the chance they patrol the waterfront, which would mean I’d be forced to
use plan C.’
‘What’s plan C?’ Warren asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Jack said. ‘I haven’t come up with it yet.’
‘What about you, Natalie?’ Jack asked.
‘I’m finding it all interesting,’ Natalie said. ‘I’ll go along with the
crowd.’
It took almost an hour to get to the point where a decision had to be
made. Jack pulled to the side of the road.
‘What’s it going to be, gang?’ he asked. He wanted to be absolutely
sure. ‘Back to Bata or on to Acalayong?’
‘I think I’ll be more worried if you go by yourself,’ Laurie said.
‘Count me in.’
‘Natalie?’ Jack said. ‘Don’t be influenced by these other crazies. What
do you want to do?’
‘I’ll go,’ Natalie said.
‘Okay,’ Jack said. He put the car in gear and turned left toward
Acalayong.
Siegfried got up from his desk with his coffee mug in hand and walked to
the window overlooking the square. He was mystified. The Cogo operation
had been up and running for six years and never had they had someone
come to the gate house and request entrance. Equatorial Guinea was not a
place people visited casually.
Siegfried took a swig of his coffee and wondered if there could be any
connection between this abnormal event and the arrival of Taylor Cabot,
the CEO of GenSys. Both were unanticipated, and both were particularly
unwelcome since they came just when there was a major problem with the
bonobo project. Until that unfortunate situation was taken care of,
Siegfried didn’t want any stray people around, and he put the CEO in
that category.
Aurielo poked his head in the door and said that Dr. Raymond Lyons was
there and wished to see him.
Siegfried rolled his eyes. He didn’t want Raymond around, either. ‘Send
him in,’ Siegfried said reluctantly.
Raymond came into the room, looking as tanned and healthy as ever.
Siegfried envied the man’s aristocratic appearance, and the fact that he
had two good arms.
‘Have you located Kevin Marshall yet?’ Raymond demanded.
‘No, we haven’t,’ Siegfried said. He took immediate offense at Raymond’s
tone.
‘I understand it’s been forty-eight hours since he’s been seen,’ Raymond
said. ‘I want him found!’
‘Sit down, Doctor!’ Siegfried said sharply.
Raymond hesitated. He didn’t know whether to get angry or be intimidated
by the manager’s sudden aggressiveness.
‘I said sit!’ Siegfried said.
Raymond sat. The white hunter with his horrid scar and limp arm could be
imposing, particularly surrounded by evidence of his extensive kills.
‘Let us clear up a point involving the chain of command,’ Siegfried
said. ‘I do not take orders from you. In fact, when you are here as a
guest, you take orders from me. Is that understood?’
Raymond opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it. He knew
Siegfried was technically correct.
‘And while we are talking so directly,’ Siegfried added, ‘where is my
retrieval bonus? In the past, I’ve always gotten it when the patient
left the Zone on his way back to the States.’
‘That’s true,’ Raymond said tautly. ‘But there have been major expenses.
Money is coming in shortly from new clients. You’ll be paid as soon as
it comes in.’
‘I don’t want you to think you can give me the runaround,’ Siegfried
warned.
‘Of course not,’ Raymond blurted out.
‘And one other thing,’ Siegfried said. ‘Isn’t there some way you can
hasten the CEO’s departure? His presence here in Cogo is disrupting.
Can’t you use the patient’s needs in some way?’
‘I don’t see how,’ Raymond said. ‘He’s been informed the patient is
capable of traveling. What more can I say?’
‘Think of something,’ Siegfried said.
‘I’ll try,’ Raymond said. ‘Meanwhile, please locate Kevin Marshall. His
disappearance concerns me. I’m afraid he might do something rash.’
‘We believe he went to Cocobeach in Gabon,’ Siegfried said. He was
gratified with the appropriate subservience in Raymond’s voice.
‘You’re sure he didn’t go to the island?’ Raymond asked.
‘We can’t be totally sure,’ Siegfried admitted. ‘But we don’t think so.
Even if he did, he wouldn’t be apt to stay there. He would have been
back by now. It’s been forty-eight hours.’