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Chapter 13

Even with the high-speed plane, it was a long ride. Cindy was excited at first. This was only her second ride in a plane, and the last time she hadn't really been able to take it all in. There had been a bit of a rush.

But she soon lost interest when the view became blank, endless ocean. It was just more waves. At which point she realized she had nothing to do. No phones on planes.

"Are you reading a medical textbook?" she asked Death.

"Yep," she said.

"For the first time?"

"No. I have read this one before."

That's good. At least she's trying to figure out how to do the doctor thing. That's a huge improvement from her just going around stabbing people with syringes.

"So the Kenyan government is cool with us flying in and stealing the investigation?" she asked.

"ICE is a multinational corporation. Sometimes some branches have to meet with others. Everyone is talking about the fire, and what are five more gapers? It's perfectly logical for us to stop by. No one will even know we're investigating," Rodrigo said.

"We aren't the government, we just get lots of grants and tax breaks. All the Kenyans care about is who did it. When they find out, that person will get charged with arson and go to prison for fourteen years. We need to be done talking to them before that. I don't like visiting prisons," Marc said.

"Fourteen years? For burning grass on land they own?"

"The law is the law. If they wanted to burn stuff, they should've done it somewhere else."

"We're here. And we aren't alone," Rodrigo said. The jet dipped down, landing in the part of the field that wasn't smoking ash.

The number was written with burnt black grass. It was huge, and took up most of the lot. A small furrow of upturned dirt separated the black from the green, making sure the fire had only spread where it was supposed to.

People were milling around, gossiping and taking pictures. The local police were barking questions, trying to figure out who started the fire. By the looks of it, they were getting nowhere.

"Okay. We need to get as much data as possible as fast as possible. Everyone split up. Except Death. You're with me," Marc said. But Death folded her arms, her curls getting pinched inside her elbows.

"Please," he rolled his eyes.

"Okay. Thank you for asking nicely," she said. They walked away hand in hand.

"Is she training him?" Cindy asked.

"Yes," Rodrigo and Zora said simultaneously.

"It's okay though. She trains him to be nice, he trains her on how to not publicly embarrass herself and everyone around her. Two way street," Rodrigo said.

"You two can chat over tea later, right now we have a job to do," Zora said. "Let's do some interrogating."

"But I don't speak Kenyan," Cindy said.

"Kenyan isn't a language. The people here speak Swahili or English, for the most part," Rodrigo said.

"Maybe she better stick with you," Zora said.

"What? Why can't you take her?"

"Because I'm taking Alex," she said.

"Starting to get offended here," Cindy said. "I am perfectly capable of handling myself in another country. I am not some culturally ignorant hick. And I once took a school trip to Paris."

To which she received two very condescending looks.

"I was babysitter last mission. It's your turn," Zora said.

"You went off on your own and stuck her with me!"

"Exactly. Cindy's going to end up tagging along behind you anyway, you might as well accept it. I'll go wake Alex up. He fell asleep on the ride over."

She trotted off, leaving Rodrigo glaring after her. "So much for splitting up."