“We don’t even know where he is.” Cobus was struck by the disinterest in Willem’s voice.

“He’s in Massingir, forty kilometers from the park. The bastard is living out in the open like Robin Hood. If we can arrange a transborder operation, we can have him extradited and find out who he’s supplying. Maybe we can even flip them and see how high up the chain we can go.”

“A transborder operation? Impossible.”

Cobus boiled. “We’re never going to stop the bleeding if we only fight them inside the fence. There’s always another poacher willing to try his luck in the Big Smoke, and Nimpini and the other syndicate bosses will just keep throwing bodies at us. How many more of our rangers are you willing to lose?”

“Stopping one man won’t make a difference, Cobus. You think there aren’t dozens—hundreds—of other Nimpinis out there?”

“It’s a start. You’ve seen the ballistic reports. Nearly all the hunters in our region are using the same guns, which means they’re coming from the same kingpin.”

Willem gave a weary sigh. “There’s no way we are ever going to coordinate an operation in Moz. Do you have any idea how many corrupt officials on both sides of the border have skin in this game? If Nimpini really is their golden goose, do you think they’ll just let us snatch him?”

Cobus exploded. “If we’re not trying to win this fight, what’s the point!”

Cobus’s thoughts immediately went to Oupa, the young rhino he had sworn to protect. He pointed to a giant steel vault in the corner of Willem’s office. “You have a safe with one hundred kilos of confiscated horn, and every day we add more when another rhino is slaughtered. We have to draw a line somewhere, boss.”

Willem shot up out of his seat, poking his finger at Cobus. His face was red, and the engorged veins looked like vines crisscrossing his forehead. “Goddamn it, boy! I am trying to protect the last viable rhino population on earth. We do what we can, but that’s all we can do.”

Cobus stood defiantly before his boss, his heart racing as adrenaline pumped through his veins. Willem’s aggression had set off something primal in Cobus. He didn’t move, fighting the overwhelming instinct to visit great violence on this ambassador of futility.

“Fuck this. I quit.”

CHAPTER 10
THE DOCTOR’S ADVICE

hong kong

Joshua was working through some division problems on his worksheet. Audrey had turned away for barely a second when she heard the pencil clatter to the floor. She turned to see her son’s empty hand dangling off the edge of the bed.

“Joshua . . . ?” she gasped in alarm.

For a moment, her chest locked up as her mind leaped to the worst-case scenario, but the boy’s faint snoring brought her back. Watching the rise and fall of his chest, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Audrey set aside the thick stack of homework for her son, swapping it for a brick of paperwork from her briefcase. Her partner, Stephen Hui, had encouraged her to pass off some of her workload to other inspectors while her son was in the hospital, but Audrey was not one to be guided by any sense of proportionality. It didn’t matter if the sky was falling—every detail would be attended to, every guideline followed. Every time.