mention Nuhanovic?’
‘Nah, Jerry reckons they think we’re trying to dig some dirt on reconstruction contracts.’
The kettle clicked and he poured boiling water into the mugs. ‘I’m just going to ditch this.’ He started unbuttoning his sweaty shirt as he headed for the bedroom.
Jerry wasn’t happy with my intro. ‘Why are you telling him all that? He might say no. Then what?’
I got closer, almost in his ear. ‘If he’s going to hide us he deserves to know what’s going on. He’s OK. Let me do the talking – I know him.’
Rob came back, pulling a faded blue T-shirt over his head. An armoured vehicle rumbled out on the main. A helicopter flew past, quite high. He said nothing as he tipped condensed milk into the coffees, gave them a stir, and brought the mugs over with a bowl of sugar. Then he sat down opposite us and took a deep breath. ‘Nuhanovic is quite an elusive fucker, isn’t he?’
54
Rob took a sip of his brew. ‘Fixing an audience with Saddam might be easier.’ He took a bigger one, then rested the mug on his thigh. His eyes were fixed on mine. ‘We’re looking for Nuhanovic as well.’
Jerry jumped in without an invitation. ‘You know where he is?’
Rob glared. ‘If we did, we wouldn’t be looking, would we?’
It wasn’t love at first sight.
‘Let him finish, Jerry.’ I got back to Rob. ‘Why’s he so hard to find, if all he’s doing is spreading the good news?’
He put his mug down on the ring-stained table. ‘Because every man and his dog wants to stop him. Unity is strength. Strength is trouble for everyone. He knows he’s a target.’
Jerry was nodding eagerly, trying to join the club. ‘That’s why no one’s managed to get to him in Bosnia. Baghdad’s our best chance.’
Rob ignored him.
‘Unity?’ I kept Rob’s attention. ‘He must be quite a guy.’
Rob nodded. ‘He’s showing the people that you don’t need missiles to win battles: you can use the coins in your pockets. If you do it together, you can have every government and corporation on their knees.’
Rob’s eyes stayed fixed on mine, completely blanking Jerry. ‘You hear about the Coke boycott in Pakistan? He showed the locals how they could wage cola wars instead of real ones.’
Jerry opened his mouth to speak, but I got in quicker. ‘How did he do it?’
‘First, he convinced businesses to sell Zam Zam, Mecca, all the Muslim brands. Then he preached his message.’ He lifted a finger. ‘To fight back against American imperialism, they didn’t have to load their weapons, just their fridges. And it’s working. Whenever a kid buys a bottle of Muslim-owned cola he knows a percentage of the profits goes to Islamic charities, not to some fat stockholder in New York.’ He smiled. ‘There are some great slogans. “Liberate Your Taste.” “Don’t drink stupid, drink committed.” Every bottle’s a protest – two fingers to the US.’
The windows rattled as some helis came in low and fucked about just above the building. The pilots were probably eyeing up the women on the sun-loungers. Rob waited for them to leave, then got back to the story.
‘A couple of provinces in Pakistan have now even banned Coca-Cola altogether. Imagine where this could lead – if Nuhanovic does the same with electrical goods, cars, food, clothes. It’s got people flapping. Not just corporations, but governments. Our man is a cancer that needs to be cut out before it can spread.’
‘And what do you want with him?’
Rob picked up his keys. ‘Look, I need to go down and get some cold ones. You coming, Nick?’
I got to my feet. Jerry stayed where he was. He was learning, slowly.
55
We took the stairs again. At the bottom, we went through the glass doors and on to the terrace. Within seconds, Rob was ordering some water from a crumpled shirt who’d appeared from nowhere. I watched two others trying to fish out a parasol the helis had blown into the pool.
We moved out of earshot of the Aussie as the crumpled shirts resorted to brooms and a lot of Arabic curses.
‘I don’t mind you both staying, but I’ll have to get the OK from my man and tell him what’s going on with you two. He’s too good a guy to be kept in the dark.’
‘We’ll keep out of the way, whatever.’
The Aussies swapped positions, probably to relieve the boredom.
‘You could be still out on your arse. I’ll vouch for you, but if my man says no, there’s nothing I can do about it. ‘
‘Fair one.’ The heat was unbearable. ‘There’s something I want to tell you.’ I nodded over to a patch of shade near the building. ‘Jerry doesn’t realize this, but I know Nuhanovic – well, sort of. You remember the Mladic Paveway job? It was me you put the cache in for. Nuhanovic was there.’
Rob listened intently as I told him about that day, how Nuhanovic had fronted up to Mladic and saved so many people. Then I told him about Zina, and about the general surviving because Sarajevo had called off the strike. ‘I don’t give a fuck about Jerry’s picture any more – never did.’ I had just discovered something, and it had taken me by surprise. ‘I want to meet him for myself.’
The waiter reappeared. Rob took a bottle for himself and handed me the tray. He liked the idea. ‘I’ve got to go and talk to my man.’ He headed for the glass doors.
‘If you find him, I wouldn’t mind being there.’
He turned, the bottle at his lips. ‘Things might work out a lot better than just meeting him – if you’re up for it.’
That was the second time he’d talked as if he was some game-show host. ‘What the fuck are you on about? Start tree-hugging and stop drinking Coke?’
‘You’ll find out soon enough. We’re leaving in about thirty, meeting someone who might know where he is. Maybe my man will let you tag along so he can explain exactly what I’m talking about. I’m just going to grab some kit, and have a word with him. See you here in a bit?’
He disappeared into the lobby.
56
Rather than bake outside I waited in Reception, sipping occasionally from the not-so-cold symbol of American imperialism I’d bought. Canned in Belgium, with information in French and what looked like Greek, it promoted the 2002 World Cup in Japan.
It was quiet; there was no one around apart from the two behind the desk. They exchanged the odd sentence in Arabic, and there was a clink now and again of tea-glasses on saucers as the serving staff made themselves sound busy at the back.
