Free The Devil's Handshake by Michael Reagan

because he had an
excellent meal at the Emirates Towers Hotel’s Japanese restaurant,
Oleg smacked his knee, making Ruslan wince in the process as he
started the conversation.
    “ Who is this person the
Katamaya-Gumi are sending us?” Oleg asked referring to their Yazuka
partners from Osaka in Japan.
    “ Oleg Mälikgulyýewiç,”
Ruslan answered formally, as nobody below him in the business was
allowed to be informal when addressing him. “His name is Yaturo
Nakajima and he represents one of the biggest Gas cartels in
Tokyo.”
    “ What’s our take going to
be?” Oleg asked, despite already knowing the answer. He just wanted
to be sure the man wasn’t skimming anything.
    “ Twenty-five-year contract
at $200 USD per 1,000 cubic meter gas delivered,” Ruslan answered,
using the figure and term to reflect they would pay the transport
costs of the Gas by sea that Thomas had given him.
    ” It will be worth two
billion U.S. dollars to the President,” he offered nervously
dangling the carrot just like Thomas told him to do so.
    Oleg looked at him and smiled. Ruslan prayed
to Allah that he would survive tonight. When the Jew had told him
that the famous Sir Thomas Litchfield was looking for a good man to
introduce him to Katamaya-Gumi he had jumped at the chance to earn
some extra money on the side. Only to have that hope dashed as soon
as the meeting started in Hong Kong.
    He also knew if had refused then he was a
dead man. Being a survivor, Ruslan tried to make the best deal
possible out of a bad situation. He had no love for Oleg so the
choice in the end had been relatively easy for him. That though
didn’t stop him feeling nervous and terrified. If they failed
tonight, his entire family would suffer.
    “ Who knows, you pull this
off we might send you to Paris next,” Oleg said as the car pulled
up in front of the hotel.
    “ Thank you Munbashi,” Ruslan
replied with a nervous smile.
    As they walked into the lobby, neither man
spotted the dark looking Arab sitting there as they entered nor did
they hear him mutter that the targets had entered the lift with a
pair of locals dressed in their dish-dashes.
    Exiting the lift moments later leaving the
locals in the lift, the three men quickly made their way to the
suite.
    Once outside the door they rang the bell. The
door opened and a Japanese man wearing a dark blue suit and red tie
greeted them.
    “ Gentleman,” said the man
warmly. “Do please come in.”
    Once inside the Asian man, as was the
Japanese way, presented his business card to Oleg and Yuri.
    Although surprised that he had been given a
business card, Yuri took it and made the pretense of being able to
understand what was written on it so not to cause offence before
promptly placing it into the pocket of his cheap tailored green
suit.
    “ Thank you Nakajima-San,”
replied Oleg respectfully as he took his card with both hands
before presenting the man his own business card in the same
manner.
    They sat down and almost immediately both
Oleg and Yuri started to feel out of breath and dizzy. An odor hit
their nostrils. It was then they realized with horror where the
smell was coming from. Their hands!
    “ YOU TRAIT….” was all Oleg
managed to blurt out as his and Yuri’s world went black.

Originally developed by the Czechoslovak
communist State Security secret police in the 1980s, the version of
scopolamine used on Oleg and Yuri was four times more powerful than
most date rape drugs that are sold and regularly used by the
Colombian cartel known as “Devil’s Breath.” When a drugged person
wakes, the first things that hit them are the side effects. A
mixture of blurred vision, dizziness, and hypertension, Oleg felt
all of these as his eyes opened.
    A searing pain flowed through his brain. He
tried to move his hands, but couldn’t. It was then he realized he
was hanging by his arms above his head held up by a set of
chains.
    “ Hello Oleg,” said the
voice.
    The second Oleg heard that English