Diamond Legacy. Monica McCabe

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      They kept moving toward the Okavango wing and passed a group of school children on the way. Matt made a pained face, setting off a round of youthful giggling. Jenkins glanced back, but Matt only shrugged, which made the kids laugh even harder.

      Amid all the laughter, an unexpected pang of regret struck Matt. It was a damn shame really. Katanga offered incredible opportunities. It appeared organized and lucrative. A beehive of tourism and education.

      Limitless potential wasted by running conflict diamonds. It made no sense.

      They’d reached the end of the Okavango Hall and entered a vast medical suite. “Our state-of-the-art veterinary,” Jenkins said with pride. “The doctors here are highly trained in research and wild animal care.”

      A set of double doors with glass windows beckoned, and Matt found himself gazing into a modern exam room. Two workers in white lab coats tended a baby chimpanzee on one of the many tables. One fed the infant from a baby bottle while the other took the monkey’s measurements and noted the results on a notepad.

      “Her mother was killed by poachers.” Jenkins had stepped up to the adjoining door, his voice a mix of sadness and contempt. “She was brought to us by a southern farmer who found her hungry and crying at the edge of his land.”

      “What will happen to her?”

      “If possible, she’ll be released back to the wild. But as young as this one is, she’ll likely form too strong a bond with her human caretakers, become domesticated. Odds are better she’ll find a home in a zoo or research facility. Perhaps help us better understand her kind.”

      Sympathy for the monkey tugged at Matt. He stared at her through the window, wishing he could tell her the pain of being orphaned at a young age never faded. Learning to live with it took time. Some memories were etched in stone, like the sound of your mother’s soft voice, her gentle laughter, forever followed by her screams of terror.

      “Let’s go, Bennett.”

      Matt tore his eyes away from the scene and shook free the haunting memories. Jenkins stood holding an exterior door ajar, waiting.

      They moved outside and Matt let the sun’s warmth chase away lingering shadows. He shifted his world back into sharp focus, to blood diamonds, brutal warlords, and the stench of greed and corruption.

      Renewed by familiar determination, Matt followed Jenkins across the compound and into the glass-domed building he’d seen coming in.

      “The Oasis Pool,” Jenkins explained as they climbed a long flight of stairs to a viewing platform. “It’s a natural habitat. Right now an albino hippo is in residence.”

      Matt stepped over to the railing and gazed into another world. A long, low whistle escaped his lips as he took in a slice of wild delta complete with palm trees, boulders, and a long rock ridge that formed a semicircle around the pool, even a grassy beach of mud and stone.

      The hippo rested at the far end of the pool, but it was the crazy woman in the water with it that snagged his attention. “What’s she doing?” Matt noted several others, hard at work setting up a crane and some sort of portable lab.

      “We flew in an animal dentist from the States. She’s going to work on the hippo. It’s slated for their National Zoo in Washington DC.”

      “Animal dentist?” He tore his eyes away from the woman in the pool to look at Jenkins in surprise. “You’re kidding me, right?”

      Jenkins laughed out loud. “She’s one of the best in her field and much in demand, worth every cent in getting her here. That’s her adjusting the harness.” He pointed to Ms. Crazy on her knees in the water.

      Obviously what she lacked in common sense, she made up for in bravery. Her back was turned, yet an impossible sense of familiarity tugged at him. He sure as hell didn’t know any animal dentists. He’d never even heard of one. Matt squinted, straining for a better look, but she never turned around or looked up.

      “Come on, Bennett,” Jenkins said, “we’ve lots more to see.”

      With a final curious glance at the woman in the oasis, he followed.

      * * * *

      Leaning over to double-check the harness layout, water splashed against Miranda’s face. She brushed at her eyes with her shoulder but didn’t stop aligning the harness at the bottom of the pool. Lifting a semi-conscious two-ton hippo out of the water allowed no margin for error.

      Relying on her sense of touch, she ran her hands the entire length of the sunken lattice-work canvas, double-checking the link connectors to the cable that would snap the harness around the animal. Everything felt secure.

      Satisfied, she signaled the all clear to Henri, the crane operator.

      The only piece left was Estelle. She lurked fifty feet away, fighting the anesthesia spreading in her bloodstream and madder than a hippo had a right to be. The pool had drained low enough that she was fast losing her sense of security and proved it by snorting in dazed agitation, glaring her resentment in Miranda’s direction.

      It was enough to give any sane person the willies. Even drugged, an angry hippo was a threat no one wanted to face up close and personal. There was a fundamental reason they were feared by locals more than the river crocodile. They killed more people. She really should get out of the pool.

      “Time to move, Miranda.” Jason echoed her thoughts from the safety of a side grid. He and two of Katanga’s interns were using a blunt pole to gently nudge an uncooperative Estelle toward Miranda and the harness.

      Distance narrowed as the drugged hippo lumbered closer. The lady struggled against the numbing effects of the drug, but darted with two milligrams of Etorphine, she fought a losing battle. That dosage should put her under and keep her under long enough for them to perform the needed dental procedure.

      If they worked fast.

      Miranda locked eyes with Estelle. Fury and hatred glared back. Betting on animosity to get Estelle over the harness, Miranda prayed the crane’s equipment had been well oiled. She didn’t relish becoming anyone’s chew toy.

      “That’s right, sweetie,” Miranda crooned, working to keep that anger focused on her. “You’d love nothing more than to crunch my bones, wouldn’t you?”

      Estelle stumbled nearer and Miranda took several steps back, leading her into the trap.

      A snort of pure rage erupted from the drugged hippo and she shot forward, fired by a last ditch effort to escape the inevitable.

      “Out of the pool, Miranda!” Jason yelled.

      No need for the warning. Panic-laced adrenaline raced through Miranda, and she scrambled for the safety of high ground.

      Estelle’s clumsy effort faded fast, however, lasting just long enough to get her where they needed her. The hippo stumbled over the net, Henri triggered the harness, and a sharp metallic clang rang out.

      Canvas bolted up from the pool, spraying a tidal wave as it snapped around the hippo. Seconds later, Estelle hung a foot above the water, safely immobilized.

      From the safety of the shore, Miranda’s СКАЧАТЬ