Matilda Ross, a tall ravishing redhead in a batik-print wrap dress, sauntered to the couch, crossing the office as though it was her own personal runway, leaving a fragrant trail in her wake. Vivian recognized the expensive perfume—Natural Woman, a sensual, earthy scent, which had been created by Au’Naturale Cosmetics, the company owned by Leo’s mother.
After a small pirouette, Matilda sank gracefully and crossed one long, slim leg over the other.
“I’d like you both to tell Leo and Vivian what happened to Francine, please,” requested Wes.
The workers nodded, but hesitated, their eyes darting toward each other, as though they were each waiting for the other to speak first.
“Mattie, why don’t you start,” suggested Wes.
Matilda straightened her shoulders, a move that thrust her ample breasts forward, and said, “Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t tell you much. I wasn’t there when those awful men murdered Francine.”
“You weren’t?” Leo asked. “I thought—”
“I became hysterical when the men ran toward the truck,” said Matilda, her large brown doe eyes focused on Leo. “I jumped out of the Range Rover and ran into the trees. I was convinced the men would kill us and I wasn’t really thinking anything except that I had to get away. I didn’t want to die.”
“Neither did Francine,” mumbled Gus, hands clasped, head lowered. “She was willing to ransom her life, but those savage animals killed her anyway.”
Leo asked, “So, Ms. Xarras wasn’t robbed?”
Glancing up, his eyes blazing, Gus said, “Francine was butchered!”
The raw emotion in the director’s voice reverberated around the office, and Vivian waited a few moments before she asked, “Can you tell us what happened to Francine?”
After a shaky sigh, Gus said, “We were leaving the compound, and—”
“But, we didn’t know why we were leaving,” said Matilda, tossing her long mane of red hair. “I was asking Francine about some rumor she’d heard, and—”
“What was the rumor?” asked Vivian.
“Something ridiculous about vampires,” said Matilda. “She said we were leaving because the villagers thought we might be vampires.”
Leo glanced at Wes. “Was that true?”
“I never heard anything about any vampire rumors,” said Wes. “As I told you, I was contacted by the United Nations and told that I should temporarily move my staff to the capital because of conflict and tensions between warring factions.”
“Who told Francine about the vampire rumor?” Vivian asked.
Matilda said, “She’d heard it from some cop. Judy Shenango’s brother.”
“Judy Shenango is one of the teacher’s aides at the village school,” supplied Wes. “Her brother is Kenyatta Shenango. He’s on the Lilongwe police force.”
“What happened after Francine told you about the vampire rumors?” Leo asked.
“There was some sort of roadblock,” Gus continued. “Or, we thought it was a roadblock. We thought we would have to pay a bribe. The driver got out of the car and went to negotiate with the villagers. But something went wrong …”
“What went wrong?” asked Leo.
Shaking his head, Gus said, “There was some kind of argument and then they …”
“They cut the driver’s head off,” said Matilda. “It was horrible. That’s when I lost it, and I had to escape. I know it was wrong. Maybe I should have stayed and tried to help but—”
“There wasn’t anything you could do,” said Wes, before turning to Gus. “Please continue.”
Gus said, “The villagers came toward the SUV. They were shouting. They pulled Francine out of the Range Rover. And then they … “
“Go on,” Vivian gently prompted.
“They stoned her,” said Gus. “And when she was unconscious, they … stabbed her … and cut her heart out of her chest … and then they … they burned her heart as they formed a circle around her and chanted the same word over and over …”
“What was the word?” asked Vivian.
“Anamapopa …” whispered his Gus. “That’s what they were saying. Over and over. Anamapopa. Anamapopa. I can’t get that word out of my head.”
“Do you know what the word meant?” asked Leo.
Shaking his head, Gus looked away.
Disturbed by the macabre story, which seemed somewhat familiar to her for some reason, Vivian asked, “Did the two of you tell your story to the police?”
Gus nodded. “I don’t think they believed me and without Matilda to corroborate my account of Francine’s horrible demise … the police believe I made up the story because I was unable to protect Francine, but that’s not true.”
After Gus and Matilda left, Wes asked, “Well, will you help me find out what the hell happened to Francine?”
4
Sunbird Hotel
Lilongwe, Malawi
“I was thinking about the murder of Francine Xarras all night,” announced Vivian after Leo kissed her good morning and then sat across from her at the table in their suite at the Sunbird hotel.
“Not all night,” countered Leo, pouring himself a cup of coffee into a bone china cup.
Vivian frowned. “What?”
“I’m pretty sure you weren’t thinking about murder when we were banging our brains out—”
“Get serious, Mr. Bronson,” said Vivian, smiling at him.
Leo grabbed a muffin from the basket of pastries Vivian had ordered from room service. “How can I, Ms. Thomas, when you are so sexy?”
Vivian couldn’t help but giggle. Would their silly inside joke of calling each other by their last names continue once they were married, she wondered? Would Leo call her Mrs. Bronson?
“As I was saying,” said Vivian, “during the times when we weren’t banging our brains out—”
“When were we not banging our brains out last night?” Leo asked.
Vivian sighed and asked, “Are you finished?”
Leo nodded and laughed.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because if you need more time …”
“No, no…tell me,” said Leo. “What were you thinking when we weren’t—”
Vivian threw a strawberry at him, which he dodged and then jumped up from the small table to find.
“You shouldn’t waste food,” said Leo. “People in Africa are starving, as you well know, considering the stories you’ve written about famine and—“
“Leonard, if you ever want to bang me again, then—“
“I’m listening; I promise,” Leo said, hands raised
