PROLOGUE
In far northwest Iran, a few minutes after clearing the city limits of Tabriz, Rahim maneuvered his vehicle onto a rutted side road. When he popped opened the trunk of the car to let me out, I saw the car was hidden from the main highway by a small grove of trees. In spite of our seclusion, Rahim said he was still anxious about being seen by a military convoy from the nearby Tabriz missile base.
For the first time in several hours, I uncurled from my fetal position and climbed out of the vehicle, grateful to breathe some fresh air and feel the sunshine on my face. As my feet landed on the rocky terrain, Rahim handed me a black wooden cane. I wanted to wave it off, but, regrettably, I still needed some help getting around on my bum leg.
Rahim slammed the trunk lid down hard. “You can stretch for a few minutes,” he said, “but then we must get back on the road immediately. Our timing must be perfect at the border.” Rahim and I were headed for the Iranian/Turkish border, specifically the border crossing at Bazargan, Iran. He was absolutely confident he could get me out of Iran without any problems.
However, during the last twenty years, I’d had a couple of incidents at other border crossings—Pakistan and Syria to be precise—so I wasn’t as optimistic. While Rahim was tinkering with the car’s engine, I exercised my legs and worked out the stiffness in my arms. As usual, I was running through several “what ifs” in my mind. What if the border guards searched the trunk? What if the car broke down?
What if we were driving right into a trap?I might have felt better about any of these scenarios had either of us been armed. However, Rahim had refused to bring along a weapon. Carrying a gun in Iran without a special permit meant certain imprisonment.Imprisonment in Iran meant certain torture, so I certainly understood his reasons for leaving the weaponry back in Tehran. Still, a gun might have helped my nerves.
One Night in Tehran: A Titus Ray Thriller Description:
Is the assassin stalking him connected to the mysterious Iranian couple he meets in Oklahoma? Can Detective Nikki Saxon be trusted with his secrets? In Tehran, while hiding out from the Iranian secret police, CIA intelligence officer, Titus Ray, finds shelter with a group of Iranian Christians.
Compelled by their unwavering faith, the battle-hardened, covert operative becomes a believer before he manages to escape to Turkey. When he returns to the States, he discovers his Iranian mission failed because of political infighting within the Agency.
In a hot-tempered outburst, he delivers a scathing indictment against the Deputy Director of Operations, and the deputy forces Titus to take a year’s medical leave in Oklahoma. Before leaving Langley, however, he discovers a Hezbollah hit man has targeted him for assassination.
Now, while trying to figure out what it means to be a follower of Christ, he must decide if the Iranian couple he meets in Oklahoma has ties to the man who’s trying to kill him, and if Nikki Saxon, a beautiful local detective, can be trusted with his secrets.
