Darkness was approaching. Nearly the whole day had come and gone with nothing happening. Angel had checked on both Mason and Karaman frequently. Mason slept most of the time. Karaman remained bright and alert and ever eager to accost Angel and lure her into conversation.
Which explained why she was sitting against the wall across the room from him.
‘It wasn’t the right number,’ she said. ‘The PIN code you told me.’
‘I figured, given we’re all still sitting here doing nothing.’
‘So you lied to me about that.’
‘I didn’t lie. I was unsure of the last two digits. I saw the first four clearly. For the last two, he turned the phone so I had to guess based on what I thought he pressed. If I was wrong, there aren’t many combinations for what it could be, though.’
‘One hundred.’
‘Sorry?’
‘It’d be a hundred. You know the first four digits but not the last two. A hundred combinations for those two. Zero–zero through to nine–nine.’
‘No. Because I saw where he typed. You can narrow it down further. The question is, why haven’t you tried again?’
A good question really, and one she didn’t have an answer to. Other than that Mason had asked for them to wait, so she’d waited.
She was hellishly hungry now, the cramps in her empty stomach like nothing she’d ever had before. But she’d survive. The question was, would Mason? Or would he eventually break and realize something needed to give?
But then she was surprised he’d held out this long, as each time she’d gone to check on him through the day he’d only seemed more groggy – when he was awake at all – and the smell from his wound worse.
‘Who did that to you?’ Angel asked a few moments later after watching Karaman mess a little with the bandages on his hands.
He sent a curious look her way as though she’d asked for his darkest secrets.
‘To tell you that would be to tell you my life story.’
‘Excuse me?’
He scoffed. ‘By which, I mean I’d have to explain how I’ve been mistreated not just in recent days, but for decades. Used and abused.’
This time Angel scoffed and Karaman twitched and looked a little offended by her reaction.
‘Why do you hate me so much?’ he asked.
‘You really have to ask?’
‘You shot my daughter.’
‘Shot, yes. But she survived.’
‘She can’t walk without a crutch. The bullet obliterated the nerves in her leg.’
Angel worked hard to hold back her emotions at the thought of a young girl irrevocably damaged because of her.
‘You were my target,’ she said. ‘You should be dead.’
‘You should be a better shot.’
‘I’m a better shot than anyone you’ve ever met in your life.’
‘And yet you shot my daughter, not me.’
Angel said nothing.
‘So let me get this right,’ Karaman said. ‘You worked for… who? Some offshoot of the UK government carrying out dirty operations.’
Still, she kept her mouth shut.
‘Oh, Angel, believe me, I know how that world works. You were tasked with assassinating me. But you missed. You hit my daughter. You changed her life, mine too. And now, all these years later, you come back to get your revenge on me?’
‘You think your life changed that day? You have no idea.’
‘So, tell me. You think I ruined your life?’
‘I didn’t miss you because of a bad shot. I missed because someone attacked me. Someone tried to stop me from shooting you. But that part wasn’t spoken about in the press, or at my trial. Like it didn’t happen at all. A whole new reality. You said yourself you know how the clandestine world operates. Well, so do I. They make shit up and they can make it stick, or if things go wrong they can just pretend they were never involved at all. I only ever did my job, but I spent years in prison because of that day. I’ve done my penance for hitting your girl.’
‘They screwed you over,’ Karaman said, sounding almost sympathetic. Or, at least, not as angry as before.
‘No. You screwed me over. I remember you coming to visit me. I remember what they did to me in that prison because of you.’
Karaman slowly shook his head. ‘You’re giving me way more credit than I deserve. Yes, I came to visit you. My wife begged me not to. But… I was so angry. With you. With a lot of people. I said some bad things to you that day. Things I shouldn’t have said. But whatever happened to you before or after that day was nothing to do with intervention from me. In fact, after seeing you in that place, I moved on. For the sake of my wife and daughter.’
She really didn’t want to believe him. So why was it so hard to think of a comeback?
‘The only question to ask,’ Karaman said, ‘is why did it take the people you were working for so long to come to your aid?’
She said nothing to that.
‘If you want your revenge, why haven’t you just put a bullet in my head?’ Karaman asked.
‘Because I’d get five minutes of satisfaction for killing you. What I want is my life back. A life back.’
‘But you don’t even know where the money is coming from. Or who you’re giving me to.’
‘According to you, I’m getting no money anyway. I’ve been set up. Right?’
Karaman didn’t say anything to that, though definitely looked a little smug.
‘But this does bring us right back to your original question,’ Karaman said.
‘What does?’
‘You asked who did this to me?’ He held his hands up.
‘To tell me that would be to tell me your life story,’ she said. ‘Used and abused. Something like that.’
He sneered at her, apparently not liking her dismissive tone.
‘What do you know of me?’ he asked.
She didn’t answer the question straight away. Something about the way he asked it suggested whatever she said, he’d pull it apart and tell her something different.
‘You’re from Türkiye,’ she said. ‘Born into a wealthy family. Your father was into real estate and made a fortune in the seventies and eighties as cities across the Arab world looked to spend the billions from their oil revenues on new property developments.’
He nodded and kind of smiled as though impressed with her knowledge. Not what she’d expected.
‘You were brought up in a Westernized home, had everything a kid could want or need most likely, but for some reason – probably because you’re a megalomaniac who wanted to put his own stamp on the world but didn’t have the drive, determination or whatever that his father did – you turned to religious extremism instead. You stuck two fingers up to the Western world, to the capitalism that had brought riches to your family, and you instead went out of your way to spread hatred. You used your millions to fund terror cells. You personally oversaw attacks on US and UK soil, on embassies around the world which resulted in tens, hundreds of deaths. You—’
‘OK,’ he said, holding his hand up to stop her. ‘Before you go too far in—’
‘Go too far? I’m only just getting started. You became one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. At the very least you deserve to spend the rest of your life in some shithole prison cell for your crimes. But quite frankly, what you really deserved was a bullet in your head all those years ago and I only wish I could have achieved that back in Beirut.’
‘Except you’ve missed a fundamental part of my story,’ Karaman said, apparently unfazed by her angry exchange.
‘Yeah?’
‘I’ve been played, just like you have.’
She tried to respond to that but found herself caught in two minds. Karaman took pleasure in her confusion – a glimmer of a smile had appeared for a flash before his face returned to something a lot more somber.
‘I’m not the terrorist you think I am.’
He let that hang. Did he expect a response from her? Sympathy?
‘I never was that man. You think I rejected my upbringing? The world of riches I was born into? Yes. I did. Because I saw how much it stank. Greed, corruption. Not just the leaders in the Arab states, but the Western governments, businesspeople, eager to make money at any cost. Men who had no real values whether religious or otherwise, just a desire to take, take, take, and screw everyone else. That’s what I tried to rebel against.’
Angel worked that over. She didn’t believe it. Or, more to the point, she didn’t want to believe it.
‘All those attacks that were supposedly in my name? Lies. And you should know how easy it is for those in power to concoct lies, even outrageous ones, and make them stick.’
‘If that were true…’
‘It is true. You said yourself I grew up in a Westernized home, my family wasn’t that religious. And neither was I. Not then, not now. I’m no Islamist. I only ever wanted peace for my people, not outside influences causing us more pain for their own gains.’
‘And yet, as a wanted terrorist, you weren’t hiding somewhere off the grid in a gloomy cave. Instead, you’ve spent years a free man, ever richer. You were brought to the UK from Dubai, right? Where they found you living on a yacht worth hundreds of millions.’
Karaman had the audacity to laugh at that.
‘Found. But that’s my point, Angel. I was never on the run. You think the British government, the Americans, have been hunting me all this time? You think the British government suddenly found me? Like I’d been lost to them and not simply living the life that it was agreed I could live?’
Angel shook her head as she tried to make sense of his explanation. ‘You’re lying.’
‘I’m not lying to you. Yes, I have money – a lot of it – and I have power in the right circles because of it. I got to live this life because I got the agreement of the right people and appeased others because of my wealth and political reach. Publicly I remain terrorist number one. A noose around my neck should I ever try to expose the truth, the lies. In reality? I’ve been a pawn in a much bigger game for decades. A go-between. A source of intelligence. An asset.’
‘Except you were brought back here to face the truth. So how does that reality play into your little story?’
‘Story? Angel, you haven’t been listening. This isn’t a story. Why did I get brought back here? That’s a very good question. Someone, somewhere, has turned on me, despite me playing by their rules this whole time.’
‘Who?’
He held his hands up again. ‘I don’t know. But if you find the man who broke my fingers to interrogate me, perhaps he’d have some answers for you. For us both. What you should really be asking yourself is—’
‘Stop talking.’
‘Why—’
‘I said stop talking,’ Angel hissed.
The realization that spread across Karaman’s face moments later suggested he knew why. A soft, muffled voice. From the room next door. Mason. On the phone and trying to be discreet about it.
‘Bastard,’ Angel said as she shot up and for the door.
She concentrated on the voice as she marched forward, trying to make out the words but they were muffled by the walls, drowned out by her own roaring inner beast. She flung open the bedroom door and Mason, still crumpled on the floor, gazed up at her, the phone grasped pathetically in his grip, up to his ear.
‘Angel…’
She strode forward and he cowered and pulled his hands up in front of him in defense. Angel went to swipe the phone from him, but he whipped it away and she ended up instead smacking the side of his face.
He tried to hit her, but she blocked with her forearm and the phone fell from his grasp and clattered along the cold, hard floor. She sank to her knees and balled her fist and smashed it into his side. Onto his bandaged wound. He squealed like an animal and collapsed down, writhing.
She moved over and retrieved the phone. The call had ended. She tried to unlock the screen. No. The PIN she tried was still incorrect.
‘Who were you speaking to?’
He stared at her, trying to compose himself, perhaps trying to overcome the pain in his side, but more likely trying to concoct a lie.
‘Who do you think?’ he said, no hint of remorse.
‘And? What did they say?’
‘I don’t know. I didn’t get… to finish… did I?’
‘Even when caught you still won’t admit it, will you?’
‘Admit what!’
‘Whispering like that. Did you hope I wouldn’t hear?’
‘Angel! Please… I don’t know what he’s said to you—’
‘This isn’t about Karaman.’
‘Of course, it’s about Karaman!’ Mason shouted with force and for a moment it was like he’d forgotten all about the state he was in. ‘I’m on your side.’
‘Then tell me your code. I’ll call them back. I’ll speak to them. I’ll get this sorted.’
He glared but didn’t say anything.
‘Mason, tell me the code or—’
‘Four–four–eight–five–nine–one.’
‘What?’
‘I said—’
‘You changed it.’
‘Changed it?’
She scoffed. ‘You heard Karaman talking to me. You realized he saw you, didn’t you? You changed it so I couldn’t—’
‘Angel! Please! I don’t understand.’
She typed in the number and the screen unlocked. She took only a few seconds to scan over the phone. It was almost entirely blank. Nothing but pre-installed apps. No browsing history, no contacts, no text messages. No outgoing calls and just a single incoming call that had lasted for thirty-eight seconds.
They’d called him, not the other way around. Had he been telling the truth after all?
‘What happened?’ came the voice on the other end when she dialed the number back. A man. English accent. A gritty voice that she didn’t recognize.
She said nothing.
‘Mason, are you there?’
She still didn’t say a word.
‘Mason?’
‘Angel, please?’ Mason said. She ignored him but sank down next to him.
‘Who is this?’ the man asked.
‘This is Angel.’
Silence for a few moments. She was about to check if the call was still running.
‘Is Mason dead?’
She looked at her accomplice. ‘No.’
‘But he’s in a bad way.’
‘He is. He won’t last long out here.’
‘And Karaman?’
‘He’s fine.’
‘What do you want?’
‘The money I was promised.’
‘But I haven’t been given what I was promised.’
‘Which is what?’
‘Karaman. And… all loose ends… removed.’
‘You can still get that.’ She refused to look toward Mason as she said those words.
‘You know where the meeting point is?’
She read off the pre-agreed coordinates for the drop site. She received a mocking laugh in response.
‘So, he didn’t tell you the actual rendezvous, then.’
She did now look at Mason whose face had gone white, his eyes glazed.
‘You’re about a hundred miles short. But I’ll ask you again. What do you want?’
‘I told you already. The money that was agreed. Ten million. Although it looks like my cut’s a bit bigger now.’
‘No deal.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Ten million? Except look at the mess already caused. This isn’t how it was supposed to be. The risks are greater now.’
‘Then I’ll kill Karaman right now and you’ll never see or hear from me again.’
She pulled the phone away from her ear and her finger hovered over the red button. She so wanted to press it and just follow through with the threat.
Instead, she slowly pulled the phone closer to her ear again.
‘Two million,’ the man said. ‘And that’s me being generous, and because I want a swift resolution here. I need a swift resolution.’
It was still a life-changing amount…
‘Angel? Is that a deal?’
‘Deal.’
‘Like I said, the money is yours when I get Karaman. All loose ends eliminated. You understand?’
‘OK.’
‘I’ll call back in two hours with a new rendezvous. Be ready.’
The call ended.
She glanced at Mason. He looked so defeated.
‘Anything to say?’ she asked.
Apparently not.
‘Did you hear?’
Still nothing.
‘Sounded to me like he really doesn’t care who delivers Karaman. As long as there are no… loose ends.’
Mason shook his head as if in defeat.
‘I was a loose end?’ she suggested for him but still he didn’t say a word. ‘Now you are.’
But, to her surprise, he reacted first. He reached to his side and pulled out a handgun. A handgun that hadn’t been on him before. She would have known because she’d checked him over. She’d had his shirt up, his jeans around his knees. He hadn’t been armed then. He’d retrieved it since she’d last left the room.
He twisted the gun toward her but she grabbed his arm and pushed the barrel off course. He pulled the trigger and the gun boomed but the bullet sailed away toward the far wall. She snapped the gun from his grip and thudded the butt into his side. Did the same a second time and Mason yelled then quickly tried to regain his composure. But he was struggling.
Mason reached out and grabbed her around the neck. Just one hand, because his left hung uselessly as though he had no use of that side of his body, the infection or the pain too great. He tried to choke her but he had so little strength it was like a small child was holding on to her.
She didn’t even bother to move his hand away.
‘You piece of shit,’ she said to him.
She pulled her body back and his hand fell free and to the floor. She grabbed his empty backpack and shuffled back toward him.
‘Please,’ he said.
‘One way or another, you’re dead,’ she said to him. ‘It’s kinder this way. Quicker.’
He barely moved as she pushed the backpack against his face. His hand flailed, one last desperate attempt at survival, but he didn’t even make contact with her as she pushed the gun barrel into the fabric.
She pulled the trigger. Her body jolted from the recoil and his quivered from the deadly blow, and then seconds later flopped. She let go of the backpack and his body slumped to the ground.
Smoke rose up from the hole in the fabric. The smell of gunpowder caught in her nose, mixed quite grotesquely with the acrid smell of his badly infected wound, fully exposed now with the bandage twisted off.
She stood off him and left the room without looking back.
She intended to go out and get some air, but Karaman’s voice lured her to him.
She stood in the doorway.
‘He’s dead?’ he asked.
She nodded.
‘It was him or you. Like I told you.’
‘Except you didn’t know the code for the phone really, did you?’ she asked. ‘So why the lie?’
He held her eye but didn’t say a word about it. Had he spoken a word of the truth to her?
‘So, the deal’s done?’ he asked when she turned around.
‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s not. Not yet.’
She left before he could respond.