Payback - John Hayes Series 06 (2020), стр. 17
“I have some in the safe at home.” He glanced over at John. “By the way, I’m covering all the expenses for this. She’s my niece, it’s the right thing to do.”
John waved a dismissive hand. “Hey, don’t worry about it.”
“No, I mean it, John. It means a lot to me you’ve come to help me. I’ll never forget it, but the expenses are on me.”
“Steve, we’re in this together. Let’s not talk about money. We’ll sort it out later. The most important thing is we get your niece and her daughter out of there, and we all come back safely.”
Steve slowed for the exit and pulled off the highway onto the side road.
“Thanks, mate.”
He stayed quiet until they had pulled up outside his house. Switching the engine off, he looked out the windshield at the closed double garage door while John studied his notes, trying to think of anything else they would need.
“We’ll need someone with us who can speak the language,” John said after a while.
Steve turned to face John but didn’t comment.
“I’m assuming your Arabic hasn’t improved since the last time we met?”
“No.” Steve frowned and shook his head.
“Then we’ll definitely need someone. It will be much easier if we can have someone deal with the locals for us in a way they can understand.”
Steve took a breath, then exhaled noisily.
“But who?”
John drummed his fingers on his lap. “Anyone here you can use? Someone you can trust?”
Steve thought for a while and then shook his head. “No, not someone I can trust or who would be willing to do something this dangerous.”
“Hmmm, okay. We’ll think about it.” John clicked open his door. “Let’s go see what the girls are up to.”
He stepped out, closed the door behind him, and walked to the front entrance of the house. He waited on the step, watching Steve lock the car and walk around toward him. He grinned as an idea struck him.
“Mansur.”
Steve frowned. “Who?”
“Oman.”
Steve’s frown turned into a smile as he remembered.
“The Bedouin?” He nodded agreement. “He’s our man, and he’s nearby. Do you think he’ll come?”
“We won’t know if we don’t ask.”
27
The camel groaned as it knelt down, forelegs first, then rear, and dropped to the sand. Mansur patted it on the neck. “Good girl.”
He checked the water trough was full, glanced over at the other two camels already bedded down for the night, then stood with his hands on his hips, looking up at the sky. Not for the first time, he wondered about the vast expanse above. He identified the familiar constellations of Ursa Minor and Camelopardalis and spied the blinking lights of a jetliner as it crossed high above the desert, heading south to somewhere in Africa.
The stars had always fascinated him, ever since his father taught him how to navigate across the desert at night. He’d spent many a night wondering if there were other worlds like this, out there among the blinking stars. He glanced down at his watch. Enough star gazing. He wanted to get back home to see the girls before Warda put them to bed. It had been a long day, the resort fully booked, and he had been busy since late afternoon, taking guests up and down the sand dunes. He was tired, and so were his camels.
“Tusbih ealaa khayr waihlam saeida,” he called out. “Goodnight and sweet dreams.”
He turned and walked across the sand to the house he occupied with Warda and his two daughters. Light streamed from one of the windows, and he could smell the smoke from the cooking fire, along with something more delicious. His stomach growled, and he realized he hadn’t eaten since morning. Just as he reached the house, he heard his cell phone ring. Reaching into the pocket of his dishdasha, he pulled out his phone and peered at the number showing on the cracked screen. Dubai? Who could it be?
“Allo.”
He frowned as a voice spoke to him in English, then his face lit up in a smile as he realized who it was.
Hearing his voice, Warda came out of the house and looked at him with a question on her face. Mansur held up his hand and signaled for her to wait. For the next few minutes, he listened, nodded, and asked a couple of questions, all the while Warda watched him, wondering why he was speaking in English. Five minutes later, he ended the call and stared at his wife.
She waited for him to say something, but curiosity got the better of her.
“Man kan hatha? Who was that?”
“Mr. John.”
“Mr. John?” Warda looked puzzled for a moment, then recognition crossed her face. “Ahh, Mr. John. But why?”
“I must go to Dubai.”
“Dubai?”
“I’ll explain everything inside, habibi.” Mansur guided his wife back inside the house. “But first, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
28
Steve looked up as John walked in.
“Did he agree?”
“He did.” John placed his phone on the coffee table. “He’ll be here by tomorrow evening. He said he’d drive up.”
Steve did a quick calculation. “Should take him around seven to eight hours.”
“Good. You better let Ramesh know we need another set of documents. Mansur said he’d message a photo of his passport.”
The phone buzzed and moved across the table.
“That’ll be it now.” John picked it up and glanced at the messages. “Yup. We can start booking flights first thing in the morning.” He looked at the photo album on Steve’s lap.
“What are you looking at?”
“Mia when she was a kid.” Steve flipped a page, then looked up at John. “She was such a cute kid and sharp as a tack.” He turned another page, running his fingers over each photo. “She did so well at school.” He shook his head. “Such a bright future ahead of her, then... she met that prick.” He balled his hands into fists and closed his eyes.
John moved closer and put his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we will get her out of there.”
Steve opened his eyes, relaxed his fist, and nodded.
“I need a beer, do you