52
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
they open soon and get an outfit for you. You can do some
shopping on your own later. "
"Then you want me as a woman?"
Carter smiled at the phrasing. He'd been thinking about
that very thing. He'd already concluded he wanted her as a
woman in more ways than one.
"l want you to dress as a woman. Buy a wardrobe and a
piece of luggage. We'll make sure we've got what we
need, then we'll move," he said. "This place is too obvious
for us. When you're outfitted, we'll move to the Lady Hill
Hotel. You're going to visit a beauty salon for a wig or two
and I'm going to get myself a makeup kit," he went on.
"We'll have new names and identities. While they're look-
ing for you as they remember you, we'll installed in the
Lady Hill, in the best suite, a rich American couple who
don't resemble either of us in any way. "
"Beautiful. I'm not sure I like the man and wife part.
Why not father and daughter? And you'd better make sure
the suite has two bedrooms. I'm not one of your push-
overs."









FIVE
The Lady Hill Hotel couldn't be compared to the Shan-
gri-la, but it was a safe haven for the time being. Carter
took a small suite at Samantha's insistence, While she still
seemed a little in awe of him, her reaction was the opposite
of most females. It wasn't that she was totally indifferent;
she seemed to need his closeness and comfort, or maybe it
was protection. Carter decided to ignore the issue, if in-
deed it was an issue. He thought it might be refreshing to
complete an operation without the complications of a sex-
ual relationship with one of the principals.
"What are you going to do about your hair?" he asked as
she knocked and entered his room.
"I noticed a beauty parlor here in in the street-level
shopping mall. If they don't have wigs, they'll be able to
find one."
'Try for a totally different coloring. Your face is tanned.
It's a classic long oval. Find something that tones down
54
53





54
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
your skin color and makes your face look rounder," he
suggested.
'*Most women have a nodding acquaintance with
hairdos and makeup," she said dryly. "Don't worry, Carter,
you won't know me."
"Just trying to help. You won't know me, either," he
said. "I'm going on a shopping trip for a makeup kit and
clothes for an older man. I'm going to be your father—-
gray hair, a short beard, stoop-shouldered."
"Where will we meet?"
"A good point. I Ilke this place, but we can't stay.
While I'm out I'll find another hotel. Any other sugges-
tions?"
"Why not stay here? Change your appearance outside
and register again under another name."
Carter grinned. Her stock just went up ten points. If for
any reason the Oher side had a line on them and they disap-
peared, the enemy would be combing the other hotels for
them, not the same one. "I'll register as Goeffrey Smith-
Wells, retired colonel of the Welsh Guards. You'd better
forget about the beauty shop downstairs. We'll both have to
be sure we have no one tailing us when we change our
appearance."
"Why not Americans as we decided?"
"Take them further from the scent."
"Good idea. I'll be Caroline, your veddy uppah-crust
daughter. Very spoiled snob type. Makes it all the more
plausible when you ask for separate bedrooms."
"All right," Carter said. "Sounds good to me. Let's get
going. I'll be back in two hours and signed in. You'd better
arrive with a taxiload of boxes from local shops. How are
you fixed for money?"
"Not one Singapore dollar."
SINGAPORE SLING
55



55
He handed her a wad of bills and picked up the attaché
case Schmidt had give him. Heid leave the rest of his
clothes here and sign out when the action was over. He
smiled at the thought. He was leaving bits and pieces of his
wardrobe all over town. 6Tat•s it, then," he concluded.
"You leave first. I'll follow in a few minutes.
Chen sat at his massive console, his equally massive
buttocks spilling out of his chair. His voice, usually so loud
it drowned out all other sound, had risen to the threshold of
pain. "You're telling me they are out of jail? Where are
they?" he roared, the wattles at the sides of his face shak-
ing, his color three shades of crimson darker than usual.
'They were broken out by a professional, Excellency."
"Why do you say 'professional'?" he asked, the decibel
level dropping a few points.
"He introduced a form of gas into the ventilation sys-
tem, then went in dressed hke an antiterrorist expert."
"And he got them both out?" Chen roared.
"No, Excellency," the voice of his underling came back,
then hesitated. On the screen he looked afraid and con-
fused. "Well, he got them out, but onewas shot."
"What? Who shot?"
"Two police appeared on the scene. They shot one of
the agents while the invader was moving the body to his
car."
"Which one? Is he dead or alive?"
"The big one. He's dead."
"Did our people get a good look at the new one? What
about the license of his car?"
'They saw him briefly. He was tall. That's all they can
say. He was tall and strong."
Chen thought about the caliber of an enemy who could
56





56
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
put a whole building under his control and escape a maxi-
mum-security area with two prisoners. "How many B)lice
were killed?" he asked.
"None. He could have killed many, but he apparently
didn't shoot to kill."
"Interesting," Chen said, his voice almost at a normal
level, a whisper for him, as if he were talking to himself.
' sone man, tall and strong, takes two prisoners from the
cellars of the Justice Building. He doesn't kill any police.
What happened to the dead one?" he suddenly asked in his
normal booming tones.
"Strange. The body is not in the local morgue. It was
picked up by a foreign group."
"What foreign group? Do I have to drag it out of you
one piece at a time?"
"It happened fast, Excellency. The body never got to the
morgue. It was intercepted on the way and transferred to
another van. We don't have a description. We were relying
on our informant at the morgue."
'So one of them escaped and is with this tall strong
man," Chen bellowed. "The small one escaped. That one
was too nosy. I'm sure he knows more than he should. And
now he's spilling his guts to a stranger—a very capable
stranger," he fumed. "You know what that means, you
foo I
"No, Excellency."
"It means that instead of closing a gap in our armor, we
have a new player in the game," he said, his voice like a
whip. "Now, you listen to me. I want all our people at the
hotels to keep an eye open. Every taxi driver and every
pedicab driver must be on the alert. We know what the
small one ICK)ks like. He's thin. His hair is short and a kind
SINGAPORE SLING
57





57
of dark red in color. His eyes are brown. Do we have
pictures of him?"
"Not very good ones of him. All taken at a distance.
What about your video tapes, Excellency? Did you have
him on camera?"
"None of you have been bright enough to get him on
camera for me," Chen roared. "Now, get busy and find
them for me! Alert Quang. If we find them, he'll have to
deal with them personally I want to know what they know
and -what they've passed on."
"Yes, Excellency."
"Well, get busy! want them by the end of the day!"
She called from the lobby and was knocking on his door
within minutes. When he opened it for her, he was im-
pressed, If he hadn't been expecting her, he'd have taken
her for someone else.
In tum she looked at him, her mouth a round O, her
eyebrows arched, before she came in timidly S carter?" she
asked.
He laughed and waved her in. When they were in the
rivacy of the suite, they both stood, above five feet apart,
d laughed in wonder. She was a blonde with a tawny
complexion. She had used contact lenses to change her
eyes to green. Her choice of clothes was Iklfect for the
snooty daughter of a very old-fashioned, retired British
military man.
Carter stood, his shoulders stooped, his skin a dark
parchment, wrinkled by the tropic sun. He had not changed
the length of his hair but had changed the color to a dull
charcoal gray. His eyes were hidden behind tinted glasses
with thick tortoiseshell frames. He had a small chin beard
and a ragged mustache.
NICK CARTER






58
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
He waved her to a chair. "You've done well." As he
spoke, a sharp rap on the door startled them.
"My clothes," she said.
Carter (wied the door to a hall porter pushing a lug-
gage cart laden with colorful boxes.
"I say, Caroline, must you buy out the shops every-
where we go?" Carter said for the of the porter, his
accent pure Oxbridge.
"Oh, Daddy. What do exrct me to do in these dread-
fully dull places?" Samantha said, playing her role of the
spoiled daughter to the full.
Carter hesitated while the man waited, then reluctantly
tipped him with one Singapore dollar, an amount that
curled the man's lip and would brand the old British gentle-
man as a parsimonious old dinosaur.
When they were alone, Carter poured a couple of bran-
dies from a decanter. As he handed one to Samantha he
wasted no time on preliminaries. "l said we'd have to play
this out alone. But I think we've got too many bases to
cover alone," he said. "You said you had an in with the
local police. How good is it? Can we trust your contact?"
."The best. Chief of Police Windsor. His close friends
call him 'Chalkie.' I'm close but not that close."
"Does he know you're a woman?"
"He's about the only one who does."
"Tell me about him."
"Hue Yen met him long before hg became prime minis
ter. Chief Windsor was a military man but always in polic
work or intelligence. He took an early pension and was
acting superintendent of New Scotland Yard when Hue Ye
persuaded him to move to Singapore."
"Hue Yen's a very shrewd character. Is Windsor tha
SINGAPORE SLING
59





59
"He's about the best I've run across. And he prefers to
be called 'Chief Windsor,' by the way."
"Were there problems in the force? Jealousy from local
men who thought they should have the job?"
"You don't know Hue Yen. His vrople know better than
to complain," she said. ' 'There probably was some under-
lying jealousy at first, but not when they got to know Chief
Windsor."
"What about ego? Is Chief Windsor going to be a prob-
'VI don't think so. His wanting to be called Chief Wind-
sor is just a quirk of his. How do you want to handle it?"
• she asked.
"We don't want to go to police headquarters and be
spotted with him. Can you get him here?"
"I think so."
'Good. One more thing. What do you know about other
police action here? Any complications?"
"No. Chief Windsor has total control. Hue Yen has
never allowed any duplication of departments. He hates
interdepartmental jealousies, and fires anyone who shows
signs of empire building or moving in on another depart-
ment."
"So Chief Windsor has a clear field."
"That's about it," Samantha said. "I'd be bothered with
the autonomy with anyone else, but Chief Windsor handles
it well. You'll see."
"Let's do it. Try to get him up here."
George Windsor was more low-key than Carter ex-
rECted. Instead of the ex-military type in a military-cut suit
or in a police uniform, Chief Windsor showed up at their
door in a dark blue business suit, a striped tie that comple-
60





60
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
mented his two-tone shirt, and expensive Italian loafers.
He was smaller than Carter expected, just coming to
Carter's chin. His hair was light brown, combed straight
back. His brown eyes looked at the two of them through
fashionable lightweight glasses. fie eyebrows of his
tanned, round face arched in surprise at their
"I told you I'd look different," Samantha said with a
smile as she waved him to a chain
"Let's get something straight from the start," Chief
Windsor said as he sat and took the offered brandy. "I've
worked with Sam before without digging too deeply into
her background. I'm not going to do the same this time."
Carter and Samantha looked at each other. Neither
spoke. Chief Windsor tried to outwait them but with no
success. "I won't do it. You've already caused a furor in
Kuala Lumpur. J don't like to hear about police being
wounded doing their duty, even if they were not mine. I
don't like working with the ones who shot them."
"It couldn't be Chief Windsor," Carter ex-
plained. "I could have killed a half-dozen officers at the
Justice Building and the job would have been a lot easier. I
stuck my neck out to avoid hitting the police. If I'd been
there to kill, Barney Feldman wouldn't have bought it."
Chief Windsor digested the answer and shifted his gaze
to Samantha. "What the hell are you up to this time?"
"The same thing," Samantha said. "Robert Quang and
whoever's behind him. Did you alreacw know Barney was
killed?"
She managed to say it and keep her composure, but
Carter knew that it hurt. He was beginning to admire this
woman more as time went on.
"My people were sent from here to get him. Did you
know he was transferred to a private ambulance from our
SINGAPORE SLING
61



61
meat wagon before we got him to the morgue? Now, that
takes some kind of clout. Just what the hell's going on,
Samantha?"
"You know I can't orm up all the way, Chief. This is a
man who works as I do," she said, indicating Carter. "He's
about twenty-five years younger than he lcx)ks. If we're
going after Quang and Chen, we've got to be very care-
ful."
"And who do you work for, Mr. Carter?"
"A man in Washington."
"What man?"
"A man close to the president."
"Do I take it you're not from one of the usual agen-
"That much I can tell you."
"Look here. I was superintendent of Branch be-
fore I came down here, worked with your CIA chaps all
the time. I never heard of any clandestine agency then and
I don't trlieve it now."
The silence in the room went on for what seemed like a
full two minutes. "What the hell do you want with me?"
Chief Windsor finally asked.
"I came here to take Samantha and Feldman out,"
Carter said. "But it deeper than that. If the other side
set them up, they'll do everything in their power to do
something like it again. I can't just leave it at that. You
want the whole piece?"
"I don't have anything pressing at the moment," Chief
Windsor said, holding out his empty snifter.
"You probably know this better than I," Carter started.
"We think Quang is a pawn for the Soviets. Hue Yen isn't
getting any younger. If Quang takes over, he the
back door for Communism to infiltrate within weeks. Sin-
62





62
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
gam)re goes, then the whole peninsula, Sumatra, Bali—
the whole area."
"That's my problem, Mr. Caner. What in bloody hell do
you think you can do?"
"Don't you ever feel your hands are tied, Chief Wind-
sor? Have you ever arrested a major criminal and had him
get off with a suspension or less?" Carter knew he was on
firm ground, No police chief in the world had not exrEri-
enced a ton of similar frustrations.
"You know damned well I have," Chief Windsor said in
his clipped accent. "What's the point?"
"Samantha and I can't cover all the bases- We want to
know who Quang sees night and day. We want to know
who he calls and who calls him," Carter recited. "He's the
assistant prime minister. It'll all have to be done with your
most trusted men."
Chief Windsor sat, twisting the brandy snifter in his
hand, taking his time. "It would be a problem if something
happened to Hue Yen and Quang took over. I'm no fool,
Carter I know what he is. But he's damn close to the top.
I've got to move carefully."
"l know. But we've got to make sure of our facts. Suspi-
cions won't hack it. If we can be sure that Quang and Chen
are a threat to the area, I'll deal with them. You'll be
clean."
"Except to explain the mess you leave behind."
"You can't have it both ways."
Samantha was letting them have it out. Now she joined
in. "l was telling Nick about Chen's background. Have you
come up with anything new lately?" she asked.
"Nothing you don't know."
"What about his electronics expertise?" Carter asked.
"How does he get his supplies? Surely we can put a watch
SINGAPORE SLING
63




63
on his estates and pin down his operating headquarters."
"I've not seen Chen in years, Carter. My Erople give
me rumors about him growing immensely fat and being
unable to move in a normal society. He's tren know as Fat
Chen for years, but I understand he's twice the size now
that he used to be."
"lf your information's correct," Carter reminded him.
"Samantha thinks he's set himself up in a high-tech won-
derland where he keeps an eyes on his empire by video."
"She's probably right," Chief Windsor said.
"State-of-the-art surveillance is so sophisticated it's
scary," Carter reminded them. "He could have miniature
cameras hidden where they'd never be He could
even have some concealed on his VEople. Makes you
wonder," Carter went on. "How clean is your office, Chief
Windsor? And your home? When was the last time you had
an electronic sweep of them?"
Chief Windsor blanched at the suggestion and was
thoughtful for a minute or two. Carter and Samantha didn't
disturb his thoughts.
"All right. My people will concentrate on Quang and
Chen. What will you be doing?" he finally asked.
"Leave the surveillance of Chen's mansions to us,"
Carter said. "Keep an eye on his enterprises. Watch for
Soviet contacts. "
Chief Windsor rose to leave. "Anything else?" he
asked.
"We seem to have conflicting information on who con-
trols the drug rackets," Carter said. ' 'We heard that the Soo
brothers were in competition with Chen, and that would be
motivation enough for Chen to get rid of them. We also
heard that Quang eased the Soo brothers out of drug traf-
64





64
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
ficking before they were abducted. That would make him a
competitor with Chen and not an ally."
"Unless Chen used Quang to take down the Soo
brothers and Quang is merely running part of the drug trade
for Chen," Chief Windsor offered.
'The whole thing's too damn complicated," Caner said.
"It just proves we can't operate without intelligence."
"Just what did you come here for, Carter?" Chief Wind-
sor asked. "You said it was to spring your people. Now
you've got your nose in the Soo business."
"We lost two CIA men just after the kidnapping. My
people want to know who has the Soo brothers and why."
Chief Windsor had another of his pauses. Carter was
beginning to get used to them.
"Samantha and I might have to change our appearance
more than once," Carter said, finally breaking the silence.
"We may have to move around. So we'll get in touch with
you."
Chief Windsor seemed to come out of deep thought,
resigned and willing to cooperate. He pulled a business
card from an inner pocket and added a SEECial number.
"I'm here most of the time. If not, a machine will answer
and I check it every hour."
"If you don't hear from us in twelve hours, come look-
ing," Carter added.
But the policeman had the last word. "I'm going along
with this because we've got very grave problems, Carter. I
know I can't handle it by conventional means. But if you
cross me in any way, any way at all, I'll have your hide,"
he said.
His eyes left no doubt about his intent. He was a good
man to have on your side, Carter decided, but not one to
have against you.
SINGAPORE SLING
65




65
"How did Hue Yen ever settle on him as his chief of
police?" Carter asked when Chief Windsor had left.
"Didn't he have his whole party on his back to put some
local man in that position?"
"You obviously don't understand the Hue Yen power
stmcture," she said. "He chooses whom he wants and he
tells his cabinet they can go along or get out. With his
unique background, Chief Windsor is better at what he
does than any local could be. Ihat's not just my bias. They
all him—and fear him, Carter. He's a good
man—a good one to have on your side."
"He's close to Hue Yen?"
"I understand he has the prime minister's ear whenever
he needs it."
"Good. I have a feeling we'll need old Chalkie's help
before this is over."
The front entrance to the Lady Hill Hotel was jammed
with vehicles as Chief Windsor strode out to his waiting
car. He swung in swiftly and his driver pulled out of the
snarl of traffic into the Lady Hill flow as only an expert
driver was capable.
A black Mercedes pulled out of its spot near the en-
trance and followed, keeping a hundred yards between the
two vehicles.
"What did you find out inside?" the passenger, a big
man, asked in Russian.
"He visited the seventh floor. The two we want are on
the fifth floor."
"l smell something here, Sergei," the passenger said. "It
doesn't add up. We know the American woman agent has
been friendly with Chief Windsor in the past. The Lady
Hill Hotel has never figured in any action before. In the
66





66
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
same day, we watch the woman move in with another
American and Chief Windsor visit an entirely different
room. What does that tell you?"
ne smaller man was concentrating on his driving. As
Chief Windsor's car approached police headquarters he
kept on going and visibly relaxed. "What are you getting
at, Yuri Alexandrovich? You think the same couple has two
rooms?"
"What else could the answer tE? Has the Lady Hill sud-
denly become a nest of No. I think not," he said
smugly. "Our American friends are trying to be deceptive."
"And our next move?"
'Turn back to Lady Hill, Sergei Anatole, my friend.
Find out who has registered on the seventh floor in the last
few hours. If you find only one or two couples, put a team
of our people on them. I want to know what they do every
hour around the clock."











SIX
The car they rented was a small, unremarkable Toyota,
a carbon copy of thousands on the streets of the Lion City.
It was parked outside the Chen mansion on Telok Blangah
Road near the Ginseng Essence Balm Park. They had de-
cided not to observe one of Chen's properties a few blocks
from their hotel first. To stay at the hotel and park just up
the street for hours would seem unusual, even to the dullest
mind.
"We haven't seen any action for hours," Samantha com-
plained. She sat behind the wheel, her crisp new appear-
ance slightly wilted, the wig a hot and bothersome addition
in a car with no air conditioning.
"We can't expect any for hours," Carter said. He wasn't
any more comfortable than his companion. The facial
makeup, the wrinkled skin, was beginning to soften from
his perspiration. The beard and mustache were sodden as
the car heated up more and more under an unrelenting sun.
68
67






68
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
The interior smelled of stale cigarettes and body heat.
"We should have chosen a different disguise for this
kind of work," Samantha offered. She opened the door and
stepped out to stretch her legs.
In an action that caught them both off guard, a black
Mercedes swept up beside them, its tires sliding on the soft
asphalt. A man jumped out and caught Samantha with one
arm around her throat. He had a deadly-looking automatic
at her temple in seconds.
A second man moved out of the car. He seemed to in
no hurry He walked to Carter's side of the car, keeping
well clear of his partner, and pointed the barrel of a Ma-
karov at Carter's head. "You will get out of the car slowly,"
he said.
With Samantha under their control, Carter didn't reach
for a weapon. "See here," he said in the British accent he
had adopted. "Now, see here. We're British. I'll have the
consulate after you-—
"Stop the act, Mr. Carter," the big man growled. "Get
in the back of our car with your 'daughter.' We have a few
things to discuss."
Carter estimated the ride took a little more than twenty
minutes. He'd been blindfolded and his hands were tied
behind his back. He tried to remember all the stops and
turns, but their frequency soon made that impossible.
Some random smells he remembered: the rotting vegeta-
bles of a market; the fish and oil smell of the harbor; the
faint whiff of an opium pipe when they had to
make a turn.
It had all added up to nothing useful. He decided to ride
it out, as he'd done countless times before, find out who
his enemies were, and wait for a break. But he had the
added responsibility of the woman. Samantha had not
SINGAPORE SLING
69






69
made a sound during the ride. He was sure she was not
unconscious and he doubted she'd been gagged.
They seemed to be moving slowly between buildings
when the car stopped. He was pulled out of the car and
pushed, stumbling, across the threshold of a building. He
was shoved into a wooden chair and the blindfold was
yanked off.
"Moscow will delighted to know that we have the
notorious Nick Carter," the big man said. He had discarded
his coat and stocxl in front of Caner in a sweat-stained
shirt, his baggy pants held up by wide black suspenders.
Samantha was in a chair beside Carter, her eyes down-
cast. She was shaking from fear. It was always worse for a
woman. She never knew if her captors were crude enough
to violate her.
As if to prove his mint, three men entered and started to
grin at the sight of the woman. One of them grabbed at her
hair and laughed wildly as it came off in his hand.
"What do you want?" Carter asked, trying to get their
attention from the woman.
ne big man who had held the gun on Carter seemed to
be in charge. He shouted at the others to stand back. "All
in good time, comrades," he said. "First we will see what
we have here. Strip them both and tie them to the chairs."
Rough hands at him. He couldn't see •what was
happening to Samantha, but he could hear her cries of pro-
test. As they pulled off his coat and were working on the
belt of his trousers, he turned to see them rip her dress
down the front. Her small breasts heaved with her shouted
curses as they shredded the rest of her clothes.
"So the great Killmaster has the 9mm Luger and the
stiletto as we were told," the big man drawled. "How does
it feel to at the end of your joumey at last, Carter?"
70





70
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
"Who the hell are you?" Carter asked, stalling for time,
looking for a chance to make a break, any kind of a break.
"Colonel Yuri Alexandrovich Petrov at your service,
Mr. Carter," the big man answered in Russian. "Komitet
Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, First Chief Directorate,
Executive Action Department."
"Mokrie dela" Carter said in the same language.
"Mokrie dela," Petrov said, his face broadening in a
smile. '"Wet affairs.' You know what wet affairs are,
Carter. You have killed enough of my comrades to know
the expression well," he shouted at his captive, smashing a
massive fist to the side of Carter's face. "Ihe dreaded Kill-
master. N3. Licensed to Kill.
"Well, I'm licensed to kill, too, Mr. Carter!" he
shouted, then went on in a more normal tone. "I've been
trained at the best places. Serbsky, Mr. Carter. You have
heard of the Serbsky Institute?"
"Very crude, Petrov. Any fool can learn to fry a brain
with drugs."
His ploy was working. Petrov hit him again with his
bare fist and screamed at the men to leave. "I'm going to
give you a few minutes to contemplate your death, Mr.
Killmaster. But you will die," he said, giving each word
emphasis. "Have no doubt of that. None. You will die, but
not before you tell us all about the inner workings of
AXE."
"A Soviet dog hiding behind a fat nan and a politician,"
Carter taunted him as he was about to leave.
"What do you know, fool?" Petrov snarled as he walked
back to face Carter s SThe fat man has a very short time to
live. The politician is another thing. IHe's one of us.
Trained at Lumumba. He will be our figurehead in all of
Malaysia."
SINGAPORE SLING
71





71
"You sound confident, Petrov. Why tell me this? It con-
firms what I needed to know,"
"Because you're a dead man, Carter. A dead man," he
repeated as he closed the door after him.
Carter looked at Samantha for the first time. Her chin
was on her chest. She was crying silently, not understand-
ing a word they had said, bound up in the fear of death.
Carter's heart went out to her. She, too, was naked. Her
skin was rubbed raw where they had ripped her clothes
from her. Bruises had started to show where they had
grabbed at her breasts and inner thighs.
She was bald. Apparently she'd opted to remove all her
hair to accommodate the wigs. It was a good sign. If she
were that dedicated to her job, what had to done now
might not be impossible.
"Are you all right?" he asked in a whisper.
"What the hell kind of question is that?" she snapped at
him. Maybe he'd been wrong. She seemed petrified by her
circumstance. But they had to get out of there.
He took a deep breath and tried again. "Are you a good
swimmer?" he asked.
"What are you getting at, Carter?"
"Well, are you?"
"I was in the Olympic trials at sixteen."
"Still have the lung power?' :
"Yes. I'm into aerobics."
"Good," he said, slipping the ropes that held his wrists.
He'd been working on loosening them since he'd been tied
up.
"How did you do that?"
"Never mind," he grunted, untying his legs from the
chair and moving to untie hers. She started to get up but he
pushed her back.
72
NICK




72
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
"What's going on, Carter? Let's get out of here."
"We wouldn't get ten feet." He lifted one leg to reveal
the tiny bomb. He peeled away the tape and held Pierre in
his hand.
"What the hell's that?" she asked.
"Sit in your chair as if you were still tied," he said,
putting his hands behind him as he spoke. "We want to
look natural when they come back."
"What is that thing, Carter?"
"A gas bomb. One whiff is lethal. That's why I asked
about your lung power."
"What are you going to do?"
"I know them. Petrov will be busy right now boasting to
his superiors, but they'll be back soon. He'll want me to
spill my guts and he'll give you to his men as part of my
softening-up process."
She looked better, actually smiled as she contemplated a
chance for freedom,
"Don't look so happy," he said. "They might be back
any second, Keep your head down as you had it before.
They won't see the missing rope."
"But how will I know when you're are going to do it?"
she asked, moving her chin back to almost touch her chest.
"I'll let Petrov rant and rave for a minute or two—let
the rest of them ogle you. If their blood is up, they won't
suspect anything and they'll get a luneful of the gas right
away."
"But what will I do?"
"When I yell 'Now!' I'll give you two seconds to take a
deep breath and I'll drop the bomb in front of them," he
told her. "Don't wait for them to go down. Get to the door
and out as fast as you can. Don't wait for me,"
SINGAPORE SLING
73





73
"Don't wait? What will you be doing?" she asked, ob-
iously concerned for him.
"Don't worry about me. I want to be sure they are all
dead. Wc don't want any pursuers. When you get clear,
ook for my weapons and some clothes for us."
They heard feet pounding down the hall and raucous
aughter. Caner said no more. Samantha hadn't survived
or as long as she had without a keen intelligence. She
would do all right.
From the moment they all trooped in, Carter could see
e scenario wasn't going to go as he planned. One of the
men grabbed at Samantha and she slipped off her chair.
ey all stared, dumbfounded, as they saw she was untied.
"Now!" Carter yelled. He took a deep breath, turned the
o halves of Pierre, and let the small bomb drop on the
oor in front of him.
Samantha sat for a moment, then bolted for the door.
ne of the men made a halfhearted grab for her, but his
ungs were already full of the gas and he slipped to his
ees.
Petrov's face tcok on a look of surprise as he dropped
he tray of syringes he'd been carrying and fell, his face
uncing off the wooden floor.
Carter sat, easily holding his breath while they fell, one
y one.
One man remained. He was a bull of a man, and looked
ike a Georgian farmhand or a circus strongman. Carter
ame up out of the chair and sank his fist in the man's
tomach. It was like hitting a stone wall,
One nxklike arm swung at Carter's head. He tried to
uck but it caught him at the temple and lifted him off his
eet. He managed to hold his breath as he hit the far wall
d slid to the
74





74
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
The human tank came at him. He lashed out with a
booted foot at Carter's thigh. The strength of the kick
swung Carter around as the shock of the contact and the
pain ran up the nerves of his spine.
The Killmaster's hands reached out for something to use
as a weapon. His right hand closed on a chair leg. While
his head throbbed from hitting the wall, he mustered up all
his strength and brought the seat around in an arc, the solid
middle of the chair catching the young giant in the groin.
He went down, gulping his last breath.
Carter knelt where he was for a moment, trying to orient
himself, then he struggled to his feet. He didn't know how
long it had been since he'd dropped Pierre. He was starting
to feel weak as spots flashed in front of his eyes.
He searched the fallen men carefully. He found none of
his possessions but took one of the weighty Makarovs as a
precaution.
Carter stumbled out the door and down the hall. Sa-
mantha wasn't alone. One of the Russians, a man no big-
ger than she was, was struggling with her for a gun. As
Carter came on the scene, the man broke loose, the gun in
his hand. He pointed it at the woman, an evil grin on his
face.
The gun in Carter's hand boomed out its challenge and
the small man went down, half his head blown away. But
Carter was fading fast. His head was spinning from the
first blow of the young giant. The wall he'd hit had done
the worst damage. His vision began to blur. The last thing
he saw was a nude woman, her hand to her mouth. Con-
scious thought sank into blackness ashe reached out for
her.
SINGAPORE SLING
75





75
Samantha stood swaying in the house that she'd thought
would be her tomb. Nick Carter had saved them, but he'd
just passed out. O God! Don't lei him leave me now, she
thought. Then her sense of survival took charge. Still
naked, she picked up one of the guns and searched the rest
of the house. She found nothing incriminating, but picked
up Carter's She looked out the windows. They
were closed in by other buildings. No one had heard the
shot, or if anyone had, he was ignoring it.
Next she knelt beside Carter and felt his pulse. It was
strong. Good. Blood ran from his temple and he had a
massive bruise forming on one hip. He might have a con-
cussion, but he'd probably come around.
What was her first move? She found a pair of coveralls
that was several sizes too big, but she pulled them on and
rolled up the legs. She found a coat that almost fit her,
buckled on a pair of sandals, and covered her head with a
canvas sun hat. She felt more human.
Again she examined Carter. He hadn't moved. She
looked around and found his old-man clothes in the closet
of an upstairs They would have to do. It seemed to
take forever to dress him, including the Luger and the sti-
letto. He still had a wad of Singapore currency in his
pocket. She transferred it to her coat pocket and tried to get
him on his feet.
He moaned and hung on to her shoulders. She propped
him up by the door while she looked out into the street.
The people were all Chinese. Considering that three
quarters of the city's population was ethnic Chinese, that
didn't mean anything. But these people were different.
They were dressed in more traditional garments.
Chinatown.
She recognized the top of a temple. It was the distinc-
76





76
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
tive Wak Hai Cheng Bio Temple. ney were at the back of
the holy building. So they had to be somewhere near Canal
Road or George Street.
What would be the best hotel for them? she wondered.
Something not far away and not too big. The Furama.
Somehow, some way, she'd take him to the Furama.
Samantha hoisted Carter and started to move. His brain
responded in low gear and his feet moved with her, not
taking all his weight, but at least she didn't have to drag
It seemed like an etemity but was probably only a few
minutes before she found herself on George Street. A cab
stopped at her frantic signal.
"Help me with this useless drunken husband," she
screamed at the taxi driver in gutter Cantonese.
"I don't want blood on my seats, woman," the driver
shouted over his shoulder, starting to take off.
"Fifty dollars, you son of a sampan whore," she yelled
at him.
He backed up, snatched the fifty from her hand—about
thirty-five Arnerican dollars—but didn't get out to help her
with her burden.
With help, Carter slipped into the back, knocking his
head against the roof. Samantha tried to guide him, cursing
all the while.
"Take me to the Furama Hotel, you helpless excuse for
a man," she continued to rail at the Aluctant driver.
The hotel clerk was about to give her the same treatment
when she threw a hundred-dollar bill at him and grabbed
the key out of his hand.
"I'll need two nights in advance," he told her, his face
devoid of expression. "Five hundred dollars."
"Your mother was a Shanghai whore," she snapped at
SINGAPORE SLING
77




77
him in Cantonese. While trying to hold up Carter, she
rreled off five bills.
No one in the lobby paid any attention or tried to help as
she pulled her useless husband to the elevators. The eleva-
tor and the hall of the fourth floor were both empty as she
the door to room 450 and dragged Carter inside.
When he was on the bed she sat in a chair and cried.
She'd been through a hell of a lot for the CIA and for
AXE, but never anything like this. How many Russians
had he killed? At least six with the gas and one he'd shot
defending her.
She stopped sobbing and wiped her eyes. He looked
comfortable enough. She couldn't go for a doctor, so she
filled an empty ice bucket with warm water and washed the
blood from his face. It was all she could do for him for
now.
The bathroom was old-fashioned but the tub was a
monster. It had ancient plumbing, all chrome, with an
oversize mixer on the wall above the tub. She wiped the
bath clean and turned on both faucets. The mixer soon had
a steady stream of hot water filling the tub, the temperature
constant.
Samantha peeled off her clothing and climbed into the
tub. The water closed over her like hot mercury, easing her
muscles. The tension seeped out of her as she gave herself
up to her thoughts....
My God, that was close. If it weren't for Nick, I'd have
been gang raped, probably dead. He is all they say he is
and more. With any other man ...
She never finished the thought as her mind went back to
the last time. Three black youths and three white in the
basement of a tenement in Brooklyn. Twelve hours of con-
stant abuse and torture. It hadn't been enough that they had
78





****** Result for Image/Page 1 ******
78
(92 of 212)
78
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
taken her, each of them, many times, it was the foul things
they had forced her to do to them afterwards; at knifepoint,
while onlookers watched....
She had been in the hospital in Manhattan for a month.
She'd gone home to Maine, to her family, but it hadn't
helped. She returned to Manhattan, studied Oriental mar-
tial arts and earned a closetful of black belts, visited a
shrink twice a week for two years without him helping
much, then was persuaded by a friend to join the Central
Intelligence Agency.
She had tried it with two men since, but it had not
worked. Each time, at the last minute, the six faces would
loom up in front of her and she would end up screaming
and fighting off her would-be lover.
She still had urges. The psychiatrist had explained it to
her. Her libido would be her worst enemy. She would want
to have sex with a man, but her memories would always
block her. 'She knew she'd prove him wrong someday.
Samantha stepped from the tub, dripping. She toweled
herself dry and tiptoed into the bedroom. Carter was as she
had left him. As she looked at the nasty gash across his
temple, she felt a flow of tenderness toward him, and a
warm feeling filled her loins.
She had to do something for him. She'd give him a
sponge bath. Samantha filled the ice bucket with lukewarm
water again, pulled off his clothes gently, and started to run
the soft, lathered cloth over his body.
The feeling was strangely sensual. Both of them naked
—she ministering to him.
The bruise on his hip looked nasty. She was extra care-
ful with it. His body was tan and muscular, covered with
scars, some recent, some puckered and old. The warmth
between her legs grew to send a flush all the way to her
SINGAPORE SLING
79





79
face. Blood throbbed in her temples. She felt faint. She
had never felt this way before in her life.
She'd had two men the ralE. One a youth in the
back seat of a car when she was seventeen, one a married
man, her first boss in the big city. lhe encounters had been
disappointing. Both men had left her aroused and unsatis-
fied.
As Samantha ran the cloth over the tape marks that had
held the small gas tx)mb near his genitals, she realized that
while his mind was on hold, Carter's physical reflexes
were still functioning. She started to finish the job, but her
ministrations only added to what she'd already started.
Carter was not fully in control of his senses, but he
knew who was touching him. He felt his natural instincts
take over as the sensuous movements of her hands sent
messages from his loins to his brain.
"It's all right," he kept telling himself. "This is not the
enemy," his brain over and over. What was hap-
pening to him wasn't dangerous.
Samantha watched him react to her touch and felt her-
self growing warmer and filled with desire.
"Samantha," he whislkred, his eyes still closed.
"He's thinking about me. He's unconscious but he's
thinking of me. Her knees tEgan to give way and she
slumped on the bed next to him, the wet cloth dropping to
the floor:
The weight of her on the bed turned him slightly and
one hand reached out for her.
This was madness, she thought. He wasn't conscious.
She couldn't. ...
Despite the warm bath, she began to shiver. Something
80




80
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
drove her on. She needed this and he was the first man who
had not frightened her... the first.
She moved closer. She shivered again. She felt herself
pressed against the length of him, felt the hardness of-him
against her flank, the warmth of his flesh.
"Samantha," he said again, running a hand over her
small breasts, bringing the tips of her nipples to a hardness
she had never felt before.
A warmth suddenly poured through her and she felt as if
her loins were about to explode. She reached for his hand
and placed it on her belly, opening her legs for him.
The sensation of his hand moving on her was almost
more than she could stand. It was the most sensual feeling
she'd ever experienced. It encompassed her, flooding her
senses, sending the blood to her head. She moaned, then
almost cried out as a wave of passion overwhelmed her.
"Samantha," Carter mumbled, his hand working its way
between her legs and caressing her until she felt she'd go
Just this once ... let it happen ...
As if her prayer were answered, one powerful arm
swept her on top of him, her legs spread around him, ab-
sorbing him totally.
Samantha thought she was going to die with the joy of
it. Slowly, so slowly it was almost more than she could
bear, he began to move within her. He took the taut flesh
of her rump in each hand and moved her in a slow, erotic
dance of desire. It lifted her to a new level of ecstasy and
she could no longer be patient. She moved faster, urged
him on, forced his body to keep up with hers
Carter was in a dreamland with a beautiful woman, a
desirable woman, Samantha, on top of him. His brain
SINGAPORE SLING
81




81
wouldn't allow him full access to rational thought, but per-
mitted his senses to run wild.
Was he all right? Deep inside his unconscious he knew
he was safe. •nis was Samantha. This was paradise seen
through a fog but felt with a clarity that drove him on.
It was so good, so much better than she had ever imag-
ined. She moved above him, slapping her flesh against his
flesh, not caring that he had moving.
he began to moan, She realized that even in his
condition she was going to bring him to a climax. The
thought magnified her own feelings tenfold and the realiza-
tion took her even higher. She moved like a wild woman
until she reached a crest with him and cried out her joy.
She didn't care if the whole hotel knew of her joy, the
whole of Chinatown. The fires that had roared within her
started to recede. She stopped moving and lay on top of
him, her sweat-slick skin plastered to him.
He held her. Every minute or so his lips would move to
sound her name: "Samantha."
•She felt better than she had in her whole life. She felt
normal ... at last. Hadn't he mentioned her name through-
out their lovemaking? He had helped her. He'd known she
was there.
But she would have to tell him about it in the moming.
They would do it again, but this time had been special.
Never again would the fires of a private hell be burned
away to reveal pure passion instead of the scars she'd
worn.












SEVEN
The moming sun shone on them as they began to stir. It
was hot. They lay naked on top of the sheets.
"I had the most incredible dream last night," Carter said
as Samantha leaned over him.
"What was it?" she asked.
"I remember holding you close in this bed. It was
beautiful," he said, a huge grin on his face. "I was in a
kind of dreamworld where an extraordinarily sensuous
woman made love to me."
'Oh?" she said, smiling at him.
'Too bad it was just a dream," he sighed, rolling toward
her on one elbow, lcx)king her in the eye. "It seemed so
real. Did we..
She giggled, relieved that he had been conscious of their
action. "Yes. We did." Then she suddenly became serious.
"l needed you. I really needed you," she said, a tear flow-
ing from one eye.
84
83




84
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
S 'Then I thank you for the beautiful experience," he said
formally, a wicked smile on his face. "What do you think?
Should we
In answer, she came into his arms, her mouth claiming
his.
Chen was at his console in the early morning, scanning
the monitors with a practiced eye. He had not left his chair
all night but had taken two or three catnaps, the chair tilted
back, the massive arms crossed over his chest.
The viewing was a routine matter Not much action was
taking place at that hour. Part of his brain was able to
register every movement and sound from the countless
sources available to him, while the other part took him
back through time as it often did. His life had not been
easy. To acquire the wealth he had, the road had been
rough and he'd learned to be just as rough, to handle each
situation with a cold deliberation as it presented itself.
His story had started early, When the only parents he'd
known—an extremely sanctimonious Christian missionary
couple who had dictated his every move—had died a vio-
lent death at the hands of hill bandits in Thailand, he was
free to make his own way, but without one dollar to start
him on the kind of path they would have wanted for him.
More often than not, starting from absolute zero took a
desperate soul down the path of least resistance. It was
easier to steal from unsuspecting tour•ts than to find a job
that would break his back for enough money to fill his
stomach. He'd had three choices: take what he wanted,
work for it, or beg for it. After years of exposure to
preaching about God's way, words that had been unending
and fallen on deaf ears, the choice had been no contest.
But the way had not been easy. In Singapore, with Hue
SINGAPORE SLING
85





85
Yen in pwer, and it seemed as if he had tren in B)'.ver
forever, the rule was work hard, stay clean and sotrr, and
honor the rights of others. Someone was always at your
side telling you the "right thing to do," the industrious way
to contribute to the MXiety, what to wear and what to say.
And there were the "what nots." What not to say or do. It
was not difficult for a bright young Chinese teen-ager to
see that life would be easier and richer for him if he were
as industrious as they preached—but that energy chan-
neled in the direction of illicit rather than the puritan way
of Hue Yen's doctrine. Perhaps it was a continuation of the
preaching, the constant regimentation, that had turned him
on his path. He'd had enough preaching. Freedom and
wealth were his objectives, and he went after them with a
vengeance.
He wasn't alone. Thousands of displaced young people
fought for their daily livelihood in the streets and alleys of
Singapore, even in Hue Yen's "E*rfect society." But the big
youth had been just a little craftier than the rest, just a little
quicker than the others, and much more ruthless. His
movement to the top had been slow. Sometimes the leaps
from plateau to plateau seemed huge, but as he grew pros-
perous, then rich, each plateau was not enough. A disease
gnawed at him, pushed him on to new heights, showed him
that a million was a pittance, a billion not an unreasonable
objective, the control of Malaysian wealth not impossible.
He'd tEen only seventeen when he killed his first man.
With the enemy out of the way, he was able to expand. It
was a valuable lesson. Men of his kind were loners, backed
by empty-headed lieutenants who were not leaders. Cut off
the head and the prize was easy to take.
Soon it was no problem to justify the deaths of whole
families to purge an enterprise of leadership. *Ihe end justi-
86





86
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
fied the means; that rationalization closed the door on con-
science.
It had been a lonely climb through the years. He could
üust no one. Machines were more reliable and had no con-
science. Electronic technology advanced so rapidly, it was
the only medium that could match his greed, his compul-
Sion to have it all.
*Ihe more he used the miracle electronic chip to his ad-
vantage, the less he came into contact with human beings.
His psyche called out for a substitute and found a release in
The rawboned youth on pounds and moved
more slowly. He lost his hair after a bout with a rare fever,
another reason to shun other The image changed
from a tall, muscled youth to a huge, shiny-domed and evil
gargoyle, a face that never smiled, eyes that looked more
reptilian than human. Fat Chen was born after the first
hundred million and dropped out of sight.
Men like Chief Windsor had tried to bring him to jus-
tice, had pursued him unsuccessfully from the first day he
had taken the easy road, but Chen had never left evidence
of his crimes, was never present, and rid himself of any
possible connection to illegal acts by the simple of
ending a life .. .or as many as it took to achieve his ends.
The huge gleaming dome shone in the glow of a
hundred monitors. He shook his huge frame in the mon-
strous chair and rid himself of the memories that haunted
him. This was his life, carefully chosen and gained only
after years of fighting, one difficult, %te-filled step at a
time.
He keyed in the image of a youthful Japanese at work in
a laboratory. "Have you completed the improvements on
my robots?" he asked, his voice filling the room like the
rumble of thunder directly overhead.
SINGAPORE SLING






87
'They are not ready The ones guarding you are state of
the art. You should have no fears."
"You will never use the word 'fear' when talking to me!
And you will address me as 'Excellency'!" the voice
boomed out.
The small Japanese was silent, He had always been un-
communicative. Chen knew the reason. The fool thought
he was that he had only to delay improve-
ments on his current project and hint about new marvels to
stay alive. He was brilliant and he was also a fool. No one
was indispensable. Another genius could be found and
bound to Chen's service.
"I give you until tomorTow," he said. "The improve-
ments will be in place tomorrow or you are a dead man."
Chen keyed in another monitor. Three Chinese men in
their twenties sat around a table playing cards, their ash-
trays filled with mashed but still smoldering butts.
"What of the American?" he demanded.
'The new man and the one he took from jail were taken
by the Soviets—" one of the men started to explain.
"What?? How could you permit such a thing to hap-
pen?" he shouted in Cantonese, the sound of his voice al-
most ear-splitting.
"Permit me to explain, Excellency, The new one is a
dangerous foe. He escaped after killing all the Russians.
But they injured him in some way. He seemed to be dazed
and the woman helped him to a taxi."
woman? What woman?"
"The small one he took from jail was a woman. She
took him to a hotel."
"What hotel? Do I have to drag every word from your
unworthy lips?"
88






88
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
"*lhe Furama, Excellency. Even now they are in bed in
their room. "
The huge man pondered the news. So he was dealing
with a new enemy, a dangerous one. He grinned, the flesh
of his round face spreading as seldom-used muscles curled
his features into a smile. One man and a weak woman.
And as a bonus they had destroyed the organization the
Soviets had painstakingly set up in his territory. The new
man had tren hurt in the process. The woman was a non-
entity that could be crushed underfoot any time he wished,
or could be given to one of his Irople as a reward.
"Take them."
"Yes, Excellency. Where would you have us take
the m
The mass of flesh that was a human being shook with
glee as he the plot. "Take them to the House.
Quang will inteview them. I will talk to him."
"Anything else, Excellency?" the man asked while the
other two remained silent, frozen by their fear of the man
who held them as slaves to his bidding.
"Yes. lhe Japanese is no longer of use to me. Make
sure he has completed revisions to the and get rid of
him."
Caner rolled over on his back and lit a cigarette. Sa-
mantha's deep breathing was the only sound in the room.
He reached for the telephone and dialed Chief Windsor.
"Where the hell've you tren?" the B)lice asked without
preliminaries.
"A long story. We were taken by a group of Russians,
but we managed to get away."
"That's the kind of understatement my rmple are
famous for," Chief Windsor said, not at all pleased. "I
SINGAPORE SLING
89




89
counted seven dead. don't need this kind of trouble,
Carter."
"What would you have had me do? lhey took us. Ihey
were about to Samantha and shoot me full of drugs.
We'd have both ended up dead."
"But seven dead. How the bloody hell did you manage
"Professional secret. I'll tell you about it one day. Right
now I'm interested in your opinion," Carter said, bringing
the conversation around to the direction he wanted it to go.
"Were the Russians sent by Robert Quang? Were they act-
ing on their own? Are there more of them?" he asked.
"What do you think?"
think you've cleaned out their nest and someone's
going to tr bloody upset. I don't think they were sent by
Quang. On the other hand, you may have played right into
Chen's hands. One less factor for him to consider."
"So what do you think he'll do?"
"Hunt you down. Get you out of his hair. Where are
you, by the way?"
Carter considered the wisdom of telling the man where
he was on the hotel phone, but figured that if someone
were listening in, it would have to be at the Furama switch-
tx)ard. "I had a small concussion. Samantha managed to
get me as far as the Furama Hotel."
"Are you all right now, old chap?"
"No more than a slight headache. Nothing a good
breakfast won't cure."
"I'd advise you to find another hole to crawl into. They
may be on to you there."
"Any word on Chen's exact location?" he asked.
"No. I'm sorry. My haven't been able to pick up
one clue."
90





90
(104 of 212)
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
"Okay. We'll establish another base and get in touch.
Any suggestions?"
"I'm in the background as far as your activities are con-
cerned, Carter. You're on your own," Chief Windsor said.
"One last thing," he added. "We've long suspected Chen
has a special place where he holds and interrogates ene-
mies. A lot of our citizens each year and we
suspect they end up in his hands."
"Where is this place?" Carter asked.
"My people haven't been able to find it for me. But
they've heard it referred to as 'the House.' "
"Sounds ominous. Let me know if you locate it."
"You may find it before I do if you don't watch you
back, Carter," the police chief said, then paused for a long
moment. "Take care of Samantha. She's quite a woman."
"That she is. We'll watch ourselves," Carter said as h
hung up.
So he was no further ahead, he thought, as he mull
over his circumstances. Maybe he was. He'd had three en
emies and now he had only two—as far as he knew.
They had to get out of there. But to where? He deci
on the Lady Hill Hotel again. Why not? He was still regis
tered in three suites, one at the Shangri-la and two at
Lady Hill. He swung from the bed and began to dress.
"What what're you doing?" a sleepy voice from th
bed asked.
'Gt dressed. We're vulnerable here. We're going bac
to the Lady Hill."
She moved with speed once she grasped the urgency
They had only what they'd worn to the hotel, so were in
taxi and cruising along Havelock Road in minutes.
Something was wrong, Carter told himself. Chen ha
eyes everywhere, could even control the drivers of eve
SINGAPORE SLING
91




91
hired vehicle in the city. He looked through the back win-
dow of the cab from time to time and spotted not one but
two possible pursuers.
"Stop here," he ordered the driver, tossing a Singapore
twenty on the front seat and dragging Samantha out the
With her hand still in his he moved quickly into the
lobby of the Miramer Hotel and to a side door he knew
well. In a second taxi, he scanned the road txhind them,
then the move in the Glass Hotel.
"1)0 you still think the Lady Hill is the tBt move?" she
asked as they transferred to a third cab. "All this evasion
won't help at all if they've got us spotted at the Lady Hill."
"You could right." Ihey had been srraking in Eng-
lish. "Do you SFEak French or German?" he asked.
"Both. My German's better than my French. "Why?"
"Because Chen could have every taxi driver in the city
in his he answered in German. "From now on
we're German tourists. "
"Drop us at the Apollo Hotel," he told the driver in
English, confirming that the man understood the language.
ney took a back to the Miramer Hotel, walked
through the lobby to the employees' exit at the loading
dock, and walked across the street to the River View
Hotel.
"How are we financially?" she asked.
"All right for now. I've got to get in touch with Howard
soon. I need something delivered to the embassy. We'll get
new financing then."
Registering as German citizens, Carter made quite a
show about the airline's having lost their luggage and let
everyone in the lobby know his overall opinion of the inef-
ficiency of everyone in the city. It was a display of Teu-
92




92
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
tonic superiority that brought him instant dislike and identi-
fied them solidly as demanding and complaining foreigners.
It was as effective a disguise as the short lived Smith-Wells
role, the very British father of the spoiled Caroline.
"What's the new plan?" Samantha asked as they ordered
and drinks from room service.
"I'm going to visit Robert Quang's house tonight. He•d
be very foolish to have evidence at horne implicating him-
self, but I can't afford to pass up an opportunity."
"I'm going with you."
"Not this time."
"What am I to do?"
"You could call Howard. Tell him to send along those
grenades he showed me. He'll know which ones I mean.
I've got an idea I'm playing with, and they may be useful.
Tell him to send at least a few dozen and the phosphorous
ones he showed me."
"Anything else?"
"You've met Pierre. I'll need two more, one lethal. We
want the delivery tomorrow morning and we need a new
bankroll. If 19m not back by noon tomorrow, go to the
embassy and take delivery."
She came to him and looked up into his eyes, concern
evident on her face. "Why wouldn't you be back by
noon?" she asked, holding him by the arrns.
"I don't intend to be more than three or four hours, but
you never now. One clue leads to another. "Do you know
where I can pick up a black outfit fbr a night reconnais•-
sance?"
' 'Hung Tue's on Boon Tat Street. He's one of ours. Tell
him you're with me."








EIGHT
ne house of RotErt Quang was in Ardmore Park, coin-
cidentally almost backing up against the small golf course
of the Shangri-la Hotel where Carter was still a registered
guest. The information had come from Chief Windsor after
Carter's visit to Hung Tue. The small Chinese, one of Sa-
mantha's recruits, had supplied Carter with everything he
needed including a decrepit old Ford Cortina. lhe plice
chief had also come up with the address of Quang's offices
in the Tuan Sing Tower on Market Street.
The house was set back on five acres and surrounded by
a fence. Carter circled the whole proEE1ty and used pwer-
ful glasses to make sure he had all the information he could
get before he went in. He saw no guards, no dogs, and no
robots. lhe absence of security could mean a supremely
confident man or one who used highly sophisticated pro-
tection devices.
Carter donned the goggles Hung Tue had provided.
94
93




94
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
Tiey could detect laser trams and showed that the house
was crisscrossed on all sides by laser t*ams that were in-
visible to the naked eye.
He climbed over the fence with no problems. In the
deserted gatehouse, the cable vault that served the laser
network was vulnerable. If this place was true to form, he
couldn't short out the lasers or disconnect them without the
usual alarm t*ing sounded. Strangely, he could not find an
alarrn.
The odds favored Quang overconfident. Carter
knew his electronics, and no alarm existed once the circuits
were cut. Not unless some genius had designed one that
was invisible or wired in at the house.
He cut the cable and checked the security pattern. He
saw no lasers and heard no alarms.
The house was a hundred feet from the gatehouse.
Carter kept to the shadows of a high hedge that bordered
the driveway until he was in the shadows of the house
itself. A figure in black, his face covered with camouflage
makeup, he crept around the structure, looking in every
window.
He saw no one. He heard nothing. But he was in no
hurry, so he gave it a full half hour tEfore he eased Hugo
into the doorjamb at the rear of the house and slipped the
lock. If a silent alarm had tren sounded outside the prop-
erty, someone would have responded by now.
The lower floor was deserted. It spacious and well
appointed as he Two stairways led to the upper
floors, one from the front hall and the other for the servants
leading from the pantry at the back of the house. Carter
chose the front stairs. From experience he knew that the
front stairs were probably of stone, covered with
SINGAPORE SLING
95





95
while the other stairway was of wood. He wanted no
creaky steps to give away his presence.
The master t:edroom was the first door on the right. He
eased the door and into the shadows. The two
lumps in the tEd were Quang and his wife, asleep. The
man was of slight build, his features bland, his years inde-
terminate. Ihe woman was no tEauty. Her hair was in
curlers and covered by an unattractive net. Her skin shone
from the lotions she applied before retiring. They both
slept soundly.
Carter pulled an object that looked like a from his
pocket, one of Schmidt's gadgets. He held the tip near
Quang's face and depressed the end. One small cloud of
gas entered the sleeping man's nostrils, enough to ensure
he'd not wake for at least an hour.
While Carter moved to the other side of the bed, the
woman moved her head from the pillow and stared at him,
her eyes wide with fright. He reacted instantaneously, and
coverd her mouth with one hand while he administered the
gas with the other: As he moved away, replacing the
like object, he smiled to himself at the thought of her
awakening. Would it all seem like a bad dream to her or
would she convince Quang that they'd had a nocturnal visi-
tor? No matter. They'd find the severed cable in the mom-
ing in any case.
lhe desk in Quang's bedroom produced nothing of
value. In an office next dcxjr, Carter struck gold. The over-
confident successor to the prime minister kept documents
at home linking him to both Chen and the Soviet Union.
Carter took a few minutes to read the most incriminating.
Quang was obviously playing both sides of the fence, but
seemed to lean a bit in Chen's direction. The papers con-
firmed that the Soviet presence had been smell 'hev were
96





96
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
eliminated and couldn't replaced during this action. So
it was just tktween him and Chen now. Good. He'd take
the better odds and run with them.
One set of was doubly intriguing. Quang had a
plan on file to destroy Chen. He had a complete floor plan
of Chen's fortress, including some kind of elaborate war
room filled with consoles. Unfortunately, the plan didn't
provide an address. Carter would still have to find that out
for himself.
Pulling a small camera from a m)cket, Carter reflected
that Hawk would like to see the evidence, and he'd make
sure Chief Windsor received prints,
He was finished in less than a minute. Eight shots were
enough. They would be very dark but readable.
While he prepared to leave, his mind on the next prob-
lem—whether to tackle Quang's Market Street office—he
heard a sound in the hall outside.
Carter decided his best plan was to wait. to let the other
party make the first move. He made sure the doors to the
small balcony outside the t*droom were ajar and stood
back in the shadows.
The door 01xned slowly. A huge man in pajama tX)ttoms
slipped silently into the carrying a large handgun.
Carter had a problem. Was this one of Quang's
guards, perhaps supplied by Chen? Or was the man a civil
servant, one of Chief Windsor's assigned to a high
government official?
No. It couldn't the latter, he thÄJght. One of Chief
Windsor's men would never roam the halls of this house
dressed as he was. It had to be someone close to Quang.
The decision made, the problem simplified itself.
Carter quietly Wilhelmina from her holster
under his left armpit. He held the Luger by the barrel and
SINGAPORE SLING
97




97
sed the weam)n as a club when the dark shadow moved
within range.
Carter caught the heavy body and eaced it to the floor.
He'd t*en there long enough. It was time to get out.
While he jogged from the house to the gate, a thought
kept nagging at him. Why had he seen a monitor in every
room of the house he searched? Why monitors and no con-
les? lhe viewers were neither television screens nor
monitors for computers. If they were Chen's, they were
strong evidence that Chen had a hold on Quang stronger
than Carter had thought at first.
His weakness was his measure of the enemy. An adver-
sary who never came out in the orm ws the most danger-
ous of all species. You never knew his real strengths, you
never knew his weaknesses. One myssible weakness had
cxcurred to him. If Chen was secluded in what could only
be an electronic listening pst, that fact in itself would
the man's weakness. Enemies who moved around a great
deal and changed amxarances were harder to stamp out.
On the other side of the coin. a man with a large enough
network could have eyes everywhere. It wasn't unlike an
assignment he'd had in Hong Kong when an entire enemy
tong had been on the lookout for him. Ten thousand pairs
of eyes made one hell of an intelligence network.
Samantha Trail wasn't accustomed to working as the
'unior member of a team. While Barney Feldman and she
had been equals on the surface, he had deferred to her most
f the time, knowing more often than not that she had a
tter sense of the situation than he. Carter had never made
it clear that he was totally in charge, but his presence was
timidating. Maybe it was all in her head, maybe he un-
98



98
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
consciously took charge, but whatever it was, she felt al-
most reluctant to make a move on her own.
She called Chief Windsor and brought herself up to date
on his talks with Carter. She called Howard Schmidt and
exchanged pleasant banter with him, all of which took five
minutes. It was not enough. Not when Carter was out
there. She roamed the room like a caged tiger, unaccus-
tomed to inactivity, and she thought about the man who
had torn down the wall that for years had deprived her of
any feeling of true womanhood.
She thought about the first feel of him, the first welling
up of feeling that had driven her to take advantage of him
when he wasn't really in total control. And she thought
about his gracious handling of the situation.
She had to do her best for him. It was a compulsion
now.
She stopped pacing and moved to the bed. She spread
out, legs apart, her hands behind her head. The lights were
still on. She sniffed. The place smelled strange. An odor
she had never smelled before seemed to engulf her. A wea-
riness took over and her eyelids closed, not as if she were
merely drowsy, but as if they had been glued closed by an
unknown force.
The last thing she remembered was a feeling that dark
shapes moved beside her bed, enfolded her in some kind of
sting, and her into a conveyance. Some kind of
dream. The kind she didn't need right now.
Caner decided against searching the Tuan Sing Tower,
convinced he had enough on Quang to make the connection
to Chen. He headed back to the River View, content for the
moment.
SINGAPORE SLING
99


797