Thieves Fall Out by Gore Vidal Read Free Book Online Page B

interested,” he lied.
    They talked for a while of Farouk, of his family, of the intrigues at court. At first it seemed to Pete to be very exotic and Oriental, but after a time the situation sounded more and more familiar to him. The great doings at the Egyptian court were no different, actually, than those in any other society, whether in Des Moines or Egypt or Salem, Oregon. The only difference was in wealth; these rich Egyptians, Pete had soon learned, were the wealthiest group in the world.
    They went into the dining room, where dinner was served them. It was very gala, and Pete, still somewhat confused by the hasheesh, enjoyed this luxury, this comfort. He was, at that moment, quite ready to spend the rest of his life in Egypt. For someone who knew the angles it would be a cinch. Not until coffee came and he had sobered up completely did he realize, uncomfortably, that he didn’t have the slightest notion what was going on, at least as far as his two employers and the trip up the Nile were concerned.
    After dinner Hastings excused himself for a moment, saying he had some telephone calls to make. When he was gone Pete looked at Hélène coolly. “What was the big idea?”
    “Idea?” She was examining her face in a small mirror, to see if her lipstick had been smudged during dinner. She frowned critically at her reflection. She seemed unaware of him, of the hotel guests who paraded past the alcove where they now sat in the Turkish lobby.
    “That little show in my room last night, remember?”
    She sighed and put the mirror and compact away. “What show? As I remember, we parted in
my
room.”
    “We did. Then a couple of hours later you and a pair of Arabs paid me a visit and turned everything inside out, looking for something.”
    “You think
I
did all this?”
    He nodded. “I saw you, before I was blindfolded. On top of that, your perfume’s unmistakable.”
    She laughed. “Trapped by perfume!”
    “You admit you were there?’’
    She looked serious. “You must realize, Peter, we can take no chances. As you may have guessed, we’re involved in a hazardous game. It had to be done. We found out all about you from the Consulate, secretly, but there was still a chance you might be an agent. The only way we could be certain was to examine you, off guard.”
    “I’ll say you did.”
    “How modest you American men are!” she said, an amused expression on her face. “Don’t forget that I was once an agent myself and I know all the methods of concealment. Believe me when I say our lives depend upon our caution.”
    “You could have let somebody else do the job.”
    “But they might have hurt you…and of course it was a labor of love.” The mockery was unmistakable and he had an impulse to strike that smiling, perfect face. But he controlled himself; there would be time for that later.
    “That’s good to hear,” he said.
    “Any damage they did, we’ll put on your…expense account. Isn’t that what Americans call it?”
    “Were you satisfied that I’m not an agent?”
    “Oh, yes. We had no real suspicions, but as I have said, we take every precaution,”
    “How long will I be in Luxor?”
    “Not longer than a week. Less, I hope.” She added this last softly.
    “You mean that?”
    “Oh, I almost forgot. I have a present for you. I left it in my room. Wait here a moment, will you? I’ll go get it.”
    “I’ll walk you to your room,” he said, getting up.
    “To protect me?” She laughed, but allowed him to go with her.
    While he stood in the center of her room, she rummaged through a jewel box. At last she found what she wanted. She turned and gave it to him, a small blue scarab, highly carved, like a seal.
    “It will bring you luck,” she said. “It came from the tomb of Queen Tiy, a great queen three thousand years ago.”
    He handled it carefully, impressed by its antiquity. “Will I need luck?”
    “A little, perhaps. It is never out of place.”
    He put the scarab into his watch