Fortunes Obsession (20 page)

girl.  He wasn't surprised that the lock was not changed. It was evident that Fahd expected Dara never to return.  He wondered what exactly they had intended to eventually do with her.  The thought was disturbing.

     When he had the suitcase filled, he left the apartment, carefully double locking the door behind him and took the elevator to the floor marked," Garage," and walked out to the street.  He hailed a cab and returned to his apartment.

     He found Dara waiting for him, freshly showered and attired in his terry robe.  They went over the contents of the suitcase and Dara thought Peter had done very well.  She really didn't want any of the expensive gifts from Fahd anyway.

They reminded her of a part of her life that was behind her now and which she considered sordid.

     It was decided that Dara would have to stay in Peter's apartment with very few sojourns into the outside world.  Peter was afraid she would be seen by Fahd or one of his henchman and traced back to his place.  He feared for her safety as long as these madmen were loose.  Her situation would be tantamount to a kind of house arrest.  Dara agreed that this was best.

     " I think I'll really enjoy being cooped up here for a while.  There's so much of you in here that I'm just going to hang out and soak it up.  I've been looking at your library while you were gone and I'm going to spend a lot of time reading. When are you going to see Millard?

     " We're going to call him in the morning.  Hopefully, he'll

think enough of what we have to step into the case."

     Later that night, Dara thought she had never felt so safe as when she lay there in Peters arms.  They made love tenderly and hungrily and she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

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

     The girl woke up from a deep sleep.  The fat man was pawing her again.  She was starting to wonder if the thousand dollars she was being paid for this night was enough.  This slob had been in every orifice of her body at least twice.  Oh, well, she thought, at least he smells clean.  She had no worries about getting out of here in the morning.  She had heard the man discuss a lift to Teterboro airport in the morning with the driver of the limousine.  The driver told him that since he was picking her up anyway, he would drop him off.  Aside from that the man who hired her was one of their best customers.  True, he liked rough and kinky sex from time to time but all of the girls fought for his jobs because he paid so well.  She felt fortunate to be working for the Madam that employed her.  There was no pimp involved and she only catered to an elite trade.  The fat man was on her now, furiously poking his laughably small member into her.

She lay there, thinking of other things and just biding her time.

She couldn't wait until morning.

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

     Fahd dialed Sarita's number.  When she heard it was him, her voice showed her delight.  " Oh, good," she said, You're back."

He almost asked where she thought he had come back from, when he

remembered his lie about going out of town.

     "  While I was away, I thought of nothing but you," he said in his most charming way.  " You were the last thing I thought of before I went to sleep at night and the first thing I thought of in the morning."

     Her voice was sensuous. " Oh, Ibrahim.  I felt the same way. I'm so glad you're back.  When will I see you?"

     This was the hard part.  He would make her wait another day.

He had found out through his experience, that to dangle the bait for a time was more effective then swooping in.

     " Alas, my love, I cannot see you until Tuesday evening. We will go back to La Cote Basque for dinner and then I am going to take you to a lounge where they play wonderful soft jazz music.

How does that sound?'

     She was more receptive than he had dared dream. " I can't wait.  I'll be counting the minutes.  And Ibrahim, please, no more roses.  If you send me any more, I'll have to move out to make room for them.  They are so beautiful though.  You are the most thoughtful man."

     " Alright ," He said, " I promise but I will not promise that there might not be some other surprises."

     She laughed again.  " Oh, how you do spoil me and oh, how I do love every minute of it.  What did I ever do to deserve such special treatment.  I feel as if it’s a very wonderful dream.”

     " Wait," he said. “ Your wonderful dream will get better and better.  I promise you."

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

     At nine o clock Monday morning, they dialed Millard's office.  When he answered, he was as courteous as ever.

     " I'm glad you called.  I've been thinking about you guys since our meeting.  I'm positive something bad is going down.  I hope you have something positive for me."

     Peter gave Millard the details, step by step, of what had happened on Sunday.  Millard would interrupt from time to time, asking for more specific details.

     Millard saw some positive aspects toward making this a legitimate case,

     " Look, I know you've got your own life to live and your own jobs but I'd like you to come down here and look at some mug shots.  Can you get here today?  I think it's important."

     He gave them his address in downtown Manhattan and Peter and Lance enthusiastically agreed to come.

     " Should we bring the girl?" Peter said, " After all, she's seen him twice."

     Millard thought for a moment. " I don't think so.  From what you've told me, her life might be in danger.  Leave her in your place a while longer.  If you two don't see anything, we may send a car for her and bring her in but I don't want her coming down alone."

     Peter and Lance were elated.  Finally, someone who could help them and cared.  Maybe they were on their way to cracking this thing.

     They assigned various tasks to underlings in the office and in about an hour, were ready to go to the FBI offices.

     When they arrived, they were ushered into Millard's office.

It was a small cubicle, furnished sparsely but  was larger than those surrounding, connoting a certain seniority.  There were two other agents with Millard.

     " Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Special Agent Clark and Special Agent Yamashita.  I'm officially opening a file on this case and assigning these two men to it.  Clark will take care of the forensics and research and Yamashita will be the field man.

Where we start is somewhat dependent on you making an identification from the mug shots we are going to show you.

Let's see if I've got this right. You are Mr. Fortune and you are Mr. Corning, correct?"

     " That's right," They said in unison as they shook hands all around.

     The five adjourned to a conference room with a projection screen at one end and a slide projector at the other.

     Agents Clark and Yamashita were both very young. Neither was more than a few years out of the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia.  Clark was an easterner, educated at Boston College and Yamashita a Japanese- American from Stanford University in California.  Both were neat, polite and dressed conservatively, all in the Bureau style.

     Millard spoke first. " Mr. Corning, Mr. Fortune. First I'll

explain the functions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and why we are opening a file.  Mind you, if none of the jurisdictions I am about to explain to you is involved, we will have to turn the case over to other authorities and it is up to them whether to further pursue it.  The FBI has jurisdiction in the following:  Aircraft Hijacking, Terrorism, Kidnapping, Civil Rights Violations, Racketeering, Organized Crime, Espionage, Sabotage and Sedition.  We have reason to believe that this case involves several of these categories.  As I have told you previously, we still do not have enough, in my estimation, to secure a warrant from a Federal Court.  Our job will be to put together enough evidence to secure warrants that will further our case.  Understood?"

     " Perfectly," Peter stated.

     " Okay," said Millard. “ Agent Clark is going to project front and profile shots of forty suspected terrorists.  Each picture has a number on it.  If either of you sees a shot that you think is our man, simply write down the number.  If you see more than one shot that appear to be him, write down all of the numbers.  When we are finished with the forty shots, we will program the projector to project only those numbers you have selected.  Don't be surprised if you see more than one shot you think is our man.  That is bound to happen. Many of these fellows resemble each other very much.  Are you ready?”

     They nodded their heads affirmatively.

     "  Okay Mike, roll the shots.  Not too quickly now."  

     Picture after picture flashed on the screen.  Most of the men shown on the screen had beards, so it was hard to discern their features.  Peter remembered that Dara told him that the first time she saw the fat man, he had a beard of sorts, so he was careful when he looked at the mug shots to try and look through any beard he saw.  When Clark had run the last shot, Peter had picked nine photos and Lance picked eight.  The projector was programmed for another run and this time, they each picked three.  The three were shown again and each still picked three.  Millard picked up a phone and spoke softly.  In about five minutes, a secretary entered with six large black and white photos, three in profile and three in full face.  Two of the men had beards, one was clean shaven.  The clean shaven photo was eliminated by both men quite quickly.  Neither could decide which of the other two was the man they had seen. Millard made another call and soon the secretary came in with two dossiers.

     Millard spoke first. " I am going to have Larry, that's Special Agent Yamashita, check out both of these men.  It might take some time.  Larry, come into my office as soon as we're through.  Take a look at these dossiers and tell me if you think you'll need help.  Mike, I want you to get on the computer and update everything we have in these two dossiers.  Gentlemen, I want you to take these two pictures with you and show them to the girl.  Possibly, she can make a more positive identification."

     He stood up and shook hands with Lance and Peter and the two men left, feeling that a major step had been taken.

     The girl sat in the back of Fahd's limousine.  Bokaar sat next to her.  She couldn't wait to be rid of him.  The fat man had got his money's worth out of his night with her.  She closed her eyes and fell asleep.  Even now, she felt his slimy hands creeping up her thigh and between her legs.  Thank God for panty hose!  Finally, the car pulled up to Teterboro airport.  Teterboro is probably the largest airport of it's kind in the New York City area.  There are no commercial flights that are regularly scheduled and the complex caters to charters and private aviation.  The driver opened the trunk and the fat man took out two large suitcases, which the driver carried to the small terminal for him.    

     Bokaar was happy to be on his way at last.  The woman that Fahd had sent him was a wonderful gift and he had almost forgotten that other bitch.  When all of this was over, perhaps he would track her down and take his revenge on her.  He was relaxed and happy now.  He had all the documents and was meeting Bey and this Collins fellow in Orlando.  His mind was focused on the job be done now.  The professional in him had surfaced and he was no longer interested in anything but the mission.

     Ali Bokaar had come to the United States from Iran eight years ago.  He had come on a work visa and had disappeared into space as far as the authorities knew.  They were looking for him under his real name and he possessed false papers that established him as Ali Bokaar.

     He was one of the foremost experts in explosives in the

terrorist world.  His advice had been sought in some of the most famous terrorist bombings of the eighties and nineties.  He might have been a leader of one of the movements if not for his major flaws.  He had a violent temper and sometimes unleashed it in the wrong way.  He had been responsible for several murders that should not have occurred.  He had a penchant for revenge that was almost unnatural.  He had killed both the enemy and his own people and enjoyed doing it.  He loved  to kill his enemies, both real and imagined and took a sadistic delight in watching them die.  Twice, he had been marked for execution by his own people but his life had been spared because of his expertise.  His other flaw was his lust.  When he saw a woman he wanted, he was reluctant to walk away.  In the middle east, where he could get away with it, he had committed rape on many occasions.  He had come close here in America but he knew that his superiors would not look kindly on his being exposed because of that passion.

     He was not an educated man.  He had not gone beyond third grade in school and had begun a life as a petty thief almost in the same manner as Fahd.  He too, had spent time in prison, both in Iran and in Israel where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.  He had escaped with another prisoner and made his way to Lebanon, where he was trained in the use of explosives. Of all the things he had try to learn in his life, this was the only one he took to.  He had a love for destruction that spurred him on to become the best at what he did.  The organization he worked for decided to send him to America as the forefront of