The Mercenary: The Savage Seven. Katherine Garbera

wall,” Anna said.

      Olivia walked over to the restaurant and asked for a table in the back near the corner. She had to put the phone down to do so. In Jo’Burg no one would offer service while she was on her cell phone.

      She was seated and given a menu. She lifted the handset back to her ear. “I’m sitting down.”

      “You’re out of my camera range. Tell me what the place is like,” Anna said.

      “Should I move?”

      “No, you’re fine there. Just tell me what’s in the restaurant.”

      “It’s a regular-looking café. Most of the tables are full. My table is in the corner, so I’ve got walls on two sides of me.”

      “Good. Now, where is the kitchen?”

      Olivia glanced around the diner. She placed her duffel bag by her feet and put her handbag on the table. The restaurant was typical of airport–type establishments and she saw the usual patrons at the tables: families, couples, and students. Everyone looked so normal and she felt so not normal.

      “Olivia? Are you still there? Are you okay?”

      “Sorry. The kitchen is to my left.” She felt silly and foolish. To think she’d called Anna to get marriage advice a few hours earlier and now she was on the run from a man who was trying to kill her. Her own fiancé.

      “Is it close?”

      “Less than a hundred yards. Why?” she asked, but all she could think about was Ray waving that gun at her.

      “You might need to go that way if someone comes for you,” Anna said.

      “Like who? I think Burati was following me, but I haven’t seen him since I left my neighborhood.” She wasn’t cut out for this type of situation. She didn’t want to have to look for an escape route. She just wanted to get on a plane and get out of here. “Should I leave Jo’burg?”

      “Not today. Let our men get to you and then we will figure out what to do,” Anna said. “Who is Burati?”

      “My bodyguard. Ray hired him for me.”

      “What is his full name?” Anna asked.

      “I have no idea. I never asked. That makes me seem like a rude person, doesn’t it?”

      “Not at all. Just relax while I do some research on men with his name. Jack is monitoring the police communication and no one has reported the shooting you saw.”

      “Do you think I imagined it?” she asked Anna. What if she had? She was going to feel like an idiot if that happened.

      “No, I don’t. I heard the shot, remember?”

      “That’s right,” Olivia said, sighing. “This is the worst day of my life.”

      “Don’t say that. Better to find this all out before you get married,” Anna said.

      “That’s true. I thought Ray was my dream man.”

      “Why?”

      “Because he had a good job, he’s good looking, and he paid attention to me. You know?”

      “I can understand that. But your life is changing now. And, to be fair, Ray probably is all of those things. He was just keeping part of himself from you.”

      “Yes, I know that. It makes me feel stupid that I didn’t realize he would hide anything from me,” she said.

      “What do you think he hid?” Anna asked.

      “Well, murder, for one.”

      “For one? What else?”

      “I don’t know, but he had a locked drawer in his desk and I took everything in it.”

      “Kirk and Laz will be coming to you soon. They’ll watch over you and help you get the information to us so we can figure out which authorities to notify to make sure Ray can’t hurt you anymore.”

      Olivia wanted to believe her friend, but a big part of her felt like she’d never be safe again.

      Burati hung up the phone with Lambert and immediately dialed Phillip Michaels. He had to wait until the other man was out of a meeting to speak to him.

      “Ms. Pontuf witnessed a killing at the mines today and Lambert wants her killed,” he said as soon as Phillip had answered.

      “One thing at a time. Where is Ms. Pontuf?” Phillip asked.

      “She’s heading to the airport. I’m in my own car following her.”

      “Good. I want you to pick her up at the airport and bring her to my safe house. It’s in Cape Town, and I don’t think Lambert will think to go there to find her.”

      “Yes, sir. I’ll need the address.”

      “I will send a text message with it,” Phillip said. “Now, who was killed?”

      “I don’t know. I spoke to Thomas this morning and he had the rocks we wanted as well as some other information. He didn’t come to our arranged meeting…” Burati let his words trail off.

      He didn’t want to think about his kid brother being dead. If Thomas was dead, then Burati wouldn’t rest until Lambert paid with his own life.

      “I will find out as soon as I can. I will speak to Lambert as soon as we are off the phone. Did he ask you to kill Olivia?”

      “Not in so many words.”

      “Damn, he’s good about making sure he never incriminates himself.”

      “Yes, he is. About Thomas…”

      “If your brother was killed, you will be compensated for his loss.”

      Burati made a noise.

      “I know that money can’t make up for the loss of a family member,” Phillip said. “It’s just that I have no other way to show you what your loss means to the consortium.”

      “Thank you, Phillip.”

      “You’re welcome. Olivia is my wife’s cousin and protecting her for me is something I appreciate you doing.” Phillip was a good man, a man who Burati respected. Burati would do his best to make sure Ms. Olivia remained safe.

      “I will continue to do my job. If he did kill Thomas, that simply makes me more determined to make sure he is captured and stopped,” Burati said.

      “We’ll get him, Burati. I promise you that.”

      “I am at the airport and I’ll call you after I have Olivia.”

      “Thank you.”

      Burati hung up the phone and sat there in the parking lot grieving for his brother. He was almost positive that Thomas had been killed today. He called his cousin Barack because he wanted backup when he went in to get Olivia. If word got back to Mr. Ray that he had taken Ms. Olivia to a safe house, Burati knew he’d be in big trouble. He needed someone who could provide backup in case things went wrong.

      Barack waited for him in the departure lounge. “I’m not sure where she is, so we’ll have to search all the departure gates. I’m going to see if she’s purchased a ticket first.”

      Barack nodded and was happy to follow orders. Burati didn’t think about anything except finding Olivia. He didn’t dwell on the fact that his brother was dead and he was now going to be a rich man.

      Kirk didn’t like airports. He didn’t mind flying, but airport terminals were something altogether different. Public airports were the worst. Everyone was in a hurry and not bothering to get the hell out of the way like they should. Because they were flying with weapons, he and Laz had to go through a special line at security when they arrived in Johannesburg. Laz, being the more heavily loaded down of the two of