Nelson Demille - The Panther

I asked Hakim, “Were you able to identify al-Darwish?”

Colonel Hakim waved his arm around at the bits and pieces of men, as though saying, “Are you kidding?” He did say, however, “I have found the shiwal of Sheik Musa. That is all the proof I need of his death.”

Musa’s nose would clinch it for me, but, okay, the sheik was dead-score a hit for President Saleh. But we’re talking about The Panther , Colonel. The bad guy.

I moved slowly through the blast area, and there were lots of heads intact, on and off their bodies, but about half of them were bearded, and most of the faces were disfigured by shrapnel or burns. The Panther’s own mother wouldn’t recognize him. Also, I was looking for Nabeel, who had a scruffy beard the last time I saw him, but people look different when they’re dead.

One head was lying facedown on a shred of carpet, and I gave it a kick to turn it over. Most of the face was missing.

Brenner came over to me, away from Hakim, and said softly, “Either he doesn’t get what I’m saying, or we have a problem with positive ID.”

I nodded, then I remembered the video replay-Sheik Musa had hesitated for a second before taking The Panther’s hand and kissing it. Was Musa unsure of his guest’s identity? I mean, to me, most fully bearded men looked alike, and forget bearded Arabs. They may as well be wearing veils. Musa, too, apparently had a moment of doubt.

Colonel Hakim came over to us and said, “You can congratulate yourselves on a successful attack.”

Okay. Congratulations to us.

Brenner said to him, “I suggest you collect what we need and get it to the airport in Sana’a as quickly as possible. You will be met there.”

I also suggested, “Get some ice from Marib. Maybe the Bilqis Hotel.” They don’t need the ice for cocktails.

Colonel Hakim informed us, “It is a sacrilege to do what you are asking.” He told us, “All these remains must be buried as quickly as possible, according to our religion.”

I figured that was coming, and I didn’t want to argue religion with this guy, so I said, “Tell you what, Colonel, let’s make this clean and easy for everyone. You get a hunk of hair from each head or beard here, number it, and deliver it to the embassy. We’ll do a DNA match, and you get your money. How’s that sound?”

Colonel Hakim couldn’t think of any objection to that, so he said, “I think you are trying to change our arrangement.”

“Not at all,” I assured him. “We pay top dollar for dead Al Qaeda chiefs. But you can’t tell me which of these heads belongs to al-Darwish. Right?”

“You know he was here. And you know that everyone here is dead.”

Ergo, and so forth. I pointed out, “We don’t know he was here. And neither do you.” And I was starting to think he wasn’t. Holy shit.

So we stood there, trying to figure out how to get this resolved. The stench of open body cavities and burnt flesh was overwhelming, and that smell, mixed with the acrid smell of smoldering vehicles and fuel, made my stomach heave. Anyone who thinks war is exciting should see and smell something like this.

I reminded Colonel Hakim, “We just need some hair. Like, no disrespect to the dead. Okay?”

“That is not possible.”

Hokum, Hakim. I said to Brenner, “We have a problem.”

Brenner nodded, then asked Colonel Hakim the question that had come up in the Land Cruiser. “Where were you going with your convoy?”

“That is my business, Mr. Brenner.”

He reminded Hakim, “We are in business together.”

Colonel Hakim did not reply, and he was probably thinking that his two and a half million bucks was slipping away. He might also be thinking that if he was going to lose the money, he might as well get rid of us. Or maybe kidnap us for ransom and make it look like a tribal kidnapping. In Yemen, anything was possible.

Finally Colonel Hakim said, “I was going to the Crow Fortress.”

Brenner nodded and asked, “Why?”

He confessed, “There was a survivor of the attack. An Al Qaeda man. He has told me that a Bedouin in the Crow Fortress, a man called Yasir, who you may know from your stay there, has told Al Qaeda by cell phone that the Americans were not kidnapped, and that they were in fact guests of Sheik Musa at the Crow Fortress.”

Brenner and I looked at each other, and Brenner said to me, “Like I said, all it takes is one rat, and there’s always one rat.”

Right. And usually the guy you least suspect. So what was in it for Yasir to rat us out? Probably the hundred thousand bucks that The Panther was going to pay to Sheik Musa to buy the Americans. And that would be a lot more money for Yasir than his share of his sheik’s five million. Well, greedy Yasir was dead, and I was feeling not sorry about whacking him.

I said to Brenner, “Chet’s ingenious plan actually sucked.” I added, “He didn’t factor in the human element.” And how could he? He wasn’t human.

Brenner agreed and added, “Even his plan to kill us didn’t work.”

That was almost funny.

Bottom line here, if The Panther knew we were actually guests of Sheik Musa, he also knew that the Americans would not be in this goat herder’s hut at the meeting between him and Sheik Musa, and The Panther further knew this meeting was a sham and a trap.

I said to Brenner, “The Panther is not here and not dead.”

Brenner nodded and looked at Colonel Hakim, saying to our new partner, “I’m not understanding why you were going to the Crow Fortress.”

Colonel Hakim, probably trying to salvage a smaller reward, replied, “The Al Qaeda survivor has also told me that the jihadists from the Al Qaeda camp in the hills were preparing to attack the Crow Fortress and take the Americans.”

I said to Brenner, “I think we always knew that.”

Brenner nodded and said to Hakim, “And what were you going to do at the Crow Fortress?”

He replied, “It was my intention to come to your rescue.”

What a nice man. Doing his duty. Actually, if Colonel Hakim was in business to make money, that was a good way to do it. But I doubted if he wanted a fight with Al Qaeda. More likely he was trying to get to the Crow Fortress before Al Qaeda got there, then he could arrest or attack his traditional enemy-the Bedouin-and say he rescued the Americans from the Bedouin. And that was worth some American dollars.

That didn’t work out for him, but Colonel Hakim was still trying to figure out how to make a buck here. The dead Panther thing wasn’t working out either, and rescuing the Americans from the Bedouin was a bust, so what was left?

Brenner said to him, “We appreciate your intentions, but as you can see, we don’t need to be rescued.”

Colonel Hakim said to us, “I am told by the Al Qaeda man who survived this attack that the Bedouin, Yasir, told him there were six Americans at the Crow Fortress.”

Brenner informed him, “Two have left.”

Hakim thought about that, then said, “I believe I saw smoke coming from the top of the plateau.”

Well, that’s a long story, but I shortened it and said, “We had a problem with the Bedouin.”

He nodded and informed us, “They are treacherous.”

They’re amateurs, Colonel, compared to you.

Colonel Hakim also informed us, “According to this Al Qaeda survivor, the jihadist attack on the Crow Fortress was to begin after the meeting with Sheik Musa-but only if the Americans were not at the meeting.”

“Right. Sorry we missed the meeting.” Sorry, too, The Panther missed it. Bottom line here, The Panther was willing to sacrifice his men to see if the meeting was a trap-which it was-and The Panther was elsewhere. I asked Hakim, “Is The Panther supposed to lead this attack on the Crow Fortress?”