Chapter 28: Adding responsibilities

The song ended and I paid Bettina for the 'dances' she had done for me. While I did so, she told me where she was going to take Katerina and I told her to do what she had to do and that I would meet her somewhere along the way.

Once she had left the booth, I left enough money on the table to pay for my drinks and to tip the waitress, then I got up and walked out of the club. I gave Roy and Maseka a slight nod as I walked past their tables on the way out.

I crossed the parking-lot and jumped into the Land Rover, once Sgt Major Dhlamini had shifted over into the passenger seat. I didn't say a word; just started up and drove off.

"What now?" the Sgt Major asked quietly. I guessed he was responding to my dark mood.

"We have a rescue to plan and execute."

"Who?"

"Two of the women who work there."

"Where?"

"Wait one. I'm thinking. I'll brief you now." My mind was working furiously, trying to cover all the angles. I was sure that the actual rescue of the women would be fairly trivial to arrange, but the longer term consequences were a little more serious. We had come to a water-shed moment. Everything to this point had been at arms length, and I thought that while Dimitri might be pissed off about Alina and Daise disappearing, we hadn't had any direct confrontation. It was possible, unlikely, but possible, that Dimitri would eventually let their defection to me slide ... eventually. Stealing two of his women right from under his nose was something different entirely. I suspected that he would see it for what it was; a direct threat to his authority and control.

I pulled into the parking lot of the City Hospital and turned off the Land Rover. "Ok," I said, "here's the story. I met one of the dancers in there, Bettina, and she told me a story. She is being blackmailed to stay there and to work as a prostitute, rather than as just a dancer. She is going to bring a woman called Katerina to this hospital in about an hour. Katerina was violently sodomised earlier and needs medical attention."

"Oh, ' Alina flinched when she heard that.

"Sorry Alina. No way I could make that sound any better than what it is."

"No problem Rupert. I just keep getting reminded of Dimitri and..."

"Yes, I realise that. It seems to be his signature."

"It's also clever of him," Daise interjected, "it means that the woman can continue to work."

"True, although from what Bettina tells me, this was so bad that she needs to receive medical attention." Just then my phone rang. I saw that it was a call from Roy so I answered it, "Howzit Roy. You out of the club?"

"Yes. You see what you needed?"

"Yes. Meet us at the City Hospital."

"Ok, be there in a few minutes."

I told the Sgt Major to SMS Cpl Maseka to get out of the club and call us when he was out, then climbed out of the Land Rover and told Daise and Alina to come with me. We walked into the entrance to the Emergency Room and looked around. There was the usual crowd for that time of night; victims of the usual shootings, stabbings and hijackings mixed in with the kids with high fevers and drunken idiots who had crashed their cars. We sat down and watched the operation for a few minutes.

"Alina, go to the bathroom please and wait there with Daise. When Bettina and Katerina arrive, I will send them in there to you. You can tell them that you are with me and keep them there till I call you. Ok?"

"Sure," Alina responded and got up. Daise bent over, draped her arms round my neck and gave me a kiss, then followed Alina into the ladies' bathroom.

I got up and went out to the parking lot again. Roy was there talking to the Sgt Major and as I joined them, Cpl Maseka and his crew pulled up. I briefed them all on what had happened and laid out the Ops Order that I had come up with. I could see that they had all put on their 'war faces', so I used the standard format for verbal orders. I knew that the familiar ritual would make things seem familiar to them and settle everyone done.