The Missing American Read online

  “Did they say anything to you?”

  “I should stop what I’m doing, or next time they’ll kill me.”

  “Stop what you’re doing? Meaning your secret investigations?”

  “It must be,” he said, grimacing as he gingerly touched his face. “Now that Nii knows you work for the detective agency, he must have gotten the idea that I’m collaborating with you.”

  Emma agreed. “And so, then he must have reported it to Ponsu, who sent his macho men after you to frighten you away. You said it was two tough guys, right? Have you ever met Ponsu’s bodyguard twins, Clifford and Clement?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “They match the description you gave me. If it’s them, Ponsu is definitely behind this.”

  Bruno nodded, but barely, because even the smallest movement was painful. “And remember Nii took a selfie with us. I’m sure he showed it to Ponsu.”

  Emma winced. “You’re right. I didn’t even think of that.”

  “When I went to buy the food,” Bruno said, “I left my phone in the house. Can you get it for me? My house key is in my pocket here.”

  She extracted the key. “Okay, I’ll go for it. Are you okay for now?”

  “Yes, but I want to turn to the side a little bit.”

  As Emma helped Bruno shift position, a nurse walked in and asked Emma what she was doing there. Didn’t she know visiting hours were not until this evening?

  “I’m leaving now,” Emma said. “Bruno, I’ll be back.”

  “Be careful,” he said.

  As she left the ward, she felt the full weight of her outrage at what had been done to her stepbrother and her determination cemented. She would get to the bottom of this and whoever had perpetrated this violence upon Bruno would pay. Two people were on her mind right now. The first, Mr. Ponsu, she would avoid for now. The second, Nii Kwei, was the person she wanted speak to as soon as possible.

  EIGHTY-THREE

  By the time Emma returned to the hospital, visiting hours were back on. She sat at Bruno’s bedside while he scrolled through his phone texts using his one good eye. Sana, who had been expecting to see him earlier today, had texted him twice asking where he was. Bruno tried Sana’s number, but received no reply, so he sent a short text message to call him as soon as possible.

  Bruno and Emma chatted on and off. She was glad to see small glimpses of his impish humor returning, even here where it wasn’t easy to be cheerful. The ward, as in most Ghanaian hospitals, was an open one with little to no privacy, meaning everyone’s pain and suffering was on full display. Directly opposite Bruno’s bed was a woman with a chest tube who moaned with every agonizing breath she took. At another bed, a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses had gathered around a post-op patient to pray for his speedy healing. At intervals, they broke into religious song.

  Emma turned her attention back to Bruno, noticing that some of his facial swelling was already receding. He had finally had a CT scan, which, apart from a broken nose, had shown a mild degree of brain contusion, but doctors expected him to do okay ultimately.

  “I hope Sana calls you while I’m still here,” she said. “I want to talk to him.”

  But by the time the bell rang for visiting hours to be over, there had been no word from Sana. Emma prepared to leave.

  “Will I see you tomorrow?” Bruno asked her, sounding hopeful.

  “Yes, of course. I’ll come after church. Should I bring you some fresh clothes?”

  “Yes, please. Thank you, Emma.”

  Nii reached Emma on his second attempt.

  “I was just about to call you,” she said.

  “About Bruno?”

  “Yes. So, you heard?”

  “One of his neighbors at Cocobod called me just a few minutes ago to tell me he’s in the hospital,” Nii said. “Said he was beaten up very badly. I tried to call him, but he wasn’t picking up, so I thought of getting in touch with you.”

  “I just came from seeing him,” she told him. “He’s at the Military Hospital.”

  “Will he be okay?” Nii asked.

  “Probably, yes.”

  “Thank God,” Nii said.

  “I need to talk to you,” she said.

  “Me too,” Nii said, his voice a little shaky. He steadied himself. “What’s happened to Bruno is serious. Can you come to my house now to discuss everything?”

  “Yes, I’m not that far away. I’ll take a cab.”

  “Then I’ll see you soon.” Nii put the phone down and turned to look at his three guests, Ponsu, Clifford, and Clement. “She’s coming,” he told them.

  Ponsu smiled. “Good job. Why are you shaking? Relax.”

  The twins laughed, but Nii didn’t find it funny. Nothing had been funny within the past half hour. Clifford and Clement had pushed him around and roughed him up while Ponsu had watched with a sick grin. It could have been worse, of course. The twins could have snapped Nii’s neck like a chicken.

  •••

  As Emma got to Nii’s house, she texted to say she’d arrived.

  “Wait, I’m coming,” he said. After undoing multiple locks on the other side of the door, Nii opened it, she entered, and he locked up again behind her.

  “How are you?” he said, as they went to the sitting room. His roommates weren’t in sight but the place smelled of weed so Emma imagined they were somewhere around smoking.

  She sat next to Nii on the red sofa.

  “How was Bruno when you left him?” he asked her.

  “He seems to be getting better,” she answered. “So, what’s going on? What do you need to talk to me about?”

  “First, you tell me what are you investigating,” Nii said. “I know you work with Mr. Sowah now.”

  “Was it you who called the agency yesterday to see if I was there?”

  “Yes,” he admitted.

  “I’m investigating a lot of things,” Emma said. “Who killed Mr. Tilson is the first. Who attacked Bruno is the second, and I’m curious to know why yesterday you called him and warned him to be careful.”

  “I was afraid for him,” Nii began, “because someone saw the selfie I took with you and Bruno and recognized you, saying you work with Yemo Sowah’s detective agency.”

  “Who is that someone? Kweku Ponsu?”

  Nii didn’t answer. He seemed awfully jumpy and tense. For a moment Emma wondered if he was on something else besides the marijuana.

  “Look,” she said, “I know you’re always in contact with Ponsu. There’s no point in you pretending. Did he tell you to warn Bruno off?”

  Nii shook his head. “No. I did that on my own. I was angry that it seemed Bruno was secretly working with you, but at the same time I didn’t want anything to happen to him.”

  “So, you’re saying Ponsu didn’t tell you he was planning an assault on Bruno?”

  “Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

  She noticed his eyes darted briefly to a point behind her and she instinctively turned. No one was there. She came back to Nii. “But it could be he commanded the twins to do it.”

  “Well, of course. They do whatever he tells them to. If Ponsu doesn’t like you and he sets the twins upon you, it’s bad.”

  “Then it must have been bad for Gordon Tilson.”

  “Who is that?”

  “Gordon Tilson. You know him. Don’t bother lying. He was the guy you scammed on the Internet, the same one you met at a sports bar—Champs, I’m guessing. Everyone knows Champs. And a lady called Susan was also there.”

  Nii appeared shaken. “Who told you all this?”

  “It’s true, isn’t it? And then, somehow, Mr. Tilson ended up dead in the Volta.”

  Nii clamped his jaw. “I heard he drowned, but I don’t know anything else about it, okay?”

  “So, how did you come to meet Mr. Ti
lson at the bar?”

  “He was just a friend of Susan’s, and I knew Susan from university.”

  “Did he know you were the one who had been scamming him?”

  “No, and at first I didn’t know either. He said he wanted to learn something about sakawa, so we discussed it. It was as we were talking at Champs that I realized who he was.”

  “But the discussion turned sour.”

  “No, he made it so,” Nii said indignantly. “Started to say he was going to expose sakawa boys and the big men who take part in it. He was talking shit and I didn’t like it.” Nii sucked his teeth.

  “And so, you called Ponsu and told him all about it?”

  “I mentioned it to him.”

  In this context, Emma found the word “mentioned” amusing. “What did Ponsu say he was going to do about Tilson?” she asked.

  “He didn’t say anything.”

  “Sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “I’m begging for your help, Nii,” she said, softening her voice, “but you don’t want to. Why?”

  “You don’t understand,” he said. He seemed miserable.

  “I do. You don’t want to put yourself in danger. But at the same time, if Kweku Ponsu has committed a crime—whether to do with Mr. Tilson or Bruno—he has to be held accountable.”

  Nii was cracking his knuckles in rapid succession. Emma thought she might be getting to him, but she was wrong.

  “Leave it alone,” he said somberly. “Leave everything alone. I respect you, but please, both you and Bruno—stop. It’s the best thing to do.”

  They were silent for a moment as Emma tried to divine what was going on in Nii Kwei’s head. At length, she said, “Have you heard from Ponsu today? Where is he right now?”

  “I don’t know.” He avoided her eyes.

  “I know what’s bothering you is your allegiance to Mr. Ponsu,” Emma said, “but at the same time, you and Bruno and I are friends. Just join us and let’s get to the bottom of this thing.”

  He was staring at the floor, his jaw working.

  Emma stood up. “Think about it. Sleep on it. Call me tomorrow.”

  Nii went to the door with her. His shiny Audi was parked outside.

  Something occurred to Emma. “Do you have another SUV? Black or a dark color?”

  “No. Why?”

  “No special reason,” Emma said, but she was thinking of Kafui’s description of the vehicle she had seen that third April night.

  Then, Nii looked quickly behind him, put his finger to his lips and came close to her. “They’re here,” he whispered. “Run!”

  That’s when Emma saw the hulking shadow of one of the twins coming up behind Nii. She turned to bolt, but the other twin was waiting for her and she smacked into him. With an open palm, he struck the side of her head with the force of a wrecking ball. She collapsed in a heap.

  EIGHTY-FOUR

  Nii was horrified at the sight of Emma lying motionless on the ground. Was she breathing? He tried to go to her, but Clement shoved him away.

  “But why did you hit her so hard?” Nii cried.

  The other men ignored him. “Get the car,” Ponsu told Clement. “Clifford, start tying her up.”

  Ponsu’s SUV was parked in the back of the house. Clement drove it around to the front and opened the trunk.

  “Where are you taking her?” Nii demanded.

  “None of your business,” Ponsu said. “It’s better you don’t know, anyway.”

  By the outside verandah light, Clifford had finished binding Emma at her wrists and ankles. Ponsu found a rag in the trunk and handed it to Clement, who opened Emma’s mouth and stuffed the rag in as far as it would go.

  Nii shrank away, watching with dismay as the twins picked Emma up and swung her into the trunk as if she were a dead goat.

  Ponsu turned to Nii scowling. “If you say anything about this to anyone, I swear, we will come back and get you and you’ll regret you ever opened your mouth.”

  Clifford opened the rear door of the vehicle for Ponsu to get in, and then he took the driver’s seat. Clement joined him on the front passenger side and they pulled away, tires kicking up dust.

  Nii stared after them until the rear lights had disappeared. Then he turned away and went back in the house feeling sick. One of his housemates, who was quite high on weed, asked Nii what was going on.

  “Nothing,” he muttered. “Go back to your room.”

  The housemate shrugged. He had been planning on doing that anyway.

  Nii paced the living room, then sat down rubbing his head in despair. He didn’t know what to do. Yes, it’s true that he didn’t like the idea of Emma investigating Mr. Ponsu, but this was no way to treat her. On the other hand, Nii couldn’t go to the police for help, and that included Auntie Doris. She didn’t like Emma and wouldn’t lift a finger to help her.

  Nii took out his phone. The battery was in the red zone so he cast around for a charger. He had so many of them, why could he not find one when he needed it most? When he had located a charger stuck between the sofa cushions, he plugged it in and called Bruno, praying that he would pick up. He did.

  “Nii, what’s up?” Bruno said. “You know I dey hospital, right?”

  “Sorry oo. Look, I didn’t know they were going to do this to you, I swear.”

  “You mean Ponsu’s guys?”

  “Yeah. Chaley, they’ve taken Emma too.”

  “What? When?”

  “Just now. They forced me to call her to come here so I can talk to her and they hid themselves and listened to what she was saying. When they heard how much she knows, they knocked her out and tied her up.”

  “And where are they going with her?”

  “I don’t know,” Nii said, his voice shaking with emotion, “but I think they’re taking her to the Adome Bridge.”

  “Shit,” Bruno said. “Let me call you back.”

  Emma came to in pitch darkness. She was in motion but wasn’t sure if she was moving forward or spinning. Her head ached. Her wrists were tied behind her back, the bindings cutting into her flesh. Her ankles were fastened together as well and her mouth was stuffed with a rag that tasted of fuel.

  She drifted in and out of consciousness with no concept of time or place. Her skull seemed to be humming and then she realized it was the noise of the vehicle in which she was confined. She was lying on her right side and found she could barely shift position. Faint voices came from some direction as well as percussive white noise she recognized as heavy rainfall. The ride felt like that of a large car or SUV. Every slightest bump jarred Emma’s pounding head. She felt nauseous and dizzy.

  Emma struggled to remember what had happened, but her recollection was only faint. She had been at Nii Kwei’s house, but what after that? She began to feel like she was suffocating, and panic grew. Stay calm. Stay calm.

  The vehicle slowed to a halt and two men began to talk. From where Emma was, their tones were muffled and obscured by the downpour and she could hear only snatches of what they were saying. The vehicle doors slammed. The trunk clicked ajar. The moment the men put their hands on her, Emma began to fight. They grunted and cursed as they pulled her out. She twisted and writhed, and they had trouble holding onto her. She realized that she had a bag of rocks tied to her ankles to weigh her down, which made sense because now she knew where she was—on the Adome Bridge, and the twins were about to throw her over.

  The sidewalk lamps illuminated the rain so that it looked like a thousand silver daggers coming down at a slant. Emma also saw who the men were—the twins. They carried her to the side of the bridge and Emma collided with the railing. She heard the bubble of river below and the noise of rain upon it. This was where Gordon Tilson had met his end, and now it was Emma’s turn to die. In seconds, she would strike the water with force enough to tear her insides apa
rt and shatter her spine. Suddenly, her resistance was spent and she resigned herself. Clifford and Clement hitched her onto the top of the railing.

  EIGHTY-FIVE

  The squawk of a police vehicle rang out and Clifford and Clement found themselves silhouetted in headlights. They let go of Emma and ran, leaving her bent at the waist across the railing, her head on the deck side and her feet pointed down at the water. She tried to kick to propel herself toward the safe side, but the rocks fastened to her ankles made the effort futile. Slowly, she began to slide backward toward the water, and then to accelerate.

  She closed her eyes as she began the long plunge. And then she seemed to stop in midair. She was being dragged upward. What was happening? Was she spinning? She thudded against a flat surface, but it couldn’t have been water.

  “Miss Djan? Are you okay?”

  She opened her eyes. She was on the ground on top of a brawny policeman. His arms were still wrapped tightly around her and he was breathing just as hard as she was. Looking up, she saw two other rain-soaked officers standing over her.

  “Are you okay?” they repeated.

  She wasn’t certain.

  One of them said, “Untie her.”

  Once Emma was unshackled, the policeman sat up, but she wouldn’t let go of him. She began to cry like a baby.

  “You’re okay, eh?” he said. “Don’t cry. You’re safe now. Can you stand up?”

  He helped her. She was unsteady on her feet, still dizzy and plagued with a relentless headache.

  “Put your arms around my neck,” the policeman said. He lifted her as if she were as light as a feather and carried her to the police vehicle.

  Inside, it was warmer, but Emma was shivering. The officer who had pulled her from the brink sat quietly in the back beside her. The other two sat in front. The officer on the passenger side turned toward Emma and she recognized him.

  “Inspector Bawa!”

  “Madam Djan,” he said. “That was a very close call.”

  “But how?” she said, mystified. “I don’t understand how you came to my rescue.”