Cobus sat in the bar area of the ornate hotel lobby, scanning the room as he spoke on the phone with his old friend. “Lawrence, this is the last shipment.” Lawrence was curious whether something had gone wrong with Cobus’s plan, but Cobus didn’t want to burden him with the specific moral consequences of their actions. They intended to punish the sponsors of death in their homeland, not poison innocent children.

“Things have gone too far,” was all Cobus would say.

“Are you coming back home?” Lawrence asked. Cobus could hear the concern in his voice.

“I don’t think so.”

Cobus hung up, left alone with his thoughts of the young boy he had nearly killed with his gopher poison. He took a sip of beer to calm his nerves, then went back to his surveillance. Across the lobby, he spotted his prey.

As Knight headed for the front door to get some fresh air, Cobus intercepted him, blocking his path.

“Have you no conscience?” The South African fumed. “I thought you were going to stop them. Instead, you’re cashing in on extinction.”

“What are you talking about?” Knight had never told Cobus his true intentions for his relationship with Lee, and the sudden accusation caught him off guard.

“Don’t bullshit me, you bastard.”

“I’m not bullshitting you,” Knight protested. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know what you’re doing with Lee. I know all of it.”

“You don’t get it, Cobus. I’m not doing anything,” Knight said, trying to convince them both. “This deal is happening with or without me.”

Cobus towered over Knight, looking as if he might maul him. He formed his words with measured rage. “Listen to me, Knight, because like it or not, it’s time to draw a line.”

Not in the mood for the environmentalist’s naive pleas, Knight tried to push past him. “Spare me the sermon.”

Cobus gripped the front of Knight’s shirt and twisted, pulling him close, violence in his eyes. “Shut up and hear me out before I put your teeth through the back of your head.”

Knight stopped in his tracks, taken aback by the threat.

“You think you’re some spider crawling on top of the web,” Cobus continued. “But you’re part of the web. Everything in this world is connected, Knight. If this endangered-species farming legislation goes through, you will personally be responsible for killing the last wild tiger. The last rhino. When our children ask us why we live in a world with no wild animals, you’ll know you were responsible.”

Knight raised his open palms in supplication. “They are already dead. It’s simple math—the numbers don’t lie.”