Payback - John Hayes Series 06 (2020), стр. 14
“Hey, Steve, don’t give up. We’ll find a way.”
“Yes,” Adriana agreed. “There’s always a solution.”
“That’s right.” John massaged his eyes with his fingertips. “Remember what we did together in Oman when all seemed lost.” He smiled, “We’ve proven we are an excellent team. We’ll work something out.” He glanced at his watch. “What time did we say we’d call Mia?”
“Six.”
“Good. We have an hour. Let’s take a break, relax for a bit. Sometimes, we need to step away from the problem to find a solution.” John looked around the table. “I think we’ve done enough research for one day.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I could murder a beer.”
John fixed gin and tonics for himself and the ladies while Steve grabbed a beer from the fridge, and they all moved outside to the patio. The air had cooled, and the sun threw long shadows across the pool. The trees were filled with birds, chirping and squawking as they returned home from a day of foraging, and the smell of food cooking wafted through the patio doors as Marisel prepared dinner in the kitchen. It was a peaceful setting, at odds with the turmoil in each of their heads.
John was halfway through his gin and tonic when he sat up straight, a wide smile lighting up his face.
“I’ve got an idea.”
Maadhavi, Steve, and Adriana waited for him to continue.
“Let’s say we can get across the border. We all know moving around inside Syria could be a major problem. From what we have learned, there are checkpoints everywhere.”
Steve nodded.
“What if we pose as journalists? Don’t they get to go everywhere?” He looked at Adriana. “Can you get us some press passes?”
Adriana shook her head. “It’s not that easy.”
“Okay, talk me through it. How does it usually work?”
“To enter a country as a journalist, you need to first get a press visa. Then you’ll need to get accredited with the government of that country as a journalist, so you can get a press card. You’ll need sponsorship letters from your news agency, maybe an employment contract, letters of recommendation, all officially stamped. Even if João agreed to do it, it’s too complicated and time-consuming. Once we have all the documents, we would have to send them all to the Syrian Government for approval. We don’t have the luxury of time.”
“Shit.” John sat back in his chair and frowned at the swimming pool. After a minute, he stood up. “I need another drink. Anyone else?”
Maadhavi and Adriana shook their heads while Steve waved his empty beer bottle in the air.
John walked into the kitchen and smiled at Marisel, who was busy at the stove.
“Smells good, Marisel.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge, popped off the top using a bottle opener stuck to the fridge door, filled his glass with ice from the freezer, then moved to the bar cabinet in the living room. He picked up the bottle of gin and frowned at the label. Not the best, but it would have to do. The second one was always better. He would need to educate Steve on what a quality gin was. John poured a generous measure into his glass, then reached for the bottle of tonic. His hand stopped halfway as another idea formed in his head.
23
John walked out onto the patio with the drinks. He passed the bottle of beer to Steve, raised his own drink in a toast.
“I have a better idea.”
Before he could say anything, Steve’s phone rang.
“One sec.” Steve removed the phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen, frowning.
“What is it?” John asked.
Steve looked up. “Mia.” He tapped on the screen to answer the call.
John checked his watch. It was still half an hour before they were scheduled to call. He frowned and watched Steve’s face.
“Hello? Mia... wait, I’ll put you on speaker.” Steve tapped the screen, then held the phone out so all could hear.
“Uncle Steve?”
“Yes, I can hear you. Is everything okay?”
The boom of an explosion and the rapid rat-tat-tat of gunfire came through the phone’s tiny speakers.
“Shit,” Steve cursed. “Mia?”
“Yes... I have to leave here.” Another explosion. “The fighting is getting closer.... it’s... no longer safe here.”
“Are you okay? Malak?”
“She’s a little better. She is awake but still has a fever.”
Steve gave a worried look at John.
“Where will you go?”
“I...” Her voice was cut off by the sound of gunfire, closer than before. “I don’t know. I’m waiting for Naeem. He is at the front with the others. When he comes, we’ll try to find somewhere else to stay.”
“I’m coming to get you, Mia.”
“How, Uncle?”
“We have a plan.”
John raised an eyebrow but said nothing as Steve continued.
“Don’t worry, but keep safe. We need some time.”
“Okay, but... please come quickly, Malak, she...” There was another muffled boom. “I’ll call tomorrow.” The phone went dead.
“Mia, Mia...” Steve took the phone off speaker and held it to his ear. “Mia, Mia.” He held the phone out and tapped redial. “Shit.”
The phone failed to connect. He tried again, still no luck. He looked at John, his forehead creased.
“What do I do?”
“It’s probably just the phone system is down, Steve.”
Steve nodded but didn’t look convinced. He stood staring at the ground, the phone in one hand, his beer bottle in the other.
“I have to go there,” he said almost to himself.
“Steve, look at me.” John raised his voice. “We’ll get her out, but we have to be sensible about this. We can’t just rush over there without a plan.”
Steve looked at John, then Maadhavi and Adriana.
“John’s right, baby,” Maadhavi agreed. “You need to plan properly. It’s dangerous there.”
Steve nodded slowly, his eyes locked with Maadhavi and sighed.
“Yeah, you’re right.” He looked behind him for his chair and sat down, dropping the phone on the coffee table in front of them. Remembering the beer in his hand, he took a swig and massaged his eyes with his left hand.
“Look, Steve, I have an idea.” John stood in front of him. “Craig said he can give us