HAGEN WAS ANNOYED. He was always irritated by delays in the execution of his plans, and since this was a particularly vital plan, he was more than usually annoyed.
“Where?” he demanded, speaking flatly into the mouthpiece of his telephone, equipped with a scrambler.
“Just gone, and his men with him.” The voice that replied to Hagen’s question sounded hollow because of the scrambler, yet not even the technological device to prevent interception of telephone conversations could leach from it all indications of a strong and dynamic personality.
“You can’t even tell me where?” Hagen asked.
A rueful sigh came over the wire, and the voice replied with an underlying layer of mockery that made Hagen grit his teeth. “No, I can’t. I’ve been tracking that bunch for months, as you very well know, but this time they’ve given me the slip. Sue me. Now, if you want the women—”
“No,” Hagen said, allowing himself to grimace since he was alone in his office. “That’s the quickest way of committing suicide I know.” He muttered the comment, but his voice was clear and distinct nonetheless.
“That was my reading of the situation. In any case, the bait for your trap is momentarily out of reach. I’ll keep looking if you like, but I have to tell you the chances are slim until he decides to surface again. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he’d gone to ground.”
“What?” For the first time, Hagen was honestly shaken. “Impossible!”
“Chief, every soul in that whole bunch has terrific instincts. You may think your little tests these last months have been subtle, but what you left out of the plan was a culprit.”
“There was no need to—”
“No?” the voice interrupted sardonically. “You think they aren’t going to get suspicious when some unnamed enemy tests their security more than once? If I were in the place of any one of them, I’d be very busily trying to find out what the hell was going on. You’d better take it as a yes—that’s what they’re doing.”
Hagen was silent for a moment, then offered what he knew was a weak objection. “They wouldn’t leave the women unprotected.”
“Unprotected? Remember what Kipling said about the female of the species, Chief? Take that as a yes too. Those ladies need protecting about as much as a battleship does. You want my advice, you’d better back off for a while.”
Hagen ignored the advice. “Where’s the yacht?”
“Corsair? No sign of her in her usual area. They may be aboard her, but she could be in the South China Sea for all I know.”
“Have you checked with Captain Siran? He may—”
“Sorry, Chief. He’s unavailable.”
Hagen’s voice began to lose its forced patience. “Why is he unavailable?”
“Took a leave of absence for personal reasons.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
There was a brief silence, and then the voice said, “Just that you can’t count on Siran at the moment, Chief. He has his own fish to fry.”
Hagen heard more than the words. Bluntly he asked, “Daniel, what’s going on?”
The sigh this time wasn’t wry or mocking; it was weary. “What goes around comes around. The captain has his hands full with a specter out of his past.”
“He’s alone?”
“He didn’t even give me a chance to argue with him.”
After a moment Hagen said, “If anyone can handle himself, it’s Siran. I could have used his help, however.”
“Yes. Well, your plans are on hold for the time being.”
“You’re absolutely sure you can’t locate them?”
“Afraid I can’t. You wouldn’t think a public figure of his prominence could disappear so quickly or so thoroughly, but he does seem to have the knack of it. So you have two choices, Chief. Either wait until he shows himself—however long that takes—or try to find out where he is from one of the ladies. The former being preferable to the latter, if you ask me.”
Hagen swore softly. “Agreed. If I show any interest at all, Raven will be onto it instantly.”
“You train your agents too well,” Daniel noted dryly.
“That wouldn’t bother me so much,” Hagen retorted irritably, “if only they’d remain my agents.” He sighed. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested?”
Daniel chuckled softly. “No. You and I would no doubt lock horns. No, thank you; I’ll stick to my own bailiwick.”
Unsurprised, Hagen said, “It was worth a try. Well, keep me advised. And, if you hear from Siran, let me know.”
“Yes.”
The connection was broken.
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