River of blood
Five minutes before the agreed time, two vans and a small car stop by the seemingly abandoned building which has no lights. 70 meters across the cars is another building which also seems to be abandoned. In between these two buildings is a lake, connected by a foot bridge. The only light in this place is in the middle of the foot bridge, so it is difficult to see people clearly standing on either side of the building. You’d have to come closer to the light in the bridge to see.
Out of the first van comes seven heavily armed men dressed in black, they take a 360° position. Doors open in the small car and Hlengiwe, Zinhle, Nothemba, Themba and Qhawe come out. Their guns are tucked away. They come and stand in the middle of the circle created by the 7 agents. “Team Spear, how are we doing?” Hlengiwe says as she speaks in the communication mic “It’s all good ma'am,, the voice says on the other side.
Nothemba looks at Zinhle and wonder what was that all about. They wait for two more minutes,
“Okay, we are here, so where are they?” Qhawe says as he looks at his watch. Locker and his team are supposed to emerge from the other side of the bridge with the kids and Buhle. Before anyone could respond to Qhawe, car lights shone from the other side. Three cars park by the bridge and four people come out, it is difficult for Qhawe to see who they are because it us really dark. Then a phone rings, it is Hlengiwe's phone.
“we are here miss Siba” a voice on the phone says. “Right on time Mr Smith,” Hlengiwe responds, “it took you long enough, wave your hand so that I can see you,” she demands. From the other side Hlengiwe can see a person waving a hand. Smith is one of the four people who got out of the car.
Hlengiwe also raises her hand so that Smith can see her.
“Do you have what I want, Hlengiwe?” Smith asks, “Do you have what I want, John?” she responds. That is followed by 5 seconds silence, then Smith responds, “Yes I have them,” Smith responds and then he indicates to the second car, a moment later, the doors open. Nothemba breathes heavily as she sees her daughter, Naledi and Mholi, his son with Buhle holding them. Her heart skips for joy, she wishes to fly across the lake and see them closer so that she can hold them and never let go.
All the while, Hlengiwe and Smith are still holding the line. “Okay, are you happy? You have seen them. Now, show me what I came for,” Smith says on the phone. Hlengiwe knocks on the van and one agent comes out with Dan with his face still covered.
“How do I know that is Dan since you have his face covered?” Smith asks. Hlengiwe takes a second and looks at Qhawe. She then takes off the blind fold off. Dan did not expect to see Hlengiwe's face. “Ms. Siba, did you kidnap me?” he shouts. “Dan shut up, you corrupt bastard,” Themba responds in frustration. “What am I doing here Themba?” Dan continues to protest. “Shhh,” Hlengiwe says. “Dan, it’s going to be okay, keep quiet please,” she puts the blind fold back and pushes him forward.
“Okay Smith, here’s your guy.” Smith takes a second. It really difficult from where each team is standing, to make out faces but he will have to take her word for it.
“Okay miss Siba, how do we do this?” Smith asks. Hlengiwe covers the phone with her hand and then speaks in her ear, “Spear, are we clear?” she asks, “All clear ma'am,, the other side of the line responds. Then Hlengiwe takes a pause and then touches her ear again, “Quarterback, how’s the weather?” she asks while her eyes are fixed on the people 100 meters across her. “It’s blue skies ma'am,” command centre responds.
Hlengiwe puts the phone back on her ear, “Well Mr. Smith, before we make an exchange, tell all your friends to come out of their cars now and stand by their cars and then Nkosi and myself will bring Dan to the bridge and meet you and Locker in the middle, by the lights, with the kids.” she says.
Smith takes a second and then responds, “Ms. Siba why are you over complicating this exchange now? Why do you want all these people out of their cars?” Hlengiwe looks at Nothemba and Zinhle and then authoritatively says, “that’s not your problem. Now, let me see them,” she commands.
In a moment the doors of the cars open and all of Locker's friends come out and stand by their cars. Hlengiwe smiles and touches her ear, “Spear, stay sharp,”
She then gets back to the phone, “okay now we are talking. Now you and Locker bring the kids and Ms. Ntombela here and you will get Dan,” she then drops the phone and looks at Qhawe, “Mr. Nkosi, are you ready to get your children?” Qhawe looks at his wife Nothemba with eyes of love and assurance and then looks at Hlengiwe, “Yes ma'am,” he says with a serious face.
Hlengiwe then looks at Nothemba and Zinhle, “Mrs. Nkosi please quarterback on that van, Mr. and Mrs. Cele, you cover,” she says. “Roger that?” Themba says. “Okay Mr. Nkosi let’s go.
On the other side Smith and Locker have plans of their own. “Are your man in place?” Locker asks Smith as they prepare to walk the bridge. “Yes Sir, as soon as we get Dan, my men will rain fire on all of them. Then Locker turns to his friends, “you stand right there, don’t move an inch unless you want to be shot,” he says. “Jack are you sure this plan will work?” One of Locker's friends asks. “If it doesn’t work we will all die anyway, let’s go John,” he says as he grabs Buhle while Smith is pushing the kids in front of him.
“Luke, Shaun, cover for us,” Smith says. As they are told Luke Laughmberg and Shaun follow them closely, carrying heavy weapons. They walk slowly towards the light just as Hlengiwe and Qhawe are also approaching slowly.
“Smith, you better be right about all this, I intend to be alive by the time this evening is over, do you hear me?” Locker says nervously. “Don’t worry sir I have best men on that roof, it all ends tonight,” Smith responds with confidence. They walk slowly towards the advancing Hlengiwe who also has Dan in front of her.
In the van Nothemba, with one agent are watching with keen interest, especially Nothemba who is about to see her kids and her sister tonight. It has been a rough couple of years since this drama started and tonight their lives will get back to normal, she hopes. In the van she’s watching all monitors and the drone view.
Qhawe and Hlengiwe also have camera in their gear so she can see what they see. As they approach Locker she feels like she’s also participating in the exchange. The closer they approach the light the clearer she begins to see her kids and sister. It is really them; she thinks to herself.
Finally, both teams come close enough when Hlengiwe suddenly says, “That’s close enough Locker, you can stop right there,” she motions with her hand. At this point, each team's back up has heavy guns pointed at each other. There is about 40 meter gap in between them.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa people,” shouts Locker, “what’s with the hostilities? I thought this was a happy occasion of reunion, no one wants to see more bloodshed here. So why don’t just everyone lower their weapons. We make the exchange and everyone goes home happy,” he says but no one seems to be listening because both teams are still weapons hot.
“What happy ending, you sick bastard?” Qhawe shouts, “why did you take my family? They had nothing to do with this,” Qhawe is losing his composure as he sees his kids who are frightened. “Oh well Mr. Nkosi, the question is why did you involve them? You say you didn’t want them to be involved in all this but clearly you did.”
Hlengiwe, realizing that this may just get out of hand, motions Qhawe with the hand to calm down. “okay look, why just not everyone calm down for Christ's sake? There are kids here. Let just everyone lower their weapons and let’s deal with this like adults,” Hlengiwe says with both her hands raised up as sign of surrendering.
Locker turns and looks at his backers who seem eager to pull the trigger. “okay on 3 we all holster our weapons okay?” he says as he turns to Hlengiwe.
All the while his friends are watching and they all seem ready to run for cover. Most politicians and business people are corrupt but never allow themselves to be caught in the crossfire. They never get their hands dirty which explains why Locker's friends are so terrified right now.
Hlengiwe nods to agree with Locker on holstering the weapons. “okay,”
Locker says, “1…2…3,” then everyone lower their weapons. Nothemba in the van breathes a sigh of relief, so do Locker’s friends.
There is a moment of awkward silent that Qhawe breaks, “Mr. Smith it’s nice to see you again,” he says sarcastically and Smith smiles at him, “Yes Mr. Nkosi,” he says as he nods. “You know for all that is worth, I was in your office purely for business, I didn’t intend any of this chaos. Maybe if you had been agreeable we wouldn't…”
Smith doesn’t finish his sentence as Locker interrupts, “alright, Smith, cool it. Let’s get this done and go home please."
Hlengiwe removes a blind fold off Dan’s face, “In case you think it’s not him,” she says. Locker smiles, “No I trusted you,” he says, “and as you can see the kids and their aunt are real. So can we please do this and go home,” he pushes the kids and Buhle forward. Hlengiwe does the same with Dan. “It’s going to be okay Dan, don’t say a word just walk up straight and don’t look down,” Hlengiwe whispers in his ear.
“Alright kids, it’s time to go to daddy, you see daddy?” Locker says. “just walk up slowly. Ms. Ntombela, it was nice knowing you,” he says with a smile as Buhle and the kids walk towards Hlengiwe and Qhawe, slowly but they are terrified at the thought that people with big guns are behind them.
Their terrified faces are playing on the monitor in van where Nothemba is. Suddenly her eyes are filled with tears. She wishes they’d be in her arms already. She watches as little Naledi is crying. She kisses the monitor as if to say don’t cry my child, I’m right there with you.
Dan walks until he reaches an intersection point with the kids and Buhle, suddenly he is filled with guilt when his eyes meet theirs. He never wanted women and children to be involved in all this. He is all about making money but he realises that there is no turning back now as he approaches Smith. They will never let me live, never. He thinks to himself.
The kids finally reach Qhawe who embraces them desperately. He is so happy to see them and they are so happy to see their daddy. He is teary as he is reluctant to let go but is disturbed by Hlengiwe, “Mr Nkosi, it’s time to move,” she says while her eyes are fixed on the hostiles with big guns.
Qhawe stands up and hugs Buhle, “Are you okay sis?” he asks and Buhle nods without uttering. She is too terrified. “okay listen to me,” Qhawe says to Buhle, “You see those men there?” he points to team Hailstorm agents waiting by the van, “walk as fast as you can to them okay."
Buhle grabs the kids and walks fast to the agents who take them into the car and drive away. There was not even time for Nothemba to hug them. There is no time, she understands. The priority now is to get them to safety. She will see them later.
Dan on the other hand thinks to himself I may not have a happy reunion like the kids as he approaches the time of the unknown with Locker and Smith looking right into his eyes like people who’s been doing something really bad.
Finally, he reaches them.
“Well, well…was that so hard?” says Locker. “Now we can all go home and have a goodnight sleep,” he says patronizingly. There’s few seconds’ silence as both sets of teams are still having their eyes locked on each other. Levels of trusts are on an all-time low.
“So are we good Ms. Siba?” Locker asks as he turns around pushing Dan to Luke. Not that he really wanted an answer. He then looks at Smith and signals with his eyes. Smith responds by saying, “okay, take them out,” as he touches his ear but nothing happens.
“I said take them out,” he whispers in his mic again but nothing happens. In frustration he says it again, only louder this time, “Juniper, take them out,” but nothing happens. He turns back and notices that Hlengiwe and her team haven’t moved an inch, instead they are fixing their eyes on them. Realizing that his team that he placed on the roof has been taken out, more than likely by Hlengiwe's team, he attempts to draw his weapon but is disrupted by a shot that hits Dan, who immediately goes flat on the ground.
He then looks at Hlengiwe who has pointed a gun at him. Without hesitation, Hlengiwe fires right into his chest and Smith goes down. She comes closer to him and stands on top of him, “This is for my son you bastard,” she says as she puts a bullet I Smith's head.
Seeing all this shooting, Locker's instinct for survival doesn’t allow him time to draw his weapon but instead he jumps into the lake.
At that point Luke and Shaun start firing towards Hlengiwe who takes cover. They shoot while falling back to find the pillars of the bridge to use as a cover. Qhawe, Themba and Zinhle respond by firing back, also using pillars on their side as cover.
Gun fight ensues and Qhawe gets hit and goes down in full view of Nothemba who’s been watching all this exchange on the monitor. When she sees her husband going down she screams, “Baby, no,” as she comes out of the van and rushing to the bridge with a gun in her hand. She shoots as she gets to Qhawe who is hit bad and unconscious. “Baby wake up, wake up love,” she screams, “don’t you dare do this to me,” she cries helplessly. She holds him and seems to have forgotten that there’s fire fight currently happening.
“Get him out of here,” Hlengiwe says as she continues to engage in the fire fight. Then Themba hit Luke in the head while Zinhle hit Shaun, both men fall down.
Meanwhile, Locker's friends had got into the cars and drove off and left their protection detail to continue engage in the firefight. “Team Parade, ”Hlengiwe shouts in her ear because of the loud gunshots, “the two vans are coming your way, bring them back here,” commands. She continues to engage in the fire exchange, team Hailstorm has joined in and now the scene looks more like a war zone with both set of teams using heavy artillery.
In a moment, the Hawks and SAPS had joined in the fire fight. Some of Smith’s men have fallen back to the building on their side but Hawks pursue them inside and exchange fire.
After a long while, realizing that they were outnumbered and running out of ammunition, some of Smith ‘s men surrendered while others had fallen at the hands of Hlengiwe, Themba and Zinhle. Suddenly there’s quietness as the law enforcement agents from the Hawks and other agencies come out of the building with a dozen men in handcuffs putting them in the vans. Only then does Hlengiwe remember Dan. She sees him lying on the floor, she comes rushing to him.
“Dan are you okay?” she says as she removes the tranquilizing dart on his neck. “This guy won’t wake up anytime soon,” she says as she indicates to one of the agents to take him to the van.
Hlengiwe had sent Team Spear ahead so that they take positions before Smith's team arrived. When Smith, on arrival to this place made communication with his team he was in fact communicating with Team Spear who had taken his team out. Hlengiwe had no intention of handing over Dan but to save him they had to take him out themselves, albeit with a tranquilizer.
As they look around the bloody bridge, Hawks captain comes over to them, “Ma'am, we have about 13 men in custody and a number of bodies,” he says. Hlengiwe sighs as she shakes his hand, “thanks captain. Any sign of Locker?” she asks with worry. “no ma'am but my team will sweep the lake all night,” the captain says as he walks away.
“This was intense,” Themba says “yeah it was but let’s just pray that…” Hlengiwe doesn’t finish her sentence as they are interrupted by the bright lights of an ambulance. They all rush to it as they see Qhawe being stretched to it accompanied by his wife.
“we'll see you at the hospital sweetie,” Zinhle says as she hugs Nothemba, “don’t worry he will be okay.” These words don’t seem to do much to comfort Nothemba who is inconsolable in the ambulance. They break the hug. They watch as the ambulance takes their friend away.
While they watch, a convoy of law enforcement agencies ‘s come through followed by two vans, they park near where Hlengiwe and her team are standing and then the Hawks officer comes out of one of the cars. “ma'am,” he says, “We were able to apprehend the suspects as they attempted to flee. There was an exchange of fire but no casualties,” he concludes.
Hlengiwe then goes to one of the vans and open and, it is full of Locker's corrupt buddies. She looks around for a second and as she shuts the door one man shouts, “Ms. Siba, I am willing to testify if you give me immunity.” At that, others started to shout the same thing. Hlengiwe looks at them and shuts the door.
As soon as the door closes an argument ensues in the van, “What the hell are you doing?” shouts Sipho Fuze. “Hey, hey, you may still think you have a career in politics but I don’t care about all that now, I just don't want to go to jail. You know exactly how this game works,” Emmanuel Green responds with a voice of fear. “Will you please come down, we are not turning state witness, we all know that this goes beyond Locker, don’t we?” Sipho continues to reason with his obviously panicking friends.
“Hey my man,” Paul Reagan says to Sipho, “Green is right, you think those people will go out there and defend us now? We have been disavowed, left to hang and dry. They will tell us its nothing personal. So the way I see it, now it’s a man for himself. It’s noble of you to want to take a bullet for those people but not for me my friend.”
At this Sipho keeps quiet wondering if what they are saying is true, is loyalty to people who have left you to hang and dry worth it? He decides to not continue in the debate.
Outside, Hlengiwe has finished giving instructions to other agencies on the way forward. They get in to the van and off they go to the hospital.
“Are the kids secure?” Hlengiwe asks one of the agents, “Yes ma'am, they are in hospital now for check-up,” he responds. “Good,” she says. Then she looks at Themba and Zinhle, “are you two okay?” she asks. They look at each other and respond, “Yes ma'am.”
***
The van arrives at the Hospital and they go straight to the ward where Qhawe is, but they find Nothemba in the waiting area with the kids and Buhle. As soon she sees Zinhle she goes over to her and hugs her tight, she starts crying.
“It’s going to be okay sweetheart,” Zinhle says to her as she holds her tight. Hlengiwe goes to the kids and gives them a hug and Themba hugs Buhle. Finally, Zinhle and Nothemba break the hug, Nothemba hugs Hlengiwe and Themba. They all come back and sit down.
“How is he?” Themba asks, but that just question just makes Nothemba cry as she lays on Buhle's shoulder. “He’s in ICU,” Buhle responds, “the surgery went okay but he is in bad shape and still unconscious.”
With that response everyone just became distraught. They all remained and waited in the Hospital for hours on end, exhausted as they are, for Qhawe to wake up. Hlengiwe knows though that the job is not yet done until Locker is found and the longer the time goes by, the chances of him slipping away or maybe even skipping the country.
“Look darling,” Zinhle says to Nothemba as she sits next her, brushing her back, “let’s go home for now, there’s nothing much we can do for now because…” but before Zinhle could not even finish, Nothemba jumps in, in furry, “No, no, no…I'm not leaving my husband. You guys can go, but I'm not leaving Q here,” she then starts to cry and Zinhle is consoling her. Everyone else is quiet and don’t know how to console a visibly scared Nothemba. Then Hlengiwe comes over to them and sits on the other side of her as Buhle makes way for her.
“Look, Mrs. Nkosi, Mrs. Cele is right, there is nothing you can do for him at the moment, I’m sure the hospital will call as soon as there’s change. Besides, you need rest and you need to eat in order to regain your strength because those kids need you,” Hlengiwe says as she looks at Mholi and Naledi who are now fast asleep in the couch. Then Nothemba looks at them and then looks at Hlengiwe again, who continues, “you have to be strong for them. They have been through hell the past few months and they need their mother. The more they see you being in control, the easier it will be for them to readjust home, okay?”
Those words seem to make sense to Nothemba as she wipes her tears. “Ms Siba is right sis, we will come back as soon as we hear anything I promise,” Buhle says as she tries to persuade her sister. Finally, Nothemba agrees to go home with everyone as she looks through the ICU window seeing her helpless husband, unconscious and fighting for this life.
“Listen, you guys will take turns in watching this door, no one gets in here without being checked, you got that?” Hlengiwe says to his agents whom she had gathered together to debrief. “Also, outside, I need a watcher at all times, look for anything that is unclear. I’m arranging a transfer for him to a secure location,” she concludes. “Yes ma'am,” one agent responds as Hlengiwe walks out through the hall way. They are already waiting for her in the cars. They drive off to the Nkosi mansion.
Even though they got the kids and didn’t lose Dan, nothing feels like a victory in the house. They arrived early hours of the morning, everyone freshened up and got some rest.
***
At sunrise, Zinhle, Hlengiwe and Themba are already up. For them, it is difficult to sleep because the mission is not over, not by a long shot. Hlengiwe and Zinhle are making breakfast, Themba is sitting by the pool. He is not used to doing that by himself, this feels so weird and it reminds him that his best friend is in hospital in bad shape.
With that thought he decides to go to the kitchen and help out. He finds Zinhle and Hlengiwe busy, “Is everybody else still sleeping?” He asks. “Yes love,” Zinhle responds, “It’s been a hectic time for them and they are not trained for situations like this plus the kids are just traumatized by all this,” she says as she turns the eggs in the pen.
“yeah hey,” Themba sighs, “It’s been hectic, we can only imagine how it’s like,” he says. Then there’s that moment of quietness when everyone is taking a moment to think about it. “has the hospital called and say anything?” Themba asks.
Zinhle looks at Hlengiwe who is busy with pancakes. Hlengiwe turns around, “No, I haven’t heard anything but I have made arrangements for Qhawe to be moved into a secure location,” she says. That seems to be surprising Zinhle and Themba who look at each other, “but why? Is there something wrong with that hospital? I thought he was under a good care there,” Zinhle asks.
Hlengiwe switches the stove off and indicates to both of them using her head, that they should go outside. So they move to the pool area outside and sit down.
“Look, we are moving him because we don’t have time to keep going to the hospital, at least not until Locker is found. So I will feel a lot better if I know he’s in a secure facility where people can’t get to him.” That seems to make sense to Zinhle and Themba as they nod.
“Now look, soon we'll have to move, I’m waiting for confirmation of Locker's whereabouts. He is planning on going to some island somewhere, where there’s no extradition. We can’t allow that,” Hlengiwe says as she looks at her watch. “I have spoken to the President and updated him on the situation. We have his full support so let’s go get this bastard and end this ordeal he’s put us through.” That seems to be the motivation, Zinhle and Themba needed.
So what will you tell Nothemba?” Themba asks Hlengiwe, but Zinhle jumps in, “no babe I don’t think we should tell her anything for now other than that Qhawe will be moved. At the moment let’s allow them to rest, we will take care of this,” she says.
“Mrs. Cele is right,” Hlengiwe says, “I’ll get the HAWKS captain so that we can get a few agents plus some of my men then we are good to go,” as she was saying that, a call comes through. She speaks for few minutes on the phone away from Zinhle and Themba. Moments later she comes back, “well, we have a location of where Locker is headed now,” she says, “That Hill something private air field, I suppose he will take a jet,”
Zinhle looks at Themba as Hlengiwe continues, “they have moved Qhawe to a secure facility. They will come and take these guys here as well.”
Will this ever end? This might be the question they are asking themselves as they watch Hlengiwe going up stairs to update Nothemba On the developments. A moment later she comes down, “let’s move,” she says as they take a few agents with them and get into the cars. They leave still a considerable number of agents to watch Nothemba and the rest.
Please log in to submit a comment.