Chapter 18: The Hidden Letter
The envelope came tucked inside a bag of maize meal.
No return address.
No handwriting on the outside.
Just a faint grease mark in the shape of a half-moon.
Naledi spotted it first.
"This wasn't part of the order."
We opened it in silence.
Inside was a single folded note.
At first glance, it looked like a shopping list.
Matches
Soap
Oil
Beans
Rice
One girl who burns clean
That last line froze my blood.
Then, at the bottom corner, faint and crooked, were the words:
"She didn't talk. She never will. But I will — if you want the truth. Meet me. Alone."
- T's Sister
We didn't say her name aloud. Not with the trees listening.
But we knew it.
Thembeka.
I sat by the fire that night, reading the letter again.
"She didn't talk," I whispered. "That means they know something. But not enough to connect her to us fully."
Naledi sat across from me, her knees hugged to her chest.
"You think her sister is real?"
"I think we don't have a choice but to find out."
"And if it's a trap?"
I looked her straight in the eyes.
"Then we don't go quietly."
The meeting spot was written in code: "Where the blue woman no longer sings."
Naledi knew it instantly.
"The mural at the old taxi rank. The one with the singing woman painted on it. They painted over her last month."
I nodded. "Clever. Let's go."
"No," she said. "You go. I'll wait near the back road. If something goes wrong, I call Lutho. We vanish."
I hated it.
But I respected it.
I arrived just before sunset.
The taxi rank was mostly abandoned. Rusted vending stalls, chipped walls, dust in the air.
And there she stood.
Anele.
Thembeka's younger sister.
Same sharp chin. Same quiet confidence.
She didn't smile when she saw me.
"You're the one they're hunting," she said.
I didn't confirm it.
"I'm here because you wrote."
"She didn't speak. Not once. Not even when they threatened her."
I felt a pang. "She's strong."
"She believed in your fire. Said it burned different. Said you were building something more than business."
I swallowed. "What do you want?"
She handed me a flash drive.
"This has footage. Proof that the sweep was about something bigger — corruption, illegal takeovers. Your brand is just a scapegoat."
"And you're giving it to me?"
"I want my sister out. Help me… and I help you clear your name."
I stared at her. "You trust me?"
"I trust what my sister trusted."
Then she turned and walked away.
Back at the cabin, I plugged the drive into Lutho's old solar-powered laptop.
The screen flickered.
Then played.
Grainy footage. Men in uniforms taking bribes. A restaurant owner planting Embers & Ash sacks in a storehouse that wasn't ours.
Naledi stood behind me, silent.
"They're using us," I said. "Blaming our fire while they light their own."
We now had leverage.
Dangerous. Valuable. Heavy.
Thembeka had stayed silent.
Anele had handed us the key.
And we had a choice:
Stay low, keep earning quietly — or use this to fight back.
Naledi touched my hand.
"If we stay silent, we stay hunted. If we speak, we might burn it all."
I nodded. "But what if we light a fire that saves more than just us?"
She whispered, "Then let's build the match."