THE BROTHERHOOD (8 page)

Aazim knew he had to distract him. One look in his direction and the man would be sure to notice some part of his clothing that remained exposed; although the bushes were thick they didn’t give him complete cover. Crouching as low as possible, he reached into his pocket and took out his phone. His heartbeat was thumping in his head. Looking up, he saw the man close in but he was busy observing the park beyond where Aazim was hiding. Pressing the power button, Aazim switched the phone to silent: the slightest noise and he knew he would become a burning bush. He nervously fumbled with the keys and typed an SMS message to Rami:
URGENT! RUN NOW! BEING FOLLOWED. CALL YOU LATER
. He pressed the send button and hoped Rami would leave and Sam’s men would follow. Five minutes later the dark figure looming in front of him disappeared. Rami must have left, he thought. The message had worked.

He leaned back against the small shrub and breathed out deeply, relaxing his slumped body and staring up at the sky as the adrenaline dissipated. What a relief, he thought. That was too close. He decided to stay hidden for a while to make sure no one was still lurking about. What the hell were these guys doing here? How did they manage to follow Rami? He sat still for a moment as it dawned on him: the crumbs. Rami had been in his apartment when they’d trashed it; he must have been on his computer eating those damned cookies at his desk. Most shocking of all, he must have been there when Mrs Sparrow was killed. Aazim felt betrayed and then angry. The one person he thought he could trust had deceived him. Rami had been involved with Sam the entire time.

Shit! Shit! You stupid bastard, how could you? Aazim got to his feet and ran back to his car, no longer caring if the men saw him. He wondered how Rami had got mixed up in all this. What was the real reason Rami introduced him to Sam? All those trips to the mosque, meeting mysterious men: what did it all mean? Aazim needed to know what was going on.

He opened the glove compartment and took out the stun gun. He squeezed the trigger and an electric current zapped across the two rods; it was still charged. He drove straight to a hardware store and bought gaffer tape. His phone rang: it was Rami. Aazim didn’t answer. Instead, he sent Rami another SMS message, telling him to leave his car behind and to catch the midday train from the local station to the city. Aazim was calculating on his pursuers being more discreet this time and leaving a bit of distance between them.

Aazim drove to the train station to ensure Rami did as he was told. He watched as Rami and his two companions boarded the city train, separating themselves by two carriages, obviously in case Aazim saw them and was scared off. They left their cars behind, just as he hoped. He had about thirty minutes to get to Flinders Street train station before they did. He needed a busy intersection and the one in front of this station was one of the busiest in Melbourne, intersecting main roads. He was slowed down by a few red traffic lights on the way but eventually made it there in time. According to the train itinerary they were due to arrive in ten minutes.

He sent Rami another message, instructing him to get off at Flinders Street station. He waited in a taxi zone as close as possible to the traffic lights on the lower end of the station’s main entrance. From his vantage point, he had a view of the whole intersection.

The city was bustling with life: people on their lunch breaks, buskers, preachers, performers. He was at the city’s pulsing heart. Tourists took snapshots of St Paul’s Cathedral, and across the road high school students were being led by their teachers to Federation Square, chatting and giggling along the way. He couldn’t stay where he was for too long – cabbies were giving him dirty looks as they drove past and pointed to the Taxis Only sign. And it was only a matter of time before parking inspectors showed up.

It was well past the train’s arrival time and there was still no sign of Rami. Aazim wondered if the signal hadn’t reached him while he was in the underground loop, so he sent him another one, with additional instructions to turn right in front of the station stairs just before the traffic lights. There was a large pedestrian crossing where hundreds of people traversed every couple of minutes. No way could they spot him in all that confusion.

Suddenly Rami appeared, cautiously walking down the station steps and stopping on the corner of the intersection. His two escorts emerged from the entrance, shuffling about and trying to look inconspicuous. As soon as the traffic lights turned green Aazim stepped on the accelerator, cutting off another car and narrowly missing it. The furious driver beeped the horn and hurled profanities at him. Aazim reached the other side where Rami was, the tyres screeching as he came to a sudden halt, and pushed the passenger door open.

‘Get in, quickly!’

Rami looked at him in surprise. ‘I thought you were on foot.’

‘Hurry up, there are cars behind me!’ True enough, he was blocking the same driver he’d cut off.

Rami gave a quick glance over his shoulder and half hesitated before getting in. As he sped off, Aazim watched in the rear-vision mirror as the bearded pursuers ran hopelessly after them. Adrenaline rushed through his body and he felt himself grinning.

‘Slow down, Aazim! What’s your hurry?’ Forgetting himself, Rami turned around again and looked back.

‘Relax. We’ll just go somewhere we can talk.’

Rami nervously clipped on his seatbelt. ‘What’s with all the secrecy, Az? You haven’t been at work and you haven’t answered my calls. What’s going on?

‘I’ve been busy running around,’ Aazim replied coolly and stared at the road.

Neither spoke another word as Aazim drove out of the city and onto the freeway. He passed the airport sign and then the large hangers of the Tullamarine airport. He knew of a lookout at the back of the hangers where he used to take his lovers in his younger years. Many romantic conquests had ended up with a trip to the airport to watch the planes land. Although he didn’t want to sully the spot by bringing Rami here, it was a good place for a private conversation and the open spaces allowed him to see approaching would-be assailants. A handful of cars sprawled along the narrow road but the couples inside were too involved with each other to notice any newcomers. Aazim found a spot away from prying eyes, parked the car and switched off the engine.

Reaching across Rami, he grabbed the plastic bag from the glove compartment and took out the stun gun and the gaffer tape. Rami observed the gadget with a silent curiosity. Leaning towards him, Aazim zapped the gun just centimetres away from Rami’s chubby legs and a violent electrical flash buzzed in the air.

‘Hey, what are you doing?’ Rami yelped and turned to open the door.

Aazim beat him to it and pressed the central locking on his side.

‘Don’t move or I’ll send fifty thousand volts through your fat arse,’ he warned.

‘Let me out of here!’ Rami screamed.

‘You’re not going anywhere until I’m done with you,’ Aazim said through clenched teeth. ‘I thought you were my friend, Rami. All those long talks we had about us being like brothers. What was that about?’

‘I’m still your friend. I meant all those things,’ Rami squeaked.

‘Shut up! I don’t know what’s going on here but you’re going to tell me everything I need to know. Do you work for Sam? What were you doing in my apartment? And who were those men you brought with you?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, brother …’ Rami said weakly.

Another zap came from the gun, this time skimming the surface of his leg and giving him a slight shock. Rami gave a high-pitched squeal and his leg jerked. It felt numb and he rubbed it until feeling returned.

‘Don’t lie to me! I know you’re in on it,’ Aazim shouted. ‘If I don’t get what I want I’ll zap you with a full blast, tape you up and dump you in a ditch. You’ll make a big fat cookie for a hungry rat.’ He was playing the role convincingly, and he had his friend sobbing.

Rami was in no state to fight. He was not the fittest person and the thought of rats gnawing at his body terrified him. Aazim knew that if he zapped Rami he wouldn’t need restraining because the voltage delivered to the body from a stun gun was so high that the blood-sugar level drops in an instant and is converted into lactic acid, leaving the victim unable to produce energy and too weak to move.

‘Okay, okay, what do you want to know?’

‘I told you what I want. Now start talking. What were you doing in my apartment?’

‘Look, Az, you are right to be angry with me but you don’t know how important that data is.’

‘Is it important enough to strangle an old woman to death?’

‘I had nothing to do with that, I swear. She came in and took us by surprise. Sam’s men grabbed her and I thought they would tie her up in your bedroom. By the time I found out what had happened it was too late.’ Rami’s eyes pleaded with him. ‘You have to believe me, Az. I’m not a killer.’

‘Keep going.’

‘I don’t work with Sam in the way you think. I met him at the mosque. We both belong to a group called The Brotherhood for Justice. It’s an organisation of Muslim brothers from all professions. We donate money, legal advice and other type of help to Muslims all over the world. Our members are politicians, doctors, lawyers, managers and IT guys like you and me.’

‘And how did you end up mixed up in it?’

‘You know how I like spending my holidays in Egypt. Well, a couple of years ago in Cairo my cousin introduced me to a religious teacher. He spoke of many good things The Brothers do. I was inspired and wanted to learn more. They asked if I would be a messenger for their contacts in Australia and spread the word to others, and I took up the offer. He was here not long ago, teaching the word of the prophet and spreading the word of The Brotherhood.’

Noticing the anguish on Aazim’s face, Rami added softly, ‘Did you ever wonder where all those visits to the mosque were heading?’

‘I thought friends were meant to watch over you in time of need and not exploit you. You knew the state I was in,’ Aazim snapped.

‘Yes, and that’s exactly what I was doing, Az. I wanted you to heal your heart with the help of Allah the all merciful. At the same time brother Sam needed someone he could rely on, someone really good at what he does.’

‘So I was being recruited?’ Aazim was putting two and two together.

‘Well, in a way, yes. But it’s for a good cause, Aazim.’

‘Is killing people a good cause? And what happened to the other two technicians?’

‘I don’t know anything about that, I swear. All I can say is we have to conceal our identity from those who want to see us fail.’

‘So Sam had those guys killed because they found out you were doing something illegal, and you would’ve killed me if I’d been in that apartment.’

‘No, you’re wrong, I couldn’t hurt anyone,’ Rami said, giving Aazim a sincere look. ‘I just pass messages on to Sam and look for potential members. I wanted you to come back, that’s why I came.’

‘You mean Sam sent you?’

‘Yes. We wanted you to join us, Aazim, but you weren’t ready yet and then this happened.’

‘I don’t think I would ever have been ready to join your group. You kill people and deal with dirty money, and you manipulated me. I don’t see this written anywhere in the Quran, so don’t call yourself a Muslim. The only thing Sam wants is the databases and he’s worried about what I might do with them. Am I right?’

Rami’s mouth gaped open. ‘There’s a lot you don’t know, Az. I don’t know much about how things work myself, but I know enough to understand that it’s all part of something great. Surely you saw that when I took you to the mosque.’

‘Where does all that money go?’ Aazim asked.

‘I can’t answer that. It’s not my place to know but it’s used to help people, other Muslim brothers in need.’

‘You’re an idiot, get out of my car,’ Aazim spat. He unlocked the doors and angrily pointed the stun gun in Rami’s face.

‘What will you do, I mean with the databases?’ Rami asked, hesitating.

‘I’ll give it all to the police and tell them you killed my neighbour. You’ll go straight to jail.
All
of you.’

‘Don’t do this, brother. You can still come back and join us,’ Rami implored.

‘I’m not your brother. I said get out!’

Aazim’s scream shook Rami, who fumbled with the door latch and fell out of the car. Mud spattered in his face as the tyres tore through the gravel. He was left on his own in the middle of nowhere after accomplishing nothing. Sam would not be happy.

Aazim drove back to the motel, his mind racing. He was unwittingly involved in the situation, whether he had taken the databases or not. Someone had plans for him of which he was completely unaware. Remembering his father, he switched on his phone and tried to put a call through, but after a few failed connections he turned it off again. He was worried but felt sure that his father could take care of himself. He knew Ilias had planned to move around Lebanon so it would be hard to track him down. It was for Aazim’s own peace of mind that he wanted to warn him of the impending danger.

Chapter 9

Sam arrived at the mosque to meet with his messenger. He conducted his usual prayers and walked out the back to the private room. There he found Rami, sitting cross-legged, leaning against a wall and taking a snooze. Cookie crumbs were scattered over his belly and he was snoring gently. They met here on a regular basis: Rami passed on messages and instructions to Sam from The Brotherhood, while Sam in turn provided information on the progress of payments and whether they were being received by the intended recipients.

‘Wake up, brother,’ Sam said, shaking Rami by the shoulder. ‘
Assalamu alaikum
.’

‘
Alaikum assalam
,’ Rami sputtered, startled by the sudden intrusion on his siesta.

The usual debates were taking place but the group was much smaller and less vocal than usual. Sam and Rami sat in a corner behind a large pillar where they could have a private conversation.

‘How are you?’ Sam asked.

‘I’m glad you could make it, Sam. I’m okay. Thank you for asking.’