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Sam studied Jingaro’s eyes and decided he was telling the truth. “Is the helicopter ready to fly?”
“Yes. Are you a pilot?”
Sam shrugged. “On rotary, I’m not much past takeoff, hover, and touchdown.”
Jingaro hesitated, then said, “This one is equipped with a hover coupler. On the far right side of the dash. It is labeled ‘H-V-C-P.’ As long as your flight level is steady, you can engage the coupler, and the craft will go into auto hover. Also, the rudder pedals are heavy. I like them that way. It is harder to overcompensate. Do not be afraid to step on them. Keep your airspeed below one hundred knots. She’s much easier to handle.”
“Thanks.”
“You are welcome. Now hit me.”
“What?”
“Hit me. If Okafor suspects I—”
“I understand. Good luck.”
“And you.”
Sam cocked his hand back and slammed his palm on the tip of the pilot’s nose. The blow wasn’t enough to break bone, but blood began gushing immediately. The pilot stumbled backward and sprawled onto his back.
“Stay there,” Sam barked. “Don’t move. Remi, can you see the Big Eyes from there?”
She reached her hand behind her, withdrew the binoculars from her pack’s side pocket, and aimed them at the house’s roof. “I see them. They’re pointing to the south right now. Panning slowly this way. Another thirty seconds or so and they’ll have the pad in sight.”
Sam looked at the guard. “Unazungumza kiingereza?” he said in Swahili. Do you speak English?
“Bit English.”
Sam pointed at the sheathed machete strapped to his belt and said, “Kisu. Bwaga Ku.” Knife. Throw it down. Sam pointed at his feet and barked, “Now.”
The guard unclipped the machete and tossed it toward Sam, who picked it up. To the group he said, “Here’s the plan, everybody. We’re going to walk to the helicopter. We’ll go first, and you’ll follow feet behind us, spread out in a line—”
“Why?” asked Yaotl.
“You’ll be the sandbags if anyone starts shooting at us. Yaotl, make sure the other two understand.”
“You won’t get away with—”
“Maybe not, but we’re going to give it the old college try.”
“If we say no?” This came from Nochtli.
“Since you brought it up, you’ll be the first one I shoot.”
Yaotl said, “I do not think you will. Even if you do, the rest of Okafor’s guards will be here in under a minute.”
“Probably so, but you won’t be around to see it.” Sam took a step forward and leveled the .357 on Yaotl’s chest. “Remember your stay at our villa?”
“Yes.”
“We treated you decently.”
“Yes.”
“Well, we’re all out of nice.” To punctuate his point, Sam raised the .357 so it was level with Yaotl’s forehead. “Care for some proof?”
Yaotl shook his head.