Chapter 11
Alex Knight finished packing the little rucksack he and Cathy had bought one day when they were sightseeing the local countryside around Vevey. Then, standing up, he walked over to the bed where his wife was still lying half asleep. The blinds were drawn, and the room was plunged in semi-darkness. He could see Cathy's large blue eyes looking up at him from the pillow.
She was still drowsy with sleep and hadn't been aware of his packing actions. He looked down at her lovely body clad in a flimsy mini nightgown, a pale blue little nothing with ruffles and lace that made her look like a little girl, a very enticing little girl though.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Alex put his hand on her cheek. He had a feeling this would be the last time he would ever see his wife. The honeymoon had been brief, Cathy didn't know how brief it was ... It was a pity, he thought. He liked her a great deal. She was so pretty and she made him feel so sexy. He really couldn't have chosen better! He had not only married Cathy because it had been convenient for him to do so, although' that, he had to confess, had been the main reason. But Cathy also represented a peace and security which a well hidden part of him had always yearned for.
Poor little Cathy! She loved him so! It was going to be a rude awakening from her daydream, but they had both enjoyed while it had lasted. At least, he had tried to do his best to give her nice memories. And, except for the unfortunate incident in Interlaken, he had succeeded.
Cathy caught hold of his hand and pushed it underneath her nightgown onto her bare bosom. He was about to pull it away, aware that he had no time to lose. The message he had just received from Shelby was very clear and admitted no delay. They all had to move quickly before Interpol would be on their track he had to reach Zurich as soon as possible in order to meet his friends and clear the question of papers for them to go to East Germany ... And all this wasn't going to be easy....
But as his hand closed on his wife's warm, soft breasts, Alex changed his mind. He would make love to her just once more. One day, when Cathy would know the whole truth, perhaps she would remember this darkened room with its walls covered in flowered wallpaper, and the sun beating on the rustic shutters outside. The languor that pervaded the pure, light air. The fragrance of those flowers on the little table near the window ... Perhaps she would remember this moment hanging from the clouds and have a tender thought for him.
It was one of the few sentimental moments .that Alexander Knight had ever had in his life, and he was surprised at himself. But as Cathy's arm came from under the bedclothes, and she put her hand on his bare leg, sliding it up underneath his shirts, he let everything slip from his mind. Her small, warm hand, sent a thrill racing through his entire body, and he eased himself gently backwards, giving her freer access to his slowly erecting manhood.
Cathy sighed voluptuously as her closed over Alex's swelling phallus. Gently, she pulled the rearing cock from out under the brief shorts he was wearing, and catching hold of the huge throbbing knob began to squeeze it rhythmically. The excited prick erected to its full length, the foreskin peeling back and her small hand, which only just managed to grasp the arrowhead, became wet and sticky with prick juice.
Alex stopped fondling Cathy's breasts and pulled down the zipper on the fly of his shorts, finally getting rid of the confining garment and kicking it off onto the floor. As Cathy continued to squeeze his juicy knob, he became more and more excited. He levered himself on the bed and got astride Cathy's shoulder. He had intended pushing himself underneath the sheets, on top of her, but suddenly Cathy bent his stiff prick to a vertical position, and opening her mouth, pushed the thick head between her sweet lips.
With a groan, Alex leaned forward, resting her hands behind her pillow, and started to sink his jerking penis as deep as he could into her throat. Soon, she was sucking the rod being pushed into her mouth, and Alex, feeling her tongue rubbing against his knob-slit, groaned again with the excruciating pleasure of it
Cathy felt her jaws beginning to ache as she kept her mouth open as wide as she could, to accommodate Alex's swelling organ. But she enjoyed the feel of the pulsating cock inside her mouth, getting a thrill from the pungent taste of creamy juicy running into her throat as it oozed in thick droplets from the tiny opening at the head. She reached up and began to play with his balls, cupping them lovingly in her hands, running her fingers through the thick pubic hair that surrounded her husband's sex shaft.
She continued doing this until Alex couldn't stand it any longer. He jerked his dick out of Cathy's mouth, throwing the sheets back as he did so. Then, pressing his hungering cock hard against Cathy's up-thrust breasts, he worked his way down her body, feeling her push upwards to meet his urgent need. When his face was on the same level as hers, he caught hold of the nightgown by the low neckline and ripped it downwards off her body, revealing her warm pert titties.
Feverishly, he started to suck at her nipples, rubbing his tongue roughly over the red teats, making them stand up so that he could bite them. Cathy cried out as his teeth sank rudely into her quivering flesh, but she enjoyed the pleasurable torment.
After a while, he rose from her body and leaned backwards on his haunches, his quivering prick standing up straight, the naked pink arrowhead glistening in the dim light filtering through the drawn blinds. With a quick movement, he ripped the remainder of Cathy's nightgown straight down the middle. Then, catching hold of her legs, he forced them wide apart, his eyes watching for the appearance of her cunt hole as her legs parted. Bending his head, he buried his face, for what he knew was the last time, into the warm, musky smelling pubic hairs, his tongue licking at the parting cunt lips.
Cathy began to thresh about wildly in a surge of passion as Alex's tongue penetrated into her damp orifice. She opened her legs even wider apart, sticking them high in the air to give him better access to her lustful hole. Once his tongue had brushed against her clitty. she couldn't control herself. Pushing her hands under her own buttocks, she pushed her awakened sex as hard as she could against Alex's face, trying to force his tongue deeper into her throbbing fanny. After a few minutes of this, she was nearly crying with anguished joy.
"Oh, Alex, my darling," she moaned. "Fuck me, oh please, fuck me or I'll go mad!"
He withdrew his tongue from between her quivering cunt lips, and keeping his arms underneath her legs, so that her feet remained pointing to the ceiling, he positioned himself for a good fuck. Cathy took her hands from underneath his butt, and grasping the thick, rock hard cock, bent the fiery red knob to her waiting pussy. As soon as she had maneuvered the throbbing knob-end into the entrance to her vagina, she returned her hands to their original position, beneath her wobbling butt cheeks, prepared to help the surge of the manly organ within her.
Alex began his long slide into Cathy's cunt, the whole weight of his body coming down between her wide open legs. He did it slowly, allowing inch after inch of his incredibly swollen dick to slide into the wet slippery passage that nature had provided for it. And then the full length was up inside Cathy's quim, and he was pressing his stomach hard against hers, thrilling as she pushed herself even harder against him by levering her hands against her butt cheeks.
For a breathless second, they remained motionless, until with an explosion of pant-up breath Alex pulled his dick out of its clinging sheath for a few inches, and then rammed it back again. It was the prelude to one of the most exciting fucks Cathy had ever had in her life-a fuck she was long to remember.
Alex was going at her literally like a sex starved stallion, and with the rhythmic energy of a piston engine. Her climax was getting nearer, she could feel it bubbling up inside her, taking hold of all her senses, blurring her vision, and making her brain spin wildly.
Once Alex's hips had closed on hers, he felt the small white teeth bite into him, and her hips start to shake uncontrollably. Groaning, gasping, biting, Cathy shot her load, creaming it over the pouncing piston that continued to fuck relentlessly her drenched cunt hole.
But Alex wasn't ready to shoot yet. He began to fuck Cathy's extended hole faster, thrusting his rigid, swollen dick at right angles, and then fucking her with a sexy, twisting movement of his hips. His butt was pumping up and down at a fantastic rate, his orgasm on the brink of breaking through.
By this time, Cathy felt herself approaching a second orgasm, suck was the force of his love-making It was when she heard his voice: "Cathy I'm coming, Oh, Cathy, darling, I'm coming!" that her hips rose to meet his last flurry of frantic thrusts. With a tortured cry, she began to release her second! load of spunk, feeling it pour from the walls of her vagina.
Alex let his whole body stiffen into a straight line, as his pulsating rod spewed forth a jet of thick white cream deep into Cathy's already come-soaked quim. He relaxed a little, then stiffened again as another spurt shot out of his open knob-slit. At the end of this second release, he sank down on top of Cathy, the sweat from their bodies mingling. Cathy's arms went around his back, holding him close to her. She closed her eyes, and in a surprisingly short time, she fell asleep again, exhausted after her sexual exertion.
Alex waited until Cathy's breath steadied to a restful rhythm against his ear, then he slowly eased himself out of the bad and without looking back at his wife's sleeping figure, got dressed, grabbed his rucksack and made for the street and the rented car parked in front of the hotel. Then he had driven out of the lovely Swiss town as fast as he dared. His departure had already been delayed longer than was healthy, and he still had a long way to go.
It was getting dark, but Alex drove straight out of Vevey without stopping. Once clear, he stooped the car. He had already gone far enough with it. Taking a pair of binoculars from his rucksack, he climbed a nearby hill. The gathering gloom hindered his view, but he could just make out what he was looking for. According to his map, there should be a river just off the main road. Having ascertained that it was in fact there, he got back into the car.
Soon, ha had reached a point in the road where the river ran parallel with it if his calculations were correct. He couldn't see it because of a high belt of trees. He stopped the car and waited until the road was clear of traffic, then he swung the wheel over and plunged' into the thicket of trees. The small Renault skidded and swerved over the rough ground, but Alex managed to get it through the barrier of trees and out on the other side And' there was the river, running between steel banks. He drove the car to the edge and climbed cut holding his rucksack. It was no effort at all to push it down the sludgy bank. It rolled slowly into the water, and for a moment, Alex thought it wasn't going to sink. Rut it did, leaving nothing behind but a few bubbles.
Alex then returned to the main road, and started walking. As an occasional car whizzed past, he began to try and hitch a lift. Eventually, some kindly driver would stop, and with his most charming smile, Alex Knight would climb inside ... Nothing was more simple.
Alex was wandering amongst the crowd of tourists, his eyes sharp and searching behind his sunglasses. He was just outside the stately Gross-munster Cathedral that hovered its 7th century walls above the Limmat River. He had Vevery a few days ago, and it had taken him two days and a half to reach Zurich. He had already been walking around the Cathedral for one hour, looking for signs of Michael and Brian and he was beginning to get impatient.
Two days on the road had changed Alex's appearance from that of a suave diplomat to that of a bearded, harassed looking tourist, even to the detail of the camera hanging on his chest. Few of his former acquaintances would have recognized him, and that was just as well....
He was sweating, but it wasn't because of the heat ... A cool wind was acutely blowing. A photographer had just pointed a camera at him, and he turned so swiftly that he nearly knocked over a person standing immediately behind him. He muttered an apology in bad German, and was about to move on, when he stood still in amazement.
It couldn't be, but the person he had collided with was an Oriental, and it was Houei Phong, his faithful manservant! They stood and stared at one another for a split second, then Houei turned and began to saunter off in the opposite direction.
For a moment, Alex thought that his eyes must be playing tricks. He was too tired, he was having visions ... But no, it was Houei all right, he would recognize that mischievous asiatic face anywhere. The young Vietnamese had stopped, and was making the pretense of trying up a loose shoe lace. Then he continued to walk slowly forward, crossing the bridge over the Limmat River, Houei looking back occasionally to make sure Alex was following him all right.
They were now walking up steep, narrow streets lined with old fashioned houses contrasting sharply with the newer sections Alex had seen of the Swiss city. Then Houei stopped in front of a dark, rambling hotel, and Alex waited behind, to see what the Oriental would do. Houei walked straight into the hotel and disappeared.
Warily, Alex approached the hotel entrance. As he passed out of the bright sunshine into the gloom of the hotel lobby, he took the rucksack off his back. Swinging it gently back and forth in his hands, he prepared to swipe out at anyone who might be looking for trouble. His eyes became accustomed to the dim lighting, and he saw Houei standing halfway up a flight of dirty stone steps. The man was smiling and beckoning him to follow.
Quickly, Alex ran up the stairs, catching up with Houei at the top of the flight.
"Hello, Mr. Knight. Look, we go in here," he said, pointing to a door at the end of the short landing.
"Who's there? What is this place?" Alex hissed, taking hold of Houei's arm. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Please come inside," his servant answered. "Two men are in there. They will answer questions."
Alex kept behind Houei as they approached the door. He had taken a gun out of his shoulder holster, and was holding it tight when they entered the room. He didn't know what to expect, but he wasn't taking chances at this point of the game.
Two men walked forward, both complete strangers.
"Mr. Knight, we're glad to see you're doing fine," one of them said in a heavily German-accented French. By his business like appearance and his measured' gestures, Alex decided that he was probably a German Swiss. "Please come inside," the stranger went on in a cordial voice. "You can put your gun away. We have been contacted by Pei Liao, from Phonom Penh, and have been expecting you. We have papers to identify ourselves."
Alex moved slowly into the room, but he kept the gun pointed at the two men.
"May I you my credentials?" the same man asked, again speaking in his heavily accented French.
Alex nodded, and the man reached inside his breast pocket. He held them out, and Alex took the papers from him. They were genuine enough. They would mean nothing to anyone else, but he knew that these people were on his side. At his turn, Alex extracted his own identification papers from his pocket and: showed them to the men.
Shaking hands with the two Swiss agents, Alex flung himself down on a rickety bed in the corner of the room.
"Now," he said, lighting a cigarette, "Fill me in on the details. What's happened? How did he get here?" He was referring to Houei who sat smiling his usual candid smile, Alex knew that he understood every word spoken between him and the two men like the good tri-lingual Vietnamese he was.
The man who seemed to be the leader-at least, he was the one who spoke always-related all he knew. He didn't give Alex many details, but the American spy got a broad outline of what had happened. So the game was really up. His carer as a double agent had ended. If ever he got away from Zurich, he would probably never see the western world again. . .at least, there was a good chance of this happening, though Alex was confident in his lucky star ... There were ways of doing things, there were always ways for the Alex Knights of this world....
He listened, eyes half-closed as the man told how Michael, Brian' and Houei had left Saigon and encountered a thousand perils before finally crossing the frontier into Laos. After this eventful beginning, the three had gone quite safely to Phnom Penh, and last night had stayed in the room where Alex now found himself. The hotel was owned by a "friend" Alex gathered ... Michael and Brian had already left in the direction of Germany with properly forged sets of documents. Alex was to leave the following day in the company of Houei. He should get some rest tonight and prepare for the rest of his precarious journey.
The German Swiss was coming to the end of his story.
"There is only one thing I'd like to add. We've just been informed that Pei Liao has been captured by Major Carter's men after he had returned to Saigon to go on with his work for the National Liberation Front...."
"I'm sorry," Alex replied. "Pei was a good man. He will be a loss to his people. He did valuable work for me in Saigon."
Alex now turned to Houei, and for the first time since he had entered the room, spoke in English. He didn't know if the two men could understand or not. It didn't matter anyway.
"And may I ask what you are doing here?" he asked in a mock stern tone.
Houei looked abashed for a minute, then he went into a lengthy and involved explanation. Alex gathered the young man was aware of the situation and of the role his master had played in the affairs of his own country, but that he still wanted to follow him and his two friends wherever they'd go.
What did it matter? Alex thought. Houei actually didn't have any allegiance to a specific piece of land. He could have been born any place on this earth, and it wouldn't matter. Ir he wanted to follow the destiny of his master, so be it.
The two strangers stood up, and walked towards the door.
"I suggest you have a rest, Mr. Knight," the leader said. "We are going to take care of your identification documents. Well be back early tomorrow morning to give you proper instructions on the itinerary you should follow."
As they left the room, Alex looked at his watch. It was mid-day. He could have a long, much needed rest.
"Houei, I'm going to sleep," he said to his faithful manservant. "I shall rely on you to stay awake. If that door locks, lock it."
He closed his eyes, and sleep swam into his brain almost immediately. The last two days, hitching on minor roads, traveling across Switzerland at night, had been very strenuous. He hadn't dared relax for a minute. But now, everything seemed to be ail right It wasn't over yet, but a great deal had been accomplished. He just had to be patient. . and things would smooth out by themselves.
As he drifted into sleep, he heard Houei fiddling with the lock on the door, as though he were having trouble with it. Then, he plunged into restful darkness and silence.
How long had he remained asleep he didn't know, but he was suddenly aware that a hand was pressing over his mouth. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Houei. He lay perfectly still, realizing that he was required to awaken quietly. In the silence, he heard a slight noise just outside the door of their room. Someone was attempting to force the lock.
The blinds had been drawn, and the room was plunged in semi darkness. Houei removed his hand, and stealthily getting up from the bed, Alex rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. His gun, which he had replaced in the shoulder strap, was now out again and ready in his hand. He was relieved to see that Houei also held a gun in his hand, and was glad he had taught him to shoot. What had been regarded as an amusing pastime was going to prove quite useful.
The two men positioned themselves flat against the wall close to the door. It opened inwards, and whoever entered would not see them immediately. Whoever was so busily working on the lock was determined to be quiet, and consequently, it was taking him a long time. The minutes ticked by and Alex glanced at his watch. It was six in the afternoon. He had slept quite a few hours.
At last, there was a series of clicking noises. The lock had been forced. For a while, nothing happened It was very quiet in the room and Alex could hear the beat of his own heart. He glanced at Houei and saw sweat beading on the young Oriental's forehead. The intruder outside was waiting to see if anyone had heard him working on the lock. After what seemed a very long time, although it was only a few minutes, the door handle slowly began to turn, and then the door swung open. Again there was complete silence.
Alex raised the revolver in his hand, and Houei did the same. They stood, pressed against the wall, watching the door which had opened inwards. And' then a medium-height, strong looking man sauntered into the room. He was wearing shorts which revealed his hairy legs, and a brightly checkered shirt that needed ironing. He carried a camera over one arm, and sticking out of a pocket of his shorts could be seen a wad of travel pamphlets.
As soon as the intruder reached the center of the room, he saw Alex and Houei pressed against the wall behind the door. He froze, not moving his face expressionless.
Then he spoke, in a bad German: "I'm sorry, gentlemen, but I seem to have come into the wrong room."
He started to amble towards the door again, but Alex clicked the safety catch on his revolver, and the man froze into stillness for the second time. Alex kicked the door shut.
"Who are you?" he asked in English, in a clipped expressionless voice.
"I'm sorry," the intruder apologized again. "But I think I'm actually in the wrong hotel, and certainly I'm in' the wrong room. I only arrived in Zurich last night, and these cheap hotels are all very similar, don't you think?"
Alex didn't reply, but waited. Eventually, the man continued. " I thought this was the right hotel and when I found my key wouldn't fit into the lock, I decided to open it by other means. I didn't wish to disturb the manager. I'm glad you're Americans, it makes it easier to explain my obvious indiscretion."
He stopped talking and fished into his pocket. Alex's finger tightened on the gun trigger, but all the man produced was a pair of bifocal rimless glasses, which he perched on the end of his long, up-tilted nose. They made him look even more ridiculous, and Houei began to grin. But Alex didn't lower his gun.
"May I ask where you learned to pick locks?"
"Yes, you may," the man replied in his funny, high-pitched voice. "I see by what you are holding in your hand, that your job sometimes puts you in a position where you are not exactly on the right side of the law. Well, for many years I was a burglar and a very good one, I may say. I've been retired now for some time, but I still remember a few of the old tricks. The trouble is my memory. It just isn't what it was. I should never have entered into this hotel. It obviously isn't the one I checked in last night. And I should never have attempted to pick the lock of this room. But I felt quite sure it was mine. The hallway is so dark."
His voice trailed away, and Alex lowered his revolver. Houei had already put his back into his pocket.
"Well, old man," Alex said in a friendlier voice. "I'm afraid you'll have to keep us company for quite a few hours. Then, if I were you, I would forget the whole incident. I'm sure you understand what I mean...."
The man grinned, showing a set of false teeth. "Yes, I see what you mean ... I shall probably forget anyway. My memory is so bad I forget everything. My name is Franciscus, by the way, I won't ask your. No point. May I sit down? Might as well be comfortable if I've got to stay here."
Alex nodded, and the man shuffled towards the bed where Alex had been sleeping. He passed quite close to where Alex and Houei were still standing with their backs to the wall. Suddenly, he had the camera strap, which was slung over his shoulder, in his hand. Moving like a striking viper, he swung the camera with deadly accuracy at Alex's arm which was hanging by his side, the gun still held in his hand. It struck his wrist before he could move, the pain deadening his whole arm. The gun clattered to the floor.
Houei started to reach for his own gun, it was too late for him too. The intruder stood with a half-smile, half-snarling his face. A gun had appeared as if from now here, and the hand which held it was as steady as a rock.
"One move, Mr. Alexander Knight and they will have to pass sentence on your dead body," he hissed. "And the same goes for your friend."
Alex felt the numbness going out of his arm, and wanted to rub it, he daren't move. He could hardly believe that this funny looking tourist had suddenly transformed himself into a dangerous guy. He looked closely at the face of the man, nothing the steady blue eyes-a look he had seen somewhere-the thin strands of hair covering his nearly bald head, and the bushy gray eyebrows. Then he began to course himself. The man was wearing a false scalp, which made him appear almost bald. Now that he looked closely, he could see the faint line of an artificial skull cap across the man's forehead. To a layman, it wouldn't be noticeable, but he had worn one himself before and he knew he was right. Those eyes....
The man began to speak, and his voice was cold with hate.
"You're probably wondering who I really am?" he said, licking his dry lips. Then, in a theatrical gesture, he pulled off the wig, the false nose, the false teeth. It was Lieutenant Edwin Mc Cullough!
"You thought I had disappeared from the face of earth, Mr. Knight when my body wasn't recovered in Hong Kong. But this little adventure helped me tie many loose ends. Do you remember, Mr. Knight, the Li Xieng affair? And the grenade at the combat school? You wanted to arrange for a dishonorable death for me, didn't you? by the way, I heard of Sulling's accident. . .Well, I only wish I had time to arrange a messy death for you. But as it is, I intend to simply put you in the hands of Interpol agents who are waiting for me right outside this door, Mr. Knight ... You never liked to answer questions, now you'll have to do a lot of talking ... You see, Mr. Knight, it only takes a spy to catch another spy...."