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FROM HIS ROOM Virga telephoned the hotel in which Naughton had stayed A man there explained to hihton had sis and vanished No word, no trace Perhaps, the hton he would care to pay the rea said he would be in touch again and hung up the receiver

He tried to rest to alleviate his jet lag but he couldn&039;t fall asleep Instead he tossed in bed and finally lay staring fixedly up at the ornate ceiling Through the open s that looked out on a small balcony the waves of heat were stubborn and brutal, but to close the ouldwasn&039;t working So he lay on the bed, the sweat slowly gathering under his arms and at his temples, and he listened to the raucous noise in the streets below: the honking of auto, the occasional blast that un He watched the noise swirl up at the ceiling, there aed scrollwork the Arabs use to excess It hung there like cobwebs

He rolled over and unfolded the ure was thin and tall; the features were only a shapeless blur Virga wondered what this man who called hiether fraght Whatever he looked like, whoever he was, his presence had thrown this land crazily off balance And, Virga realized, thisacross the land&039;s boundaries infecting, as the Kuwaiti had told him, those in other countries as well The idea of one ery, like the god he had nahtmare in which one must run but is trapped in an invisible ood in this movement whatsoever Behind the facade of its promise of "individual poas the extreme of violence and rule byoverthrown

He rose up from the bed He had loosened his tie earlier, and now he took it off He stripped off his shirt and walked into the bathrooht a glimpse of himself in the e under his eyes, the e had crept upon hiht, year by year He didn&039;t reolden crucifix, a gift from Katherine

Katherine

He took the crucifix off and laid it carefully on a table on the other room When he returned to the bathroom he saw a residue of sand at the bottom of the tub

When he had dressed in a cool blue suit and reapplied the sunburn balm to his face he locked the door and took the elevator down to the lobby The pool of blood was still there

Outside the hotel he stood in the heat and watched the erratic flow of traffic while waiting for a taxi

The cabdriver had a ragged gray beard and wore a dirty white cap pulled low Virga slipped into the rear seat and showed hinize this place?"

"I recognize it," the man said

"Can you take me there?"

He re-entered the strea, so streets that had been closed off by police officers Here and there Virga saw groups of uniformed soldiers on patrol; once they passed the body of a soldier, sprawled and bloated on the sidewalk Once the cab aved away froed, bullet-torn shops by three soldiers who appeared to be fresh froe wrapped around his head and another supported hih narrow deserted side streets and alleys

The driver said, "Everyone wants to go out there Why do you wish to see hiet in"

"Why not?"

"He sees no one"

"Have you taken ht them back when they were turned away You&039;re no different I&039;ll be bringing you back as well"

"Perhaps"

The driver grunted "No perhaps You&039;re an American? A journalist?"