The Moses Stone

57

'Where are they?' Yacoub asked, his voice quiet and controlled.

'They've checked out of their hotel.'

'I already know that, Musab,' the man with the frozen face said, his voice still calm. 'That wasn't what I asked you. Where are they now?'

Musab – one of the three men Yacoub had selected to accompany him to Israel for the operation – looked away, unable to hold his boss's gaze. 'I don't know, Yacoub,' he admitted. 'I didn't expect them to leave their hotel, because they'd booked their rooms for a week.'

'What are you doing about it?'

'I've got one of our contacts checking every hotel in Tel Aviv. We'll find them, I promise.'

For a few seconds Yacoub didn't reply, just settled his lopsided gaze on his subordinate. 'I know you will,' he said finally. 'What concerns me is how long it will take. If we don't know where they are, we can't know what they're doing, and we've come too far to lose them now.'

'As soon as I hear, Yacoub, I'll tell you.'

'And suppose they've moved to Jerusalem? Or Haifa? Or somewhere else in Israel? Or left the country and gone elsewhere in the Middle East? What then?'

Musab looked noticeably paler. Obviously not all of these possibilities had occurred to him.

'I want them found, Musab, and I want them found right now. And then we'll grab them, because they might already have found the relics. Even if they haven't, it's time they told us what they know. Do you understand?'

The other man nodded enthusiastically. 'I'll get my man to start checking other locations straight away.'

Yacoub turned to the other man standing beside the door of their hotel room. 'Go and get the car,' he ordered.

'We'll take a drive around the city and see if we can spot them. Most of the hotels are on the west side, near the sea.'

'Do you want me to come as well?' Hassan asked. He was lying on the bed, an ice-pack pressed to the side of his head where Bronson had caught him with the heavy torch.

'No,' Yacoub replied. 'Stay where you are.' He looked back at Musab. 'When you track them down, call my mobile.'

'I'll find them within the hour, I promise.'

'I hope you do, because now your life depends on it. But I'll be generous. I'll give you ninety minutes.'

As Musab turned away to reach for the telephone, his hands were trembling.