Nightmare in Morocco (6 page)

"Here, let me."
Greg started to rise, but Taber got to his feet quickly and, brushing past him, lifted the ornate silver teapot from the tray
.
He held the spout a great distance
from the cup and poured a stream of tea with much flourish, the
way Noa had seen the waiters do at the finer cafes
.
She
marveled that
he did not spill a drop.

During the meal Taber and Greg talked more to each other than to her
.
They spoke of the U.S., engineering, and Morocco,
in the manner of negotiating enemies trying hard to find common ground
.
Noa grew more and more silent, resenting the fact that her evening was spoiled by Greg's intrusion
.
She was glad when the waiter came with the check.

Taber and Greg reached for the check at the same time, but this time Greg was quicker
.
"I've got it," he said above Taber protests
.
As if to impress Noa, Greg continued, "I'm the gatecrasher here
.
So I insist on paying the bill."

Greg reached into his suede jacket pocket
.
Noa saw his face suddenly pale
.
He moved his hand from pocket to pocket, looking confused and a little embarrassed.

"What's wrong?"

"My wallet!
I've been robbed!"
For a moment Greg looked stunned, then angry. "I had all my cash in it, over $600.00!"

Chapter Three

"Where did you go after you left your room?"
Noa asked Greg
.
"I came right down here
.
No, I did stop by the gift shop," he corrected.

"Was it crowded?"

"Not like it was this afternoon."

"Did you see anyone suspicious in there?"

"Now that you mention it, I saw one of those Arabs
real sneaky looking!
You know, the ones who wear those hoods
over their heads
.
He sure looked like a pick pocket, but I know
he didn't get close enough to me to steal my wallet
.
Besides, Cathy was with me
.
Surely one of us would have noticed."

"Cathy was with you?"

"Yes, she saw me from the gift shop window and came in
.
She wanted my opinion on some earrings
.
After I left the gift shop, Cathy went back up to her room, and I came down here."

The mention of Cathy's name made Noa's heart settle heavily, just like the silence that fell between them
.
Mike's missing coins, the fact that he would never have parted with them, flitted through her mind
.
The girl had been stealing from Mike, that's why he had disinherited her!
Noa thought of Greg, courteously looking at earrings while Cathy, the person he least suspected, picked his pocket
.
The thought filled her with a kind of panic.

Noa should never have brought Cathy along!
She should have arranged to leave her in Algeciras with friends.

Noa glanced at Taber, who was taking care of the bill
.
What was she going to do about Cathy now?
Her primary allegiance was to her tour group
.
Perhaps she should search Cathy's belongings for the money or even confront the girl with her suspicions.

Finally remembering Greg, she turned to him with a flood of questions. "Did you lose your passport?
Will the money loss put you in a bind?
We could arrange..."

He attempted a grin
.
"Luckily, that was just my spare cash
.
All my traveler's checks for the trip are still in the room
.
I'm sure glad I left my passport with them."

Noa's thoughts once again turned to Cathy so that Greg's certain, slow paced words startled her
.
"It couldn't have been anyone but him."
Eyes, more green than blue, narrowed, stared with anger toward Taber
.
"You saw the way he brushed against my chair when he went after the tea
.
I think he picked my pocket!
You know, he didn't have to get up at all
.
That's what all these waiters are for
.
I'll bet He stole my money!"

Noa's eyes widened at the preposterousness of Greg's accusation
.
"Taber wouldn't..."

"I think I'll call security and have him searched."

"I wouldn't
advise
you to accuse him without proof
.
The best thing to do is talk to the authorities."

Taber, striding forward, picked up on her last words
.
"That's exactly what we're going to do
.
Noa, I'll take care of this."
His dark eyes lingered on her before shifting to Greg, "You just come with me and we'll make a report."
With an angry, sullen look that reminded Noa somehow of Cathy's, Greg followed Taber.

Noa remained in the dining room
.
The richness of the tile, the lushness of the plants, had grown as cold as the tea left in her cup
.
Mike's death, Cathy, cancellations which made the whole tour unprofitable, and now this robbery!
Mike, Cathy, and cancellations she could do nothing about, but concerned about the theft and the effect it might have upon the tour, she decided to make a call to her boss.

Hearing Wendell Carlson's deep, confident voice, as usual, put her fears in perspective
.
"There's pickpockets everywhere, Noa
.
Carlson Rand didn't invent them
.
It's Corbin's fault for carrying so much cash
.
He should know better."
A slight hesitation,
"You have the same problem your father always had, you assume too much
responsibility
.
The tour hasn't even started yet."

"I have some very bad feelings about this tour."

"Yes, the cancellations are a blow
.
You probably don't like being left with thirteen
.
Subconscious
superstition."

"I wish that were all it was
.
What do you know about Taber Rand?
I can't imagine why you would hire your worst enemies' son."

"When you live a little longer, Noa, you'll realize that enemies and friends all blur together."
He chuckled a little and her heart lightened by a vision of his bright eyes and amused, slightly cynical smile
.
"Most of my life I've
wondered
who can I trust?"

"Do you think we can trust Taber?"

"I don't know
.
I hired him only because Taber and I have something in common:
his father got him in deep trouble, the same as he did me
.
I felt a little sorry for him."

"He doesn't seem one to inspire pity."

"Life is very complicated, Noa
.
When I looked at Thomas Rand in his coffin, he
seemed to be a dear friend
.
It was too late to tell him so, so I did the next best thing, I hired his son."

"I hope you haven't made a mistake."

"It wouldn't be the first."

"What do you want me to do about the robbery?"

"Thanks for reporting it to me, but what can you do?
The police won't do anything either, except put it in a file nobody intends to open
.
Remember, Noa, we're not to blame
.
I'm going to be in Morocco soon
.
I'll contact you along the way."
He paused
.
"How's Cathy?
I'll bet she's a lot of comfort to you."

* * *

Of the thirteen people waiting in the tiled room adjoining the hotel lobby, Noa immediately liked the old couple best.

The heavy set lady
she must be approaching eighty
seemed to radiate joy and
enthusiasm
unequaled by the seven young girls, between the ages of l4 and l7, who sat in a somber row in the back of the room
.
Marie Landos, the woman Noa had met on the ferry boat stood, like a warden, behind them
.
Shrewd eyes took in everything in the room, while she, at the same time, continued to impart information to her youthful charges
.

It would be good, Noa thought, to have girls Cathy's own age along
.
They could not help but serve as a good influence.

Noa's gaze returned to the older couple, then to her list
.
Belda and Milton Ward
.
Belda, unconcerned that every gray hair was not in place or that her expensive clothes were not wrinkle free, had about her an air of affluence and abundance
.
She wore excessive, very large jewels
.
Most noticeable were the huge black
elephants
hanging from a series of thick chains around her neck
.
Her husband, white haired, stocky
must be at least ten years younger than she
seemed pleased because Belda was pleased, as if it were his habit to acquire her mood of high adventure.

Because of people like Belda and Milton Ward, Noa loved her job.

Belda, noticing Noa looking at them, said,
"I've been on Moroccan tours at least six times
.
But this is Milton's first trip
.
This is going to be so exciting, isn't it, Milton?"

"You bet!"

"We're going to the medina, today, aren't we,
dear
?"

"We'll end today's tour there."

"Good."
She cast her husband a playfully defiant glance
.
"I'm buying all the rugs I want, Milt!"

"I'm sure,"
said Milton, leaning forward, heavy stomach straining the tight, white shirt.

Greg entered and seated himself
.
He seemed less disturbed, as if a night's sleep had caused him to absorb the loss of his money
.
Casual clothing, the sheen of
tussled
hair, made him look more attractive than he had last night.

Noa checked her watch
.
Taber would not be at the meeting
.
He had told her he would meet them at the bus at nine
.
It was eight right on the dot
.
A tall, thin man of middle age entered, walking with a quiet, almost stealthy step toward a chair in the front
.
No doubt it was the hooded garment, a brown, woven
material that
caused everyone to watch him
.
They might have, anyway
.
He had about him an air of mystery
.
He made Noa
slightly
uncomfortable.

"Good morning."

He nodded coldly in response to her greeting
.
At first she had thought his eyes were brown, but upon closer look they had the bluish cast of the Berbers, though his thin darkness was
unmistakably
Arab.

Everyone was present except for Cathy
.
Cathy knew the meeting time
.
She would have gotten a
wakeup
call from the desk
.
Surely Cathy wasn't going to add lateness to her other misdeeds
.
"So we can all get acquainted," Noa said, "I would like each person to introduce himself
.
Tell us a little about yourself, where you live, or why you decided on this
particular
tour."

The Moroccan stood up first
.
The woven
djellaba
hung way below his knees, still revealing dark, European trousers
.
"Moulay Aziz, from Casablanca," he said with deep accent
.
"I've decided to spend this summer viewing my own country
.
I hope to broaden my understanding of Morocco so I can best help my people."

The old lady jumped up next
.
"Belda Ward
.
This is Milton
.
I always have to do his talking for him
.
He just comes along to eat and pay the bills."