The Mercenary: The Savage Seven. Katherine Garbera

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      Leon Burati didn’t exactly enjoy his job protecting Ms. Pontuf, but Phillip Michaels had been clear that protecting her came before collecting evidence on Ray Lambert. So the Soweto native had done it. Burati had taken the job for Lambert almost three years ago. His kid brother Thomas was working on the inside of Lambert’s illegal operation. Both of the brothers were working to shut down the man—Ray Lambert—who had been responsible for the deaths of their father and older brothers.

      No one knew that Thomas and Burati were related. They’d been very careful to keep that connection hidden, and for the most part that had worked in their favor. And Phillip—one of the executives from the diamond consortium—wanted to catch Lambert and his cohorts in the act. Phillip was gathering information from both sides of Lambert’s operations and from his home life.

      The diamond consortium was very aware that the output at Onyx Diamond Group was kept at the bare minimum and yet there were mining shafts that were constantly being closed or abandoned, which shouldn’t have happened that frequently.

      Now that he knew where Lambert hid the key to his locked drawer, Burati could go through the desk while Ms. Pontuf was gone. Being a bodyguard to the fiancée of a man whose illegal actions had put the Soweto people in danger wasn’t exactly rewarding, but Burati was a patient man and would do whatever he had to until there was enough evidence to put Lambert away for life.

      He let himself into the den and found the key where Olivia had left it in the Zen rock garden. The little garden had a place of honor on the corner of Lambert’s credenza.

      Burati opened the desk drawer and took photos of everything in there with his BlackBerry. He’d send them all to Phillip as soon as he was done.

      His mobile rang before he could send the photos.

      “It’s Thomas. I’m at the mine and I’ve got the photos and the rocks that he’s been selling. But something is going down. Mr. Ray seems very tense.”

      “Careful, brother. You shouldn’t call from the mine. His people are very loyal.”

      “You worry too much. I can handle Mr. Ray. I’m leaving now. I will meet you in Pretoria.”

      “I will be there in two hours. Take your time and don’t do anything to raise his suspicions.”

      “I won’t,” Thomas said. “Be cool, brother. Everything we’ve worked for is about to bear fruit.”

      Thomas disconnected the call. Burati offered a quick prayer to Allah that his brother wouldn’t do anything stupid and would make it to Pretoria alive. Burati had arranged for Thomas to work on the inside of Lambert’s illegal operation because he needed more information about how the actual illegal mining was done.

      The many deaths at the Onyx mine were another red flag that had brought the mining operation to the diamond consortium’s attention. The other mines in Africa didn’t have the mortality rate that Onyx did.

      Burati finished up in Lambert’s den and put everything back as it had been. Then he locked the drawer and hid the key.

      He walked into the hallway and sent the photos to Phillip’s e-mail account. Phillip acknowledged the e-mail and mentioned he would contact Burati soon. Burati hoped now they would have enough evidence to arrest Lambert. Phillip had promised Burati a job at the Onyx Mining Group’s main offices running labor relations.

      Labor relations was something that Burati was very interested in. He was always looking for ways to improve his fellow villagers’ quality of life. And he knew in a position of power he could make a real difference in the Soweto ghetto.

      Burati had grown up in the worst ghetto near Jo’burg, Soweto. Though parts of the area had been revitalized, the section where his family lived was still a maze of cardboard boxes and dying HIV babies. He had gotten himself and his brother out as soon as he could. But Burati vowed he would save his entire village.

      Chapter Two

      AUGUST 1, CULLINAN, SOUTH AFRICA

      Olivia had called her mother last night, when her parents were in port on their cruise. Olivia needed some advice about marriage and her fears, but her mother simply said that Ray was a good catch. Audrey Pontuf thought her daughter needed time to adjust to living in South Africa. “Give your new life a chance before you run back home,” her mom had said.

      Olivia was determined to do just that.

      One of Olivia’s school friends, Anna Sterling, had just gotten married. Anna was someone who always adjusted well to any situation. Without thinking twice about it, Olivia picked up her mobile phone and dialed Anna’s number.

      “Sterling here.”

      “Anna, hello. It’s Olivia.”

      “Hi, Ola. What’s up? Do you have another spy-girl question for me?” Anna asked.

      “Um, not exactly. You helped me immensely with that plot glitch I had for Krissie. Do you have a few minutes to talk about something personal?” The problem with her plot had been fixed, but she was still stuck in chapter four.

      Olivia could hear the sounds of loud music blaring in the background. Anna must be working on her computer.

      “Sure thing,” Anna said. “What’s on your mind?”

      “Marriage.”