Jack Hogan sat back in Abdulah's comfortable leather chair in his office at the Golden Sands, quite changed from the desperate young man he had been such a short time ago. He wore a white suit and tie with a black silk shirt, and his hair was slicked back off his face. He studied the man sitting across from him. The man, a Ben Peterson, had been insistent about seeing Abdulah, but since the boss was still out of the country, and God only knew when he would return, Peterson had agreed to see Jack, who was acting as manager.
"So, Mr. Peterson, I understand you have been quite anxious to see His Excellency Abdulah al-Ahmal. Is there some problem with your accommodations? I assure you we want to do everything we can to make your stay here pleasant and comfortable."
"Oh, no. It's nothing like that." Ben assured him. "My room is quite comfortable. No, this is about another matter. I had wanted to speak to His Excellency about this picture." He pulled an eight by ten photograph from a manila envelope, and handed it to Jack.
Jack reached over the desk and took the photo. His face visibly blanched as he saw that it included Sara Mathews, the girl he had kidnapped for Abdulah. It had been so long ago and his life had changed so much since then that he had almost succeeded in forgetting all about that little escapade. Almost. Now out of the blue, this guy who looked like his fifth grade science teacher, shows him this miserable picture. Damn. Unable to stop himself, he glanced down at the file drawer where he knew there was an exact duplicate of this very photograph.
Trying to recover gracefully, he glanced up at Ben and let out a low whistle. "Wow, that's quite a looker. What about her?" He asked, in what he thought was a casual tone.
One of the reasons Ben Peterson had become a successful private investigator was because he was so unassuming. He presented a benign, fatherly image that kept people off guard, and left them open to scrutiny, so he was ready and did not fail to see Jack Hogan's reaction. He also noted that Jack had assumed he was here about the girl, when there were two other people in the picture. He decided to get right to the point.
"Her name is Sara Mathews. She has disappeared, and I have been hired to find her."
Damn, thought Jack. His worst nightmare was coming true.
"And what does this have to do with the Golden Sands and His Excellency? I am sure he has his picture taken with a great number of people."