“What are you doing?” the male voice snarled in Arabic.
“Run!” she yelled at Tara and saw her scramble up the last few feet and disappear into the tunnel.
His grip on her arm was so tight Kate bit her lip against the pain as he twisted her around.
“Where’s the sheikka? Where is she?” he roared, his face half hidden by a shaggy beard, his eyes wild, not focusing on her as his hand bit into her arm.
Her other arm was free and with it she quietly moved to reach her gun without drawing his attention to what she was doing.
But as he looked up toward the tunnel, he yanked her arm hard, ramming it up between her shoulders and making her bite back a shriek of pain, causing her other hand to drop from where she had been inching toward her weapon.
“Get her back! Get her now!” he shrieked into her face.
“Run, Tara!” Kate screamed and it was the last thing she did as her captor’s fist connected with her jaw.
Chapter Nineteen
“Zafir, I’ve got her.”
Emir gave his brother little time to express his relief or to explain the circumstances. The connection was tentative and could break at any moment. He looked over to where Tara was guzzling the contents of a water bottle. Other than being stressed and dehydrated, his baby sister was fine.
“They’ve got Kate,” he said through clenched teeth. He would have gone in with guns blazing but that wouldn’t have done Kate or Tara any good. “I need to go in after her but I need to get Tara out of here, to safety, first.”
“Is it Ed?” Zafir asked in a strained voice.
“That’s what Tara tells me,” Emir said, holding anger back with an iron will as he gave Zafir the coordinates. “How soon can you get here?”
Zafir promised he’d be there soon with Talib, and that they were minutes away. Emir almost sighed. If he lost Kate now, before she knew how he felt about her... The thought trailed. She didn’t know that those intimate moments were about more than just lust. It had all been too soon and too fast, and yet it had been like a lifetime. In such a short time, he felt like he’d always known her and, unbelievably, he’d fallen in love with her.
But none of that mattered. What mattered was that they had her, that she was in danger. The thought was killing him as much as the knowledge that there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t leave Tara, for they would be looking for her soon, unless somehow they thought Kate was the trade-off. His thoughts were jumbled. He couldn’t think clearly and he needed to get it together and get it together now. Kate as a trade-off was a thought he couldn’t discard and one that made him every bit as sick as them having his sister.
“She came just in time,” Tara whispered as he sat beside her. “He was crazed. Thought I was Mother.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe it was Ed. He wasn’t who I remember. He would have raped me if he’d had much longer.”
Or worse, Emir thought as rage rolled through him as he listened and he wanted to kill. He took a few breaths, stilling his emotions. He needed to get through this calmly. After all, Tara wasn’t out of danger yet.
Where was Zafir? Emir had to go after Kate and in one crazy moment he considered taking Tara with him.
“Ridiculous,” he muttered.
“Em. You’re scaring me,” Tara said.
Emir looked at his sister and guilt ran through him. She’d been through hell. “It’ll be okay, kid. I promise,” he said. “Zafir will be here any moment to get you out of here.”
“You care for her, don’t you,” she said in a quiet voice. “Kate.” She said the name as if testing it out. After all, Tara had only learned the name of her rescuer a few moments ago. “She’ll make it, Em, she has to.”
Has to. Tara’s words echoed in their rightness, for he didn’t know what he’d do if she didn’t.
He took her hands in both of his. “He didn’t hurt you? You’re certain?” He had two reasons to kill the man now, he thought ferociously. Kate and Tara. It was odd, there were others, but to him it was Ed who had betrayed his family.
“No.” She shook her head. “But I never knew... I can’t believe... I mean, he loved Mother. He was crazy for her. I mean nutcase crazy. And it made me think about their accident. His face was burned...” She looked at Emir. “You don’t think...?”
“Let’s talk about that later,” Emir said as he thought of the unspeakable act Ed had perpetrated on the House of Al-Nassar. He didn’t need to bring down his family, he’d dealt them a crushing blow broadsiding the family, destroying its heart, and no one had known, until now.
Emir shuddered at the thought and again at the thought of what a nightmare this man must have been for his mother. No wonder the mention of letting him go had left her lips when usually she had left employment issues to his father. To think that his parents were dead, partially or wholly, because of this man—rage ran through him.
“I just wanted to go to a party, alone. To look normal, without security trailing me, and I ditched them.” She burst into tears, her head in her hands.
“Tara, sweetheart.” He put an arm awkwardly around her, his gun still in that hand, and aware of the importance of time. “It’s all right. You’re safe and this will never happen again.”
“It won’t,” she mumbled. “I promise.”
“Look at me,” he said.
She looked up.
“We don’t have much time. I need you to take a deep breath and think of where they held you. Tell me what their setup is.”
“Emir, you’re not...”
“Tell me.” He chucked her under the chin with his free hand as he had when she’d been a child. In an odd way it made both of them feel better. “I won’t let you down.”
“You mean you won’t let yourself get killed. Promise me, Emir.”
“Promise.”
And he listened as Tara explained what she knew of the three heavily armed men who had kidnapped her and the remains of a forgotten oasis where she’d been held. And as he listened, the rage he had tamped down so effectively became like steel, cold and lethally determined.
It was minutes later when he heard the distant whir of a helicopter. He switched on the flashlight and waved it. The powerful light was unlike the minute one that Kate had used on the way into the cave. In fact, it was one used by top scientists working in the desert and threw a powerful beam of light.
Within minutes the helicopter was down and Tara was surrounded. It was only once Talib and Zafir had determined to their satisfaction that she wasn’t physically injured that Tara was lifted into a bear hug from which Talib seemed determined not to release her.
“Let’s get her out of here.” Emir’s voice brought everyone back to business. And within minutes Tara was in the helicopter and off with Talib while Zafir stayed behind.
“They’ve got Kate,” Emir said, the anguish clear in his voice as he briefed his brother on all that Tara had told him.
“She’s got your heart, man,” Zafir said and there was a hint of surprise in his voice. He pulled the safety on his handgun and turned to his brother. “Let’s get her.”
They didn’t have a choice other than to go in from the front, but with the detail Tara had provided, they at least knew how to get close enough unobserved.
When they arrived they found the camp was like nothing Tara had described, instead it was chaos. The fire burned low and cans and empty bottles lay everywhere. In the center of the oasis were the remains of a tent, much of the canvas strewn around the area as if it had been destroyed in a fit of anger.
On the edges, where the desert met the oasis, they could hear the voices of at least two men. Angry but unclear as to what they were saying.
“We’ve got to locate Kate,” Emir said.
Zafir nodded and together they made their way along the perimeter o
f the oasis.
Twenty feet in, Emir saw her as the moon and the waning fire provided some light. Kate’s hands and feet were tied and her shirt was ripped partially off. Her hair was tangled and loose, but it was when he eased closer that he had to use all his willpower to keep silent. Her lip, jaw and cheek were swollen and blood trailed down her chin. He didn’t dare go any closer without threatening their cover.
She looked up and, despite her state, smiled. Her eyes shifted to where the men argued. Their voices were getting louder and it was clear they were only focused on each other.
Emir looked back at Kate. She looked toward the men and closed her eyes twice, slowly, deliberately. Then she did it again, this time once, and then she looked up and over the hill.
Emir gave her a single nod. He knew she was telling him that one of the men had already made his escape over the hill, possibly in search of Tara. That thought both enraged and frightened him. They needed to move fast.
He looked at Kate. Any sound could alert the men. He needed to free her, but getting any closer could be tricky. He pulled out his dagger and motioned for Zafir to stay back.
Emir moved in carefully, slipping behind her, using her as a shield to screen his presence. He sliced through the rope that bound her wrists—silently, quietly, desperately wanting to speak to her, to hold her—he could do neither.
There was a shout, garbled words, and he feared they’d been discovered.
“Give me the knife,” she whispered urgently.
“Go through the tunnel,” he said. “I’ll meet you on the other side.”
She nodded, taking the knife from him as a beam of light settled on her and a harsh voice in Arabic demanded to know what she was doing.
Emir moved behind the trunk of a palm tree. He could see the shadow of Zafir across from him. He motioned forward. They needed to get away from Kate—to get her out of the line of fire.
Emir picked up a rock, glanced at Zafir and threw it, hitting one of the men in the arm. He swung around, cursing angrily in Arabic as the other man reached for the rifle slung over his back and the second pulled a handgun. Emir smiled. He didn’t want to kill a man by blindsiding him. That wouldn’t be fair, no matter what he’d done. He glanced back. Kate was gone.
Despite thoughts of giving them a chance, it was less than a minute before both men were dead.
“One shot,” Zafir grumbled. “Too easy.”
Emir went over, kicking the one man in the shoulder and pushing the body over. There was no sign of life. He did the same with the other. Neither was the man responsible for it all.
“Where’s Ed?” He turned to look at Zafir and alarm raced in unspoken words between them.
“There’s no sign of anyone else,” Zafir said.
Emir didn’t answer, he was on the run, going back—making sure that Kate, too, was gone—safe.
She was nowhere in sight, not at the base of the hills, not in the entrance of the tunnel.
There was no one else in the oasis.
Ten minutes later they were on the other side of the oasis where they’d started out. In the darkness they could see nothing.
“Son of a desert stray, where is she?” Emir growled, his heart pounding at the thought of Ed still on the loose and Kate nowhere to be found.
“We’ve got company,” Zafir said. “Just behind us at ten o’clock.”
He’d no sooner said that when a shot came from the hills and echoed through the rocks.
“Ed!” Emir shouted as a means of a diversion as Zafir moved into position to his left. “What are you doing, man? You were my father’s friend.”
“Damn Al-Nassar!” came the shout from what sounded like near the base of the hill. “You always had everything.”
“Give yourself up, man,” Emir ordered. He moved forward and to the right as Zafir continued to move in the opposite direction.
“It’s not worth it!” Zafir shouted in a perfect imitation of Emir’s voice.
Arabic curses followed. “Which one of you bloody look-alikes are you?”
Overhead, the rotors of a helicopter beat the air and overrode their voices.
“Son of a... Talib,” Emir swore. Minus a brother, his whole family was here. He hoped Talib had the sense to keep Tara out of this, to have dropped her in a safe place before returning. He couldn’t afford to think otherwise.
He moved forward in the darkness, using one boulder and then another for cover.
Where was she?
“Emir?” It was a whisper in the dark. A sound meant only for him, and close, too close.
“Kate,” he said. His voice was soft, controlled, so it wouldn’t carry. “Get back.”
And then he saw her. He moved in beside her. There was no time for discussion. He’d take a hit for her if necessary. The thought, despite the intensity of the situation, startled him. He’d never felt like that about any woman. With the exception of his mother and his sister, there had been no woman he would have taken a bullet for. He felt that and more about Kate.
The light from the helicopter swept the area. It was blinding as bullets cut through the night and he crouched beside Kate behind a rock from where he could see Zafir slowly making his way around, cutting off any chance of escape, using the distraction of the helicopter to his advantage.
“Stay down,” he said as he prepared to move in.
Kate nodded. There was nothing she could do. They’d taken her gun.
There was movement ahead and Emir could see the top of Ed’s head as he sought better cover. He fired at him and Ed shot back, the bullet whining through the valley. Then there was a shot from the left, as Zafir joined the battle.
A series of shots followed.
“Ed,” Emir called when a temporary silence descended. “Mother’s been asking about you.”
“You’re lying,” he snarled.
“Stay here,” he said to Kate. “I’m going after him.”
He moved forward, going from one rock to the next in the direction of the voice. The helicopter had pulled back and they were again in darkness.
“She misses you,” Emir said as he moved another few feet forward.
“Why did she run away?”
The voice was just ahead and to his left. Something moved and suddenly he was there, facing the man he barely recognized and who had once been his father’s shadow.
Emir didn’t wait but instead launched himself at Ed, driving him down with an uppercut to the chin followed by another to the temple. Ed’s gun clattered to the rocks as Emir hit him again. This time Ed stumbled and fell.
“Maybe next time you’ll think twice about hitting women or destroying families,” Emir snarled. But he knew that there wouldn’t be a next time. Ed would die before this night was over.
Light bounced over the rock and he could see Kate using a boulder for cover and trying to give him some help as she shone the flashlight at Ed. He was glad of the help as he saw Ed had found his gun. But Emir fired before Ed could raise it into position. Ed tumbled backward, landing heavily in the rocks.
The helicopter had moved in again, preparing to land. The blades were creating a wind that emulated a sandstorm as it threatened to pull their clothes from their bodies.
“I can’t believe it, Em,” Zafir said minutes later as they stood a few feet from Ed’s body. “This piece of camel’s offal killed our parents.”
“He was in love with our mother and, from what I’ve pieced together, thought he’d kill our father to have her. In the process he killed them both.”
“He was unbalanced to begin with, but he lost all reason as a result,” Kate added. “Eventually believing that your mother still lived.”
“Son of a desert dog!” Zafir cursed. “I wish he’d lived just so I could have the pleasure of killing him.”
He let his brother go and moved over to Kate. His finger gently ran along her jaw. “I’m sorry he hurt you. I’d kill him again if it would prevent that.”
“I’m okay, Emir, really.” She took his face in her hands, pulled him gently toward her and kissed him.
“And the house of Al-Nassar stands to see another day,” Talib said as he led the way to the helicopter. “Let’s get out of here. Let the authorities clean up this stinking pile of offal.”
“I can’t believe Ed kidnapped Tara. I mean, I get that he in some crazed way thought she was Mother, who he was in love with,” Zafir said as they walked to the helicopter. “But why the blackmail?”
“I can’t believe any of this,” Talib said. “I wish I’d been the one to kill him. He murdered our parents. And why come after us again six years later?”
Kate looked from one to the other and saw the pain reflected on all of their faces. “From what the police records indicate, your parents’ accident was initially just that—an accident. It was what happened after that...” She hesitated, feeling Emir’s pain, feeling all their pain. “That became murder.”
“It’s ugly, guys,” Emir said thickly. “Basically when the car accident happened, Ed was there as he usually was to act as bodyguard. My first thought was that he murdered them, that he was responsible, but his last words to me admitted otherwise. And there’s no way to prove it. Anyway, he said that he got out of the car and wouldn’t let our father out. By the time he got around to trying to help Mother, who was trapped in the back, it was too late. The driver was trapped by the steering wheel. The resulting fire ignited an explosion, and you know the rest. Ed admitted that just before he tried to shoot me.”
“Thank goodness you shot first,” Kate said.
“Murdering pile of dung deserved a harder death,” Talib said with clenched fists.
“You’re right,” Kate said. “He was a murderer, but he was also sick. I think the guilt of what he did ate at him. I’m not sure when he suffered the next psychotic break but eventually that led him to do what he did. The fact that it took six years.” She shrugged. “Hard to predict a broken mind.”
Sheik's Rule Page 17
