Fortunes Obsession (11 page)

     The door opened into a small, sunlit room.  There was a large polished oak desk with a large, comfortable, dark brown leather chair behind it, it's back to the window.  There was a long, glass topped table on the opposite wall to the desk and two small leather chairs which matched the desk chair and faced the desk.  There was an oriental lamp on the table and several paintings on the wall with middle eastern themes. There were no filing cabinets.  The top of the desk and the top of the table

were bare, save for a phone and a small pile of papers on the desk, weighted down with a paperweight which was a model of the pyramids in Egypt.  The tops were slightly dusty from two or three days of inattention.  The two side drawers and one center drawer on the desk were not locked.  Peter opened the drawer and found various items of office use, such as a stapler, paper clips, a small calculator and a small battery operated pencil sharpener.  The office was exactly as Dara, who of course had been in it many times, described it.  The only things in the drawer that interested Peter were a small stack of road maps, tied with a rubber band.  The stack of papers on the desk were an unintelligible series of doodlings or coded symbols, Peter couldn't tell which.  He called Lance in and had him make copies of the doodles on the copying machine, being very careful to remember the order of the stack.  He opened the rubber band and looked at the maps.  There was a map of Florida, a map of New Jersey and a small, one page map of Central Park.  There was no phone directory in or on the desk.  Peter guessed that Fahd carried this in his briefcase.  He opened the maps and found few markings on them, except for a small circle in Northern New Jersey and another on the space coast of Florida.  He copied those portions of the maps and put them back in the desk exactly as he found them.

     In the other room, Lance and Dara copied all letters that fit their previously agreed profile, as well as all addresses in the Rolodex on the secretary's desk that were in Michigan,

Florida and New Jersey.

      The three conspirators stood at the computer, watching the printer spew out letters that they hoped would incriminate their prey.

     Corning turned to Peter. " Better start putting that molding back on and for God's sake, be as gentle as you were when you took it off."

     Peter took the small hammer and softly tapped in each nail, being careful not to make indentations or hammer marks.  He took one more trip into Fahd's office to make sure everything was as it was before and when he was satisfied, turned the locking device on the inside of the door and stepping outside, locked it.

     Dara took a large envelope and put all of the evidence into it.  She replaced the paper in the printer tray to exactly the same level they had found it.  Every item on the desk was replaced in the same manner as it was before.  The three of them walked around the front rooms several times and checked each other.  When they were satisfied they had left no clues and that they had gathered everything they needed, they departed the suite and headed for Peter's office.  They still had several hours before Fahd's arrival and could have Dara's help in deciphering the information.  The three of them were smugly satisfied with themselves.  They had, according to their own minds, played the role of detective quite well.  If it weren't for the impending risk to Dara's well being, they might have thought they were having great fun.

     They sat in the conference room of Corning's firm. Each had before them, a sandwich and a cup of steaming coffee.  Something about the danger of the situation stimulated a great hunger and they wolfed down their sandwiches with gusto.

     The papers were spread out in front of them on the table. There were twelve letters, copies of rolodex address cards and copies of the maps.

     Lance and Peter were reading the letters and trying to make some sense of them.  Dara stared blankly into space, trying not to think of her coming ordeal.  She was nervous and tense and felt a queasiness in her stomach.  By the time she saw Fahd, she thought, she wouldn't have to fake being sick.

     Peter selected a letter. " Listen to this one", he said." This definitely looks like a link in the chain.

ISHMAEL BEY

PURVEYOR OF FINE ART

3245 FOURTH ST.

DEARBORN, MICHIGAN

Dear Mr. Fahd,

I have received your catalogues from my New Jersey agent and I am very interested in your fabrics.  We have an order from a customer for just the material you have offered.

Could you come to Detroit next Tuesday and bring your samples. I'm sure that we can come to an agreement at that time.  I have taken the liberty of reserving a suite for you at the Marriot Hotel which is located in the Detroit Metropolitan Airport terminal.

Mr associates, Messrs. Bokaar and Mahdi will also be in attendance.

We will be looking forward to meeting you at that time. We would also appreciate if you would come alone.

We feel that our business will be more confidential if it conducted solely with you.

Salaam,

Ishmael Bey

     " The whole thing fits in perfectly." said Dara, suddenly perking up. " That animal I went to visit in New Jersey was named Bokaar. When I was sitting in his living room, I noticed it on some envelopes.  I didn't think of it till I saw his name in the letter."

     " Okay." Lance said. " Let's see what we have.  Fahd gets whatever he got in the park and shows this Bokaar guy in New Jersey what it is. He calls Bey in Dearborn and Bey invites Fahd to negotiate a deal.  Fahd goes to Detroit and so does Bokaar.

Dara, do you have any ideas on what was in the letter you took to Bokaar's house?"

     " No, I don't. Remember, I naively thought it had something to do with silk.....Hey...I remember something else.  Bokaar burned the letter in his kitchen after he read it."

     Peter sat up. " Didn't you think that was strange?"

     " A little but don't forget. I wasn't looking for anything out of the ordinary. I just thought Bokaar was a strange guy."

     Dara felt incredibly stupid.  She really had a hard time believing her past life and the attitudes it encompassed.

     The other letters in the pile seemed innocuous and unconnected to anything they were looking for.

     Peter looked pensive. " I just had a crazy idea. If this

silk business is a front for his other activities.  Some of these letters might be phonies.  The one letter that looks like it means anything came off  the pile on his desk.  The outgoing letters in the computer might all be phonies.  I see that there is no answer to Bey's letter in the computer. He probably did that by phone. Let's look at one of the outgoing letters and trace the addressee. I'd be willing to bet anything they don't exist."

     He selected a letter at random, that had been printed from the computer.

TRANS ORIENT SILKS INC.

851 THIRD AVE.

NEW YORK, NY 10021

Franklin Stores

3245 Elm St.

Aurora, Colorado

Att: Mr. James Montgomery, Purchasing Dept.

Gentlemen:

Thank you for your inquiry.  We would be pleased to ship you all of the imported material you requested within three weeks.  We can hold the price for another two months, pending the value of the Japanese Yen after that time.

I will eagerly await your order and promise you our usual fine product and excellent service.

Very truly yours,

TRANS ORIENT SILKS INC.

IBRAHIM FAHD

PRESIDENT

     Corning went to the phone book and found the area code for Aurora, Colorado.  He called information for that city and as expected, found out there was no such listing. To further prove the letter a phony, he called a friend on Wall St. and asked if there was any such department store chain.  The answer of course, was no.

     " It's coming together." Corning said enthusiastically,

" This guy is a phony. The silk business is a sham and he's into something real sinister.  I wonder if it isn't time to take this to the authorities?"

     Peter shook his head. " What authorities? City? State? Federal? They'd each laugh at us.  We still don't know what he's done....if anything. We've got to find out what he's really doing."

     Dara pondered the situation to herself.  She was in the best position to pry.  All she had to do was act as she always had.  Things were different now, though.  She was in love with Peter and the thought of going back to her previous life was abhorrent to her.  She weighed the questions in her mind. Should she go back to being Fahd's whore and learn all she could without telling Peter how she had done it?  Should she refuse Fahd, arousing his anger and be cast out of his life......or worse...suffer physical harm?  For the other two, this was an exciting adventure. It was even fun. For her however, it was a dangerous game of life or death.  Her mind kept going back to the bottom line.  Without finding out what Fahd was doing, she would

be trapped in a life of fear and danger.  She was frightened and confused.

     " Let's keep looking through the material," said Peter.

" We might find other pieces of the puzzle."

     They carefully read the correspondence and put aside the letters they thought were phony.  They were to the bottom of the pile when they hit pay dirt.

FAX TRANSMISSION

TO: COMMANDER COLLINS

FROM: PYRAMID

PAGES IN THIS TRANSMISSION INCLUDING COVER SHEET 2

AS PER OUR PREVIOUS CONVERSATION, I AM INCLUDING A MAP WHICH WILL

SHOW YOU WHERE TO MEET ME ON THE PREVIOUSLY AGREED DATE AND TIME

EXCHANGE OF MATERIAL WILL OCCUR AS PER MY PREVIOUS INSTRUCTION.

     Peter looked through the maps and found the one of Central Park.  Sure enough, the spot circled on the highly detailed map was the one in which he took the photographs.

     " Wow, we've really got it. Let's look at the other maps."

     The maps were spread out on the table.  The New Jersey map had a pencilled circle on Paramus, with a large dot on the exit for Bokaar's house.  The Florida map had Cape Canaveral circled in red.

     Corning seemed lost in thought for a moment. " It looks like it might be a plot to interfere with a launch or maybe even blow up the whole complex."

     " Jesus," said Peter, " We really better take this to the authorities.  I think we have enough."

     " Tell you what," said Corning.  Let me call a friend of mine at the Times and check out this name Farley Collins. It sounds familiar to me but I can't place it."

     " First, let's look at the rest of the stuff we have and see if we can't find something else," said Peter.

     They went carefully through everything they had. The papers and doodlings from Fahd's desk, the addresses and the outgoing correspondence from the word processing program.  They put the material in two different envelopes.  One for the rejects and one for the items they considered evidence.

     Lance went to his office to call his contact at the Times and Peter walked over to Dara chair and put his arms around her neck, kissing the top of her head gently.

     " You okay honey?  We've been so busy for the past few hours that I'd forgotten to worry about you."

     She looked pale and wan and said weakly, " I'll be okay, I guess.  I just wish it was all over with."

     " If we can get someone to listen instantly, maybe you don't even have to go to Fahd's office."

     She looked askance at him. " Peter, that's impossible. He'll be there in less than an hour.  How can we do anything in that time frame?"

     At that moment, Lance walked in.  " You're not going to believe this one. Our friend Commander Collins is an ex- astronaut.  For some reason, he left the program several months ago.  The reason he left is not public information.  I really do

think we have enough.  The question is.  Who do we go to?

     " My first impulse would be the FBI but maybe we should try Naval Intelligence or maybe NASA.  We're badly in need of advice.

Any suggestions?

     Peter thought that Lance should confide in his friend at The Times.

     " You're kidding. A reporter?  Sure as hell, he'll screw us up and get Dara killed. No....that's no good....what else?

     Dara looked more depressed. " Why don't you try the FBI.It's worth a shot.  What can we lose?

     Lance nodded his head affirmatively.  " She's right, let's call the Bureau."

     This time Peter left the room. " I've got to go soon," Dara said.  She was visibly trembling. " It's important that I'm in his office when he gets there."

     " Wait till Peter comes back. You'll want to know what he has arranged."

     They sat quietly, each with his own thoughts, while waiting for Peter to return.

     Peter returned in five minutes. " An agent is coming to see us tomorrow morning at ten.  It's the best I could do."

     " I've got to go," Dara said soberly.

     Lance left the room.  He knew the lovers would want to be alone at this moment.