Epilogue
The death of the infamous warlord in Mauritania made news across the world. Much was made off the fact that his beheaded body was found but not his head. Speculation was rife amongst the bloggers of the world. Quickly followed up by several media sources that he had been taken out by Russian Special Forces in retaliation to the events that took place in Adwalland.
The media tried in vain through a full frontal assault of James Weston to get a comment from the famous Oligarch on the death before disappointingly giving up when told by the PR Man that he would not be making any comment.
Standing over the grave of her lost love in the small village crying, was Rebecca, for earlier in the morning a special delivery had arrived at her parents' house in St. John's Wood.
"Rebecca I have a delivery for you that came by courier," her Mother had informed her down the phone.
Immediately the alert intelligence officer had told her not to open it.
"Does it have a sender, Mummy?" Rebecca had asked quickly before she got ready to make a call to the Service to advise a suspect package had just been delivered to her parents' home.
"It says it's from Sir Thomas Litchfield, darling," her mother had answered slightly confused. "I didn't know you knew him," she had then said in reference to the fact the man had been all over the news.
A now much relieved Rebecca told her not to worry, and said she would be around to collect it later after making up a story that it was related a trade delegation trip she was setting up.
"Oh I see!" her mother had said. "Why did he send it here?"
"His assistant must have got the wrong address," Rebecca had said guiltily because she was lying to her mother. Maybe it was time to tell them the truth.
She sat in her car emotionally drained after having finally told her parents the truth as to what job she did, yet feeling much better because her parents had told her how proud they were of her and had forgiven her for lying to them all these years. She had opened the package to find a dark polished walnut box, very similar to a cigar box.
As she opened it, her hand had went to her mouth in shock, for sitting on the crushed green velvet was a black human ear with a watermarked business card bearing the Litchfield Crest. A phrase was written in black ink
"Got shtroft, der mentsh iz zikh noikem," followed by the letters TL after it.
"Thank you Thomas," she had said out loud.
The wind blowing across the graveyard brought her back to the present.
She took the smooth grey round pebble in her hand and placed it on top of his grave. She kissed her finger once then touched his name and said the prayer of the dead silently to herself.
As she began to walk away she spotted a fox watching her by the Garden of Remembrance and on seeing the creature she knew instantly what do with the ear.
Reaching the edge of the garden, although the fox was no longer in sight, but knowing the creature would be watching, she threw the ear into the garden.
Rebecca turned, wiped a tear from her eye, and walked away from the graveyard.
Acknowledgements
The Devil's Handshake is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents portrayed in the book are the product of the author's imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, corporations, events surrounding the decisions and conversations of the Presidents, Prime Ministers, Secretaries of States, and United Nations officials is entirely coincidental.
My deepest apologies to the Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and the management of the Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in Dubai for using the Burj Al Arab as the base of operations for the character of Robin Ashley to conduct his clandestine activities on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency, but I'm afraid operational security required it.
My apologies must also go to Mahesh Tourani, one of Dubai's more colorful residents for using him and one of his famous parties as the setting for the CIA recruitment of Ashley. Again operational security required it, but I am reliably informed, he still hosts the best parties in Dubai!
The prologue makes reference to an incident where a Regimental Sergeant Major of Special Air Service (SAS) asked his troopers behind enemy lines to hold a meeting to discuss the new furniture to be bought for the Hereford barracks. Eagled-eyed military historians will recognize this story from Peter Ratcliffe's insightful and excellent book the Eye of the Storm - Twenty-Five Years in Action with the SAS. As one of the more unconventional commanders in the field, vastly experienced, and a true shadow warrior, I hope he does not mind me referring the tale in the introduction to Sir Thomas Litchfield's character.
The conversation between Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat is of course fiction but is derived from an actual interview Saddam Hussein gave to The Gulf News shortly before his execution in 2005. The article provides a chilling insight into the mind of a tyrant and is certainly worth a read, as it helped me develop the character of Wasir Osman Hassan. Having once had the unfortunate opportunity to see Saddam Hussein up close and personal and to observe his character during my time in the Arabian Gulf, I have tried to make him as amoral as possible.
I leave it to the readers to make up their own minds whether I have succeeded or not.
The country of Adwalland as portrayed in the book does not exist. At this time, it remains a self-proclaimed state that is made up of Clans all based on the sixteenth century sultanate in the westernmost region of Somalia. The characters that make up the leaders of the government agencies, departments, and intelligence services are also fictitious.
The book also makes reference to the "Energy Security Doctrine." This again is purely fictitious, for as far as I am aware no such publically available policy document exists and thereby is purely a construction of my imagination. That said, students of American Presidential history no doubt recognize that elements of the book's policy as coming from the centerpiece of United States foreign policy from the early 1980s that until the end of the Cold War in 1991 was known as the 'Reagan Doctrine.'
The offices of 18 Old Queen Street do exist but I assure the reader that the occupants of the building are not members of MI6.
The village of Upper Barpham, the home of Farrow Hall was once a Norman village that was unfortunately finished off in the fourteenth century by the Black Death. Today all that remains are the ruins of a substantial church. I chose this long past village in West Sussex as the home of Farrow Hall because in future books, it will play an important part in the future telling of the stories of the Litchfield family saga.
St Ageranus School is also a product of my imagination because I did not think it was appropriate to use an actual school for the massacre of children.
I named the school after a brave monk who died 303AD defending the sacred precincts of a monastery from a Norman army.
The equipment and tactics mentioned in the book do exist. I have consulted many articles, books and websites to ensure that the techniques and equipment used are authentic. If I have missed anything, I apologize and hope it has not ruined the story for the reader.
Finally, this novel couldn't have been written without the help of my family and friends who have continued to believe in me, despite my numerous mistakes over the years. My many personal friends from Russia and the Middle East who are drawn from a collection of successful businessmen, officials and security officers, some colorful others not so but all equally full of interesting stories of their lives.
As to the substance of my story only time will tell whether fiction becomes fact.
Michael Reagan
Bermuda 2014
About Michael Reagan
Michael Reagan is a nom de plume. Initially working as an analyst specializing in Corporate Solutions & Planning for a private bank, he was there right at the start of the crazy years of Yeltsin-led Russia. Gaining first hand insight into how the Oligarchs did business in the early days of a Russia struggling to embrace capitalism.
Some of Michael's experiences have provided in part, the background to his Litchfield character, the chief protagonist of the book.
By the end of the 1990s, employed in a rather peculiar role, within a private office of a royal family in the Middle East he found himself gaining insight not just into the workings of the region's royal families and their various governments, but also seeing just how Natural Resources have and will continue to effect the "doing of business" between the governments of the world and the multifarious characters involved.
Negotiating everything from hunting rights, the paying of gambling debts of young sheikhs, to oil and gas deals, he refers to it as a life that was never dull but certainly not for the fainthearted and one that often found him questioning his "Devil's Bargain."
Michael doesn't maintain a website or a twitter page, but you can find him on Facebook if you would like to drop him a line.
The Devil's Handshake is his first novel on the adventures of the Litchfield family.
The Devil's Handshake Page 8