“Uh—”
“A hundred thousand rial,” Hera told the owner.
It was a ridiculously low price, and the man made a face. He looked at Danny, wondering who wore the pants in the family. Then he started to put the items back where Danny had gotten them.
Danny gestured at Hera.
“Two hundred thousand,” she said.
The man ignored her.
“Two fifty,” she said.
Again the shopkeeper ignored her, contenting himself with straightening the display. She could have offered a billion rial and he would not have accepted the deal.
Danny didn’t want to arouse any more suspicions by speaking English. Angry at Hera, he turned and started away.
“A million and a half rial. It is a very fair price,” said the shop owner behind him.
Danny turned around and took out his wallet, glaring at Hera to keep her quiet. As far as the shop owner was concerned, the price was more than fair, given the merchandise. He felt the discount was well worth it to teach the overbearing wife a lesson. It was no surprise that she was wearing a colorful scarf, and a shirt that seemed far too modern.
“Let that be a lesson,” the man told Danny. “You don’t need a shrew to run your life.”
“Thank you,” managed Danny.
“Screw him,” said Hera as they walked outside.
“Why did you do that?” he said. “We have a time limit here.”
“I had to stay in cover.”
“Get some common sense, damn it. We’re running late.”
“What if someone gets suspicious and follows us?”
“Just use common sense.”
Danny pushed one of the earphones into his ear and heard Nuri say that Tarid was now taking a table.
“We’re on our way,” Danny told him, starting to run.
Nuri originally wanted to steal a waiter’s uniform for Flash, but the waiters at the small restaurants worked in regular street clothes. And then Tarid made the job even harder by wearing his jacket to the table rather than hanging it up near the door.
“Wait outside,” Nuri told Flash. “When Danny comes, go and rent the car.”
“And back you up if something goes wrong, right?”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong.”
Flash shrugged. In his experience, Murphy’s Law accompanied every operation. He walked down to the end of the block, looking for Danny and Hera.
Nuri, meanwhile, went inside, hoping for a table next to Tarid — right behind him would be perfect — but they were all taken. He allowed himself to be steered to a place near the window, biding his time until Danny and Hera were ready.
“We’re in the alley,” said Danny breathlessly a minute later.
Nuri asked for some eggs and tea. The waiter disappeared into the back.
The waiter working the other side of the room approached Tarid’s table with a platter of food. Nuri rose quickly and went over, intending to knock something onto the coat. But Tarid chose that moment to get up, and before Nuri could provoke a spill, Tarid headed for the restroom.
Frustrated, Nuri followed. A dozen possibilities occurred to him, but the presence of an attendant in the restroom ruled all of them out. Nuri smiled at the man, then went to the far stall, hoping some opportunity would present itself.
It didn’t.
Tarid hated public restrooms. He held on tight to his jacket, finished quickly and left, not even bothering to tip the attendant.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” Nuri told Danny over the Voice communications channel.
“We have all day,” said Danny.
“What are you drilling?”
“I’m fixing the buttons. Relax.”
“Buttons? More than one?”
“We have a couple just in case. We’ll match it exactly. If you can get us more time, we’ll use the original.”
Nuri looked up and saw Tarid leaving.
“Tarid’s coming out,” he told Danny.
“What?”
“Yeah.”
Unsure whether he had been spotted or if someone was working with Tarid to check for a trail, Nuri went back to his table. His tea and eggs had just arrived.
The Voice gave him a running commentary on what Tarid was doing.
Not much: He simply walked back across the street to the hotel.
“Meet me around front in five minutes,” he told Danny. “I have another idea.”
Tarid had decided that he would collect his things, take a drive and look up an old friend before meeting with Aberhadji. It was something to do; he hoped the trip would divert his mind from the horrors it kept suggesting Aberhadji would inflict on him for skimming money from the Guard. He thought of calling his friend, but decided not to bother. The diversion was what was important.
“I’m going out for a while,” he said loudly. “Do you want the key?”
His heart fluttered when she came out. Her eyes met his for a brief moment. His resolution began to melt; the temptation to linger was too great.
“Will you be gone long?” asked Simin.
“I’m not sure.”
Their fingers grazed as he handed over the key. Simin flushed. She took the key, slid it into the box behind the desk, then rushed back into the office.
“Simin, wait—” Tarid took a step to follow her.
She slammed the door. For a moment he hung suspended between his desire and his fear of being punished. Aberhadji would be even more angry if he found out that he had seduced the girl.
On the other hand, Aberhadji might be planning to kill him anyway, Tarid reasoned. And in that case…
Tarid started around the desk. But as he turned the corner, he walked into another woman, a little older, and if not quite as pretty, certainly beautiful in her own way:
Hera.
Who slipped a small razor blade out from between her fingers and snapped it through the middle button on his jacket as she fell backward against a plant next to the wall, then stumbled to the ground.
“Where did you come from?” said Tarid, momentarily confused.
“I’m looking for a friend,” she said.
“I meant, how did you get in my way?” said Tarid.
“Oh, your button.” Hera picked it off the floor. “I’m sorry,” she said, holding it up.
Puzzled, Tarid looked down for the spot where it had been.
“I’ll fix it for you,” Hera said, getting up. “Give me your coat.”
“I’m fine,” said Tarid, on his guard.
“No, no, I insist.”
Hera held out her left hand, keeping her right, which still had the razor, behind her back.
“Who are you?”
“Maral Milian.”
She bowed her head slightly, as if too timid to look him in the eye, but then reached up and put her fingers on
