Read Online Beirut Incident by Nick Carter - Free Book Online

to get you a new one," she said. "An entirely different name, I think."
    I shrugged, and had to smile inwardly. It looked as if my life as Nick Cartano was going to be very short indeed — not even a week.
    "I want you out of here in the morning," she said.
    "Why so fast? I kind of like it around here." That was true. It was also true that I wanted to find out as much as possible about the Beirut end of the operation before I left for the States.
    She looked at me expressionlessly and I was forcefully reminded that this was Su Lao Lin, the Red Chinese agent who had sent so many American G.I.'s through hell along Heroin Highway, and no longer the delicate little wildcat on the office floor.
    "Well? It has been an interesting evening, you'll admit."
    "This is a business," she said coldly. "While you're around, I might forget that I can't afford to…"
    "So you want me out of here on the morning flight," I finished for her. "Okay. But can you fix up papers for me that fast?"
    Charlie Harkins could, I knew. But I doubted if there were any more Charlies hanging around Beirut.
    Su Lao Lin again permitted herself that ghost of a smile. "Would I suggest it if I couldn't?" Her logic was hard to fault. "I want you to go now," she said.
    I looked at my watch. "It's already ten o'clock."
    "I know, but it's going to take some time… you must return here before you leave. Understand?" That ghost of a smile again. Su Lao Lin placed one tiny hand on my forearm and led me to the door.
    I smiled at her. "You're the boss," I conceded. "Where do I go?"
    "One-seven-three Almendares Street. It's over on the fringe of the Quarter. See a man named Charles Harkins. He'll take care of you. Just tell him I sent you. He's on the third floor." She patted my arm gently. It was probably the closest she would ever come to making an affectionate gesture.
    I was cursing myself for a fool as I strode down the corridor and rang for the elevator. I should have known her penman was Charlie Harkins, which meant I had a problem. There was no way Charlie was going to fix me up with an entire new set of papers and not inform the Dragon Lady that she was playing around with AXE's No. 1 field agent.
    There was one way, of course. I felt the reassuring weight of Wilhelmina against my chest as I stepped into the elevator. Poor old Charlie was going to get leaned on again, and this time it was going to have to be a pretty bard lean.

Chapter 6
    Number 173 Almendares Street. The odors, noises and activities in the building were external. Charlie answered the doorbell almost before I took my finger off the buzzer. Whoever he had been expecting, however, it wasn't me.
    "Nick…! What are you doing here?"
    It was a legitimate question. "Hi, Charlie," I said cheerfully as I pushed past him into the room. I sat down on one of the sofas in front of the coffee table, pulled a Galoise out of the half-crushed pack in my pocket and lit it with an ornate table lighter that looked as if it might have come from Hong Kong.
    Charlie looked nervous as he closed the door, and after a moment of indecision, took a chair opposite me. "What's up, Nick?"
    I grinned at him. "I've got another job for you, Charlie, and I want to talk to you a bit, too."
    He assayed a small smile. It didn't come off too well. "I… uh… I can't talk much about things, Nick," he pleaded. "You know that."
    He was right, of course. Half of Charlie's not inconsiderable value to the international underworld lay in his remarkable talents with a pen, a camera, a printing press, an airbrush, and an embossing kit. The other half lay in his absolute silence. If he ever talked about anything, he would be dead. Too many people in the Mideast would be too afraid that the next ones he talked about would be them. So silence was part of his stock in trade, and in my occasional brushes with Charlie I had never asked him to break it.
    But life can be tough, I thought to myself. I had a moment's regret for what I was about to do,