Old Lovers Don't Die (34 page)

He stood between Jannie and Christian looking at the coffin. He then tapped it several times with his gun before looking at Isabella and Mike.

“You can open,” he said to Mike.

Mike nodded. The coffin was hinged on one side and secured on the other with four adjustable wing nuts. As the guard stood to one side, Mike unscrewed them. Then looking at the guard, who indicated he should open the coffin, Mike lifted up one side so that was open facing towards Christian. Jannie reached across and held it open. Kariba was lying on his side, his face away from the guard and therefore not recognisable. Christian looked into the coffin and could not detect any breathing; perhaps Mike had overdosed him. The guard stood and looked for a few seconds, and then nodded his head and indicated to Jannie to close the coffin. Without any further checks, he turned and climbed back out of the ambulance. Galela closed the back doors of the ambulance, giving them all a thumbs up as he did, while Emmanuel climbed into the cab again and started the engine.

“I think you need to check on Kariba,” Christian said. “I couldn’t see any breathing when the coffin was open.”

Mike and Isabella sat on Christian’s bed as Jannie lifted up the coffin edge again. They all looked in and there was no movement and no breathing; Mike looked concernedly at Jannie when suddenly Kariba heaved and coughed. Jannie slammed the lid down and Mike quickly started screwing up the wing nuts, smiling.

“Seems like he got just the right dose.”

At Goma airport, there was less intense security. Emmanuel talked to the security guard explaining who they were, and the barrier was raised allowing them to pass. The guard had pointed beyond the main entrance to a large hangar next to which they should find the Lear jet. They drove slowly so as not to attract too much attention in the ambulance, and as they drove past the large hangar, they saw the Lear jet; its front door was open and Suleiman was standing at the top of the stairs waving at them. Galela stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

“Isabella and Jannie, you help Christian get on board. We will deliver Kariba, who should be waking up any minute, to your friends from the ICC on the other side of the tarmac and then join you.”

Christian disconnected the intravenous line as Isabella and Jannie gathered up both of their bags. As he climbed out of the ambulance, Jannie took his elbow until he was firmly on the tarmac. Christian looked up, and half a kilometre away was an Airbus 737 with a large European Union insignia on its tail, engines running. The ambulance stopped next to it and Christian watched as half a dozen men in uniform took the coffin up the stairs. He knew they would release him once they had taken off. Kariba was getting more comfort for his extradition to The Hague, more than he deserved.

“Are you okay going up the stairs?” Jannie said to Christian.

“Feeling stronger by the minute, dad, thanks to that excellent surgeon.”

“Don’t get overconfident, kiddo. I don’t need to be doing any more surgery mid-flight!”

“Welcome aboard,” said Suleiman as they reached the top of the stairs. “You will see halfway along, we have made provision for a bed for you if you need it.”

“Yes, you might need some sleep before you get to Cape Town,” said Isabella said winking at Christian.

“I’m actually feeling quite good. So I think I’ll start out sitting up and at least we can all chat on the way, which I think given what’s gone on, would also be therapeutic.”

It was almost an hour later before Mike, Galela, and Emanuel returned.

“Everything okay?” Isabella asked as Mike poked his head in through the front door.

“Took Kariba a while to wake up from that dose of propofol we had to give him en route. But everything is now fine. Christian’s friend from the ICC had a full security detail plus lawyers and an intensive care doctor to monitor him. Once we had him awake, they served the extradition papers on him and read his rights.”

“I would like to have seen his face when that happened.”

“To be honest, Christian, I don’t think he really realised where he was or what was happening, but was awake enough to be served and for us to witness that he understood he was being extradited.”

“Well, I’m going to leave you now that everything is done,” Emanuel said. “I hope you have a smooth flight back and thank you all for helping us to get rid of this monster.”

“I’m not sure that it’s going to contribute much to the long-term problem of child labour and the abuse of women. There will eventually be someone else who takes Kariba’s place,” Galela said.

“Is there anything else that you think that we could do?”

“I think if in some way you could let the world know what goes on and those people like Raoul Saad who support the Karibas of the world could be exposed, that might be something positive.”

“We’ll see what we can do. Goodbye, Emmanuel, and thank you for everything. I hope we meet again soon.”

“Au revoir, my friends.” With a final wave, Emanuel disappeared down the stairs.

Mike and Galela walked down the aisle and sat on the couch opposite Christian and Isabella.

“Heinrich and Suleiman just need to load a few things and then we will leave,” Mike said.

Christian looked out the window and saw that they were loading weapons from beneath the front seat of the ambulance into the rear hold. Just as well the ambulance had not been more thoroughly searched at the border crossing!

Suleiman returned and closed and locked the front door. Heinrich had positioned himself next to the second officer. As they banked, right over Lake Kivu, Christian wondered whether he would ever be back. He hoped so, for there was so much one could contribute, much more than he had previously appreciated or experienced in medicine.

“When do you think you will come back?” He said turning to Isabella.

“As soon as we have you sorted out in Cape Town.”

“Okay you two, I know where this is going,” Jannie said as both Mike and Galela smiled knowingly.

“Now listen dad, if there is anyone who should be talking about romance and the impact that you’re about to make, then there’s no comparison yours is going to be unsurpassed in terms of romantic drama.”

“Let’s hope your mother sees it that way.”

“What a pity we don’t have that Tom Jones recording that you both like so much. I can just imagine that in the background as she walks in and sees you.”

“I can see ‘like father like son’ when it comes to romance,” Mike laughed. “I’ll make sure Sian has lots of tissues.”

“Mike, you said there wouldn’t be an issue with me not having a passport.”

“No, Jannie. We have organised that. Galela made a phone call last night - one of the advantages of being employees of the National Intelligence Agency. Temporary papers will be delivered as we land. Heinrich already has your photo and you will have a passport within two days. In case you want to go on honeymoon to somewhere like Mauritius.”

They all laughed and Christian tried to imagine the look on his mother’s face after all these years. He hoped that she would understand that his father had been trying to protect them, while not understanding that the major threat to all their lives, Van der Walt, was dead. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what it would be like having a mother and father again. Weird was the only thought that he could come up with. It would clearly take them all a while to adjust.

Christian woke up as Heinrich announced that they were descending into Cape Town, having fallen asleep on the couch. Looking out through the small side window, he could make out the dark forbidding shadow of Table Mountain, the lights of Cape Town sprinkled like glow-worms at its feet.

“How is the wound feeling?” Jannie said to Christian from the opposite seat.

“It’s feeling really good, dad. No pain when I move, no ooze from the wound, I might even be able to jog on the beach at the Strand in a couple of days.”

“Just remember you’re a patient, and think like a doctor - at least another week before that kind of vigorous activity!”

“Hear hear,” Isabella added, winking at Christian. “Looks you are going to need a doctor to keep an eye on you.”

Christian smiled inwardly, the conversation was the kind of banter that he had missed having with his father. Despite the initial awkwardness, it already felt good having him around. However, he knew it would be a bigger adjustment for his mother. While he wondered again what her surprise was, Galela walked back to them from where he had been chatting to Heinrich.

“Heinrich says it’s time to fasten seatbelts.”

“Now is everyone certain that my appearance should be as a surprise to Renata?” Jannie said to everyone but no one in particular.

“Did you lose all that surgical confidence in Rwanda?” Mike turned in his seat and asked Jannie.

“It will be fine, dad. Trust me. Especially if Sian can find that Tom Jones music!”

Jannie reached over and playfully ruffled Christian’s hair.

“We will be met by my colleagues from NIA. They will bring a car out to the plane. Sian and Nadine will be waiting inside the terminal so we will take everyone through except Jannie. Once Nadine and Isabella have departed, we will come back and pick you up, Jannie. That should only take fifteen or twenty minutes. Everyone happy with those arrangements?”

Christian could remember ten years previously, approaching Cape Town for the first time, the pilot did a fly past of Table Mountain; its white cloud tablecloth tumbled down sheer sides. At the mountain’s southernmost point, the Atlantic and Indian oceans embracing each other with their obtesting currents, the conflict produced fierce whitecaps. There had been a sense of anticipation of embarking on a potential journey of discovery to find out more about his father. He had left with many answers. Isabella was not his half-sister, and his father had gone to extreme lengths to protect Christian and his mother. There had not been the slightest suggestion or thought that his father might be alive. Not only was he alive, now he was going to land at the city of his birth with his father. Excitement about what might transgress with his father meeting with his mother was eclipsed only by what he might finally discover with Isabella.

As the pilots switched the engines off, Suleiman and Heinrich opened the front door in response to a tap from the outside. Two colleagues greeted them at the top of the steps, before handing them a leather pouch with NIA stamped across it in big letters. Heinrich thanked them in Afrikaans, opened the bag, and then handed the official papers to Jannie.

“Welcome back, Dr. de Villiers,” Mike said. “You and Heinrich hang on here; we will be back in fifteen minutes after we have dropped off Christian and Isabella.”

Waiting for them at the bottom of the steps was a black BMW X5. Christian and Isabella sat in the back with Suleiman. Mike and Galela sat up front with the driver. Christian for the first time felt the excitement of Isabella’s body next to him. Perhaps after all on this trip, he was going to have the answer to another question, which had persisted since he had met Isabella: that they had a special chemistry unique to them and which he had not been able to replicate with anyone else. He glanced sideways at Isabella, and saw her smile.

The BMW pulled up outside an entrance which, Christian could see in the headlights, was marked private. Christian held the door for Isabella as Mike punched in a number on the keypad next to the door. As the door clicked and opened, Mike turned to Christian and Isabella.

“You two go first. Walk down the corridor until you see the VIP lounge on the right, go in there and you will find Nadine and Sian will be waiting.”

Fifty metres down the corridor they saw the VIP sign. Christian looked at Isabella.

“After you, Issy.”

Isabella opened the door and Christian recognised both Nadine and Sian in the background chatting animatedly. Nadine turned as she heard the door open and saw Isabella before shouting her name.

“Isabella!”

Christian watched as Nadine advanced rapidly, her arms wide open. Isabella smiled broadly at her mother’s greeting, pushing the door fully open which allowed Christian to see a tall dark beautiful African woman, staring intently at them both. Nadine embraced Isabella with tears streaming down her cheeks and as they embraced, there was so much kissing that Christian did not notice that Sian had come up beside him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“So where’s my greeting, handsome?” she said.

“Sian, it’s fantastic to see you again.”

“Is your wound okay? Mike told me you had an excellent surgeon.” Sian winked at him.

“Yes, a fantastic surgeon. I was so lucky to have him there. I cannot wait for you to meet him,” Christian whispered in Sian’s ear.

Nadine finally disentangled herself from Isabella and held out her arms to Christian.

“Christian, so nice to see you again, and all in one piece.”

Christian put his arms around Nadine while she kissed him on the cheek. Over her shoulder, he could see the unknown African woman smiling at Isabella, who stood looking at her surprised, overwhelmed, and with her hand over her mouth. Within minutes, as Christian watched, Isabella began passionately kissing Simone, oblivious to everyone else in the room. Christian looked across at Sian and raised his eyebrows as if to say what was going on? Sian’s shrug of her shoulders and the way she pulled the corner of her mouth down indicated she was just as puzzled as to what was going on. Nadine fully disentangled from Christian’s embrace looked up and saw the puzzlement on his face. She grasped his hand and said,

“Come on. Let’s introduce you and break these two up.”

Nadine, as she walked up behind, pulled on Isabella’s jeans’ pocket to get her attention. Isabella slowly turned around, not looking directly at Christian, but staring adoringly at the African girl whose hand she now held tightly.

“Isabella, how rude! You haven’t introduced Simone to Christian.”

Isabella took her eyes slowly off Simone and looked at Christian apologetically.

“I’m sorry. I was genuinely looking forward to seeing whether we could find our old chemistry, but as soon as I saw Simone, this wonderful feeling came back, a feeling I know that you were hoping to find with me again.”

“That’s okay, Issy. I know feelings can be surprisingly irrational; however, if you have found that with Simone, it might be possible for me to find something similar as well.”

“Alright everyone,” Mike said, walking into the room completely oblivious to the discussion. “Time to get moving, darling. You’ve got the BMW at the back entrance, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I’ll just see Nadine off with Simone and Isabella.”

Nadine and Sian, with Simone and Isabella hand-in-hand, walked out through the door. Isabella stopped and put one hand on the door frame before turning and looking at Christian. She smiled and blew him a kiss off her hand before leaving.

“What was that all about? Did I miss something?” Said Mike

“I think Isabella has decided that she’s gay.”

“Well, not quite certain how to answer that, because I know that you were hoping that things might work out between the two of you. But these things happen in life and I believe when one door closes, another opens. So watch out for an open door that has lots of excitement on the other side is my advice.”

“Thanks, Mike, good advice but still a bit of a shock.”

“Well, maybe it’s good preparation for your father meeting your mother tomorrow morning!”

Christian smiled. “Let’s hope it is not that dramatic.”

“Well, he must be dying to get off that plane, so let’s get into the car and home. Of course he’s going to be interrogated on the way home by Sian.”

Suleiman came down the steps from the Lear jet to meet them as they drove up. Mike wound down the window.

“All clear?” Suleiman asked.

“All clear. Tell Jannie to come and join us.”

Solomon gave the thumbs up sign to Heinrich standing at the top of the stairs and within a few minutes, Jannie was in the front seat next to Mike.

“Did it all go well inside?”

“Not quite according to plan, dad.”

Jannie turned around to look at his son.

“That wasn’t quite the overjoyed expression I was expecting to see. Is your wound okay?”

“The wound is fine, dad. It’s a bit complicated but I’ll tell you when we get back to Mike and Sian’s. Prepare yourself though; Mike says Sian is so excited to see you again that none of us may get a word in until we get to their house!”

“Well, I do remember that she’d love to chat and we did get on really well as a couple, didn’t we, Mike?”

“Yes, we did and Sian has lost none of the ability to find all the pieces of the jigsaw and put them together. So be warned, my friend.”

“In a strange way I am looking forward to it. It’s like putting all parts together of my life that had been hidden. Seeing Renata again is going to be wonderful. I just hope it’s not too much of a shock to her.”

“It’s going to be, dad, but I think she’s had a small candle burning for you. I’m sure it may take a while but that claim might burn brightly again when she gets over the shock of knowing that you’re alive.”

“Okay you two, enough of the philosophising. There’s Sian waving. Let the interrogation begin.”

They pulled up next to Sian and Jannie opened the front door and stepped out. Sian rushed at him, threw her arms around him, and started crying. Christian watched as they embraced, rocking each other backwards and forwards.

“Well then, not quite the interrogation I was expecting, but then they were such great friends,” said Mike turning to Christian. “And I think, young man, you going to have to get in the front seat with me so that we can put those two in the back seat and Sian can ask her 1000 questions on the way home.”

Christian remembered the drive, the shantytowns lining either side of the roadway not clearly visible in the dark but nonetheless still there. He could hear Sian in the back seat, hardly allowing his father to reply before asking another question. That sequence was interrupted when Jannie tapped Mike on the shoulder.

“Do you still have any association with the Groote Schuur hospital?”

“Yes and I’m planning on taking you and Renata there, but there are not many of the old faces left. You probably won’t recognise it; there have been so many changes.”

The large, electronically-operated gates were remotely opened by Mike. They drove up the driveway that Christian knew so well and stopped at the foot of the steps. Mike tooted the horn, the front door opened, and Ruby stood there waiting for them.

“She’s so excited to see you again,” said Sian to Christian. “We didn’t tell her about you, Jannie, just to prepare an extra room, so be prepared for lots of tears and hugs when she sees you.”

“Master Christian, Master Christian, it is so wonderful to see you and have you back,” said Ruby as Christian reached her at the top of the stairs.

“Thank you, Ruby. It’s great to be back, and I brought a surprise for you.”

“You didn’t need to do that, Master Christian.”

“Brace yourself for the surprise, Ruby,” said Mike as he walked past her into the house.

Ruby peered into the darkness towards the car. Jannie was partly obscured by the open boot and Ruby turned back to Christian and Sian.

“The surprise, is it in the boot?” She smiled

“In a way it is.” said Sian laughing as Jannie started to walk up the stairs towards them.

Three steps from the top, Ruby screamed.

“Oh my God, it’s Master Jannie, its Master Jannie, oh my God, I can’t believe it, he’s meant to be dead!”

“As you can see, Ruby, he’s very much alive which we are all thrilled about.”

Christian looked at Ruby, the tears rolling down her cheeks as his father made it to the top step. For a second they both stopped and looked at each other, smiled, and then embraced. Christian thought the hug may go on all night.

“Come on, you two old friends. Let’s get everyone inside where it’s warm and I’m sure these two need to get some sleep as there is a big day planned tomorrow.”

“Still the wonderful Rwandan coffee to look forward to,” said Christian to Ruby as they walked through the kitchen.

“Yes, Master Christian, and I remember how you like yours, black with no sugar or milk.”

“Very good memory,” said Christian.

“I’ll show you to your rooms and we can have breakfast at whatever time you wake up. It’s too late to call Renata, but she’s going to be here tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM. So if you want to sleep in, don’t worry.”