Dazzle The Complete Unabridged Trilogy (171 page)

He could well understand what the men were going through.
Their minds would be numbed with shock and incomprehen
sion. During the last half-hour, they had learned enough from
him to be stupefied by the immense undertaking Daliah's
freedom would require. Najib could tell by their looks that
both of them had believed that the worst scenario would
involve a half-dozen kidnappers at most—not a virtually
impregnable desert compound teeming with a hundred well-
armed, well-trained terrorists.

The drinks stood untouched and unwanted on the coffee
table. Hands shaking, Dani lit a rare cigarette and drew in the
smoke nervously, and Najib, still waiting, sat back, pinched
the crease of his trousers, and crossed one leg over his knee;
it was a while before any of them spoke.

It was Schmarya who finally broke the silence.

Najib knew what was coming before he even opened his
mouth. The old man was going to pick holes in his story.

'Mr. al-Ameer,' Schmarya said quietly. 'Let me get this
straight. You had the picture of Daliah delivered to us so
that we could meet together here in private and arrange her
release?' He looked at Najib. 'Am I correct in that assumption?'

Najib met his eyes and shook his head. 'Not quite, Mr.
Boralevi. As I told you, I am afraid she will never be released.
What we need to plan is her
escape.'

There was a short silence, and then the swivel of Dani's
chair squeaked as he shifted his weight and sat forward. He frowned deeply. 'With all due respect, Mr. al-Ameer,' he said
sceptically, 'you are an Arab. You have just gotten through
telling us that you have been involved with Abdullah and the
PFA for the better part of your lifetime.' His frown deepened.
'Surely you realize that that makes us enemies.'

Najib was unruffled. 'Sometimes, Mr. ben Yaacov,' he said in a hushed voice, 'two enemies must form an alliance in the
face of an even greater danger.' He shook his head sadly.
'Such is the case now. Our only choice is to unite forces. It is
perhaps one of the ironies of life.'

Dani was silent for a moment. 'Tell me. Why should we
believe that you really intend to turn against Abdullah? What
guarantee do we have that you really want to effect Daliah's
release?'

Najib spread his hands and pointed out the obvious. 'I am
here, am I not?'

Dani leaned even further forward and stubbed out his half-smoked cigarette in the glass ashtray. Then he sat back again.
The swivel of his chair squeaked once more.
'I
t could be a
trap,' he persisted.

Najib inclined his head slightly, a position which made his
face look hawklike. 'You will have to trust me that it is not.'

'I
n ordinary circumstances, trust must be earned,' Dani said
bluntly.

Najib nodded. 'We both know there is not time for that. In
this instance you will have to trust me blindly.'

'I know,' Dani said tightly, 'and I don't like it a bit.'

Najib allowed himself a wry little smile. He couldn't blame
Dani. If their roles were reversed, he would feel exactly the
same way. 'What you would really like,' he speculated, 'is
some indication that her release would . . . ah . . . profit me. You would tend to trust me more if there were something in
it for me. Is that it?'

'
To put it bluntly, yes.'

Najib got up from the couch. 'I could give you countless reasons, such as: Abdullah must be stopped before he and
Qaddafi begin the holy war I warned you they are plotting. Or
because he wants to destroy Mecca, our most holy shrine. Or because I wish to extricate myself from him once and for all,
and this is my only way out. Those are all valid reasons, but
they are not the real reason why I came to you.' He paused
and added softly, 'The reason is more basic than any of these:
I am in love with your daughter.'

Dani jerked as though he had been struck. Then his face
twisted with rage. 'You are
what?'
He stared up at Najib.

'I said,' Najib repeated calmly, 'that I am in love with
Daliah.'

Dani's lips made a hiss that sounded like air being expelled
from a balloon. He blinked rapidly and exchanged glances
with his father-in-law. 'Impossible,' he said in a horrified
voice.

'Listen to him, Dani,' Schmarya advised gently. 'About
such a thing he should lie?'

Dani propelled himself to his feet so swiftly that for a second
Najib prepared for a fist to come slamming, but then Dani walked across the room. He stood trembling at the windows, staring unseeingly down at the deep blue sea. 'Impossible,' he muttered to himself shakily. He shook his head. 'Impossible,'
he repeated in a whisper.

Schmarya twisted around. 'When you live as long as I have,
you find out everything is possible,' he said to Dani's back.
'Why shouldn't we believe it?'

For a long while Dani did not reply. Finally he crossed the
room and returned to his chair. He sat down heavily and sized
up Najib more warily now. 'I suppose what I have read about
you is true,' he said. 'You really are most unpredictable.' His
smile held no warmth.

Najib sat down and waited.

'But then, Daliah is unpredictable too.' His voice was trembling. 'I suppose I never really understood her choice of men.
First that medical student, and then that director she's lived
with all those years . . .' Dani shook his head and made an
agitated little gesture. 'And
now
you.'
His expression became
a cold, pained mask. 'It seems she has a talent for choosing
the . . . the unpredictable, shall we say.'

Najib tightened his lips at that. If only Daliah
had
chosen him, he thought. But all she'd done was try her best to repel
him. He wondered if her father would believe that.

Wearily Dani pinched the bridge of his nose, then let his
hand drop to his lap. 'I am sorry,' he said stiffly, and
reassembled his face into a mask of composure. 'I know this
is not the time to discuss your relationship. It just came as
such a shock . . .'

Najib nodded. 'It was not a good time to tell you, but I
wanted you to understand why I want to help her escape, and
why I have come to you. I need your help. The way I see it,
Daliah's only chance is that you and I join forces. You have
military resources available to you, and I have the inside
knowledge of how to pull it off. Even so, it is a ticklish situation
and will require utmost secrecy.'

Schmarya looked thoughtful.
'
Tell me . . . are the Saudis
aware that she is being held in their country?' He looked at
Najib.

Najib shook his head. 'I seriously doubt it,' he replied,
'because if they were, they would not stand for it. As you
probably know, they are treading a fine tightrope at the
moment. They need the new American fighter jets they are negotiating for, and thus cannot afford to anger the United States. And on the other hand, the United States cannot get
too tough with them, because they depend upon Saudi oil. It did occur to me to appeal to the government of either Saudi
Arabia or the United States to apply pressure on Abdullah—'

'And?' Schmarya interrupted.

Najib shook his head. 'I'm afraid it would only have nega
tive results. The Saudis do not want to anger the United States,
but they cannot afford to anger Abdullah either. And can you blame them? Allah only knows where Abdullah's next bombs
might be planted. Riyadh? Al Madinah?'

'Mecca?
'
the old man said. 'If they were told—'

'No!' Najib cut down that suggestion at once. 'That is out
of the question. Abdullah is too crazed to listen to reason. If
the Saudis pressured him, it might force him to do one of
two things: either to kill Daliah right away or to move her
elsewhere.' He smiled grimly. 'The way things stand now, at
least we know she is alive, and we know where she is.'

Schmarya took a deep breath. 'So. What do we do? Right
now, my own government is trying to hold out the olive branch
and talk peace agreements with our Arab neigbours. Because
of that, Israel will not dare use military force to rush across
the borders and rescue Daliah, or else all our efforts at gaining
peace will be destroyed. There could even be war in the Gulf.'
He frowned and looked at Najib. 'You were right. Without
the permission of my country and the Saudi government, it is
a very ticklish situation indeed.' He paused and his eyes took on a kind of shrewdness. 'I take it you have worked it out
already?'

'I have.' Najib leaned forward excitedly, but his voice was
soft. 'What is to stop a group of us from going in and releasing
her? Unofficially, of course.'

'You mean . . . use mercenaries?' Dani asked, perking up.

'No, no.' Najib shook his head. 'We do not have the time
for that. It would take far too long to recruit a highly trained
force. What we need—immediately—is the best commando
team we can get hold of.'

'Israelis.' Schmarya grunted it as a statement, not a ques
tion.

Najib nodded. 'Israelis. But dressed in civilian clothes, not
uniforms. And they must not carry any identification on them.
It goes without saying that if they are caught, your country
would have to disavow any knowledge of our attempt.'

Schmarya gave a snort. 'You are not asking for much! Only
our best boys to lay down their lives for an unsanctioned
private invasion!' He narrowed his eyes at Najib.

'I realize that,' Najib said. 'But we have no other choice. It
is that or nothing.'