Payback - John Hayes Series 06 (2020), стр. 26
“Okay. Mansur, can you go down to the lobby and hang around? Just keep an eye out for any trouble. Steve or I will be down in five minutes with the money.”
“Okay.” Mansur nodded and walked out of the room.
“Steve, do you want to go, or shall I?”
“I’ll do it, mate.”
“Okay. We’ll book flights and a hotel. We don’t have much time.”
“I’ll do the flights,” Adriana offered.
“And I’ll look for a hotel,” added Maadhavi.
“I’m not even going to insist you two stay here. I know I’d be wasting my breath.”
Adriana grinned at Maadhavi.
“But...”
Both women turned to look at John.
“I don’t think you should come on the same flight.”
Adriana straightened and put her hands on her hips.
“Why?”
John shrugged. “I don’t know. I just feel it’s better, the less these guys know about us, the better. Mehmet knows we’ll be on the one o’clock flight. I’m sure he will have someone there, watching it. It’s better he only sees me, Steve, and Mansur.”
“I agree.” Steve looked at Maadhavi. “I think it will be safer, honey.”
Maadhavi looked questioningly at Adriana, who nodded.
“Okay, I’ll book us on the next flight after yours.”
“Good.”
“I’ll head down and pay the man,” Steve said as he headed for the door.
“Good luck. Mansur will keep an eye on you.”
Steve waved over his shoulder and closed the door behind him.
“I think it’s better to make two hotel bookings as well. Keep you and Maadhavi separate from ours.”
“Okay.”
The two women grabbed laptops and started typing away.
John walked over to his bag and pulled out the second-hand laptop Steve had picked up in Dubai. He booted it up, opened Google Maps, and zoomed in on the border closest to Cizre. Now, where would they be crossing?
41
The captain had announced preparation for landing when Steve spoke up. The three of them were sitting together in coach, Mansur by the window, Steve in the middle, John in the aisle seat.
“John, I want to ask you to do something for me.”
John blinked his eyes open. He hadn’t been sleeping, just thinking, trying to plan for all eventualities.
“Sure.”
“If....” Steve cleared his throat. “If anything happens to me, please see that Mia is looked after.”
John elbowed Steve. “Hey, nothing will happen. Why are you thinking like this?”
“No, it’s just...”
“Thinking like that won’t help any of us. We’re going in, straight to Idlib, pick her up, and coming straight back again.”
“Yeah.”
John didn’t like allowing thoughts like this to take shape, so he sought to change the subject.
“You need to think about what you do once she is back here across the border. How is her child, will she need medical treatment? Where will you take them?”
Steve nodded as he stared at the seatback in front of him.
John glanced past Steve to look at Mansur, who was listening to the conversation. He didn’t look worried at all, and John wished he had the same composure. Despite what he was telling Steve, he was concerned, too. He had never been in a war zone, and although he had done many dangerous things in the past, nothing compared to what he was about to do. But he couldn’t let the others know what he was thinking. If they all started doubting their success, the mission was a failure before it even started.
“Look, Steve, everything has worked out so far. I’m a firm believer if you are not supposed to do something, roadblocks are thrown up in your path to guide you in a different direction. So far, there have been no roadblocks. We can do it.”
“Mr. John is right,” Mansur spoke for the first time. “Allah... God will always guide you. You just need to see the signs.”
Steve looked at Mansur and gave a half-smile. “Thanks, mate.” He looked back at John. “Thank you both. I really appreciate what you are doing for me. I’ll never forget this. When this is all over... I owe you a beer this time.”
John grinned. “So, then we’ll be even.” He looked at Mansur. “But what about Mansur? He doesn’t drink.”
“Ah yeah, sorry, mate. Some coffee?”
Mansur grinned. “It’s okay, Mr. Steve. It is my honor to help you.”
Steve nodded, swallowed, and looked away. Mansur went back to looking out the window, and John leaned his head against the headrest. He thought back over what Mansur had said.
He didn’t believe in God, Allah, whatever you liked to call it. Too many shitty things had happened in his past to believe in an all-seeing benevolent being, but when he thought back over the things he had done, there were signs of some sort of a guiding hand. Maybe it was intuition, a sixth sense, or even his subconscious drawing on the vast storehouse of information it had accumulated over his life, guiding his conscious mind in the correct course of action. Whatever it was, right now, there was nothing telling him that what they were doing was wrong. He had to keep faith and keep moving forward. There was no turning back now.
42
“Do you see him?”
“Yeah.”
“Mansur?”
“The grey pickup?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he’s watching us?”
John threw the last of the bags in the back of the minivan and closed the door.
“Well, he’s had eyes on us since we came out of the terminal.”
The three men climbed into the van, Steve up front with John, Mansur in the back. John entered the address of the hotel into the phone, handed it to Steve, and started the engine.
“Let’s see if he follows us.”
He pulled out of the carpark, turned onto the exit road leading from Sirnak Airport to the main highway, and headed off.
“Mansur?”
“Wait... Yes, he’s left the parking, too.”
John glanced at Steve. “I thought he would have someone follow us.”
“Yeah, good job you suggested the girls travel separately.”
John nodded, his eyes back on the road. He didn’t think there was anything to worry about, just Mehmet being prudent, but he knew they would have to keep on their toes.
John joined the D380 heading southeast and glanced in his mirror.
“Still there?”
“Yes, Mr. John. About