Flame hurried to the east side of the park, hurrying to catch up to his partner and the girl. He found them at Columbus Circle where Samira had gone ahead to examine the monument at the edge of the park.

  “Couldn’t catch up to the guy,” he told Dana. “But I did talk to one of the vendors. He said he thought they were speaking in Arabic.” He looked at Samira. “Do we know that she’s who she says she is?” He looked at Dana. “Who vetted her?”

  “The State Department.”

  “Yeah,” Flame’s face went sour. “Well, I can’t say I’m too crazy about the State Department’s judgment these days.” He scratched the back of his head. “Did we get a picture?”

  “No,” Dana pulled her phone out. “I’ll see if we can get one.” She glanced at Flame as she punched in a message. “You know talking to someone in Arabic doesn’t prove anything. It might be perfectly innocent.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Maybe we should just ask her who the guy was and why she talked to him.” She looked at the girl. “At dinner, maybe…”

  “That where you’re heading next?”

  “She’s getting tired—finally,” Dana grinned wryly. “So we’re heading back to the hotel. I thought we’d eat along the way.”

  “Carnegie Deli?” Flame suggested. “It’s famous and they have a variety of different kinds of food there.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” She raised an eyebrow at Flame. “You coming along?”

  “Sure.” Flame grinned and followed her across the street. “I could use some food about now.”

  Samira joined them as they crossed over the street and headed down Broadway. Her smile revealed her fatigue but she still stopped to look in nearly every storefront as they made their way down the street to the deli.

  ***

  “Who did I talk to in the park?” Samira licked a remnant of mustard off the corner of her mouth. “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Just some man who said hello.”

  “He seemed to get a little heated with you.” Dana had not taken very long to finish her pastrami sandwich and was considering a piece of cheesecake. “Did you argue?”

  “No,” Samira took another bite of her roast beef. “We just talked.”

  “The vendor said you were speaking a foreign language.” Flame had also had a pastrami sandwich which, in his case, tasted like roast beef. Afterwards, curious, he had ordered a slice of cheesecake. “He thought it might be French.”

  “Yes,” Samira nodded quickly. “We did speak French for a few moments.” She smiled wistfully. “I learned that language before the local school was burned down.”

  “How many languages do you speak?” That from Dana.

  “Four,” Samira ticked them off on her fingers. “English, French, Spanish and Latin.”

  “Not Arabic?” Flame interjected. “I thought that was the official language of Egypt.”

  “Oh,” Samira rocked back a little. “Of course I speak Arabic—I thought you meant only foreign languages.”

  “So you speak five languages.”

  “Five,” she nodded. “Yes.”

  “How do you order cheesecake in French?” Dana smiled. “I’ve decided to get a piece.” She motioned for the waiter.

  “Pourrions-nous avoir deux morceaux de gâteau au fromage, s'il vous plaît?” Samira came out with when he arrived. “Two pieces of cheesecake, please.” She grinned at Dana. “That’s how you order cheesecake in French.”

  Flame nodded and sat back in his chair, sipping his coffee as he wondered if this girl was really who she said she was.

  ***

  They took a cab back to the hotel—both Dana and Samira being too tired, and too full, to walk even the four short blocks. Flame escorted their ward to her room, going inside first to check things out. He found nothing out of the ordinary in sight. But there’s something wrong… He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he knew, deep down, that there was something in the room that shouldn’t be there.

  He shook his head and pushed the feeling away, gesturing for Samira to come in. “Just call us if…” he looked around again, then shook his head, baffled. “Call if you need anything at all.”

  “Yes, I will.” She smiled up at him. “Thank you so much for today.” She glanced at the doorway. “Thank Dana for me also.”

  “I will.” He nodded and turned to leave. “Get a good night’s sleep,” he stopped at the doorway. “If today is any example, tomorrow will be a very long day!”

  “I can hardly wait!” Samira followed him to the door. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” Flame turned away but paused to listen for the two clicks that told him that the door was securely locked. Then and only then did he move down the hallway to Dana’s room. As he was about to knock on the door, he realized what had bothered him in the girl’s room.

  There was a smell! He looked back toward her room. The faint smell of cigarette smoke!

  Nodding once, he knocked on his partner’s door.

  ***

  “You’re sure?” Dana had taken a quick shower and barely had time to pull on the terrycloth bathrobe the hotel provided before opening the door for Flame.

  “I’m sure.” He was pacing the living-room portion of the suite they shared. “I knew there was something as soon as I stepped inside but I didn’t realize what it was until I was almost back here.”

  “It could have been the maid cleaning up the room.”

  “Smoking is illegal in New York—inside or out. Her room is not designated for smoking.”

  “So you think that someone was in her room?”

  “I think the man she met in the park was in her room.” Flame’s voice held a tone of assurance. “I think he’s working with her—or vice versa.”

  “To what end?”

  “Too early to tell.” He shook his head. “We’ll have to be really careful.” He turned to Dana. “Did we get a picture yet?”

  “No.” She shook her head disgustedly. “No answer at all.”

  “Figures.” Flame glanced at his watch. “Well, I think I’ll hit the hotel fitness center and lift for a while then shower and meet our German friend at ten.”

  “You want me to go along?”

  “No.” Flame shook his head. “You stay close to our girl in case something happens.” He opened the door that connected to his own bed and bathroom. “And if you hear from State, let me know right away.”

  “I will do so.” Dana looked at Flame. “Be careful,” she smiled wistfully. “I’m not all that sure I can shoot anyone if it comes to that.”

  “Leave the shooting to me.” Flame smiled. “I’ve had lots of experience.” He stepped into his own room and shut the door behind him.

  ***

  The hotel heath center was fairly well equipped and nearly deserted with only one other person—a good-looking stewardess in a well-worn workout suit—there when Flame arrived. The girl, who Flame learned through casual conversation was a stewardess, concentrated on the treadmill, which left the various weight machines free for Flame. He was able to get in a very satisfying workout—and the girl’s room number—before he had to rush back upstairs and prepare for his meeting with Karin Hachtel.

  She was waiting in the lobby when he arrived.

  “Flame.” She rose to greet him. “I was afraid you would not come.”

  “No sweat,” he shrugged. “But I don’t have very much time. Tell me your problem.”

  “It is my uncle…” She looked around. “Can we go into the coffee shop? It seems a little more private there.”

  “Sure.” Flame gestured her toward the appropriate side of the lobby. “You’re buying.”

  A few minutes later, with two cups of coffee on the table and the waiter on the other side of the room, Karin began to tell Flame her problem: “I have an uncle in Mexico,” she began. “He was born in Argentina,” she looked at Flame. “His grandfather was SS—an officer who fled after the war’s end.”

  Flame shrugged.

  “My uncle—his name is Axel Farber—is Chief of Medicine at a hospital in Monterrey, Mexico.”

  “And?”

  “Three days ago, he sent me a long email. Before I had a chance to read it, I found out that he was dead.” She looked into Flame’s eyes. “Killed when his car exploded.”

  “Exploded?”

  “The Mexican police say it was just an unfortunate accident.” Karin shook her head. “But the car was completely destroyed.” She held his eyes. “I have seen such damage many times before.”

  “A bomb in the car.”

  “Yes.”

  “And the email?”

  “It’s incomplete—there was some sort of problem in the Mexican router—but what is there is frightening.”

  “Frightening how?”

  “Have you heard anything about the theft of Cobalt-60?”

  Flame stroked his chin. “I seem to recall something about a shipment being stolen during a trip from a hospital to a recycling plant.” His eyes lit. “That happened in Mexico, didn’t it?” He looked at her. “But I thought the police recovered the stolen truck as well as all the Cobalt-60.”

  “That was the report.” She pulled a tablet out of her bag and tapped in a series of commands before turning the screen to face Flame. “But according to other sources, that Cobalt was never completely recovered—and a second shipment disappeared less than a week later.”

  “I see.” He glanced through the articles displayed. “Your uncle put you onto this?”

  “My uncle told me that a man named Mapache visited him and asked him to order a quantity of Cobalt-60 from a repository in the US.” She looked into Flame’s eyes: “He did not trust the man so he called the local police.” She shrugged. “He was dead less than thirty-six hours later.”

  “Have you reported this to anyone?”

  “I sent the information to your FBI. They told me…” She looked as if she had sucked on a lemon. “They told me that the Mexican authorities had already recovered the radioactive material and that there was nothing to fear.” Her eyes found Flame’s. “Nothing to fear!”

  “I see.” He sat back, ignoring the now-cold coffee. “And what do you want me to do?”

  “Look into this. See what you can find out.” Her eyes still held his, begging now. “Stop whatever is going to happen.” She looked down. “Revenge my uncle.”

  “I’ll go over this with my partner,” he told her. “And we’ll see what we can do.” He lifted her chin. “Understand, there’s nothing much we can do until we finish with this UN job.”

  “But you will look into it?”

  “You have my word.”

  “Thank you, Flame-with-no-last-name. Thank you very much.”

  ***

  Flame headed straight for their suite, anxious to see if Dana had gotten an answer from State. He had just passed Samira’s room when he came to a full halt.

  That’s cigarette smoke, he realized. It’s coming from inside Samira’s room. Flame slipped up to the door, put his ear against it. Can’t hear anything inside—certainly no arguments or cries for help. He wondered what he should do. Do I break in? See who’s in there?

  He shook his head. Not yet! He turned and headed for the suite he was sharing with Dana. Not until I get some back-up!

  Dana still had received no answer from the State Department. She wanted to know what Karin had had to say but Flame cut her off before she could ask: “Get your pistol.” He left her gaping at him as he hurried into his own room. “I need you to cover me.” He slapped a magazine into the Browning 9mm he’d gotten from Bremby.

  “Cover you from what?”

  “I don’t know.” He pulled back the slide; let a round lock into the chamber. “I can smell cigarette smoke just outside Samira’s room.”

  “Shit.” Dana stepped into her own bedroom, returned holding her S&W, magazine already in place. “Let’s go.”

  Together, Dana clad in nothing but a terrycloth robe, they stalked down the hallway until they were facing Samira’s room.

  “Smell it?” Flame whispered. The odor of tobacco was strong in the hallway.

  “Yes.” Dana held her pistol in both hands, just as she’d been taught. “How do you want to handle this?”

  “Like this.” Flame motioned her to the side, and then stepped up alongside the girl’s door, ready to knock and see what happened.

  “Wait!” Dana’s hand closed around his. “There’s a better way.”

  “I should have thought of this sooner.” Dana led him back to the suite they shared. “Watch the room for a minute,” she told him, and turned to rummage in her bag. “Let me know if anyone moves.”

  “Nothing so far,” Flame glanced back at her. “We should really find out if Samira has a visitor.”

  “We will,” Dana produced a black plastic box—about two square inches and one thick. “We’ll use this.” She stepped past him, and walked to a point opposite the girl’s room.

  What the hell is she up to? Flame watched as she knelt down and pushed the plastic square against the floorboard. She wriggled it once to make sure it was secure, then stood and headed back to the suite.

  Flame noted that her robe had fallen slightly awry—enough to reveal a rather shapely leg—which he immediately moved his eyes away from. She’s my partner, he told himself. My partner!

  Dana brushed past him, signaling for him to close the door.

  “How’re we gonna watch if the door is closed?” he asked.

  “With this.” She punched a series of commands into her laptop, which a moment later displayed a very clear image of the girl’s door. “That was a webcam,” she smiled. “I wish I had a white one to match the woodwork,” she shrugged. “Next time.”

  Flame nodded slowly, understanding flooding into his eyes. “The computer will record anyone who enters or leaves the room…”

  “And if someone does, they won’t know that we know.”

  “Nice.” Flame smiled slowly. “Very nice.” He leaned closer. “Anything from State?"

  "Nothing at all.” Dana leaned back in his chair. “Now, you were going to tell me what our German friend had to say?”

  “Oh,” Flame nodded. “Yeah, maybe you can get someone to look into it.” He sank into one of the easy chairs and began to tell his partner the story of uncle Axel and the Cobalt-60…

  ***

  “I thought the Mexican police found the hijackers of that medical waste truck,” Dana remembered the newspaper coverage at the time. “They were supposed to be hospitalized and the Cobalt recovered…”

  “Karin says the cops were paid off,” Flame shrugged. “That isn’t too hard to believe considering it happened in Mexico.”

  “She says they got another shipment we haven’t heard about?”

  “And are looking for one more—seriously enough to kill her uncle for trying to turn them in.”

  “This is way too big for us,” Dana turned to her laptop. “It should go to the FBI.”

  “Karin says she talked to the Feds and they told her not to worry about it.” Flame shrugged. “Maybe they already knew and are trying to keep it quiet.”

  “Or maybe they just don’t want to go to the trouble of looking into something that happened on the other side of the border.” Dana sucked at her lower lip as she typed something into her computer. “I know how hard it was to get them to co-operate in finding that explosive mini-sub…”

  “Know anybody there?” Flame leaned forward. “Anyone we can trust?”

  “Maybe.” She kept her attention on the keyboard. “I’ll certainly pass the info along to the proper people.”

  “And if they don’t respond?”

  “We’ll worry about that later.” She typed in one more set of commands. “For now, I think it’s time we got some rest.” She nodded at the computer screen. “We’ll know more about the girl and her possible visitor in the morning.”

  “Okay,” Flame stood. “I’m going to go for a run come daybreak—shall I bring back some coffee?”

  “And bagels.” She smiled. “You can’t get New York bagels anywhere else in the world!”

  “Coffee and bagels,” Flame nodded. “You got it.” He stepped to his door—and stopped in mid-stride. “Hey, did you…”

  “Already done,” she displayed her little S&W in one hand and its magazine in the other. “You’re kind of slow tonight.”

  “Guess I’m tired.” Flame went through the door, half-closed it behind him. “Goodnight.”

  It clicked closed.

  -21-

  The dream came back that night. Flame once again found himself in the now all-too-familiar confines of the lightless room with the hated door to his front and right.

  What now? he asked himself as he pulled the night vision goggles into place. Do I see Re-Pete or Manny? He clicked the goggles on and peered at the green and white world that surrounded him, waiting for the noise that would herald the appearance of one of his teammates.

  When it came, it wasn’t from behind him—nor to the right or left—this time it came from directly ahead of him. From the door.

  It’s Dana, he realized as he saw the slight figure kneeling alongside the darkness of the door. And she’s naked!

  Dana was, indeed, naked—and armed with nothing more than the webcam he’d seen the night before and a squat object that he somehow knew to be a Geiger counter.

  “Come on, Flame!” Dana stood, giving him a full-on view of her small but perfectly shaped breasts. “The Cobalt is in there!” She nodded toward the door. “We’ve got to get it before it can be used!” She turned toward the door, white flesh glowing green in his goggles. “Follow me!”

  And then she was gone—vanished into the darkness beyond that cursed portal. Flame jumped up and ran to follow her—but it was too late. The door closed before he could reach it.