Blood Forest (Suspense thriller) (36 page)

“After what happened with your last landing, mind if I handle the take-off?”

“Are you kidding?” Sam asked incredulous, donning her sunglasses.

“C’mon, just for the first few miles.”

“Uh-uh. I haven’t flown in
weeks,
” she replied. “Sit in the back and mind your own business.”

“But—”

“No buts. You fly like a girl.”

Brandon kissed his wife on the cheek as she started down the runway. Then he sat back in his seat and watched green maize give way to clear blue sky.

Epilogue

G
eneral Zadu was awakened in his tent in the middle of the night by something as subtle as a change in the breeze. His eyes flashed around searching for the source of the disturbance, but finding nothing he rolled over and pulled his fur bedroll tighter over his body.

A dark shadow passed over him, moving in total silence. Zadu’s eyes flashed open, and before he could shout a strong hand closed tight over his mouth. He smelled the sour scent of palm wine and instantly recognized his mysterious assassin.

The Belgian spy!

As Zadu gurgled and wheezed on his own blood, he thought the spy must have feasted on pygmy flesh. Only pygmy magic could accomplish such a feat of stealth.

The spy slipped into the night. The body would not be found until the next day, when Jean came to see what was taking his general so long. There, beside Zadu’s head, he would find a shiny gift, left by the assassin.

Lutalo’s knife, stained with Zadu’s blood.