Dan opened the back door of the four-wheel drive, waited until Anna had climbed inside, and then took the passenger seat, allowing his colleague to take the wheel.
After everything that had happened, relief flooded his tired body that he and Anna were in capable hands, although he wouldn’t let his guard down completely until they were far away from the border crossing.
Mitch accelerated away as Dan closed the door, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.
‘We got word of the attack at the UN compound and the hotel a few hours ago,’ Mitch explained as he guided the vehicle around a pothole in the worn asphalt. ‘Figured it’d be something to do with you two.’
‘Russians,’ said Dan. ‘Although whether the person funding this whole attempted coup was amongst them, I don’t know – I’m presuming he was. I didn’t hang around to ask.’
He shuffled in his seat until he could see the road behind in the wing mirror, the border post receding in the distance.
‘Do you think they’ll follow us?’
Anna’s voice carried from the back seat, and Dan caught Mitch’s eye as he twisted round to speak to her.
He swallowed and then figured it’d be best to tell her the truth.
‘Yes. I do,’ he said. He reached out and squeezed her hand. ‘Don’t you?’
She nodded, her eyes downcast. ‘It’s too important to them, isn’t it?’ She sighed. ‘I mean, they didn’t put all this effort into their planning and the theft to simply walk away, did they?’
‘No.’
‘How do you want to do this?’ said Mitch. He jerked his chin at the narrow road in front of them, the traffic already beginning to thin out as merchants returned to their communities along the route. ‘Another half an hour, this road is going to be empty, and we’ll be on our own. Nothing but sand dunes for company.’
Dan mulled it over for a moment. ‘The only thing that will work is to lead them to us on purpose, but make sure we have the advantage somehow.’
‘I might be able to help there,’ said Mitch.
‘How?’
‘Wait and see.’
Forty minutes later, they’d reached the dunes.
Mitch pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, drove towards the base of the dunes, and put the four-wheel drive into neutral.
‘They’ll be here soon. Come on,’ he said, opening his door. ‘I’ve got something to show you.’
He led the way round to the back of the vehicle, wrenched open the door, threw the water canisters onto the back seat, and then tugged the carpet underneath away.
Dan’s eyes opened wide at the sight before him. ‘You came prepared.’
An array of weaponry glistened under the sun’s glare, including assault rifles, 9mm pistols, and plenty of ammunition.
‘What do you fancy?’ said Mitch, unable to supress the grin on his face.
Dan pointed at the one of the assault rifles. ‘That for a start,’ he said, then pushed a blanket aside, revealing the dull sheen of a rifle favoured by snipers. He raised an eyebrow at Mitch. ‘How the hell did you get your hands on that out here?’
Mitch winked. ‘Contacts,’ he said, and handed the weapon to Dan. ‘Okay, you take that – I’ll provide cover fire,’ he added, picking up another rifle.
He turned to the others. ‘Six of them, three of us,’ he said, his eyes finding Anna’s. ‘Reckon you can do it?’
Anna nodded. ‘Yes.’ She suddenly looked weary. ‘If we don’t stop them, they’re never going to stop until they kill us, will they?’
‘No,’ said Dan. ‘They won’t.’ He turned and surveyed the empty landscape. ‘There’s no-one around for miles to help us.’
Mitch pointed to a low rise. ‘We can position ourselves there. Leave the vehicle behind the dune to act as a bit of protection. Anna can cover our rear flank while you and I pick them off as they approach.’
Dan squinted in the bright light as he mulled over Mitch’s plan, then nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’