‘Nor do I, mate. I’m going to bring one of them over. We get him to count the cash, then we hold tight until everyone is delivered. They hold us tight, we hold the money tight. Those bags in the back, they really have deniable devices installed?’
Mr Lover Man waffled to Genghis. He unzipped the bags to reveal the shrink-wrapped bundles of hundred- dollar bills. Two black plastic containers, about twenty centimetres square, sat on top of them. Thick steel wire protruded from the corner of each. There were two in each bag, in case one didn’t kick off.
Frank probably used them all the time to make sure no fucker got hold of any information he didn’t want to share. After all, knowledge is power. If the ring-pull was triggered, the incendiary devices were detonated. The agent was magnesium. It burnt with unbelievable intensity. The problem, especially with two of them in each bag, was that they’d keep on burning — and take out the plane as well.
Mr Lover Man was certainly in no mood for compromise. Even if he was, his deep growl wouldn’t make it sound that way. He was as cold and clear as his boss.
‘If they try to fuck with us, we will burn the cash.’
14
Joe wasn’t impressed. ‘Fuck, man — I just want to get my aircraft out of here, with everybody on board.’
Mr Lover Man had gone back to join Genghis. Joe turned and pointed to the two of them. ‘Man, we’ve got things in our fucking toolbox, man, apart from you fucking hammers. We all need to keep our heads together, man.’
Joe didn’t realize that these two had got their heads together. If they had to fight, they didn’t give a fuck how it turned out.
Joe turned back into the cockpit. ‘For fuck’s sake, man. Get that flip-flop on board and get him counting, let’s get on with it.’
‘Yep, in a minute, mate. Everybody listen in — here’s the plan. The guy comes on board and he counts the cash. Make sure that he sees the deniable packs. He goes back to the old guy and gives him the OK. If it then goes wrong, and they go for the cash, we come out fighting. We go for his wagon and take it to the end of the runway. There’s a boat there. We head out and we look for the other skiffs. We crack on until daylight, and we keep on looking. That’s all we can do.’
I waited while Mr Lover Man translated for Genghis, then I opened the door. ‘You got that, Joe?’ I stuck a leg out. ‘Bet you’re glad I didn’t take your AK now, eh?’
‘Yeah, but what about my fucking aircraft, man?’
‘It’s going to burn to the ground if those bags kick off. So you’d better hope there are no fuck-ups.’
He nodded, but wasn’t too convinced.
I now had both feet on the concrete. ‘Awaale!’ I beckoned him over. ‘Come here, mate. Get counting.’
He nodded. Anybody would be willing to get their hands on that amount of money, even if it was only to count it.
‘Go on, mate, get inside.’
I opened the door and followed him in. He headed left into the hold. I got back into the right-hand seat and closed the door.
The bags were opened and Awaale started counting.
I motioned to Genghis for some water and food.
It’s surprising how small a million dollars looks in hundred-dollar bills. It normally comes in shrink-wrapped bundles, about twenty centimetres high. Six of them are a million, and weigh about ten kilos.
The first two litres of liquid didn’t even touch the sides. I crammed bread and bananas into my mouth as fast as I could, then started hiccuping so badly I had to wash it all down with another bottle.
Awaale thought he was going to get some too, but Mr Lover Man just gave him a big growl. ‘No eating. Just counting.’
Awaale had done this before. He picked up the bundles and made sure they were the same height. He sliced through the shrink-wrap with his thumbnail to expose the notes along each wad, making sure no one had substituted ones for hundred-dollar bills.
Mr Lover Man and Genghis looked on with contempt.
I mumbled, through a mouthful of bread, ‘The extra, have you got it?’
Mr Lover Man gobbed off to Genghis. He fished a bundle out of his map pocket and made to throw it to me.
‘No, no. Not me.’ I pointed at Awaale. ‘It’s for him.’
The cash was lobbed over with the same contempt. It hit Awaale hard on the shoulder. He didn’t care. It went into his waistband. He sucked in his skinny stomach so it wouldn’t show, and pulled his minging shirt over the top of the package. He swivelled to face me. ‘Thank you, Mr Nick.’
Another thank-you. I wished they’d stop.
It wasn’t long before he was satisfied on both counts: Erasto’s money, and his and his dad’s. He was still on his knees. ‘Everything’s good.’
‘OK, go and tell Erasto. Tell him the deniable packs really exist. Then what happens?’
‘It’s easy. Erasto will tell me to call the boats in. You will be reunited.’ He turned to the other two and gave them a smile. They looked as unimpressed as Joe.
‘You sure you can trust this fucking flip-flop? Listen, man, there’s a lot of cash there. These two action men in the back kick off, we’re all in deep shit.’
I kept my eyes on Awaale. He’d turned back to me, still on his knees.
‘Awaale, as soon as we have everybody here inside the aircraft and we are taxiing to the runway, these two will hand over the cash. It gets thrown out the door to you, OK?’
He nodded. ‘No problem, Mr Nick.’
‘But remember, if anything goes wrong, these two lads will be gunning for you and Erasto. They won’t give a fuck, mate, and I won’t be able to stop them. Remember what I said, about a war? There’ll be many more than these two coming if there’s a fuck-up.’
Awaale got onto his feet. He had to stoop so his head didn’t bang on the aircraft ceiling. ‘Mr Nick, no problem. But remember, Erasto wants the other two white guys.’
‘Yeah, but only after I’ve finished with them.’
Mr Lover Man waffled to Genghis, and that was one part of the deal they both liked.
Genghis opened the cargo hold’s shutter door and Awaale was almost thrown out onto the pan. He checked his shirt to make sure his money was safely in place.
I stayed where I was. Mr Lover Man and Genghis kept themselves to the sides of the airframe so they remained in cover. They mumbled away in Russian, weapons in the shoulder, standing by to see what Erasto was going to do now there really was three million just metres away; three million that would go up in smoke if he tried to take it. I hoped he was thinking the best thing to do was just make the deal.
I heard M4 safety catches coming off. It was followed by one click of Joe’s safety lever, to auto.
Mobiles rang outside. Bob Marley gave it large about guiltiness. The two in the back mumbled quietly again.
‘Remember, lads — you get the fire down. I’ll go for the vehicle.’
Awaale walked to the double cab of Erasto’s technical as I got back into the right seat.
The music changed suddenly from reggae to Arabic wailing. I could see Awaale leaning through the window, waffling away. Eventually he nodded and came back towards me. He wasn’t looking happy. He had his hands up in an exaggerated shrug.
‘Wait … wait. Not until they kick off first.’
I opened the cockpit door until there was just enough of a gap for him to talk through.
‘Mr Nick, we have a problem. Erasto says it isn’t enough.’
I leant down. ‘What? What the fuck are you on about? That was the deal, Awaale. You know that was the
