'We'll make for the airport,' he called over his shoulder. 'God knows how many more of them are ill Nice. I'll try to shake them off but I don't think they'll try anything once we're in the airport grounds. Anyway, we can get their car blocked at the entrance. Maria! You'll find the short-wave radio in the glove compartment. Get on to our man there and tell him what to do.'
Maria relayed the message quickly, got an okay from the Intelligence man at the airport and got down on the floor of the car again; crouching over Eva to shield her body from any ricocheting bullets.
Don managed to lose the Mercedes at the next busy intersection, where they went through the amber light just at the point it turned red. By continuing at a faster than legal speed, they were at the airport in about ten more minutes.
“She's been shot! I think she's dead!' Eva screamed, suddenly realizing that Erica's body was slumped over' in the back seat, blood from a bullet wound oozing out of her neck.
“She'll be taken care of,' Don assured her firmly as he drove out to the runway of the airport and braked the car suddenly. “Come on! Let's get to my plane. Our men here have arranged the clearance!'
Eva never stopped to think that in this very serious game of espionage, she was of far more value to them than one of their own junior agents.
Chapter 8
In addition to his skill as a secret agent and. great lover, Don was a very good pilot. He had no trouble in guiding the rented plane to Maria's private vacation island off the village of Agay. His famel colleague was in the copilot's seat and Eva was sitting behind them. She appeared very tired and confused, unable to understand the swift moving events of the past hour.
Why had she allowed herself to be taken away by this man and woman, without making any kind of protest? Eva felt her emotions sharply divided (as they had never been before) between patriotism and a deep, intense love for the beautiful Maria.
Eva couldn't really believe that the girl was only interested in persuading her to defect to the West, and that was really the answer to her question. She hoped desperately that Maria would set her mind at rest once they had a chance to talk quietly together.
Until then, Eva knew that she had to follow the girl wherever she went; until Maria settled the question once and for all.
Over the intercom, Don and Maria were talking, ''Before I left Budapest.' he was saying. ''Beta' told me what we were to do if Eva refuses to come over to us. This is probably a good time to put you in the picture, too.'
Maria looked at him sharply. He was keeping the plane on an even, steady course. 'What do you mean?' Her heart quickened: she had completely overlooked the possibility that if Eva was the genius they suspected and if she refused to defect… obviously, she would have to be assassinated.
Don confirmed this, giving her a strange look as if he thought she should have realized this all along. Maria did her utmost to control the feelings which she knew were already visible on her face.
“We've got to make it look like the work of a Communist,' he continued. 'Rig her death so that, outwardly at least, she will seem to be murdered by a jealous Soviet scientist. Something like that, anyway. The actual details have been left to us and we needn't make any plans until we know for sure that Eva won't defect. You'd better work fast, though. Pull all the stops out tonight. Win her confidence completely and make absolutely certain that she's on the verge of creating a genuine RPM.' He winked broadly at her. 'Then tell her she'll be much better off in the free world… and she'll have you with her for good measure!'
Maria nodded. 'Right,' she affirmed. And took the earphones off while she thought desperately about what she should do if Eva refused to betray her own country.
She felt certain. She could never bring herself to kill the precious girl who meant so much to her. That was impossible. Eva was too much a part of her life now, despite the fact that she'd only known the beautiful Hungarian for a few hours. A love that refused to recognize politics and the requirements of her profession had, for the very first time, been awakened in Maria. She felt that she would die herself rather than help to destroy it.
This meant that it was more important than ever before that she persuaded Eva to defect. Both their lives depended upon it. Maria vowed to herself that she would play on Eva's sexual weaknesses to the full, give the girl so much sensual pleasure that she, too, would abandon her patriotism for the sake of continuing their love affair.
Sandra! Maria had a sudden inspiration! The gorgeous secretary seemed to be so infatuated with her that she might, she just might…
Marie replaced her head-set hastily as they started to descend. The island lay below them, looking a veritable paradise with its long stretches of empty golden beaches and woods. Don guided the plane expertly onto the beach. They came to a gentle stop and Maria looked over her shoulder at Eva.
'We're going to have a wonderful time here!” she promised the girl. 'You'll see-it's going to be just perfect.'
Sandra puckered her lips and frowned. 'I don't really like it, Maria,' she said. 'I thought it was just going to be the two of us. Why do we have to let her come between us? It doesn't seem right, somehow.'
Maria gave her hand a squeeze. 'It's only just this once, darling,' she reassured her. 'Look on it as a sort of experiment. After all, if two of us can have such a wonderful time together, think what three girls can do!'
They were sitting in the large luxury tent, waiting for Eva to return from the beach. The Hungarian girl had been refreshing herself with a cool dip in the sea. It was three in the morning. Sandra had been awakened an hour ago by their arrival and Maria had spent the past ten minutes explaining that she wanted the young secretary to assist her in Eva's seduction.
Sandra was still very dubious, even though Maria had taken great pains to emphasize that it was of vital importance to the West that Eva be persuaded to defect, and that the only way this could be achieved was by seducing the girl. She sat up on the bunk bed naked from the waist up, her large and mellow breasts a wonderful attraction for Maria's admiring eyes.
Only a sheet covered the rest of her body, wrapped tightly around her hips and thighs, outlining her curves and showing that the girl was unmistakably nude beneath the hugging cotton.
Maria had changed into a revealing white robe; it hung in a loose fold across her thighs, barely concealing the girl's hairy crotch. A single cord kept the garment together tied none too securely at her waist. It was quite open at her breasts, leaving most of the creamy melons whitely exposed. Beneath it, Maria was completely naked.
'You look very sexy,' Sandra murmured, running her eyes up and down Maria's tall, splendidly shaped body. “I do hate the idea of sharing you with… '
She broke off suddenly as the tent flap opened and Eva ducked beneath it. Maria had given her one of the robes to wear and she looked as gorgeous as the American girl; possibly, Sandra thought with a quickening or interest, even a little bit lovelier. Her mouth felt dry as she started to imagine the intimate liberties they'd be taking with each other in a few minutes. All three of them, she reflected. Maria and Eva clad only in their brief robes, and she herself without even that much. She shivered deliciously. Perhaps it wouldn't pay her to be jealous, after all.
'Here, sit next to Sandra,' Maria was suggesting. “I'm afraid our accommodation here is a bit limited. Don is going to sleep under a tree and we three will have to share the tent. Never mind, I'm sure we'll all have a very comfortable night.'
Eva lowered herself onto the low-slung bed. During her dip in the sea, the feel of the salt water on her naked skin had aroused her to a deliciously sensual awareness that, no matter what Maria's motives might be, the girl (and quite possibly her companion, too) was going to do everything in her power to bring her to a new peak of sexual pleasure.
Eva didn't see any reason why she shouldn't enjoy herself as much as possible. After all, she had told herself it really is about time you were pampered and petted; why not take advantage of the situation?
Maria had promised her that in the morning she would explain why Eva's Communist bodyguards had said she was only interested in persuading her to defect. All right, Eva had decided. Let the explanations come later.
