Cross Country Read online

  I backed all the way up to the corner and spun the wheel hard to face the other direction. A horn blared as an Audi wagon clipped the car, nearly shearing off the rear bumper.

  I picked a direction arbitrarily and punched those four cylinders for all they were worth.

  “Where are we going?” Adanne sat up a little straighter, almost like she was coming out of a trance.

  “Into the city,” I told her.

  If there was one thing Lagos might be good for, it was crowds we could get lost in.

  Chapter 106

  “ADANNE?” I REACHED over and held on to her shoulder. “We have to get away from here. The policeman back there—when I was staying in Lagos—he nearly killed me. I’m sure it’s the same man. It’s all connected somehow, it has to be.”

  Adanne didn’t argue with me. She just nodded and pointed to the right.

  “Turn here for the Mainland Bridge. It’s the best way, Alex. We’ll go through Benin.”

  “Hold on tight, brace yourself!”

  “It’s too late for that, way too late.”

  I took the turn—without slowing down. We came out onto a wide boulevard lined with low-slung stucco shops, open lots, and old dusty cars and trucks. A freestanding billboard advertised Grace of Light Church, with an illustration of a woman in a choir robe, eyes on the sky and arms open to God.

  But it certainly wasn’t God that I heard next.

  It was the deafening chop of a helicopter, loud and very close to the roof of the Escort.

  They’d found us already.

  They were on top of us, right over our heads.

  “It’s the police!” said Adanne. “They’ll kill us, Alex. I know things they don’t want in any newspaper.”

  Chapter 107

  I CRANED MY neck to see what was up, literally. The small bird with white struts was almost directly overhead. There were no police markings, and the low altitude was another bad sign.

  The pilot was being increasingly reckless and didn’t seem to care about the safety of people down on the street, or about his own well-being, for that matter.

  The Mainland Bridge was still a mile or so off. I scanned the area for any kind of cover—parking garage, construction site. There was nothing obvious, nowhere for us to hide from the helicopter.

  What was worse, within a few blocks I saw lights in my mirror—red-and-blue spinners, at least three cruisers moving very fast, gaining on us.

  “Shit! That’s definitely police.”

  “I’m serious, Alex. They’ll kill us if they catch us. I’m not being paranoid.”

  “I believe you. But why, Adanne?”

  “Alex, I know terrible things. I’m writing a story about it. I have to tell somebody what I found out.”

  “Tell me,” I said.

  In the next frantic few minutes, that’s what Adanne did; she told me secrets that she hadn’t shared before. One of the secrets was that Ellie Cox had visited her in Lagos. They had shared sources and information. They had talked about Abidemi Sowande—the Tiger. And the group that he worked for.

  “Alex, he is one of the most dangerous mercenaries in the world.”

  I sped up and weaved through the traffic as best I could. But when I checked the mirror again, the police cars were still close. I was a little numb from hearing what Adanne knew about the Tiger and so much more. I still couldn’t believe that she and Ellie had met.

  Suddenly Adanne grabbed my arm. “Alex!” she shouted. “There!”

  A police car had hopped the curb from a vacant lot on the left and was pulling across our path right now.

  I jammed down on the brakes—too late.

  The Escort skidded and caught the cruiser broadside.

  Our front end folded right in on itself, as if it were made of molding clay. No wonder Ford was losing market share. My chest hit the steering column hard, and I saw Adanne’s head smack the windshield.

  Already the other police cruiser was right behind us, siren screeching, spinners going like crazy.

  “Adanne?” I sat her up and saw that her forehead was swabbed in red. She raised her eyebrows and blinked several times.

  “You all right?” I asked.

  “I think so. Don’t tell them anything, Alex. More people will die. Don’t tell them a thing I told you. Do you promise? Alex?”

  Chapter 108

  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 Guardian! 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 entity. 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 Guardian!” 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 turnoff for Kirikiri. Then the familiar concrete walls and razor wire crisscrossing the top.

  Oh hell, no. />
  I felt like I’d fallen into some kind of hell 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 bumped 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 passed through one of the reinforced steel doors, I saw they all opened onto the same enormous space.

  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 space. 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 God’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 passed. 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 jackass 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 I 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 Washington 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 hell 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 pushing 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 hell 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 Washington. 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 identity 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, goddammit! I’m just a cop from Washington, 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 bitch. 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 accomplishment
s.”

  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?