Deep Black - Andy McNab [108]
I hit Send on the number and passed the Thuraya to him. Then I held the pistol out in front of me, left hand supporting the right, aiming at about chest height, safety off and first pad of my finger on the trigger.
Nasir and Jerry were still letting the guys outside know what they thought of them at top volume, but they weren’t getting much in return. Maybe the flat tops were becoming bored. Then I heard a roar of laughter. Whatever was being said, the flat tops thought it was pretty funny.
I hadn’t heard Salkic say a word. I felt a tap on my arm and he passed me the phone. He didn’t look happy. I listened; it was still ringing. I hit the button and leaned over so I was speaking right into his ear. My eyes were still forward, pistol out, pad on the trigger, safety off. ‘You definitely know where we are?’
He nodded slowly. With my left hand, I fished around in my jeans for the Holiday Inn card and tapped in the number. ‘Tell the hotel we’re being robbed. They’re armed. We need SFOR.’
I pressed Send and handed it over. While I concentrated on the entrance he muttered quietly into the mouthpiece.
Someone outside bellowed Salkic’s name again and he took advantage of the noise to repeat the information more loudly.
The barrel of an AK poked round into the cave at about waist height. I took first pressure on the trigger of the Daewoo, my eyes glued to a point just above the muzzle.
I caught a glimpse of cheekbone and pulled the pistol up until I had the clear and focused foresight centre mass of the target. The rear sight was out of focus, just as it should be. The first pad of my forefinger squeezed the trigger a couple of millimetres, until I felt the first pressure stopping me moving it back any further.
Salkic was still mumbling into the phone, but I shut every ounce of background noise out of my head as I watched the cheekbone grow into a face, which half turned so its mouth could shout more efficiently into the cave. I could see the veins in its temple swell with effort as spit flew from its lips.
Then he turned to fire.
The weapon’s foresight was level with his upper lip as I took second pressure. The pistol kicked in my hands and the boy crumpled. Another AK, attached to a pair of hands, appeared and fired. I could feel the pressure waves of the rounds above me, then a volley of single shots rang out from behind us.
When the AK finally stopped, I pushed myself up against the rock, kept my head down, and started to run.
Heavy 7.62 short rounds started to bounce off the walls again but there was nothing we could do about it. We just had to keep low and keep moving.
As I scrambled over the rock piles into cover, Salkic was at my shoulder, still firing.
‘Stop! Stop! Save the ammo!’
I grabbed the phone from Salkic and switched it off. ‘What did they say? They understand?’
His chest heaved. ‘I think so. And they must have heard the firing.’ He slumped against the rock pile, trying to catch his breath.
Nasir and Jerry had stopped firing. The only sounds now were our breathing and the shouts that echoed from just outside the cave mouth.
Jerry took back the phone. ‘Maybe she was out at the shops. Maybe they couldn’t find her . . .’
Salkic looked up, his eyes full of concern as he looked beyond us for Nasir. ‘We’ll see.’ His voice was far too calm. It was that fatalism shit again.
82
We lay there for another hour, Nasir and me on the rock piles with our AKs, the other three on the ground below us.
Mocking flat-top voices kept echoing round the cave, with the odd aggressive insult or a line or two from a song thrown in. Nasir couldn’t restrain himself. Each time, he’d give as good as he got.
I eased my way down to Salkic. ‘What’s Nuhanovic going to do now we haven’t turned up? Come looking?’
‘I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve failed.’
I put on my happy face. ‘Let’s try and make sure it stays that way. First