THE BROTHERHOOD (7 page)

There was no way Aazim’s disappearance would be overlooked. Three employees from the same company missing without a trace was hardly a coincidence. Sam considered creating a diversion that would neutralise the problem for good. The situation called for a change of tactics in order to avoid any unnecessary attention on Aust Global Fund from the authorities. Their operation was far too advanced and interruptions would be unacceptable at this point. The sooner the mess was cleaned up the sooner he could proceed with plans as normal.

Efficiency and control empowered Sam, and he made sure he was aware of everything that went on around him at all times. He was a ruthless competitor when the job had to be done and The Brotherhood knew they could rely on him, despite not approving of his methods. Eliminating his competition meant making them disappear – for good – as threats to the organisation could not be allowed to take root. Such decisions were made in Germany, where Sam ran a tight operation. He had once suspected that a Brotherhood member in his cell had become compromised so he had ordered his men to have him watched. They had photographed him meeting with German government agents before having him eliminated on Sam’s orders. By the time the German authorities had busted their headquarters Sam and any evidence of a cell were long gone.

Shortly afterwards Sam was sent to Australia to set up Aust Global Fund. He had established and run many such companies, which were used as fronts for their activities, all over Europe, but Sam knew the real reason for his transfer was his conduct. His aggression and ambition made members of The Brotherhood nervous; to them he was a rogue element that needed to be contained. Sam despised the Brotherhood elders for their hypocrisy, preaching non-violence and then turning a blind eye when it suited them. Extreme measures were acceptable, but only on their terms.

He saw his assignment in Australia as punishment. There was no point arguing with the elders; he could only obey. He never met the members of a higher rank as orders were always passed on by couriers. He would go to the mosque every week, make his absolutions, pray, and meet with the messenger who updated him on events within their organisation. The system ensured he only received the information he needed to perform his tasks. If he was arrested he would not be able to identify the main players even if he wanted to – or that’s what the elders thought. There was always a replacement for any member at any level and the system worked so well it had a life of its own.

Chapter 7

Aazim deliberated over the repercussions of answering his mobile phone but finally decided to let it ring. What would he say? It had all happened so fast that he hadn’t had time to consider what to do with the information he now had. He just knew he had to act on it before any trace of the money laundering and illegal activity was erased. Involving the police could be tricky. He knew he couldn’t just walk in and say, ‘Hey guys, this company I work for is up to its neck in fraud.’ Even if they believed him and overlooked the fact that he’d stolen the information, by the time a search warrant was obtained Sam could easily remove the evidence and the AccountsClass01 server would be just another data repository.

His phone rang again but this time he decided to pick up and see where it would lead him.

‘Aazim, this is Sam. I noticed you left in a hurry. Did you work late last night?’

‘I wasn’t feeling too well, I was working on the maintenance job and I’m dead tired.’

‘That took unusually long. Did you have any problems?’

He needed a quick reply. ‘Yes, the backups failed and I had to run the job again.’

‘Well, the audit report shows the backups were successful.’

Damn, he’d forgotten about the report. ‘The process was completed but the server logs showed zero bytes saved and I ran it again to make sure it was okay.’ He’d been caught out – there was no way Sam would believe that.

‘You seem to have spent a lot of time looking at the Oracle application. I can’t recall providing you with the password. Why did you need to access to it?’

‘A minor error showed up in the event logs and I browsed around for a fix while I waited for the backups to finish.’ Sam was no idiot. He would know Aazim was just fishing around now. Why didn’t he just get to the point?

Sam sighed and spoke calmly. ‘I know what you saw, Aazim. You illegally downloaded confidential information. Come back to work and we can talk about this, otherwise I’ll have to call the police and you’ll be in a lot of trouble.’

‘I can’t do that, Sam.’ He could hear the crack in his own voice. It was almost a relief to have everything out in the open.

‘I don’t think you realise how serious this is,’ Sam continued. ‘You’ve broken your employment cont –’

‘I know what you’re doing. I know what you’re up to. I don’t know how many are involved but what you’re doing is illegal.’ Aazim surprised himself as he raised his voice at his now ex-boss. It was his turn to say something threatening. ‘I’m the one going to the police, Sam, and I’ll show them your money-laundering schemes –’

‘You’ll do nothing of the sort. Ignorant fool, you have no idea what you’re messing with.’

This was a side of Sam that Aazim hadn’t seen before.

‘Have you thought about Kareem?’ Sam paused for a moment and allowed the words to sink in before continuing in a low tone. ‘I would hate to think the same fate awaits you and your father. Ilias is in Lebanon, yes? All sorts of accidents can happen when you travel.’

‘Your threats don’t scare me, Sam.’ A statement that was far from the truth.

‘I have friends everywhere and evidence can disappear just like witnesses. Take that into consideration before involving anyone,’ Sam warned.

Panic suddenly gripped Aazim. ‘I’ll call you back,’ he said before abruptly hanging up. He needed time to think and calling the police was out of the question for now. He stepped on the accelerator. But where am I going? he asked himself.

A convenience store came into view and he pulled over. He bought a packet of cigarettes, something he hadn’t done since his uni exams. Once back in the car, he drove to a cafe and away from Aust Global Fund and into suburbia. Sitting outside, shaking with fear, he ordered a coffee and lit a cigarette. He tried to calm his nerves but instead coughed his lungs out and stubbed out the cigarette. He stared at his mobile phone with a blank mind. What in the world was he going to do? After an hour he decided to get back in the car and drive home. He needed to get a change of clothes and disappear.

Arriving at his parents’ apartment building, he sensed something was wrong when he saw the front security door ajar. He walked up the stairs and found the apartment door slightly open. Splinters were visible where once there had been a lock. Clearly someone had forced the door open and broken in. He couldn’t hear any noises from inside and slowly stuck his head around the door to see if anyone was there. The apartment was empty but whoever had got in had done the place over: everything was upside down and inside out. His books had been thrown on the floor, desk drawers were emptied and clothes were strewn all over the place. His home PC was missing and crumbs were on the desk, something he noticed because he never ate in front of the computer. It looked like Sam’s men had been there already: the place was trashed.

At the corner of his eye an image came into view that startled him. From his bedroom he could just make out a hand on the floor. Cautiously walking in, the horror revealed itself. He gasped in astonishment at the sight of their neighbour Mrs Sparrow’s lifeless body. She had turned blue and the expression on her face was one of sheer terror. Looking closer, he noticed strangulation marks on her neck just below the hairline. Filled with fear and anxiety, he grabbed a bunch of clothes and some money he’d stashed behind a heap of blankets up high in the bedroom cupboard for emergencies. Going into the study, he opened the bottom drawer and grabbed the stun gun before bolting out of the apartment.

Back in the car he sped away while the image of Mrs Sparrow kept flashing through his mind. What a terrible thing to do to another human being, he thought. Ever since Sophia’s death, Mrs Sparrow had tried to look after Aazim and his father in whatever way she could, be it cooking, cleaning or keeping an eye on the apartment when no one was at home.

He ran scenarios through his mind, trying to imagine what could have happened. Loud banging noises when no one was meant to be home must have alerted Mrs Sparrow, and like a good neighbour she would have gone to check what was going on. Aazim’s father had given her a spare key in case of emergencies. In this case the intruders had broken the locks on the door and ransacked the place, and the message they’d sent him was clear. He was now under no illusions about the kind of people he was doing business with and how far they were willing to go to protect their secrets. If they had no hesitation killing a defenceless old woman they wouldn’t think twice about killing him. Compounding everything were Sam’s threats against his father, the only family Aazim had left. He had to get in touch with Ilias and advise him of the danger.

It was getting dark and he needed a place to stay; it was no good just driving around aimlessly. He eventually found a motel on the outskirts of the city and paid the receptionist for a two-night stay. Ignoring his hunger pangs, he went straight to his room and switched on the television. As he surfed through the channels he anticipated seeing his apartment on a late-night news channel, the police taking away Mrs Sparrow in a body bag. He could just imagine what the media would do with it: ‘Dead body of an elderly Anglo woman discovered in an apartment occupied by two men with an Arabic background. One is missing in mysterious circumstances and the other is in Lebanon.’ The media would have a feast.

To Aazim’s surprise there was no mention of it at all. He itched to get out of his sweaty clothes and take a shower. A feeling of loneliness overwhelmed him as he looked around the room and saw only the bare essentials. A dull old lampshade gathered dust on one bedside table and a complimentary Bible lay on the other. Aazim wondered if it was an attempt to dissuade suicidal thoughts. The worn industrial carpet emanated a stale odour of cigarettes, and old drapes clung to the single window like a large stain. He thought it was a scene that would be the envy of David Lynch himself. The squeaky, springless bed was far from the comfort of his own bed but he didn’t have the energy to care anymore. The bed was the last of his problems.

His grumbling stomach demanded attention he could no longer ignore. After ordering some Chinese takeaway he washed away the day in the mouldy bathroom, loosening his tense muscles under the warm shower. Events replayed in his head, all the strangeness and ghastliness. He stood motionless, staring at the drain as the water trickled down his body and disappeared into the gurgling dark hole. The fear on Mrs Sparrow’s face lingered, tattooed into his memory bank.

Emerging from the bathroom, he fell on the bed like a dead weight and slowly drifted to sleep.

Chapter 8

Morning came and Aazim woke up yawning and stretching. When he realised where he was, the previous day’s events burst into his mind. He sprang up, put on his clothes and went out for a quick breakfast at the bakery across the road. Beginning the day on a full stomach was a regimented routine for Aazim.

Back in the motel he immediately swung into action, scribbling on a piece of paper and brainstorming through various options. Feeling sorry for himself was not one of them. At stake were his life and that of his father, but he knew that as long as he had the evidence his chances of remaining alive were higher. Suddenly he felt energised and determined to take on whatever was thrown at him. He wondered if his parents had experienced the same feeling in their rebellious past and struggle against the PLO. Here was a chance to do something meaningful and expose a lot of dangerous people, but first of all he had to warn his father of the impending danger he faced.

As soon as he turned his phone on, messages started streaming in. Expecting them to be from Sam, he was surprised when he saw missed calls from Rami. He had forgotten about his friend. It was a relief to see his name and Aazim desperately needed any help he could get.

There was no answer when he tried calling his father, but Aazim realised he was probably sleeping as the time difference meant it was early morning in Beirut. Aazim missed his father, and more than ever needed his comfort and reassurance. As he waited for Ilias to answer he decided that going to the police before making sure his dad was all right would be a risk, so he decided to call him later. He disconnected and dialled Rami’s number instead.

‘Aazim! Where’ve you been? Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine, Rami. I need you to listen. I can’t talk for long.’

Feeling paranoid, he asked Rami to meet him at a suburban parkland he’d driven past on his way to the motel before ending the call. He knew it was safer to be outdoors and among people. He warned his friend to make sure he was alone, promising to explain everything when he saw him. He drove off for the park straight away, his nerves on edge. He wanted to get there early so he could familiarise himself with the surroundings.

Somewhat neglected, the park was the size of a football field. On one side was a children’s playground and a government housing estate, built in the early eighties and left to decay, loomed nearby. No wonder people look so depressed, Aazim thought. He noticed a few African children playing basketball. Probably asylum-seekers, he thought, just like my parents once were. Walking further into the park and over a small hill, he sat down on a bench and held open a newspaper, pretending to read. He felt a little comical, like a
Get Smart
character. He was glad to be in an elevated position; he could scan his surroundings, and the nearby shrubs provided some cover.

Half an hour later he saw Rami’s car pull up. His friend was alone. Rami headed straight for the benches in the middle of the park. Aazim was relieved to see a friendly face, and he was just about to walk over when he noticed a bearded man appear on the other side of the park. The face looked familiar and a feeling of uneasiness came over Aazim. Looking over his shoulder, he immediately ducked down and crawled into the thick shrubs, making his way into the thickest and safest place he could find. Another bearded man in a black leather jacket had appeared just metres away on the opposite side of the hill. Aazim hadn’t seen him as he’d been facing Rami, but now he realised they were the same two men who’d led Kareem away. The closest one seemed intent on checking the hill where Aazim was hiding, but he hadn’t started looking into the bushes yet.