Chapters (109)
- Part One
- ONE
- One day earlier
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- PART TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- EIGHTY-EIGHT
- EIGHTY-NINE
- NINETY
- NINETY-ONE
- NINETY-TWO
- NINETY-THREE
- NINETY-FOUR
- NINETY-FIVE
- NINETY-SIX
- NINETY-SEVEN
- NINETY-EIGHT
- NINETY-NINE
- GLOSSARY
- Acknowledgments
- Continue reading
- Part One
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
Marc appeared uncomfortable. “We do have someone there—an American who was a victim of one of these scams. He’s agreed to carry out inquiries for us, and Cas is putting the two-part series together based on his experiences.”
“Who is this man?” Herbert asked.
“I can tell you once I have your assurance that you won’t pass on the information,” Marc said.
“Of course.”
“His name is Gordon Tilson,” Casper said. “He was fooled by a romance con out of Ghana and now he wants to tell his story in the Washington Observer. I’m writing it for him.”
“How long will Mr. Tilson be there?”
Casper and Marc exchanged uneasy glances.
“What’s going on?” Herbert asked, looking from one man to the other.
“Well,” Casper said, his craggy face creasing up, “the problem is we haven’t heard from Gordon in more than two weeks. We can’t reach him. He’s gone completely silent and we’ve no idea where he is.”
THIRTY
THIRTY
May 15, Accra, Ghana
Emma had successfully completed another background check. The client was going into business and wanted to be sure his intended partner was clean. He was. Her inquiries had taken her out of Accra to the Brong-Ahafo town of Sunyani.
She was happy in this job. She had a clearly defined role, encouraging colleagues, and a patient, supportive boss. She was free from long statement forms and reports in sextuplicate. With Sowah’s computerized system for filing data and reports, the agency was able to cut tedious work to a minimum. Sowah had been there for Emma every step of the way. He was committed to giving her work that would challenge her sufficiently while not exposing her to anything dangerous.
Emma found comfort in the daily routine. The Thursday morning that brought a case to Emma that she could never have predicted, she was trying to eject the memory of her date the night before. It hadn’t gone well. At best, the man had bored her. At worst, he had appeared interested mostly in sleeping with her, which was out of the question. Emma was a virgin and intended to stay that way until after marriage—whenever that would be.
Her love life, if she could even call it that, was something of a muddle. Sometimes she fretted over it, but for the most part she shrugged. She had fulfillment elsewhere in her world, for example, her volunteer work with children at the Autism Center in central Accra. Emma’s Sunday afternoons were generally free, and after church, she hurried to the AC to help with the children. A dedicated, loving, and courageous woman with an autistic son of her own, who was about eight years old, ran the center.