Chapter Twenty-two

“Where’s Ronnie!” were the first words out of my mouth as I came to. I wasn’t even sure whether I was still in the grass or in a ger. Opening my eyes was an exercise in practical pain.

“Quiet, Cy,” Odgerel soothed. Other faces swam into view, including my newest BFF, Dr. Baatar.

“Where is she?” I pressed weakly. This time I knew better than to try to get up.

I could see Sansar-Huu look at Chudruk, who looked back at him. That didn’t seem good.

“Just be still,” Dr. Baatar said quietly.

In spite of the pain, I struggled to move. Why wasn’t anyone answering me?

“You have had a second impact to your concussion. You could have brain damage.” That caught me up short. The doctor handed me some pills, which I took without question. He spoke in Mongolian to my friends and I gave up even trying to understand them. Instead, I looked around the room. Everyone was there. Well, almost everyone.

“You have to rest. The doctor did not see any signs of damage, but you can’t leave here tonight,” Sansar-Huu said once Dr. Baatar had gone. “He will be back in the morning. You may need to go to the hospital for a CT scan.”

“All right. Fine. Just tell me where Ronnie is and I promise I will rest.”

“She came and told us where you were, and then she left,” Zerleg said.

“We haven’t seen her since,” Zolbin added.

I struggled to get up. “I have to find her…”

“Cy!” Odgerel shouted. “You cannot go anywhere. Ronnie will be fine. Just tell us what happened.”

I hated to admit it, but I wouldn’t be of help to anyone in this condition. I slowly lowered myself back down and filled everyone in on the fight.

“I’m afraid Ronnie’s gone after Dekker,” I finished.

“Why?” Chudruk asked.

“I don’t know. To chew him out. To ask him why.” My words were starting to spin around in my mouth and they tasted sour.

Sansar-Huu, Chudruk, Zerleg and Zolbin took off immediately to search the campground. Odgerel and Yalta insisted on staying with me. I watched as my zazul took a chair outside to sit and keep watch. I felt sorry for Dekker if he came back to finish me off.

“She has feelings for you, you know,” Odgerel said as she put a cold cloth on my head.

“Does she?” Deep down I knew she was right. I just had a hard time believing it.

“Yes. And you have feelings for her.”

I didn’t say anything. I was too worried about Ronnie. Why did she run off like that? What could she have been thinking?

“Veronica was very upset when she came here to tell us you were hurt,” Odgerel continued.

“It wasn’t her fault,” I said.

She looked at me, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

So I explained my jealousy over Dekker’s flirting with her and how Ronnie knew all about it.

“I was an ass,” I concluded.

My friend laughed. “Yes! You were!” She went off to admonish the kids, who were laughing at something. A second later she placed Sartre on my chest. As I started to stroke her fur, she purred. And it seemed I was back to where I’d started.

It was kind of soothing lying on the cot, petting my pig while the kids played on the floor. Odgerel sang songs that made the children giggle as she went about the preparations for dinner. I tried to think about what I needed to do to kill Dekker, but my head hurt too much. The pills the doctor gave me helped a little, but did nothing for the fear I had for Ronnie.

Sartre slid down into my armpit, snuggled up and went to sleep. That was soothing. A couple of times the kids tried to snatch her up, but their mother was always there to step in. I tried not to think of what Dekker might do to Veronica. So I tried to imagine that I was in my own ger with Veronica. What would our children be like?

That may have been the first time I ever thought about having kids with anyone. Oh, I loved kids. My cousins had some really funny children. I just never wanted any of my own. Most of the women I messed around with already had families. It just never came up. Part of the reason was that once the kids turned five, they had to start school. My life wasn’t meant for settling down and joining the PTA. And at five, Bombay kids had to start their training.

I supposed with our combined educations Veronica and I could homeschool as we traveled. Although I didn’t think my wife would like me training our children to become hired killers. What strange thoughts went through your head when you’d been clubbed by a Dutch mercenary at a Mongolian wrestling festival.

Zerleg and Zolbin burst through the door, rudely awakening Sartre. She let them know her displeasure with a loud, “Wheek,” then set about chewing on my T-shirt.

“We can’t find her!” Zerleg said, out of breath.

“We looked everywhere!” Zolbin panted.

Within the hour, Sansar-Huu and Chudruk returned with similar information.

“Two men I know saw her leave the grounds with Dekker,” Chudruk added.

It was silent in the ger for a few moments. I handed the guinea pig off to the children and they immediately fattened her up with grass.

“Why would she go with him?” Zolbin asked. His uncle shot him a look. It occurred to me that everyone here thought Veronica had chosen Dekker over me. They didn’t know what kind of man he was, what kind of danger Ronnie was in.

“I think I need to tell you a little something about Arje Dekker. Odgerel, could you send the kids outside for a few moments?”

Yalta came in when the kids went out. Chudruk translated. I told them I’d met Dekker on the circuit and read about him in the news. This seemed to mollify my friends. When I told them about the atrocities he’d committed, they were horrified. These were the descendants of the great Genghis Khan. They knew about the horrors of war. But the brutality of what Dekker had done shocked them.

“I don’t know why he has targeted me, and I don’t care. What I do care about is making sure he doesn’t hurt Veronica to get my attention.”

I had just finished when there was a knock at the door. Sansar-Huu’s oldest poked her head in and handed Zolbin a note.

“She says a boy dropped this off.” He handed the note to me.

My name was on the outside. The eyes of everyone in the tent were on me as I opened it.

Meet me at the abandoned block of flats outside of the city.

He included directions. How thoughtful. But what time? And would he have Veronica with him? He didn’t say to come alone.

I looked around the room. There was no way I could involve my friends in this. But I would need a ride.

Sansar-Huu turned off the headlights and coasted into a crumbling parking lot. It was almost midnight. And very dark. I felt for the flashlight in my pocket.

“We will look around for Veronica,” he whispered, pointing at Chudruk.

“Just stay out of sight. I’ll yell when it’s over,” I replied. This time I was taking no chances. Chudruk had given me his set of throwing knives-a sport I’d taught him when we worked together in the States. My goal was to find Dekker so my friends could find Veronica. We were a block from the meeting site.

Dekker had chosen a pile of rubble that used to be a Soviet-designed apartment building. There were many places he could hide. This was the perfect location for an ambush. Whatever happened, it had to be quick and quiet. I wanted this man dead once and for all.

My friends would go on foot around the perimeter, carefully searching for Ronnie. Both men were armed with old semiautomatics. We only had two guns, and I thought it would be better if they carried them. I could work quickly with knives.

My plan was to walk into the middle of the complex. Dekker wanted to see me. Well, that was what he was going to get. I waited until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Then I headed in.