He swirled the liquid in the glass, then finished it off. The bottle was right there, so he poured another. I’m quite content to get drunk tonight. If anyone deserves it, it’s me.

Turning on his stool, he admired his beautiful 12-million-dollar Sikorsky helicopter that couldn’t fly. Spinning, he looked up at the rear of the bridge of his $650 million mega yacht that couldn’t sail. Down below, his garage was filled with watercraft whose engines were in pieces. He held up his glass. “Congratulations, Jew-dogs! You won this one.” He threw the liquor back and poured himself another one.

“Pour me one too.”

Saad turned to see General Mousavi walking toward him. He got up a little unsteadily and stepped behind the bar, then pulled a large ice ball from the freezer and dropped it into a glass. He looked at the row of bottles under the bar and pulled out the Johnnie Walker Blue Label. He set it and the glass on the bartop.

“Here. A night like this, you can have your own bottle. It’s supposed to be served neat, but it’s just too hot in this godforsaken place for that.”

The general smiled as he sat down. “It looks like I have some catching up to do.”

“Where’s the Saudi?”

“Hiding in his bedroom. He has four armed guards outside his door—all that’s left of the eight he brought.”

“How many did you lose?”

The general drank his first glass in one shot. “Two. They were good men.”

“Do you think the Israelis will be back?”

“I don’t think so. They got what they came for. If they did return, though, it would be to slap a mine on the boat or something like that.”

Saad jumped up, then stumbled back into the bar. “Do you think they’d do that?”

The general was on his feet, helping Saad back to his stool. “I don’t. The Jews have enough of a public relations problem without blowing up the boat of a private citizen off the coast of one of their allies. But…”

“But what?”

“But I think your days of yacht ownership are over. The Jews never forget. They’ll never forgive you for allowing Tavor to be tortured on your boat. If you weren’t on their radar before, you certainly are now. This yacht is too easy a target. You’ll never know which will be the night they either show up in your stateroom or just sink the whole thing to the bottom of the ocean. But don’t feel too bad. Once Tavor tells them I was here, I probably have a hellfire missile in my near future.”

The general downed his second drink and poured himself a third.