Fortunes Obsession (19 page)

     Dara, knowing now that the helicopter belonged to Fahd, was still not relieved.  She couldn't understand the purpose of the aircraft.

     Mustafa turned around and handed her the briefcase. " Take these up to the house and bring me the case he gives you, then we will go back."

     Dara took the case and opened the door.  As she departed

the limousine, she saw the fat man standing at the door.  He looked cleaner and was shaved but he still had the same leer on his face.  She moved slowly up the front walk to where he was waiting and handed him the briefcase.  The look on his face was frightening.  He, in turn, handed her another case and bowed slightly from the waist, the same grin on his face.  Without saying a word she walked briskly back to the car and saw the front passenger window open.  She didn't notice the fat man following close behind.  Neither did she notice a burgundy Cadillac pull out from behind another car and move slowly down the block.

     She handed the case to Mustafa and walked toward the back door to open it.  Suddenly the big limousine pulled out, accelerator to the floor and disappeared around the corner.

Dara felt faint and knew what she would find when she turned around.  She felt the fat man's hand close around her wrist and felt herself being pulled around.

     " So my beauty, you were part of the deal after all.  Come inside and don't fight me and I won't hurt you.  Oh, I have such beautiful plans for you."

     She took her free hand and scratched his face with her long nails.  He reciprocated by slapping her hard across the face.  She felt as if she were losing consciousness and when she got her wits about her, she saw Peter fighting with the man.  He used his karate training to great advantage and was definitely getting the upper hand.

     " Get in the car, Dara....the red Caddy....now!" He said, as the fat man crumpled to the ground.  Dara literally flew into the back seat and was followed quickly by Peter.  Lance pulled out just in time.  A bullet glanced off the car, evidently fired by the fat man, who was now in a kneeling position on the lawn.  Peter turned around and saw that the helicopter had departed in another direction and was not following them. That was the strangest thing of all.

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

     Fahd sat smugly in his favorite leather chair, savoring his latest triumph.  Mustafa had called again and told him that everything had gone perfectly.  He had the money and Bokaar had the girl.  Now he could start his new life with Sarita without any encumbrances and enjoy his new found wealth.  He decided to wait a few weeks before his next business venture.  It would give him time to romance Sarita.  He had just closed his eyes and was listening to beautiful music on the stereo, when the phone rang.

     Bokaar's angry voice caused his ears to ring. " You son of a bitch.  You leave me the girl and then send your thug to take her back.  We had heard you were a gentleman when it came to your business dealings but you are a son of a bitch!"

     Fahd didn't know what he was talking about.  " Are you drunk, Ali?  I didn't send any thug.  Now calm down and tell me what happened.

     Bokaar, sputtering and raving, told Fahd the story of the tall muscular young man, obviously trained in martial arts, who

pulled up in a red Cadillac and took the girl.

     " Describe this young man to me," said Fahd.

     Bokaar described Peter as best he could, considering that most of the time he was in close combat with him.

     Fahd was certain that this was the same young man that the doormen had described to Mustafa.  The one who had taken Dara from him. 

     " Ali, I assure you, I had nothing to do with this.  This is something the woman and this man, whoever he his, planned by themselves.  She must have guessed what we had in mind for her.

I should have known.  I always thought she was smarter than most of the women I have had.  I assure you, i will find her and when I do, I will deliver her to you.  Meanwhile though, I owe you a beautiful woman and a beautiful woman you shall have.  However, i want you send this one back intact.  I will have nothing against this one."

     The promise seemed to appease Bokaar and he hung up, momentarily composed.

     Fahd called up his favorite New York madam and arranged for a tall willowy blond to be picked up by Mustafa and delivered to Bokaar's house this evening.  Mustafa would pick her up on Monday afternoon and bring her back to the city.  He thought that Mustafa would be angry at the extra task, but the hell with him.

After all, look what Mustafa owed him.

     He really didn't know how he would find Dara and the young man but it felt good to tell Bokaar that he would.

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

     Dara felt safe in the back of Corning's car with Peter'

arms around her.  She was still shaking but felt herself calming down.

     " Peter, I thought you weren't coming.  I was so frightened.

Where is my car?  I don't understand."

     Peter shook his head.  " Honey, your car is gone.  I've got a hunch that Fahd thought he was disposing of you and started to take back some of his gifts .  You can see now that you weren't supposed to return, can't you?”

     Dara sat up in alarm. " Oh my God, I can’t go back to the apartment and the only things I have right now are what's on my back.  There are things in the apartment that I need.  I don't care about the luxuries but there are certain necessities I must have.  What can we do?”

     Lance spoke from the driver's seat.  " Why don't Peter and I drop you off at his place and then go to your apartment and pick up the stuff."

     " No good," said Peter, "  The doorman won't let us in and you don't know whether the doormen are in cahoots with Fahd. After all, I'm sure Dara was not the first mistress he had stashed there."

     Peter saw the hurt look on Dara' face.  He put his arms around her again.  " I'm sorry hon.  That was insensitive. Forgive me."

     " That's okay," she said, " I deserve it.  Forget about it."

     " Listen to this," Corning said, " Peter and I take a cab to your place.  We take a big suitcase with us.  I pull a fainting act in the lobby.  The doorman goes to call Emergency Medical Service and Peter sneaks in during the confusion.  By the time the doorman gets back, I'm gone.  Peter loads up the suitcase, comes out through the garage and gets a cab to his own apartment."

     Peter laughed. " It's crazy as hell but if we pulled this off today, we can pull that one off."

     " Good then", Corning said, " We'll do it this evening."

     " Lance," Peter said gently, " Are you sure you're healthy enough for all of this excitement? After all, you've been taking it easy at work because of your health problems.  I don't want you to get yourself sick."

     " Listen to me you young punk.  I haven't felt this young in years.  This is the best therapy I could have given myself. I'm seventy two you know.  I'm not ninety two.  You talk as if I'm some doddering old guy.  I did a good job with the getaway car didn't I?   Last but not least.  I'm still the boss and what I say goes.  Got it buster?”

     Peter laughed. " Okay, I surrender.  I can see you're really enjoying yourself.  It's as if you're in one of those action books or movies you love so much."

     Lance laughed in turn. " Now you’ve got it.  This is the last time I want to hear this shit.  I'm in this for the duration.”

     " That reminds me," Peter said," We've got to get in touch

with Millard tomorrow morning."

     " I still don't think he can make a move," said Dara.

" We still don't have any hard evidence for him.  We've got a great story to tell him, with no other witnesses and even if there were witnesses, what happened?  There was another exchange of briefcases and a brief scuffle in front of fat boy's house.

We still don't really know what was in either briefcase.  The only crime committed was an attempted assault and that's not even in Millard's jurisdiction.  I think he'll just put this information in his ever growing file and tell us to continue to keep our eyes open.  You're right though. We'll have to call him and tell him everything that's happening. He'll need it to eventually piece this thing together."

     " This is kind of depressing," Peter said, " We've done about everything we can.  How in the hell are we supposed to get any more evidence.  We're at a dead end.  One thing is for certain. We're not going to let Dara anywhere near Fahd but she's the only one with any contact with him.  We've already broken into his office and we can't break into his house."

     " That's not true," said Dara as she removed a small key from her shoulder bag, which luckily had stayed with her through the entire struggle.  " I took this when I was in Fahd's place Saturday night.  He has plenty of them in various places in the apartment, so he'll never miss it."

     " Wow," Peter said. " Break into his apartment. That's a tough one."

     " No it's not," she said, " I can walk right past the doorman. I'm sure Fahd didn't confide in the doorman about my falling from grace.  That's not his style."

     " That's out," Peter said, " I'm not letting you go up there alone.  By the way.  What happened Saturday night.  Did he try to touch you?"

     " No ", she lied, " He was a perfect gentleman.  I guess he was only interested in getting rid of me.  It seems I was part of the deal."

     " Good", said Peter, " I was worried about that all Saturday night. I couldn't sleep."

     Corning interrupted. " Let's get back to Fahd's apartment.

I could go with Dara. Peter, we don't want you to be seen by anyone who could describe you to Fahd.  The only problem I can see is knowing when Fahd isn't there.  We surely don't want to break in while he's home."

     Dara spoke. " If I know Fahd, he's already got a new woman in his life.  His favorite restaurant is La Cote Basque and he is a creature of habit as to which night he goes there.  Peter would station himself across the street, taking his cellular phone with him.  Lance would be carrying his own cellular phone.  Peter would call us when Fahd arrived and again when he departed.  I don't think our whole search would take as long as one of his leisurely dinners."

     " I love it", said Lance, " But we can't tell Millard about our plan.  He'll tell us it's a felony and not admissible and all thatlegal mumbo-jumbo."

     " Okay then," Peter said. " We'll give Millard everything we have, including the fact that the Trans-Orient Silk Corporation doesn't exist.  After that we'll do our break in.  What night does he go to the restaurant.?"

     Dara answered without hesitation. " Tuesday.  He'll probably go there Tuesday night whether he has a woman or not.  He often dines alone."

     " Good," Peter said, " We'll set it up for Tuesday night. Meanwhile, though, we've got to get your stuff from the apartment tonight.  Are you game, Lance?"

     " Raring to go my boy.  I'm really starting to enjoy this intrigue stuff.  I kind of feel like James Bond.  It gets my blood flowing."

     After depositing Dara in Peter's apartment, the two decided to take the Cadillac back to Lance's garage and use taxis for the rest of the operation.  Parking an automobile in New York City was a precarious task.  One could not count on being lucky enough to find a space in the street and parking in a garage could be time consuming when speed was important.

     Peter, a large suitcase in hand, stood across the street from the entrance to Dara’s building.  He watched Lance walk up and talk to the doorman.  Suddenly, Lance clutched his chest and crumpled to the ground.  The doorman kneeled over him and obviously was trying to revive him.  Meanwhile, several passers by got in to the act and were milling around the two men.  Peter

crossed the street and stood closer to the entrance.  Finally, the doorman stood up and ran to what appeared to be a small office near the lobby.  Peter calmly walked past and pushed the elevator button.  Mercifully, the door opened immediately and Peter stepped into the elevator, suitcase in hand.

     When Lance saw Peter enter the elevator, he stood up and feigned  revival.  The people around him begged him to wait for the ambulance but Lance shook them off and walked to the street.

He was able to hail a cab before the doorman came out of the office.  He returned to his own apartment, satisfied that this Phase of the operation had gone off like clockwork.

     Peter entered the apartment and saw immediately that many of the artifacts and pieces of fine furniture were missing.  He went from room to room and what he saw, was an apartment that was barely furnished.  He took out Dara' list and was able to find the few necessities she needed.  The underwear and make-up were there but some of the dresses were not.  None of her warm coats were there.  The drawers were devoid of all jewelry.  He was able to find jeans, sweaters and shoes.  He found several skirts and blouses and stuffed them into the suitcase.  The apartment looked eerie.  Even the stereo equipment was gone.  Paintings were missing from the wall.  The apartment appeared to be looted but Peter knew better.  He understood now what had happened to the Porsche.  Fahd had taken back all of his gifts, so that he could bestow them on the next girl in his life.  He wondered if Dara had received the gifts after they had been taken from some other