The Secret Servant

the electrified fence. Four guards stood like statuary along the perimeter; two more were perched along the parapet of the watchtower with weapons trained downward. Strauss nodded in approval to the warden, then headed into the yard alone and took his seat.
    Sheikh Abdullah Abdul-Razzaq emerged from the cellblock five minutes later in shackles, sandwiched between a pair of hulking guards. He was shorter than Strauss anticipated, five-six perhaps, and thin as a pauper. He wore an orange prison jumpsuit and a tan parka was draped over his boney shoulders. His beard was unkempt, and what little Strauss could see of his face was gray and slack with illness. It was the face of a dying man, he thought, a face that had not seen sunlight in many years. His eyes, however, still shone with a condescending intelligence. Lawrence Strauss was a man who earned his living making instantaneous judgments about people. His first opinion of Sheikh Abdullah was that he was a courageous and committed man—hardly the raving zealot that had been portrayed by the media and the prosecution at the time of his trial. He would be more than a worthy opponent.
    As the sheikh lowered himself into the chair, Strauss looked at one of the guards. “Remove his shackles, please.”
    The guard shook his head. “It’s against the rules.”
    “I’ll take full responsibility.”
    “Sorry,” the guard said, “but it’s a rule we never bend at the Max. Prisoners are never unshackled when they’re outside the cell. Right, Sheikh Abdullah?”
    The guards gave the sheikh a pat on the back and started back to the cellblock. The Egyptian made no response other than to fix his dark eyes directly on those of Lawrence Strauss.
    “Who are you?” he asked in heavily accented English.
    “My name is Arthur Hamilton,” said Strauss.
    “You work for the American government, Mr. Hamilton?”
    Strauss shook his head. “I want to make clear from the outset that I am a private citizen. I have no connection to the government of the United States whatsoever.”
    “But surely you didn’t come to this place on your own volition. Surely you have been sent here by others.”
    “That is correct.”
    “Who sent you here?”
    Strauss looked up at the guards in the tower, then gazed directly at Sheikh Abdullah. “I am an emissary of the president of the United States.”
    The sheikh accepted this piece of information with an air of detachment. “I’ve been expecting you,” he said calmly. “What can I do for you, Mr. Hamilton?”
    “I assume you are aware of the fact that your group has kidnapped the daughter of the American ambassador in London and is threatening to murder her if the United States does not release you and return you to Egypt.”
    “Choose your words carefully, Mr. Hamilton. Elizabeth Halton is a legitimate target in our eyes. Her death, should it come to pass, would not be murder, but a justifiable killing.”
    “So then you are aware of what has transpired on your behalf?”
    “I am fully aware, Mr. Hamilton.”
    “Are you in any way connected to the attack?”
    “Are you asking me if I ordered it or helped plan it?”
    “That is precisely what I’m asking.”
    He shook his head slowly. “I have had no contact with the Sword of Allah since my incarceration in this facility. What has been done on my behalf was set in motion without my approval or knowledge.”
    “By your brother?”
    “I wouldn’t know.” The sheikh gave a fleeting smile. “You are very good at asking questions, Mr. Hamilton. Am I to assume that you are a lawyer?”
    “Guilty as charged, Sheikh Abdullah.”
    “I appreciate your candor. May I now ask you a question?”
    Strauss nodded.
    “Will you convert to Islam, Mr. Hamilton?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “As a devout Muslim, I am obligated to do many things, including bringing the gift of Islam to the unbelievers.”
    “I’m afraid my allegiances are already spoken for, Sheikh Abdullah.”
    “You are a person of the Book?”
    “I believe in the law, Sheikh Abdullah.”
    “The only law that matters is God’s law.”
    “And what would God say about the atrocities that have been committed in Europe on your behalf? What would God say about the murder and kidnapping of innocents?”
    “The number of dead pale in comparison to the number who have been tortured and killed by your friend Hosni Mubarak. They are but a pittance compared to the number of innocent Muslims who have died because of the