Chapter 7
The plane lands as the first red streaks become visible on the horizon. Tired, Danny, Chin, Lou and Kono leave the plane and walk to the building. There, a vehicle is waiting for them to take them into town. Danny is really grateful to Joe for organizing all this. He would have been even more grateful if he could have supported them here, but unfortunately he was on a mission himself. When they get out in front of the boarding house, Danny thinks about lying down for a while, but decides against it. He wants to find out the current status from Steve first. At the reception he gets their room keys and goes with the others to the second floor.
When there is a knock at the door, Catherine jumps straight out of bed. Before Tim can hold her back, she yanks the door open. "Ste..., ... Danny?" "Catherine?" She looks past him and spots Chin, Kono and Lou still inside. "Come on in." Then she takes another look down the hall and closes the door behind her friends. "How?" she breaks off and hugs Danny.
After Catherine brings Danny and the others up to speed and Danny rants about the stubborn Seal, they split up. Catherine is glad that Danny came with the team, so they can finally go and look for Steve. Since Catherine really wants to go herself, Lou stays with Tim at Sara's and waits for the vote, while the others go to the ranch to look for Steve.
Tim is anxiously waiting with Lou and Sara for the information from Gambia on how the vote went. Tim is not really into it, he would much rather go to the ranch and check on Steve. He has come to appreciate him very much in the hours he has known him now. The action at the reservation alone deserves respect. After another two hours, the Agency finally gets the redeeming call. The vote has gone through and has come out in favor of abolishing the death penalty. Relieved, Sara falls around Tim's neck. Tim informs her contact at the Agency about Mike and Nathan. Both are out of surgery by now, but whether they will survive their injuries is still up in the air. Then he hands the phone to Sara so that she can call her father, who promises to come to Dakar on the weekend. Sara, however, can already return to her dormitory on campus.
Tim has organized a second jeep somewhere with which he and Lou take Sara back to the university campus.
Catherine, Danny, Kono and Chin, on the other hand, return to the Lefebre ranch by the quickest route. When they arrive there, no one is to be seen. As they approach the main house, the door is opened and a woman with a baby in her arms comes out to meet them.
"What are they doing here?" "Excusez-moi. Madame Lefebre?" "Qui, who wants to know?" "Excuse me. My name is Catherine Rollins, madame. I was locked up with Sara de Medoc in her guest house until yesterday, and two friends freed us. One of them didn't show up at the appointed meeting place afterwards, and we think he might still be here somewhere?"
As Catherine reports, Oise Lefebvre's eyes have grown larger and larger. "Oh, my God, they were locked in here? Are they all right? I haven't been out of the house for days. France had an infection and just cried.
There is no one left here. I kicked my husband, that Truand, out the door tonight after the shooting. I should have done that long ago."
"Shooting?" Catherine gulps. "Yeah, the idiots were shooting up the front of the guest house and woke France up." "And they didn't see anyone else?" She shakes her head.
"No, sorry. I haven't been to the guest house yet, though, so if you'd like, you can check for yourself."
Catherine walks from the ranch across the runway to the guest house.
As she passes the position where the Cessna was standing, she claps her hands in front of her mouth in horror. The ground she is standing on is littered with bullet casings.
The Cessna must be literally riddled with holes.
You sit by the car and search the Internet for reports of airplane crashes or the like. The Cessna must have gone somewhere. Catherine is still agitated by the amount of shell casings on the runway. Suddenly, Kono looks up. "Guys, I might have something." The others gather around her and look over her shoulder. Kono points to a small message. A Cessna has been found on a small inland airstrip that is 'riddled with holes like a sieve' according to the message. Immediately Catherine looks up the coordinates of the runway Kelkome from the Internet. "Whew, that's easily two or three hours from here."
"Then let's not waste any time." Danny is already back in the jeep and starts the engine.