Nightmare in Morocco (26 page)

Her eyes skimmed the area she had just walked through
.
She must have passed Cathy concealed somewhere, in one of the arched
doorways
or behind some still hanging displays
.
Noa started back the way she had come, eyes more accustomed now to the lack of light.

"Noa!"

Noa whirled back
.
From this distance Cathy seemed only a shadow, a shade darker than the gate behind her
.
Noa could not make out her features
the insanity, the
hatred that
they must reveal.

"I thought you'd go back to the hotel," Cathy said.

Noa stepped closer to her
.
"I'm not trying to cheat you out of your inheritance
.
Mike knew I'd be fair with you
.
I want you to trust him and me."

She was close enough now to see Cathy's features
.
She was surprised by the emotion she read in them
.
Cathy was staring past her
.
Noa turned to see what it was that caused such fear
.
As she did, Cathy darted around her and bolted into the nearest alleyway.

Noa could hardly believe it!
Cathy had run away again!
No use following her this time, she decided, looking down the winding pathway
.
She would only get lost herself
.
She must return the way she had come while she still knew the
direction
of the fountain. Noa's feet falling against the rocks seemed to echo in the great stillness
.
Or was someone walking behind her?

What game was Cathy playing?
Was she trying to wear her down, attack Noa when she least expected it?

She stopped and her eyes strained for some movement
.
When she detected none, she started on again
.
In her haste the tour bag banged against a stand where old brass pots were stacked
.
They clanged together as they struck the ground.

The walk back seemed much longer, the steps up and down more laborious
.
At last she saw the square lit by a single bulb gleaming dimly above the fountain.

Noa stopped for a moment beside the fountain to catch her breath
.
Not much further now back to the hotel!

Footsteps, steady and heavy, were coming from the path she had just left
.
Cathy, like last time, must have followed her
.
Noa dropped the tour bag and prepared herself for whatever was to come.

The form that appeared wore a dark
d
jellaba
, but the hood was tossed back and revealed his face to her
.

Greg did not look like the boyish college student from New Jersey, but then, of course, he wasn't
.
His features exposed by the lone light above the fountain, were singularly cruel
.
The narrowed eyes reflected the glint from the bulb as he said, "I'll take the ring."

Noa made no movement
.
Why hadn't she realized it?
Greg was Cathy's boyfriend
the evil influence Mike had spoken of in his letter!
His deciding to take the tour too was the reason Cathy had changed her mind about coming along
.
He was the boyfriend Cathy kept meeting, not Johnny Ramos, not Taber!
With Noa dead, they would have Mike's fortune for themselves
.
How clever of Greg to set up the series of robberies so when she was killed, only an impersonal thief would be suspected!

"The ring," he said
.
"Or do you want me to rip it off your neck?"

Noa glanced down at the bag
.
If she could lift the rock before he was able to reach her, she could use it as a weapon against him.

As Greg stepped slowly forward, his hand slipped inside the
djellaba
.
"A little
souvenir
of Morocco I purchased this evening."
He unsheathed a dagger, hurling the brass plated cover far away from him
.
It made a thud as it hit the ground
.
The twisted end of the blade caught the light overhead.

Noa grabbed for the rock, sprang forward, and hit him as hard as she could
.
The blow, landing on the side of his head, did not faze him
.
He grabbed her arm
.
The rock slipped from her grasp
.
Greg's steel like fingers tightened on her wrist
.
She could not break free.

The hand that held the dagger jerked backward, preparing to thrust the cruel blade into the space below her ribs.

Noa expected to feel an explosion of pain, then blood flowing from her body
.
Instead, she saw the blade of the knife being drawn suddenly upward
.

Taber hurled Greg backward
.
Greg's fell, turned, and his fingers clawed at the rocks as he tried to rise
.
Taber dived forward, a hand snaked around Greg's neck.

Both men rose simultaneously
.
She could see Taber's clenched lips
.
His fist slammed against Greg's jaw, pounded his stomach
.
Greg with a moan fell again
.
This time he did not move.

Taber wiped his face with a bleeding hand
.
It left a trail of blood across his jaw
.
"Cathy came after me," he said with a quick intake of breath
.
"She said you had started back toward the fountain."

"Why would she want to help me?"
Noa's words stopped short
.
"You mean she didn't know about the robberies or about any of this?"

"Cathy knew no more than we did
.
She thought Greg was just going on the tour so they could be together
.
She had no idea what his real motive was until you were nearly killed in Casablanca."

"Cathy saw him tonight in the medina," Noa said. "That's why she ran away to get you."

Taber's reached for her
.
Noa leaned her head against his shoulder
.
Her fear of death, her terror of the dark medina surfaced again with such force that it caused a sudden spell of shaking
.
Taber gathered her close.

"Darling," he said, "don't cry now
.
It's all over!"

Chapter Thirteen

Belda's ring glittered upon her finger as she stopped to hug Noa
.
"Thank you for getting my ring back!
I thought it was lost forever
.
I guess everything turned out for the best, after all
.
It's too bad about Greg, though
.
He seemed like such a nice young man."

"Belda's always been one to be fooled by a pretty face," said Milton with a wink
.
His good humor had reappeared with the return of Belda's ring
.
"That's why she needs me to look after her
.
Come on, Old Gal
.
We don't want to keep our ride waiting."

"We'll keep in touch, Noa
.
I told Miltie this morning, I'm booking your next Spanish tour
.
We won't go, though, unless you're the guide!"

"I'll never give up being a guide
.
I'll be looking forward to our next trip!"
As they disappeared out the glass lobby doors of the Hotel Tangier, Noa she realized how much she would miss them.

Moulay Aziz approached and offered Noa his hand
.
"I, too, will book another of your tours."

"I hope so
.
Goodbye, Moulay."

Suitcase in hand, Moulay left for the train station
.
Noa watched him, wondering which of his two wives he would go home to first.

"See?
Thirteen isn't such an unlucky number, after all."
Noa turned to face Taber's charming smile.

"Except for Greg
.
What will happen to him?"

"Because he's an American citizen, he'll probably be
extradited
back to the States
.
But he'll still face charges of theft and attempted murder."

"I'm just so grateful that Cathy had nothing to do with it!
Greg never lived in New Jersey; he lived right next to Mike and Cathy in New York
.
He's the one who stole Mike's coin collection and the other things from the condo
.
Greg was the bad influence Mike warned me about in his letter."

"And Greg was the one Cathy was sneaking out to meet, not Johnny," Taber smiled, "or me
.
In Casablanca when I didn't go on the tour it was because Cathy was so afraid
.
She confided a lot of things to me that day, but nothing I could prove."

After a while, Taber continued
.
"At first, Cathy thought Greg had booked the tour so that they could be together
.
She thought it was great fun pretending not to know him, sharing his secret
.
It was all a big game to her until the thefts and accidents began to happen
.
Then Cathy began to suspect what Greg was really up to
.
She finally realized how far he was willing to go and she turned to me, thinking I could save you."

Noa shivered a little. "Greg planned to murder me and marry Cathy so that he could have Mike's inheritance."
Noa thought of the afternoon when he had proposed to her at Rick's Cafe
.
His words had been as phony and insincere as the atmosphere of the place had been
.
If she had said yes, it would have saved him the trouble of killing her
.
He intended to get his hands on Mike's inheritance any way he could
by marrying her, or by killing her and marrying Cathy
.
When she turned him down, he tried to stage her accidental death by running her down in the mysterious car.

Marie Landos stepped out of the elevator
.
Noa wondered how she could ever have felt anything but admiration for her, for her alertness, for her air of command
.
"Come on," Marie said to them
.
"Wendell is waiting for us in the coffee shop."

She led the way, saying over her shoulder
.
"You're not going to believe this, but Cathy and I had a long talk
.
She wants to spend her senior year in boarding school so she can be with Orva
.
I think it's a good idea
.
The girl does have potential."

Wendell walked forward to join them
.
"Marie and I plan to marry July 15th," he announced, putting his arm around her
.
"That's really why I've been looking around for a reliable partner."
He smiled
.
"Marie's a tyrant
.
She's going to insist I give up some of the work load."

"Married?"
Noa's surprise mixed with joy
.
"I'm so happy for you!"

"Yes, a lot of changes
.
You and I, business partners."
Wendell gave a short laugh
.
"If I were smart, I'd have chosen Taber Rand
.
Changing the name of the company to Carlson Parker is going to cost me a small fortune."
Large eyes widened in mock
exasperation
.
"Think of it, Taber
.
New letterhead, paint jobs for all the vans..."

"Stop right there, Wendell
.
Noa and I have thought up a way to save you a lot of trouble and expense."

"It doesn't seem right, changing the company name after so long," Noa explained
.
"So I've decided to change my name instead."

Wendell's eyes grew even wider as he stared at the two of them
.
"Does this mean what I think it means?"