The Alamut Ambush (23 page)

‘But, Dr. Audley – David – I don’t want vengeance. It won’t bring Alan back.’

‘Hugh doesn’t feel that way, do you, Hugh?’ Audley nodded at Roskill. ‘You’ve wanted an eye for an eye from the start. Now’s your chance to force Razzak to show you how to get it. I’ll give you a cue, don’t worry.’

Roskill studied Audley suspiciously. The tricky sod was up to something for sure; his very eagerness betrayed it. But so far their objectives still seemed to coincide…

Mary watched them both for a moment, reluctance written plainly on her face.

‘We can’t keep him waiting any longer, Miss Hunter,’ Audley said. ‘Ask him up, please – and trust me!’

CHARACTERISTICALLY, PENELOPE DID
not show Colonel Muhammed Razzak where to go; from the tentative way he put his head round the door it was clear that she had given him the same vague directions that she gave to everyone else.

The liquid brown eyes – Omar Sharif’s eyes set incongruously in that battered face – passed over each of them uneasily before finally settling on Mary. Already this was something less than the jolly, confident Razzak of the previous night.

‘Madame,’ the Egyptian bent courteously over Mary’s hand, though he was too well-versed in English protocol to kiss it. ‘Your niece informs
me
that you are holding a levee and that I may join it. I hope I am not intruding.’

‘Indeed you are not, Colonel Razzak. You come most carefully upon your hour. We were talking about you only a few minutes ago.’

Marvellous – she was bloody marvellous, thought Roskill proudly. Not even Audley could have scripted her better!

‘You have the advantage of me, Madame,’ Razzak was holding himself very straight now. ‘You make me nervous!’

‘Oh, surely not, Colonel. I’ve been hearing how gallant you are.’

‘Madame – ?’ Razzak spread his hands speechlessly. He had been so very much the master of the situation the previous evening that it was immensely morale-raising to see Mary floor him now, unintentionally or not. Roskill felt his own confidence and resolution hardening.

‘This is Dr. Audley, whom you wish to meet, my niece said. And this is Major Butler – and Hugh you already know. And I am Mary Hunter … Do please sit down, Colonel.’

Razzak nodded to each of them in turn before easing himself down into the leather armchair which Audley had vacated.

‘And just what exactly are you and Jake Shapiro up to together, Colonel?’ Audley said conversationally.

Razzak’s eyes were opaque, but he was unable to stop them shifting between Audley and Mary. It struck Roskill that he was now watching one of the Audley techniques from the inside – the very technique that had been used on Butler and himself, God damn it! Mary’s intelligence probably was only a bonus; for Audley she was at once a catalyst and an inhibiting factor, to be used in either role as necessary.

‘Don’t worry about Miss Hunter,’ Audley went on smoothly. ‘Miss Hunter has an interest in what we’re going to talk about. And she knows far too much to be left out of things now.’

‘Far too much?’ Razzak’s tone was controlled. ‘And exactly how much is far too much?’

‘She knows
Hassan
was responsible for her nephew’s death.’ Audley underscored the name heavily. ‘The man we lost was her nephew, you see, Colonel.’

It was Roskill’s cue, unmistakably.

‘And he was a friend of mine – a good friend,’ said Roskill menacingly. ‘So this isn’t just routine for me. This is personal.’

‘What Hugh means is that he’s not so concerned with diplomatic niceties, whoever else may be. And you know how rough the Anglo-Saxons get when they take the law into their own hands.’ Audley smiled suddenly. ‘In fact you could say he’s taking a very old Anglo-Saxon law into his hands. A thousand years ago in these parts the family of a murdered man had a choice of justice. They could ask for
wergild
, which was paid in cash, or they could take vengeance, which was paid in blood. Hugh’s very old-fashioned – he doesn’t want
wergild
. And as his friend I have to go along with him.’

The Egyptian stared at them in astonishment. Whatever line of approach he’d prepared for, it wasn’t this!

‘And as for me, Colonel Razzak,’ Audley continued, ‘it comes down to this: I know Llewelyn wasn’t Hassan’s target. And now I know that you met Shapiro up on the hill there somewhere. But
Llewelyn
doesn’t know either of these things yet, because we haven’t told him. All you have to do is to convince us that it’s worth our while to sit down on what we know for a time. It’s up to you.’

‘Up to me?’ Razzak said softly. ‘My dear Dr. Audley, I came down here to help you, not to be threatened by you with – ‘ he searched for words ‘ – with Anglo-Saxon laws!’

‘To help us? Colonel, I’m not so naive and nor are you! You came down here to find out how much we knew and then to buy some more time with some more promises. But promises aren’t good enough. I want the whole story now.’

Razzak squirmed forward and began to manoeuvre himself out of the chair. ‘I was told you were a man of sympathy, Dr. Audley. I was told wrong. As far as I’m concerned you can tell Mr. Llewelyn what you like – ‘

‘Llewelyn?’ Audley snorted. ‘I can see you haven’t got the message at all. Llewelyn would settle for
wergild
.’

Razzak stopped on the very edge of the chair. ‘And just how would you get blood from me?’

Audley pointed towards the telephone. ‘By picking up that phone and dialling a man I know in Fleet Street, Colonel Razzak. And I’d say “Larry, old man, I’ve got a little story for you”– ‘

‘You wouldn’t dare – ‘

‘– “about the British security man who got himself killed because he happened to come upon an Egyptian and an Israeli who were having a private chat down in Sussex last Tuesday.”’

‘
They
wouldn’t dare.’

‘Tomorrow’s Sunday – and I’m a very reliable source. I tell you, the Sunday papers would eat it up – and you with it!’

Razzak considered Audley in silence for a moment, then shook his head. ‘No, Dr. Audley. Perhaps
they
might after all, but
you
wouldn’t.’

‘
But I would
,’ said Roskill.

‘Hugh – ‘ Mary began doubtfully.

‘No, Mary darling!’ He felt the anger welling up in him now, and there was no need to simulate it. ‘They think they can fight their private wars here, and we won’t dare lift a finger because it would be undiplomatic. But I don’t give a damn! Some bastard fixed that car so it’d kill Alan, and by Christ if they think they can sweep it under the carpet they’re wrong!’

He turned to Audley. ‘You don’t have to stick your neck out, David – I’ll stick mine out. And it’ll be a pleasure!’

Audley’s bluff had been too coolly mounted ever to sway a man like Razzak. Perhaps it had been calculated to give Roskill himself another cue – it didn’t matter; what mattered was that hot blood was something different. Even before he met the Egyptian’s eyes he seemed to feel the man’s resolution weakening — it was like sensing victory across a chess-board in the moment before the decisive move was made.

‘That’s how it is, Colonel,’ Audley murmured. ‘I told you Hugh was after blood. Now perhaps you believe me.’

‘I see!’ Razzak nodded to himself as though some inner truth he’d doubted had of a sudden become plain. ‘Well, I was warned you were hungry. But it seems you’re greedy too …’

‘Greedy?’ Audley leaned forward as the Egyptian sank back into the armchair. ‘Believe me, Colonel, I’m the best friend you and Jake Shapiro have got – I’m the only thing that stands between you and trouble. And trouble is something you don’t need just now, isn’t it!’

Razzak looked at Audley sardonically. ‘And this you are doing for old time’s sake – because Jake’s an old friend? Can I I believe that now?’

Jake –
it was no longer Shapiro, but
Jake
. And it was a more eloquent flag of truce than any formula of words. Except they now had to meet the bill for the threats they’d made: somehow the Egyptian’s confidence had to be won.

‘No, Razzak,’ Audley’s voice deepened. ‘But you have to believe that I’m taking a risk of my own in holding out on my own people. If it gets out, I’m not going to be very popular, am I?’

‘True,’ Razzak conceded. ‘Very true.’

‘But it isn’t just a matter of friendship. I may be out of touch. Colonel, but I can still work out why Hassan’s in a different class from the P.F.L.P.’

The Egyptian said nothing.

‘Hassan’s plan is to pick off the moderates – right? And the cease-fire plan means he can’t delay any longer?’

An impassive nod. The olive branch was recognised, but not yet accepted.

‘But you’re not really worried about that, are you, Colonel? Not in the wider sense, anyway. It’s Egypt that matters to you. Not Jordan or Syria – or Israel.’ Audley took a breath. ‘And we both know that in the wider sense Hassan will
fail
.’ Not utterly impassive now – a flicker of interest. ‘He’ll fail because he’s trying just another short-cut, and there aren’t any short-cuts in the Middle East any more – just the long haul. Peace or war, the long haul’s still the only way.’ Razzak’s eyes glinted again now.

‘All Hassan can do is add confusion,’ went on Audley, ‘and this is the one time when Egypt can’t afford it, isn’t it?
Not after Nasser’s heart-attack last year
.’

The shutters came down again. ‘Heart attack?’ Razzak said carefully.

‘Influenza, they called it. But we don’t have to pretend now, Colonel Razzak,’ Audley shook his head. ‘How long do they give him if he doesn’t pack things in? A year? Eighteen months? Not more, I think…’

The Egyptian watched him warily.

‘It’s quite simple, Colonel. You’re one of his old soldiers – one of the men who took the tanks to Farouk’s palace in ‘52. You weren’t an assassin then, and you aren’t now. You were one of the men who broke the Moslem Brotherhood. He trusts you.’

Audley paused. ‘All Hassan will do is maybe kill a few men, and if Nasser wasn’t a sick man himself it wouldn’t matter – the balance doesn’t matter while he’s there, because he can handle it, and Hassan wouldn’t dare move against
him
. But time’s running out, and he can’t afford to lose any of the old guard now – when he goes they have to balance each other. Egypt needs them
all
.’

‘So – ?’ Razzak interrupted him at last. ‘So – ?’

‘Why, so I agree with him,’ said Audley. ‘I think the odds are against him – and you. But the least we can do is to shorten them as much as we can. Which means we treat Hassan as a mad dog. And mad dogs have to be put down quickly.’

The Egyptian’s lips twisted. ‘Even by dog-lovers?’

‘Especially by dog-lovers.’ Audley took the jibe on the chin. ‘Quickly – and painlessly if possible. And without hate.’

For one long-lasting moment the Englishman and the Egyptian stared at each other, oblivious of everyone else.

‘Especially by dog-lovers,’ Razzak echoed him suddenly, but this time without any irony in his voice.

This, Roskill realised, was as far as Audley would ever go towards admitting what his wife said he felt for the poor bloody Middle East, snarled up now in a quarrel as impossible to resolve as an Escher engraving – with its little men trudging forever up a staircase joined to itself … Conscience or idealism – or exasperation – whatever it was, Audley was offering it to Razzak now in exchange for the man’s trust.

‘And Squadron Leader Roskill – and Major Butler?’ said Razzak softly. ‘Dog-lovers too?’

‘Hugh is with me. He wants what we both want – ‘

‘ – And I want nothing,’ said Butler. ‘Except my head examining … I’m on my own time here. So if this country isn’t involved you can trust me. If it is, you can’t.’

Razzak considered them.

‘Very well, then,’ he shook his head, as if to emphasise the folly of his decision. ‘It seems we have to trust each other…

‘But you weren’t quite right just now, Audley – nobody trusted me specially to do this dirty job. I won it by right of my own stupidity!’ He tapped his chest. ‘I’m the man Hassan once told all his plans to. And I let him walk away – I let him simply walk away.’

Razzak took a deep breath before continuing. ‘I Suppose it wasn’t altogether my fault. It was the first night of the June War, and I had other things on my mind.’ He closed his eyes for an instant, as though to refresh his memory with darkness.

‘We were taking a rest about fifteen kilometres from Jebl Libni. There was a truck bogged down off the road – crew gone, but it gave us some shelter from the wind. It gets cold in the Sinai at night… In the daytime you’ve got the heat and the dust, and half the flies in the world – but at night you can’t keep warm sometimes. That’s the Sinai for you…’ Razzak shivered, then caught hold of the thread again. ‘I heard the scrape of his boots on the road – if hadn’t I might have shot him, but he was wearing his boots so I didn’t.’

His boots?

Razzak answered the question before it was asked. ‘You know, they throw away their boots, our soldiers do, when they’re running away … First their rifles,
then
their boots. But he’d still got his boots – he’d got four waterbottles, a machine pistol and his boots, so I reckoned he was maybe an officer or a technician, and I thought he might know how things were up front. But he knew even less than I did. All he knew was that we were finished already.’

Razzak couldn’t keep the ache of bitterness out of his voice. Roskill was suddenly put in mind of old Havergal the night before: to know one’s own honour was still whole, but to be ashamed of one’s own country — what sort of trauma, what sort of deviation, that might produce was outside his experience. But it might well put a man outside the normal rules.

‘He didn’t need to have it spelt out for him. He’d seen their planes, and he hadn’t seen ours. He knew, Hassan did.’ For a moment he was lost again.

‘You’re sure he was Hassan? He called himself that?’

‘He called himself nothing, Dr. Audley. He never said who he was or what he was – he was just one ice-cold angry man. I’ve met some angry men these last three years, but never one as cold as that – he was like burning ice that strips your skin off. I think if I’d been on my own he’d have shot me – not to get my water bottle, but just because he thought I was running away!’