He now had thought of a plan and his mind was working to finalize it. Hu Lin, the female agent he met the evening before had confirmed his doubts about danger which had resulted from his instinctive dream. Nobody had wanted to check his background in past 3 years – she had wanted to…
He knew this area in the town very well and he kept walking. He wasn’t sure if Hu Lin worked for MSS or some other agency and wanted to find out.
He stopped by a flower shop and smiled at thought of Aneka – his long time developed travel and documentation aide who always was ready for a romantic escapade with him. He bought a beautiful bouquet of fresh roses and walked on crisscrossing between the alleys. He finally walked on and stopped in front of one of the finest houses in Kline Hout.
He opened the main door with his master key & kept his sack next to the door. He stealthily tiptoed toward the sound of running water.
The passage was dimly lit. He stopped when the flow of running water stopped. He started to tiptoe again as he heard a soft humming. The door to the bathroom opened revealing a beautiful female wrapped in her towel.
She wasn’t expecting him and stifled her scream that sounded like a squeak; her towel dropped revealing her fine toned body in her startled condition. She had a look of surprise on her while he ogled at her well-toned body… amused…
“You?” she finally got control on her surprise, “what are you doing outside my bathroom?”
“Err – I wanted to freshen up – but – the way you look at this moment seems to have done that.”
She realized that she was standing naked in front of him – she quickly picked up her towel and wrapped it around her shabbily.
“As a gentleman and a lover – will you allow me to wear something elegant while you wait for me in the main hall?”
“Of course dear – do take your time to choose your elegance.”
He smiled and backed up till he reached the end of the passage while she continued to look at him in mock anger.
He disappeared into the main hall and she couldn’t help smiling and blushing and moved into her bedroom. Few minutes later – she stood at the entrance of the main hall wearing a fabulous negligee which showed all her curves to advantage, her glossy hair let loose and attractive.
“Not much of a difference between your birthday suit, a few minutes ago and the elegance on you…” he smiled and winked.
“You……” she screamed in mock anger and made a wild dash at him. She stopped in her tracks when he held the bouquet of beautiful fresh roses with words ‘To My Beautiful Aneka’ pinned on it. Her heart skipped a beat and she rushed into his arms softly kissing in love…
“Everything okay?” she asked in concern, “you didn’t inform me of your arrival.”
“Yes sweetheart – everything seems to be okay as of now.”
“You normally visit here once in 3 months. You were here not a couple of weeks ago – why this trip in emergency?”
“I want to be sure that everything’s okay and stays that way.”
“You must be tired with all those multiple flights. Go on – freshen up while I prepare something for us to chew.”
“You’re right – I do need a refreshing bath.”
Saying thus he vanished into her bathroom while she prepared few sandwiches… still concerned about this unplanned visit of his.
“How can I help you?” she asked munching on one of her sandwiches.
“I want you to get immigration stamp on this passport – arriving from Mumbai today evening with multiple-entry into European Union, valid for next six months.”
She looked at the passport and then at him, “You planning to visit India with your old ID where every agent knows you as LION – are you by any chance thinking of joining RAW back? Are you missing your agency work?”
“I did tell you – I want to be sure that everything’s alright and stays that way. I am not sure but my instinct tells me that something’s wrong or about to go wrong… maybe some sort of danger to me or my friends…”
“Oh! Please do take care – you’ve dropped in here at a wrong time. The NEWS channels are all about mysterious murders in the city – I heard that lot of foreign delegates are here in town for some sort of international seminar – don’t know if they are your friends or enemies … all the people who have been murdered are from the Indian subcontinent.”
“Since when?”
“These murders started maybe about a week ago and they are intermittent. A similar murder has been reported from Milan, two days ago. There’s a word around that this is an espionage war.”
“This means my instinct about something going wrong seems to have some connection.” he remembered Hu Lin – the agent with Morse code he met in Geneva. “I must go now. I will be checking into Hotel Grand, my regular suite.”
“Be here tomorrow evening. I’ll arrange an exotic dinner with champagne.” she blushingly smiled at the thought.
He let out a sigh, “I wish I could promise you that. Whatever you told me about those mystery murders and my understanding – I’ll meet you around 6pm at your travel agency – right before you shut down for the day. I’ll visit you as a regular customer and collect the passport with visa & immigration stamp from you.”
“Why can’t we meet here at my home?”
“Don’t want you to get into any sort of trouble.” he moved out of her home and made his way to the nearest square. He hailed a cab and reached Hotel Grand. He walked into the lobby and deliberately spoke in fluent Dutch to the girl at the reception, “Hi. Lola, is my suite ready for me to crash in?”
“Yes, Mr Arav. Here are the keys. You look tired.”
“Ja. I flew about 5 different flights to reach here.”
“That must really be tiring. Leave your passport with me. I’ll fill in the log details and send it to your suite with a Moscow Mule – perfectly chilled…”
“You are such a help Lola – don’t know how to thank you.” he put on a boyish grin.
“My pleasure” she smiled, “I hope you’ll enjoy your stay as usual – if you need anything – call me…” she heaved a heavy breath as she watched him walk away toward the elevator – looking at him with lusty eyes.
Once in his suite – he changed into his sleeping gear and thankfully sipped at his drink. He crashed into the bed – deep asleep..