Read Online Countdown in Cairo by Noel Hynd - Free Book Online Page B

contact but didn’t know if you would.”
    “Now you know,” she said.
    “Now I know, but I suspect this is business more than pleasure. Thank you, by the way.”
    “For what?”
    “There doesn’t seem to be surveillance on me. I appreciate that.”
    “There isn’t, and it wasn’t my decision,” she said. “I’m not that powerful.”
    “You are very powerful,” he said, “like opium.”
    She tried to be angry but couldn’t help laughing. “I wouldn’t know about that,” she said.
    “Opium is not good stuff, huh?” he said. “It eats the brain and destroys it. I’ve tried it but don’t recommend.”
    “What do you recommend?” she asked, playing along.
    “Vodka,” he said. And as if on cue the waiter arrived with two drinks, served in the bar’s signature glasses, which were sculpted in the shape of a beautiful woman. The waiter set the single before Alex and the double before Federov. Federov produced a fifty-dollar bill as quickly as some men can snap their fingers. He handed it to the waiter and declined change.
    The waiter bowed most appreciatively.
    Federov lifted his glass to Alex and switched into Russian. “ Za tvajó zdaróvye ,” he said. To your health.
    “And to yours, Yuri,” she said, lifting her glass, clicking it to his, and reciprocating. “ Za tvajó zdaróvye .”
    She sipped. Federov knocked back half of his drink in one long draw. Then he set down his glass, and his gaze landed hard on her. He grinned.
    “So,” he said, launching one of the lightning non sequiturs that she had come to expect from him. “Why don’t you marry me?”
    She laughed and shook her head. “Are you still singing that note?” she asked.
    “Why shouldn’t I?” he said. “I’ve met the perfect woman. So I pursue her as I can. What can I do for you while I’m in New York? May I buy you a yacht or just take you away with me on one for six months?”
    His flirtation was so outrageous that she refused to even take it seriously. “Don’t you ever give up?”
    “Obviously, no. Why should I?”
    “My answer will never change.”
    “Never say never,” he said. “Life changes.”
    “Do you know the old phrase about a snowball’s chance in hell?” she asked.
    “Yes,” he answered thoughtfully, “and since you like to speak of philosophy and sophisticated notions, it has occurred to me that a snowball might have some small chance in hell.”
    “The snowball’s got a hundred times better chance than you do of marrying me,” she said.
    “Thank you! Very encouraging.”
    “Encouraging?”
    “Yes. This is the first time that you’ve acknowledged that I might have some small chance. I’m heartened.”
    With an overly dramatic gesture, he took her hand in his, raised it to his lips, and kissed it. These were the same hands that had pulled triggers on unarmed men and beaten several other men and women to within a few inches of their lives. Sometimes she wondered how she had the gumption to play along.
    Federov finished his drink.
    “A lot of women would marry me in a heartbeat,” he said.
    “I’m not a lot of women,” Alex answered.
    “No, but you’re the woman who charms me and excites me. Why don’t you think about it?”
    “Sure. And in the meantime, why don’t we change the subject?”
    “To what?”
    “Why are you in New York?” she asked.
    “Is that what you’re here to discover?”
    “As a matter of fact, yes. It is. My superiors at the US Department of Treasury sent me here to find out.”
    “Ah.”
    “So why don’t you tell me and then business will be out of the way.”
    “I’m here to see some doctors,” Federov said. “Some specialists. I have a few health issues.”
    “Nothing serious, I hope,” she said.
    “American doctors are the best in the world, so I put my trust there.”
    “I’m sure the medical establishment will be flattered to learn that. Is that the only reason you’re here?”
    “If you’re asking me if I’m here to do