Time of the Assassins

'You OK?' Graham called out.

'I'm fine. I didn't realize Farouk…' she trailed off when she saw Graham and Laidlaw both look past her, their eyes riveted on the man who had appeared in the doorway.

'Good to see you again, Mr Graham. It's been a long time.'

Sabrina looked from Farouk to Graham, a puzzled frown on her face. 'You know Farouk?'

'Farouk?' Graham snorted contemptuously. 'That's Salim Al-Makesh.'

'What?' Sabrina replied in amazement. 'But he was killed by Israeli commandos in Damascus.'

'That's obviously what they wanted us to believe,' Graham said without taking his eyes of Al-Makesh.

'Which only leaves one logical explanation. You're working for the Israelis now, aren't you?'

Al-Makesh stepped away from the door, his hands dug into his trouser pockets. He nodded. 'It was either that or be killed. It was a question of survival.'

'Now it makes sense,' Laidlaw said, nodding to himself. 'I couldn't understand why you never showed yourself when you were interrogating me. You knew I'd recognize you straight away.'

'I wasn't sure whether you would or not,' Al-Makesh replied. 'I have changed my appearance considerably since I was with the Black June but it seems I made the right decision after all.'

'Who killed Barak?' Graham demanded. 'You or Bernard?'

'Bernard. I had nothing to do with it,' Al-Makesh said. 'When Barak told him you were in Beirut — '

'Barak worked for him?' Graham interceded.

'Barak worked for anyone who paid him,' Al-Makesh replied with a dismissive shrug. 'But he had started to drink heavily in recent months and Bernard felt he had become a liability. So when he heard you were in town he hit on a plan to get rid of both of you. He'd kill Barak and set you up as the fall guy -1 believe that's the term you Americans use. He would knock you out when you went to the house, kill Barak, then dump you in an alley near the Cola Roundabout in western Beirut. All I had to do was go there and arrest you. But when I got there, you'd gone.'

'Why didn't Bernard just kill me when he had the chance?' Graham asked.

'And have UNACO crawling all over Beirut?' Al-

Makesh smiled when Graham looked at him in surprise. 'I have my sources, just like you. But if you were arrested for murder they would have to be very careful not to blow their cover. Any sort of publicity could have splashed UNACO across the front page of every newspaper in the world.'

'I would have recognized you the moment I saw you,' Graham said.

'Who would have believed you? The Israeli Mossad would have confirmed that I'd been killed in Damascus. I have a watertight cover for all those years I was with the Black June. The authorities would think you'd finally cracked under the pressure of what had happened to your family. You'd probably have ended up in an asylum.'

'I could have backed him up,' Laidlaw said.

'My superiors would have dismissed Graham's allegations about my past as the ramblings of a broken man. But if you'd also been able to identify me then they would certainly have initiated an investigation. For that reason you would have had to be silenced once Graham was in custody. An accident. But when Bernard's plan backfired I needed you alive in case you could lead me to Graham. Which, as it turned out, you did.'

'Were the CIA in on this?' Sabrina asked.

'No,' Al-Makesh replied bluntly. 'And neither were the Mossad.'

'The CIA?' Graham asked, staring at Sabrina. 'What the hell have they got to do with this?'

'Bernard works for them,' she told him.

'What?' Graham snarled.

'She's right,' Al-Makesh said then gestured around him. 'This all belongs to Bernard. It's a meat-processing plant, paid for with money from a CIA slush fund. He's now a legitimate businessman.'

'And how did the Israelis get you into the police?' Sabrina asked.

'I was a policeman for twelve years in Jordan before I joined the Black June. It wasn't difficult for me to fit in here. So not only am I in a job I know, I'm also in a position to pass vital information back to the Israelis. It's the perfect cover.'

'And now you're going to kill us to protect your cover,' Laidlaw concluded.

'You know too much.'

'Kill us and UN AGO will be crawling all over Beirut,' Sabrina warned him.

Til have to take that risk. But even if they do come they still won't find any bodies. There's a beef shipment due out tomorrow destined for Syria. You'll be going with it.' Al-Makesh pointed to a wooden container in the corner of the room. 'Your bodies will be put in there. The container will then be sealed and loaded onto one of the trucks in the morning. Then, once over the border, it will conveniently disappear. Who knows how long it will take before it's discovered?'

'All neatly worked out,' Graham said facetiously. 'You two must be very proud of yourselves.'

'This is all my idea. Bernard doesn't even know you're here. We have an arrangement. I use this place if I need to get rid of someone. The blood gets washed away in the morning so there's no evidence to suggest a crime ever took place. And his foreman makes sure the containers are loaded onto the trucks and dumped over the border. No questions asked. All very amicable.' Al-Makesh looked at the English-speaking Arab standing beside Graham. 'Samir, you know what to do.'

Graham had managed to untie his hands soon after entering the room and lashed out at Samir, catching him on the side of the face with his fist, rocking him back against the wall. The Makarova fell to the floor. Laidlaw, who had also managed to untie his hands, tackled the second Arab. Graham picked up the Makarova and shot the second Arab as he turned his pistol on Laidlaw. Laidlaw's hand was on his Pzzo automatic but he knew he couldn't fire it, no matter how hard he tried. Samir grabbed Graham from behind as Al-Makesh unholstered his Beretta. Graham broke the hold and swivelled Samir round as Al-Makesh fired. The bullet took Samir in the chest. Sabrina leaped from her chair and shoulder-charged Al-Makesh before he could fire again. His gun clattered noisily to the floor. Graham swung the Makarova on Al-Makesh who was still reaching for the Beretta. All the hate welled up inside him as he thought of Carrie and Mikey. He squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. The pistol had jammed.

'Shoot him!' Graham screamed at Laidlaw who was staring at the pistol in his hand. 'Russ, shoot him!'

Al-Makesh's fingers curled around the Beretta. Sabrina lunged at him. He swung the gun on her. She kicked out, catching him on the wrist. The bullet was deflected harmlessly into the ceiling. Graham tore

Laidlaw's Pzzo automatic from his hand and shot Al-Makesh through the head. He was dead before his body hit the floor.

Graham swung round to Laidlaw and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. 'What the hell were you playing at? Christ, Russ, he was about to kill us and you're standing there admiring the damn gun. What's your problem?'

Sabrina was quick to intervene and nudged Graham with her elbow. 'Mike, untie me.'

Graham shoved Laidlaw away from him then turned to Sabrina and untied her hands.

'Who's the other guy?' she asked, massaging her wrists.

'Dave Jenkins, he runs the Windorah, it's a bar in the city. He's been hiding me for the last couple of days.'

Jenkins waited until Laidlaw had untied his hands then approached Graham who introduced him to Sabrina. 'Mike, you deliberately loosened my ropes more than you needed to. Why?'

'You're not a soldier, Dave. I didn't want to get you involved in the fighting. Also, it was a psychological move. I knew the goon would automatically check to see if our ropes were as loose as yours. That's how we were able to deceive him.' Graham looked angrily at Laidlaw. 'I should have left your ropes loose as well.'