Chapter Thirty-Seven
Salalah, Oman
He was in a warehouse in the port of Salalah that looked like many of the other ordinary buildings but was in fact a front for an illegal arms ring.
Independent businessmen from the Black Sea smuggled weapons in with legitimate goods before housing them here as a temporary storage site.
They were then trafficked across the border into Yemen where they were sold to the highest bidder.
The businessmen didn’t care which side won, only which side was willing to pay.
Novikov was also willing to pay handsomely, not only for weapons but for information and services as well.
After following Wilde and his team to Suez and watching them board a ship, it was a simple matter to get the itinerary for the trip.
They would be passing along the coast of Yemen and he had no doubt they meant to disembark in the war-torn country.
They were making a play for Saudi Arabia, and they didn’t possess his underworld contacts to come in through Oman.
Wilde had bested him twice now, and it would not happen again.
Novikov had called multiple contacts and cashed in favors.
As a result, he had a team of twelve former Spetsnaz soldiers who were meeting him here in Salalah within the next day.
The black marketeers would not only supply them with vehicles and weapons, but also ensure safe passage across the border into Yemen.
Once there, his suppliers would put them in contact with the local Al Qaeda cell.
While Islamic fundamentalists were ideologues, many of them were also realists.
He would pay them for information, money that could be used to finance their fight against the West, the Houthis, or whomever.
It didn’t really matter to Novikov, so long as they could provide him with the location of his quarry.
If Al Qaeda killed them first, that was fine.
If not, he and his team would clean up the mess.
It was not a cheap affair, and as it stood Novikov was almost breaking even on this job.
After the expenses, as well as paying his squad of mercenaries, there was little profit left.
But his reputation was at stake, and he was not going to ask his employers for further assistance.
He needed to maintain his value in their eyes or there would be no future jobs, or worse, he might be considered a loose end.
But if he avoided calamity, perhaps a bonus would be in his future.
The former Russian soldier hated the desert.
He had served in the Middle East many times over and done quite a bit of killing in Syria before leaving the military, but he never grew to like it.
Having been born and raised in Yakutsk, Siberia, he was much more acclimated to the cold.
It never bothered him like the heat did.
It was only his mental toughness that allowed him to endure the unbearably hot weather, but still he despised it.
It was one more reason he was going to make Wilde suffer once he finally caught him.
Novikov checked the rest of the equipment, which included additional AKs with crude suppressors and AGM Rattler V2 thermal rifle scopes, and Tokarev TT-33 pistols, as well as vehicles.
Everything seemed in order. He paid in full without the need to reiterate his threat to the suppliers.
At the moment, his reputation was still one that inspired fear and loyalty.
He smiled to himself. This time tomorrow, the hunt would be on.