Payback - John Hayes Series 06 (2020), стр. 24

Mehmet raised an eyebrow and looked from Steve to John and back again. “Your niece?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” He raised both hands in a placatory gesture. “Sorry.” He took another drink. “And where is this... niece?”

Steve looked at John, and John gave a slight shake of his head. “I... we don’t know yet.”

Mehmet pursed his lips. “You don’t know,” he repeated, one eyebrow raised. “What is she doing there? Journalist? Like Craig here? Aid worker?”

“No, she...”

“She made some wrong decisions, and she needs help to come back. So, we are going to get her,” John interjected.

“Ah.” Mehmet nodded slowly. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip. “I see.”

“Craig said you could help get us across the border?”

“Hmmm.”

Steve shifted in his chair. “Well, can you?”

Mehmet’s eyes flicked from John to Steve. “It will be expensive.”

“How much?”

“Twenty thousand U.S. dollars.”

“What?” Steve spluttered on his beer. “You cheating son of a...”

“Steve.” John held up his hand. He fixed his gaze on Mehmet. “Mehmet, we can’t afford that.”

Mehmet shrugged. “I have expenses; I have to pay people to look the other way.”

“Yeah, and buy yourself more gold rings,” Steve muttered.

“Steve...” John admonished him.

“Gentlemen, let’s keep things civil,” Craig attempted to play peacekeeper. “Mehmet, there must be something you can do to help these gentlemen?”

“Nothing I can do.” Mehmet shrugged and turned out his bottom lip. “It’s a war zone.”

“Mehmet, do you have a family?” John asked.

“I do.” Mehmet narrowed his eyes.

“Children?”

“No.”

John nodded slowly. “Steve doesn’t have children, either, but his niece is like a daughter to him.”

“And?”

John leaned forward in his chair, his eyes fixed on Mehmet’s.

“Imagine being in his position. You have a daughter, and she is in danger. She’s in a war zone, fearing for her life. The only one who can help her is you.”

Mehmet said nothing, the only sign he was thinking about it a twitch of his mustache.

“Now, imagine your daughter has a baby, a granddaughter you have never seen. A granddaughter whose health is failing, and if nothing is done, will probably die along with your daughter. What would you do, Mehmet?”

John sat back in his chair, crossed his arms, and waited to see if he had struck a nerve.

Mehmet stared down at the tabletop as he played with his glass, turning it around and around with his gold ring clad fingers.

Looking up, his eyes darted around the table, looking at each man before settling back on John.

“Okay.” He pointed a fat finger at John. “I deal with you. Because of the... special circumstances, I will not charge you my fee, only my expenses. Ten thousand U.S. dollars.”

Steve snorted, and John shot him a warning glance.

“Five thousand.”

“Seven. Upfront in cash.”

“Half now, half when we are across the border.”

Steve made to protest but stopped when John shot him another look.

Mehmet stared at John, his mustache twitching, “Done. When?”

“Tomorrow.”

Mehmet sucked air in through his teeth.

“Okay. Take my number from Craig. Call me at ten tomorrow morning. I will give you instructions.”

“Thank you.” John reached forward and held out his hand. Mehmet looked at it as if wondering what it was, then reached forward and shook it.

“I will give you a discount for the return journey?” he asked before letting go.

John smiled without mirth. “That’s generous of you.”

Mehmet released his hand and stood up. He nodded at Craig, glanced at Steve, then back at John.

“Call me tomorrow.”

“I will, oh, and Mehmet?”

“Yes?”

“There will be three of us.”

“Three?”

“Three.”

Mehmet frowned again, then nodded and turned for the door.

The three men waited until he had left the bar before Steve exploded.

“What a prick.”

John gave a slight nod across the bar to Mansur, who pushed back his chair and walked out, then turned to Steve.

“He might be, but we need someone to help us.”

“But, John, seven grand?”

“Steve, don’t worry about it. I’ll cover it.”

“But...”

“No buts, Steve. It’s okay. Besides, I didn’t want to haggle too much. We need to leave some profit in it for him; otherwise he’s bound to sell us out.”

“Good thinking, John,” Craig said. He picked up his whiskey, knocked back the contents, and signaled for the waiter. “Same again, gents?”

“Yeah,” Steve replied. “I didn’t enjoy the last one.”

“John?”

“Not for me, thanks.” John held his hand over his glass. “How well do you know this guy, Craig?”

Craig exhaled. “Not well. I just know he’s heavily involved in cross border traffic. He smuggles people out all the time and sends weapons in.” He shook his head. “To be honest, I don’t trust any of these guys. For them, money is more important than human life, but given the short notice and the lack of legal options for you, he was the best I could think of.”

“He’ll have to do. As you said, we have little time and few options.” John waited while the waiter delivered Craig and Steve’s drinks before continuing, “Did you have any luck with bulletproof vests?”

“Yes, I’ll drop them off in the morning.”

“Thank you.”

“You told Mehmet, three people. Who’s the third?”

John glanced toward the door. “Here he is now.”