The men didn’t give her any time to think. They pulled her to her feet and roughly flung her on a chair. One man stepped up to her, bending low to stare into her tear-filled eyes and said in a cold voice, ‘Miss Osman?’
Mina didn’t reply.
‘Miss Osman, you don’t know us, but we know everything about you. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered.
‘Good,’ he replied slowly, ‘so where is it?’
‘Where is what?’
‘Wrong answer,’ he said and turned to one of the other men, ‘You, the bag!’
‘Please,’ Mina begged him frantically, ‘don’t torture me! What do you want? I don’t know anything…’ She stopped talking abruptly when she saw her interrogator bringing a sharp knife towards her throat. It glinted in a single beam of sunlight peeking through the shutters.
He held the sharp edge of the knife under her ear and said, ‘The tablet, Miss Osman, where is it?’
That’s what they were after, Hassan’s tablet? It couldn’t be. This was insane.
‘So?’ He asked, slowly pushing the blade against her skin below her ear until she felt it cut through. Pain flashed through her and she felt warm blood trickling down her neck. Instinctively she tried to bring a hand up to stem the bleeding but shet was still tied up. She was utterly helpless and screamed, ‘Please don’t hurt me! The tablet is in my rucksack.’
He pulled the knife away and turned to the other man, ‘Pass me the bag.’
Taking the bag, he turned back to Mina and with a sinister smile across his face said, ‘We wouldn’t want to leave any traces, would we?’
Mina felt the clammy plastic bag being pulled over her head once more. She felt her mind darkening. ‘This is madness,’ she thought, as she began to lose consciousness.
The three men stood over Mina did not notice Jack creep into the room behind them. Edging up to the nearest one holding the knife, Jack suddenly sliced his left hand through the air with lethal speed and hit him with a knifehand strike to the throat.
They all heard the disgusting popping sound as he fell to the ground. One of the men pulled out a gun and aimed it at Jack, but Jack anticipating this move, flung himself to one side and narrowly avoided the bullet. With a grunt of effort he spun around and put all his force into a kick that smashed the gunman’s right knee. The man dropped the gun and crumpled to the floor, groaning in agony. The third man looked at his colleagues scattered around him on the floor, paused for a second, and then ran out of the door as quickly as he could.
Breathing hard, Jack rushed over to Mina and yanked the bag from her head to let her breathe again. He swung around, quickly picking up the gun and aimed it at its previous owner’s head. ‘Who the fuck are you? What are you doing here?’
The man looked up at him and a twisted smile flickered across his face. In the hushed room they all heard the muffled crunch of breaking glass coming from the man’s mouth. The gunman twitched slightly and his eyes rolled back into his head. Two seconds later, he was dead.
‘Cyanide – shit,’ Jack said, furious.
He turned to Mina to check how she was coping. She was in shock. She looked at him, eyes wide with bewilderment. He took two quick strides towards her and reached out to touch her arm, she shrunk away from him and started sobbing hysterically.
‘Mina! Try to breathe slowly. Are you ok?’ he asked, as calmly as he could manage.
‘Who are you Jack?’ she stuttered.
‘We don’t have time for this. We need to get out of here Mina.’
He peered cautiously out of the window. ‘It’s clear. We can move out,’ he ordered.
‘But… the police.’
‘You can call the police once we’re out of danger. Mind you, I’m not quite sure what you’re going to tell them. These men are professionals, and they came after you for a reason.’
He took her gently by the arm and led her down the stairs. Her face was growing paler by the second. As soon as she made it into the passenger seat of his car, she passed out. Jack fastened her seatbelt and drove off. He couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. After a while, he pulled the jeep up at the main gate of the US military barracks, showed his credentials, and drove onto the base.
The third man was sitting in his car, still panting. He dialled a number on his mobile. ‘Miss Mastrani?’
‘Yes? Do you have the tablet?’
‘No.’
‘What happened?’
‘We turned the place upside-down, there was nothing in the flat. We waited for her to get back but then while we were interrogating her, some guy barged in. He killed Guslin with one stroke to the throat, smashed Anderson’s knee with a kick and disarmed him. I ran for my life.’
‘You… ran?’ she asked, softly.
‘Sorry. I only had a split second to decide what to do,’ he answered, already realising from her tone that he’d made the wrong decision.
‘Where is Anderson?’
‘I think he’s dead too.’
‘You… did well,’ she said. ‘I’ll deal with you later,’ she thought to herself. ‘Where are Mina Osman and that man now?’ she asked, neutrally.
‘No idea Miss Mastrani.’
‘That won’t do.’ He shuddered at her glacial tone.
‘What do you want me to do?’ he asked her desperately.
‘Return to the flat. Clean up the mess. Did anyone hear the gun shots?’
‘Don’t worry about that,’ he answered, finally being able to offer some good news. ‘It’s a war zone. People are kidnapped and murdered on a daily basis.’
‘Right. When you’re done, wait for further instructions at the agreed location.’
‘Yes Ma’am.’
‘I hope this Hassan is still alive. I need to…’ she paused, searching for the right word, ‘…speak to him when I arrive tomorrow’.
‘You’re coming in person to Mosul?’ he asked hesitantly.
‘Yes,’ she said, and hung up the phone.
The man thought about his options. He would clean up the mess at the flat, but that was it. He would be long gone before Mastrani arrived. He had worked with her long enough to know exactly what was in store for him, having failed his mission.
Chapter 11
December 6th, 2004
Mina woke up in a small room with white-washed walls. Looking around her, she saw her clothes hanging neatly on the back of a chair. She tried to work out how long she had been there, or recall who had undressed her and put her in bed, but she was groggy and could not remember a thing. She was thinking so slowly, what was wrong with her? A knock on the door startled her.
‘Miss Osman? May I come in?’
‘Yes’ she answered, gathering the sheet under her chin.
A doctor came into the room. ‘Hi. My name is Dr. Slotter. How are you feeling?’ he asked earnestly, a picture of good manners and efficiency.
‘Where am I?’ Mina demanded.
‘You’re in the infirmary on base. You’re safe here.’
‘But how did I get here? I don’t remember anything.’
‘You were brought here unconscious. I was told you had gone through a traumatic event, so I administered you some sleeping drugs. Our female nurses took care of you. Do you mind if I check you over?’
Without waiting for an answer he took out a tiny torch, shone it into her eyes and made her look up and down, left and right, then checked her blood pressure and pulse.
‘You seem fine. Is your pulse always so slow?’
‘Yes. I’ve practised yoga for many years. How long have I been out?’
‘The whole night.’
‘The whole night? Where’s Jack?’
‘Jack? I’m sorry, I don’t know any Jack.’
‘Jack Hillcliff,’ she insisted. ‘He must have brought me here.’
‘Major Hillcliff?’ he asked.
‘Major… Yes. Can I see him?’
‘Why don’t you rest a little while I try to get hold
of him? He may not be on base right now.’
‘Thank you Doctor,’ she answered.
When the young doctor had left, Mina sat up and tried to recall what had happened. Her head felt like a huge pumpedup football. And as if that wasn’t enough, she was beside herself with anger. Jack had lied to her. ‘A Major in the US army,’ she thought. Professor Almeini had said, there was more to Jack than met the eye. ‘You got that right,’ thought Mina, ‘he’s a lying bastard too.’
She thought of the magical evening they had spent on the rocks in the desert. She ran through every moment she had spent in his company in her mind, and every image left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Suddenly the events that led up to her waking up in the hospital came rushing back to her; she remembered those terrifying men were looking for the tablet. The only person she’d ever spoken to about the tablet with was Hassan. He must have told them. Had he been violently interrogated too? She had to speak to him. She threw off her covers, and jumped out of bed. Losing her balance for a second, she sat down on the bed again. She rummaged through her things, but could not find her phone. She was about to call out to the doctor, when Jack walked into the room.
‘Where’s my phone Jack?’ she yelled.
‘I’ve got it here,’ he said calmly, handing it to her.
She snatched it off him. ‘So you’re a Major are you?’ she asked, barely trying to conceal her anger.
‘Well, a Major on indefinite leave.’
‘You don’t seem ‘on leave’ around here.’
‘I left the army over three years ago. I’m not wearing a uniform, am I?’
He was trying to make her smile, but his efforts just infuriated her more.
‘You lied to me Jack. You fucking lied to me.’
‘I tried telling you that night in the desert.’
‘What? You didn’t try anything. What are you talking about?’
‘You asked me about my past and—’
‘And you avoided answering my questions.’
‘Well. Yes. You seemed to hate the military so much I didn’t know how to broach the subject.’
Mina changed the subject herself.
‘Why did you take my phone?’
‘I had to check a few things.’
She picked up her phone angrily, and tried calling Hassan.
‘No reply. What’s happened to him?’
Jack looked away.
‘Oh God, what’s happened to him? I’ll try calling his mother.’
She dialled another number, and was relieved when a woman’s voice answered.
‘Salam Aleikum. I’m Hassan’s teacher from the university. I’m trying to get hold of him. Is he at home?’
‘No Professor. He hasn’t been at home for two whole days. I’m very worried.’
‘Please don’t worry, I’m sure he will come home soon. Could you ask him to call me when he comes back? My name is Mina Osman.’
‘You’re Professor Osman?’
‘Yes,’ she answered.
‘He’s always talking about you.’ The woman’s voice cracked with emotion, He’s a good boy, Professor Osman.’
‘I know. He’s also one of our finest students. Please ask him to call back when he returns.’
Mina hung up, and burst into tears.
‘So, you can lie too,’ thought Jack to himself. He wanted to take Mina in his arms and comfort her, but he had a feeling it would only make matters worse. He observed her from a distance and all he saw was a woman in shock, blowing her nose and apparently trying to compose herself and retain some dignity under difficult circumstances.
‘Jack, or whoever you are, I can’t stay here. I’ve got to get back to my flat, talk to the police, the department.’
‘Mina, listen to me, I’ve talked to the Iraqi National Guard. I returned with them to your flat; the bodies were gone and so was all the evidence of the fight. To make matters worse, someone must have bribed an important police official because they’re dropping the case altogether claiming lack of evidence.’
‘My god. Who are these people? They weren’t even Iraqi.’
‘That’s the real question.’
‘I have to go back there. I have to change my clothes, pick up some things.’
‘Mina, you can’t go back to your flat! Don’t you understand? People are trying to kill you. Do you have any idea why?’
She didn’t reply immediately, ‘I don’t know, Jack.’
‘I heard them mention a tablet. C’mon Mina,’ he said, taking her hand in his.
She wrenched her hand from his and shot him a cold look that firmly reminded him where he stood with her.
‘Drop the sweet talk, Major Hillcliff. I’ll stay somewhere else. Anywhere. But not here. Please… just leave me alone.’
He stood up slowly, ‘Alright. You’re angry right now. Please call me if you want my help in any way. You know how to get hold of me if you need to.’
She did not answer and with a sigh he left the room.
Mina put her clothes back on and made a phone call.
‘Professor?’
‘Mina! I’ve been trying to get hold of you for over two days now. Where are you?’ he asked, frantically.
‘It’s a long story. I can’t talk right now. Can we meet at the university cafeteria in an hour from now?’
‘Of course Mina. I’ll be there.’
She bumped into the doctor in the corridor as she left the room.
‘Miss Osman? Where are you going? I think you should remain here for at least another day, until you feel well enough to leave the base.’
‘I’m fine doctor. Can I ask you a small favour?’
‘Of course. What is it?’
‘You know the computer in my room, is it connected to the internet? I need to check my emails.’
‘Yes. Just click on the web browser.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’ll be next door if you need anything,’ he said.
‘Thank you so much.’
Mina logged onto her webmail quickly and found dozens of new messages. She skimmed through the unimportant ones, as well as Almeini’s, and was left with two emails, one from Shobai, the Jewish scholar she’d contacted a few days before and the other from her former department at Columbia. She opened the latter first. It was from Nigel’s secretary.
Dear Mina,
I have tried reaching you since yesterday at your department in Mosul, but I couldn’t, so I’ve emailed you with all the details. I have some excellent news. An academic foundation, The Foundation for Academic Excellence, has offered to pay your research grant in full and any extra funding you may need during your stay in Israel. They only require you to meet them for a formal interview in Tel Aviv in four days time. You’ll find all their details in the attached word document.
Kind Regards,
Alma Fitzhenry
Mina was overjoyed. What wonderful news. It was like a gift from heaven; she could escape from this twisted situation with Jack and from the thugs who were after her tablet. Also, she could take a break from Mosul and pursue her line of enquiry on Benjamin of Tudela with proper funding. She looked up the foundation online and found out that it belonged to a conglomerate, which was composed of a number of multi-milliondollar corporations, dealing with anything, from cosmetics to the fuselage of airplanes. They were at the technological forefront in each of their fields and had vested interests in related businesses all over the world. She wondered why they had decided to pay for her grant, but thought better than to look that gifthorse in the mouth.
As with all huge corporations, they probably had dozens of people working around the clock to find ways of obtaining tax-relief for their companies, and funding academic projects was an excellent means to do so. She knew that some scouted universities and even took on failed applications which they deemed interesting, just like hers. She checked the date of the email. It was a day old, which meant she had three days to get to the interview on 8th December. She w
ould have to leave right away.
She quickly checked Shobai’s email. It was an automated out-of-office reply. Hopefully he would get back to her soon. She needed information and quickly. She wrote back to him immediately saying that she would be travelling in Israel for her research and that she would love to meet if he was free at any time over the next few weeks. As she finished writing the email to Shobai, she began to wonder what she should do about the tablet. Obviously, she couldn’t leave it in Mosul, but nor could she travel with it to Israel. She’d never clear customs with an ancient artefact in her luggage. The answer to her dilemma came in a flash of inspiration. She smiled to herself, it was a mischievous yet elegant plan.
Before leaving the base, she knocked on the door of the doctor’s office and asked if she could send something by special military courier on behalf of Major Hillcliff. He assured her that once it had been x-rayed and passed security, it would not be a problem. He could do it for her if she was in a hurry. She suddenly wondered if she should trust him. He sensed her hesitation, and hurriedly added that he would be honoured to take care of Major Hillcliff’s mail. He was dead serious. She thanked him, gave him the small package, and walked away.
A young officer appeared at the door and saluted Jack. ‘Sir. Miss Osman left the base, sir.’
‘Thanks. Good job. That’ll be all,’ said Jack.
‘Yes, sir.’
Jack rushed back into Mina’s room, turned on the computer and, using special software, retrieved the log file of every keystroke Mina had made during her visit. He read her emails, and then found the hotel in Safed where she had made an online reservation for two weeks. What was going on? Was Mina really going to Tel Aviv to attend an interview and then on to Safed for research? Or was all this just a cover?
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