The Devil's Kingdom
Khosa made a kind of gurgling sound and rolled his eyes.
‘What are we going to do with him?’ Rae said to Jude.
Jude shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’
Tarik Al Bu Said stepped over a dead cop and knelt down to pick the diamond off the floor. Only now was Ben able to take a good look at the Arab. The ferocious glint in his eyes was gone and he looked as tender as a deer as he gazed mournfully at his brother’s diamond.
‘I don’t understand,’ Ben says. ‘What happened here? You’re more than Hussein Al Bu Said’s brother. Who are you?’
Tarik turned his sad gaze on Ben and held it for a long moment. Then he stood and motioned towards the warehouse doorway.
‘Come. Let us speak outside.’
Chapter 62
They stepped over the dead bodies near the doorway. Tarik paused momentarily to look down at the corpse of the man who had killed his brother. Ben followed him into the dull, hot afternoon sun.
Outside where they could talk away from the others, Tarik turned to Ben. ‘I do not know your name.’
‘Ben Hope.’
‘I am Captain Tarik Al Bu Said of the Sultan’s Special Forces, attached to the Cobra counterterror unit. A man must do something for a living, even if he does belong to one of the richest dynastic families in Oman.’
The way the man moved, the way he held himself, Ben wasn’t surprised by that information. ‘Your people know my people,’ he said. ‘We trained together, SSF and SAS. I don’t believe you and I ever met personally. I’ve been out of it for a good few years.’
Tarik gave a small smile. ‘I knew, the moment I saw you, that there was something. Men of our kind, we always recognise one another. We are like a hidden tribe, united across all nationalities by our creed. Within the wider world, we inhabit a much smaller one, do we not? An underworld world of shadows, of secrets, and of contacts. Without contacts, there is nothing.’
‘That’s true enough,’ Ben said, and thought about his own contacts that had enabled him to save his son’s life. The billionaire, Kaprisky. The specialist in Stuttgart, Rudi Weinschlager. Chimp Chalmers, the crooked arms dealer with connections all over Africa.
‘I am on compassionate leave following the death of my brother,’ Tarik went on. ‘I was overseas, though I am not at liberty to say where, when I heard the news, and flew home immediately. But I did not intend to spend that time mourning alone in a room. Instead, I made other plans, and to execute these plans I drew on these contacts of which we speak. As well as some personal ones. My family’s money makes anything possible. I would not spare any expense, however great, to find my brother’s killer.’
Tarik took out the diamond, weighing it in his hand. ‘What do you know of this thing?’
‘Very little,’ Ben said. ‘Only that men will do a lot of bad things to own it.’
‘It is the lost half of the Great Star of Africa, sibling of the famous diamond that now makes up part of the British Crown Jewels,’ Tarik said. ‘It was discovered in 1905, in a private mine in Pretoria. Four thousand carats, the largest stone of its kind ever seen. A legend, since many experts do not believe in its existence, and those who do have heard no more than rumours. The only thing they can agree upon is that, if it did exist, it would be priceless.’
Tarik paused, gazing at it.
‘Only a fool would think this way, of course. There is nothing in the world, no matter how valuable, that cannot be reduced to a price. This diamond has been in my family for generations. It was purchased in a secret auction in 1938 by my great-grandfather, Farouk Al Bu Said, may he rest in peace, for the sum of nearly thirty-seven million American dollars. Today its value is over seven hundred million.’ Tarik shrugged. ‘Just numbers.’
‘But big ones,’ Ben said.
‘Oh, yes. Although, if you had said that to my brother, he would have laughed. He was much too lax about security, and I often told him so. The evening the robbery took place, all three of his security men were absent from their posts because Hussein had given them the night off. One of them, Jermar, was celebrating his fortieth birthday, and they had all gone into Salalah to enjoy themselves.’
Ben raised an eyebrow. ‘The same night? A coincidence?’
Tarik motioned with his finger. ‘We think alike, you and I. As it turns out, it was not. As I said, in order to hunt my brother’s killers I drew on my professional contacts. I assembled a small team of men, the very best. We abducted all three of Hussein’s security men. We tortured them.’ Tarik Al Bu Said related this quite openly, in a matter-of-fact tone, as though torture was an everyday part of ordinary life. ‘Two were innocent, one was not. His name was Riad. He is dead now, of course, and his end was not comfortable. Before he died, he confessed that he had been paid to leak the information that my brother’s home would be unguarded that night. The man who paid for that information was an American former soldier of fortune, who went by a number of aliases.’
‘Pender,’ Ben said. ‘I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but my son did. Jude saw him die. Khosa killed him.’
‘Pender had vanished by this time,’ Tarik continued, ‘but through my investigations I was able to trace one of his former criminal associates, not connected with the robbery. We abducted him, also. Under pressure, this man informed us that the word in the street was Pender was believed dead, killed in a business deal that had gone bad. Not long before the robbery, Pender was reported to have boasted to an acquaintance that he had had a meeting in Kenya with an African mercenary leader, with whom he was planning a major job that would make him, Pender, fabulously rich.’
‘Khosa.’
‘At the time, I did not know his name.’
Now it was all making sense to Ben at last. ‘Pender was smuggling the diamond out of Oman down the east African coast, on board an American cargo ship on which my son happened to be a crewman. Pender did a deal with Khosa, whereby he and his men hijacked the vessel posing as Somali pirates. Pender kept the diamond a secret from Khosa, which was a smart move, as far as it went. When Khosa found out, he gave Pender the chop.’
‘And the owner of that ship was the man Pender was working for all along,’ Tarik said. ‘I am sorry I was not able to kill both of them.’
‘But how did you track the diamond here?’ Ben asked him. ‘The trail had gone cold. Khosa wasn’t an easy man to locate, even if you’d known who to look for.’
‘I suspected that the diamond must still be somewhere in Africa,’ Tarik said. ‘A very big continent, and to find it I knew I would need to cover every square mile. That is where my family’s wealth came in just as useful as my professional contacts. I did not have to worry about what it cost to put the word out to every corrupt police chief in the entire continent, of whom there are many, as well as every diamond handler, every fence, anyone at all who might potentially offer information in return for a very handsome reward. If this stone turned up anywhere, I wanted to know about it. And when it did, my team and I would be ready to move in and strike, faster than a cobra. We stationed ourselves in Kenya, where Pender’s meeting with the unknown African had taken place. My personal Cessna Citation X was on permanent standby, day and night. It is the fastest civilian jet plane in the world,’ he added with just a hint of pride.
‘Chief Zandu was one of your contacts?’ That seemed odd to Ben.
Tarik shook his head. ‘According to my sources, he could not be trusted. But I had a reliable spy within his department, who overheard Zandu speaking on the telephone with a known criminal across the border called Masango. They were discussing an item of great value that had somehow come into his possession. I understood immediately what that item must be. Within minutes of learning this news, my men and I were flying towards the Republic of Congo. It took only a matter of a few hours to reach Brazzaville. We arrived at the police headquarters just in time to see Zandu driving away with his squad, and we followed them: first to the guesthouse where they arrested you, and then here. We slipped around
the rear of the building and entered by a window.’
‘I’m glad you turned up when you did,’ Ben said. ‘It seems that I owe you.’
Tarik shook his head and smiled sadly. ‘I am not sure who owes more to whom. From my spy in Zandu’s office who overheard his conversation with Masango, I learned that the diamond had been handed in to the authorities by a person named Jude Arundel. You mentioned his name to me a moment ago. He is your son?’
Ben nodded. ‘Jude thought he was doing the right thing in handing it in. Maybe, in the end, he was.’
‘And how did your son come to have the diamond?’
Ben ran through the events, compressing them into as few words as he could. ‘When Khosa attacked Jude’s ship, Jude was able to send a distress message. My friends and I flew out and dealt with the situation. Later, the ship was hit by a storm and sank. Khosa had the upper hand then, and he used it to take us prisoner and bring us to the Congo. Not all of us made it. Khosa was holding Jude hostage, but Jude escaped and took the diamond back from him. Khosa came after us to retrieve it, aiming to kill us all as a reprisal. Which was what was about to happen when you turned up.’
‘Then I have you, your son, and your friends to thank,’ Tarik said after he’d carefully digested Ben’s account. ‘Not only for having recovered my brother’s diamond, but for having led me to his killer. It is I who owe you an enormous debt of gratitude, not the other way around.’
‘You saved my son’s life,’ Ben said. ‘And mine.’
‘And now I have a new brother,’ Tarik said. He thrust out his hand. Ben gripped it, and they shook firmly. Tarik wiped a tear from his eye. ‘Do you understand that I can never fully repay you for what you have done for me? Nothing I can do will ever be enough.’
‘I think you’ve done plenty already,’ Ben said.
‘You are wrong, my friend. Very wrong. For instance, if I understand your story correctly, you did not travel to Africa by normal means?’
‘We were in a bit of a hurry,’ Ben said. ‘A friend lent us his jet.’
‘Jets are indeed very useful to have at such times of need. Do you still have it?’
‘What I have is what’s in my pockets,’ Ben said, pulling them out to show they were empty.
‘Then, as I see it, you are stranded in Africa with neither papers nor money,’ Tarik said. ‘How exactly do you propose to return to your own country?’
‘Plus we owe one or two people here in Brazzaville for their help,’ Ben admitted.
‘They shall be paid what they are owed, and much more besides. Your friends are my friends, your allies my allies. Tell me who these people are and it shall be taken care of immediately, today.’
In no position to argue on that score, Ben said, ‘I appreciate that, Tarik.’
Tarik suddenly looked thoughtful. ‘Tell me something. Your son is not one of us. By which I mean, he is no soldier. Am I right?’
‘Jude has grown up to be a better man than his father,’ Ben said.
‘He has scruples, certainly. He does not want this African, Khosa, to die, even though Khosa would have had him butchered and his woman violated. That takes a very strong heart, although I must say such an attitude is a mystery to me.’
‘Whatever Jude wants, I have to honour it,’ Ben said. ‘That’s just the way it has to be.’
Tarik nodded and thought. ‘This Khosa is not my enemy, and it is not my right to decide what should happen to him. But if you desire, I will dispose of this trash for you.’
‘Without killing him,’ Ben said.
‘If you do not wish for him to die,’ Tarik said, ‘then it will be so. There are other ways for an evil man to be … neutralised.’
‘No torture,’ Ben said. ‘No limb amputations, no blinding, nothing cruel or unusual.’
‘What would be the point?’ Tarik shook his head. ‘He will be left alive and will suffer no pain. You have my word on that. Yet, he will pose no further risk to anyone. That, I also guarantee.’
‘Deal,’ Ben said, and they shook hands once more.
Tarik looked at his watch. ‘Let us go. My men will bring the vehicle around the front. They are entirely at your disposal, as am I. What is first on the agenda?’
Ben nodded towards the warehouse. ‘Bit of a mess in there. You want to leave it that way?’
‘It will be taken care of,’ Tarik said with a wave, as though he was talking about a spilled cup of coffee. ‘There will be no repercussions. In any case, nobody will miss the police chief. I gather he was not popular.’
‘Whatever you say. My son and his lady friend would like to spend a little more time together. After that, she needs to be driven to the US Embassy here in Brazzaville, so she can go home to her family.’
‘Consider it done.’
‘And I have to return some borrowed property to the Brazzaville golf club.’
‘You play?’
‘Not exactly.’ Ben might have added that, even if they could have had a game together, one of the fairways was currently blocked by a large obstacle.
‘It is of no importance. And once your business is done here, you will of course accept a ride home on my jet, wherever home is? It will be my pleasure to deliver you safely to your door within a matter of a few hours.’
Again, Ben realised that he had no option but to agree to Tarik’s offer. But the situation wasn’t so simple. ‘There are some other loose ends I need to tie up before I can leave Africa.’
‘Loose ends?’
‘Seven of them.’ Ben pointed again towards the building.
Tarik nodded, understanding. ‘The children?’
‘They were taken from an orphanage and recruited into Khosa’s army.’
‘Barbaric. We have seen this so many times. It disgusts me.’
‘I have to find a safe place for them,’ Ben said. ‘And for Sizwe in there. The big man. His family and village in Rwanda were wiped out by Khosa’s forces. I have a particular debt to him. Though right now I have no idea what I can do for the poor guy.’
‘Would money help Sizwe?’
‘Nothing can bring back his family,’ Ben said.
‘But it would enable him to pick up the pieces and begin a new life. And provide a safe place for these children. A fresh start, for all of them. Somewhere safe, secure, and peaceful.’
‘Maybe. But I have no money,’ Ben said. ‘Certainly not that kind of money.’
Tarik smiled. He wrapped an arm around Ben’s shoulders. ‘There is something else you ought to know, my friend, which I did not mention to you before.’
And then he mentioned it.
Chapter 63
Two weeks later
Ben stood at the window of the farmhouse kitchen at Le Val and looked out at the November rain. Storm, the German shepherd, sat by his side, his nose an inch from the cold glass, misting it up with his panting. It was obvious from the way the dog kept glancing up with a melancholy kind of frown that he was anxious about something. Ben rubbed the silky fur between Storm’s big pointy ears.
‘Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere, not for a while. That’s a promise. You’ve got me all to yourself from now on, okay?’
Storm yawned a toothy GSD smile, pressed himself against Ben’s leg and seemed reassured, even if he’d heard such promises before.
Jeff had taken Tuesday into Valognes to get the stitches removed from his arm, which was healing well. Ben’s own injuries were slowly fading. Soon, he’d be able to look in the mirror without being constantly reminded of what would come to be known as ‘the Africa thing’. Since their return neither he, nor Jeff, nor Tuesday had been willing to talk much about the experience. They all just wanted to move on.
That wouldn’t be easy. None of those involved would ever deny that the episode would leave an imprint on their lives forever; time would never fully erase some of the memories they’d brought home with them, which Ben knew would haunt his dreams for many years to come.
And yet, as he stood savouring
a Gauloise and watching the raindrops trickling down the windowpane, he had to reflect on the positive things that had, in the end, come about as a result of their journey into Jean-Pierre Khosa’s kingdom.
It was good to know that Jude was happy again. All four of them had returned to Le Val together, but it hadn’t been more than a few days before Jude had packed a bag and run off to Paris to catch a flight to Chicago. He was still there now. Ben hadn’t heard from him since his departure and didn’t know when he might see him again, but he often thought of Jude and Rae together, and was glad that the relationship seemed to have blossomed into something good for them both. They needed it, after what they’d been through. If they stayed together and anyone asked them how they met, it should make for an interesting tale.
But Jude’s and Rae’s happiness wasn’t all that had come about.
Ben had thought long and hard about whether to accept Tarik Al Bu Said’s offer. He could still remember the moment, as clearly as if it had happened minutes ago. A disused warehouse full of dead bodies, in a sordid dockyard in a city Ben never wanted to see again, was a strange setting in which to have your life potentially change forever for the better, and those of others around you.
Tarik had left the subject till last, cleverly fishing to gauge Ben’s reaction before he came out with it. Then, putting his arm around Ben’s shoulders, he’d told him about the reward that the Al Bu Said family had put up in return for the return of the Star of Africa diamond – more importantly, in return for justice for the men who had murdered Hussein, Najila, Salma, and Chakir. The humble sum of $20 million dollars was, the family felt, due recompense without running the risk of offending anyone’s sensibilities by an overly ostentatious display of wealth.
‘It is yours,’ Tarik told Ben. ‘And you will please not do me and my family the dishonour of turning it down.’
If there hadn’t been for the others who stood to benefit, Ben would have turned it down, dishonourably or not. But he wasn’t alone in this. And so, after a lot of thought, and after they’d seen Rae tearfully fly off to Chicago, Ben and Tarik had shaken hands for the third and last time.