“Shut up!” Siegfried snapped. He walked around the group to eye them from all directions. When he got back to where he started, he asked Cameron if these were the people he’d encountered in the hospital.

“No doubt in my mind,” Cameron said while glaring directly into Warren’s face. “I hope you will indulge me, sir.”

“Of course,” Siegfried said with a slight wave of dismissal.

Without warning, Cameron punched Warren in the side of the face with a roundhouse blow. The sound was like a telephone directory falling to the floor. A plaintive whine escaped from Cameron’s lips as he grabbed his hand and gritted his teeth. Warren did not move a muscle. He may not have blinked.

Cameron swore under his breath and stepped away.

“Search them,” Siegfried commanded.

“We are sorry if we—” Jack began but Siegfried didn’t let him finish. He slapped him with an open fist hard enough to turn Jack’s head in the direction of the blow and raise a red welt on his cheek.

Cameron’s deputy quickly relieved Jack and the others of their passports, wallets, money, and car keys. He gave them to Siegfried, who slowly went through them. After he looked at Jack’s passport, he raised his eyes and glowered at him.

“I’ve been told you are a troublemaker,” Siegfried said with disdain.

“I’d rather think of myself as a tenacious competitor,” Jack said.

“Ah, arrogant as well,” Siegfried snarled. “I hope your tenacity comes in handy once you are turned over to the Equatoguinean military.”

“Perhaps we can call the American Embassy and resolve this,” Jack said. “We are, after all, government employees.”

Siegfried smiled, which actually only increased his scar-induced sneer. “American Embassy?” he questioned with uncamouflaged scorn. “In Equatorial Guinea! What a joke! Unfortunately for you, it’s out on the island of Bioko.” He turned to Cameron. “Put them in the jail but separate the men and the women!”

Cameron snapped his fingers for his deputy. He wanted the four handcuffed first. While this was in progress he and Siegfried drew off to the side.

“Are you really going to hand them over to the Equatoguineans?” Cameron asked.

“Absolutely,” Siegfried said. “Raymond told me all about Stapleton. They have to disappear.”

“When?” Cameron asked.

“As soon as Taylor Cabot leaves,” Siegfried said. “I want this whole episode kept quiet.”

“I understand,” Cameron said. He touched the brim of his hat and then went back to supervise the transfer of the prisoners to the jail in the basement of the town hall.

CHAPTER 22

March 9, 1997

4:15 P.M.

Isla Francesca

“Something very strange is going on,” Kevin said.

“But what?” Melanie said. “Should we get our hopes up?”

“Where could all the other animals be?” Candace questioned.

“I don’t know whether to be encouraged or concerned,” Kevin said. “What if they’re having Armageddon with the other group, and the fighting spreads to here?”

“God almighty,” Melanie commented. “I never thought of that.”

Kevin and the women had been virtual prisoners for over two days. They had not been allowed to leave the small cave the entire time of their confinement, and it now smelled as bad or worse than the outer cave. To relieve themselves, they’d been forced to go back into the tunnel which reeked like a mini-cesspool.