Conspiracy at Desert One
A novel
By Bernace Charles
The Iranian
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Tehran
April 27, 1980
At two a.m. Karim and Laleh were sleeping in Laleh's grandparents' bedroom
when angry men shouted orders and woke them with a start. Neighbors heard
car doors slamming and men shouting for Nezar Hindawi to open the gate.
With the gate open, men burst in the door. They found the light-switches,
turned them on, and raced upstairs. Entering the bedroom, they shouted,
"Up! Get Up! You're under arrest! Get out of bed before we kill you!"
Both Karim and Laleh obeyed the commands. They handcuffed and pushed
out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and out of the house to enter a wash
of blinding headlights. Several other men broke into the garage to find
and start the motorbike. A man in an army uniform rode the bike following
the cars as they turned out the gate and toward Darband Road. No one took
Nezar Hindawi into custody.
***
In Washington D.C., Fred Southgate was in a worried and fearful state.
The press was raking the agency over the coals for not making a more thorough
search for a secure landing zone for the rescue-effort. President Carter
took the blame for the failed-effort, and The Secretary of State had resigned
over the fact an rescue-effort had been attempted instead of waiting for
the political situation to solve the crisis between Iran and America. Eight
American service men were dead and another military disaster lay at the
feet of the Pentagon. It was going to be a long and silent wait.
Now, was the time to reassure Roya of the fact her mother's absence
was because she continued her work on the pictorial essay she was supposedly
doing in Tehran. The Raven was certain Laleh was in custody. A single news
report coming out of Tehran said Revolutionary Guards arrested an American
woman along with her lover. President Carter had denied any such person
being in Iran and under CIA control. >>>
Go to Chapter Fifty-Nine
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