Chapter-25 Pointe Noire, 4° 46′ 43″ S, 11° 51′ 49″ E Exotic Animal Black Market

Abebe and six men escorted Cecilia and Akiko from behind. Akiko's sharp eyes could see they had guns and knives. She was sure that Andalas could handle them had the man not been injured.

Andalas opened the trunk of the car and pretended to be busy unzipping the bag. Then closed it again.

"Money is ready, Madam."

Cecilia nodded. Turned to Abebe.

"So where is it?" Abebe chuckled a little and said the cub was on its way. The six men who was with Abebe laughed too. It was easy money for them.

Soon after, a young man about Abebe's age arrived. He carried a basket covered in black cloth. Cecilia pointed at the trunk and motioned for Abebe to put down the basket and take the money. Akiko shifted toward the front of Cecilia.

Andalas opened the trunk and Abebe put the basket in. When Abebe was about to take the travel bag, Andalas held his hand and said that he needed to check the inside of the basket.

Abebe shrugged. He uncovered the basket so everyone could see the cub in it.

Abebe chuckled again. He reached to wake the baby leopard up to prove to them that it was alive.

Abebe withdrew his hand quickly and swore. There was a little blood on his fingertips. Abebe was bitten by the angry little leopard.

Abebe grabbed the travel bag and took it to his partners who were curiously waiting to see how much $125 thousand was. Abebe's boss bought the cub a few days ago for 1,000 dollars. Abebe sold it to the Italians for 20 thousand dollars. And that day its prize skyrocketed to $125,000.

One of Abebe's partners bent down to open the bag. A punch landed on his face. Followed by kicks and another punch on his nose and temples.

The man fell down. His nose and temples were bleeding. Dazed and confused, the man drew a gun from his waist to shoot at the person who attacked him.

The gun was pointed at Abebe's face. It was Abebe who attacked him. Abebe's eyes were red as blood, his face was as pale as paper, and black foam oozed from his mouth.

Abebe pulled the trigger of his own gun instantly, and the man's head exploded.

"Hey! You're crazy, Abebe!" Another man pulled the trigger of his gun. It was Abebe's turn to fell on his knees because the bullet was directly lodged into his brain.

The situation became chaotic. The remaining 5 people wanted to draw their guns. But Andalas reacted faster. He knocked down two people at once with a precise combination kick destroying the groin and breaking the neck.

For Abebe's shooter who was still holding a gun aimed at Andalas, a sharp blow lodged in the base of his throat. The man clutched his neck as he staggered down.

There were two people left. They did not manage to pull out a gun, but each of them had drawn a long and sharp knife. Andalas hit one of them with a hard blow to the stomach, but he managed to dodge it then launched counter attacked blindly using his dagger.

Another person ran towards Cecilia who was frozen in silence. He intended to take the weakest of them as hostage. But he was met with a circular kick landed heavily on his head. The person stood up and countered fiercely with a dagger. But Akiko calmly faced him. Again, a kick hit the man's chest, followed by a crippling blow to the neck.

At the same time, Andalas's opponent laid unconscious after his fist hit the man's jaw.

Cecilia froze with a look of disbelief on her face. Doctor Akiko turned out to be a martial arts expert! She knocked down a big man weighed twice as hers, and Abebe was showing signs of infection!

Cecilia saw for herself that Abebe only got a small bite from the leopard cub earlier. It meant that the cub was indeed the baby leopard they were looking for.

The police would arrive soon. Andalas hastily took the travel bag containing Cecilia and Akiko's clothes and put them in the trunk. Andalas had a chance to see the baby leopard staggering in the basket.

Akiko had jumped into the car while Cecilia was still staring at Abebe's corpse. The black foam kept oozing out from his mouth. Andalas pulled Cecilia into the back seat, closed the door, started the car and stepped on the gas hard.

The car sped away at a high speed leaving the bloody parking lot that started being swarmed with crowd. Cecilia felt a little dizzy witnessing how the crowd started to gather in that place. This could trigger a pandemic!

"Andalas! If you really are what I think you are, we need to go back! We have to burn all dead bodies and scram before the police arrive!" The sound of police sirens was still quite far away.

Andalas swerved for a moment. While turning around at a high speed, he grabbed something from his tactical pants pocket. They were two plastic bags filled with black powder.

"Akiko, shoot to the air! Clear the crowd!" Andalas shouted commanding Akiko who was holding an AK 47. Akiko did as she was told. A series of gunshots broke the air. People who were swarming the fight scene started scattering away.

The car stopped right next to Abebe's corpse. Andalas got down and calmly sprinkled black powder all over Abebe's body and the man he shot. He poured everything on their bodies. The sound of police sirens was getting closer.

Andalas lit up wooden lighters and threw them at the two corpses. There were several small explosions as the flames began to burn the powder. Andalas rushed back to the car and sped away from the spot. Cecilia who was sitting in the back seat saw the small fire suddenly enlarged and engulfed the two corpses.

Despite a sigh of relief, Cecilia still shuddered. Had the corpse not been burned immediately, she could predict the exponential effect from a rapid contagion that would have occurred among so many people in that place. Unlike bacteria, virus would die along with its host. Bacteria would survive even if its host had decayed.

Cecilia and Akiko looked at each other. They were both relieved and frightened at the same time. They were glad that they got their hands on the leopard cub, but were horrified that violence and death seemed to be following them.