Two weeks later and the Captain had been right: counselling and the anger management classes were helping. Boago was feeling hopeful about the future. The counselling especially was letting him see how his own insecurities and the way he clung to the past, were what was pulling him down. The counsellor was giving him tools to help him deal with some of the destructive thoughts that caused him to behave antisocially.

Stella was being cooperative too. She let him have Moemedi on the weekends. He liked planning fun outings with the boy. Tito was a useful friend since he often got them good seats for football matches and Moemedi was already a big football fan.

Even work was going better. He and David were part of a taskforce trying to work with the community on the infiltration of drugs. It was satisfying work that had definable outcomes. Even the boss noticed he was more committed to his job.

It was a gorgeous Joburg spring day and he took his lunch and the newspaper outside to take in some Vitamin D rays and enjoy the day. He was paging through the paper. Another corruption scandal. No water in Pimville and the people were striking. Talk of the firing of Pirate’s coach. And then his eye caught something.

Up-and-coming oncologist in Cape Town in suspicious car accident. Apparently the car had rolled down a steep cliff in the mountains because of mechanical failure, but after the car was examined they found the brakes had been tampered with. They were calling it murder and looking at the wife, who was set to inherit a big insurance settlement.

The reason the article caught Boago’s eye was because the doctor was Conrad Vandermere – yet another of the Seven Strong Men.

Boago read the article over and over. He couldn’t believe it. Three of the Seven Strong Men dead, in little over a month? It couldn’t be a coincidence. Yet they all died in different ways, in different places. It said here Conrad’s wife was a suspect. Someone was already arrested for Warnick’s murder; they caught the guy using his cellphone. It was nothing. He was imagining things.

As he sat in the Joburg sun, he tried to calm his nerves. But he couldn’t stop thinking: was someone trying to kill them all? Was he in danger?

***

Tell us what you think: Given what you know so far, could Boago be in a murderer’s sights?