Free Djibouti by Elmore Leonard Page A

ride. You’d already left, I didn’t know if he wanted to show me the sights or jump me.”
    â€œHe made a move when I was with him,” Dara said. “I told him I don’t do it in cars, even a Mercedes.”
    Helene raised her hand to slap Dara’s.
    â€œSo you went for a ride with him?” Dara said.
    â€œNo, because Ari Ahmed Sheikh Bakar walked in and we started talking. Billy was still after Idris, asking him about his pirates, if they were high when they boarded ships, making it sound like a guy-thing. Idris—he’s so fucking cool—said, ‘They do what pleases them.’ So Harry and I went for a stroll.”
    â€œI flew in from Paris with him,” Dara said.
    â€œI know, he told me. The two of you talked all night. So you know more about him than I do.”
    â€œTo me,” Dara said, “Harry’s one of the good guys, if there are any.”
    â€œThat’s what I told Billy after we left the club. Billy said, ‘There is no way to tell who’s good and who’s bad in this fucked-up Mohammedan world.’”
    â€œHe may be right,” Dara said.

CHAPTER TEN
    N OW THE LAPTOP SCREEN showed cargo ships and the massive Saudi tanker Sirius Star lying at anchor a mile or so off the coast of Eyl, Dara’s camera coming on to them from the sea.
    â€œWaiting to be ransomed,” Dara said. “I have the names of the ships and where they’re from. The voice-over will say the going rate for ransom payments is between three hundred thousand and three million. For the Saudi tanker, hijacked three months ago with a hundred million dollars of crude oil, the pirates started out asking twenty-five million, but have come down considerably. We’ll have to find out what they’re after now.” Dara said, “There’s the Blue Star, an Egyptian ship and…I think the one straight ahead is the Biscaglia. Pirates attacked the ship and the paid security guards jumped over the side.”
    â€œYou not armed,” Xavier said, “you don’t hang around.” He said, “Now here’s one of those planes nobody in it.”
    â€œDrones,” Dara said. “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. They fly over at night and take pictures of the hijacked ships.”
    â€œIf they know the ships are here,” Xavier said, “send in some special forces people and take ’em back.”
    â€œI’d like to show here if we get the chance, ransom money being air-dropped.”
    â€œWe seen them miss once.”
    â€œHelene said Billy thinks the airdrop is for show. Proof the ships are being hijacked for money. But people behind the pirates—Billy says lawyers and warlords, clan elders—are all getting a cut.”
    â€œHow’s Billy know that?”
    â€œHelene says he makes phone calls. I’d love to shoot another money drop,” Dara said. “The ransom’s always paid in hundred-dollar bills, none printed before 2000. Somali shopkeepers don’t trust older bills.”
    â€œAnd we cut to Eyl,” Xavier said, “to Sayyid Ali Yaro in front of his shop full of expensive men’s attire. Also watches, canned goods, automatic weapons and, down the street, Ali Yaro’s car lot, full of black Toyotas.”
    â€œHe’s saying in Somali,” Dara said, “It’s true, pirates are his best customers, they don’t bother to bargain. They buy high-priced outfits and aftershave. Beautiful women come here to meet our pirates.”
    A Somali on the street appeared on the screen. He’s speaking English, taking his time to be clear, saying, “It surprise me the sea robbers don’t fight among themselves. They know how much each one is paid according to his importance. They don’t harm captives, the crew of the ships. We know this, because we see no bodies wash up on our shore.”
    Dara said, “Next, an open-air barbecue where the restaurant is