Ben Kiwanuka street was fast becoming a hotel-street.In a space of nine months,three hotels had opened their doors to customers.The relatively lower prices of accommodation ensured full bookings for all the hotels.On the right as one approached from Hotel Equatoria, was Star Hotel,owned by a son of an erstwhile politician;on the left,separated by a small park and a discotheque,were City Hotel and Hotel 68.

A tourist checked out of City hotel,much to the dismay of the receptionist,who’d been stealing a nap while on duty.When she stepped out, a Louis Vuitton bag in her right hand,she headed to the nearest public toilet,before emerging twenty minutes later without the bag.Her black hair that had previously been tied up in a pony-tail now fell on her back.She’d changed her clothes,from blue denim jeans and a white top, to a crimson dress,that accentuated her figure.

Anna Derevko was the epitome of perfect beauty.At 18,she’d received so many marriage proposals that Yekaterina had been forced to constantly move them from one town to the next.Now at 25,she turned even more heads with her dazzling beauty.She dried her sweaty hand on the crimson dress just before entering the discotheque between the two hotels.It was Anna’s habit to have fun,celebrate and mingle with the locals after every successful mission.Other than the relaxing one’s nerves,it was also camouflage.

ROME:

Luigi Salvatore was a big man in every sense of the word.He was serving his second term in office as the Mayor of Rome.He’d stood as an independent, promising to unite a city that was divided along political lines.Then, the Democratic Party, Partito Democratico, had been poised to yet again win the election.

He was reading the day’s La Gazzetta dello Sport when his middle-aged secretary, Signora Carraro got through to his office.

“Signore Salvatore, you’ve an urgent call from Kampala.The caller wouldn’t leave his name but he insisted on speaking to you and…”

“Put him through!”

“Right away, signore.“

When he  answered the phone,the caller only said, “Richard Cramer is dead.Setting into motion step two of the operation” and hung up.

He’d swiped the sweat on his eye brow, casually looked over his shoulder and noticing that none of Luigi’s men were following him,slowed down.He’d turned left into Place Vendome,from Rue St.Honore.No one had seemed to notice him,or his dishevelled appearance.Not even the clerk who’d helped him check into the Ritz…

His room was dimly lit but one could still make out the object d’art that littered two walls.Three batiks and the largest piece of art work, a manet.A black leather briefcase lay open on his bed,the papers in it in disarray as if he’d packed them in a great hurry.Beside the briefcase,were his rolex watch,his passport and wallet with a couple of a hundred dollar bills sticking out.

He stood at the balcony of his hotel room,absentmindedly running his right hand along its rail.In the distance urban sprawl spread out before his eyes;mostly rusty,corrugated roofs with the occassional storey building.The air was crisp, the sky, a blanket of countless twinkling lights.He knew he should be worrying about Luigi and his men, or God-forbid, the C.I.A but the it was the thought of being home that played in his mind.How the country had changed!There was a subway right at the Constitutional Square.The tube linked most of the city’s suburbs in addition to the cities:Gulu, Jinja, Masaka, Mbarara and Fort Portal.Who could have thought that Uganda would have an Indian president or  predicted the country’s thriving tourism and stable economy?Then he thought about Leah and his son Ethan.He’d be 7 now…

In the building just across the street,from his hotel the lights were put out in one of the rooms. Suddenly he became aware of the fact that only his light was on along the entire street.He swore at his stupidity and made for the room to switch it off.The bullet tore through the back of his neck, ripping the conus medullaris after it had shattered one of his cervical vertebrae. The second shot shattered the back of his skull and remained lodged just between the two hemispheres of the brain.He was dead before his body hit the floor.