The Disappeared (40 page)

‘Okay.’

‘Besides, I
have a way to get us out of here. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to
hang around waiting for the cavalry.’

‘What’s your
plan, Mr Jones?’

Jones leaned
in and lowered his voice. ‘Does your dad still have his powerboat?’

A slow smile
eased across Max’s face as he realised the implication. ‘Wow, I never thought
of that.’ He looked at Jones with admiration. ‘That’s brilliant.’

Jones smiled. ‘You
stick with me, son. I’m the guy that makes things happen.’

‘Kick ass,’
Max said grinning.

‘So?’

‘Yeah, it’s in
the boathouse. I know where the key is.’ Max leaned back marvelling at the
beautiful simplicity of the plan. ‘Awesome. You’re a real sly fox, Mr Jones.’

‘Listen here,’
Jones said motioning for Max to come closer. ‘The plan is to follow the Elandsriver
south, all the way to Hope. There’s a resort nearby that’s got a jetty.’

Max nodded. ‘Excellent.’

Jones lowered
his voice even more. ‘But don’t say a word to anybody. There’s only space for
two. And that’s you and I.’ He cast a surreptitious look at the people near
them. ‘This is our little secret. You got that?’

That’s when
the black woman started screaming.

Minki was
sitting in the corner of the cubicle huddled up and alone. Aunty Katya had
excused herself to go to the ladies restroom. At the bar Moira and Joyce were
talking. For the last hour Minki had been struggling against the darkness that
was rising up in her. Fighting to prevent the terrifying images from
overwhelming her. Pins and needles stung her entire body. Her hands felt
unbelievably heavy in her lap. Like leaden weights she felt them grow heavier
and heavier until they were twin galaxies orbiting the black hole of her being.
She felt them grow and grow and grow until they filled the entire room ... the
entire universe. She was falling into her hands. Through them. She was being
devoured by them. Her heart beat a drunken rhythm against her chest. Her breath
was staggered. Coming in short little agonised gasps. She felt the blood drain
from her face. She was losing the fight. And the visions were upon her.

Minki stood
up. She tried to shout but all that came out was a little croak. ‘Moira.’ She
fell to the floor writhing as darkness passed before her eyes. Joyce Mohapi
screamed. Moira ran from behind the counter and crouched down at Minki’s side
Joyce next to her. Katya, hearing the commotion, rushed from the restrooms.

Doctor Fred
Young hurried over and crouched next to Minki opposite Moira. He grabbed her
wrist. ‘Minki,’ he said urgently, ‘Minki.’

The darkness
melted and morphed. She saw Bishop again. It was night. And everyone was dying.
Images flickered and dulled. Overlapped and faded in and out.

She saw
Inspector Coetzee convulsing. Blood flowing from his eyes. Green bile pouring
from his mouth. He was dying.

She saw Aunty
Katya crawling on the floor shaking uncontrollably. She was slipping in poo
that was pouring from her. Aunty Katya was shrieking, clawing at her face.

She saw Eugene
Collie flopping uselessly on the floor. His stump was banging against the hard
floor. His mouth was a spewing volcano of blood and goo. The convulsions were
slamming his body this way and that. With every spasm, a pee stain spread
further on his cargo pants.

‘Minki, can
you hear me? Minki.’

She saw
Siobhan and Fred Young dying. Siobhan was convulsing, her eyes rolled over. Her
back was arched at an impossible angle. Fred was puking blood, crawling on
hands and knees. He was reaching for his wife. Uselessly grabbing air as he
tried to find her. Even in death he loved her. They were dying together.

Minki saw them
all. Moira. Lindiwe. Duggan. Even the stranger in the jail cell. They were all
dying.

And then. She
saw herself.

She sat up.
And grabbed Moira.

‘You’re going
to die, aunty Moira,’ she screamed hysterically. ‘We’re all going to die!’

Lindiwe
entered the Abbot and immediately sensed the change in mood. There was a
palpable tension in the air. Emotional electricity. As she stepped into the
coolness of the restaurant’s interior she wondered what had happened. As if to
answer her question she saw the crooked restroom door. And the large amount of
plaster sprinkled across the floor. She stopped dead. And looked around
puzzled. That’s when she saw the group of people gathered around the corner
cubicle. And Minki in the middle of it all.

‘Oh my God,’
Lindiwe said rushing over and kneeling beside her. Minki embraced her fiercely,
crying. Lindiwe looked at Moira and Katya in bewilderment. She was surprised to
see Duggan sitting on the other side of Minki.

‘She had a fit
or convulsion a while ago,’ Moira said looking perplexed. ‘Or something ... I
don’t know, Lindi.’ As if seeking an answer Moira glanced over at Fred Young.

Lindiwe gently
extricated Minki from her embrace and looked her in the eye. ‘Did you have
another vision, poppet?’ Minki nodded through tears. Lindi pulled her head to
her breast and held Minki tightly.

‘I think it
may be an adverse reaction to the trauma of today’s events,’ Fred Young said. ‘An
attack of hysteria, if you like.’ He smiled wanly. ‘It has been one
helluva
day.’ Lindiwe nodded but said nothing. The doctor had one thing right. It was
indeed one helluva day. ‘I briefly checked her vital signs though. She looks
alright.’ Fred ruffled Minki’s hair smiling down at her. ‘Good to go.’

‘How about a
milkshake, princess?’ Lindiwe said. Minki nodded eagerly. Lindiwe looked at
Moira for confirmation.

‘How could I
possibly deny a princess her milkshake,’ Moira said smiling. ‘I’ll get things
going so long.’ She headed for the bar counter.

‘Thanks Moi.’
Lindiwe took Minki’s hand and stood up. She affected a (bad) posh English
accent. ‘Shall we, your royal highness?’ Minki giggled weakly as she slid out
from the cubicle. ‘Thank you, doc,’ Lindi said to Fred, ‘I appreciate it.’

‘No problem.’

Lindiwe lead
Minki to the bar and propped her onto a barstool. She smoothed her hair looking
at her intently. ‘Minks, I’m worried about you. Are you okay? You know you can
tell me, right?’

Minki’s face
darkened. ‘Lindi, I saw such ugly things. I saw ... I saw Moira, and aunty
Katya.’ She grabbed Lindiwe’s hand. Her eyes were wide and her breathing
quickened. ‘Lindi ... Lindi, I saw you too.’ She reached for Lindiwe and hugged
her forcefully. ‘Don’t die, Lindi.
Please
don’t die.’

‘You’re not
getting rid of me that easily, little girl. Ya hear?’ She tweaked Minki’s nose.
‘I’m not going anywhere. I promise. Okay?’

‘Okay.’

‘Good.’ Lindi
glanced over at Moira. She slipped behind the counter and approached her. ‘Hey,
how you doing, girlfriend?’

‘I’m holding
up.’ Moira smiled wan exhaustion. ‘What else can we do, right?’

Lindiwe smiled
encouragement rubbing her shoulder. ‘Tell me something. What happened here? It
looks like Hurricane Katrina hit this place.’

‘More like
Hurricane Visser.’

‘Really? Oh
please do tell.’

Moira gave
Minki her (strawberry) milkshake and then briefly told Lindi about everything
that had happened.

Robert John
Visser.

(‘I always
thought there was something secretive and creepy about him’)

The confession
he had made.

(‘Oh my God,
so Duggan was right all along.’)

Max Theron and
Karen Villiers.

(‘Oh no, wow,
really? Did she really do that? Good for her.’)

And Minki.

Lindiwe and
Moira studied Minki with concern. ‘Lindi, you called it a “vision”? What does
that mean?’ Moira spoke in hushed tones to prevent Minki from overhearing.

‘I’m not sure.
She told me she had a similar experience this morning. Each time it’s more or
less the same kind of thing’

‘Maybe it
is
just the stress.’

‘Yes, I hope
so.’ Lindiwe glanced over at Inspector Coetzee. She saw that he was momentarily
alone. This was her chance. ‘Moi, excuse me for a moment.’ She walked over to
the Inspector.

‘Lindiwe.’
Coetzee smiled looking pleased to see her. At the same time Lindiwe was taken
aback at the tired and drawn quality in his face. ‘Did you manage to feed your
prisoner?’

‘Yes,
Inspector.’ Lindiwe smiled self-consciously. She looked around pointing. ‘Moira
told me about all the drama. Wow. You handled it really well.’

His mouth stretched
into a wry smile. ‘It could have been worse.’

She looked at
him with genuine concern. ‘Are you alright?’ She said touching his arm.

‘Under the
circumstances ... not too bad.’ He nodded at the snoring Stoffel van Vuuren. ‘You
will know things have gone pear-shaped when I join our friend Stoffel over
there.’

Lindiwe
giggled. ‘At that stage I probably would have joined you myself.’

Coetzee smiled
and stroked her head tenderly. ‘What’s on your mind,
meisie
? I’m
guessing there’s something you want to ask me.’

‘Am I that
obvious?’

‘Afraid so.’

A thousand
thoughts flitted through Lindiwe’s mind as she considered the best way to
convince Coetzee. ‘Um ... I was wondering ... things are pretty hectic around
here, right? I mean, don’t you think you could do with some extra help?’ Oh no.
This wasn’t going well at all. ‘Maybe some extra manpower to keep things under
control?’ Even worse! The thought that she was going to fail Joshua almost made
her panicky.

‘Lindi, are
you asking me to release the prisoner?’

‘Inspector, he
could really be useful to you ...
really
. And I’ve gotten to know him.
He’s a good person.

‘Lindi, I
really don’t think it’s a good idea. I’ve got a responsibility as an officer of
the law. I have a responsibility to the people of Bishop. What do you think
people would say if I released a convict, just like that?’

Lindiwe looked
around. ‘Inspector, I really don’t think people would be bothered by that. They’ve
got much bigger problems than a convict. And I mean, Joshua isn’t even a
convict really. He came from a reformatory, not a prison.’

‘And what if
something happened ... while he was out amongst all of us? How would I be able
to justify that?’

‘He’s not like
that, Inspector. He’s a good person. And I really mean it when I say he would
be of use to you. He’s brave and ... and he’s strong and ... trustworthy and –’

‘It sounds to
me like you have
really
gotten to know him well.’ Coetzee smiled
meaningfully.

Lindiwe’s face
flushed dark red. ‘I really think he could be a benefit to you, Inspector Coetzee.’

Coetzee took
her hands. ‘Lindi, I really don’t know if this is a good idea.’

Lindiwe had
one more card to play. ‘Inspector, our world has fallen apart. All of our loved
ones are gone. And we don’t even know if we’ll make it. This is not an ordinary
day at the office.’ She felt tears welling up in her eyes. ‘But at least all of
us are here, together. We’re together ... and he’s over there in the prison
cell, completely alone.’ Coetzee shifted uncomfortably. Lindiwe realised she
had struck a chord. And that Coetzee had had the same thought himself. ‘And he’s
scared, Inspector. He’s all alone in those dark cells. And he’s scared.’ She
grabbed his meaty hands in hers. ‘Please. Please release him. I will look after
him. I will stay with him. And I promise you won’t have anything to worry
about.’

Coetzee’s eyes
shifted to a position over her shoulder. She looked around. Sergeant Jansen
entered the restaurant. Lindiwe realised she hadn’t seen him since his strange
breakdown in the prison cells. He headed for Coetzee.

‘Sergeant
Jansen, where in God’s name have you been?’ Jansen stood mute and immobile.
There was no perceptible emotion on his face. ‘Do you realise we had a major
incident here that required your presence. This is a serious dereliction of
your duty, Sergeant. If it wasn’t for Collie I don’t know what I would have
done.’ Jansen said nothing. ‘Sergeant, what do you have to say for yourself?’

Jansen focused
his shifting eyes on the floor. ‘I wasn’t feeling well, Inspector. It won’t
happen again.’ Lindiwe was struck by the flat robotic tone of his voice.

Coetzee stared
at him perplexed and frowning. He sighed. ‘Sergeant, please escort Miss Motaung
to the prison cells and release the prisoner.’ Lindi’s heart bled with joy.

For the first
time Jansen displayed some emotion. ‘What? That’s a big mistake, Inspector.’
Jansen’s eyes flared and he bared his teeth. It was a strange caricature of
anger. ‘He’s a murderer. He’ll kill us all.’

‘I think you’re
being melodramatic, Sergeant. He’s in the same position we are in. Maybe he
could be of help.’

‘Help? Help?
He’ll help us into the grave. The moment our backs are turned, he’ll slaughter
us.’ Jansen leaned forward neck jutting out like a tortoise. It was a bizarre
pose. ‘He’s one of them, Inspector. Don’t forget that.’

‘That’ll be
all, Sergeant. Thank you.’

Jansen gave
Coetzee an indignant look then strutted towards the exit. After a few steps he
turned around. ‘You’re going to regret this.’ He disappeared through the
doorway.

Lindiwe turned
to Coetzee almost in tears. ‘Thank you so much, Inspector. I promise you will
not
regret it.’

‘I really hope
so, for your sake, Lindi. Remember he’s your responsibility.’

‘I understand.
I won’t let you down.’

‘
Oraait
.
As an added precaution I think I should accompany you to the prison cells. Also
... I am going to ask Sergeant Jansen to keep an eye on him. You got that?’