Inside the house was a mess, but I ignored it. I sure didn’t feel like I had to apologize to Esther for Ginny’s sloppy housekeeping.
We had turned our formal dining room into a home office, and I led Esther in there and began booting up my computer. But before I could log on to the NSA network, I heard a key in the lock of the front door. “Damn it,” I cursed, “I told her not to come here!”
I ran to the door and yanked it open. There was Ginny, tears pouring down her face. “I’m sorry, Thomas, I’m sorry,” she blubbered. Before I could say anything she was shoved forward into my arms, and as I automatically tried to catch her, a man suddenly emerged from behind the frame of the door and barged into the house. “What in the hell . . .” I yelled, but then I saw the big black automatic he was pointing at me and I stopped abruptly.
Esther had rushed up behind us. “Get back,” the man said menacingly, brandishing his gun to include all three of us. After slamming the door shut, his face took on a grin of triumph as he stared at us. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ameer Nassir.” He gestured at me. “And you must be the hapless cuckold,” he said with a sneer. Then his eyes caught sight of Esther and his smile widened. “And who have we here? I do believe it’s the redoubtable Esther Freeman, the Mossad lackey.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Esther tense and I realized that she was about to spring. Ameer must have seen it too because he shifted his gun to aim at her. “No, no, no,” he warned her, “don’t even think about it. You would die even if you managed to get my gun.” Then he pulled open his jacket and we all could see the vest he wore under it. “One wrong move and I blow us all away, me to Paradise and you three to damnation.”
Esther relaxed her muscles while Ginny and I stood there, paralyzed by fear.
“Very well, nerd boy,” Ameer said with a sneer, “let’s see how much you’ve learned about our little surprise.” With that he stepped into my home office, turned to my computer and moved the mouse to clear the screensaver. When it did so, the flatscreen revealed the login page for the NSA network. “The password,” he said, “give it to me.”
“No,” I said flatly. I was hoping that keeping him in the dark about our progress might give us some leverage with him.
“So, the cuckold wants to show he has some balls after all,” he laughed. “I wonder what it will take for me to convince you to cooperate? Maybe if I kill the Jewess . . .”
I saw Esther stand up a little straighter, and I realized that she was fully prepared to die. But Ameer laughed again. “No, she is a soldier and I think you know that all soldiers must be prepared to die sooner or later. I don’t think her death will motivate you.”
Suddenly he swung the gun towards Ginny. “So how about this one?” he asked rhetorically. “I wonder if you still have enough feelings left for her to want to prevent her death?”
“Ameer!” Ginny shrieked. “You can’t mean it, not after everything we’ve done . . .”
Ameer’s face contorted into a look of distaste and contempt. “Be silent! You are nothing to me, simply another Western whore ready to spread her legs and dishonor her husband at the first opportunity.” Then he turned back to me and his face took on a sly smile. “But I don’t think I’ll kill her. What if I merely mutilate her, say shoot off one of those breasts she likes to flaunt?”
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