The Miraculous Plot of Leiter & Lott by Jonathan Lowe Read Free Book Online Page A

wondered whether he should laugh or not. "Has that been established?"
    A pause, then a pulling back. "What do you think, Mr. Leiter ? After all, you are an expert, no? You own the patent on an imaging device used by your military, do you not? A device that could be used on a UAV or unmanned aerial vehicle."
    He licked unusually dry lips, for which there was no reason except that he might be dealing with people who knew nothing of reason. "I don't know what to think. I haven't really thought about it."
    A slow blink. "And you were going where?"
    "Again, you'll have to ask Doug. I'm just along for the ride."
    The man rose, took his file, and without another word left the room. David tried the door after a moment, but found it locked. Half an hour later it opened again. This time the detective carried only his passport.
    "Before we let you go," he said, "can you tell us why you chose Dubai to vacation?"
    David looked closely into the man's eyes. Something new was there, sure enough. Something which made him hold onto the passport instead of extending it prior to a response. He imagined being in the detective's place, looking at this tourist known to be an engineer, and wondering if there was some connection to a terrorist crime requiring specialized expertise in various fields of engineering, including optical imaging and targeting. Was it possible that David Leiter was CIA, or a private soldier of fortune assisting a clandestine operation?
    Before we let you go, the man had said.
    David glanced over at the long mirror over the sink. Had he been filmed, and his voice tested for stress? Had they needed half an hour to analyze or to run the film through known channels? Or was he just being paranoid again?
    Guessing that a simple Google search might have extracted his blog from some secondary source, David confessed, "I've always been fascinated with the city, ever since a televangelist named Ted Cashman moved here to escape scrutiny by his detractors."
    "Detractors. Like you?"
    "I once wrote a blog about him, among others, yes."
    "Gregg Swann?"
    "No, I don't know about Swann, and like I said, my blog is history. I've moved on."
    The detective stared at the ceiling for a moment. "All the same, Mr. Leiter , I hope you won't mind if I hold onto your passport for a few days." He held up the little blue book as though daring him to take it.
    "What will I use as identification, then?" David asked.
    "Your driver's license will do. If not, you can have them call me."
    With this, the detective withdrew a business card from his pocket, and like a magic trick handed that over instead, pocketing the passport as his next official act.
    Noting the name, David said, "Anything you say, Mister. . ."
    " Muaz Salik ."
    ~ * ~
    He rejoined Etherton in the lobby, but they didn't speak until outside and walking toward a parking garage festooned with concrete pillars and directional signs in Arabic.
    "Guess I shouldn't have taken that shortcut," Doug lamented. "Sorry about that." Glancing at a Rolex, his friend added, "Almost lunchtime. Let me make it up to you. Fancy a steak? Sushi?"
    David grabbed his forearm for a second. "Doesn't it bother you, what just happened in there?"
    "They're just being paranoid. It's what cops do when their city is bombed." He shrugged. "Don't worry about it. This isn't Saudi Arabia. We'll get our passports back."
    â€œAlthough two of the nine-eleven conspirators were from the UAE?”
    They drove to the beach, beside the Burj Al-Arab, where Doug wondered aloud if it was even open to non-guests on Friday. At first David figured Etherton was antsy about the probable lunch tab at the world's only seven star hotel, but when Doug settled instead on the Epic Cafe inside the Trump International Hotel and Tower, newly opened on the trunk of the Palm Islands, he decided money had been little consideration after all.
    The Epic's floor was marble, the tables glass. Blue sectional curtains divided tall, narrow tinted windows that