by Vince Flynn
In an unusual gesture Omar stood. He not only stood but he smiled. He held out his arms like he was a father greeting his favorite son. Before David knew it he was being pulled in. It was part of the other side of Omar. His mood was infectious, whether he was up or down, he brought everybody with him like the tide. Right now he was up, and David couldn’t help but grin.
“Come here,” Omar’s voice bellowed. “You have succeeded.”
David allowed himself to be hugged even though he didn’t feel like he’d succeeded.
“You have done marvelously,” roared Omar as he patted David on the back. “Have you seen the tape?” asked Omar as he released him.
“No. I’ve been on a plane all day. I have no idea what’s happened. What is this I hear about a bomb threat at the UN?”
Omar deflected the question with a flip of his wrist. “That is nothing. Only a delay tactic by the Americans. Come, you must see the videotape.” Omar forced David over to a chair in front of a large plasma TV. “Sit … sit … I command you. When we are done we will go to the casino and then the discothèque for some women.”
David reluctantly dropped into the chair and watched as Omar picked up a remote control. “What is going on at the UN? Why didn’t they vote?”
“There was some bomb scare, but do not worry. The vote is going to take place first thing in the morning and it is going to pass.”
David eyed Omar suspiciously. “How do you know it will pass?”
“I just talked with my brother. I’ve been talking to that poor excuse for a man all day. I think he actually cried when he found out Abdul had been blown up.” Omar stopped fiddling with the remote for a second and looked at David with his most incredulous expression. “Can you believe that a grown man would cry over such a thing? My brother is a fool.”
David was sure that somewhere, in some very thick medical reference book, there was a term that described Omar’s personality, but he had yet to take the time to sit down and look it up. Ignoring his obsession with his brother the crown prince, David repeated his question. “How can you be so sure it will pass tomorrow?”
“My brother, the weak fool, has been given assurances by all of the permanent members that they will vote in favor of the resolution.”
“Even the United States.”
“They have not given their word yet, but they have no choice. As we discussed I convinced my brother that now was the time for the threat of an all-out embargo.” Omar smiled and said, “After you killed Abdul, the president asked my brother if there was anything he could do and my brother told him to vote for the French resolution.” Omar began laughing so hard he actually began to shake. After he’d calmed a bit he added, “They are all such idiots.”
All David could think to do was nod and smile.
When the tape was finally rewound, Omar hit PLAY and said, “You will not believe this. A film crew showed up just minutes after the explosion.”
David watched as the screen went from black to black-and-gray and then finally a shot of people running down a sidewalk. In the distance was a cloud of smoke. Most of the people were running away from the smoke but the cameraman and several other people were running toward it. David began to feel himself sweat. He shifted uncomfortably in the chair. He had no desire to watch this, but he could feel Omar’s eyes on him.
Suddenly there were people on the ground. The camera stopped at each one for a few seconds cataloging the tragedy and then the reporter began shouting instructions. The lens came up and the horizon was filled with smoke and the twisted burning wreckage of cars. David looked away and found Omar standing only a few feet away, watching him.
“You don’t like this?” he asked with a gleam in his eye.
David managed to keep his voice calm. “I know what I did. I do not need to watch it.”
“Oh, but you do.” Omar walked closer to the TV. With one hand he gestured toward David and with the other toward the large screen. “This is your work. This is what you have accomplished … you should be proud of it.”
Omar was smiling widely now and it occurred to David that he was probably taping this for his voyeuristic collection. “I am proud of what I did,” David lied. He was proud of what he did in Jordan, he was proud of what he did with the attaché cases in Hebron, and he was even proud of what he did in New York, but this carnage that he was watching on TV, he was not proud of.
“Tell me,” said Omar excitedly. “Do you think my cousin survived the initial blast?” The screen was now filled with images of a breached and burning limousine. “I hope he did, that American-loving bastard. Look closely, I think that is someone’s leg!” Omar paused the tape and looked at his assassin for an answer.
David shook his head. He’d had enough. “My prince, I’m sorry, but I have no desire to watch this.”
It took David only a split second to realize something was wrong, but by then it was too late. Omar was still smiling at him and watching him closely when suddenly he looked just beyond David and gave a signal. Before David could react something was around his neck and he was yanked backward. His hands immediately shot up, and his fingers desperately tried to get under the rope that was choking him. Omar was suddenly before him.
“I have enjoyed corrupting you.” His gloating face was only several feet away. “Your intentions were so pure, and look at the great destruction you’ve caused.” Omar turned and pointed to the TV.
David gave up on trying to get his fingers under the rope and reached back for Chung’s head. He found a fistful of hair with one hand and began searching for an eye with the other.
Omar enjoyed the struggle. “You should have known better than to trust me…. You of all people.” Omar shook his head like he was admonishing a child. “You always preached to me about security. You were the one who told me not to talk to anyone about our plans.” The smile suddenly vanished from Omar’s face and he leaned in close. “And you always kept asking for more money!”
David couldn’t get ahold of an eye. Chung was too strong. He began to realize that this was a fight he would not win. Specks of light started to appear on the periphery of his vision and his lungs began to ache. Suddenly Omar was very close to him saying something that he didn’t bother to try to understand. His brain was too preoccupied with finding more oxygen. He could feel himself slipping away and his thoughts turned to the memories of his youth. To Jerusalem, and to his family. As his body began to relax into death he was comforted by the vision of his mother caring for the sick.
Rapp slowly removed his headphones and tossed them on the bed. He didn’t leave the window at first. He just stood there like a hawk perched on a tall branch, looking down at the large white vessel. Some stubborn sense of fairness in him did not like what had just transpired, but there wasn’t much he could have done about it. He tried his best to not let it bother him, but it did, and he could tell it bothered the other people in the room too. No one spoke for at least a minute.
Finally, Rapp turned to the others and said, “Pack everything up. I want to be out of here in fifteen minutes.”
The team of technicians were already at work. One of them was in the process of sending the encrypted audio back to Langley, while a second had begun packing the equipment. The third had hacked into the hotel’s network and was placing a worm to erase all security footage from the time they’d arrived until thirty minutes from now.
Before leaving, Rapp looked back out at the harbor one more time; at Omar’s massive yacht and the limousine that was still parked at the entrance to the pier. The president would get all the evidence he needed and then some. Rapp had killed many times and could honestly say he’d never enjoyed it, or at the very least he’d never relished it. Yes, there’d been times where he’d felt just satisfaction in killing someone who deserved it, but that was about the extent of it.
Pensively, he turned away from the window with the expression of a man who was lost in thought. He put on his suit coat over his holstered 9mm Beretta and started fo
r the door. He paused on the threshold and looked back at the three analysts. “Good job, I’ll see you at the plane.”
Rapp walked past the elevators to the stairs and started down. Raising his digitally encrypted radio to his mouth he said, “Scott, I’m coming down. Meet me by the east entrance of the hotel with the car.”
76
Omar was in a hurry to join in the revelry. He’d kicked everyone off the yacht so he could have his private meeting with David and with that little piece of business taken care of he was ready to enjoy the evening. His cousins had gone ahead to the Casino Club to try to procure some women for the trip to St. Tropez in the morning. He would much prefer it if they could find some young aspiring actress to join them, rather than the usual whores they had to pay for. The young ones were so much fun to corrupt.
Omar had lent large amounts of money to Italian, French and American producers over the years and the walls of the ship’s upper gallery were adorned with autographed headshots of the silver screen’s elite. The photos never failed to impress the naive teenagers. The size of the yacht, the opulence of the furnishings, the photographs, they overwhelmed the vulnerable young women. And if that wasn’t enough, there was a full complement of drugs that could be used either overtly or surreptitiously to melt away their inhibitions.
Omar stepped from his yacht onto the pier. It was a clear night and the fresh air of the Mediterranean felt wonderful. Killing David had livened his senses. He couldn’t wait for the rest of the evening’s entertainment. His cousins would immensely enjoy watching the tape of Chung strangling the insolent Palestinian. None of them liked him. Omar had been very fond of David at first, but his impudent attitude had worn thin. His disapproving looks and his refusal to join in the sexual merriment became increasingly intolerable. He was only a Palestinian after all, and his place in the pecking order of the Arab tribes was at the very bottom. The fact that he didn’t know his place in society and that he kept asking for more money was what had made the decision easy. Besides, Omar would sleep much easier knowing that David would not be telling or selling his secrets to the wrong party.
Rapp watched the portly Arab waddle down the pier in his shiny suit. His mountainous Chinese bodyguard walked in front of him, his head turning and his eyes deliberately sweeping the path before them like a spotlight atop a citadel searching for danger. Rapp had read the British surveillance reports, probing for a weakness. The boat would have been difficult, too many people and almost no set schedule. Someone was always up and moving about. There was the bathroom at the casino, and there was the party room at the hotel. There were all kinds of options that if Rapp absolutely had to, he could have made work, but he was short on time and forcing something often led to mistakes. In Rapp’s line of work, mistakes could get someone other than the target killed or at a bare minimum cause an international crisis. Fortunately one very straightforward opportunity jumped off the page at him.
Rapp was not acting without orders. The president didn’t know what he was about to do, but that had been intentional. In operations such as this it was best to insulate the president and the office from any blame. Rapp and Kennedy had decided it was time to send a message to the Saudis. No longer would they have free rein in financing terrorism as if it were some hobby to be enjoyed in one’s spare time.
Through his earpiece he could hear the operational chatter of Scott Coleman receiving updates from the other men. It was nothing more than background noise for Rapp. He could clearly see Omar and Chung from where he was stationed. The others were there as backup to monitor the local police frequencies and finish the job if for some reason Rapp fell short, which he had absolutely no intention of doing.
Chung reached the limousine first. Even though the casino was only a few short blocks away, Devon LeClair kept a limousine on twenty-four-hour standby. It was enough of an exertion for the prince to amble the length of the pier; he was not about to walk down the sidewalk to the casino. Before opening the door, Chung took one last look around, giving a group of youths across the street a long hard stare. Then when Prince Omar was ready Chung opened the door for his employer and helped him into the vehicle. Chung then somehow managed to fold his frame in half, and squeeze into the dark backseat, closing the door behind him.
The first bullet struck him in the face. So did the second. The silencer on the tip of the gun minimized the muzzle flash to barely a spark. Chung never moved other than the slight jerking motion his head made as each hollow point round penetrated his forehead. He sat motionless like some ancient stone statue, his posture upright and his hands open and resting on his knees. He never had even a fraction of a second to realize something was wrong. All in all it wasn’t a bad way to die.
Omar would not be so fortunate. The door locks on the limo clicked simultaneously and the vehicle began to move. Omar reached for an overhead reading light and pressed it. A narrow beam of light shone down on him, and he looked around nervously. Something strange was happening. There had been several unusual noises, a few weak sparks, but the usually alert Chung was sitting still, unalarmed.
Somewhere near the front of the compartment there was movement and Omar suddenly realized someone else was in the car. The danger of the situation still had yet to register as he asked, “Who is there?”
Rapp, who was dressed in black, blended in perfectly with the dark interior and heavily smoked windows of the limousine. He leaned forward and in Arabic said, “I am a friend of your brother’s.” His words were carefully chosen.
Omar’s eyes opened wide and his right arm reached for Chung. It was at that moment that he realized something was seriously wrong. He pushed Chung and the Asian man’s lifeless body fell sideways into the door. Turning back to his assailant with panic in his voice he asked, “Who are you?”
“I am your executioner,” Rapp answered, again in Arabic.
Omar, thinking the assailant in his car was a Saudi, said, “You cannot harm me. I am a member of the royal family.”
Rapp smiled and changed to English. “I am an American, and as a favor to your brother I am going to kill you.”
Omar’s eyes grew even larger. He was shocked by the man’s change of languages. “For what?” he croaked incredulously. “I have done nothing but honor my brother.”
“You are a liar, and you have disgraced your family.” Rapp again chose his words very carefully for every second of this was being recorded.
“I have done no such thing,” stammered an unconvincing Omar.
Rapp looked back at him leaving no doubt that he didn’t believe a single word the man uttered. “You had your own cousin, Abdul Bin Aziz, killed.”
“I did no such thing.”
“And I suppose you never called your brother a fool, and a poor excuse for a man?”
The quote struck a note of familiarity with Omar and his expression changed in a very subtle way. “I love my brother. I do not always agree with him, but I love him.”
“Do you love him enough to admit that you had your own cousin killed?”
“I did no such thing!”
Rapp squeezed his left index finger and a 9mm round spat from the end of the silencer striking Omar in the knee. The Saudi prince lurched forward and screamed in agony. In all of his pampered life he had never felt anything so painful.
Rapp pointed the weapon at the prince’s other knee and repeated the question. “Why did you kill your own cousin?”
Omar was now rocking back and forth, holding his shattered knee with both hands as blood oozed from between his fingers. “How much are you being paid? I will pay you millions,” he pleaded.
Rapp squeezed off another round, this time striking the other knee.
Omar squealed and looked down in absolute horror at the fresh wound.
Rapp kept his voice under control. “Why did you kill your cousin?”
“Because I hated him!” hissed Omar. “Because he and my brother are leading my country in the wrong direction, and because I should be crown prin
ce!”
Rapp didn’t speak at first. Omar had said it all. As much as Rapp detested him he did not find this enjoyable. There was no thrill in watching him suffer. Even though he had no doubt the man deserved everything he was getting and then some, for Rapp it was just a job. He hesitated for only a second, and then raised his pistol and sent a single bullet into the Saudi prince’s forehead.
EPILOGUE
The crown prince and his entourage had taken the top three floors of the Plaza Athenée in Paris. President Hayes by contrast had only taken the top two floors of the Bristol, but then again the president only had one wife. The Israeli and Palestinian delegations were spread around town at various hotels. The peace summit had caused quite a stir with the Parisian hotel community. Spring was fast approaching and, as always, rooms were scarce. With only two weeks to make arrangements, apologies and discounts were offered and schedules were changed. Parisians were proud to host a conference that might finally bring about a peace in the Middle East. Especially in light of the recent embarrassment they’d suffered due to the less than honorable actions of their country’s ambassador to the United Nations.
The French intelligence agency, DST, had arrested Ambassador Joussard on charges of accepting a million-dollar bribe from a wealthy Saudi prince. To make matters worse, that same Saudi prince, along with his bodyguard, was found dead in Cannes the very same day of Joussard’s arrest. And if that wasn’t sensational enough, the strangled body of a known Palestinian terrorist had been discovered aboard the prince’s yacht. The story was too juicy to resist and within days the press was all over it.