisted Jade’s arm to make sure it happened.

Robbie’s attitude made Jade deeply uneasy. Why was he so anxious to see Viljoen get what he deserved? She wondered whether he’d done a deal with somebody in order to profit from his death. She’d realized from bitter experience that Robbie was still taking money for hits. She remembered what he’d said in the car. “Guy like that, they’re gonna be queuing up to shoot him when he’s out. I heard that some of the government ministers had relations in those areas long ago. Poor relations. Black people. Working for sadists like him.”

Had Robbie found somebody prepared to pay him a few thousand rand to see their own form of justice done? She wouldn’t put it past him. But she didn’t want other people involved, because then they might find out what she had done.

Viljoen didn’t look like a dangerous man. Perhaps prison had changed him. Seeing him with his frail and helpless old mother, she’d felt pity for both of them. Perhaps his elder brother was the one who’d wanted to sabotage the case because he had more to lose. But then why was somebody watching her house, headlights off, the first night she’d come back?

The beeping of her phone interrupted her thoughts. She had a message from David. Listening to his voice made her remember his arms around her and his hands touching her hair. She smiled and called him back.

David didn’t sound gentle or comforting. His voice was sharp and frustrated.

“Your friend Ellie Myers,” he said.

“What’s happening with her?”

“She’s bloody deceased.”

David’s voice crackled. The connection made it sound like he was in outer Siberia.

“What? Deceased as of when?”

“Deceased as of five years ago. Just before her property was sold. I don’t know what happened.”

“And Mark Myers?”

“He’s not deceased. That’s all we know. He’s not deceased and he clearly isn’t living at his recorded residential address. So we can’t find him.”

“No other information on him?”

“Well, he hasn’t emigrated. Officially, at least. But I’m beginning to wonder what the hell happened five years ago.”

“Something did, that’s for sure,” Jade said.

“Yeah. Now we’re coming along like the guys who missed the party. The trail’s going to be stone-cold now.” The line crackled again. She thought David was probably walking round his office, pacing from wall to wall like a caged tiger. She remembered he used to do that when things were going badly.

“Home Affairs couldn’t find a record of Mark’s parents, either,” he continued. “Not that I think Home Affairs is capable of finding its backside with both hands at the best of times.”

“How about Ellie’s parents?”

“My team’s looking for them now. But I’m not holding my breath.”

“David. Do you sometimes feel like there’s a dead end every direction you turn?”

“Yes, Jade.

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