Ibrahim was once a member of the most notorious militias in Syria, but he had come from a recent incompetently handled mission from Turkey, met with his group in Yemen before finally arriving in the United Arab Emirates via Oman. He needed to travel through different countries by boat at night, weaving through berths, docks, rocks, and every means and route to avoid coast guards manning their countries' borders.
He and his brothers in the organization had to swim underwater for a long time and reach their destination in the harshest of conditions. He must have nine lives because Ibrahim had come across so many hurdles, most of them impossible to get through, but he had survived. Ibrahim doesn't know the word fear anymore; it doesn't exist in his vocabulary. He never gets intimidated, terrified, or subdued by anyone. Alone in this world, with his entire family wiped out by the ones they considered their enemies, he only lives to defy those who displease him. He serves the organization that pays him or who needed his services in return for a vast sum of money. This has afforded him the luxuries in life that he never had, growing up as a shepherd boy to a farming family in the mountainside of Syria.
Ibrahim Mahlid was not his real name. That was the name on the Emirati passport given him in Yemen by the organization. He will have to live and exist in Dubai by that given name. They gave him a personal profile to at least study if not memorize and, in no way should he make any mistake to divulge his true identity. His former known name, Ramar Mousa, is on the Interpol list of the Most Wanted in Turkey after the recently foiled assassination attempt on the life of a visiting dignitary from Russia.
The Top Gun of his mob was so pissed with him, he ordered him out of the country at once before they could even trace his directives to have come from the organization. The TG wondered how they could have accepted a very incompetent man in the organization. The man must have more failed than successful missions to his lapel. The TG would be more than pleased to have him removed, transferred, or sent off anywhere else in the global organization than to let him stay in theirs. To him, he's the face of their impending doom.
He's now clean-shaven in contrast to his heavily mustached and bearded face as Ramar Mousa. Ibrahim can easily pass as a good-abiding citizen of the United Arab Emirates. He went into bodybuilding to grow his muscles and abs. He no longer has the thin, scrawny physique he had as Ramar. He dedicated his first days in the United Arab Emirates to changing his physical appearance.
Naseem hired him into the Abdallah Group of Companies, courtesy of a befriended entrepreneur who had referred him when Naseem was looking for a bodyguard. On his profile given in Yemen, he was to infiltrate the Abdallah Group and land a job on the Car Shipment Arrival Team (CSAT) of the business. Not that easy. He needed money to sustain himself while working on that goal; he said. So, he took the first simple job, allowing him to get to know several people belonging to the upper strata of Dubai society.
That way, someone would back him up someday to the management of Al Abdallah. And it didn't take long. Slowly, he was getting closer and closer to it until finally; he got the job as a bodyguard for Naseem Al Abdallah, the owner of the business himself. That night, after Naseem had hired him, he reported it at once to the Top Gun of the organization, who rewarded him with such a huge commission. Top Gun, despite his disappointments with most of Ibrahim's failed missions, finds it necessary to give Ibrahim the initiative to succeed in this new assignment. This will bring in a king's ransom into the mob. Ibrahim was told that the amount he got is nothing compared to the amount he will get once he becomes the Head of the CSAT. And that was his goal.
So, when Naseem, in his anger and rash decisions, ordered Ibrahim to take over as his Number One spy for Jamil, he grabbed the position and since then had tailed Jamil so close, never batting an eye on his movements. But Jamil had been very vigilant. He even sacrificed five years of his life not to see Yasmin because he loves her so much and wouldn't sacrifice her life for his love for her.
But now, as Ibrahim was having a very hard time with Naseem's change of heart on Jamil and finally accepting Jamil's woman into his family, his dream had become too far-fetched and impossible. The only way he knew how to get it was by force. So, he threatened Naseem. But he knew Naseem wouldn't easily give in. For sure, by now he must have already taken actions with the help of powerful people in the government and the military of Dubai if not the whole of the United Arab Emirates. He was sure that they're already a step or two ahead of him.
He must now enlist the help of the organization should he need them. He had to talk to Top Gun. His brothers on the work field refer to him as TG. No one knows his real name nor his face among them. It was like serving a phantom. How the guy could do it with no one in the brotherhood squealing or attempting to even guess who this man is, he wonders. He heard from a few of the men that someone had started a rumor giving out a name as the TG's name and that man, including those who had passed the information to others, disappeared.
When he asked a group of five men how those men disappeared, silence followed. The men looked at one another. And it stopped there. Everyone in that group dispersed faster than lightning at the only question Ibrahim threw. No one dared say a single word. He too will refer to him only as TG if he wants to continue living. And he had to speak with TG and tell him he might need at least four to five men to carry out his operation should Naseem not appoint him to the Car Shipment Arrival Team (CSAT) of his company.
And Ibrahim wanted to suggest that he will choose his men from among them. He wanted the same people he had worked with already in the past. It would be hard to work on this operation with someone new. Besides, the new guy may not be loyal to him or might resent his authority. In their organization, everyone wants to be a leader; no one wanted to be a follower. Everybody is just like him. That's why he wanted to choose his men; he'll choose those who owe him something. So, he can rely on their loyalty. All the five of them knew each other only by one name. Their pact included not knowing the other name. To these guys, he too was plain Ramar. Until he landed on the list and Interpol divulged his other name. But he hoped these men had not read or known about it. They were all militants from their now-defunct organization.
Rahal had a mother and a sister. He loved them that is why he joined the organization; the militants raped and killed them. Ibrahim delivered these men to Rahal. That day witnessed the most feared human turned monster. Rahal took pleasure in killing those men. And he owed it to Ibrahim.
Isa almost lost his sanity amid the purging being done to their people. The killings were too much for him. He was not used to the gore and the carnage. Until one day, he lost it, and did nothing but walked and walked. Stopping only when he couldn't take any more steps. He ate from scraps he found in garbage bins. Until Ibrahim and some of his friends found him and helped him. Ibrahim took him in, bathed him, gave him clothes, fed, and sheltered him until he finally returned to his wits. Isa then served Ibrahim. He would cook and wash his clothes. He promised to serve Ibrahim.
Shahid and Samaha are brothers born a year apart. They had a father who later joined the organization and completely forgot about them. They were too young then but to survive, had to serve their rich relatives as servants of the house. But the relatives abused and maltreated them. On one of those occasions held in the house of their rich relative, Ibrahim, was a guest. Ibrahim saw the maltreatment. Both brothers suffered from the man of the house. Ibrahim freed them from him. He gave them a place to report to, and they joined the organization. These men had no words but gratitude to Ibrahim.
These men will be enough for Ibrahim. They were all in the same organization. Maybe TG will grant him his wish. He will call him. At his first call, TG said to call back after an hour, he has a guest. After an hour, Ibrahim tried again and this time, TG listened to Ibrahim. But he did not agree at once. He asked Ibrahim to give him half an hour to see if these men were available.
When at last Ibrahim called again, TG gave him Rahal and the brothers. Isa will not be available as he was the assigned cook for the organization. TG will give him another one. The guy he gave was a Libyan. He won't be alone. He would bring his wife, TG said. They always work as a couple in any of the organization's missions.
The wife is also a member of the group and sometimes a woman can be useful. She could divert, distract, or lessen suspicion in a group of only men. She was one of the best gunners in the organization. But the most important thing is the woman, Maha, was one of the group's best INTEL. She has the brains which most of his men lack. TG had proven this in many of her missions. Maha can think of something else if the mission fails. There was always another way for her to get income for the group. In several missions, she had foiled several arrests with her quick thinking. TG believed that her presence in Ibrahim's operation would be a big help.
Thinking back now, TG wondered how Maha had joined their organization. She was not from the Middle East. She was not an Arab. She was a Muslim, though. Her looks alone show she's very much from Southeast Asia but her thin stature, her frail body, and her very normal height for an Asian woman of 5'6" belies her mental capability, her gun-shooting ability, and her martial arts skill. She's attractive too, her not too chinky eyes, small nose, and thin small lips, and her long jet-black hair elicits glances from the men she trains with.
Many times, when she was the one in the fighting arena, all the other men trainees would stop their fights to watch her. And they would all cheer for her no matter who she is fighting with. TG watched her too all the time. There was one time the men had teased him and urged him to fight Maha. Everyone was cheering him on but he stayed immobile and Maha too looked at him straight in the eye, daring him to accept the challenge. But he didn't. He gestured to his men to go back to their training or fight partners. He won't be able to fight her, he thought. He would rather hold her tight, kiss her long and hard on the lips, and touch her body, he thought.
How early in her life had she been training? He wondered. She's brilliant, discerning, and incredibly astute. When she was first introduced to him, her quick wit and smart moves completely mesmerized him. Unwittingly, through her months of training, TG seemed to be attracted to her.
It was the first time after the murder of his wife and children that something distracted him from his only mission of heading the organization. He's hunkered only in bringing funds into the organization.
But since Maha joined the organization, he became biased with her; he wants her on every mission when the others in INTEL are dying to be included. Although he feared for her safety. But never had Maha rejected an assignment and never had she failed. He had secretly conducted his background investigation of her. He was most interested in her relationships. But nothing had come out in the open. No one knew of any past boyfriend or husband. According to her past colleagues, she has never married. Could she be a lesbian? Or, is there a man she's in love with in the past and still loves to this day?
***
Ibrahim was considering this option; to be content with the three, but what if he will need another man? But after a long thought, he finally agreed. Without Ibrahim's knowledge, the Libyan Taher is the TG's eyes and ears. He couldn't agree with Ibrahim taking only the men who are loyal to him. What does he take him for? A fool? If he will allow that, then he wouldn't know what Ibrahim will hide from him. He can divert the entire shipment or part of it somewhere in the world and he will never know. Besides, can he trust him to be obeying him completely? Will he do what he says or will he act rashly and do what he wants?
TG has a complete dossier on Ibrahim's past missions. He knew him to like women a lot. And when he likes a certain woman, he acts irresponsibly. Often because of women, part of the operation fails and everyone resorts to the next plan. If there is a Plan B. What if the first plan is the only one, and if it fails? The entire operation will surely go down the drain.
How will he know whose fault was it? Can he rely on Ibrahim's men to tell him the truth? One of them might just take the blame because they are indebted to him. In the past, it had always been women. That is the problem with Ibrahim. He gets obsessed with a woman and he won't rest until he has taken the woman.
And to TG, his number one rule in the organization is to never involve women and children. Because he entered the criminal world for what happened to his wife, daughter, and son. He was not home then. Men raped his wife and killed her, including his two children. The woman with the Libyan guy, Taher, will pose as his wife. TG had already briefed both Taher and Maha about Ibrahim and how he fared in his past missions when there is a woman involved. Maha will be there to avert any rape, kidnapping, killing, or untoward incident that would involve a woman or a child. The operation's only aim is to divert the car shipment to their chosen route until it reaches their port or destination.
There will be no complications to cause failure to the mission. But he doesn't trust Ibrahim at all. Should anything contrary to the mission plan happen, he had ordered the two to dispose of Ibrahim if there was a need. And should any of his three loyal friends fight them for him or on his behalf, not to hesitate to end either or all of them. TG's hatred of rapists and child murderers ranked number one among criminals. He hated them to the core. To TG, women and children are the weak ones. They had to be protected and not abused or made to suffer. When he came to know of Ibrahim from his dossier that he had raped the women he liked and couldn't have, his hatred of him was immense. He loathed the guy, but he needed him to deliver this last job. After he has succeeded in this, he will unleash him. He'll set him free from his organization. He wouldn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. Otherwise, he might be the one ordering his termination. He might kill him with his own hands should he rape another woman again.
Ibrahim had agreed with TG that he'll let him know when he would need the men for their imminent deployment to the United Arab Emirates. His course of action was ready should Naseem not appoint him. He and his men will intercept the shipment before it reaches Dubai port. He'll make sure he will succeed in his plan. But this won't be enough, he thought. This is his revenge against Naseem - only.
What about Jamil? How can he get back at this man? He hates him too because of Yasmin. He wants Yasmin and he can't rest if he can't take this woman with him. She will travel again to Dubai, but when? He has to know when. Maybe he can have these two plans happening at the same time. Who can give him the information? Wait! He knows someone in Astana Airways at the airport. Maybe he can have the passenger manifest checked for her name, Yasmin Barbosa before she arrives. He can pay him a certain sum of money for the information. Yes, why not? She flies Astana Airways every time from Nur Sultan to Dubai. He's heard that one time. He'll try to visit the guy at the Astana counter. It pays to know someone, at least in every industry; he smiled.
***
Even before she had to meet Ibrahim and his team on this interception operation, Maha had already thought of a plan and she had better go to Dubai before Taher. She spoke with TG secretly without Taher. Only she and TG knew of her new plan. She was going to tail Ibrahim in Dubai days before the mission will begin. And if there is any woman involved, she'll surely want to know about her. TG agreed at once. He knew how Maha thinks and there is no doubt at all that she'll have a Plan B for this mission if it fails. With Ibrahim heading the operation, TG doubts if the guy can pull it off. To Maha, there's a lot of preparation to undertake, but being a woman, she can work her charms along the way.
Charm is all the scheme a woman needs, she thought. She can forget the rest. Hours later, Maha is on a plane to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.