Omar Has Nine Lives
ALI WAS RIGHT WHEN he had said, “Men like Omar have nine lives.” Omar was still alive. Mohammed was unaware that he had led Omar to the house that was being used as a hideout by Ali and Kelly. Unaware of the fact that they were being observed from outside, they prepared to move out on their journey to Venezuela. Mohammed advised Kelly to pack whatever food was present in the house. It was important to feed Ali as often as possible.
Omar had hidden himself behind some bushes about one hundred yards from Ali and Kelly’s safehouse, and he watched the house through binoculars. Four large, armed men were working with Omar and, as Omar had instructed, three of them had taken up positions behind cars or adjacent homes; the fourth man stood beside Omar. Omar wore a bandage on his forehead and the right side of his body still bore bruises from the explosion. Still, his injuries could not deter him from seeking vengeance. He had to get rid of Ali. Ali was the reason that the leadership was not ready to trust Omar. It was only because of Ali that the mission was still unfinished. Ali stood between Omar and his success and so he had to be eliminated.
Omar looked at the house carefully through his binoculars. “Ah, perfect, there’s Mohammed’s car. You see,” he said to the man standing beside him, “I told you he would lead us right to our quarry. It did take a little time, but it was worth the wait.”
The man agreed and acknowledged that Omar was right about Mohammed. The man added, “Sir, we’ve got a minor problem. There are people in some of these other houses.”
The statement set Omar’s mind racing. The more people in the area, the difficult it would be to deal with Ali, Kelly, and Mohammed. More people meant more chaos and more witnesses. Omar turned his head and refocused his binoculars at another nearby house. Through one window, he saw a man was dialing his phone; in another house, a woman was playing with her child on a front porch.
Omar swore. He felt frustrated. Every time his target came close, something would happen to push him away from it. “All right, fall back for the moment,” he hissed at the man. “We’ll follow them and wait for a better chance to get them. We cannot afford to be noticed.”
The man nodded and signaled to the other three men. They all dropped back and began to walk back to join the fourth man while Omar continued to observe the house through his binoculars.