The Shaddad Conspiracy

Chapter 41: Between Heaven and Hell

"No. I want to know how the Iranians turned you."

"Why, William? It's not important."

"Extend me this small courtesy, old friend. It's important. What turned you?" Sir William made a conciliatory gesture by extending an open palm. "If you pull that trigger, I'll be right behind you in Hell. Imagine how pissed off you'll be if I keep asking the same question for eternity." The elderly barrister coughed. "You'd be even more pissed off, wouldn't you? I know it wasn't money or drugs. So it had to be a woman. Tell me, please."

"Call off your dogs, William." Ronan sat down in the chair. "I'll finish the job before they can aim, much less fire."

"Ives, stand down. Take Jacobsen and Lady Catherine into the kitchen and lock the door. Leave me with the Commander, please."

As the door closed, Sir William scribbled a note and handed it to Ronan.

VILLAGE OF BADULAH GAR

WEST OF QUETTA

"Not now." Alexandra mumbled as she felt Christopher squeezing her shoulder. "In the morning."

Christopher pressed himself against her and whispered into her ear. "Shhh. Get dressed. Something's wrong." He pulled on his sweater under the blanket in the semi-darkness of the main room. "We have a problem."

Without any hesitation, Alexandra immediately replicated his actions under the blanket.

"Get your shoes on. I'll do my boots after you."

"What's the problem?" Alexandra whispered.

"The Village Elder who had been the main objector to Sangar's proposal just slipped out with two of the elders who sided with him." Christopher slipped off the blanket.

"Maybe he went to the bathroom," Alexandra retrieved her MP7 and slipped on her burqua without the headdress.

"They both took their wives with them." He glanced at his watch. "At four in the morning, that's odd."

"But they're here without..."

"...eight hours is enough time for that Taliban group to ride within a few kilometers from here. They could have travelled in less than two hours from that cliff." He held his hand up as the barking of a dog. "Only one dog." He waited. "Not sure, but that last bark might have been cut off by a silenced shot." He climbed over Alexandra and shook Sangar.

"I know," Sangar responded as he slipped from under his blanket. "Shababa is dressed."

"Me first. The women. Then you," Christopher whispered as he led them in a crawl to the second room. "We're not using the main door."

"Understood." Sangar retrieved his assault rifle. He smiled as he noted Alexandra's MP7 machine pistol as she crawled by him.

**

At the doorway to the second room, Christopher stood and positioned his back to the wall. Alexandra immediately assumed a reciprocal position on the other side.

"Two, one! Go!" Christopher into the doorway and covered the right side of the room as Alexandra stepped behind him and covered the left side in the classic 'two-man' clearing process for a room.

"Clear," they both whispered simultaneously.

Christopher knelt and retrieved a strange implement from his satchel.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alexandra whispered as she observed him fastening a tomahawk's thong around his wrist.

"Cover the exit, Alex. Sangar, keep that blanket open so I can see what I'm doing. We're going through the wall on this side. It's the last place our friends should be thinking of ambushing us." He carefully used the weapon's hook to remove the mortar from around several bricks. "I may need to hack at some of these bricks in a few minutes."