Aggie Foster would never see Akron, Ohio, again. She lay on the floor, half-dressed, her throat nearly slashed in two and, as it had been with the Russian, with the same, curving arc.
I knelt down beside her and gently moved her legs. There was no evidence that she’d been touched otherwise. It was a killing, silently, efficiently and an icy rage churned inside me. The sneaking, murdering bastards would pay for this.
I had already reduced their number from five to four, not counting Rashid. I’d reduce it to zero.
The cold rage inside me welled up, but I fought it down. This was no time for wild rages. This called for the same silent, deadly efficiency they practiced. But now another fear swept over me, and I raced out of the building and into the Mercedes, roaring from the curb in a screech of complaining rubber.
Glad for the still empty streets of the early morning, I tooled the big car along the Avenue de l’Hippodrome, took the corner into the Boulevard Zerktouni on two wheels and came to a tire-marked spot across the street from Marina’s apartment on Hassan Souktany. My eyes swept the area as I dashed into the building. Only a beggar wandered down the street.
I pounded on the door and allowed a sigh of relief to escape me as I heard the lock click open from inside.
Marina opened the door a slit, her eyes half-closed yet, and then they opened wider as she saw me.
I pushed my way in and frowned, glancing quickly about.
She was in a half-slip and a bra, her shoes beside the small hassock in front of the sofa.
The bedroom door was open and I saw the bed fully made.
She’d been sleeping on the sofa in her slip and bra. She avoided my inquiring glance.
“Insomnia?” I asked quietly.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” she said quickly, rubbing her hands across her face. “I... I was reading, and I must have fallen asleep on the sofa.”
“You must have put the book away first,” I said, glancing around.
“Why, yes... I guess I did,” she stammered nervously. She picked her dress up from the end of the sofa and put it on a hanger.
I watched the beautiful movement of her breasts as she stretched her arms up to hang the dress.
“You don’t seem exactly elated at seeing me,” I tossed out.
She turned and a small furrow darkened her brow.
“It... it’s not that.” she said. “It’s just that I... I’m not feeling very well this morning. I... I’m going to try to sleep some more. I’ll call you later.”
I was seeing the gorgeous raven-haired creature who wouldn’t let me go till I promised to return. Something was very wrong here. I could see it in her quick, almost furtive glances, the nervous little flutter of her hands.
“No, you’re not going to call me later,” I said. “You’re going to leave here at once.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Leave here?” she gasped. “Why, that’s impossible. I... I can’t. It... it’s ridiculous.”
“Not as ridiculous as getting killed,” I said.
Marina swallowed hard. “Getting killed?” she repeated.
“You friend Karminian was mixed up in some nasty business,” I said. “Because you knew him you’re in great danger. A number of people have been killed already.”
As I spoke I heard myself sounding like a playback, an echo of a previous speech.
“All right,” she said, quickly. “I’ll leave... tomorrow. I’ve got to stay here today.”
She was trying to placate me.
“Why must you stay here today?” I asked, watching her closely.
Her lips tightened and she turned away for a moment. When she turned back she had composed herself.
“Someone is coming here,” she said. “An old aunt of mine. I’ve got to stay here and wait for her. It concerns important family matters, trouble at home.”
“Okay,” I said. “Then I’ll stay too. I think you need protecting.” I smiled grimly, inwardly.
Her story was as phony as a three dollar bill.
The alarm in her eyes when I announced I was staying was final proof, not that I needed it.
“No, Glen... you can’t stay,” she said, coming over to me. “It... it’s very confidential. Please, understand.”
I smiled. I was understanding a lot of things, mostly that she didn’t want me around.
Her face was now strained and white. Whatever was bothering her had brought her to a steel wire tenseness.
I noted, too, that she hadn’t seemed at all surprised when I mentioned that Karminian had been mixed up in some pretty nasty business. Maybe she knew it already. Maybe she was mixed up in it too. It was a possibility I couldn’t discard.
I had a suspicion that was taking larger shape with every passing second. This lovely creature, so frantically hungering so recently, was desperately trying to get rid of me. She was hiding something.
Five men and one girl had already been killed and I had a job to do. The time for playing games was over.
I watched her as she came over to me, the rapid rise and fall of her breasts exciting and tempting. But she could have been the Goddess of Love now, and it wouldn’t have bothered me.
I was on the trail of something and that’s all that counted.
“Please, Glen,” she said. “Do it my way and I’ll explain tonight.”
