The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris

Author:Paul Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

11

[ 2000 ]

DANNY AWOKE AS DAWN slipped in through the open curtains. He stretched an arm across the bed, reaching out for Maria. But she was gone. He awoke with a start. It was as if daylight had taken her, suddenly and mysteriously, leaving only the shape in the mattress where she had briefly slept and the smell of her sweat. He frowned and felt a moment of sadness. She had not even said good-bye. He pulled away the covers and stumbled into the bathroom. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and was taken aback. His eyes were red and bloodshot but that was not what really caught his attention. It was the mottled bruising around his upper arm, the mark of his playing at being a soldier at Ali’s; blindly shooting bullets into the night. He winced at the memory. Sober, it seemed foolish and child-like. But there had also been undoubted power in that gun. A strange joy in firing it. He turned to get in the shower and caught a glimpse of his naked back and a long rake of scratches over his shoulder, fresh and red. She may have gone without a word, but she had left her mark. He had to see Maria again. Soon.

As he washed he became dimly aware of a low rumbling and groaning. At first he thought it was the mechanical complaints of the air-conditioning system. But it was growing louder and more complex. A roar of machinery that filled the air.

“What the fuck?” he breathed to himself as he walked over to the window.

He flung back the curtain and there was a sudden whir of rotor blades and an enormous helicopter swooped over the building. It was close enough that Danny could see the fair-skinned pilot looking down, his face masked by aviation goggles as he dipped away toward the ocean shore. This was no ordinary chopper. It was not painted UN white. It was combat green. Danny saw others too, far off in the distance, hovering in a long line, like predatory wasps.

“Jesus!” Danny whispered, and then he punched the air and began to laugh as a wave of relief and excitement crashed over him and he realized what had happened.

The British army had come. The RUF would not take Freetown again.

He flung on his clothes and grabbed his satellite phone and dialed London. They were manic at the news desk. The phone lines coming into Sierra Leone had been jammed and they had been trying to call him for an hour.

“Get the fuck out there!” Hennessey had yelled. “It’s the biggest British military action since the Falklands, for fuck’s sake!”

Danny ran downstairs. The hotel was already practically empty. Most of the other journalists were pounding the streets though it was only eight in the morning. He saw Kam, lounging on a sofa in the hotel lobby. The Senegalese raised an eyebrow at him and the two headed to the car.

“Let’s go into town, Mr. Danny,” Kam said.

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