Abigail – The Avenging Agent: The agent appears again (43 page)

When voices were heard, doors opened and
closed and people came and went, Adel woke up and decided to continue his
journey.  He jumped up on the saddle, frightening people coming home, and urged
his horse to gallop.

When daylight broke, he sensed the
vibration of his cell phone, which was close to his chest.

“Where are you, how far have you gone?”
Effendi asked.

 Adel stopped riding and looked around. Just
then, a terrifying noise was heard. Right before his astonished eyes, a plane
took off.  It was so close that the horse reared up on its hind legs, whinnying
and kicking its hooves in the air.  At the other end of the phone line, Effendi
also heard the noise of the airplane and understood that Adel was already close
to the border, near the small airfield located there.

“Okay, in that case, you’ll get there in
another few hours.”

“Ah, no problem, Boss, when will you
arrive?”

The call was disconnected and Adel
shrugged and rode on.

He crouched on the horse’s neck and murmured
endearments to him.  The horse’s ears point back towards him, absorbing the
encouragement, and its gallop became easier and faster.

Michael
also prepared for the same meeting.  He enlisted his son, Timmy, to join him. 
At the time, he had been asked by the organization to accompany both Abigail
and Karma and he took up residence in Azerbaijan.

“Let’s plan our departure because we
have four or five hours to reach the meeting place,” Michael informed his son.

“Who’s meeting who?”

“The ‘Noodle’ is meeting Effendi.  By
the way, did you see the Noodle leaving his home last night?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Oh, what are you saying?”

The split palm was the famous symbol of
the ghost town, which was almost deserted by its inhabitants and could be seen
in the distance from all directions.  When Michael reached it, he slowed down
and stopped where the paved road ended.

The whinnying of a horse was heard and
he saw a brown horse waving its tail back and forth over it’s rear as it
nibbled at the grass and the meager undergrowth.  Michael suddenly started the
car, reversed at speed and straightened out behind a row of semi-dry bushes.

“What happened?” Timmy inquired and
peered through the brush in front of them.

“Look, that horse is shining with sweat
and has a saddle on its back.  It must have got here a short while ago and
instead of us surveilling its rider, it seems that he is watching us.”

Near
the trunk of the split
palm, the fabric of a kefiya was flapping and Timmy whispered hoarsely:

“Shhhh…someone close to the tree is
staring at us,” and at that very moment, in the small mirror above him, Michael
saw a dust cloud and said quickly:

“And behind it, a car
is arriving now.”

Karma was driving the car and he had
already noticed Michael and Timmy’s car from a distance but assumed that it was
Effendi’s car, which was why he slowed down and stopped parallel to it.
 
Michael saw him and immediately tried to get his attention and pointed at the palm,
but Karma didn’t understand and didn’t hear what he was saying.  When he got
out of his car, he also noticed the kefiya flapping behind the trunk of the
palm.  Right away, he stuck two fingers into his mouth and whistled hard and
long in its direction.  Adel understood that he had been spotted.  He came out
from behind the trunk and suddenly recognized Karma.  He recoiled in a panic, as
he identified him as the man Effendi had attacked him for speaking to and
called an enemy.  Karma remembered him, too, but didn’t know, of course, what
had transpired after their conversation.  He also did not consider a possible
connection between the man and his brother-in-law, Effendi.

“A’halan, ta’al l’hon (Hello, come
here)!” He shouted to him, but Adel didn’t move.  He didn’t know what to do or
how to behave.

Michael decided to get out of the way
and retreated.

“Where are you going, Dad?”

“I’m letting this meeting go ahead
without us,” Michael announced.  He parked his car alongside the wall of the
building and got out.  The two walked secretly back the place they had left
just now.

At this time, Effendi Khaidar was a few
kilometers away from the meeting place and called Adel to inquire whether Karma
had already arrived.

ý
”Yes, Boss,” Adel replied in a weepy voice,
“but he’s the man you said is our enemy and now he his whistling and calling
me!”

Khaidar ignored his remarks, understood
for now that Karma was already there and said:

“Listen here, Adel, get into his car and
sit in it.  I rely on you to find a way to puncture all the wheels of his car,
without him noticing, of course.”

“Wait, Boss, if I sit with him…” Effendi
hung up and fortunately for him, Karma yelled to him, inviting him to get in
his car.

They left the car doors wide open while
Michael and Timmy were positioned behind the abandoned building, watching them.

A minute or two later, Adel got out of
the car with the excuse that he had to urinate. He crouched beside the wheel
and pierced the tire with a knife, then moved around the car and punctured the
others.

Meanwhile, Effendi arrived in his
luxurious “Bentley” and looked at Adel and was very pleased with him. Perhaps, Adel
wasn’t as stupid as he thought.  Timmy had also observed his actions and
whispered hoarsely to Michael:  

“That bastard has cut the tires on the
car he is sitting in with Karma.”

“Yes, I saw him.  Why do I have the
feeling that he is acting on orders from Effendi?”

Karma felt nothing and had no idea what Adel
had done but when he came back to his seat, the car descended till it landed on
the ground.  Adel cried out in feigned panic:

“Oh, what was that?!”

Effendi decided that this was the time
to commence their meeting in his sumptuous ‘Bentley.'  Since Karma was grounded
for the present, he started his car and slowly drove over to them, waved arm
through the window and called out:

“A’halan, Ya’Karma!” He invited him into
his luxurious car as if he was inviting him into the drawing room of his home.

At this moment, Karma, the ‘Mossad’
agent, who was well-trained and experienced, forgot all the rules of caution he
was familiar with and made every possible mistake.

            “A’halan w’ Sa’halan
(Greetings and welcome), Ya’Effendi,” he shouted back at him.  He went out to
him, hugged his brother-in-law warmly and pressed his cheek to both of
Effendi’s cheeks, as was customary among close acquaintances and relatives and patted
him on his shoulder.  Effendi reciprocated with an embrace and called out to
him affectionately:

“How are you, my man?” and he glanced
quickly over Karma’s shoulder. He pointed to the car whose four wheels Adel had
punctured just minutes ago and made a sign to him to destroy it. 

Karma climbed into the grand car and
sank into the soft leather seat.  He stroked it and invited Effendi to sit
beside him.  Effendi called out to him:

“What are you up to, my brother,
where’ve you been?  Where did you disappear to?”  Then he added the most
important question of all to expose him,

“What, did you leave our country without
me knowing?”

Effendi really did not know where the
couple had moved and this was also why he had agreed to meet here, in Zanjan,
in the Iranian enclave across the border. Karma frowned at him with his prominent
brow, trying to understand if the purpose of the meeting really was only to
keep in touch with him or also to keep track of him. So, he kept his silence.

“I heard you have news for us,” Effendi
declared and tightened his lips into a narrow smile. “I hope you haven’t forgotten
 that we are, after all, family, right?!”

“News? What news are we talking about?”
He still spoke light-heartedly until he heard the following sentence.

“Well, actually, we are talking about
taking a second wife in an illusory marriage that can easily be dissolved,
right, my brother?”

A chill pierced Karma’s heart.  He was
convinced that only the Ayatollah Karim and, later, Abu-Rain knew of his
relationship with Abigail.  When he heard what followed, his throat choked up.

“I have only one little question.  Your
wife, Salima, does she know about your second wife?  And, your daughters, what
about them?  I am concerned and want to know whether…”

“Enough, stop, Effendi don’t play
innocent and sweeten your interference with concern for my well-being and that
of my family.”

He was boiling with rage but forced
himself to remain composed and controlled.  His brother-in-law stroked his
mustache and stared at him.

“What do you want, Effendi?”

“Okay, let’s say that I am fighting to
protect the honor of my sister and that of my family,” he declared and glanced
out of the window.  He noticed that Adel was sitting in Karma’s car, and
continued speaking slowly.

“Put it this way, I would be “mabsut” (satisfied)
if you would get rid of the new wife.  By the way, what’s her name and where
did you find her?”

“Put it this way, it’s none of your
business,” Karma replied. “And what if I don’t?”

“Why be negative?”  Let’s be positive. 
If you give her up, we will compensate you financially and you will also
receive a gift.”

“How lovely! What gift did you have in
mind?” 

            “Some
prominent names.”

            “You
said ‘we,' who does that include?”

            “Me
and my friends,” Effendi laughed.

He thought things were moving ahead much
faster than he thought they would, but then heard Karma saying.

            “Oh,
is that so? Well then, give me one name as a down payment, someone who will
motivate me to send my bride away and cancel the marriage.”

            Effendi
roared with laughter and slapped Karma on his knee.

            “Ah,
you bastard,” and he wagged his finger at him, “you will agree that I cannot
hand you someone’s head on a platter without getting something in return,
right?  Put it this way, first divorce your Iranian lady and then you’ll get
the names.”

            “Sorry,
my friend, I don’t do business that way.”

            “Okay,
so let’s agree now that I wait a week for you to divorce. If you don’t, we’ll
move to the next stage. Then, all your secrets will be revealed and
disseminated.”

“What secrets?”

“Your cover will be broken and vanish
into the air, Pouf!  And, of course, the truth about you will be passed on to
the Revolutionary Guards.  After all, we both know that you live here under the
cover of a tourist guide.”

“Ah, and what about your cover?” countered
Karm quietly and the mocking smile froze on Khaidar’s  face, but he got control
of himself immediately and said:

“Very interesting, what do you actually
know about me?  Nothing.”

Karma smiled.  He ran his finger softly
over the tattoo of the blue star, between Effendi’s forefinger and thumb. This
made it clear he knew Effendi belonged to the murderous ‘Kaukab’ organization
that was in conflict with the Iranian regime. He added quietly:

“No, nothing at all.”

He got out of the car, bent down and attached
the minute locator chip to the inner face of the door, right beside its hinge. 
He knew that from this moment on the silver ‘Bentley’ would be under constant
surveillance and transmitting shortwave signals informing of its location and
where it was traveling to at any given time.

Karma
stopped near the car and stared at it.  He saw that the tires had no air and
that Adel had got out.  Karma understood the car had been sabotaged and
remained fixed to the spot, not knowing what to do.

He heard a horse whinnying behind him.
It was whipping its hairy tail to chase away the flies and calmly grazed on the
dry bushes as its tether dragged on the ground.

Karma passed Effendi’s silver ‘Bentley’
and continued in the direction of the horse. He stroked its long nose and the
horse responded with a soft neigh and waved his hairy mane.

Karma edged the tip of his shoe into the
stirrup and leveraged himself up to sit on the saddle.  He clicked his tongue,
patted the horse’s neck and pulled the reins, but the horse didn’t move.  When
he touched its belly softly, the horse began stepping slowly. Then, as Timmy,
Michael, Effendi and Adel looked on in amazement, the horse started with an
easy canter and a minute later broke into a gallop till it was out of sight.

Karma rode all night and by morning at
first light, Abigail heard a horse galloping.  She looked out of the window and
when she saw who the rider was, her eyes opened wide in surprise.  She went out
to him, with an inquiring expression on her face, but he dismounted, exhausted,
his face grim and sealed. So, she settled for one question: