The Prey (57 page)

‘It’s all falling into place, now,’ Kylie said, while Cameron dialled Gert’s number and waited. ‘Jan – Lotz – always avoided interviews with South African newspapers and magazines whenever they contacted Musa. He never visited here and he was grooming me to handle all the media in Africa. He was worried about someone recognising him.’

Cronje answered. After the initial pleasantries, Cameron said: ‘Gert, did you ever come across a guy called Lotz – first name unknown – in the recces? A shade under two metres, grey eyes, fair hair, bent nose?’

‘Lotz?
Ja
, I knew a Karl Lotz. He was a captain. I went to his wedding, in fact.’

‘Could he have served in Mozambique? In a covert role in support of Renamo, late eighties?’

‘Why do you ask, Cameron? You know some
okes
are still pretty sensitive about that sort of thing?’

‘It’s important.’

‘Well, all I know for sure is that Karl left the recces; he was seconded to another government department and you know what that means. The old government could have had him running covert support to Renamo, political assassinations, who knows? He dropped out of sight for a few years and the last time I saw him was in ’94, just after the elections. I saw him at Jan Smuts airport and he told me he had split up with his wife and was off to live in the bush in Botswana. But I thought you would have had plenty of background on Karl Lotz.’

Cameron was confused. ‘Me? No. Why would I know about him? That’s why I’m calling you.’

Gert laughed. ‘Man, I thought you big mining company
okes
would have done your homework better than that. Karl Lotz’s ex-wife has been running rings around you in the newspapers every day.’

Cameron was speechless.

‘You there?’ Gert asked. ‘You did know that Karl Lotz used to be married to Tertia Venter, didn’t you?’

T
he train started moving again and Kylie, Luis and Cameron left Luis’s cabin to confront Jan Stein.

‘Wait a minute. Just let me check on Jess.’ Cameron knocked on his daughter’s cabin. There was no answer. ‘Jess?’ He felt the panic rising inside him.

The automatic door at the end of the carriage shushed open. ‘You’re looking for Jessica?’ Jan said.

Cameron looked at him. ‘Yes.’

‘She’s in the lounge car, studying. I just had a quick coffee with her.’

‘We need to talk to you,’ Cameron said.

‘I’m busy. I’ve got another meeting with the board before dinner.’

‘We can do this in public, in the corridor, or in my cabin,’ Cameron said.

Jan looked to Luis. ‘I don’t want
him
in there.’

‘Luis is going to be in on this. He has made some serious allegations against you, Captain Lotz. We’re going to hear your side of the story and you’re going to tell us what’s going on between you and your ex-wife.’

Jan licked his lips and Cameron could see he knew he was cornered. ‘All right.’

It was close in the suite, as the beds had been made up. ‘Sit,’ said Cameron. He wanted to be standing over the CEO. Cameron folded his arms. ‘Your name is Karl Lotz.’

‘My name is Jan Stein. I’ve got an Australian passport to prove it.’

‘You killed innocent people,’ Luis said.

Kylie laid a hand on Luis’s forearm. ‘Let him speak, Luis.’

Jan seemed to crumple. He put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. ‘I was a soldier.’ He looked up at Cameron. ‘You know what it was like.’

‘I never murdered civilians.’

Jan shook his head. ‘Neither did I, but I witnessed some things. Terrible things. I was seconded from the recces to work for the intelligence service. I was a patriot. I did as I was ordered.’

Luis looked away, out the darkened window. A passing train blared its horn.

‘What happened between you and Tertia?’

Jan sighed. ‘When the old government started to unravel, when de Klerk surrendered to the blacks, a few of us knew we would be in trouble. There was already talk of a truth and reconciliation commission, but some of the things I did, under orders, Cameron, I knew I would not be pardoned for. Tertia and I were having troubles at home; I was drinking too much to try and forget the things I’d done and I was sure she was sleeping around when I was away on missions. We were going to split up, but as much as she disliked me, and what I had been involved in, she didn’t want to see me rot in prison. Some contacts arranged to get me out of the country and set me up in Australia with a new identity. I went back to mining and Tertia put it about that I’d run off with one of her female safari guides, to Botswana. I tried to keep my face out of the press as much as I could, but I supposed I always knew that when I became CEO someone here would eventually recognise me.’

‘Are we supposed to feel
sorry
for you?’ Luis asked. ‘You need to be tried for your part in the massacre at Homoine.’

Jan glared at him. ‘Do you know how many innocents Frelimo killed? It was a civil war; such things bring out the animal in men. I was an adviser to Renamo, but I never killed any civilians.’

‘For all we know you
advised
them to carry out the massacre. Innocent civilians were killed; the rebels even cleared out the medical centre, slaughtering the ill, pregnant mothers … everyone. It was a
strategic
move, designed to draw Frelimo forces from the north,’ Luis said.

Jan shrugged. ‘I did no such thing, and I won’t be going to Mozambique to face any trial. As soon as this deal is done with the Chinese I’m resigning. I’ll cash in some shares, for what they’re worth, and disappear.’

‘You passed up earlier opportunities to invest in coalfields in Mozambique,’ Kylie interjected. ‘I saw the proposals, but you always argued against them and convinced the board to bid for the Lion Plains concession instead. Was that because you were too scared to set foot in Mozambique in case you were exposed, or because you wanted to get back at your ex-wife?’

‘I don’t know; a little of both, perhaps. The thought of dealing with some Frelimo fat cat turned my stomach, and yes, Tertia had made it plain to me a few years ago that she was not interested in reconciling and moving to Australia when she lost her game farm to the local community. She accused me of ruining her life, when she was the one who had cheated on me. When the opportunity came up to bid for the coal reserves on Lion Plains I was attracted to the idea of hurting her.’

Kylie shook her head. ‘And she relished the challenge. And she won.’

‘Yes, she did. Fair and square as it turns out, even if she and Loubser were in bed together – perhaps literally – and set us up with the contaminated samples. In the end it doesn’t matter what dirty tricks she used because the presence of those bloody owls has finished Lion Plains as a mine for good.’

‘We’ve got more news about your ex-wife,
Karl
,’ Cameron said. ‘Wellington told Luis in Maputo this morning that Tertia was also a
partner in the illegal mining operation in Eureka. She set up Chris Loubser to be kidnapped. Wellington knew when and where he and the others would be going underground and that Chris would have the monitoring pumps with him. If Kylie and I hadn’t rescued Chris, then Wellington would have eventually ransomed him back to us and smuggled out the samples to Tertia. As it was, Chris had the samples on him, which just made it easier for Tertia to set us up. Wellington also claimed it was she who ordered the killings of Barrica, Tshabalala, Sipho and Kylie and me.’

Jan’s eyes widened. ‘I knew she could be a vindictive bitch, but an organised crime boss? Murderess? Well, unless you can prove all you’ve said, it looks like she might get away scot-free.’

‘And she’s bought Kilarney and is going to sell it to the Chinese as soon as they take over Global Resources,’ Kylie said. ‘We can’t let her win, and we have to get the police involved as soon as possible.’

‘I agree,’ said Jan. ‘Let me take all this to the board, along with my letter of resignation. They’ve known it was coming for some time. I’ll tell the Chinese that Tertia can expect to be met by the police in Cape Town. That should deter even China Dynamite from doing a deal with her.’ He got up to leave.

‘That’s it?’ Luis said. ‘He’s just going to walk out of here, away from all this?’

Jan moved until his face was just inches from Luis’s. ‘You want to try and stop me now? My life is over. You have a coalfield; sell it to the Chinese and watch your natural resources and your money drain away from your
kak
country.’

Cameron stepped between the two men and Jan let himself out of the cabin. Luis sat down on the bed where Jan had been. ‘So that is it? This war criminal will go free?’

‘No, Luis,’ Kylie said. ‘It’s up to you what happens to him. You need to go to the authorities and make a complaint against him. Perhaps to the International Criminal Court.’

Luis sagged. ‘My first priority must be to my son, and to the memory of my wife. I cannot let evil people like Wellington and
this Tertia triumph. But Lotz is right; I fear that if I deal with this Chinese company it will not be in the best interests of my country or my people.’

‘We need to go direct to the board,’ Kylie said. ‘With the truth.’

Cameron opened the small closet in his cabin and checked inside his travel bag.

Kylie saw the look on his face. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘My pistol,’ he said. ‘I packed it, and it’s gone. I’m worried about Jessica, Kylie. I’m going to look for her.’

‘I’ll come with you.’

‘What about going to the board?’

‘That can wait.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ Luis said.

‘Wait a minute,’ Kylie said as they started walking towards the lounge car at the rear of the train.

Cameron looked back, his impatience showing.

‘Cameron, did you tell anyone, anyone at all, that we were going to your wife’s parents’ house at Hippo Rock with Luis and Jessica?’

‘No. Of course not. It was supposed to be a secret. Did you?’

*

Jan closed the cabin door behind him and gazed into the eyes of the woman he had loved with all his heart since he had first met her in high school.

Tertia came to him, her eyes misting, and he folded her in his arms. She pressed her face into his chest. ‘My God, I have missed you, Karl.’ She looked up at him. ‘What’s wrong? Kiss me.’

He swallowed hard. They had waited years for this moment, forced to live apart, and quietly, via the internet, plotting a future where he would be able to return to South Africa and the pair of them would have money and property to last them the rest of their lives.

The blacks had taken Tertia’s beloved game reserve and wanted to sell it off as a coalmine. It had seemed a gift from heaven when he, as the CEO of a mining company, had been given the opportunity to
bid for the rights for Lion Plains. He had made sure Global Resources won the tender – offering over the odds for the actual price and a small fortune to greedy hands behind closed doors. Their plan, for the project to then fail and for Global Resources to be left as an empty shell which the Chinese would pick up for a song, had been going perfectly.

‘It’s all within our grasp, lover,’ Tertia said to him. ‘Talk to me, you’re scaring me. Are the Chinese getting cold feet?’

He shook his head. ‘No, they’ll stick to their word.’ He had sought out China Dynamic five years ago when they had tried unsuccessfully to buy Global Resources. He’d been on his way up in the mining industry in Australia, working under his assumed name, but it had seemed that as much as he made and as hard as he worked he would never be able to give him and Tertia the life they deserved, especially after Lion Plains was taken from her. He needed to make a quantum leap.

He had read an article about corporate moles – people who wormed their way into the senior ranks of companies, often the African offshoots of foreign companies where oversight was less rigorous and the talent pool smaller than in the home countries. Global Resources was at the time a mid-sized company looking to expand in Africa and he was African born and heading up through the ranks of a competitor. When the CEO’s job became vacant Jan approached China Dynamic and laid out a plan for them. If he, Jan Stein, could run Global Resources, build its portfolio of African mines and then systematically erode the company from within, to the point where it was in need of a fire sale, would China Dynamic guarantee him a five million dollar bonus if he could deliver it to them?

The Chinese had agreed.

The Lion Plains affair had just added sweetness to the deal. Tertia had given up on the idea of running a game farm – she just wanted revenge against the people who had taken it from her, and an even bigger windfall from the purchase and subsequent sale of Kilarney
to China Dynamic. They would both walk away from Africa, from the bush, from mining, and from their continent’s politics. Rio was shaping up as their preferred retirement destination, and their life would be one of unending opulence until they died.

‘They know about you,’ he said.

‘There’s no way they can prove any of it.’

‘Your trained lion, Wellington, squealed before the Mozambican shot him. Kylie Hamilton and Cameron McMurtrie are going to the board right now. They know that you are the mythical “Mohammed”.’

‘You should have shot Wellington when you had the chance underground,’ she said, and her tone irked him.

‘I wouldn’t have been underground if you hadn’t let McMurtrie’s daughter live. That was a mistake. We could have finished off Wellington at our leisure.’

‘I’ll deny it all. It’s hearsay,’ Tertia said.

‘There’s going to be enough publicity about all this for the Hawks to move on you. They’ll trace your movements, bank accounts; we have to face reality, my love.’

‘No. Wait, let me think.’

She broke from him and sat on the made-up bed in the suite. Her chest was rising and falling.

‘Do they know about you yet?’ she asked him.

He shook his head. ‘They know we were – are – husband and wife, but they bought my story that I had Global Resources bid for Lion Plains to get back at you, because I hated you. I told them you also hated me but didn’t want to see me arrested and paraded before the courts here or in Mozambique.’