FIVE.
David took a sip of
orange juice and looked out upon the vista of Monte Carlo. It was a
place of serene beauty. With the warm sun beating down on him and
the peaceful sounds of the harbor he could almost allow himself to
fall asleep, but there was too much to be done. He checked his
watch. In front of him only a few scraps of his exquisite breakfast
remained. The Prince had a team of chefs that accompanied him
wherever he traveled. It had been thirty minutes since Devon had
left to awaken the Large One, and although David did not expect the
Prince to bound out of bed and come meet him, he truly wasn't going
to wait around all day.
The Prince had
summoned him in the midst of the final stages of preparation for
their grand plan, and for that, David was not going to leave
without exacting a heavy fee from his benefactor. Despite his
irritation at the interruption, it was time that if they were going
to discuss business, it was better to do it in person. Conducting
such matters over the phone was always risky. One never really knew
what the Americans could pick up with all those damn satellites of
theirs.
David had many
talents, but there was one area in particular where he was
exceptionally gifted. It was getting wealthy people to part with
their money. The key, David had learned, was to show them a return
on their initial investment. He'd perfected that skill while
working for a small venture capital firm in Silicon Valley after
he'd graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. David
had specialized in bringing in wealthy Saudi oil money, and that
was how he had met the man whose boat he was now on.
He felt the Prince
before he actually heard him. A slight tremor rumbled across the
deck and tiny ripples spread across the surface of his water glass.
David looked over his shoulder just in time to see the Large One
step through the glass sliding door and onto the covered part of
the sun deck. The Prince's ring-studded hand protected his eyes
from the offending light of day. In Arabic he yelled a command, and
instantly a man appeared at his side with a gold tray and a pair of
sunglasses placed perfectly in the middle. The Prince snatched them
and somehow managed to squeeze them onto his fat head.
Looking at David
sitting in the sun, Prince Omar began shaking one of his beefy
fingers at him and cursing him in his native Arab tongue.
David stifled a smile
and apologized effusively for interrupting the Prince's sleep.
Switching over to English he said, "You know' Your Highness, that I
would not have interrupted you if it were not important."
Rather than come out
into the sun, Prince Omar plopped his ample body down on a large
couch overflowing with pillows. Chung, the mountainous bodyguard,
took up his post on the other side of the sundeck so he could both
keep an eye on things and stay out of the way of the servants who
constantly buzzed about the Prince. After adjusting his white silk
robe, Omar began stuffing and throwing pillows about until his
fleshy body was supported just right.
David watched all of
this with amusement. He had seen photographs of the Prince in his
younger years. Omar had once been a handsome and slender man. He
had been an international playboy. One of the world's wealthiest
men, he jetted from one continent to the next, always attending the
best parties. Now in his early fifties, he was a gluttonous wreck.
All of the hard years had finally caught up with him.
After his fiftieth
birthday he entered a downward spiral of depression sparked by the
realization that the party would not go on forever. With his
depression came great mood swings and a seemingly insatiable thirst
for a plethora of vices.
Three servants in
crisp white tunics and black pants stepped onto the sundeck and
formed a conga line just to the side of the Prince.
They all held gold
trays overflowing with various things the Prince might desire. Just
serving the Prince was not enough. These men were to predict his
needs so that when the Prince decided he wanted something it
appeared as if they had anticipated his every whim. The first
servant presented a tray with cigarettes. Omar snatched one and the
servant held a diamond-studded gold lighter to it. When the
cigarette was lit the man bowed and peeled away only to be
instantly replaced by the second man who held a tray of drinks for
the Prince to choose from. There was an orange one, a red one, a
pink one and even a blue one, and all them were perfectly garnished
with skewers of fruit or vegetables. Omar's bejeweled fingers
danced above the glasses while his tongue tried to decide which one
it wanted. He picked the pink one, took a sip and then put it back
with a sour expression on his face.
Quickly, he zeroed in
on the red one, which David assumed was a Bloody Mary.
After taking a long
sip through the straw, he waved the servant away and stared at
David for a long moment. Prince Omar admired the Palestinian. He
had guts, he had brains and he was dashingly handsome.
If anyone other than
one of his family members had just awakened him, he would have told
Devon to have Chung throw them into the sea. In fact, now that he
thought about it, there were several family members he'd like to
have thrown into the sea anyway, and they hadn't even interrupted
his sleep.
Omar finally said,
"David, come, tell me why you are in such a hurry." The third
servant appeared at the Prince's side holding a tray overflowing
with pastries. Omar gestured for the tray to be placed on the table
before him.
David walked across
the sundeck and stepped under the canvas awning. He sat in a chair
across from the Prince and watched him devour a pastry with some
type of cream filling.
"Why do you wish to
irritate me like this, my friend?" asked the Prince.
A Cheshire-cat grin
spread across David's lips. He knew the Prince liked him for the
very reason he was scolding him. When you spend your every waking
moment surrounded by sycophants it can be refreshing to be treated
with a little insolence.
"Your Highness, I am
almost ready to implement your plan." David referred to it as the
Prince's plan even though it was his own.
"There are many
things to be done, and as we've discussed there is little room for
error."
The Prince set his
drink down and shifted forward in anticipation.
"How close are
we?"
"Close."
"Close," repeated the
Prince with irritation in his voice.
"Don't tell me
'close." I want details."
"You have all the
details you need, my Prince," David replied in an even voice.
The Prince struggled
in his sea of pillows to straighten up and in frustration barked,
"Do I need to remind you who you are speaking with?"
Casually, David took
off his sunglasses and placed them in his breast pocket.
"I will never forget
what you have done for me and my people, my Prince. You are one of
the few who truly care, and among those few you are the greatest of
our heroes. But we have been through this before, and for your own
good there are certain things you are better off not
knowing."
The seemingly
heartfelt homage appeared to calm Omar for the moment.
"Come sit by me and
whisper these things in my ear. I release you of your worries. I
will decide what I am better off not knowing."
David did not
move.
"My Prince, once I
tell you, there is no taking it back. If things go wrong you could
be implicated."
"I thought you were
taking care of that."
"I am, and that is
why I cannot stay here today and enjoy your gracious hospitality. I
need to get to Amman for a meeting. A meeting that will throw the
dogs off your trail if things don't go the way we've
planned."
Omar plucked another
pastry from the mound and took a large bite. With a red filling
oozing from the corners of his mouth he asked in a quiet voice,
"When will it start?"
While David pondered
how much he should tell him, a servant stepped forward and handed
the Prince a steaming white hand towel.
The Prince cleaned
his lips and jet black goatee and then tossed the towel to the
deck.
David watched the
servant pick it up and then said, "The action will start very soon,
my Prince."
"How soon?" Omar
asked eagerly.
"Soon."
"Within the
month?"
David shook his
head.
"Sooner."
"In weeks?"
Smiling just slightly
he answered, "Within the week, my Prince."
The Prince clapped
his hands together and nodded enthusiastically.
"This is good news.
This is wonderful."
As the Prince reveled
in the news, a nubile young woman with flowing blond hair stepped
onto the deck wearing only a sheer robe.
She approached the
Prince and ran her fingers through his hair. In French she asked
him why he had left her. Omar pushed her away, telling her to go
lounge in the sun until he was done. The woman stuck out her lower
lip and walked past David, giving him a flirtatious wink.
The Prince watched
her with great interest and said, "David, turn around and look at
her. She is perfect."
David looked over his
shoulder just as the statuesque woman undid her robe and let it
fall to the floor. The view was not bad. A pair of white thong
panties were all that she wore. David admired her curves as she
raised her hands above her head and stretched. Turning back to the
Prince he smiled and said, "Very nice."
Omar had a lascivious
grin on his face.
"There is another one
just like her. If you stay tonight, you can have them both."
Yeah, and I'll bet
you'll tape the whole thing, David thought. In addition to a fetish
for taping his visitors, there were other things that worried him
even more about the Prince, but he did not want to dredge all that
up right now.
"Your offer is very
kind, but I have too much to do, and besides I need to keep my mind
clear."
The Prince nodded
knowingly.
"When you are done
then. I will present them to you as a gift."
David smiled
graciously, but didn't say what he was thinking. That he would
prefer to find his own women. Women who didn't need to be
paid-women who hadn't been defiled by the Prince's diseased sex
organ. Getting back to more important matters he said, "There is
something you could do for me at present."
"And would that have
anything to do with money?" asked Omar with a stern look.
Not the least bit
embarrassed, David replied, "Of course. You know how things are
among our Arab brothers. As long as they get paid they are
happy."
"What about the
cause?" snapped the Prince.
"Isn't that
enough?"
"For a select few,
yes. The martyrs and the true believers, but they are not the type
we want involved in this. As I've told you, we need professionals,
not people who will simply blow themselves up."
"But I thought you
said the martyrs are part of your plan."
"They are," answered
David in a slightly irritated voice.
"They will act like
livestock spooked by a fire. They will be driven into action by
rage, not by any orders that I give them."
Omar thought about
this for a moment and then asked, "How much more do
you need?"
David help up all his
fingers and for the first time in all his negotiations with the
Prince he knew he would get exactly that much and not a penny
less.
"Ten million,"
scoffed the Prince. He began shaking one of his chubby fingers in
the Palestinian's direction.
"You have become far
too greedy."
The Prince was a
billionaire many times over, easily one of the hundred richest men
in the world. Ten million was a pittance, but it was still the most
David had ever asked for in a single sitting.
"My Prince, you are a
man who understands value. My services do not come cheaply, and
what I am about to embark on for you and my people will change the
course of history."
"Five million."
David stood and
joined the Prince on the couch. With a sideways glance he noticed
Chung moving closer in case he was needed. In a hushed voice, David
said, "Prince Omar, what is the one thing in this whole world you
would take the most pleasure in?"
The Prince's eyes lit
up at the question and David could tell he was going through a
lengthy list.
"My Prince, think of
the subject at hand.
What we are about to
embark on."
Omar smiled with a
hateful lust in his eyes.
"To see Israel
destroyed."
"Exactly, my Prince.
Ten million dollars is a pittance, and for it I will give you a
front-row seat to the self-destruction of the Zionist state."
Omar grabbed David's
hand and squeezed it.
"Half now and half
when you are done. Tell Devon where you want the money wired and it
will be done. Now, be on your way, and give me the gift I have
waited a lifetime for."