AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Normally political pleasantries would be exchanged, but Nassar had no interest in speaking to this man any longer than necessary. They both understood their roles in this transaction and there was no point in pretending otherwise.
“I’m interested in a gun battle that occurred in Juba today.”
“There were many such incidents,” the man probed. “Can you be more specific?”
“It just ended and was centered around a church.”
“Ah, the well-armed foreigners. Your people, Aali?”
“I had men attached to the detail, as did the Americans. We were trying to locate a terrorist who has recently murdered a number of prominent Saudi citizens. Information came to light that he might be hiding in South Sudan.”
“And you’re just calling me now? If you told me sooner, I could have helped you.”
More likely the man would have played both sides, charging an outrageous sum to support Nassar’s men while selling information of their arrival to anyone interested.
“We had to move quickly,” Nassar said. “My apologies.”
There was a lengthy silence before Jayyusi spoke again. “Neither of us has any interest in wasting valuable time, so let me be direct. I have information and you have money. Am I mistaken, or is an exchange desirable?”
“It is.”
“One million U.S. dollars.”
“We both know that’s an unconscionable sum.”
“Indeed. And my information isn’t even that good. But you brought a team into my country and created a deadly confrontation in the middle of my capital city. Under the circumstances, and considering the obscene wealth that your country holds, I see this as a fair price.”
“Do you have account information for the wire?”
“Those details can be handled by our people at a later time. I have no reason to believe that you’re not a man of your word.”
“Then we have an agreement. What do you know about what happened in Juba?”
“The church was the headquarters of an American arms dealer.”
“Name?”
“Jason Blaze. Obviously an alias.”
“And do you know his actual identity?”
“No. It was never something that interested me.”
Undoubtedly because Blaze was paying him to look the other way. “Please continue.”
“Recently a group of white people joined his business. Two men and two women.”
“Do you have descriptions?”
The tapping of computer keys was audible over the marginal connection. “The women are both quite attractive and dark-haired. One midthirties, the other perhaps ten years older. The younger of the two appears to be a native French speaker. The men are both athletic in build and around six feet. One is blond and tanned, but probably naturally fair-skinned. Likely Eastern European. The other has nearly black hair, long, with a beard and dark complexion. He speaks English with an American accent and, we think, fluent Arabic. He did something that no one else has been able to—he killed a local rebel leader named NaNomi. Apparently by driving a knife through his skull.”
Nassar nodded to himself. Mitch Rapp. And it could be assumed with reasonable confidence that the young Frenchwoman was Claudia Dufort. But who were the others?
“After that incident, they were forced to run,” Jayyusi continued. “The rebel group sent scouts to watch the church in case they returned.”
Nassar felt some of the tension in his shoulders easing. Jayyusi’s information was proving to be worth its exorbitant price. The Rapp it portrayed was the one that Nassar was familiar with. A violent man who had been unable to control himself when confronted with a meaningless African guerrilla, thus forcing his team to flee an ideal base of operations.
“So my men—” Nassar began, but Jayyusi anticipated his question.
