Dazzle The Complete Unabridged Trilogy (179 page)

Daliah knew she didn't have long. As soon as Monika got
over the initial shock, she would be fiercer than ever. Daliah's only hope was to finish her off swiftly. She dived forward, her
shoulder a battering ram.

Monika's arms flashed around Daliah again, swift as an
octopus' tentacles, and renewed the crushing bear hug.

Daliah convulsed, her mouth dropping open and her eyes wide with shock. She shook her head as the grip tightened,
tightened, tightened like bands of constricting steel. She felt
herself reeling as sanity receded and a fuzz-filled greyness
washed over her.

She was asphyxiating.

She could feel the relentless pressure on her ribs beginning
to stave them in, and her lungs were ready to explode. The
constrictor grip had forced all the air out, and there was no
way she could breathe in a new mouthful. Before her eyes,
brilliant sparklers spun like whirlpools, and huge blue and
pink chrysanthemums burst from bud to flower and faded. As
the life seeped out of her, so too the greyness darkened to
blackness. She felt suddenly giddy, as though she was spinning
off into the ether of a drug-induced high.

She was not prepared for the gunshots. They sounded dis
tant and weak, more like muffled, faraway pops. But Monika
jerked backward. A look of surprise came into her eyes and
still clutching Daliah, she began to slide slowly to her knees.
For a moment she knelt there, her arms clasped around Dali
ah's hips. Her entire back, from the shoulders to the base of
her spine, was one giant open wound, all shredded red meat.
Then the pressure at Daliah's hips slackened as Monika let go
and topped over backward, thudding horribly on the marble.

Daliah felt her freedom, but she could not see; everything
was still twinkling stars and spinning whorls. Coughing vio
lently, she drew back her head and gasped desperately for air.
Then, as the patterns faded and the black became grey, her
vision slowly came back. The first thing she saw was Surour,
sprawled limply on the floor, blood frothing from a massive
chest wound. Then, raising her eyes, she saw two men in black standing over him, automatic rifles lowered, their faces masks
of black grease. She didn't recognize either of them.

One of the black-faced men came toward her, and she tried
to scream hysterically, but no sound would come. Then the
man spoke gently, and it was a voice she knew.

'Thank God, Daliah!' he said fervently, holding her tightly.
'We got to you just in the nick of time. Another minute
and . . .'

She just stared up at him. Her face went from fear to blank
ness, and then relief came flooding in. 'N-N-Najib?' she asked
in a trembling voice. She looked into his eyes, and then flung
her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face in his
chest.

She began to sob as the nightmare receded, the horror drift
ing away. He smelled of battle—of grease and cordite and
sweat and fire—but she thought it was a delicious aroma. 'Oh,
Najib,' she sobbed, her chest heaving. Now that sanity had
returned, she was starting to shake all over. 'I knew you would
come!'

The second man in black face came up beside them. 'Well?'
he asked with a huge white grin, 'Doesn't your father deserve
a kiss too?'

She pulled away from Najib. 'Father!' she exclaimed, laugh
ing and crying at the same time. 'I didn't recognize you!'

'I can't imagine why,' Dani laughed. 'Come on, give your
daddy a kiss, and then let's get you the hell out of here.'

Chapter 26

The helicopter was on the ground just inside the compound
walls, shuddering and jumping in place, as though straining to
lift off. The engine roar was so deafening it numbed Daliah's
entire body and set her teeth on edge, and the prop lash from
its whipping rotors fanned up a seat of turbulent dust all
around. She shivered. The starry night was cold, and despite
the fact that someone had draped a blanket around her shoul
ders, the chill was creeping into her bones.

'Statistics!' the Israeli captain demanded in a crisp shout in
order to make himself heard above the helicopter's racket.

'The two wounded men who were flown over to the jet are
our only casualties,
'
a sergeant shouted back at him. 'Besides
us here, we have five men holding off the terrorist forces trapped in the palace. All our men are accounted for.'

The captain nodded with satisfaction. The casualties they'd
sustained were negligible. The two wounded men would
mend, and there hadn't been a single death on their side.
Considering the odds against them, things had turned out
phenomenally well. He turned to Schmarya and frowned.
'How many terrorists are holding the palace, do you think?'

'Thirty?' Schmarya shrugged. 'Forty? Something like that.'

'And Abdullah,' the captain pointed out dryly. He shook
his head gravely.
'
That means we have no choice but to go in
and storm the place. Our orders were specific as far as
Abdullah was concerned. He is to be terminated.'

'It won't be easy,' Schmarya warned. 'We've enjoyed the
element of surprise out here, but once inside, it'll be different.
We're liable to be picked off like birds on a power line.'

'I say we just blow up the palace,' the captain said.

Schmarya frowned. 'Is that feasible?'

'Sure. We have plenty of plastique already hooked up to
the detonators. All we have to do is switch the timers on and
place them where the fuel pipeline enters the palace. When it goes off . . .' The captain gestured expressively with his
hands.

'N
o!' Najib said forcefully. His face was grimly set and the
muscles in his jaws quivered.

They looked at him in surprise.

'It's the safest way,' the Israeli captain explained concisely.
'If we go in, our losses are likely to be heavy. The terrorists
have had a chance to regroup.'

'N
o!' Najib shook his head again and stared at the captain,
his eyes dark and cold. 'We have two friends in there,' he said.
'If it hadn't been for them, Captain, we would never have
achieved what we already have. We owe it to them to get them
out.'

Schmarya nodded. 'Yes,' he agreed, 'we do.' He turned to the captain. 'Regroup our men. We'll go in in five minutes.'
He turned to stride off.

Najib caught him by the arm. 'You don't need to go in,' he
said.

Schmarya squinted at him. 'I take it you have a better
suggestion?'

'Yes.' Najib nodded. 'Start moving your men out and fly
them in relays over to the jet. I'll go in alone. If Abdullah can be found, I've got the best chance of finding him. And as for
Khalid and Hamid, only I know what they look like. Your
men are liable to shoot them. He smiled. 'So you see, I am
the best choice.'

Schmarya met his gaze steadily. 'And if you're not suc
cessful?'

Najib's expression did not change. 'Have the explosives put in place anyway, with the timers set for fifteen minutes. If I'm
not out by then, let them go off.'

Daliah was horrified. She could stand this no longer. She
grabbed Najib's arm and shook it violently. 'That's madness!
Can't we just forget about Abdullah? Please, let's just leave!
If we don't lay the explosives, the two men will be safe.'

'And Abdullah?' Najib asked her. 'The captain has his
orders.'

She flushed under that cold stare, but her eyes flashed green
fire. 'Forget about Abdullah! He's not worth the life of any of
you!' she said vehemently.

Najib placed a hand on each of her shoulders and looked at her sorrowfully. 'Try to understand. Abdullah has hundreds,
perhaps thousands of supporters elsewhere. You know we
have to cut him down while we have the chance. It may never
come again.'

She looked beseechingly at Schmarya. 'Can't you talk some
sense into him, Grandfather?'

'Mr. al-Ameer is right,' Schmarya said heavily. 'We have to make sure Abdullah is dead. Or would you rather spend the rest of your very short life waiting for him to catch up with us
and have us all killed?'

She had no answer for that.

Najib turned to the Israeli captain. 'Fifteen minutes, Cap
tain. That's all I ask. If I don't find them by then, then let it blow.' He paused and urged, 'Have your men set the explos
ives, Captain. Now.'

'We may not even have to resort to the explosives,' the captain said grimly. 'Look.' He pointed at the palace.

At the gaping holes where the big windows of the
majlis
had
been, a rosy glow flickered and pulsated brightly. And at the other end of the palace, where Daliah had been held captive,
the closed metal shutter slats on the second floor glowed
orange-pink. There were at least two major fires raging out of
control inside the palace, and from the looks of them, they were spreading quickly. From the twisted, glassless
majlis
dome a thick column of sparks was swirling skyward like a
swarm of fireflies.

'You see?' the captain said. 'From the looks of it, I'd say
it's just a matter of time before those fires spread and set off
the pipeline by themselves.'

'Be that as it may,' Najib said, 'it won't guarantee Abdul
lah's death. If I know him, he'll find a way to escape before it
blows.'

Dani stepped forward. 'I'll go with you,' he volunteered.

Najib shook his head. 'No, you would only be a liability,
my friend. This I must do by myself. Besides, I know the men,
and I know the palace. All I need is for the helicopter to land
me on the roof and wait fourteen minutes to pick me up.'