“That is precisely what I was worried you were going to say.”
Natalie, Dennis and Hutchinson watched the activity around the Hercules from a distant vantage point. Behind them was Rafah. It was getting dark and Dennis glanced at his watch again. Natalie was starting to shiver at the cool evening air.
Dennis was laying on his front while peering through a pair of binoculars. He had watched as netted pallets of cargo had been unloaded and reloaded into the large belly of the transporter by a fork lift truck. There were currently pallets and crates scattered nearby as the fork lift driver sorted them.
The Hercules was stopped on the smooth desert terrain where cones marked a landing strip. The badly damaged runways had long since gone, ripped up many years before by civilians who, after the airport was destroyed in 2001 by Israel, had used the tarmac and foundations for building materials elsewhere in Rafah.
The three had been watching the activity for some hours now. The only visitor had been a large black Mercedes saloon flying Palestinian flags from its front wings. Men in suits with short stubby machine guns had got out of the car along with another man in a suit who had appeared to be unarmed. Then as Dennis had watched, the stunning redhead he had seen on the ocean breeze and the unmistakeable figure of Von Werner had descended from the open ramp at the back of the Hercules. The redhead moved to stand by him.
Dennis watched as they’d conversed for several minutes and then Von Werner surrounded by his armed men had handed over a large briefcase, clearly payment for something.
The two men had shaken hands. Then the man from the Mercedes shook the hand of the redhead, turned and had gotten back into the saloon which sped away.
Now Dennis focused on the tall redhead. She was clearly saying something to Von Werner, then together, they turned and he placed an arm around her shoulder as they headed for the severly wrecked airport buildings.
Dennis watched for a further few minutes as the forklift truck continued to drive crates up the ramp into the back of the Hercules. He counted all the men on the ground with guns. There appeared to be twelve in all. Then he saw Petrov standing with two others. The Russian appeared to be giving orders. Then he too headed for the buildings. Dennis had seen enough. He scrabbled back to where Natalie and Hutchinson waited, crouching by a large rock.
“I’m going down there.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” Hutchinson said.
“You don’t think it’s too dangerous?” Natalie asked, knowing he wouldn’t.
“If I can get a tracker on one of those crates we can find out where they’re going. Then all we need to do is follow. They’ll lead us straight to where they hope the spear will work. Maybe we could even collect the bounty on Von Werner.”
“Or get killed in the process,” Hutchinson put in.
“I’ll be fine. I’m just going to plant a tracker and I’ll be out.”
“Okay. We’ll be watching,” Hutchinson said, “The first sign of trouble and I want you out of there.”
“No worries. I’m going to take the AK-47. Maybe I can pass as a local if I’m seen. They’d probably shoot first and ask questions later but I’ve got to try.”
Dennis kissed Natalie on the lips.
“Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.”
Dennis checked that the Kalashnikov was loaded, put it over his back, wrapped his keffiyeh around his head and covered all but his eyes with it. He gave his companions a cheery wave and set off towards the destroyed airport.
To begin with he moved fast because there was no cover. Once he stopped and ducked behind rocks as vehicles rumbled past him. He looked back to where he’d left Natalie and Hutchinson. He couldn’t see them in the failing light but he knew they’d still be watching his every move.
Dennis had a quick check around him then moved off again. He kept low, almost running over double. Natalie feeling the cold now got up from her crouching position, her joints stiff.
“I’m going to get something warm to put on,” she said, remembering she had an extra hoodie in the land rover.
“Okay,” Hutchinson said, not taking his eyes away from the binoculars.
She got back to the land rover and opened the rear door. She rummaged around on the back seat until she found her hooded top and put it over her head. She pulled it down her face and stopped.
A convoy of army lorries was heading towards her, their headlights ablaze. She instinctively ducked down out of sight as they thundered past the white land rover. She was able to see out of the back window that there were four of them. Their drivers paid no heed to the parked vehicle. Natalie waited until they’d disappeared from sight before getting back out of the land rover. She ran back to Hutchinson.
“Jim did you see the trucks?”
“Yes. Did you see what was in them?”
“No.”
“Shit,” he said, watching Dennis through the binoculars, “I hope they’re not heading in Pete’s direction.”
Dennis had made it undetected to the first of the ruined airport buildings. These concrete structures showed the scars of battle. There were no windows left intact and the walls were peppered with bullet and shell holes. Von Werner’s armed sentries patrolled nonchalantly as the forklift continued to bring crates down from the Hercules. Dennis watched and waited for an opportunity to break his cover and as soon as he saw two of the guards meet with their backs to him he made his move. He dashed across the open ground and the now sand runway and slid into cover behind some crates. He resisted the urge to cough at the dust he’d kicked up and stole a quick peek around his cover. The forklift driver was continuing with his work, completely unawares. The two sentries were now walking away from each other.
Now for the first time Dennis took a look at the crate he was hiding behind. It had red crosses on white backgrounds stamped all over it.
‘What the fuck is Von Werner up to?’ Dennis asked himself.
From where he was laying with the binoculars Hutchinson could see two men approaching where Dennis was crouching.
“Shit Pete! Get out of there,” he said out loud.
Natalie looked on anxiously.
Dennis moved to the end of the crate to see if there was anything else stamped on it to give away its contents. He heard the voices of the two men approaching and stole a quick glance. He shot his head back behind the crate. Two men carrying machine guns across their chests were fifty metres away. Dennis reached down to his thigh and unclipped the holster around his leg and pulled out his Sig-pro handgun. He would have to take the two of them out with one shot each if he was discovered. He pressed the gun against his face and readied. He peered around the crate again. The two men were almost on top of him and he couldn’t believe in the halflight that they hadn’t seen him. Then suddenly they were spinning around as the four army trucks rumbled onto the sand runway. The two men began walking back the way they’d come. Dennis was now able to lean out to watch. He took his attention off the two men as he saw Von Werner and the redhead come out of the building and stand side by side. The lead truck stopped in front of them and the passenger door opened and a man in camouflage jumped out. He strode up to Von Werner and the two shook hands. The man then shook hands with the redhead. They appeared to be discussing something then Von Werner led the man in camouflage to a nearby crate. Von Werner clicked his fingers at one of his men who came forward with a crowbar and prised the lid off the crate. The man in camouflage reached in and took out an AK-12 assault rifle. He held it up, pulled out and replaced the magazine, flicked the safety switch and sighted down the gun and fired a few practice bullets. Then, pleased, he put it back in the crate. He shook hands with Von Werner again then turned and gave an order. His men jumped out of the four trucks and began loading the crates into the backs of the lorries. One man approached the trio carrying something in his arms. The man in camouflage took it from him and presented it to Von Werner. From where Dennis was watching he couldn’t see what was being offered. Von Werner appeared to unwrap something and the redhead moved forward to examine whatever it was. She gave her approval and now Von Werner completely uncovered it and held it in both hands examining it. Dennis still couldn’t see what it was. It appeared to be a large, long stick or pole or something similar in nature. Dennis fished around in his pockets until he found his mobile phone. He selected Hutchinson’s number and rang it.