imagination, yet you’re already defending him. But say he does exist. What if he’s not good for her? What if you end up hating him?”
“I won’t because I trust Maddie’s judgment. I’m sure I’d adore any man worthy of her love.”
Haki rubbed his forehead, then restarted the jeep. Mosi, a small vervet monkey, squealed at them before scampering down a nearby fig tree and eyeing Pippa for food.
“My hands are empty, Mosi.”
The little guy was the only child of the late Ambosi, a three-legged vervet who’d been rescued by Dr. Bekker when Pippa and Haki were infants and who’d spent his life hanging around Busara for treats...or because of the amusing crush he seemed to have had on Dr. Bekker. He’d gotten quite jealous when Pippa’s father, Jack, had shown up at Busara. It was no secret that Pippa missed Ambosi. Everyone did.
“I have to get back to work, Pip.”
“I know. It’s just...” She wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “Never mind.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing. It was a totally selfish thought. Best to keep it in my head.”
“There’s not a selfish bone in your body. An uncontrollably wild imagination, yes. But not selfishness. Out with it.”
Pippa sighed and looked at Mosi, then gazed wistfully at the house that her and Haki’s parents had built after they’d married. It had been built for both families so they could live more comfortably at Busara. Both of their younger siblings had been born in that home. Maddie had played in that home.
“It hit me that I hardly get to see her as it is. Once she’s married or has children, she’ll be even busier. I want her to be happy, the way you and I are, but a part of me is afraid of losing her. See? Rotten selfishness. Don’t you dare repeat anything I just said.”
Haki grabbed one of her hands and pressed her knuckles to his lips.
“First, you’re going to freak Maddie out when she finds out you’ve planned her wedding with a man she’s never met. Second, you’ll always have me. And third, you’ll never lose her. She’s your cousin. She’s family.”
Pippa gave him a small smile.
“Okay. You’re the best, you know? Now, go save some animals or help catch some bad guys.” She ducked her head in the window and gave him a quick peck. “Be safe.”
“You, too,” he warned, then backed out. He pulled his sunglasses out of the glove compartment and slipped them on.
You’ll never lose her. She’s family. But he knew Maddie was more than just Pippa’s cousin. They were best friends the way Haki’s mother, Niara, and Anna were. Pippa was right about a woman’s strength. Their mothers had raised them both at Busara when the remote camp consisted of nothing more than a few tents and a water well. They’d had no amenities. No extravagances. Just each other. Pippa hadn’t had a lot of other girls around growing up out here.
That’s why he hated that Maddie didn’t seem to understand how much Pippa missed her. It was also why Pippa wasn’t just any girl to Haki. He’d known her all his life. They’d been through every growing pain together, from infancy to toddlerhood to the troublesome teens. Maddie had been around during their teens, too. But he and Pippa had a future together. Not because Haki put faith in the Laibon’s divination methods—that silliness was Pippa’s thing, along with reading her horoscope every now and then. No, Haki knew she was the one because their lives had become so intertwined he couldn’t see them ever being apart.
They were perfect for each other. The whole family saw it and often dropped hints about what their wedding would be like. Something small at Busara surrounded by family and the baby elephant orphans they both loved so much...or something more elegant at one of Amboseli National Park’s lodges? It didn’t really matter to Haki. He just wanted life as they knew it to carry on. As long as they both continued their work to save the elephants and he could take care of her and their family... As long as Pippa was happy, he’d be happy.
Maybe asking Maddie for insight on their legislative proposal wasn’t a bad idea. It would give him the chance to talk to her and to nudge her into spending some time at Busara. Like the good old days.
For Pippa’s sake.
Static buzzed over Haki’s radio and he grabbed it just as the call came through. The air rushing through the jeep’s windows went from refreshing to thick and heavy with the burden of death.
He made a sharp left around a dense mass of Red Grass and aimed for the coordinates coming through. Coordinates that were all too familiar.
He wiped his face against his sleeve and stepped on the gas.
The poachers KWS had been hunting down had been apprehended about a kilometer west of where Haki had found Pippa photographing the rhinos. The poachers had tracked the rhinos and were intercepted while heading toward the Kenya-Tanzania border with their tusks.
The old bull, Malik, was dead.
MADDIE CORALLIS’S PALM stung as she caught herself against the bathroom door at the law offices of Levy, Hatterson & Palomas. Every door in the restored historic building in Philadelphia was the original oak—as solid as nature had intended. She balanced her laptop and a stack of documents in her left hand and gave her right wrist a quick turn to ease her cramped joint.
Higher heels boost confidence and make a girl look more dignified, huh? That was the last time she’d listen to the women in the break room at lunch. No, they had not specifically told her to run out and buy new shoes, nor had they suggested an eye-catching dark red, but she’d overheard them emphasizing that women who— Darnit. Maddie gritted her teeth. They’d wanted her to overhear them. You gullible idiot.
She righted her brand-new pumps using her toes and shoved her foot back in, then glanced around the firm’s loft-style top floor in the hopes that no one had witnessed her klutziness. Patrick Cole, the other junior lawyer, quickly turned back to whatever he was feeding the fax machine, but he made no effort to hide his smirk. Of all the stuck-up—
She pulled back her shoulders, entered the bathroom and locked the door behind her.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Of all people,” she muttered. She set down her pile on the shimmery, black granite counter by the sink, inspected her reflection and took a deep breath. “Keep your eyes on the goal. They won’t be laughing when you make partner. Now get yourself together and get back out there.”
The concealer she’d dabbed under her eyes was holding up. Her hair wasn’t. Her long, wavy locks were annoyingly thick and silky, always slipping out of any band or clip she used to keep them in place. No wonder her first mother, Zoe, had finally cropped hers short after Maddie’s little brother, Ryan, was born. It had no doubt made her routine with three little kids around a lot easier. Maddie tried that once during her first year in law school. She had it all chopped off and the resulting dark brown bob looked just like her mama’s did in an old photo. Only instead of looking pretty and chic on Maddie, it made her look boyish and even more pale.
She pinched her cheeks, pulled her bun loose
