‘I’m so sorry, Macy,’ said his wife. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I’ll be back with you real soon, I promise. I love you. Bye-bye.’
‘Bye, Mommy,’ Macy said, with a reluctant pout.
Eddie added his own farewells, then disconnected. ‘Okay, love. Daddy’s got to ring some people.’
It took a few hours to get answers from his contacts, and they were mostly not what he had hoped for.
‘So what did your friends say?’ Nina asked when he called her back. ‘Did you find anyone who can provide security?’
‘I did,’ he replied, ‘but literally only one. Everyone else was either already on a job, or out of contact. And I called everyone I know in central Africa. Flight’s not a problem, TD said she can take you. But as far as security goes, the only guy who’s free is a mate of mine, Fortune Bemba.’
‘He’s the only person you could get?’
‘He’s from DRC, so he knows the country, and he’s got plenty of local contacts. He said he can round up some help. The thing is, I don’t know ’em. I trust Fortune, but even though he says he’ll vouch for anyone he brings aboard, I still want to check ’em out for myself. You made our little girl a promise that you’d be back. And I want to be absolutely sure it’s going to be kept.’
Uncertainty entered her voice. ‘Wait, so you’re saying… you want to meet this Fortune’s associates in person? You want to go to the Congo yourself?’
‘There’s no “want” about it. It’s definitely not high on my holiday list! But I need to be sure that whoever else is helping out is up to the job. And I want to check out the situation on the ground, an’ all. The news doesn’t pay much attention to countries like that unless something really major happens, but just because it doesn’t make headlines doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous.’
‘You’re not suggesting that you bring Macy, are you?’
‘Course I’m bloody not! No, she can stay here, either with my dad and Julie or with Lizzie. I’ll fly into Butembo with you, meet Fortune and check out his mates, then come back. If I time the flights right I should be able to do the round trip in three days.’
‘That’s a long time to leave Macy with someone else, even if they are family.’
‘We did it before, with the Midas Cave. And then North Korea.’
‘And in hindsight I wish we hadn’t. I know she’s sometimes had a nanny at home, but one or both of us has always been there if she needed us. I don’t think you should come.’
‘Well, I don’t think you should go, but hey. Look, Nina,’ he went on, wanting to forestall the approaching argument, ‘I just want to be sure you’ll be safe. Okay? Once I know you’ve got reliable people watching out for you, I’ll come back to Macy and let you get on with it. But there’s no way I’m going to let you go out there without knowing what’s what.’
‘There isn’t, is there?’ she said, terse.
‘You’re not the only one who can be stubborn. God, I feel sorry for whoever marries Macy. She’s going to be as bloody-minded as both of us combined.’
Her tone lightened. ‘Afraid so. Have you told Macy yet?’
‘No. And I haven’t asked my dad or Lizzie if they can take her either. This should be fun.’
‘Well, I already upset Macy today, so I think it should be your turn.’
‘Gee, thanks!’ They both laughed. ‘Okay, love. I’d better go and do it, and then wipe up all the tears — probably from Dad as well as Macy!’
‘Good luck,’ she said. ‘Love you.’
‘Love you.’ He went to find his daughter.
She was playing in the living room with Julie, Larry stretched out in a recliner reading the news on his phone. ‘That’s the face of someone with bad news,’ he said as his son entered.
Eddie crouched beside Macy. ‘Hey, love. I need to tell you something very important.’
She sat up. ‘What is it?’
‘You know how Mummy—’
‘Mommy.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you remember she’s going to be away for a bit longer?’ She nodded. ‘Well, Daddy needs to make sure that everything’s all right for her. So that means I’ll have to go away too. Just for a little while, and I’ll be back as soon as I can,’ he quickly added, seeing her sudden worry.
‘Is Mommy going to be okay?’
‘Yeah, of course she will! I’m going to talk to some of my friends in Africa who’ll—’
Concern was instantly replaced by amazement. ‘You’re going to Africa? That’s where they have elephants, and lions! Can I come?’
‘Sorry, love, I’m afraid not.’ She looked disappointed. ‘I’ll bring you back a toy elephant or lion, though. How about that?’ She gave him a begrudging nod.
‘Wait,’ said Julie, confused. ‘If you’re going to Africa, who’s going to look after Macy?’
Eddie put on his broadest smile. ‘That’s something I wanted to talk to you two about…’
Larry popped upright. ‘Wait, what?’
‘I’ll only be gone a couple of days.’
‘You want to leave your daughter with us for two days?’
‘Well, more like three.’
Julie looked appalled, but at her husband rather than her stepson. ‘Larry! She’s your granddaughter! Of course we’ll look after her, Eddie. We’d love to. Wouldn’t we, Larry?’
Larry was far from thrilled. ‘But I was going to play golf with Trevor and Michael and the boys this week.’
‘Oh, you and your golf. The course’ll still be there next week, but how often do we see Macy? You don’t mind staying with us, do you, Macy?’
‘Can I stay?’ Macy asked, directing the question at her grandfather. ‘We can go and see the magic horses again!’
‘I think Macy’s fine with it,’ said Eddie, amused by Larry’s attempt to mask his dismay. ‘I guess that settles it, then.’
‘It does,’ Julie added firmly. Larry gave her a thin smile, before treating Macy to a more genuine one.
Eddie turned back to his daughter. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can. Is that okay?’
Her enthusiasm had already faded. ‘I… think so. Are you going right now?’
‘No, we’ll do some fun stuff together first. Us, and Julie, and your grandad. Whether he wants to or not.’ That drew a giggle from Julie and a resigned sigh from Larry.
‘And you and Mommy are coming back soon?’
‘Definitely,’ Eddie assured her. ‘That’s why I’m going to Africa. To make sure of it.’
7
It was one of the world’s more mean-spirited ironies, Nina mused as she gazed at the landscape below, that one of the countries richest in natural resources was also one of the poorest financially. The Democratic Republic of Congo held huge reserves of rare and valuable minerals, but the fortunes made from extracting them were far from equitably distributed amongst its people — if they went to its people at all. Almost a century of rapacious exploitation under the auspices first of King Leopold the Second of Belgium, then the brutal colonial administration of the Belgian state itself, had been followed by an independence marked by violence and corruption to an extent that the country’s very name — at the time, Zaire — became international shorthand for shameless embezzlement.
The situation had improved over time, but only in relative terms. The modern DR Congo was still plagued by sectarian strife, wars both civil and national, drug smuggling and sex trafficking — and the old standbys of poverty, disease and graft. The secessionist movement in the east was merely the latest variety of civil unrest bringing misery to ordinary citizens.