Read Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) for Free Online Page B

card in his mobile. ‘What a clown.’
    She grimaced.
‘Do you think it was a mistake to take the car?’
    ‘No it’s
totally inappropriate for his bank salary; you know we only gave it
to him to hook him up, besides I can now use his resentment against
me to control him.’
    ‘Yes, but can
we trust him?’ she asked.
    ‘No, but then
we never could, so what’s new?’ He shrugged dismissing the notion.
‘I’m selling the factory,’ Patel announced abruptly, ‘and sending
my wife and kids overseas. Better get organised to leave Malindi,’
he advised her.
    Azizza was
shocked. ‘What, when?’
    ‘The wife and
kids as soon as possible, and as for us,’ he rocked his hand, thumb
and forefinger extended between them, ‘once we have got the rest of
the money.’
    She stared at
him frowning and he smiled. ‘For now it’s just precautions, but we
can’t just sit here. We need to prepare a back door for a clean
getaway.If you need any advice just ask, ok?’
    Azizza said
carefully, her mind reeling. ‘I need time to think and will let you
know thanks,’ wondering if this was one of Patel’s nasty tricks
trying to panic her, her intuition told her that he was genuine,
but he was a tricky bugger, a really tricky bugger.
    ‘So who are you
selling to?’ She asked hiding her fear.
    ‘I have a
meeting with my main competitor, tomorrow.’
    ‘Wow, that’s
fast work,’ she murmured.
    He grinned at
her. ‘That’s me baby fastest crook in town!’ mimicking a western
gunslinger, chuckling at his own joke.
    Despite
herself, she burst out laughing with him, releasing the tension
between them; life was never dull around this man.
     
     

 
     
    THREE
     
     
    Brian Nicholls
looked forward to his first trip to the coast. To this end he had
collected a number of travel brochures on Malindi. He stared at
glossy pictures of pristine white beaches, dive boat excursions
with dolphins and whale sharks, deep-sea fishing in azure blue
water and safaris to tented camps in the nearby game parks with
elephants and lions. Nightclubs, restaurants and modern hotels all
close to one another; it seemed ideal, the perfect small town
resort.
    Brian was an
eager new broom, having been unemployed for two years in England
after a bank take-over. His subsequent divorce hadn’t helped and at
forty-five he had felt all washed up. His luck it seemed had now
changed with this new job, with a place in the sun at last and he
had every intention of keeping it. It was Brian who had pushed to
examine the accounts of the NNB Malindi bank. The manager Evans
Njugu, seemed to really know his stuff. He was hoping to discover
what methods Evans was using and replicate them countrywide.
    Brian had only
been in Kenya for a month. One of the perks of the job was a 4x4
Range Rover, which he had been learning to drive, loving the
powerful burble of its V8 engine, its style and stance on the road
captivating him with the promise of rugged adventures and best of
all, it was a British car.
    He had done the
rounds of cocktail parties, meeting a whole cross section of
nationalities from all walks of life. The most stuck up so far were
the other expatriates, but then he was used to that having worked
for a while in Hong Kong - his only other foreign posting. He knew
it took a while to get accepted, however, he didn’t lack company in
his social life. His colleagues at work had welcomed him into their
fold, with invites for a drink after work or on weekends. It seemed
easy to make friends and after overcoming his inhibitions, the
active promiscuity of the Kenyan girls made him feel like a kid in
a candy shop.
    The work was a
pleasure; his salary beefed up with a third world hardship
allowance. His job description of auditor and personnel training
consultant gave him plenty of scope to be creative. Brian was in
his element. He had bought a road map of Kenya in anticipation of
touring the bank’s branches countrywide in his 4x4. This job was
going to be