Any Minute Now by Eric Van Lustbader Read Free Book Online Page A

aspired to long hair, she said, but found the care and feeding of it too time-consuming.
    Cutler laughed at Carson in his outlandish turban, holding answer cards to the side of his head as he matched them “psychically” with hilarious questions, then welcomed Julie, wrapped in a Turkish bathrobe and smelling of lavender and violets, back into bed.
    The DVD came to an end.
    â€œStream something from Netflix?” Julie asked.
    â€œNot tonight.” He was sated in every way a man can be, and clicked off the smart-TV with the remote. “I’ve been watching screens all day.” He passed a hand across his eyes. “I’ve had enough.”
    Julie, compliant, nestled down in the crook of his shoulder. She was a petite redhead with a foxy face, an enviable figure, and a mighty attitude that could stand up to her boss’s bluster. It often seemed that Hemingway did his best to make her cry. Maybe it was a test of some kind. In any event, he had never succeeded.
    â€œHow’s Hemingway’s frame of mind? Since the Seiran el-Habib op blew up, I mean.”
    â€œHow d’you think?” Julie said. “He’s pissed at everyone and everything. Especially Luther St. Vincent. He thinks chain of the Lebanon brief came directly from POTUS to St. Vincent, who tossed it over to him, and believe me when I tell you that my boss does not like taking orders from him.”
    â€œHas he threatened to pull our contract?”
    â€œNot that I’ve heard.” Julie lifted her head to peer at him. “You do great work for him. Why would you even ask that?”
    â€œI met with him this afternoon. He certainly is a cagey fuck.”
    Julie laughed. “I’ll be happy to deliver the compliment.”
    Cutler poked her affectionately. “Don’t you dare!” He shook his head. “But this Lebanon brief—I asked him why Red Rover was being given a different brief instead of taking another shot at Seiran el-Habib.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œHe told me Seiran el-Habib has vanished. He’s in the wind again, lost without a trace or a whisper.”
    â€œYou don’t believe him?”
    â€œMaybe he’s lost faith in us. Maybe he’s given the el-Habib brief to another firm. Right now, I honestly don’t know what to believe. If you get even a whiff of what his thoughts are, I’d appreciate a heads-up.”
    She stirred against him. “I love giving you a heads-up.” She slid down, her hands gripped his naked hips. Her head bent and she took him into her mouth. His head arched back and his eyes closed. She began to hum. Then, all at once, she let him slip out. His eyes opened and he looked down. There was a curiously sly smile on her face that caught his attention. His eyes narrowed. “What do you know that I don’t?”
    She held him in the palm of her hand. “Hemingway lied to you. NSA knows precisely where Seiran el-Habib is; he’s still in his heavily protected villa.”
    â€œThen why—?”
    â€œThe rapidly morphing crises in the Middle East has turned them into children with ADHD; their collective eye has moved on from Seiran el-Habib. The situation in Lebanon has become too volatile. It’s too compelling to ignore. Worst of all, it’s affecting POTUS’s numbers. The president is in trouble at home, he’s given them an action directive: ‘Look for high percentage situations and bring me major successes I can sell to the American people.’”
    His hand on her head directed her back to work.
    Afterward, wiping her lips on the sheet, she languidly rose up. “You’re Omar’s lethal right arm.” The caterpillar curl of a smile inched across her lips. “Red Rover’s being sent into the briar patch to come out with Br’er Rabbit.”
    â€œA show trial.”
    â€œA major triumph.”
    In truth, Julie was tired of talking business, but she suspected