Chapter 12

Within two hours from the time that Parker and Sophie had left Billy's farm in Magaliesburg the whole team were on a small plane that Hardison had organised headed to Kuruman airport where they would pick up a rental car and head out to Hotazhel. There were no major cities in the area, in fact there was nothing much at all. The largest town was Upington and that was a good few hours away from Kuruman, this was the only town that the local airways flew to so Hardison had decided that in order to get them to Hotazhel as quickly as possible they would rent a small plane and land in Kuruman, from there it was only short drive to where they needed to be.

Hardison had done some research on the place they were headed to. Hotazhel was not only a mission station, it was a small town established in the 1950's to service the manganese mines in the area. It was 47km north-west of Kuruman in a lonely desolate part of the country. The mines were very much active, however there was a section that was defunct. If Derby did have a hideout here, it would be in that section of the mine. Hardison had booked them into a lodge just outside the little town as it was nearing dusk and without knowing where anything was they could not rush in blindly, that could get them and Nate killed. Besides which the lodge also encompassed a large expanse of land that bordered the old section of the mines that were no longer in working. The lodge itself belonged to a wealthy mining family and the mine along with all the land around it was owned by them. If they needed to do some recon, the lodge was the best HQ he could find.

Arriving at the lodge Sophie and Eliot went to book them into their rooms while Hardison and Parker took care of the bags, they had travelled very light so there was not much. Walking into the main reception area Sophie and Eliot froze. Then they both turned around and walked out of the building stopping Hardison and Parker from entering and headed back to the car.

"What the hell?" Hardison asked as they all climbed into the car again.

"He's here." Sophie said looking at Eliot for confirmation. Hardison had furnished them with a picture of the man when they had first found out who they were dealing with.

"NATE?"

"No Parker, Derby." Eliot grunted.

"I'll kill him…" Parker whispered.

"No Parker. He is going to lead me to Nate." Sophie said softly a plan forming in her head. "I am going to need a few things."

"Sophie…"

"Eliot, what better way to get information than from the man himself, and nobody can resist Ms Lauren du Bisson…" Sophie smiled at him. Going into a con on short notice was her thing, or at least it had been. He was a man and she knew how to deal with them, how to make them tell her things she needed to know. "I am going to need a few things…"

I know this was a very short one but hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.