‘What do you want me to do?’ Webster asked.

‘I want you on the ground over there in Saudi. I want to know what’s going on there. And I want to know it as soon as you can find out.’

Webster stood. ‘All right, Mike. Is there anything else?’

Waggoner shook his head wearily. ‘Just be careful, Elliott. I watched the sun come up this morning and I felt that somehow the whole world had changed overnight.’ He paused. ‘Isn’t that a strange thought?’

Smiling confidently, Webster dropped a hand on the president’s shoulder. ‘You just need some rest, that’s all. You get some sleep and you’ll feel better. Me and you, we’re keeping the faith. That’s what we promised the American people we would do when they put us in office.’

‘I know, I know. I keep telling myself that. You just keep your head down over there until you figure out what’s what.’

‘Will do.’ Webster shook hands a final time, then turned and left the room. He said goodbye to both secret service agents and took out his phone to start making arrangements. Between figuring out what to do with Professor Thomas Lourds and the coming unrest in the Middle East, it was going to be a busy day.

Burger King

Taksim Square

Istanbul, Turkey

17 March, 2010

Cleena sat at a booth in the back of the restaurant and tried not to feel like a voyeur as she looked at the laptop Sevki had given her before she had left his apartment after Lourds’ release from the police department. Of course, a voyeur was what she was. There was no getting round that. She was watching Lourds and his lady friend – the older college professor, whatever her name was – in the hotel room.

The problem was Cleena wasn’t the only voyeur.

‘Your professor-’ Sevki started.

‘So not my professor,’ Cleena interrupted.

‘Sorry. One of us was working while you were sleeping and may be a little fatigued at the moment.’

‘Spare me. I went three days without sleep working on something for you.’

‘And you were paid quite handsomely for it, as I recall.’

Cleena glanced from the laptop monitor to the restaurant’s clientele. It was late afternoon before the early evening rush. Most of the clientele would be American tourists looking for a familiar meal, or Istanbul college and high school students wanting to sample food from an American chain restaurant.

She had chosen the place as a base of operations because Taksim Square was only four kilometres from the professor’s hotel. If he went somewhere, she felt certain she could intercept him on the motorcycle she’d purchased from a black market contact. She also hoped that the men from the catacombs, if they could find the professor, would stand out in a place like Burger King.

Sevki had also given her an earwig tied into an encrypted sat-phone that also functioned, like now, through WiFi hot spots. The device felt bulky in her ear, but she had been surprised at how small it was. Unless someone looked closely, no one would know she was wearing it. Except for the way I apparently keep talking to myself.

‘Anyway,’ Sevki went on, ‘as I was saying, the professor isn’t alone in there.’

‘I can see the woman.’

‘I know, and I must say she’s even better looking than her photograph.’

‘Focus.’

‘The room is bugged,’ Sevki said. ‘That’s why you’re getting video feed from inside the room instead of just the hallway.’

Cleena was so used to Sevki producing technological marvels that she hadn’t even realized she was peering inside the hotel room.

‘Who bugged it?’ she asked.

‘Judging from the frequencies and the hardware, I’d say it was the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Or a similarly equipped corporate security team. It’s getting hard to know whose toys are whose these days. Corporate espionage has cutting edge stuff, some of it even better than the CIA’s.’

‘The CIA?’ Cleena pushed back from the laptop a little. ‘That doesn’t make sense.’

‘As in, if the CIA has already got someone watching the professor, why do they need you? I started wondering the same thing when I locked into these feeds. I played with the idea that this might be the work of some corporation, but no likely suspects spring to mind. Why would anyone, including the CIA, suddenly develop an interest in the professor?’

Cleena didn’t like the route her mind automatically took.

‘If this is the CIA’s handiwork, the only thing I can figure you for is a fall guy if things get sticky’, said Sevki.

‘Can they catch you spying on them?’ The idea that the CIA might even now be spying on them while they spied on Lourds was unsettling, to say the least.

‘Doubtful. But look at our professor. Looks like he’s got his hands full.’

On screen, Lourds and the college professor were more amorously engaged than previously. Cleena wasn’t mortified, but she wasn’t interested in watching either.

‘Lech,’ she growled at Sevki.

‘Sticks and stones and all that rot.’

‘I was talking about the CIA catching you.’

‘Oh.’ Sevki sounded distracted, and Cleena had to admit that what she was watching was distracting, and a little more intriguing than she’d thought it would be. Lourds was evidently a man of considerable skills.

‘The CIA,’ she reminded Sevki.

‘Them. No. I don’t think they’ll find us. I’ve masked all the work I’ve done to break in there. If they even find out we’re in there, it’ll be a miracle.’

‘Can you trace their video and audio feeds back?’

‘Already done that. The trail leads back to the United States embassy offices here in the city.’

‘And… the professor has no idea he’s being watched right now?’

‘Would you be doing what he’s doing right now if you knew someone was watching you?’

Mild irritation swept through Cleena. ‘You really shouldn’t be watching this.’

‘Then who’s going to watch the professor and make sure he stays put?’ Sevki’s tone was mocking.

‘You said you have access to the video in the hallway.’

‘I do.’

‘Then you can use that to keep tabs on the professor.’

‘And miss the show? I’ll make you a deal. You turn your computer off – and I’ll know when you do – I’ll do the same for mine. Up the ante, so to speak. Do we have a deal?’

Cleena didn’t answer, but she didn’t cut the video feed either.

‘Are you using the audio feed?’ Sevki asked.

‘I’m in a public place.’

‘There’s a pair of earbuds tucked into the computer case.’

Cleena hesitated only a moment, then opened the computer case and took out the earbuds. She attached them to the computer and adjusted the volume. The sound was good. It was as though she was in the room with Lourds and his professor lady friend. The idea was faintly embarrassing but more erotic than she would have thought.

While on the flight over to Istanbul, she had listened to the audio-book version of Bedroom Pursuits. The narrative had been more compelling than she had imagined. And that type of entertainment definitely wasn’t her usual venue.

‘Ah,’ Sevki chuckled. ‘Aren’t you the dirty girl?’

‘Shut up.’

Eserin Crown Hotel

Sultanahmet District

Istanbul, Turkey

17 March 2010

Lourds kissed Olympia as he unbuttoned her jacket. They stood just inside the room. No one else was there, but the scent of the strange perfume he’d noticed still lingered on the air.

Breaking free of the passionate kiss they shared, Lourds gazed into Olympia’s wide-set brown eyes. ‘Do you smell the perfume?’

‘Yes.’ Olympia’s hand curled round the back of his neck and played with his hair. The sensation was incredibly delightful and Lourds knew she was aware of that. They’d been good lovers who had explored each other’s bodies well enough to know what worked and what didn’t.

‘Doesn’t that worry you?’ Lourds ran his hands under her jacket and the matching teal chemise she wore to unfasten her bra. He managed the feat with one hand, which brought a smile to Olympia’s beautiful face.