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‘Yes?’ Alex replied cautiously.
‘I realise that you cannot talk on the phone but I would be interested to meet you tomorrow to outline a project.’
‘Right,’ Alex managed.
‘I have booked a table for tea at the Ritz at three o’clock tomorrow. Would that be acceptable?’
‘Fine …’ Alex said slowly, avoiding commitment as he desperately tried to think if he wanted to go. He knew he did not have any alternative, and the Ritz was about as unthreatening a place as one could meet in.
‘Very well, Mr Devereux. Just ask for my table, Mr Al-Khouri, and it’s jacket and tie,’ he said in a smug tone.
‘Right, OK. Thank you,’ Alex tried to end the conversation sounding as if he was in control.
As usual, Alex arrived early; army habits died hard.
He was wearing highly polished black Oxfords, his bespoke blue pinstripe suit with a crisply ironed white shirt, and his Cavalry and Guards blue and red striped tie.
He didn’t like being so obvious about his regiment — ‘cabbage’ was their derisory term for flaunting the connection too overtly — but this was business, and he knew it was one of the few British army symbols that foreigners in his line of work recognised and valued.
He walked up the side entrance steps on Arlington Street and was greeted by a smartly uniformed porter with white gloves tucked into one of the epaulettes of his overcoat.
He was shown along the broad entrance hall by an overly suave waiter in black tie and a white dinner jacket. The middle of the Palm Court tearoom was dominated by an enormous gilt urn decorated with palms. A lady in a sequined dress tinkled away at a piano on one side.
Alex cringed; the whole effect was one of stifling fussiness. The sparse clientele included grandmothers being taken out on their birthdays, aspirational fathers fulfilling their dreams by bringing cowed wives and children out for tea at the Ritz. Conversation was reduced to a subdued level by the formality.
‘Mr Al-Khouri is over there, sir,’ said the officious waiter, his arm extended grandly to point to a table in the far corner of the room. Alex straightened his shoulders and walked over slowly, eyeing his potential business partner carefully.
On first sight Mr Al-Khouri looked the epitome of a wealthy playboy: about thirty-five, blow-dried black hair, average height, slim build and cleanshaven. He was wearing a white shirt with a black Armani suit and tie.
The man stood up as Alex approached, all slick smiles and competitive bonhomie. ‘Mr Devereux. Please come, sit down, sit down.’
‘Alexander Devereux,’ said Alex unnecessarily, and gave his firmest handshake as he towered over the smaller man. It was all part of the male posturing, manoeuvring to show who was in charge.
‘Yes, yes. Kalil Al-Khouri. Thank you for coming, Mr Devereux. Tea for two, please.’ He signalled to the waiter hovering behind Alex. ‘Your finest Earl Grey,’ he added fastidiously.
‘A nice location.’ He swept his hand around the room.
‘Splendid,’ replied Alex.
‘I like to come to the Ritz when I am in town; it has a very … established feel. I do a lot of business in London.’ Kalil spread his hands and his voice dropped to a quieter conspiratorial tone. The word ‘business’ was deliberately vague, implying things far too important and secret to be spoken about in detail.
‘Right,’ Alex nodded, and waited for the posturing to stop.
‘So,’ Kalil tilted his head to one side, ‘my contacts tell me that you’ve been in Angola recently.’
Alex was not sure who Kalil’s contacts were but there was nothing secret in what he had said so far. Alex’s work was sanctioned tacitly by the Foreign Office so he had nothing to hide.
‘Yes, a contract on the Lucapa field in the north. Mine defence and security team training,’ said Alex.
‘And how did that go?’
‘It went well,’ he replied cautiously. ‘We had good support from the government,’ which was a lie, but he was always careful to sound positive about his employers. ‘We did a lot of clearing-up ops on the bandit groups in the area. Counterinsurgency, some armoured recce work.’ He wasn’t prepared to go into any more detail, and looked at Kalil, who was watching him carefully.
‘Well, that’s very much the line of work that we are interested in.’ He glanced around to see that the grandmother and her family two tables away were not taking notes. He steepled his fingers together and leaned towards Alex.
‘Can I confirm, in the first instance, that you would be free to be involved in a six-month project starting with immediate effect? The compensation package will be,’ again he paused for effect, ‘… extremely competitive.’
The waiter arrived with a triple-layered stand of cakes and a silver tea set on a tray. He fussed around laying them out and then left with a simpering smile.
Alex and Kalil resumed their conspiratorial huddle.
Alex nodded. ‘It would depend on the nature of the project, but yes, in theory, I would be available.’
‘Good.’ Kalil poured tea for them both and then sipped it slowly. Eventually he put his cup down and leaned over the table.
‘I represent a cartel of Lebanese diamond dealers,’ he continued quietly. ‘We are interested in hiring you to lead an operation involving a mechanised battle group in Africa. My understanding from your file is that this is your area of expertise?’
Alex stared him in the eye and nodded slowly.
Lebanese. They ran the diamond-trading networks in Africa and were famously secretive, but it sounded like a big job so in principle he was interested. The money would be good.
‘The cartel was extremely impressed with your file. You understand our position in the trade?’
‘In broad terms, yes.’ Alex had been involved in the business for long enough to have a good understanding of their role but he did not want to prevent any revelations so he held his hands out in a gesture inviting further comment.
‘We are the comptoirs — the middlemen on the ground — in Africa, who supply the markets in Amsterdam and the Far East. De Beers, Steinmetz and the rest have been getting very antsy about CSR and blood diamonds of late, but we’re not too angst-ridden about all that.’ He tossed his head dismissively.
Alex was pleased that Kalil was dropping the bullshit and speaking more openly.
Corporate Social Responsibility was a buzzword of all the multinationals. It was supposed to be about ethical behaviour towards indigenous peoples and the environment, and generally not behaving like rapacious capitalists. All well and good, but for small fry like Alex it meant that big firms were no longer prepared to operate in the sort of lawless areas where his skills would be in demand. He was not bothered to hear it denigrated.
‘I mean, we can’t afford to be.’ Kalil looked at Alex with his eyebrows raised to see if he was going to get precious.
Alex shrugged to indicate that he was not bothered about exact adherence to the codes of practice that the larger security firms followed these days. He was not in a position to be picky.
‘Let me be plain, Mr Devereux.’ Kalil took on a serious expression. ‘This operation would be illegal by all international law codes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not about genocide, but it does involve an attack across sovereign borders. Not that that means squat in the parts of the world we’re talking about. It’s basically a dispute between two private enterprises over a diamond field in the Central African Republic. If you don’t feel comfortable in that situation, please tell me now.’
Alex looked at him. He didn’t know the man from Adam. Was he a plant sent to trap him into an admission of illegality? Was he wired? He couldn’t tell. He needed the money. He shrugged again.
‘I’ll take that as a yes. Don’t worry, Mr Devereux, the cartel is a bona fide organisation and we are as concerned to protect ourselves from outside scrutiny on this as you would be, so we are doing things very carefully. I think that is about as far as we can go on the operational details for now.’ He indicated the incongruous surroundings with an open gesture of both hands.
‘Tell me about your time in the army,’ he said, sitting back and switching topics. His hand hovered over the teacakes as he chose one. He ate it, catching the crumbs with one hand under his chin, as Alex detailed his career résumé.
‘I was commissioned into the regiment and served with them in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Bosnia. I trained for armoured recce with Striker, Spartan and Scimitar, and then main battle tanks with Challenger 2, so I am able to deal with all types of armoured warfare operations. We were also part of 5 Airborne when we were at Windsor so I have done paratrooper training and can handle infantry ops as well.’
‘And you left as a major?’
‘Yes.’
This was another tricky topic for Alex. He did not want to say that he could not face being a passed-over major.
‘The British Army is the best in the world,’ he went on, ‘but I wanted to get more action and independence so I went into the defence business …’ It was a downright lie but he was so used to telling it that he sounded like he meant it. What he had really wanted to do was to stay and serve his country as a colonel.
‘And have served with companies in Sierra Leone, Congo and Angola?’ Kalil dipped his head interrogatively.
‘Correct.’
Now that Kalil had dropped the act he seemed to be much more down-to-earth. Alex was not exactly warming to him but at least he thought he was someone he could do business with.
The chitchat continued until they had finished their cups of tea and then Kalil stood up, swept his hand through his hair, chucked a fifty-pound note dismissively on the table and led the way out.
As they walked to the hotel lobby Kalil’s quick eye caught the display of ‘Ritz Fine Jewellery’ cabinets arranged along one side. He stopped to look at the cases of rings, necklaces and brooches.
‘You see, this is what it’s all about.’ He pointed out a diamond pendant to Alex and spoke with sudden enthusiasm. ‘This is what we in the cartel do. This is a white diamond — yes?’
He looked at Alex, who bent down to inspect it and then nodded, wondering why he was asking such a question.
The immaculate sales manager stood up from her desk and came across to them. She was a suitably striking addition to the Ritz: tall, with long blonde hair and an elegant black dress.
‘Can I help you, sir?’ she asked Kalil in a voice as polished as one of her stones.
‘Hey, how are you?’ Kalil looked up, slightly startled, and fired off the standard American greeting rather defensively.
She had had enough American customers to know that the question was not meant to be answered and nodded in return as Kalil continued without pausing.
‘I’m looking for a coloured diamond. You gotta coloured diamond?’ His eyes were flicking over the displays.
‘We have some over here, sir.’ She led the way across to where a row of select-looking cabinets were set into the wall. The pieces in them sparkled alluringly under the lights.
‘We have a natural Vivid Yellow stone set in a necklace here and this is a natural Vivid Green stone in a ring.’
‘That’s it! OK, lemme do a price comparison. Can you get me a white stone the same carat as that, please?’
The manageress walked over to the cabinets in the middle of the room. Kalil’s black eyes flicked a quick glance over her svelte backside. He watched her intently as she paused to pull a pair of white cotton gloves onto her slender hands. She unlocked a cabinet, took out a ring, closed it carefully and walked back.
‘This is a one-carat white diamond.’ She held it up and it sparkled pure white light.
‘Can we compare it to the green one, please?’
She nodded obligingly and unlocked the cabinet on the wall. There was a soft peep of an alarm as it slid open.
‘Now, look at this, see?’ Kalil held the new ring up to Alex and turned it back and forth so that it caught the light. At first glance it appeared clear but as the light played on the facets it sparked green.
Alex had never had much interest in the aesthetics of diamonds before but he had to admit that it was captivating how the colour appeared from nowhere.
‘You see, same chemical structure as a diamond — it’s not an emerald — but totally different effect. They’re formed when the diamond is in the presence of radioactive minerals: uranium oxide, molybdenum, radon. You know, they get all hot and compressed in a kimberlite pipe, all that stuff,’ he said dismissively, assuming Alex knew the basics of diamond formation.
‘Hmm,’ Alex murmured with genuine interest, continuing to peer at the stone.
‘OK,’ Kalil held up the two rings and turned to the manageress. ‘What’s the price comparison between them?’
‘OK, well, this stone is—’
‘It’s a one-carat stone, ya?’
‘Yes, they are both one-carat stones. The value of this white diamond is eleven thousand.’
‘Dollars?’
‘Sterling.’
‘And the green diamond?’ Kalil held it up in anticipation of the punchline.
‘The value of this diamond is one hundred and fifty thousand pounds.’
‘You see …’ Kalil nodded and looked at Alex with a smug grin on his face.
‘OK, so we’re talking about a …’ Alex paused to do the maths, ‘… a fourteen times price differential.’
Kalil nodded again in satisfaction at having made his point.
‘OK. Thank you, ma’am.’ He handed the stones back to her. ‘We’re just looking around at the moment.’
He gave her his most charming smile and led the way out of the hotel and onto the darkened street. They stood under a streetlamp.
‘Ya, OK, so apologies about that. Got a little overexcited.’ Again the quick grin flashed. ‘But the point for us is this.’ He leaned towards Alex. ‘The field we’re gonna capture in Central African Republic produces green diamonds.’
11 P.M., THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (#ulink_7fbe997f-31dc-5df0-a9c1-cfb9222d5015)
The man sat alone in the room watching the silent black-and-white film flicker awkwardly on the screen. The pictures jumped sometimes, the camerawork was amateur. The room was quiet but for the soft whirr of the projector and the whine of mosquitoes drifting through its beam.
The camera panned over a long table on a terrace; soldiers slouched around it on chairs. SS double lightning-flash tabs showed on their collars. The table was covered in the casual debris of a good lunch: messy plates, bowls of couscous, tagines, grapes and bottles of wine. The men were smoking. As the camera went closer and interrupted their conversations they smiled and waved good-naturedly.
The shot swung round to a tall man with blond hair, scraped down in a severe short back and sides. He was leaning back on a railing in front of a view — Tripoli harbour. The man in the room recognised it.
The soldier wore the field-grey tunic and insignia of a major in the Waffen SS. His tunic buttons were undone and he held a cigarette in an off-hand way. He had the commanding but relaxed air of natural authority as he talked to the camera. Standing next to him was a pretty, petite woman in a tight-fitting, floral print dress. She had black hair pinned up in a 1940s fashion and was listening attentively to what he was saying, her eyes sparkling.
The officer began pointing out sights in the harbour. The camera swung awkwardly back and forth between him and the ships in the bay. He blew smoke out of the side of his mouth, said something, grinned cheekily at the camera and then looked quickly at her.
Handsome bastard.
The woman clapped her hands delightedly and flashed a black-eyed smile at the lens.
She was a looker as well.
Her gesture was all the more powerful for its complete lack of affectation. She was beautiful but modest with it. She kept her eyes lowered and the laugh only broke out when the girlish exuberance of her nature could no longer be contained.
The film continued with the woman listening to everything the major said and he touched her arm affectionately once. Eventually the film ran out and the scene cut off abruptly.
