The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva Read Free Book Online

Sometimes he would lie awake and listen to the shelling or the rhythmic thump of the Israeli helicopters hovering over the camp. He would think of his father—how he had died of a broken heart with the keys to the family home in the Upper Galilee still in his pocket—and he would think of poor Mahmoud. He hated the Jews with an intensity that made his chest ache. But he never felt fear. Not when he was in his bed, protected by his women.
    The whitewashed villa stood atop a rock outcropping on a craggy hillside between the villages of Mesogion and Pirgos. To reach it Tariq had to negotiate a steep path through an old vineyard. The smell of the last harvest hung in the air. He shut down the motor, and the silence rang in his ears. He put the bike on its kickstand, drew his Makarov pistol, and walked through a small garden to the entrance of the villa.
    He slid the key into the lock, turned it slowly, testing the chamber for unnatural resistance. Then he opened the door and stepped inside, Makarov drawn. As he closed the door a light came on in the living room, illuminating a slender young man with long hair seated on a rustic couch. Tariq nearly shot him before he saw that the other man’s gun was lying on a table in front of him and his hands were raised in a gesture of surrender.
    Tariq pointed the Makarov at the young man’s face. “Who are you?”
    “My name is Achmed. Kemel sent me.”
    “I nearly killed you. Then I’d never have known why Kemel sent you here.”
    “You were supposed to come this morning. I had nowhere else to wait.”
    “The ferry was delayed. You would have known that if you’d bothered to pick up the telephone and place a single call. What does he want?”
    “He wants to meet. He says he needs to discuss something with you, and it’s too important to do it through the usual methods of communication.”
    “Kemel knows I don’t like face-to-face meetings.”
    “He’s made special arrangements.”
    “Tell me.”
    “Would you mind pointing that gun somewhere else?”
    “I would, actually. How do I know you were really sent here by Kemel? Maybe your real name is Yitzhak or Jonathan. Maybe you’re an Israeli. Maybe you work for the CIA. Maybe Kemel has been compromised, and you’ve come here to kill me.”
    The young man sighed heavily and began to speak. “Kemel wants to meet with you three days from now in a first-class compartment of a train between Zürich and Prague. You’re to join him there at any point during the journey when you feel it’s safe.”
    “You have a ticket?”
    “Yes.”
    “Give it to me.”
    Achmed reached into the pocket of his blazer.
    Tariq lifted the Makarov. “Slowly.”
    Achmed removed the ticket, held it up for Tariq to see, and dropped it onto the table. Tariq looked at the ticket briefly, then turned his gaze back on the boy seated in front of him. “How long have you been waiting at the villa?”
    “Most of the day.”
    “ Most of the day?”
    “I went into the village in the afternoon.”
    “Whatever for?”
    “I was hungry and I wanted to have a look around.”
    “Do you speak Greek?”
    “A little.”
    How perfect, thought Tariq derisively. A young man who speaks a few words of Greek with an Arabic accent had been hanging around the port all afternoon. Tariq imagined a scenario: a busybody Greek shopkeeper gets suspicious about an Arab loitering in the village and calls the police. A policeman comes down to have a look for himself. Maybe he has a friend or a cousin who works in the Greek security service. Damn! It was a miracle he hadn’t been picked up the moment he stepped off the ferry. He asked, “Where are you planning to spend the night?”
    “I thought I might stay here.”
    “Out of the question. Go to the Taverna Petrino. It’s near the harbor. You can get a room there at a reasonable price. In the morning take the first ferry to Turkey.”
    “Fine.”
    Achmed leaned forward to pick up the gun. Tariq shot him twice in the