The Cairo Connection: A Lawson Vampire Mission (The Lawson Vampire Series)

by Jon F. Merz

  I nudged Murad. “Go. I’ll bring up the rear.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. And the fact was I trusted my abilities far more than Murad’s. Especially now that I was once again armed.

  I waited until Murad made it to Zero and then I backed up down the corridor until I reached them. All the while, I kept the Misr butt stock in my shoulder ready to fire if anyone came around that corner. I wasn’t about to hesitate. Not now.

  “You find a way out?”

  “Of a sort,” said Zero. “But it will do.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here,” I said. “I hate being in a confined space like this.”

  I heard something moving like a stone and then a rush of air from the outside. Was it a secret passageway? I couldn’t risk looking right now when I was watching our six. I’d see it when it was my turn to go through.

  Murad insisted on going first. “I’ve got a gun and if anyone’s waiting for us out there I can at least let you both know.”

  “You could be walking into an ambush,” said Zero.

  “I know it,” said Murad. Then he got down on all fours and scampered through the opening. After thirty seconds, I heard him call back to Zero and Zero clapped me on the shoulder.

  “Pull the rock in behind you when you come. Hopefully it will slow them down looking for us.”

  “Got it.”

  I waited several seconds for Zero and then knelt, easing myself backward. I was most exposed right now and my big fear was someone coming around the corner and firing on me while I was on my knees backing into a small passageway at the base of the wall. I tossed the Misr into the tunnel and then backed inside, grabbed the stone that Zero had moved and slid it back into position, sealing the tunnel in darkness and hopefully not leaving too much sign back in the pyramid itself.

  There wasn’t room to turn myself around so I had to crawl backwards down the tunnel until I felt myself suddenly outside in the chill of the desert night.

  Murad was on one side of the opening and Zero on the other, both faced away, searching the night for any signs of trouble.

  “All right?” asked Zero quietly.

  I nodded, keeping the Misr at the ready. “As good as it’s going to get. You think Salah came this way?”

  “It’s the only means of escape from there I would think,” said Zero. “But who knows? There are a lot of secrets in the pyramids people still don’t understand.”

  “We need to get back to the entrance to the camp,” said Murad. “I have a radio in my car that I can use to call in additional help to mop these guys up.”

  Zero glanced at me. Our priorities were obviously different from his. We needed to reacquire Nadi and figure out who had attacked us from behind Murad. There were far too many loose ends here and we couldn’t risk leaving any of them untied.

  But Murad couldn’t know what our goals were. To his mind, he still saw us as terrorists, and for the sake of our people, Zero and I had to continue to play that role.

  “My brother and I aren’t going back there,” said Zero. “We need to get the hell out of here and go home. We’ve had far too many incidents today and it’s not worth it. We’ll find the money for our operations some place else.”

  Murad pointed his pistol at him. “You’re coming back with me. I need you and your brother or else I’ll get killed going back there by myself.”

  Zero eyed the pistol and then me. “He’s going to shoot both of us before you riddle him with bullets?” Zero smiled. “That’s an awfully strange way of asking for our help.”

  Murad sighed and lowered the gun. “If you come back and assist me, I will see to it that you’re rewarded by the government.”

  “You can’t make that promise,” I said.

  “I can get you some money,” said Murad. “I have access to a discretionary fund from the intelligence service. There’s not a whole lot, but I’m sure there’s enough to get you and your organization started.”

  “You’d be funding terrorism in the UK,” said Zero. “You’re comfortable with that?”

  “Of course not,” said Murad. “But I’m a pragmatist. And right now, in this situation, I don’t have much of a choice but to ally myself with a couple of shooters whose background I may not entirely agree with, even if I understand the goals behind it on some level. The British were bastards when they were here in my country you know.”

  “Cast together, in other words,” said Zero.

  “Beggars can’t be choosers,” said Murad. “We agree to work together until this is over and we go our separate ways.”

  “No tricks,” said Zero.

  “No tricks,” said Murad.

  Zero eyed me and I nodded. Zero looked back at Murad. “What’s the plan?”

  Murad pointed to our left. “If we can sneak around that collection of barrels over there, you’ll notice it rises slightly and should give us a decent vantage point to assess our opposition.” He looked at me. “Are you any good with the Misr?”

  I shrugged. “It’s been a few years since I’ve fired one, but I can hit what I aim at.”

  “Maybe I should take it then,” he said. “I drill with them at least once per month. It’s standard issue for our military.”

  I looked at Zero. I wasn’t so sure about relinquishing our best firepower to a man who earlier had threatened to bury us in the desert where no one would ever find us. But then again, if it meant the difference between a killing shot and missing, maybe it was better if he did have the weapon.

  I nodded at his pistol. “I want the sidearm.”

  Murad held it up and I gave him the Misr. He immediately looked it over, dropped the mag and checked his ammo supply and then slapped it home again, racked the slide and nodded. “I’ll go first to give cover fire in case we come under attack. Ready?”

  I held the pistol at the ready. “Go.”

  Murad scrambled down the slope and across the open expanse toward the collection of barrels scattered about. I glanced at Zero. “I don’t like this.”

  “I don’t like it, either,” he said. “But what choice do we have.”

  “We’ve got to make sure Nadi is dead,” I said. “Even if we don’t get the name of his contact on the Council. We can’t leave him alive here. If we do, he’ll become even more of a threat and you can bet that he’ll tell the Council everything that happened since we’ve been in Egypt.”

  Zero nodded. “I have no intention of letting that little bastard leave this place alive. Trust me. For now, we figure out who the hell is shooting at us and then we can go from there.”

  “And if Murad becomes a problem?”

  “Then we kill him, too,” said Zero. “I didn’t come to Egypt to die and neither did you.”

  “All right,” I said. “I’ll cover you while you make the hop here.”

  “Watch my back,” said Zero. He scrambled down and then zigzagged across the open ground. I could see where he and Murad were holed up behind the barrels. It wasn’t the best spot of cover, but they had a slight downward view of the area of the pyramid that I couldn’t see at the moment. And if they could make out what was going on, all the better.

  Zero waved me over. I kept a hold of the pistol and then darted across. It felt like it took far longer to reach them than it should have but in reality it only took about forty seconds before I was once again next to them and away from the pyramid.

  I snaked my way up to where Murad was laying down on the ground. “What do you see?”

  “Vehicles,” said Murad. “But they’re mine and the ones you guys came in. There’s one that doesn’t belong, however.”

  “Which one is that?”

  Murad pointed. “The jeep just over the ridge a little ways away from our vehicles. You see it?”

  I did. It looked as though it was painted a light green that would help it blend in to the desert background. “You know who it is?”

  Murad shook his head. “No clue. But let’s go find out.”

&nbs
p; 15

  We skirted around the barrels and eased down toward the vehicles. Zero and I could see perfectly well at night so we didn’t hesitate with our movements. Murad took longer because he was human and restricted by what his eyes could process. As such, he came last after Zero, while I took point.

  Down near the Range Rovers, I paused and looked around. The entire site seemed quiet. I caught a whiff of death on the air, most likely a combination of Salah’s men and Murad’s soldiers. Whatever desert predators existed around here, they were going to have a field day if those bodies stayed where they were for very long.

  Murad pointed toward the military vehicles he’d arrived in and kept his voice low. “There are more weapons and ammunition inside. Better if we all have a Misr instead of just me.”

  Zero nodded and followed Murad over to the vehicles while I overwatched their movement. I saw next to nothing in the chill night air. I’d only been in Egypt now for about two days and I was already sick of it. I wanted to get the hell out of there and head to the wonderful beaches of Santorini and reconnect with that very attractive stewardess I’d met.

  Zero came back and handed me a Misr and two extra magazines of ammunition. I handed the pistol back to Murad and slid the magazines into my pants. There wasn’t much to do except leave them sticking out of my pockets and hope they stayed put. I didn’t have a combat rig to put them in and sometimes you just have to do what you can with what you’ve got.

  Murad whispered in my ear. “Should be wait for them to come out or risk entering the pyramid again?”

  Zero heard us and frowned. “I don’t like the idea of going back inside. We can’t control the environment the way we can out here. If we can bottle them up inside, they’ll have no choice but to comply with our commands.”

  “That means one of us is going to have to go back and watch the exit,” I said. “We don’t want them figuring it out and getting away.”

  “Good point,” said Zero. He looked at Murad. “Where do you want to be?”

  Murad sighed. “I’ll take the escape tunnel we used. If you two can hold the main entrance here, we should be good.”

  “You sure?” I asked. “I can take it and you two can stay here.”

  Zero nodded. “Might be better.”

  Murad shrugged. “All right then.”

  Zero knew what I was getting at. I could see better in the dark than Murad. If we split up, with both of us watching an exit, there was less chance of anyone sneaking out of the pyramid. In this case dividing ourselves was the better play even though it meant I’d be on my own. Still, if anything happened, I’d shoot a round and they’d know I was in need of assistance.

  I moved back and away from the military vehicles over toward the higher ground by the barrels. I took up a position and could still see over to Murad and Zero. Everything was quiet. Ambient noises here and there made my ears perk up, but I didn’t think there was much of anything happening at that point.

  Truthfully, I wondered if Nadi was even capable of being moved given the amount of damage that had been done to his legs by the drill. It wouldn’t kill him, obviously, but it would require time to heal before he could even think about using his legs. His best option was to get some fresh blood and then work on healing himself.

  Fresh blood was possible for him because of the dead men within the pyramid. If the unseen gunman had reached Nadi and freed him, I had no doubt that Nadi would be indulging himself. As much as I hate drinking blood, I was actually jealous. It had been a while since Zero and I had had any fresh blood and I could feel my own level of fatigue starting to increase. I wondered how Zero was feeling but knew he could endure just the same as I could. It wasn’t pleasant but then most of the work we did never was. We’d handle it like we always did and get refueled as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Hopefully, that would be very soon.

  The Misr was a decent weapon in the way that all AKM variants are. It was heavier than I normally preferred, and the banana shaped magazine meant a higher profile when you were in a prone position. But it was reliable and that was what counted. I’d never used one in a desert environment before, so hopefully the sand wouldn’t foul up the working parts when I went to shoot it. The Egyptians had copied the AKM design and manufactured the Misr rifles right in Cairo, so I had no doubt these were the latest generation, which was a good thing.

  I wondered about Nadi and who he could possibly be reporting to on the Council. And why were they protecting him? What would the Council want with a money man who gave cash to terrorist groups? It didn’t make any sense to me, but then again, a lot of what the Council did didn’t make much sense. That was the problem with politicians: they did a lot of things in their own self interests rather than those of their constituents. I just wished Council members had to run for re-election instead of being appointed for decades at a time.

  A noise floated through the air and I opened my jaw to better hear. It was soft. A scuffling sort of noise caused by friction. As if something was being dragged by something else. But what? Or who? Was it possible Nadi was already healed? Was he walking already?

  I kept checking over my shoulder. The fact that Salah had somehow managed to escape didn’t make me feel particularly secure. I hated the thought of him being a loose end. Was he hiding out somewhere nearby or had he already run back to Cairo to get more men or leave the country?

  Eyes on the target, Lawson, I told myself. Just keep watching the escape tunnel and see if anyone comes out of that. If they did, they’d have to crawl through it, which was a plus. They couldn’t come rushing out firing at the barrels, which is where I would assume someone would be positioned if I was in their place. The tunnel mandated they crawl and that meant they wouldn’t be able to get off a shot unless they maneuvered out on their belly with the gun up in front of them. It wouldn’t be a good shot. I doubted they’d risk doing that. Especially if they thought there was a chance that I might not be out here at all.

  Nadi would be able to see me, however. He had the same night vision that Zero and I did, so I had to remember that. That alone made him more dangerous than I liked.

  I heard another sound now. Closer. I looked over to where Zero and Murad were and didn’t see any change in their body language. They must not have heard the noises that I was hearing. I thought about trying to get their attention, but then disregarded the idea. I didn’t want to alert any potential enemies that I was out here. And if I chirped or whistled or did anything else, I’d definitely run that risk.

  I wriggled back a few feet from the base of the barrels, hoping to allow my ears to better pick up the sounds instead of hearing them after they bounced off the metal of the barrels. Plus, one of the barrels was obviously used as a bathroom and it was full of harsh chemicals that made the insides of my nostril feel like they were on fire. The more distance I could put between me and them, the better.

  Behind me, a low sand dune rose up slightly. It was a bit higher than where I was positioned and gave anyone coming over the top an immediate advantage over me. They could easily fire down and send a volley of lead into my body.

  Not cool.

  Part of me wished I’d let Murad have this assignment, but he wouldn’t have been as effective as I was.

  Movement.

  My eyes caught it first. Down by the escape tunnel at the base of the pyramid. In the darkness of the tunnel I spotted a flash of movement. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

  I looked over at Zero and Murad and pointed to the tunnel. Zero nodded and it made me feel better knowing they knew I was expecting company. I wondered what was happening at the entrance they guarded.

  I saw the hands come out of the tunnel first. And then bit by bit I saw the head and shoulders emerge. But I couldn’t tell who it was because they’d clearly confiscated some of the clothing from the dead men inside and used it to disguise themselves. If it was Nadi, I should know as soon as he stood up because he’d still be rocky on his feet, even if he had managed to heal h
imself enough to walk.

  The question still remained as to who had freed him. Hopefully, I’d know in a minute.

  The first figure emerged entirely from the tunnel and stood. He had a rifle in his hands, but not a Misr like I did. He held a sniper rifle with a scope on it. As I watched, he brought the rifle to his shoulder and slowly scanned the area, starting off to my left. I ducked my head down and counted to ten, hoping he wouldn’t spot me at the base of the barrels.

  I brought my head up slowly and the man standing there had lowered the rifle and was hunched over the same escape tunnel, looking as though he was trying to pull something out of it.

  Or someone.

  As I watched, it became clear that he was trying to help Nadi get himself through the tunnel without making much noise. But now I could hear the exertion and the huffing as Nadi tried to get himself free.

  I looked over at Zero and held up two fingers. He nodded and I knew he and Murad would be maneuvering now to back me up. If both the unseen gunman and Nadi were coming out of the escape tunnel, there wasn’t much point watching the front entrance any longer.

  The unseen gunman had to sling his rifle in order to help Nadi to his feet and as he did so, I rose up smoothly and brought the Misr to my shoulder.

  “That’s far enough.”

  About fifty yards separated us, which was well within the effective kill range of the Misr. For a moment, the unseen gunman froze but then he continued to help Nadi get out of the tunnel.

  In my peripheral vision, I could see Zero and Murad coming up now to help cover these two and I was glad for their presence. I wanted to know who the hell was standing in front of me along with Nadi. Of course, we had a major problem: Murad was still here and Zero and I would not be able to conduct our business as long as he was.

  I came down the slope toward the two figures and watched as Nadi finally got himself clear of the tunnel and started to stand. One of his legs was worse than the other, but he looked better already. The unseen gunman helped him and steadied him as he rose.

  Nadi’s face held an expression of pure hatred as he realized I was still standing there.