The Property of a Lady - Elizabeth Adler [224]
He telephoned Ahmet, told him quickly what had happened, and asked him to come over right away. Then he made three other rapid calls. Within half an hour four men arrived for a meeting at the Villa Kazahn: the foreign minister, Malik Guisen; the chief of police, Mehmet Keliç; the American consul, Jim Herbert; and Ahmet Kazahn.
Refika sat quietly by the window overlooking the Bosphorus, listening to their conversation. Her face was calm but inside she was in a turmoil. Anna was like one of her own children, and if anything happened to her she would die too. If only the foolish girl had come to them they would willingly have given her the money for Missie and none of this would have happened. But Anna had always been a stubborn child, proud of her independence and the career she was carving out for herself. She glanced anxiously at Michael, noticing the change in him. He was no longer the broken old man of an hour ago. He was upright, charged with the old electric energy that had carried him through a lifetime of crises. If anyone could get Anna back, Michael could.
Guisen, the foreign minister, said worriedly, “It is true the Russian freighter is in Turkish waters and subject to Turkish maritime laws, but if we are to confront them and insist on a search as you wish, Michael, we must be very sure the girl is on board. If we are wrong this could cause a major international incident—one that Turkey does not need.”
“I have had the ship checked. There are armed guards at the top of both gangplanks and they are wearing Russian army uniforms. Spetsnaz uniforms.” Michael’s voice rang out with confidence. “I am sure.”
The American consul, Jim Herbert, sighed. “The girl is an American citizen. Something must be done to find her. But as Guisen pointed out, none of us needs an international incident. If those are Spetsnaz troopers then they are obviously there to guard something—or someone—very important. Either way, I think Turkey has a right to ask a few questions. I’ll speak to Washington and take instructions.”
Michael pointed to the telephone. “Call now, Mr. Herbert. There is no time to be lost.”
“Anna arrived on a British Airways flight from Heathrow,” Ahmet said. “She passed through immigration and spoke to one of the customs officers who knows her. He watched her leave but lost sight of her in a crowd of men. They seemed to be jostling her. He walked across to see what was going on but by the time he got to the doors, she had gone. He just assumed she had taken a taxi and left.” He added quietly, “There is no doubt the Russians abducted Anna from the airport. You all know the reasons why. The next logical thing for them to do would be to take her back to Russia. What easier way than by freighter? They travel up the Bosphorus to Russia every day of the week. No one thinks twice about it. It’s obvious they will wait for nightfall and then try to slip away unnoticed.”
They glared at Jim Herbert, who had returned from his phone call subdued. He looked grave as he told them of the events in Washington and that Cal Warrender of the State Department was already on his way there and should arrive late that night. He hesitated—he wasn’t about to disclose the presence of American CIA agents on Turkish soil—and said only, “Washington agrees that the girl must be on board the Brezhnev. They offer full support in any action Turkey wishes to take, though naturally they will respect your feelings in the matter.”
“It seems to me that if we are to stay away from an international incident, it would be better to let the police deal with this matter,” Chief Keliç said crisply.
Guisen nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe we could give the Russians an out by saying we think one of the sailors has smuggled a girl on board. If they return her, nothing more will be said about the matter.”
“And if they don’t?” Michael asked.
He shrugged. “Then we must insist on a search.” He sighed. “We will try the civilized approach first and pray we do not have to go further.”
Guisen was a tall man but, even so, Michael towered over him.