offer. Jack was feeling a pleasant buzz from his first beer and
progressively euphoric that the evening had worked out so auspiciously
after such a bad start.
Lou had arrived at Jack’s with several patrolmen less than twenty
minutes after Laurie’s call. He’d been ecstatic to take Angelo and
Franco downtown to book them on breaking and entering, possession of
unauthorized firearms, assault and battery, extortion, and impersonation
of a police officer. His hope was to hold them long enough to get some
real information out of them about New York City organized crime,
particularly the Lucia organization.
Lou had been disturbed by the threats Laurie and Jack had received, so
when Jack mentioned that he and Laurie were thinking of going out of
town for a week or so, Lou was all for it. Lou was concerned enough that
in the interim, he’d assigned a guard for Laurie and Jack. To make the
job easier, Jack and Laurie agreed to stay together.
At Jack’s urging, Warren had taken him and Laurie to the Mercado Market
and to meet Esteban Ndeme. As Warren had intimated, Esteban was an
amiable and gracious man. He was close to Jack’s age of forty-two, but
his body type was the opposite of Jack’s. Where Jack was stocky, Esteban
was slender. Even his facial features seemed delicate. His skin was a
deep, rich brown, many shades darker than Warren’s. But his most
noticeable physical trait was his high-domed forehead. He’d lost his
hair in the front so that his hairline ran from ear to ear over the top
of his head.
As soon as he’d learned Jack was considering a trip to Equatorial
Guinea, he’d invited Jack, Laurie, and Warren back to his apartment.
Teodora Ndeme had turned out to be as congenial as her husband. After
the group had been in the apartment for only a short time, she’d
insisted everyone stay for dinner.
With savory aromas drifting from the kitchen, Jack sat back contentedly
with a second beer. ‘What brought you and Teodora to New York City?’ he
asked Esteban.
‘We had to flee our country,’ Esteban said. He went on to describe the
reign of terror of the ruthless dictator Nguema that forced a third of
the population, including all of Spanish descent, to leave. ‘Fifty
thousand people were murdered,’ Esteban said. ‘It was terrible. We were
lucky to get out. I was a schoolteacher trained in Spain and therefore
suspect.’
‘Things have changed, I hope,’ Jack said.
‘Oh, yes,’ Esteban said. ‘A coup in 1979 has changed a lot. But it is a
poor country, although there is some talk of offshore oil, as was
discovered off Gabon. Gabon is now the wealthiest country in the
region.’
‘Have you been back?’ Jack asked.
‘Several times,’ Esteban said. ‘The last time, a few years ago,’ Esteban
said. ‘Teodora and I still have family there. Teodora’s brother even has
a small hotel on the mainland in a town called Bata.’
‘I’ve heard of Bata,’ Jack said. ‘I understand it has an airport.’
‘The only one on the mainland,’ Esteban said. ‘It was built in the
eighties for a Central African Congress. Of course, the country couldn’t
afford it, but that is another story.’
‘Have you heard of a company called GenSys?’ Jack asked.
‘Most definitely,’ Esteban said. ‘It is the major source of foreign
currency for the government, especially since cocoa and coffee prices
have fallen.’
‘So I’ve heard,’ Jack said. ‘I’ve also heard GenSys has a primate farm.
Do you know if that is in Bata?’
‘No, it is in the south,’ Esteban said. ‘They built it in the jungle
near an old deserted Spanish town called Cogo. They have rebuilt much of
the town for their people from America and Europe, and they have built a
new town for local people who work for them. They employ many
Equatoguinean people.’
‘Do you know if GenSys built a hospital?’ Jack asked.
‘Yes, they did,’ Esteban said. ‘They built a hospital and laboratory on
the old town square facing the town hall.’
‘How do you know so much about it?’ Jack asked.
‘Because my cousin used to work there,’ Esteban said. ‘But he quit when