‘Risky,’ said David, ‘but if you can get to Tindouf, there’s a UN compound there – sort of a watching brief next to the refugee camp. Reach that, and we can arrange transportation back over the border into Morocco. Galal’s influence won’t reach that far. I can’t see a way for you to track back to the UN base at Samara without being seen by the police.’
Dan looked away from Anna, and his eyes travelled back the way they’d driven. So far, there had been no sign of Galal or anyone else in pursuit. All they had done was maintain a presence on the main highways.
It worried him, especially after the coordinated attack on the mining camp. It didn’t seem in their enemies’ nature to let them escape, not after going to such lengths to arrange first the roadblock, then the security alert at the country’s biggest airport.
‘How far is it to Tindouf?’ asked Anna.
‘About four hundred miles,’ said David.
‘Oh.’ She took a step back and surveyed the vehicle. ‘Will it make it?’
‘We’ll have to take it easy,’ said Dan. ‘So far, there are no oil or water leaks.’
‘But we’ll need fuel.’
‘Exactly.’ He held up his smartphone, the signal wavering despite Mel’s satellite link, the battery icon showing two-thirds of the power remaining. He thumbed through the icons on the screen until he found the map one and held it out so Anna could see. ‘There’s a small town south of our current position. It’s not on a main road, so we’ll have to take our chances. We’ll top up the fuel there, buy extra in jerry cans to strap to the roof, and then pick up our route again.’
Anna rested her hands on her hips as she cast her eyes over the desert landscape. ‘It’ll take us, what, another day and a half, you think?’
‘Based on our progress yesterday, yes. Say two, given that we have to detour first to get fuel.’
‘Okay.’ She turned back to him and nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’
‘You hear that, David?’ said Dan.
‘Affirmative,’ came the reply. ‘Again, suggest you take your bearings from your current position, then switch off your phone to conserve power. Call us in twenty-four hours with your position. Sooner if you need us. We’ll be standing by.’
‘Copy that.’
Dan ended the call and turned to Anna. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’
CHAPTER 21
‘So, why haven’t they started their attacks?’ asked Dan as the SUV bounced across the desert terrain.
He shifted down a gear and accelerated up a small incline. ‘If they’ve got their men in place, surely they’d want to start the uprising now, then get the hell out of here before anyone works out what’s going on?’
Anna pursed her lips. ‘It’s a cash flow problem.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Benji had an encryption code he’d developed. Remember I told you he was recruited as a teenager?’
‘Yeah.’
‘He was a natural with computers.’ Anna sniffed before clearing her throat. ‘Anyway, once we found out what bank account the stolen money was going into and being distributed out of, Benji locked it down.’
‘He did what? Is that even possible?’
‘Everything’s connected,’ she said. ‘Once you’re behind the wire, you can do anything.’ Anna closed her eyes. ‘It was the first thing he did that morning. He fully intended to release the money if we’d made a mistake in our investigation – it could easily be blamed on a bank error. In the meantime, all the money that was going to pay for any uprising or for weapons has been frozen.’
Dan emitted a low whistle. ‘No wonder they’re pissed off with you.’ He squinted at the horizon. ‘We might still have time to stop it, then.’
Anna turned to him and nodded. ‘If they don’t find us first, yes.’
Dan exhaled. Anna’s discovery of the cyber theft and then her colleague’s attempt to freeze the assets may have slowed down the hackers; it certainly wouldn’t stop them. Not with the tantalising incentive of tilting the balance in the region to gain a stronghold over a lucrative export market.
He blinked as something shone in his eyes from the horizon, and breathed a sigh of relief.
‘This must be it,’ he said, pointing through the windscreen.
As they neared, the small township revealed itself to be nothing more than a motley collection of sandy-coloured buildings, each with a flat roof to collect what scant rainwater might pass through the region. Tiny windows pierced the walls, letting as little sunlight in as possible during the scorching hours of daylight.
Two large communications masts poked between the buildings, rising up into the sky for several metres, a strobe light affixed to the top of each to warn any low-flying aircraft of their presence.
Dan slowed the SUV to a crawl as they left the rocky terrain and drove onto the dusty track that led into the township.
He checked his watch. Mid-morning, and the single main street appeared deserted.
His gut twisted.
‘What do they do here?’ said Anna. ‘There’s no-one around.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Dan. ‘Keep your eyes open for somewhere we might be able to buy some fuel and water. We’re not going to hang around.’
‘Good.’
Dan kept the SUV at a steady pace as they traversed an intersection, the main road criss-crossing an identical dusty street.
‘When I was little, Dad took me to a mock-up of a Wild West town close to where we lived,’ said Anna. ‘This feels just like it. I’m half expecting to see four guys with shotguns appear in the street to run us out of town.’
‘Yeah, I know what you mean,’ said Dan, his eyes scanning the buildings. ‘And I don’t like it.’
He sat up straighter in his seat and increased his speed. ‘Looks like we’re in luck, though.’
He jerked his head towards a sign erected on a high pole further up the road, a familiar oil company logo faded from the harsh desert sunlight.
‘It looks like it’s closed.’
‘It’s open,’ said Dan. ‘Look.’
He pointed towards the low building that stood behind the fuel bowsers, a battered and torn awning strung above the entrance.
Next to the doorway, a man sat in a canvas chair, his hand shielding his eyes as he stared at the unfamiliar vehicle.
Dan reached for the keys and turned off the engine. His hand on the door release, he glanced at Anna.
‘Lock the doors when I get out.’
He pulled his sunglasses from his face as he stepped from the vehicle. The sun was blinding, but from his experiences in the Army in the Middle East, he knew it could mean the difference between getting help or being ignored. An early instructor of his had told him that being able to look someone in the eyes rather than be confronted with the anonymity of sunglasses often broke through cultural barriers.
He hoped to hell it worked as well in Western Sahara as it had in other countries he’d been posted to.
He approached the man in the canvas chair, who flapped an old newspaper in front of his face while he fought a losing battle with the flies that gathered around him.
The man peered at him through hooded eyes that flitted between Dan and the vehicle.
Dan gestured to the fuel bowsers in the courtyard, then drew out some cash from his pocket and held it up.
The man grunted, tossed his newspaper to one side, and eased out of his chair.
He snatched the money from Dan’s hand and beckoned him towards the fuel bowsers and the waiting car.
Dan followed, signalled to Anna to unlock the doors, and reached in to pull the fuel cap release before joining the man at the pump.
The owner pointed at the two pumps and raised an eyebrow.
One had a black sticker next to the dial, the other a yellow one.
Dan pointed at the yellow one, and hoped he wasn’t about to wreck the engine by having diesel pumped into the tank.
He left the man to top up the fuel, having ag
reed a price for an extra jerry can of fuel by waving more cash at the man and gesturing to the empty cans lined up next to the door of the office. Working his way round to the driver’s side once more, he leaned in, pulled the catch to release the hood, and carried out a thorough check of the oil and water levels.
All good. No surprises.
Dan dropped the lid to find the man staring at him and took a step back.
‘Okay?’
The man nodded.
‘Great, thanks.’
Dan slipped behind the steering wheel, started the engine, and turned the vehicle back into the road.
‘Let’s get the hell out of Dodge,’ he said.
CHAPTER 22
Dan kicked at the tyre and cursed out loud in four different languages.
They’d travelled less than an hour before the vehicle’s steering had turned sloppy, and he’d pulled over, suspecting a puncture.
It was only when he was fetching the jack and the spare wheel from the back of the SUV that he’d looked down and noticed that the other back tyre was flat too.
He’d dropped to the ground and run his hand over the rubber surface, and discovered the tiny nick from a knife deep within the tread.
Anna rounded the corner of the vehicle and shaded her eyes from the sun as she crouched down beside him.
‘Puncture?’
Dan shook his head. ‘Sabotage,’ he said, and pointed out the identical cuts in each back tyre. He stood, threw the jack and spare tyre back into the vehicle, and slammed the door shut. ‘Fuck it.’
‘The man at the garage?’
‘Yeah. Bastard.’
He ran his eyes over the landscape they’d travelled, and then spun on his heel and surveyed what lay ahead.
It didn’t look promising.
In the heat of the day, a harmattan haze spread across the horizon, restricting visibility and hampering any attempt to gauge what lay ahead.
‘I guess they don’t have roadside assistance out here,’ said Anna.
He snorted. ‘No, I guess not.’ He opened the back door to the vehicle and began pulling their belongings from the seat. ‘Can you strip down your laptop computer? Take out the hard drive?’
‘Why?’
‘We can’t stay here. The tyres have been slashed on purpose. So, we need to walk and put as much distance as we can between us and the vehicle before someone finds it.’ He squinted into the distance, back towards the small settlement they’d left behind. ‘Priority has to be water, so we carry all of it between us.’ His gaze returned to Anna. ‘So just take the parts of the laptop you need.’
‘Okay.’
Anna reached into her backpack and extracted the computer, then turned it over and frowned.
‘What’s wrong?’
She held it up so Dan could see.
‘I need a screwdriver.’
‘No you don’t. Give it here.’
Dan took the laptop from her, then raised it above his head and threw it to the ground at his feet.
The plastic casing splintered on impact, scattering components across the dirt.
Anna scrambled for the hard drive and tucked it into the pocket of her backpack before standing up and facing Dan. ‘So much for the warranty.’
‘I’ll buy you a new one.’
‘I’m counting on it.’
He grinned as she tried to look angry. ‘I’ll take you to the best computer store in Phoenix, promise.’
Anna put her hand on her hip. ‘What is it you English say? Bollocks?’
Dan laughed. ‘Come on. Let’s hustle.’ He pulled out all the water bottles from the back seat of the car and distributed them between his pack and Anna’s, taking the majority of the weight for himself. ‘What else do you need to take?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said, testing the weight of her backpack and taking another water bottle from him. ‘Most of what I need is up here.’ She tapped the side of her head.
‘What do you mean?’
She shrugged. ‘I erred on the side of caution,’ she said. ‘I don’t know – call it gut instinct if you like – but I had a feeling we were being watched the moment we set foot in the country. So, I didn’t put everything in my report to head office yesterday. Only enough to give them the broader picture.’ She held up the hard drive. ‘It’s all on here.’ She grinned. ‘And no-one can access the funds without the passwords Benji gave me, anyway.’
Dan swallowed and turned away, busying himself with the final preparations to leave the vehicle while his mind churned over what Anna had said.
And the fact that if their enemies realised she held the key to their demise, they’d stop at nothing to wring it from her.
His fists clenched, and he shook his head, trying to clear the thought.
He had to get her to safety.
‘Here.’ He passed one of the black robes to her, then climbed out of the vehicle and draped his own robe over his head and shoulders.
Anna copied him, folding the end of the robe over her mouth and nose in an attempt to protect her face from the sun.
‘Right, let’s check in with David before we head off,’ said Dan, and pulled out his mobile phone. He frowned when he saw the battery level but dialled the number anyway.
When David answered, Mel next to him on speakerphone, Dan relayed what had happened with the SUV, and his plan to start walking in the hope they would find a small settlement where they could pay a driver to take them the rest of the way to Tindouf.
‘Dan? You don’t stand a chance. She’s never done this, and your experience is nearly a decade old.’
Dan jostled the phone in his hand as he passed another full water bottle to Anna. ‘We’ll be fine. Anna’s grown up in the Arizona desert, and I’ve trained with the general there.’ He exhaled as his eyes fell to the sabotaged tyres. ‘We have to keep moving.’
Anna stuffed the last bottle into the side of her backpack, then hoisted the bag onto her shoulders and raised her hands. ‘Ready?’
He pressed the phone closer to his ear. ‘We don’t have a choice. I’ll update you on our progress when I can.’
‘Wait.’
Dan held his breath, biting back a retort that might not be required. He heard Mel’s voice in the background, her tone urgent, and then David returned to the phone.
‘Mel’s located a UN airstrip at Mahbes – it’s closer than Tindouf. If you can get there, we can organise transportation to the border near there to collect you. It’ll take some persuading back here, but I’ll pull some strings. There are a few people around here who still owe me favours.’
‘Thanks, David.’ Dan checked his watch. ‘Okay, we’re out of here. I want to get as many miles as possible between us and them before nightfall.’
CHAPTER 23
Three hours later, Dan and Anna trudged over a low ridge of rocks and boulders, their progress hampered by the unevenness of the ground under their feet.
Dan wrapped the robe around his nose and mouth tighter as the wind lifted it from his shoulders.
A dust devil danced in the sand at his feet, and his eyes scanned the horizon.
The thought of a sandstorm ripping across the desert filled him with dread. They simply wouldn’t survive.
Anna had slowed, but Dan said nothing and matched his pace to hers.
Despite the robe covering his face, he could still taste the gritty sand between his teeth. When they’d stopped to take a drink an hour before, he’d taken a small sip to start with before spitting it out in an attempt to clear his mouth. Ten minutes after setting off again, the sand was back.
They’d stopped talking half an hour ago and instead concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, Dan’s hand reaching out to steady Anna when she’d stumbled on a protruding rock.
She’d mumbled her thanks and then set off once more looking even more determined.
Dan admired her resolve. She wasn’t a quitter, and she didn’t complain.
Dan adjusted the backpack
on his shoulders, the jangle of zips breaking the heavy silence that wrapped itself around them. Their footsteps sank into the dry earth, kicking up clouds around their ankles as they trudged forwards.
He licked his lips, already cracked from exposure to the harsh sunlight, and stopped.
‘Water break,’ he said.
Anna sighed and let her own backpack drop to the ground at her feet.
Dan reached down and picked out one of the full bottles from her pack to reduce the weight she carried.
‘Here. Small sips. We share this one.’
She nodded and took the bottle from him.
He swallowed in unison as she sipped from the bottle, his tongue rasping against the roof of his dry mouth. Finally, Anna wiped the back of her mouth, then used her shirt to wipe the bottle top, and held it out to him.
Dan had to stop himself from ignoring his own advice. Every cell in his body demanded rehydration, and it was all he could do not to tip his head back and drain the lot.
Instead, he took sips, the warm water flushing some of the grit from his teeth and lips. Too soon, and his ration was gone.
‘No food?’ asked Anna, her eyes hopeful.
He shook his head. ‘Not until the sun starts to go down,’ he said. ‘Eating causes us to use more water from our bodies to digest the food. We need to stay as hydrated as possible.’
He scrunched up the empty bottle and shoved it into his backpack next to two more, then hefted it on to his shoulders, grateful that Anna hadn’t asked him why he didn’t simply throw the bottles away.
There was no use in leaving a trail for their enemies to follow.
A motley collection of wind-torn shrubs stood to their left-hand side, and Anna sighed with relief.
‘I need to pee,’ she said.
‘Go for it,’ said Dan.
He wandered several metres past the bushes and kept his back turned as he surveyed the landscape beyond their position. He checked his watch, took his bearings, and contemplated where they might shelter overnight.
The terrain was bad enough to cross by vehicle, and he wasn’t prepared to risk one of them spraining an ankle trying to gain a few more miles in the dark.
Behind the Wire (A Dan Taylor thriller) Page 10