ARAB by Jim Ingraham Read Free Book Online

man, so what? He’s a nobody. People like him are always getting into fights. Besides, I’m told that Bashir is very resourceful, and well trained. He’ll think of something.”
    “When do you intend to meet him?”
    “I’ve invited him to lunch. To keep him happy, I can mention that he might be assigned to work on the president’s new jet. But I just want to get a sense of who he is. We can’t afford to invest our security in a fool.”
    “Indeed,” Jaradat said. “You say the muccabarat knows nothing about his having flown several times to Brazil? How could that be? If I could find out, why couldn’t they? Is my intelligence so much better than theirs?”
    “You found out about this Helene Bryce,” Esmat said.
    “And I’m sure they know about her.”
    “Perhaps, although I’ve seen no indications of it. All the information is right in the records. They just didn’t look.”
    “Then again, you with all of your resources didn’t know she was being hunted by the Brazilian police.”
    “I’m not infallible,” Esmat said. “It’s being cleverly handled by our man Phillip Nelson. Because she’s closely associated with the Saudi prince, they just want her to disappear, silently, in the night, so to speak. And that works for us. When she is flown out of the country, they’ll be helpless to chase after her. It’ll all work out splendidly, my friend, don’t worry.”
    “Well, it sounds interesting,” Jaradat said, sucking on a fruit cube, eyeing his friend with amusement. “If we can foment rebellion without getting caught—” He raised both hands with a shrug. “What happens will happen.”
    Like his own, Esmat’s family estate had been sequestered by Nasser and never restored although Anwar Sadat’s government had to a degree compensated them for their loss. But neither Anwar Sadat nor the current president could restore their position in the Egyptian social order. Only a massive social upheaval could manage that.
    “Why the smile?”
    “The Americans,” Jaradat said. “Their naivety. I wonder whether they actually believe they can turn this quagmire into a thriving colony just by forcing us to hold elections. But so long as they keep sending us money, who cares?”
    “They can’t be that naïve. It’s probably for home consumption.”
    “Why do you suppose General Saraaj is willing to risk his reputation waiting at that military base for this woman? By the way, where is it?”
    “In the valley south of Landl,” Esmat said. “It’s been virtually abandoned as a training facility. No one is regularly stationed there. It’s an ideal spot for someone with Saraaj’s authority to sneak a woman into the country undetected.”
    “Civilians can’t use it?”
    “Right.”
    “And Helene Bryce. Are we sure we can find her?”
    “Phillip Nelson will meet Yassin at the airfield and take him to her. It’s all arranged and paid for. He wouldn’t dare betray us.”
    “But he would betray Helene Bryce?”
    “He’d have no reason to. He’s working with a very unstable man, remember. She fronts for the prince and handles his charities, but he has other women who can do that. He feels snug in that jungle retreat. I see no reason to worry. He is the personification of indolence.”
    “And how long have you held that expression in your cheek?”
    Esmat laughed, wiped something off his mouth, “We know where that aircraft will be at all times. She will board the plane in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. At his stop in Casablanca the record will show his single passenger did not leave the aircraft. We can’t avoid having that mentioned. But better that than have them see her. Then he will come straight here from Morocco.”
    “Straight to Cairo, you mean. Not to that desert airstrip.”
    “If the general is out of the way, yes, here to Cairo. That will save us a lot of bureaucratic nonsense. Bringing her to Cairo makes far more sense. “
    “So we eliminate Saraaj. What about Yassin? What