King already had his concentration directed at their surroundings, but saw nothing of alarm. They sped past a handful of civilians who were preoccupied with simply staying alive, and then they left the collapsing houses behind to mount a potholed trail that twisted and wound into an open expanse of land in a similar state of disrepair as everything King had already observed.
‘That’s it?’ he said, gesturing to the compound that had just become visible in the centre of the grassy fields.
Beth nodded. ‘We haven’t been there for long. The peacekeepers haven’t been allowed in these parts until the last year. We’re far enough away from Mogadishu’s centre to warrant establishing a base. It’s our job as Force Recon Marines to keep them secure while they go about their business.’
‘What does their business involve?’ King said.
Beth shrugged. ‘Wouldn’t have a clue. I’m focused on security, just like the rest of them are.’
‘Not Reed, obviously. He’s sticking his nose in places it shouldn’t be.’
‘That depends on how you look at it. I think he did a good thing.’
‘You’re not the investigator.’
She eyed him up and down. ‘And you are?’
‘I guess I don’t exactly fit that job description.’
‘So what do you do?’
King thought for a moment. ‘You know, I don’t think I fit any job description.’
‘Not this cryptic bullshit again,’ she muttered.
They made their way toward a gate manned by a single Force Recon Marine in full tactical gear, clutching an M4A1 carbine assault rifle in his gloved hands. King found himself surprised that the man hadn’t broken a sweat in the attire, despite the intense heat.
‘Just one guy?’ he said while they were still a hundred feet from the steel gate.
‘Yeah. With Reed out of the equation for now, we’re stretched thin. There’s me, Johnson here, and one other guy — Victor.’
‘They’re reliable?’
‘We wouldn’t have been sent here otherwise. But you’re most welcome here. You can lend a hand with guarding the premises while you sort Reed out.’
Johnson nodded as they approached and thumbed a keypad on the other side of the chain-link fence. The gate trundled open with an electronic whine, audible over the noise of the jeep’s engine. Without slowing down, Beth shot straight through into the compound, barely glancing at Johnson as she leant pressure on the accelerator. As soon as they were through, King glanced back to see the gate closing at equal speed.
Johnson watched them speed away.
‘You two don’t get along?’ he said.
Beth shot daggers at him with a single look. ‘The hell are you talking about?’
‘You didn’t stop and say hi.’
‘I don’t think you know what Somalia’s like,’ she said. ‘We leave that gate open as little as humanly possible. There’s all the time in the world for niceties later. I get along just fine with Johnson. And you will, too.’
‘How’s the dynamic between the four of you?’ King said. ‘Who’s the fourth guy?’
‘Victor. He’s nice enough. Both of them kept their distance from Reed, though.’
‘Why?’
She shrugged. ‘There’s minimal downtime here, so if your personalities don’t match you tend to keep to yourself. Victor and Johnson are buddy-buddy. Reed was a little quieter than them.’
‘Shy?’
‘You don’t stay shy as a Force Recon Marine,’ Beth said, shaking her head. ‘I felt bad for him. He was just reserved. Kept to himself. But it made it easy for Victor and Johnson to quarantine him to the back of the compound when he played up.’
‘I’d say he did a little more than playing up.’
‘Whatever you want to call it.’
‘Are you two close?’
‘Me and Reed?’
King nodded.
She shrugged. ‘About as close as you can be in this kind of situation. Plus there’s the other thing.’
King raised an eyebrow.
She glanced across as she navigated the jeep into a small gravel parking lot in front of a long low building, built lodge-style. ‘He made advances within the first few nights. I turned him down, but it’s been a little unsteady ever since. I think we’ve both moved on from that, though. I doubt he thinks about it much anymore.’
‘Uh-huh,’ King said, throwing the passenger door open and stepping down onto the gravel.
‘And if you get any of the same ideas,’ she said, ‘I won’t be as cordial to you. You’re here by invitation. Play by the rules.’
‘Never have,’ King muttered under his breath, quiet enough to remain out of earshot.
They both rounded the hood of the jeep and stepped up onto the lodge’s wide terrace.
‘Welcome to your new home,’ she said.
She pushed open the front door and King strode through.
10
He stepped into a sparsely furnished, utilitarian space with a distinct lack of colour, tone or flavour. The floors were panelled wood and full of chips, scratches and nicks. The walls were plain white, and devoid of any kind of artwork or decoration. He recognised the room as a broad communal space, complete with tattered couches, a small kitchenette with labelled cupboards, and a grimy television that looked as if it hadn’t been switched on for years.
Hallways branched off in random directions, poorly lit, leading through to what King assumed would be sleeping quarters. He stood patiently in the centre of the communal space and waited for Beth to follow him into the long building. It was entirely empty. He listened out for any kind of distant noise to signify that someone was home, but he heard nothing.
She closed the front door and strode straight past him, headed for the dining room table. It was a fat slab of wood propped up by four thin metal legs, thrown together haphazardly without a care in the world for aesthetics. She dragged one of the spindly chairs out from underneath the table and gestured for him to sit.
He crossed the room and sat.
She opened one of the cabinets in the kitchenette and leant down to retrieve a fat dossier of documents. She slammed the files emphatically onto the table between them and pulled up a chair of her own.
‘Where is everyone?’ King said, staring around the room.
‘None of the peacekeepers are here, which means they’re off conducting their own business. Victor will be accompanying them as their security detail. You’re not to worry about them.’
King nodded. ‘I take it you aren’t either?’
Beth shrugged. ‘Pretty much. We just shepherd them around from location to location. They deliver food, supply medical aid. All the things the locals need. And there’s not much to do around here, if I’m being honest. Peacekeepers aren’t of much interest to any of the warring factions. There’s nothing to gain, and a whole lot to lose. If al-Shabaab raids this compound and plunders it, they won’t get much apart from a few guns and a few supplies. It’s not worth their time. And on top of that they’ll draw the scorn of everyone important, which means it’ll be a little harder to get the basic necessities they need to survive. And it’s hard enough for them already.’
‘So then why am I here if there’s no danger?’ King said, even though he knew the answer. He wanted Beth to vocalise it in her own words.
‘Because Bryson goddamn Reed decided to antagonise everyone in the area, it seems.’
‘Where is he?’
She jerked a thumb at the door they’d just come through. ‘Up the back of the compound. In the guest house. He’s exiled himself from the rest of us until you arrived. We’d been told you were coming, and he felt it was the right thing to do. He admits he fucked up.’
‘Very noble,’ King noted, somewhat sarcastically. ‘Is he locked up there?’