Page 64 of Tell No One
“A tracker? I don’t understand. Where’s your accent? Who are you?”
Delaney pulled out his gun and Hassan squirmed back as if he hoped the couch would swallow him. Delaney was just testing the water but he was pretty sure he was on his way to the truth.
“Please,” Hassan whispered. “What do you want?”
“Your real name.”
“Rafiq Sherif.”
“Did you love him?”
All the colour drained from Rafiq’s face. “I…I need my inhaler. Please.” He pulled an inhaler from his pocket and used it.
“Did you love him?” Delaney repeated.
“Who?”
“The prince you were paid to look after.”
Rafiq crumpled in on himself. Delaney waited until he’d pulled himself together.
“How did you know?” Rafiq whispered.
“A photo of you on Google.”
“Shit! Do it then. Kill me. I failed him. I wasn’t a member of his household when he went missing, but I still wanted to keep him safe and I failed.”
“I’m not here to kill you.”
Rafiq didn’t look as though he believed him, but then Delaney still had his gun out.
“What were you trying to do at Harborne House?” Delaney asked.
“I thought I might find Ahsan there. If not, then discover what had happened to him.”
“Why did you think he was there?”
Rafiq lifted his head. “Just over a month ago, Ahsan went to Ascot with his brother, Saad. He’d told me to stay here, but I’ve never trusted Saad. So I disguised myself and followed Ahsan. I saw him and Saad talking to Norbury and the Master. I didn’t know who they were at that time. I took pictures and found out later. Ahsan and Saad went into one of the boxes, somewhere I couldn’t easily access. I had no idea that I’d never see Ahsan again.” He took a deep breath. “I think his brother used them to make Ahsan disappear.”
“What’s the official line from the family?”
“That he’s missing, along with £17 million pounds worth of diamonds they say belong to the family, and both the Saudi authorities and the British Government are doing all they can to find him.”
Delaney fought the urge to look at his bag.
“This house is our home. It’s in my name. It’s complicated but Ahsan found a way to pay for it without his name being implicated. He’d stopped going back to Riyadh, but we never thought they’d snatch him here.”
“It was you who tried to fence the diamonds through Chason.”
Rafiq sagged. “You know a lot. Do you know where he is?” Rafiq was clenching his fists on his knees.
“No.”
He slumped again.
“Did Chason pay you up front?”
“A small amount. The rest to be transferred when he’d sold them. He knew he had to keep it quiet, split the diamonds and sell them in batches.”
