Sam followed the direction of his gaze as Wendy joined them. “Dr. LaBelle fell ill. She’s hoping she can make it later in the week.”
“Probably best,” Wendy said. “Last thing we need is a bunch of sick kids.”
“We did, however, pick up a hitchhiker.” Sam nodded toward Nasha as she slid out of the backseat of the Land Rover.
Once the introductions were made, Remi gave Wendy a hug, then hugged Pete. “Good to see you both. We’ve missed having you at the house, but, boy, this is amazing. To think that six months ago it was nothing but an empty meadow.”
“It’s coming along,” Pete said. “Hoping to finish the roof and—”
Wendy, apparently noticing Amal’s shaky stance, said, “We can talk about that later. Let’s get them settled. Looks like you all had too much excitement for one day.”
“I think everyone needs a little down time after our experience on the trip here,” Remi agreed.
As she herded everyone through the door, Sam and Pete remained behind, Sam calling out, “We’ll catch up with you in a moment.”
“You got it,” Wendy said, then followed the others in.
Pete saw the bullet holes in the side of the truck, glancing over at Sam.
“A little trouble on the road here. Long story. I’ll tell you later,” Sam said, looking back to make sure they were alone. He waited until everyone disappeared inside, the door closing behind them. “They’re gone. Now, about this other project you and Yaro are working on … No one knows?”
“No one,” Pete said. “Wendy’s managed to cover for us. Just like you asked.”
“Good. Let’s have a look.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The child of a rat is a rat.
– MALAGASY PROVERB –
Pete led Sam toward the courtyard, stopping when he saw several girls racing toward them from the picnic benches. “Then again,” Pete said, “maybe tomorrow morning will be a better time to discuss that project. They’ll all be in class.” He glanced back at the holes in the supply truck. “I’m definitely curious to know what happened there.”
“That should probably wait, too,” Sam said as several more girls emerged from one of the buildings to join them.
It wasn’t until they all sat down to dinner at a separate table from the students that Sam explained about the attempted robbery.
Pete sat back in his chair, looking from Sam to Remi. “You think it was the same group who stole our last truckload of supplies?”
“In fact, the same yellow car followed us after we left the city. The girl we brought in was part of it. She’s the one who tried to steal our Land Rover.”
“That little thing?” Wendy said, looking over at Nasha, who stood at the end of the line. One of the older girls was directing what utensils she should put on her tray. “Is she even big enough to see over the steering wheel?”
“Barely. She was part of a much larger crew of young boys.”
“Doing what?”
“Distractions,” Sam said. “General thievery. And scouting for new victims. If I had to guess, the kids targeted Pete and Yaro the moment they arrived at the warehouse in Jalingo to pick up the supplies. They never had a chance.”
Wendy, her attention still on Nasha, finally turned toward Sam. “You think it’s safe to have brought her here?”
“I think so,” Remi said. She looked over at Amal. “What do you think?”
“Me?” She seemed surprised that anyone was bothering to ask her opinion. “I … I think she had to have been desperate to hide in the back of a truck. Especially knowing the Kalus would come after her.”
Hank also watched the child, his look troubled. “No doubt I’m prejudiced because I was the unwilling pickpocket victim. But I’ve seen her type before in Tunisia. She won’t be able to help herself. Things will turn up missing.”