Read Online Istanbul Express by T. Davis Bunn - Free Book Online Page B

did. But I have been waiting here . . .”
    â€œSince early this morning. I just heard from the guard. I am sorry. That is unforgivable.”
    â€œIt is expected.” The hand dropped tiredly. “But I decided to try, nonetheless, even though it was known that all consulates are closed shops, with local employment controlled by one such as Ahmet.”
    â€œHe’s obviously let one slip through his grasp. Mrs. Ecevit.”
    â€œIndeed. A friend of my mother, the only reason I learned of your need for an assistant. She was hired by the political officer while Mr. Ahmet was out sick. She is a breach of his little empire which will not be permitted to last. Something will happen, some unforgivable accident or theft or loss or passage of information to the enemy. And it will be traced back to Mrs. Ecevit. There will be no question, none whatsoever, who is responsible.”
    â€œNot,” Jake replied grimly, “if I have anything to do about it.”
    The bearded man gave a tired, tolerant smile. “You have entered a country with almost forty percent unemployment. The power to give someone a job is greater than that of having money. Your Mr. Ahmet will not be pried loose easily, Mr. . . .”
    He offered his hand. “Burnes. Jake Burnes.”
    â€œDaniel Levy.”
    The man’s grip was cool and firm. Jake felt a sudden urging, said, “Levi. The tribe of priests. The ones granted no province of their own, but rather cities within all the other tribes’ lands.”
    The veil of fatigue lifted from the man’s gaze. “You have studied the Torah?”
    â€œThe Bible,” Jake replied.
    â€œAh. You are Christian.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI do not use the word as a description of your heritage.”
    â€œNo,” Jake agreed. “Nor I.”
    There was a slow nod, one which took hold of the man’s entire upper body, back and forth in measured pace. “You are far from home, Mr. Burnes.”
    â€œVery far,” Jake agreed. “Where did you learn your English?”
    â€œHere and there,” the man said, his offhand manner suggesting he was still caught by Jake’s earlier admission.
    â€œDo you speak other languages?”
    A continuation of the same slow nod. “Turkish, of course. And Greek. My nanny spoke no other language. And my family spoke mostly French within the home. That and Ladino.”
    â€œCome again?”
    A hesitant smile parted the strands of his beard. “Perhaps that is a story that should wait for another time.”
    â€œWhat work experience have you had?”
    A hesitation, a strange sense of regret, then, “Until the last year of the war I was employed by a large local company as their accountant.”
    â€œYou don’t say.” Jake felt the thrill of discovery. “And since then?”
    The regret solidified into gaunt lines. “How long have you been in this country, Mr. Burnes?”
    â€œA grand total,” Jake replied, “of two days.”
    â€œI regret that to answer your question I must reveal one of my country’s more shameful mistakes.”
    â€œA camp,” Jake breathed. “They put you in a concentration camp.”
    Dark eyes inspected him closely. “You have seen the death camps?”
    â€œSome of the survivors,” Jake replied. “As close as I ever want to come.”
    â€œThis was nothing so horrendous,” Daniel Levy stated. “But bad enough, nonetheless. Turkey held grimly to its noncombatant status, as did Switzerland. But we are far larger than Switzerland, with eight times the population and evenmore land mass. Germany continued to push the Turkish government into declaring itself a Nazi ally. Two of the most strongly worded directives were to supply Germany with troops and to round up the Jewish population. Turkey made the first small step to obey just eleven months before the war finally ended, when Germany