by Mark Goodwin
“No, you cannot bring me pickup trucks. Either you wait until I can work it out or you take delivery without the antiaircraft guns. The price is the same either way.”
“I’m not paying for something I’m not getting. Get the anti-aircraft guns here by Wednesday or I’ll deduct it from the final payment.”
Tariq seemed to be enjoying the art of the negotiation more than Everett. He looked like he might have been fighting back a smile. Haggling over price was a pastime that had never caught on in the west as much as the middle east. “Okay. I have everything here on Wednesday afternoon.”
Everett shook the sheik's hand. “Nice doing business with you.”
Tariq held his grip firmly. “If the well doesn’t hold up, don’t come back, because I will kill you.”
Everett gripped the sheik’s hand even tighter. “That wouldn’t be wise. Then I wouldn’t be able to fix it for you.”
Tariq lost the battle over his smile. The corners of his mouth turned upwards as if he found Everett to be a worthy adversary. “I suppose this is true.”
“I’ll see you soon, Sheik.” Everett made his way back to the vehicles, giving keys to Ali, Courtney, Tobias, and Gideon.
He shook hands with Sadat. “The Chorokhi, the river that runs into the reservoir, is the same river that runs past our house. I think we’re going to take the back way home. I’m in no hurry to go back through Rize. Would you mind if Doruk drove the Mercedes back to your place? We can pick it up on our next visit.”
“Actually, I’ve been wondering what it would be like to drive it. I will get it back for you.” Sadat said with a smile which indicated he probably didn’t intend on driving it slowly.
Everett wasn’t about to stifle his fun. He passed him the keys. “Thanks. We’ll be in touch. When I give you a day and time, subtract three from each. That will add a layer of security to our communications.”
Sadat took the keys. “So, Thursday at 4:00 really means Monday at 1:00.”
“Precisely.” Everett waved and got into the driver’s seat of the Patrol parked at the head of the convoy. “Take care.”
CHAPTER 9
I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields.
Job 5:8-10
Everett waited impatiently Thursday afternoon by the Ham radio in Tobias’ bedroom. “I can’t believe this!”
Courtney sat on the floor in the corner of the room. “You can’t believe a criminal arms dealer who supplies weapons to the Martyrs of the Caliphate failed to keep his commitment?”
Her articulation of the predicament made him feel no better. Everett grunted. “I can’t believe that we’ve managed to have nearly 150,000 people ready to mobilize but instead of moving them, we’re stuck sitting here, essentially waiting on a phone call.”
“If we haven’t heard anything by sunset, we’ll modify the plan to work with what we’ve got.” Tobias stretched his hands behind his head.
“And cross desert with only five armor vehicle?” Ali’s voice was anxious.
Gideon stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned his shoulder against the desk where the radio was set up. “Most of the Jews who will be traveling with us have served in the Israeli Defense Force. We have enough pistols and rifles for all of them to have a weapon. Even if we don’t have the best armored vehicles, shoulder-fired weapons, or grenades, having that many shooters automatically makes us a hard target.”
“But MOC have all these things. Some Mullahs in this part of Turkey may see this many Jews trying to pass through their territory as an invasion.” Ali shook his head. “This is not good.”
“Although, today was the day Tariq originally said he’d have everything ready, right?” Courtney stretched out her legs on the floor. “He’s not exactly late.”
Everett clinched his jaw. “I explained that we had a deadline and he agreed to have everything together by yesterday. When he accepted those terms, he obligated himself to have the goods to us on time.”
The radio sprang to life. It was Sadat’s voice. “Meet me Sunday. Seven o’clock.”
Everett jumped up from the foot of Tobias’ bed and grabbed the mic. “Roger. See you then.”
“Sunday at seven?” Gideon looked like he was about to blow a pressure seal.
Everett put up a hand to calm the man. “It’s code. Sunday at seven means today at four. Go get the rest of the drivers. We need to be on the road in one hour.”
“We can do that.” Tobias tapped Gideon to ride with him. “Come on. Let’s go get the guys.”
“We’ll be waiting for you when you get back.” Everett helped Courtney up from the floor. “Let’s grab our gear.”
The two of them dashed across the street to get their assault packs and weapons. The additional ten drivers needed to get the armored vehicles back to Batumi lived nearby, so it wouldn’t take Tobias and Gideon long to collect them in the big Typhoon-K which was designed to accommodate up to nineteen troops.
Forty-five minutes later, Everett heard the horn out front. “That’s our ride.”
Courtney stuffed the rest of a sandwich in her mouth, grabbed her gear, and followed Everett out the door.
Tobias drove the vehicle, Everett sat up front in the passenger’s seat, and Gideon maned the remote control fifty-caliber machine gun. Even though this Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle offered a much higher level of security than the Mercedes, Everett still insisted on taking the back way and avoiding Rize, the small Turkish town where they’d been attacked before.
“Sadat is going to meet us at a bridge, roughly ten miles north of Ispir.” Everett looked his map over.
“Why is he coming?” Gideon asked.
Courtney dangled a black velvet bag filled with the remaining gemstones. “He’s gotta take his cut for setting this whole thing up.”
“A lifetime supply of drinking water isn’t sufficient payment for introducing us to a gun dealer?” Gideon sounded annoyed.
“It’s all a matter of perspective.” Everett smiled. “Those diamonds won’t be worth much in a few weeks from now anyway. Might as well put them to good use.”
The rugged back roads added an additional hour and a half to the trip, but they finally arrived at the bridge which took D050, the main artery running alongside the Chorokhi, from one side of the river to the other. The black Mercedes SUV that Everett had left with Sadat was parked on the side of the road, next to the bank of the river. Tobias pulled off the road and cut the engine beside the Mercedes.
Everett looked through his binoculars at the cliffs above. Seeing no threats, he exited the vehicle. Courtney and Ali followed him over to Sadat.
Everett nodded at Doruk who was behind the wheel and Sadat who was in the passenger’s seat. “I see you’re taking a liking to the Mercedes.”
“I am hoping you give to me for present.” Sadat smiled.
Everett laughed. “And what do I get?”
“Already you get many things,” the gangster replied.
“For which we’re paying a high price.” Courtney tossed the velvet pouch through the passenger’s window and into Sadat’s lap.
Sadat opened the pouch and stuck his loupe to his eye as he inspected several of the stones. “Water didn’t cost you anything.”
“It’s not about what it costs. It’s about what it’s worth.” Everett leaned on the top of Doruk’s door and looked in the window. “Otherwise, I might say it didn’t cost you anything to make our introduction to Tariq.”
Sadat selected the five largest stones and dropped them into his shirt pocket before pulling the drawstring of the pouch. “You negotiate like a true Turk.”
“I guess that’s a compliment.” Everett could only assume.
“Follow me. Tariq will be waiting.” Sadat rolled up his window as Doruk put the Mercedes in gear.
Everett, Courtney, and Ali returned to the MRAP which followed Sa
dat’s vehicle.
They weaved along the narrow road which snaked through dry mountains jetting up on both sides of the thoroughfare. They came to a stretch which had a wide enough shoulder to park several vehicles on, and that’s exactly what the sheik had done. Everett could see the sheik’s gold Bentley parked at the head of a long line of military vehicles. Everett counted fifteen vehicles but only three trailers pulling anti-aircraft guns. “Looks like we’re gonna be renegotiating.”
Once again, Everett checked the overlooking cliffs before getting out of the Typhoon. This time, he spotted no less than five snipers. “We’ve got more attendees than were on the guest list.”
“Party crashers. How tacky.” Courtney flipped off the safety of her AR-15.
“This is Tariq people,” Ali said. “Always he have people to make secure.”
Everett watched from the cab as Sadat got out and handed the black pouch to Tariq, then scanned the snipers on the cliff to watch what they would do. They didn’t move, so Everett deduced that Ali might be right. He rolled down his window and pointed up at the snipers. “Are these your men, Sheik?”
Tariq made a shallow bow. “For your security.”
“And yours, I’m sure,” Everett replied.
“Tobias, keep the engine running. Courtney, stay on the fifty-cal in case we have trouble. Ali, Gideon, come with me.” Everett took one last look at the snipers before stepping out of the truck.
Tariq passed Everett the keys to the vehicles. “All the weapons are in the back of the armored vehicles.”
“We seem to be short two anti-aircraft guns.”
“I told you those were going to be a problem.”
“You told me getting the trailers was an issue.”
“Yes, well, anyway, I threw in twenty fully-automatic AK-47s to make up the difference. I was sure you wouldn’t mind.”
“I do mind. Keep the AKs and give me back fifteen carats in diamonds.” Everett held his hand out.
“No, my friend. It does not work like that.”
“So how does it work? Because I’m not sitting back while you hand me the short end of the stick.”
“I have Imam not 200 kilometers from here, in Erzurum, who will buy all of these things, no questions asked.”
“And he’s going to pay you with diamonds as good as those?” Everett gestured toward the black pouch in Tariq’s hand.
The sheik tucked the pouch into the pocket of his jeans. “It doesn’t matter. I already have the diamonds. The only question now is whether you will accept delivery of your merchandise.”
“You think we’d just let you walk away with both?” Everett pulled his HK rifle hanging over his shoulder around to the front.
The sheik shook his finger. And looked up at the cliffs above. “You understand the concept of mutually assured destruction, I’m sure.”
Everett looked up to see a glint of sunlight reflecting off the scope of a rifle pointed directly at him. “I guess we’ll accept your altered arrangement without our prior consent.”
“I thought you might.” The sheik offered a sour smile.
Everett turned to the Typhoon and held up the keys to the other vehicles, signaling for the drivers to come out and take them.
Everyone but Tobias filed out of the MRAP they’d come in. Everett handed out keys which were on labeled key tags indicating which vehicle they belonged too. “I’ll take the lead truck back to Batumi. Tobias will head up the rear. They should all have radios and everyone knows what channel to use, but don’t break radio silence unless it’s an emergency. If your radio doesn’t work and you need to stop, blow your horn. That will stop the convoy.”
“Thanks, boss.” Courtney faked a salute as she took a set of keys.
Everett forced a smile. “You stay right behind me. I want to know where you’re at.”
He handed a set of keys to Ali. “You stay directly behind Courtney and keep an eye on her.”
“Yes, Everett.”
Once all the keys had been distributed, Everett walked over to the Mercedes where Tariq was saying his goodbyes to Sadat.
“Everything is acceptable, my friend?” Tariq asked.
“I guess it’ll just have to be,” Everett said with less than a smile. He quickly looked away from the sheik and directed his attention to Sadat. “We’ll see you soon. Thank you for your help.”
“Yes, Everett.” Sadat smiled.
BOOM!
A blast from behind shoved Everett, face first, into the frame of the car door causing him to see stars. His ears were deaf and his nose throbbed like he’d been punched in the face. He regained his balance and looked around to assess what had just happened. “Courtney!” he yelled but he could barely hear himself.
He looked at the long line of military vehicles. The third vehicle away from him was gone. Only a smoldering pot hole remained. The vehicle behind it was missing the windshield, blown backward several feet into the next vehicle, and burning with fire. The MRAP in front of the missing vehicle lay on its side, with fuel running out of the tank and toward the flames coming from under the engine.
With his right hand, Everett pulled his rifle around front, and with his left, he grabbed the sheik by the collar of his sports coat. “You set us up!”
The sheik looked at Everett angrily. “Are you stupid, man? Do you think I would set off a bomb that close to myself?”
“Maybe it went off earlier than it was supposed to.”
Tariq turned his head away from the barrel of Everett’s rifle. “It was a Reaper.”
Everett considered the possibility of what the sheik was saying.
Tariq pointed up. “It is probably recalculating right now and preparing to launch another Hellfire missile. We need to stop arguing and get inside the tunnel!”
His concern for Courtney forced Everett to let go of the sheik’s jacket. “You better not be lying to me.”
Everett turned and ran, “Courtney!”
He looked at the drivers of each vehicle until he saw her. She was jumping out of the truck with her rifle.
He pointed at the cab of her truck. “Get back in the vehicle and race to the tunnel. I think it was a drone attack.”
She nodded and complied. Everett ran to the truck which corresponded to his key. He quickly set the radio frequency and picked up the mic. “We’ve got a Reaper overhead dropping Hellfire missiles. Everyone to the tunnel!”
He saw a brief flash of light fall from the sky in his rearview mirror right before a vehicle behind him exploded, disabling the MRAPs in front and back of it. He threw the Patrol in gear and pressed the accelerator to the floor, racing behind Courtney toward the tunnel. Once inside, he called her over the radio. “Keep going until you’re at least a hundred yards inside the tunnel. We’ve gotta make sure the others have room to get in!”
Everett watched his rearview as five more of the Russian military vehicles followed him into the tunnel. He put the truck in neutral and put on the parking brake. He left the motor idling as he ran over to Courtney’s vehicle. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Who got hit?”
Everett looked ahead to see Tariq’s Bentley parked next to the Mercedes. He looked at the row of green trucks behind him but couldn’t make out who the drivers were.
A third explosion from outside rattled the walls of the tunnel. Everett reached across Courtney’s lap and called over the radio. “Tobias, are you in the tunnel?”
“Roger.” His voice came back.
“Gideon, are you in?”
Tobias answered again. “Gideon was in the first truck that got hit.”
Everett’s stomach sank. He hurt for Gideon, and for his young widow, Dinah, who had no idea that her husband had just passed from this life to the next. Everett was consoled by the fact that the two would be reunited in a few short weeks.
“Ali! Are you inside?”
No answer came.
“Tobias, did you see Ali?”
“No. I’m going to do a count
and see how many trucks are inside. I’ll look for Ali also. I’ll call you right back.”
“Thanks.” Everett passed the mic to Courtney and walked up to Sadat’s vehicle. Tariq, his driver, and two guards were in the Bentley. Tariq was nursing a wound on his forehead with a paper towel.
Everett looked at Sadat. “Have you seen Ali since the blast? He’s not responding to the radio call.”
“No! Not Ali!” Sadat protested angrily.
Tariq yelled from his Bentley. “We’re leaving.”
“They’ve only fired three missiles. They probably have one more,” Everett warned.
Tariq took the first-aid kit handed to him by one of his guards. “Reaper is probably carrying four Hellfire missiles and two Paveway laser-guided bombs. Paveway is 500-pound bomb. They can seal us in the tunnel with that. I’d rather take my chances outrunning one Hellfire than to be sealed in here like a corpse in a coffin.”
Everett understood his reasoning but knew the convoy would never outmaneuver a Hellfire missile. Everett turned to Sadat. “What are you going to do?”
Sadat looked at Doruk. “I don’t know.”
“Take my advice, leave while you can.” With that caveat, Tariq rolled up his window as his driver gunned the engine, propelling the gold Bentley toward the opposite side of the tunnel.
Half of a minute later, Everett heard a fourth explosion from the side Tariq had just exited. He doubted that the shiny easy-to-spot Bentley had been successful in its contest against the unmanned aerial vehicle above.
Seconds later, another blast rattled the ground beneath Everett’s knees and nearly knocked him off his feet. The light from the far end of the tunnel dimmed.
BOOM! An identical explosion from the same direction cut off the last light from that side of the tunnel. Everett raced back to Courtney’s truck. He picked up the mic. “Tobias! Any sign of Ali?”
“He was in the truck behind Gideon’s”
Everett’s heart stopped again. “Is he . . .”
“No. He’s alive, but he’s got some injuries. He just stumbled into the tunnel on foot.”
