Nightmare in Morocco Read Free Page A

bottle .
    Noa set her suitcase near the stereo and turned down the volume . "I've just come from the hospital."
    The girl had fresh, clear skin and large eyes of an indefinite color, now appearing a pale, watery brown flecked with yellow . They stared at her without any emotion . Mike had built his entire life around her . Didn't she even care?
    Noa's throat began aching with resentment she must not allow to show . "I can't believe it," she said, and sank down into a chair.
    Quietness surrounded them . Noa had totally forgotten Cathy's presence in the depths of her grief . The girl's voice called her back.
    "Mike told me I was to go back to Spain with you." She held the bottle a minute, then tipped it to her lips again. "What if I don't want to?"
    What if I don't want you to? The angry thoughts that had formed in Noa's mind did not pass her lips . In the silence she felt an open dislike for Cathy . At last, a little ashamed of the hostility she felt for the girl, she said, "We'll talk about it in the morning."
    "Good . I've got a date tonight." "You surely aren't going out tonight? Mike's just...I must insist that you stay home tonight . Your date will have to wait."
    Noa had expected Cathy to challenge her, but the strange, yellowish eyes remained indifferent .
    "Who were you going out with?"
    Cathy spoke slowly, affectedly. "Mike always minded his own business . Why don't you?"
    Noa, trying to ignore her last remark, asked, "Don't you call him father?"
    "He wasn't my father."
    No use trying to talk to her . Noa felt too much on edge even to attempt it . She must not let the pressure and pain she felt get them off to a bad start . Noa tried to drive the impatience from her voice . "The flight over was terrible . I've got such a headache, I'm going to have to rest . Where should I sleep?"
    Cathy shrugged . "You can sleep in Mike's bed . Or the sofa." Noa found a blanket in the closet and stretched out on the couch . Her body, stiff and cramped from the endlessly long hours in flight, found no position of comfort . She forced her self to lay still, an arm across her face to block the glare of overhead light.
    Noa closed her eyes, wishing she could shut out reality . She was grateful that Cathy made no attempt to talk to her.
    Despite the bright lights and the music, which Cathy had turned up once again, Noa must have dozed.
    When she awoke, Cathy was gone.

Chapter Two
     
    Music blared . The singer's voice could barely b e distinguished above brass and drumbeat . Cathy had not bothered to decrease the volume, nor had she stopped to switch off the glaring bulbs on the overheard chandelier.
    Fitful sleep had added a great physical heaviness . Noa forced herself to rise, to check one huge, whitewashed room after another . The sight of Mike's empty bed made her want to cry; so did Cathy's.
    Emotions struggled for control and surfaced as outrage . How could Cathy do this to her? Angrily, Noa switched off the stereo . Thick silence settled around her and made her aware of the totally impossible task of trying to find Cathy in New York City.
    But it was only ten thirty . Surely the girl had just stepped out momentarily!
    The shrill, ringing phone startled her . That must be Cathy now . Relieved, she lifted the receiver.
    "Noa?"
    She recognized at once her boss's deep, steady voice . "I got your message on my answering service . How is Mike?"
    "Wendell, he's gone!" Her voice was broken with sobs . "I didn't even get to see him!"
    Wendell hesitated, then in a manner marked by deep sincerity, he said, "Noa, I'm so sorry . I was afraid of that the minute I heard . In fact, I intended to catch a flight out at once."
    Noa held her breath, hoping she had misinterpreted the past tense.
    "But I can't leave now . I just got out of the hospital . The doctor gives me a definite no."
    "I didn't know you were in the hospital . What's wrong?"
    "A little spell with my heart . That's why I didn't meet you in Tangier . Nothing to worry about, though .