Death in the Congo: Book 5 in the Dan Stone series by David Nees

Author:David Nees [Nees, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

A half hour later the door was unlocked. The man who had led the kidnapping stood in the doorway when it opened. He looked around the group and motioned to Reichard to come forward. Reichard had been the one to ask the questions, so the man assumed he was the leader. After taking him outside, the door was closed and locked.

Reichard followed the kidnapper to the commandant’s house.

On entering, he was told to sit on a wooden chair. The commander looked at him for a long minute.

“Your name?” His voice still sounded ominous, hinting at violence lurking close to the surface.

“Reichard Chastain”

“You are the leader of this group?”

Reichard nodded.

“Do you know who I am?”

Reichard shook his head.

“That is too bad. If you did, you might not have been so foolish. I am General Joseph Amunazele Mputu. I am the commander of this forest. I am the ruler here.” He leaned forward, his eyes now alight with an angry light. “I am life and death.”

Reichard knew his face betrayed his fear. A satisfied look crept over Mputu’s face. He leaned back in his chair.

“You think you can go wherever you want? In my forest?”

“We were given permission to do our work in the forest. By the government.”

A thin hint of a smile curled the commandant’s lips. “Where is this government? Do you see them? Are they here to help you?” He pointed his finger at his own chest. “Look around. I am the government. This is my forest. Kinshasa cannot help you. The army cannot help you. I am the only one who can help you…or condemn you.”

Reichard suppressed a shudder. “We don’t want to interfere in your politics. We are only interested in protecting the forest and its wildlife. We mean no harm.”

The commander stood up. “What do you know about protecting the forest? We use the forest. It gives us food, wood, plants, and minerals.”

He walked over to a table against the wall and poured himself a cup of coffee, then returned to his desk.

“You want to deprive us of our own resources. Those in Kinshasa live in a big city. They cut away the jungle to make it. Now they think they can lock up all of this?” He waved his arm in a wide arc. “And you help them. You would deprive us of what we need.”

He wagged his finger at Reichard. “Non, non, white man. You will not help to keep us from what we need. You will help me to get what I need. We will see how much your people value you.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Hold you for ransom.” He took out a sheet of paper and pen. “You will tell me who you report to and how you contact them.”

He shoved the pen and paper across the desk. Reichard took it and wrote a name and phone number.

“This is my supervisor. He works in Kinshasa coordinating all the work on the gorillas. The eastern ones and the lowland gorillas in the west.”

“I will call them tomorrow.

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