Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. 11/12/2012. 10:00.
Walking out of the arrivals terminal of the airport , A young blond man could be seen with a yellow suitcase in his hands. Among the crowd of dark/brown hair and arabic looking people walking here, this young occidental was gathering a fair amount of attention and yet no cops or airport security stopped even once to control him or the suitcase. It seems that whatever Khalid Rahal had done, it was effective.
Walking in the direction of the exit with a carefree gait, Nathaniel could sense someone was following him and two others posted near the exit were examining him with a little too much attention to be normal. He just kept walking, looking like he was obvious to everything happening around him. It was paramount that these people look down on him for the next step.
So far, everything happened like he had planned it would with Amal and Scott yesterday. They had managed to get the security guard sent by Jean second in command right after he passed the security check and made the swap here. After that, Amal and the man call Jordan left using the service corridor while Nathaniel took the man's place and suitcase.
Nathaniel was passing the door of the exit when the two men by the door got in his way and stopped him.
"Lyndon people?" The biggest of the two ask with an atrocious english accent.
"Yes." Nathaniel answered simply.
"Come with us and do not make a fuss." He said, the one guy who was following him earlier putting a hand on his shoulder and leading him away.
A car park in front of the exit while they walk out and the three people ushered Nathaniel inside, one taking position in the front passenger seat and the two others on each side of him., curiously they let him keep the suitcase without making a move for it knowing what was inside or more like thinking they knew what was inside.
The car then starts to speed away from the airport and starts to dash into multiple back alleys as if they had practiced the move a thousand times to avoid being tail. Making a clueless face, he asked.
"Why are you driving so fast? We are going to have an accident if you continue like this!" He shouted worriedly.
"Shut up kid!" The man who talked previously said in contempt and then added something in arabic that made the other people in the car laugh mockingly. Nathaniel did not know what he said but he could easily guess that he was insulted. He let it slide and continued looking at the road with a fearful expression, his hands locked around the suitcase as though it was a life buoy.
Past the fake stupor on his face, Nathaniel could see that they were going away from downtown in the direction of the outskirts of the city. Nathaniel was okay with that as an isolated place meant more freedom to do what they wanted. Ten minutes of furious drive later the car finally stopped in front of a two stories warehouse.
His escort started to get out of the car and Nathaniel was asked firmly to follow them. Escorted to the door, Nathaniel spotted three men with machine guns on the roof of the building plus one more by the back door where Nathaniel was going with his escort. Entering the warehouse, Nathaniel could see one more person with a handgun by the door. Walking past him, Nathaniel was led to the only office in the building.
Knocking once at the door, the only one who Nathaniel talked to, waited until the man inside said something in arabic and then opened the door. Nathaniel had of course seen the picture of Khalid Rahal in the file he was given by Tobias but it was the first time seeing him in the flesh.
Black, short hair and around 5"8", he had a vicious looking face and a thin scar running from his left eye to his cheek. His file said he was 44 years old but he was looking older than that. He had a hard life which was not surprising considering he lived on the street until fifteen years old when he started killing tourists coming in Saudi Arabia and taking their belongings.
Nathaniel was not the only one looking attentively at the other as the man was wearing a frown as he looked attentively at Nathaniel's face, convinced he had seen him before. He took him a full minute before he remembered where he had seen this face and an expression of surprise painted itself on his face followed by raucous laughter.
"I was expecting the usual forty something negotiator that you people seem to like sending to their death but lo and behold we have a celebrity here. The own grandson of the man I hold captive here." He said, smirking. He then adds something in arabic and the other people in the room start to laugh. Nathaniel realized that from the four mens who took him here, the biggest was beside Khalid while the three others were behind him, preventing him from leaving the office.
"I wanted to make sure everything was going to be okay and sometimes it's better to do the job yourself if you want it done well." He said politely.
"Ah ah!" He laughed menacingly. "I don't know if you are stupid or if you have gigantic balls but you being there, it's crazy. You know when I did my research to prepare the kidnapping of your grandfather I read many articles praising your intelligence, it's a pity seeing that was all bullshit." He shook his head with greed in his eyes. Nathaniel could almost see the wheels spinning in his head.
"Whatever, I bring the money." Nathaniel said seemingly unbothered by what Khalid said, putting the suitcase on the desk.
Laughing again, Khalid made a move to open the suitcase until he realized that it was protected by a four number password. Frowning, he looked at Nathaniel.
"What is the code?"
"I will give you the code when I will see that my grandfather is alright." Nathaniel said.
Khalid was going to rebuke that pretentious kid for talking back to him in his own place when he realized he did not matter. He was already planning to keep the kid and then ask eighty million for their release. That stupid kid just made him a rich man with his reckless actions, humoring him a little longer to get that code did not cost him anything. Ordering his right hand beside him to get the old man, Khalid answered.
"You are going to see your grandfather right now." Khalid smirk, the moment he gets that code he will make that arrogant kid pay and suffer.
It did not take long until the man came back to the office, almost carrying Robert Lyndon into the room and dropping him on a chair. Nathaniel could see that his grandfather was ragged, exhausted and tied down with rope but did not appear to have any injury sustained from a beating. He also realized that he was quite smelly, the people here not offering him the basic necessity it seems. Nathaniel could feel a blinding white rage seeing his grandfather in this state and he took everything that he got to control himself. It was not the time to kill everyone here but soon, soon, he told himself.
Seeing his grandson here, Robert thought he was hallucinating because of the lack of sleep until he pinch himself. Realizing he was awake and that was really happening, he started yelling.
"Are you a fu**ing moron? What the hell are you doing here? Now, none of us is going to go home! What did I do to have such a stupid grandson!"
"Well, glad that I did eighteen hours in a cramped airplane to hear that." Nathaniel said bitterly at which Khalid started laughing.
"Blood cannot be denied. I'm not surprised you made the mistakes to come here, we will do everything to make sure our family is alright." Khalid said, making Nathaniel smile brightly. Looking at that smile, Khalid starts feeling uneasy as if he had missed something important until now.
"I'm glad that you think that Khalid. You know, I have a surprise for you. Can I take a picture in my pocket without getting shot?" Nathaniel asked.
Looking suspiciously at Nathaniel for a second, the man nodded slowly saying something short in arabic. Seeing that he was not going to get shot, he took a folded picture in his right pocket with two fingers and with slow movement put it on the desk. Lifting an eyebrow, Khalid took the picture and opened it. Seeing what was on the picture, his face drained of blood instantly and he turned pale as a ghost.