by D. E. Daum
“I want both to stop the terrorists and credit. What’s wrong with that?” said Major Rafin.
“The fact is, Major, that you and your men have done nothing to discover this plot. We are handing it to you on a platter, so either you do it our way or I walk without telling you the rest of the information. You’re on your own. Good luck. Perhaps you can get credit for a radioactive coastline. What’s it going to be? ”
The major flushed red. “You cannot withhold that information from us. It is not ethical.”
“What’s not ethical is repaying our help by putting our contact in jeopardy! Goodbye, gentlemen. You have five more days until your 9/11.” Jane walked out of the meeting.
Before she got to the front door, Ephrem caught up to her and said, “You can’t leave yet. We still need to go to dinner.”
She looked Ephrem over and liked what she saw. He was six feet tall, olive skin, dark hair and sad brown eyes, with a strong chin anchoring a thin face. She knew he was smart and she had always been impressed with his professionalism. “Your boss is a moron, but you are not. I’ll go to dinner with you and give the Major one hour to come to his senses. If not, I’m on the plane out of here. We do not need to lose our undercover operatives so your stupid Major can get credit for our work!”
“Fine, give me five minutes. I’ll take you to my favorite restaurant. Wait here, all right?” Jane nodded.
Ephrem ran back to the conference room and addressed the Major, who hadn’t moved. “Major, I’ve kept quiet even though I disagree with you. My men disagree with you as well. If this terrorist attack is successful, I’m afraid we will have to point out that you refused the help of the Americans on their terms, which would have greatly minimized the severity of the damage. I’m taking her to dinner now. She will give you one hour to reconsider. I urge you to do so,” said Ephrem.
“No need to wait, Ephrem. The Americans have us over a barrel. Bring her back when you are done. We will do as they wish.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Chapter 4
Antwerp, Belgium
Kelly picked up the package at the docks of a large trucking company. It was boxed in a crate with paperwork that indicated it was a sixty-inch, gourmet, stainless steel range . It was, in fact, a nuclear device, and it scared the hell out of Kelly. As usual, Haman was along to protect Kelly. The crate weighed a ton, but with rollers and use of the tailgate, he and Haman loaded it into the panel truck they rented. From there they headed for Calais, France, where they took the Hoverspeed Ferry to Dover, England, and then on to Portsmouth.
Once sure they weren’t being followed, they detoured to a prearranged meeting in Ashford. Pulling into a garage named Billy’s Repairs, Jane met them with two men Kelly didn’t recognize, nor did Jane introduce them. They immediately got busy with Kelly’s dangerous cargo, carefully uncrating it and modifying it.
Kelly asked Jane, “How did it go in Israel?”
“It was a little difficult. I had to play hardball. The major was a bit of a prick. He was thinking of the small picture, like you were at first, but I convinced him of the error of his ways. I got him to sign a paper stating how they will proceed. If he blows this, I’ll have his head. I’ve been back for three days, and the attack is scheduled to take place today, so keep your eyes and ears open.”
Kelly nodded his head toward the men working on his cargo. “How long will this take? We need to be in Portsmouth by five this afternoon.”
“It shouldn’t take that long.”
One of the nameless men told Starbird. Twenty minutes later, “Ready to go.”
Once they were moving again, they made better time, arriving in Portsmouth at 3:50 P.M. They headed straight for the harbor and located their shipping company. Once their package was unloaded from the truck, loaded and signed for, Kelly turned to Haman, “I’m starved. Let’s find a pub.”
Inside the bustling tavern called Chatsworth’s, they took a table in the loosely defined eatery. The food was indeed good. As they were eating, Kelly noticed they interrupted BBC programming for a special announcement. The newscaster, one Joe Wilson said, “We interrupt our normal programming to bring you a special bulletin. A massive explosion took place a half-hour ago in Tel Aviv Harbor. Preliminary estimates have the damage at seven dead and forty injured. The blast sunk two boats and damaged six more. We now transfer you to Allen Stanton, standing by in Tel Aviv.” There was a slight break and Stanton appeared. Kelly recognized him from previous news stories.
“Yes, Joe,” Stanton said, “it appears that a boat laden with explosives entered the harbor and after getting close to several other boats, apparently was detonated by the pilot. This was a massive explosion, and the authorities are still trying to get a handle on the casualties. Preliminary reports suggest that seven people are confirmed dead, fifteen are missing, and at least forty-three are injured, fourteen seriously.”
“Allen, Joe here. Do they have any idea who caused this?”
Stanton said, “No, it’s too early to tell, and nobody has yet claimed responsibility, if they ever will.”
Wilson said, “Oh, I think they will. This sounds like a big operation, and we’ll probably hear from the culprits shortly. Thank you for the report, Allen.” He moved on to other news.
Kelly commented, “You’re right about that, Joe. You’ll be hearing from the culprits all right, as soon as we can get back to London.” Haman smiled.
On the way back to London, Kelly got a call from Jane, who sounded wound up by the apparent success of the first part of her plan. She said the authorities were exaggerating the damage and that actually the only ship that sank was the Seven Seas, and the only deaths were the poor chaps who were going to buy it anyway as suicide bombers. There were about two dozen wounded, but the Israelis were also taking the marginally wounded, anyone that had a cut or headache, to the hospital for appearances.
She asked if the nuke had been loaded and when they were going to be back in London to make the announcement. Kelly told her that they were still about two hours away, but he would make the announcement, no matter how late the hour. Jane said she would meet him there.
Chapter 5
London, England
Back in London, Haman, who was now driving, dropped Kelly at The Hand office, and then headed to the rental agency to return the truck before taking a cab home. When Kelly went inside it was eleven o’clock. The building was empty except for Starbird, who was glowing and wired from her successful mission. She reminded Kelly of himself, actually Saleem, when he was wrestling. He’d be so worked up before a match that, if it was over quickly, it took him several hours to wind down.
She was also dressed to kill in a short green skirt and flimsy halter that barely held her lovely breasts in place. Her long, golden red hair was down and her high heels made her almost as tall as him. She glided up to Kelly. Her green eyes afire, the sexual tension had been building and Jane wanted something. To his shame, he was not fighting it off.
She placed her hands on his face and brought her face forward, her lips to his lips. Her tongue darted between his lips and he opened his mouth, while his arms enfolded her. She relocated one of his hands from her buttock to her breast and stiffened as he twirled his finger around her nipple. She broke the kiss and began to lave his ear. Her hand unzipped his pants and dipping inside, found his sex. He stiffened as she wrapped long elegant fingers around it.
He shivered as she whispered breathily in his ear, “I’m sorry, I know you’re married and I love your wife, but I must have you tonight. Is it all right? I promise, I’ll never do this again.” Using her other hand she unbuckled his belt and with his help pushed his pants to the floor.
Kelly, lost in the heat of the moment, wanted Jane – oh did he want Jane. But what about Mariam?
She took his remaining hand from her other shapely bottom cheek and placed it between her legs. Her panties were missing and her sex was wet and ready. Once more she whispered in his ear, “I’ve never wanted a
nyone more than I want you right now. Please Kelly, don’t make me settle for someone else. I need you – make love to me!”
“What about Mariam?”
“Kelly. How many times were we together before Mariam? Twenty? Thirty? Forty? I’ll explain it to Mariam.”
Explain it to Mariam, then he remembered Mariam’s request, “If you ever make love to Jane again, please do not tell me.”
“No. You mustn’t.” Kelly pushed two fingers into Jane. She went ballistic, her arms went around his neck and she literally jumped onto Kelly’s throbbing erection, easing herself down, burying it to the hilt.
“Ooh, Kelly! You are so good. You are the best.”
Standing in the middle of the office, with Jane impaled on his member, her legs wrapped around him, Kelly looked for somewhere to alight. He made a one-eighty and deposited his lover upon Rayya’s neatly cleared desk.
“No, Kelly, I must be on top.”
Kelly stood back up, with Jane still clinging to him, turned another one-eighty, and sat upon the desk. Jane urged him backward until he was lying down while she straddled him. She moved her bottom slowly while she took her halter off and unbuttoned his shirt. She pulled her skirt over her head, which messed up her hair. Kelly thought it made her look sexier in a wild way.
When Kelly reached up and touched her breasts, she went berserk. He had never seen her so wild. So wild, it caused Kelly to release in three minutes. “Geez, I’m sorry,” apologized Kelly.
Jane climbed off and put two fingers to Kelly’s mouth. “It’s all right, baby. I wanted to be in a bed anyway.” She reached into the top drawer of Rayya’s desk, grabbed a key and took Kelly’s hand. “Let’s go see what suite two looks like.”
Forty-five minutes later, Kelly prepared the news release, emailed it and the video of Kahlid Abanay, to Al Jezeera and the BBC. From them, all other interested news organizations would get the information. They sent the e-mail through a dummy computer in Riyadh, which, if tracked, would make the Saudis look even worse than they already did.
Kelly turned to Jane and asked, “What’s next?”
Still naked, she batted those beautiful eyes and answered, “Well, the way I see it. You’re now free for the rest of the night. Right?” He nodded. “Do you want to go back to suite two or try a desk or two?”
* * * *
Early that morning, still in the suite, Jane fixed and brought breakfast to Kelly in bed. As he took a bite of toast, she said, “Sweetheart, I know you have mixed feelings about what we did, but I want you to know that was the best night of my life. And I shared it with the man I love.” Kelly started to say something, but she continued first. “There I’ve said it – I love you, I love you, and there’s nothing either one of us can do about it. Nor would I want you to. You belong to Mariam. That’s the way it should be. I will tell Mariam what I did. She will understand.”
Kelly started to choke on his toast and spit some crumbs across the bed. “No! Jane, let me handle it. Promise me you won’t say anything to Mariam.”
Jane batted her beautiful eyes once more at Kelly. “Promise? I promise on one condition.”
“What”
“We have about two hours before Rayya shows up to open the office.”
Jane took hold of Kelly’s limp penis and stroked it.
Kelly’s eyes widened with understanding and the corners of his lips curled wickedly. “You insatiable little …” He leaped at her, hugging and rolling over with both of them laughing.
* * * *
As they were getting dressed Jane asked, “Did you get Mariam stashed at our farm?”
Kelly was amused. “Yes. About a week ago. I had to promise we wouldn’t go to America without her. She has three and a half weeks left in her training. That ought to be just right, since the package will arrive in Los Angeles about then. We’re both familiar with the area so it should work out well. We’re supposed to turn over the package to a Yosef Hamadi, so he can set it up.”
“By the way,” added Jane, “the Arab type who’s been following you is Jamal’s brother, Rulan.”
“So, Assad sent him after me. Can’t we do anything about Assad? What ever happened to Jamal, anyway?” asked a concerned Kelly.
Smiling, Jane said, “I doubt that Rulan is here to hurt you. He’s a Saudi Intelligence undercover agent. We had two of our Saudi-speaking agents grill Jamal for about a day and after getting all we could, turned him over to Saudi Intelligence, who then begrudgingly told us about Rulan. By the way, Jamal is now a true believer. He said he shot you point blank in the chest and nothing happened. He’s now buying the whole thing about you being The Right Hand of Allah and will say so to anyone who asks.”
“Is that right? Does he know I’m with the Company?”
“I doubt it. We’re trying to keep that a secret, especially from Muslims.”
“What does he think I am?”
“He probably thinks you are what you’re pretending to be, the head of the London office of The Hand of Allah. Then again, I’m sure he knows that Suhar put you there and knows that he heads the Sword of Allah, which ties you into his terrorist org.”
“That gives me an idea,” said Kelly.
A dozen seconds passed and an obviously annoyed Jane, while tapping her foot, shouted, “Well, shit-head, are you going to tell me or what?”
“Hey, hey, calm down, jarhead. You’ll find out if I do anything about it,” a smug Kelly said, cherishing the fact that he was able to get under the great Starbird’s skin.
About nine o’clock, two hours after Rayya opened up, she saw Kelly sneaking down the stairs to his office.
“Spent the night upstairs did you, Mr. Rhamsy?”
Kelly turned. “Oh, hi,Rayya, I didn’t see you there. I, ahh … got in late last night and so … I spent the night here.”
“The key?”
“Key? Oh, yes, the key. Here you are.” Kelly threw her the key and she made a nifty catch. “I took suite two.”
“So I see. I trust you found everything to your satisfaction.”
“Oh, yes. Everything was perfect. Slept like a baby.”
“Good. I’ll go up and tidy the suite then.”
Kelly didn’t like that. “Oh, don’t bother, I made the mess, I’ll straighten up.”
“Whatever turns you on.”
“What, Rayya?”
“I said, whatever turns you on.” Rayya repeated loud enough for others to hear.
“What makes you say that? Why say what turns me on?”
“Why, Mr. Rhamsy. It’s just an expression. What did you think I meant?”
“Oh, nothing, I guess. Give me the key back and I’ll go clean up after myself.”
* * * *
Jane, who still hadn’t dressed, was lying in bed. “What are you doing here?”
“Rayya was going to come up here and tidy up. I told her I would do it.”
“Come over here. Lay with me once more and I’ll tidy up for you.”
* * * *
“The Hand of Allah, Saleem Rhamsy’s office. May I help you?”
“Hello, Miss Harschkopf. I’m sorry Saleem is not in at the moment. Could you hold for one moment, please?”
“Thank you. The Hand of Allah, Saleem –”
“Rayya, It’s Saleem. I don’t feel right. I’m going to lie down for awhile. I’ll be down in the afternoon.”
“Yes, Mr. Rhamsy. I have Miss Harschkopf on the line. What should I tell her?”
“That I’m out for the day. Make an appointment for tomorrow.”
* * * *
The next day when Kelly went to the office, Rayya and Kelly briefed each other on events of the last few days. Kelly was surprised to learn that Eldon had taken a two-week leave of absence. Kelly figured it had something to do with the Parliament investigation. Rayya also said a man named Rulan, in the company of an imam was there to see him yesterday.
Kelly was curious. “Did he leave a number or say if he would be back?”
�
�He didn’t leave a number, but he did say he would return today.”
“Excellent, show him in when he returns.”
“Your appointment with Miss Harschkopf is for eleven o’clock.”
“Fine, let me know when she arrives.”
As soon as Rayya left, Kelly picked up his secure satellite phone and called Jane. “It’s Kelly. Rulan was here, but I didn’t get to see him yet. He was with an imam and he said he’d be back. I forgot to ask you if he has any idea that I’m with the Company.”