Shoot the Bastards by Michael Stanley

Author:Michael Stanley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2019-05-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

“We’ve got to get out of here, Bongani. I sent them to the wrong place. I deleted the co-ords of the briefcase and showed them the co-ords of the camp.”

“That was clever.” Bongani sounded in as much pain as Crys.

“Pockface will be furious when he can’t find the money.” She allowed herself a grim laugh. “We only have a few hours…then he’ll be back.”

They both fell silent for a moment. Crys was straining her mind to work out of her next step, and was sure Bongani was doing the same.

“I’m going to try to work my chair up to yours,” he said at last. “Maybe I can untie your hands.”

He rocked his chair from side to side and slowly made progress toward her. He groaned with the effort, and once he nearly tipped over. Crys gasped. He’d never get the chair up again.

After what seemed like forever, he got his chair back to back with Crys’s and reached for her wrists. But he couldn’t see what he was doing, and twice he grabbed at her broken finger. She screamed the first time. The second she bit her lip. When he did find the knot, he fiddled with it for at least ten minutes, but it was very tight, and he couldn’t apply much force with his hands tied together.

Eventually, he stopped. “I’ll try again in a few minutes. My fingers hurt too much right now, but I will get it loose.”

Crys didn’t think so. She could feel that the knot was just as tight as before.

“We need a plan for when they come back,” she said.

“Hard to plan without knowing what they’re going to do. Maybe I can say that I can find the place without the GPS. Then they’ll take us both.”

Crys wondered what would happen then. Probably a bullet to the head. And she’d deleted the waypoint. If Bongani couldn’t find the right spot, they’d be grateful for a bullet each by the time the thugs had finished with them.

“I can’t think of a better idea. Maybe we’ll get a chance…somehow.”

Crys felt him start on the knot again, but he made no progress.

“It won’t come loose,” he said at last. She could hear his desperation. “My family…what will they do without me?” The last word caught in his throat.

“The Malans will look after them. I’m sure they will.” Crys tried to keep her voice calm, reassuring.

He was quiet for a few minutes. Then he said, “The whole village helped to get me to bush school so that I could become a game guide, get a real job. There aren’t many jobs out here, but I worked hard, and learned English well. I wanted to help the village as they helped me. But the money doesn’t go far.”

Crys realized he was talking about why he’d become involved with the rhino poachers—about how he’d got into this position.

“I understand…” She hesitated. “You said I come from America and don’t know what it’s like to be poor, but my father and mother came there as refugees.

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