Chapter Thirty Seven Two Days Later

True to his word, Atwan shows up a half hour later. “Well, gentlemen. Any questions?”

“No questions,” says Hussein. “We understand what you want to us do, and what you want us to cover. However, we need to use our own words or this is going to come off all wrong.”

“Why do you say that? You think our writer doesn’t know what he’s doing?”

Uh-oh, Hussein thinks. Maybe it’s Atwan who thinks he’s the next Shakespeare… “No, no, Jibril,” he hurries to say, “it’s just that Dimitri knows what we sound like in conversation. I need to start this the way I’d normally talk – not the way somebody else would. What’s really important is that we get all your points across.” Dakham is nodding his agreement as Hussein speaks.

“All right, expert,” Atwan says to Hussein. “Dial the number, and make sure you’re effective. Leave space for Hamid to say something so that he knows you two are still in this together.”

Hussein lifts the receiver, then pushes the button for the Pakistani line. He recognizes the number as the same number he called from within Russia. After dialing, the call is routed through Pakistan for both incoming and outgoing calls. It rings four times before someone finally picks it up.

“Who’s this?” says a voice that could be Dimitri’s.

“Who am I speaking with?” says Hussein.

“Dimitri Kostovich. Who is this?”

“Dimitri, this is Kamil and I have Hamid with me on speaker phone, so that we can both hear you.”

“You were supposed to call me in two weeks,” Dimitri says. “It’s now three weeks.”