Guardian of Lies: A Paul Madriani Novel by Steve Martini

Author:Steve Martini [Martini, Steve]
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Steve Martini
ISBN: 9780061230905
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: 2009-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-FOUR

At least the news from California was good. Alim read the handwritten translation in Farsi from the original computer e-mail printout. It had been sent in Spanish from San Diego that afternoon. Like all of the communications with the Mexican, the message was cryptic, but the code words were clear. The Russian’s granddaughter was dead—mission accomplished.

He lowered the paper and took a deep breath. There would be no trial. The investigations surrounding the American’s murder would end, and with them the fear that someone might trip over Katia Solaz’s family background.

So far they had managed to stanch the leak from the photographs and the fumbling interference from an aged American, probably one of Satan’s agents. Alim knew that without the assistance of the FARC rebels, none of this would have been possible. It was their intelligence source in Costa Rica who had first alerted them to Pike’s activities and the fact that he had the photographs as well as Nitikin’s granddaughter.

“Do you have any message to send back?” said the Farsi interpreter. They were in one of the small huts used by the FARC for communications. It was situated on a hillside under the dense jungle canopy.

“Yes. Give me a few moments to think.”

The interpreter had been sent over by Alim’s government, a necessity in the tower of babel that was the jungle hideaway. The man had been pulled from a university post because of his ability to speak Farsi and to teach Spanish. The skills were a combination of increasing importance, not only to Alim’s government but to others in the region as they probed for weaknesses in the armor, the southern soft underbelly of the Great Satan.

For the moment, Alim was walking a diplomatic tightrope. He could not afford to alienate the FARC, which had formed a trusting and loyal relationship with Nitikin. The Russian had lived with them in the jungle for decades. Still, each passing day saw Nitikin becoming more and more difficult to deal with. He continued in his refusal to assemble the device until his daughter was returned safely, under the protection of the FARC, to her home in Costa Rica. This was now becoming a problem, threatening to interrupt the time line for Alim’s mission. He could wait no longer. Fortunately the Mexican was now free for another assignment.

“Tell him we have another job, this time in San José, Costa Rica.”

The translator scribbled with a pencil on a pad.

“Yes, sir.”

“One other thing.” It was something that had been bothering Alim for some time now, one of those nagging loose ends. “Tell him that the digital camera he sent us from the agent Pike’s house was the wrong one. Tell him that according to the Russian’s daughter, the real camera may still have the original pictures in it, and the last time she saw it, it was at her house in San José. I want the camera and those pictures. Tell him not to contact us again until he has them. And here, copy this and send it to him.

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