The Payback

Book 3 of the MATT MORETTI-HAN LI SERIES

The Payback – DIALOGUE & PLACES

Grozny (Chechnya)

Grozny, the Soviet Union – December 15, 1991

North Waziristan, Pakistan

The town of Miramshah lies in North Waziristan, a rugged mountainous area of northwest Pakistan where outsiders are looked upon with suspicion and discouraged, by whatever means necessary, to leave.

Bannu, Pakistan

He owns a fig and date farm in Bannu, which is a three-hour drive from here.

Peshawar, Pakistan

Since coming to someone’s home unannounced at night was uncommon in Peshawar, he grabbed a handgun from a kitchen drawer and went to see who was there.

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

Al-Khobar owned, or better said, had use of the prince’s Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.

Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, Pakistan

Bacha Khan International Airport is a ten-minute drive from the business district of Peshawar, Pakistan.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“I’ll set up the offshore account in the king’s name when I return to Riyadh.”

A dishdasha and kufiya

Al Hakim was traditionally dressed, wearing a white dishdasha, an ankle-length garment resembling a robe.

Shalwar kameez

He was wearing a light grey Shalwar kameez, a two-piece garment consisting of pantaloons and a body shirt.

Daihatsu Charade (a Japanese 4-door car)

Inside the garage was a dusty black Daihatsu Charade, a mini Japanese four door with a one-liter engine.

M35 – a 2-1/2-ton military cargo truck

…found him after a half an hour search and negotiated the purchase of two specially modified M35 military trucks.

Chinese VT-5 light tank

… the Chinese were said to have zero tolerance for smugglers. This supposition seemed to be verified by the two VT-5 light combat tanks parked adjacent to the inspection station …

Beshbarmak (The national dish of Kazakhstan)

With the market’s proximity to the port, and most likely a reputation for selling hot beshbarmak, he thought this family probably made a decent living

Kremlin

The Kremlin was probably wetting their pants hoping there wouldn’t be the public relations fiasco that occurred with the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

Old Senate Building in Kremlin

He was then allowed to proceed to the Old Senate building, where Putin kept his office.

Mi-8 Russian military helicopter

As Kvachkov stepped from his vehicle, he saw a silver Mi-8 military helicopter fly overhead and set down on the helipad fifty yards in front of him.

Khorgas, China and Kazakhstan border

Here the border city of Khorgas, which was once a remote outpost, has evolved into a key gateway allowing trucks from the region to transport Chinese goods through Kazakhstan.

Diamec U8 core drilling rig

His sole purpose in being here was to purchase two Diamec U8 core drilling rigs.

Yining, China

The two M35 cargo trucks left the gas station at Khorgas and completed the 50 mile drive down highway G218 to Yining.

Balvenie 30-year old scotch

United States Senator Rufus Lynn went to the bar at the rear of his office, poured three fingers of scotch into a crystal tumbler, and then lowered his pudgy 6”2”, three-hundred-and-thirty-pound frame into the La-Z-Boy adjacent to it and beside his desk. With his free hand he pulled back on the reclining lever just enough to take the weight off his feet, but not so far as to make it difficult for him to down the thirty-year old Balvenie scotch extracted from the case one of his constituents sent to him monthly.

The Balvenie Vintage Cask 1972 scotch

Lynn knew his way around the embassy. A regular at the weekly functions because of The Balvenie Vintage Cask 1972 scotch that was kept for him under the counter, which went for over $3,000 a bottle, he made straight for the bar.

Lanzhou, China

Both crates are scheduled to be transferred to destination trains in Lanzhou.

Chinese Y-30 aircraft

It was 3:45 AM when the lights on the runway of the Yining airport came on and a Chinese Y-30, a four-engine turboprop that was virtually a duplicate of the American C-130.

Sinotruk, a twelve wheeled vehicle

Ten minutes later they drove into the hanger in a black 40-ton Sinotruk.

Nuclear subsidence crater

When it does it forms a rubble chimney which, if it reaches the surface, may form a bowl-shaped subsidence crater.

Ilyushin IL-76 cargo aircraft

The four men were taken to a waiting car and driven fifteen miles southeast of the city to the Zhukovsky International Airport, where they were put aboard an Ilyushin IL-76 cargo aircraft.

Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport