“No.”
“Madam Ambassador, it’s too dangerous for you to—”
“I’ll be safe.” She knew now where the danger lay, and she had a plan to avoid it. “Where is Mike Slade?” she asked.
“He’s in a meeting at the Australian embassy.”
“Please get word to him that I wish to see him right away.”
“You wanted to talk to me?” Mike Slade’s tone was casual.
“Yes. There’s something I want you to do.”
“I’m at your command.”
His sarcasm was like a slap.
“I received a telephone call from someone who wants to defect.”
“Who is it?”
She had no intention of telling him. He would betray the girl. “That’s not important. I want you to bring this person in.”
Mike frowned. “Is this someone the Romanians want to keep?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that could lead to a lot of—”
She cut him short. “I want you to go to the Roscow Inn at Moldavia and pick her up.”
He started to argue, until he saw the expression on her face. “If that’s what you want, I’ll send—”
“No.” Mary’s voice was steel. “I want you to go. I’m sending two men with you.”
With Gunny and another marine along, Mike would not be able to play any tricks. She had told Gunny not to let Mike Slade out of his sight.
Mike was studying Mary, puzzled. “I have a heavy schedule. Tomorrow would probably—”
“I want you to leave immediately. Gunny is waiting for you in your office. You’re to bring the defector back here to me.” Her tone left no room for argument.
Mike nodded slowly. “All right.”
Mary watched him go, with a feeling of relief so intense that she felt giddy. With Mike out of the way, she would be safe.
She dialed Colonel McKinney’s number. “I’m going ahead with the ceremony this afternoon,” she informed him.
“I strongly advise against it, Madam Ambassador. Why would you want to expose yourself to unnecessary danger when—?”
“I have no choice. I’m representing our country. How would it look if I hid in a closet every time someone threatened my life? If I do that once, I’ll never be able to show my face again. I might as well go home. And Colonel—I have no intention of going home.”
28
The ground-breaking ceremony for the new American library addition was scheduled to be held at four o’clock in the afternoon at Alexandru Sahia Square, in the large vacant lot next to the main building of the American library. By three P.M. a large crowd had already gathered. Colonel McKinney had had a meeting with Captain Aurel Istrase, head of Securitate.
“We shall certainly give your ambassador maximum protection,” Istrase assured him.
Istrase had been as good as his word. He had ordered all automobiles removed from the square, so that there was no danger of a car bomb, police were stationed around the entire area, and a sharpshooter was on the roof of the library building.
At a few minutes before four, everything was in readiness. Electronics experts had swept the entire area and had found no explosives. When all the checks had been completed, Captain Aurel Istrase said to Colonel McKinney, “We are ready.”
“Very well.” Colonel McKinney turned to an aide. “Tell the ambassador to come ahead.”
Mary was escorted to the limousine by four marines who flanked her as she got into the car.
Florian beamed, “Good afternoon, Madam Ambassador. It is going to be a big, beautiful new library, no?”
“Yes.”
As he drove, Florian chattered on, but Mary was not listening. She was thinking of the laughter in Louis’s eyes, and the tenderness with which he had made love to her. She dug her fingernails into her wrists, trying to make the physical pain replace the anguish inside. I must not cry, she told herself. Whatever I do, I must not cry. There is no more love, she thought wearily, only hate. What’s happening to the world?
When the limousine reached the dedication site, two marines stepped up to the car door, looked around carefully, and opened the door for Mary.
“Good afternoon, Madam Ambassador.”
As Mary walked toward the lot where the ceremony was to take place, two armed members of Securitate walked in front of her and two behind her, shielding her with their bodies. From the rooftop the sniper alertly scanned the scene below.