sight in front of her.
'You, you Cairo tigress!' cried the sultan, releasing Kendrick and taking Rashad in his arms. 'We had a girl, you know. Half American, half Omani. Sound familiar?'
'I know. I wasn't permitted to contact you—’
'We understood.'
'But I was so touched. Her name's Khalehla.'
'If it weren't for you, Khalehla One, there'd be no Khalehla Two… Come on, let's go.' As they started for Ahmat's limousine the sultan turned to Evan. 'You look pretty fit for a guy who's been through so much.'
'I heal rapidly for an old man,' said Kendrick. 'Tell me something, Ahmat. Who told you the whole story, the whole “ball of wax”?'
'A man named Payton, Mitchell Payton, CIA. Your President Jennings phoned me and said I was to expect a call from this Payton and would I please accept it; it was urgent. Hey, that Jennings is one charming character, isn't he?… Although I'm not sure he knew everything that Payton told me.'
'Why do you say that?'
'I don't know, it was just a feeling.' The young sultan stood by the car door and looked at Evan. 'If you can pull this off, my friend, you'll do more for the Middle East and us on the Gulf than all the diplomats in ten United Nations.'
'We're going to pull it off. But only with your help.'
'You've got it.'
Ben-Ami and code Blue walked down the narrow street into the Al Kabir bazaar looking for the outdoor cafe that served evening coffee. They were dressed in neat, dark business suits, as befitted their Bahrainian visas which stated that they were executives with the Bank of England in Manamah. They saw the pavement cafe, threaded their way through the crowds and the stalls, and sat at the empty table nearest the street as instructed. Three minutes later a tall man in white robes and Arab headdress joined them.
'Have you ordered coffee?' asked Kendrick.
'Nobody's come around,' replied Ben-Ami. 'It's a busy night. How are you, Congressman?'
'Let's try Evan, or better yet, Amal. I'm here, which in a way answers your question.'
'And Weingrass?'
'Not very well, I'm afraid… Hello, Blue?'
'Hello,' said the young man, staring at Kendrick.
'You look very businesslike, very unmilitary in those clothes. I'm not sure I'd recognize you if I didn't know you were going to be here.'
'I'm not military any longer. I had to leave the Brigade.'
'It'll miss you.'
'I miss it, but my wounds didn't heal properly—various tendons, they tell me. Azra was a good fighter, a good commando.'
'Still the hatred?'
'There's no hatred in my voice. Anger, of course, over many things, but not hatred for the man I had to kill.'
'What are you doing now?'
'I work for the government.'
'He works for us,' interrupted Ben-Ami. 'For the Mossad.'
'Speaking of which, Ahmat apologizes for not having you to the palace—’
'Is he crazy'? All he needs is members of the Mossad in his house. It wouldn't do us much good if anyone found out, either.’
'How much did Manny tell you?'
'With his big mouth what didn't he tell me? He also called after you left the States with more information that Blue was able to use.'
'How, Blue?… Incidentally, do you have another name?'
