Abigail – The Avenging Agent: The agent appears again (29 page)

Suddenly,
she remembered the tiny disk-on-key she had hidden in her bra and she grasped
it.  Biting her lips, she made up her mind to carry out the assignment as
planned, come what may, without connection to the bloody event of the day and,
perhaps, because of it.

A cold breeze made Abigail shiver as she
made her way to the hostel where she now lived, but she stopped immediately.  A
figure was striding towards her and in the lamplight she saw it was Karma.  She
yearned to run to him, but the horror of the past hour paralyzed her.  Now, she
was even frightened of him and cried helplessly.  She felt great anger with everyone
because she no longer trusted the man she loved.  Abigail crouched behind a
bush and stared at him from her hiding place.  He was walking back and forth in
front of the building, looking at his wrist, probably to check the time.

“Miaow,” she howled like a cat, but
there was no response.  She picked up a little stone and threw it at the wall,
which startled him and made him jump. She found this funny and she put her hand
over her mouth, but he noticed her.  After a minute, he approached her slowly.

“What happened?!” He asked with
concern.  Her face was awash with tears and he pulled her aside to a spot where
the lampposts didn’t cast their light.  They both walked under the cover of
dark and came to a car she didn’t know he had at his disposal and they got into
it.

They drove in silence through the empty
streets until they left the town behind.  They passed through dark fields and
suddenly, she spoke.

“They shot them, they killed Ayatollah
Karim, Jalal, and the third person.”

Karma jammed on the brakes suddenly.  Then
he pressed down hard on the accelerator again, causing the car to rock from
side to side as it continued driving at a crazy speed on the potholed road it
had swerved off on.  Abigail grabbed on to the door handle and saw he had
twisted his lips as he drove ahead, staring into the darkness.

“Emir gave us away,”  She muttered.

“How did you survive?” He asked.

“I
heard the gun being cocked and turned off the light.”  She inhaled loudly. “The
two men were Mustafa and Rulam.”

“How
do you know that?”

“They
shone their flashlight on the three dead men, spoke to each other and looked
for another one.”

“What
do you say?”

And
she knew he did not believe her.

The speed of the car increased and it
went on shaking wildly as Abigail continued speaking:

“There
were five of us and they shot three.”

Again
he asked:  “How did you survive?”

Suddenly,
he stopped the car and turned to look at her.

The faint light in the car gave his face
the weird appearance of being surrounded by a halo.  The pupils of his eyes
looked enormous in the light of the dashboard and Abigail shrank back from him.

“Emir was not among the dead and he was
the one who told me to go up to room 202.”

“Did you say, Ayatollah Karim?!  Did
they kill him, too?”

“You were the sole survivor,” he said
again and then absorbed who had been killed.

He pounded the dashboard with his fist,
leaned back and closed his eyes wearily.  She listened to his murmurs.

“If they caught up with him, that means
they will soon be closing in on us.  After them, they’ll be looking for me, of
course,” he grew silent for a moment.

“I want to tell you something.  I asked
him to marry us.”

All at once, Abigail recalled what Jalal
had said and the remarks fell into place in her mind.

“Hey, Jalal also said something about
that.”

“Jalal?!  What did he say?”

“Something to do with my marriage.”

“For the sake of Allah, try to repeat
what he said.”

“He said that if I get back safely this
time…forget it, he was just babbling.”

“No, continue.  What would happen if you
returned safely, what did he say?”

“That then, they would celebrate my
marriage very festively.”

“Oh,” Karma said as he hit his forehead. 
“Now, I get it! It was Emir.”

“What has Emir got to do with a wedding
celebration?”

“I asked Emir if he could arrange a
feast at the ‘Chai Huneh’ pension.  I didn’t say what the celebration was
about.  But, the rascal understood.”

“Is that so?” Abigail remarked and
touched him.  “This is the first time that… you never said a thing to me.”

He embraced her and at that moment she
thought that they had never touched one another before.

“Let’s get moving,” he said, partly
asking but also, declaring.  He straightened up and began driving.

They were silent, each deep in thought. 
It was clear to Abigail that a new enemy called Emir had been exposed and had
disappeared with the murderers.

“It would be interesting to know who he
reports to,” she said out loud.  “Who does he belong to?”  She immediately
added with a modicum of decisiveness:

“Like Mas’habi – he will share the same
fate.”

Karma frowned, trying to understand what
she meant.

“Who is Mas’habi and what fate do you
have in store for him?”

“Ah, he was a double agent who was
assassinated by the Iranians,” she told him.

It reminded her that because of him, she
had got her original eye color back because they feared he might report her
personal details to the Iranians.  Abigail debated with herself whether to
confide in Karma or remain silent.  She dismissed the matter with a casual wave
of her hand.

“Ah, Mas’habi, he’s no one of
importance,” she said,  “His real name was actually Razeh,” and Karma opened
his eyes wide in amazement.

“Hey, I have heard of him.  Razeh was
taken out in the demonstrations last year.  It was rumored that he worked with
the ‘Mossad’” he said, and she shrugged.  She wondered if she hadn’t said too
much.

            “I
don’t know, I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”  She looked at him
with wide-eyed innocence.

            “Was
he really a double agent?”

            Karma
chuckled and pressed her shoulder.

            “Enough,
leave it, we’re both being evasive.  It seems I will have to marry you to get
you to collaborate.”

            She
glanced at him and then suggested, coquettishly:

            “Come,
Karma, let’s get away from here.”

            “And
go, where?”

The car stopped and Abigail looked out
of the window.  They had drawn up beside her pension and Karma announced:

“We will meet tomorrow at noon at the
light rail station beside the blue pillar.”

She tossed and turned all night in her
bed.  She could not dispel thoughts about the events of the terrifying night at
‘Chai Huneh’.  She was angry with herself for falling for the trap that Emir
had set for her.  Over and over the sight of the three people, who had been
murdered came back to her, she remembered the moments in the dark when single
shots pierced the silence.  Finally, she got up, wrapped herself in her robe
and left her room.

Complete silence greeted her.  The
corridors were empty and the dim light intensified her depression.  She ambled
ahead, trying to solve the mystery – how did Emir know she was a stranger, how
did she fall into the trap he set her with such ease.  Once more, she was angry
with herself for not checking the situation out before she went into room 202. 
Suddenly she stopped.  She realized that Emir was convinced that she was one of
the dead and could not have known that she had jumped out of the window and
escaped.

She went outside the building and sat on
a squeaky bench.  She heard the wailing of warring cats beside her and she stared
at them absent-mindedly.  Thoughts and ideas crowded her mind.  She decided to
wait till evening and go into the ‘Chai Huneh,' accompanied by Karma.  Of
course, she would cover her hair and face with a chador and would look through
its mesh strip.

The plan suited her, but since she had
not arranged the meeting with him, she waited for morning.

Towards evening, she took out her cell
phone and contacted him.  She waited for the phone to ring once then quickly
hung up.  Abigail believed that when he saw that a call had been made from her
number, he would understand that she wanted him to come to her.  She didn’t
take into account that Emir was meticulously following Karma and had sent
someone to tail him wherever he went.

Indeed, Karma understood her intention
and ten minutes later he parked his car two alleys away from the light rail
station and walked on foot to meet Abigail.

When he reached Rasta Avenue, opposite
the station, Karma noticed Abigail and went towards her.

A masked man leaped out from a side lane
and hit him on the head with a bar.  Karma collapsed and lost consciousness. 
Before he fell, he managed to sneak a glance at his attacker, who disappeared
seconds later in the narrow alleys.

In the meantime, Abigail waited near the
station.  Ahead of her she saw people running and escaping from the lane and
her curiosity led her to look at what had caused them to flee.

A man lay on the cobblestones.  She
hurried to him. To her amazement, is was Karma.  She immediately leaned over
him, touched his neck and felt for his pulse.  She sat down on the street with
her back to him, pulled his arms onto her shoulders.  She didn’t know where she
found the strength, but she stood up with him lying on her back and his arms on
her shoulders. She almost didn’t remember the way, but the jerking roused him
from his stupor and he mumbled something.

“Try and stand,” she suggested and
supported him, but he rocked like a drunkard and had difficulty keeping his
balance.  Abigail embraced his body from behind, passed her arms under his
armpits and waited for him to steady himself, but his legs kept buckling underneath
him.

“Karma, someone hit you on your head,”  she
spoke to his back. “Try and stand, because we have to get out of here,” and she
almost wept when he slipped down on the ground again.

Suddenly she burst out laughing and
Karma stared at her.  His gaze wasn’t focused but, within a second, she noticed
a spark of consciousness return to his eyes.

“Hi, my dear Karma, come let’s sit there
in the corner and gather our strength,” she said and supported him till they
reached the wall of the adjacent house.

Walking the short distance to the house
took them considerable time.  Karma coughed and progressed with difficulty and
as soon as they entered the room he slipped along the wall and sank to the
floor.  Rivulets of congealed blood were smeared on his cheeks and Abigail tore
the sheet on the mattress and wiped away the blood that had dried on his face.

“Who hit you, Karma?  Did you recognize
him?”

“Not at all.”  Karma could hardly
speak.  “I saw something here, on his hand… but I’m not absolutely sure.”

“What did you see, it’s important, try
and remember.”

“I think I saw a small star, like a blue
dot, or green, perhaps.”

Abigail yawned and wasn’t paying
attention to what he had just said.  She looked at Karma’s watch.

“It’s already after eleven now and it’s reasonable
to presume that everyone’s asleep at ‘Chai Huneh,' right?”

“Hey, what reminded you of ‘Chai
Huneh’?”

“The night is young,” she remarked, “I
think, if we don’t act tonight, I’m not sure we’ll get to see the light of
day.”

Karma sighed. 

“Who managed to find me out?”

“Oh, now you’re making sense!” She
stopped suddenly and stared at him.

“Wait, did you say he had a blue star tattooed
on his hand?”

“I’m not certain.”

“I just remembered that Emir has a
turquoise star here,” and she pointed to the back of her hand between her thumb
and forefinger.

She heard Karma chuckle and looked at
him when he said:

“I recall inquiring if he could arrange
a beautiful event at his pension.”

“That’s really hilarious right now,” she
said sarcastically, without a smile.

Abigail turned to him.

“Could you wait here for a few minutes
while I shower?”

“I don’t promise.  Maybe I’ll get up and
run away.”

She chuckled briefly and went to take a
shower.  By the time she came out, Karma’s eyes had closed and he had fallen
asleep.  She saw that he was fast asleep and thought about going out on her
own.  What happened in the following seconds completely solved her dilemma.

A burst of gunfire shattered the window
pane and Karma opened his eyes in fright. Shards of glass went flying and he
dropped to the floor, pulling Abigail after him and screamed:

“We’ve no choice, let’s get out of
here!”