She was severely shaken, but she knew that despite everything, she couldn’t leave Lagos yet. Even when the borders reopened, the new government wouldn’t issue any journalist a visa for a long time. The paper wouldn’t be able to replace her and the story was growing in importance every day. She worried about James and wondered when he would return. He hadn’t called, and she always felt uneasy and insecure when he wasn’t in touch. She had tried his cell phone, but the calls went straight to message. That could mean no service was available, or he turned it off, or it needed to be charged. It left her frustrated, and she finally dialed his apartment in the Victoria Hotel. She listened to the repetitive ring and finally hung up. Where was he? She frowned and tried shifting to a more comfortable position, but she couldn’t doze off and trudged into the bathroom for her sleeping pills. There was something about James—a kind of distance even when he was closest to her—that kept her on edge.
