by Jo Black
‘Hah!’ The Butcher snorted. ‘You are a terrible liar. He doesn’t care. He wants his fucking money. He always wants his fucking money...’
‘He did mention payment was due, yes.’
‘Of course he did! He knows I’m going to cut your fucking head off and shit down your throat, but he doesn’t care. You are not getting the money until I get my shipment.’
‘Then it is likely if you don’t, then it is he who will cut off my head and shit down my throat as you so eloquently put it.’
‘Don’t worry my friend,’ The Butcher grabbed The Broker’s leg firmly. We are going to keep you alive for now, at least until someone gives me my fucking guns and explosives.’
‘That’s reassuring.’
‘You are negotiator. You will negotiate. For me. If you make good deal, who knows, maybe I just keep you and fuck you like my little bitch.’
‘No shitting in the throat?’
‘If you make good deal, there will be no shitting in the throat. Allah is my witness.’
‘Then on balance a good deal and the buggery would be a preferable outcome.’
‘See, you are good negotiator.’ He spoke to his colleagues and they laughed briefly before the petrol tanker travelling in front of them jack-knifed across the road exploding in a huge fireball, spilling a river of burning fuel across the road. The convoy came to a smoking halt. ‘Back up, quickly!’ The Butcher ordered. ‘Davai! Davai!’ They quickly slapped into reverse. Two white streaks flew over them before impacting into the following truck; it swerved before crashing into the side of the mountain and spilling onto its side blocking their retreat. The Butcher looked at the options, he checked out either side of the car, mountain on one, Caspian Sea on the other. ‘Put us in the fucking water. Quickly!’ He ordered his driver.
‘You crazy?’
‘Yes I’m fucking crazy, if you want to live put us in the fucking water!’ Before the driver had time to respond the Hind gunship crabbed sideways from behind the burning tanker in a wide arc and hovered level with the road over the sea. Rockets streaked from the pods exploding the front and rear convoy guard vehicles into fireballs. ‘Okay. So now we’re fucked...’ The Butcher said. ‘You see? If you had done what I asked, when I asked then we’d be in the fucking sea not sat here with fingers up our asses waiting to get fucked.’ Without pause he put his pistol to the driver’s head and shot him. He turned to The Broker. ‘You will negotiate. Get out the fucking car.’
‘What?’
‘With them. You will negotiate with them. How much it costs for me to go free. I stay here. Go on. Fuck off. Do your job. Davai! Come on!’ He roughly shoved The Broker out of the passenger door. ‘And put your fucking hands up so they don’t shoot you before the negotiating starts!’ The Butcher slammed the car door shut. ‘Cyka Blyat! Fucking durak...’
The Broker stepped away from the car with his hands in the air. He waved his white handkerchief to indicate his surrender. The Hind moved forward and hovered over the roof of the car. Rappel lines dropped out of either side and the assault team exited and surrounded the vehicle on all sides. The Hind then moved off to land beyond the burning fuel tanker.
‘Hello,’ Nish said.
‘I’m the negotiator. My client would like to negotiate terms for his release.’
‘Aye. I bet he would,’ Nish replied to a laugh from the rest of his men.
‘I would like to inform you, in the most diplomatic way possible, and without any personal malice on my behalf, that both my employer and client are men of considerable means with a reputation to punish transgressions against their interests. I would advise you, or whoever you represent, to consider the consequences of the actions you are taking.’
‘Aye. We’ve done that.’
‘And...’
‘We don’t give a fuck. Fifty million.’
‘I fear, that is a little high for my client. Shall we say five?’
‘Fifty million.’
‘Ten?’
‘Fifty-fuckin-million. Are you deaf bawbag?’
‘No, I’m negotiating. You see, how this works is you say a big number, I say a small number, and we meet somewhere in the middle.’
‘Aye, I know what a fucking negotiation is princess, and the price is still fifty-fuckin-million. But it’s going to go up every minute you carry on negotiating. That fucking helicopter doesn’t run on fresh air. We’re racking up expenses here wee man. Tell your man fifty million.’
‘Or what?’
‘Or we fucking kill the pair of you’se and take the fifty million anyways. How’s that for negotiation eh ducky?’
‘I’ll make the proposal.’ The Broker returned to the car. The Butcher lowered the window. ‘He wants fifty million.’
‘That is your negotiation? Tell him nothing and I maybe let him live.’
“I don’t feel at this precise moment we are in a position to strike that bargain.’
‘Tell him.’ The window went up. The Broker returned.
‘He doesn’t really feel that fifty million is a deal he can go for, however he has proposed that...’
‘Go on...’ Nish said with a nod.
‘He’ll pay you nothing and let you live.’ There was a laugh and a cheer from Nish’s men.
‘That’s generous of him. Can he fucking see what’s going on here through those tinted windows? Your client is not Stevie-fuckin-Wonder now is he? Maybe he can get his guide dog out here to have a sniff about and report back. Appraise him of the shit he’s up to his neck in right about now.’
‘That’s the offer.’
‘You’re new at this aren’t you?’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Just a feeling. Well, I’ll tell my boss, but as a negotiator I can tell you he’s nae gonna like your offer. He’s probably going to shove it right on up your Oxford-educated arse so he is.’ Nish walked away and got on the radio. A brief exchange then he returned. ‘Now you’re really fucked.’ He nodded towards the tanker. Alex walked straight through the burning blaze armed with a carbine.
‘Who is that?’
‘It’s the fucking tooth fairy, who the fuck do you think it is?’ Nish replied as Alex approached. ‘Good luck in your negotiation eh sweetie...’ Nish said with a smirk and stood back. Alex walked over to The Broker.
‘We seem to be at an impasse, perhaps you could resolve it.’
‘I can do that. I’m a reasonable man. You work for David Smythe.’
‘Yes.’
Alex nodded. ‘Well, it seems we’ve made a terrible mistake then.’
‘I fear you may of.’
‘Tell me, where’s the money?’
‘It’s still in the client’s possession. He hasn’t honoured payment.’
‘I want you to give a message to Smythe.’
‘Gladly. If it will help resolve this current situation.’
Alex nodded at one of his men. He took a large case and walked over to the burning river of fuel, he dipped what appeared to be a branding iron into it. ‘Smythe has something that belongs to me, now I have something that belonged to him. But what he has, he should not have taken, what I have, he should not have been selling here and he knows it. I want you to tell him that I’m coming for what belongs to me, and if any harm comes to it, I will burn his house to the ground with him in it. Are we understood?’
‘Yes. I believe so. And whom may I tell him the message is from?’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll sign it.’ Two of Alex’s men grabbed The Broker and pinned him to the bonnet. They pinned his face down facing towards The Butcher, one of the men handed Alex the branding iron. He leaned over and stamped it hard onto The Broker’s right cheek, who screamed with agony as the hot metal seared his flesh. The Butcher watched on through the window. Alex backed off. The black charred outline of a tribal dragon was branded onto the Broker’s face. ‘Negotiation is over. You can go now. The airport is that way.’ Alex pointed back down the road. The Broker seized his opportunity and st
aggered off down the road.
‘Well unlike an email I bet that one’s not going in the spam folder...’ Nish wisecracked.
‘Get him out,’ Alex ordered. The team stood back as one of them opened the door.
‘Go fuck yourself.’
‘You can get out or I can torch the car with you in it. Your choice.’
Reluctantly The Butcher got out of the car. He gave them each a look of disdain then turned around to face Alex. ‘I’ve heard about you.’
‘Then you’ll know your reputation doesn’t worry me in the slightest.’
‘The Kremlin’s little bitch.’
‘They pay well. What does Allah give you?’
The Butcher shrugged. Alex nodded for Nish to open the car’s trunk. He opened the tailgate to reveal the locked safe. ‘Why should I open it? You’re going to kill me anyway.’
‘You can take a very long time to die, as The Butcher you know better than anyone what we can do,’ Alex replied.
‘And if I open it?’
‘Five point five-six to the back of your skull. Express one-way trip to your virgins. More than you deserve, but I’m a man of my word.’
‘No deal.’
‘I could hand you over to the Kremlin. Fortunately for you, you’ve caught me in a moment where my allegiances can be bought for a fair price.’
‘And what price to let me go?’
‘What do you have?’
‘Information.’
‘What could you possibly have of value?’
‘A life for a life. My life. For your life.’
‘We’re holding all the guns.’
‘For now. Don’t you want to know who sold you out? That little reception committee we arranged for you at the market.’
‘What makes you think I can’t find out by myself?’
‘Perhaps you can.’
‘What do you want?’
“You can keep the money, from what I hear you will not live long enough to spend it, and our friends in Saudi Arabia will happily send more to help us in our cause. And your word you will not kill me.’
‘In return for?’
‘Your betrayer. They offered me money to kill you. What you have to ask now, is which one of these fuckpigs-’ The Butcher gestured at Alex’s men ‘sold out your location to me.’
‘We already know. It was Danilov.’
‘At the market, but who told me you were still alive after that little deception? How do you think I knew to have the helicopter waiting? Don’t you want to know what is waiting for you back at your Castle?’
Alex’s eyes darted around each of his men then back to The Butcher. ‘You’re lying.’
‘And if I’m not? It is always the closest to you that will get the easiest opportunity to kill you.’
‘We should kill this scum now Alex, he’s a liar,’ Nish said.
‘Perhaps it is him...’
Nish immediately drew his pistol; in response Alex raised his carbine and pointed it at Nish. ‘Stay that weapon soldier. I won’t ask you a second time.’
‘You know he’s lying Alex. This is what he fucking does. We don’t make deals with Chechens.’
‘No. We don’t. But we do want to get paid. Who here wants to get paid? There’s fifty million in the trunk of that car. You want your pockets lined?’ Alex asked his men.
‘We should take the money Nish, let the boss make the deal.’
Nish shook his head and took a deep breath. ‘How easily men are corrupted by the prospect of gold.’
The Butcher smiled. ‘Don’t feel so bad. If you cannot trust your brothers, whom can you trust? I have your word.’
‘You have my word. I won’t kill you, neither will any man in the employment of my company. Your other enemies are your own. Agreed?’
‘Agreed.’ Alex walked round to follow The Butcher to the rear of the car. As he passed Nish stopped him. ‘You know he’s lying.’
Alex looked at Nish. ‘You’re fired Nish.’
‘You motherfuc...’ Nish trailed off and laughed in disbelief as Alex walked round to the back of the car. ‘I’m fired?’ He stood aghast as he let it sink in. ‘On what grounds?’
Alex shook his head. ‘For being unbelievably thick.’ The Butcher tapped in the code to the safe and placed his thumbprint on the scanner, followed by speaking the passphrase for the voice lock. The steel door opened. Alex checked through the bearer bonds. He nodded at two of his men to unload the cases and take them back to the helicopter. ‘And the information?’
‘A deal is a deal right?’
‘I’m a man of my word.’
‘Your sponsor sold you out.’
‘Because of Radic?’
‘That is what he will tell you. He made a deal with Smythe. They are involved in a joint enterprise it seems that he believes the taking of your woman will compromise you in. He no longer trusts you.’
‘And who sold us out?’
‘You have a pen?’ Alex took a notepad out of his pocket and a pen. The Butcher wrote down a name and handed it back to Alex. He put it in his pocket. ‘Is it who you expected?’
‘Pretty much. Well, a deal is a deal. What you do in Chechnya is your own affair. I’m impartial to the politics of the matter, since I’m no longer in the paid service of your enemies, you are free to go.’
‘That’s it?’
‘Goodbye. May Allah bless your path to the afterlife.’ Alex walked back towards the helicopter, he whistled his men to fall in and follow. As he reached Nish he stopped.
‘What do you mean I’m thick?’
‘Why do I have to spell everything out for you? Why can’t you just work things out? You are a thick Scottish...I promised him no harm would come to him from my men. And you, well you’re fired. I don’t speak for your actions...’ Nish nodded. The penny dropped. Alex sighed. ‘How the fuck did you ever get a job in army intelligence...’ Alex walked off shaking his head.
The Butcher laughed. He put a middle finger up at Nish. ‘Fuck you friend. See you in hell!’
‘Aye. All right then! And seeing as it’s you, I’m gonnae use a fuckin’ knife.’ Nish dropped his gun and removed his knife from his combat webbing and walked towards The Butcher.
‘Wait. Stop. We had a deal!’
Alex stopped. ‘I said me or any man in my employment. I fired him. He’s not my problem now. He’s yours...’ Alex retreated back to the helicopter.
‘Come to daddy sweetie.’ Nish grinned.
‘Okay. You want to play with the Butcher, with the knife. I’m going to shove that blade up your fucking ass. We see who daddy really is here bitch.’
‘That’s the spirit...’
The Butcher let out a yell and charged like a bull at Nish. Nish dodged out of the way.
‘You want to fucking go, let’s fucking go!’ The Butcher ripped his shirt off. ‘You see this ink?’ he pointed at his prison tattoos. ‘This is who I am! Who the fuck are you!’ He charged at Nish again. Nish parried him and slotted the knife vertically down through the side of The Butcher’s shoulder next to his neck. The Butcher fell to his knees clutching his wound. Nish stood over, looked down and smiled at him.
‘I’m the Angel of Death’s little helper...’ Nish twisted the knife and pulled it round The Butcher’s throat. The Butcher gagged briefly then collapsed forward. Nish continued to pull around the knife until The Butcher’s head was completely severed. Nish wiped the knife on his leg and replaced it in his webbing. He walked over and picked up his carbine as the Hind swept around the tanker and came to a rest low down over the sea adjacent to the road’s crash barrier.
Alex leaned out the cargo door and yelled at Nish. ‘Do you want a job?’
Nish smiled. ‘Aye. Alright then...’
‘Get in the fucking chopper then. You’re hired.’ Alex held out a hand.
Nish picked up The Butcher’s severed head and tossed it into the cargo hold. ‘Here I know you like to collect these.’ He grabbed Alex’s hand, Alex pulled him on b
oard. ‘You had me going for a minute there...’
‘Like I said, you’re thick.’
Nish grinned. ‘So whose name was on the paper?’ Alex took it out and handed it to him. Nish’s name was written on it. ‘You didn’t believe him?’
‘No I believed him, that’s what he was told to say.’ Alex replied.
‘Who by?’
‘Who do you think?’
‘The Sponsor. He knows he can’t kill us. So he tries to get us to kill each other...’
‘He doesn’t know us very well, does he?’
‘No. He doesn’t...’
15
The Hind landed at “The Castle”: A disused airfield in the Azerbaijan desert. Alex’s Quartermaster was busy packing up the last of their expedition camp as the vehicles were loaded onto a large Antonov AN-124 cargo plane. Alex made his way to the accounts tent. ‘Where do we stand?’
‘Everything is packed bar the helicopter.’
‘How long?’
‘They’ll work quickly. Thirty minutes.’
‘Good, we need to be out of Azerbaijan airspace in sixty minutes or we’re likely to get shot down. Is the jet fuelled?’
‘Ready for wheels up. Did you recover the bonds?’ The Quartermaster asked.
Alex nodded at his men. They handed them over. ‘You need to get us the best price you can, we’re not going to get paid by The Sponsor so we need to make ends meet until we can figure this out.’
‘Well, with the arms and bonds, we’re reasonably well covered. We could use some contingency funds though.’
‘How much will we get for this?’ Nish asked holding up The Butcher’s head.
‘Is that who I think it is?’
‘Aye, it is.’
‘Well, there is a sizeable bounty for him from various benefactors. I can look at making a claim, unless you want to cash it in for political gain.’
‘Take the cash. The Kremlin’s currency is worthless to us in our current predicament,’ Alex responded.
‘Better put it on ice then, we’ll get a better price if it’s preserved for someone’s trophy cabinet.’
