Diamond Legacy. Monica McCabe

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      “Where would you like your safari to begin, sir?”

      A teenage boy carrying a walkie-talkie had slipped up on him while he’d stood gawking. That kind of inattention got a guy in trouble. Not a good start.

      “Employment office,” Matt replied. “Got a date with Warren Graham.” He gave the kid his name and watched him repeat it into the radio.

      With a short jerk of his head, his tour guide led the way to one of three vast tunnel-like hallways that exited the main rotunda and stopped at a set of elevators.

      “Been working here long?” Matt asked as they stepped inside a lift.

      “A while,” the kid mumbled.

      As they headed up, Matt tried again. “They treat you good here?”

      The two-way radio crackled, and the teen fiddled with a dial on the top, ignoring his question.

      He wasn’t getting much out of this one. If everyone around here kept this closed-mouthed, finding information might prove a challenge.

      At the third floor, the doors slid open, and the kid pointed down the hall. “Graham’s the fifth office on the left.”

      “Thanks for the ride.” Matt took off down a hallway filled with opaque glass doors. As promised, number five read Warren Graham, Employment Director.

      He took a deep breath to settle into his new role, rapped twice, then stepped inside.

      “You Bennett?” asked a heavy-set man with a full white beard. He slammed a filing cabinet closed and carried a few folders with him to his desk.

      “Yeah,” Matt fired back. “You Graham?”

      “Don’t get cocky.” A leather executive chair groaned under the man’s weight as he sat. “I don’t care if you have friends in high places. They won’t get you any special treatment around here.”

      “Not expecting any.” Matt settled into a substantially less comfortable chair in front of Graham’s desk. “And for the record, there’s no such friend. I needed a job and knew somebody that knew somebody. I called in a favor.”

      “Guess that’s why you’re the new janitor and not some hoity-toity with a fancy title.” Graham let loose a hearty guffaw and shoved a stack of papers toward Matt. “These outline the job. Got a problem hauling trash, mucking stables, or following orders?”

      Matt ignored the display of attitude and lifted the top sheet of paper, a flyer on safety. “Not as long as it comes with a steady paycheck,” he replied evenly.

      “We expect more than a full day’s work around here,” Graham continued.

      “Won’t hear any complaints from me. Hard work is good for what ails you.” At least that was what his dad had always believed.

      “Keep in mind that non-friend of yours won’t prevent you from getting fired.”

      If he were to guess, Matt would say Graham didn’t like being forced to offer a job. Too bad. That was the price paid for government concessions.

      “I’ll manage,” Matt declared drily.

      Graham sat back in his chair. “Let’s get straight to the point. We have strict rules around here. Break one and it’s over for you.”

      The warnings were getting downright old. “You got a handbook listing all the no-nos?”

      “In those papers,” Graham said with a flat stare. “Activity goes on here day and night with supply shipments and animal deliveries. Security is tight and some areas off limits. If you want to keep the job, always operate for the benefit of Katanga. Is that clear?”

      “Maintain privacy and expect controls.” Matt nodded. “Check.”

      Graham leaned forward, elbows on his desk as he cracked his knuckles. He stared hard at Matt, animosity clear as daylight. No doubt he debated hiring him despite government persuasion, but Matt waited, knowing Graham couldn’t refuse.

      “Haul your ass down to the end of the hall,” he finally said. “Fill out some paperwork and Rob Jenkins will get you a badge and uniform. He’ll show you around the facility.”

      Matt grabbed his papers and stood. “Been a real pleasure getting to know you, Graham,” he said with a forced smile.

      “Yeah,” his new boss snorted. “It’s the start of a beautiful friendship. Now get the hell out of my office.”

      * * * *

      Four people perched high atop a manmade safety ridge in Katanga’s oasis pool. They were soaking wet, muddy, and a little bruised, not to mention humbled from being outsmarted by a hippopotamus. Estelle had quickly turned into the most difficult patient Miranda ever had. The hippo was beyond unhappy. She was in pain. And any animal with a jaw capable of opening four feet wide and lower incisors twenty-eight inches long, well, they had the kind of deadly force no one took lightly.

      Leaning back against the ridge, Miranda pulled the tight hair band from her head and tried to rub life back into her brain. Four hours into this operation and they still couldn’t coax a stubborn hippo past a camouflaged gate she was supposedly unaware of. What was left to try?

      She gazed out over the exceptional pool, a mammoth-sized enclosure that mimicked Estelle’s natural habitat, complete with rocks, soil, and grasses that thrived inside the Okavango Delta, her native land. Everything a normal hippopotamus could ask for.

      Unfortunately, nothing about Estelle was normal.

      “Unbelievable,” Jason said in exasperation. “She’s the most contrary female I’ve ever met.”

      “Ha,” barked Senga, one of two Katanga employees sitting with them. “My wife could give this surly one lessons.”

      “It’s true.” Kiv nodded solemnly.

      “Wow, that’s rough.” Jason looked at Senga with bleary-eyed sympathy. “Remind me not to ask for an introduction.”

      While her companions shared a laugh, Miranda scooted to the edge of the ridge. She glared eyeball to eyeball with the agitated hippo.

      Estelle huffed her disdain from the security of the pool.

      Clearly the hippo liked causing trouble. But Miranda knew obstinate. It was a technique she’d used extensively the last few years, an end result of one dismal dating experience after the other. Lucky in love she wasn’t, but her job was another story. That she had control over. She understood her clientele. And there was no way she’d let a devious hippo win the day.

      She pushed back from the edge and sat up, brushing dirt from her shirt. “Estelle knows,” she said. “She knows and refuses to cooperate.”

      “Not possible,” Senga said in heavily accented English. “She new to pool.”

      “She senses our intent.” Miranda twisted СКАЧАТЬ