CHAPTER 12
Abu was feeling the tension. His appetite for food had slowed and he found he had a tendency to pick at portions, rather than his normal whole hearted attacks on large plates.
It was midnight and he sat in his large overstuffed chair staring at the plate of food untouched on his desk. He wondered if maybe he should have gone home, but immediately understood why he hadn’t.
He felt more secure here in the ministry with the troops and guards watching his back for him. His nervousness was almost at a point where he might pack a suitcase and escape the country with what cash he had. The fact he had only about $100,000 American in his safe was the anchor that held him fast.
He had much more in his country’s currency, but it was almost valueless off shore.
There were of course, the diamonds and a small amount of gold which might bring another $500,000 U.S. That amount would not bring to him the lifestyle he desired, even when added to his quarter share of previous misappropriations which was tucked away in a Swiss bank account.
Access to that account needed four signatures. His and the ministers aligned, thus giving him a quarter share, and that depended on all of them surviving long enough to sign.
Abu had pleaded with them to make changes to this arrangement. “It was stupid.” He’d argued. “Even if one of the ministers aligned did not survive. Those who did may have to wait years for proof of his demise before their access to the account was allowed. Particularly in a country like this where it was easy to prove a disappearance. People vanished every day. The fact they weren’t there anymore was proof enough they had disappeared. Proving that a vanished person was dead was a different thing altogether.”
Abu understood his partners in crimes reasoning. It was a very basic form of insurance against unforeseen accidents.
Access to the money was important, but not as important as surviving long enough to actually spend it.
That’s the problem with the world these days. No one trusts anymore. He thought quietly.
The six hundred-thousand-dollar quarter share seemed to be a trivial amount compared to the $32.6m, minus of course, Sudovich’s share of 25%. He calculated and came up with a figure of around $24m.
That sounded better.
It would have to be enough.
He was despondent at the loss he would incur when he escaped. His house in Freetown, his Mercedes Benz and particularly the mansion he’d had built in the countries interior. It had become a very personal place where he’d felt at home and far from the world and its trouble. He was stuck as the English say, ‘between a rock and a hard place.’
He wondered at his lack of recall as he rubbed his fingertips into his brow. Was the stress of the situation beginning to affect his concentration? If so, was it also the reason behind his recent mood swings and lethargy? He was unsure, but with thought he diagnosed the symptoms. They would have to be viewed as small hurdles, rather than road blocks lying on the path to his overall success wouldn’t they?
Success should only be about two weeks away, and he wondered how far away would the rebel army be by then?
He hoped they’d be far enough away to allow the ministers aligned enough time to unknowingly sign over their shares to him.
‘The ministers aligned’ was his pet name for his accomplices who would sign the necessary papers and allow the $32.6m to go through the proper channels.
For their cooperation they expected their full and fair share. Abu tried to picture their shock and anger when they learned the truth.
Abu and the ministers aligned went back to the very beginning. Back to the time when all four of them joined Axele the outlaw, who had become Axele the revolutionary. Each one of them had played their part for Axele. So well that in the end they had won a bloody coup and been rewarded a place in the countries government.
Each one of them owed to each other his life many times over during those dangerous days. The bond between them had been strong, but to Abu not so strong that it could not be severed by the vast fortune which was almost in hand.
CHAPTER 13