Fortunes Obsession (10 page)

the documents. Dara would deliver the documents, at which point Bokaar could take her and do as he liked.  The money would be given to Mustafa and he would drive it back to the city.  The helicopter would make a pretense of following the car, so as to dissuade them from following Mustafa and taking the money back.

He didn't know which excited him more, receiving the money or having his revenge on Dara.  He was certain now that she was cheating on him, after the reports he had received from Mustafa.

If there was anything that made his blood boil, it was a faithless woman.  In his mind she was bought and paid for and was obligated to him totally.  He hoped the bastards killed her after having their pleasure with her.  In the meantime, though, he would act lovingly toward her as if nothing had happened.  He would even play along with her sickness lie.  He did, however, have one more sex session with her in mind before he turned her over.  She had only seen the tender side of him before this.  He would take her brutally before he discarded her.

              **********************************

     Peter sat in Corning's office discussing their plan.  They would do a complete sweep of Fahd's office and look for some clue of what was going on.  He had already been to the office and noted that it was locked.  Evidently Fahd had given his secretary the day off. 

     " It's comical", Corning said, " The two of us are sitting here and planning this thing like we know what the hell we're

doing. Lets face it, we're a bunch of rank amateurs and we're probably up against a shrewd professional.  I've got a bad feeling about this."

     Peter frowned, " Look, if you want out, I'll understand. I've already tried to get the authorities interested and they laughed in my face.  Understand that I need to do this to get Dara out of a bad situation.  If you can think of some other way, tell me about it.  I don't know what else to do."

     Corning put his hand on Peter's shoulder. " Peter, you know you're like a son to me and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you.  I'm in this thing, lock, stock and barrel but at some juncture I think we should seek professional help, even if we hire a private detective."

     " I agree but right now, we have to go through with our original plan.  There's one thing that's really bothering me, though.  I told Dara that I would follow her to protect her.  How can I do that if he takes her in his car or up to his apartment?  I'm going to have to leave her alone with him and that frightens the hell out of me."

     Corning shook his head. " You're right, there's nothing you can do.  The way I see it is at this point in time you're somewhere between a rock and a hard place.  You can't protect her and you can't get anyone else to protect her."

     Peter nervously picked up the phone and dialed Dara'

number.  " No answer", he said, " She must be on her way."

His hands trembled visibly as he hung up the phone.

             ***********************************

     Dara exited the cab and was grateful that there had been none of the legendary Manhattan traffic to hold her up.  She felt a strange exhilaration, emanating from the feeling that her life was about to change to one of normalcy.  She couldn't understand the reasons she tolerated the life she had recently chosen for herself.  She allowed herself to become a rich man's whore, for the privilege of receiving lavish material goods.  The guilt she felt now never existed until she had felt love for Peter.  She pondered her life with great confusion as she entered the elevator.

     When she entered the offices of Lance Corning Associates, the receptionist all but did a double take.  Dara stood there, hair askew with no makeup, wearing a plain brown dress that didn't quite fit properly, with no accessorizing.  She wore neither false eyelashes nor eye shadow.  When the receptionist called Peter and was told to send Dara in, she looked genuinely surprised.

     " Lance, I want you to meet Dara.  Don't mind the way she looks.  She is, as you know, disguised as a sick person."

     Lance smiled charmingly. " It's pretty hard to hide a natural beauty.  I really can't wait to see you made up if this is what you look like when you're trying to look bad."

     Dara offered her hand and smiled. " Thank you, I appreciate that but what you're looking at, in addition, is a badly frightened person."

     Peter put his arms around her tenderly. " We're all frightened, honey but Lance and I were just discussing our lack of alternatives.  As soon as we can gather some real evidence, we'll get the authorities involved and then we're home free."

     Peter sent the key out with his secretary to have duplicates made.  The time seemed to creep by as they waited for her to return with the keys.  They sat around a large table, sipping hot coffee, quietly, each lost in their own thoughts. Dara wished she had stopped to have the keys made on the way as originally planned but somehow had the feeling that she wouldn't be safe until she was in the security of Peter's presence.

    Peter squirmed awkwardly in his seat. " Honey, there's something we must discuss.  My plan to follow you around when you're with him will never work.  As much as I hate it, we're going to have to leave you alone with him.  I'm very worried about it.  Can you handle it?

     " Peter, can we be alone for a moment?"

     Corning got up and walked toward the door.  " Go ahead, kids, I know this is a tough one.  I'll be in my office when you need me."

     After the door closed, Dara spoke in a low, serious, tone. " Peter, I am going to try like hell to be faithful to you. The thought of him touching me now is deplorable.  I promise you I'll do the best I can but I never want to lie to you again. Will you make me a promise?"

     Peter looked puzzled. " Okay, what's the promise?"

     " After this is all done, and hopefully, we lead a normal life together, please don't ask me to tell you what happened when I was alone with him.  I told you I'll do my best and I will but again, please...please...don't ask me.  I don't want to lie and I don't want to lose you."

     Peter's brow furrowed.  His emotions were mixed.  He tried to cleanse his mind of the possibilities.  It was potentially one of the greatest disciplines he could muster.

     " I promise," he said solemnly, as a wave of nausea engulfed his body.

     A pregnant silence ensued between them.  He, brooding and pensive and she, disheveled and looking desperate.  They were rescued by Peter's secretary entering the room with the keys.

           *****************************************

     Bey, Bokaar and Mahdi sat on the porch of Bey's sumptuous home in a fashionable Detroit suburb.  Each one puffed on a Cuban cigar as they relaxed on comfortable wicker furniture with deep cushions. Bey interrupted the silence.

     " The Colonel will wire the money to the usual banks within a week's time.  Our operatives will make the pickups and deliver them to Ali's house in New Jersey.  When we have all of the money, we will contact Fahd. He will send his driver and the girl.  The girl will give us the money and bring it to the limousine and give it to the driver, at which point, the driver will speed away, leaving the girl at the curb. Then, Ali, my

friend, if you can move your fat body fast enough, you may catch her and bring her back to the house and take your pleasure with her."  Bey burst into laughter at this point and was joined by his two cohorts.

     " Don't worry, Ishmael, I have been known to run with olympic speed in such situations."

     Bey quickly returned to sobriety. " My problem is how to get the money back from the driver.  Fahd's damned helicopter will be circling overhead.  My first impulse was to shoot the cursed thing down with a hand held ground to air missile but that would cause havoc in the neighborhood and might even kill us. On the other hand, we must consider also, that the colonel would be angry if we eliminated Fahd or his future participation.  I think the colonel is well acquainted with his talents and considers him useful to our cause."

     " Let's just take the profit we have already built in and forget it then."  Beads of perspiration formed on Bokaar's brow as he thought of the consequences of betraying the colonel.

     " It is best", said Bey. " I have contacted this Collins and I am meeting him in Orlando on Thursday.  This man will be very useful to us.  My hope is that he is such a fanatic in this matter, that he will work for nothing. I have a large problem with this trip though, possibly the toughest part of the operation."

     The two men leaned closer to Bey to hear his revelation.

     " If my children find out I'm going to Orlando, they'll want

to go to Disney World.  If you think the colonel is capable of horrible torture and vindication, you should live with my children."

     If anyone heard the loud and discordant laughter from the Bey's porch, they would have thought that three friends were merely enjoying a social afternoon together.

          ************************************

     Peter, Lance and Dara walked through the door to Fahd's office.  Dara, of course, had seen it before but Lance and Peter had their first look.  It consisted of an anteroom in which sat a receptionists desk.  On the desk was a computer monitor and keyboard.  There were neatly piled papers in baskets marked, "In," " Out," and " Bills".  There were the usual secretary's accouterments; a message pad, a calendar book and a steno pad.

There were two other rooms. One of them held a fax and a copying machine and the other, Fahd's office, was locked. There were filing cabinets on the wall of the secretary's office.

     It was almost one o clock and Fahd wasn't due until four.

Unless his secretary came in, they had two to two and one half hours of safe time to thoroughly look for evidence of foul play.

The big problem was going to be Fahd's office.  Dara did not have a key and it would be necessary to pick the lock without evidence of breaking in.

     Lance looked pensive and then, with the look of a man with a sudden idea, he spoke. " Dara, do you know anything about this computer?" 

     " Push that switch on the side of the desk.  I've seen his secretary do it ".

     Corning pushed the switch and a menu program came up on the screen.  He moved the cursor to the word processing program and the screen changed.  A highlighted box said, " Password?"

     " Damn," said Corning, " Dara, what's the password?"

     A look of panic came across her face. " I..I don't know. I didn't even know there was one."

     " Look, " said Corning, " Peter and I will work on this door while you think of every possible word that could be used for a password.  Think of everything he might think of.  You know him better than we do."

     He walked over to Fahd's office door where Peter was already inspecting the lock and door buck.

    " From what I can see, it looks like a simple lock, the type we can open with a credit card but the molding overlaps it in a way that makes it impossible to open the lock without removing the molding."

     Peter left Fahd's office to get a large screwdriver from their own office and Corning walked over to the computer to help Dara, who was feverishly trying passwords that were rejected by the computer, one after the other.

      “ He’s Egyptian, isn’t he”, said Corning, “ Why don’t you try pyramid or pyramids.

     Dara typed in the word, " Pyramid", and the word processing program miraculously filled the screen.

     " You're a genius," Dara said, and began to scan the

files for anything that might give them a lead.

     " I really don't know what to look for," she said.

     Corning thought for a moment, his mind trying to put some order into the situation.  He looked over Dara's shoulder and took a look through the files.  They were all letters that seemingly referred to silk business transactions.

     " Look for any letters written in the week prior to your going to New Jersey.  Also look for any letters sent to Detroit, since that is where your Mr. Fahd has been for the last three days.  When you get these letters together, print them and we'll analyze them later.  We can't waste time doing it in here. We'll feel rushed and pressured."

    Peter walked back in with a large flat head screwdriver, a flashlight and a small hammer.

    Dara looked truly frightened. " Please be careful removing that molding. He'll notice if it's cracked or flawed.  He's a meticulous man to the point of being obsessive. He'll spot it in a second."

     " Leave it to me." said Peter, lifting his hands in the air.

" What you see here are the hands of a surgeon."

     " I hope you’re right." Corning said. " Dara's safety depends on it."

     Peter shook his head.  " You really have a way about you. You know how to put the pressure on.  All kidding aside, I'm going to do this slowly and carefully, one nail at a time."

'

     Peter knelt on the floor and starting at the bottom, inserted the screwdriver behind the molding and pried gently.

The small nails popped out intact and for the first few feet, the molding was unmarred by cracking or chipping.  Peter continued as Dara and Lance scanned the files in the computer.  Peter heard the printer several times and knew that they had found something but he didn't dare take the time to look.  When he had reached a point about two feet above the lock, he felt that it was a good time to attack the problem of picking it.  He took a small pocket knife, which he always carried on his key chain and pried gently on the bolt, which was of ordinary length.  There was no deadbolt above it, making it the only locking device on the door.  He was very careful not to make any scratches on any of the hardware, which made him work more slowly and deftly than he would have liked.  He could not get the bolt to budge with his gentle prying, forcing him to switch to a larger blade on the knife and make a slight blemish on the mechanism before it finally slid out of the latch and back into the door itself.