round the holster and moved his forearm up against the man’s Adam’s apple, forcing him back to Sevastapol’s door. He held him there and wrenched the gun from its holster. ‘This is one occasion the United Nations takes precedence over the United States – okay!’ He ran over to the car and scrambled in, but as he reached round to pull the door closed he felt his back go, and fell in agony across the seat. ‘Take us to the UN building,’ he shouted to the driver.
The Ukrainian chauffeur supplied by Limoshencko warmed to the task of out-driving the FBI and shot up 6th, running lights on Houston and West Four, then crossed to the East Side along the top of Washington Square Park. In less than five minutes they were on 1st Avenue, speeding towards the sanctuary of the United Nations. No car followed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘Harland, pick up! I know you’ve got that goddam back doctor with you.’ Harland recognised the voice of Special Agent Frank Ollins of the FBI. Ollins had led the air crash investigation two years before. For a time they had been uneasy allies during the investigation, but then Ollins had been warned off by the Bureau.
Clutching his back, Harland moved to the phone. ‘Hello, Frank. How can I help you?’
‘I guessed right,’ said Frank.
‘How’d you get my direct line – the switchboard isn’t working this time of night.’
‘I got a phone directory for the UN, for chrissake. What’s it to you?’
‘Then do me a favour and look up the number of the Secretary-General. Ask the duty officer what Mr Jaidi’s instructions are concerning Dr Loz. After that, find the number for Senator Howard Staple. You know who he is, Frank? He’s one of New York’s two senators. Mr Staple is a long-time patient and friend of Dr Loz’s. You ask him whether he thinks arresting an innocent American citizen on the grounds that he is a Muslim is either fair or just, or indeed tactful at this point. You ask him, Frank, then come back to me.’
‘Look, we just want to talk to him.’
‘Then book an appointment like everyone else. You know where to find him. You know his schedule. Your men have got his office covered twenty-four hours a day.’
‘Why don’t you just put him on the street now, Harland? We know he’s with you.’
‘Good for you. But to answer your question, no, I’m not going to give him to you.’
‘For Christ’s sake, Harland, you do realise you could be aiding a major terrorist? We can file any number of charges for your treatment of Agent Morris in the street this evening.’
‘I don’t think so, Ollins,’ said Harland, laughing. ‘You want me to have a word with the fellows in the press department? By noon tomorrow I’ll have a story about the FBI harassing UN officials on every news service in Europe and the Middle East. I take it you’re aware of the situation in the Middle East, Frank? I know it’s not your beat, but even you understand that the US is in a bind. What do you think the State Department is going to say to Justice and the director of the FBI when you try to arrest Dr Loz? You’re out of your depth, Frank. Leave this man alone.’
‘I hear you threatening me,’ said Ollins calmly. ‘And I’m sure you’re acting with the best motives, but you don’t want to be caught up in this, believe me. I’ll be waiting outside.’ There was a click as he hung up.
Harland turned to Loz, who seemed unfazed by what he’d heard. ‘How’s the back?’ he asked. ‘I’m afraid it’s not going to get any better with me treating you on a desk. But what I did should work for a day or two. You want a glass of water? You should drink more water, you know.’
Harland replied that there was whisky in his assistant Marika’s room – his whisky, but kept in her cabinet at her insistence. When Loz had gone into Marika’s office, he stretched a little and moved to an armchair where he opened Benjamin Jaidi’s letter.
My dear Harland,
If you are reading this, Sammi Loz has signalled that he is in need of our help. This should be offered unconditionally by you on my behalf, and you should regard all United Nations facilities and the influence of my office as being at your disposal. Your role will be simply to watch Dr Loz and watch over him. I stress the distinction between those roles, though he has performed numerous services for this office and I believe we owe it to him to help him through his present difficulties. I enclose a letter which states that you are working for me and directs anyone who challenges or questions you during the course of this assignment to my office. This, I hope, will be of some use to you, my dear Harland.
Yours with gratitude,
Benjamin Jaidi (signed in his absence)
He folded the two sheets of paper and placed them in his pocket. Loz returned with the whisky.
‘You read the letter. I was right, wasn’t I? Jaidi wants you to help me.’ He handed the glass to Harland.‘What do we do now?’
‘I’m thinking,’ Harland replied. ‘Perhaps you’d better tell me what you want, apart from avoiding arrest?’
‘To go to Albania,’ said Loz simply.
‘Just like that? It’s not Atlantic City you know.’ He exhaled heavily and took a mouthful of whisky. ‘If you turn up in Tirana waving a picture of your old school pal they’re likely to put you straight in jail. And when it comes to prisons, I’d choose American over Albanian any day.’
‘I have to go. You must understand that there’s no other way.’
‘Even if you get there, you have to realise your man will have been seen by the CIA. Despite all protestations to the contrary, the CIA and FBI do talk. When you show your face in Albania the CIA will tell the FBI and that is likely to confirm all the suspicions they have about you. You’ll wind up in prison for a very long time. Much better to go to the FBI. Tell them the story of Khan and then go to Albania if you must.’
Loz was unmoved. ‘That is not possible.’
‘It’s your only course.’
‘And where will you be, Harland, if they lock me up? What will you do for your back? You have a very serious condition and I am confident that I’m one of the very few people who can treat it. The Secretary-General told me you had tried everything before coming to see me. Is that right?’
Harland shifted in the chair and drank some more whisky, wondering about the imperturbable man in front of him.
‘I want to know more about you and Karim Khan – all the things you left out in the restaurant. If I think you’re keeping anything from me, I’ll put you back on American soil straight away.’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Why you owe him.’
‘He saved my life.’
Harland revolved his hand. ‘More, Doctor, I need more.’
‘In Bosnia he offered his life for mine.’
‘When were you there?’
‘Ninety-two to ninety-three. I had finished my course at Guy’s, Karim had one year to go. We joined a convoy taking supplies from London to Sarajevo. We went for the adventure and we didn’t imagine what we’d find when we got to Bosnia. The trucks never reached Sarajevo of course and most of the stuff was looted in Krajina, not far from the coast. But Karim and I managed to communicate with the peacekeepers and became involved.’
‘You fought the Serbs?’
He lowered his gaze. ‘We were Muslims. Although neither of us had attended a mosque for many years, we felt obligated to help our people. I was there for a short while; Karim remained until nineteen ninety-six.’
Loz took off his jacket and started unbuttoning his shirt. He slipped off the right side and turned to reveal a patch of mottled light skin on his back, matched by a similar, smaller patch on his front to the right of his diaphragm. ‘These are the grafts I received after being wounded by a mortar shell.’ He did up his shirt and put on his jacket, fastidiously nipping at his collar and sleeves. ‘We were serving with the brigade in the north of the city. We were in a trench, very much like you have seen in pictures of the First World War, facing the Serb lines. Ahead of us was an outcrop of rock where the Serbs had a heavy machine gun and mortar. Snipers used the rock also.
