smile on Durrani's face vanished. "Good God. What did those fools do to you?" Durrani rushed to the bedside and looked at the swollen and bruised face. "Is it you? I can't be sure." The monstrous face slowly turned in his direction. The man was blind. His eyes, swollen tightly shut, looked like two peaches. His lips were cut, cracked, and so puffy the top one touched his broken and deformed nose. Durrani had seen the video on the Internet and assumed that they had used makeup to exaggerate the injuries. "What happened?"
When he spoke he sounded congested. "It's not easy to talk. I think they broke my jaw."
Durrani's entire being stiffened with anger. "I will kill them. I swear to you I will kill them."
There was gruff laughter from the doorway. "I think you're a little late for that."
Durrani looked over his shoulder at Kassar. "How could you have let this happen?"
"It was your idea," he said, not wanting to own any of this. "All part of your grand plan."
"This," Durrani said, pointing at Rickman, "was not my plan."
"Relax, Akhtar," Rickman said, reaching out with his left hand.
When Durrani saw the mangled and broken fingers he took a quick step back.
"I'm alive," Rickman said. "It worked. Vazir took care of your two Taliban dupes. I'm told the entire thing was quite dramatic. Fortunately, I had passed out by then."
"Are you in pain?" Durrani asked.
It was a relative question, or at least the pain was relative. He was not comfortable, but compared to his pain during the beatings he was at peace. "I'm okay."
"You are no such thing. You are a bloody mess."
"I'll survive."
"I'm not sure you will." Durrani looked to Kassar again. "How could you have let this happen?"
"He insisted," Kassar said. "You've told me many times my job is to follow orders. I wanted to stop sooner, but he said we had to make sure it was convincing."
"To follow my orders." Durrani hit himself in the chest repeatedly.
"Well, you weren't there, General. I was following Joe's orders."
Durrani found Kassar's unflappable behavior unnerving at times. Rather than start yelling at him, Durrani turned his attention back to Rickman. There wasn't an inch of his face that wasn't bruised, swollen, or cut. "Why did you do this to yourself?"
"I didn't . . . it was your Taliban flunkies. They were not very smart, by the way. Perfect for the job, really. I must compliment you."
Durrani cracked a small smile. He had always found Rickman humorous. "It looks like they went too far."
"It was the only way. I had to sell it."
Durrani was dumbfounded. He knew the American was smart, but he had no idea he was so tough. "You are either the bravest man I know, or you are crazy. Which one is it?"
"A little bit of both, I suppose." Rickman started to smile, but then had to stop because it hurt too much.
Durrani considered the bigger picture. He would have preferred not to cut this so close, but he was thankful that Rickman was alive. He had pulled off one of the greatest intelligence coups in the history of the world. "This is a great day." He put his right hand on Rickman's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze.
Rickman moaned and Kassar said, "I think his shoulders were dislocated while they were tied above his head. I wouldn't do that."
Durrani withdrew his hand and said, "Has the doctor seen him?"
Kassar shook his head and grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his suit coat. He tapped one free and pointed the unfiltered end at Rickman. "He won't allow it."
"What?"
"I said he won't allow it."
Durrani shot Kassar a scowl. He was the only person who worked for Durrani who even attempted to defy him. "I heard what you said. Why won't he allow it?"
"Because he doesn't trust our doctor. He thinks the fewer the people who see him the better."
"But he needs medical attention." Durrani looked at the broken man lying on the large bed. "We need to have a doctor look at you."
"And then you will kill him." Rickman shook his head slowly an inch to his left and then his right. "I will heal. Just let me rest."
"Thank you," Kassar said, "I will be the one who has to kill him, and I like Dr. Bhutani. He has stitched me up on several occasions . . . a very handy man to have around. I would prefer it if we could keep him."
Durrani turned halfway and swatted the