‘I pronounce you man and wife.’
The priest’s words throughout the entire ceremony had been so rushed that it took India a few seconds to digest the six words that tied her to Gabriel in matrimony.
‘Sign here.’ Gabriel pointed to a spot on the paper that lay on the desk in front of her.
A wedding certificate.
Her signature was all that was required.
Wordlessly, she picked up the pen Gabriel had just used, and signed her name on the line under his confident, slashing pen strokes.
‘And here.’ He slotted another piece of paper on top of the wedding certificate. ‘This one is my authority giving you status as a diplomat of Santaliana.’
‘Quickly, mes amis, there’s no time to lose,’ Ambassador Rousseau urged. ‘Mawandi’s troops have us completely surrounded and our intelligence tells us that his senior general has just left the military compound to make his way here. You and the rest of your party must go down to the basement immediately. Germaine will lead the way.’
‘We’re hiding in the basement?’ India asked fearfully. How long would they be safe there? ‘I thought we were leaving the embassy.’
‘We are leaving,’ Gabe told her. Turning to the ambassador he said, ‘Thank you for your help. We won’t forget this.’
‘De rien, mon ami.’ He moved his shoulders in a typical Gallic shrug and said, ‘You were hardly here before your security guards overpowered my men, stole a vehicle and made your escape. What could we do?’
As he took India’s hand in the warm security of his own and they followed Germaine out through the door, Gabe explained, ‘Knowing Mawandi is unstable, the French government planned for an emergency escape. The mining company has made a tunnel under the street from this embassy right through the middle of the town to their mining headquarters. We’ll take the tunnel to the central office of the mining corporation, and once we’re there we’ll be picked up by the mining company helicopter and flown half an hour away to the airstrip operated by them. There’s a Gulfstream being refuelled for us as we speak.’
‘All we have to do is make it to the aircraft?’
‘Yes. Once we’re airborne we should be fine. There’s no air force, and as far as we know, Mawandi has no missiles.’
Gabriel nodded in greeting to the pilots, flight attendant and security staff who’d landed in Bagazin with them. The group was amassed in front of a bookcase.
India watched on in amazement as Germaine reached forward to the spine of one book and pulled back. It was just like something from a Hollywood film as the bookcase opened up and revealed a secret doorway.
‘Follow me,’ Germaine urged as he proceeded to open the door and walk down a long flight of stairs.
When the last of the security staff entered the tunnel, Germaine flicked a switch. The door closed as the bookcase slid back into place. For a split second they were all plunged into darkness, and there were a few gasps before an alternate lighting system was activated.
Germaine gestured for them to follow him. ‘It will take about twenty minutes,’ he whispered.
The twenty minutes felt like two hours even though they moved as quickly as possible through what turned out to be a complicated tunnel system. At one point, it seemed to be taking so long, she wondered whether Germaine had taken a wrong turn, but their guide’s steps were confident.
Every second that ticked by, India was closer to freedom but she worried something would happen to stop the party reaching their destination.
What would happen to everyone in the group if they were caught?
She shuddered and her steps faltered. She should go back. She should hand herself over to Mawandi and face her fate. If she did, surely the rest of the group would be spared?
Gabriel put his arm around her shoulders and held her close to his side as he urged her to walk on.
Placing one foot in front of the other, it struck her anew that President Mawandi had no mercy. India thought of the way he’d executed the person who’d come forward with information about Charles Mawandi’s death. The poor camp worker had known the Hamiltons were safely out of Africa. He’d thought he’d be setting his family—his whole village—up for life by betraying the Hamilton family and naming India as the murderer. Instead, he’d lost his life.
No. There’d be no point in handing herself in. It wouldn’t stop everyone in the party being executed—even Gabriel.
Germaine came to a sudden stop at what appeared to be a dead end, and put his hand up to gesture for everyone to do the same.
India stretched up on tiptoes to place her mouth next to Gabriel’s ear. ‘We’ve taken a wrong turn?’
He shook his head. ‘There’s only one path,’ he whispered against her ear. ‘The other turns lead to dead ends. It’s been designed to slow down the enemy if they ever infiltrate the tunnels in pursuit of the embassy staff as they flee.’
It was so well-thought out, India’s confidence grew.
While Gabe had been whispering, Germaine had moved to the side of what she’d thought was a dead end. ‘Okay,’ he said just loud enough for everyone in the party to hear. He bent down and removed a pile of rocks to reveal a hatch. Opening the hatch, he indicated below. ‘We climb down this ladder, walk another five metres then climb up another ladder. Then we’ll be at the office.’
India’s heart was beating so loudly, she was sure everyone around her must hear it.
If the circumstances weren’t so dire, this would be quite an adventure.
‘Okay?’ Gabe asked.
She nodded.
Unexpectedly, he bent his head and brushed his lips over hers. ‘We’ll be fine,’ he told her quietly.
Was it possible for her heart to actually jump in her chest? It certainly felt like that’s what it’d done.
There was no more time to contemplate her reactions. Germaine disappeared down the ladder, followed by Gabriel’s head of security and Gabriel. Then it was India’s turn.
Almost there, she assured herself, as she focused on Gabriel’s head below her.
It was just as Germaine had described, and once they’d climbed the second ladder, he pulled a lever and they entered what could best be described as a panic room.
Germaine spoke in rapid French into the intercom, and thirty seconds later the door opened and the group was being hustled out of the room, through a long corridor and up another flight of stairs, to the top of the building where a helicopter waited.
Germaine split the group into two. ‘Get on board, Your Majesty,’ Germaine ordered above the noise of the engine. ‘As soon as this chopper takes off, the second one,’ he pointed up to the night sky towards the lights of an approaching helicopter, ‘will pick up the rest of your party and follow.’
Before she could even thank Germaine, Gabriel had his hand on India’s head, pushing it down and encouraging her to stoop as he propelled her forward, beneath the rotating blades and onto the helicopter.
India didn’t dare look out into the darkness of the night as they lifted up seconds later. Instead, she buried her head into Gabriel’s chest and took refuge against the solid sanctuary of his body. His arms firmed around her and even though she knew they still had to make it to the airfield and the waiting jet, she felt a sense of security she’d never known. There was an innate rightness in Gabriel being her protector. He exuded a force field of safety, and she could easily believe that all she needed to do was stay in close proximity to him and she’d never come to any harm.