Close to the Heart

by Rebecca Stratton

  CHAPTER ONE

  Lisa had doubts. She had any number of doubts, but mostly she doubted the wisdom of Geoffrey getting himself so closely involved in the latest activity the group had planned. So far their activities had been fairly innocuous; merely the handing out of leaflets, printed at their own expense, and proclaiming their feelings about various matters which they considered were unjust.

  In this instance, however, it had been decided to go beyond the passive handing out of leaflets, and make some more noticeable form of protest. Lisa's own feelings were mixed at the moment, for she felt both apprehension and excitement, but she was very glad to have Geoffrey with her because he was guaranteed to inspire confidence.

  Geoffrey Mason was good-looking, earnest and very English. Even in the heat of the Moroccan summer he was wearing a formal suit with a collar and tie, instead of slacks and an open-necked shirt which would have been much more comfortable. And it wasn't as if he was going to be seen in the same way that she was herself.

  To Lisa, Geoffrey always looked exactly what he was, and she saw it as by no means a derogatory opinion. A junior official with the Diplomatic Service, he was a diplomat in the making, and destined to follow in the esteemed footsteps of his father. But the Diplomatic Service was unlikely to look kindly upon a junior member of its staff who embroiled himself in the activities of a group like Balekl so that she wondered if he fully realised what a serious effect his involvement could have on a very promising career.

  She would hate anything to happen to him, for she was really quite fond of him, though her attachment was in no way romantic at the moment, and there was a hint of regret mingled with the other emotions she felt, when she looked at him. He took everything so seriously that sometimes the others found him amusing, though Lisa never did.

  'You're very quiet/ she told him, watching the street lights flick little dark shadows across his face. 'Are you very nervous?'

  Geoffrey half-turned his head for a moment, and his sober grey eyes warmed with pleasure when he looked at her. Most men found Lisa pleasing to look at, no matter how sober and serious they might be, and Geoffrey was no exception. Endowed with something more than just beauty, she had a freshness and charm and an awareness of people that made them warm to her immediately; and a sexual awareness of men that attracted them to her without any special effort on her part.

  'I keep realising how much could go wrong once you get in there,' Geoffrey admitted cautiously, and Lisa could not restrain a faint smile at his caution, because it was so typical of Geoffrey to see drawbacks where there need not be any. 'We didn't give enough time to planning this, Lisa. It could go awfully wrong.'

  Lisa pulled a face. She knew just how wrong it could go, but she did not want to think about it. 'What choice had we?' she asked. 'We tried every other means of contacting him and it was useless. But you really shouldn't have come, Geoffrey, you're risking so much.'

  'Possibly.'

  Lisa knew very well that his apparent carelessness was assumed, for Geoffrey was never offhand about anything, and definitely not about anything that could affect his career, so he must have their present cause very much

  at heart. Tou could back out/ she suggested, but knew full well he never would once he was committed. 4 1 wouldn't blame you, Geoffrey, and I could carry this out on my own.*

  Tou certainly will not!' Geoffrey declared firmly. 'And you'll find you need someone close by, no matter how confident you feel at the moment. Just the same, I feel badly about doing nothing more constructive than skulk about outside while you take all the risks.'

  'Oh, what nonsense!' She gave him a smile that sought to make up for the impression she had given. 'And I certainly didn't mean to sound as if I didn't need you; I do/

  He said nothing more for the moment, but Lisa knew it would take a great deal to convince him that he should keep a low profile in the present situation. It was all too likely to blow up into something that could hit the local headlines, and she became less easy about her own part, the nearer they got to their destination. The man they had to deal with had power and influence, and she had few illusions about his possible reaction.

  This was something much different from sitting in the little cafe where the group habitually met, sipping mint tea and nibbling sticky sweet pastries. This was likely to go well beyond the effect of leaflets handed out to an only mildly interested public, and she was unable to decide at the moment whether she felt more fearful or excited about her own part in it.

  She knew quite a few Moroccans, there were even one or two in the group, but she had lived in Casablanca for only a little over a year. Having lived with an aunt for several years, she had suddenly made up her mind to come out and join her father, who was an industrial adviser with the Moroccan government, and her introduction to the group had come about almost by accident. A girl friend had taken her along to one of their gatherings, when she expressed her curiosity.

  Lisa would probably not have troubled herself about them after that first time, but Geoffrey Mason had been there that evening and they had taken an immediate liking to one another. Certainly she had never visualised the likelihood of her being elected to the role of liaison between the group and the object of their present indignation.

  'Lisa, you're quite sure you want to do this, aren't you?'

  Geoffrey's voice broke into her thoughts and she smiled at him almost automatically. 'Yes, of course I'm sure,' she said, and was not quite sure whether or not he noticed her slight grimace when she said it. 'Anyway, the moment is at hand now, as they say, and I can't get cold feet at the last minute.'

  'You could,' Geoffrey insisted quite seriously. 'I wouldn't blame you.'

  Lisa laughed, though it was a short sharp sound that grated harshly on her own sensitive ears. 'But the rest of them would, and anyway, I'd feel as if I'd let everyone down very badly if I backed out now.' She glanced out of the car window at the brightly-lit, modern streets of Casablanca and leaned back in her seat, folding her hands on her lap. 'It might even be exciting,' she told him, then glanced at his shadowed and serious face that looked somehow older in the harshness of street lighting. 'Will I pass as a guest at one of Sheik Abahn's grand parties, do you think?'

  Nothing loath to take another look, Geoffrey turned his head for as long as he safely could. Her light brown hair was streaked with sun-bleached blonde and grew to well below her shoulders, framing a small oval face, with a full soft mouth and brown-fringed blue eyes, which even though she smiled showed something of the nervousness she felt but refused to succumb to.

  The dress he was being asked to pass judgment on

  clung lovingly to her body as far as the waist, leaving the rest of her slender shape shrouded in clouds of pale yellow silk. A wispy scarf of the same material covered her head and kept the breeze through the open window from making too much disorder of her hair, and she had it slightly raised at chin level so that it gave the appearance of a half-veil and hinted at the East, despite her very European colouring.

  'You look beautiful/ Geoffrey said, serious as always. 'Much too lovely to go in there alone and tackle Yusuf ben Dacra/

  'Well, maybe it will help me convince him/

  She rewarded him with a smile, but her heart was hammering urgently again when she considered the mission she had been entrusted with. Yusuf ben Dacra was the adopted son of Sheik Abahn el Boudri, one of Morocco's most successful and influential men, and it was his scheme for the demolition of a native village to make way for a luxury hotel that was the subject of the group's objection. Her main doubt was if such a man as Yusuf ben Dacra sounded to be would even deign to listen to her, even if she was able to get near him.

  From the corner of her eye she was aware of Geoffrey looking a
t her again briefly, she suspected he was still unconvinced of her ability to tackle their quarry alone. 'I'm not happy about this, Lisa/ he said, confirming her suspicion. 'I really think I should come in with you/

  'Oh no, we can't change the plan now, I'll be perfectly all right/ She hastily subdued her own misgivings and shook her head. 'I stand more chance of getting in on my own via the street door and the garden as we planned. Then all I have to do is tell Yusuf ben Dacra that unless he abandons his scheme for destroying Zobi the group—we—will take strong action to make sure that he does/

  'Put like that it's a definite threat/ Geoffrey said, as if

  it had never occurred to him before that that was exactly what it was, and Lisa gave him a brief curious frown.

  •Well, it is a threat, isn't it?' she asked.

  *Yes. Yes, of course. But you seem so cool,' he observed, almost as if he resented the fact. 'Aren't you at all nervous?'

  Lisa smiled and wrinkled her nose, as reluctant to admit it as he had been. 'I have a funny feeling in my stomach,' she confessed, *but that could just as easily be excitement. To be honest I'm not quite sure what I feel like at the moment. But whatever it is, I shall be better for knowing you're waiting for me when I eventually come out. I have to make myself known to deliver our ultimatum, and after that I'll almost certainly get thrown out, so it'll be quite a comfort to know you're hovering in the wings with a car to take me home.'

  That's if he doesn't have you arrested.'

  Lisa's heart gave a great lurch of panic and she turned her head and stared at him for a moment. It had always been on the cards, she supposed, but she had not been faced with it as a definite possibility until now. If Yusuf ben Dacra was as ruthless and callous as his scheme for Zobi suggested he was, then he was unlikely to think twice about having her arrested for threatening him, and he and his family were a force to be reckoned with in Casablanca.

  In the circumstances it was not easy to do, but she took her wavering courage firmly in hand and laughed with a lightness she was far from feeling. 'If I'm arrested, then you'll have to come and bail me out,' she said. 'But I hope it won't come to that.'

  *So do I,' Geoffrey told her with a good deal less optimism. 'But he's something of a hard case, I imagine, and he might decide you've overstepped the mark by making a threat against his latest project.'

  Had it been anyone else, Lisa might have suspected he was joking, but not Geoffrey; he never joked, and especially about anything as embarrassing as being arrested on the premises of an important man like Sheik Abahn.

  'Would he?' she asked, after a few seconds of silence during which she tried to still the cowardly small voice that offered a way out. And Geoffrey reached out to clasp one of her hands briefly in his cool slim fingers.

  'Surprise is the element here,' he told her. 'If you can cr the ultimatum and get out as quickly as possible, I don't see him making too much of a fuss with a house full of gut

  'I hope not.' Lisa felt suddenly much more involved, and at the same time she realised just how little she knew about the man she was to tackle on his own home ground. In the cIlCUIAtUU felt, it might be an

  advantage to find out a little more about him rather than dwell on what was likely to happen when she met him face to face. 'How much do we know about Yusuf ben Dacra?' she asked. 'I might as well know what—or who —I'm up against.'

  Geoffrey took a moment to consider. 'Not really very much,' he confessed after a moment or two. 'We know that he's Sheik Abahn's adopted son, whatever that implies.'

  Lisa glanced at him curiously. 'Does that mean you think he might be the sheik's son? Literally, I mean?'

  Geoffrey shrugged, as if the question made him uneasy. He was already diplomat enough to hesitate about committing himself firmly on a matter as delicate as whether or not a man as important as Sheik Abahn el Boudri kept an illegitimate son under his roof.

  'It has been suggested,' he allowed cautiously, 'but as far as I know it's nothing more than rumour and I shouldn't have repeated it. There are also rumours that

  he isn't entirely Arab, but has some European blood; but that I'm inclined to doubt, from his looks/

  Lisa gave him a swift, enquiring look. 'You've seen him in the flesh?'

  'Just once/ said Geoffrey. 'I attended a meeting with one of our senior staff members, and he was there. He speaks almost perfect English, impeccable French, some Spanish and quite a bit of Italian, as well as his native Arabic, of course/

  Lisa allowed for the man's linguistic skill, but she was more interested in his physical aspect. 'But what does he actually look like?' she asked.

  Geoffrey shrugged, as offhand about another man's looks as most of his sex. 'Like a Moroccan. Very dark, quietly spoken, maybe a little taller than most. He's also a brilliant civil engineer, and an excellent businessman with a reputation for straight dealing/

  'And yet he's proposing to do that to some of his own people?' Lisa frowned. 'More than likely his reputation for straight dealing was thought up by a good publicity man, Geoffrey. No straight-dealing man would do what he's proposing to do at Zobi/

  'Maybe you're right/ Geoffrey allowed, but was obviously far more concerned about her going in alone to see the man they were discussing, than about the character of the man himself. 'Whatever he's like,' he said, 'I don't like you going in there on your own. Lisa. The more I think about it the less I like it, and I insist on coming in with you/

  'And I insist on going in alone/ Lisa told him with such firmness that he looked at her in surprise. Seeing his expression, Lisa placed a hand on his arm as he turned the car down one of the smaller side streets through the older part of the town. Til be perfectly all right, Geoffrey, so let's not argue about it any more, please/

  He did not answer, but his reluctance was obvious and he looked even more than usually serious when he stopped the car about half way along a small quiet street that seemed little more than a corridor between high walls. Behind those walls were scented gardens and patios and the fine houses of wealthy Moroccans like Sheik Abahn, and Lisa could just catch the whispering shush of trees somewhere when the engine stopped and her ears became attuned to the ensuing quiet.

  Half-turning in her seat, she shivered as the same misgivings came crowding back once more. Contemplating the dimly-lit street between the high walls she was struck by the fact that it looked alarmingly like a prison, and in view of Geoffrey's remarks earlier, it was hardly a comforting thought.

  At intervals along the walls small doors were let into the stonework and, unless their informant had misled them, the one giving access to the grounds of Sheik Abahn's house should be unlocked. This is it/ said Geoffrey, and Lisa noticed that even out here in the empty street he spoke in a whisper.

  He had stopped the car directly opposite one of the doors and Lisa sat for a moment staring at it. Solid and thick and strengthened with iron braces, it was designed to keep out unwelcome callers, and Lisa was only too conscious of the fact that in this case that meant her. It was not a fact guaranteed to inspire confidence.

  'Are you positive it will be unlocked?' she asked, and Geoffrey nodded.

  'That's our information—it's never kept locked, apparently. Sheik Abahn must be a very trusting man/

  'Oh, Geoffrey, don't make it worse!' she begged, and turned reproachful eyes on him. 'I hate to think I'm taking advantage of a man's trusting nature/

  'Well, maybe he's just careless/ Geoffrey suggested,

  but it was clear his mind was on other things. 'Lisa, I think I should '

  'Oh well, it's now or never,' Lisa interrupted swiftly, and turned to smile at him before opening the car door. Tm the elected spokesman, and I'll get to Yusuf ben Dacra or die in the attempt/

  Treating the words seriously, although they were made in jest, Geoffrey attempted to put a detaining hand on her arm as she opened the door. 'I wish you wouldn't say things like that—it isn't funny, Lisa/

  She was out of the car and standing on the footpath before he had ti
me to leave his seat, and she stood for a moment looking both ways along that narrow street There was no one else about and the place seemed to have a distinctly sinister air that brought little shivers to her spine for a moment before she recovered her nerve. She was glad when Geoffrey came and stood beside her, even though it was for only a few minutes.

  Her heart was thudding and the palms of her hands, when she rolled her fingers into them, felt moist and clammy. Lisa did not remember ever having felt fear before, but she felt it then while she stood in the shadow of Sheik Abahn's walls and tried to find courage to open a small door. For a moment she almost succumbed to temptation and agreed to let Geoffrey come in with her, but then she remembered how serious it would be for him if Yusuf ben Dacra did call in the police and have them arrested.

  'I'll see how right we are/ she whispered, taking herself firmly in hand, and left Geoffrey standing in the middle of the pavement, looking left and right, up and down the street. Her legs trembled alarmingly as she approached the door and she was horribly uncertain whether or not she wanted their informant to be right about it being left open.

  Grasping the handle firmly, she pushed, and the door

  gave so easily that she had to quickly pull it towards her again, leaving it no more than an inch or so ajar. She was breathing lightly and noisily, as if it was an effort to draw breath at all, and just for a moment she wondered what on earth she was going to do if there was someone immediately the other side when she went through. It was not something they had taken into account, and she wondered how many more possible snags she would discover before the evening was through.

  Turning to speak to Geoffrey, she tried to make her voice sound light and faintly triumphant. Tm in!' she whispered.

  She heard Geoffrey's voice behind her as she pushed the door wider, but his words were lost in the thudding hammer-beat of her heart. She had expected to see gardens immediately beyond the door, but instead, when she put a cautious head round the edge, she saw a tunnellike passage that at first looked even more grim than the street outside, and was claustrophobic in its narrowness.