Читать книгу Deadline Istanbul (The Elizabeth Darcy Series) - Peggy Hanson - Страница 35

CHAPTER 31

The tumult of her mind was now painfully great.

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

When we got to Eminönü, the ferry stop at Galata Bridge, I caught a bus going up the hill and walked the rest of the way to the Pera under old-fashioned, tulip-shaped street lights. Ha! So much for a man telling me what to do.

I looked over my shoulder as I hurried down Istiklal Caddesi from the bus stop. No need to enter the darkened side streets until I had to. But I didn’t feel afraid. There were plenty of people on Istiklal Caddesi tonight. Well-dressed young couples. Small groups of young men. A few clumps of chattering young women. Young, young, young. Had Istiklal forgotten its diplomatic roots, when carriages drew up to the embassies? When envoys carrying precious gifts to the Sultan were received in Topkapı Palace on the other side of the Golden Horn?

The scene was different now. Shops were mostly closed, but trendy restaurants boomed popular music out their doors. Loud laughter indicated well-heeled patrons were enjoying their rakı and good Turkish wine as well as the music. Disco displacement of history.

I stopped at one of the small shops to get two large bottles of Ayvaz water for the hotel room and stuck them in my bag. Those tiny bottles in the minibar were never enough.

When I turned off Istiklal Caddesi, the streets grew narrow and dark. This was once, after its elite diplomatic heyday, the red light district of “new” Istanbul. Recent prosperity had changed that—or at least made it so high-class it wasn’t obvious to the casual walker.

Here there were smatterings of people, most of whom I couldn’t see clearly. I kept my eyes to the cobblestones to avoid tripping.

Once, someone ran past me the other way, slipping a little as he went. I glimpsed a young face. A handsome face. No. It couldn’t be the passenger I’d seen in that blue car. It looked something like him, though.

I walked faster.

With relief, I reached the street of the U.S. consulate and the Pera Palas. Whew. Safety.

I walked closer to the wall than I usually do. Since my eyes were downcast, I didn’t see the black-clad figure ahead of me until it was too late. I bumped into him.

The man crumpled against the wall, falling to the side where street lights didn’t reach. He landed heavily, a dead weight. I let out a scream.