Chapter 6 - Someone Else Took the Job
I had spent years believing that fear was something weak people experienced.
I was wrong.
Fear wasn't always shaking hands or desperate breathing.
Sometimes it was watching the woman you loved read a message that promised her death.
Sometimes it was realizing that everything you'd done to protect her might not be enough.
Detective Dube took Nango's phone and examined the message.
"Do not respond," she instructed.
Nango nodded.
Nomusa sat silently in her chair.
For once, she had nothing to say.
Dube turned toward her.
"Mrs. Ntshangase, you will need to provide a formal statement about your financial dealings with Mr. Radebe."
Nomusa looked frightened.
"Will I be arrested?"
"That depends on the evidence. You should obtain legal representation."
Zanele looked at her former friend.
"That's what you're worried about?"
Nomusa lowered her eyes.
"Zanele, please."
"No. Your daughter has just received another death threat, and you're asking whether you'll go to jail."
Their friendship had survived three decades.
I doubted it would survive this day.
Back at the police station, Dube arranged for additional attention to the threats and began documenting the connections between Radebe, the trust, and the earlier contract.
Then she asked to speak with me alone.
We entered a small interview room.
She closed the door.
"Mr. Maseko, I need to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"How many people did you hurt before you met Nango?"
My throat tightened.
I looked at the table.
"More than I can justify."
"Did anyone die because of your work?"
I remained silent.
Dube watched me carefully.
"You're asking me to believe you've changed. But I cannot investigate this properly if you only tell me the parts that make you look good."
I looked up.
"I know."
"Then you need to decide what matters more: protecting your old life or protecting the people now being threatened."
I thought about Nango.
Her sleepy smile.
The way she called me babe.
The future we'd begun imagining together.
Then I thought about the people who had never been given a future because of men like me.
"I'll tell you everything," I said.
Dube placed a recorder on the table.
And I began.
I told her about the people who hired me.
About threats I'd carried out.
About criminal jobs that had destroyed families.
And about a man named Sipho Mbatha, whose disappearance still haunted me.
I didn't describe myself as a victim.
I wasn't one.
Whatever had happened to me before that life, I'd made my own decisions.
And some of those decisions had ruined innocent people.
When I finished, Dube remained silent for a long time.
Then she said something I would never forget.
"Changing your life doesn't mean escaping the truth about your old one."
"I know."
"Good. Because eventually, that truth is going to come for you."
When I returned to the waiting area, Nango stood.
"Are you okay?"
I looked at her.
"No."
She took my hand anyway.
I wanted to tell her everything I'd just confessed.
But the station was crowded, and my thoughts were a mess.
"We need to talk tonight," I whispered.
She searched my face.
"About what?"
"My past."
Her expression tightened.
"I thought we already had."
"So did I."
Before she could respond, Detective Dube's phone rang.
She listened.
Then her expression changed.
"Where?"
Another pause.
"Send officers immediately."
She ended the call.
"Nango, when did you last speak to Vukani?"
"This afternoon. Why?"
"His office is empty. His car is still outside."
Nango grabbed my arm.
"What do you mean, empty?"
"The staff say he was supposed to meet someone. He never came back."
Mdu appeared in the doorway.
"I just received something."
He showed us his phone.
A message had arrived from Vukani's number.
It contained a photograph.
Vukani was sitting on the floor of a dark room, his wrists restrained.
His face was bruised.
Beside him stood another person whose features were hidden in shadow.
Nango covered her mouth.
A second message appeared.
NO POLICE. NO RECORDS. NO SECOND CHANCES.
Then the phone rang.
Mdu answered on speaker.
A distorted male voice spoke.
"Tell Nango she has twenty-four hours to surrender the trust documents."
Dube signaled for everyone to remain silent.
The voice continued.
"And tell Sbu something."
I leaned closer.
"I'm listening."
The man laughed quietly.
"You know what happens when a professional refuses to finish a job."
The line went dead.
And I knew exactly what he meant.
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They weren't simply threatening Nango anymore.
They had begun collecting people who could help her survive.
