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apparently the most beautiful season in their year.’
    ‘How do you know?’
    ‘Paul Adams told me. That was before we broke up.’
    ‘Why did you?’ he said .
    ‘We had nothi ng in common. All he was interested in was aikido and watching television. Essentially he was an empty shell. Not my type.’
    ‘What is your type?’ he said .
    ‘I’ll tell you one day,’ she said, the hint of a smile caressing her lips. ‘What about Japan? I would love a break from South Africa.’
    ‘We will go,’ he said. ‘At the moment I don’t know when. There is something I want to see concluded, even though I am not involved anymore.’
    ‘That sounds very mysterious.’
    He looked at her. ‘We will go to Japan as long as you behave yourself,’ he said cryptically and with a smile.
    She was about to respond wh en he changed the subject. ‘What will you say to John Kallis. People like that have to prove something and that is when they are dangerous.’
    ‘I want nothing to do with him,’ she said emphatica lly. ‘He will get the message. He can be pleasant when he chooses but that is when he thinks he has a chance with me. He is very charming with women and very intelligent, though that did not show tonight. I must have been blind to go out with him, even if it was only now and again. I turned him down several times.’
    ‘What does he do?’ asked Steiner.
    ‘Have you ever heard of the Directorate: Special Operations, the DSO?’ she asked. ‘They are known as the Scorpions and have a crime fighting capacity to investigate and prosecute national priority crime. I know his boss is a Peter Smith. He talks a lot about the DSO and is obviously drawn to his work’
    They spoke for a while longer then he said: ‘You need some sleep. I will phone you.’
    She let him out through the front door and when she had closed it, said softly: ‘Sleep well James Steiner. If you don’t make a play for me, stay away. I’m falling in love with you.’
    As Steiner drove home he thought about what Sophie had said concerning Kallis and the man’s work with the DSO. It was incongruous that Kallis’ boss was Peter Smith. He had had difficulty concealing his surprise when she told him. He thought about the file, the job Kallis might have and wondered if he got on well with Smith. He sensed by Kallis’ accent that he was Afrikaans and he found that unusual. There weren’t many Afrikaners in Durban. He told himself to forget about the man. He wouldn’t see him again.

Chapter 10
     
    KwaZulu-Natal , Republic of South Africa
     
    Moses Shozi held up his hand as he came to the crest of a hill, small in the vast theatre comprising the Edendale Valley. The land was KwaZulu-Natal, homeland of the Zulus.
    ‘Which one?’ he said, grinning.
    Behind Shozi in the moonlight of the late evening were thirteen men, strong in stature and in their prime, their heads shaven and reflective like domes of polished wood. They were in single file, their bodies clad sparingly in shorts, loose-fitting shirts and heavy belts, their feet bare, impervious to the thorns and stones scattered among the grass. Firmly thrust into their belts, were wide-bladed pangas , half-axe, half-knife, the time-honoured implement for hacking through indigenous bush and cutting men to death.
    ‘ It’s the third on the left.’ Joseph Setlaba returned the grin. He liked it when his master was in a buoyant mood. ‘They stay with their mother, Mrs Mkhize.’
    Below them, several hundred metres distant and couched in one of the many shallow valleys lay half-a-dozen modern houses in a staggered row. Shozi glanced at the cans of paraffin carried by two of his men then urged the group on. The pounding feet crushed the long-stemmed grass as the men descended on the homes before them ignoring the silhouettes they etched against the top of the hill and confident of their authority behind the barrel-chested warrior they had elected to serve.
    When they came to Mrs Mkhize’s house Shozi