At eight in the morning the living room table in the safe apartment was covered with maps and printed photos and empty coffee cups, while Yasser sat on the same wooden chair as if he hadn't left it since yesterday.
Tamim stood in front of the table and put his finger on a photo of a huge warehouse on the edge of the port and said seriously:
– This is probably where he'll send you the address... Victor likes these warehouses because they have five exits and no one can surround them
Muaz replied as he flipped another photo:
– And we'll be in a delivery truck two streets away labeled a plumbing company
Yasser raised an eyebrow in surprise:
– Plumbing?!
– Yeah, my friend, nobody in the world looks twice at a plumber's van at midnight; everyone thinks there's a disaster in someone's bathroom.
Tamim stifled a laugh then continued in a firm tone:
– No earpieces or devices on you... they'll search you
From your hair to your toe if you feel things
go wrong say one sentence only... the coffee's cold
Anyone next to you will hear it as an ordinary remark but you'll be
holding the phone in your pocket and keeping the line open to us
– And if they take the phone?
Tamim was silent for a moment then said calmly:
– Then we'll rely on you... and on what Ragheb taught you
Ragheb was standing at the window, smoking in silence, then he turned to them, took an old silver lighter engraved with a wolf's head from his pocket and put it on the table in front of Yasser and said:
– This is my lighter... every man in the family has seen it in my hand for seven years
I've never lit a cigarette with any other one; when Ivan sees it in your hand he'll know it didn't come from me easily
Yasser took the lighter and turned it between his fingers hesitantly:
– And he'll ask me how I got it from you?
– You'll pretend you pulled it out of my pocket... and I'll act surprised
Ragheb pulled a chair and sat in front of him, looked him directly in the eyes and said in a low voice:
– Tell me... how did the tank get to you?
Yasser swallowed and then began to tell the story he'd rehearsed all night... the mountain and the ambush and the two bullets in the chest and the third in the head and the notebook he found in the jacket pocket
Ragheb interrupted him after a couple of sentences:
– Wrong, you're telling it like someone giving a lesson
The one who really came doesn't tell it in order; he tells the piece that's left in his mind... Tell me, what's the thing you remember most?
Yasser fell silent and closed his eyes for a moment then opened them and said in a cold voice:
– That he laughed...
He laughed before he died and I still don't understand why to this day
A heavy silence fell over the lounge. Tamim looked at Muadh in surprise while Ragheb gave a slow smile and patted Yasser's shoulder:
– That's it... that's the only thing no one will dare
to lie about... because Ivan knew me and knew I would have laughed
Muadh whispered to Tamim:
– A hundred dollars that the kid makes it through tonight?
Tamim answered without looking at him:
– I'm not betting on him this time, Muadh
Muadh turned to him in surprise, and Tamim continued in a low voice:
– Because if I lose... I won't be able to pay.
At seven in the evening the club was still nearly empty and the dim lights barely revealed the tables when Judy came in through the back door like she'd known the way for years
Yasser saw her from behind the bar; his hand froze on the glass he was polishing and he felt something between anger and joy wrestling in his chest, then he remembered Victor's voice from last night... beautiful things break easily
He set the glass down and walked toward her in quick steps, speaking in a low sharp voice:
– What are you doing here... didn't I tell you not to come again?
She lifted her chin stubbornly and said:
– And I told you I can't promise you
– Judy, I'm not joking
– Neither am I
He was about to answer when he heard the front door open and two large men enter whom he knew well... men of Habib's. Before Judy turned toward the sound he had grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him into the small storeroom behind the bar and closed the door quietly on them
The place was cramped and dark, lit only by a thin line of light slipping under the door, the smell of wood and bottles filling the air, and Judy found herself trapped between his chest and the shelves behind her
She whispered in panic:
– What's going on?
He put a finger to her lips and whispered:
– Shh... your fiancé's men are outside
Her breathing quickened and they heard the two men talking outside asking the other worker about him
Yasser stood still, unmoving, his hand still on her lips. He felt her warm breath on his fingers
and in the dim light he saw her eyes looking at him with something... it wasn't fear
He slowly withdrew his hand as if he'd suddenly remembered where they were, but he didn't step back because the space gave him no room to
Judy whispered, looking into his eyes:
– Are you always this scared for me?
– I'm not scared for you
– Your heart says otherwise... I'm listening
He swallowed hard; she was right—his heart was pounding violently in a way he hadn't even felt when he heard Victor's voice on the phone
She raised her hand slowly and placed it on his chest, right over his heart, and said in a voice barely audible:
– See!
He closed his eyes for a moment and leaned his face toward hers until their breaths met, feeling as if he stood on the edge of something he couldn't turn back from... then he heard the front door close and the two men's footsteps recede
He opened his eyes and stepped back until his back hit the door, and said hoarsely:
– Go away, Judy
– Yasser...
– Listen to me carefully, there are dangerous people who found out you come here, and if they see you with me again they won't hurt me... they'll hurt you
She looked at him with shining eyes and said:
– Even if I don't care
– Then I care
The sentence left his mouth before he could stop it. Judy smiled a small smile that held both triumph and tenderness at once, then took a tissue and a pen from her purse, wrote a number on it, and slipped it into his shirt pocket and said:
– Okay I'll go... but if you ever need someone to listen to you or someone to worry about you, this is my number
He opened the back door for her without replying, and she passed by him slowly, then stopped, stood on her tiptoes, pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, and rushed out before he could process what had happened
He stayed where he was, touching his cheek with his fingers, then took the tissue from his pocket, looked at the number and whispered to himself:
– The tank has no muzzle, Yasser... no muzzle
But he folded the tissue carefully and put it in his wallet instead of throwing it away.
At eleven in the evening the van... the plumber... Mustafa was parked in a dark side street near the port and Mu'adh sat in the back in front of small screens eating a cold sandwich while Tamim stood leaning against the van's door and took out his phone
He knew that the time in Egypt had passed dawn but he also knew she wouldn't be asleep
Her voice reached him on the first ring, sleepy but alert:
– Timo
He closed his eyes when he heard his name from her and felt all the worry he'd carried all day melt away in an instant
– Did I wake you?
– No... I can't sleep when you're not here, you know that right
– Why aren't you wearing my T‑shirt?
She laughed softly and said:
– How did you know I wasn't wearing it?
– Because I know you... When you're mad at me you put on your pink pajamas to punish me
She was silent for a moment then said coquettishly:
– Okay, guess what I'm wearing right now?
– Definitely that blue shirt I told you not to touch because it's for work
– Yeah... and it still smells like you and I'm not giving it back to you
Tamim smiled a smile no one in this dark street had ever seen and said in a husky voice:
– Keep it with you... but when I come back I'll take it from you my way
– Stop being rude, Mr. Lieutenant, you're on duty
– I'm working, see... I'm working on my nerves
So I don't leave everything and come back to you tonight
Sama was silent for moments then her voice suddenly changed and became more serious:
– Tamim... are you really okay? There's something in your voice
He looked at the cart behind him and at the distant warehouse whose roof showed above the buildings and thought of the young man he would put inside it alone in an hour and of the secrets he hid from her and couldn't tell her:
– I'm fine, my love... but I missed you more than usual
– That's what scares me
– Sama...
– I know you won't tell me anything and I don't want you to tell me
But promise me one thing
– What?
– That you'll come back to me
Tamim, who had never promised anyone something he didn't own, found himself saying in a steady voice:
– I'll come back... and I'll take the shirt and you'll regret wearing it
She laughed a laugh mixed with tears he tried not to hear and said:
– I love you, Tamim
– And I adore the dust you walk on... now sleep
He closed the phone and stood for a moment looking at the sky until the cart's door behind him opened and Mu'adh poked his head out and said with obvious gloating:
– You adore the dust she walks on... are you talking to your wife or reciting a poem, Tamim?
– You were listening?
– These screens don't just capture images, my dear
Tamim shot him a murderous look then got into the cart and sat beside him and said coldly:
– The truce ended yesterday by the way
But before Mu'adh could reply one of the screens lit up with a short message from Yasser's phone...
The address arrived.
Exactly at midnight Yasser stood in front of the warehouse’s huge iron gate while the wind from the sea carried the smell of salt and rust
He barely knocked before the gate opened and two men came out; they searched him roughly just as Tamim had expected, took his phone and switched it off in front of his eyes, then took the notebook from his hand, and when one of them reached for the silver lighter in his pocket he suddenly stopped and looked at it for a moment then put it back in his pocket without a word and motioned for him to enter
The warehouse was wide and dark except for a circle of light in the middle under a hanging lamp, and in it a metal table and three chairs. Viktor sat on one of them smoking his cigar as usual, and on the opposite chair an old, huge man with white hair and pale blue eyes like ice was calmly peeling an apple with a small knife... Ivan
The old man did not lift his eyes from the apple and said in a calm voice with his heavy Russian accent:
– Sit down, son of Shaaban
Yasser remembered the morning lesson so he didn’t hurry; he looked at the chair for two full seconds and then sat down slowly
He crossed one leg over the other
One of the men put the notebook in front of Ivan but he left it unopened and said:
– The notebook can be stolen and the body can be forged. Tell me something that can’t be forged
Yasser took out the silver lighter and put it on the table between them, and for the first time the knife in Ivan’s hand stopped; he looked at it for a moment then said:
– Where did you take it from?
– From his pocket... as his soul was leaving him
– And what did he say before he died?
Yasser looked directly into the old man’s eyes without blinking and said:
– He didn’t say anything... he laughed
Silence fell over the warehouse and Viktor looked at Ivan expectantly, then suddenly the old man burst out laughing, a deep laugh that shook his huge body and he said:
– Yes... yes that’s it. He was crazy
He laughed at the face of death as if it were an old friend
Then he stopped laughing as suddenly as he had started, reached into his jacket and took out an old Saqia‑type pistol, opened its magazine in front of Yasser to show there was one bullet, then rotated it, closed it, put it on the table and pushed it toward him
– A man who killed a tank does not fear death... show me
Yasser felt the blood drain from his extremities and heard Ragheb’s voice in his head
The tank doesn’t move unless someone orders it... He looks first
— he glanced at the pistol, then at Ivan, then took a cigarette from Victor’s pack on the table without asking and lit it slowly with the silver lighter, drawing a long drag while every eye was on him
. Then he picked up the pistol and put it to his temple and said calmly, looking at Ivan:
– The coffee here is good
. He pulled the trigger... his hand didn’t tremble. He put the gun back on the table and nudged it toward Ivan with the tip of his finger and said:
– Your turn
. Victor looked at him in shock while Ivan laughed again, a louder laugh... he opened the pistol’s magazine and emptied it onto the table... there weren’t any bullets in it at all — the cartridge Yasser had seen was a dummy
. – I didn’t want to find out if you were brave, Ibn Shaaban
. I wanted to know if you’d hesitate... he who hesitates lies
. Then he turned to Victor and said:
– It’s ours
. But Victor wasn’t finished; he took out his phone and put in front of Yasser a picture of Judy coming out the back door of the club hours earlier and said coldly:
– And who is this?
. Yasser’s heart stopped for a moment but his face didn’t change. He looked at the picture, then raised his eyes to Victor and said wearily:
– A girl who comes to the club looking for trouble — I told her not to come again
. – She’s Sufyan al-Jabri’s daughter
. – And what’s that to me?!
. Ivan smiled a cold smile as he went back to peeling his apple and said:
– You have a big stake in this, Ibn Shaaban. The day after tomorrow a shipment arrives
at the port under the name of Sufyan al-Jabri — our first shipment in his name
. You’ll be the one to receive it... and if there’s any place in your heart for that girl you’ll know now that you’ll bury her father with your own hands.
Meanwhile a car with its lights off sat behind a rusty shipping container fifty meters from the warehouse, and Asr whispered nervously:
– Asr, we’ve been here an hour and the kid went in and hasn’t come out
. Come on let’s go before someone sees us
. – I’m not leaving until I know what he’s doing in there
. – What’s he doing in a warehouse at the port at midnight, it’s obvious
, and he’s got guys who look like they walked out of a Russian action movie... he’s not going in there to buy fish, Asr
. Asr opened the car door and got out quietly; he cursed Fahd in his head, then got out behind him and they slipped between the containers toward the back wall of the warehouse where Asr saw a small broken window
. They had barely reached it when Asr felt something cold press against the back of his head and heard a low voice in a clear Egyptian accent:
– If you move one more step... It'll be the last step of your life.
Asr froze where he stood and turned only his eyes to see Fahd, a strong arm locked around his neck from behind and another hand covering his mouth.
A shock greater than his fear crept over Asr, and he whispered without turning:
– You're Egyptians?
– We're plumbers... and who are you?
– What's it to you... get away from me.
Tamim pressed the gun muzzle harder and said coldly:
– No. This is exactly my business now, because for two days you've been
watching a kid who's mine, and now you've come to spy on him through the window.
Asr realized the man knew more about him than he'd thought, and despite the situation he said sharply:
– That kid of yours has been hanging around my sister, and I'm not going to let him hurt her.
Tamim and Muadh exchanged a quick look in the dark; in an instant they knew who he was.
Muadh whispered in the ear of Fahd, whose mouth was still covered:
– You're Sufyan Al-Jabri's sons?
But before anyone could answer, a side door of the warehouse opened, a strong flashlight beam fell on the containers, and two of Ivan's men came out speaking Russian and circling the building.
Tamim yanked Asr violently into the shadow between two containers, and Muadh did the same with Fahd. The four of them pressed against the cold metal wall, holding their breath, while the flashlight beam crept closer and closer.
Tamim whispered in Asr's ear, his voice barely audible:
– If you breathe... you'll get us all killed, and you'll get the kid inside killed.
And your sister will be next.
The light passed centimeters from Fahd's shoe and stopped for a moment that felt like a lifetime.
Then it moved away, and the two men went back inside.
Tamim slowly lowered the gun. Asr turned to him for the first time, looked at his face in the faint moonlight, and said:
– Who are you?
Tamim answered as he put the gun back in his belt:
– I'm the man who just saved your life. And the kid you wanted
to hurt... he's the only one in this country who's really protecting your sister.
He signaled to Muadh, who let Fahd go. Fahd bent over, coughing and catching his breath, muttering:
– I told you, Asr... I told you we’d leave
At two in the morning they returned to the safe apartment, and after Tamim finished interrogating Asr and Fahd in the living room under Raghib’s sharp gaze, Muadh stepped out onto the small balcony and took out his phone. He knew she would be awake at this hour
Morning in Alexandria had already begun
Her voice came, cheerful as always:
– Good morning, rose, to Mizo’s eyes
He didn’t answer; he just closed his eyes, rested his head against the wall, and heard the sea behind her over the phone
– Muadh... are you with me?
– I’m with you... just let me hear you for a little while
Her tone changed in an instant—she knows him better than he knows himself:
– What’s wrong, my love... did something happen?
– No... it was just a long night and all I wanted when it ended was to hear your voice
Sila was silent for a moment, then said tenderly:
– Well I’m here... tell me where you are now?
– On a tiny balcony no bigger than your palm, looking out on a lousy street and it’s cold
– And I’m on our balcony with the sea in front of me and the sun
is still up and I’m wearing the abaya you say makes me look like a sheikha
Muadh laughed despite himself and said:
– You’re wearing an abaya... I’ve been away for a week!
– That’s what’s left of you... your scent is in it
I’ve been wearing it since you hugged me
Every morning I wake up and bury my face in it and pray God returns you to me safe
Muadh felt a lump in his throat and said in a hoarse voice:
– Sila...
– My heart
– When I come back... I don’t want anyone in the house
No Hamo, no Ghalia, no one. A whole week, just you and me
She laughed coquettishly and said:
– What are we going to do a whole week alone, Sir Lieutenant Colonel
– I’ll make up for every night you slept alone... night after night
– You say that knowing I won’t be able to sleep again tonight
– That’s the point... so you keep remembering me until I come back
– Do I ever forget you even for a moment? You run in my blood, Muadh... remember?
He smiled, remembering the hospital and the bag of blood being pumped from his arm into hers
and her cold hands in his, and said calmly:
– I remember... And that's the best thing I ever did in my life
He heard the door behind him and turned to find Tamim standing there looking at him with a broad, triumphant smile. Maaz said quickly:
– Sila, I'll call you later — there's an annoying guy standing behind me
– Say hi to Tamim for me and tell him Samaa told me everything about the blue shirt
Maaz hung up and looked at Tamim with a clear look of victory and said:
– Samaa told Sila about the blue shirt
Tamim's face reddened and he said angrily:
– These women have an intelligence network better than ours, seriously.
Inside, Yasser sat alone on the wooden bench, the silver lighter flipping between his fingers over and over while Ragheb stood in front of him waiting
Yasser finally raised his eyes to him and said quietly:
– I got in, Uncle Ragheb... the family is in
– I know your face is wandering like that but your eyes are wandering like there's something else
Yasser was silent for a moment, then said:
– The day after tomorrow there's a shipment coming to the port... in the name of Sufyan al-Jabri's company, and I'm the one who's going to receive it
Ragheb's features froze and the cigarette fell from his fingers without him noticing. He spoke in a voice Yasser had never heard from him before:
– Sufyan's company... are you sure?
– Ivan said it himself... why?
Ragheb turned and looked into the darkness outside the window, then said heavily:
– Because Sufyan al-Jabri... he's the man who called me
this morning
after ten years without hearing from him
and told me shipments have been coming in his name that he knows nothing about
Yasser looked at him in shock, and Ragheb continued as he turned to him:
– And if the family finds out he's looking into them... that shipment
won't be just the last thing that enters the port in his name
It will become the price of his life and his children's lives.