Heart of the Hunter

previous era. His eyes were wide and he held his hands up in front protectively.

?Who are you??

?I am Koos Kok,? he said very carefully. ?You won?t kill me now, hey??

?How do you know my name??

?Just one look at that big motorbike. You are all over the radio. The ?big, bad Xhosa biker.? ?

?What??

?Everyone is very excitable about you.?

?What are you doing here?? Mpayipheli straightened up.

?I was lonely for my winter house,? he said, motioning at the cottage. ?I came to keep myself warm.?

* * *

? ?They had a roadblock at Three Sisters, manned by an army unit, some SAP and traffic authorities, and a big helicopter. They also had some Rooivalk attack helicopters at Beaufort West who tried to follow the GS, but the rain forced them back,? ? Rajkumar read aloud from the website, and he wondered why fate had singled him out to be the bearer of bad news.

?Shit,? said Quinn.

?Go on,? said Janina.

?Apparently the GS took a side road, presumably the Sneeukraal turnoff, and went through a two-soldier roadblock, hurting one badly. Then he disappeared. That is all I have at the moment.

? ?The only way we can help this guy is if all BMW owners in the country unite. We must all gather at Three Sisters and try to find him. That way, we can help him get through to wherever he is going.? ?

?They want to help him,? said Quinn.

?Who wrote that?? asked Janina.

? ?An Insider.? That is all they say.?

?Fucking policeman,? said Quinn, and saw Janina?s disapproving eye. ?I beg your pardon, ma?am.?

?Is there any more?? she asked Rajkumar.

?There are a few messages from guys who say they are going to help.?

?How many??

He counted. ?Eleven. Twelve.?

?Not many,? said Quinn.

?Too many,? said Janina. ?They?ll get in the way.?

?Ma?am,? said Vincent Radebe.

?Yes??

He held out the phone to her. ?The director.?

She took the receiver. ?Sir??

?The minister wants to see us, Janina.?

?In her office??

?Yes.?

?Shall I meet you there, sir??

* * *

We have time for one more call. Burt from the Hell?s Angels, you back again?

Yes, John. Two things. We don'?t ride Harleys. Well, a few members do, but only a few. And this thing that the black guy belongs to the BMW people is bullshit.

Let?s watch the language, Burt. This is a family show.

I?m sorry, but they?re nothing but a bunch of fair-weather, breakfast-run weekend wannabe bikers.

What happened to the great brotherhood of motorcycle riders, Burt?

Real bikers, John. Not these Beemer sissies. That Mpheli? Mpayi? that guy out there is a real biker. A war veteran, a warrior of the road. Like us.

And you can?t even pronounce his name.

20.

They got two ministers for the price of one. The minister of intelligence was a woman, lean, as fitted her office, a forty-three-year-old Tswana from the North West Province. The minister of water affairs and forestry sat in the corner, a gray-haired white man, an icon of the Struggle. He said not a word. Janina Mentz did not know why he was there.

The director and she sat down in front of the desk. Janina glanced briefly at the director before she began to speak. He indicated with a minimal nod that she must hold nothing back. She filled in the background first: the Ismail Mohammed interview, the counterintelligence operation, and the things that had gone wrong.

?Have you seen the TV news?? asked the intelligence minister coldly.