Part 5 (2/2)

BLUE-UNIFORMED COPS WERE running up on either side of our car. When they threw open the doors and grabbed at us, Adanne came out easily. I was a lot more work for them.When I was finally pulled from the front seat, I came up swinging, crunching a straight right fist into somebody's chin. It felt good.Then two of them flung me down hard onto the pavement. That didn't feel so good. Something popped in my shoulder.Jesus!My arm flew up reflexively, and a wave of pain crashed over me, even as I felt the joint slip back into place. I wasn't sure if I could move the arm again, though. How could I fight them now?The police were yelling on all sides, at least four of them screaming in a mishmash of languages I couldn't understand.Then one of them fired his service revolver into the air to make his point crystal clear.Adanne was shouting too. ”I'm with the Guardianl I'm a reporter. Press!”I could see under the car to where she was lying facedown on the other side. There were pairs of black shoes moving all around her. Then a pistol was pointed at her head.But that didn't stop her from yelling at them. ”Adanne Tansi! I'm with the Guardian]”She shouted it over and over, not just for them, but for anyone who could hear in the neighborhood. We had already stopped traffic on both sides of the street.With any luck, Adanne had just gone from anonymous suspect to known ent.i.ty. It was a good move - especially given her state of mind after what had happened at her parents' house.I saw two of the cops who were standing over me exchange a look. One reached down to pull my hands back and cuff me. When he did, my shoulder felt like it was being torn in half.Then I was punched and kicked in the small of the back. Everything was getting hazy and surreal again in a hurry. I couldn't let myself black out.”Alex!” Adanne's voice came again. ”Alex! I'm over here! Alex!”I turned my head to look for her. The heel of a shoe came down on my cheek and temple. But I saw her anyway. The police were dragging her away. Past a standard cruiser-to an unmarked black sedan.Going where?”She's with the Guardlan!” I yelled at the top of my voice. ”She's with the Guardian! She's press!”Adanne kicked and twisted, and I tried to roll the two cops off my back.But it was too little too late. Adanne was still shouting when they stuffed her into the black sedan, slammed the door, and drove off in a hurry.

Chapter 109.

A FEVERED VOICE inside my head was screaming for me to help Adanne, but I knew I should think things through before I tried anything.I had no idea, and no way to find out, if the car they had put me in was following Adanne's. I was in a police unit, though. Small and cramped by DC standards. Smelling strongly of tobacco and sweat and somebody's urine. Were these men policemen?I sat sideways on a ripped vinyl seat in back. My hands were cuffed, and a rusted metal security grate was a few inches from my face. My shoulder throbbed and I was afraid it was broken. But that was the least of my worries right now. What I cared about most was Adanne and what was happening to her.”Where did they take her?” I asked. The two uniforms in front wouldn't even turn to look at me. I couldn't provoke them.”Talk to me. Tell me where we're going,” I demanded to know.Then I saw for myself, and it couldn't have been any worse.The first thing I recognized was the signpost at the turn-off for Kirikiri. Then the familiar concrete walls and razor wire crisscrossing the top.Oh h.e.l.l, no.I felt like I'd fallen into some kind of h.e.l.l on earth. Going in here the first time had been bad enough, but heading back when I knew what to expect?It took the two cops and two more prison guards to get me out of the car and inside the jail.I thought they would drag me up to the wards-but we went down instead. Down couldn't be good. Where was Adanne? Was she here too?My feet b.u.mped over stone steps, then onto the compacted dirt floor of a barely lit corridor. It looked and smelled like the cell block upstairs, but when we pa.s.sed through one of the reinforced steel doors, I saw they all opened onto the same enormous s.p.a.ce.There was a low ceiling that dripped some kind of sludge, and a row of retrofitted support columns ran right down the middle of the room. They extended into deep shadows on either side.A blank s.p.a.ce. For torture? Interrogation? Execution?Everything was left to the imagination-on purpose, I was sure.The police and guards left me there, with my hands cuffed tightly behind my back, secured around one of the posts. The column was rusted steel, about four inches thick, and going nowhere. Just like me.I stopped struggling as soon as they walked away. Better to save my strength, I figured.I didn't know who wanted me here-the Tiger? The police? The government?Someone else?A multinational corporation, for G.o.d's sake? Maybe that was it. Anything was possible here.If I was extraordinarily lucky, Flaherty would come looking for me again; and if I was even luckier, he'd be able to find me down here. But that could take days, and then more time to find Adanne.If she was still alive.If they hadn't gotten the secrets out of her.If...if...if...

Chapter 110.

A LIGHT CAME on... two lights actually.Quickly, one after the other.I didn't know how many hours had pa.s.sed. Or what time of day it was. I knew that I hadn't slept.The man I now thought of as the police commander, the one I'd hit with Adanne's car, stood by one of the doors.His hand was still on the wall switch. Two single-bulb fixtures shone brightly overhead. They weren't meant to be easy on the eyes, or the brain, or the soul.”Tell me what you know about the Tiger,” he said as he strode forward. I noticed he'd changed suits-and that there was a rectangle of gauze taped to his forehead.”Where's Adanne Tansi?” I said.”Don't make me cross, Cross.” The commander chuckled softly; he'd been a jacka.s.s joker the last time too, I remembered. The accent was Yoruban and the voice was calm. Too calm. He had more self-control than I would have thought he should, given that I'd tried to run him over and put tire marks on his ugly face.”Just tell me if she's alive,” I said. ”That's all 1 need to hear from you.””She's alive. Somewhat.” He spread his hands. ”Now-the killer you chased here? What do you know? Are you CIA? Or are you working with her? The reporter?”At least he wanted something from me. Quid pro quo was better than nothing, I guess.”There are lots of Tigers, killers for hire,” I said. ”You know that. The one I'm after is physically large. He operates internationally, with teams in Lagos and Was.h.i.+ngton at the very least. I believe his name is Sowande.”As of two days ago, he was in South Darfur. I don't know where the h.e.l.l he is now.” I paused and stared into his eyes.”I'm not CIA, definitely not CIA. Tell me where she is.”His shoulders barely shrugged. ”She's here. At Kirikiri. No need to worry about her. She's close by. Look! Look at that. There she is now. The news reporter is here.”

Chapter 111.

A POLICE OFFICER I didn't recognize was pus.h.i.+ng Adanne into the room. She shuffled ahead of him, with a wad of tape over her mouth. Blood streaked both her cheeks.Her braids had been cut short; they stuck out at angles from her head. One of her eyes was swollen shut and colored blue-black. She saw me and nodded that she was okay. I didn't believe it for a second.”Now maybe there's more that you can tell me,” the commander said. ”Something I don't already know about the Tiger. Why did you come here? Not to solve a murder case. Why would I believe that? How do you know Adanne Tansi?”I began to shout at him. ”What the h.e.l.l is the matter with you? I'm a cop, just like you. I'm investigating a murder case.It's that simple.”The cuffs tore at my wrists. Then the pain in my shoulder turned to nausea. I thought I was going to throw up.The commander nodded once at the cop who'd brought in Adanne. The underling threw a hard uppercut into her stomach. I felt the cruel blow in my own body.Adanne groaned behind the tape and fell to her knees. The dirt on her face was streaked with tears, but she wasn't crying now. She was watching me. Blood from her mouth was turning the tape red. Her eyes were pleading. But for what?”Why are you doing this?” I spit between clenched teeth. I could imagine my hands around his throat. ”My friend was killed in Was.h.i.+ngton. That's why I'm here. That's all there is. I'm not part of some conspiracy.””Take the tape off her mouth,” the commander ordered.The guard ripped it away and Adanne said, ”Alex, don't worry about me.”The commander turned to the cop. ”Again. Hit her.” He turned back to me. ”Alex! Worry about her.””Okay!” I cut him off. ”The Tiger's name is Abidemi Sowande. He disappeared in nineteen eighty-one, when he was nine years old, turned up in England at a university for two years, and hasn't used that ident.i.ty since.”He's murdered a lot of people, here and in America. He uses wild boys. He may control other Tigers. That's all I know. That's everything I have. You know about the diamonds, the gasoline, the illegal trading.”The commander kept his hand in the air to hold off the next punch. ”You're sure that's it?””I'm sure, G.o.ddammit! I'm just a cop from Was.h.i.+ngton, DC. Adanne has nothing to do with this.”He squinted, thinking about it, and then seemed satisfied. His hand came down slowly. ”I should kill you anyway,” he said. ”But that's not my choice.”Then I heard another voice in the room. ”No, that would be my choice, Detective Cross.”

Chapter 112.

A MAN STEPPED out of the shadows, a large man-the mercenary soldier known as the Tiger. The one I'd been chasing.”No one seems to know much about me. That's good, don't you think? I want to keep it that way. She writes stories in newspapers, the London Times, maybe the New York Times. You get in the way a lot.”He walked over to me. ”Unbelievable,” he said. ”Some people fear you, eh? Not me. I find you to be a funny man. Big joke. The joke is on you, Detective Cross.”My body eased just a fraction. He didn't seem angry, and he wasn't concerned about me, but he was huge, and muscle-bound, as fierce as any man I'd ever seen.Then, with his eyes still on me, he said, ”Shoot her. Wait. No, no. Give me a gun.””NO!” I yelled.That's all I got out. Adanne's good eye flew open and she found me in this unbelievable nightmare we were sharing.The Tiger took a quick step forward. ”Pretty girl,” he said. ”Stupid b.i.t.c.h. Dead woman! You did this to her, Cross. You did this, not me.”Blam.Blam.

Chapter 113.

HE HAD FIRED a police service revolver close to her head. Twice. He missed on purpose, and he laughed merrily at the prank.”People find it difficult to believe that a black man can be clever and intelligent. Have you found that to be true, Doctor Cross? How about you, Adanne?”She didn't answer, but she spit at him. ”Murderer,” she said.”One of the best-and proud of my accomplishments.”Then he fired a third shot, right between Adanne's eyes. Her body lurched forward, and she landed facedown on the ground. Her arms spread out like wings. Adanne didn't move.As fast as that, as insane, she was gone. Adanne was dead in this horrid jail cell, murdered by the Tiger as the police looked on and did nothing to stop him.Rage poured out of me. There were no words for what I was feeling. A cord tightened around my throat, another around my forehead.Don't worry about me, Adanne had said. She knew they were going to kill her; she knew it all the time.Her killer stood over her and he watched me. Then he grinned. He dropped his trousers, went down on his knees, and committed his final outrage against Adanne.”Pretty girl,” he growled. ”You did this to her. Never forget that, Detective. Never.”

Chapter 114.

ALEX, DON'T WORRY about me.Don't worry about me.Don't worry.Night had become morning somehow, and I was still alive. I could see that it was light through the black fabric of a hood they made me wear. What's more, I was being moved.The neck cord kept me oxygen hungry and weak as they dragged me outside. They threw me like cargo into the backseat of a truck or van, a vehicle with a high step and a diesel engine.Then we drove for a long time. I kept my eyes open inside the hood. Still, all I could see in my mind was the last moment when Adanne was alive, and then...The Tiger had killed her, and worse. He thought I was a joke. He said I was no threat to him. Just another policeman. We'd see.If I lived through the next few hours or so.As the ride continued, I prayed for Adanne and for her family. I told them, in my own way, that this wasn't over yet. Not that it mattered to them. But it did to me. I wondered why I was still alive. It made no sense to me. Another mystery.When we finally stopped, car doors opened on either side of me. Now what?Somebody shoved my head down into the seat. The cuffs were roughly removed. Powerful hands pressed into the small of my back and pushed hard. ”You go home now. Go.'”I went flying through the air-but only for a few seconds of uncertainty and terror.Then I landed on stone or cement. By the time I'd gotten up and untied the hood, they were gone, out of sight, whoever had brought me here.They had dropped me on a side street next to an official-looking building, the sort of white stone box you might find in downtown DC.I could see through an iron fence and across a manicured front lawn to a gatehouse out front.An American flag flew above it, flapping in a light breeze.This was the American consulate. Had to be. The emba.s.sy was in Abuja. That must be where I was now.But why?

Chapter 115.

SOMETHING WAS GOING on here at the consulate. Something big. And dangerous-looking. Hundreds of people were gathered in the streets outside the front gates. Actually, it looked like there were two separate crowds. Half of them were lined up like they were waiting to get in. The other half, on the opposite side of a concrete barrier, were demonstrating against the United States.I saw hand-lettered placards that read US PAYS THE PRICE,and DELTA PEOPLE, DELTA RULE, and NO MORE AMERICANS.Even from a distance, I could tell it was the kind of scene that could turn ugly, or violent, at any time. I didn't wait around for that to happen.I walked around the corner, and leading with my good shoulder, I started pus.h.i.+ng through the crowd. People on both sides grabbed at me, either because I was cutting in line or, maybe, because I looked like an American. The shouting on the street side blocked out any other noise around me.One guy got hold of my s.h.i.+rt. He ripped it all the way down the back before I knocked his arm away.The s.h.i.+rt didn't matter to me. Nothing did anymore. Once again I wondered why I was still alive. Because they thought I was CIA? Because I had friends in Was.h.i.+ngton? Or maybe because they finally believed I was a cop?I made my way to the main gate. Standing there, filthy and barefoot, with no pa.s.sport to show, I told the double-chinned marine who got in my face that my name was Alex Cross, I was an American police officer, and I had to speak with the amba.s.sador right away.The marine didn't want to hear it, not a word.”I was kidnapped. I'm an American cop,” I told him. ”I just witnessed a murder.”Out of the side of his mouth the marine muttered, ”Take a number.”

Chapter 116.

I WAS GOING more than a little crazy now, but I had to hold my emotions in. I had stories to tell someone, information to give, Adanne's secrets to share with someone who could make a difference.I got several minutes of healthy skepticism at the gate before I finally convinced a marine guard to call in my name. The response came back right away: Bring Detective Cross inside. It was almost as if they were expecting me. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Given my recent history, probably not.The consulate lobby, with its metal detectors and bulletproof gla.s.s on all the windows, felt like an urban police station. People were lined up at every desk and window, most of them clearly agitated, waiting to be seen.All the American accents-and a portrait of CondoleezzaRice presiding over the room-played tricks with my mind about where I was, and exactly how I had gotten here.Once inside, I was met by a nonmilitary escort in an off-white suit. He was ”Mr. Collins,” a Nigerian of some unspecified position here.Unlike the marine who'd brought me this far, Collins was friendly and animatedly answered a few questions as we walked.”There's been at least one rebel attack in Rivers State today,” he explained, gesticulating the whole time. ”Much bigger than we've seen before. The government won't admit to it, but the independent media is calling it the beginning of a civil war.”The populist buzz on the first floor gave way to crisp offi-ciousness and hushed conversations on the second.I was taken straight to the amba.s.sador's consular suite, where I waited outside his office for several minutes-until a dozen men, black, white, and four who looked Chinese, walked out all at once. Each of them appeared somber and nervous. No one met my gaze, or perhaps no one was in the least interested that I was sitting there barefoot and in rags.Mr. Collins politely held the door for me, and then he closed it from the outside.

Chapter 117.

AMBa.s.sADOR ROBERT OWELEEN was tall and willowy, almost too thin, a silver-haired man of maybe sixty. He stood behind his large antique desk flanked by American and Nigerian flags. Two aides stayed where they were, on a small couch in an alcove off to one side.”Mr. Cross.” He shook my hand, unsmiling. ”My G.o.d, what happened to you?””A lot. I won't waste your time. I'm here about a man, a killer, known as the Tiger. It's a matter of Nigerian and American security.”He swept my words away in the air. ”I know why you're here, Mr. Cross. I've been getting all kinds of pressure from Abu Rock about you.””Excuse me-Abu Rock?””The capital. It seems that the only one who wants you in Nigeria is you. The CIA has actually saved your life here, haven't they?”Now I was a little dumbstruck, to add to my general numbness and dizziness about what had happened recently. The American amba.s.sador knew about my presence here? Was someone taking out billboards about me or something?”We're sending you home today,” Oweleen continued, with finality in his voice.I looked at the floor and back at him again, trying to keep it together. ”Sir, the man I'm chasing is a ma.s.s murderer. He may have government ties here. He's definitely involved with the police in some mysterious way. If I could just have a chance to reach my CIA contact in Lagos-”He cut me off. ”What exactly do you think your authority is, Mr. Cross? You're a visitor in this country, nothing more than that. You can take this up with the State Department if you wish. In Was.h.i.+ngton.””He needs to be stopped, sir. Yesterday he murdered a reporter for the Guardian named Adanne Tansi. I saw him kill her. He murdered her entire family. He's responsible for at least eight deaths in Was.h.i.+ngton.”Finally, Oweleen exploded. ”Who the h.e.l.l are you? I never even heard of you until three days ago, and now I'm taking time out for this? Do you have any idea what's going on here?”He waved his hand at the plasma TV on the wall. ”Turn that up.”One of the aides pushed a b.u.t.ton on a remote-and then I watched the TV in shocked silence and with dread.

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