There were more questions later in the day, but in reality, they had no idea at all about time. They were asked questions about every entry stamp in their passports. Once again, they both stuck with the story.
There was a long wait, and finally their captors recuffed their hands and released their legs.
Again they were thrown together in the back of the van.
They were driven for a much shorter time before being seated next to each other.
"I regret the necessity of detaining you, but we are fighting for our very existence. Spies are common here and our jihad must remain strong" said the voice.
"Count to 100 then you may remove your blindfolds. We will be watching. If you take them off too soon and see our faces, you will be shot. Do you understand?" said the voice.
"Of course we understand, thank you" replied Natasha.
Both Matt and Natasha took this threat seriously and both really did a mental count to one hundred, though in different languages.
Their eyes were assaulted with the sunlight after having been in the dark for more than twenty four hours.
When their pupils contracted so they could see, they found themselves seated together on a bench in a deserted park.
Within seconds they were surrounded by armed U.S. marines from the embassy.
"Captain Williams sir, are you ok?"
"Yes I think so. Did you follow the signal from my cell phone?" asked Matt.
"Of course sir. We got to the warehouse where you were being interrogated about four hours ago. We had audio from your phone, and we managed to get a video feed through the ceilings and walls" explained Williams.
"Why didn’t you come and get us out?" asked Natasha.
"We determined you were in no immediate danger. There were crosshairs on all the bad guys. If things deteriorated we would have stepped in. But we determined that it was safer to wait them out" explained Williams.
For a second time they got to ride in a hummer.
Chapter 82
When the taxi arrived at the hotel, they noticed a police car in the driveway. Matt ran over and spoke to the officer.
"Officer, can you help us?"
"Are you Mr. Cook?" asked the uniformed policeman.
"Yes, how did you know?" asked Matt.
"Because you are the first guests from the Caliph ever to be kidnapped" replied the man.
A tall thin man in a black suit rushed over and introduced himself, "I am Anandh Singh, the manager of the Caliph. I am so sorry for your ordeal, are you injured, do you need a doctor?"
"I think we are ok" suggested Natasha.
"You can use my office to speak to Inspector Ravik who is waiting for you inside. I have arranged an upgrade of your room, your things are already there" said Anandh.
"I am Inspector Ravik, please tell me exactly what happened" said the plain clothes officer as soon as they were seated in the luxurious office.
Anandh arrived with Cokes, and then made his exit.
It took nearly an hour for Natasha and Matt to relate their capture and their time in custody.
"Could you identify your assailants?" asked the Inspector.
"Then there is little I can do to catch them. You are safe, you should be thankful" said the policeman with finality.
"If you think of anything else, please call me," and he handed a card to Matt before standing and shaking hands with him. He completely ignored Natasha and walked out of the room."
Anandh rejoined them, "Let me show you to your room, I am sure you need to rest."
The Caliph Hotel was indeed a six star facility.
Anandh pressed his thumb to a glass panel beside the door and the door opened with a click. He held the door open while Natasha and Matt passed. Once inside, he led them past a gleaming white Steinway grand piano in the entranceway.
"Let me show you around" said the manager.
First he showed them the dining room.
"If you are entertaining, we can arrange a chef to do the catering for you in your kitchen through that door. The refrigerator is well stocked. But if you need anything at all please call me."
"This is your living area. He pressed a button on the remote control and the front wall lit up and CNN appeared on the largest screen they had ever seen."
"Please follow me to your living quarters" said Anandh as he lead them left out of the living room and down a short corridor past the "guest" bedroom and on to the master bedroom.
In the centre of the room was a king sized four poster bed draped in yellow silk. On the left and right sides of the room were matching dressing rooms with large en-suite bathrooms attached. The bathroom had a large pedestal bath in a room with a cantilevered roof, lit by a glass skylight over the bath.
"I have had your things already unpacked from your cases. Mrs. Cook, your things are in the right dressing room. Mr. Cook, your things are in the left dressing room. If you would like this swapped, just let me know" said Anandh.
"That will be fine Anandh, thank you" said Matt.
"My pleasure sir. By the way Mr. Cook, there was a package left here for you. I believe it is a wedding gift from your company here. It is on the floor in the left dressing room. If you would prefer the right, I can have it moved for you."
After Anandh had left, Matt wasted no time in checking his package had not been opened. Then he removed the wrapping.
Inside was a metal camera case securely locked with a large padlock. Matt removed a key from his pocket. He opened the lock and revealed a Nikon digital SLR camera with large zoom lens. He took out the camera and lens, removed a piece of foam, and underneath were matching Yarygin 9mm automatic pistols with extra fully loaded magazines secured from view.
"Looks like Bill Simpson my boss wants us to take pictures of anyone we happen to shoot" suggested Matt with a grin.
"I need a shower, so do you" announced Natasha.
Chapter 83
After they had settled in, the duo decided to take a walk around the complex.
They had done some reading on the flight and realized that Natasha would need to stay covered up, or would attract undue attention.
Whilst it was not expected for western women to shroud their faces, they were expected to respect Arabian culture. Even though it was extremely hot outside, it was quite pleasant in the hotel and Natasha was not uncomfortable in jeans and a long sleeved shirt.
As was expected of a honeymoon couple, they walked hand in hand.
"Let’s go check out the swimming pool" suggested Matt and they took the elevator to the rooftop.
They followed the signs and walked through what was effectively a maze of small shrubs. There is no way you could just stumble across the pool area. Of course this was done to hide this scar on Islam.
"This is a strange country" said Natasha "it seems ok for the guys to wear skimpy swimwear, but the girls are covered top to toe."
"Look at that woman in the pool, there is no way she could swim in that white thing she is wearing. Lucky this pool is shallow, otherwise she could well drown" pointed out Matt.
From the pool they went back downstairs and looked at the shops in the lobby. These were not for mere mortals, everything was designer branded and the price tags were way beyond anything that Matt or Natasha could ever be expected to pay.
The restaurants were magnificent, but there was a notable lack of alcohol on display. It was certainly available, but was served in plain translucent glasses so as to mask what the tourists were drinking.
"See that desk over there? I noticed it on the way in. It is the assistant Manager according to the sign, lets start there" suggested Matt.