From his high location Hamal had monitored the progress of the travelers and had foreseen the times and places where they should pass on their way. The Afghan had military command experience for the endless struggles in his country against the Soviets first and against other tribes later. For a period he had fought alongside the Taliban, but having taken the war an unfavorable bias Hamal had abandoned them and had since devoted himself to his personal interests in the lucrative business of h****n and hashish in Asia, and later cocaine in America.
He was lying on a flat rock waiting for his future victims to reappear emerging from the frond to walk a long stretch of grassy plain. Seeing a movement in the bushes he finally saw his prey with his binoculars and for the first time he was able
