“I acted alone.”
“You’re not smart enough to plan something like this.”
Al-Madani managed a contemptuous smile. “Reema might think otherwise.”
The blow was sudden and vicious. “Her name isPrincessReema.” Khalid’s face was contorted with rage. “And you, Rafiq, are not fit to lick the bottom of her shoes.”
“She is the daughter of an apostate. And if you don’t abdicate by midnight tomorrow, she will die.”
Khalid held the gun before al-Madani’s eyes.
“What are you going to do? Kill me?”
“Yes.”
“And if Idotell you? What then?” Al-Madani answered his own question. “I’m already dead.”
Khalid ground the end of the barrel into the center of al-Madani’s forehead.
“Kill me, Your Royal Highness. It’s the only thing you’re good at.”
Khalid laid his finger on the trigger.
“Don’t do it,” said Gabriel calmly.
Khalid glanced over his shoulder and saw Gabriel studying the screen of his BlackBerry.
“We located the position of the phone at the other end of those text messages.”
“Where is it?”
“A house in the Basque Country of Spain.”
Rafiq al-Madani spat a mouthful of blood and mucus in Gabriel’s direction. “Jew!”
Gabriel returned the BlackBerry to his pocket. “On second thought,” he said, “go ahead and kill him.”
After breaking the driver’s arm and dislocating his shoulder, Mikhail had forced him into the boot of the Mercedes S-Class sedan. Now, with Keller’s help, he added Rafiq al-Madani. Khalid looked on in approval, the gun in his hand.
He turned to Gabriel. “What shall we do with them?”
“I suppose we could take them to Spain.”
“It’s a long way to ride in the boot of a car. Perhaps we should leave them in some deserted wood here in the Haute-Savoie.”
“It will be a long, cold night.”
“The colder the better.” Khalid approached the back of the car and stared down at the two men squeezed into the confined space. “Perhaps there’s something we can do to make them a bit more comfortable.”
“Like what?”
Khalid raised the pistol and emptied the magazine into his two subjects. Then he looked over his shoulder at Gabriel and smiled, unaware of the blood spattered on his face. “You didn’t think I was going to kill them in the house, did you? That place cost me a fortune.”
Gabriel gazed down at the two bullet-torn bodies. “What are we going to do with them now?”
“Don’t worry.” Khalid slammed the lid. “I’ll take care of it.”
28
