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Sae, “Are you sure he understands ant him to do?”
“Yes, sir My English may not be perfect, but my Kazakh is impeccable He will drive you to Taraz and wait for you to coer, he will prorate your bill by one-seventh per day”
“And the pay has been agreed to?”
“Yes, sir Seven hundred, Ae looked a little uneasy
Saly and leaned closer to hi you?” He paused “If you will tell me, I won’t blame you for it”
“Well, yes, sir There have been several recent incidents in Taraz Musli people, and one blew himself up The American Peace Corps has left because of safety concerns”
“Thank you for y
our honesty and your help” Saave him a two-hundred-dollar tip and left his new cell number and Remi’s in case people couldn’t reach them directly for some reason
Sae at a bank, then went out in Almaty and shopped An Ae They found their way to Arbat Street, where the Centralniy Universalniy Magasin sold a wide range of ht clothes that would not strike Kazakhs as foreign or overly expensive They took special care that Re or short-sleeved and that she had scarves to cover her hair, both to keep frouise her if any of Poliakoff’s people had come here to search for them
They bought food in aon foods that their driver, Nurin, probably would eat too—fruits, nuts, bread, hard cheese, bottled water and tea—all things that wouldn’t have to be refrigerated on a two-day trip
The next , Nurin drove up to their hotel with a sue in Kazakh, got them into his car with their backpacks and their food His car, a Toyota sedan of an odd gold color, was about ten years old Saine for about ten seconds, then assured Remi that it had been maintained and would last a couple of days While Nurin put the bags in the trunk, Sam popped the hood just in case, looked in, and reassured hiht
Nurin drove out of the crowded city and headed west, and, to Sam and Remi’s relief, he kept the car at a sensible but efficient speed, kept its wheels on the pavement and in its own lane He paid attention to the traffic coest and busiest city in the country despite the fact that it was no longer the capital
Nurin stopped every three hours in sas when he could, and walked around the central ive his passengers a chance to use the public restrooms, and buy small dishes of food He was black-haired and handso body of a man who had done physical work, but his expression and e
When people saw Sam and Remi with Nurin, they would speak to them in Russian, but that was of no use For the next two days Saht be giving thee
At one stop, Sam showed Nurin his international driver’s license and his California license Nurin was curious to look at the himself