Chapter 20

2009 - Home

The stuff John had been using for eavesdropping seemed to be working much better than the stuff I’d had in Sudan. Even if I was driving well behind Karen, I could easily follow the phone conversation she had with her mother. The interesting part was that there was a three hour gap between the two hour drive and meeting with her mother. Once again I wondered if talking to her had been a mistake on my part and so I decided to stay and watch this to the end.

I could tell that something was going to happen when Karen turned away from the main road that would have led her straight to her family home. Didn’t I know it? I had been there often enough during those two and a half years back then. I noticed how she parked her car in front of a motel, while I drove past the area to a combined gas station and cafe. I put the earpieces on like I was listening to some music. These new habits combined with this all new technology made this all too easy.

I sat down with my coffee and for a moment I was worried that this fine new technology had failed me, but then I heard a familiar voice through my earpieces. Karen had visited the toilet first and was now washing her hands. It was working after all. I pressed the button and started recording. For a moment I wondered if I was already going off the deep end as I was now spying on my ex-fiancée. Maybe I was. Suddenly the earpieces came alive and my dark thoughts were interrupted, at least temporarily.

“ ... took too fucking long. Have you been avoiding me? How can I take care of your business if you keep avoiding me?”

A male voice. A very pissed one.

“You shouldn’t need me for doing your work. You already know all the facts and you should have been able to make some progress by now.”

Karen didn’t sound too happy either. So maybe this wasn’t a meeting of lovers.

“It’s not that simple. Besides, there are expenses.”

“You know that I have no money. You will get paid once I get my money back from the bank.”

What! My mind went into overdrive while it processed that little piece of information. As long as I had known Karen, she’d had millions. On the other hand, several little things that had happened on the way started making sense now.

“You know that it will take some time before it happens and I cannot work for free for very long. That doesn’t look good for my business.”

“We already agreed that you’ll get your percentage once you get the money from the bank.”

“Maybe we did, but I think that I want to renegotiate our deal.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that I want something more than a few public dinners and the one quick fuck you gave me before you left the country.”

“No way, that wasn’t what we agreed.”

“Too bad, because that is what will happen. You’ll come with me to a few public events and you’ll entertain me and maybe a few of my friends the following weekend. And no fucking condom this time. If you don’t agree it may turn out that there are some pictures of our last session which may accidentally become public. In fact, I think that I want another sample right now in my room.”

My mind went from overdrive to hyperdrive while it processed what I had heard. The red fellow was back on my shoulder yelling to me: ‘You reap what you sow. She didn’t trust you back then and she doesn’t trust you now. Go home and forget her.’

I had been looking at my phone while sipping my coffee so that It would not be obvious to other people what I was doing there. I quickly sent a short message and tossed some money to cover my coffee, then I was back in my car and driving.

The drive from the cafe to the hotel couldn’t take more than a minute or two but it felt like one of the longest drives I had ever made. I locked the car and walked quickly into the hotel’s bar. The earpieces were working all the time, so I knew that they were still in the bar and arguing. I had heard Karen’s silent gasp when she read the text message I had sent her. She had done what I asked so they were still in the bar but I could tell that man was getting impatient.

By the time I got to the table he was standing and trying to get Karen to follow him.

“Sir, I don’t think that Miss Lowell wants to come with you.”

“And who the fuck are you? Never mind, just get lost.”

“Are there some problems with your hearing, sir? I just told you that Miss Lowell doesn’t want to come with you.”

Now he released her hand and turned to me. He was a big man, in his mid-thirties and by the look of his ears he had been doing some wrestling or boxing at some point of his life. His shoulders were still wide and hands muscular, but something in his behavior meant that some of that muscle had come from steroids rather than from intensive training. I stepped even closer.

“I told you to get lost.”

I smiled at him while I came so close that I almost touched him. At that point any sensible man would have stopped and started thinking why the other man wasn’t at all intimidated by his presence. This fellow wasn’t a sensible man. I never thought he would be.

I guess he had been doing some boxing rather than wrestling since he tried to hit me. Had he managed to properly hit me I would have probably been in serious trouble, but all that happened was that the large ring on his right hand scraped my right cheek. Damn, there would be some blood and my shirt would probably be ruined. I wasn’t happy with that. Maybe that was why I hit him a bit harder with my fingers to his sternum than I had first thought. I didn’t feel sorry for him, but I almost hurt my back when I lifted that whining mass of flesh and bones back to his chair. Since the bar was otherwise empty, nobody noticed what had happened.

When he got his breathing back in control again I put my recorder on the table and turned to him.

“Listen asshole, the next thing that happens is that you give away all the material you may have about Miss Lowell. Then you’ll forget that you ever saw her. If you ever again mention her name, your license will be history, and you’ll find out what your best friend ‘Bubba’ thinks about crooked lawyers.”

“You can’t use that recording in court. You have no case. Just word against word.”

That idiot though that he still had the upper hand.

“Word against word, or word against several words? I promise you that I would not mind spending a million or so, in getting you to be Bubba’s very close friend.”

I took a piece of paper and wrote an address on it.

“Send everything that you have on Miss Lowell to this address. I suggest making it express delivery. And in case you plan to do something against me, the security recording will show that you hit me first.”

When I took a hold of Karen’s hand, she followed me out without any resistance.

In the hotel parking lot, I picked up my bag from the rental car and then I called the company and told them where they could pick up their car, and yes, I’d pay the fine for the incorrect disposal. After that I turned my attention to Karen. She looked at me like she didn’t know what to expect. I guess that was quite understandable since I didn’t know what to do.

“You are hurt, Greg. You shouldn’t get yourself hurt because of me. It may leave a scar if it’s not taken care of.”

I looked at her for a moment and smiled a bit.

“Karen, I don’t mind the scars if they’re for a good reason.”

She was about to say something but I just put my finger over her lips.

“Karen, we will talk at home. Now, why don’t you call you mother, apologize to her, and cancel your meeting.”

We drove home in silence. Occasionally Karen looked at me. I could almost feel her gaze but no words were spoken. I knew that I had just made a decision that might have some serious long-term effects on the lives of several people. Whatever happened, we all would have a long pathway of discussions and rebuilding of relationships ahead of us.

2008 - Sudan

I had a real crash course about the situation in Sudan. The southern part of the country was almost in a war-like state, but we would be working in the north. Yet it was something totally different when compared to anything we had faced before. Our local contact person was shocked to find out that I had a daughter whom I brought with me. I assured him that Pam was fully aware about the situation and quite capable of taking care of herself. Yet I was worried. The first days we spent in getting ourselves suitable clothes and then we traveled to our new home.

Once we got settled in, I noticed that for the first time Pam looked a bit worried about the place. I promised that I would not leave her alone, and I would try my best to keep her out of the trouble. So the result was that she was standing silently with me dressed in traditional local clothes, whenever I had my meetings with the local political and religious majority leaders.

I could tell that they hadn’t been happy with the idea that an American would come there to supervise the project. I could tell that they would have been happy to get the money, instead. I finally managed to explain to them my ideas about using local people as the building force, and that the quality of life for the people would get better because of the project. When they also found out that there could also be a possibility for some small but lucrative business, I knew that I had their support ... at least for now.

A few days later I had another meeting, but this time with the minority representatives, mostly Christian. They were a bit nervous and surprised to see me, more than a little bit incredulous about my plan. However, I kept on talking and made it clear that I wanted this project to succeed but on my terms - which included all religious and political groups working together.

Here, inside this church, Pam was able to move around more freely than in any other place in the area, so she used that freedom. Suddenly I heard her yell, followed by a heated discussion. I excused myself and went to find her.

Pam was standing with her hands on her hips, looking at a man who was gripping a young girl, who in turn was holding a baby. She turned to me.

“Dad, he’s hurting her. Please do something.”

The man stopped when he saw the two priests who had followed me. They exchanged a few words with the man before turning to me. I made a mental note to myself that I really needed to learn the language.