Honor Among Thieves

Mr. Kajami sat at his desk, dialed the number that had been passed to him and waited.

“Deputy Foreign Minister’s Office, Miss Saib speaking.”

“This is the Minister of Industry calling. Could you put me through to the Deputy Foreign Minister.”

“I’m afraid he’s out of the office at the moment, Mr. Kajami. Shall I ask him to return your call, or would you like to leave a message?”

“I will leave a message, but perhaps he could also call me when he gets back.”

“Certainly, Minister.”

“Could you let him know that the safe has arrived from Sweden and can therefore be crossed off the sanctions list.” There was a long pause. “Are you still there, Miss Saib?”

“Yes. I was just writing down what you said, sir.”

“If he needs to see the relevant forms we still have them at the Ministry, but if it’s the safe he wants to check on, it’s already on its way to the Ba’ath headquarters.”

“I understand, sir. I’ll see he gets the message just as soon as he comes in.”

“Thank you, Miss Saib.”

Kajami replaced the phone on the hook, glanced across his desk at the Deputy Foreign Minister and smiled.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Aziz brought the truck to a halt in front of a tank. A few soldiers were moving around, but there didn’t appear to be a great deal of activity.

“I was expecting a bigger show of force than this,” said Kratz. “It’s the Ba’ath Party headquarters, after all.”

“Saddam’s probably at the palace, or even out of Baghdad,” suggested Aziz as two soldiers advanced towards the truck. The first one shouted “Out!” and they obeyed slowly. Once all four of them were on the ground, the soldier ordered them to stand a few yards away from the truck while a couple of other soldiers jumped up on the back and removed the tarpaulin.

“This one’s a Major,” whispered Aziz as a portly man covered in battle ribbons and carrying a mobile phone advanced towards them. He stopped and looked up at the safe suspiciously before turning to Kratz and introducing himself as Major Saeed.

“Open,” was all he added.

Kratz pointed to Scott, who climbed up onto the back of the truck while several more soldiers surrounded the vehicle to watch him perform the opening ceremony. Once Scott had pulled the great door open, the Major joined him on the back of the truck, but not until one of the soldiers had given him a hand-up. He stood a pace back and ordered two of his men to go inside. They appeared apprehensive at first, but once they had entered the safe they began touching the sides and even jumping up to try to reach the roof. A few moments later, Saeed joined them, and banged the walls with his swagger stick. He then stepped back out, jumped heavily off the truck and turned towards Scott.

“Now we wait for a crane,” he said, sounding a little more friendly. He dialed a number on the phone.

Cohen climbed into the cab and sat behind the wheel, the keys still in the ignition, while Aziz remained on the back with the safe. Scott and Kratz leaned against a wall, trying to appear bored, while having a conversation on the alternatives they now faced.

“We must find some way of getting into the building ahead of the safe,” said Kratz. Scott nodded his agreemen

t.

The clock in Victory Square had struck 12:30 before Aziz spotted the tall, thin structure progressing slowly around the massive statue of Saddam. The four of them watched as soldiers ran out into the street to hold up the flow of traffic and allow the vast crane to continue its progress uninterrupted.

Scott explained to the Major that the truck now needed to be moved to a position opposite the front door. He agreed without a phone call. When the truck was parked exactly where Scott wanted it, Major Saeed finally conceded that the doors would have to come off their hinges if they were ever going to get the safe and its dolly inside the building.

This time he did make a phone call, and to Scott’s question, “How long?” he simply shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Must wait.”

Scott was determined to use the “must wait” period, and explained to Major Saeed that he needed to walk the route that the safe would travel once they had entered the building.

The Major hesitated, made a further phone call, held on for some time before he received an answer and then, pointing to Scott, said, “You, only.”

Scott left Kratz to organize the crane as it prepared to lift the safe off the truck, and followed the Major into the building.

The first thing that Scott noticed as he walked down the carpeted corridor was its width and solid feel. Every few paces there were soldiers lounging against the wall who sprang to attention the moment they saw Major Saeed.