Stan Mason - Stopping World War Three

A small cog in the wheels of my mind suddenly clicked. ‘I’d like to go back on something you said earlier. ‘You said you knew the reason why I’m here. I’m going to insist on further information. In fact I’m not going to leave until you tell me something to my advantage.’

‘Do you really want to know? Well I’ll tell you. To find your wife of course. That’s why you’ve come.’

I was stunned at his answer unsure whether he was simply putting me off the scent. ‘To find my wife?’ I managed to say. ‘What do you know about her?’

‘I know that she was kidnapped a few days ago. I thought that was why you came out here… the reason why you’re willing to cooperate… even against your will… with the organisation. Am I wrong?’

I looked at Penny who shrugged her shoulders. ‘It’s all news to me,’ she related. ‘I was never told she was abducted. ‘ She turned to Musaphia. ‘Do you have any more details?’

Musaphia shook his head slowly. ‘‘I heard she was kidnapped. That’s why I invited you here. I’m always concerned when personal problems interfere with business. I have contacts everywhere. Everywhere.’

‘But I received a letter in her handwriting to say she had left me.’ I turned to my secretary for confirmation. ‘You saw the letter. Primar said that a woman answering Jan’s description came into the office and left the letter there.’ As I spoke the words, I realised how easily I had been duped. It was Primar and his deceitful methods to get me to fly to Israel.

‘Ah… Primar again,’ continued our host. ‘His name seems to turn up all over the place. Too many times for my liking. You realise now that the letter was false.’

‘It was in Jan’s handwriting. I’m certain of that.’

‘Of course. They made her write it.’

‘Then why didn’t they tell me she’d been kidnapped in the first place? If they wanted me to come out here why didn’t they say so?’

Musaphia bit harder on his cigar. ‘Because she may have been kidnapped for another reason. Who’s to know? Don’ imagine she was taken by the organisation. We’re not interested in tactics of that kind.’

‘No… of course not!’ I spat sarcastically, trying to keep my voice and my temper at reasonable levels. The bomb on the plane. The police in Crete. Commander Spring and our doubles. Tomar Duran. None of it is the fault of the organisation. Anyone with half a brain could see that!’

He nodded sagely. ‘Take it easy, Mr. Scott. We’re on your side… remember.’

‘Oh, yes… you’re on my side! Well you tell me who’s taken my wife and where she is at the moment. You tell me that!’

‘Please lower your voice,’ advised the old man firmly. ‘We don’t need to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. I’ll try to find out some details for you. I can do no more than that. It’s my understanding that she was brought to Israel but the source is not reliable. Just leave it with me.’

‘How can you possibly know that she was brought here unless you were party to it?’

‘I told you. I have contacts everywhere.’ An expression of surprise appeared on his face as I got to my feet. ‘Why are you leaving?’ he asked puzzled. ‘What about your breakfast? They’re very sensitive about guests leaving their food here. It reflects on the cook and the reputation of the hotel.’

‘To hell with their reputation!’ I shouted angrily. ‘Look, Musaphia, I want my wife back! You find out where she is! You telephone me tomorrow and tell me exactly where she is!’

I noticed Penny’s face fall at my comment but she didn’t matter to me any more. She had lied to me, deceived me, and, if the truth were known, there were many more things to come out of the woodwork that she was hiding from me. After the outburst, I stormed out of the room leaving Penny to trail behind. She caught up with me on the pavement outside the hotel.

‘Hey!’ she chided. ‘You were a bit rough on the old man, weren’t you? He didn’t mean you any harm. In fact he could be quite useful.’

‘Oh, really,!’ I scorned. ‘He didn’t mean any harm! Then how come he knows that Jan was kidnapped? That she may have been forced to write that letter to me? Why didn’t anyone else mention such minor unimportant matters to me? Dammit! I am her husband! And you… you have a lot of questions to answer. Do you know, I’m getting fed up being pushed around! Now it’s going to be my turn to do the pushing!’

‘You’re upset, Jason, but be very careful. Some of the things Musaphia told us were true. This is not a game. It’s for real.’

‘You got me into this, Penny,’ I accused firmly, ‘you get me out! I don’t care for your 21st Century Crusaders… just get me out!’

I expected her to sulk at my rudeness but instead she took my hand and led me to the shore. We walked along the beach enjoying the cool breeze and then doubled back to return to Arlosoroff Road, As we reached one of the larger streets, we stood at the edge of the pavement ready to cross the road. It was then that I noticed a large black car moving in our direction from the middle distance, approaching at a steady rate, smoothly, easily, intently… like a great predatory cat cruising towards its prey. The car seemed to surge forward suddenly and within seconds it near-side wheels shot across the pavement to the point where we were standing. We leapt back in alarm as it missed us but the margin was very slim. Gathering our wits, we started to race across the road. However, the car turned around within a very short distance and made its way back relentlessly. I tried to determine the face of the driver but my effort was frustrated because the window of the vehicle was fitted with darkened glass. The decision to cross the road left us extremely exposed. I felt like an inadequate matador in a giant bull-ring. I place my arm firmly around Penny’s waist as the car moved again in our direction. Now that we were two-thirds the way across the road, the driver would assume that we would sprint for the pavement on the other side. It was the most logical thing to presume. But as the car approached at speed, I feinted as though intending to run to the pavement and then turned sharply the other way, taking Penny with me. The ploy worked admirably because the car raced past us without causing any harm. From then on, we reached safe ground and watched the vehicle cruise off into the distance.

‘Who would want to kill us here?’ I asked. ‘I mean no one knows who we are!’

‘Maybe it has something to do with Musaphia.’

‘Why should he want to kill us?’

‘I didn’t mean that. A man with a lot of contacts also has a lot of enemies. Someone may have been watching and they saw us with him. That’s the only thing I can think of.’

‘I think we ought to buy guns to protect ourselves,’ I suggested. ‘It’s time we fought back against these assassins!’

We continued on our way until arriving back at the house. As I fumbled for the key I noticed that the front door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open slowly but the shutters were closed causing the room to be shrouded in darkness. As we entered, I closed the door and switched on the light. To my astonishment I found myself staring into the face of an enormous Arab dressed in a wealth of dark rags which smelled abominably.

‘What in the name of… !’ I began, staring at the giant turning to find another man laying full-length on the bed-settee with his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose. ‘Primar!’ I exclaimed. ‘So you finally turned up.’

‘I’m always turning up, Jason,’ he laughed easily. ‘Often in the right places at the wrong time. But I’m very disappointed in you. You let m down once. I won’t let it happen again.’