Boss Takes All (42 page)

‘Simon, look, a bench. Let's sit. It will be easier for us to watch the stars.'

He bent his knees wearily, placed himself on the edge of the bench and stared into the distance.

‘I want to give you some news. Thomas and I are expecting a child. It will be many months before this happens. Already I feel different. Do not laugh, but when we are alone, I sing to her, or him, of course.'

Simon became more animated. ‘That's a lucky child. I think that hearing such a voice will be a great gift.'

‘Every time I sing the same song. It is one of Toni's songs that has no words, ‘Lullaby of peace.'

‘I have heard it. The girls play it often for their grandmother. As I said, a lucky child.'

She took Simon's hand and began. It was based on a melody that Toni had heard down at the coast, in Lamu, a mingling of African and Arab cadences. She began softly, enjoying again the rise and fall of the music. Gradually, the presence of the stars, the shadowy outline of the trees around them and even of Simon himself slipped from her consciousness. She heard her voice becoming stronger and floating away on the still night air.

Tom was the first one in the conference room to pick up the familiar sound as it came to him through an open window. He smiled and turned to his companions.

‘I'm for some night air. I think I'll just take a stroll around the garden. I'm ready for whatever … you all know the rest.'

He and Rebecca persuaded Simon that he must spend what was left of the night inside the house. They left him at the table where Sally Rubai kept her Bible. A lamp was on and he pulled the large book towards him and opened a page at random.

Long before sunrise, there was a lot of quiet movement downstairs. Paul met the CNN camera crew, the only one invited to film inside the grounds of the Pink Palace. He explained the plan for the departure of Abel Rubai.

‘You must realise that our friend is a very unpredictable man, so be prepared. He's still upstairs. We were surprised to discover his son, Reuben, with him. We didn't ask how he got in.'

‘Mister Miller, there's a big bunch of people just outside the gate, reporters mostly. And the crowds were gathering in the city as we left. Are you taking him down by chopper?'

Paul replied with raised eyebrows and a cagey smile.

‘That's one of our options.'

Earlier, in the conference room, it had been decided that strategy must be flexible and that their plan would work best if they could keep everyone outside the group wondering what would happen next. Paul added, ‘You can take it that he will be stepping out at seven.'

The early sun cast the shadow of the house across the dew-soaked lawns at the front. Most of those gathering outside the main entrance were security men with their weapons loaded. They were nervous, still fearful of a surprise attack of some kind. The Daniels stood to one side and close to the front door.

The entrance of Abel, with Reuben close behind, was impressive. Both men wore identical, expensive, dark suits. The father's tie was in the Kenya national colours and his black shoes had been buffed up until they gleamed. The two men stood on the top step of five cut from black granite and looked around imperiously. When he became aware of the television camera, Abel smiled and waved with that air of confidence he would show on his first appearance after being elected president.

During the short pause while Mister R played up to the camera, a small, unshaven old man appeared on the bottom step. Abel groaned with impatience, but the little man was determined to have his moment.

‘Abel Rubai, we spoke last night about my wife and grandchildren …'

‘Will someone take this old fool back to his cage?'

Abel was ignored and Simon Nyache continued.

‘I know you have a busy day ahead, but last night I wrote …' Simon slipped his hand into his pocket.

‘Papa, this is a trick! There is a gun!'

Abel's face contorted into a grimace of panic. He pulled out the same pistol he had held in his hand on the golf course, preparing to shoot Stephen Kamau and Tom McCall. This time there was no Sally to stay his finger. Two bullets entered Simon's frail body and he crumpled to the ground. The dramatic silence was broken by a scream from Reuben.

‘You all witnessed it! That maniac was about to kill my father! Papa, you were right to defend yourself!'

The stunned witnesses watched Tom McCall hurry towards Simon. He sat on the bottom step and lifted him against his body. In a few seconds he looked up at Paul and shook his head grimly. Simon's hand was still in his pocket. Tom eased it out gently. He searched the pocket and took out a letter.

‘It is addressed to Abel Rubai.'

From his sitting position he handed the letter to his father. Alex stepped up and handed it over. ‘I believe this is meant for you.'

The CNN camera had Abel and Reuben in close focus. Paul Miller and Inspector Caroline moved into camera range. Paul stood in front of Rubai.

‘You're a bigger fool than I thought. Cold-blooded murder in front of millions of witnesses.'

‘You all saw him put his hand into his pocket. It was obvious what was going to happen.'

‘He was going to shoot you with a letter!'

‘Paul, do I charge him now, or wait until we get to court? This is new territory for me.'

‘Book him, Caroline! We'll sort out the protocols later.'

The murmuring began. Arms were thrown out, pointing angrily towards the Rubais. Abel, knowing that he had no friends in the crowd, tried to turn to get back into the relative safety of his house but was held firmly by two Nairobi policemen in plain clothes.

‘Let me go, you oafs! Come on! Come on! I can make you rich!'

As he stared around wild-eyed, looking for help, or at least some sympathy, he caught sight of Rebecca McCall kneeling over the body of Simon Nyache and looking straight up at him. In a single moment he recognised a truth that sent a shock of pain through his whole body. In the purity of the compassion revealed in that beautiful face, he was overwhelmed by a sense of his own selfish, filthy arrogance.

Distracted as he was, he did not notice two young men hurrying out of that part of the crowd where the Daniels family was standing.

Eli and Sammy Akamba threw themselves down onto the steps right in front of him, determined not to be moved. He vaguely recognised them. Eli reminded him.

‘Bwana, do you not know us? We are two brothers.'

The bitterness in Sammy's tone was sharper.

‘We had a younger brother. He was the wild one. Remember that day at the loony hospital in Gilgil? The three of us were wearing clothes that you had bought for us.'

‘The old man down there. You told us to take your car and follow him. Bwana, you did not like to soil your hands.'

‘Bwana, we failed and broke our mother's heart.'

‘See those people over there? We know them. They are healers. They brought our broken bodies back to life. To life, Bwana, to life! They paid attention to us and tried to bring peace to our minds.'

‘And we came so close, so close. But the wildness was too deep.'

‘Sammy, Eli, I remember you so well. I saw to everything after Saul was taken. Ask your mother. I owed you money. I still owe you money! I can give it to you now, if these gorillas let me have five minutes. Where have you been? I've looked everywhere for you.'

‘Bwana, it is good that you are ready to pay your debts. Next time you want to find us, you must look in that place they call hell!'

It was over quickly. Abel was still in the grasp of the policemen when one knife ripped across his throat and the other plunged into his heart.

o the battle was over. The shock of the swift, brutal dispatch stunned everyone who was close enough to see the gush of life-blood as Abel tumbled down the steps of his own home, dragging his guards with him. The head of the falling corpse struck the bottom step, inches from where Rebecca McCall held the body of Simon Nyache in her arms. The sound of the cracking skull sent an electric shock of horror through the length of her body. She feared for the life of her child. She drew the lifeless body of Simon tight to her as though it had the power to protect her against the sight of that leer of terror frozen on the dead face of the man who, in life, had tested the goodness of her heart to its limit.

The single cry of ‘Thomas!' cut the morning air like the scream of a lion on the point of death, but it was Maria Kabari who was first to her side. She released her grasp on Simon Nyache, lifted her and passed her into the arms of her husband. As he turned to take her away, back to Londiani if that had been possible, he found himself looking into the warm, comforting eyes of Dorothy Daniels.

‘Tom, my car is close by. We'll take her over to Cartref. There is going to be a lot of noise and activity here soon.'

Messy. Physically, mentally, spiritually messy.

The dark red blood from Abel Rubai's body was spattered down every step with splashes and spots on Simon Nyache. The blood of the old man made no more than a stain on the coat of his dark suit. Even in that moment of deep crisis, Rebecca was concerned that the blood be cleaned away quickly before liquid congealed into a permanent mark in the surface of the granite. She was led off before she could think of some way to do the job herself.

The doctors who were already gathered around were concerned only with making a last check that the men were dead before having them carried inside and laid head to head under sheets on the large table in the conference room.

The numbing confusion generated by the shock of the two deaths affected everyone close to the entrance, even the CNN crew who had experience of death and destruction in war zones in Asia and Africa. But for those whose minds and bodies had been concentrated in making sure that their defendant be presented on time in front of a judge in a Nairobi court, there was no luxury of taking in events slowly and musing on them in some philosophical, leisurely way.

In particular, Paul Miller and Daniel Komar were landed with a crisis of their own that might prove more dangerous to them than getting a living Abel Rubai down to the city. A whole new series of events lay in wait for them. New thinking and planning were needed and their instincts and anticipation must be accurate if they were to be able to present the truth to the people.

Convincing the legions of Rubai supporters presented a massive, if not impossible, problem. First there had been the kidnapping and now the ritual execution of their beloved leader. Vengeance would be the top item on their agenda.

Blood must have blood, if possible in a public way.

Up there in the relative safety of Karen, issues were being dealt with competently. The Daniels family knew how to deal with everything associated with the dead men. Two policemen were guarding Reuben Rubai in a small room at the back of the house where he could carry on screaming out his grief and his curses and not be heard in the front of the house.

Maria Kabari sat alone with the Akamba brothers. She felt no danger from the two powerful young men, although she had just watched them make a savage attack on a defenceless man. Yes, there was a kind of madness in them, but she was confident that the heat of their passion would cool and they would return to themselves and perhaps be ready to unburden themselves to her.

Outside, quick decisions were being made.

Daniel asked the CNN producer to stop transmitting pictures but to use her experience and judgement about continuing to film.

Paul's first call was to Mary Mtambo.

‘Have you seen the television pictures on CNN?'

‘No. They are not going to be shown inside Kenya until this evening.'

‘Mary, listen to this …'

Half an hour later a newscast went out that the trial of Abel Rubai would not be going ahead that day. The speaker of the parliament had been asked to call a meeting of the house for noon with as many members present as possible. He was given only a partial reason for the request.

Daniel had a sister living close to the Rubai farm in the north.

‘Susan, ask the reverend to make a casual call on Sally Rubai and her family. Ask him to take his wife. Give me his mobile number. We will phone when we know more.'

* * *

Hosea, with Caroline at his side, drove one of the borrowed police cars into the city. The other passengers were Paul Miller and Daniel Komar. They were surprised and delighted that their journey was totally without incident, an easier drive than on a normal weekday morning.

By noon more than a hundred and fifty members had gathered in the house. The excited hubbub in the chamber was not calmed when the speaker announced that members would be addressed by the leaders of the Serena Party. He silenced the shouts of protest and outrage with a threat to call off the meeting. Paul began.

‘Honourable members, my name is Paul Miller and this is my colleague, Daniel Komar. We know that you are not happy about our presence in this chamber today. We have some important news, but we will be brief in relating it. Daniel will explain.'