"But when I met Eshan in Turkey, he was tall, dark, dashing, and mysterious. My parents objected furiously, but I guess I was also in love with the idea of one final rebellious gesture to let them know that I didn't need their guidance. That Iknew exactly what I was doing." She shook her head and looked down at the ground, laughing softly without humor. It was the sound of irony. "If only they could see me now. But they're dead. They died in an automobile accident six months after I left home."
Bolan's senses were finely tuned to the immediate surroundings, but he heard no sounds of anyone in the area. Time was running out. The numbers were falling away.
"Who was the man you met outside the wall this evening?" asked Bolan. "The one who was killed."
"That was Tony. He was one of the men on the guard crew. But he didn't seem like the others. He could be...kind when he wanted to."
"Were you in love with him?"
She looked squarely up at Bolan. There was a bitter twist to her mouth. "Love? I don't think I remember what that word means anymore, Colonel. Tony was just someone to pass away the time with, when I needed someone to be kind."
"Was Tony going to take you away from your husband?"
"No. Tony was too weak to go against the men he worked for. And I think they discovered our relationship anyway. Or my husband did. My husband sent those men tonight, Colonel. They killed Tony and they were going to 'punish' me for my indiscretion, no doubt. Until you came along."
"And all on the last night that you were in the country," Bolan muttered. "Your husband has a flare for the dramatic. How did you get outside the wall?"
"I thought that I'd found a hidden tunnel. I discovered it one afternoon when I was exploring the house. I used it often to meet Tony. The tunnel looks as if it hasn't been used in a hundred years. But if Eshan had those men waiting to jump us when I met Tony tonight, then he must know all about the tunnel and everything else."
Again he nodded at her backpack. "And now you want me to help you run away, is that it?"
Her eyes pleaded desperately with him. An edge of panic slipped into her voice as she sensed his hesitancy. "Please, Colonel. I'm an American citizen, and you're an agent of this government. Please get me away from here! I don't want to leave the country with these people. I need your help."
"And you'll have it," Bolan assured her. "But I can't help you now, Carol. I'm here on a specific mission, and I've got to commit myself to that first.
"I'll see that your rights aren't violated further. But I'm needed here right now. I can't leave to accompany you somewhere else. I'll take you with me when I leave. That's the best I can do."
She glided close to him as he said that, molding herself to him until he could feel every warm, feminine curve of her body pressing against him. There was a subtle erotic fragrance to her blonde hair, which he recognized from her stationery. She entwined the fingers of her right hand through his and moved the palm of his hand upward across her leather coat, squeezing the hand fiercely when it was over her left breast. Bolan could feel the warmth of her even through the layers of clothing.
"Please," she whispered in a husky voice near his ear. "Get me out of here and I'll do anything you ask...."
But he already had her by the arms and was pushing her back.
"You've been around people too long who think sex is for power," he growled sternly. "I said I'd take you with me when I leave, Carol. But the mission comes first. There are no ways around that." He dropped his hold on her arms, and the icy blue eyes warmed a little. So did the voice. "Now get back to your room and don't budge. Wait until I come for you."
There was a pause. Then she seemed to accept that. She eyed him with the trace of a smile.
"You sound very confident, Colonel."
"It helps. You should try it yourself."
"You're right. I have been around creeps for too long. I forgot that there were men...like you. But what if you don't come back?"
Bolan did a quick weighing of priorities. The lady was an unknown factor, sure. But only in what she might do, not in the awful situation in which she was trapped.
He reached under his jacket and unleathered the Beretta Belle. "Take this," he said, handing it to her. "But use it with extreme discretion, Carol. A gun can get you into as much trouble as it can get you out of." He took another ten seconds to explain the basics of firing the weapon. "Can you handle it?" he asked as she took the weapon and slipped it into her backpack.
"I can handle it, Colonel," she said softly.
She leaned forward on her tiptoes one more time and planted a warm, moist but very chaste kiss on his right cheek. Then she spun around and was gone.
Bolan stared off into the darkness even after that damn fine set of curves had disappeared from sight. There are some women on this planet capable of getting that reaction from a man, and Carol Nazarour had the ability in spades. The exotic, erotic fragrance of her perfume swirled on the air in her wake, tantalizing Bolan's senses like the vague memories of a half-forgotten dream.
Some lady, yeah.
10
No one tried to stop Bolan as he passed through the front entrance of the house and crossed the hallway to the study door. The two security guards were stationed just outside the study, so Bolan knew exactly where to find General Nazarour.
The guards tensed and started to rise, hands reaching for their side arms, but they relaxed when they eyeballed the formidable figure of Colonel Phoenix. They let him pass.
Bolan entered the study without knocking. His eyes made a quick sweep of the room.
General Nazarour was seated in his wheelchair behind his desk.
Abbas Rafsanjani, looking more like Peter Lorre than ever, had been in earnest conversation with the general. Rafsanjani shot a cautious, conspiratorial glance over his shoulder toward Bolan, who was standing in the doorway.
Nazarour was first to speak.
"Come in, Colonel," he invited dryly. "You have about you the air of a man who has something on his mind and needs to say it."
Bolan heeled the door shut behind him without taking his eyes off either man.
"Your security looks good, General. But a few other things have changed."
"What impertinence," Rafsanjani rasped under his breath. "You, Colonel, are in severe need of some lessons in protocol."
"I'll take them on my own time," Bolan barked. He glared at Nazarour. "I need to speak with you, General. Alone."
The general acquiesced with a nod to his aide. "You may leave us now, Abbas. I'm sure I'll be quite safe alone with Colonel Phoenix." The general didn't take his eyes off Bolan as the eyes narrowed. He added pointedly, "Only please tell the guards to listen closely for any... unusual sounds. Just in case.''
"But I do not understand your asking me to leave," Rafsanjani announced in injured tones.
"Yours is not to think or understand," Nazarour snapped sternly. "Yours is to obey. Now begone."
The aide had no recourse but to depart. He stared darkly at Bolan as he passed.
When the study door had closed behind Rafsanjani, Bolan said, "I've put a few things together, General. I know who those men were who tried to kidnap your wife tonight. They were sent by you, weren't they?