Free Lion of Babylon by Davis Bunn

you to forget past grievances. To help find a mutual friend.”
    â€œAlex Baird. That is correct.”
    â€œBut why you? This is a critical issue, would you not agree? Don’t you think a man with White House connections could find someone with better—what do you call it—bona fides? Someone with Middle East experience? Someone who knows Baghdad and the situation here?”
    â€œThree reasons.”
    â€œI’m listening, Mr. Royce.”
    â€œFirst, there are people inside the government who do not want Alex Baird found. Why, I have no idea. But this has left Walton’s hands tied. He would have gone through official channels if he could have. But he can’t.”
    This mirrored the situation Sameh faced in Baghdad and had been confirmed by Barry Duboe. Sameh merely replied, “That is one reason.”
    â€œMy guess is, Ambassador Walton suspects Alex has gone missing because of some issue tied to the church. How, I don’t know. But one of the missing women is a missionary. And they all worshiped at the same Green Zone chapel. That is a coincidence. Ambassador Walton has another name for coincidences. He calls them fault lines. Points where the mystery may be resolved.”
    â€œYour ambassador sounds like a very intelligent man. And point three?”
    â€œWalton is using me as bait.”
    Sameh leaned back in his seat. It was what he had himself been thinking. But to have Marc Royce suggest it in such a calm and analytical fashion was most remarkable.
    The young man went on, “Barry Duboe is also a friend of Alex. And a longtime ally of Ambassador Walton. But he has hit the same stone wall. So they plant me in plain sight. You know the expression, ‘tethered goat’?”
    â€œOf course.”
    Marc Royce explained it anyway. “You trap a dangerous predator by tying live bait out where the beast can get a good look. And you hide your best shooters nearby. And you wait.”
    â€œIt does not bother you to have this gentleman in Washington use you in such a fashion?”
    â€œI’d like to think Walton expects me to survive.”
    â€œEven so. You owe Alex Baird so much?”
    Once more, Marc Royce’s eyes met his host’s to reveal hidden pains. “My life and more.”
    Sameh found himself far from displeased to have been handed this American. He was in fact very intrigued. Even so, he needed to be certain that this intense young man was actually worth the bother. “You ask a great deal of me, Mr. Royce. Your presence represents a very large and potentially dangerous request. And we both know it.”
    Marc lifted his tea, blew across the surface, and tasted it. “This tea is great.”
    â€œBefore we discuss the issue that has brought us together, I need to know if you are indeed a man I can rely on.” Sameh pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and set it on the table between them. “I have a situation. One that troubles me as much as the missing Americans disturb you. Perhaps more.”
    Marc set down the glass. “Tell me what you need.”
    â€œInside the envelope is the photograph and name and fingerprints of a kidnapper. We believe he has taken the young child of my client. The child’s photograph and other details are also enclosed. I need help finding that man. He was employed by my client as a gardener. During Saddam’s regime he had been arrested for abduction and murder.”
    Marc Royce underwent a remarkable transformation. One that actually silenced the tables to either side of them. The courteous façade simply vanished. In its place was a man of such cold fury that even Sameh was a little frightened. “He kidnapped a baby?”
    â€œThe boy turned four soon after he was abducted. Barry Duboe has refused to help me unless or until we find your—”
    â€œI’ll talk to him.” He was already on his feet. “How do I reach