white bathroom, the piping hot water, the fresh cake of soap ... He would never take such things for granted again. He washed the Gasr Prison out of his hair. There were clean clothes waiting for him: someone had retrieved his suitcase from the Hilton, where he had been staying until he was arrested.
Bill took a shower. His euphoria had gone. He had imagined that the nightmare was over when he walked into Gayden's suite, but gradually it had dawned on him that he was still in danger; there was no U.S. Air Force jet waiting to fly him home at twice the speed of sound. Dadgar's message via Abolhasan, the appearance of Simons, and the new security precautions--this suite, Poche closing the curtains, the shuttling of the food--all made him realize that the escape had only just begun.
All the same, he enjoyed his steak dinner.
Simons was still uneasy. The Hyatt was near the Evin Hotel where the U.S. military stayed, the Evin Prison, and an armory: all these were natural targets for the revolutionaries. Dadgar's phone call was also worrying. Plenty of Iranians knew that the EDS people were staying at the Hyatt: Dadgar could easily find out, and send men to search for Paul and Bill.
While Simons, Coburn, and Bill were discussing this in the sitting room of the suite, the phone rang.
Simons stared at it.
It rang again.
'Who the fuck knows we're here?' Simons said.
Coburn shrugged.
Simons picked up the phone and said: 'Hello?'
There was a pause.
'Hello?'
He hung up. 'Nobody there.'
At that moment Paul walked in in his pajamas. Simons said: 'Change your clothes, we're going to leave.'
'Why?' Paul protested.
Simons repeated: 'Change your clothes, we're going to leave.'
Paul shrugged and went back into the bedroom.
Bill found it hard to believe. On the run again already! Somehow Dadgar was staying in authority through all the violence and chaos of the revolution. But who was working for him? The guards had fled the jails, the police stations had been burned, the army had surrendered--who was left to carry out Dadgar's orders?
The devil and all his hordes, Bill thought.
Simons went down to Gayden's suite while Paul was dressing. He got Gayden and Taylor in a corner. 'Get all these turkeys out of here,' he said in a low voice. 'The story is, Paul and Bill are in bed for the night. You'll all come to our place tomorrow morning. Leave at seven o'clock, just as if you were going to the office. Don't pack any bags, don't check out, don't pay your hotel bill. Joe Poche will be waiting for you outside, and he'll have figured out a safe route to the house. I'm taking Paul and Bill there
'Okay,' said Gayden.
Simons went back upstairs. Paul and Bill were ready. Coburn and Poche were waiting. The five of them walked to the elevator.
As they were going down, Simons said: 'Now, let's just walk out of here like it was the normal thing to do.'
They reached the ground floor. They walked across the vast lobby and out into the forecourt. The two Range Rovers were parked there.
As they crossed the forecourt a big dark car drew up, and four or five ragged men with machine guns jumped out.
Coburn muttered: 'Oh, shit.'
The five Americans kept walking.
The revolutionaries ran over to the doorman.
Poche threw open the doors of the first Range Rover. Paul and Bill jumped in. Poche started the engine and pulled away fast. Simons and Coburn got into the second car and followed.
The revolutionaries went into the hotel.
Poche headed down the Vanak Highway, which passed both the Hyatt and the Hilton. They could hear constant machine-gun fire over the sound of the car engines. A mile up the road, at the intersection with Pahlavi Avenue near to the Hilton, they ran into a roadblock.
Poche pulled up. Bill looked around. He and Paul had come through this intersection a few hours earlier, with the Iranian couple who had brought them to the Hyatt; but then there had been no roadblock, just one burned-out car. Now there were several burning cars, a barricade, and a crowd of revolutionaries armed with an assortment of military firearms.
One of them approached the Range Rover, and Joe Poche rolled down the window.
'Where are you going?' the revolutionary said in perfect English.
'I'm going to my mother-in-law's house in Abbas Abad,' Poche said.
Bill thought: My God, what an idiotic story to tell.
Paul was looking away, hiding his face.
Another revolutionary came up and spoke in Farsi. The first man said: 'Do you have any cigarettes?'
'No, I don't smoke,' said Poche.
'Okay, go ahead.'
Poche drove on down the Shahanshahi Expressway.
Coburn pulled the second car forward to where the revolutionaries stood.
'Are you with them?' he was asked.
'Yes.'
'Do you have any cigarettes?'
'Yes.' Coburn took a pack out of his pocket and tried to shake out a cigarette. His hands were unsteady and he could not get one out.
Simons said: 'Jay.'
'Yes.'
Coburn gave the revolutionary the whole pack, and he waved them on.
2___
Ruthie Chiapparone was in bed, but awake, at the Nyfelers' house in Dallas when the phone rang.
She heard footsteps in the hall. The ringing stopped, and Jim Nyfeler's voice said: 'Hello? ... Well, she's sleeping.'
'I'm awake,' Ruthie called. She got out of bed, slipped on a robe, and went into the hall.
'It's Tom Walter's wife, Jean,' said Jim, handing her the phone.
Ruthie said: 'Hi, Jean.'
'Ruth, I have good news for you. The guys are free. They got out of jail.'
'Oh, thank God!' said Ruthie.
She had not yet begun to wonder how Paul would get out of Iran.
When Emily Gaylord got back from church, her mother said: 'Tom Walter called from Dallas. I said you'd call back.'
Emily snatched up the phone, dialed EDS's number, and asked for Walter.
'Hi, Em'ly,' Walter drawled. 'Paul and Bill got out of jail.'
'Tom, that's wonderful!'
'There was a jailbreak. They're safe, and they're in good hands.'
'When are they coming home?'
'We're not sure yet, but we'll keep you posted.'
