Page 51 of Deadly Betrayal
Ah… the movie star must have made anappearance. Khalid followed the thickening crowd from the makeshiftbazaar to where a group had congregated outside the security fencesurrounding the German military camp.
Men and boys, as well as some intrepid girlsand women, shouted and pointed to an area some twenty meters awayon the other side of a second security fence. Khalid began toshoulder his way toward the front as curiosity got the better ofhim. He wasn’t one for American movies, much less for this type ofidolatry, usually reserved for religious or military leaders.
Two tall dark-haired men approached thefence. Khalid studied them carefully. Which was the star? Which thebodyguard? Both were fit, with broad shoulders and the clean,straight features common among Westerners. But one had a harderlook to him, a rigidity to his spine that the other did not. Whenthe slightly taller man raised his hand and offered a dazzlingsmile to his adoring fans, Khalid had his answer.
The mob roared, pushing and shoving. Peopleshouted for the star to come closer. A young girl beside himactually had tears in her eyes. Khalid scowled. “Does your fatherknow you are here?”
“My father is dead,agha,” shereplied. Her smile dimmed, and Khalid felt terrible. Who was he toquestion how his miserable countrymen found happiness, howeverfleeting? “Would you like to get closer?” he asked her.
Her eyes lit up. “Oh, yes!” Her excitementreminded him of Laila. He quickly pushed away the unpleasantthought. The girl frowned as she looked toward the fence. “I cannotget past the bigger boys.”
He nodded. “Follow me.” Sticking out hisarms, he elbowed through the people on either side of him. “Makeway,” he said, layering his command with authority as he forged apath through the throng. He checked over his shoulder to make surethe girl was following. She squeezed through the narrow openinghe’d cleared, her eyes dancing merrily. How easily she waspleased.
When they arrived at the fence, she threadedher fingers through the chain links. “Nic! Nic! Over here!”
As though hearing her, the movie star’s gazezeroed in on the girl and he waved. She turned to Khalid, anexpression of awe on her dirty face. “He looked at me!”
“Yes, he did.” Khalid smiled indulgently, buthe kept his eyes on the man and his bodyguard. Reza had said therewas a second bodyguard. Khalid wanted to see him, to see the colorof his hair. Was it possible the man who had taken Azita was here?And if he were, what could Khalid do with two security fences and atwenty-meter buffer between them?
The noise from the throng increased as athird man approached the star. He wore jeans and a T-shirt, so hewas not a soldier. He was perhaps the tallest man Khalid had everseen in person. His shoulders were exceedingly broad, his armspowerful. But he was not blond. Disappointment and relief warredinside Khalid. What now?
According to Agha Ali’s contact, the blondwas in Kunduz, and according to Shahram, the blond had Azita. Howcould he find them in a city of a quarter million inhabitants? Thatthe blond was the star’s bodyguard had been Khalid’s only chance offinding Azita before she got herself into even more trouble.
The tall man addressed the other two, andafter a moment, it was clear that the young guard was deferring tohim. So Reza must have been mistaken about there being only twoguards; this tall man must also be one as well. No wonder the blondcould afford to shirk his duties.
After a few moments of discussion, theyounger guard trotted back to one of the buildings behind them. Thetall guard and the star continued to talk. Every now and then, theguard pointed to the fence with a stern expression. The star noddedin response. They were planning something, but what?
The younger guard returned with severalsoldiers in tow, each equipped with an M16. The star looked to theguns and shook his head as though arguing. Was he balking at thepresence of weapons? Khalid chuckled. American civilians wereextremely naïve about the realities of war.
The tall guard pointed to the guns, then thefence, then the building behind them. The star pulled a mulishexpression. His lips tight and his face scrunched into a scowl, henodded, and the group moved as one toward the guardedcheckpoint.
When they entered the buffer zone between thetwo fences, the horde went wild. The screams and cries around himbecame deafening. The young girl looked up at him. Her smallfingers clutched the fence so tightly, her knuckles appeared tosink into the gray metal. “Is he coming here?” she asked, her voicefilled with wonder.
Khalid shrugged, unwilling to encourage herfalse hope. Even if the star and his entourage did walk by, herpleasure would be momentary. She’d then return to her life ofsubsisting off the generosity of others while the star would returnto his life of money and ease.
The star made his way along the fence,flanked by his two bodyguards. Weapons drawn, the soldiers formed ahalf-circle around the trio. Their penetrating gazes scanned themen and women pushing to get closer. Khalid had no doubt thesoldiers would gladly gun down anyone who acted the least bitsuspicious.
All it would take was one suicide bomber inthe crowd. The international media would flock to the site andspread the news around the world by morning. The Taliban wouldquickly take credit and declare the bomber a martyr for theircause. And what would that get them? Nothing. A better plan wouldbe to kidnap the star and exact a ransom from his family. A ransomthat could fuel the war for many more years.
Feeling uneasy, Khalid stepped closer to thegirl and surreptitiously studied the men and women around him. Werethey just fans of the man? Curious onlookers like himself? Or werethey insurgents or local warlords’ men who’d already figured outhow lucrative an opportunity this could be?
The girl pointed to an area inside the base.“Akhanomis there. I wonder who she is.”
Khalid whipped around. Of average height andweight, the woman walked with a steady gait toward the checkpoint.She wore a white and blue patterned tunic, dark pants, and a blueheadscarf that she’d arranged to hide her face. Was she one of themany Afghans to find employment on the ISAF and American bases?
After a brief conversation with a femaleguard at the gate, the woman hurried toward the star and hisprotectors. She called out and the tallest of the guards broke awayand jogged over to her. They spoke for a moment. She touched herhead, and the tall one’s eyes narrowed.
Their voices were drowned out by the shoutingof the movie star’s fans. There was something vaguely familiarabout the woman, the way she walked and moved. Had Khalid seen herbefore? He might not know her, but that didn’t keep him from beinginsulted by the familiarity between the two. A good Afghan womanwould not stand so close to a man, certainly not in public. She wasshaming her family just by being here with these men. TheseWesterners.
Someone jostled him from behind. Khalid spunon his heel. The adrenaline racing through his blood had him primedand ready for a fight. If it couldn’t be with the man who’d takenAzita, the bastard who’d shoved him would do.
“Whoa!” Shahram held up his hands. “It’s justme.” He peered over Khalid’s shoulder and smiled. “You’ve foundthem!”
Khalid’s teeth ground together, and tensionhad turned his body into a strip of steel. He’d had enough of thiscircus. “There’s nothing here but a professional liar and a pack offools. Let’s go.”
Khalid grabbed Shahram’s shirt and pushed himback through the crush. “But what about Azita?”
“She’s not here. It was a stupid idea.”
