Nothing was said as we walked to the lift. Jerry stared straight ahead, his hands on his b.u.mbag, checking its contents as if he expected the camera gypsies to strike at any moment.
Down at Reception, there was another familiar face. Salkic presented us with our pa.s.sports without ceremony or emotion. "Follow me."
Two midnight-blue Audis with smoked gla.s.s and alloy wheels were waiting outside, engines running. Benzil was sitting in the back of the lead vehicle, his window down. His fresh-faced driver indicated, with a wave of the small radio in his hand, that we were to get into the one behind. Its boot clicked open.
The leather boys also peeled away from us to go with Benzil, one in the back beside him, the other beside the driver. Salkic climbed into the front seat of ours as we threw our bags into the boot and got into the back. A driver in his forties was at the wheel. His crewcut was just cropping out to show the grey on the sides, and his face was peppered with small scars. His stubble only grew where the skin wasn"t marked. As he ran his right hand over the wheel I could see that his index and ring finger were missing.
Jerry had recognized him too. But he didn"t look round to acknowledge us, or make eye contact in the rear-view, so we did the same.
The rain had stopped, but the heating was on. The interior smelt of new leather. Salkic and the driver were gobbing off to each other at warp speed. There was a burst of radio mush, then a voice in Serbo-Croat. Salkic pulled a Motorola two-way communicator from his pocket, the sort skiers use to keep in touch with each other on the slopes. He mumbled into it as Benzil"s vehicle pulled away and we followed.
The wet pavements glistened in the streetlights. Sarajevo was bright with neon and illuminated billboards, but appeared deserted. I couldn"t help feeling the place was all dressed up with nowhere to go. I saw a tram, but there was no other sign of life as we splashed our way out of the city.
In the driver"s footwell, tucked against the seat so it didn"t get in the way of the pedals, was an AK Para version, the same as Rob"s. A spare thirty-round magazine was taped upside down to the one loaded in the weapon. I just hoped it was there for comfort rather than necessity. There was nothing armoured about this Audi and I didn"t fancy the idea of repeating my Baghdad experience as bra.s.s-coated lead rounds ripped the tin can to bits.
"It is a long journey." Salkic spoke without turning round. He didn"t sound happy with life. His eyes were glued to the road ahead, as if he was expecting an attack from a side junction at any minute.
I leaned forward between the two seats. "Where we going?"
"It would mean nothing to you, and even if it did, I would not tell you. It"s better that way. Everybody either wants to kiss Hasan or kill him. I protect him from both. Those men who followed you, they do not want to kiss Hasan."
There was more mumbling on the net and he held up his right hand in case I was about to speak. Those little Motorolas were perfect for close-up comms. They had a range of a couple of Ks, beyond which they couldn"t be listened in to, and because they didn"t produce that big a footprint it was difficult to keep track of them.
He pressed the send b.u.t.ton and gave his answer. The front car immediately took a sharp right, but we carried on past the junction and took the next left. Salkic saw Jerry"s concern in the rear-view as the streetlights flashed by, strobing the interior. "For our own protection."
I leaned forward again. "How long have you known Nuhanovic?"
Salkic stared ahead at the empty road. It took a while before I got an answer. "Hasan is a truly remarkable man."
"So I hear. Thank you for pa.s.sing on our message."
He stared through the perfectly cleaned windscreen, not a bug splash in sight. The Motorola crackled and he concentrated on what was being said before responding. "I gave him your message. He was interested to hear about you being at the cement factory."
"How did you come to work for him?"
He turned round very slowly and deliberately, and in the strobed light I could see that his face was set like stone. "I do not work for him," he said simply. "I serve him. He saved me and my sister from the aggressor when the British, the French everyone were just standing by and wringing their hands."
He tapped the driver on the shoulder, waffled off to him, and he nodded and waffled back. It looked like they all felt a similar obligation.
"Nasir says it was a shock in Baghdad when you asked about Hasan. Nasir begged him to leave the city within the hour. He, too, is always worried about security."
Salkic faced the front again.
I took the hint and sat back. Before long we were heading out of the city and up on to the high ground. Apart from our headlights, the only light was what spilled now and again from the houses dotting the road.
We were on a metalled single carriageway that snaked its way across the ridge and down into the valley the other side.
Acouple of Ks later, I spotted tail-lights in the distance. They were static, and off to the right. Salkic got on the net and the lights began to move and rejoined the road. We soon closed up behind them.
I leaned forward. "Benzil?"
Salkic nodded. "I"m the only link to Hasan in Sarajevo. Nasir will take us only part of the way, then I alone will take you on to him."
Nasir"s seat creaked softly as his weight shifted. There was nothing out there but inky darkness, the headlights catching the odd tree-trunk and house at the roadside as we drove past. A couple of times a scabby dog rushed out from behind one to take us on.
Jerry was doing the same as me, peering out into the night. His hands rested on the camera in his b.u.mbag, as if he was still worried the camera gypsies were about to pounce.
77.Tuesday, 14 October We had been following the Audi"s tail-lights at a distance for about an hour and forty when Salkic sparked up. "We are nearly at the transfer point."
I guessed the next stage of the journey wasn"t going to be as comfortable. He dug down round his neck and pulled out two keys on a chain, the sort ID tags are attached to. With luck, they belonged to a nice warm vehicle. I didn"t fancy tabbing through the cuds in this kind of weather.
"Everything you have with you will stay with Nasir."
Jerry leaned into the s.p.a.ce between the front seats. "What about my camera? If he lets me take some shots, I"ll-"
Salkic turned to him, his face steely. "Nothing must be brought with us. Certainly no electrical devices. We will also search you. Don"t worry, everything will be returned after you have seen Hasan."
The front Audi"s tail-lights glowed red, and stayed on. As we closed, Salkic talked cautiously into his Motorola.
We were almost on top of them before we could see the problem. The way ahead was blocked by a dead cow, and her mates didn"t seem keen to let us through. We couldn"t drive round them because of the barbed-wire fences either side of us.
It looked as if the road ran past a farm. A collection of barns stood just off to the right, rough old things knocked up out of concrete blocks and corrugated iron.
Nasir braked to a complete halt, lifting his foot off the pedal when we"d stopped to kill the rear lights. Then he threw the gearshift into reverse and started backing up as the other driver and a leather boy got out to investigate.
Salkic held the radio near his mouth, his eyes fixed on where we"d just been. "This is where we leave Nasir and his people. They will go back to Sarajevo. I will take you to Hasan."
We stopped about a hundred metres back, lights off, and waited. Nasir was cautious: he knew his drills. A frantic voice screamed over the net. Nasir went for the AK as a huge, dark ma.s.s roared out from one of the barns behind blazing lights, bouncing cows out of its way as it aimed for Benzil"s Audi. Jerry pushed back into his seat, transfixed by the mechanical monster"s headlights.
As the truck bore down on them, the leather boys ran back to their car. One of them managed to pull an AK and the muzzle flared in the darkness.
Salkic hollered into his radio, for all the good that was going to do. There was another burst from the AK, but it didn"t stop the Audi getting T-boned dead centre and being bounced back into the fence.
Nasir threw open his door and jumped out at the same time as I did, his AK at the ready, yelling at the other two. I grabbed at Jerry"s coat as rounds started to puncture the bodywork. "Out the f.u.c.king car!"
The barbed wire buckled as the wheels of Benzil"s Audi dug into the mud for a second or two before it toppled over on to its side. Automatic fire rattled among the barns as the truck ground to a halt, its headlights spilling across the wreckage and the sharply rising ground beyond it.
Rounds hammered into the side panel, inches away from me. Jerry twisted and tore away from my grip. He screamed once and dropped to the tarmac like liquid.
s.h.i.t. I fell with him.
His body was still wriggling.
"I"m OK, OK."
Nasir was to my right, static and firing at the muzzle flashes that tore through the darkness from the direction of the farm buildings. He was calm and controlled, taking short bursts, making every round count. I didn"t look back, just got my head down and legged it towards what was left of Benzil"s Audi.
More bursts from the right. They were moving positions so they could get rounds into the heap of tangled metal wrapped round the front of the truck. Rounds zinged off the tarmac.
s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t. Don"t look, just keep going.
Another four, maybe five sustained bursts.
I was nearly at the wreckage. The Audi was lying on its left side, wedged against the truck"s radiator grille. The truck driver was slumped over his steering-wheel.
"Benzil! Benzil!"
I peered through the Audi"s mud-splattered windscreen. There was n.o.body inside.
"Benzil! Benzil!"
One of the leather boys had been crushed between the two vehicles. I felt about for his weapon among the mangled flesh and steel.
A semi-automatic opened up from the high ground behind me, punctuating the frenzied shouts in Serbo-Croat that echoed all around us. Who the f.u.c.k was who?
"Benzil!"
No weapon found. I lay flat in the mud, using the Audi for cover, wishing I could dig myself into the ground. More rounds ripped into it from the barn, and again from the high ground. One of the leather boys was jumping up and down, yelling to me to move up. Then, as he gave me more covering fire, his muzzle flash illuminated Benzil kneeling by his side.
f.u.c.k it, deep breath. I legged it up the hill towards him, only to be catapulted back down into the mud by the remains of the barbed-wire fence. The more I tried to untangle myself, the more it cut into my jeans and skin. The leather boy shouted something at me before returning fire, as if he thought I was deliberately taking my time.
I kicked free and kept well to the right of him as he squeezed off burst after burst. I saw Benzil again in the muzzle flash, lying at his feet now, waving me over.
No time to be static. I ran over to Benzil and grabbed hold of his overcoat. "Come on, up!"
The leather boy was changing mags, but he was an accident waiting to happen. He was failing to move after each burst; he was going to get hit soon and I didn"t want us anywhere near him when it happened. I kept moving uphill and to the left, dragging Benzil, trying to get us out of the line of fire and back towards what I hoped was a surviving Audi.
I pushed Benzil into the mud as two endless streams of tracer sailed over our heads. The leather boy went ballistic, then stopped firing and crumpled.
"Stay here!"
I slipped and slid my way back down the slope, finally landing on my a.r.s.e beside him. He was alive, but wouldn"t be for much longer.
78.The wet, rasping sounds he made as he tried to suck in oxygen were those of a fast-dying man. I reached inside his jacket and felt warm blood pumping over my hand. I wasn"t going to seal the hole: there wasn"t any point. I was just looking for spare mags for the AK.
I was out of luck, but grabbed the blood-wet weapon anyway as the boy stopped breathing, and scrambled back up the hill. "Benzil! Benzil! Shout to me!"
"Here, over here!"
As I joined him, there was a burst towards the barns from further along the hill, parallel with the Audi. It had to be Nasir.
I kept us on the high ground, paralleling the road, trying to confirm who was up on the hill. Benzil was losing strength and spent more time in the mud than on his feet.
"Nasir, Nasir!"
"Over here, over here!" It was Jerry. I still couldn"t see them.
"Back in the car! Go, let"s go!"
I started dragging Benzil downhill. Each step was clearly agony for him, but that was tough s.h.i.t: he"d have to sort himself out later.
He stumbled again and cried out. I grabbed a handful of coat and yanked him forwards as rounds thudded into the ground where we"d just been.
"Come on! Come on!"
Three bodies closed in from my right. Salkic was with them as they scrambled downhill towards the car. The fire from the barns became more concentrated as they worked out what we were doing. Rounds hammered into the Audi"s doors and tyres.
"Back up the hill!"
I was fighting for air, my clothes soaked with sweat, trying to climb and keep a grip on Benzil at the same time. Nasir was returning fire behind us. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Save the rounds! Salkic, where the f.u.c.k are you? Tell him to stop firing!"
We carried on climbing. There were no trees, nothing to haul ourselves up on; just mud, gra.s.s and rock. I slipped and fell. The AK barrel crashed against the stone, but it would survive. These things were built to be used and abused. I wasn"t so sure about Benzil.
There was still firing from below us, but the tracer was going high. They"d lost us in the dark.
I felt blood leaking down my legs after my tangle with the barbed wire. My throat was parched. I kept my grip on Benzil, kept pulling him upwards.
I yelled across at Jerry. "Keep up! We"ve got to keep together."
Jerry came close, chest heaving and breath rattling in his throat. "Where... we... going?"
"f.u.c.k knows. Salkic?"
There didn"t seem to be anything leaking out of Jerry apart from sweat. "For a second there, I thought you were down for good."
"b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. .h.i.t my f.a.n.n.y pack."
Salkic appeared out of the gloom, fighting for oxygen and so angry he could hardly speak. "You are responsible for this! They must have followed me here earlier, and waited." He pushed me so hard in the chest I nearly fell over Benzil. "You lead them to me!"
Benzil remained in the mud as Salkic started gobbing off to Nasir.
I wasn"t too sure how this was going to play, so pushed down gently on the AK"s safety. Salkic heard the click and so did Nasir. His weapon swung up into the aim. Salkic gently pushed the barrel until it pointed at the mud. "G.o.d would not have let this happen if it were not for a reason. My job is to take you to Hasan. We serve him, so it will be done."
I made sure they heard the safety click back where it belonged, then glanced back down at the hill. I could see torchbeams criss-crossing the ground. I waited a second or two for Nasir to calm down. "You know what"s the other side of this hill?"
Salkic thought for a second or two. "No. Just more hills?"
I checked Baby-G. We had about two hours at the most before first light. If we were caught out in the open in this terrain we"d be f.u.c.ked.
Benzil was still on his knees, almost sobbing as he gasped for air.
Jerry, too, sank into the mud.
"Salkic, ask Nasir if he knows." It was time to get sorted. "OK, I saw one man go down and there"s one by the Audi. Anyone see the other guy? We still got someone out there?"
The one missing would have to fend for himself. I had control of the most important two.
Salkic gobbed off again to Nasir.