Does it matter that Nolwazi must have heard them? Spha isn’t sure. Everything is out there anyway, and in Mr Sibuyi’s hands.

All the same, he wishes he’d kept quiet when he realised Felix Ngobe must have deleted all the evidence against him. He’s supposed to have removed himself from this thing.

Returning to the Dispatch room, he can’t shake off an uneasy feeling. Why did he have to talk about his flash drive? Now Felix will know there is still evidence against him, if Nolwazi tells him what she heard.

How involved is Nolwazi anyway?

Spha half-expects Felix to come crashing in and attack him. When nothing happens, he relaxes slightly, but there is still a worm of worry nibbling away in his mind.

Somehow, he’s not surprised when a call comes through on his phone as he breaks for lunch, and he recognises Kakaramba’s number.

“You!” Always the same start. “You, you get that thing, memory stick, flash drive? You go get it now, where is it, your house in KaNyamazane, nê? You get it, and we tell you where you must bring it.”

Anger rises in Spha, partly to do with the way Kakaramba is ordering him, but also because he’s plain sick of all these crooks.

“Still doing Fiki’s dirty work for him, even now he’s out of quarantine?” he mocks.

A growl from Kakaramba, and Spha pictures his ugly face.

“You, you think this is a joke!? We will be there in KaNyamazane before you. We know the workshop where your girl with the lips is. We going there now. Knuckles, you remember Knuckles? He is driving us to that place. You want to see her again, see her still pretty, you get that thing, you wait for us to phone.”

He ends the call. Spha’s heart is hammering with terror. He tries calling back, but the call is rejected.

God, they’re going after Babalo! He has to get home.

He leaves the building at a run, worrying about what sort of public transport he can get at this time of day. There are never as many buses or taxis about between peak hours. Which is best? He considers hitching a ride, but he can’t count on someone stopping for him.

There is no-one at his usual bus stop, so there can’t be a bus on the way. He sprints to the busiest part of town where there are always at least some taxis around.

As he runs, he calls Babalo to warn her. At first, she doesn’t answer, then when she does, there is so much noise where she is – engines revving and tools clanging – that she can’t hear him.

“Kakaramba is coming to get you!” he shouts as best he can, gasping for breath from running.

“What about Kakaramba?” she shouts back.

“He’s coming. Run, hide, don’t let him find you!”

Then he tries calling Kakaramba again. He wants to tell him where the flash drive is at home, and how to get into the house which will be empty, his mother at work and Pumla at school.

He wonders why the men didn’t think of burgling the house for it in the first place, but maybe they thought searching for something so small would take too long. Easier to get Spha to hand it over.

Their friend Fiki – Felix – must be in a major hurry to have it destroyed. God, let him get a taxi going to KaNyamazane. Let him be in time.

Tell us: Should Spha first try and rescue Babalo, or first fetch the flash drive to hand over in exchange for her?