vendor offered Vandam cheap razor blades. A few yards away Elene was getting into a taxi. Vandam broke into a run.
The door of the taxi slammed and it pulled away.
Across the street, the MPs' car roared, shot forward and collided with a bus.
Vandam caught up with the taxi and leaped on to the running board. The car swerved suddenly. Vandam lost his grip, hit the road running and fell down.
He got to his feet. His face blazed with pain: his wound was bleeding again, and be could feel the sticky warmth under the dressing. Jakes and the two sergeants gathered around him. Across the road the MPs were arguing with the bus driver.
The taxi bad disappeared.
Chapter 15.
Elene was terrified. It had all gone wrong. Wolff was supposed to have been arrested in the restaurant, and now he was here, in a taxi with her, smiling a feral smile. She sat still, her mind a blank.
'Who was he?' Wolff said, still smiling.
Elene could not think. She looked at Wolff, looked away again, and said:
'What?'
'That man who ran after us. He jumped on the running board. I couldn't
see him properly, but I thought he was a European. Who was he?' Elene fought down her fear. He's William Vandam, and he was supposed to arrest you. She had to make up a story. Why would someone follow her out of a restaurant and try to get into her taxi? 'He . . . I don't know him. He was in the restaurant.' Suddenly she was inspired. 'He was bothering me. I was alone. It's your fault, you were late.'
'I'm so sorry,' he said quickly.
Elene had an access of confidence after he swallowed her story so readily. 'And why are we in a taxi?' she demanded, 'What's it all about? Why aren't we having dinner?' She heard a whining note in her voice, and hated it.
'I had a wonderful idea.' He smiled again, and Elene suppressed a shudder. 'We're going to have a picnic. There's a basket in the trunk.'
She did not know whether to believe him. Why had be pulled that stunt at the restaurant, sending a boy in with the message 'Come outside.-A.W.' unless he suspected a trap? What would he do now, take her into the desert and knife her? She bad a sudden urge to leap out of the speeding car. She closed her eyes and forced herself to think calmly. If he suspected a trap, why did he come at all? No, it had to be more complex than that. He seemed to have believed her about the man on the running board-but she could not be sure what was going on behind his smile. She said: 'Where are we going?'
'A few miles out of town, to a little spot on the riverbank where we can watch the sun go down. It's going to be a lovely evening.' 'I don't want to go.'
'What's the matter?'
'I hardly know you.'
'Don't be silly. The driver will be with us all the time and I'm a gentleman.'
'I should get out of the car.'
'Please don't.' He touched her arm lightly. 'I have some smoked salmon, and a cold chicken, and a bottle of champagne. I get so bored with restaurants.'
Elene considered. She could leave him now, and she would be safe-she would never see him again. That was what she wanted, to get away from the man forever. She thought: But I'm Vandam's only hope. What do I care for Vandam? I'd be happy never to see him again, and go back to the old peaceful life-The old life.
She did care for Vandam, she realized; at least enough for her to hate the thought of letting him down. She had to stay with Wolff, cultivate him, angle for another date, try to find out where he lived. Impulsively she said: 'Let's go to your place.'
He raised his eyebrows. 'That's a sudden change of heart.'
She realized she had made a mistake. 'I'm confused,' she said. 'You sprung a surprise on me. Why didn't you ask me first?'
'I only thought of the idea an hour ago. It didn't occur to me that it might scare you.'
Elene realized that she was, unintentionally, fulfilling her role as a dizzy girl. She decided not to overplay her hand. 'All right,' she said. She tried to relax.
Wolff was studying her. He said: 'You're not quite as vulnerable as you seem, are you?'
'I don't know.'
'I remember what you said to Aristopoulos, that first day I saw you in the shop.'
Elene remembered: she had threatened to cut off Mikis' cock if he touched her again. She should have blushed, but she could not do so voluntarily. 'I was so angry,' she said.
Wolff chuckled. 'You sounded it,' he said. 'Try to bear in mind that I am not Aristopoulos.'
She gave him a weak smile. 'Okay.'
He turned his attention to the driver. They were out of the city, and Wolff began to give directions. Elene wondered where he bad found this taxi: by Egyptian standards it was luxurious. It was some kind of American car, with big soft seats and lots of room, and it seemed only a few years old. They passed through a series of villages, then turned on to an unmade road. The car followed the winding track up a small hill and emerged on a little
