Payback - John Hayes Series 06 (2020), стр. 28

44

John walked back to the front of the hotel, where the two men were still waiting.

“All okay?”

“Yeah, he was Hemin.”

“Why was he following us?” Mansur asked as he watched the pickup pull out into traffic and drive off.

“Mehmet told him to keep an eye on us.” John watched the vehicle disappear up the road. “He seems like a good guy. Much better than Mehmet, anyway. He actually apologized, said he was just following orders.”

“Good, so what’s the plan?”

John looked around and made sure there was no-one in earshot. Two men walked past, deep in conversation, and the bellhop had already gone inside with the bags. He lowered his voice, anyway.

“We leave at two-thirty a.m. He’ll pick us up in the side street there.” John nodded toward the street that ran along the side of the hotel, near the entrance to the parking garage. “He said to dress warmly and wear dark clothing.”

“Okay.” Steve slapped Mansur on the back, “Don’t wear your dishdasha.”

“I know.” Mansur grinned. “Dog’s balls.”

The three of them chuckled, the mood lightening. John checked his G-Shock.

“Let’s get settled in. The girls won’t be here until around seven-thirty. Let’s eat well and get some rest. It will be a long night. We’ll meet again just before seven in my room. We need to let Mia know we are coming, and she needs to let us know exactly where we can find her.”

John tried to sleep, but his mind was racing, and he had given up after a while. Instead, he spent the time researching Idlib, looking at photos and maps online to try to get an idea of what to expect. It was a small agricultural town once famed for its olive oil but now only occupied the news as one of the last strongholds of the Al Qaeda backed H.T.S. John skimmed through the photos of bombed-out streets and destroyed buildings, feeling increasingly worried about the task ahead. He wondered if he had bitten off more than he could chew but quickly forced the thought back down. He had been in tough situations before, times when he had almost lost hope, but he had pushed through and succeeded. He had to hope this would be the same.

There was a tap on the door, and he checked his watch, five to seven. He slid off the bed and opened the door to see Steve and Mansur waiting in the corridor.

Standing aside to let them in, he noted the strained look on Steve’s face.

“Did you get some sleep?”

“Nah.”

“Mansur?”

“No, I was watching TV.”

John waved to the single chair and the bed. “Make yourselves comfortable.”

Mansur took the chair while Steve perched on the corner of the bed. John sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard while Steve dialed Mia’s number.

“Put it on speaker.”

Steve tapped the screen, and they waited for the call to connect.

Nothing happened.

Steve tried again.

Nothing.

He looked up at John.

“It’s not going through.”

“Keep trying. Could be a network issue.”

Steve tried again... and again, but nothing happened.

“Fuck,” he cursed, then threw to phone down on the bed. “What do we do now?”

“It’s okay, Steve. There could be many reasons. No network, her battery flat...” John glanced at Mansur, then back to Steve. “We’ll keep trying every hour.”

Steve sighed, stood, and paced in front of the bed.

“What do we do? What if we can’t get hold of her before we leave here? We don’t know where she is. She doesn’t know we’re definitely coming.” He threw up his hands in frustration. “Shit, fuck, shit!”

John let him vent. Steve was right. What if they couldn’t get in touch with her? Would it be a wasted journey? He looked at Mansur, who had been watching calmly.

“What do you think, Mansur?”

Mansur brushed imaginary lint from the legs of his pants, took a deep breath, and said, “I think we should still try.”

Steve stopped pacing and looked at him.

“How will we find her?”

Mansur shrugged. “I don’t know, but if we stay here, we will never find her.” He glanced at John, then back at Steve. “Mr. Steve, we are doing something good. He will show us the way.”

“He? Oh…” Steve stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the carpet, then nodded.

“Okay, if you guys are happy to still proceed…” He looked up. “We’ve already come this far, so let’s do it.”

Mansur nodded. “I’m in.”

They both turned and looked at John.

John chewed his lip. After what he had seen on the internet, he wasn’t so bullish, but he couldn’t let his friend down. Hoping he wasn’t about to make the most stupid decision of his life, he nodded.

“I’m in.”

45

“Who is he?”

“He calls himself Abu Mujahid,” Naeem murmured as he rocked Malak. “He’s my new commander after Abu Qasim was martyred.”

Mia glanced across the room to where Abu Mujahid was sitting cross-legged on the floor, cleaning his weapon by the light of the single solar-powered lamp whose light failed to reach the corners of the room.

“He scares me.”

“Hmmm. He fought in Iraq before coming here.” Naeem nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on his baby daughter. “He’s a bit crazy. He believes Allah has made him bulletproof.”

“You knew about these women? Before?”

Naeem sighed. “Yes.”

“They are slaves, Naeem.”

“They are Al Sabayah. Prisoners of war.” Naeem shrugged, “It is allowed.”

“Allowed?” Mia looked at him in disbelief. “Allowed?” she asked again. “By whom? And besides, they are Muslim.”

“They are Yazidi, not true Muslims. They are kuffaar and worship the devil.”

Mia struggled to keep her voice down as her temper rose. She tried