The Torch of Tangier Read Online Free Page A

he spoke.
    Drury sat on the edge of his chair. “I know the Riffians,” he repeated, his tone growing more insistent with each sentence. He leaned his elbow on Boyle’s desk. “Came here in the Twenties during the Riff war when they fought for their independence against Spain. Fascinating people. Blue-eyed, blond Arabs.” He gave Boyle a knowing grin. “The Vikings were great explorers.”
    “You’re trying to tell me Leif Erikson was here?” Boyle glanced at Lily with half a smile, as if expecting a reaction. She raised an eyebrow and Boyle glared at Drury’s arm resting on the corner of his desk.
    He removed his glasses and leaned forward. “This is the second time you walked into my office to make demands and tell me what to do. And now you have your friend Donovan call, put the pressure on me.” Boyle waved his glasses in Lily’s direction. “And Goldilocks over here? What does she want?”
    Goldilocks?
    “She’s my assistant,” Drury said.
    “I’ll bet she is.”
    “My name is Lily Sampson.” Goldilocks, indeed. “But you may call me Miss Sampson. I’m an archaeologist. I’ve worked on sites in the Middle East before.”
    “This isn’t an excavation, Miss Sampson. And we aren’t in the Middle East,” Boyle said. “The Middle East is the Levant, Palestine, Syria. This is the Near East.”
    Drury let out an impatient sigh. “I know the founder of the Republic of the Riff, Abd el-Krim.”
    Boyle drummed his fingers, his gaze fastened on Drury’s hands resting next to the tray of pens on Boyle’s desk. “I don’t know what you’re really after.” He watched as Drury rearranged the pens in the tray. “I know you’re up to some tricks, but I don’t know what they are. I only know that I have instructions from higher up to accommodate Donovan.” Boyle’s nostrils expanded with an irritated quiver and a pink flush of anger suffused his face. “And frankly, I resent it. I wouldn’t know what to do with you. You don’t know squat about consular work.”
    He looked pointedly at Drury’s hands, still fumbling with the pens on Boyle’s desk.
    “I apologize for whatever.” Drury dropped his hands to his lap and leaned back in the chair. “Didn’t mean to step on your toes, but I’m here to help. There’s a war on, you know.”
    With a contemplative nod, Boyle twirled his glasses by the earpiece, first clockwise, then counterclockwise. “We’re in a delicate situation here. Have to be careful. It’s touch and go whether Franco will join the Axis.”
    “I understand.” Drury bent toward Boyle again and lowered his voice. “That’s where the Riffians come in.” He spoke slowly now. “We can use them in a pinch, throw them against the Kraut. I’m sure of that.”
    Boyle took in his breath. He seemed to give the suggestion some thought, nodding his head, tapping his fingers, blowing out his cheeks. “At the least Spain may allow German troops free passage through the territory.”
    Boyle fiddled with the paper clips in the well of the pen tray. “Maybe there is something you can do. Let me talk to Armand Korian.” He folded his glasses, placed them on the desk, and strode to the door. He signaled the secretary. “Tell Korian to bring the news bulletins.”
    He returned to the desk, the door still open. “Korian edits the Legation Bulletin,” he told Drury. “We send out pamphlets in French, Spanish, Arabic.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t seem to do much good.”
    “Miss Sampson can be of some help,” Drury said. “She’s supposed to be working for the State Department, like me.”
    That’s the first I’ve heard of it, Lily thought.
    Boyle raised his eyebrows. “You work for State?”
    Drury nodded and leaned forward again. “You have an empty room here she can use? She can sit, read books. She won’t bother you. She’ll keep out of your way.”
    Out of his way? Nothing like feeling superfluous.
    Boyle shook his head. “We don’t have room here.” He looked Lily