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Lang was repentant when he came to the apartment the next morning. Brianna had a
tight hold on Ahmed's hand so that he couldn't do to Lang what his eyes
threatened.
"Sorry about last night," Lang said. "Really, I am, but we thought it would be
wise to warn you while there was still time. We can't afford to leave even one
room unprotected."
"The sooner this is over, the better!" Ahmed said harshly.
"All of us feel the same way, believe it or not," Lang said, and Brianna noticed
then how tired and drawn he looked. "We haven't slept."
"Don't you take turns?" she asked.
He shrugged. "It's still twelve-hour shifts. Manpower is scarce for constant
surveillance. We're a government agency, you know. We have to beg for funding
just like everybody else, and sometimes the politicians get it in for us."
"Ah, democracy at work," Ahmed taunted.
Lang glowered at him. "Well, at least if we don't do a good job, nobody herds us
into the marketplace to be decapitated."
Ahmed was affronted. "I have not decapitated anyone for a decade. We are a
progressive nation. We even have protest rallies, just like the West."
"I remember your last protest rally," Lang commented.
Ahmed shifted. "It was unavoidable. They stormed the gates of the palace."
"What are you two talking about?" Brianna asked.
"Your new home," Lang replied. He fixed Ahmed with a steady look. "When are you
going to tell her?"
"When I have overcome the diplomatic obstacles," Ahmed said quietly. "And
ascertained that she will not be assassinated along with me on the way back to
Saudi Mahara."
"Good point." Lang stretched, big muscles bulging in his arms. "Well, I'm going
out for a cup of coffee and then a quick nap."
"Are there any new developments?" Ahmed asked.
"Several. You'll have company inside as well as outside tonight," he commented.
He stared at Brianna, who was looking uncomfortable. "You and Tad are pretty
nervy people. Think you can survive a stakeout?"
"Sure," she said. "As long as I don't have to shoot anybody."
He smiled. "We'll do the shooting. But it won't come to that. I won't put any of
you in danger."
"How about yourself?" she replied.
Lang shrugged. "I'm used to it. It's what I get paid for."
"Despite your eavesdropping propensities, I should hate to see you hurt," Ahmed
added.
Lang grinned at them. "None of us likes taking chances. We're pretty sure
they're going to make an attempt on you tonight. We'll be ready. With any luck
at all, this will wrap it all up. If we're successful," he told Ahmed, "you
could be on your way home by the end of the week."
Ahmed glanced at Brianna. "Yes," he said slowly. "So I could."
She didn't understand that look. It contained worry and apprehension, and she
didn't think it was just because some enemy agents might make a grab for them.
The day passed slowly. Ahmed and Tad sat together in the living room, going over
some new science magazines that Lang had provided, while Brianna reluctantly
went to work. Her mind wasn't on her duties, though. It was on the danger they
were all in, and especially on Ahmed's proposal of marriage. She wanted to marry
him. She loved him. But until now she hadn't had to deal with the complications
of marriage to a foreign national.
On her lunch hour, she went to the local public library and checked out every
book she could find that dealt with Saudi Mahara. It was such a small nation
that she had to choose general subjects to find out anything. Then she got a
book on Arab customs and copied a magazine article on women's roles in the
Middle East. This would give her some idea of the new life she was going to
enjoy, she thought. It would be better for Ahmed if his new wife had
foreknowledge of what would be expected of her. Not that she expected to wear a
veil and walk three steps behind him, of course.
Ahmed and Tad were deep in a discussion of nuclear physics when she got home
from work with her load of library books, and there were four government
intelligence agents sticking out of her refrigerator.
She stopped dead at the sight of them.
Ahmed smiled complacently. "They have had nothing to eat since lunch yesterday,"
he explained.
"Oh, you poor guys!" Brianna exclaimed.
They turned and stared at her. One was holding a carton of yogurt. Another had a
carton of milk. The other two were having a minor tug-of-war over a wrapped
cheese slice. They all lifted their eyebrows hopefully.
"I'll cook you up a big pot of spaghetti and some garlic bread," she promised,
dumping the books on the sofa and making a beeline into the kitchen.
"God bless you!" one of the bigger agents said fervently.
The others marched him out of the kitchen to let Brianna work. It was quick
work, too. She had spaghetti down to a fine art. The sauce should have simmered
for at least half an hour, she supposed, but those men would all pass out sooner
than that. She handed them plates and forks and started dishing it up the minute
she could combine the cooked pasta with the meat sauce. Ahmed and Tad managed to
get a few bites, too, and while everyone was occupied, Brianna made a bread
pudding for dessert. Even the crumbs were gone five minutes after it was taken
out of the oven.
Lang arrived just in time for the dishwashing. He had a toothpick in his mouth,
and the other agents all gave him accusing looks.
"What?" he challenged. "I had a fast-food hamburger. A little one, okay?"
They surrounded him. "We," the biggest one said, "had spaghetti and garlic
bread, homemade and delicious," he added, addressing a beaming Brianna. "And for
dessert she made us bread pudding."
"And you didn't save any for me?" Lang asked, horrified.
"You had a hamburger," the big agent reminded him with a grin.
"I'll never do it again," Lang promised. "Can't I have just a crumb of bread
pudding? It's my favorite."
"Sorry. We ate it all," the big agent said. He didn't look sorry. He was
smiling.
"Just wait until I have to write up this surveillance," Lang began.
"Oh, yeah?" one of the other agents said, with his hands in his pockets. "And
what are you gonna say, huh?"
They all adopted the same pose. Lang sighed. "That you're a great bunch of guys
to work with, and next time I'll bring four extra hamburgers back with me."
The big agent patted him on the back. "Good man," he said. "I'll recommend you
for promotion when I get to be President."
"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you," Lang advised. "You'd break the budget
in a week, the way you eat."
"What did you find out?" another agent asked, and they were suddenly all
government agents again, all business.
They went into a huddle. In a minute they began to disperse, setting up
equipment and checking it.
Lang was very somber as he drew the three occupants of the apartment to one
side. "We want you to act naturally. Do what you've been doing in the evenings
since Tad came here. We've swept the place for bugs and cameras, and it's clean.
Just try not to be surprised at anything that goes down, okay? One of us will be
with you all the time."
It became real life then. Brianna had seen films of terrorists. They had [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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