He’d told the contacts with whom he’d originally negotiated that he simply needed safe passage to Sirte, a safe house in the city, and safe passage back to the Tunisian border when his work was done.

They’d asked no questions – the whole area was full of people doing things they did not wish to discuss, and discretion was always the order of the day – and Mahsoud had hoped that it could be allowed to rest there.

He should have known better.

And if Tariq and his tribe’s protection could be bought for a mere thousand dollars, what might they do if they got wind that a prize as big as Charlotte Morgan was within their grasp?

He kept his eyes on the road, trying to think, trying to ignore the beady eyes boring into him from his right.

He was confident that Khasmohmad Kadyrov would have kept the circle of knowledge as small as possible – the property that the Chechen was using had been paid for with Saudi cash, via a third party in Balochistan, and then Egypt, and it was certain that the man who owned it did not even know himself what it was being used for.

Still, he couldn’t just say nothing. Maybe he…

‘Of course, we’re not sophisticated city people from London, like you,’ said Tariq, with a knowing smile. ‘We’re just poor people of the desert. But we’re not stupid.’

Mahsoud turned to him, and tried to look sincere.

‘Tariq, I would never think that of you or your people,’ he said, earnestly. He pretended to hesitate, as though agonising over what to say next. Eventually, he said, ‘Please do not be insulted, Tariq, but can I trust you?’

The Libyan laughed. ‘I would die before I broke a confidence,’ he said. ‘You know this is true.’

Mahsoud knew nothing of the sort, but he nodded.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Of course. I’m sorry.’

‘So?’ said Tariq.

‘We have a plan to strike in Tripoli,’ said Mahsoud, trying to make it look as though the information was being dragged out of him like a stubborn tooth. ‘Some Americans, important people, they are coming over in two months for a meeting with the Army there. My contacts in Sirte and I, we are planning something.’ He smiled. ‘Something big. And, be assured, we will share the full knowledge with you and your father and your people when the time is right. If only to make sure you have no-one nearby.’

‘The knowledge,’ said Tariq, with a greedy smile, ‘and some fruit, I hope?’

‘That goes without saying,’ said Mahsoud. He waved his hand expansively at the scrubland outside the window. ‘Consider my thousand dollars for this trip but a grain of sand in the Sahara.’

Tariq chuckled, heartily. ‘I don’t like Americans, either,’ he said.

Chapter 69.

69.