Sidney Sheldon - " WINDMILLS OF THE GODS "

WINDMILLS OF THE GODS
BY SIDNEY SHELDON

Condensed version

Synopsis:

It all began with an astounding call from the White House.
One minute
Mary Ashley, Kansas housewife and political science
teacher, was
chatting over dinner with her family; the next minute the
President of
the United States was asking her to become the new
ambassador to
Romania! That call changes everything for Mary Ashley.
She becomes an
instant celebrity, hounded 'by the press, courted by
politicians.
Finally Mary arrives in exotic Bucharest to take up her
duties,
confident, refreshingly candid-and dangerously innocent.
For watching
her closely is an in- visible network 'of powerful men
whose aim is to
sabotage the President's bold new peace plan. They are
about to set a
diabolical trap. And the inexperienced young diplomat is
the perfect
bait.
"We are all victims, Anselmo.
Our destinies are decided
by a cosmic roll of the dice,
the winds of the stars,"
the vagrant breezes
of fortune that blow from
the windmills of the gods."
-H. L. Dietrich
A Final Destiny
Prologue
Perho, Finland. The meeting took place in a comfortable
weatherproofed
cabin in a remote wooded area two hundred miles from
Helsinki. The
members of the Western branch of the Committee had arrived
discreetly at
irregular intervals. They came from eight different
countries, but
their visit had been quietly arranged by a senior minister
in the
Valtioneuvosto, the Finnish Council of State, and there
was no record of
entry in their passports. Upon their arrival, armed
guards escorted
them into the cabin, and'when the last visitor appeared,
the cabin door
was locked and the guards took up positions in the
full-throated January
winds, alert for any sign of intruders.
The members, seated around the large rectangular table,
were men in
powerful positions, high in the councils of their
respective
governments. They had all met before in their official
capacities, and
they trusted one another because they had no choice. For
added security,
each had been assigned a code name.
The meeting lasted almost five hours, and the discussion
was heated.
Finally the chairman decided the time had come to call for
a vote. He
rose, standing tall, and turned to the man seated at his
right.
"Sigurd?"
"Yes."
"Odin?"
"Yes."
"Balder?"
"We're moving too hastily. The danger-"
"Yes or no, please."
"No."
" Freyr?"
"Yes."
"Sigmund?"
"Nein. If this should be exposed, our lives would be-"
"Thor?"
"Yes."
"Tyr?"
"Yes."
"I vote yes. The resolution is passed. I will so inform
the
Controller. We will observe the usual precautions and
leave at
twenty-minute intervals. Thank you, gentlemen."
Two hours and forty-five minutes later the cabin was
deserted. A crew of
experts carrying kerosene moved in and set the cabin on
fire, the red
flames licked by the hungry winds.
When the fire brigade from Perho finally reached the
scene, there was
nothing left to see but the smoldering embers that
outlined the cabin
against the hissing snow.
The assistant to the fire chief approached the ashes, bent
down, and
sniffed. "Kerosene," he said. "Arson."
The fire chief was staring at the ruins, a puzzled
expression on his
face. "That's strange," he muttered.
"What?"
"I was hunting in these woods last week. There was no
cabin."

Chapter One

Stanton Rogers was destined to be President of the United
States. He
was a charismatic politician, highly visible to an
approving public, and
backed by powerful friends. Unfortunately for Rogers, his
libido got in
the way of his career.
It was not that Stanton Rogers fancied himself a Casanova.
On the
contrary, until that one fateful bedroom escapade he had
been a model
husband. He was handsome, wealthy, and although he had
had ample
opportunity to cheat on his wife, he had never given
another woman a
thought.
There was a second, perhaps greater irony: Stanton Rogers'
wife,
Elizabeth, was social, beautiful, and intelligent, arld
the two of them
shared a common interest in almost everything, whereas
Barbara, the
woman Rogers fell in love with, and eventually married
after a much
headlined divorce, was five years older than Stanton,
pleasant-faced
rather than pretty, and seemed to have nothing in common
with him.
Stanton was athletic; Barbara hated all forms of exercise.
Stanton was
gregarious; Barbara preferred to be alone with her
husband, or to
entertain small groups. The biggest surprise was the
political
differences. Stanton was a liberal, while Barbara was an
archconservative.
Paul Ellison, Stanton's closest friend, had said, "You
must be out of
your mind, chum! You and Liz are the perfect married
couple. Do you
have any idea what a divorce is going to do to your
career?"
Stanton Rogers had replied tightly, "Back off, Paul. I'm
in love with
Barbara. Besides, half the marriages in this country end
in divorce. It
won't do anything."
Rogers had proved to be a poor prophet. The press kept
the story of the
bitterly fought divorce alive as long as they could, and
the gossip
papers played it up as luridly as possible, with pictures
of Stanton
Rogers' love nest and stories of secret midnight trusts.
When the furor
died dovlrn, Stanton Rogers' powerful political friends
found a new
white knight to champion: Paul Ellison.
Ellison was a sound choice. While he had neither Stanton
]Rogers' good
looks nor his charisma, he was intelligent, likable, and
had the right
background. He was short in stature, with regular, even
features and
candid blue eyes. He had been happily married for ten,
years to the
daughter of a steel magnate.
Stanton Rogers and Paul Ellison had grown up together in
New York. Their
families had had adjoining summer homes in Southampton.
They were, in
the same class, first at Yale and later at Harvard Law
School. Paul
Ellison did well, but it was Stanton Rogers who was the
star pupil. Once
he was out of law school, Stanton Rogers' political star
began rising
meteorically, and if he was the comet, Paul Ellison was
the tail.
The divorce changed everything. It was now Stanton Rogers
who became
the appendage to Paul Ellison. The trail leading to the
presidency took
almost fifteen years. First Ellison became a highly
popular, articulate
Senator. He fought against waste in government and
Washington
bureaucracy. He was a populist, and believed in
international detente.
When he was finally elected President of the United
States, his first
appointment was Stanton Rogers, as presidential foreign
affairs adviser.
MAMEWL McLuhan's theory that television would turn the
world into a
global village had become a reality. The inauguration of
the
forty-second President of the United States was carried by
satellite to
more than one hundred and ninety countries.
In the Black Rooster, a Washington, D.C., hangout for
newsmen, Ben Cohn,
a veteran political reporter for the Washington Post, was
seated at a
table with four colleagues, watching the inauguration on
the television
set over the bar.
The camera panned to show the massive crowds gathered on
Pennsylvania
Avenue, huddled inside their overcoats against the bitter
January wind.
Jason Merlin, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
Court, finished
the swearing-in oath, and the-new President shook his hand
and stepped
up to the microphone.
"Look at those idiots standing out there freezing their
tails off"' Ben
Cohn commenteel "Do you know why they aren't home like
normal human
beings, watching it on television?"
"Why?" asked one of the other reporters.
"Because a man is making history, my friends. One day all
those people
are going to tell their grandchildren that they were there
the day Paul
Ellison was sworn in. And they're all going to brag. "I
was so close I
could have touched him."' "You're a cynic, Cohn."
"And proud of it. Every politician in the world comes out
of the same
cookie cutter. They're all in it for what they can get
out of it."
The truth was that Ben Cohn was not as cynical as he
sounded. He had
covered Paul Ellison's career from the beginning, and
while it was true
that he had not been impressed at first, as Ellison moved
up the
political ladder Ben Cohn began to change his opinion.
This politician
was nobody's yes-man. He was an oak in a forest of
willows.
Outside, the sky exploded into icy sheets of rain, Ben
Cohn hoped the
weather was not an omen of the four years that lay ahead.
He turned his
attention back to the television set and President
E.Ilison's speech.
"I speak today not only to our allies but to those
countries in the
Soviet cainp. I say to them now, as we prepare to move
into the
twenty-first century, that there is no longer any room for
confrontation
and that we must learn to make the phrase 'one world'
become a reality.
Vast chasms lie between us, but the first priority of this
administration will be to build unshakable bridges across
those chasms."
His words rang out with a deep, heartfelt sincerity. He,
means it, Ben
Cohn thought. I hope no one assassinates the guy.
IN JUNeTiON City, Kansas, it was a potbellied stove kind
of day, bleak
and raw, and snowing hard. Mary Ashley cautiously steered
her old
station wagon toward the center of the highway, where the
snowplows had
been at work. The storm was going to make her late for
the class she
was teaching.
From the car radio came the Presiden's voice: "Because I
believe that
there is no problem that cannot be solved by genuine
goodwill on both
sides, the concrete wall around East Berlin and the iron
curtain that
surrounds the Soviet satellite countries must come down."
Mary Ashley thought, I'm glad I voted for him. Paul
Ellison is going to
make a great President.
IN BucH=ST, the capital of Remania, it was evening.
President
Alexandres lonescu sat in his office surrounded by half a
dozen aides,
listening to the broadcast on a shortwave radio.
"As you are aware," the American President was saying,
"three years ago,
upon the death of Remania's President, Nicolae CeauSSescu,
]Remania
broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. I
want to inform
you now that we have approached the government of Remania
and its
President, Alexandres Ionescu, and he has agreed to
reestablish
diplomatic relations with our country.
"One of our first official acts will be to send an
ambassador to
Remania. And that is merely the beginning. I have no
intention of
stopping there. Albania broke off all diplomatic
relations with the
United States in 1946. I intend to reestablish those
ties. In
addition, I intend to strengthen our diplomatic relations
with Bulgaria,
with iczechoslovakia, and with East Germany.
"Sending our ambassador to Remania is the beginning of a
worldwide
people-to-people movement. Let us never forget that all
mankind shares
a common origin, common problems, and a common ultimate
fate. Let us
remember that the problems we share are greater than the
problems that
divide us, and that what divides us is of our own making."
Over the shortwave radio came the sounds of cheers and
applause.
IN A heavily guarded villa in Neuilly, a suburb of Paris,
the Remanian
revolutionary leader, Marin Groza, was watching President
Ellison on
channel 2 television.
"I think our time has come, Ley. He really means it,"
said Marin Groza
thoughtfully.
Ley Pastemak, his security chief, replied, "Won't this
help Ionescu?"
Marin Groza shook his head. "lonescu is a tyrant, so in
the end nothing
will help him. But I must be careful with my timing. I
failed when I
tried to overthrow him before. I must not fail again."
PETE Connors had downed almost a fifth of Scotch while
watching the
inaugural speech. He poured himself another glassful and
turned back to
the image on the television set. "You filthy Communist!"
he yelled at
the screen. "This is my country, and the CIAs not gonna
let you give it
away. We're gonna stop you, Ellison. You can bet your
bottom dollar on
it"
Chapter Two
PAUL Ellison said, "I'm going to need your help, old
friend."
"You'll get it," Stanton Rogers replied quietly.
It was their first meeting together in the Oval Office,
and President
Ellison was uncomfortable. If Stanton hadn't made that
one mistake, he
thought, he would be sitting at this desk instead of me.
As though reading his mind, Stanton Rogers said, "I have a
confession to
make. The day you were nominated for the presidency, I
was bitterly
jealous. It was my dream, and you were living it. But I
came to
realize that if I couldn't sit in that chair, there was no
one else I
would want there but you."
Paul Ellison smiled at his friend and pressed the button
on his desk.
Seconds later a white-jacketed steward came into the room.
"Yes, Mr. President?"
Paul Ellison turned to Rogers. "Coffee?"
"Sounds good."
"Want anything with it?"
"No, thanks. Barbara wants me to watch my waistline."
The President nodded to Henry, the steward, and he quietly
left the
room.
Barbara. She had surprised everyone. The gossip around
Washington was
that the marriage would not last out the first year. But
it had been
almost fifteen years now, and it was a success. Stanton
Rogers had built
up a prestigious law practice in-Washington, and Barbam
had earned the
reputation of being a gracious hostess.
Paul Ellison rose and began to pace. "My people-to-people
speech seems
to have caused quite an uproar. I suppose you've seen all
the
newspapers."
"Yes," said Stanton Rogers. "And quite candidly, Mr.
President, you're
scaring the pants off a lot of people. The armed forces
are against
your plan, and some powerful movers and shakers would like
to see it
fail."
Ellison sat down and faced his friend. "It's not going to
fail."
The steward appeared with the coffee. "Can I get you
something else,
Mr. President?"
"No. That's it, Henry. Thank you."
The President waited until the steward had gone. "I want
to talk to you
about finding the right ambassador to send to Remania."
"Right."
"I don't have to tell you how important this 'is for us,
Stan. I want
you to get moving on it as quickly as you possibly can."
Stanton Rogers took a sip of his coffee and rose to his
feet. "I'll get
State on it right away."
IN a little suburb of Neuilly it was two a.m. Marin
Groza's villa lay
in ebon darkness, the moon nestled in a thick layer of
-storm clouds.
The streets were hushed at this hour, as a blackclad
figure moved
noiselessly through the trees toward the brick wall that
surrounded the
villa. Over one shoulder he carried a rope and a blanket,
and in his
arms he cradled a dart gun and an Uzi submachine gun with
a silencer.
When he reached the wall, he stopped and listened. He
waited,
motionless, for five minutes. Finally, satisfied, he
uncoiled the nylon
rope and tossed the scaling hook attached to the end of it
upward. It
caught on the far edge of the wall, and swiffly the man
began to climb.
When he reached the top of the wall, he flung the blanket
across it to
protect himself against the poison-tipped metal spikes
embedded on top.
He stopped again to listen. He reversed the hook, shifhng
the rope to
the inside of the wall, and slid down onto the ground. He
checked the
balisong at his waist, the deadly Filipino folding knife
that could be
flicked open or closed with one hand.
The attack dogs would be next. The intruder crouched
there, waiting for
them to pick up his scent. There were two Dobermans,
trained to kill.
But they were only the first obstacle. The grounds and
the villa were
filled with electronic devices and continuously monitored
by television
cameras. All mail and packages were received at the
gatehouse and
opened there by the guards. The doors of the villa were
bombproof. The
villa had its own water supply, and Marin Groza had a food
taster. The
villa was impregnable. Supposedly. The figure in black
was here this
night to prove that it was not.
He heard the sounds of the dogs rushing at him before he
saw them. They
came flying out of the darkness, charging at his throat.
He aimed the
dart gun and shot the one on his left first, then the one
on his right,
dodging out of the way of their hurtling bodies. And then
there was only
stillness.
The intruder knew where the sonic traps were buried in the
ground, and
he skirted them. He silently glided through the areas of
the grounds
that the television cameras did not cover, and in less
than two minutes
after he had gone over the wall" he was at the back door
of the villa.
As he reached for the handle of the door he was caught in
the sudden
glare of floodlights. A voice called out, "Freeze! Drop
your gun and
raise your hands."
The figure in black carefully dropped his gun and looked
up. There were
half a dozen men spread out on the roof, with a variety of
weapons
pointed at him.
The man in black growled, "What the devil took you so
long? I never
should have gotten this far."
"You didn't," the head guard informed him. "We started
tracking you
before you got over the wall."
Ley Pastemak was not mollified. "Then you should have
stopped me
sooner. I could have been on a suicide mission with a
load of grenades.
I want a meeting of the entire staff in the morning, eight
o'clock
sharp. The dogs have been stunned. Have someone keep an
eye on them
until they wake up."
Ley Pastemak prided himself on being the best security
chief in the
world. He had been a pilot in the Israeli Six-Day War and
after the war
had become a top agent in Mossad, one of Israel's secret
services.
He would never forget the morning, two years earlier, when
his colonel
had called him into his office and said, "Ley, Marin Groza
wants to
borrow you for a few weeks."
Mossad had a complete file on the Remanian dissident.
Groza had been
the leader of a popular Remanian movement to depose
Alexandres Ionescu
and was about to stage a coup when he was betrayed by one
of his men.
More than two dozen underground fighters had been
executed, and Groza
had barely escaped with his life. France had given him
sanctuary. Then
lonescu had put a price on his head. So far, half a dozen
attempts to
assassinate Groza had failed, but he had been wounded in
the most recent
attack.
"What does he want with me?" Pastemak had asked. "He has
French
government protection."
"Not good enough. He needs someone to set up a foolproof
security
system. He came to us. I recommended you."
"I'd have to go to Francer'
"'Only for a few weeks. Ley, we're talking about a
mensch. He's the
man in the white hat. Our information is that he'll soon
have enough
popular support in Remania to knock over Ionescu. When
the timing is
right, he'll make his move. Meanwhile, we have to keep
the man alive."
Ley Pastemak had thought about it "A few weeks, you said?"
"That's all."
The colonel had been wrong about the time, but he had been
right about
Marin Groza. He was a white-haired, fragile-looking man
whose face was
etched with sorrow. He had deep black eyes, and when he
spoke, they
blazed with passion.
"I don't give a damn whether I live or die," he told Ley
at their first
meeting. "We're all going to die. It's the when that I'm
concerned
about. I have to stay alive for another year or two.
That's all the
time I need to drive the tyrant Ionescu out of my
country."
Ley Pastemak went to work on the security system at the
villa in
Neuilly. He used some of his own men, and the outsiders
he hired were
checked out thoroughly. Every single piece of equipment
was
state-of-the-art.
Pastemak saw the Remanian rebel leader every day, and the
more time he
spent with him, the more he came to admire him. When Marin
Groza asked
Pastemak to stay on, Pastemak agreed, saying, "Until
you're ready to
make your move."
At irregular intervals Pastemak staged surprise attacks on
the villa,
testing its security. Now he thought, Some of the guards
are getting
careless. I'll have to replace them.
He walked through the hallways checking the heat sensors,
the electronic
warning systems, and the infrared beams at-the sill of
each door. As he
reached Groza's bedroom he heard a loud crack, and a
moment later Groza
began screaming out in agony.
Ley Pastemak passed Marin Groza's room and kept walking.
THE Monday-morning executive staff meeting was under way
in the
seventh-floor conference room at CIA headquarters in
Langley, Virginia.
Seated around the large oak table were Ned Tillingest,
director of the
CIA; General Oliver Brooks, Army Chief of Staff; Secretary
of State
Floyd Baker; Pete Connors, chief of counterintelligence;
and Stanton
Rogers.
Ned Tillingest, the CIA director, was in his sixties, a
cold, taciturn
man burdened with maleficent secrets. There is a light
branch and a
dark branch of the CIA. The dark branch handles
clandestine operations,
and for the past seven years Tillingest had been in charge
of both
sections.
General Oliver Brooks was a West Point soldier who
conducted his
personal and professional life by the book. He was
a'company man, and
the company he worked for was the United States Army.
Floyd Baker, the Secretary of State, was of southern
vintage,
silver-haired, distinguished-looking, with an
olo-fashioned gallantry.
He owned a chain of influential newspapers around the
country and was
reputed to be enormously wealthy.
Pete Connors was black Irish, a stubborn bulldog of a man,
hard-drinking
and fearless. He faced compulsory retirement in August.
As chief of
counterintelligence, Connors held sway over the most
secret, highly
compartmentalized branch of the CIA. He had worked his
way up through
the various intelligence divisions, and had been around in
the good old
days when CIA agents were the golden boys. In fact, Pete
Connors had
been a golden boy himself. As far as he was concerned, no
sacrifice was
too great to make for his country.
Now, in the middle of the meeting, his face was red with
anger. "This
idiotic people-to-people program has to be stopped. We
can't allow the
President to give the country away. We-"
Floyd Baker interrupted. "The President has been in
office less than a
week. We're all here to carry out his policies and-"
"He sprang his plan on us. We didn't have a chance to get
together a
rebuttal."
Ned Tillingest turned to Stanton Rogers. "Connors has a
point. The
President is actually planning to invite the communist
countries to send
their spies here posing as attaches, chauffeurs,
secretaries, maids.
We're spending billions to guard the back door, and the
President wants
to throw open the front door."
General Brooks nodded agreement. "I wasn't consulted,
either.
In my opinion, the Presiden's plan could destroy this
country."
Stanton Rogers said, "Gentlemen, some of us may disagree
with the
President, but Let's not forget that the people voted for
Paul Elhson.
We have to support him in every way we can." His words
were followed by
a reluctant silence. "All right, then. The President
wants an update
on Remania. What's the situation with President Ionescu?"
"lonescu's riding high in the saddle," Ned Tillingest
replied. "Once he
got rid of the CeauSSescu family, all of CeauSSescu's
allies were either
assassinated, jailed, or exiled. Since he seized power
Ionescu's been
bleeding the country dry. The people hate his guts."
"What about the prospects for a revolution?"
Tillingast said, "Ah, That's rather interesting. Remember
a couple of
years back when Marin Groza almost toppled the lonescu
government?"$
"Yes. Groza got out of the country by the skin of his
teeth."
"With our help. Our information is that there's a popular
ground swell
to bring him back. Groza would be good for Romania, and
good for us.
We're watching the situation."
Stanton Rogers turned to the Secretary of State. "Do you
have that list
of candidates for the Remanian post?"
Floyd Baker took an envelope from a leather attaches case
and handed it
to Rogers. "These are our top prospects. They're all
career diplomats.
Naturally," he added, "the State Department favors a
career diplomat
rather than a political appointee. Someone who's been
trained for this
kind of job. Remania is an extremely sensitive post."
"I agree." Stanton Rogers rose to his feet. "i'll discuss
these names
with the President and get back to you."
As the others got up to leaveNed Tillingast said, "Stay
here, Pete. I
want to talk to you." When they were alone, Tillingast
said, "You came
on pretty strong, Pete."
"But I'm right," Pete Connors said stubbornly. "The
President is trying
to sell out the country. What are we supposed to do?"
"Keep your mouth shut, Pete. And be careful. Very
careful."
Ned Tillingast had been around longer than Pete Connors.
He had been a
member of Wild Bill Donovan's OSS before it became the
CIA. He too
hated what the bleeding hearts in Congress were doing to
the
organization he loved. It had been Tillingast who had
recruited Pete
Connors out of college, and Connors had turned out to be
one of the
best. But in the last few years Connors had become a
cowboy-a little
too independent, a little too quick on the trigger.
Dangerous.
"Pete, have you heard anything,about an underground
organization calling
itself Patriots for Freedom?" Tillingast asked.
Connors frowned. "No. Can't say that I have. Who are
they?"
"All I have is smoke. See if you can get a lead on them."
"Will do."
An hour later Pete Connors was making a phone call from a
public booth.
"I have a message for Odin," he said.
"This is Odin," General Oliver Brooks replied.
PAUL Ellison threw the list of candidates down on his
desk. "They're
dinosaurs," he snapped. "Every one of them."
"Mr. President," Rogers protested, "these people are all
experienced
career diplomats."
"And hidebound by State Department tradition. You
remember how we lost
Remania three years ago? Our experienced career diplomat
in Bucharest
screwed up, and we were out in the cold. The pin-striped
boys worry me."
"But if you put an amateur in there, someone with no
experience, you're
taking a big risk."
"Maybe we need someone with a different kind of
experience. Remania is
going to be a test case, Stan." He hesitated. "I'm not
kidding myself.
I know that there are a lot of powerful people who don't
want to see
this work. If it fails, I'm going to get cut off at the
knees. I don't
intend for that to happen."
"I can check out some of our political appointees who-"
President Ellison shook his head. "Same problem. I want
someone with a
completely fresh point of view. Someone who can thaw the
ice. The
opposite of the ugly American."
Stanton Rogers was studying the President, puzzled. "Mr.
President, I
get the impression that you already have someone in mind."
"As a matter of fact," Paul Ellison said slowly, "I think
I have."
"Who is he?"
"She. Did you happen to see Ide article in Foreign
Affairs magazine
called'Ddtente Now'?"
"Yes."
"She wrote it. What did you think of it?"
"thought it was interesting. The author believes that
we're in a
position to try to seduce the communist countries into
coming into our
camp by offering them economic and-" He broke off "It was
a lot like
your inaugural speech."
"Only it was written six months earlier. She's published
brilliant
articles in Commentary and Public Affairs. Last year I
read a book of
hers on Eastern European politics, and I must admit it
helped clarify
some of my ideas."
"Okay. So she agrees with your theories. That's no
reason-"
"Stan, she went further than my theory. She outlined a
detailed plan
That's brilliant. She wants to take the four major world
economic pacts
and combine them."
"How can we-"
"It would take time, but it could be done. Look. You
know that in 1949
the Eastern-bloc countries formed a pact for mutual
economic assistance,
called COMECON, and in 1958 the other European countries
formed the
EEC-the Common Market."
"Right."
"We have the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development,
which includes the United States, some Western-bloc
countries, and
Yugoslavia. And don't forget that the Third World
countries have formed
a nonaligned movement of their own."
The Presiden's voice was charged with excitement. "Think
of the
possibilities. If we could combine these plans and form
one big
marketplace, it could be awesome! It would mean real
world trade. And
it could bring peace."
Stanton Rogers said cautiously, "It's an interesting idea,
but It's a
long way off. Do you know anything about this woman?"
"No. Except that she's extremely bright and that we're on
the same
wavelength. Her name is Mary Ashley. I want you to find
out everything
you can about her."
Two days later President Ellison and Stanton Rogers
breakfasted
together.
"I got the information you asked for." ]Rogers pulled a
paper from his
pocket. "Mary Elizabeth Ashley. Milford Road, junction
City, Kansas.
Age, almost thirty-five. Married to Dr. Edward Ashley.
Two children:
Beth, twelve, and Tim, ten. Assistant professor, Eastern
European
political science, Kansas State University. Grandfather
born in
Remania." He looked up thoughtfully. "I must admit she
sounds
interesting."
"I think so too. I'd like to have a full security check
run on her."
"I'll see that It's done."
"I DISAGREE, Professor Ashley," said Barry Dylan, one of
the twelve
graduate students in Mary Ashley's political science
seminar.
"Alexandros lonescu is worse than CeauSSescu ever was."
"Can you back up that statement?" Mary asked.
The waiting lists to get into Mary Ashley's classes were
longer than any
other professor's at Kansas State University. She was a
superb teacher,
with an easy sense of humor and a warmth that made being
around her a
pleasure. She had an oval face that changed from
interesting to
beautiful, depending on her mood. She had the high
cheekbones of a
model, and almond-shaped, hazel eyes. Her hair was dark
and thick. She
had a figure that made her female students envious and the
males
fantasize, yet she was unaware of how beautiful she was.
"Well," said Barry, "Ionescu has cracked down hard on all
the pro-Groza
elements and reestablished a hard-line, pro-Soviet
position. Even
CeauSSescu wasn't that bad."
Another student spoke up. "Then why is President Ellison
so anxious to
establish diplomatic relations with him?"
"Because we want to woo him into the Western orbit.
Also-" The bell
sounded. The time was up.
Mary said, "Monday we'll discuss the possible consequences
of President
Ellison's plan to penetrate the Eastern bloc. Have a good
weekend."
Mary Ashley loved the give-and-take of her graduate
seminar. Foreign
names and places became real, and historical events took
on flesh and
blood. This was her fill year on the faculty at Kansas
State, and
teaching still excited her.
She especially enjoyed teaching about Remania. It had
been her
grandfather who had instilled in her a deep curiosity
about his native
land. He had told her romantic stories of Queen Marie
and baronesses and princesses; tales of Albert, the prince
consort of
England, and of Alexander II, Czar of Russia.
Somewhere in our background there is royal blood. If the
revolution had
not come, you would have been a princess.
She used to have dreams about it.
She taught five political science classes in addition to
the graduate
seminar, and each of them dealt with the Soviet Union and
its satellite
countries. At times she felt like a fraud. I've never
been to any of
the countries I teach about, she thought. I've never even
been outside
the United States.
Mary had planned a trip abroad when she received her
master's degree,
but that summer she met Edward Ashley, and the European
trip turned into
a three-day honeymoon at Waterville, fifty-five miles from
junction
City, where Edward was taking care of a critical heart
patient.
"We really must travel next year," Mary said to Edward
shortly after
they were married. "I'm dying to see Rome and Paris and
Remania."
"So am I. It's a date. Next summer."
But that following summer Beth was born, and Edward was
caught up in his
work at the Geary Community Hospital. Two years later Tim
was born.
Mary had gotten her Ph.D. and gone back to teaching at
Kansas State
University, and somehow the years had melted away. Except
for brief
trips to Chicago, Atlanta, and Denver, Mary had never been
out of the
state of Kansas.
One day, she promised herself. One day ...
Mary gathered her notes together, put on her coat and a
scarf, and
headed out to her car. As she passed Denison Hall a
stranger with a
Nikon camera aimed it at the building and pressed the
shutter. Mary was
in the foreground of the picture. One hour later the
photograph was on
its way to Washington, D.C.
EVERY town has its own distinctive rhythm, a life pulse
that springs
from the people and the land. Junction City, in Geary
County, is a farm
community one hundred and thirty miles west of Kansas
City. It prides
itself on being the geographical center of the continental
United
States. The downtown shopping area consists of scattered
stores,
fast-food chains, and gas stations-the types of
establishments that are
duplicated- n hundreds of small towns across America. But
the residents
of junction City love it for its bucolic peace and
tranquillity. On
weekdays, at least. Weekends, junction City becomes the
rest-and-recreation center for the soldiers at nearby Fort
Riley.
MARY Ashley stopped to shop for dinner at Dillon's Market
and then
headed home. The Ashleys lived in an eight-room,stone
house set in the
middle of gently rolling hills. It had been bought by Dr.
Edward
Ashley and his bride thirteen years earlier.
"It's awfully large for just two people," Mary Ashley had
protested when
they'd first taken a look at it.
And Edward had taken her into his arms and held her close.
"Who said
It's going to be for only two people?"
When she walked in the door this evening, Tim and Beth ran
to greet her.
"Guess what?" Tim said. "We're going to have our pictures
in the
paper!"
"Help me put away the groceries," Mary said. "What
paper?"
"The man didn't say, but he said we'd hear from him."
Mary stopped and turned to look at her son. "Did he say
why?"
"No," Tim said. "But he sure had a nitty Nikon."
ON SUNDAY, Mary celebrated-although that was not the word
that sprang to
her mind-her thirty-five birthday. Edward had' arranged a
surprise
party for her at the country club. Their neighbors,
Florence and
Douglas Schiller, and four other couples were waiting for
her. Edward
was as delighted as a small child at the look of amazement
on Mary's
face when she walked into the club and saw the festive
table and the
happy birthday banner. After dinner, as Mary blew out the
candles on
her cake, she looked across at Edward and thought, How
lucky can a lady
be?
Monday morning she awoke with a headache. There had been
a lot of
champagne toasts the night before. She eased her way out
of bed and
went down to the kitchen, where she set about preparing
breakfast for
the children.
Beth, Mary's twelve-year-old daughter, walked into the
room carrying an
armful of books.
Mary put a box of cereal on the table. "I bought a new
cereal for you.
You're going to like it."
Beth sat dowti at the kitchen table and studied the label
on the cereal
box. "I can't eat this. You're trying to kill me."
"Don't put any ideas in my head,". her mother cautioned.
Tim, Mary's ten-year-old, ran into the kitchen. He slid
into a chair at
the table and said, "I'll have bacon and eggs."
"Whatever happened to good morning?" Mary asked. "Good
morning. I'll
have bacon and eggs. Can I go to the skating rink after
school, Mom?"
"You're to come right home and study. Mrs. Reynolds
called me. You're
failing math. How do you think it looks for a college
professor to have
a son who's failing math?"
"It looks okay. You don't teach math."
They talk about the terrible twos, Mary thought grimly.
What about the
terrible nines, tens, elevens, and twelves?
She had packed a lunch for each of them, but she was
concerned about
Beth, wtio was on some kind of crazy new diet. "Please,
Beth, eat all of
your lunch today."
"If it has no artificial preservatives. I'm not going to
let the greed
of the food industry ruin my health."
Whatever happened to the good old days of junk food? Mary
wondered.
Tim plucked a loose paper from one of Beth's notebooks.
"Look at this!"
he yelled. "'Dear Beth, Let's sit together during study
period. I
thought of you all day yesterday and-"$
"Give that back to me!" Beth screamed. "Thaes mine!"
"Hey! It's signe. "Virgil." I thought you were in love
with Arnold."
Beth snatched the note away from him. "What would you
know about love?
You're a child."
At that moment they heard the horn of the school bus
outside. Tim and
Beth started toward the door.
"Wait! You haven't eaten your breakfasts," Mary said. She
followed them
out into the hallway.
"No time, Mother. Got to go."
"Bye, Mom."
And they were gone.
Mary, feeling drained, looked up as Edward came down the
stairs.
"Morning, darling," he said.
"Sweetheart, would you do me a favor?"
"Sure, beautiful." He gave her a kiss. "Anything."
"want to sell the children."
"Who'd buy them?"
"Strangers. They've reached the age where I can't do
anything right.
Beth has become a health-food freak, and your son is
turning into a
world-class dunce."
Edward said thoughtfully, "Maybe they're not our kids."
"I hope not. I'm making oatmeal for you."
"Sorry, darling. No time. I'm due in surgery in half an
hour."
Mary looked at Edwaid and felt a glow. Even after all
these years, she
thought, he's still the most attractive man I've ever
known.
"I may decide to keep the kids, after all," she said. "I
like their
father a lot."
"To tell you the truth," said Edward, "I'm rather fond of
their,
mother." He took her in his arms.
MARY and Edward left the house together, bowing their
heads against the
relentless wind. Edward strapped himself into his Ford
Granada and
watched Mary as she got behind the wheel of the station
wagon.
"Drive carefully, sweetheart," Edward called.
"You too, darling." She blew him a kiss, and the two cars
drove away
from the house, Edward heading toward the hospital and
Mary toward the
university.
Two men parked half a block from the Ashley house waited
until the
vehicles were out of sight. "Let's go."
They drove up to the house next door to the Ashleys'. The
driver sat in
the cilr while his companion walked up to the front door
and rang -the
bell. The door was opened by an attractive brunette in
her middle
thirties.
"Mrs. Douglas Schiller?"
"Yes?"
The man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an
identification
card. "My name is Donald Zamlock. I'm with the Security
Agency of the
State Department. I want to ask you a few questions about
your
neighbor, Mrs. Ashley."
She looked at him with concern. "Mary? Why would you be
asking about
her?"
"May I come in?"
"Yes." Florence Schiller led him into the living room.
"Would you like
some coffee?"
"No, thanks. I'll only take a few minutes." He smiled
reassuringly.
"This is just a routine check. She's not suspected of any
wrongdoing."
"I should hope not," Florence Schiller said indignantly.
"Mary Ashley
is one of the nicest persons you'll ever meet." She added,
"Have you met
her?"
"No, ma'am. This visit is confidential, and I would
appreciate it if
you kept it that way. How long have you known Mrs.
Ashley?"
"About thirteen years. Since the day she moved in next
door."
"Would you say that you know Mrs. Ashley well?"
"Of course I would. Mary's my closest friend. What-"
"Mrs. Schiller, in your opinion is Mrs. Ashley an
emotionally stable
person?"
"Of course she is."
"Mrs. Ashley's grandfather was born in Remania. Have you
ever heard
her discuss Remania?"
"Oh, once in a while she'll tell stories her grandfather
told her about
the old country."
"One last question. Have you ever heard Mrs. Ashley or
Dr. Ashley say
anything against the United States government?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Then in your estimation they're both loyal Americans?"
"You bet they are. Would you mind telling me-"
The man rose. "I want to thank you for your time, Mrs.
Schiller. And
I'd like to impress upon you again that this matter is
highly
confidential. I would appreciate it if you didn't discuss
it with
anyone-not even your husband."
A moment later he was out the door. Florence Schiller
stood there
staring after him. "I don't believe this whole
conversation took
place," she said aloud.
BRIDGE WITH THEIR NEIGHBOIRS the Schillers was a
Mondaynight ritual for
Mary and Edward Ashley. The fact that Douglas Schiller
was a doctor and
worked with Edward at the hospital made the two couples
even closer.
Douglas Schiller was normally a pleasant, easygoing man,
but at the
moment there was a grim expression on his face. They were
in the middle
of the game, and the Schillers were ten thousand points
behind. For the
fourth time that evening Florence Schiller had reneeed.
"Florence!" Douglas exploded. "Which side are you on?"
"I'm sorry," she said nervously.
"Is anything bothering you?" Edward Ashley asked Florence.
"I can't tell you."
They all looked at her in surprise: "What does that mean?"
her husband
asked.
Florence Schiller took a deep breath. "Mary, It's about
you."
"What about me?"
"I'm not supposed to tell. I promised."
"You promised who?" Edward asked.
"A federal agent from Washington. He was at the house
this morning
asking me all kinds of questions about Mary."
"What kind of questions?" Edward demanded.
"Oh, you know. was she a loyal American? was she
stable?"
"Wait," Mary said excitedly. "I think I know. I'm up for
tenure.
The university does some sensitive government research on
campus, so I
suppose they check everyone pretty thoroughly."
"Well, thank God That's all it is." Florence Schiller
breathed a sigh of
relief. "I thought they were going to lock you up."
"I hope they do." Mary smiled. "At Kansas State."
Abbeywood, England. "We are meeting under the usual
rules, the chairman
announced. "No records will be kept, this meeting will
never be
discussed, and we will refer to one another by the code
names we have
been assigned."
There were eight men inside the library of the
fifteenth-century
Claymore Castle. Two armed men kept vigil outside, while
a third man
guarded the door to the library.
.The chairman continued. "The Controller has received
some disturbing
information. Marin Groza is preparing a coup against
Alexandros
Ionescu. A group of senior army officers in Remania has
decided to back
Groza. This time he could very well be successful."
Odin spoke up. "How would that affect our plan?"
"It could destroy it. It would open too many bridges to
the West."
Freyr said, "Then we must prevent it from happening."
Balder asked, "How?"
"We assassinate Groza," the chairman replied.
"Impossible. His villa is impregnable. Anyway, no one in
this room can
afford to be involved in an assassination attempt."
"We wouldn't be directly involved," the chairman said.
"The Controller
has discovered a confidential dossier that concerns an
international
terrorist who's for hire. He's called Angel."
"Never heard of him," Sigmund said.
"So much the better. His credentials are most impressive.
According to
the Controller's file, Angel was involved in the Sikh
Khalistan
assassination in India. He helped the Khmer Rouge in
Cambodia. He's
masterminded the assassinations of half a dozen army
officers in Israel,
and the Israelis have offered a milliondollar reward for
him, dead or
alive."
"He sounds promising," Thor said. "Can we get him?"
"He's expensive. If he agrees to take the contract, it
will cost us two
million dollars."
"How do we get to this Angel person?" Sigmund asked.
"All his contacts are handled through his mistress, a
woman named Neusa
Mufiez. Angel has set her up in an apartment in Buenos
Aires."
Thor said, "Who would get in touch with her for us?"
The chairman replied, "The Controller has suggested a man
named Harry
Lantz. He was thrown out of the CIA for setting up his
own drug
business in Vietnam. While he was with the CIA he did a
tour in South
America, so he knows the territory. He'd be a perfect
go-between." He
paused. "I suggest we take a vote. All those in favor of
hiring Angel,
please raise your hands."
Eight well-manicured hands went into the air.
"Then It's settled." The chairman rose. "The meeting is
adjourned.
Please observe the usual precautions as you leave."
Chapter Three
IN HIS hotel room in New York, Harry Lantz was awakened in
the middle of
the night by the ringing of the telephone.
Who the devil knows I'm here? he wondered. He looked
blearily at the
bedside clock, then snatched up the phone. "It's four
o'clock in the
morning! Who the-"
A soft voice at the other end of the line began speaking,
and Lantz sat
upright in bed, his heart beginning to pound. "Yes, sir."
He listened for a long time. Finally he said, "Yes,.
sir. I
understand. I'll be on the first plane to Buenos Aires.
Thank you,
sir."
He replaced the receiver and lit a cigarette. His hands
were trembling.
The man he had just spoken to was one of the most powerful
men in the
world and was going to pay him fifty thousand dollars to
deliver a
message. It would be fun going back to Argentina. Harry
Lantz loved
South American women.
THE 747 arrived at Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires at five
the following
afternoon. Harry Lantz felt a surge of excitement as he
stepped out of
the plane, but the blast of hot air startled him for a
moment. Of
course, he realized. It's summer here.
Yes, it was good to be back. Siesta was over, and the
streets were
crowded with people. When the taxi arrived at the Hotel
El
Conquistador, in the heart of the fashionable Barrio Norte
sector, Lantz
paid the driver with a million-peso note.
"Keep the change," he said. Their money was a joke.
Harry looked up an old friend. No one had ever .heard of
Neusa Mufiez.
Harry Lantz began to feel he might be on a wild-goose
chase.
It was at the Pilar, a small bar in the barrio of
Floresta, that his
luck suddenly changed. It was a Friday night, and the bar
was filled
with workingmen. It took Lantz ten minutes to get the
bartender's
attention. Before Lantz was halfway through his prepared
speech, the
bartender said, "Neusa Muez? S(. I know her. If she
wishes to talk to
you, she will come here maana, about midnight."
The following evening Harry Lantz returned to the Pilar at
eleven
o'clock and took a place at the bar, watching the room
gradually fill
up. As midnight approached, he found himself getting more
and more
nervous. If she doesn't show up, he thought, I can kiss
the fifty grand
good-bye.
He wondered what she looked like. She had to be a
stunner. He was
authorized to offer her boyfriend, Angel, a cool two
million dollars to
assassinate someone, so Angel was probably up to his ears
in millions.
He would be able to afford a beautiful young mistress.
The door opened, and Lantz looked up expectantly. A woman
was walking
in alone. She was middle-aged and unattractive, with a
fat, bloated
body and huge, pendulous breasts that swayed as she
walked. Her face
was pockmarked, and she had dyed blond hair. A hooker
down on her luck,
Lantz decided.
The woman looked around the bar with vacant, listless
eyes, then pushed
her way over to Harry. "Wanna buy me a drink?"
She had a heavy Spanish accent.
She looks like a fat cow, Lantz thought..And she's drunk.
"Get lost,
sister."
"Esteban, the bartender. He say you are lookin' for me,
no?"
"He must have made a mistake. I'm looking for Neusa
Muez."
"Si. Yo soy Neusa Mudez."
But the wrong one, Harry thought. "Are you Angel's
friend?"
She smiled drunkenly. "Si."
Harry Lantz recovered swiffly. "Well, well." He forced a
smile. "Can we
go to a corner table and talk?"
They fought their way across the smoky bar, and when they
were seated,
Harry Lantz said, "I'd like to talk about-"' "You buy me a
rum, s(? A
double."
Lantz nodded. "Sure." When the waiter left, Lantz said,
"I want to meet
with Angel. I have a little present for him."
She studied him. "St? What kin'a present?"
"Two million dollars."
Their drinks arrived. She downed hers in one gulp. "Wha'
for you wanna
give Angel two million dollars?"
"That's something I'll have to discuss with him in
person."
"Thais not possible. Angel, he don' talk to nobody."
"Lady, for two million dollars-"
Neusa Mufiez struggled to her feet. "I tol' you, he don'
talk to
nobody. Ad16s."
"Hey! Wait a minute! Don't go."
She looked down at him with bleary eyes. "What you wan'?"
"sit down," Lantz said slowly, "and I'll tell you what I
want."
She sat down heavily. "I need a rum, huh?"
Harry Lantz was baffled. What kind of man is this Angel?
he wondered.
His mistress is not only the ugliest broad in all of South
America, but
she's a lush.
Lantz did not like dealing with drunks. On the other
hand, he hated the
thought of losing his fifty-thousand-dollar commission. He
summoned the
waiter and ordered the drink, then smiled and said
reasonably, e Neusa,
if I can't talk to Angel, how can I do business with him?"
"Ess simple. You tell me what you wan'. I tell Angel.
If he say sf, I
tell you s(. If he say no, I tell you no."
Lantz distrusted using her as a go-between, but he had no
choice.
"You've heard of Marin Groza?"
"No."
He patted her fat hand. "Angel will know who Groza is.
You just say
Marin Groza. He'll know. The people who sent me want him
blown away.
Killed."
"Oh. I'll ass' Angel. Wha' you say the man's name is?"
He wanted to shake her. "Groza. Marin Groza.
"Yeah. My baby's outa town. I'll call him tonight an'
meet you here
tomorrow. Kin I have 'nother rum?"
Neusa Muez was turning out to be a nightmare. How could a
man who was
supposed to be as smart as Angel get hooked up with such a
rum dummy?
THE following night Harry Lantz was seated at the same
table in the
Pilar, intermittently chewing peanuts and his fingernails.
At two a.m.
he saw Neusa Muez stumble through the door and make her
way over to him.
"Hi," she mumbled, and slumped into a chair.
"Neusa, did you remember to talk to Angel?"
She looked at him vacantly. "Angel? Si. Kin I have a
drink, huh?"
He ordered a double rum for her and a double Scotch for
himself. He
needed it desperately. "What did Angel say, Neusa?"
,Angel? Oh, he say yeah. Ess okay."
Harry Lantz felt a surge of relief. "That's wonderful!"
He no longer
cared about his messenger-boy mission. He had thought of
a better idea.
Lantz prided himself on being a pro. He was too smart to
walk into a
deal like this without first checking it ou.t. Before
leaving the
States, he had cautiously asked around about Angel, and
what had
impressed him most was that the Israelis had put a price
of a million
dollars on his head. This drunken floozy was going to
lead him to
Angel. He was going to collect that one million dollars.
He watched her slop down her drink, spilling some of it on
her already
soiled blouse. "What else did Angel say?"
"Angel say he wanna know' who your people are."
Lantz gave her a winning smile. "You tell him That's
confidential,
Neusa. I can't give him that information."
She shrugged. "Then Angel say to tell you to get lost."
Harry Lantz's mind started working at top speed. "Neusa,
I'll telephone
the people I'm working for, and if they give me
permission, I'll give
you a name. Okay?"
She nodded, indifferent.
"You tell Angel I'll have an answer for him by tomorrow.
Is there
someplace I can reach you?"
guess so."
He was making progress. "Where?"
"Here."
He made the call collect from a telephone booth so it
could not be
traced. It had taken him one hour to get through.
"No," the Controller said. "I told you, no r -mmes.
"Yes, sir. But there's a problem. Neusa Mufiez, Angel's
mistress, says
he's willing to make a deal, but he won't move without
knowing who he's
dealing with."
"What is this woman like?"
"She's a fat, ugly moron, sir."
"It's much too dangerous for my name to be used."
Harry Lantz could feel the deal slipping away from him.
"Yes, sir," he
said earnestly. "The only thing is, sir, Angel's
reputation is based on
his being able to keep his mouth shut. If he ever started
talking, he
wouldn't last five minutes in his business."
There was a long silence. "Very well. You may give Angel
my name. But
he is never to divulge it and never to contact me
directly. He'll work
only through you."
Harry Lantz could have danced. "Yes, sir. I'll tell him.
Thank you,
sir." He hung up, a big grin on his face. He was going to
collect the
fifty thousand. And then the million-dollar reward.
WHEN Harry Lantz met Neusa Muez late that evening, he
immediately
ordered a double rum for her and said happily,
"Everything's set. I got
permission."
She looked at him indifferently. "Yeah?"
He told her the name of his employer. It was a household
word.
She shrugged. "Never hearda him."
"Neusa, the people I work for want this done as quickly as
possible.
Marin Groza is hiding out in a villa in Neuilly, and-"
"Where?"
"It's a suburb of Paris," he said patiently. "Angel will
know."
"I need 'nother drink."
An hour later Neusa was still drinking, and this time
Harry Lantz was
encouraging her. When she's drunk enough, he thought,
she's going to
lead me straight to her boyfriend. The rest will be easy.
"When is
Angel coming back to town?" he asked.
She focused her watery eyes on him. "Nex' week."
Harry Lantz took her hand and stroked it. "Why don't you
and I go back
to your place?" he asked softly.
"Okay."
He was in.
NEUSA MUez lived in a shabby two-room apartment that was
as messy and
unkempt as its tenant. When they walked through the door,
Neusa made
straight for the little bar in the corner.
Lantz watched as she poured a drink and downed it. She's
the most ugly,
repulsive pig I've ever met, he thought, but the million
dollars is
going to be beautiful.
Lantz walked over to her and put his arms around her huge,
flabby waist.
"You're cute, do you know that?"
"Wha'?" Her eyes were glazed.
He was getting nowhere. He had to think of an approach
that would get
this amazon into bed. But he knew he had to make his move
carefully. If
he offended her, she might report him to Angel, and that
would be the
end of the deal.
As Lantz was desperately trying to think of a clever
gambit Neusa
mumbled, "Come on 'n the bedroom."
He grinned in relief. "That's a great idea, baby."
She stumbled as Lantz followed her into the small bedroom.
In it was a
large unmade bed and a bureau with a cracked mirror above
it. It was
the open closet that caught Harry Lantz's attention. He
glimpsed a row
of men's suits hanging on a rack.
He went into the bathroom to undress, and when he
returned, Neusa was
propped up in bed like a leviathan. He sat down beside
her. She was
drunker than he had thought. Th:It's good, he said to
himself. It will
make things easier. "You're a very pretty woman, honI
like you a lot."
He began to caress her. "I'll bet you live an exciting
life being
Angel's girlfriend. That must be really interesting.
Tell me, baby,
What's Angel like?"
There was a silence, and he wondered if Neusa had fallen
asleep. "Don't
go to sleep, sweetheart. Not yet." He felt her stir.
"What kind of man
is Angel? Is he handsome?"
"Rich. Angel, he's rich."
Lantz continued to caress her. "Who are his friends?"
Her voice was drowsy. "Angel got no fren's. I'm his
fren'."
Neusa closed her eyes. "Hey, I'm sleepy. Let's go to
sleep."
Lantz stayed there quietly until he was certain Neusa was
asleep. Then
he carefully arose from the bed, padded over to the
closet, and switched
on the closet light.
There were a dozen suits hanging on the rack and six pairs
of men's
shoes on the floor. Lantz opened the jackets and examined
the labels.
The suits were all custom-made by Heffera, Avenida la
Plata. I've hit
the jackpot! Lantz gloated. They'll have a record of
Angel's address.
I'll go and ask a few questions. Then all I have to do is
tip off my
friends in Mossad and collect the reward.
Lantz thought he heard a sound from across the room. He
quickly turned
out the closet light and walked over to the bed. Neusa's
eyes were
closed, 'and she was snoring lightly. He tiptoed to the
bureau and
began looking through the drawers, hoping to find a
photograph of Angel.
No luck. He crept back to bed.
WHEN Harry Lantz awoke in the morning, he heard Neusa
singing off key in
the bathroom.
She was standing in front of the mirror. Her hair was
done up in fat
curlers, and she looked, if possible, even more
unattractive than
before. She pointed to the bathtub full of water. "I fix
a bath for
you. When you're finish', I fix breakfast."
"Sounds great," he lied.
"You like omelets? I make good omelets. Angel teach me."
Neusa plugged in an electric hair dryer and began to dry
her hair.
Lantz stepped into the bathtub and lay back in the warm
water, thinking,
Maybe I should get a gun and take Angel myself. If I let
the Israelis
do it, there'll probably be an inquiry into who gets the
reward. This
way there won't be any question. I'll just tell them
where to pick up
his body.
Neusa said something, but Harry Lantz could barely hear
her over the
roar of the hair dryer.
"What did you say?" he called out.
"I got a presen' for you from Angel."
She dropped the electric hair dryer into the water and
stood there
watching as Lantz's body twitched in a dance of death.
PRESIDENT PAUL ELLISON looked down at the last security
report on Mary
Ashley and said, "Not a blemish, Stan."
"I know. I think she's the perfect candidate. Of course,
State isn't
going to be happy."
"We'll send them a crying towel. Now Let's hope the
Senate will back us
up. Would you like another drink, Stan?"
"No, thanks. Unless you need me tonight, I'm taking
Barbara to an
opening at the Kennedy Center."
"You go ahead," Paul Ellison said. "Alice and I are due
to entertain
some relatives of hers."
"Please give my love to Alice," Stanton Rogers said. He
rose.
"And you give mine to Barbara."
Chapter Four
MARY Ashley's nerves were on edge during dinner. The
children were
being impossible again. Beth refused to touch her food.
"No one eats meat anymore," Beth insisted. "It's a
barbaric custom
carriedover from the cavernan. Civilized people don't eat
live
animals."
. "It's not alive," Tim argued. "It's dead, so you might
as well eat
it."
"Children! Quiet. Beth, go make yourself a salad."
"She could go graze in the field," Tim offered.
"Tim! Finish your dinner." Mary's head was pounding.
The telephone rang.
"That's for me," Beth said. She leaped out of her chair
and raced
toward the telephone. She picked it up and said
flirtatiously,
"Virgil?" She listened a moment, and her expression
changed. "Oh, sure,"
she said disgustedly. She slammed down the receiv&r and
returned to the
table.
"What was that all about?" Edward asked.
"Some joker. said it was the White House calling Mom."
"The White House?"
The telephone rang again.
"I'll get it." Mary rose and walked over to the telephone.
"Hello." As
she listened, her face grew grim. "We're in the middle of
dinner, and I
don't think this is funny- What? Who?
The President?" There was a hush in the room. "Wait, IOh,
good
evening, Mr. President." There was a dazed expression on
her face. Her
family was watching her, wide-eyed. "Yes, sir. I do. I
recognize your
voice. H'm sorry about hanging up a moment ago. Beth
thought it was
Virgil, and- Yes, sir. Thank you." She stood there
listening. "Would I
be willing to serve as what?" Her face suddenly flushed.
Edward was on his feet, moving toward the phone, the
children close
behind him.
"There must be some mistake, Mr. President. My name is
Mary Ashley.
I'm a professor at Kansas State University, and- You read
it? Thank
you, sir." She listened for a long time. "Yes, sir. I
agree. But that
doesn't mean that I- Yes, sir. I'm sure It's a wonderful
opportunity,
but I- Of course. I will. I'll talk it over with my
husband and get
back to you." She picked up a pen and wrote down a number.
"Yes, sir. I
have it. Thank you, Mr. President. Good-bye." She slowly
replaced the
receiver and stood there in shock.
"What in heaven was that all about?" Edward demanded.
"was it really the President?" Tim asked.
Mary sank into a chair. "Yes. It really was."
Edward took Mary's hand in his. "Mary, what did he want?"
Mary sat there, numb, thinking, So That's why that man was
questioning
Florence. She looked up at Edward and the children and
said slowly,
"The President read my book and the article in Foreign
Affairs, and he
thought they were brilliant. He said That's the kind of
thinking he
Wants for his people-to-people program. He wants to
nominate me as
ambassador to Remania."
There was a look of total disbelief on Edward's face.
"You?
Why you?"
It was exactly'what Mary had asked herself, but she felt
Edward could
have been more tactful. He could have said, How
wonderfull You'd make a
great ambassador.
"You haven't had any political experience."
"I'm well aware of that," Mary responded tartly. "I agree
that the
whole thing is ridiculous."
"Are you going to be the ambassador?" Tim asked.
Edward turned to the children. "You two finish your
dinner.
Your mother and I would like to have a little talk."
Edward took Mary's
arm and led her into the library. He turned to her and
said, "I'm sorry
if I sounded like a pompous jerk in there. It was just
such a-"
"No. You were perfectly right. Why on earth should they
have chosen
me?"
"Honey, you'd probably make a great ambassador. But you
must admit it
came as a bit of a shock."
"Try thunderbolt. I still can't believe it." Mary
laughed. "Wait until
I tell Florence. She'll die."
"You're really excited about this, aren't you?" asked
Edward.
She looked at him in surprise. "Of course. Wouldn't you
be?"
Edward chose his words carefully. "It is a great honor,
honey, and I'm
sure they must have had good reason for choosing you'."
He hesitated. "We have to think about this very
carefully."
She knew what he was going to say, and she thought,
Edward's right. Of
course he's right.
"I can't just leave my practice and walk out on my
patients. I have to
stay here. I don't know how long you'd have to be away,
but if it
really means a lot to you, well, maybe you could go over
there with the
children and I could join you whenever-"
Mary said softly, "You crazy man. Nothing means as much
to me as you
and the children. I could never live away from you."
He took her in his arms. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. It was exciting being asked. That's
enough."
THE following morning Mary dialed the number that the
President had
given her. "This is Mrs. Edward Ashley. The Presidents
assistant, Mr.
Greene, is expecting my call."
"One moment, please."
A male voice on the other end said, "Hello. Mrs.
Ashley?"
"Yes," Mary said. "Would yo. "Please give the President a
message for
me? That I'm very, very flattered by his offer, but my
husband's
profession ties him down here, so I'm afraid it would be
impossible for
me to accept. I hope he understands."
"I'll pass on your message," the voice said
noncommittally. "Thank you,
Mrs. Ashley." The line went dead.
Mary slowly replaced the receiver. It was done. For one
brief
moment a tantalizing dream had been offered her. But that
was all it
was. A dream. This isomy real world, she thought. I'd
better get
ready for my first class.
Manama, Bahrein. The whitewashed stone house was
anonymous, hidden
among dozens of identical houses a short walk from the
souks, the large,
colorful outdoor markets. It was owned by a merchant
sympathetic to the
cause of Patriots for Freedom.
The chairman was speaking to the men gathered in the
living room. "A
problem has arisen. The motion that was recently passed
has run into
difficulty. The go-between we selected Harry Lantz-was
murdered. His
body was found floating in the harbor in Buenos Aires."
"Do the police have any idea who did it?" Balder asked.
"I mean, can
they connect this to us in any way?"
"No. We're perfectly safe."
Thor asked, "What about our plan? Can we go ahead with
it?"
"Not at the moment. We have no idea how to reach Angel.
However, the
Controller gave Harry Lantz permission to reveal his name
to him. If
Angel is interested in our proposition, he will find a way
to get in
touch with him. All we can do now is wait."
THE man directly responsible for Marin Groza's safety was
Roland Passy,
the French minister of defense. Gendarmes were stationed
in front of
the villa -in Neuilly twenty-four hours a day, but it was
the knowledge
that Ley Pastemak was in charge of the villa's inner
security that gave
Passy confidence. He had seen the security arrangements
himself and was
firmly convinced that the house was impregnable.
In recent weeks rumors had been sweeping the diplomatic
world that a
coup was imminent, that Marin Groza was planning to return
to Remania,
and that Alexandres lonescu was going to be deposed by his
senior
military officers.
Ley Pastemak knocked on the door and entered the
bookcrammed library
that served as Mann Groza's office. Groza was seated
behind his desk,
working.
"Everybody wants to know when the revolution is going to
happen,"
Pastemak said. "It's the world's worst-kept secret."
Tell them to be patient. Will you come to Bucharest with
me, Ley?"
More than anything Ley Pastemak yearned to return to
Israel. "I'll only
take this job temporarily," he had told Marin Groza.
"Until you're ready
to make your move." Temporarily had turned into weeks and
months, and
finally into two years. And now it was time to make
another decision.
In a world peopled with pygmies, Ley Pastemak thought, I
have been given
the privilege of serving a giant. Marin Groza was the
most selfless and
idealistic man Ley Pastemak had ever known.
When Pastemak had come to work for Groza, he had wondered
about the
man's family. Groza would never speak of them, but the
officer who had
arranged'for Pastemak to meet Groza told him the story.
"Groza was betrayed. The Securitate picked him up and
tortured him for
five days. They promised to free him if he would give .
them the names
of his associates in the underground. He wouldn't talk.
They arrested
his wife and his fourteen-year-old daughter and brought
them to the
interrogation room. Groza was given a choice: talk or
watch them die.
It was the hardest decision any man ever had to make. It
was the lives
of his beloved wife and child against the lives of
hundreds of people
who believed in him." The man paused, then went on more
slowly. "I
think in the end what made Groza decide the way he did was
that he was
convinced he and his family were going to be killed
anyway. He refused
to give them the names. The guards strapped him in a
chair and forced
him to watch his wife and daughter being tortured until
they died."
"How he must hate them!"
The officer looked into Ley Pastemak's eyes and said, "The
most
important thing for you to understand is that Marin Groza
does not want
to return to Remania to seek vengeance. He wants to
go'back to free his
people. He wants to make certain that such things can
never again
happen."
Ley Pastemak had been with Groza from that day on, and the
more time he
spent with the revolutionary, the more he came to love
him. Now he
would have to decide whether to give up his return to
Israel and go to
Remania with Groza.
PAsTERNAK was WALKING down the hallway that evening, and
as he passed
Marin Groza's bedroom door he heard the familiar screams
of pain ring
but. So It's Friday, Pastemak thought; Marin Groza's day
of penance.
Every Friday night the halls of the villa resounded with
Groza's
screams. That was the day of the week when Groza would
shut himself in
his room and whip himself mercilessly, until his blood
flowed, even
though no amount of self-inflicted pain would 'ever
eradicate the
terrible guilt that consumed him. Each time he felt the
lash of the
whip, he would see his wife and daughter screaming for
help. And he
would cry out, "I'm sorry! I'll talk. Oh, God, please let
me talk. .
.."
THE telephone call came ten days after Harry Lantz's body
was found. The
Controller was in the middle of a staff meeting in the
conference room
when the intercom buzzer sounded. "I know you asked not
to be
disturbed, sir, but there's a Miss Neusa Mufiez calling
from Buenos
Aires. It sounds urgent. I told her-"
"It's all right." He kept his emotions under tight
control. "I'll take
the call in my private office." He went into his office
and locked the
door. "Hello. Is this Miss Mufiez?"
"Yeah. I got a message for you from Angel. He din' like
the nosy
messenger you sent."
The Controller chose his words carefully. "I'm sorry.
But we would
still like Angel to go ahead. Would that be possible?"
"Yeah. He say he wanna do it."
"Excellent. How shall I arrange his advance?"
The woman laughed. "Angel, he don' need no advance.
Nobody cheats
Angel." Somehow the words were chilling. "When the job is
finished, he
say you put the money in- Wait a minute. I got it wrote
down. Here it
is-the State Bank in Zurich. I think That's someplace in
Switzerland."
She really did sound like a moron.
"I'll need the account number."
"Oh, yeah. Hol' on. I got it here somewhere." He heard
the rustle of
papers, and finally she was back on the telephone. "Here
it is. j
three four nine zero seven seven."
"How soon can he handle the matter?"
"When he's ready, sehor. Angel say you'll know when I ees
done. You'll
read 'bout it in the newspapers."
"Very well. I'm going to give you my private telephone
number in case
Angel needs to reach me."
He gave it to her slowly.
Thilisi, Russia. The meeting was being held in an
isolated dacha
bordering on the Kura River.
The chairman said, "Two urgent matters have arisen. The
first is good
news. The Controller has had word from Angel. The
contract is moving
forward."
"That's very good news indeed!" Freyr exclaimed. "What's
the bad news?"
"I'm afraid it concerns the Presiden's candidate for the
ambassadorship
to Remania, but the situation can be handled. . . ."
IT was difficult for Mary Ashley to keep her mind on her
class. Too much
had changed. The Junction City newspaper had carried a
feature story on
her rejection of the ambassadorship to Remania, and the
fact that she
had declined the Presiden's offer had made the story even
bigger than if
she had accepted it. In the eyes of the community and her
students she
had become a celebrity. It was a heady feeling.
Remania, she mused. Welcome to Remania, Madam Ambassador.
Your
limousine is here to drive you to your embassy. Her
embassy. She had
been invited to live in Bucharest, one of the most
exciting capitals of
the world, reporting to the President, being in the center
of his
people-to-people concept. I could have been a part of
history.
Mary was roused from her reverie by the sound of the bell.
Class was
over. Time to go home and,change. Edward was taking her
out to the
country club for dinner. As befitted an almost
ambassador.
IT was late by the time Edward and Mary arrived at the
country club
There was only a sprinkling of guests'left in the dining
room. They
stared, watching as Mary sat down, and whispered to one,
another.
Edward looked at his wife and felt guilty. He was
responsible for her
turning down the Presiden's offer, and his reasons were
valid. But
there's more to it than that, Edward admitted to himself I
was jealous.
I reacted like a spoiled brat. What would have happened
if the
President had made me an offer like that? I'd probably
have jumped at
it. All I could think of was that I wanted Mary to stay
home and take
care of me and the kids.
He sat there admiring Mary. I'll make it up to her, he
thought. I'll
surprise her this summer with a trip to Paris and London.
Maybe Remania.
We'll have a real honeymoon. "Any regrets?" he asked her.
Of course there were regrets. But they were
castle-in-Spain regrets
about the kind of glamorous, impossible dreams that
everyone has. Mary
smiled. "None, darling. It was a fluke that they even
asked me." She
took Edward's hand in hers. "I'm glad I refused the
offer."
Edward leaned across the table and kissed his wife. "I
love you so
much, Mary."
"I love you twice as much, darling."
AT THREE o'clock in the morning, when Edward and Mary were
fast asleep,
the phone exploded into sound. Edward sleepily reached
for the
instrument and brought it to his ear. "Hello.-. .
A woman's urgent voice said, "Dr. Ashley?"
"Yes?"
"Pete Grimes is havin' a heart attack. He's in pain
somethin' awful. I
think he's dyin'. I don't know what to do."
Edward sat up in bed, trying to blink the sleep away.
"Don't do
anything. ]Keep him still. I'll be there in half an
hour." He slid out
of bed and sewed to dress.
"Edward, whays wrong?" Mary mumbled.
"Everything's fine. Go back to sleep."
Five minutes later Edward was on his way to the Grimes
farm. It was a
cold and raw morning, with a northwesterly wind driving
the temperature
well below zero. He turned the car onto Route j18, the
two-lane highway
that went through junction City. The town was asleep, its
houses
huddled against the bitter, frigid wind.
When Edward came to the end of Sixth Street, he made the
turn that took
him onto Route 57- How many times had he driven over this.
road on hot
summer days, with the sweet smell of corn and prairie hay
in the air?
And how many winters had he driven on this road through a
frosted
landscape, with power lines delicately laced with ice, and
lonely smoke
from far-off chimneys?
Edward thought of Mary lying in their warm bed waiting for
him. He was
so lucky. I'll make everything up to her, he promised
himself
Ahead, at the junction of Highways 57 and 77, was a stop
sign. Edward
came to a halt and looked up and down the deserted road.
As he started
into the intersection a truck appeared out of nowhere. He
heard a
sudden roar, and his car was pinned by two bright
headlights racing
toward him. He caught a glimpse of the giant five-ton
army truck
bearing down on him, and the last sound he heard was his
own voice
screaming.
IN NEUILLY church bells pealed out across the quiet noon
air. The
gendarmes guarding Marin Groza's villa had no reason to
pay attention to
the dusty Renault sedan that was cruising by. Angel drove
slowly,
although not slowly enough to arouse suspicion, taking
everything in.
There were two guards in front, a high wall, probably
electrified, and
inside" of course, would be the usual electronic nonsense
of beams,
sensors, and alarms. It would take an army to storm the
villa. But I
don't need an army, Angel thought. Only my genius. Marin
Groza is a
dead man. If only my mother were alive to see how rich I
have become.
ow happy it would have made her.
In Argentina podr families were very poor indeed, and
Angel's mother had
been of the poorest. Through the years Angel had watched
friends and
relatives die of hunger and sickness. Death was a way of
life, and Angel
thought philosophically, Since it is going to happen
anyway, why not
make a profit from it? In the beginning there were those
who doubted
Angel's lethal talents, but people who tried to put
roadblocks in the
way had a habit of disappearing. Angel's reputation as an
assassin
grew. I have never failed, Angel thought. I am Angel.
The Angel of
Death.
Chapter Five
THE snow-covered Kansas highway was ablaze with flashing
red lights that
turned the frosty air blood red. In the center of a
circle of vehicles,
ringed by headlights, sat the five-ton M871 army
tractor-trailer, and
partially beneath it, Edward Ashley's crumpled car. A
dozen police
officers and firemen were milling around, trying to keep
warm in the
predawn freeze. In the middle of the highway, covered by
a tarpaulin,
was a body.
A sheriffs car skidded to a stop, and Mary Ashley ran out
of it. She was
trembling so hard that she could barely stand. Sheriff
Monster grabbed
her arm. "I wouldn't look at him if I were you, Mrs.
Ashley."
"Let go of me!" She was screaming. She shook loose from
his grasp and
started toward the tarpaulin.
"Please, Mrs. Ashley. You don't want to see what he
looks like." He
caught her as she fainted.
She woke up in the back seat of Sheriff Monster's car. He
was sitting
in the front seat watching her. The heater was on, and
the car was
stifling. Mary stared out the window at all the flashing
red lights,and
thought, It's a scene from hell. In spite of the heat,
her teeth were
chattering. "How did- How did it h-happen?"
"He ran the stop sign. An army truck was comin' along
Seventyseven and
tried to avoid im, but your husband drove right out in
front of him."
She closed her eyes and saw the truck bearing down on
Edward and felt
his panic. All she could say was, "Edward was a c-careful
driver. He
would never run a stop sign."
The sheriff said sympathetically, "Mrs. Ashley, we have
eyewitnesses. A
priest and two nuns, and a Colonel Jenkins from ,Fort
Riley. They all
said your husband ran the stop sign."
Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion.
Finally, she
watched as Edward's body was lifted into the ambulance.
Sheriff Monster said, "They returned him to the morgue.
I'd best get
you back home. What's the name of your family doctor?"
"Edward Ashley," Mary said. "Edward Ashley is my family
doctor."
LATER MARY REMEMBERED WALKING Up to the house and Sheriff
Monster
leading her inside. Florence and Douglas Schiller were
waiting for her
in the living room. The children were still asleep.
Florence threw her arms around Mary. "Oh, darling, I'm
'so terribly,
terribly sorry."
"It's all right. Edward had an accident." Mary giggled.
Douglas Schiller looked into her eyes. They were wide and
vacant. He
felt a chill go through him. "Come on, I'm putting you to
bed."
He gave her a sedative, helped her into bed, and sat at
her side. An
hour later Mary was still awake. He gave her another
sedative. Then a
third. Finally she slept.
IN JUNenON City there are strict investigative procedures
involved in
the report of a lone injury accident. An ambulance is
dispatched from
the county Ambulance Service, and a sheriff's officer is
sent to the
scene. If army personnel are involved in the accident,
the CID-the
Criminal Investigating Division of the army-conducts an
investigation
along with the sheriff's office.
Shel Planchard, a plainclothes officer from CID
headquarters at Fort
Riley, and the sheriff were examining the accident report
in the
sheriffs office.
"It beats me," Sheriff Monster said.
"What's the problem, Sheriff?" Planchard asked.
"Well, looky here. There were five witnesses to the
accident,
right? A priest and two nuns, Colonel Jenkins, and the
truck driver,
every single one of them says- exactly the same thing: car
ran the stop
sign, turned onto the highway, and was hit by the army
truck." Sheriff
Monster scratched his head. "Mister, have you ever seen
an accident
report where even two eyewitnesses said the same thing?"
"It just shows that what happened was pretty obvious."
"There's somethin' else nigglin' at me. What were a
priest and two nuns
and a colonel doing out on Highway Seventy-seven at three
thirty in the
morning?"
"Nothing mysterious about that. The priest and the
sisters were on
their way to Leonardville. Colonel Jenkins was returning
to Fort
Riley."
The sheriff said, "I checked with the Department of Motor
Vehicles. The
last ticket Doc Ashley got was six years ago, for illegal
parking. He
had no accident record."
"Sheriff," said the CID man, "Just what are you
suggesting?"
Monster shrugged. "I'm not suggestin' anythin'. I jest
have a funny
feelin' about this."
"If you think there's some kind of conspiracy involved,
there's a big
hole in your theory. If-"
The sheriff sighed. "I know. If it wasn't an accident,
all the army
truck had to do was knock him off and keep going'. There
wouldn't be
any reason for all these witnesses and rigmarole."
"Exactly." The CID man rose and stretched. "Well, I've
got to get back
to the base. As far as I'm concerned, the driver of the
truck, Sergeant
Wallis, is cleared. Are we in agreement?"
Sheriff Monster said reluctantly, "Yeah."
MARY Ashley decided later that the only thing that saved
her sinity was
being in a state of shock. Everything that happened
seemed to be
happening to someone else. She was underwater, moving
slowly, hearing
voices from a distance.
The church was filled to overflowing. There were dozens
of wreaths and
bouquets. On 'e of the largest wreaths had a card that
read simply "My
deepest sympathy. Paul Ellison."
The casket with Edward's body in it was closed. Mary
could not bear to
think of the reason.
The minister was speaking. "Lord, thou hast been our
dwelling . place
in all generations. Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever
thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to
everlasting, thou art God. Therefore, we will not fear,
though the
earth doth change, and though the mountains be shaken into
the heart of
the seas. . . ."
She and Edward were in the small sailboat on Milford Lake.
"Do you like to sail?" he had asked on their first date.
"I've never been sailing."
"Saturday," he said. "We have a date."
They were married one week later.
"Do you know why I married you, lady?" Edward teased.
"You passed the
test. You laughed a lot and you didn't fall overboard."
When the service ended, Mary, Beth, and Tim got into the
long black
limousine that led the funeral procession to the cemetery.
Because of
the numbing cold, the graveside ceremony was kept brief.
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in
me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and
believeth in me
shall never die. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am
alive for evermore."
Finally, mercifully, it was over. Mary and the children
watched the
casket being lowered into the frozen, unearing earth.
Goodbye, my
darling.
IN AN office at CID headquarters Shel Planchard, the CID
officer, was
talking to Colonel Jenkins. "i'm afraid I have some bad
news, sir.
Sergeant Wallis, the driver of the truck that killed the
civilian doctor
... He had a fatal heart attack this morning."
"That's a shame," said Colonel Jenkins.
"Yes, sir," the CID man said'. "His body is being
cremated this
morning. It was very sudden."
"Unfortunate. Well, I won't be here much longer. I'm
being transferred
overseas." Jenkins allowed himself a small smile. "A
rather important
promotion."
"Congratulations, sir. You've earned it."
Edward's death was the beginning of an unbearable hell for
Mary Ashley.
Everything within her screamed to deny what had happened
to him, but the
reality kept hitting her in fresh waves of shock.
Florence and Douglas and other friends often stayed with
her, trying to
make things easier, but Mary wished they would go away and
leave her
alone. When it was time to dispose of Edward's personal
things,
Florence offered to help her, but Mary said, "No. Edward
would have
wanted me to do it."
There were so many small, intimate things. Moving like an
automaton,
she ran her fingers over suits he would never again wear.
The blue tie
he had worn on their last night together. His gloves and
scarf that
kept him warm. He would not need them in his cold grave.
She found love notes they had written to each other,
bringing back
memories of the lean days when Edward started his own
practice, a
Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey, summer picnics and
winter sleigh
rides, her first pregnancy and both of them reading and
playing
classical music to Beth while she was in the womb, the
love letter
Edward wrote when Tim was born, and a hundred other
wonderful things
that brought tears to her eyes. His death was like some
cruel magician's
trick.
Edward was everywhere. He was in the songs Mary heard on
the radio, in
the hills they had driven through together. He was in bed
at her side
when she awoke at sunrise.
She began to talk to him: I'm worried about the children,
Edward. They
don't want to go to school. Beth says they're afraid that
when they get
home, I won't be here. The dean wanted to know whether I
planned to go
back to teaching at the university. I told im not now.
The children
need me too much. Do you think Is
-,Would go back one day?
Edward would never leave her and the children. He was
there, somewhere.
THERE was a popular bar on the Boulevard Bineau that
Marin' Groza's
guards frequented when they were not on duty at the villa
in Neuilly.
Angel selected a table where conversations could be
overheard. The
guards, away from the rigid routine of the villa, liked to
drink, and
when they drank, they talked. Angel listened, seeking the
villa's
vulnerable point. There was always a vulnerable point.
One simply had
to be clever enough to find it.
It was three days before Angel overheard a conversation
that gave the
clue to the solution of the problem. A guard was saying,
"Groza sure
whips himself viciously. You should hear the screaming
that goes on
every Friday night. last week I got a look at the whips
he keeps in his
closet. . .
It was all Angel needed.
Early the following morning Angel changed rental cars and
drove a Fiat
into Paris. The shop was on the Place Pigalle, in a
section populated
by prostitutes. Angel went inside, walking slowly along
the aisles,
carefully studying the merchandise. At length Angel
selected a whip,
paid cash for it, and left.
The next afternoon Angel brought the whip back to the
shop. The manager
looked up and growled, "No refunds."
"I don't want a refund," Angel explained. "I feel awkward
carrying this
around. I would appreciate it if you would mail it for
me. I'll pay
extra, of course."
That evening Angel was on a plane to Buenos Aires.
THE whip, carefully wrapped, arrived at the villa in
Neuilly the
following day. It was intercepted by the guard at the
gatehouse. He
opened the package and examined the whip with great care,
thinking, You
would think the old man had enough of these already. He
passed it
through, and another guard took it to Marin Groza's
bedroom closet,
where he placed it with the other whips.
Mary was preparing dinner when the telephone rang, and she
picked it up,
an operator said, "This is the White House. The President
is calling
Mrs. Edward Ashley. Please hold."
Moments later the familiar voice was on the line. "Mrs.
Ashley, this
is Paul Ellison. I just want you to know how terribly
sorry we are
about your husband. I understand he'was a fine man."
"Thank you, Mr. President. It was kind of you to send
flowers."
"I don't want to intrude on your privacy, Mrs. Ashley,
and I know It's
been a very short time, but now that your domestic
situation has
changed, I'm asking you to reconsider my offer of an
ambassadorship."
"Thank you, but I couldn't possibly-"
"Hear me out, please. I'm having someone fly out there to
talk to you.
His name is Stanton Rogers. I would appreciate it if you
would at least
meet with him."
She did not know what to say. How could she explain that
her life had
been shattered, that all that mattered now were Beth and
Tim? "I'll
meet with him, Mr. President," she said. "But I won't
change my mind."
Stanton Rogers telephoned Mary right after the Presiden's
call. "I
promise to make my visit as brief as possible, Mrs.
Ashley. I plan to
fly in Monday afternoon to see you, if That's all right."
He's such an important man and he's being so polite, Mary
thought. "That
will be fine." In a reflex action she asked, "Would you
care to have
dinner with us?"
He hesitated, thinking what a boring evening it would be.
"Thank you,"
he said.
Stanton Rogers was a formidable man, Mary decided. She
had seen him on
Meet the Press and in news photographs, but she thought,
He looks bikeer
in person. He was polite, but there was, something
distant about him.
"Permit me to convey again the Presiden's sincere regrets
about your
terrible tragedy, Mrs. Ashley."
"Thank you." Mary introduced him to Beth and Tim. They
made small talk
while she went to check the pot roast.
When Mary had told Florence Schiller that Stanton Rogers
was coming for
dinner and that she was making a pot roast, Florence -had
said, "People
like Mr. Rogers don't eat pot roast."
"Oh? What do they eat?" Mary had asked.
"Chateaubriand and crepes suzette."
"Well, we're having pot roast."
Along with the pot roast Mary had prepared creamed mashed
potatoes,
fresh vegetables, and a salad. She had baked a pumpkin
pie for dessert.
Stanton Rogers finished everything on -his plate.
During dinner Mary and he talked about the colorful
history of junction
City. Finally he brought the conversation around to
Remania. "Do you
think there will be a revolution there?" he asked.
"Not in the present circumstances. The only man powerful
enough to
depose lonescu is Marin Groza, who's in exile."
The questioning went on. Mary Ashley was an expert on the
iron curtain
countries, and Stanton Rogers was impressed.
The President was right, he thought. She really is an
authority on
]Remania. And there is something more. She's beautiful.
She and the
children make an all-American package that will sell.
Stanton found
himself getting more and more excited by the prospect.
She can be more
useful than she realizes.
At the end of the evening Stanton Rogers said, "Mrs.
Ashley, I'm going
to be frank with you. Initially I was against the
President appointing
you to a post as sensitive as Remania. I told him as
much. I tell you
this now because I've changed my mind. I think you will
make an
excellent ambassador."
Mary shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Rogers. I'm no
politician. I'm
an amateur."
"Mrs. Ashley, some of our finest ambassadors have been
amateurs. That
is to say, their experience was not in the Foreign
Service. Walter
Annenberg, our former ambassador to the United Kingdom,
was a publisher.
John Kenneth Galbraith, our ambassador to India, was a
professor. I
could give you a dozen more examples. These people were
all what you
would call amateurs. What they had, Mrs. Ashley, was
intelligence, a
love for their country, and goodwill toward the people of
the country
where they were sent to serve."
"You make it sound so simple."
"As you're probably aware, you've already been
investigated. You've been
approved for a security clearance. You're an expert on
]Remania. And
last but not least, you have the kind of image the
President wants to
project in the iron curtain countries."
Mary's face was thoughtful. "Mr..Rogers, I appreciate
what you're
saying. But I can't accept. I have Beth and Tim to think
about. I
can't just uproot them like-"
"There's a fine school for diplomats' children in
Bucharest," Rogers
told her. "It would be a wonderful education for them.
They'd learn
things they could never learn in school here."
The conversation was not going the way Mary had planned.
"I don't- I'll
think about it."
"I'm staying in town overnight," Stanton Rogers said.
"I'll be at the
All Seasons Motel. Believe me, Mrs. Ashley, I know what
a big decision
this is for you. But this program is important not only
to the
President but to our country. Please think about that."
When Rogers left, Mary went upstairs. The children were
waiting for
her, wide awake and excited.
"Are you going to take the job?" Beth asked.
"We have to have a talk. If I did decide to accept it, it
would mean
that you would have to leave school and all your friends.
You would be
living in a foreign country where we don't speak the
language, and you
would be going to a strange school."
"Tim and I talked about all that," Beth said, " and you
know what we
think? Any country would be really lucky to have you as
an ambassador,
Mom."
Mary talked to Edward that night: He made it sound as
though the
President really needed me, darling. I have the chance
again, and I
don't know what to do. To tell -you the truth, I'm
terrified. This is
our home. How can I leave it? This is all I have left of
you. Please
help me decide.... She found that she was crying.
She sat by the window for hours, looking out at the trees
shivering in
the howling, restless wind.
At nine o'clock in the morning Mary telephoned Stanton
Rogers. "Mr.
Rogers, would you please tell the President that I will be
honored to
accept his nomination for the ambassadorship."
As HE always did on Friday nights, Marin Groza shut his
bedroom door,
went to the closet, and selected a whip. Once he had made
his choice,
he took off his robe, exposing his back, which was covered
with cruel
welts. His expression was full of anguish as he raised
the leather whip
and cracked it down hard against his back.
Groza flinched with pain each time the tough leather beat
against his
skin. Once ... twice ... again ... and again, until
the vision he
had been waiting for came to him. With each lash, scenes
of his wife
and daughter being tortured scared through his brain.
With each lash,
he could hear them beg for mercy.
Suddenly he stopped, holding the whip in midair. He was
having
difficulty breathing. "Help! Help-"
Ley Pastemak heard Groza's cry for help and came running
in, gun in
hand. He was too late. He watched as Groza toppled to
the floor, his
eyes open, staring at nothing.
Pastemak summoned the doctor, who lived in the villa and
came into
Groza's room within minutes. He bent down to examme the
body. The skin
had turned blue, and the muscles were flaccid. He picked
up the whip
and smelled it.
"What is it?" asked Pastemak. "Poison?"
The doctor nodded. "Curare. It's an extract from a South
American
plant. The Incas used it on darts to kill their enemies.
Within three
minutes the entire nervous system is paralyzed."
The two men stood staring helplessly at their dead leader.
THE NEws OF MAWN GROZA'S assassination was carried all
over the world by
satellite. Ley Pastemak was able to keep the details away
from the
press. In Washington, D.C., the President had a meeting
with Stanton
Rogers.
"Who do you think's behind it, Stan?"
"Either the Russians or lonescu. In the end it comes to
the same thing,
doesn't it? They didn't want the status quo disturbed."
"So we'll be dealing with Ionescu. Very well. Let's push
the Mary
Ashley appointment through as quickly as possible."
"She'll be here soon, Mr. President. No problem."
"Good."
ON hearing the news, Angel smiled and thought, It happened
sooner than I
expected it would.
At ten p.m. the Controller's private phone rang, and he
picked it up.
"Hello."
He heard the sound of Neusa Mufiez's guttural voice.
"Angel say to
deposit the money in his bank account."
"Inform him that it will be taken care of immediately.
And Miss Mufiez,
tell Angel how pleased I am. Also tell him that I may
need him again
very soon. Do you have a telephone number where I can
reach you?"
There was a long pause, then, "I guess so." She gave it to
him.
"Fine. If Angel-" The line went dead.
IT was more than packing up a household, Mary thought. It
was packing
up a life. It was bidding farewell to thirteen years of
dreams,
memories, love. It was saying a final good-bye to Edward.
This had
been their home, and now it would become merely a house
again, occupied
by strangers with no awareness of the joys and sorrows and
tears and
laughter that had happened within these walls.
Besides packing, there were so many other practical
details. An
indefinite leave of absence from the university had been
arranged with
the dean. The children had been withdrawn from their
school. There had
been travel arrangements to make, airline tickets to buy,
the house to
rent. In the past Mary had taken all the financial
transactions for
granted, because Edward had been there to handle them.
Now there was no
Edward, except in her mind and in her heart, where he
would always be.
Finally, miraculously, everything was ready. It was time
to leave.
Mary walked upstairs to the bedroom she and Edward had
shared for so
many wonderful years. She stood there taking a long last
look.
Chapter Six
WHEN their plane landed at Washington's Dulles Airport,
Mary and the
children were met by a young man from the State
Department.
"Welcome to Washington, Mrs. Ashley. My name is John
Bums. Mr..
Rogers asked me to meet you and see that you get to your
hotel safely.
I've checked you in at the Riverdale Towers. I think
you'll all be
comfortable there."
"Thank you." Mary introduced Beth and Tim.
"If you'll give me your baggage-claim checks, Mrs.
Ashley, I'll see
that everything is taken care of "
Twenty minutes later they were all seated in a
chauffeur-driven
limousine, heading toward the center of Washington.
PETE Connors, head of the counterintelligence section of
the CIA, was
working late, and his day was far from over. Every
morning at three
a.m. a team reported to prepare the Presiden's daily
intelligence
checklist, collected from overnight cables. The report,
code-named
Pickles, had to be ready by six a.m. so that it could be
on the
Presiden's desk at the start of his day. An armed couner
earned the
list to the White House, entering at the west gate. Pete
Connors had a
renewed interest in the interceptedcable traffic coming
from behind the
iron curtain, because much of it concerned the appointment
of Mary
Ashley as the American ambassador to Remania.
The Soviet Union was worried that President Ellison's plan
was a ploy to
penetrate their satellite countries, to spy on them or
seduce them.
The Commies aren't as worried as I am, Pete Connors
thought grimly. If
the Presiden's idea works, this whole country is going to
be open house
for their slimy spies.
Pete Connors had been informed the moment Mary Ashley
landed in
Washington. He had seen photographs of her and the
children. She's
going to be perfect, Connors thought happily.
THE Riverdale Towers, one block away from the Watergate,
is a small
family hotel with comfortable, nicely decorated suites.
No sooner had Mary checked in than Stanton Rogers
telephoned. "Good
evening, Mrs. Ashley." It was like hearing the voice of
an'old friend.
"I thought it would be a good idea if we met to discuss
some of the
procedures you'll be going through. Why don't we make it
lunch tomorrow
at the Grand?"
It was starting.
The following morning Mary arranged for the children to
have room
service,, and at one o'clock a taxi dropped her off at the
Grand Hotel.
Mary looked at it in awe. The Grand Hotel is its own
center of power.
Heads of state and diplomats from all over the world stay
there, and it
is easy to see why. It is an elegant building, with an
imposing lobby
that has Italian marble floors and gracious columns under
a circular
ceiling. There is a landscaped courtyard, with a fountain
and an
outdoor swimming pool. A marble staircase leads down to
the promenade
restaurant, where Stanton Rogers was waiting for her.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Ashley."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Rogers."
He laughed. "That sounds so formal. What about Stan and
Mary?"
She was pleased. "That would be nice."
When they had ordered lunch, Mary said, "Stan, will I be
in Washington
long?"
"About a month. We'll do everything we can to expedite
your move. just
between us, there have already been private discussions
between the two
governments. There will be no problem with the Remanians,
but you still
have to pass the Senate."
So the Remanian government is going to accept me, Mary
thought. Perhaps
I'm better qualified than I realized.
"There will be an open hearing of the Senate Foreign
Relations
Committee.. That's scheduled for nine o'clock on
Wednesday morning.
They vote, and when they. turn in their report, the full
Senate votes."
Mary said slowly, "Nominations have been voted down in the
past, haven't
they?"
"Yes. But you'll have the full backing of the White
House. The
President is eager to push, your appointment through as
quickly as
possible. Incidentally, he would like to meet with you
this afternoon.
Would four o'clock be convenient?"
Mary swallowed. "Yes, I- Of course."
"Excellent. A car will be downstairs for you at three
thirty."
PAUL Ellison rose as Mary was ushered into the Oval
Office. He walked
over to shake her hand, grinned, and said, "Gotcha!"
Mary laughed. "I'm glad you did, Mr. President. This is
a great honor
for me."
"Sit down, Mrs. Ashley. May I call you Mary?"
"Please." They sat down on the couch.
President Ellison said, "You're going to be my
doppelgnger. Do you know
what that is?"
"It's a kind of identical spirit of a living person."
"Right. And That's us. I can't tell you how excited I
was when I read
your latest article, Mary. It was as though I were
reading something I
had written myself. There are a lot of people who don't
believe our
people-to-people plan can work, but you and I are going to
fool them."
Our people-to-people plan. He's a charmer, Mary thought.
Aloud she
said, "I want to do everything I can to help, Mr.
President."
"I'm counting on you. Very heavily. Remania is the
testing ground.
Since Groza was assassinated, your job is going to be more
difficult. If
we can pull it off there, we can make it work in the other
communist
countries."
They spent the next thirty minutes discussing some of the
problems that
lay ahead, and then Paul Ellison said, "Stan Rogers will
keep in close
touch with you. He's become a big fan of yours." He held
out his hand.
"Good luck, doppelgnger."
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE SENATE Foreign Relations Committee
hearing Mary was
in panic. Oh, Edward, how I wish you were here with me.
What am I
going to tell them, darling? That in junction City I was
homecoming
queen?
Then the irony struck her. If Edward were alive, she
would not be here.
She'd be safe and warm at home with her husband and
children, where she
belonged.
She lay awake all night.
THE hearing was held in the Foreign Relations Committee
room, with the
full seventeen committee members seated on a dais. Along
the left side
of the room was the press table, filled with reporters,
and in the
center were seats for two hundred spectators. The room
was filled to
overflowing. Pete Connors sat in the back row. There was
a sudden hush
as Mary entered with Beth and Tim.
Mary was wearing a dark tailored suit and a white blouse.
The children
were in their Sunday best.
Ben Cohn, the political reporter for the Washington Post,
watched as
they came in. Goodness, he thought; they look like a
Norman Rockwell
painting.
An attendant seated the children in a front row, and Mary
was escorted
to the witness chair, facing the committee.
The questions started innocently enough. Senator Charles
Campbell, the
chairman of the committee and a supporter of President
Ellison, spoke
first. "According to the biography we've been furnished,
Mrs. Ashley,
you're a native of Kansas, and for the last several years
you've taught
political science at Kansas State University. Is that
correct?"
"Yes, sir." Mary was so nervous she could barely speak.
"Your grandparents were Remanian?"
"My grandfather. Yes, sir."
"An article you wrote was published in Foreign Affairs
magazine and came
to the attention of the President?"
"That's my understanding."
"Mrs. Ashley, would you kindly tell this committee what
the basic
premise of your article is?"
"Several regional economic pacts currently exist in the
world, and
because they are mutually exclusive they serve to divide
the world into
antagonistic and competitive blocs." She felt as though
she were
conducting a seminar, and her nervousness began to
disappear.
"My premise is simple," she continued. "I would like to
see our country
spearhead a movement to form a common market that includes
allies and
adversaries alike. Today, as- an example, we're paying
billions of
dollars to store surplus grain,,while people in dozens of
countries are
starving. The one-world common market could cure
inequities of
distribution, at fair market prices. I would like to try
to make that
happen."
Senator Harold Turkel, a senior member of the committee
and a leader of
the opposition party, spoke up. "I'd like to ask the
nominee a few
questions. Is this your first time in Washington, Mrs.
Ashley?"
"Yes, sir. I think It's one of the most-"
"Have you ever been to New York?"
"No, sir."
"California?"
"No, sir."
"Have you, in fact, ever been outside the state of
Kansas?"
"Yes. I gave a lecture at the University of Chicago and a
series of
talks in Denver and Atlanta."
"That must have been very exciting for you, Mrs. Ashley,"
Turkel said
dryly. "You expect to represent the United States in an
iron curtain
country, and you're telling us that your entire knowledge
of the world
comes from living in junction City, Kansas."
Mary held back her temper. "No, sir. My knowledge of the
world comes
from studying it. I have a Ph.D. in political science,
and I've been
teaching at Kansas State University for five years, with
an emphasis on
the iron curtain countries. I'm familiar with the current
problems of
the Remanian people, and with what their government thinks
of the United
States and why. I-" She broke off, afraid she had gone
too far. And
then, to her surprise, the committee started to applaud.
All except
Turkel.
The questioning went on. One hour later Senator Campbell
asked, "Are
there any more questions?"
"I think the nominee has expressed herself very clearly,"
one of the
Senators commented.
"I agree. Thank you, Mrs. Ashley. This session is
adjourned.
Pete Connors studied Mary thoughtfully a moment, then
quietly left as
the members of the press swarmed around her.
"Turn this way, Mrs. Ashley. Smile, please. One more.
"Mrs. Ashley-"
Ben Cohn stood apart from the others, watching and
listening. She's
good, he thought; she has all the right answers. But
there was
something about her nomination that puzzled him. The
problem was that
he was not sure what it was.
When Mary arrived back at the hotel, emotionally drained,
Stanton Rogers
telephoned. "Hello, Madam Ambassador."
She felt giddy with relief "You mean I'm going to make it?
Oh, Stan, I
can't tell you how excited I am."
"So am I, Mary." His voice was filled with pride. "So am
I."
THE final confirmation was almost a formality. The full
Senate voted
Mary in by a comfortable majority. President Ellison said
to. Stanton
Rogers, "Our plan is under way, Stan. Nothing can stop us
now.
Rogers nodded. "Nothing," he agreed.
PETE Connors was in his office when he heard the news. He
immediately
wrote out a message and encoded it., One of his men was on
duty in the
CIA cable room.
"I want to use the Roger Channel," Connors said. "Wait
outside." The
Roger Channel is the CIgs ultraprivate cable system, only
for top
executives. The cable was addressed to Sigmund.
MARY Ashley was sworn in as the ambassador to the
Socialist Republic of
Remania, and the treadmill began. She was ordered to
report to the
Bureau of European Affairs at the State Department. There
she was
assigned a small, boxlike office next to the Remanian
desk.
James Stickley, the Remanian desk officer, was a career
diplomat, with
twenty-five years in the service. He was in his late
fifties, with a
foxlike face and pale, cold eyes. He was considered the
foremost expert
on the Remanian desk and had fully expected to be
appointed ambassador
to Remania. The news about Mary Ashley was a bitter blow.
It was bad
enough to have been passed over, but to have lost out to a
political
appointee-an unknown hayseed from Kansas-was galling.
He studied Mary Ashley now, as she sat across from his
desk.
Mary was also studying Stickley. There is something
meanlooking about
him, she thought.
"We're going to have to make an instant expert out of
you." He handed
her an armful of files. "You can start by reading these."
"I'll dedicate my morning to it."
"No. Now I want to introduce you to your military
attaches, Colonel
William McKinney. And in thirty minutes you're scheduled
to begin a
language course in Remanian. The course usually takes
months, but I
have orders to push you through the mill."
Bill McKinney wore mufd, but his military bearing was like
a uniform. He
was a tall middle-aged man, with a seamed, weathered face.
"Madam Ambassador." His voice was rough and gravelly, as
though his
throat had suffered an injury.
"I'm pleased to meet you," Mary said. Colonel McKinney
was her first
staff member, and meeting him gave her a sense of
excitement. It seemed
to bring her new position much closer. "Have you been to
Remania
before?"
The colonel and James Stickley exchanged a look.
"He's been there before,"." Stickley replied.
EVERY day Mary and Stickley went through the files of the
Remanian desk
together.
"I'll be reading the cables you send in," Stickley
informed her. "They
will be yellow copies for action, or white copies for
information.
Duplicates of your cables will go to Defense, the CIA, the
USIA, the
Treasury Department, and a dozen other departments. One of
the first
issues you'll be expected to resolve is Americans being,
held in
Remanian prisons. We want their release."
"What are they charged with?"
"Espionage, drugs, theft-anything the Remanians want to
charge them
with."
Mary wondered how on earth one went about getting a charge
of espionage
dismissed.
Right," she said briskly.
"I'm going to give you a package," Stickley announced.
"Don't let it out
of your hands. It's for your eyes only. Read it and
digest it, and
return it to me personally tomorrow morning." He handed
Mary a thick
manila envelope sealed with red tape. "Sign for it,
please."
She signed.
During the ride back to the hotel Mary clutched it to her
lap, feeling
like a character in a James Bond movie. ,
The children were dressed, up and waiting for her.
Oh, dear, Mary remembered. I promised to take them to a
Chinese dinner
and a movie. "Fellas," she said, "we'll have to make our
excursion
another evening. I have some urgent work to do."
"Sure, Mom."
"Okay."
And Mary thought, Before Edward died, they would have
screamed like
banshees. But they've had to grow up. She took them both
in her arms.
"I'll make it up to you," she promised.
The material James Stickley had given her was -incredible.
No wonder he
wants this right back, Mary thought. There were detailed
reports on
every important Remanian official, from the President to
the minister of
commerce. There was a dossier on their private habits,
financial
dealings, friendships, personal traits, and prejudices.
Some of the
reading was lurid. Mary was up half the night memorizing
the names and
peccadilloes of the people with whom she would be dealing.
In the morning she returned the secret documents.
Stickley said, "Now you know everything you should know
about the
Remanian leaders."
"And then some," Mary murmured.
"There's something you should bear in mind: by now the
Remanians also
know everything there is to know about you."
"That won't get them far," Mary said.
"No?" Stickley leaned back in his chair. "You're a woman,
and you're
alone. You can be sure they've already marked you as an
easy target.
They'll play on your loneliness. Every move you make will
be watched
and recorded."
He's trying to frighten me, Mary thought. Well, it won't
work.
TIME became a blur, a whirlwind of activity that left Mary
exhausted.
Besides language lessons, her schedule included a course
at the Foreign
Service Institute, briefings at the Defense Intelligence
Agency,
meetings with the secretary of international security
affairs and with
Senate committees. They all had demands, advice,
questions.
On top of all this, a media blitz began. Mary found
herself in front of
the cameras on Good Morning America, Meet the Press, and
Firing Line.
She was interviewed by the Washington Post, The New York
Times, and half
a dozen other important daily papers. She did interviews
for the London
Times, Der SViegel, Oggi, and Le Monde. Time magazine and
People did
feature articles on her and the children. Mary Ashley's
photograph
seemed to be everywhere, and whenever there was a
newsbreak about an
event in some far-off corner of the world, she was asked
for her
comments. Overnight Mary Ashley and her children became
celebrities.
Tim said, "Mom, It's really spooky seeing our pictures on
the covers of
all the magazines."
"Spooky is the word," Mary agreed. Somehow she felt
uneasy about the
publicity, and she spoke to Stanton Rogers about it.
"Look on it as a part of your job. The President is
trying to create an
image. By the time you arrive in Remania, everyone there
will know who
you are."
"THERE'S something weird happening in this town," Ben Cohn
said. The
reporter and his girlfriend, Akiko Hadaka, were watching
Mary Ashley on
Meet the Press.
The new ambassador to Remania was saying, "I believe that
China is
heading for a more humane,, iladividualistic communist
society with its
incorporation of Hong Kong and Macao."
"Now, what does that lady know about China?" Cohn
muttered. He turned
to Akiko. "You're looking at a housewife from Kansas
who's become an
expert on everything overnight."
"She seems very bright," Akiko said.
,: Bright is beside the point. Every time she gives an
interview, the
reporters go crazy. It's like a feeding frenzy. How did
she get on
Meet the Press? I'll tell you how. Someone decided that
Mary Ashley
was going to be a celebrity. The question is who and
why."
"I'm supposed to be the one with the devious Oriental
mind," Akiko said.
"I think you're making more out of this than necessary."
Ben Cohn lit a
cigarette and took an angry puff on it. "You could be
right," he
grumbled.
An hour later he telephoned Ian Villiers, chief of press
relations for
the State Department.
"Benjie, my boy, what can I do for you?" asked Villiers.
"I need a favor. I understand you're handling the press
for our new
ambassador to Remania."
A cautious "Yes ... ?"
"Who's behind her buildu', Ian? I'm interested in-"
"I'm sorry, Ben. That's State Department business. I'm
just a hired
hand. You might drop a note to the Secretary."
Hanging.up, Ben made a decision. "I think I'm going to
have to go out
of town for a few days," he told Akiko.
"Where are you going, baby?"
"Junction City, Kansas."
As it turned out, Ben Cohn was in Junction City for only
one day. He
spent an hour talking to Sheriff Monster, then drove a
rental car to
Fort Riley, where he visited the CID office. He caught a
late afternoon
flight home.
As Ben Cohn's plane took off, a person-to-person telephone
call was
placed from the fort to a number in Washington, D.C.
MARY Ashley was walking down the long corridor of the
European Affairs
section of the State Department, on her way to report to
James Stickley,
when she heard a deep male voice behind her say, "Now,
That's what I
call a perfect ten."
Mary spun around. A tall stranger was leanin against a
wall, staring at
her, an insolent grin on his face. He was dressed in
jeans, T-shirt,
and tennis shoes, and he looked scruffy and unshaven.
There were laugh
lines around his mouth, and his eyes were a bright,
mocking blue. There
was an air of arrogance about him that was infuriating.
Mary turned on
her heel and angrily walked away, conscious of his eyes
following her.
The conference with James Stickley lasted for more than an
hour. When
Mary returned to her office, the stranger was seated in
her chair, his
feet on her desk, looking through her papers. She could
feel the blood
rising to her face.
"What the devil do you think you're doing?"
The man gave her a long, lazy look and slowly got to his
feet. "i'm Mike
Slade. My friends call me Michael."
She said icily, "What can I do for you, Mr. Slade?"
"Nothing, really," he said easily. "We're neighbors. I
work here in
the department, so I thought I'd come by and say hello."
"You've said it. I assume you have your own desk, so in
the future you
won't have. to sit at my desk and snoop."
"Well, well, it has a temper! I heard the Kansians, or
whatever you
people call yourselves, were supposed to be friendly
folks."
"Mr. Slade, I'll give you two seconds to get out of my
office."
"I must have heard wrong," he mumbled to himself.
"And if you really work here, I'd suggest you go home and
shave and put
on some proper clothing."
He waved his hand at her. "Bye, honey. I'll be seeing
you."
Oh, no, Mary thought. No, you won't.
The next morning when Mary arrived for her daily session
with Stickley,
Mike Slade was there as well.
He grinned at Mary. "Hi. I took your advice and shaved."
Stickley looked from one to the other. "You two have
met?"
Mary gritted her teeth. "Not really. I found him.
snooping at my
desk."
James Stickley said, "Mrs. Ashley, Mike Slade. Mr.
Slade is going to
be your deputy chief of mission."
Mary stared at him. "He's what?"
"Mr. Slade is on the East European desk. He usually
works out of
Washington now, but he spent four years in Remania, and
It's been
decided to assign him to work with you."
"No!" she protested. "That's impossible."
"Mrs. Ashley, Mike Slade happens to be our top field
expert on East
European affairs. Your job is to make friends with the
natives. My job
is to see to it that you get all the help I can give you.
And his name
is Mike Slade. I really don't want to hear any more about
it. Do I
make myself clear?"
Mike said mildly, "I promise to shave every day."
Mary turned to Stickley. "I thought an ambassador was
permitted to
choose her own deputy chief of mission."
"That is correct, but-"
"Then I am unchoosing Mr. Slade. I don't want him."
"Under ordinary circumstances you would be within your
rights, but in
this case I'm afraid you have no choice. The order came
from the White
House."
In the days that followed, Mary could not seem to avoid
Mike Slade. The
man was everywhere. She ran into him in the Pentagon, in
the Senate
dining room, in the corridors of the State Department. He
was always
dressed in either denims and a Tshirt or in sport clothes.
Mary
wondered how he got away with it in an environment that
was so formal.
One day Mary saw him having lunch with Colonel McKinney,
her military
attaches. They were engaged in an earnest conversation,
and Mary
wondered how close the two men were. Could they be old
friends? And
could they be planning to gang up on me? I'm, getting
paranoid, Mary
told herself. And I'm not even in Remania yet.
BEN Cohn was seated at a corner table at Mama Regina's
when his lunch
guest, Alfred Shuttleworth, arrived. The headwaiter
seated him.
"Would you care fora drink, gentlemen?"
Shuttleworth ordered a martini.
"Nothing for me," Ben Cohn said.
Alfred Shuttleworth was a sallow-looking middle-aged man
who worked in
the European Affairs section of the State Department. A
few years
earlier he had been involved in a drunkdriving accident
that Ben Cohn
had covered for his newspaper, Shuttleworth's career had
been at stake.
Cohn had killed the story, and Shuttleworth showed his
appreciation by
giving him news tips from time to time.
"I need your help, AI."
"Name it, and you've got it."
"I'd like the inside information on our new ambassador to
Remania."
Alfred Shuttleworth frowned. "What do you mean?"
"AI, Lindbergh never had a buildup like this. Here's this
Cinderella,
who comes out of nowhere, is touched by the magic wand of
our President,
and suddenly becomes the nation's number one celebrity and
political
savant." Now, I'll admit the lady is pretty but she isn't
that pretty.
The lady is bright-but she isn't that bright. I'll tell
you something
else That's out of killer. I flew to junction City,
Kansas, her
hometown, and talked to the sheriff there." Ben Cohn
paused.
"Go on," Shuttleworth said.
"Mrs. Ashley originally turned down the President because
her husband
couldn't leave his medical practice. Then he was killed
in a convenient
auto accident. Voildl The lady's in Washington, on her
way to
Bucharest. Exactly as someone had planned from the
beginning."
"Someone? Who?"
"That's the jackpot question."
"Ben, what are you suggesting?"
"I'm not suggesting anything. Let me tell you what
Sheriff Monster
suggested. He thought it was peculiar that half a dozen
people showed
up in the middle of a freezing winter night just in time
to Witness the
accident. And do you want to hear something even more
peculiar? They've
all disappeared."
"Go on."
"The driver of the army truck that killed Dr. Ashley is
dead of a heart
attack. Twenty-seven years old. Colonel Jenkins-the
officer in charge
of the army investigation, as well as one of the witnesses
to the
accident-he's been promoted and transferred. No one seems
to know
where."
Shuttleworth shook his head. "Ben, I know you're a dam
good reporter,
but I think you've gone off the track. You're building a
few
coincidences into a Hitchcock scenario. People do get
killed in auto
accidents. You're looking for some kind of conspiracy
where there is
none."
"AI, have you heard of an organization called Patriots for
Freedom?"
"No."
"I keep hearing rumors, but there's nothing I can pin
down."
"What kind of rumors?"
"It's supposed to be a cabal of high-level right-wing and
leftwing
fanatics from a dozen Eastern and Western countries.
Their ideologies
are diametrically opposed, but what brings them together
is fear. The
communist members think President Ellison's plan is a
capitalist trick
to destroy the Eastern bloc. The rightwingers believe his
plan is an
open door that will let the Communists destroy us. So
they've formed
this unholy alliance."
"I don't believe it."
"There's more. Besides the VIPS, splinter groups from
various
international security agencies are said to be involved.
Do you think
you could check it out for me?"
"I don't know, Ben. I'll try."
Shuttleworth was skeptical about Ben Cohn's theory. He
liked Ben, and
he wanted to help, but he had no idea how to go about
tracking down a
probably mythical organization. If it really did exist,
it would be in
some government computer. He himself had no access to the
computers.
But I know someone who does, Shuttleworth said to himself.
I'll give him
a call.
ALFRED Shuttleworth was on his second martini when Pete
Connors walked
into the bar.
"Sorry I'm late," Connors said. "A minor problem at the
pickle
factory."
Pete Connors ordered a Scotch, and Shuttleworth ordered
another martini.
"Pete," Shuttleworth said, "I need a favor. Could you
look up something
for me in the CIA computer? It may not be in there, but I
promised a
friend I'd try."
"Sure," said Connors. "I owe you a few. Who do you want
to know
about?"
"It's not a who, It's a what. And it probably doesn't
even exist. It's
an organization called Patriots for Freedom. Have you
heard of it?"
Pete Connors carefully set down his drink. "I can't,say
that I have,
AH. What's the name of your friend?"
"Ben Cohn. He's a reporter for the Post."
THERE was no way to get directly in touch with the
Controller. He had
organized and financed Patriots for Freedom, but he never
attended
Committee meetings, and he was completely anonymous. He
was a telephone
number-untraceable (Connors had tried)-and a recording
that said, "You
have sixty seconds in which to leave your message." The
number was to be
used only in case of emergencies. Connors stopped at a
public telephone
booth to make the call. He talked to the recording.
The message was received at six p.m.
In Buenos, Aires it was eight p.m.
The Controller listened to the message twice, then dialed
a number. He
waited for three full minutes before Neusa Mufiez's voice
came on.
I's(?"
The Controller said, "This is the man who made
arrangements with you
before about Angel. I have another contract for him. Can
you get in
touch with him right away?"
"I don' know." She sounded drunk.
The woman was impossible. "Listen to me. Tell Angel I
need this done
immediately. I want him to-"
"Wait a minute. I gotta go to the toilet."
The Controller heard her drop the phone. He sat there,
filled with
frustration, until she came back on the line. "A lotta
beer makes you
go," she announced.
He gritted his teeth. "This is very important. I want
you to get a
pencil and write this down. I'll speak slowly."
"I WANTED to bring you the good news in person, Mary,"
said Stanton
Rogers. "We just received official word that the Romanian
government
has approved you as the new ambassador from the United
States. Now
President Ellison can give you a letter of credence, and
you'll be on
your way."
"I- I don't know how to thank you for everything you've
done, Stan."
"I haven't done anything," Rogers protested. "It was the
President who
selected you." He grinned. "And I must say, he made the
perfect choice.
You can do more for our country over there than anyone
else I can think
of."
"Thank you," she said soberly. "I'll try to live up to
that."
It was one of the most thrilling moments of Mary Ashley's
life. It
seemed almost too good to be true. And for no reason
something that
Mary's mother used to tell her popped into her mind: "If
something seems
to be too good to be true, Mary, you can bet it probably
is."
THURSDAY morning Angel was in a bad mood. The flight from
Buenos Aires
to Washington, D.C., had been delayed because of a
telephoned bomb
threat. The world isn't safe anymore, Angel thought
angrily.
The hotel room that had been reserved in Washington was
too modern,
too-what was the word?-plastic. That was it. In Buenos
Aires
everything was autgntico. I'll finish this contract and
get back home,
Angel thought. The job is simple, almost an insult to my
talent, but
the money is excellent.
Angel's first stop was an electrical supply store, then a
paint store,
and finally a supermarket, where Angel's only purchase was
six light
bulbs. The rest of the equipment was waiting in the hotel
room in two
sealed boxes marked FRAGILE HANDLE with CARE. Inside the
first box were
four carefully packed army-green hand grenades. In the
second box was
soldering equipment.
Working very slowly, with :xquisite care, Angel cut the
top off the
first grenade, then painted the bottom the same color as
the light
bulbs. The next step was to scoop out the explosive from
the grenade
and replace it with a seismic explosive. When this was
tightly packed,
Angel added lead and metallic shrapnel to it. Then Angel
shattered a
light bulb against a table, preserving the filament and
threaded base.
It took less than a minute to solder the filament of the
bulb to an
electrically activated detonator. The final step was to
insert it
gently inside the painted grenade. When Angel was
finished, it looked
exactly like a normal light bulb.
Then Angel began to work on the remaining bulbs. After
that, there was
nothing to do but wait for the phone call.
The telephone rang at eight o'clock that evening. Angel
picked up the
phone and listened without speaking. After a moment a
voice said, "He's
gone."
The Un ride to the apartment building took seventeen
minutes.
There was no doorman in the lobby. The target apartment
was on the
fifth floor, at the far end of the corridor. The lock was
an early
model Schlage, childishly simple to manipulate. Angel was
inside the
dark apartment within seconds.
It was the work of a few minutes to replace six light
bulbs in the
living room of the apartment. Afterward Angel headed for
Dulles Airport
to catch a midnight flight back to Buenos Aires.
That night Ben Cohn was killed by a mysterious explosion
in his
apartment. There was a brief item in the press
attributing the accident
to a leaky gas stove.
The next day Alfred Shutfleworth was reported missing by
his wife. His
body was never found.
STANTON Rogers accompanied Mary and the children to Dulles
Airport in a
State Department limousine.
"I want to thank you, Stan. You've been so wonderful,"
said Mary.
He smiled. "I can't tell you how much pleasure It's given
me."
"I hate to burden you with this, but James Stickley told
me that Mike
Slade is going to be my deputy chief of mission. Is there
any way to
change that?"
He looked at her in surprise. "Are you having some kind
of problem with
Slade?"
"Quite honestly, I don't like him. Is there someone who
could replace
him?"
Stanton Rogers said thoughtfully, "I don't know Mike Slade
well, but he
has a magnificent record. He's served brilliantly in
posts in the
Middle East and Europe. He can give you exactly the kind
of expertise
you're going to need."
She sighed. "That's what Mr. Stickley said."
"If you have any problem with him, I want you to let me
know. In fact,
if you have problems with anyone, I want you to let me
know. I intend
to make sure that you get every bit of help I can give
you."
"I appreciate that."
"One last thing. If you have any messages that you want
to send to me
without anyone else reading them, the code at the top of
the message is
three x's. I'll be the only one to receive that message."
It was only after she and the children were airborne that
the enormity
of what was about to happen really struck Mary Ashley. It
was so
incredible that she had to say it aloud. "We're on our
way to Remania,
where I'm going to take up my post as ambassador from the
United
States."
Beth was looking at her strangely. "Yes, Mother. We know
that."
I'm going to be the best ambassador they've ever seen,
Mary thought.
Before I'm finished, the United States and Remania are
going to be close
allies.
The next instant, Mary's euphoric dreams of-great
statesmanship
evaporated, giving way to panic. I'm not a real
ambassador, she
thought. I'm a fake. I'm going to get us into a war.
God help us.
Dorothy and I should never have left Kansas.
Chapter Seven
OTOPENI Airport, ten miles from the heart of Bucharest, is
a modern
airport, built to facilitate the flow of travelers from
nearby iron
curtain countries as well as to take care of the lesser
number of
Western tourists who visit Remania each year.
Inside the terminal were soldiers in brown uniforms, armed
with rifles
and pistols, and there was a stark air of coldness about
the building
that had nothing to do with the frigid temperature.
Unconsciously Tim
and Beth moved closer to Mary. So they feel it too, she
thought.
Two men were approaching. One of them, a slim, athletic
man, introduced
himself. "Welcome to Remania, Madam Ambassador. I'm jerry
Davis, your
public affairs consul. This is Tudor Costache, the
Remanian chief of
protocol."
"It is a pleasure to have you and your children with us,"
Costache said.
"Welcome to our country."
In a way, Mary thought, It's going to be my country too.
"Mulfumesc,
domnule," she said.
"You speak Romanian!" Costache cried. "Cu pldcerel"
Mary hoped the man was not going to get carried away. "A
few words, she
replied hastily.
Tim said, "Bunddimineata." And Mary was so proud she
could. have burst.
She introduced Tim and Beth.
jerry Davis said, "Your limousine is waiting for you,
Madain Ambassador.
Colonel McKinney is outside."
There was a long line waiting to go through customs, but
Mary and the
children were outside the building in a matter of minutes.
There were
reporters and photographers at the entrance, but instead
of the
free-forealls that Mary had encountered at home,
everything was orderly
and controlled. When they had finished, they thanked Mary
and departed
in a body.
Colonel McKinney, in army uniform, was waiting at the
curb. He held out
his hand. "Good morning, Madam Ambassador. Did you have
a pleasant
trip?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Mike Slade wanted to b ' e here, but there was some
important business
he had to take care of."
Mary was relieved.
A long black limousine with an American flag on the right
front fender
pulled up. A cheerful-looking man in a chauffeur's
uniform held the
door open.
"This is Florian."
The chauffeur grinned. "Welcome, Madam Ambassador.
Master Tim. Miss
Beth. It will be my pleasure to serve you."
"Thank you," Mary said.
"Florian will be at your disposal twenty-four hours a day.
I thought we
would go directly to the residence so you can unpack and
relax. Tomorrow
morning Florian will take you to the embassy."
"That sounds fine," Mary said.
The drive from the airport to the city was fascinating.
They drove on a
heavily traveled two-lane highway, but every few miles the
traffic would
be held up by plodding Gypsy carts. On both sides of the
highway were
modern factories next to ancient huts. The car passed
farm after farm,
with women working in the fields, colorful bandannas
knotted around
their heads. They drove by an ominous blue-and-gray
building just off
the main highway.
"What is that?" Mary asked.
Florian grimaced. "The Ivan Stelian Prison. That is
where they put
anyone who disagrees with the Remanian government."
At last they reached the center of Bucharest, which was
very beautiful.
There were parks and monuments and fountains everywhere
one looked. Mary
remembered her grandfather saying, "Bucharest is a
miniature Paris,
Mary. They even have a replica of the Eiffel Tower." And
there it was.
She was in the homeland of her forefathers.
The streets were crowded with people and streetcars, and
the limousine
had to honk its way through the traffic.
"The residence is just ahead," Colonel McKinney said as
the car turned
into a small tree-lined street.
The ambassador's residence was a large and beautiful
oldfashioned
three-story house surrounded by lovely grounds. The staff
was lined up
outside, waiting to welcome Mary.
jerry Davis made the introductions. "Mihai, your butler;
Rosica, your
housekeeper; Cosma, your chef; and Delia and Carmen, your
maids."
Mary moved down the line receiving their bows and
curtsies. They all
seemed to be waiting for her to say something. She took a
deep breath.
"Bunaziua. Mulfumesc. Nu vorbesc-" Every bit of Remanian
she had
learned flew out of her head. She stared at them
helplessly.
Mihai, the butler, bowed. "We all speak English, ma'am.
We welcome you
and shall be happy to serve your every need."
Mary sighed with relief. "Thank you."
"Let me show you around," jerry Davis said.
On the ground floor there was a library, a music room, a
living room, a
large dining room, a kitchen, and a pantry. A terrace ran
the length of
the building outside the dining room, facing a large park.
At the rear
of the house was an indoor swimming pool.
"Our own swimming pool!" Tim exclaimed. "Can I go
swimming?"
"Later, darling. Let's get settled in first."
The pidce de rdsistance was the ballroom, built near the
garden. It was
enormous. Glistening Baccarat sconces lined the walls,
which were
covered with flocked paper.
jerry Davis said, "This is where the embassy parties are
given. Watch
this." He pressed a switch on the wall. There was a
gnding noise, and
the ceiling began to split in the center, opening up until
the sky
became visible. "It can also be operated manually."
"Hey, That's neatly" Beth exclaimed.
"It's called the Ambassador's Folly," jerry explained.
"It's too hot to
keep open in the summer and too cold in the winter. We
use it in April
and September." As the cold air started to descend, he
pressed the
switch and the ceiling closed.
They followed him upstairs to a large central hall that
led to the
bedrooms.
"The third floor has servants' quarters," jerry continued.
"In., the
basement is a wine cellar."
"It's-It's enormous," Mary said.
"Which is my room?" Beth asked.
"You and Tim can decide that between yourselves."
"You can have this one," Tim offered. "It's frilly.
Girls like frilly
things."
The master bedroom was lovely, with a queen-size bed with
a goose-down
comforter, two couches before a fireplace, a dressing
table, and a
wonderful view of the garden. Mary was so exhausted she
could hardly
wait to get into bed.
THE American embassy in Bucharest is a white, semi-Gothic
two-story
building with. an iron gate in front. The entrance is
guarded by a
marine officer, and a second marine sits inside a security
booth at the
side of the gate.
Inside, the lobby isornate. It has a marble floor, two
closed circuit
television sets at a desk guarded by a marine, and a
fireplace. The
corridors are lined with portraits of U.S. Presidents. A
winding
staircase leads to the second floor, where a conference
room and offices
are located.
The guard was waiting for Mary at the desk. "Good
morning, Madam
Ambassador. I'm Sergeant Hughes. They call me Gunny.
They're waiting
for you upstairs. I'll escort you there."
"Thank you, Gunny." Mary followed him upstairs to a
reception room,
where a middle-aged woman was sitting behind a desk.
She rose. "Good morning, Madam Ambassador. I'm Dorothy
Stone, your
secretary."
"How do you do."
Dorothy said, "I'm afraid you have quite a crowd in
there."
She opened the door, and Mary walked into the room. There
were nine
people seated around a large conference table. They rose
as Mary
entered. They were all staring at her, and she felt a
wave of animosity
that was almost palpable. The first person she saw was
Mike Slade.
"I see you got here safely," Mike said. "Let me introduce
you to your
department heads. This is Lucas Janklow, administrative
consul; Eddie
Maltz, political consul; Patricia Hatfield, your economic
consul; David
Wallace, head of administration; Ted Thompson,
agriculture. You've met
jerry Davis, your public affairs consul. This is David
Victor, commerce
consul, and you already know Colonel Bill McKinney."
"Please be seated," Mary said. She sat at the head of the
table and
surveyed the group. Hostility comes in all sizes and
shapes, Mary
thought. It's going to take time to sort them out.
Mike Slade was saying, "All of us are serving at your
discretion. You
can replace any of us at any time."
That's a lie, Mary thought angrily; I tried to replace
you.
There was general inconsequential conversation, until Mike
Slade said,
"Madam Ambassador, the individual consuls will now brief
you on any
serious problems."
Mary resented his taking charge, but she said nothing.
Ted Thompson, the agriculture consul, was the first to
speak. "The
Remanian agriculture minister is in worse trouble than
he's admitting.
They're going to have a disastrous crop this year, and we
can't afford
to let them go under."
The economic consul, Patricia Hatfield, protested. "We've
given them
enough aid, Ted. Remania's already operating under a
favored-nations
treaty. It's a GSP country." She looked at Mary and said
patronizingly,
"A GSP country is-"
"Is a generalized system of preferences," Mary cut in.
"We treat
Remania as a less developed country so that they get
import and export
advantages."
Hatfield's expression changed. "That's right."
"I'll see what I can do," Mary promised, making a note to
herself.
Eddie Maltz, the political consul, spoke up. "I have an
urgent problem.
A nineteen-year-old American college student was arrested
last night for
possession of marijuana. That's an extremely serious
offense here. The
usual penalty is a five-year prison sentence."
How awful, Mary thought. "What can we do about it?"
Mike Slade said lazily, "You can try your charm on the
head of the
Securitate. His name is Istrase. He has a lot of power."
Eddie Maltz went on. "The girl says she was framed, and
she may have a
point. She was stupid enough to have an affair with a
Remanian
policeman. He turned her in."
Mary was horrified. "I'll see if I can do something." She
turned to the
public affairs consul, jerry Davis. "Do you have any
urgent problems?"
"My department is having trouble getting approvals for
repairs on the
apartments our embassy staff live in. Some of our people
are without
heat, and in several of the apartments the toilets don't
work and
there's no running water."
"Can't they just go ahead and have their own repairs
made?"
"No. The Remanian government has to approve all repairs."
"Have you complained about this?"
"Yes, ma'am. Every day for the last three months."
"It's called harassment," Mike Slade explained. "It's a
war of nerves
they like to play with us."
Ambassador Ashley was beginning to get a headache.
After the meeting broke up and she and Slade were alone,
Mary asked,
"Which one of them is the CIA agent attached to the
embassy?"
Mike looked at her a moment. "Why don't you come with
me?"
He walked out of the conference room.
Mary followed him down a long corridor. He came to a
large door with a
marine guard standing in front of it. The guard stepped
aside as Mike
pushed the door open. He turned and gestured for Mary to
enter.
She stepped inside and looked around. The room was an
incredible
combination of metal and glass, covering the floor, the
walls, and the
ceiling.
Mike closed the heavy door behind them. "This is the
bubble room. Every
embassy in an iron curtain country has one. It's the only
room in the
embassy that can't be bugged."
He saw her look of disbelief.
"Madam Ambassador, not only is the embassy bugged, but you
can bet your
residence is bugged, and if you go out to a restaurant,
your table will
be bugged. You're in enemy territory."
Mary sank into a chair. "How do you handle that?" she
asked. "I mean,
not ever being able to talk freely."
"We do an electronic sweep every morning. We find their
bugs and pull
them out. They replace them, and we pull those out."
"Why do we permit Remanians to work in the embassy?"
"It's their playground. They're the home team. We play
by their rules
or blow the ball game. They can't get their microphones
into this room,
because there are marine guards on duty in front of that
door
twenty-four hours a day. Now, what are your questions?"
"I just wondered who the CIA man was."
"Eddie Maltz, your political consul."
Eddie Maltz. He was the middle-aged one, very thin, a
sinister face. Or
did she think that now because he was CIA? "Is he the
only CIA man on
the staff?"
"Yes." Mike Slade looked at his watch. "You're due to
present your
credentials to the Remanian government in thirty minutes.
Florian is
waiting for you outside. Take your letter of credence.
You'll give the
original to President Ionescu and put a copy in our safe."
Mary found that she was gritting her teeth. "I know that,
Mr. Slade."
HEWUARTERS for the Remanian government is a forbidding
sandstone
building in the center of Bucharest. It is protected by a
steel wall
and surrounded by armed guards. An aide met Mary at the
entrance and
escorted her upstairs.
President Alexandros Ionescu greeted Mary in a long
rectangular room on
the second floor. The President had a powerful presence.
He was dark,
with curly black hair, hawklike features, and one of the
most imperious
noses Ma had ever seen. His eyes were blazing,
mesmerizing. He took
Mary's hand and gave it a lingering kiss. "You are even
more beautiful
than you look in your photographs."
"Thank you, Your Excellency." Mary opened her purse and
took out the
letter of credence President Ellison had given her.
Ioneseu gave it a careless glance. "Thank you. I accept
it on behalf
of the ]Remanian government. You are now officially the
American
ambassador to my country." He beamed at her. "I have
arranged a
reception this evening for you. You will meet some of our
people who
will be working with you."
"That's very kind of you," Mary said.
He took her hand in his again and said, "I hope you will
grow to love
our country, Madam Ambassador." He massaged her hand.
"I'm sure I will." He thinks i'm just another pretty face,
Mary thought
grimly. I'll have to do something about that.
MARY returned to the embassy and spent the rest of the day
sifting
through the blizzard of white paper on her desk. There
were the English
translations of Remanian newspaper and magazine articles,
the wireless
file and the summary of news developments reported in the
United States,
a thick report on arms-control negotiations, and an update
on the United
Slates economy. There's enough reading material in one
day, Mary
thought, to keep me busy for a week, and I'm going to get
this every
day.
But the problem that disturbed Mary more was the feeling
of antagonism
from her staff. That had to be handled immediately. She
sent for
Harriet Kruger, her protocol officer. "How long have you
worked here at
the embassy?" Mary asked.
"Four years before our break with Remania, and now three
glorious
months." There was a note of irony in her voice. "May we
have an
off-the-record conversation?"
"No, ma'am."
Mary had forgotten. "Why don't we adjourn to the bubble
room?" she
suggested.
When Mary and Harriet Kruger were seated in the bubble
room, Mary said,
"Something just occurred to me. Our meeting this morning
was held in
the conference room. Isn't that bugged?"
"Probably," Harriet said cheerfully. "But it doesn't
matter.
Mike Slade wouldn't let anything be discussed that the
Romanians aren't
already aware of."
Mike Slade. "What do you think of Slade?" Mary asked.
"He's the best."
Mary decided not to express her opinion. "I got the
feeling today that
morale around here isn't good. Is it because of me, or
has it always
been that way?"
Harriet studied her a moment. "It's a combination of
both. The
Americans working here are in a pressure cooker. We're
afraid to make
friends with Remanians, because they probably belong to
the Securitate,
so we stick together. We're a small group, so pretty soon
that gets
claustrophobic." She shrugged. "The pay is small, .the
food is lousy,,
and the weather is bad." She studied Mary. "None of that
is your fault,
Ambassador Ashley. You have two problems. The first is
that you're a
political appointee in charge of an embassy manned by
career diplomats."
She stopped. "Am I coming on too strong?"
"No. Please go on."
"Most of them were against you before you even got here.
Career workers
in an embassy tend not to rock the boat. Political
appointees like to
change things. To them, you're an.amateur telling
professionals how to
run their business. The second problem is that you're a
woman. The men
in the embassy'don't like taking orders from a woman."
"I see."
Harriet Kruger smiled. "But you sure have a great
publicity agent. I've
never seen so many magazine cover stories in my life. How
do you do it?"
Mary had no answer to that. She was, in fact, disturbed
by the comments
she kept hearing about the amount of publicity she and the
children were
getting. There had even been an article in Pravda, with a
picture of
the three of them.
Harriet Kruger glanced at her watch. "oops! You're going
to be late.
Florian's waiting to take you home so you can change.
Aside from
President Ionescu's reception you have three parties
tonight."
Mary was staring at her. "That's impossible. I have
too-"
"It goes with the territory. There are seventy-five
embassies in
Bucharest, and on any given night some of them are
celebrating
something."
"Can't I say no?"
"That would be the United States saying no to them. They
would be
offended."
Mary sighed. "I guess I'd better go change."
As SOON as Mary arrived at the reception, President
Ionescu walked over
to her. He kissed her hand and said, "I have been looking
forward to
seeing you again."
"Thank you, Your Excellency. I too."
She had a feeling he had been drinking heavily. She
recalled the
dossier on him: Mained. One son, fourteen-the heir
apparentand three
daughters. Is a womanizer. Drinks a lot. A shrewd
peasant mentality.
Charming when it suits him. Generous to his friends.
Dangerous and
ruthless to his enemies.
Ioescu took Mary's arm and led her off to a deserted
corner. "You will
find us Remanians interesting." He squeezed her arm. "We
are a very
passionate people." He looked at her for a reaction, and
when he got
none, he went on. "We are descendants of the ancient
Dacians and their
conquerors, the Romans. For centuries we have been
Europe's doormat.
The.Huns, Goths, Avars, Slays, and Mongols wiped their
feet on us, but
Remania has survived. And do you know how?" He leaned
closer to her.
"By giving our people a strong, firm leadership. They
trust me, and I
rule them well."
Mary thought of some of the stories she had heard. The
arrests in the
middle of the night, the atrocities, the disappearances.
Ioneseu was about to continue talking when a man came up
to him and
whispered in his ear. Ionescu's expression turned cold.
He hissed
something in Remanian, and the man hurried off. The
dictator turned
back to Mary, oozing charm again. "I must leave you now.
I look
forward to seeing you again soon."
And Ionescu was gone.
TO GET A Head START ON no crowded day that faced her, Mary
had Florian
pick her up at six thirty a.m. During the ride to the
embassy she read
the reports and communiques that had been delivered to the
residence
during the night.
As Mary walked past Mike Slade's office she stopped in
surprise. He was
at his desk working. "You're in early," she said.
He looked up. Morning. I'd like to have a word with you.
Not here.
Your office."
He followed Mary through the connecting door to her
office, and she
watched as he walked over to an instrument in the corner
of the room.
"This is a shredder," Mike informed her.
"I know that."
"Really? Last night you left some papers on top of your
desk.
By now they've been photographed and sent to Moscow."
"Oh, no! I must have forgotten. Which ones?" "A list of
personal
things you wanted to order. But That's beside the point.
The cleaning
women work for the Securitate. Lesson number one: at
night everything
must be locked up or shredded."
"What's lesson number two?" Mary asked coldly.
Mike grinned. "The ambassador always starts the day by
having coffee
with her deputy chief How do you take yours?"
"I- Black."
"Good. You have to watch your figure around here. The
food is
fattening." He started toward the door that led to his
office. "I make
my own special brew. You'll like it."
Mary sat there, infuriated by his arrogance. I have to be
careful how I
handle him, she decided. I want him out of here as
quickly as possible.
He returned with two mugs of steaming coffee.
"How do I arrange for Beth and Tim to start school?" she
asked.
"I've already arranged it. Florian will deliver them
mornings and pick
them up afternoons."
She was taken aback. "I- Thank you."
"The school is small but excellent. Each class has eight
or nine
students. They come from all over-Canadians, Israelis,
Nigerians, you
name it." Mike took a sip of his coffee. "I understand
that you had a
nice chat with our fearless leader last night."
"President Ionescu? Yes. He seemed very pleasant."
"Oh, he is. Until he gets annoyed with somebody. Don't
let Ionescu's
charm fool you. He's a dyed-in-the-wool s.o.b. His
people despise him,
but there's nothing they can do ibout it. The secret
police are
everywhere. The general rule of thumb here is that one
out of every
three people works for the Securitate or the KGB. A
Remanian can be
arrested merely for signing a petition."
Mary felt a shiver go through her. "They do have trials
here?"
"Oh, occasionally they'll have show trials, but most of
the people
arrested manage to have fatal accidents while they're in
police custody.
In general, conditions here are horrifying, but the people
are afraid to
strike back, because they know they'll be shot. The
standard of living
is one of the lowest in Europe. There's a shortage of
everything. If
people see a line in front of a store, they'll join in and
buy
whatever's for sale while they have the chance."
"It seems to me," Mary said slowly, "that all these things
add up to a
wonderful opportunity for us to help them."
Mike Slade looked at her. "Sure," he said dryly.
"Wonderful."
That afternoon as Mary was going through some newly
arrived cables from
Washington she thought about Mike Slade. He was arrogant
and rude, yet
he'd arranged for the children's school. He may be more
complex than I
thought, she decided. But I still don't trust him.
THE inside of the Ivan Stelian Prison was even more
forbidding than its
exterior. The corridors were narrow, painted a dull gray.
There was a
jungle of crowded black-barred cells, patrolled by
uniformed guards
armed with machine guns. The stench was overpowering.
A guard led Mary to a small visitors' room, saying, "She's
in there. You
have ten minutes."
Mary entered, and the door closed behind her.
Hannah Murphy was seated at a small battle-scarred table.
She was
handcuffed and wearing prison garb. Her face was pale and
gauss% and
her eyes were red and swollen. Her hair was uncombed.
"Hi," Mary said.
"I'm the American ambassador."
Hannah Murphy looked at her and began to sob
uncontrollably.
Mary put her arms around the girl and said soothingly,
"Every thing is
going to be all right. Now, just tell me what happened."
Hannah Murphy took a deep breath. "I met this man-he was
a Remanian-and
I was lonely. He was nice to me, and we- We spent the
night together. A
girlfriend had given me some marijuana. I shared it with
him. When I
woke up in the morning, he was gone, but the police were
there. And
they brought me to this hellhole." She shook her head
helplessly. "Five
years."
Mary thought of what Lucas Janklow had said as she was
leaving for the
prison: "There's nothing you can do for her. If ghe were
a Remanian,
they'd probably give her life." Now Mary looked at Hannah
Murphy and
said, "I'll do everything in my power to help you."
Mary had examined the official police report. It was
signed by Captain
Aurel Istrase, head of the Securitate. It was brief and
unhelpful, but
there was no doubt of the girl's guilt. I'll have to find
another way,
Mary thought. Aurel Istrase. The name had a familiar
ring. She
thought back to the confidential dossier James Stickley
had shown her in
Washington. She remembered something in there about
Captain Istrase....
Mary arranged to meet with the captain the following
morning.
AuREL Istrase was a short swarthy man with a scoffed face.
He had come
to the embassy for the meeting. He was curious about the
new American
ambassador.
"You wished to talk to me, Madam Ambassador?"
"Thank you for coming. I want to discuss Hannah Murphy."
"Ah, yes. The drug peddler. In Remania we have strict
laws about
people who sell drugs. They go to jail."
"Excellent," Mary said. "I'm pleased to hear that. I
wish we had
stricter drug laws in the United States."
Istrase was watching her, puzzled. "Then you agree with
me?"
"Absolutely. Anyone who sells drugs deserves jail.
Hannah Murphy,
however, did not sell drugs. She offered to give some
marijuana to a
Remanian citizen."
"It is the same thing. If-"
"Not quite, Captain. The Remanian was a lieutenant on
your police
force. He smoked marijuana too. Has he been punished?"
"He was merely gathering evidence of a criminal act."
"Your lieutenant has a wife and three children?"
Captain Istrase frowned. "Yes."
"Does the lieutenant's wife know' about her husband's
affair?"
Captain Istrase stared at her. "Why should she?"
"Because it sounds to me like a clear case of entrapment.
I think we
had better make this whole thing public. The
international press will
be fascinated."
"There would be no point to that," Istrase said.
She sprang her ace. "Why? Because the lieutenant happens
to be your
son-in-law?"
"Certainly not! I just want to see justice done."
"So do I," Mary assured him.
According to the dossier she had seen, the son-in-law
specialized in
making the acquaintance of young tourists, seducing them,
suggesting
places where they could trade in the black market or buy
drugs, and then
turning them in.
Mary said in a conciliatory tone, "I see no need for your
daughter to
know how her husband conducts himself. I think it would
be much better
if you released Hannah Murphy from jail and I sent her
back to the
States. What do you say, Captain?"
He sat there turning. Finally he shrugged. "I will use
what little
influence I have."
"I'm sure you will, Captain Istrase. Thank you."
The next day a grateful Hannah Murphy was on her way home.
"How did you do it?" Mike Slade asked unbelievingly.
"I followed your advice. I charmed him."
Chapter Eight
THE day Beth and Tim were to start school, Mary got a call
at five a.m.
from the embassy that a NIACT-A night action cable-had
come in and
required an immediate answer. It was the start of a long
and busy day,
and by the time Mary returned to the residence, it was
after seven p.m.
The children were waiting for her.
"Well," Mary asked, "how was school?"
"I like it," Beth replied. "Did you know there are kids
there from
twenty-two different countries? This neat Italian boy
kept staring at
me all through class. It's a great school."
"They've got a keen science laboratory," Tim added.
"Tomorrow we're
going to take some Remanian frogs apart."
"well, I'm glad you had no problems."
Beth said, "No, Mom. Mike Slade took care of us."
"What does Mike Slade have to do with your going to
school?"
"Didn't he tell you? He took us there and introduced us
to our
teachers. He knows them all."
"He knows a lot of kids there too," Tim said. "And he
introduced us to
them. Everybody likes him. He's a neat guy."
A little too neat, Mary thought.
THE following morning when Mike walked into Mary's office,
she said, "I
understand that you took Beth and Tim to school."
He nodded. "It's tough for youngsters, trying to adjust
in a foreign
country. They're good kids. And speaking of kids, we
have a sick one
here you'd better take a look at "
He led her to a small office down the corrido;. On the
couch was a
white-faced young marine, groaning in pain.
"What happened?" Mary asked.
"My guess is appendicitis."
"Then we'd better get him to a hospital right away."
"Not here. He has to be flown either to Rome, Zurich, or
Frankfurt. No
one from an American embassy ever goes to a hospital in an
iron curtain
country.
"But why?"
"Because we're vulnerable. We could be put under either
or given
scopolamine. They could extract all kinds of information
from us. It's
a State Department rule. We fly him out."
"Why don't we have our own doctor?" Mary snapped.
"Because we're a C-category embassy. We haven't the
budget for our own
doctor. An American doctor pays us a visit here once
every three
months. In the meantime, we have a pharmacist for minor
aches and
pains." He picked up a form from the desk. "Just sign
this, and he's on
his way."
"Very well." Mary signed the paper. She walked over to
the young marine
and took his hand in hers. "You're going to be fine , she
said softly.
"Just fine."
Two hours later the marine was on a plane to Frankfurt.
MARY SPENT EVERY possible MOMENT she could with the
children. They did
a lot of sight-seeing. There were dozens of museums and
old churches to
visit, but for the children the highlight was the trip to
Dracula's
castle in Brasoy, located in the heart of Transylvania, a
hundred miles
from Bucharest.
"The,countThe count was really a prince," Florian
explained on the drive
up. nnce Vlad Tepes. He was the great hero who stopped
the Turkish
invasion."
"I thought he just sucked blood and killed people," Tim
said.
Florian nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately, after the war
Vlad's power went
to his head. He became a dictator, and he impaled his
enemies on
stakes. The legend grew that he was a vampire. An
Irishman named Bram
Stoker wrote a book based on the legend. A silly book, but
it has done
wonders for tourism."
Bran Castle was a huge stone monument high in the
mountains. They
climbed the steep stone steps leading to the castle and
went into a
low-ceilinged room containing guns and ancient artifacts.
"This is where Count Dracula murdered his victims and
drank their
blood," the guide said in a sepulchral voice.
The room was damp and eerie. A spiderweb brushed across
Tim's face.
"I'm not scared or anything," he said to his mother, "but
can we get out
of here?"
EVERY morning when Mary rode to work, she noticed long
lines of people
outside the gates waiting to get into the consular section
of the
embassy. She had taken it for granted that they were
people with minor
problems they hoped the consul could solve. But one
morning she went to
the window to take a closer look, and the expressions she
saw on their
faces compelled her to go into Mike's office.
"Who are all those people waiting in line outside?"
Mike walked with her to his window. "They're mostly
Romanian Jews.
They're waiting to file applications for visas."
"But there's an Israeli embassy in Bucharest."
"They think there's less of a chance of the Remanian
security people
finding out their intention if they come to us. They're
wrong, of
course." He pointed out the window. "That apartment house
has several
flats filled with agents using telescopic lenses,
photographing everybody who goes in -and out of the
embassy."
"That's terrible!"
"That's the way they play the game. When a Jewish family
applies for a
visa to emigrate, they lose their green job cards and
they're thrown out
of their apartments. Then it takes three to four years
before the
government will tell them whether they'll even get their
exit papers,
and the answer is usually no."
"Can't we do something about it?"
"We try all the time. But Ionescu enjoys playing a
cat-andmouse game
with the Jews. Very few of them are ever allowed to leave
the country."
Mary looked out at the expressions of hopelessness on
their faces.
"There has to be a way," she said.
"Don't break your heart," Mike told her, handing her a mug
of coffee.
What a cold man, Mary thought. I wonder if anything ever
touches him.
I'm going to do something to help the Jews, she promised
herself.
Mike sat down at his desk. "There's a Remanian folk dance
company
opening tonight. They're supposed to be pretty good.
Would you like to
go?"
Mary was taken by surprise. The last thing she had
expected was for
Mike to invite her out.
And now, even more incredibly, she found herself saying
yes.
"Good." Mike handed her a small envelope. "Here are three
tickets. You
can take Beth and Tim, courtesy of the Romaniari
government. We get
tickets to most of their openings."
Mary stood there, her face flushed, feeling like a fool.
"Thank you,"
she said stiffly.
"I'll have Florian pick ypu up at eight o'clock."
BETH and Tim were not interested in going to the theater.
Beth had
invited a schoolmate for dinner. "It's my Italian
friend," she said.
"To tell you the truth, I've never really cared much for
folk dancing,"
Tim added.
Mary laughed. "I'll let you two off the hook this time."
She wondered if the children were as lonely as she was.
She thought
about whom she could invite to go with her, mentally
running down the
list: Colonel McKinney, jerry Davis, Harriet Kruger.
There was no one
she really wanted to be with. I'll go alone, she decided.
The folk theater, anornate relic of more tranquil times,
was on Rasodia
Roman, a bustling street filled with small stands selling
flowers,
plastic slippers, blouses, and pens. The entertainment
was boring, the
costumes tawdry, and the dancers awkward. The show seemed
interminable,
and when it was finally over, Mary was glad to escape into
the fresh
night air. Florian was standing by the limousine, in
front of the
theater.
"I'm afraid there will be a delay, Madam Ambassador. A
flat tire. And
a thief has stolen the spare. I have sent for one. It
should be here
in the next hour. Would you like to wait in the car?"
Mary looked up at the full moon. The evening was crisp
and clear. She
realized she had not taken a walk in the month since she
had arrived in
Bucharest. "I think I'll walk back."
She turned and started down the street toward the central
square.
Bucharest was a fascinating, exotic city. Even at this
late hour most
of the shops were open, and there were queues at all of
them. Coffee
shops were serving gogoage, the delicious Romanian
doughnuts. The
sidewalks were crowded with late-night shoppers carrying
pungi, the
string shopping bags. It seemed to Mary that the people
were ominously
quiet. They were staring at her, the women avidly eyeing
her clothes.
She began to walk faster. When she reached a street
called Calea
Victorier, she stopped, unsure of which direction to take.
She said to
a passerby, "Excuse me-" He gave her a quick, frightened
look and
hurried off.
How was she, going to get back? It seemed to her that the
residence was
somewhere to the east. She began walking in that
direction. Soon she
was on a small, dimly lit side street. In the fat
distance she could
see a broad, well-lit boulevard. I can get a taxi there,
Mary thought
with relief.
There was the sound of heavy footsteps behind her, and she
turned. A
large man in an overcoat was coming toward her.
"Excuse me," the man called out in a heavy Remanian
accent.
"Are you lost?"
She was filled with relief He was probably a policeman.
"Yes," she said
gratefully. "I want to go back to-"
There was the sudden roar of a car racing up behind her
and then the
squeal of brakes. The pedestrian in the overcoat grabbed
Mary. She
could smell his hot, fetid breath and feel his fat fingers
bruising her
wrist. He started pushing her toward the open door of the
ear. "Get
in!" the man growled.
"No!," Mary was fighting to break free, and screaming,
"Help! Help me!"
There was a shout from across the street, and a figure
came racing
toward them. The man who had accosted her stopped, unsure
of what to
do.
The stranger yelled, "Let go of her!" He grabbed the man
in the overcoat
and pulled him away from Mary. She found herself suddenly
free.
The man behind the wheel got out of the car to help his
accomplice, but
then from the far distance came the sound of an
approaching siren, and
the two men leaped into the car and it sped away.
A blue-and-white car with the word militia on the side and
a flashing
light on top pulled up in front of Mary. Two men in
uniform hurried
out. In Remanian one of them asked, "Are you all right?"
And then in
halting English, "What happened?"
Mary was fighting to get herself under control. "Two men.
They-they
tr-tried to force me into their car. If-if it hadn't been
for this
gentleman-" She turned around. But the stranger was gone.
MARY fought all night long, struggling to escape the men,
waking in a
panic, falling back to sleep and waking again. She kept
reliving the
scene. Had they known who she was? Or were they merely
trying to rob a
tourist?
When Mary arrived at her office, Mike Slade was waiting
for her as
usual. He brought in two cups of coffee and sat down
across from, her.
The coffee was delicious, and she realized that having
.coffee with Mike
had become a morning ritual.
"How was the theater?" he asked.
"Fine." The rest was none of his business.
"Did you get hurt when they tried to kidnap you?"
"I- How do you know about that?"
His voice was filled with irony. "Madam Ambassador,
Remania is one big
open secret. It wasn't very clever of you to go for a
stroll by
yourself."
"I'm aware of that now. It won't happen again."
"Good." His tone was brisk.,"Did they take anything?"
"No."
He frowned. "It makes no sense. If they had wanted your
coat or purse,
they could have taken them -from you on the street.
Trying. to force
you into a car means it was a kidnapping."
"Who would want to kidnap me?"
"It wouldn't have been Ionescu's men. He's trying to keep
our relations
on an even keel. It would have to be some dissident
group." He took a
sip of his coffee. "May I give you some advice?"
"I'm listening."
"Go home."
"What?"
Mike Slade put down the cup. "Send in a letter of
resignation, pack up
your kids, and go back to Kansas', where you'll be safe."
Mary could feel her face getting red. "Mr. Slade, I made
a mistake.
It's not the first one I've made, and it probably won't be
the last one.
But I was appointed to this post by the President of the
United States,
and until he fires me, I don't want you or anyone else
telling me to go
home." She fought to keep control of her voice. "I expect
the people in
this embassy to work with me, not against me. If That's
too much for
you to handle, why don't you go home?"
Mike Slade stood up. "I'll see that the morning reports
are put on your
desk, Madam Ambassador."
The attempted kidnapping was the sole topic of
conversation at the
embassy that morning. How had everyone found out? Mary
wondered. And
how had Mike Slade found out? Mary wished she could have
learned the
name of her rescuer so that she could thank him. In the
quick glimpse
she had had of him, she had gotten the impression of an
attractive man,
probably in his early forties. He had had a foreign
accent.
An idea started to gnaw at Mary, and it was hard to
dismiss. The only
person she knew of who wanted to get rid of her was Mike
Slade. What if
he had set up the attack to frighten her into leaving? He
had given her
the theater tickets. He had known where she would be.
THERE was a cocktail party at the French embassy that
evening in honor
of a visiting French concert pianist. Mary was tired and
nervous, but
she knew she had to go.
When she arrived, the embassy was already crowded with
guests. As she
was exchanging pleasantries with the ambassador .She
caught sight of the
stranger who had rescued her from the kidnappers. He was
standing in a
corner talking to the Italian ambassador and his aide.
"Please excuse me," Mary said, and moved Across the room
toward her
rescuer.
He was saying, "Of course I miss Paris, but I hope-" He
broke off as he
saw Mary approaching. "Ah, the lady in distress."
"You know each other?" the Italian ambassador asked. "We
haven't been
officially introduced," Mary replied. "Madam Ambassador,
may I present
Dr. Louis Desforges."
The expression on the Frenchman's face changed. "Madam
Ambassador? I
beg your pardon! I had no idea." His voice was filled with
embarrassment. "I should have recognized you."
"You did better than that." Mary smiled. "You saved me."
The Italian ambassador looked at the doctor and said, "Ahl
So you were
the one." He turned to Mary. "I, heard about your
unfortunate
experience."
"It would have been unfortunate if Dr. Desforges hadn't
come along.
Thank you."
Louis Desforges smiled. "I'm happy that I was in the
right place at the
right time."
The ambassador saw an English contingent enter and said,
"If you will
excuse us, there is someone we have to see."
He and his aide hurried off. Mary was alone with the
doctor.
"Why did you run away when the police came?" she asked.
He studied her a moment. "It is not good policy to get
involved with
the ]Remanian police. They have a way of arresting
witnesses, then
pumping them for information. I'm a doctor attached to
the French
embassy here, and I don't have diplomatic enununity. I
do, however,
know a great deal about what goes on at our embassy."
He smiled. "So forgive me if I seemed to desert you."
There was a directness about him that was very appealing.
In some way
that Mary could not define, he reminded her of Edward.
Perhaps because
Louis Desforges was a doctor. But no, it was more than
that. He had
the same openness that Edward had had, almost the same
smile.
"If you'll excuse me," Dr. Desforges said, "I must go and
become a
social animal."
"You don't like parties?"
He winced. "I despise them."
"Does your wife enjoy them?"
"Yes, she did. Very much." He hesitated, then said, "She
and our two
children are dead."
Mary paled. "Oh, I'm so sorry. How His face was rigid.
"I blame
myself. We were living in Algeria. I was in the
underground, fighting
the terrorists." His words became slow and halting. "They
found out my
identity and blew away the house. I was away at the
time."
"I'm so sorry," Mary said again. Hopeless, inadequate
words.
"There is a cliche that time heals everything. I no
longer believe it."
His voice was bitter. He looked at her and said, "If you
will excuse
me, Madam Ambassador." He turned and walked over to greet
a group of
arriving guests.
He does remind me a little of Edward, Mary thought again.
He's a brave
man. He's in a lot of pain, . and I think That's what
draws me to him.
I'm in pain too. Will I ever get over missing you,
Edward? It's so
lonely here.
THE following day Mary could not get Dr. Louis Desforges
out of her
mind. He had saved her life and then disappeared. She
was glad she had
found him again. On an impulse she bought a beautiful
silver bowl for
him and had it sent to the French embassy. It was a small
enough gesture
after what he had done.
That afternoon Dr. Desforges telephoned. "Good
afternoon, Madam
Ambassador." The phrase sounded delightful in his French
accent. "I
called to thank you for your thoughtful gift. I assure
you that it was
unnecessary. I was delighted that I was able to be of
some service."
"It was more than just some service," Mary told him.
There was a pause. "Would you-" He stopped.
"Yes?" Mary prompted.
"Nothing, really." He sounded suddenly shy. "I was
wondering if you
might care to have dinner with me one evening, but I know
how busy you
must be and-"
"would love to," Mary said quickly.
"Really? Are you free tomorrow night?"
"I have a party at six, but we could go after that."
"Ah, splendid."
They agreed to meet at the Taru Restaurant at eight
o'clock.
IN THE limousine on the way to the restaurant the next
evening Mary
asked Florian to stop at the embassy. She had left a silk
scarf in her
office and wanted to pick it up.
Gunny was on duty at the desk. He stood at attention and
saluted her.
Mary went up the stairs to her office and turned on the
light. She
stood there, frozen. On the wall someone had sprayed in
red paint GO
HOME BEFORE YOU DIE. She backed out of the room,
white-faced, and ran
down to the lobby. "Gunny. Wh-who's been in my office?"
she demanded.
"Why, no one that I know of, ma'am."
"Let me see your roster sheet." She tried to keep her
voice from
quavering.
"Yes, ma'am." Gunny pulled out the visitors' access sheet
and handed it
to her. Each name had the time of entry listed after it.
She started at
five thirty, the time she had left the office, and scanned
the list.
There were a dozen names.
Mary looked up at the marine guard. "Were all the people
on this list
escorted to the offices they visited?"
"Always, Madam Ambassador. No one goes up to the second
floor without
an escort. Is something wrong?"
Something was very wrong.
Mary said, "Please send someone to my office to paint out
that obscenity
on the wall."
She turned and hurried outside, afraid she was going to be
sick.
DR. Louis DESFORGES was waiting for Mary when she arrived
.at the
restaurant. He stood up as she approached the table.
"I'm sorry I'm late." Mary tried to sound normal. She
wished she had
not come. She pressed her hands together to keep them
from trembling.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes," she said. "I'm fine." Go home before you die. "I
think I'd like
a straight Scotch, please."
The doctor ordered drinks, then said, "It can't be easy
being an
ambassador in this country-especially for a woman.
Remanians are male
chauvinists, you know."
Mary forced a smile. "Tell me about yourself " Anything
to take her
mind off the threat.
"I am afraid there is not much to tell that is exciting."
"You mentioned that you fought in the underground in
Algeria. That
sounds exciting."
He shrugged. "We live in terrible times. I believe that
every man must
risk something so that in the end he does not have to risk
everything.
The terrorist situation is literally that-terrifying. We
must put an end
to it." His voice was filled with passion.
He's like Edward, Mary thought. Edward was always
passionate about his
beliefs.
"If I had known that the price would be the lives of my
family-" He
stopped. His knuckles were white against the table.
"Forgive me. I
did not bring you here to talk about my troubles. Let me
recommend the
lamb. They do it very well here."
He ordered dinner and a bottle of wine, and they talked.
Mary began to
relax, to forget the frightening warning painted in red.
She was finding
it surprisingly easy to talk to this attractive Frenchman.
In an odd
way it was like talking to Edward. It was amazing how she
and Louis
shared so many of the same beliefs and felt the same way
about so many
things. Louis Desforges was born in a small town in
France, and Mary
was born in a small town in Kansas, thousands of miles
apart, and yet
their backgrounds were similar. His father had been a
farmer and had
scrimped and saved to send Louis to a medical school in
Paris.
"My father was a wonderful man, Madam Ambassador."
"Mary."
"Thank you, Mary."
She smiled. "You're welcome, Louis."
Mary wondered what his personal life was like. He was
handsome and
intelligent. "Have you thought of getting married again?"
She could not
believe she had asked him that.
He shook his head. "No. My wife was a remarkable woman.
No one could
ever replace her."
That's how I feel about Edward, Mary thought. And yet it
was not really
a question of replacing a beloved one. It was finding
someone new to
share things with.
Louis was saying, "So when I was offered the opportunity,
I thought it
would be interesting to visit Remania." He lowered his
voice. "I
confess I feel an evilness about this country. Not the
people. They
are lovely. But the government is everything I despise.
There is no
freedom here for anyone." He glanced around to make sure
no one could
overhear. "I shall be glad when my tour of duty is over
and I can
return to France."
Without thinking, Mary heard herself saying, "There are
some people who
think I should go home."
"I beg your pardon?"
And suddenly Mary found herself telling him about the
paint scrawl on
her office wall.
"But that is horrible! You have no idea who did this?"
"No."
Louis said, "May I make an impertinent confession? Since
I found out
who you were, I have been asking questions. Everyone who
knows you is
very impressed with you."
She was listening to him with intense interest.
"You have brought here an image of America that is
beautiful and
intelligent and warm. If you believe in what you are
doing, then you
must fight for it. You must stay. Do not let anyone
frighten you
away." It was just what Edward would have said.
THE following morning Mike Slade brought in two cups of
coffee. He
nodded at the wall where the message had been painted. "I
hear someone
has been spraying graffiti on your walls."
"Yes. Have they found out who did it?"
Mike took a sip of coffee. "No. I went through the
visitors' list
myself Everyone is accounted for."
"That means it must have been someone here in the
embassy."
"Either that, or someone managed to sneak in past the
guards."
"Do you believe that?"
Mike put down his coffee cup. "Nope."
"Neither do I."
"What exactly did it say?"
"'Go home before you die."' He made no comment.
"Who would want to kill me?"
"I don't know. But we're doing everything we can to track
down whoever
it is. In the meantime, I've arranged for a marine guard
to be posted
outside your door at night."
"Mr. Slade, I would appreciate a straight answer. Do you
think I'm in
any real danger?"
He studied her thoughtfully. "Madam Ambassador, they,
assassinated
Abrahwn Lincoln, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and
Marin Groza.
We're all vulnerable. The answer to your question is
yes."
THREE days later Mary had dinner again with Dr. Louis
Desforges. He
seemed more relaxed with her this time, and although the
core of sadness
she sensed within him was still there, he took pains to be
attentive and
amusing. Mary wondered if he felt the same attraction
toward her that
she felt toward him.
After dinner when Louis took Mary back to the residence,
she asked,
"Would you like to come in?"
"Thank you," he said. "I would."
The children were downstairs doing their homework, and
Mary introduced
them to Louis.
He bent down before Beth and said, "May I?" And he put his
arms around
her and hugged her. He straightened up. "One of my
little girls was
three years younger than you. The other one was about
your age. I'd
like to think they would have grown up to be as pretty as
you are,
Beth."
Beth smiled. "Thank you. Where are-"
"would you all like some hot chocolate?" Mary asked
hastily.
The four of them sat in the huge kitchen drinking the hot
chocolate and
talking.
The children were utterly enchanted with Louis. He
focused entirely on
them, telling them stories and anecdotes and jokes until
he had them
roaring with laughter.
It was almost midnight when Mary looked at her watch.
"Oh, no! You
children should have been in bed hours ago. Scoot."
Tim went over to Louis. "Will you come see us again?"
"I hope so, Tim."
Mary saw Louis to the door. He took her hand in his.
"They're
beautiful children." His voice was husky. "I won't try to
tell you what
this evening has meant to me, Mary."
"I'm glad." She was looking into his eyes, and she felt
him moving
toward her. She raised her lips.
"Good night, Mary." And he was gone.
DAvm Victor, the commerce consul, hurried into Mary's
office. "I have
some very bad news. I just got a tip that President
Ionescu is going to
approve a contract with Argentina for a million and a half
tons of corn,
and with Brazil for half a million tons of soybeans. We
were counting
heavily on their buying from us."
"How far have the negotiations gone?"
"They're almost concluded. We've been shut out. I was
about to send a
cable to Washington-with your approval, of course."
"Hold off a bit," Mary said. "I want to think about it."
"You won't get President Ioneseu to change his mind.
Believe me, I've
tried every argument I could think of."
"Then we have nothing to lose if I give it a try." She
buzzed her
secretary. "Dorothy, get me the presidential palace."
ALExomRos Ionescu invited Mary to the palace for lunch.
As she entered
she was greeted at the door by Nicu, his fourteenyear-old
son. He was a
handsome boy, tall for his age, with beautiful black eyes
and a flawless
complexion.
"Good afternoon, Madsen Ambassador," he said. "I am Nicu.
Welcome to
the palace. I have heard very nice things about you."
"Thank you. I'm pleased to hear that, Nicu."
"I will tell my father you have arrived."
MARY AND IONESCU SAT ACROss from each other in the formal
dining room,
just the two of them. The President had been drinking and
was in a
mellow mood. He lit a Snogoy, the vile-smelling Remanian
cigarette.
"Mr; President," said Mary, "I was eager to meet with you,
because there
is something important I would like to discuss with you."
Ionescu almost laughed aloud. He knew exactly why she had
come. The
Americans wished to sell him corn and soybeans, but they
were too late.
The American ambassador would go away empty-handed this
time. Too bad.
Such an attractivewoman.
"Yes?" he said innocently.
"I want to talk to you about sister cities."
lonescu blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"Sister cities. You know, like San Francisco and Osaka,
Los Angeles and
Bombay, Washington and Bangkok. . . ."
"-don't understand. What does that have to do with-"
"Mr. President, it occurred to me that you could get
headlines all over
the world if you made Bucharest a sister city of some
American city. It
would get almost as much attention as President Ellison's
people-to-people plan."
He said cautiously, "A sister city with a city in the
United States? It
is an interesting idea. What would it involve?"
"Mostly, wonderful publicity for you. You would be a
hero. It would be
your idea. You would pay the city a visit. A delegation
from Kansas
City would pay you a visit."
Kansas City?"
"That's just a suggestion, of course. Kansas City is
Middle America.
There are farmers there, like your farmers. Mr.
President, your name
will be on everyone's lips. No one in Europe has thought
of doing
this."
He sat there, silent. "I- I would naturally have to give
this a great
deal of thought."
"Naturally."
"Kansas City, Kansas, and Bucharest, Remania." He nodded.
"We are a much
larger city, of course."
"Of course. Bucharest would be the big sister."
"I must admit it is a very intriguing idea." Your name
will be on
everyone's lips. "Is there any chance of a rejection from
the American
side?" Ioneseu asked.
"Absolutely none. I can guarantee it."
He sat there reflecting. "When would this go into
effect?"
"Just as soon as you're ready to announce it. I'll handle
our end."
Ionescu thought. of something else. "We could set up a
trade exchange
with our sister city. Remania has many things to sell.
Tell me, what
crops does Kansas grow?"
"Among other things," Mary said quietly, "corn and
soybeans."
"You really made the deal? You actually fooled him?"
David Victor asked
incredulously.
"Not for a minute," Mary assured him. "loneseu knew what
I was after.
He just liked the package I wrapped it in. You can go in
and close the
deal. He's already rehearsing his television speech."
WHEN Stanton Rogers heard the news, he telephoned Mary.
"You're a
genius." He laughed. "We thought we'd lost that deal. How
in the world
did you do it?"
"Ego," Mary said. "His."
"The President asked me to tell you what a really great
job you're doing
over there, Mary."
"Thank him for me, Stan."
"I will. By the way, the President and I are leaving for
China in a few
weeks. If you need me, you can get in touch with me.
through my office."
"Have a wonderful trip."
Chapter Nine
OVER the swiffly moving weeks the dancing March winds had
given way to
spring and then summer. Trees and flowers blossomed
everywhere in
Bucharest, and the parks were green.
In Buenos Aires, it was winter. When Neusa Muez returned
to her
apartment, it was the middle of the night. The telephone
was ringing.
"S(?"
It was the gringo from the United States.
"May I speak with Angel?"
"Angel no here, senor. Wha' you wan'?"
"Tell Angel I need him for a contract in Bucharest."
"Budapes'?"
The Controller found his irritation mounting. "Bucharest.
Romania.
Tell him It's a five-million-dollar contract. He has to
be in Bucharest
by the end of June. That's three weeks from now. Do you
have that?"
"Wait a minute. I'm writin'. Okay. How many people
Angel gotta kill
for five million dollars?"
"A lot. . . ."
THE daily long lines in front of the embassy continued to
disturb Mary.
She discussed it again with Mike Slade.
"There must be something we can do to help those people
get out of the
country."
"Everything's been tried," Mike assured her. "We've
applied pressure,
we've offered to sweeten the money pot.... Ionescu
refuses to cut a
deal."
"I'm going to have another talk with him."
"Good luck."
Mary asked Dorothy Stone to set up an appointment with the
dictator. A
few minutes later the secretary walked into Mary's office.
"I'm sorry,
Madun Ambassador. Something weird is going on at the
presidential
palace. Ionescu isn't seeing anybody. In fact, no one
can even get
in."
"Dorothy," Mary said, "see if you can find out What's
going on there."
An hour later Dorothy reported back. "They're keeping it
very
hush-hush. Ionescu's son is dying."
Mary was aghast. "Nicu? What happened?"
"He has botulism poisoning. There was an epidemic in East
Germany a few
months ago. Apparently Nicu visited there and someone
gave him some
canned food as a gift. He ate some of it yesterday."
"But there's an antiserum for botulism!" Mary exclaimed.
"The European countries are out of it The epidemic used it
up."
"Oh, my God."
When Dorothy left the office, Mary sat there thinking, It,
might be too
late, but still ... She remembered how cheerful and happy
young Nicu
was. He was fourteen years old-only two years older than
Beth. She
pressed the intercom button. "Dorothy, get me Walter Reed
hospital in
Maryland."
Five minutes later she was speaking to the director.
"Yes, Madam Ambassador. We do have an antiserum for
botulism poisoning,
and I'll be happy to supply some. But botulism poisoning
works very
rapidly. I'm afraid that by the time it gets there . .
."
"I'll arrange for it to get here. just have it ready.
Thank you."
Ten minutes later Mary was speaking to air force general
Ralph Zukor, in
Washington.
"Good morning, Madam Ambassador. Well, this is an
unexpected pleasure.
My wife and I are big fans of yours. How are-"
"General, I need a favor. I need your fastest jet."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I need a jet to fly some serum to Bucharest right away.
Can you do
it?"
"Well, yes. But first you'll have to get approval from
the Secretary of
Defense. There are requisition forms to fill out."
Mary listened, seething. "General, a boy's life is at
stake. He
happens to be the son of the President of Remania. If
that boy dies
because some form hasn't been filled out, I'm going to
call the biggest
press conference you've ever seen. And I'll let you
explain why you let
Ionescu's son die."
"I'm sorry, but I can't possibly authorize an operation
like this
without an approval from the White House. If-"
Mary snapped, "Then, get it. The serum will be delivered
to Andrews Air
Force Base. And General ... every single minute counts."
She hung up and sat there, silently praying.
General Zukor's aide said, "What was that all about, sir?"
"The ambassador expects me to send up an SR-71 to fly some
serum to
Remania. It's ridiculous. But we might as well cover
ourselves, Get me
Stanton Rogers."
Five minutes later the general was speaking to the
President's foreign
affairs adviser. "I just wanted to go on record with you
that the
request was made, and I naturally refused. If-"
Stanton Rogers said, "General, how soon can you have an
SR-71 airborne?"
"In ten minutes, but-"
"Do it."
Nicu lonescu's nervous system had been affected. He lay
in bed,
disoriented, sweating and pale, attached to a respirator.
There were
three doctors at his bedside.
President lonescu strode into the room. "What's
happening?"
" Your Excellency, we have communicated with our
colleagues all over
Eastern and Western Europe. There is no antiseam left."
"What about the United States?"
The doctor shrugged. "By the time we could arrange for
someone to fly
the serum here. .." He paused delicately. "I'm afraid it
would be too
late."
Ionescu picked up his son's hand. "You're not going to
die," he said,
weeping. "You're not going to die."
AN A= helicopter delivered the antibotulism semm, packed
in ice, to
Andrews Air Force Base. Three minutes later the SR-7]L
was in the air,
on a northeast heading.
The SR-71-the U.S. Air Force's fastest supersonic
jet-flies at three
times the speed of sound. It slowed down once to refuel
over the mid
Atlantic. The plane- made the five-thousand-mile flight
to Bucharest in
a little over two and a half hours.
Colonel McKinney was waiting at the airport for the serum.
An army
escort cleared the way to the presidential palace.
MARY had remained in her office all night, getting
up-to-the minute
reports. At six a.m. McKinney telephoned. "They gave
the boy the
serum. The doctors say he's going to live."
"Oh, thank God!"
Two days later a diamond-and-emerald necklace was
delivered to Mary's
office with a note: "I can never thank you enough.
Alexandros Ionescu."
"I don't believe this!" Dorothy exclaimed when she saw the
necklace. "It
must have cost half a million dollars!"
"At least," Mary said. "Return it."
The following morning President Ionescu sent for Mary.
When she arrived, an aide said, "The President is waiting
for you in his
office."
"May I see Nicu first?"
"Yes, of course." He led her upstairs.
Nicu was in bed reading. He looked up as Mary entered.
"Good morning,
Madam Ambassador."
"Good morning, Nicu."
"MY father told me what you did. I wish to thank you."
"I couldn't let you die. I'm saving you for Beth one
day."
Nicu laughed. "Bring her over, and we'll talk about it."
President Ionescu was waiting downstairs for Mary. He
said without
preamble, "You returned my gift."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
He indicated a chair. "Sit down." He studied her. "You
saved my son's
life. I must give you something." " Mary said, "I don't
make trades for
children's lives.
"You must want something! Name your price."
Mary said, "Your Excellency, there is no price. I have
two children of
my own. I know how you must feel."
He closed his eyes for a moment. "Do you? Nicu is my
only son. If
anything had happened to him-" He stopped, unable to go
on.
"I went up to see him. He looks fine. If there's nothing
else, Your
Excellency, I have an appointment." She rose and started
to leave.
"Waitl You will not accept a GIFT but-"
"No. I've explained-', IonesCu held up a hand. "All
right, all right."
He thought for a moment. "If you were to make a wish,
what would you
wish for?
Anything you want."
Mary stood there studying his face. Finally she said, "I
wish that the
restriction on the Jews waiting to leave Remania could be
lifted."
"I see." lonescu was still for a long time before he
looked up at Mary.
"It shall be done. They will not all be allowed out, of
course, but I
will make it easier."
When the announcement was made public two days later, Mary
received a
telephone call from President Ellison himself "I thought I
was sending a
diplomat, and I got a miracle worker.
Congratulations, Mary, on everything you've done over
there."
"Thank you, Mr. President." She hung up, feeling a warm
glow.
IN CELEBRATION of her diplomatic coup Louis invited Mary
to a candlelit
dinner in the rooftop restaurant at the Hotel
Intercontinental. They
saw each other whenever possible now, and more and more
Mary had come to
rely on him as an island of strength and,sanity. Before
they parted
that night, Mary found herself accepting an invitation to
go away to the
mountains with Louis the following weekend.
Once she got into bed, she lay in the dark talking to
Edward: Darling,
I'll always, always love you, but it's time I started a
new life. You'll
always be a part of that life, but there has to be someone
else too.
Louis isn't you, but he's Louis. He's strong, and he's
good, and he's
brave. That's as close as I can come to having you.
Please understand,
Edward. Please....
"JULy is just around the corner," Harriet Kruger told
Mary. "In the
past the wnbassador always gave a Fourth of July party for
the Americans
living in Bucharest. If you'd prefer not to-"
"No. I think it's a lovely idea."
"Fine. I'll take care of all the arrangements. A lot of
flags,
balloons, an orchestra-the works."
"Sounds wonderful. Thank you, Harriet."
A big party would eat into the residence's expense
account, but it would
be worth it. The truth is, Mary thought, I miss home.
She had been
here for only four months, but it seemed an eternity.
junction City had meant peace and security, an easy,
friendly way of
life. Here, there was fear and terror and a death threat
scrawled on
her office wall in red paint. Suddenly Mary felt a sharp
pang of
loneliness, a sense of being totally isolated from her
roots, adrift in
an alien and dangerous land. Then she thought about
Louis, and the
loneliness began to disappear.
MARY WAS HAVING HER USUAL morning coffee with Mike Slade,
discussing the
day's agenda.
When they finished, he said, "I've been hearing mmors
about you. It
seems that you're seeing a lot of Dr. Desforges."
Mary felt a flare of anger. "Who I see is no one's
business."
"I beg to differ with you, Madam Ambassador. The State
Department has a
strict rule against getting involved with foreigners, and
the doctor is
a foreigner. He also happens to be an enemy agent."
Mary was almost too stunned to speak. "That's absurd!"
"Think about how you met him," Mike suggested. "The
damsel in distress
and the knight in shining armor. That's the oldest trick
in the world.
I've used it myself."
"I don't care what you've done," Mary retorted. "He's
worth a dozen of
you. He fought against terrorists in Algeria, and they
murdered his
wife and children."
Mike said mildly, "That's interesting. I've been
examining his dossier.
Your doctor never had a wife or children."
THEY stopped for lunch at TimiSSoara, on their way up to
the Carpathian
Mountains. The inn was decorated in the period atmosphere
of a medieval
wine cellar.
"The specially of the house is gone," Louis told Mary. "I
would suggest
the venison."
"Fine." she had never eaten venison. It was delicious.
There was an
air of confidence about Louis, a quiet strength that gave
Mary a feeling
of security.
After lunch they started out again. They passed farmers
driving
primitive homemade wagons, and caravans of Gypsies.
Louis was a skillful driver. Mary studied him as he
drove. He's an
enemy agent. She did not believe Mike Slade. Every
instinct told her
he was lying. She trusted Louis. No one could have faked
the emotion I
saw on his face when he was playing with the children, she
thought.
The air was getting noticeably thinner and cooler. The
mountains ahead
looked like pictures she had seen of the Swiss Alps, their
peaks covered
by mists and icy clouds the color of steel.
It was late afternoon when they reached their destination,
Sio plea, a
lovely mountain resort built like a miniature chalet.
Their suite had a
comfortable living room, simply furnished, a bedroom, a
bathroom, and a
terrace with a breathtaking view of the mountains.
"For the first time in my life"-Louis sighed-"I wish I
were a painter."
"It is a beautiful view.
He moved closer to her. "No. I wish I could paint you."
He took her in his arms and held her tightly. She buried
her head
against his chest, and then Louis's lips were on hers, and
she forgot
everything except what was happening to her. He led her
to the bed.
There was a frantic need in her for someone to reassure
her, to protect
her, to let her know that she was no longer alone. She
needed to be one
with him....
After a long, long time they lay contented. She nestled
in his strong
arms, and they talked.
"It's so strange," Louis said. "I feel whole again.
Since Renee and
the children were killed, I've been a ghost, wandering
around lost."
"I've felt helpless too. Edward was my umbrella, and when
it died and
he wasn't there to protect me, I nearly drowned."
It was almost perfect. Almost. Because there was a
question Mary dared
not ask: Did you have a wife and children? The moment she
asked that
question, she knew everything between them would be over
forever. Louis
would never forgive her for doubting him. Curse Mike
Slade, she
thought.
Louis was watching her. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing, darling."
Saturday they went on a tram to a mountain peak. In the
eyening they
drove to Eintrul, a rustic restaurant in the. mountains,
where they had
dinner in a large room that had an open fireplace mlith a
roaring fire.
There were hunting trophies on the wall, and through the
windows they
could look at the snow-covered hills outside. A perfect
setting, with
the perfect companion.
And finally, too soon, it was time to leave.
As they neared the outskirts of Bucharest they drove by
fields of
sunflowers, their faces moving toward the sun. That's me,
Mary thought
happily. I'm finally moving into the sunlight.
THE next MORNING WHEN MARY arrived at her office, there
were a dozen red
roses with a note: "Thank you for you."
Mary read the card. And wondered if Louis had sent
flowers to RencSSe.
And wondered if there had been a Rent-e and two daughters.
And hated
herself for it. Why would Mike Slade make up terrible lie
like that?
There was no way she could ever check it.
And at that moment Eddie Maltz, the political consul and
CIA agent,
walked into her office.
They spent some time discussing a colonel who had
approached Maltz about
defecting.
"He'd be a valuable asset for us," Maltz told her. "He'll
be bringing
some useful information with him, but be prepared to
receive some heat
from lonescu."
"Thank you, Mr. Maltz."
He rose to leave.
On a sudden impulse Mary said ' "Wait. I wonder if I
could ask you for
a favor? It's personal and confidential."
"Sounds like our motto." Maltz smiled.
"I need some information on a Dr. Louis Desforges. He's
attached to
the French embassy." This was more difficult than she had
imagined. It
was a betrayal. "I'd like to know whether Dr. Desforges
was once
married and had two children. Do you think you could find
out?"
"Will twenty-four hours be soon enough?" Maltz asked.
"Yes, thank you." Please forgive me, Louis.
A short time later Mike Slade walked into Mary's office
and put a cup of
coffee on her desk. Something in his attitude seemed
subtly changed.
Mary was not sure what it was, but she had a feeling that
Mike Slade
knew all about her weekend. She wondered whether he had
spies following
her.
She took a sip of the coffee. Excellent, as usual.
That's one thing
Mike Slade does well, Mary thought.
"We have some problems," he said. And for the rest of the
morning they
became involved in a discussion that included the Remanian
financial
crisis and a dozen other topics.
At the end of the meeting Mary was more tired than usual.
Mike Slade said, "The ballet is opening tonight. Corina
Socoli is
dancing." She was one of the leading ballerinas in the
world.
Mary had met her once at a party at the presidential
palace. "I have
some tickets if you're interested."
"No, thanks." She thought of the last time Mike had given
her tickets.
Besides, she was dining at the Chinese embassy.
. As MARY was dressing for dinner that evening she felt
suddenly
exhausted. She sank down on the bed. I wish I didn't
have to go out
tonight, she thought wearily. But I have to. My country
is depending
on me.
The evening was a blur of the same familiar diplomatic
corps faces. Mary
had only a hazy recollection of the others at her table.
She could not wait to get home.
When she awoke the following morning, she was feeling
worse.
Her head ached, and she was nauseated. It took all of her
willpower to
get dressed and go to the embassy.
Mike Slade was waiting in her office, coffee in hand. He
took one look
at her and said, "You don't look too well. You okay?"
"I'm just tired."
"What you need is some coffee. It will perk you up. No
pun intended."
He handed her a cup. "Maybe you should fly to Frankfurt
and see our
doctor there."
Mary shook her head. "I'm all right." Her voice was
slurred.
The only thing that made her feel slightly better was a
visit from Eddie
Maltz.
"I have the information you requested," he said.
"Desforges was married
for fourteen years. Wife's name, Ren6e. Two daughters,
Phillips and
Genevieve. They were murdered in Algeria by terrorists,
as an act of
vengeance against the doctor, who was fighting in the
underground. Do
you need any further information?"
"No," Mary said. "That's fine. Thank you."
By midafternoon Mary was feeling hot and feverish, and she
called Louis
to cancel dinner. She felt too ill to see anybody. She
wished that the
American doctor were in Bucharest. Perhaps Louis would
know what was
wrong with her. If I don't get over this, she told
herself, I'll call
him back.
Dorothy had the nurse send up some aspirin from the
pharmacy.
It did not help.
Somehow Mary managed to struggle through the rest of the
evening and when she finally arrived home, she fell
straight into bed.
Her whole body ached, and she could feel that her
temperature had
climbed. I'm Yeally ill, she thought. I feel as though
I'm dying. With
an enormous effort she reached out and pulled the bell
cord. Carmen,
her maid, appeared.
She looked at Mary in alarm. "Madam Ambassadorl What-"
Mary's voice was
a croak. "Please call the French embassy. I need Dr.
Desforges."
MARY opened her eyes and blinked. There were two blurred
Louis figures
bending over her.
"What's happening to you?" He felt her forehead. It was
hot to the
touch. "Have you taken your temperature?"
"I don't want to know." It hurt to talk.
Louis sat down on the edge of the bed. "Darling, when did
you start
feeling this way?"
"The day after we got back from the mountains."
Louis felt her pulse. It was weak and threatly. He
smelled her breath.
"Have you eaten something today with garlic?"
She shook her head. "I've hardly eaten all day."
He gently lifted her eyelids. "Have you been thirsty?"
She nodded.
"Pain, muscle cramps, vomiting, nausea?
"Yes. What's the matter with me, Louis?"
"Do you feel like answering some questions?"
She swallowed. "I'll try."
He held her hand. "Do you remember having anything to eat
or drink that
made you feel ill afterward?"
She shook her head.
"Do you eat breakfast here at the residence with the
children?"
"Usually, yes," she whispered.
"And the children are feeling well?"
She nodded.
"What about lunch? Do you eat at the same place every
day?"
"No. Sometimes the embassy, sometimes restaurants."
"Is there any one place you regularly have dinner, or
anything you
regularly eat?"
She closed her eyes.
He shook her gently. "Mary, listen to me." There was an
urgency in his
voice. "Is there any person you eat with constantly?"
She blinked up at him sleepily. "No." Why was he asking
all these
questions? "It's a virus," she mumbled. "Isn't it?"
He took a deep breath. "No. Someone is poisoning you."
It sent a bolt of electricity- through her body. She
opened her eyes
wide. "What? I don't believe it."
He was frowning. "I would say it was arsenic poisoning,
except that
arsenic is not for sale in Remania."
Mary felt a sudden tremor of fear. "Who-who would be
trying to poison
me?"
He squeezed her hand. "Darling, you've got to think. Are
you sure
there's no set routine you have where someone gives you
something to eat
or drink every day?"
"Of course not," Mary protested weakly. "I told you, I
Coffee. Mike
Slade. My own special brew. "Oh, no!"
"What is it?"
She cleared her throat and managed to whisper, "Mike Slade
brings me
coffee every morning."
Louis stared at her. "Your deputy chief? But what reason
would he have
for trying to kill you?"
"He-he wants to get rid of me."
"We'll talk about this later," Louis said urgently. "The
first thing we
have to do is treat you. I'm going to get something for
you. I'll be
back in a few minutes."
Mary lay there trying to grasp the meaning of what Louis
had told her.
What you need is some coffee. It will make you feel
better. I brew it
myself.
She drifted off into unconsciousness and was awakened by
Louis's voice.
"Mary!"
She forced her eyes open. Louis was at her bedside,
taking a syringe
out of a small bag.
He lifted her arm. "I'm going to give you an injection of
BAL.
It's an antidote for arsenic. I'm going to alternate it
with
penicillamine. Mary?" She was asleep.
The following morning Louis gave Mar)i another injection,
and another
one in the evening. The effects of the drugs were
miraculous. The
symptoms began to disappear. The following day Mary felt
drained and
weak, as though she had gone through a long illness, but
all the pain
and discomfort were gone.
"This is twice you've saved my life."
Louis looked at her soberly. "I think we'd better find
out who's trying
to take it."
"How do we do that?"
"I've been checking around at the various embassies. None
of them
carries arsenic. I have not beenable to find out about
the American
embassy. So what I want you to do is go to the embassy
pharmacy. Tell
them you need a pesticide. Say that you're having trouble
with insects
in your garden. Ask for Antrol. That's loaded with
arsenic."
Mary looked at him, puzzled. "What's the point?"
"My hunch is that the arsenic had to be flown into
Bucharest. If it is
anywhere, it will be in the embassy pharmacy. Anyone who
checks out a
poison must sign for it. When you sign for the Antrol,
see what names
are on the sheet."
MARY walked down the long corridor to the embassy
pharmacy, where the
nurse was working behind the cage. "Good morning, Madam
Ambassador. Are
you feeling better?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Can I get you something?"
Mary took a nervous breath. "My-my gardener tells me he's
having
trouble with insects in the garden. I wondered whether
you might have
something to help, like Antrol?"
." Why, yes. As a matter of fact, we do." The nurse
reached toward a
back shelf and picked up a can with a poison label on it.
"You'll have to sign for it, if you don't mind. It has
arsenic in it."
Mary was staring at the form placed in front of her.
There was only one
name on it. Mike Slade.
Chapter Ten
WHEN Mary tried to telephone Louis Desforges to tell him
what she had
learned, his line was busy. He was on the phone with Mike
Slade. Dr.
Desforges's first instinct had been to report the murder
attempt except
that he could not believe Slade was re sponsible. And so
Louis had
decided to telephone Slade himself "I have just left your
ambassador,"
Louis Desforges said. "She is going to live."
"Well, that's good news, DOCtor. Why shouldn't she?"
Louis's tone was cautious. "Someone has been poisoning
her."
"What are you talking about?" Mike demanded.
"I think perhaps you know what I'm talking about."
"Hold it! Are you saying that you think I'm responsible?
You and I had
better have a private talk someplace where we can't be
overheard. Can
you meet me tonight?"
"At what time?" asked Louis.
"I'm tied up until nine o'clock. Why don't you meet me a
few minutes
after, at Bineasa Forest. I'll meet you at the fountain
and explain
everything then."
Louis hesitated. "Very well. I will see you there." He
hung up and
thought, Mike Slade cannot possibly be behind this.
When Mary tried to telephone Louis again, he had left. No
one knew
where to reach him.
MARY and the children were having dinner at the residence.
"You look a lot better," Beth said. "We were worried."
"I feel fine," Mary assured her. And it was the truth.
Thank God for
Louis l She could hear Mike Slade. Here's your coffee. I
brewed it
myself. Slowly killing her. She shuddered.
"Are you cold?" Tim asked.
"No, darling." Mary was thinking, I -must not involve the
children in my
'nightmares. Besides, there is only one person who can
help me. Stanton
Rogers. But what proof do I have? That Mike Slade made
coffee for me
every morning?
Beth was talking to her. "So can we watch a movie
tonight?"
Mary had not planned on running a movie, but she had spent
so little
time with the children lately that she decided to give
them a treat.
"Yes."
"Thank you, Madam Ambassador," Tim shouted. "Can we see
American
Graffiti again?"
American Graffiti. And suddenly Mary knew what proof she
might show
Stanton Rogers.
At midnight she asked Carmen to call a taxi.
"Don't you want Florian to drive you?" Carmen asked.
"No." This had to be done secretly.
"GooD evening, Madam Ambassador," said the marine guard
when Mary
emerged from the taxi. "Can I help you?"
"No, thank you. I'm going to my office for a few
minutes."
The marine walked her to the entrance and opened the door
for her. He
watched her walk up the stairs to her office.
Mary turned the lights on and looked at the wall where the
red scrawl
had been washed away. She walked over to the connecting
door that led
to Mike Slade's office and entered. The room was in
darkness. She
turned on the lights.
There were no papers on his desk. The drawers were empty,
except for
brochures and timetables, innocent things that would be of
no use to a
snooping cleaning woman. Mary's eyes scrutinized the
office. It had to
be here somewhere.
She opened the drawers again and started examining their
contents slowly
and carefully. When she came to a bottom drawer, she felt
something
hard at the back, behind a mass of papers. She .pulled it
out and held
it in her hand, staring at it.
It was - a can of red spray paint.
AT A few minutes after nine p.m. Dr. Louis Desforges was
waiting in
Bineasa Forest, near the fountain. He wondered if he had
done the wrong
thing by not reporting Mike Slade. No, he thought. First
I must hear
what he has to say. If I made a false accusation, it
would destroy him.
Mike Slade appeared suddenly out of the darkness. "Thanks
for coming.
We can clear this up very quickly. You said you thought
someone was
poisoning Mary Ashley."
: ,know it. Someone was feeding her arsenic."
"And you think I'm responsible?"
"You could have put it in her coffee a little bit at a
time."
:, Have you reported this to anyone?"
"Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first."
I'm glad you did," Mike said. He took his hand out of his
pocket. In
it was a -357-caliber Magnum pistol.
Louis stared. "What-what are you doing? Listen to me!
You can't-""
Mike Slade pulled the trigger and watched the Frenchman's
chest explode
into a red cloud.
MARY was in the bubble room telephoning Stanton Bogers
office on the
secure line. It was six p.m. in Washington and one
o'clock in the
morning in Bucharest. "This is Ambassador Ashley.
I know that Mr. Rogers is in China with the President,
but it's urgent
that I speak to him. Is there any way I can reach him
there?"
"I'm sorry, Madam Ambassador. His itinerary is very
flexible. I have
no telephone number for him."
Mary felt her heart plummet. "When will you hear from
him?"
"It's difficult to say. They have a very busy schedule.
Perhaps
someone in the State Department could help you."
"No," Mary said dully. "No one else can help me. Thank
you very much."
There she sat, surrounded by the most sophisticated
electronic equipment
in the world, and none of it was of any use to her.
Mike Slade was trying to murder her. She had to let
someone know. But
whom could she trust? The only one who knew what Mike
Slade was trying
to do was Louis Desforges.
Mary tried the number at his residence again, but there
still was no
answer. She remembered what Stanton Rogers had told her:
"If you have
any messages that you want to send to me without anyone
else reading
them, the code at the top of the message is three x's."
Mary hurried back to her office and wrote out an urgent
message. She
placed three x's at the top, took out the black code book
from a locked
drawer in her desk, and carefully encoded what she had
written. At
least if anything happened to her now, Stanton Rogers
would know who was
responsible.
Mary walked down the corridor to the communications room.
Eddie Maltz, the CIA agent, happened to be behind the
cage.
"Good evening, Madam Ambassador. You're working late."
"Yes. There's a message I want sent off right away."
"I'll take care of it personally."
"Thank you." She handed it to him and headed for the door.
When Eddie Maltz finished decoding the message, he read it
through
twice, frowning. He walked over to the shredder and
watched the message
turn into confetti.
Then he placed a call to Floyd Baker, the Secretary of
State, in
Washington. Code name: Thor.
IT TOOK Ley Pastemak two months to follow the circuitous
trail that led
to Buenos Aires. SIS and half a dozen other security
agencies around
the world had helped identify Angel as the killer. Mossad
had given him
the name of Neusa Mufiez, Angel's mistress. They all
wanted to
eliminate Angel. To Ley Pastemak, Angel had become an
obsession.
Because of Pastemak's failure, Marin Groza had died, and
Pastemak could
never forgive himself for that. He could, however, make
atonement.
He located the building where Neusa Muez lived and kept
watch on it,
waiting for Angel to appear. After five days, when there
was no sign of
him, Pastemak made his move. He waited until the woman
left, and after
fifteen minutes walked upstairs, picked the lock on her
door, and
entered the apartment. He searched it swiffly and
thoroughly. There
were no photographs, memos, or addresses that could lead
him to Angel.
Pastemak discovered the suits in the closet. He examined
the Heffera
labels, took one of the jackets off the hanger, and tucked
it under his
arm. A minute later he was gone.
The following morning Ley Pastemak walked into Heffera's.
His hair was disheveled and his clothes were wrinkled, and
he smelled of
whiskey.
The manager of the men's shop came up to him and said
disapprovingly,
"May I help you, senor?"
Ley Pastemak grinned sheepishly. "Yeah," he said. "Tell
you the truth,
I got in a card game last night. We all got drunk.
Anyway, we ended up in my hotel room. One of the guys-I
don't remember
his name-left his jacket there." Ley held up the' jacket.
"It had your
label in it, so I figured you could tell me where to
return it to him."
. The manager examined the jacket. "Yes, we tailored
this.
Please wait."
A few minutes later the man returned. "The name of the
gentleman we
made the jacket for is H. R. de Mendoza. He has a suite
at the Aurora
Hotel, suite four seventeen."
AT FOUR a.m. Ley Pastemak was silently moving down the
deserted
fourth-floor corridor of the Aurora Hotel. When he
reached 417, he
looked around to make sure no one was in sight.
He reached down to the lock and inserted a wire. When he
heard the door
click open, he pulled out a .45-caliber SIG-Sauer pistol
with a
silencer.
He sensed a draft as the door across the hall opened, and
before he
could swing around, he felt something hard and cold
pressing. against
the back of his neck.
"I don't like being followed," Angel said.
Ley Pastemak heard the click of the trigger a second
before his brain
was torn apart.
THE telephone call had come, and it was time to move.
First Angel had
some shopping to do. There was a good lingerie shop on
Pueyrred6n-expensive, but Neusa deserved the,best. The
inside of the
shop was cool and quiet.
"I would like to see a negligee, something very frilly,"
Angel said.
The female clerk staied.
"The best you have."
Fifteen minutes later Angel left the shop and hailed a
taxi.
Angel gave the driver an address on Humberto, alighted a
block away, and
hailed another taxi.
"A d6nde, porfavor?"
"Aeropuerto."
There would be a ticket for London waiting there.
Tourist.
First class was too conspicuous.
Two hours later Angel watched the city of Buenos Aires
disappear beneath
the clouds, like some celestial magician's trick, and
concentrated on
the assignment ahead, thinking about the instructions that
had been
given. Make sure the children die with her. Their deaths
must be
spectacular.
Angel smiled and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
THE PAsSpoRT R= "H. R. DE Mendoza." The ticket at
London's Heathrow
Airport was on TAROM Airlines, to Bucharest.
Angel sent a telegram . from the airport: ARRIVING
WEDNESDAY. H. R.
DE MENDOZA.
It was addressed to Eddie Maltz.
IN the morning Mary kept trying to phone Louis at home.
No answer. She
tried the French embassy. They had no idea where he was.
"Please have
him call me as soon as you hear from him."
She replaced the receiver. There was nothing to do but
wait.
A few minutes later Dorothy Stone, her secretary, came
into Mary's
office. "There's a call for you, but she refuses to give
her name.
"I'll take it." Mary picked up the phone. "Hello, this is
Ambassador
Ashley."
A soft female voice with a Remanian accent said, "This is
Corina
Socoli." The ballerina's name registered instantly.
"I need your help," the girl said. "I have decided to
defect."
I can't handle this today, Mary thought. Not now. She
said, "I-I don't
know if I can help you." Her mind was racing. She tried
to remember
what she had been told about defectors: "Many of them are
Soviet plants.
We don't grant political asylum unless there's a dam good
reason."
Corina Socoli was sobbing. "Please. I am not safe
staying where I am.
You must send someone to get me."
"Where are you?" Mary asked.
There was a pause. Then, "I am at the Roscow Inn, in
Moldavia. Will
you come for me?"
"I can't," Mary said. "But I'll send someone to get you.
Don't call
on this phone again. just wait where you are. I-"
The door opened, and Mike Slade walked in. Mary looked up
in shock. He
was moving toward her.
The voice on the phone was saying, "Hello? Hello?"
"Who are you talking to?" Mike asked.
"To-to Dr. Desforges." She replaced the receiver,
terrified.
"He's-he's on his way over to see me." Don't be
ridiculous, she told
herself. You're in the embassy. He wouldn't dare do
anything to you
here.
There was a strange look in Mike's eyes. "Are you sure
you're well
enough to be back at work?"
The nerve. "Yes. I'm fine." She was finding it hard to
breathe.
Her intercom phone rang. "If you'll excuse me . .
-"Sure." Mike Slade
stood there staring at her, then turned and left.
Almost overcome with relief, Mary picked up the telephone.
"Hello?"
It was jerry Davis, the public affairs consul. "Madam
Ambassador, I'm
sorry to disturb you, but I'm afraid I have some terrible
news. Dr.
Louis Desforges has been murdered."
The room began to swim. "Are you-are you sure?"
"Yes, ma'am. His wallet was found on his body."
Sensory memories flooded through her, and a voice over the
telephone was
saying, "This is Sheriff Monster. Your husband has been
killed in a car
accident." And all the old sorrows came rushing back,
stabbing at her,
tearing her apart.
"How did it happen?" Her voice was strangled.
"He was shot to death."
"Do they-do they know who did it?"
"No, ma'am. The Securitate .4nd the French embassy are
investigating."
Mary dropped the receiver, her mind and body numb, and
leaned back in
her chair, studying the. ceiling. There was a crack in
it. I must
have that repaired, Mary thought. We mustn't have cracks
in our
embassy. There's another-crack. Cracks everywhere, and
when there is a
crack, evil things get in. Edward is dead.
Louis is dead. I can't go through this pain again. Who
would want to
kill Louis?
The answer immediately followed the question. Mike Slade.
Louis had discovered that Slade was feeding Mary arsenic.
Slade
probably thought that with Louis dead, no one could prove
anything
against him. A sudden realization filled her with a new
terror. Who
are you talking to? But Mike must have known that
Desforges was dead.
Mary stayed in her office all morning, planning her next
move.
I'm not going to let Mike Slade drive me away, she
decided. I'm not
going to let him kill me. I have to stop him. She was
filled with a
rage such as she had never known before. She was going to
protect
herself and her children. And she was going to destroy
Mike Slade.
"Madam Ambassador..." Dorothy Stone was holding an
envelope out to her.
"The guard at the gate asked me to give you this."
The envelope was marked "Personal. For the amba ,
ssador's eyes only."
Mary tore it open. The note was written in a neat
copperplate
handwriting. It read:
Dear Madam Ambassador:
Enjoy your last day on earth.
Angel
Another one of Mike's scare tactics, Mary thought. It
won't work. I'll
keep well away from him.
COLONEL MCKinney was studying the note. He looked up at
Mary. "You
were scheduled to appear this afternoon at the ground
breaking for the
new library addition. I'll cancel it and-"
"No."
"Madam Ambassador, it's too dangerous for you to-"
"I'll be safe." She knew where the danger lay, and she had
a plan.
"Please tell Mike Slade that I wish to see him right
away."
"You wanted to talk to me?" Mike Slade's tone was casual.
"I received a call from someone who wants to defect."
"Who is it?"
She had no intention of telling him. He would betray the
girl.
"That's not important. I want you to bring this, person
in."
Mike frowned. "This could lead to a lot of-"
Mary cut him short. "I want you to go to the ]Roscow Inn
at Moldavia
and pick her up."
He started to argue, until he saw the expression on her
face. "If
that's what you want, I'll send-"
"No." Mary's voice was steel. "I want you to go. I'm
sending two men
with you." With Gunny and another marine along, Mike would
not be able
to play any tricks. She had told Gunny not to let Mike
Slade out of his
sight.
Mike was studying Mary, puzzled. "I have a heavy
schedule," he began.
"I want you to leave immediately. Gunny is waiting for
you in your
office. You're to bring the defector back here to me."
Mike nodded slowly. "All right."
Mary watched him go, with a feeling of relief so intense
that she felt
giddy. With Mike Slade out of the way, she would be safe.
THE ground-breaking ceremony for the new American library
addition was
scheduled to be held at four o'clock at Alexandru Sahia
Square, in a
vacant lot next to the main library building. By three
p.m. a large
crowd had already gathered. Captain Aurel Istrase, head
of the
Securitate, had been told of the death threat and had
ordered all
automobiles removed from the square, so that there was no
danger of a
car bomb. In addition, police had been stationed around
the entire area
and a sharpshooter was on the roof of the library. At a
few minutes
before four, bomb experts swept the area and found no
explosives;
everything was in readiness for Mar)ls arrival.
As Mary walked from her limousine toward the lot where the
ceremony was
to take place, two armed -members of the Securitate walked
in front of
her and two behind her, shielding her with their bodies.
The onlookers applauded as she stepped into the small
circle that had
been cleared for her. The crowd was a mixture of
Romamans, Americans,
and attaches from other embassies in Bucharest. As Mary
looked at the
people she thought, I should never have come here. I'm
terrified.
Colonel McKinney was saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is
my honor to
present the ambassador from the United States of
America."' The crowd
applauded.
Mary took a deep breath and began. "Thank you.
She had been so caught up in the maelstrom of events of
the past week
that she had not prepared a speech, but some deep
wellspring within her
gave her the words. She found herself saying, "What we
are doing here
today may seem a small thing, but it is important, because
it is one
more bridge between our country and all the countries of
Eastern Europe.
The new buildding we are dedicating here today will be
filled with
information about the United States of America......
Colonel McKinney and his men were moving through the
crowd. The note
had said "Enjoy your last day on earth." When did the
killer's day end?
Six p.m.? Nine? Midnight?
On the far side of the square a car suddenly raced past
the police
barrier and screamed to a stop. at the curb. As a
startled policeman
moved toward it the driver jumped out and began running
away. As he
ran, he pulled a device from his pocket and pressed it.
The car
exploded, sending out a shower of metal into the er.owd.
None of it
reached the center,"where Mary was standing, but the
spectators began to
panic, trying to get away. The sharpshooter on the roof
raised his
rifle and put a bullet through the fleeing man's heart
before he could
escape.
It took the Remanian police an hour to clear the crowd
away and remove
the body. The fire department had put out the flames of
the burning
car'. Mary was driven back to the embassy, shaken.
"Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to go to the residence
and rest?"
Colonel McKinney asked her. "You've just been through a
horrifying
experience."
"No," Mary said stubbornly. "The embassy." That was the
only place
where she could safely talk to Stanton Rogers. I must
talk to him soon,
she thought, or I'll go to pieces.
The strain of everything that was happening to her was
becoming
unbearable. She had made sure that Mike Slade was safely.
out of the
way, yet an attempt had still been made on her life. So
he was not
working alone.
AT six o'clock Mike Slade walked into Mary's office. He
was furious. "I
put Corina Socoli in a room upstairs", he said curtly.
"Nice shot, not to tell me who I was picking up. You've
made a big
mistake. We have to return her. She's a national
treasure. The
Romanian government would never allow her out of the
country." Colonel
McKinney hurried into the office. He stopped short as he
saw Mike. "We
have an identification on the dead man. He's Angel, all
right. His
real name is H. R. de Mendoza."
Mike was staring at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Didn't the ambassador tell you? She received a death
warning from
Angel. He tried to assassinate her at the ground-breaking
ceremony this
afternoon. One of Istrase's men got him."
Mike stood there, his eyes fixed on Mary. "Where's the
body?" he asked
McKinney.
"In the morgue at police headquarters."
THE body was lying on a stone slab. He had been an
ordinarylooking man,
of medium height, with a small, thin nose that went with
his tight
mouth, very small feet, and thinning hair. His belongings
were piled on
a table.
Mike examined the jacket label. It was from a shop in
Buenos Aires. The
leather shoes also had an Argentinean label. Mike turned
to the
sergeant. "What do you have on him?"
"He flew in from London on TAROM Airlines two days ago,
checked into the
Intercontinental under the name of de Mendoza.
His passport shows his home address as Buenos Aires. It
is forged. He
does not look like an international killer, does he?"
"No," Mike agreed. "He doesn't."
Two dozen blocks away Angel was walking past the
residence.
The photographs that had been sent were excellent, but
Angel believed in
personally checking out every detail.
,Angel grinned at the thought of the harade in the town
square.
It had been child's play to hire a junkie for the price of
a nose-ful of
cocaine. It threw everyone off guard. Let them sweat.
But the big
event is yet to come, Angel thought. For five million
dollars I will
give them a show they will never forget. What do the
television
networks call them? Spectaculars. They will get a
spectacular in
living color.
There will be a Fourth of July celebration at the
residence , the voice
had said. "There will be balloons, a marine band,
entertainers." Angel
smiled and thought, A five-million-dollar spectacular.
STANroN Rogers was on the line from Washington. Mary
grabbed the
private phone in the bubble room as if it were a lifeline.
"Mary, I can't understand a word you're saying. Slow
down."
"I'm sorry, Stan. Didn't you get my cable?"
"No. I've just returned. There was no cable from you.
What's wrong?"
Mary fought to control her hysteria, thinking, Where
should I begin? She
took a deep breath, and said, "Mike Slade is trying to
murder me."
There was a shocked silence. "Mary, you can't believe-"
"It's true. I know it is. I met a doctor from the French
embassyLouis
Desforges. I became ill, and he found out I was being
poisoned with
arsenic. Mike was doing it."
Rogers' voice was sharp. "What makes you think that?"
"Louis-Dr. Desforges-figured it out. Mike Slade made
coffee for me
every morning, with arsenic in it. I have proof that he
got hold of the
arsenic. Last night Louis was murdered, and this
afternoon someone
working with Slade tried to assassinate me."
This time the silence was even longer.
When Stanton Rogers spoke again, his tone was urgent.
"What I'm going
to ask you is very important, Mary. Think carefally.
Could it have been anyone besides Mike Slade?"
"No. He's been trying to get me out from the beginning."
"All right," Rogers said crisply. "I'll inform the
President.
We'll handle Slade. I'll also arrange extra protection
for you."
"Stan, Sunday night I'm giving a Fourth of July party at
the residence.
Do you think I should cancel it?"
There was a thoughtful silence. "As a matter of fact, the
party might
be a good idea. Keep a lot of people around you. Mary, I
don't want to
frighten you any more than you already are, but I would
suggest that you
not let the children out of your sight. Not for a minute.
Slade might
try to get at you. through them."
She felt a shudder go through her. "Why is Slade doing
this?"
"I wish I knew. It makes no sense. But I'm going to find
out. In the
meantime, keep as far away from him as you possibly can."
When Mary hung up, it was as though an enormous burden had
been lifted
from her shoulders.
EDDiE Maltz answered on the first ring. The conversation
lasted for ten
minutes.
"I'll make sure everything is there," Eddie promised.
Angel hung up.
Eddie Maltz thought, I wonder what Angel needs all that
stuff for. He
looked at his watch. Forty-eight hours to go.
THE moment Stanton Rogers finished talking to Mary, he
placed an
emergency call to Colonel McKinney. "I want you to pick
up Mike Slade,"
he said. "Hold him in close custody until you hear from
me."
"Mike Slade?" asked the colonel incredulously.
"I want him held and isolated. He's probably armed and
dangerous. Don't
let him talk to anyone. Call me back at the White House
as soon as you
have him."
"Yes, sir."
Two hours later Stanton Rogers' phone rang. He snatched
up the
receiver.
"It's Colonel.McKinney, Mr. Rogers."
"Do you have Slade?"
"No, sir. There's a problem. Mike Slade has
disappeared."
Sofia, Bulgaria. Saturday, July 3- In a small,
nondescript building, a
group of Eastern Committee members was meeting. Seated
around the table
were powerful representatives from Russia, China,
Czechoslovakia,
Pakistan, India, and Malaysia.
The chairman was speaking. "We welcome our brothers and
sisters on the
Eastern Committee who have joined us today. I am happy to
tell you that
we have excellent news from the Western Committee. The
final phase of
our plan is about to be successfully concluded. It will
happen tomorrow
night at the American ambassador's residence in Bucharest.
Arrangements
have been made for international press and television
coverage."
Code name Kali spoke. "The American ambassador and her
two children-"
"Will be assassinated, along with a hundred or so other
Americans. We
are all aware of the grave risks and the holocaust that
may follow. It
is time to put the motion to a vote." He started at the
far end of the
table. "Brahma?"
"Yes."
"Vishnu?"
"Yes."
"Krishna?"
"Yes."
When everyone had voted, the chairman declared, "It is
unanimous. We
owe a particular vote of thanks to the person who has
helped so much to
bring this about." He turned to the American.
"My pleasure," Mike Slade said.
THE decorations for the Fourth of July party were flown
into Bucharest
late Saturday afternoon and trucked directly to a United
States
government warehouse. The cargo consisted of a thousand
red, white, and
blue balloons packed in flat.boxes, three steel cylinders
of helium to
blow up the balloons, two hundred and fifty rolls of
streamers, party
favors, noisemakers, a dozen banners, and six dozen
miniature American
flags. The cargo.was unloaded in the warehouse at eight
p.m. Two hours
later a jeep arrived with three oxygen cylinders stamped
with U.S. Army
markings. The driver placed them inside.
At one a.m., when the warehouse was deserted, Angel
appeared. The
warehouse door had been left unlocked. Angel went inside,
examined the
cylinders carefully, and went to work. The first task was
to empty the
three helium tanks until each was only one-third full.
After that, the
rest was simple.
AT six o'clock on the evening Of July 4 a U.S. Army truck
pulled up to
the service entrance of the residence and was stopped.
The guard said,
"What have you got in there?"
"Goodies for the party tonight."
"Let's take a look." The guard inspected the inside of the
truck.
"What's in the boxes?"
"Some helium and balloons and flags and stuff."
"Open them."
Fifteen minutes later the truck was passed through.
Inside the compound
a marine corporal and two marine guards unloaded the
equipment and
carried it into a storage room off the ballroom.
As they began to unpack, Eddie Maltz walked in,
accompanied by a
stranger wearing army fatigues.
One guard said, "Who's going to blow up all these
balloons?"
"Don't worry," Eddie Maltz said. "This is the age of
technology." He
nodded toward the stranger. "Here's the one that's in
charge of the
balloons. Colonel McKinney's orders."
The other guard grinned at the stranger."'Better you than
me."
The two guards finished unpacking and left.
"You have an hour," Eddie Maltz told the stranger.
"Better get to
work." Maltz nodded to the corporal and walked out.
The corporal walked over to one of the cylinders. "What's
in these
babies?"
"Helium," the stranger said curtly.
As the corporal stood watching, the stranger picked up a
balloon, put
the neck to the nozzle of a cylinder for an instant, and,
as the balloon
filled, tied off the neck. The balloon floated to the
ceiling. The
whole operation took no more than a second.
"Hey, that's great." The corporal smiled.
IN HER Office at the embassy Mary Ashley was finishing UP
some action
cables. She desperately wished the party could have been
called off
There were going to be more than two hundred guests. She
hoped Mike
Slade was caught before the party began.
Tim and Beth were under constant supervision at the
residence. How
could Mike bear to harm them? He's not sane, she thought.
Mary rose to put some papers into the shredder, and froze.
Mike Slade was walking into her office through the
connecting door. She
opened her mouth to scream.
She was terrified. He could kill her before she could
call for help,
and he could escape the same way he had come in.
"Colonel McKinney's men are looking for you. You -can
kill me," Mary
said defiantly, "but you'll never escape."
Angel's the one who's trying to kill you," Mike said.
"You're a liar. Angel is dead. I saw him shot."
"Angel is a professional from Argentina. The last thing
he would do is
walk around with Argentine labels in his clothes. The
slob the police
killed was an amateur who was set up."
"I don't believe a word you're saying," Mary said. "You
killed Dr.
Desforges. You tried to poison me. Do you deny that?"
Mike studied her for a long moment. "No. I don't deny
it, but you'd
better hear the story from a friend of mine." He turned
toward the door
to his office. "Come in, Bill."
Colonel McKinney walked into the room. "I think it's time
we all had a
chat, Madam Ambassador. . .
IN the residence storage room the stranger in army
fatigues was filling
the balloons under the watchful eye of the corporal.
Boy, that's one ugly customer, the corporal thought.
Whewl The corporal
could not understand why the white balloons were being
filled from one
cylinder, the red balloons from a second cylinder, and the
blue ones
from a third. Why not use each cylinder until it's empty?
he wondered.
He was tempted to ask, but he did not want to start a
conversation. Not
with this one.
"LET's start at the beginning," Colonel McKinney said.
"On Inauguration
Day when the President announced that he wanted to open
relations with
every iron curtain country, he exploded a bombshell.
There's a faction
in our government that's convinced that if we get too
involved with the
Eastern bloc, the Communists will destroy us. On the
other side of the
iron curtain there are Communists who believe that our
President's plan
is a trick-a Trojan horse to bring our capitalist spies
into their
countries. A group of powerful men on both sides had
formed a
supersecret alliance, called Patriots for Freedom. They
decided the
only way to destroy the President's plan was to let him
start it, and
then to sabotage it in such a dramatic way that it would
never be tried
again. That's where you came into the picture."
"But why me? Why was I chosen?"
"Because the packaging was important," Mike said. "You
were exactly the
image they needed-Mrs. America, with two squeakyclean
kids. They were
determined to have you. When your husband got in the wa .
way, they
murdered him and made it look like an accident so you
wouldn't have any
suspicions and refuse the post."
Mary could not speak. The horror of what Mike was saying
was too
appalling.
"Their next step was your buildup. They used their press
connections
around the world and saw to it that you became everyone's
darling-the
beautiful lady who was going to lead the world down the
road to peace."
"And-and now?"
Mike's voice gentled. "Their plan is to assassinate you
and the
children as shockingly as possible-to sicken the world so
much that it
would put an end to any further ideas of ddtente."
Mary sat there in stunned silence.
"That states it bluntly but accurately," Colonel McKinney
said quietly.
"Mike is with the CIA. After your husband and Marin Groza
were
murdered, Mike started to get on the trail of Patriots for
Freedom. They
thought he was on their Ode and invited him to join.
"we talked the idea over with President Ellison, and he
gave his
approval. The President has been kept abreast of every
development. His
overriding concern has been that you and the children be
protected, but
he dared not discuss what he knew with you or anyone else,
because Ned
Tillingest, head of the CIA, had warned him that there
were high-level
leaks."
Mary's head was spinning. She said to Mike, "But you
tried to kill me."
He sighed. "Lady, I've been trying to save your life.
You haven't made
it easy. I tried every way I knew how to get you to take
the kids and
go home, where you'd be safe."
"But you poisoned me."
"Not fatally. I wanted to get you just sick enough so
that you'd have
to leave Remania. Our doctors were waiting for 'you in
Frankfurt. I
couldn't tell you the truth, because it would have blown
the whole
operation. Even now, we don't know who put the
organization together.
He never attends meetings. He's known only as the
Controller."
"And Louis?"
"The doctor was one of them. He was Angel's backup. He
was an
explosives expert. A phony kidnapping was set up, and you
were rescued
by Mr. Charm." Mike saw the expression on Mary Is face.
"You were
lonely and vulnerable, and they worked on that.
You weren't the first one to fall for the good doctor."
Something bothered Mary. "But Mike, why did you kill
Louis?"
"I had no choice. The whole point of their plan was to
murder you,and
the children as publicly and spectacularly as possible.
Louis knew I was a member of the Committee. Poisoning
wasn't the way
you were supposed to die. When he figured out that I was
poisoning you,
he became suspicious of me. I had to kill him before he
exposed me to
the Committee."
Mary sat there listening as the pieces of the puzzle fell
into place.
The man she had distrusted had poisoned her to keep her
alive, and the
man she thought she loved had saved her for a more
dramatic death. She
and her children had been used. I was the Judas goat,
Mary thought. All
the warmth that everyone showed me was phony. The only
one who was real
was Stanton Rogers.
Or was he? "Stanton," Mary began. "Is he-"
"He's been protective of you all the way," Colonel
McKinney assured her.
"When he thought Mike was the one trying to kill you, he
ordered me to
arrest him."
Mary looked at Mike. He had been sent here to protect
her, and all the
time she had looked on him as the enemy. Her thoughts
were in a
turmoil. "Then Louis never did have a wife or children?"
"No."
Mary remembered something. "But I asked Eddie Maltz to
check, and he
told me that Louis was married and had two daughters."
Mike and Colonel McKinney exchanged a look.
"He'll be taken care of," McKinney said. "I sent him to
Frankfurt. I'll
have him picked up."
"Who is Angel?" Mary asked.
Mike answered, "He's an assassin from South America. He's
probably the
best in the world. The Committee agreed to pay him five
million dollars
to kill you."
Mary listened to the words in disbelief.
Mike went on. "We know he's in Bucharest, but we don't
have a single
description of Angel. He uses a dozen different
passports.
No one has ever talked directly to him. They deal through
his mistress,
Neusa Mufiez. The various groups in the Committee are so
compartmentalized that I haven't been able to learn what
Angel's plan
is."
"What's to stop him from killing me?"
"Us," said Colonel McKinney. "With the help of the
Remanian government
we've taken extraordinary precautions for the party.
We've covered every possible contingency."
"What happens now?" Mary asked.
Mike said carefully, "That's up to you. Angel was ordered
to carry out
the contract at your party tonight. We're sure we can
catch him, but if
you and the children aren't at the party . .
"You're asking me to set myself up as a target?"
Colonel McKinney said, "You don't have to agree."
I could end this now, Mary said to herself. I could go
back to Kansas
with the children and leave this nightmare behind. Angel
would forget
about me. She looked up at Mike and Bill McKinney and
said, "I won't
expose my children to danger."
McKinney said, "I can arrange for Beth and Tim to be
spirited out of the
residence and taken here under escort."
Mary looked at Mike for a long time. Finally she spoke.
"How does a
Judas goat dress?"
Chapter Eleven
There was a tremendous feeling of excitement in the air.
Hundreds of
curious Remanians had gathered outside the residence,
which was ringed
with huge spotlights that lit up the sky. The crowd was
kept in order
by a detachment of American MPs and Remanian police. Plain
clothes men
mingled with the multitude, looking for anything
suspicious. Some of
them moved around with trained police dogs that were
sniffing for
explosives.
The press coverage was enormous. There were photographers
and reporters
from a dozen countries. They had all been carefully
checked and their
equipment searched before they were allowed to'enter the
residence.
"A cockroach couldn't sneak into this place tonight," the
marine officer
in-charge of security boasted.
IN THE storage room the marine corporal was getting bored
watching the
person in army fatigues filling up the balloons. He
pulled out a
cigarette and started to light it.
Angel yelled, "Put that out!"
The corporal looked up, startled. "What's the problem?
You're filling
those with helium, aren't you? Helium doesn't burn."
"Put it out! Colonel McKinney said no smoking here."
Grumbling, the corporal put out the cigarette.
Angel watched to make sure there were no sparks left, then
turned back
to the task of filling each balloon from a different
cylinder.
It was true that helium did not burn, but the cylinders
were not filled
with helium. The first tank was filled with propane, the
second tank
with white phosphorus, and the third with an
oxygen-acetylene mix. Angel
had left just enough helium in each tank to make the
balloons rise.
Angel was filling the white balloons with propane, the red
balloons with
oxygen-acetylene, and the blue balloons with white
phosphorus. When the
balloons were exploded, the white phosphorus would act as
an incendiary
for the initial gas discharge, drawing in oxygen so that
all breath
would be sucked out of the body of anyone within fifty
yards. The
phosphorus would instantly turn to a hot, scaring molten
liquid, falling
on every person in the room. The thermal effect would
destroy the lungs
and throat, and the blast would flatten an area of a
square block.
It's going to be beautiful, Angel thought.
Angel straightened up and looked at the colorful balloons
floating
against the ceiling of the storage room. "I am finished."
"Okay." The corporal called four marine guards who were
stationed in the
ballroom itself.. "Help me get these balloons out there."
One of the guards opened wide the doors to the ballroom,
which was
already crowded with guests. The room had been decorated
with American
flags and red, white, and blue streamers. At the far end
was a
raised'stand for the band.
"It's a lovely room," Angel said, thinking, In one hour it
will be
filled with burned corpses. "Could I take a picture of
it?"
The corporal shrugged. "Why not? Let's go, fellas."
The marines pushed past Angel and started shoving the
inflated balloons
into the ballroom. "Easy," Angel warned. "Easy."
"Don't worry," a marine called. "We won't break your
precious
balloons."
Angel stood in the doorway, staring at the riot of colors
ascending in a
rising rainbow, and smiled. One thousand of the lethal
little beauties
nestled against the ceiling. Angel took a camera from a
pocket and
stepped into the ballroom.
"Heyl You're not allowed in here," the corporal said.
"I just want to take a picture to show my daughter."
I'll bet that's some looking daughter, the corporal
thought
sardonically. "All right. But make it quick."
Angel glanced across the room. Ambassador Mary Ashley
was entering
with her two children. Angel grinned. Perfect timing.
When the corporal turned his back, Angel quickly set the
camera down
under a cloth-covered table. The automatic timing device
was set for a
one-hour delay. Everything was ready.
Five minutes later Angel was outside the residence,
strolling down
Alexandru Sahia Street.
BEFORE the party began, Mary had taken the children
upstairs.
She felt she owed them the truth.
They sat listening, wide-eyed, as Mary explained what had
been happening
and what might be about to happen.
"You'll be taken out of here, where you'll be safe," she
said.
"But what about you?" Beth asked. "Can't you come with
us?"
"No, darling. Not if we want to catch this man."
Tim was trying not to cry. "How do you know they'll catch
him?" Mary
thought about that a moment, and said, "Because Mike Slade
said so."
Okay, fellas?"
Beth and Tim looked at each other. They were both
whitefaced,
terrified. Mary's heart went out to them. They're too
young to have to
go through this, she thought.
Fifteen minutes later Mary, Beth, and Tim entered the
ballroom. They
walked across the floor, greeting guests, trying to
conceal their
nervousness. When they reached the other side of the
room, Mary turned
to the children. "You have to get up very early tomorrow,
" she said
loudly. "Back to your rooms."
The moment the children left the ballroom, they were
escorted to the
service entrance by Colonel McKinney. He said to the two
armed marines
waiting at the door, "Take them to the embassy.
Don't let them out of your sight."
Mike Slade watched them leave, then went to find Mary.
"The children are on their way. I have to do some
checking. I'll be
back."
Mary tried to stop the pounding of her heart. How was
Angel planning to
assassinate her? She looked around the festive ballroom,
but there was
no clue.
"Don't leave me." The words came out before she could stop
herself "I
want to go with you. I feel safer with you."
Mike grinned. "Now, that's a switch. Come on."
Mary followed him, staying close behind. The orchestra
had begun
playing, and people were dancing. Those who were not
dancing were
helping themselves from the silver trays of champagne
being offered, or
from the buffet tables.
The room looked spectacular. Mary raised her head, and
there were the
balloons, a thousand of them-red, white, and bluefloating
against the
pink ceiling. Her nerves were so taut that she was
finding it difficult
to breathe. Angel could be watching her .this very
minute.
"Do you think Angel is here now?- she asked.
"don't kno*," Mike said. He saw the expression on her
face.
Look, if you want to leave-"
"No. I'm the bait. Without me, he won't spring the
trap."
He nodded and squeezed her arm. "Rlight."
Colonel McKinney approached. "We've done a thorough
search, Mike. We
haven't found a thing. I don't like it."
"Plees take another look around." Mike signaled to four
armed, marines
standing by, and they moved up next to Mary. "Be right
back," Mike
said.
Mary swallowed nervously. "Please."
Mike and McKinney, accompanied by two guards with sniffer
dogs, searched
every room in the residence. They found nothing
suspicious.
In one of the guest rooms, its door guarded by marines,
was Corina
Socoli, lying on the bed reading a book. Young and
beautiful and
talented, the Remanian national treasure. Could she be a
plant? Could
she be helping Angel?
They returned to the kitchen.
"What about poison?" asked McKinney.
"Not photogenic enough. Angel's going for the big bang."
"Mike, there's no way anyone could get explosives into
this place. The
place is clean."
"There's one way."
McKinney looked at Mike. "How?"
"I don't know. But Angel knows."
They searched the library and the offices again. Nothing.
They passed
the storage room, where the corporal was shoving out a few
balloons that
had been left behind. He watched them float to the
ceiling.
"Pretty, huh?" the corporal said.
"Yeah," Mike said. He started to walk on, then stopped.
"Corporal,
where did these balloons come from?"
"From the U.S. air base in Frankfurt, sir."
Mike indicated the helium cylinders. "And these?"
"Same place. They were escorted to our warehouse per
Colonel McKinney's
instructions, sir."
Mike said to McKinney, "Let's check upstairs again."
They turned to leave. The corporal said, "Oh, Colonel,
the person you
sent forgot to leave a time slip. Is that going to be
handled by
military payroll or civilian?"
Colonel McKinney frowned. "What person?"
"The one you authorized to fill the balloons."
"I never- Who said I authorized it?"
"Eddie Maltz. He said youMcKinney said, "Eddie Maltz?"
Mike turned to the corporal, his voice urgent. "What did
this man look
like?"
"Oh, it wasn't a man, sir. It was a woman. To tell you
the truth, I
thought she looked weird. Fat and ugly. She had a funny
accent.
She was pockmarked and had kind of a puffy face."
Mike said to McKinney, "That sounds a lot like the
description of Neusa
Mufiez that Harry lantz gave the Committee."
The revelation hit them both at the same time.
Mike said slowly, "Oh, my Godl Neusa Muez is Angell" He
pointed to the
cylinders. "She filled the balloons from these?"
"Yes, sir. It was funny. I lit a cigarette, and she
screamed at me to
put it out. I said. "Helium doesn't burn," and she said-"
Mike looked up. "The baloons! The explosives are in the
baloons!" The
two men stared at the high ceiling covered with the
spectacular red,
white, and blue balloons.
"She must be using some kind of a remote-control device to
explode
them." Mike turned to the corporal. "How long ago did she
leave?"
"I guess about an hour ago."
UNDER the table, unseen, the timing device had six minutes
left.
Mike was frantically scanning the room. "She could have
put the timer
anywhere. It could go off any second. We'll never find
it."
Mary was approaching. Mike turned to her. "You've got to
clear the
room. Fast! Make an announcement. It will sound better
coming from
you. Get everybody outside."
She was looking at him, bewildered. "But why?"
"We found our playmate's toy," Mike said grimly. He
pointed.
Those balloons. They're lethal."
Mary was looking up at them, horror on her face. "Can't
we take them
down?"
Mike snapped, "There are hundreds of them. By the time-"
Mary's throat was so dry she could hardly get the words
out.
"Mike . . . I know a way." The two men stared at her.
"The
Ambassador's Folly. The roof It slides open."
Mike tried to control his excitement. "How does it work?"
:"There's a switch that-"
"No," Mike said. "Nothing electrical. A spark could set
them all off.
Can it be done manually?"
" Yes. The roof is divided in half There's a crank on
each side that-"
She was talking to herself The two men were frantically
racing upstairs.
When they reached the top floor, they found a door opening
onto a loft
and hurried inside. A wooden ladder led to a catwalk
above that was
used by workmen when they cleaned the ballroom ceiling. A
crank was
fastened to the wall.
"There must be another one on the other side," Mike said.
He started across the narrow catwalk, pushing his way
through the sea of
deadly balloons, struggling to keep his balance, trying
not to look down
at the mob of people far below. A current of air pushed a
mass of
balloons against him, and he slipped. One foot went off
the catwalk. He
began to fall. He grabbed the boards as he fell, hanging
on. Slowly he
managed to pull himself up. He was soaked in
perspiration. He inched
his way along the rest of the walk. Fastened to the wall
was the crank.
"I'm ready," Mike called to the colonel, who was hidden
from sight by
the balloons. "Careful. No sudden moves."
"Right."
Mike began turning the crank very slowly.
Under the table, the timer was down to two minutes.
Mixe could hear the other crank being turned. Slowly,
very Slowly, the
roof started to slide open. A few balloons drifted into
the night air,
and as the roof opened farther, more balloons began to
escape. Hundreds
of them poured through the opening, dancing into the
star-filled night,
drawing oohs and aahs from the unsuspecting guests below
and the people
out in the street.
Under the table, there were forty-five seconds remaining
on the
remote-control timer. A cluster of balloons caught on the
edge of the
ceiling, just out of Mike's reach. He leaned forward,
trying to free
them. They swayed just beyond his fingertips. Carefully
he moved out
on the catwalk, with nothing to hold on to, and strained
to push the
balloons free. Now! Mike stood there watching the last of
the balloons
-escape. They soared higher and higher, painting the
velvet night with
their vivid colors, and suddenly the -sky exploded.
There Was a tremendous roar, and the tongues of red and
white flames
shot high into the air. It was a Fourth of July
celebration such as
hoid never been seen before. Below, everyone applauded.
Mike watched, drained, too tired to move. It was over.
The roundup was timed to take place simultaneously, in
farflung corners
of the world.
Floyd Baker, the Secretary of State, was with his mistress
when the door
burst open. Four men came into the room. "FBI, Mr.
Secretary. You're
under arrest."
"You must be mad. What's the charge?"
"Treason, Thor."
General Oliver Brooks, Odin, was having breakfitst at his
club when two
FBI agents walked up to his table and arrested him.
In London, Sir Alex Hyde-White, K.B.E., M.P., one of the
senior heads of
the British Secret Intelligence, Service, code nwne Freyr,
was being
toasted at a parliamentary dinner when the club steward
approached him.
"Excuse me, Sir Alex. There are some gentlemen outside
who would like a
word with you... ."
In Paris, in the Chambre des D,6putds de la Rdpublique
Frangaise, a
deputy, Balder, was called off the floor.
In the parliament building in New Delhi, the speaker of
the' Lok Sabha,
Vishnu, was taken to jail.
In Rome, a deputy of the Camera dei Deputati, Tyr, was in
a Turkish bath
when he was arrested.
The sweep went on. In Mexico and Albania and Japan, high
officials were
arrested. A member of the Bundestag in West Germany, a
deputy in the
Nationalrat in Austria, the vice-chairman of the Presidium
of the Soviet
Union. The arrests included the president of a large
shipping company
and a powerful union leader, a telesion evangelist and the
head of an
oil cartel.
Eddie Maltz was shot while trying to escape.
Pete Connors committed suicide while FBI agents were
breaking down the
door to his office.
MARY Ashley and Mike Slade were in the bubble room
receiving telephone
reports from around the world. Mike replaced the receiver
and turned to
Mary. "They've got most of them. Except for the
Controller and Neusa
Mufiez-Angel."
"No one knew that Angel was a woman?" Mary marveled.
"No. She had all of us fooled. Lantz described her to
the Patriots for
Freedom Committee as a fat, ugly moron.
"What about the Controller?" Mary asked.
"No one ever saw him. He gave orders by telephone. He
was a brilliant
organizer. The Committee was broken up into small cells
so that one
group never knew what the other was doing."
ANGEL was like an enraged animal. The contract had gone
wrong somehow,
but she had been prepared to make up for it.
She had called the private number in Washington and, using
her dull,
listless voice, had said, "Angel say to tell you no't to
worry. There
was some mistake, but he weel take care of it, mester.
They will all
die nex' time, and-"
"There won't be a next time!" the voice had exploded.
"Angel bungled
it. He's worse than an amateur."
"Angel tol' me-"
"I don't give a damn what he told you. He's finished. He
won't get a
cent. just tell that incompetent to keep away. I'll find
someone else
who knows how to do the job." And he had slammed the phone
down.
The gringo dog. No one had ever treated Angel like that
and lived. The
man was going to pay. Oh, how he would pay!
THE private phone in the bubble room rang. Mary picked it
up.
It was Stanton Rogers. "Mary! You're safe! Thank God it's
over.
Tell me what happened."
"It was Angel. She tried to blow up the residence and-"
"You mean he."
"No. Angel is a woman. Her name is Neusa Muez."
There was a long, stunned silence. "Neusa Muez? That
fat, ugly moron
was Angel?"
Mary felt a sudden chill. "That's right, Stan," she said
slowly.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Mary?"
"No. I'm on my way to see the children. I'll talk to you
later."
She replaced the receiver and sat dazed.
Mike looked at her. "What's the matter?"
She turned to him. "You said that Harry Lantz told only
some Committee
members what Neusa Mufiez looked like."
"Yes."
Mary said, "Stanton Rogers just described her."
WHEN Angel's plane landed at Dulles Airport, she went to a
telephone
booth and dialed the Controller's private number.
The familiar voice said, "Stanton Rogers."
Two days later Mike, Colonel McKinney, and Mary were
seated in the
embassy conference room. An electronics expert had just
finished
debugging it.
"It all fits now," Mike said. "The Controller had to be
Stanton Rogers,
but none of us could see it."
"But why would he want to kill me?" Mary asked. "In the
beginning he
was against my being appointed ambassador. He told me so
himself."
Mike explained. "He hadn't completely formulated his plan
then. But
once he realized what you and the children symbolized, he
fought for you
to get the nomination. That's what threw us off the
track. He was
behind you all the way, seeing to it that you got a
buildup in the
press."
Mary shuddered. "Why did he get involved with-"
"He never forgave Paul Ellison for being President. He
felt cheated. He
started out as a liberal, and he married a right-wing
reactionary. My
guess is that his wife turned him around."
"Have they found him yet?"
"No. He's disappeared. But he can't hide for very long."
Stamton Rogers' head was found in a Washington, D.C.,
garbage dump two
days later. His eyes had been torn out.
PAUL Ellison was calling from the White House. "I'm
refusing to accept
your resignation, Mary. I know how 'much you've been
through, but I'm
asking you to remain at your post in Remania."
I know how much you've been through. Did anyone have any
idea? She had
been so unbelievably naive. She was going to show the
world how
wonderful Americans really were. And all the time she had
been a
cat's-paw. She and her children had been placed in mortal
danger. She
thought of Edward and how he had been murdered, and of
Louis and his
lies and his death. She thought of the destruction Angel
had sown all
over the world.
I'm not the same person I was when I came here, Mary
thought.
I've grown up the hard way, but I've grown up. I've
managed to
accomplish something here. I got Hannah Murphy out of
prison, and I
made our grain deal. I saved the' life of Ionescu's son,
and I rescued
some Jews.
"Hello. Are you there?" the President asked.
"Yes, sir." She looked over at Mike Slade, who was
slouched back in his
chair studying her.
"You've done a truly remarkable job," the President said.
"You're the person we need over there. You'll be doing
our country a
great service."
The President was waiting for an answer. Mary was
weighing her
decision. Finally she said, "Mr. President, if I did
agree to stay, I
would insist that.our country give sanctuary to Corina
Socoli."
"I'm sorry, Mary. I've already explained why we can't do
that.
It would offend lonescu and-"
"He'll get over it. I know lonescu, Mr. President. He's
using her as
a bargaining chip."
There was a long silence. "How would you get her out?"
"An army cargo plane is due to arrive in the morning.
I'll send her out
in that."
There was a pause. "I'll square it with State. If that's
all-"
Mary looked over at Mike Slade again. "There's one thing
more. I want
Mike Slade to stay here with me. I need him. We make a
good team."
Mike was watching her, a private smile on his lips.
"I'm afraid that's impossible," the President said firmly.
"I need
Slade back here. He already has another assignment."
Mary sat there holding the phone, saying nothing.
The President went on. "We'll send you someone else.
Anyone you want.
Mary? Hello? What is this-some kind of blackmaill?"
Mary sat silently waiting.
Finally the President said grudgingly. "Well, I suppose if
you really
need him, we might spare him for a little while."
Mary felt her heart lighten. "Thank you, Mr. President.
I'll be happy
to stay on as ambassador."
The President had a final parting shot. "You're one ace
of a
negotiator, Madun Ambassador. I have some interesting
plans in mind for
you when you're finished there. Good luck! And stay out
of trouble."
The line went dead.
Mary replaced the receiver and looked at Mike. "You're
going to be
staying here. He told me to stay out of trouble."
Mike Slade grinned. "He has a nice sense of humor." He
rose and moved
toward her. "Do you remember the day I met you and called
you a perfect
ten?"
How well she remembered. "Yes."
"I was wrong. Now you're a perfect ten."
She felt a warm glow. "Oh, mike. . .
"Since I'm staying on,. Madam Ambassador, we'd better
talk about the
problem we're having with the Remanian commerce minister."
He looked
into her eyes and said softly, "Would you like a cup of
coffee?"
Epilogue
Alice Springs, Australia.
The chairwoman was ad ' dressing the Committee. "We have
suffered a
setback, but because of the lessons we have learned, our
organization
will become even stronger. Now it is time to take a vote.
Aphrodite?"
"Yes."
,: Athene?"
"Yes.
"Cybele?"
"Yes."
Selene?"
Considering the horrible death of our former Controller,
shouldn't we
wait until-"
"Yes or no, please."
"No."
"Nike?"
"Yes.
"Nemesis?"
"Yes."
" The motion is carried. Please observe the usual
precautions, ladies."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The name Sidney Sheldon has become synonymous with the
term best-selling
novelist. But few of his fans know that before he
composed a single
line of any novel, Sheldon was a successful writer for
stage, screen,
and television. Over the years he collected an Oscar (for
the film The
Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer) and a Tony Award (for the
Broadway play
Redhead).
Still broader popular success came to Sheldon later, with
the television
series I Dream of jeannie and Hart to Hart, which he
created and
produced. It wasn't until he was fifty-three that he
turned to writing
novels.
Why the change? Sheldon explains: "I came up with an idea
for a
television drama about a psychiatrist. In order for the
plot to make
Sidney Sheldon sense, the viewer had to know what the
psychiactrist was
thinking, and I didn't know how to achieve introspection
like that on
television. The only way to do it was as a novel." That
novel was The
Naked Face, and it was nominated for an Edgar award by the
Mystery
Writers of America. From then on, Sheldon wrote one best
seller after
another. Windmills of the Gods is his seventh.
Thorough research and old-fashioned hard work are
Sheldon's trademarks.
He spent three and a half years on Windmills, rewriting it
a dozen
times. But hard work alone is not enough. Sheldon
attributes his
books' enormous appeal to the simple fact that he likes
what readers
like. "My characters are very real to me," he says, "and
I think
therefore very real to others." The same rule applies to
his penchant
for intriguing.plot twists that keep the reader hooked.
"I love that
kind of book, and I think my readers do, too."
And speaking of twists, Windmills contains a secret one.
Rememher the
somber quote by H. L. Dietrich at the beginning, from
which the title
is taken? "There is no H. L. Dietrich," Mr. Sheldon
says impishly.
"I make up those introductory quotes in all my books."