Ahead, the road stretched flat and endless. The sky was the bleached blue characteristic of the desert. The sun was relentless. Although it was late afternoon, the temperature was still above 120 degrees and the metal skin of the truck was too hot to touch. As always when driving in the desert, despite the absolute flatness of the road the Scorpion had the sensation of forever driving uphill towards a horizon so straight that were it reachable, it could have been used as a carpenter’s level.

“What makes you so sure?” Youssef shouted above the roar of wind pouring into the cab through the open windows. His face was powdered white with dust. The air was so hot that the window was like an opening to a blast furnace.

“It’s obvious. I’ve come at them three times now, in Bahrain, Qatar and Riyadh, so they know I’m around. From the condition of the eunuch’s body, Abdul Sa’ad has to assume that I know his plans. And with Braithwaite still alive and potentially active, not to mention any other double agents the Russians might have, we have to assume they know who I am and that I’m going to try to interfere with the assassination. Therefore, the element of surprise is gone on both sides,” the Scorpion replied, his eyes never ceasing to scan the way ahead in a full 180-degree arc.

“But what makes you so sure about an ambush, specifically at Haradh?”

“Because Abdul Sa’ad and the Roosees will want to get me out of the way before we arrive at the Race. An incident there might alert the king and abort the coup. They’ll try to minimize the fuss as much as possible by coming at us in the desert. There’s only one road from Hofuf to Riyadh, so it has to be along here somewhere.”

“But why Haradh?”

“Because of who Abdul Sa’ad and the Roosees will have to use for the ambush. Abdul Sa’ad probably won’t want to use his own men, or elements of the Royal Army for fear of betrayal or starting a tribal blood feud. As for the Roosees they couldn’t possibly train and infiltrate KGB or GRU killers into an environment so alien to them, particularly when time is so short. Besides, a Roosee would have a hard time sneaking into Arabia and even if he did, he’d stand out like a polar bear in the desert.”

“So?”