Chapter 5 - The Mother Who Ordered Murder
"YOU HIRED A MAN TO KILL YOUR OWN DAUGHTER, AND NOW SOMEONE IS TRYING TO FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED!"
Aunt Zanele stood in Nomusa's living room, trembling with fury.
Nomusa Ntshangase stared at her oldest friend.
"Zanele, lower your voice."
"No!"
The word exploded through the room.
"For thirty years, I've defended you. I've stood beside you through your marriage, your husband's death, and every family disagreement. And now I discover you tried to have Nango murdered?"
Nomusa turned toward me.
"This is your fault."
I laughed bitterly.
"Of course it is."
"You've poisoned everyone against me."
"Did I force you to arrange the payment?"
She looked away.
Nango stood beside her aunt.
"Mom, answer him."
Nomusa's eyes filled with tears.
"Nango, you don't understand."
"Then explain it."
"You were going to destroy everything your father built."
Nango shook her head.
"I was trying to save it."
"Those people were threatening to ruin us!"
"Which people?"
Nomusa said nothing.
Nango stepped closer.
"Radebe?"
Her mother's expression changed.
That was answer enough.
Detective Dube had advised us not to confront anyone involved without police assistance.
We had contacted her before coming, and she had agreed to meet us there with another officer.
But the moment Aunt Zanele saw Nomusa, decades of friendship and betrayal collided.
Now Dube stood near the doorway, listening carefully.
"Mrs. Ntshangase," she said, "I suggest you think carefully before answering any more questions."
Nomusa sank into a chair.
For the first time, she looked exhausted rather than angry.
"My husband left that trust in a terrible financial condition," she whispered.
Nango frowned.
"That's not true."
"He didn't understand what was happening."
"Then why did you hide the books?"
Nomusa pressed her fingers against her forehead.
"Because I made mistakes."
"What mistakes?"
"I invested money I shouldn't have touched."
Nango stood very still.
"Trust money?"
Her mother nodded.
"I thought I could replace it before anyone noticed."
"But you couldn't."
"No."
"And Radebe found out."
Nomusa covered her face.
"He offered to help me recover the money. Then he started demanding things."
"What things?"
"Properties. Development rights. Approvals."
Nango's voice shook.
"You were trying to sell people's homes."
"I was trying to protect the family!"
"By destroying other families?"
Nomusa burst into tears.
I felt no satisfaction.
Only a deep, terrible sadness.
Because this was the woman who had raised Nango.
The woman whose hands had once held her as a baby.
The woman who should have been willing to die protecting her daughter.
Instead, she'd paid someone to kill her.
Nango took a step closer.
"Why me, Mom?"
Nomusa looked up.
"What?"
"Why did you want me dead?"
The room went silent.
Then Nomusa spoke.
"You discovered the payments. You threatened to bring in outside auditors. Radebe said that if the investigation went forward, everything would come out."
"So you hired Sbu."
"I was desperate."
"You hired a killer because I was going to expose a crime."
Nomusa began crying harder.
"I wasn't thinking clearly."
Nango stared at her.
"No, Mom. You were thinking about yourself."
Zanele stepped forward.
"Was there a second payment?"
Nomusa stopped crying.
Dube noticed immediately.
"What second payment?" she asked.
I showed her the threatening messages.
Nomusa's eyes widened.
"I didn't hire another man."
"Are you certain?" Dube asked.
"Yes!"
I studied her expression.
She seemed genuinely frightened.
But fear didn't mean innocence.
Nomusa reached for her phone.
"I need to speak to Bheki."
"Don't," Dube warned.
Before anyone could stop her, the phone began ringing.
The name on the screen was Bheki Radebe.
Nomusa answered with shaking hands.
"Bheki?"
A man's voice came through the speaker.
"Have you convinced your daughter to sign?"
Nomusa looked around the room.
"Nango knows everything."
A long silence followed.
Then Radebe laughed softly.
"That was foolish."
"Please, Bheki. This has gone too far."
"No, Nomusa. It went too far when you failed to control your daughter."
Nango stepped toward the phone.
"Mr. Radebe, this is Nango."
The silence that followed felt endless.
Then he spoke directly to her.
"You should have stayed away from the financial records."
"You stole from people who trusted us."
"You're making a very expensive mistake."
"I won't sign anything."
His voice grew colder.
"Then you leave me no choice."
Dube stepped forward.
"Mr. Radebe, this is Detective Dube. I need you to—"
The call ended.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Nomusa whispered something that made Nango turn toward her in horror.
"He's not going to stop."
"How do you know?" Nango asked.
Her mother looked at me.
"Because when you refused the first assignment, Sbu, Bheki told me he would eventually find someone who wouldn't."
May you like
And just as those words left her mouth, another message appeared on Nango's phone.
YOUR MOTHER HAD HER CHANCE TO SAVE YOU. NOW IT'S TOO LATE.
