Page 69 of Tom Clancy Line of Sight
“Thank you. I would like that very much.”
“Are you sure you don’t want a drink or something?”
“I have to get back, but thank you. And thank you for taking the time to find me and for delivering this.”
Jack shrugged. “It was no big deal.”
“When do you go back to the States?”
“Tomorrow, actually.”
Aida’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, that’s too bad. I would have liked to show you my city.”
“Well, it’s not a problem to change my plans.”
“Really? That would be wonderful. Can you come back to the tour office at ten o’clock tomorrow?”
“Sure. That would be great.”
“Wonderful.” She put her hand out.
Jack shook it. A firm grip. Their hands lingered for a moment longer than he expected.
More electricity.
“See you tomorrow, then.”
She turned and opened the door, whispered something to her man as the two of them disappeared down the stairwell.
Jack shut the door.
What was he going to tell Gerry?
He’d promised his boss he was flying home tomorrow, but that sure as hell wasn’t going to happen now.
35
At ten o’clock the next morning, Ambassador Topal sat at the head of the table in the conference room of the Islamic Peace Studies Center (IPSC), built with funds from a religious organization based in Ankara, Turkey.
Lining both sides of the conference table sat several Bosniak Islamic religious and community leaders. Two of them were bearded imams from conservative mosques in the suburbs. All of the others were decidedly moderate in their views, including two women, one in a silky blue-and-yellow headscarf and the other one, the IPSC director, wearing no head covering at all.
Topal had called this morning’s brief meeting. Recent polls showed the upcoming Unity Referendum was plummeting in the polls because of the recent ethnic violence. Without a strong Bosniak voter turnout in favor of the referendum, it was doomed to fail. The purpose of today’s meeting was to shore up the support of those assembled and of their respective constituencies before attending his next event.
There was one empty chair at the table that concerned the ambassador. He would look into that later.
“We feel that we have a religious duty to show the world we can live in peace with Catholics and Orthodox, as well as Jews and people of every faith—or no faith at all,” the director said. “The Unity Referendum is vital to the exercise of that sacred duty.”
Several heads nodded around the table.
Topal radiated a grandfatherly smile. “I applaud your ecumenicism, Madame Director.”
One of the imams spoke up. “We cannot allow the Unity Referendum to become a mutual suicide pact.”
“No, of course not,” Topal said. “My government would be the first one to oppose it if I thought that Muslim interests were in any way compromised.”
The imam placed an open palm against his chest. “Of this we have no doubt.”
“Thank you,” Topal said. The man’s mosque was one of hundreds destroyed in the war by Serb and Croat forces, and one of the many rebuilt with money from Ankara. Topal had personally approved this imam’s reconstruction project.
