Payback - John Hayes Series 06 (2020), стр. 9
“Well, hopefully, my contact can help,” Adriana replied. “We can call him soon. He was just heading back to his apartment when I messaged him.”
“Okay, let’s wait until we’ve spoken to him. He may have some ideas on who can help get her out.”
Maadhavi walked back in with two cups, passing one to Adriana. “Try this.”
Adriana took the cup and moved it back and forth beneath her nose, inhaling the fragrance from the steaming cup.
“What’s this? It smells wonderful. Cardamom?”
“Yes.” Maadhavi grinned. “Try it.”
Adriana took a sip and looked up, her eyebrows raised. “Wow.”
John chuckled. “Masala chai. India can’t function without it.”
“It’s delicious. I’ve had a chai latte before, but this is so much better.”
“Yes.” Maadhavi nodded as she sipped from her cup. “What they give you in the cafés in the west is nothing like a proper homemade chai. I crush the cardamom myself and add lemongrass.”
“You must teach me.”
“Of course.” Maadhavi smiled and reached over to squeeze Adriana’s hand.
John glanced at his watch. “We have about fifteen minutes. Let’s see what else we can find out before the call.”
15
The screen flickered, and a face appeared, a youngish man, close-cropped hair, a deep crease in his forehead, black smudges under his eyes. He appeared to be in a living room, a bookshelf behind him and the edge of a map pinned to the wall could just be seen in the edge of the screen.
“Craig?”
“Yes, and you must be Adriana?” His voice had a slight Scottish burr.
“Yes. Thank you for agreeing to speak to us.” Adriana stepped back from the screen. “I have some others here with me. John, Steve, and Maadhavi.”
“Hi.”
“Hi, Craig.”
“Did João explain why we were calling?”
“He did. There’s a girl and her child you want to get out of Syria.”
“That’s right, and we wanted to get some information about what’s going on there and maybe some ideas on how to get her out.”
Craig sighed. “It won’t be easy.” He reached for something off-screen, and his hand came back holding a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. He tapped out a cigarette and lit it, took a puff, then blew a cloud of smoke up and to the side. “Do you know where she is?”
“Craig, John here. She’s in a place called Sarmin, just southwest of Idlib.”
Craig’s frown grew deeper, and he took another drag from his cigarette. “I know the area. There’s been a lot of fighting there. Not a safe place to be.”
“Who’s fighting who?”
Craig gave a half-smile. “How much do you know about the war in Syria?”
They all shook their heads.
“Not much,” John replied.
“Okay. It’s complicated...”
“Just give us the easy version as it relates to where she is.”
Craig nodded, blowing smoke into the air.
“Forget anything you’ve read in the press about it being a freedom struggle. It may have started like that for some people, but in reality, it’s all about regime change. On one side, you have the Syrian Government. On the other, you have groups of Islamist rebels.”
“ISIS?” Steve asked.
“No, not officially.” Craig shook his head. “ISIS, ISIL, Daesh, whatever you want to call them, controlled the southeastern part of Syria, but they’ve been effectively driven out. In Idlib province, you have several factions operating under the umbrella of Al Qaeda.”
“Al Qaeda? But I thought the bad guys were the Syrian Government?” a puzzled Steve asked.
Craig stubbed his cigarette butt in an ashtray just out of shot and shook his head.
“When you’ve seen what I’ve seen over the years, you’ll realize there are no good guys or bad guys. It’s war.”
John leaned forward. “So, this place, ahh Sarmin, is under the control of Al Qaeda?”
“Technically H.T.S., Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. Before that, they called themselves the Al Nusrah Front. But yes, the name changes, but it’s still Al Qaeda.”
John nodded slowly. “And they are fighting the Syrian army.”
“Yes, they are up against the Syrian Army, which is backed by Russia.”
“Russia?”
“Assad invited Russia to help him in driving out ISIS and Al Qaeda from Syria. They’ve pretty much succeeded. Idlib province is one of the last remaining areas under rebel control.”
“So, where does Turkey come into it? Before this call, I read online, the Turkish Army is engaged in fighting, too.”
Craig picked up the cigarette packet again. “This is what I meant about complicated.” He tapped out another cigarette. “The Al Qaeda aligned forces are supported by Turkey and other NATO members, including the U.S.”
John looked across at Steve, his eyebrows raised.
Craig continued, his cigarette held unlit between nicotine-stained fingers. “All these western powers used the uprising during the Arab Spring to push forward their idea of regime change, so they could gain control of Syrian oil and destroy Iran’s only ally in the Middle East. They, with the help of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, funded, trained, and supported Al Qaeda and ISIS as a means to get their own ends. But...” He paused to light the cigarette. “Now it’s not going their way, they’ve stepped back, leaving Turkey to shoulder the brunt of the action.”
“But why would Turkey want the Islamists to succeed? Isn’t Turkey a secular nation?”
“Yes, Adriana, and so was Syria. But the current ruling party is a Muslim Brotherhood party, and they have the same political ideology as Al Qaeda. They would love an Islamic State next door.”
“Nightmare.”
“Yup, ahh, John.” Craig puffed on his cigarette. “It’s unlikely to be sorted out anytime soon. Not while there is money to be made and power to be gained. Meanwhile, we have over three million people in the Idlib region alone who are suffering, who have lost their homes, and have nothing to eat. It’s a shit show if you’ll pardon my French.”
Silence fell as they digested this depressing information while Craig smoked his cigarette.
Steve spoke first. “So, what do we do about Mia?”
“Mia is the girl? Who is she to you?”
“My niece.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
Steve just nodded.
Craig rubbed his face with his free hand. “Look, I will be honest