The Mercenary: The Savage Seven. Katherine Garbera

means?”

      “That you aren’t young and impulsive anymore,” Anna said.

      “Exactly. I’m ready for my life to begin.”

      “Don’t discount the years you’ve already had. Your life has been pretty exciting.”

      “I’m not, but I want a husband who cherishes me and a family of my own,” Olivia said. The drive to the mines outside of Cullinan made her feel a bit more normal. Getting away from the guards in Sandton, the suburb where she lived, was what she needed. She liked her new life, she thought.

      Really, she did.

      “I never felt that way,” Anna said quietly.

      Anna had been kidnapped as a child, something that Olivia realized had shaped her friend into the woman she was today—a woman who didn’t really trust in the future. It made sense that Anna wouldn’t have been thinking about kids before her marriage.

      “Even now?” Olivia asked.

      “It’s worse now. The work I’m doing with Jack’s group…it makes me realize how very vulnerable we all are.”

      “You know, that’s part of what I’m feeling here in South Africa. There is a definite feeling that I’m never really safe.”

      “Can you live with that? You’ve always had your father and brothers. You seemed very secure in your life.”

      Olivia laughed. “Not really secure. I guess I picked up my mother’s acting skills.”

      Anna laughed too. “Probably.”

      She felt a hundred percent better having talked to her friend. “Thank you.”

      “I don’t think I did anything, but you’re welcome.”

      “You distracted me on my drive to the mines.”

      “Why are you going to the mines?”

      “Ray needed a file he’d left at home,” Olivia said.

      “Do you do that often?”

      “Not really, in fact he’s never invited me out before. I’ve been begging for a tour,” she said.

      She’d thought that the diamond mine would make an excellent setting for one of her spy-girl books. But so far Ray didn’t want to discuss his job and he had been pretty adamant that the diamond cartel would have to approve any idea she had. Her cousin was married to an executive with the diamond consortium, so Olivia figured she could use that inside track to get her book idea approved. Besides, things always worked out for her.

      “I’m almost there…hang on a sec.” Olivia couldn’t be certain, but she thought she saw Ray’s Mercedes off to the side of the road. She slowed her car as she saw his car on the other side of the road. There was a barrier in the middle of the road, so she pulled off on her own side.

      “Sure—is anything wrong?”

      “I’m not certain. Ray’s Mercedes is on the side of the road,” she said, straining to see over to the other side. “Well, I think his car is. Let me call you back.”

      “Okay. Be careful, Olivia.”

      “I will be. There’s no one out here.”

      “But if his car is on the side of the road, then someone may have forced him to stop. Don’t hang up. Stay on the phone with me.”

      “What can you do from D.C.?”

      “I’m in London.”

      “Still hours away,” Olivia said.

      “Jack has men closer. If you need help, I will send someone.”

      “Thanks, Anna. I’m getting out of the car now.”

      Olivia checked to make sure there was no other traffic and there wasn’t. Since the two-lane highway only led to the mine entrance, there wasn’t a lot of traffic on it. She opened her door and walked across the single lane to the barrier in the middle.

      “Is it Ray’s car?” Anna asked.

      “Definitely,” she said. She recognized his signature key ring dangling in the ignition. “I’m going to climb over the barrier and see if I can find him.”

      “Be careful.”

      “You already said that,” Olivia said. She was worried. Maybe leaving Burati at home hadn’t been her smartest decision. So much for having to prove she was independent. She held her phone loosely in her left hand and carefully sat down on the barrier and then swung her legs over to get to the other side.

      She approached Ray’s car and noticed that the engine was still idling. That didn’t seem like a good sign. Where was Ray?

      “He left the car running,” she said into the phone.

      “That’s odd. Is there anyone else around?” Anna asked.

      Olivia looked out in the distance to the mountains and thought she saw the figures of two people, though at this distance she couldn’t be sure.

      “I don’t know.”

      A shot rang out and one of the figures fell to the ground.

      “Was that a gunshot?” Anna asked.

      “Yes. Someone was shot. What should I do?” Olivia asked.

      “Get out of there. Get back in your car,” Anna said.

      Olivia ran back across the street and climbed the barrier with little care for her pantsuit this time. She got behind the wheel of her vehicle and locked the doors. She just sat there shaking. What if Ray had been shot? Oh my God. What was she going to do?

      “Olivia?”

      “Sorry, yes?”

      “Are you okay?”

      “No. I’m worried about Ray…I don’t know what to do.”

      “You need to get out of there and call the Cullinan authorities.”

      “Okay, I’ll call you back.”

      “No, don’t do that. I will call the authorities. You just stay on the other line.”

      Olivia put the car in drive and continued up the road to the turnabout and then sat there watching from a distance. The shooter was moving.

      “I think the shooter is coming back toward Ray’s car. Should I get closer and try to identify him?”

      “Yes,” Anna said. “Jack is on the line with the authorities. Are you on the property of Onyx Diamonds?”

      “Yes,” Olivia said.

      “She is,” Anna said to Jack. “Try and get closer to the shooter. Does your cell phone have a camera in it?”

      “Yes, of course. Should I take a photo of him?”

      “Definitely, and then send it to me. We have an extensive network and I will be able to tell you who it is.”

      “Thanks, Anna.”

      “No problem. Be careful.”

      “I’m in my car. What could happen?” Olivia said.

      “He has a gun. Is your car bulletproof?”

      “Yes, of course. Most cars here are because of the violence. Oh my God, can you believe I live in a place like this?”

      “It’s okay, you are safe. Just take the photo and then get out of there.”

      She drove slowly toward Ray’s car. She was fairly certain the shooter had seen her. It would be impossible for him not to, with the lack of traffic out here. But she was determined to get a photo of the man. This man might have killed Ray.

      She saw the man get to